Bioware General (Mass Effect/Dragon Age/Other)

[Vol]

I remember the difficulty curve being sorta whack. The dragons were HP bags, but require some positioning. Recall a fight in the...second map, the one with the qunari cove, being rather fiddly.

Whereas in DA:O, magic was so bonkers, but necessary, I remember even bothering to do the custom AI scripts for party members. There's one ambush encounter, early game, where they have a mage on a cliff, and that fuck can and will wipe the party if you're got flatfooted.

And yes! Magic should be rare, difficult, and powerful. As a gameplay concession, it all has to be reduced down to simple, spammable spells, granted. Though the blood mage route in DA:O was really cool, and despite it breaking the game, blood magic _should_ break the game. Same with the other advanced classes. Really, a more polished DA:O combat system, and any writing that isn't steeped in Millennial irony, and I'm more than happy.

[Dragaros]

https://www.swtor.com/info/news/article/20230209

[Dragaros]

https://twitter.com/davidgaider/status/ ... 2164864000

"Going through my old DAI files and came across the original plan for a playable post-credits Epilogue... which, due to time constraints, eventually got down-scaled to the post-credits cutscene you saw on release. A lot of the meat here was, I believe, resurrected for Trespasser.
At the time, I was pushing hard for an actual denouement - as opposed to always ending the story so abruptly after the climax. Considering how few players ever get that far, I suppose I can see the argument that it's not exactly a great place to focus resources.
I did like where the cutscene ended up, mind you. A nice, Marvel-esque stinger that hinted at story to come. Took the sting out of having yet another story plan go awry... which is simply par for the course for game dev. Writing can always imagine more than we can produce.
And in case anyone wonders: no actual work was done on that playable section prior to the cut. You can imagine it being this fully-fleshed out, glorious thing, if you like... but it could just as easily have been half-baked and terrible. The team was fully stretched as it was."

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gLYv_sBNCo

"In a recent YouTube video on Mark Darrah on Games called The 4 Questions of Multiplayer Storytelling, Mark talks a bit about what happened with Anthem."

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyPjpAhInA4

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

https://twitter.com/bioware/status/1625545177484984320

[Dragaros]

https://blog.bioware.com/2023/02/23/bio ... by-design/

[Dragaros]

"Former Lead BioWare Writer Says EA "Never Got" Dragon Age; EA has apparently never understood why Dragon Age games have sold better than some Mass Effect titles."

"Dragon Age has always had the numbers to rival its sci-fi sibling, Mass Effect, but it's long felt like it's not given the same respect by its publisher, EA. Since Inquisition dropped in 2014, Mass Effect has got a fourth game and a remastered trilogy. Dragon Age, on the other hand, has got a couple of trailers, and about a billion cancelled projects for the long-awaited Dragon Age 4.

Now, it seems that fans aren't alone in feeling like Dragon Age gets the short end of the stick. Speaking on Twitter, former lead Dragon Age writer David Gaider says that he feels EA "never got" the series, and couldn't understand why it was so popular.

This came as Gaider shared how much he would love to see a remake or remaster of Dragon Age: Origins, giving the old 2009 RPG some love. A fan replied to say that they felt like the project would be a no-brainer, and would "sell like hotcakes." Yet according to Gaider, this wouldn't be enough.

"I suspect EA would only do it if they thought it would sell like gold-plated hotcakes," says Gaider. "They've... never really gotten DA, or understood why it sold better than Mass Effect, was my impression."

Similarly, Gaider also doesn't understand why the Dragon Age series was made to be much more Mass Effect-y after Origins. "I guess people thought ME was more slick and modern and thus should have more commercial appeal? 'Common wisdom' is an insidious thing."

True enough, Dragon Age: Origins managed to outsell the first Mass Effect, despite that getting far more publicity. Similarly, Inquisition performed better than Mass Effect 2 and Andromeda, despite the former often being touted as one of BioWare's most popular games.

With this in mind, it's strange that the series has been "punished" for so long despite hardly putting a foot wrong. Dragon Age 2, despite being seen as the weakest in the series, was still met with positive reviews and good sales. But after such a long hiatus, we'll have to wait and see if Dragon Age: Dreadwolf can maintain this winning streak."

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

Mass Effect 3 turned 11 the other day.

And let us take a moment to remember that Marauder Shields tried his hardest to save us from the ending. Honor his sacrifice. Never forget.

