Dragon Age Designer Says DLC Not Meant to Rip Off Players

[Amnestic]

Mass Effect, Bioware's last RPG, didn't have storage chests, and ME had a limit to it's inventory space as well.

Only downside with ME's inventory system (speaking as 360 copy, dunno about the PC) was that to get rid of stuff you had to endlessly omni-gel things which took forever due to the constant "Are you sure you want to gel this stuff?" popups.

They could have fixed it with a "Gel All" button. That's all they needed and it would've been perfect.

 

[scotth266]

Mass Effect, Bioware's last RPG, didn't have storage chests, and ME had a limit to it's inventory space as well.

Only downside with ME's inventory system (speaking as 360 copy, dunno about the PC) was that to get rid of stuff you had to endlessly omni-gel things which took forever due to the constant "Are you sure you want to gel this stuff?" popups.

They could have fixed it with a "Gel All" button. That's all they needed and it would've been perfect.

I sold everything, since gel was useless to me.

So I got like, a bazillion-gajillion credits, but I didn't need them, because I had the best equipment in the game by then.

Which reminds me, Bring Down The Sky is totally worth it, just because you can get some goddamn Quarian armor. Tali was getting KOed a little too often before that point for my tastes...

 

[Amnestic]

Mass Effect, Bioware's last RPG, didn't have storage chests, and ME had a limit to it's inventory space as well.

Only downside with ME's inventory system (speaking as 360 copy, dunno about the PC) was that to get rid of stuff you had to endlessly omni-gel things which took forever due to the constant "Are you sure you want to gel this stuff?" popups.

They could have fixed it with a "Gel All" button. That's all they needed and it would've been perfect.

I sold everything, since gel was useless to me.

So I got like, a bazillion-gajillion credits, but I didn't need them, because I had the best equipment in the game by then.

Which reminds me, Bring Down The Sky is totally worth it, just because you can get some goddamn Quarian armor. Tali was getting KOed a little too often before that point for my tastes...

I found Quarian Colossus IX in some random Malfunctioning Object. I had never even used Tali on that playthrough. It does, I think, highlight an issue with the Mass Effect random drop system in that you can find oodles of armour only usable by one character (any Krogan, Turian or Quarian armour goes here) even if you never actually used them in a single fight while your main team could still be using their starting armour simply because the RNG decided that you don't deserve any of this shit.

Also, my uni network neither lets me use Steam, nor Xbox Live - or any online games (beyond browser Flash games and the like) for that matter.

It annoys me to no end, especially since Steam won't boot without updating itself and it can't update without the ports opening meaning that even though I have L4D installed on my PC I can't bloody boot it up because Steam auto-closes itself when it realises it can't update.

>_<

 

[scotth266]

Mass Effect, Bioware's last RPG, didn't have storage chests, and ME had a limit to it's inventory space as well.

Only downside with ME's inventory system (speaking as 360 copy, dunno about the PC) was that to get rid of stuff you had to endlessly omni-gel things which took forever due to the constant "Are you sure you want to gel this stuff?" popups.

They could have fixed it with a "Gel All" button. That's all they needed and it would've been perfect.

I sold everything, since gel was useless to me.

So I got like, a bazillion-gajillion credits, but I didn't need them, because I had the best equipment in the game by then.

Which reminds me, Bring Down The Sky is totally worth it, just because you can get some goddamn Quarian armor. Tali was getting KOed a little too often before that point for my tastes...

I found Quarian Colossus IX in some random Malfunctioning Object.

You lucky son of a gun. Quarian armor is the rarest kind in the game: I myself only found two suits total. I think Turian stuff comes after that, and Krogan is the most common non-human armor.

My uni network loves Steam and XBL, but hates Games For Windows Live. Quite the annoyance, especially given my recent purchase of Batman:AA for the PC...

Did you try uninstalling Steam and re-downloading it, maybe? Or try going through a router: that's how I temporarily managed to get GFWL to work here, by mooching off of someone else's wireless.

 

[Joeshie]

Best thing you can do people is to not buy the DLC people. Send a message that we don't want that shit.

But yeah, I'm very disappointed that it was released as DLC right after day one. What's next? Buy a game for $20 and each quest costs you $1 to play?

 

[Trotgar]

Because it was made after the game was finished.

So it's impossible to add the content in the game which wasn't released. What, did they make a vow or something that they wouldn't touch the finished game before the release?

 

[Trotgar]

Mass Effect, Bioware's last RPG, didn't have storage chests, and ME had a limit to it's inventory space as well.

Only downside with ME's inventory system (speaking as 360 copy, dunno about the PC) was that to get rid of stuff you had to endlessly omni-gel things which took forever due to the constant "Are you sure you want to gel this stuff?" popups.

They could have fixed it with a "Gel All" button. That's all they needed and it would've been perfect.

I think the inventory system is just the same on the PC which isn't a good thing, because it's designed for the Xbox, so on PC's it's very slow and unintuitive.

But I still love that game.

 

[Camarilla]

Because it was made after the game was finished.

So it's impossible to add the content in the game which wasn't released. What, did they make a vow or something that they wouldn't touch the finished game before the release?

Yes, actually. It's called a content deadline, after which point you are not allowed to add anything else, and you move on to optimisation and testing.

