Dragon Age

Gee, thanks.

I just need them to deny me Blackwall for all my dreams to be crushed.

I feel like, considering how popular Varric was in DA 2, they should have said that he wasn't an LI earlier on until waiting this late in the game.

I'm a bit disappointed, to be honest, because we've got a Quinari LI before a Dwarf. : /

Any word on that Dragon Age Keep thing which allows you to make your own DA / DA 2 backstory?

edited 23rd Aug '14 4:37:55 PM by AnotherGuy

It'll be out before the game releases.

There was also a leak with some images of the interface recently.

I remember Gaider saying that Bioware won't do a Dwarf Female LI because they look too similar to children. There's no such issues with male Dwarves though.

The projected release date is sometime in October. There's also a beta that you can apply for. They send invites about once per week.

edited 23rd Aug '14 5:07:04 PM by lrrose

Qunaro horns will be optional.

Though invites are likely to slow down with the leak and all.

He was saying that's why HE didn't like Romances involving Dwarfs in DA:O. Which, I'll be honest, I find the proportions of Dwarfs in DA:O to be really awkward; their faces look... off somehow and their arms are far too long.

They look a bit better in Inquisition. I don't think they've ever looked like children though (Gaider must be seeing some really curvy kids if so...)

I mean, they're 4 foot tall and stocky. Of course their build looks a bit awkward.

I've seen kids that have really oddly round faces and incredibly awkward and round proportions. In the case of Origins, I always felt like Dwarfs were INCREDIBLY Uncanny.

I also always giggle to myself like an idiot when the dwarf kills that guy the second you run into Orsimar. It looks... idk, the awkward proportions and etc look 'cute' for some reason and it makes me laugh my ass off that a guy dragging his axe into a guy is 'cute' for some reason.

Short summary of the article:

• This is the DA game they have always wanted to make.
• Choices are likened to rings on water. Your class and race affects somethings. They want you to feel like the choices you make really does things. Some choices means you won't get information on important things.
• They want you to share your experiences of the game with your friends.
• The order you do things in changes the game/ending(they rank it on the same level as class/race, choices and allies).
• Some missions can't be solved with violence.
• The three advisors will help you with your armies(The General), your assassins(The Spymaster) and kings and empresses(The Diplomat). The advisors can do some missions for you.
• They set out to make the game more colorful than other games but were surprised when it turned out that everyone else in the industry did the same.
• No invisible walls.
• They don't like calling it Open-World. Mike calls it Multiregion Open World.
• Every area is as large as every past DA area together.
• Different regions like deserts and swamps exist.
• Crafting and Alchemy are in.
• If you like the model of a sword but thinks its to weak you can make a new sword with the same model but better stats if you're good. You can have the same look the entire game if you want to.
• Varric can use daggers but is stuck with Bianca as a range weapon. He has to much dignity to use lesser bows.
• If you say something mean to an elf Solas will disapprove but there won't be a -10 on the screen. Everything is behind the scenes.
• All companions have different goals.
• Cassandra will like you more if you help her find info on "The Seekers".
• Varric isn't romanceable because "he already has someone if you know what I mean".
• They have been looking at feedback from the fans from the start and while many wanted to fall in love with Varric many didn't. They went with the option that seemed the most incharacter for him.
• Mark liked bringing exploration back to the series the most. Mike liked the more engaging battle system(he likes both real-time and tactical battles).

I might translate the entire thing tomorrow if I have time after work.

Good to know Crafting is still there. I really liked Runecrafting in Dragon Age Origins Awakening and used Paragon-level runes on all my Warden-Commanders.

I look forward to playing this. Multiple times.

I might too xD Either that or do every quest that I can. Or both xD

The female dwarves look too much like children but not the DA 2 female elves?

I thought Felsi was rather cute. Deserved better than Oghren the Deadbeat.

Besides the slight retcon from the DAO epilogue slides, I don't find Cullen too out of place. He went to Kirkwall because he liked the stricter Circle/Gregoire's orders. The opposite extreme + time settled him down some. The Templars seem to have broken from the Chantry as an epic hissyfit while Cullen takes his vows seriously so he doesn't join the witchhunt. Granted, I never got the fangirls who thought there should've been more romance between he and the mage Warden.

Man, Oghren's a piece of shit, but he tries. If the Warden encourages him, he's a great dad.

I unfortunately didn't pick the right conversation options so he just gradually lost contact with them :(

A bit of news on the approval system. There are still approval bars, but they are hidden from the player. The game won't tell you how many approval points you gained or lost from an action, only that a companion approved or disapproved. So instead of getting "Cole approves +5" (as shown in the Gamescom demo due to debug mode being on,) you'll be getting "Cole approves."

edited 24th Aug '14 6:09:35 PM by lrrose

Excellent. Much more organic that way. I'm actually a big proponent of behind-the-scenes systems in general, so this is good news on multiple levels

Fuck, I don't like that no track-able approval bar deal.

Yeah. If you're going to have the system anyway, then at least make it visible to the player.

They could just include a toggle feature.

Personally I'd prefer 2's friendship/rivalry returned over Origin's broken approval system.

I prefer being able to superficially bribe people into loving you by giving them lots of gifts.

Seems more realistic.