So, regarding the recently released Dragon Age II, someone close to me posted the following letter in the official bioware forum. With his consent, I'd like to share said letter with the escapist, and discuss the changes put forward here.
Original post: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6501494
Hello there, ladies and gentlemen.
I appreciate the fact you guys are probably quite busy folks, and the chances that you'll even read this are slim, but there's no harm in trying. First of all, let me congratulate you to a job well done. Don't mind the crowd of haters investing even this very forum - Dragon age 2 is a great game, way ahead of the average rpg released in this day and age. I just finished my third playthrough, and I can't say I regret spending the past few days this way, even at the cost of some hours of sleep.
However the brighter a thing shines, the better you can make out the flaws, however small or insignificant they may be. The two that personally rubbed me the most, i will address here. Maybe I'm too far outside the target demographic, maybe some changes would require far more work then I think they'd do - if that's the case, feel free to disregard my criticism. Should you be able to use any of this, to improve future products, all the better.
1) The massive disconnection between cutscenes and gameplay
Now, between a rich, interesting and well crafted world, interesting characters, and a far above average narrative, the Dragon age games could be, and at times are, extremely immersive. Said immersion however, is hard to sustain outside the dialogues for a number of reasons.
This starts with minor things - why must almost every single weapon in the game look like it was stolen straight from the Ogrimmar auction house for oversized weaponry? The very first, most basic two handed blade you get is the size of a ski, and well beyond what any person this side of the hulk could comfortably swing. On that same note, why do all the weapons have to fly half a meter away from the characters back? It doesn't fix all the clipping issues, whereas, in my mind anyway, adding sheath-models to every model of armor would fix both the clipping issues, and the blank floaty weapons thing. And why is no one on the street bothered by me fighting, even when using (blood)magic? Offduty companions participate in combats (good work guys) so it's possible.
The worst offender however, is the combat. You've tried to make it more involving in the second installment, and please ignore the flak you're getting for it, it's a step in the right direction. It's just way too small a step. Real combat is a frantic, hectic, desperate thing. Real combat doesn't happen against fifty bandits every steps, all of which can conjure up nigh unlimited reeinforcements presumably directly from the fade. Thing is, it's no multiplayer game, so why bother balancing?
Make the combat skill based, involve the environment (flames, spikes, holes etc). Make the combat hectic, and hard, so every battle even one on one, is a risk. Make the combat avoidable. Most conflicts that don't involve the darkspawn, could be solved by diplomacy, or by talking someone else into fighting for you. Give us that option. On that same note - make magic as powerful as it is in the cutscenes, but make using it risky, both due to the risk of attracting demons in your dreams, and through risk of being discovered by or sold to the templars (Or make me kill/bribe/convince potential witnesses). Combat is dangerous, and any sane person, in any day and age, tries to avoid it. That's how my character is depicted in the cutscenes, and why can't I play exactly that, with combat being a great risk, everytime I do not manage or wish to avoid it .
Fun in a singleplayer rpg, at least for me, comes from immersion, from experiencing the world, and the gameplay that dragon age offers me is much more suited to a mmo, then an narrative experience. Up to including yellow exclamation marks for quest givers. Gameplay and Story shouldn't be two different, seperated things. The story is your strong point, so let the gameplay be dictated by what the story demands, rather then making them seperately.
2) The Railroading
Now, it's difficult to address this point without spoilering. The route the story took, focussing on a more personal experience of an individual, rather then some chosen one, that's great work, I like it. But you made one massive step back. In Origins, you offered me setpieces, to assemble my own story. Who ruled the kingdom, who ruled the provinces, who lived or died, and how was the archdemon defeated- all decisions left in my hand. And that worked great. Why was that system abandoned for Dragon Age 2? Suddenly, none of the decisions I make matter anymore, to the point where it feels like the game is mocking me.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against railroading in general. If it fits the story, go ahead and do it. But if you must, don't pretend you leave the choice up to me. It's perfectly fine if you want a certain ending, to set up the third installment. But if you want to, do not leave me the choice to side with certain factions, and actively contradict the desired ending. And unfortunately, it extends to pretty much every single decision I make in the game. The one that annoyed me personally the most, was regarding a certain character, that either dies, or gets taken away some other way, with absolutely no chance of keeping them. I cared about that character. Not from a gameplay but from a roleplaying standpoint. The Hawke I was playing would've gladly fled the city, or taken on any foe to keep and protect that character. Why can't I? It'd have been easy, to allow for such a decision and move the playerhome to darktown, or some cave outside the city. And you passed up some great chances here - why not make my behavior count? If a mage I control is forced to expose too much of their talent, they get taken away by the chantry. If my decisions are too risky, and I lack the fighting skill to back them up, then partymembers die. Such features would greatly add to the immersion and the feeling of the game, and give me a much greater feeling of accomplishment, then some bossfight or new gear.
Bottom line is, whether to involve gameplay or not - let me change things that can potentially greatly upset me, like loosing a character, and if you must railroad me, do not pretend I had any say in the matter - it just makes my efforts feel pointless. (In fact, getting said character back near the end of the game, was the single most statisfying thing that happened to me in all three playthroughs together).
As said above, this is but my own humble opinion. Maybe it's shared, maybe it's not. Maybe you'll ignore that, but think of me as posting this for the off chance that it might be helpful, and that it might aid you in enhancing any further installments in this series. I'll gladly play them regardless, but still...
