Hopes for Dragon Age III

[spartandude]

- Fix the combat system. I'm not having fun with DA2 combats.
- More customization options. I liked tinkering with companion armors etc. in DA:O.
- Ability to choose race & different origin stories, like in DA:O.
- "Deeper" character interactions. The discussions in DA2 feel awkward and superficial and I'm not sure if I like the discussion mechanic used in the game.
- the PC doesn't have to be voiced.
- Better romance options for "Fem-Hawke" (or whatever the main character is going to be called in DA3). As I understand, the options Fem-Hawke has in DA2 are all quite moody/emo and I prefer Alistair type of LJs.
- Larger setting. I hear rummaging around Kirkwall gets a bit boring after a while.

Yeah... I guess I could summarize it by saying, go back to DA:O type of story/gameplay. Duh.

From what little the devs have shown (and I mean they are seriously being tight-lipped) here is what I have gathered. Keep in mind that some of this info may become outdated.

-They are tweaking the combat system to require more teamwork between you and your squad. Everything will be more strategic.
-Armor has been shown to have multiple customization options.
-Race is off the table though you can have a different origin story.
-They have said that they are making the interactions deeper, while keeping some of the things that worked well for DA2.
-The PC will most likely be voiced, though there is nothing definitive.
-Nothing on romances
-The setting has been been shown to possibly take place in Orlais, Nevarra, Ferelden, and maybe een the Tevinter Imperium. Basically most of the known world.

They also said the Mass Effect 3's ending would have 18 drastically different out comes and wouldnt have an ABC like choice.

also nearly all developers say they will have deep gameplay and they'll have this and that and such.

until we see any gameplay im not holding out hope and even if this early game play isnt any good i will lose all interest. you can argue that isnt fair (and youd probably be right) but im desperately trying to find good qualities in bioware that the next bad thing from them may just kill my faith in them

 

[Chris Tian]

From what little the devs have shown (and I mean they are seriously being tight-lipped) here is what I have gathered. Keep in mind that some of this info may become outdated.

-They are tweaking the combat system to require more teamwork between you and your squad. Everything will be more strategic.
-Armor has been shown to have multiple customization options.
-Race is off the table though you can have a different origin story.
-They have said that they are making the interactions deeper, while keeping some of the things that worked well for DA2.
-The PC will most likely be voiced, though there is nothing definitive.
-Nothing on romances
-The setting has been been shown to possibly take place in Orlais, Nevarra, Ferelden, and maybe een the Tevinter Imperium. Basically most of the known world.

Ooh! Dare I say this sounds quite promising. I could deal with not having different playable races, if the human origin stories are varied and interesting enough. And I hope they are going to ditch the DA2 dialogue wheel (I doubt they will but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed). All in all, I would be happy with those changes.

While thats sounds good, i developed the habbit of taking the promises devs make for their games with a HUGE spoon of salt.
The dialogue wheel in DA2 didnt really work for me either, strangely enough i had no problems with it in the ME series, but in DA2 Hawke would often say something that was not at all what the wheel indicatet and i wantet to say. And what they tried to do with these three different personalitys, the good, the bad and the witty didn't sit well with me.

 

[votemarvel]

I fully confess that I want the game to be more like Dragon Age: Origins and not the Dragon Effect that was DAII.

Things like the dialogue wheel simply didn't belong in Dragon Age, it needs to get its identity back instead of trying to copy its sci-fi kin.

Basically I want Dragon Age III to be more like Dragon Age: Origins and less like Mass Effect.

"i fancy you" sorry captcha, I don't feel the same way.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

More RTS/TBS less crappy action game knock off like ME2/DA2....

 

[CloudAtlas]

Seriously what the heck is the frostbite engine is going to be used for? Destructible terrain for the bedroom scenes?

What about good graphics in general? With less technical issues than the older titles with their Eclipse engine had? Hi-res textures, credible faces, perhaps even really atmospheric fog and weather effects - that's what I would like to see.

Wow, is the angry SoIaF Fanmob allready at your doorstep ready to drag you out and quarter you?