[Vol]

I remember being very confused at first with the Marauder Shields meme. I forget when and where, but I had to have someone lay it for explicitly for me.

He was a soldier of Earth, who will help me carry him?

Man, imagine if ME3 had been given more development time than none. Another year, or two, even three.

[magnuskn]

I wonder if that series was ever finished...

[TTTX]

I wonder if that series was ever finished...

it wasn't, the artist pretty much disappeared one day (before patreon became a thing).

I'm guessing life got in the way.

[magnuskn]

I wonder if that series was ever finished...

it wasn't, the artist pretty much disappeared one day (before patreon became a thing).

I'm guessing life got in the way.

Dang. Yeah, that actually happens quite often with very extensive fanfiction projects, in my experience. I used to read a lot of X-Men and Buffy fanfiction back in the day.

Luckily at least Avatar of Victory was finished after years of the authors absence.

[Dragaros]

https://play.reelcrafter.com/media/RUQH ... qadxnRGQZg

https://twitter.com/SamHulick/status/16 ... 1457007618

[Dragaros]

https://twitter.com/davidgaider

“You want "evolved over production”? *cracks knuckles* Lemme tell you how we cut Corypheus attacking Skyhold. Now *that’s* evolution.

This was one of the tougher cuts in Inquisition: Corypheus attacking Skyhold, originally meant to happen late in the game (prior to the Temple of Mythal beat, if I remember right). I don’t think its absence was noticed that much (?), but it was difficult to swallow at the time.

Why was it cut? Resources, mainly. Skyhold was already proving super-complex, with all its upgrades and the characters who could be in multiple places at any given time. Testing it alone would be a nightmare. So we couldn’t have that AND also the attack. Thus a decision was made.

It was the right call, made early enough that no *real* work had been done on the attack yet… and thus we were able to shift things around in the late story to accommodate. It did mean all those Skyhold upgrades became cosmetic, though, and that’s not how they were intended.

The biggest impact, to me, was that the threat of Corypheus after Haven was never truly realized. An attack on Skyhold would have upped the ante, maybe I could have killed someone finally… but, instead, Corypheus remained a remote villain you chased but were rarely chased by.

I think people see the story as something the narrative designers delivered at some point and that the team implented… but you have to constantly compromise throughout development. That’s our main job. You only hope you do it well enough that the holes aren’t too noticeable.

By the way: if you’re wondering who I would have killed in Skyhold, given the chance, the answer is obviously Varric. That dwarf was meant to die in the (canceled) DA2 expansion and escaped his fate despite having been in my crosshairs ever since.“

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectleg ... /mods/1630







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKrGiy196Ow

[Dragaros]

"Former BioWare employee releasing sci fi film, made in Unreal Engine"

"Hi everyone, I'm thrilled to announce the imminent release of my 3D-animated feature film! It's been in full production for over 2 years and was created using Unreal Engine and innovative cinematic techniques. As a 10+ year veteran of the games industry, having worked at BioWare, Frostbite, and Epic Games, I've honed my cinematic and animation skills, creating this film that I hope will push the boundaries of what an individual can achieve. Please enjoy the film when it releases for free, here on YouTube, on March 25th, 2023!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwZfMOEgQyY

[Dragaros]

https://twitter.com/bioware/status/1638232874242514945

https://twitter.com/MassEffect_News/sta ... 7371646976

"Mass Effect: Andromeda was released six years ago."

[Vol]

That graphic confused me greatly until I squinted and read the text below. Imagine if ME:A had been a hit! Alas.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELNAwqgDcHU

If you're going to pick a moment from ME2, something like the success of the Suicide Mission hits way harder than Shep getting spaced in the intro if you ask me.

[Dragaros]

https://venturebeat.com/games/mark-darr ... -the-game/

“Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah has returned to work on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf as a consultant. On top of that, Electronic Arts said that the Mass Effect team will help with the production of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf as the production and polishing tasks ratchet upward.

The Mass Effect team can do that because the next Mass Effect title is still in the pre-production stage with a small core team working on it, GamesBeat has learned.

“Our studio is focused on creating the best Dragon Age: Dreadwolf while the core Mass Effect team continues their pre-production work,” said Gary McKay, BioWare general manager, in a statement to GamesBeat. “We continue to iterate and polish Dreadwolf, focusing on the things that matter most to our fans. As we further connect this new experience with the series’ legacy Mark Darrah will join the team as a consultant, bringing with him years of experience working on Dragon Age. We’re proud to have this team, with strong leadership at the helm, working together to realize the vision we have for the game.”

