Larian Studios Forums General Chat After Seeing the new Dragon Age Trailer so glad BioWare didn't get to make Bg3

From their marketing approach in following BG3's footsteps, yeah.
Although, combat was probably always going to be this from before BG3 released, given the leaks were from atleast Feb last year. Most likely, lots of this game is made from salvaged elements from their live service attempt.
----

@KlarissA
Didn't see your post till after, so I'll edit this.

Yeah, I've read through them abit and I only missed that it's 3 abilities per companion, so 9-10 tops? and some being rather long cooldowns still too, so it does still seem abit spammy, idk, I'm sure we'll find out more later, probably... hopefully.

For No Death, I have no issue with the option, I'm mostly just thinking, and being blunt, as to what's the point of combat for those the choose it, as all your going to be doing is wailing on the enemy until they die, which might get a bit boring after awhile.
Ofcourse, thats my take on it the combat from what I've seen and maybe they'll include a instant kill feature as apart of the setting.

I also had no expectations, except my hope that this'll be the last Dragon Age game, or atleast one without a cliffhanger. Even then, I guess it just feels abit anti-climatic from the build up from DA:I -> Tresspasser -> Dreadwolf, although I suppose it's not the first time, what with the Templar vs Mage conflict. So if we skipped a game to get to here, then good.

For it being a "companion focused narrative", maybe it's just using BG3's buzzwords for marketing because I can't think of another RPG that focuses on companions over main story outside of BG3 (...maybe DA:I or PoE2?) but every (c)RPG kinda does that for their companions, being the mouthpiece for their respective faction (perhaps too much that they become sterotypes sometimes), without the narrative being left behind.

Yes, I can understand that for the no death setting. In my own experience, I usually always start on the easiest setting and do a first play through to get accustomed to the mechanics. I adjust later. So, given I see no big difference in between no death or easily save/load, I can imagine it could make things a bit simpler and less frustrating for those who try it. There are also apparently a lot of parameters to play with in the settings, which might alleviate the boring effect (which can also happen with death). Edit : And, maybe, while you keep fighting without dying you can actually try things and get better, with potentially no frustrating effect. Maybe it could allow a smoother progressing curve for some people. So, I don’t know, I guess it will depend on what everything actually amounts to once released. I also hope that it means there are nice options for progression (even during one play through, maybe), and for those with a taste for challenge.

Edit : Regarding the focus on the companions (and the change from Dreadwolf to The Veilguard). I think it’s just to put the player character and the people with them at the forefront, rather than the problem or a third party. And also do something that many people liked in previous games. For example, I’ve seen many say that they actually enjoyed the way it was with companions in DA2, other problems non withstanding. And, personally, it’s an opinion I tend to share. It seems to me that they think about it in a sort of potential found family way (at least the way I thought about it).

Very late to this party, but finally managed to find time to watch the DATV gameplay reveal and read what’s known about it. The Dragon Age games (especially DAO) are some of my favourite in addition to BG3 but I’ve not been keeping up with development. I’ve been waiting until there was something to get excited about!

I’m not quite sure why folks earlier in the thread thought the trailer looked awful, it looked good to me, as do companions old and new. And while good character creation certainly isn’t enough by itself, in games like the DA ones for me it is important to be able to create a character that I’ll find it cool to play, so happy to hear there’s been attention given to this. Though frankly I’ll be happy enough if there’s decent hair, which has been a significant and bewildering gap in many recent BioWare games to my mind. Surely it can’t be that hard!

I’m sure I’ll enjoy the characters and the story: I always do with BioWare games, even ones that others are disappointed by (not that I’m saying all their games are equally good). But like others it’s the combat that makes me most nervous as that’s what I found most disappointing about DAI, plus I’m generally pretty rubbish at games that require good reactions and coordination. And DATV seems to have gone even further down the action RPG route that’s not usually my bag. I’m sure I saw people mention earlier in this thread the automated combat tactics that could be set up in DAO and DA2. I loved those and spent ages tinkering with the rules, particularly with DA2. They seemed the best possible approach to a party-based RPG with real-time combat, allowing for characters to make use of a wide range of abilities in a way that I defined while still letting battles flow freely.

That said, I also love the ME games, and really enjoyed the combat in MEA once I got the hang of it, and in some ways DAVG gameplay is giving me more ME than DA vibes. Perhaps I just need to think of it as an ME game set in Thedas.

Has anyone used the word 'hate'? Dislike is not synonymous with hate.

Or perhaps people read through the content of the thread until and until they find a post that they decide to comment on.

If you are referring to me then I was responding to jinetemoranco using commonplace CC features as evidence of the great things we can expect from DA4.
I was also trying to make the point that it was info about CC that was released rather than anything which I would consider the core features of an RPG - plot, combat, companions etc.


Just so.

Agreed.


Agreed again.

I read a lot of philosophy and theology and I can tell you that there were some very interesting philosophical and theological issues woven into the dialogue and goings on in DA:I.

Admittedly I’ve only just started reading about DA4 today, so I’m not sure what info was released when, but GameInformer (linked already in this thread but with the DA4 overview page at https://www.gameinformer.com/DragonAgeTheVeilguard) seems to have a decent range of info albeit as yet quite light on details. Yes, there’s stuff about character creation and nudity, but also about combat, companions, classes and even a bit about the plot or at least Solas’s role in it, though personally I’m very happy for plot details to remain under wraps until I play.

That is not what I said at all.
Big difference between "Their CC sounds great from what they teased (posts CC details)" and "Their game sounds great from what they teased (posts CC details)".
Like the point I was making earlier, it feels like it's too uncool to say anything positive on here if saying "this specific thing sounds good from the info we have" is conflated with the much more ambitious, and from the conditions the game is surrounded in, unlikely, "this game is going to be good".