Not yet, apparently. Perhaps they understand, in contrast to many other fandoms, that you can like something even if you don't like everything about it?

And i think you are right that there is much need for more storys in rpgs that cant be reduced to "save world from evil". I hope they get this done with DA3, i would also like if there is not one clearly good and one clearly evil side. In DA2 i actually felt that both, mages and templars, had a point, that is before everybody went nuts and startet do turn into crazy ass monsters.

I don't want to come across as dismissive, saying all these classical stories of good vs. evil are boring or something. I enjoyed a lot of those stories myself. But in order to impress me with such a story, after having witnessed many similar ones before, a game or a movie needs to tell such a story really well. And it would be nice if such a story would also have some deeper theme, some deeper meaning(s). Mass Effect 3, for instance, had both, and it was executed well (to my mind). Dragon Age 3 will probably have such a theme, so that's already something.

 

[ChiliNoMore]

I purchased DA2 about a week ago and I'm now 5 hours into the game. Based on my first impressions, I would like to see the following improvements in DA3:
- Fix the combat system. I'm not having fun with DA2 combats.
- More customization options. I liked tinkering with companion armors etc. in DA:O.
- Ability to choose race & different origin stories, like in DA:O.
- "Deeper" character interactions. The discussions in DA2 feel awkward and superficial and I'm not sure if I like the discussion mechanic used in the game.
- the PC doesn't have to be voiced.

Based on the things I've heard about DA2, I also have to add:
- Better romance options for "Fem-Hawke" (or whatever the main character is going to be called in DA3). As I understand, the options Fem-Hawke has in DA2 are all quite moody/emo and I prefer Alistair type of LJs.
- Larger setting. I hear rummaging around Kirkwall gets a bit boring after a while.

Yeah... I guess I could summarize it by saying, go back to DA:O type of story/gameplay. Duh.

you probably won't have any of your requests fulfilled... instead you'll get a even more dumbed down version of da 2.
who's to blame? EA and their usual approach to sales successes before they step in, everytime they do a sequel for an original game from a studio they bought they have the power to make it way worse than the first one... without improving anything from the first game and even worse, removing everything that made the first one appealing and a success in behalf of making a game for a "wider audience".

so, lower your hopes and start couting the days to "dragon age 3: generics aventures from homoerotic heroes" + day one DLC "DRAGONS!!!"

 

[darlarosa]

After the one two punch of Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3, I've kinda given up hope on Bioware as a whole. Maybe it'll be good. Hell, I WANT it to be good. But I'm not going to kid myself.

Because a 10-15 minute ending sequence dismisses the entire game?

I'll still probably check out DA3, but the information that again you can't choose race and are forced to play human is already a bad start.

I am actually hoping i get to be Hawke again, otherwise DA2 would be completly futile and the only important part would be a short summary of the last act: Templars and Mages in Kirkwall went batshit crazy and kicked off a big ass war.

Bioware basically said each game will be new individuals significant to the DA universe in that period. Based on leaks and other things you will probably be a new character possibly interacting with your Warden and Hawke. I have a feeling you will be able to import your character and you may run into your warden who will remain silent and Hawke whose personality will reflect your choices in DA2, or you will run into them indirectly(letters, their companions, etc.)


I like the voice protagonist in DA because they've created very clear distinctions in subtle ways between the games. The art design change I find interesting because it kind of reflected the fact that we aren't watching a real gritty thing in Thedas like in DA:O, but listening to Varric. More so than that the DA:O story focuses not so much on Your Character The Warden, but your character one of the wardens, which just makes narrative and structural sense because of how that organization is and how the story is written.


