Dragon Age Central

Quote: Posted 10/28/09 21:19 (GMT) by flem1
Which of the joinable NPCs do you think (or, if you're a dev, know) was the first conceived as a character for the game?

For joinable NPC's? I'd say possibly Wynne or Zevran -- certainly they have survived most recognizably from their first concepts. If you're talking about which character role was first conceived, then probably Morrigan.

Quote: On the other hand, this makes it look like an early draft of the Tower of Ishal quest (the very first main plot one after origin convergence).

That old tech demo was put together before any of the world or characters were conceived. Those characters on the screen are simply "barbarian guy" and "enchantress". Although I guess we could make claims as to how they evolved into the other characters and we meant it all along... yeah, that's the ticket...

Quote: Posted 10/26/09 18:39 (GMT) by SaberGator
3) The homosexual relationship. I just didn't see the point in it. It seemed put there just to add something controversial and to me it didn't add anything to the story.

I'm glad you liked the book overall, but I wanted to say something on this particular point of yours. The relationship wasn't put in just to add something controversial, as you put it -- I don't think gay characters need to be added only when it's vital to the story. That's just who they are: they're strong men and warriors, and yet still gay. The point as it applied to all of the Grey Wardens is that they were all outsiders of one sort or another, Julien and Nicolas no less than the others.

Just had to mention that.

Quote: Posted 10/25/09 08:30 (GMT) by DaerogTheDhampir
Who knows? If Fiona stuck around they could of just ended up breaking it off as "just friends" or they could have hit it off.

Yeah, my feeling is that Fiona and Maric were ultimately not that compatible. Fiona realizes this by the end, even if Maric holds out hope for something more -- but then he is probably confusing their relationship as the reason for his renewed sense of purpose, rather than the catalyst.

Quote: Last is a plea to Mr. Gaider. Just three word: More Avvars, please!

The Avvar mention was my ode to the Barbarian Origin, sadly cut long ago. Ahh, Kell. How I adore you.

Quote: Posted 10/25/09 06:36 (GMT) by thelonghop
David, about burying Julien. The book says normally he would have been burned and ashes buried in the ground, but they couldn't do that down there. Did you consider placing him in the lava right there? It seems like that would have met both traditions in one.

Perhaps. Maybe they just looked on the lava as something horrifying, and not really an appropriate place to inter someone. Or maybe the lava was just the interactive part of the level and lacking a proper walkmesh?

If you really don't like the idea, then fair enough -- although I would recommend actually experiencing it in the game before you make claims about how jarring you'll find it.

Beyond that, if you really don't like the idea then by all means don't purchase the DLC. There is a whole giant game still to play which doesn't require any additional purchase, after all, and the number of these things you'll encounter overall is pretty small. If you're worried about the "slippery slope", as it were, by all means register your disapproval. There's a DLC team headed by Fernando Melo which will no doubt be looking for feedback, and I doubt they're above adjusting the approach if they feel it's called for. I also doubt they'd simply remove it outright just because some people don't like it (especially prior to anyone actually trying it), but if concerns are communicated intelligently and politely it's possible that at least some of them could be addressed.

If you haven't noticed, I'm not really the person to talk about this stuff. It's pretty far removed from my bailiwick, after all. But reasoned discussion, even when it's something you don't like, never goes amiss. So I'll leave you to it.

Quote: Posted 10/25/09 14:22 (GMT) by SteveStubborn
You ppl defending this kind of marketing, just stop. We've payed for a product and shouldn't have to endure ANY form of commercial messages in the actual game. It's like going to the movies and get a commercial break in the actual movie. It is wrong. Please don't try to deny that.

I'll point out that the in-game "offer", as it were, doesn't use out-of-game language. You are offered a quest, or a journal entry, the same way that you would get any other quest. No turning to the camera and offering you a delicious Coke or anything of the like. If you accept, you are briefly taken to the DLC page to grab the content -- if you have not already done so. If you have, you won't even notice the difference. It will also be a simple enough matter to refuse the quest -- you don't have to endure a commercial.

