BioWare Unveils Dragon Age 2 - UPDATED

[Assassin Xaero]

Honestly, I'm not really excited at all... bought Dragon Age during the Steam holiday sale and was hooked on it for about a week, then completely lost interest, and now I'm trying to going back to finish it, and I'm really about to put it in the box with Halo of games that pissed me off and made me to quit due to their pure boringness/stupidity... It is hard enough for me to put up with the elves, trolls, and that other fairy shit, but now I have to spend hours of going around talking to people in get to trolls or whatever to support me? Ugh... I'm starting to wonder if it is even worth finishing...

 

[Airsoftslayer93]

Does seem rather soon, but its a good sign for Mass Effect 2, they must be working on that as well.

 

[JeanLuc761]

Soooo their new game world is based on M.Night Shyamalan's Avatar movie and not LoTR this time? Oh Bioware, you scamp.....

Since I see this kind of stuff constantly (read: Why the lack of originality?! posts), I'd like to present this quote to you:

"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember that Jean-Luc Godard said: "It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to." - Jim Jarmusch

True in so many ways.

 

[squid5580]

So something just hit me. When the hell did Bioware become so massive that they can simultaneously work on whats possibly the largest (in terms of development size not the game itself) and expensive MMO ever created, Mass Effect 3, AND Dragon Age 2, not to mention whatever secret projects they might be working on that we don't know about??

canadians..

they are crazy enough to try shit no one else will.



I'm very happy to hear this..especially with me building a new pc right now =]

And we'll succeed too lol.

I don't understand why this is so surprising. They had the announcement in every copy of Awakenings.

 

[SonicWaffle]

So something just hit me. When the hell did Bioware become so massive that they can simultaneously work on whats possibly the largest (in terms of development size not the game itself) and expensive MMO ever created, Mass Effect 3, AND Dragon Age 2, not to mention whatever secret projects they might be working on that we don't know about.

When Mass Effect 2 became wildly successful. Followed immediately by Dragon Age's success.

Now, I may be drunk - scratch that, I'm pretty drunk - but I definately recall Dragon Age coming out several months before Mass Effect 2.

 

[Mr. Doe]

Im glad that they are changing the combat system hopefully it will now recognize when Im out of the AOE instead of hitting me anyway. Also is that a spear I see?

 

[SharedProphet]

From experience tracking BioWare games, if the rumored release date is February 2011, then I would guess the (first) announced release date will be something like September 2011, with the eventual real one being closer to April 2013...

 

[JeanLuc761]

From experience tracking BioWare games, if the rumored release date is February 2011, then I would guess the (first) announced release date will be something like September 2011, with the eventual real one being closer to April 2013...

You sure you're not thinking of Valve?

 

[BirdBot]

What loose thread?

Spoiler

Morrigan's demon-child abomination, of course. Which not everyone will consider "canon" (one of the many failings of the "choose your own adventure" bullshit that modern RPGs insist on using) but certainly significant enough to warrant a follow-up.

Not everyone got that ending though.

Spoiler

I sacrificed Loghain.

But it doesn't matter which ending you got aside from the first one mentioned above, all other endings are non-canon (according to what I've read - if I'm wrong, I'd love to hear otherwise). Making all choices in the first game irrelevant. And making me completely uninterested in anything further from this particular franchise.

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Dragon Age is my 3rd favorite game ever!
only to.
1: Kingdom Hearts 2
2: ES:Oblivion
so yeah.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[SharedProphet]

From experience tracking BioWare games, if the rumored release date is February 2011, then I would guess the (first) announced release date will be something like September 2011, with the eventual real one being closer to April 2013...

You sure you're not thinking of Valve?

Yes. : ) Valve is at least pretty good about keeping things quiet until they're almost ready, and not announcing release dates early... I followed development news on Jade Empire and then Mass Effect for quite a while and another thing I've come to learn is that there's no point putting any stock in BioWare's early gameplay footage, since by release it will change completely.

So something just hit me. When the hell did Bioware become so massive that they can simultaneously work on whats possibly the largest (in terms of development size not the game itself) and expensive MMO ever created, Mass Effect 3, AND Dragon Age 2, not to mention whatever secret projects they might be working on that we don't know about.

When Mass Effect 2 became wildly successful. Followed immediately by Dragon Age's success.

Maybe you mean the first Mass Effect. BioWare Austin has been around and working on TOR for years... also BioWare merged with Pandemic and then was bought by EA, merged with Mythic, and made the kings of EA's entire RPG/MMO division.

 

[okiness]

What about the thread left hanging as AWAKENING ended? I will be forever confused, I guess.

