So Dragon Age 3.... No Pressure?

[Sightless Wisdom]

You know, despite the technically lacklustre experience that was Dragon Age II, I still enjoyed the story and character interactions as well as the combat to a fair degree. Considering how much I loved DA:O I'm really looking forward to seeing what's going on with Morrigan and other such plot points. I don't think the Mass Effect 3 ending is that big of a deal, and personally I was pretty much fine with it for the record. So overall I guess I'm hopeful that Bioware will be able to remove the flaws from DA:II and bring back the intriguing story and character developments that we saw in DA:O to make a game worth the time and money.

 

[mirasiel]

I actually quite enjoyed Dragon Age 2 on its own merits to be honest, I liked the art design, most of the characters and once I got used to it I enjoyed the new combat controls. It wasn't without flaws but I liked the change in scope for the storyline and finding out more about the Qunari.

However ME3s frankly insulting & awful endings have damaged my 'faith' in Biowares ability to actually deliver a game now, so DA3 won't be getting any money put down on it in advance and might just get a rental instead.

Maybe not even that if we get DLC-palooza again.

 

[Aulleas123]

Here are somethings that I'd like to see in DA3:
-Legitimate Friendships with party members of the same gender. Yes, include homosexual relationships, that's great. But every time I played the game, I tried to be friends with Fenris and/or Anders and I never really get as high as other characters because I didn't feel like teasing or flirting with them every other conversation. DA1 handled this very well with Zevron (who was kinda a weak character, but I could actually be friendly with him) in having an initial conversation which suggested friendship without a relationship right away without it being forced.
-For that matter, have the relationships in the game actually mean something. In DA1 and 2, they felt kinda bland. In one sense, it felt like they had a single sex scene for an accomplishment, then had some slightly modified dialogue with no real problems. I understand that it shouldn't consume the entire game, but have some form of peril or realistic aspects of relationships, such as legitimate disagreements and the aspect of settling down.
-A new character, I admire the fact that they tried making a spoken character in Hawke but I feel like Hawke now has too much baggage to be running around on a new set of adventures. Again, I liked what they did with DA1 with multiple origins, if they could figure out how to do that (maybe fewer?) but with a voiced role (difficult, I know), then that'd be awesome.
-Obvious issues that they're already mentioning that they're going to fix, such as customization of characters and differentiated dungeons, if they fix these things in the slightest, it'll be an improvement from DA2.

 

[Fappy]

The farther they get away from the characters of DA II the better.

While I can agree on most counts I actually grew to like Veric. Sure, some of his jokes fell flat but at least he had a personality and felt like a real character.

To each his own. I suppose the characters of DA II could be expanded upon in the third one, but not at the expense of the cast of Origins.

I am curios to know, however; How would you describe Varics character?

Snarky and clever, always looking for a chance to cash in but not at the expense of loyalties. He's kind of got a rags to riches mentality.

 

[StormShaun]

They did the worst thing they could of done in Dragon Age 2...

NO...dual...wielding...WARRIOR!

That made me crazy, I loved that in Dragon Age Origin it seemed to give you more freedom as a weed whacking warrior.

Either then that the story made no sense at times and got me bored, the map was small and limp compared to DA:O/Awakening, the characters seemed more dull compared to DA:O and it seemed more rushed.

Still the combat was good with me. To make DA:3 perfect, make it DA:O except with DA:2 combat speed.

So...'no pressure'...nah. *Piles pressure on Bioware*

Don't make me hate you guys more~!

 

[crazyrabbits]

BW is worth more than those other stuidos. If there ever comes a time when BW are going terribly bad im sure they will fire som of the leaders and get their own people in. BW is still an asset to the game and they are only expanding the BW brand as you said yourself.

I laughed for a few seconds when I read your post. If the likes of Richard Garriott, Will Wright and Peter Molyneux couldn't stop EA from rushing out and screwing with their products, what makes you think Bioware's executive team will be any different?

You need to brush up on EA's track record. Origin Systems - created two blockbuster franchises in Ultima and Wing Commander. Turned into an online-only developer within five years of being acquired by EA. Shut down numerous surefire projects (Harry Potter Online, for instance) and cut the development budget back on Ultima VIII and IX, leaving them as buggy, unfinished messes. Shut down in 2004 after consolidating staff at EA's offices. Rebranded as buggy malware disguised as a digital distribution platform.

Westwood founded Command & Conquer - they were certainly on top of their game when EA got their hooks into them. Most of the staff quit in protest. They turned a top-down RTS into a generic first-person shooter, then canned the sequel to that game after five years of letting management run amok. Now the C&C licence has been ported over to a new Bioware division - no points on guessing how that'll turn out.

