Dragon Age Central

It is almost show time folks. Lots of great games will be shown (and some talented, attractive actresses as well), but Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 will be great.

I'm going to watch the whole show and then come back and see what you all thought.

Hey Dragon Age: Origins fans

Edit: Now that the show has gone live, I'm changing this thread over for discussion on the Dragon Age: Origins video that was shown as part of the Gametrailers TV "Pre-E3" show.

If you missed the episode, you can watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rUipJYfIlg

This video was made for us by Blur and I think really captures the feel of the game. Not to mention it has our new EA "Blood Dragon" logo and confirms the release date.

Keep in mind, this is just the start of the coolness that will be coming next week as part of E3. We are giving demos of the game, interviews, and hands on time to select people. We even have some pretty sizable changes taking place here on the BioWare website. This is just the start of the Dragon Age: Origins at E3 coolness.

So what did you think of what you have seen so far?

Quote: Posted 05/24/09 12:52 (GMT) by Lumiansan
Since BG has been to closely knit up to Dragonage I couldnt stop noticing all the praising towards the game.

Curious, even though the game is outdated now.

If Bioware were to make Baldursgate 3 or a game in the exact same fashion as bg and icewind dale, by that I mean exactly the way BG was made, in the exact same 2D, same graphics, diaologe system, same game mechanincs, party system, etc. Bioware beeing the ones adding a huge new content game, not a mod like people can create atm. Must confess that its not the same playing an offical game as a random mod I dl, even though there are tons of awsome mods. I just feel that BG was made in a way that people seem to really enjoy over and over, and a new game would actually appeal to alot of the oldschool rpgers? I mean the platform seems to be exactly what a RPG gamer wants, not that new games with new ideas arent to be loved. Is it a platform for a game that could be timeless?

Would you buy it? Even though it lacked the modern graphic?

I for one, would as easily buy that as I will buy Dragonage to be honest. Not sure if it would appeal to new customers though, only to the people that allready played bg.

Any thoughts?

I'll say this: I don't really know if there would be a market for a 2D game in the style of Baldur's Gate today or not. Obviously there would be some people who would be excited by it, but enough to justify the development? Depending on the size of the team needed, that's hard to say.

It's a different time, after all. Imagine the reception to such a game by the gaming media -- it would be pretty chilly, indeed. If such a game even got the attention given to your average triple-A title (if it was considered such), it would undoubtedly be castigated as "old school" and "outdated". Heck, these were comments already being made on Infinity Engine games back by the time Throne of Bhaal and Icewind Dale II were coming out.

But if you could make such a game with a much smaller team, chances are you could still make a profit just fine. That's a guess on my part, of course. It's not the path to riches, by any means, especially since by the standards of your average console hit today even BG2's sales seem fairly paltry, but for a small team that might be just fine.

The thing I would be careful of assuming, however, is that an exact replica of Baldur's Gate would automatically evoke exactly the same feeling that those games did 10 years ago. There is a significant amount of nostalgia involved, here, where people remember only the good stuff and very little of the bad. Hey, I have plenty of nostalgia myself -- BG2 was my first game, and is a beloved memory for me -- but avoiding the "been there, done that" factor might be more significant than you think. In an age where everyone is demanding novelty along with familiarity, exchanging one for the other isn't likely to get you very far.

Quote: Posted 05/24/09 22:41 (GMT) by lucy_glitter

Quote: Posted 05/24/09 22:34 (GMT) by Chris Priestly

Don't base too much on that list. It is a fine starting point, but much is incorrect.

Look, even I figured out that a lot of those "companions" are wrong, but please don't write it off like that. We try really hard over there.

And you do a pretty good job. The problem is you (and I don't mean you Lucy, I mean many people) direct others there and they do not know that it is not 100% correct. For example, I don't see a disclaimer on that page saying something like "this is our best guess so far" or "these entries are not 100% proven yet".

Part of my job is to stop the spread of misinformation about the game (as much as I can anyways). The DA Wiki you (and the rest) have put together is top notch, but it is not 100% correct. I'm not "writing off" your efforts, just making sure that people understand that it is not accurate, just the best work of fans such as yourselves given the information we have given you so far.

Quote: Posted 05/21/09 12:33 (GMT) by Deviija
What a masochist.

That's ironic.

A colleague PM'd me yesterday and said "Why do you talk so much on the forums? Do you like it?" and my response was "I dunno. I guess I'm a masochist."

Then I was with my trainer later in the day, and at one point he's laughing at me because I'm crawling around on all fours in pain. And I tell him "you should change the motto here to 'where sadism meets masochism, a happy place!'". He laughed some more and then told me to do sit-ups (which I did).

Maybe there's something to this theory. *thinker pose*

Quote: Posted 05/16/09 22:03 (GMT) by Anacronian Stryx

I wanna be punched by Mary...

No, you don't.

She's got claws like Wolverine, only Mary's are made of millions of slivers of very fine paper soaked in lemon juice. They won't kill you, but they'll sting like the dickens for a looooooooong time.