 

[Sevre]

I see, please point out the reason [for the day one launch dates] in the following paragraph:

snip

As written, EA had nothing to do with the contents of the DLC. Please note that content has nothing to do with release dates. You really should read before you resort to ALL CAPS.

As for the other point, it's not game breaking to have a storage chest is it? In fact it's just standard to have a storage chest in a RPG. Hell I can't think of a RPG without one.

It wasn't in that paragraph. It was the bolded section posted by a previous user:

Perhaps the more relevant question is - why still choose to launch it day 1 then?

There are a lot of good reasons for this, otherwise we wouldn't have done it. Suffice it to say that it was not a decision made lightly, but I still believe it is the right one for DA even if it means taking a few lumps in the meantime for it.

For the sake of brevity, let me reverse the question. Why delay it?

Sure, the easy thing would have been to artificially just sit on the release of these for a few weeks. But then, what would be the right time? 1 week? 2, 4, 6? More importantly, and honestly now - what would have been the benefit for fans that might want DLC in doing this?

Those are the reasons Bioware gave for releasing the DLC on day one. You can either accept them, or go with your conspiracy theories.

I have asked several people with the game about the inventory system: not one of them has yet complained about a lack of space.

Mass Effect, Bioware's last RPG, didn't have storage chests, and ME had a limit to it's inventory space as well.

If you've actually read that paragraph, they haven't given a reason at all. They've answered the question with a loaded question. Once again you can't seem to grasp that I'm not complaining about the inventory system I'm complaining about why should they make people pay for a storage chest rather than release it in a free content patch?

 

[Trotgar]

Because it was made after the game was finished.

So it's impossible to add the content in the game which wasn't released. What, did they make a vow or something that they wouldn't touch the finished game before the release?

Yes, actually. It's called a content deadline, after which point you are not allowed to add anything else, and you move on to optimisation and testing.

Is that when it's got it's ratings 'n stuff?

 

[Amnestic]

Because it was made after the game was finished.

So it's impossible to add the content in the game which wasn't released. What, did they make a vow or something that they wouldn't touch the finished game before the release?

Yes, actually. It's called a content deadline, after which point you are not allowed to add anything else, and you move on to optimisation and testing.

Is that when it's got it's ratings 'n stuff?

If you mean reviews, I do believe that the early copies sent to reviewers are the first ones that get optimised, but don't take my word on that.

It's just a friggin' inventory system, it's not like they are trying to simulate realistic water physics or create perfect path finding for the AI. They could have just copy+pasted most of the code for the player inventory, so this sounds more like they just forgot to do it.

Oh yes, this world renowned, 14 years old RPG development studio just 'forgot' to 'copy+paste' some code. Forgive me if I don't take your post seriously, I'm having trouble because it reeks of silly.

Oh yes, this world renowned, 14 years old RPG development studio just can't make a simple inventory system. Forgive me if I don't take your post seriously, your retarded.

Can't? Of course they can. Or did you miss the whole point of Watcher's Keep? They just chose not to because it would take too long and clearly wasn't a high priority on their list of things to put into the game before the deadline. They wanted to, they probably even had part of the code done, but they had to scrap it from the main game because that's what happens when you don't work on Blizzard/Valve Time[sup](TM)[/sup]

Didn't you read Virgil's post on page 1?

Edit: Also, 'your retarded'? By Thor, the irony in here is delicious.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

I am going to have to save up for this and the DLC. Damn...

The game itself with no DLC's is 60 freaking hours. It will probably take at least 1 or 2 weeks to finish the game unless you're going for a hardcore 3 day no sleep, no food playthrough.

So has you can see, there's more than enough content even without the DLC. Just get the DLC next month, no need to deprave yourself any more from the great experience that Dragon Age is.

EDIT: The official Dragon Age: Origins website says over 100 hours of gameplay. Really, just go for it.

Pretty much my pont of wiew, there is bond to be enough gameplay to stop you caring.
But puuting a storage chest in DLC does seem to be pushing it.

 

[Galletea]

They don't want to rip us off?
Yeah right, pull the other one.

 

[veloper]

It kind of strange that gamers feel ripped off when you get more than an hour per $ on just 1 playthrough of the vanilla game. Nowadays you rarely get 20 hours for a singleplayer campaign.

DA is a very good deal provided you like this game genre. You don't need the wardenskeep DLC to play DA.

 

[darthsquizzo]

The purchasing of DLC is not mandatory

I like this guy.

 

[sanzo]

It kind of strange that gamers feel ripped off when you get more than an hour per $ on just 1 playthrough of the vanilla game. Nowadays you rarely get 20 hours for a singleplayer campaign.

DA is a very good deal provided you like this game genre. You don't need the wardenskeep DLC to play DA.

QFT

seriously, people need to stop complaining about price when the game is as long as it is

 

[Amnestic]

Edit: Also, 'your retarded'? By Thor, the irony in here is delicious.

Anyway... the point is, whatever reason they chose to exclude the thing, it wasn't anything to do with the code.

I wouldn't normally pick up on you screwing up the your/you're error, but when placed next to an insult of my intelligence I just can't help myself.

Actually, it might have everything to do with the code - specifically how long it took to write, debug, perfect and troubleshoot in comparison to other things which had a higher priority.