Bullfrog. Games were rushed to the shelves for the holiday season over Molyneux's repeated claims they weren't finished yet. Maxis - only saved from being shut down outright because of SimCity 3000, turned into a cash cow via The Sims, and had Spore pirated more times than any game in history because of ridiculous DRM schemes.

Every month, there's bad news coming out of Bioware. Let's put aside the mass staff dismissals and departures between ME2 and DAII (Brent Knowles, for instance, who'd been with the company as a writer since Baldur's Gate, left over EA's decision to rush the game). TOR is hemorrhaging subscribers, to the point that it's already going F2P after a year. DAII was a disappointment in sales and critical response. ME3 barely sold more units than its previous installment, even with the pre-release hype and massive marketing blitz.

EA's track record speaks for itself.

 

[Varis]

i don't see how anyone who played DA:O could even think that DA2 was anything but a pile of complete horse shit. it was worse in every conceivable way.

Easy DA1 had crappy combat.

DA2 had crappy things like the wave combat, and bosses with 1000000 health, but DA2's combat didn't put me to sleep.

My perfect Da3 would be DA1 but with DA2's combat speed.

Watching Sten take 5 seconds to swing a two handed sword isn't fun.

Not to change the topic but I actually liked the slower combat speeds of DAO, it gave the illusion that the weapons had weight and momentum. It complimented the relatively serious storyline. DA2 was too cartoony, the rogues would even flip over while attacking like they weighed nothing at all.

Talk about cartoony. The art design of the elves in DA2 was the worst offender. I hope they re-redesign them.

boxes
As mentioned above, DA1 combat "weighed" more. In general, in my opinion, DA2 as a whole (meaning everything from combat to environment) felt like made from cardboard boxes I liked the game for the most part, but that always bothered me.

 

[zacattack14]

Am I the only one who thought the art design in DA O was kinda generic, and the combat was kinda meh, it wasn't particularly engaging, the combat in DA2 was faster and more responsive, the only issue was that it was wave based, but I blame a lot of DA2's issues on it's incredibly short development time.

 

[Nimcha]

I don't think there under nearly as much pressure as you assume. Don't assume the general opinion of this site has any value to developers.

 

[Fappy]

I don't think there under nearly as much pressure as you assume. Don't assume the general opinion of this site has any value to developers.

If you've had the unfortunate pleasure of visiting the BSN anytime in the last year you'd know the Escapist is hardly what I am basing this off of. They may not take the concerns of a random gaming site seriously, but their own community had made enormous impacts on their business decisions. I would hate to be a community manager for Bioware... my blood preasure would be through the roof.

 

[crazyrabbits]

I don't think there under nearly as much pressure as you assume. Don't assume the general opinion of this site has any value to developers.

I think you'd be surprised at their willingness to keep tabs on general fan opinion.

I actually give the DA team the benefit of the doubt because of their actions after the game's release. I was surprised, after playing DAII and being underwhelmed, to see David Gaider come out publicly on the Bioware Social Network (I'm a member) and admit that the game wasn't up to spec just a month after its release. I may not agree with the direction they're intending to take the next game, and their recent announcements trumping up gameplay elements that have been a staple of RPG's for years gives me pause, but I'm looking forward to DAIII more than I am towards anything related to ME.

 

[SajuukKhar]

If you've had the unfortunate pleasure of visiting the BSN anytime in the last year you'd know the Escapist is hardly what I am basing this off of. They may not take the concerns of a random gaming site seriously, but their own community had made enormous impacts on their business decisions. I would hate to be a community manager for Bioware... my blood preasure would be through the roof.

the people of BSN wouldn't be happy if Bioware made a game that crapped solid gold bricks on demand, they would probably complain the bricks aren't shiny enough or something.

BSN has ALWAYS, since before ME1, been full of people who think everything Bioware does is the single worst thing of all time.

 

[Fappy]

If you've had the unfortunate pleasure of visiting the BSN anytime in the last year you'd know the Escapist is hardly what I am basing this off of. They may not take the concerns of a random gaming site seriously, but their own community had made enormous impacts on their business decisions. I would hate to be a community manager for Bioware... my blood preasure would be through the roof.

the people of BSN wouldn't be happy if Bioware made a game that crapped solid gold bricks on demand.

they would probably complain the bricks aren't shiny enough or something.

True, though I think Bioware's mastered the art of interpreting bitching at this point. A certain level of bitching is perfectly within their acceptable level of positive/negative feedback. If only 60% of them complain its a win.

