Dragon Age Not Just A Game

[Logan Westbrook]

Dragon Age Not Just A Game

Bioware founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk want to move beyond the single player experience with new RPG Dragon Age.

If you were looking to hand someone the title of 'Monarch of RPGs', Bioware would be pretty strong contenders. With a string of successful single-player RPGs under their belt, Bioware are aiming for something a little bit different with their upcoming title Dragon Age.

"We view it as a platform, and we're launching Dragon Age as a huge, expansive high-quality game," Bioware co-founder Ray Muzyka said in an interview with Gamasutra. "We're planning for a platform around that, that you can dock new things in. Like user-generated content; we're releasing toolsets so people can make their own content. We're going to be releasing a lot of premium downloadable content for purchase post-release that will expand the possibility space of the universe."


"Even though it's a single-player role-playing game and story, it's still a connected game," Greg Zeschuk added "We live in this world where everything is getting more and more connected digitally, and from within the game, you're going to be able to search through user-created content that you may want to insert in... We think an RPG is the perfect game to [create a platform] with. It's meaningful enough that people get so attached to them, they want to play it forever. They don't want to leave that world or leave those characters. It's exciting. That's really our goal with it."

Bioware previously did something similar to this with Neverwinter Nights and RPG modding is fairly ubiquitous thanks to Bethesda. Bioware are already taking applications for beta testers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90809] for the world-building toolset, which suggests that they are serious about making user created content a major part of the Dragon Age experience.

Source: Gamasutra [ttp://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23256]



Permalink

 

[Pimppeter2]

To bad Morrowind is already the Monarch of all RPGs

 

[Grand_Poohbah]

I just heard of this game today and I'm kind of excited. I feel dumb for being excited about a game called dragon age =\.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

To bad Morrowind is already the Monarch of all RPGs

Well, Dragon Age is going to fight with Oblivion for my best game ever award. Sadly, my experience with Morrowind is minimal, but I can already tell that it has more depth than you can shake a stick at. Its deeper than the ocean. If Dragon Age is half as good as it looks, I may end up spending 2500+ hours on it, like I did with Oblivion. Compared to my paltry 30 hours of Morrowind...Since being a straight mage is so fucking annoying in that game...Stupid "sleep only" magic regen...

 

[WolfSage]

morrowind the monarch? please, try diablo. honestly.

 

[Woe Is You]

If Dragon Age is half as good as it looks, I may end up spending 2500+ hours on it, like I did with Oblivion.

Dragon Age won't be a sandbox-like RPG like Oblivion is, so the only way you'd be able to sink that many hours into it would be to play the rather linear single player campaign over and over again or mess around with the custom campaigns and tools that come with the game. Because let's face it: Bioware's RPGs are linear.

In fact, most of what they're saying sounds like "NWN was awesome, we want to repeat that success again".

To bad Morrowind is already the Monarch of all RPGs

Nah, it does a lot of things so badly that I wonder how it even got to be so popular. Especially with the combat and the throughly forgettable characters and the world.

It's actually pretty hilarious how Ultima 7, a game released 10 years earlier, did most of its shit better than Morrowind did.

 

[GothmogII]

morrowind the monarch? please, try diablo. honestly.

Diablo is an RPG? Really?

Nah, I'm just messing around. Still, while Diablo has character and atmosphere in spades, it's rather light on the RPG elements, more of an action RPG if you were getting into semantics. As for Morrowind, it did what it did pretty good, and was as unique a world as you were likely to get in an RPG...that is, barring the real king of RPGs:

Planescape: Torment. And if I should have to explain why berk, please return your 'I am an RPG gamer' badges and go outside and shoot yourself till dead, and may you rot in each of the Nine Hells for all time you sodding piker! (Kidding )

 

[scotth266]

Heh. Bioware always seems to make games that are awesome, but have SOME sort of crucial flaw. I'll check this one out, and hope that it is as fun as their previous romps.

 

[WolfSage]

light on the rpg elements? how old are you? do you know what an rpg is?

diablo is the definition of rpg. people say "whats an rpg?" and you answer "it's like diablo". diablo is still on the top 10 most played games online in todays world, amongst "new wave" games like TF2 and CoD and others. the game was made like 7 years ago and is still played a crap load.

if you're ACTUALLY getting into semantics, its more of an mmorpg, kingdom hearts is an action rpg. diablo is king.

 

[GothmogII]

light on the rpg elements? how old are you? do you know what an rpg is?

diablo is the definition of rpg. people say "whats an rpg?" and you answer "it's like diablo". diablo is still on the top 10 most played games online in todays world, amongst "new wave" games like TF2 and CoD and others. the game was made like 7 years ago and is still played a crap load.

if you're ACTUALLY getting into semantics, its more of an mmorpg, kingdom hearts is an action rpg. diablo is king.

I didn't say it was -bad- I like all the Diablo series, and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy the next one. I'm just saying, in comparison to other pure RPG's, Diablo comes up short with regards to the actual roleplaying elements. Like I said, it focuses more on the action than character interaction, more beating the snot out of hordes of enemies than talking them down, you know?

I'm not denying it's popularity either, just that if we're talking about what could be considered the greatest RPG, Diablo wouldn't rank -that- high on my list, not that isn't a great game mind you.

 

[Woe Is You]

if you're ACTUALLY getting into semantics, its more of an mmorpg, kingdom hearts is an action rpg. diablo is king.

