Dragon Age Central

Quote: Posted 05/19/04 23:20:10 (GMT) by fables of the reconstruction

my question is: how far is does your choice of 'origin' story tie you to a particular set of characteristics for your PC, i.e. will it be broadly generic (e.g. <barbarian exile> or <dwarven noble>) or tediously detailed (e.g. happy-go-lucky 28-year-old vagabond thief named Sneaky Sam with red hair, freckles, and a rat named Whiskers)?

Think of them more as character archetypes. You will still be able to customize your character's name, appearance, sex, stats etc. Our goal here is to allow you to play the game with the fantasy character type of your choice. We won't of course be able to hit all of the permutations but the broad categories should be covered and there will be lot of room for guiding your destiny as the game progresses.

Quote: 
and can you forgo an origin story altogether and simply play as an unknown without any substantial ties to the story/setting?

There will always be the option of the "Mysterious Stranger" for those of you that don't want to pick defined origin story. This will still have the same level of story involvement and interaction. The npc's will just react to your character as if your background was unknown.

Quote: Posted 05/19/04 23:58:45 (GMT) by Sarvis
Hmm... how does it work in multiplayer? Can one player still control a full party during a DM'd session, or even in a persistant world if those will be possible?

How multiplayer functions is something we can't discuss just yet, I'm afraid.

Quote: Posted 05/20/04 00:27:18 (GMT) by Kevin Lynch
I had thought from brief info that I read elsewhere in previews that these races would be like elves, dwarves, and humans but that they wouldn't actually be those races. Unfortunately, calling them by those names means that we are going to be bringing along all the baggage that those names have generated from all their many uses throughout fantasy literature, regardless of how they are designed in DA.

True, and we've thought of that. Details will be forthcoming in the future, but I can safely say that these races are familiar... and yet also quite different from what you would expect (in good and intriguing ways, I hope). They are also not alone.

Quote: Posted 05/20/04 00:17:12 (GMT) by Hades_One
Why? ToB was a disappointment as well as the NWN OC. SoU was palatable and HotU was okay at best. KotOR was good but had no replay value beyond twice. I think my cynicism is well placed.

I don't think your cynicism is misplaced, either. Whether or not you feel we have feet of clay is a result of your own viewpoint on our games to date, but either way I wouldn't expect unquestioning adulation from anyone.

That said, recognize that having our own IP gives us certain freedoms that we didn't have before and we fully intend to capitalize on that freedom big-time with, I think, our best effort yet. Whether or not we will deliver on that promise is certainly up for debate, naturally.

One thing to keep in mind, as well, is part of the argument for us making this kind of spiritual successor in the first place: anyone else doing a NWN-ish type of game is going to have to go through all the pitfalls and mistakes that we did. It is not, I assure you, a matter of looking at the end product and saying "Oh, I can do better than that." We learned a lot the first time out and perhaps we can capitalize on what we learned successfully. That's the idea, anyhow.

Our world has its own specific races with their own cultures, so by your definition I guess that's closed? How modifiable races would be via the toolset, however, is yet to be determined.

I win, someone owes me a dollar!

Edited By Brenon Holmes on 05/20/04 00:57

Quote: Posted 05/19/04 23:17:09 (GMT) by bloboj

Hello, Scott!

From your Bioware title, it looks as though you're in charge of Dragon Age. Is that true? If so, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Well, technically I'm in charge but a project like this starts to develop a life of it's own We have built a very strong team here and there is serious collaboration on every aspect of the game.

As far as myself, I was BioWare's first official employee (that was over eight years ago) and I was the lead programmer on both Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights.

You can find the Official Dragon Age FAQ here.


Robin

Don't forget to check out the updated FAQ.

On behalf of myself and the entire Dragon Age team, I’d like to welcome you to the official Dragon Age forums.

Discussion and feedback from our community has been very valuable to us in the development of our past projects, and we expect that to be the case with Dragon Age, as well. We’re very much looking forward to hearing your thoughts about the game as it develops, and we’re excited to be able to discuss it with our community.

Members of the development team will be popping in from time to time to read your thoughts and answer your questions. Some of them you will recognize from past projects, while others are completely new faces. Either way, they’re committed to the community and keeping you up to date on any Dragon Age developments.

Because we’re still early in Dragon Age’s development cycle, there will be things we cannot discuss until we are further along in development. We’re not trying to tease you; as the game comes together and its features solidify, we’ll be right here to tell you what you can expect. In the meantime, ask your questions. Just please understand if we tell you we can’t comment on a particular topic.

With that said, welcome to the official Dragon Age forums. We hope you enjoy your stay.