Dragon Age 3: Inquisition

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kenebaker

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Combat is really one of the things that I find to be most improved in DAII; one of the things that I came upon when I started playing Origins is just how clumsy and awkward the combat feels. I don't mind the waves of enemies in DAII simply because I actually like fighting enemies in that game.

See, that is what I loved about the original Dragon Age. The combat was slower because it allowed you to strategize. Playing the game on Nightmare, if you run in with your staff blazing, you're going to get your a$$ handed to you by the Darkspawn. In DA1, you had to pause the game, deploy commands and then reenter the fray. In DA2, everything was hot-keyed and scripted (your characters) so you didn't need to pause the game to figure out how to deal with the enemies, just butt-stomp your staff on the ground a couple of times. Also, waves of enemies descending from the air.... oh no no no, you did not go there girlfriend!

I really hope that DA3 takes its cue from the first game. I would love to see a nobody that I could turn into a somebody, and a story line that is as fluid as anything that the developers have come up with :) And no waves, please. This is not deathmatch survival.
 

lilyWhite

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Gee, lily swooping into a Bioware thread to tell everyone how "flat-out wrong" they are for daring to have an opinion that differs from hers?

Thanks. I can set my watch now.

:rolleyes:

If you have a problem with the fact that people told me factually wrong information about the game, then you should take it up with those people instead of taking a fit over my comment.

See, that is what I loved about the original Dragon Age. The combat was slower because it allowed you to strategize. Playing the game on Nightmare, if you run in with your staff blazing, you're going to get your a$$ handed to you by the Darkspawn. In DA1, you had to pause the game, deploy commands and then reenter the fray.

To be honest, that bugs me about Origins. Having to constantly pause gameplay to give orders to allies and to choose abilities in a real-time game is really annoying; a large part of it is only being able to queue one action at a time and the extremely-limited tactics system early in the game. (Archer: take out melee weapons when enemy gets near. Don't bother to take your bow back out.) Knights of the Old Republic had an excellent interface that let you easily input commands in real-time, and they allowed you to queue multiple actions for each party member.
 

kenebaker

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To be honest, that bugs me about Origins. Having to constantly pause gameplay to give orders to allies and to choose abilities in a real-time game is really annoying; a large part of it is only being able to queue one action at a time and the extremely-limited tactics system early in the game. (Archer: take out melee weapons when enemy gets near.

Yeah. Nothing better than queuing up orders for me! Must be because it reminds me of the turn-based fantasy games. Different strokes, eh? :)
 

Shenanigans!

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I've just read The Stolen Throne, and The Calling and Asunder are on my to-buy list. I've been following the comics. I like the extra fleshing out these supplementary things give to the world. :)

If you'd like to discuss the contents of the books and comics, would you consider giving a spoiler warning first just in case members don't want to know? You can also put the post in white text, so people won't see it unless they highlight the text.

Sure thing. I'd hate to be the guy who spoilt something. Back in the day when Origins first came out, by accident I spoiled the ending for myself when I clicked on the wrong thread and half sleep started reading people's opinions on the ending.
 

Sanoe SC

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The problem is, will EA let Bioware fix all the problems and polish it before it comes out? EA has a long track record of rushing games, which is one of the reasons why DA2 was so bad.

It's the main reason DA 2 was so bad.

That said, rushing DA 2 happened because of a very specific reason. DA:O was given an extra six months after its original published release date in March. Mass Effect 2 had ample development time. Mass Effect 3 had ample development time; its ending is the product of the creative director and the writers, not EA.

How does that work? EA purchased Bioware in October of 2007 (around the time of ME1's release). DA:O was released in November of 2009, just over two years later.

Granted, DAO was announced in 2004, so it's quite likely that the bulk of the development was done by 2007, but it's hard for me to believe that it was "mostly done" over two years before it was released. Seems like a lot of time to spend on a nearly completed game. Your claim implies that DA:O was finished in or near late 2007 and then just sat around for two years before being published.

Do you have any proof of that you can cite?
You have the right of it.

DA:O had a number of developmental difficulties and parts of the project had to be reworked over time. This is one of the reasons that DA:O went through three directors - James Ohlan, Brent Knowles, and Mike Laidlaw - while Cassey Hudson was the Mass Effect director for the entire trilogy.

BioWare was most certainly working that entire time, up to even the Nov 2009 date, and there are still rough areas.
 
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lilyWhite

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The deciding factor as to whether "fans" will consider the game "complete" or "rushed" will be whether or not it's exactly what they want.
 

