The Skyrim/Dragon Age Baby

[Irridium]

One thing DA2 did right were it's characters. Well, most of them. Character interactions mainly. Always a joy when your party talks to each other. Or when you visit a party member, another one is already visiting.

Bethesda just doesn't seem to be good at making memorable characters. Hell, I never take companions with me in Bethesda games. They're just... not interesting at all. Though I did always have companions with me in New Vegas, usually ED-E and someone else, because Obsidian made all potential companions actually interesting with their own personalities and quest(s) and whatnot.

Spoiler: Also, is it alright if I leave this here?

 

[Candidus]

No, no, no, no, no.

Dragon Age 2? Really?

Let's see. There's Anders Cullen, the borderline plagiarized-from-Twilight brain-fart of Hamburger Helper. "I love you, but I'll hurt you, Oh, I can't control it!". Repeat ad nauseum. Moving on...

Fenris. Picked him up. Never took him with me because he's just a dirty heap of tween fodder. "Hrrrr, what they *DID* to *ME* -smoulder--smoulder-". Fuck off. Next.

Merril. The one whose story you know from start to finish the moment you see the blood magic and hear the words "but *I* can control it". Charming and boring equally.

Some Dwarf. Dashing rogue. Talks dirty with Isabella. I took him with me everywhere and still can't remember his name. Says it all.

Isabella was alright. Substantial, but not my cup of tea. A reluctant pass for Isabella.

Who else was there? The male archer. Bland as hell, was pretty much just a vessel for yet another accent. SO DIVERSE.

I actually can't remember anybody else. Still, no f'ing way on the Skyrim/DA2 combine. Dragon Age 1 and its expansion, now that'd be okay.

 

[Worr Monger]

One of my biggest problems with TES is the fact that it lacks character depth. I think TES could benefit greatly with some meaningful (optional) companions that you could choose to take with you.

Example... in Fallout: New Vegas.... I actually kept a companion around for the majority of my playthrough because they had SOME depth.. it wasn't a lot, but they weren't completely wooden. Arcade Gannon was kinda funny, and Boone was just an awesome Negative-Nancy with good aim. They were actually useful companions with some history. Also... Boone and I looked pretty awesome in our matching berets and sunglasses

My chick-bodyguard in Skyrim (that I got for becoming Thane) doesn't add anything... she's a decent distraction for enemies, but not much else... so I leave her at home... she's not interesting. Let me slap her on the ass for doing a good job and have her get angry at me or something.... Or just give the companions some side quests, or some special dialogue on things that we pass by like in Dragon Age.

I think it would make TES more immersive. I love me some Dragon Age & Elder Scrolls... taking the best of both worlds is a great idea.

 

[chaosyoshimage]

I really couldn't say it better, and I really hope something like this becomes a reality. Fallout: New Vegas is the closest I feel we've got to this, but dammit, it's not enough.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Just wait a few months, and you'll have companion mods with personal questlines and lands to be reclaimed available for free download.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Dragon Age 2 had characters? That's news to me.

 

[Agayek]

Dragon Age 2 had characters? That's news to me.

Well, DA2 had Varric (easily the best Dwarf ever) and a handful of faceless minions that occasionally said stuff that wasn't terribly interesting.

OT: I like the concept, but a DA2/Skyrim cross is a terrible, terrible thing. Mostly because DA2 is a terrible, terrible thing. I'd go into more detail there, but it would take way too long to type it all out.

Like I said though, I do agree with the base concept. Bioware's strength is characterization, while Bethesda's is world building. Bringing those together would be amazing. Obsidian got close with the companions in New Vegas, but didn't quite make it all the way. There just wasn't quite the sense of bonding you get with Bioware characters (from the good games anyway). What we'd need is Skyrim as it stands, but have there be a base of some sort that your companions hang out at, all together. A place you can go and talk to all of them easily. Then you just need to get them personalities and integrate the adoption of various companions into the main plotline(s).

 

[Azure-Supernova]

A compromise that Bethesda are capable of fulfiling: interesting companions. Whilst it was all very nice to have a nice range, they were all just model and skill swaps.

Why does Lydia have no opinion when it comes to me siding with the Stormcloaks? Why did she help me dominate Whiterun and then attack her own Jarl?