I appreciate the fact you guys are probably quite busy folks, and the chances that you'll even read this are slim, but there's no harm in trying. First of all, let me congratulate you to a job well done. Don't mind the crowd of haters investing even this very forum - Dragon age 2 is a great game, way ahead of the average rpg released in this day and age. I just finished my third playthrough, and I can't say I regret spending the past few days this way, even at the cost of some hours of sleep.
However the brighter a thing shines, the better you can make out the flaws, however small or insignificant they may be. The two that personally rubbed me the most, i will address here. Maybe I'm too far outside the target demographic, maybe some changes would require far more work then I think they'd do - if that's the case, feel free to disregard my criticism. Should you be able to use any of this, to improve future products, all the better.
1) The massive disconnection between cutscenes and gameplay
Now, between a rich, interesting and well crafted world, interesting characters, and a far above average narrative, the Dragon age games could be, and at times are, extremely immersive. Said immersion however, is hard to sustain outside the dialogues for a number of reasons.
This starts with minor things - why must almost every single weapon in the game look like it was stolen straight from the Ogrimmar auction house for oversized weaponry? The very first, most basic two handed blade you get is the size of a ski, and well beyond what any person this side of the hulk could comfortably swing. On that same note, why do all the weapons have to fly half a meter away from the characters back? It doesn't fix all the clipping issues, whereas, in my mind anyway, adding sheath-models to every model of armor would fix both the clipping issues, and the blank floaty weapons thing. And why is no one on the street bothered by me fighting, even when using (blood)magic? Offduty companions participate in combats (good work guys) so it's possible.
The worst offender however, is the combat. You've tried to make it more involving in the second installment, and please ignore the flak you're getting for it, it's a step in the right direction. It's just way too small a step. Real combat is a frantic, hectic, desperate thing. Real combat doesn't happen against fifty bandits every steps, all of which can conjure up nigh unlimited reeinforcements presumably directly from the fade. Thing is, it's no multiplayer game, so why bother balancing?
Make the combat skill based, involve the environment (flames, spikes, holes etc). Make the combat hectic, and hard, so every battle even one on one, is a risk. Make the combat avoidable. Most conflicts that don't involve the darkspawn, could be solved by diplomacy, or by talking someone else into fighting for you. Give us that option. On that same note - make magic as powerful as it is in the cutscenes, but make using it risky, both due to the risk of attracting demons in your dreams, and through risk of being discovered by or sold to the templars (Or make me kill/bribe/convince potential witnesses). Combat is dangerous, and any sane person, in any day and age, tries to avoid it. That's how my character is depicted in the cutscenes, and why can't I play exactly that, with combat being a great risk, everytime I do not manage or wish to avoid it .
Fun in a singleplayer rpg, at least for me, comes from immersion, from experiencing the world, and the gameplay that dragon age offers me is much more suited to a mmo, then an narrative experience. Up to including yellow exclamation marks for quest givers. Gameplay and Story shouldn't be two different, seperated things. The story is your strong point, so let the gameplay be dictated by what the story demands, rather then making them seperately.
2) The Railroading
Now, it's difficult to address this point without spoilering. The route the story took, focussing on a more personal experience of an individual, rather then some chosen one, that's great work, I like it. But you made one massive step back. In Origins, you offered me setpieces, to assemble my own story. Who ruled the kingdom, who ruled the provinces, who lived or died, and how was the archdemon defeated- all decisions left in my hand. And that worked great. Why was that system abandoned for Dragon Age 2? Suddenly, none of the decisions I make matter anymore, to the point where it feels like the game is mocking me.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against railroading in general. If it fits the story, go ahead and do it. But if you must, don't pretend you leave the choice up to me. It's perfectly fine if you want a certain ending, to set up the third installment. But if you want to, do not leave me the choice to side with certain factions, and actively contradict the desired ending. And unfortunately, it extends to pretty much every single decision I make in the game. The one that annoyed me personally the most, was regarding a certain character, that either dies, or gets taken away some other way, with absolutely no chance of keeping them. I cared about that character. Not from a gameplay but from a roleplaying standpoint. The Hawke I was playing would've gladly fled the city, or taken on any foe to keep and protect that character. Why can't I? It'd have been easy, to allow for such a decision and move the playerhome to darktown, or some cave outside the city. And you passed up some great chances here - why not make my behavior count? If a mage I control is forced to expose too much of their talent, they get taken away by the chantry. If my decisions are too risky, and I lack the fighting skill to back them up, then partymembers die. Such features would greatly add to the immersion and the feeling of the game, and give me a much greater feeling of accomplishment, then some bossfight or new gear.
Bottom line is, whether to involve gameplay or not - let me change things that can potentially greatly upset me, like loosing a character, and if you must railroad me, do not pretend I had any say in the matter - it just makes my efforts feel pointless. (In fact, getting said character back near the end of the game, was the single most statisfying thing that happened to me in all three playthroughs together).
As said above, this is but my own humble opinion. Maybe it's shared, maybe it's not. Maybe you'll ignore that, but think of me as posting this for the off chance that it might be helpful, and that it might aid you in enhancing any further installments in this series. I'll gladly play them regardless, but still...
Original post: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6501494
