Dragon Age II - Final Thoughts (Bioware interview)

[BloodSquirrel]

So, I just read this:

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6305575/index.html

My impressions:

-Mike Laidlaw is incredibly dismissive of any criticism of DAII. The whole thing has a very strong ?If you weren?t happy with DAII you can just F off and die? vibe to it.

-At no point does he admit that there was anything, in particular, that could have been done better or that was a mistake.

-Depth simply isn?t important. Being able to outfit your party just isn?t worth them not looking the way the artist wants them to look. Being able to move the camera so that real tactical combat is possible isn?t as important as having nice scenery.

-Mike Laidlaw, in general, sounds more like a bad PR man than a lead designer. There?s shockingly little insight into development here and a whole lot of spinning and apologetics.

Most importantly of all, there?s this:

I think the big key is to not adjust 180 degrees again, because we've done this. I think, as a team, we're quite happy with what we've done with Dragon Age II, and this is establishing a solid foundation that keeps a lot, in fact almost everything I want to keep about Origins, but still has tons of room to grow and, frankly, a more viable future for the franchise.

Unless DAII sales are low enough to make Bioware bring in a new lead designer and commit to a new direction, this is final. Bioware is pulling out of the RPG market, and you can expect an increasingly thin veneer of ?RPG? laid over increasingly generic action games.

 

[dagens24]

-Depth simply isn't important. Being able to outfit your party just isn't worth them not looking the way the artist wants them to look. Being able to move the camera so that real tactical combat is possible isn't as important as having nice scenery.

I'd agree with them on this. It's hard to make a character look iconic if they are all wearing the same armor. As the the tactical camera, never really saw the need for it so...

 

[Nfritzappa]

thank god this guy isn't in charge of ME3.

 

[demotion1]

How did you come up to the conclusion that Bioware is pulling out of the RPG market? I fail to see anything pointing to such a thing. Yes, repetitive dungeons, enemies appearing out of thin air and then blowing up when dead are all bad choices(for me), yet they have nothing to do with the RPG part of the game.

I also agree that we should be able to change the appearance of the characters and hopefully they will not limit our choice for race again.

 

[Sephychu]

-Depth simply isn't important. Being able to outfit your party just isn't worth them not looking the way the artist wants them to look. Being able to move the camera so that real tactical combat is possible isn't as important as having nice scenery.

I'd agree with them on this. It's hard to make a character look iconic if they are all wearing the same armor. As the the tactical camera, never really saw the need for it so...

I agree too. There are tons of games, largely JRPGs, in which you can't change other character's appearances. There are ways around this, of course. One could design various armor levels, which have the armour getting progressively cooler over time, but only design four or so iconic armours.

 

[Xaositect]

Yeah, I think it becoming increasingly obvious Bioware arent an RPG powerhouse anymore, but a bunch of greedy, lying money grubbing shits who want to create "better selling" action and shooter games. I think the only reason their games retain even the slightest of RPG lip service is to try and dupe their long standing fans.

Im fully expecting the same bland, linear, shooter oriented shit that has no depth at all when it comes to ME3.

Edit: Im guessing ME3s plot might well unfold that 12 or so different superficial objectives require Shepards attention to stop the reapers, and most of that attention is in the form of traversing linear shooting galleries moving from box cover to box cover mowing down hordes of generic enemies.

And maybe even have a multiplayer mode added in too...

At this rate should that all happen, Ill just sit, wait and hope they fuck up and EA liquidates them.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

How did you come up to the conclusion that Bioware is pulling out of the RPG market? I fail to see anything pointing to such a thing. Yes, repetitive dungeons, enemies appearing out of thin air and then blowing up when dead are all bad choices(for me), yet they have nothing to do with the RPG part of the game.

They're stripping out the things that make their games RPGs. Sure, they'll still call them RPGs, but they'll basically be CoD with a dialog wheel. A dialog wheel that has no impact on the plot.

I also agree that we should be able to change the appearance of the characters and hopefully they will not limit our choice for race again.

I'm not exactly holding my breath. Mike has been quite clear on the matter: making the game simpler so that button mashers can play it trumps anything that appeals to fat, sweaty D&D nerds.

 

[Zay-el]

Not to say anything bad, but you're acting like he's the first developer who's waaaay over his head about his game. Funny how quickly we forget Warren Spector about Epic Mickey's camera problems.

 

[demotion1]

How did you come up to the conclusion that Bioware is pulling out of the RPG market? I fail to see anything pointing to such a thing. Yes, repetitive dungeons, enemies appearing out of thin air and then blowing up when dead are all bad choices(for me), yet they have nothing to do with the RPG part of the game.

They're stripping out the things that make their games RPGs. Sure, they'll still call them RPGs, but they'll basically be CoD with a dialog wheel. A dialog wheel that has no impact on the plot.