Picturing scenarios where there are in-game neon billboards and NPC Shamwow salesmen trying to lure you conveniently into spending more money, and then railing against it, is a bit over the top. (It's the internet, though, right? Who'd have thought?)

Although I do like the idea of the Shamwow guy as a pushy dwarven merchant, now. Hmm. I'll have to make a note of that.

It's a way to insert the DLC into the overall game, nothing more. If you don't like the idea even of that interface (I suppose some people are going to object to the notion of DLC daring to sully their gaming experience no matter what), then that's up to you -- but at least get it straight what you are objecting to.

---

Oh, and incidentally: please leave the personal insults out of this, on both sides of the argument. Thanks.

Quote: Posted 10/22/09 22:29 (GMT) by Alocormin
I'm curious; from the beginning of the book to the epilogue, how many years/months are there? Also, how old is Cailan at this time?

The actual adventure only took place over the space of a couple of weeks. Cailan is nine years old at the time -- Maric says this to Fiona in Chapter 4, as I recall.

Quote: Posted 10/21/09 23:03 (GMT) by thelonghop
David, I'm wondering about Urtha's fighting style. We've been told there's no 'monk' style in DA:O. So did you clear that fighting style with others at Bioware before using it, or were you free to create things in the DA universe that may not be in the game?

There are a number of things in the books that you're not going to find in the game. That doesn't mean these things are nowhere to be found in the world -- spears, for instance, or cloaks and horses. It's a lot easier for me to put such things in a book than it is to put them into a game. As to whether or not they, or the Silent Sister fighting style, will ever make it into a Dragon Age game remains to be seen.

Quote: Posted 10/21/09 17:23 (GMT) by Adam Andersson
What I didn't get was the Maric/Fiona relationship.

Fair enough. A few people have said that, though from my perspective I don't consider what Maric and Fiona had a romance per se. It was a moment born of the desperate need of both characters, a respite from what they were both going through. I guess Fiona could have found that in Duncan as well, but I always thought of Fiona and Duncan having a more fraternal relationship than a romantic one.

Quote: Posted 10/21/09 17:23 (GMT) by Adam Andersson
The best part of the entire book was the homosexual relationship between Julien and Nicholas. You lured me in initially, making me wonder, then releasing more and more hints during the travels. It was really sweet and well written. And their ending was very emotional. In my opinion you should write a book with a pure focus on their story up until The Calling.

Thanks. I know there's been a couple of comments of Julien and Nicolas being "redshirts", but I have to say that they were perhaps my favorite characters. Killing them was difficult, and Nicolas's dream in the Fade would be, I think, one of the hardest things I've ever had to write. Suffice it to say they both reside in a soft spot in my heart.

Quote: Posted 10/22/09 00:09 (GMT) by Freshwater Chimp
A quick question for anyone who knows. At the end of The Calling it says Maric invited the recently appointed Empress of Orlais to Ferelden. My question was what happened to the Emperor before her? I missed that part I guess.

He died, though I suppose you wouldn't know the details unless you played the game. There you can read a bit about how Empress Celene (I think that's her name? Don't have my notes with me) overthrew her mad uncle and led Orlais into a renaissance.

Quote: Posted 10/19/09 22:45 (GMT) by Corrokk
What are the actual benefits of romancing Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins?

She kills you last.

(I'm kidding.)

Quote: will she remain in my party after the romancing is properly completed?, please reply.

Err... assuming that your romantic completion wasn't premature, why would she go anywhere?

Quote: Posted 10/19/09 23:05 (GMT) by Virgil Romanus
On a slightly different note, will the PC have access to talents that the NPCs will not, taking into account specializations?

Being forced into genericism with the PC was always something that bothered me.

No unique PC talents that I can think of, though "forced into genericism" might be a bit over-dramatic.

Quote: Posted 10/19/09 22:35 (GMT) by bleedthefreak
Will NPC's have unique talents, not common among the regular classes? Such as Shale, or Dog, for example? I'm sure some characters (such as Zevran) will be "classic" characters, but do any of them have unique talent trees to invest in?

