Writing the Next Dragon Age

Megalith

Megalith

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Eurogamer chatted exclusively with Sunless Sea creator Alexis Kennedy, who revealed his new gig with BioWare: he’ll be providing some of the narrative for the new Dragon Age alongside series mastermind Mike Laidlaw and lead scribe Patrick Weekes. I am not familiar with the guy’s work, but this does serve as additional confirmation that work on the next DA is certainly underway and an official unveil may not be too far off. Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC would suggest a visit to the longest existing human country in Thedas, Tevinter Imperium.

"What I can say is I have been given considerable autonomy to work on a storyline bit of lore which is well-segregated from other parts of the game," Kennedy teases, "which makes a lot of sense with me being remote. And yes, if you've seen a lot of my work before you will probably not be surprised by the choice of subject matter. It's familiar stuff." Let's face it, a portal through the Fade to Kennedy's familiar beat of steampunk London is probably unlikely. My money, then, would be on something to do with the Qunari race, a group fairly separated from the main Dragon Age races and which Trespasser implied would soon play a larger role.
 
Anyone want to take bets on if EA/Bioware learned its lesson and whether this will be a medieval version of Andromeda?
 
My understanding that this is actually being developed by BioWare and not some 3rd rate support studio that EA has decided to rename BioWare.

Let's see if they still have some talent left in Edmonton.
 
M76 said:
I thought Andromeda was the scifi version of Inquisition.
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TRUE.EDU

I need to have my transsexual pirate mercenary bison cisgendered "DONTCALLMEROY!" PC all decked out in fuscia chinchilla smashing an orc in the face. Don't judge me that I should be allowed to sleep with EVERYONE at once, that needs to be included in the base game!


For equality and such, ya know?
 
I no longer have any interest in any bioware game. Haven't bought anymore of them after Inquisition and will not buy this one. There are plenty of other games, and other things, for me to do.
 
My concern is the DA series has gotten worse with each entry. And EA/Bioware haven't convinced me they can redeem the series.
 
gamerk2 said:
My concern is the DA series has gotten worse with each entry. And EA/Bioware haven't convinced me they can redeem the series.
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I think DA:I turned the ship around a bit. The combat was decent (wish it kept DA2's 'tactics' system, though), and the storyline was engaging. Really wish they would've gave you the option to use your Warden Commander from DA:O for the Inquisitor. The Morrigan stuff from DA:I would've been a lot more interesting if you played as the Warden Commander and could confront her about shared 'history'.
 
Delicieuxz said:
How come DA:O is such an amazing game, and sold huge (way more than DA2), while the others suck?
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No idea, I thought they were going to take the 'Mass Effect' approach: same main character (The Warden Commander) that told an epic story over a trilogy of games. Different lead designers? I dunno, I'm sure somebody here knows part of the answer.
 
Delicieuxz said:
How come DA:O is such an amazing game, and sold huge (way more than DA2), while the others suck?
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I've played hundreds of hours of all three and don't think any of them suck. The only people I see with this opinion seem to be the ones that like super nitpicky traditional RPG inventory and item management.
 
I loved DA:O, and I will admit I couldn't actually get into DA2 until about a year before DA:I was released (I bought DA2 at release, but it was too radically different for me to enjoy at that time) and ultimately liked it. DA:I was an excellent game from the start, though. The story was pretty good, and the game itself had enough of the RP aspects I liked from DA:O with the more action-y combat of DA2 to keep me hooked until the very end.
 
SeymourGore said:
I think DA:I turned the ship around a bit. The combat was decent (wish it kept DA2's 'tactics' system, though), and the storyline was engaging. Really wish they would've gave you the option to use your Warden Commander from DA:O for the Inquisitor. The Morrigan stuff from DA:I would've been a lot more interesting if you played as the Warden Commander and could confront her about shared 'history'.
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The problem here is the writers allowed FAR too many choices in DA:O, and that makes it really hard to use old characters.

Take Alistair: How many possible outcomes are there for him at this point? That's why he gets minor or replaceable roles in DA2 and DA:I; you can't use him in any other way because there's so many possible different things he could be at this point.

Hence the problem of using the Warden in any major way.

I HATED DA:I, and was glad to be done with it. Combat was more clunky then DA:O, and let's face it: The game was a single player MMO. Too many fetch quests and collectibles to try and hide how empty each area was otherwise. Take out all the fluff, and the game is downright barren.
 
I thought Dragon Age Inquistion is over the top I have about 10 hours or more invested in the game other games have me side tracked. The main problem I have with Dragon Age Inquistion the characters seemed floaty physics wise I still have the game installed just waiting for some vacation. The entire world kinda felt overwhelming to the point combat was floaty and not very immersive. Characters were forgettable except the weird guys.
Still a very good game for 2014
 
Comixbooks said:
I thought Dragon Age Inquistion is over the top I have about 10 hours or more invested in the game other games have me side tracked. The main problem I have with Dragon Age Inquistion the characters seemed floaty physics wise I still have the game installed just waiting for some vacation. The entire world kinda felt overwhelming to the point combat was floaty and not very immersive. Characters were forgettable except the weird guys.
Still a very good game for 2014
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Counter point: Witcher 3, which came out within a week or two.
 
