Dragon Age II Dev: “RPGs Have Been Pretty Impenetrable”

360 Magazine: Dragon Age II is firmly in the spotlight and has already proven itself to be an ambitious beast. 360 Magazine caught up with lead designer Mike Laidlaw to find out just how much is being poured into BioWare’s most progressive RPG to date…

[MAJ0R]

game looks a lot more like an action game then a strategy one which is disapointing

[Neckbear]

Well, people bitched 'bout the combat in the first one, and this is what you get.

[GrieverSoul]

Basically they are killing the achievment feeling of actually learning what a stat point means in a particular category. They are making it easier but I read it dumber.

[pangitkqb]

I'm not going to pass judgment until I have played the game myself. Bioware has a great track record for improving games in a series (look at Mass Effect 2 compared to the original), so I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Separately, why is that every time a dev announces changes to a series everyone is so resistant? Sure, plenty of sequels have been terrible, but many have been awesome as well.

[palaeomerus]

" Basically they are killing the achievment feeling of actually learning what a stat point means in a particular category. They are making it easier but I read it dumber."

Anyone who thinks that understanding the effect of a stat point is some deep, obscure, strategic, intellectual undertaking really needs to stop sniffing their own farts and get out of the basement for a while.

It's just a different style of presentation aimed at a different customer and NO, that customer is not necessarily dumber than you, nor are you necessarily smarter than the new customer.

Guess what? You can play some really good pen and paper rpgs that minimize or simplify stats down to a seemingly useless uniform level and the game is still fun because of the DM's descriptions, story-line, the background, what you are asked to do, etc. There is WAY MORE to a good rpg experience than stats, details, and complex odds figuring.

DM's often fudge experience if the party is trying just to keep them at the same level as his adventure. 4th ED D&D codified this tendency by recommending that DM's just artificially level characters in a sort of social promotion scheme and allowing replacement characters to enter at the same level as everyone else just to keep the game going and keep the players from freaking out. Instead they reward good play by handing out action points resembling the "bennys" of the D6 and Savage Worlds system.

A lot of people complained about the supposed rift with tradition and yet those who actually play the game admit that it works and the more clever among them realized that their old DM's (the best ones) were doing that ALL ALONG instead of sticking to the old DM guide and Player's Manual.

Wizards of the Coast did this largely because they observed that some people who were raised on B/X or Tunnels and Trolls were running off to play simplified rpg systems like Castles and Crusades, or B/X, or Savage Worlds, and that a lot of people who were not playing D&D WERE paying $15 to play stuff like World of Warcraft and Rune Scape They also noted that many of those people had abandoned early MMO giants Everquest and Ultima Online when something simpler and easier to learn came along.

Bioware wants to explore ways to hide the dice and rules as much as possible to bring more people to the table. If you like dice so much then play Yahtzee and Craps. If you like fantasy, science Fiction, and adventure then at least try what Bioware is doing because you just might find out that you like it more than your intuition told you that you would..

[nickjkl]

implying action game play cant also utilize strategy

[Christopher]

Actually, the action gameplay is all about cinematics, not about changing away from tactical gameplay. You still activate abilities in the same way and you still have auto-attack, only now it looks better rather than stilted. Combat flows better.

You still have your party members you can switch between, still have activated abilities, and still utilize these maneuvers strategically in combat.

[Bebedora]

Ah...That's the stuff. DA II, Bring it on!

[despair]

that actually sounds interesting. I love the first one so as long as core gameplay mechanics are not changed too much I welcome what you said.

[Kakihara]

I thought there was enough penetration in the first game, I'd rather they concentrate on the fighting.

[Morris_da_Cat]

...Apparently there is never enough "penetration" in a bioware game. :/

[Dark-Cloud]

if they just make a good gameplay , i don't like rpg games because of the gameplay they put , i like the idea of the rpg but no good gameplay and that's makes it sucks , i finished the first game and i like the feeling i get while playing it but just like what i said (the gameplay ) ... played fallout and it's sucks like hell !! even prefer playing dragon age then playing that crap !!! i don't care about the bugs but the gameplay , the graphics and everything is wrong !!! i dunno why you people like it !! ..

[femshep]

i loved the first Dragon age cause it was a good old fashion rpg i dont think ill mind the changes as long as the story stays amazing

[mobijoker]

Death of classical rpg.Evry1 is going for action rpg.Any1 knows any rpg game currently in development with isometric view?
Evry1 is hunting for the shooter fans.C'mon rpg lets you build your character and customize it as you will.Now,what we are getting???Minimal customization,no character creation and direct action.I still love to struggle for hours to build my characters.RPG was never a popcorn with 5hours of single player gameplay,it was always a time consuming and rewarding genre.But nowadays its changing.

[palaeomerus]

Torchlight II has a rotating 3d view but it is largely isometric though you can zoom in and out. It resembles diablo.

I haven't seen anything remotely indicating that dragon Age II is just five hours of beat-em up disguised as an rpg. Why all the silly hyperbole over a few simplifications? Mass Effect 2 was fairly long and had lots of dialog.

Maybe there just isn't that huge of a market for a Baldur's Gate clone right now.

[mobijoker]

No bro!you got me wrong.I was just telling that playing 5 hours fps games,we now just want rpgs like that.DA2 will be more than 30hours for sure.But my only regret is there is Mass Effect,why change the style of DA?
You're right.This gen has little market for baldur gate type games.

[palaeomerus]

Oh, Okay. Well, I don't think 'short and blasty' rpg's will become the norm and I don't think Bioware will be involved in pushing that kind of product as a result of their simplification efforts. You might get some rpg's games that are divided up into bite-sized chunks like Resonance of Fate where you have short adventured based on missions that can be completed in five hours or so but there will probably be several of those missions to get through.

Some fantasy action games will probably be shorter and tighter productions like "Hunted: the Demon's Forge" but even then you STILL you have stuff like Darksiders coming out that follows the old LoK/Zelda-clone mold and delivers a pretty decent 15 to 20 hour quest.

I think maybe some will miss all of the old number-crunch but I think the story is ultimately way more important and the more people buying and playing these things the more of them we will get.

I will admit though that Bethesda and Obsidian seem to be moving slightly in the opposite direction with their Fallout games that seem to be chucking some of the simplifications seen in Oblivion for more crunch.

[Rowland]

yeah right.

So Balders Gate, WOW, Elder Scrolls, Fallout are all impenetrable are they ? Their MASSIVE sales & popularity say otherwise.

These classics are only impenetrable to kids and adults with the attention span of a slippery Otter.

Bioware are dumbing down the RPG genre to appeal to 'everyone' when they'd be more successful producing a lite version for the kids/short attention span market and a proper version to rival Fallout/Oblivion gameplay & maturity etc for the serious gamer.