BioWare talks up Dragon Age

BioWare has told Eurogamer that its upcoming role-playing game Dragon Age will be what fans have been "wanting forever".

Senior PR manager for the company Matt Atwood restated the promise that it would be out before April 2009, and said more information would be released soon.

So far Dragon Age has only been linked with PC, but when quizzed about it Atwood didn't rule out the possibility of it popping up on other platforms.

[Azurite]

Looking forward to some new information

[ip-student]

The dragon age boards are an annoying way to find out information, even though people have kindly cut out the details.

Still - I have been waiting a long time for more information. Still - I like the fact that it will be done by April of next year - that suggests less than a year wait.

I just wonder if it will have as much replay value as Baldur's Gate II.

[Gorgon]

Another Orcs n' Dragons/Elves n' Dwarves RPG? Uau, I can hardly wait...

Bring on Fallout 3 and Alien RPG quicly please, I need a fix and quick before I die of boredom.

[ip-student]

That was RPG magic. Just like Dues Ex was action/RPG magic.

If BioWare is suggesting this is going to be an amazing game in the same vein of Baldur's Gate 2 how can you not be a little excited?

I guess everyone has a right to be cynical about something. But it is not like there have been a lot of good fantasy RPG lately - Oblivion was okay but the stupid leveling of enemies made it kinda pointless to level up - which is the whole point of an RPG. I haven't played Witcher yet but that is supposed to be good. Other than that - not much (Neverwinter Nights 2 is weak sauce IMO).

I do have high hopes for Fallout 3 so I guess we will agree to disagree about the potential goodness of Dragon Age.

[Gorgon]

"2.1 - Did you play Baldur's Gate 2?
That was RPG magic. Just like Dues Ex was action/RPG magic.

If BioWare is suggesting this is going to be an amazing game in the same vein of Baldur's Gate 2 how can you not be a little excited?
"

Yep, I played it but I got bored. Not that the game was bad, mind you. It just happens that for me it didn't cut it. I was already getting stuffed with the usual fantasy setting at that time.

"- Oblivion was okay but the stupid leveling of enemies made it kinda pointless to level up - which is the whole point of an RPG."

I both agree and disagree here. Oblivion was an excelent action game. It just wasn't a good RPG. And personaly I don't think RPGs have anything to do with leveling up. They have to do with roleplaying.

"I haven't played Witcher yet but that is supposed to be good. Other than that - not much (Neverwinter Nights 2 is weak sauce IMO)."

I played The Witcher. Its very good, if you are interested please try it, you won't get disappointed. But even beying great I eventually felt fed up by the setting.

"I do have high hopes for Fallout 3 so I guess we will agree to disagree about the potential goodness of Dragon Age."

I'm not disagreeing with you about how good a game Dragon Age can be. In fact I believe that the game will probably be excelent at various levels. What I think is that its time to start to come up with more interesting stuff than reashed-cloned-rince-and-serve -again fantasy.
I have the same problem with Mass Effect, in fact. Although at least its not another orc&elves fantasy, it still fails to be what it could be. Some dialogs from certain aliens I could almost swear it was Mr Spock talking. Certain dialogs and the aliens in general were so cliché that I just felt sad about it.

What I want is for developers to read more Gene Wolfe, Jeff Vandermeer, John Harryson, etc, and less pop-corn D&D Wizards of the Coast Fantasy Novels and Robert Jordan crap.

Thank you for you comment, you seem like a person who can have a good conversation. Bubbles for you.

[ip-student]

I cannot disagree your basic point - far too many cliches in SciFi/fantasy games in general.

The problem (I think) is a general is a fear of taking risks on the one hand and limitations imposed by the technology on the other. Part of the problem is that making a game is so expensive that people are reluctant to try to take serious risks.

Still, perhaps we don't need too many typical fantasy setting CRPGs - there are a lot of other possibilities that have not been done yet. I think I am less concerned about the setting, however, and more concerned with what kind of story is being told and how emotionally invested in the character the game makes you feel.

But I cannot agree with your point about leveling up - to me it seems that an integral part of an RPG is the process of becoming someone. I suppose that could happen without leveling up but I have never seen it done effectively. Otherwise, if you only have a story then you tend to end up with an adventure game - something where you experience a story but don't really change as a character. And the lack of change (along with the inability to invest yourself emotionally with the character by selecting how the character changes) prevents such a game from becoming an RPG (maybe prevent is too strong of a word). In order to minimize the need for leveling I think we would need much better AI so that the NPCs could react realistically and our choices made a real impact on the world. And AI is so very difficult to do that I don't think we are anywhere close to being able to do this in a video game.

So I agree with your basic point but perhaps we have a slightly different perspective on what an RPG should be. Bubbles back at you.

[ip-student]

Here is a qoute from one of the developers:

"We have said several times that DA is 'dark heroic fantasy' and that is has been inspired by Martin's world. I haven't read all of his works, so I don't think I could really compare DA and A Game Of Thrones and say "Yes, we're similar because of X, Y, and Z, and dissimilar because of A and B." I do, however, have a very clear understanding of what DA is, and what sort of world Thedas is.

It's not sparkly happy fun-time fantasy. Magic isn't fun. People don't react to magic as though it's fun. They react the same way you or I would react to a person who could blow your head off with a flick of their wrist. Your average teenager isn't going to have dreams of becoming an adventurer and finding 'quests' in a tavern. People become what you would traditionally call an 'adventurer' out of necessity. There are heroes, but they can be forgotten.

There are no gods sitting on celestial planes waiting to heap divine spells upon you. There is no ultimate good and ultimate evil. Sometimes people have to choose between bad and worse. You can look at someone who seems evil and say "Yes, I see why he did this, and his intentions were good."

But does this mean that the world is just overwhelmingly dark and bleak? No. If there are no gods that you can see, then you must have faith. People may be selfish, narrow-minded and hateful, but you can show generosity and kindness and nobility. Even if all the world is against you, you will have love, and friends that stand by you. There is darkness in Thedas, but you can be the light.

Now you just have to decide if this is a game you want to play. And if it isn't... I guess we tried.

And as for Disney endings... well..."

So I have high hopes. But genuis such as you wish for? I don't think video games can do that without about a 100 fold increase in power - which would be about 15-20 years away if Moore's prediction continues to hold true (it cannot). Still, moral amiguity and outcomes that are not Disney like or filled with mindless quests would be appreciated.

[Gorgon]

IP: thanks for the bubbles ;)

I basically agree with you on various levels. I had read already about the "dark fantasy" tone of Dragon Age and how it was (at least partially) inspired bt Martin's books. I have no doubt they will pull off a very nice game, but still I'm not hypped and I definetly don't want another D&D type of world, even a dark and adult one. For me setting and atmosphere is very important, its the first thing that peaks my interest in games, and then the rest follows (features, gameplay, etc). Dragon Age just doesn't peak my interest.

Regarding RPG as a concept...well, I desagree with you there. I have extensive background both in pen&paper and CRPGs and still I think stats, level-ups, etc, have absolutely nothing to do with roleplay; they're just an heritage from P&P systems like D&D. But that would lead us to a biiiiiggggggg discussion and this is not the place for it.

Still, it has been a pleasure exchanging some views with you. Keep on gaming, mate!

[MK_Red]

Possible console versions!? Yes, sign me up. Hopefully they make a truly deep game and don't simplify the game for consoles but make it as deep and complex as possible for all platforms.
Baldur's Gate 2 was awesome but BioWare never managed to get even close to that in their other games. Not even with KOTOR and Mass Effect.