The companions are useful, they just seem so stiff. It'd be nice for Bethesda look at what Obsidian did with the companions in Fallout New Vegas and learn from the positive fan reactions. I always pictured Lydia as semi-unwilling but honour-bound housecarl for the short time that she lived.

 

[Zom-B]

On one level this is an intriguing idea. I'd definitely take an Elder Scrolls game with the ability to use a 1 - 4 player party, with tactical turn based combat more like DA:O, but with the RPG elements and environments of Bethesda's games.

Definitely Bioware has the leg up on characters, even if many of them are a bit stereotypical. I haven't played DA2, and may never, but DA:O while mostly good, had a horribly cliched storyline. I'm sorry, but war with some sort of evil darkspawn is about as done the whole "chosen one" schtick. Oh wait, DA:O had that element too. Sigh. Obviously Skyrim uses the chosen one trope as well, but it's soooo heavy handed with the Dragonborn crap that I can't even bring myself to work on the main quest. The only, only reason, to work on the main quest is to activate the dragons so that you can kill them for their souls to unlock the other shouts. It seems that they don't appear unless you advance the storyline. I have still only, with two different characters, fought the first dragon at the watchtower, until just the other day when I did the next leg of the quest at Kynesgrove. Other than that, dragons do not show up in my world.

Anyway, I'm not a fan of the Dragon Age style of game, and Skyrim has started moving Bethesda in that direction. A amalgamation of the two might be just what the doctor ordered.

On the other hand, can't we just have a throwback Neverwinter Nights style RPG experience with sweet graphics, lots of characters to choose and tactical, turn based combat? Anyone? Please?

 

[babinro]

A Bio-thesda RPG would be the bee's knees.

Personally I'd like to see a dynamic open world concept with environmental consequence. Sandbox games are careful in that they allow you to do whatever you want, whenever you want to. I'd like to see them experiment with a world that changes based on my action and inaction.

Below are a couple examples:

My character is STILL the focus, but if I ignore someone's pleas for help, then that issue will either escalate to something worse, or be resolved by another party (NPC). It would be interesting to be a high ranking member of the Thieves guild while hearing about some NPC hero slowly gaining the power to take down the dragons threatening Skyrim.

As a member of the Dark Brotherhood you could be assigned with wiping out the mages guild...accomplishing something meaningful as it may conflict with your choices in the game. I want to be able to blow up or destroy structures be it through my actions, or simply because a dragon died above a structure and collapse it on landing. Any quests associated with said building would no longer be available.

 

[justnotcricket]

The Skyrim/Dragon Age Baby

Blending the locations of Skyrim and the characters of Dragon Age 2 would make one damn fine RPG.

Read Full Article

Arrgh, this SO much! I actually keep thinking this over and over while I play Skyrim. Blend Bioware-quality stories and characters with Bethesda quality (after the patches? =P) environments, and it would we AWESOME. No more recycled caves or bland-faced automaton characters!

Just quietly, Skyrim could also take a leaf out of Dragon Age's book when it comes to 3rd person play. I appreciate the 3rd person option, because 1st person makes me kind nauseous, but Skyrim seems to only grudgingly want to let you have 3rd person, hovering uncomfortably close over your shoulder unless you have your weapon drawn, and even then...

 

[Agayek]

-snip-

Dragons become more and more common as you progress through the main quest chain, but they will appear if you don't do any of the main quest. It sounds like you're just getting unlucky.

 

[octafish]

snip

On the other hand, can't we just have a throwback Neverwinter Nights style RPG experience with sweet graphics, lots of characters to choose and tactical, turn based combat? Anyone? Please?

Will a throwback to Baldur's gate do? [www.spiderwebsoftware.com/avadon/]

Anyway, you get Chris Avalone to write an Elder Scrolls' game and I'll be interested. I remember just about every character in Planescape: Torment. Bioware have been sliding for years.

