Dragon Age

Probably because Disney looked at them funny, so in the interests of keeping the money printer that is Star Wars EA actually made a sensible business decision - why hobble a product before it's begun?

They'll do that to internal studios because they don't seem that fussed by them. But Star Wars is too high profile to allow an Anthem Mk 2 to happen.

EA has to be extra cautious with this since they already fucked up with Star Wars and pissed off Disney.

EA might also be willing to give Respawn more space since Respawn has already proven they can make EA money and good press with minimal input from EA itself with Apex Legends. If Respawn told EA they needed Unreal 4 to make a good Star Wars game that would satisfy Disney, EA might be inclined to listen.

EA knows that if they screw up the Star Wars license twice in a row, Disney will rake them over the coals for it.

Edited by M84 on Apr 15th 2019 at 5:24:02 PM

Which is also interesting seeing as Disney doesn't seem to really CARE about "Vidja games" as a concept.

Which I (personally) find weird (Look at Kingdom hearts) but can sort of understand as a lot of movie studios don't really see video games as an equivalent medium... despite those same games making more bank than some movies now AND on cheaper budgets.

It is strange how we can come up with some amazing concepts for Star Wars games and yet the gaming industry seems to not want to make them - I assume it's because the studios have no experience with it, limits on the sorts of "canon" allowed and also various numbers about sales figures.

I mean, a proper space sim, freelancer style, set in the Star wars Universe?! Or a mercenaries style game set between different planets?

Hell, an AC style game as a Jedi isn't beyond the ken of man!

Anyway, back to Dragon Age - I was flying through Anthem this weekend and if they can make DA with a massive explorable map like that, where you can delve and have limited loading screens then they have a chance. Imagine looking down a valley, seeing ruins at the end and getting there via various traversal methods, Like the Desert map in DA: I but more lush, with actual side stories, maybe some towns to visit. And then maybe implement changes on the map if you can.

Chasing a dragon through canyons properly. Hell if they can somehow sneak in flying (Maybe this is the time to bring back the Griffons...) then it would work wonders. Have combat be less MMO and more in line with Anthem. Hell, we've seen the shield bash in action - it doesn't need to be a skill, just a block button combined with sprinting.

Have abilities move away from hotkeys and have actual "attack" options - so a sword and board has those skills, then their "abilities" are combo moves you can sinc into a sequence. Similar for mages, just use the ruddy Storm methodology and have spells equip like gear.

Bow wielders are even easier - different bow types giving you different effects (Dual crossbows, big longbow sniper, Varric style machine bow... or as it's Tevinter maybe this is the game we get some black powder muskets stolen from the Qunari)

Do what the Elder Scrolls DIDN'T. Give us flintlocks. A sense the world is changing in terms of science, not just magic.

They don't care about vidja games as a concept. At least, not after they fucked up making vidja games on their own. What they care about is the Star Wars license.

Disney wants to keep the Star Wars license as valuable as possible, especially after Solo. Which means they want Star Wars games that sell well and don't cause massive controversies.

EA already managed to fuck this up once. If they fuck up again, Mickey is going to have words with them.

And you don't want to see Mickey angry. You wouldn't like Mickey when he's angry.

(Not even joking either — since Disney owns Marvel now I'm pretty sure Mickey got gamma treatment and can Hulk out)

I half suspect the DA 4 team will not even bother to look at what Anthem did right. Too much bad baggage.

Edited by M84 on Apr 15th 2019 at 6:36:23 PM

Just look at how Inquisition's design document could be summed with "let's do the opposite of Dragon Age 2 in everything, no matter what", for good and for ill.

I mean, it kinda worked. History has been kinder to DA 2 - in hindsight it is a good game, just let down by limited assets (which, if you take the meta explanation of Varric just lazily describing "we went to another cave" is kinda funny - but clearly a bit of a fanwank approach)

And they completely wasted the whole Seekers plot idea of trying to find Hawke and the Warden for "Mysterious Badness is Coming".

Also, they did improve the companions a fair bit by removing a lot of the whole Friend / Rival element (Or revamping it at least) so you didn't just give gifts 50 times and BAM romance.

Encounters could've been more varied and it's often hard to tell what you're fighting in DA: I - but I blame that on the camera as much as the engine.

I'm not expecting anything major here - Bioware missed a HUGE opportunity with the War Table; just like they missed out on recreating the Suicide mission elements with ME 3.

It seems they just default to "Scripted ending with inspiring music and a minor twist" elements. I do hope gameplay wise they try different things AND the companions are at least entertaining. I just think the plot will go the way of all Bioware with a checkbox of "Engaging the player" and "We really want you to hate the badguy" scenes.

Bioware doing DA 4 as a "Get back to what we did really well all these other times" might be what to expect. Refine what worked well. Don't try to be the best brand new everything.

Because being brand new with something means you're newer at trying to make it work right and that's somewhat risky right now. So, tell an engaging story with likable characters and typical RPG elements. Just refine the RP Gs you're good at making.

Still sad if they got rid of "magical spy heist the game" since that sounded fitting take for Tevinter

Did I miss an announcement?

Because that honestly sounds a lot like my original idea for what DA 4 SHOULD look like back when the Trespasser DLC came out. That they should take some notes from, of all things, Assassin's Creed and try to build us up to dealing with more vertically integrated level design, deeper world-building level designs, and incorporate more subterfuge and, for lack of a better word, "stealth" as to convey the feeling of being an Agent of the Inquisition working on a level where your enemy cannot no you are working against them.