...Diablo is neither persistent, nor is it massive. Those are the two main requirements for any game to be an MMO. Therefore, Diablo has precious little to do with an MMORPG.

If that were the case, then me playing Baldur's Gate 2 online with a buddy of mine would mean BG2 is an MMORPG. It's not.

As for it being a pure RPG, I'd expect more than just stats and gear for a game to be that. It's an action RPG and/or a point and click hack and slash game. You don't actually play a role in Diablo.

 

[WolfSage]

hoo boy.

@ woe is you
just because you're not in a role doesnt prove that its not an rpg. the term role playing game is outdated, and a literal translation of the term would make Halo an rpg b/c you PLAY the ROLE of master chief in a GAME.

also it is massive. BG2 is not massive. but when you start doing uber tristram runs to farm torches with 10 or so people, ya, it gets massive.

@gothmogll
the presence of action in an rpg doesnt make it less of an rpg. i'm a huge jrpg fanboy, and a huge diablo fanboy, one has more talking, one has turnbased combat. no characteristic makes either "less" of an rpg. you're argument is fallacious.

 

[GothmogII]

hoo boy.

@ woe is you
just because you're not in a role doesnt prove that its not an rpg. the term role playing game is outdated, and a literal translation of the term would make Halo an rpg b/c you PLAY the ROLE of master chief in a GAME.

also it is massive. BG2 is not massive. but when you start doing uber tristram runs to farm torches with 10 or so people, ya, it gets massive.

@gothmogll
the presence of action in an rpg doesnt make it less of an rpg. i'm a huge jrpg fanboy, and a huge diablo fanboy, one has more talking, one has turnbased combat. no characteristic makes either "less" of an rpg. you're argument is fallacious.

As far as I'm aware, I was stating opinion, not facts, so of course you're well within your capacities to think otherwise. But maybe I should prefix it this time, so again, MY OPINION IS: The Diablo series does not fill my criteria for a fully fledged RPG. It has in MY OPINION, the elements of such, you pick a character, you travel through a fictional world, you battle monsters, gain experience and level-up. However, IN MY OPINION, it severely lacks some of the main elements vital to a well rounded RPG, that is, character interaction and effects on the gameworld itself.

For the most part, many RPGs retain a kind of status quo anyway, but still try to make you as the character feel like you are making an impact on the game world, even if for the most part these changes are purely superficial, i.e. you help defend an old lady from some rampaging goblins she is forever more grateful. In Diablo this has been reduced to a bare minimum: Here are some people, they want you to do stuff, you go do it come back and get a reward. No idle banter, no long winded conversations, no deep meaningful thoughts. And this is fine for what Diablo is, again IN MY OPINION: An action focused RPG. Not -lesser-. Not -bad-. Just RPG Lite is all.

The plot such as it is, is simple and well crafted. The world is atmospheric, and the game is challenging. It's just in comparison to other RPGs I have played not really all that expansive. One last time now: IN MY OPINION! Yay \o/

Anyway...one would imagine we should stop the Diablo discussion anyway, getting off topic, this is about Dragon Age after all, so I'll stop now, but feel free to make one last passing shot if you so choose, I won't fire back.

 

[Doug]

To be honest, I found Morrowind abit 'meh'. Is that just me?

Anywho, I do feel alot of RPGs still too close to the D&D rules and not to the title (i.e. Role playing game). I still feel that, given the interactive and number crunching powers of computers over pen and paper, there has to be a better way to implement the concept of role playing away from an XP grind style of gameplay that would make side quests truly optional (seriously, in most RPGs, if you want to remain competitive, you need the XP from them at the very least).

 

[Woe Is You]

This is getting wildly off tangent, but I really suggest you educate [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_role-playing_game] yourself [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_(video_game)] on the matter. Diablo simply isn't an MMORPG, since it doesn't fulfill the requirements of having a persistent world or a massive amount of players (hundreds, usually thousands on one server).

(seriously, in most RPGs, if you want to remain competitive, you need the XP from them at the very least).

Eh...? I don't see why in a single-player game you'd have to "remain competitive". You might in an MMORPG but even there the competitive part is usually strictly segregated from the rest of game (unless you go for games that are strictly about PvP). Especially since games with story today have little to no challenge at all. You didn't have to do the Mass Effect side quests. In fact, the side quests would probably leave a sour taste in your mouth in a game that's otherwise excellent.

 

[Fightgarr]

Woah! I thought this was a topic about Dragon Age: Origins, not an incredibly petty "my RPG is better" flame war. I always found the toolsets in NWN just a bit over my head. Of course I was quite a few years younger than I am now so I may yet understand these, plus if the toolset is going to be on the 360 version it'll have to be pretty console (and thus, hopefully, user) friendly.
Everyone is wrong, the monarch of all RPGs is Halo.

 

[GothmogII]

Read a magazine article on the 'Dwarf' section of it. Seems pretty neat, from what I got from it is that there's going to be separate storylines depending on what race you pick. If that's the case this is shaping up to be something great.

I also like that they seem to be simplifying the classes somewhat giving you a choice of Mage, Rogue and Warrior. I mean, while I like the varied classes that D&D and other RPG's give you, it can end up a bit of a clusterfutz sometimes. Spoiled for choice hehe, least this way you could probably make a new character and play through 3 times, once for each class :3