I also agree that we should be able to change the appearance of the characters and hopefully they will not limit our choice for race again.

I'm not exactly holding my breath. Mike has been quite clear on the matter: making the game simpler so that button mashers can play it trumps anything that appeals to fat, sweaty D&D nerds.

I really enjoy playing D&D and imo Bioware games were always trying to play differently. I think they have always wanted to concentrate more on the story aspects that make an rpg rather that the gameplay aspects. Having said that, the story aspects have also been limited a bit in DAO2 in relation to the first game. At times DAO2 felt like i was playing Final Fantacy with choices rather than Dragon Age.

Despite all that the game was really fun for me. I prefer to believe that they will stop removing things next time. In their history, Bioware has usually improved their games and i will not abandon them because of one game that only turned up AA instead of AAA. They take risks wich is more that i can say for most of the big companies nowdays.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

I prefer to believe that they will stop removing things next time.

Thats.... optimistic. Personally, I'm not going to believe something like that until I see an article titled "Bioware apologizes for dumbing down DAII and fires idiot in charge".

 

[Zay-el]

I prefer to believe that they will stop removing things next time.

Thats.... optimistic. Personally, I'm not going to believe something like that until I see an article titled "Bioware apologizes for dumbing down DAII and fires idiot in charge".

You'll be growing old then. When was the last time ANY gaming company did that?

 

[BloodSquirrel]

You'll be growing old then. When was the last time ANY gaming company did that?

As I said earlier, I'm not holding my breath. I'm mostly just done with Bioware. If anyone wants me to reconsider, it's going to take the aforementioned level of evidence that they're serious about taking a new creative direction.

 

[Zay-el]

You'll be growing old then. When was the last time ANY gaming company did that?

As I said earlier, I'm not holding my breath. I'm mostly just done with Bioware. If anyone wants me to reconsider, it's going to take the aforementioned level of evidence that they're serious about taking a new creative direction.

Oh, I'm very sure this'll stick. Until Dragon Age 3. Or Mass Effect 3. Or the KotOR MMO. Or basically any other Bioware game. I don't take this "GRR COMPANY BETRAY ME GRR HATE THEM" approach seriously from any gamer not even myself, since as soon as everyone nods to it and turns their backs to each other, they'll run off for the next game anyway. You want to see good games and though you'll have a disdain for the company for a set amount of time, eventually you'll break and check out their new stuff, sporting the very critical look, but still trying to act hurt, instead of excited.

 

[kasperbbs]

I liked the fact that you could equip your team in dao, if not with copy/paste armors from the game then with modded ones, but in da 2 you can`t do either, still waiting on mod toolkit, i see no reason to play da2 again without it, i saw everything there is to see in 2 playthroughs.

 

[Woodsey]

"-Depth simply isn't important. Being able to outfit your party just isn't worth them not looking the way the artist wants them to look."

I can understand not liking it, but he's not the only one (*cough* me *cough*) who'd rather have distinctive looking characters, rather than characters in the same armour set as half the other people you meet. Not really a question of depth, just taste.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

Oh, I'm very sure this'll stick. Until Dragon Age 3. Or Mass Effect 3. Or the KotOR MMO. Or basically any other Bioware game. I don't take this "GRR COMPANY BETRAY ME GRR HATE THEM" approach seriously from any gamer not even myself, since as soon as everyone nods to it and turns their backs to each other, they'll run off for the next game anyway. You want to see good games and though you'll have a disdain for the company for a set amount of time, eventually you'll break and check out their new stuff, sporting the very critical look, but still trying to act hurt, instead of excited.

Yeah, my time with taking you seriously is now over. Go shill somewhere else.

 

[Littaly]

-Depth simply isn?t important. Being able to outfit your party just isn?t worth them not looking the way the artist wants them to look.

I can actually give him this. Considering how bad armor (robes in particular) looked in DA:O, and that two or more characters wearing the exact same armor was a bit of a turn-off, it wasn't a bad decision. I just wish they had implemented it a little better, I especially wish they would have taken advantage of the 3-year gaps and changed the character armors (if only just a little) between years, both to indicate that time had passed and to reflect how each character developed over the years.

 

[Zay-el]

Yeah, my time with taking you seriously is now over. Go shill somewhere else.

XD Oh yeah, I'm definitely an evil shill. I just remember a Left 4 Dead 2 boycott from a little while ago, that had kind of similar results, as what I described here.

 

[ZeroDotZero]

They will issue an apology in time, but remember that not even a month has passed since DA2 launched. Not a month! They won't help boost sales by stating what is wrong with it at this point. Just wait, people. They will show that they know what was done wrong when they have nothing to lose from it.