Unfortunately, I doubt we'd get that now, but even going back to just a really well done RPG would be welcome.

Marvel loves video games so they aren't having too much of a problem there. The irony being that Spider-Man (who has returned home but left his family hostage) is getting the treatment just fine by Sony.

But I really think Disney's failure is due to the fact that they tried to do this themselves versus doing what EA did.

They should find some well liked but financially struggling people or former Bioware-esque folk and buy their studio. Then tell them, "Go make us a Star Wars game."

It is weird how they have that in house vibe with films (After Marvel learned their lesson licensing everything out) but games are this weird... side gig?

Totally agree - they should restart Lucas Arts, bring it back in. That way they'd have executive control, no need to worry about brand taint and other companies taking too much of a slice.

Honestly, I hope if they announce some Online MMO-esque sequel, I really want some fan to pull a Diablo Mobile and ask to someone's face who the heck they're making this for if no one wanted that.

Sharing a link to Jimquisition's latest video on Anthem as its playerbase is bleeding out and Bioware seems to be pulling support from the game. Feel like it's relevant.

Edited by InkDagger on May 1st 2019 at 2:27:00 AM

Saw that coming a million miles away.

Release a game of haphazardly put together concepts, light on cohesive content, with a vague roadmap of drip fed release to try to keep people playing (but, unlike Ubisoft, none of that content ready to launch say, a week or month after release).

Yeah bit buggered.

Add onto that an internal management structure that is in denial, can't project plan to save its own life, yeah we've got a spiral.

You have to have a solid commitment to ongoing support projects. to can't launch and then "wing it" - especially if your software isn't friendly to bolt ons or upgrades. I was hoping the online team could salvage it. But I think the core office may try to blame this ON them with a "You guys couldn't hack it - we shipped it fine!" self delusion.

And goodness knows what this means for DA. There's a glut of competitors out there; Divinity, Pillars, even low end stuff like Elex or Seven: Days gone, all getting in on the "RPG" pie.

All DA has is the party and character dynamics that set it apart - that's what people go in for. But Bioware seems to think it's the spectacle people want. Talk about not even understanding your own core offering... as that's something they gutted from Anthem.

Let's hope the rumors that DA 4 will be "Anthem with Dragons" don't turn out to be true.

And if it is, I genuinely want some fan to lie about his question and instead ask them what the hell they're thinking. Like with the Diablo Mobile.

It's rude. It's obnoxious. And it's everything I hate about gaming culture. But goddamn it if it's not an attempt to get Bioware's head out of its own ass at this point and make them realize that NO ONE wants this and they are incapable of making this work.

Booing and asking if they are joking when they turn a beloved franchise into nothing more than a cynical cash grab is exactly what I want to see more of.

And while they are booing, if the gaming media could not start whining about entitled gamers again, that would be fantastic.

Yeah I am uncomfortable with the "us vs them" mentality. Media in gaming should be more than a PR extension, it should present info and let the audience judge, and be critical where it can be. Opinion pieces, fine, but I do get uncomfortable with some parts of the larger gaming sites essentially just reproducing PR releases.

We get that in the mainstream media, not enough critical reporting. It'd be nice if we could have some more critical pieces a la Kotaku's approach, calling out certain practices. I think some of the backlash comes from streamers and the youtube media more than others though; I wouldn't like to say it's because they're reliant on the patronage and free access from the publishers, but I think it can play a part.

On Dragon Age, "Anthem with Dragons" COULD work (With a world that size and with the verticality" but NOT as a live service model with the same approach they've taken with Anthem.

Finally playing Inquisition!

...Did the developers realise how ridiculously overpowered archery is? The amount of 1-shotting, murder-sniping I am doing from afar is ridiculous! And poor Bianca is not up to the task, since she's so underpowered compared to the Inquisitor.

Was the Hand of Korth supposed to be a joke fight? After I turned him into a pincushion from god-knows-how-many-meters-afar, he ended up mauling down my whole party. But then he ate a Jar of Bees to the face and spent the entire fight running around panicked. It's like it never wore off!

It's interesting to compare Anthem and Cyberpunk 2077 as developers have said the two games have had a similar troubled production cycle. However, CDPR seem to be aware of what happened when screw up happens and send themselves back to the drawing board or attempt to fix the resulting problem.

Archery is super good, yes. Especially once you become an assassin and can get massive damage multipliers and turn invisible and stuff. Everyone else in the party just exists to distract enemies briefly or function as an inferior you if you want to, say, respec Cole.

I haven't chosen a spec yet. It doesn't feel right for Cole to have anything other than knives. I got too used to his assassinations in Asunder. I made Serah hold knives as well, since I was already an archer and Varric needs to keep his inferior Bianca. Speaking of which, that one smuggler mansion in the Emerald Graves was hilarious. Went in through the hill on the back and proceeded to rain death upon every single guard. "Slaughter" is a mild word.

I feel sorry for poor Blackwall and Bull. They truly cannot be as reliable as Cassandra, who never dies and keeps all of my squishy folks safe.

Yeah. CDPR has the luxury of not having EA standing behind them, kicking them out the door.

For a Beserker, Bull is... useless. He actually specs better with Sword and Board which makes NO SENSE looking at everything else.

The player being one is better because you can do more, as Bull can't wear helmets and the warpaint is UGH.

I started an archer playthrough, but that was playthrough 3 and I wasn't sure I had the stamina to try it.