EA said that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has been in post-production since September and the team’s been hard at work — spending lots of time iterating and making it better. Now that the team has the ability to do a complete playthrough, it can iterate and polish on the things that matter most to fans.

EA has previously used other teams to complete another game as the deadline approaches to ship a game. For instance, Criterion helped Dice and other studios ship Battlefield.

McKay previously said in a blog post that the Dreadwolf team hit alpha last fall. As development continues, EA is optimizing the team and bolstering it.

Darrah was a former developer and executive producer on the Dragon Age titles at BioWare. He left the studio along with Casey Hudson in December 2020. Recently, he approached BioWare about returning, and the team thought it was an opportunity to bring back a seasoned veteran who was integral to the last three Dragon Age games.

Darrah’s focus will center on ensuring that the team is connecting this new experience with the legacy of the franchise. Respecting the Dragon Age legacy while sustaining the vision for this beloved franchise is a top priority. Corinne Busche (game director), Benoit Houle (director of product development), John Epler (creative director) and Maciej Kurowski (technical director) continue to lead the Dragon Age team.

Meanwhile, the core Mass Effect team, led by Mike Gamble, will continue with pre-production work on Mass Effect. Dragon Age: Dreadwolf doesn’t have a launch date yet. Players are anxious to know when that will be.

“BioWare has a long history of making amazing single-player games with powerful stories that fans can immerse themselves within,” said Samantha Ryan, senior vice president and group general manager at EA, in a statement. “They’ve been taking their time on the next Dragon Age, trying new things, bringing in the right people, and making sure they’re refining their game. That’s normal for a complex game of this genre. This phase of production takes time, and the studio wants to make sure it gets it right for its fans.”

Ryan is in charge of the BioWare, Full Circle, Maxis and Motive studios at Electronic Arts.”

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z8bEPag8_E

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M-oJMhkYF0

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOK3X-0MUe8

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ0T5V2pINM

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4uJ1UFGnNI

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgCV92-Pbqw

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24AuBJbgrW8

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4xL9O0RuPs

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qnx5Ayr4Hc

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWDbSzioPMs

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

https://www.swtor.com/info/news/article/20230328

[Dragaros]

https://www.reddit.com/r/dragonage/comm ... _host_the/

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

[Vol]

What...exactly is that lithograph implying is happening there? They're lending Shepard their energy for a Spirit Bomb?

[Mazder]

....
It might imply control or synthesis...
But the armour is too together of that.

Might imply the transport beam on Earth.


Also looks like Shepard is getting hit with a Spirit Bomb, but that'd only be Renegade Shep, lol.

[Vol]

Or...Indoctrination Theory! Those are Reaper beams, and only Shepard's team can save him from madness! This is a hint ME4 will retcon ME3 and and and

Heh. Ah, I wish Bioware had taken those wild theories and used them for a mulligan.

[Dragaros]

https://www.pcgamer.com/rpg-roundtable- ... ying-rpgs/

https://www.pcgamer.com/mike-laidlaw-ex ... ompanions/

"RPG roundtable podcast: Josh Sawyer, Mike Laidlaw, Strix Beltran, Paweł Sasko, and Lis Moberly go deep on writing and playing RPGs. Listen to our 80-minute discussion with five veteran RPG designers. These RPG designers came together for a GDC roundtable discussion which was hosted by PC Gamer. one of the interviewees was former Dragon Age lead Mike Laidlaw and for his part he talked a bit about Dragon Age development. The group discussion in general touched on: How games are on the cusp of a procedural narrative breakthrough; What players expect from RPGs today; How their personal experiences playing RPGs have informed their games; Writing characters that really resonate with players."

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlcJl24AaZ8

[Dragaros]

https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectleg ... /mods/1730

[Dragaros]

https://www.reddit.com/r/masseffect/com ... ss_effect/

[Dragaros]

"Dragon Age: Dreadwolf won't be out before next April according to EA BioWare RPG absent from earnings report"

"EA indirectly confirms Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is at least a year away"

"Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Won't Launch Before March 2024"

[Vol]

DA:I was 2014. Quite a turnaround from ME2 in a few years, then ME3 within 2, eh?