 

[SajuukKhar]

True, though I think Bioware's mastered the art of interpreting bitching at this point. A certain level of bitching is perfectly within their acceptable level of positive/negative feedback. If only 60% of them complain its a win.

I think 60% is a tad unreasonable given how BSN is, I would put it up to 80%.

 

[Delsana]

Well, as someone who enjoyed Dragon Age II and didn't ***** about the ME3 ending. I'm sure I'll be happy with what they give us.

As someone who found mass effects 3 ending interesting i also can not wait for dragon age 3 (although with the bioware releases lately i will be avoiding this forum the moment it comes out. Since it will probably be filled with people complaining anyway.

That they will. Never have I seen such a horrible fanbase as Biowares.

You can insult us all you like.. but if you even try to deny all the lies, inaccuracies, plot destruction and plotholes, hypocrisy, and insults BioWare has given their community that stood with them for 10+ years... then you are an idiot. Yes, I insulted you, because that's what you deserve if you'll just handwave all that. Sure, you were able to suspend your disbelief with all the errors they made and the things they screwed up, congratulations and I'm glad you had fun.. but no one can say they didn't screw up if they look at the real facts.

No, not screw up, they fucked up.

 

[Singapore Sling]

Well, if Bioware takes the time, DA:3 might be a good game...
But, like a lot of people, I'll keep a close eye on reviews/first thoughts/demos and I'll not blindly purchase it like I did with DA:2.

In itself, DA:2 is not pure rubbish (except for the recycled, bland areas : I don't think I've read positive things about them).

It even did a few things right : I enjoyed the rivalry/friendship and the fast paced combat. I installed a few mods to tweak the leveling up system and the enemies strength, switch to a dual wielding rogue, and it ended up being really fun.

But some aspects of the game felt sooo half-assed like the alchemy, the crafting system or the loot drops. I mean, at that point, why bother ? It felt insulting to get some "empty stained bottle" or "moth-eaten scarf".
Oh, and the dog... Enough said.

But back to DA:III. Orlais. Might be nice. However, I pray most characters won't fake that annoying French accent. Voice acting is a strong point of Bioware's games. It would be a pity to spoil it... (Granted, my fist language is French, so, on that, I'm quite picky.)

I hope the game will use more of the lore : the Maker abandoning the world, magic being perceived as a sin or as the ultimate mind controlling weapon, Flemmeth and her master plan, so on and so forth.

 

[Fappy]

True, though I think Bioware's mastered the art of interpreting bitching at this point. A certain level of bitching is perfectly within their acceptable level of positive/negative feedback. If only 60% of them complain its a win.

I think 60% is a tad unreasonable given how BSN is, I would put it up to 80%.

I recently went on there to see how EC was being received and found a huge thread of people complaining about how there should have been an option to

Spoiler

save Thane.

I facepalmed.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I recently went on there to see how EC was being received and found a huge thread of people complaining about how there should have been an option to

Spoiler

save Thane.

I facepalmed.

BSN wouldn't be happy unless there was a way to get an ending were no one dies, yet EVERYTHING works out in the best possible way for everyone.

People complained that you couldn't save Hawk's mom in DA2, it really didn't bother me because sometimes, no matter how good you are, you just cant save everyone.

 

[Augustine]

I am neutral to the prospect of DA3. Will only purchase it after it's proven worthwhile. I have little tolerance for promises after the second installment.

 

[Delsana]

I recently went on there to see how EC was being received and found a huge thread of people complaining about how there should have been an option to

Spoiler

save Thane.

I facepalmed.

BSN wouldn't be happy unless there was a way to get an ending were no one dies yet EVERYTHING works out in the best possible way.

\

Stop insulting things you know nothing about. Also, that ending actually happens pretty often in games and movies. Also, BioWare's community for ME1 loved the sacrifices for Ashley and Kaiden.. though ME2 did the sacrifices pretty cheaply, they were still given a relative thumbs up.

You're insulting a community you don't understand and you're ignoring all that's wrong with BioWare at the same time. They did make a game that shat bricks, and those bricks had the potential to be gold.. then they decided to make some feces instead.

I will never buy another BioWare game and I followed them from the beginning. Instead, I will borrow or play them in other means just to see if they turn out of the feces path. If they do, I'll rent their games.

BioWare is full of liars, hypocrites, writers who think they know better than the rest of the entire team, and a ton of potential that was wasted and now... now it is owned by EA. Yes, EA.. which has no positive to it outside of back when they were first created.