Shadow Dragon

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The deciding factor as to whether "fans" will consider the game "complete" or "rushed" will be whether or not it's exactly what they want.
No, what determines if it is rushed is if they repeatedly reuse maps (like DA2) and if there are a lot of bugs that shouldn't be there (again, like DA2).
 

lilyWhite

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No, what determines if it is rushed is if they repeatedly reuse maps (like DA2) and if there are a lot of bugs that shouldn't be there (again, like DA2).

Because Dragon Age: Origins was completely bug-free. Or has the definition of "bug" changed to "gameplay element that I don't approve of"?
 

Shadow Dragon

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Because Dragon Age: Origins was completely bug-free. Or has the definition of "bug" changed to "gameplay element that I don't approve of"?
No game is bug free. But I've read reports of Merril's cutscene in front of the mirror being randomly triggered long before it was supposed to and many quests being unplayable for people. That goes way beyond just normal bugs.
 

efkelley

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Lily, EA rushes games. I've got data, examples, witnesses, and testimony from the guys that ran these goddam companies before and after EA bought them.

You're either the worst EA plant ever, a very obvious troll, or completely incapable of respecting anyone that disagrees with you. My very strong suggestion is to sit down and be quiet, or back your shit up with solid facts.
 

Sanoe SC

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The deciding factor as to whether "fans" will consider the game "complete" or "rushed" will be whether or not it's exactly what they want.
Dragon Age 2 is a complete game. It was also rushed.

It has nothing to do with whether I liked the game or not, but if that matters, I enjoyed it more than DA:O.

Lily, EA rushes games. I've got data, examples, witnesses, and testimony from the guys that ran these goddam companies before and after EA bought them.
Most publishers (some) rush games. Valve is an obvious exception because Steam is still a money printing machine.

EA isn't especially evil now-a-days.
 
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efkelley

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EA's evil is more in how they treat their acquired companies. Not many of them survive, and they've trashed more than one franchise in the pursuit of short-term profits over long-term sustainability. More than a few friends and acquaintances have been put out of work by EA, and not all of my associates had golden parachutes. Some did, to be sure, but a lot more didn't.

Rushing games is just a symptom of their larger issues, but that's often where it starts. Pushing back against EA Corporate, even when they make outrageous or unreasonable demands, has landed quite a few folks in the unemployment line simply by virtue of not wanting to release a half-assed title.
 

LOG

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The only way I see myself really getting fired up about DA: Inquisition is if I can actually destroy the world as Morrigan implied. All of Origins I just wanted to switch over to the Archdemon's side and start slaughtering everybody.

Also, I better see some strong connections and differences in the game based on DA:O actions.
 

Andrhia

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I'm hope fall of 2014 is enough time for a thorough job. Three and a half years is OK, right? --And also that they don't go too far in a Skyrim direction, because I found that game horribly flat and boring. It's hard to buy into the big narrative stakes when you know you could literally chop wood for ten years and nothing bad would ever happen.

Tangent: I speculate that the DA:I narrative will involve eventually going to the Black City, and possibly trying to cleanse it to appease the Maker. I just might be very sad if you don't get to visit the Black City.
 

lilyWhite

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The PAX presentation sounds awesome. Not just the various new features and gameplay mechanics, but the degree to which your character can be a complete jerk. You can say one thing and actually do something completely different. You can destroy elements in the environment to kill off groups of enemies. You can just walk away in the middle of conversations.

As someone who enjoys roleplaying as an utter sociopath, Inquisition sounds beautiful.
 

Zoombie

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You know, the characters and writing in Dragon Age 2 was pretty good, but it was really let down by gameplay, map design and pacing issues.

I hope DA3 is better than that.
 

lilyWhite

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Dragon Age II had much smoother gameplay. Combat had a much better flow as opposed to Origins, plus they gave you a reasonable amount of tactics slots as you leveled and didn't make you waste skill points to get more.
 

Zoombie

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I didn't like it as much...I liked the slower, more methodical tactical focus of the previous game, and the tactical view that let you play it like Baulder's Gate was nicely old school.

Also, I really didn't like how Dragon Age 2 kept spawning another half group of people in when the battle was half done...
 

Opty

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The fact that Qunari is one of the selectable races for your character exponentially increases the cool factor in my opinion.
 

Ashley N.

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Oh, wow. This is the first I've seen that the Qunari will be a playable race. I assume the Qunari character would be a Tal-Vashoth, or exiled in some way, but it'd also be very interesting to play as a Qunari with roots to the Qunari community.

I get more excited for this game each time I see new things about it, but playing as Qunari is definitely one of the best things I've seen. (Morrigan playing a large plot role is the first, for me. :) ) The gameplay looks smooth too. I'm glad they're taking time with it.
 

Brutal Mustang

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I tried getting into Dragon Age several times, but simply couldn't, because of that high, distant camera view.
 
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