 

[JEBWrench]

So something just hit me. When the hell did Bioware become so massive that they can simultaneously work on whats possibly the largest (in terms of development size not the game itself) and expensive MMO ever created, Mass Effect 3, AND Dragon Age 2, not to mention whatever secret projects they might be working on that we don't know about??

Probably when they became head of EA's RPG department and took control of other companies working in the same area...

Yeah, that's the real answer to that question. EA's giant pile of money.

BioWare: Can we make a sequel Unca EA?
EA: Ach! NO!
BioWare: But we think we can make more money that way...
EA: Why didna ye say that, lads? *goes swimming in the money bin*

 

[Eleima]

When Mass Effect 2 became wildly successful. Followed immediately by Dragon Age's success.

Now, I may be drunk - scratch that, I'm pretty drunk - but I definately recall Dragon Age coming out several months before Mass Effect 2.

Drunk or no, you're right. Dragon Age came out in November 2009, and Mass Effect 2 in January 2010.
Back on topic, I've mixed feelings on this. On one hand, I'm glad that Dragon Age 2 is in the works and making its way to the shelves (not that it's much of a surprise). On the other hand, I'm a little disappointed that they're making us play a predefined character. We'd all become accustomed to creating our own characters, tweaking strength, dexterity, intelligence, facial structure, etc. It's going to be hard to relate to this guy, this Hawke.

Spoiler: (caution: spoilers to the ending of DAO ahead, but you wouldn't be here if you hadn't played it, right?)

If they start telling me that he's the bastard deamon child of Morrigan, I will have a fit. And don't start telling me that's the canon ending, it was bad enough when they told us the canon Revan, canon Shepard and canon DAO protagonist were male, but this is just crossing the line.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Just picked up Dragon Age: Origins today, looking forward to it I must say.

I wonder if they're going to pull a KoToR trick on us but actually resolve it this time? You play through the two games as two different individuals in two different places, but then in the 3rd game, everyone you've gathered comes together. This is also my hope for ME3 of course, but it would take some doing.

 

[Falseprophet]

So something just hit me. When the hell did Bioware become so massive that they can simultaneously work on whats possibly the largest (in terms of development size not the game itself) and expensive MMO ever created, Mass Effect 3, AND Dragon Age 2, not to mention whatever secret projects they might be working on that we don't know about??

canadians..

they are crazy enough to try shit no one else will.

Hell, back in the 80s our tax dollars were apparently mutant supersoldier projects [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapon_X].

I, for one, think this is great news. The Dragon Age setting is fantastically rich in detail, and I'm glad they won't revisit the old characters and story from the first game. Their story was told in Origins, and Awakening is okay as a postscript, but that tale is finished. I've always been annoyed at sequels to epic fantasy series that feel tacked on: "You thought you defeated the Ultimate Evil Lord in the first trilogy? Ha, you fools! He was just a pawn of the Eviler Lord!"

There's so much more to Thedas beyond Fereldan, and I can't wait to see it.

 

[SalamanderJoe]

We all knew it was coming. Bioware seem to hendle sequels well with Mass Effect 2's performance, so yeah, bring on February.

 

[sheah1]

This is rather brilliant, although I've got a few things for anyone who is willing to take a guess, what do you think they mean by new combat mechanics? Will your adventures in the original have any effect on this game? And, finally, will the release date mean more DLC available to mass effect 3 owners (a la blood dragon armour)?

 

[JEBWrench]

Damn, I really must get around to playing a Bioware game one of these days. They seem to be rather popular...

The best part is? You only need to play one!

[/unoriginal joke]

Back on topic, I've mixed feelings on this. On one hand, I'm glad that Dragon Age 2 is in the works and making its way to the shelves (not that it's much of a surprise). On the other hand, I'm a little disappointed that they're making us play a predefined character. We'd all become accustomed to creating our own characters, tweaking strength, dexterity, intelligence, facial structure, etc. It's going to be hard to relate to this guy, this Hawke.

Especially since the characterization via customization and Origin story was DA:O's one trick. Though I suppose since they're dropping the Origins from the title and all that, it's acceptable to get away from it. Just makes it seem significantly less interesting.

 

[Kross]

So something just hit me. When the hell did Bioware become so massive that they can simultaneously work on whats possibly the largest (in terms of development size not the game itself) and expensive MMO ever created, Mass Effect 3, AND Dragon Age 2, not to mention whatever secret projects they might be working on that we don't know about.

When Mass Effect 2 became wildly successful. Followed immediately by Dragon Age's success.

Now, I may be drunk - scratch that, I'm pretty drunk - but I definately recall Dragon Age coming out several months before Mass Effect 2.

Ahh yeah, I played Dragon Age after Mass Effect 2, so got the dates mixed up. I'd still say that ME2 was what really pushed them into the "Money hat" category though.