Okay, folks, let’s draw a line and not get further drawn into complaining about other forum members’ attitudes whether we see them as too positive or too negative. It’s fine to be pessimistic about the game, fine to be optimistic and fine to be anywhere between the two poles.

Can we start from that position and just be careful when we’re disagreeing about our impressions of the game, as we inevitably will, or clarifying our points, as we’re entitled to do if someone has misinterpreted, that we’re not being drawn into more personal comments or criticisms.

Also, I’m just moving this thread to the chat forum as it’s more about BioWare and DA4 than Larian and BG3, and though I know it was started partly to consider what BG3 might have been like had it been made by BioWare, that also seems more like chat as it’s about a counterfactual other game we might have had rather than the one we do.

@Jordaker My bad then. I saw the questions/the list about other things than character creation, and the fact that I didn't think it was presented as a very good omen regarding other aspects, and my read was probably lacking. Hence why I voiced perplexity, thank you for elaborating. Regarding the topic of philosophy and theology in DAI, I do not necessarily disagree. It's more, to me, an immersion difficulty (hard to really nicely go with a faithful Inquisitor). Just as, personally, it was difficult for me in terms of immersion in Fallout 4 to play as a female character looking for her baby. Yet, it doesn't take anything from the rest, or seeing the way other characters talked or lived their faith. It also gave interesting role play opportunities sometimes as a Dalish Elf (their history and faith in relation to Andrastian religion, or even within the relationship with Sera and Solas).

In general though, I tried to keep posted with news about DA4, more so since the release of the trailer and of the gameplay bit. They've talked about varied subjects, even if not at great length, like combat and classes, why the change of name. The character creator seems to be talked about much because it was something fans were really looking forward, and something the team behind the game seems to be proud of (they mentioned the fact that they were now mastering the Frost engine, for the technical part for example). Honestly, until recently, the matter of nudity was mentioned in passing (I even reported it here, because someone seemed to question the mature aspects of the game, what with the "it's for kids" sentiment when the trailer got out). Now there have been other articles/focuses in Game Informer, nudity being one lately. My impression is that there's a big difference in between what reporting and discussions tend to focus on, and what is actually communicated and how.

Edit : Sorry, error on the keyboard, and my message was posted half finished. Just to also add the article that just got out in relation to companions, since we were in part talking about that yesterday.

https://www.gameinformer.com/exclus...nion-design-philosophy-in-dragon-age-the

And, along with other things that should be elaborated on before release, there could be a bit more at the end of this month, since they will be present at the San Diego Comic-Con (25-28). With focus on the voice over (featuring Neve, Harding, Lucanis & Emmrich).

You crack me up, little buddy.

Before any BG3 effect, there was the #AssEffect. And Bioware faithfuls demanding to have a little #AssEffect in every game, no matter the type and focus. Some resisted the demand (and occasionally still do). Others.. not so much. BG being a sequel of a Bioware game, no dice. Full circle, man.


That said: There aren't many blockbusting games that are pitched to a blockbuster game trailer audience via indepth systems. Not that Bioware could have ever done that with any of their games, Dragon Age in particular, mind. Even when their games still received near universal acclaim, they built their games primarily around what their (then) authors cooked up. Everything else was light weight. Something that their former proteges CD Projekt seem to have picked up from them.

I play games for the stories and adventures they can give me, so I can’t judge the gameplay itself, but I want to share my personal opinion.
I became acquainted with DAO relatively recently, but was fascinated by the universe and how well the writers wrote the world and individual characters.
The world is DA cruel and dangerous, it does not give concessions. The weak die and to survive you must be strong. Qunari who divide the world into black and white. Magicians walking on the edge of a knife. Insidious politics. Сhauvinisme. The threat to all living things comes from the creatures of darkness!
In DA1 and DA2 you had to face bad things, insults and even threats, but you learned to make choices, make decisions and face consequences. The player felt fully responsible for his actions.
Nowadays it is fashionable to create safe spaces and people tend to avoid and not notice bad things. In DA3, I saw how the writers began to relieve the player of responsibility for their actions. He no longer participated in the events and was simply an observer. The mark on the hand was just an excuse not to miss the event. I'm sad about what they did to the universe. How companions were depersonalized by turning them into empty sets of templates. How they disfigured their appearance for fear of seeming offensive to someone. The trailer for the new DA showed that they are no longer a unique game with a rich history, but just another annual online service. Very sad. It's unlikely that anything can convince me to buy this.

Oh, I absolutely agree, I just don't like, being Chantry Jesus here. There are quite some interesting discussions about religion going on otherwise.

Roleplaying a devout believer was one of the more interesting things available to you in that game I thought. I was disappointed when they pulled back from that within the story. It was interesting considering we the player aren't totally sure how literally we're supposed to read the church, so it was interesting to me to play with that in the narrative.
Another thing I'm a little leery of in the next game is how uninteresting the starting factions seem to be. I was really interested in navigating Tevinter politics, but from the starting choices for Rook, it seems the game already assumes which side of things we'll be.

Dragon age: Origins was their "lightning in a bottle," it had some bugs but at the time the game was amazing, it felt like the natural progression of a kotor-like game. Then they turned the IP into a braindead DMC style action game with absolutely none of the charm of DMC. Every Dragon Age game they've made since has been progressively worse. It's honestly sad to see because the DAO had so much potential had they handled it right.

DMC's actually great. If DATV had DMC's combat I wouldn't be so tempted to just use their newly added option to just never die.