Quote: Posted 05/14/09 07:17 (GMT) by Mistress9Nine
Now, Nate and Jenny I really don't like.

I don't even pay attention to Jenny, that vapid ***.

Nate is pretty, though. He just shouldn't speak, is all.

Now, Blair... for Blair I have a lotta love. I would write character based on her, sure. In fact, I may have already.

Ummm... where was I going with this? I forget.

Quote: However you didn't deny that Chuck = Loghain, so I'm totally gonna love him most from now on.

They're both damaged goods. I like damaged characters -- they're my favoritist to write like EVER. So maybe there's something to this particular comparison.

EDIT: Oh, I set off the swear filter! Neat! It rhymed with "gore" and I am completely unapologetic.

Quote: Posted 05/14/09 15:48 (GMT) by Rodro Lliv
I wonder if the comments will have an influence in what is being prepared for E3. Or is the convention too near in the future, and all the stuff for it is already done?

Anything that's being prepared for E3 is something they've likely already been working on for a while, I imagine. I have no idea what they have planned, to be honest.

Quote: Posted 05/13/09 22:17 (GMT) by Lurklen
I bet Dave's a huge gossip girl fanboy, for shame Mr. Gaider for shame. I mean my little sister watches that show.

I wouldn't call myself a fanboy, but I do love me some Chuck Bass.

He's so dreamy!

Serena and Dan just ruin it for me, though. Every time one of those self-centered, self-righteous prats is on the screen I want to scratch my eyeballs out. Seriously, if I wanted to watch characters that forget every crappy thing they've ever done to someone else just so they could turn around the very next episode and get all judgy I'd go watch Brandon on 90210. Pfft.

I mean... yeah. >Ahem<. No, I would never watch such a show! That's a scurrilous rumour.

Quote: Posted 05/13/09 22:06 (GMT) by IronFoe
Use of sex appeal?

That's probably one, but you could say the same for commercials for car, beer and alcohol, fragrances, deodorants, razors, underwear, clothing, music, and in some cases, computers, insurance, potato chips, gum, soft drinks, and breakfast cereal.

No, there must be something specific to this ad, but I don't see it.

EDIT: I'm willing to give the OP an opportunity to make his point and see if it warrants its own thread.

Quote: Posted 05/13/09 16:03 (GMT) by imported_beer
Actually, if you model out the market, awareness is just a first step.The percentage of "I am aware this game exists" titles the average action/adventure gamer buys is miniscule. Awareness is considered a hygiene factor or "cost of entry". From a statistical modeling point of view, it has minimum weight.

Wouldn't the question then be whether this trailer is meant to increase awareness or actually sell the game? I don't have an answer -- I'm not in marketing, as I said -- but I will say that awareness for DA was pretty low (and perhaps still is, I don't know). But that's just my perception.

It can be kind of a skewed view when you're within a hardcore community like these forums, where the people are already paying attention to everything that comes down the pipe (and groan every time a message is repeated, for instance), but the fact is that from the outside things look very, very different (as you no doubt know).

I believe Tor has plans to translate the book into other languages, though what the timeline might be on such things I honestly have no idea. As suggested, asking the publisher directly is probably the best way to go.

Quote: Posted 05/12/09 22:57 (GMT) by ProfessorCirno
Forgive me for doubting you, but, uh

http://i39.tinypic.com/vhu8vc.png

Well, I suppose I'm doubting you. This is not how you show female gamers that you take them seriously.

Okay, sure, but

a) We didn't create that picture, nor write the caption.

b) All I said was that the marketing will hit different notes, and appeal to different people. Was this one aimed at female gamers? Gee, probably not -- not specifically, anyway. Does it have to be either/or? Even so, my point to I_B was that was bound to be other stuff more relevant to female gamers down the line.

Beyond that, doubt away. Time is on my side.

Quote: Posted 05/07/09 20:56 (GMT) by reflir

Aahh, but did you ever build a pillow fort, or its physics defying cousin, the pillow bridge? There's this one quest for the fighter's guild in Balmora that has you go into a lady's attic and there are just tons and tons of pillows in crates

I didn't build anything out of pillows, no. I did that quest, though. Also, there's a wrecked ship on the coast that has a hold full of pillows, and a shipping manifest with her name on it. I actually ferried all the pillows from the ship to her, just to see if I could talk to her about it. (I couldn't.)

Quote: Posted 05/07/09 20:14 (GMT) by Pugnaz

But... games have already conditioned me to pick up every single thing I come across that can be picked up, like some kind of kleptomaniac hoarding bird.

Several hours passed in Morrowind and Oblivion before I was willing to accept that random forks and tea cups weren't going to come in handy later.

True story: I made a point in Morrowind of stealing every paper lantern in the game. This was particularly tricky as a lot of them were hanging from the outsides of Telvanni towers. You know how many times I got attacked by guards while levitating 50 feet off the ground? When I had them all, I arranged them across the grasslands to spell out my character's name.

Er--I mean, I have no idea what you're talking about. Picking up useless items is silly. Yes. Silly.