The Witcher 3 is very deep it's lore took like 10 years to write The Witcher 3 keeps it ugly while Dragon Age is kinda candy coated.
 
gamerk2 said:
The problem here is the writers allowed FAR too many choices in DA:O, and that makes it really hard to use old characters.

Take Alistair: How many possible outcomes are there for him at this point? That's why he gets minor or replaceable roles in DA2 and DA:I; you can't use him in any other way because there's so many possible different things he could be at this point.
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See, normally I'd agree with this sentiment - but Mass Effect had some real world changing decisions (up until the ending anyway) and handled it well. Wrex is the prime example that I'd compare Allistair to. I remember a co-worker and I talking about our Mass Effect experience, and our stories and decisions were radically different from one another. Not that my kvetching about it will change anything, but it's hard to ignore what a series Dragon Age could've been.


Comixbooks said:
I thought Dragon Age Inquistion is over the top I have about 10 hours or more invested in the game other games have me side tracked. The main problem I have with Dragon Age Inquistion the characters seemed floaty physics wise I still have the game installed just waiting for some vacation. The entire world kinda felt overwhelming to the point combat was floaty and not very immersive. Characters were forgettable except the weird guys.
Still a very good game for 2014
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Yeah, it took me awhile to get into DA:I too. It sat around on my 'to do' list and I finally just got through it last weekend.
 
gamerk2 said:
I HATED DA:I, and was glad to be done with it. Combat was more clunky then DA:O, and let's face it: The game was a single player MMO. Too many fetch quests and collectibles to try and hide how empty each area was otherwise. Take out all the fluff, and the game is downright barren.
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That's a very good description of DA:I An MMO without other players. Yes the combat is terrible in it, using a rogue or warrior is completely infuriating in it, you can still have some fun with a mage. I still didn't hate the game, but the one playtrough I did in 6 months of it, will probably remain my only playtrough.
 
M76 said:
That's a very good description of DA:I An MMO without other players. Yes the combat is terrible in it, using a rogue or warrior is completely infuriating in it, you can still have some fun with a mage. I still didn't hate the game, but the one playtrough I did in 6 months of it, will probably remain my only playtrough.
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Yar, definitely agree that the combat is a slog. DA:O had great, tactical combat that felt rewarding. DA2 was a big dumbing down of combat, but you could at least tweak your AI for effective group mechanics. DA:I pretends it has good combat, and I was hopeful with the 'tactical camera', but it's just a light show of special effects with a small amount of CC.

At higher levels, it's the worst, as all the enemies are damage sponges, but can't hurt your party, so it's a big snorefest. I'm finishing up the Depths DLC and it's been a chore trying to keep myself engaged. I'm hoping that Trespasser will be better, at least in that DLC, it should tie up some loose ends from the main story (hopefully).
 
SeymourGore said:
Yar, definitely agree that the combat is a slog. DA:O had great, tactical combat that felt rewarding. DA2 was a big dumbing down of combat, but you could at least tweak your AI for effective group mechanics. DA:I pretends it has good combat, and I was hopeful with the 'tactical camera', but it's just a light show of special effects with a small amount of CC.

At higher levels, it's the worst, as all the enemies are damage sponges, but can't hurt your party, so it's a big snorefest. I'm finishing up the Depths DLC and it's been a chore trying to keep myself engaged. I'm hoping that Trespasser will be better, at least in that DLC, it should tie up some loose ends from the main story (hopefully).
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Actually to me DA:O felt even more infuriating. In an encounter I get massacred, then on the next try using the same tactic again I come out victorious almost unscathed. It's more about chance than tactics or skill. And that's why I prefer DA2's combat over DA:O. I might be the only person but I'm not afraid to admit that.
 
LigTasm said:
I've played hundreds of hours of all three and don't think any of them suck. The only people I see with this opinion seem to be the ones that like super nitpicky traditional RPG inventory and item management.
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DA: Origins and DA: Inquisition and the DLC were amazing. DA2 sucked....
Agreed though, DAO and DAI were 2 of the most enjoyable RPGs I've played.
 
M76 said:
Actually to me DA:O felt even more infuriating. In an encounter I get massacred, then on the next try using the same tactic again I come out victorious almost unscathed. It's more about chance than tactics or skill. And that's why I prefer DA2's combat over DA:O. I might be the only person but I'm not afraid to admit that.
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I dunno, I can't say I've ever lost a match due to a series of digital dice rolls going bad for myself. Seymour appreciates your courage in admitting to preferring DA2 combat over DA:O though. :-p
 
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