Dog and Shale are unique characters -- they have their own talent trees, and don't work quite the same way as everyone else. As for the others, a few of them have unique abilities which you will have to discover for yourself. Nothing too earth-shattering, though. I don't think we'd want to run into a situation where any particular character is a must-have because they're so much more powerful than any of the others.

Quote: Posted 10/19/09 01:36 (GMT) by Nighteye2
Didn't they discover that when the Qunari first invaded?

There are no doubt some educated folk in Thedas who are aware that other lands exist, and that the Qunari come from such a place. Those lands have names of some sort, but that doesn't necessarily mean that "the world" as a concept exists yet, or that scholars feel the need to identify it. But that time likely isn't far off, yes.

Quote: Posted 10/19/09 00:47 (GMT) by redteamsucks
Now, do you use the word "YET" as a prelude to the DA2? eh? EH?

More as a prelude to the future. One assumes that, at some point, the people of Thedas will discover that there is a whole world out there. It's only in Star Wars where thousands of years can pass and the world never evolves.

Well, maybe not only Star Wars, but you get the drift. Me, I love the idea of a fantasy world eventually entering a Renaissance period or even an Industrial Revolution. The setting of Arcanum, for instance, was quite lovely in that respect.

Quote: Posted 10/18/09 23:08 (GMT) by kbct
Didn't you mod the old Baldur's Gate forums? I seem to remember your name.

If you mean the old Interplay forums during the BG2 days, yes that was me. Though I wasn't a mod, per se. I just posted there.

Quote: Do you remember Karzak and Gromnir?

Of course. Gromnir is still about, though sadly not on these forums. I don't know what happened to Karzak. I imagine since we don't do D&D games any longer, his obsessive interest in ensuring we stick to the exact rules in the book are no longer relevant.

Quote: Posted 10/19/09 00:22 (GMT) by Sean Murphy2
It is nice when developers are comfortable posting regularly on the forums.

I think it takes a certain personality. There are restrictions on what they can reveal, they need to take abuse/criticism without becoming emotional and deal with the idea that each post will be overanalysed, misinterpreted and regularly quoted.

I'm not always successful in not becoming emotional -- I am human, after all, and have bad days just like anyone else -- but the rest is true enough. You need a thick skin.

Quote: Posted 10/19/09 00:56 (GMT) by Elithranduil
I also miss Mr Gaider.

No need to miss me.

Unless you're throwing things at me. Then, by all means, miss me.

Quote: Posted 10/18/09 23:24 (GMT) by lasthearth
There is no name, nor should there be.

Our world is call Earth, but that's just means "Land". We never came up with a formal name until we realized that our world is one planet among many. Before that the world is just the world.

Indeed. If you asked someone in the setting, they would tell you the world is called Thedas -- but that's because, to them, Thedas is the entire world. There is no concept yet of Thedas being part of a larger planet.

Quote: Posted 10/19/09 00:19 (GMT) by redteamsucks
David, what's the Elvish or Dwarven term for "Land"!?! (good idea!)

The elves referred to the world as Elvhenan ("the place of the people"), though historically this is generally accepted as the name of the elven "nation". If you want the elven word for the land itself, as in the ground, then I believe that was vhen'alas. I don't think human scribes are apt to start using elven words to name the world anytime soon, however.

I forget what the dwarven word would be. You'd probably have to use their word for "the stone", as their references to dirt are considered uncomplimentary in common parlance.

The word Thedas, incidentally, is Tevinter in origin and once referred to all lands beyond the Imperium -- "the hinterlands", as it were. Eventually it just came to encompass the entire continent.

Yes, unfortunately it seems this thread needs to be shut down. If the topic can't be discussed without veering into religious territory or devolving into insults and hurt feelings, then it can't be discussed here -- and it seems it can't.

If the topic starts up again, please keep in mind that you should keep things civil even if you disagree with someone else's position, and that discussions about the nature of homosexuality or any other such contentious topics don't really belong on the Dragon Age forum. Thanks!