9:1 Dragon: The Dragon Age begins. It is predicted to be an age of violence and upheaval.
— Timeline
, Dragon Age: Inquisition official website
, Dragon Age: Inquisition official website"The story behind [Dragon Age: Inquisition], the story of the Inquisitor trying to uncover what's happening, is, if anything, a study of human nature, of how humans—and I think we all to some degree suffer from this—are flawed, in that sometimes, we are lost in our own universe and we are all the heroes of our own story, so we seize opportunities when perhaps, the longer scale thing would be more altruistic but more harmful to us in the short term. I think that whether it's security, whether it's good climate, there are so many things facing us right now, we are so deluged with information that we might be on the cusp of understanding that being self-absorbed is not something that's sustainable; and that if the Dragon Age franchise does anything, it recognizes that humans have this weakness but we don't all have to have this weakness. You can rise above and you can kind of set aside the self, and with the support of those around you—that's why party and friendship is such a huge part of the game—you can work together and affect some kind of change. And while it's a dark world, it's ultimately a hopeful message. I think that those are the kind of elements that we see as integral to Dragon Age, and whether it's a dragon landing on your workers or a sturdy door, all these conflicts are actually serving this larger think that friendship and altruism can rise above a world that otherwise would be profoundly fucked."
— Mike Laidlaw, lead designer and creative director of the Dragon Age series, "The Future of Gaming" panel at PAX Prime 2013