I am just hoping we do not have to play a Templar character, because I like playing mages and I always side mages over Templars. Other than that I am very hopeful that EA and Bioware have learned their lessons. DA2 wasn't a bad game it just wasn't what I expect from Bioware. The saddest thing about the game is how rushed you can tell it is because, from a writing perspective the game is half a draft and an outline, but they did not have time to finish it. From the perspective of a long time Bioware fan DA2 feels almost exactly like Baldur's Gate: Throne of Bhaal did except TOB had the basis of being just an expansion pack. TOB was rushed so it's a VERY limited expansion. David Gaider and others on the team actually helped write some mods, or gave Baldur's Gate modders notes and info on quests and mechanics they had to leave out. I guarantee you if this was the early 2000 and DA2 was only on PC the same thing would have happened with DA2

 

[Uhura]

While thats sounds good, i developed the habbit of taking the promises devs make for their games with a HUGE spoon of salt. The dialogue wheel in DA2 didnt really work for me either, strangely enough i had no problems with it in the ME series, but in DA2 Hawke would often say something that was not at all what the wheel indicatet and i wantet to say. And what they tried to do with these three different personalitys, the good, the bad and the witty didn't sit well with me.

Yeah, I'm usually very skeptical when it comes to pre-release comments/hype, but in this case I feel that many of the promises do sound very sensible. It's not like they have announced that DA3 has 20 different endings and that the PC gets a pet dragon/companion in the game. So yeah, I'm cautiously optimistic about the current DA3 rumors, since they are nothing too crazy or ott.

I didn't have any trouble with the dialogue wheel in ME series either. It's strange how it seems to work just fine there but feels really wrong in the DA context. Personally, I really dislike how it encourages metagaming in DA2.

snip

Nah, I doubt they'll fuck it up completely. I think they know that they can't afford more bad press.

 

[Trinab]

I think I'm done with Bioware games. I have ignored them since Dragon Age 2. I shall put my fantasy RPG hopes into Torment: Tides of Numenera, and Project Eternity.

 

[chainguns]

Yes, clearly the problem here is that I do not share your highly cultivated tastes, just as the problem before was that "gamers" as an amorphous unit do not "realize" that good games actually align with YOUR tastes, rather than theirs.

Wow, a multi-quote, anti-elitist wall of text, that no-one on this board will be bothered to read. Wonderful post. For someone of your age you seem to be unaware that your reply turned this into a private conversation descending rapidly into the dreary world of semantics, and off topic.

But I have my superiority and to prove, so even though you are unworthy, I will reply. In my first post I said:

By then, gamers - saturated with yearly FPS rehashes - will realize that not all games have to be action, cinematic, or hack and slash.

You decided to read elitism into that ("sneering disdain", "true scotsman" etc) and go all ad-hominem in a fabulous tirade of semantics, eloquently proving that forum-abbreviated generalizations are not 100% accurate. Funnily enough, I do think that good games are those that align with my tastes. Duh? What would you have me do? Go on a forum praising games I don't like, or keeping quiet about the fact that I think 90% of releases being passive cinematic and action-centric is a shame, just to blend in with the currently prevailing wind direction? Keep quiet if I don't like the status quo of something, because to speak up would be tantamount to demanding an OBE?

All that I think gamers need to "realize" is that gameplay quality and depth is slipping, variety in releases is dropping, and visuals are improving. I don't fully get what part of this subjective opinion makes you so angry- the observation, or the idea that people should "realize" something that I have observed. What I wanted to say by "realize" but didn't want to go into a wall of text of small print, is that there is a huge AAA marketing machine that is in bed with almost all the review sites, and not everyone was playing games in the 80s like we were, so it becomes harder to "realize" certain things.

As for the "games of every variety available" - I was talking AAA, and I dare say you knew that. I know there is variety in the indie market and kickstarter is doing great (I have pumped >$400 into KS so far), but it would be nice to say a better than 90:10 action:nonaction split in AAA. Last year we got ... xcom, this year Rome II, possibly Europa Universalis IV. Now count the reflex- based games this year. PS the 90:10 is forum-speak, if the exact ratio is 87:13, please feel free to call "hyperbole" again and launch another wall of angry text.

Re "damn those people" (hair physics and cutscenes) just look at the shape and state of the AAA market. People buy what they like ('guided' by the hype machinery like the escapist), publishers make more of what they like. I look at this and observe that "people" want good graphics, shooting Russians/Muslims and little or nothing asked of them. If you look at the game shelf of your Walmart or Tesco and come to a different conclusion, then let's hear it. But don't rail against elitism and don't *sugggest* that a phrase containing the word "people", "gamers" /whatever broad brush term is inaccurate or mostly made up, by default. Because then we end up in boring, thread killing walls of text like your post and this one now.