 

[draythefingerless]

As some one who has only played Skyrim I can only say that it would be interesting. You love the places in Skyrim yet for me its a little bit of ehhh. I wish the cities were much bigger than they are. If Windhelm was suppose to be the once capital and Solitude is suppose to be the capital then why are they so small. When I was first dropped into Skyrim I took a look at my map. I imaged the nine hold as being great cities. When I first got to white run, I thought that it would actually be true, yet I I went up north to Morthal and Dawnstart It got very disappointing. Solitude was one that had me very interested because it was set on a arch way, but I can to realize that it wasn't anything except for 2 streets and a castle on one side. I have no clue what the other games have been like because this is my first ever Elder scroll game as well. So I have nothing to compare them to.

you made a wrong assumption. the holds themselves are territories, the city is jsut the stronghold and home to the higher class. most of the people should be living on the outskirts, wich is where I find fault. there are way too little settlements outside of the main cities. you get some mines n some lil villages, but id rather have smaller houses and more of them. still, its definitly a design choice, since you can only put so much stuff into your game....

 

[GaltarDude1138]

Yes. Yes, yes, yes, hell freaking yes.

However, I noticed a couple 'Obsidian made good characterization in FO:NV, perhaps they're a good compromise'-like comments. I honestly agree. I also liked New Vegas for the way the game designers handled the central conflict in the region (Caesar's Legion vs. NCR) versus the way Skyrim handled it's central conflict (Stormcloaks vs. Imperial Legion). In New Vegas, the entire last part of the story hinged on which faction would control the region and how your actions would affect the region for years to come. The factions all made their intentions plain and you had a lot of research to draw on for which faction you should join, because you can't run for 2 miles in the Mojave without running into some NCR and you run into Caesar's Legion fairly early on in the game. In Skyrim, there was the beginning to help you decide, true, but after that there wasn't much. The guy who helps you escape has his own recommendation, however you know their opinion is biased because they are a part of that faction. You don't KNOW them as well as in FO:NV and the decision to which one to join is almost arbitrary, depending on what kind of rewards and how much gold you want out of it.

Now, it's true you're out saving the world etc. in the main quest, but what I like about Bioware's storytelling is their attention to detail about things like this. Whether you're helping an old lady cross the street or commanding a battle to defeat a dragon, Bioware makes you invested in it. They make you care about what you're doing by making it a more focused experience, and making sure the world around you responds in a more immersive way. (i.e. your companion commenting on something you did, rather than every single guard attacking you for shooting a chicken)

In short, as far as combining what Bioware and Bethesda do best? Hell yes. I'd be down with that. Both are very good when playing to their strengths, and they are both really good at telling such fantasy stories.

EDIT: 200th post! F*** YEAH!

 

[Torrasque]

Eh. I'd play it and probably enjoy it, but I'd rather Intelligent Systems populate it with their people.
Dragon Age has some colourful people, but only the people that are designed to be colourful are colourful. In every Intelligent Systems game I have played, every character is important in some way, and you come to love them or hate them.
I've enjoyed the characters in Skyrim so far, especially the colourful cast of miscreants in the Dark Brotherhood. Even if the current Dark Brotherhood disgusts me as a past Listener.

 

[EvolutionKills]

This is something I would like to see as well. Maybe I'll get lucky again and my dreams will come true.

I remember plying Morrowind back in the day, and thinking "this would be freakin' sweet as a Fallout game". Low and behold, Bethesda acquired the rights to the franchise and we all got Fallout 3.

Hopefully the guys at Bethesda will continue to improve, and take some notes from Obsidian and Bioware on character development, and deliver a truly well-rounded and epic experience with Fallout 4.

 

[Mikeyfell]

You and me, we're on the same page.
A Bethesda world populated by Bioware characters.
Perfection.

 

[DTWolfwood]

i wholeheartedly support this idea!

I love playing the story/characters of DA2 and just completely love the open world freedom of Skyrim.

So with everything there is to talk about in gaming, we're paying for people to make blog posts about, "wouldn't it be cool if x game was mixed with y?!"

Ideas are like assholes, everyone has one, and they all stink.

exactly what does the word Escapist mean to you? cause i really doubt you comprehend y this particular site exist. If you want nothing but gaming news there are plenty of other sources my good chum.

 

[arkand]

I would never play a bioware bethesda mix game. I have found ever bioware game I have played to be the exact same game with different graphics. The story formula is always the same the games always have the same dialog choices for the most part and they are all linear.The only thing adding bioware type structures to a bethesda game would do is bring down the quality of the game. I would much rather have story and character development from older games like Lunar than anything bioware has ever done. I am hoping that 38 studios will be able to do a bit more with story and character development because they actually hired a real writer to do story for reckoning and not the two bit hacks bioware employees.