 

[chainguns]

I really hope they don't step too far back into the DA:O roots like some people want, because I found that DA2 fixed all the problems I had with DA:O.

I seriously hope they keep the fast combat(which I still found to be fine for planning, as I could still pause and give orders).

For each DA:O problem they fixed, they created five new ones.

The fast combat is a strange thing to hope for. If you run DA:O combat on Hard without pausing your party will be dead in like 12-15 seconds real time. In DA2 if you run the combat on Hard without pausing your party will be dead in 8-10 seconds. The thing that changed most in DA2 was the movement speed and the animation speed. So whereas in Origins if you paused every nanosecond you could position the Area of Effect perfectly. In DA2 the enemy moved so fast even in a nanosecond that you could actually miss out. That game was schizophrenic - it was using a semi-turn based foundation and trying to action it up so it felt more action and less strategy.

But the main difference is the encounter design and enemy variety. In Origins, if you look at the entire 100 hour game (DLC+Awakening) the majority of battles were unique, in that the terrain, composition, boss:mob ratio, scripting, were different each time. The only way tactics slots would work was if you were playing on Normal post patch 1.2 (ie the 'new' Easy). Other than that, tactics autopilot didn't work because each case was different (that, and tactics were a little buggy).

Also in Origins, the enemies had all the abilities that the player had (stun, knockdown, rogue stuff like bleed, templar stuff like smite, grab, spells, elemental attacks) whereas in DA2 they were more or less functionally equal. You almost didn't need to read the description of the enemies, just hit your abilities as soon as they were off cooldown.

On the PC you also got the removal of top down cam. So all the "think like a general, fight like a spartan" marketing was lies, much like the majority of pre-ME3 developer statements.

The only thing salvageable from DA2 combat is the CCC cross class combos, but even then you need to eliminate the awful spawn mechanic to make it work - otherwise you end up with a new wave in the middle of a fight and three of your four party members were simultaneously on cooldown and with low stamina.

Laidlaw already said combat will be fast (exact words were "not lardy style like Origins"), so seems like you should be happy.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

After what I've heard of the game it sounds like a bit of a clusterfuck. Like they are trying to do too much. 'We are looking at Skyrim' WAT why?

I'm hoping it will be a nice balance between DA:O's call back to Baldur's Gate and DA2's effort at improving on that without DA2's mistakes.

We don't all get what we want though.

Biggest thing I like is that they are using the Battlefield engine so it should look exponentially prettier than the last two games. (The hands used to really bother me)

I won't be buying DA3 until I've seen some player feedback that's for sure.

 

[Caiphus]

After what I've heard of the game it sounds like a bit of a clusterfuck. Like they are trying to do too much. 'We are looking at Skyrim' WAT why?

Because Skyrim sold silly amounts of copies, was a commercial success, attracted thousands of loyal, rabid followers (including my sexy self), and was critically acclaimed.
Almost everything DA2 wasn't. It makes PERFECT sense!

Listen, boss, there was a game two years ago that succeeded on almost every front. It's also, on a surface level, rather similar to our Dragon Age franchise. Would you rather we make DA3 more like that game, or less like that game?

And I must admit, thinking of DA3 being more like Skyrim made me more than a little excited. It shouldn't have made my heart rate increase by quite as much as it did. But, well, we all have our weaknesses.

Could turn out to be shit in the end. Hope it doesn't.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

After what I've heard of the game it sounds like a bit of a clusterfuck. Like they are trying to do too much. 'We are looking at Skyrim' WAT why?

Because Skyrim sold silly amounts of copies, was a commercial success, attracted thousands of loyal, rabid followers (including my sexy self), and was critically acclaimed.
Almost everything DA2 wasn't. It makes PERFECT sense!

Listen, boss, there was a game two years ago that succeeded on almost every front. It's also, on a surface level, rather similar to our Dragon Age franchise. Would you rather we make DA3 more like that game, or less like that game?

And I must admit, thinking of DA3 being more like Skyrim made me more than a little excited. It shouldn't have made my heart rate increase by quite as much as it did. But, well, we all have our weaknesses.

Could turn out to be shit in the end. Hope it doesn't.

To me it's just like someone saying 'We wanted to breed the perfect dog so we took a good long look at grumpy cat'

As much as I love Skyrim it's nothing like Dragon Age. It just frightens and confuses me.

 

[Caiphus]

To me it's just like someone saying 'We wanted to breed the perfect dog so we took a good long look at grumpy cat'

As much as I love Skyrim it's nothing like Dragon Age. It just frightens and confuses me.

To a marketing executive who doesn't play many games, Skyrim and Dragon Age are almost identical, I'd imagine.

And like I said, the idea of making an Elder Scrolls game in the Dragon Age universe makes me sweat, ostensibly for a much different reason than yourself.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

To me it's just like someone saying 'We wanted to breed the perfect dog so we took a good long look at grumpy cat'

As much as I love Skyrim it's nothing like Dragon Age. It just frightens and confuses me.

To a marketing executive who doesn't play many games, Skyrim and Dragon Age are almost identical, I'd imagine.

And like I said, the idea of making an Elder Scrolls game in the Dragon Age universe makes me sweat, ostensibly for a much different reason than yourself.

Maybe I'm just too negative but I have this horrible image of this frankenstein game that is trying to do too much.

If they got it right and it was like Dragon Age storyline and conversations with Skyrim's world then that would be extremely sexy. Like a modern day Baldur's Gate.

That just seems to good to be true though.

 

[Caiphus]

Maybe I'm just too negative but I have this horrible image of this frankenstein game that is trying to do too much.

If they got it right and it was like Dragon Age storyline and conversations with Skyrim's world then that would be extremely sexy. Like a modern day Baldur's Gate.

That just seems to good to be true though.

Well it's always practical to set expectations slightly low. I know I'm going to be in for a nasty shock if DA3 turns out to be a flop. I won't pre-order though. Fuq dat

I would absolutely agree with you if Bioware tried to get this one through on a similarly Spartan development time to DA2. Creating an open world in a year would be madness, and absolutely doomed to fail.
And Bioware have been on a disappointing roll recently, so it could still fail. I suppose it's anyone's guess at the moment.

But it's been a little while longer in development, and I'm hopeful that Bioware has learned some hard lessons. It would be a welcome return to form, at any rate.

 

[CloudAtlas]

Maybe I'm just too negative but I have this horrible image of this frankenstein game that is trying to do too much.

If they got it right and it was like Dragon Age storyline and conversations with Skyrim's world then that would be extremely sexy. Like a modern day Baldur's Gate.

That just seems to good to be true though.

I don't think designing areas that are significantly more open, and more persistent, than in DA:O and DA2 is a fruit that is hanging that high. I mean, the levels in DA:O and DA2 were ridiculously small and confined. So, yea, BioWare better take a damn long look at Skyrim. But I agree, going full open-world might be a bad idea. BioWare has just no experience with that, and it's not that easy to do - just ask Bethesda. I'd rather have them focussing on getting combat and story right.

 

[ex275w]

Hopes for DA3:
* A better combat system that is basically a quicker version of the one on the first game. DA 2 had awful balance in combat and in general took longer than the one in the first game at the same difficulties.
* Less "snarky" dialogue, every time I accidentally chose a "snarky" dialogue in DA2 (because I thopught it would be the best option) I wanted to punch Hawke.
* Either ends the story definitely or advances it significantly, setting up a final conclusion.
* Choices that matter, frankly the choices in DA2 were basically choosing Pepsi or Coca Cola. Choices in Dragon Age: Origins reflected more who you are.
* Great allies who don't annoy me.
* Having a Dog as a companion.

Reality of DA3:
Either it's gonna end up being a Skyrim rip-off or Dragon Age 2: 2 and the story won't advance one iota and proceed to end up having a sequel hook.