Dragon Age
 

Re: Dragon Age
 

More July 9 2008? Could it be they are finally ready for release?

Re: Dragon Age
 

I have to hand it to Bioware for sticking to their positions that "We'll release it when it is ready" and "We'll tell you more when we are ready." If you go over to their official forums you'd be rich if you could collect one dollar for every person that kept asking," When is it coming out" and "When are they going to release more blah, blah, blah..." They get locked down real quick.

July 9th should prove to be interesting. I am hoping Bioware provides an RPG that will truly deliver.

Re: Dragon Age
 

Yeah, its about dang time! :)

I saw on engadget this:

It looks like BioWare is finally ready to talk a little bit more about their long-in-development fantasy RPG Dragon Age. The developer first announced the game and showed an early PC build at E3 2004 but since then there's been a cone of silence on the title (with the exception of one article in the now defunct Games for Windows magazine in 2006).

The Dragon Age web site now has a teaser image that indicates more info on the title will be revealed on Wednesday, July 9. Bioware's new owners Electronic Arts have previously mentioned that the game is currently scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2009. The game is also scheduled to be shown at E3 next week.

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The website has been updated with a newsletter and news of an upcoming trailer coming to TV this Friday.

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Aye saw that...somehow I expected more. Like an instant copy of the game in my hands :P Still a LONG way off unfortunately.

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I am underwhelmed. I have seen such trailers many times before from other RPG offerings, thus this is nothing new. I would have at least liked to have seen a clip of real game play.

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Just saw the video. Really generic stuff. It didn't tell us anything about the game, except that it's typical medieval stuff. And it seems like a cliché good versus evil conflict. Somehow I was hoping for something unique to draw our interest.

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Aren't all RPG's basically a cliche good vs. evil conflict? ;)

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Yes, but some have interesting twists and grey areas in place of the usual black and white.

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New screen shots

http://media.pc.ign.com/media/682/682217/imgs_1.html

The 5th one really had a BG feel to it.

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And with a bioware game, it would be silly to think Dragon Age wouldn't follow suit. I just think it's silly to start making assumptions on a game that, at this point, we know very little about.

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PS:T, KOTORII, MotB and Fallout come to mind. Not entirely coincedentally, these are all superb RPG's.

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My concern/curiosity is based only upon the latest trailers and pics that I have seen, but I am wondering what the hardware demands are going to be for this game. I sure hope Bioware paid attention to Crytek and their Crysis game and how the vast majority of gamers didn't have the hardware to run.

It's great to be able to make a cutting edged game but when a large majority of the PC gaming community doesn't have the hardware to run it then cutting edge is moot at best and the $ flows elsewhere.

Knowing Bioware though I think they are smart enough to realize this -- anyway I am hoping they do!

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Well, the little video clip told me absolutely nothing!

Is it turn based combat? Otherwise it will su.. not be good.

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Too true on the video clip; nothing new here that I haven't seen before from other RPG trailer offerings.

Variol, when you say turned based combat are you intending how the Might & Magic series implemented TBC or how the Baldur's Gate series implemented with the pause function?

Re: Dragon Age
 

Since when was that turn based? :p

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My point is that the trailer was totally generic. Just good medieval guys being attacked by bad medieval guys. It didn't show anything new, unique or any reason for us to be interested in the game. Remove the name of the evil army and this trailer could be about any medieval game, novel or movie.

Basically I'm disappointed we learned nothing at all except it's going to be in an apparently typical medieval setting.

Re: Dragon Age
 

I have read a number of people over several websites that have called the type of combat in BG/NWN as a form of Turn Base. Why? I haven't a clue. I never considered it TB in the least. I just wanted to see what Variol's definition of turn based combat is.

Luvian, I couldn't agree more. I have gone over to Bioware's official DA forums to see fan reaction and unless I am missing something I have yet to read a criticism of the "monmumental" July 9 release of information.

Me thinks they may be clamping down on negativity, but this is only from my limited observation. :disgust:

Edit Update from 1Up at E3 Preview:

Managing your party uses the classic BioWare pausable combat, where you stop action to queue up attacks. The party AI also allows for you to have multiple battles at once. We saw two party members in one room fighting off a beast while two others carried out another fight elsewhere. Parties will have a maximum of four players -- two fewer than the six possible in "Baldur's Gate II," which Zeschuk says is a compromise that enables them to achieve maximum "graphic fidelity" while also giving players enough "chess pieces" to move around the board. It's not, however, a result of the game design being dumbed down -- an understandable fear held by many PC enthusiasts, given BioWare's recent focus on console games. "It's a balance point," says Zeschuk. "You don't want to get overly detailed. In playtesting, we found that four was a nice number. You can mix it up with different characters but it's still easy enough to control, [yet] still detailed enough that people felt what they were doing was meaningful." Zeschuk also points out that by streamlining the number of characters players control, the team was able to focus on making other aspects of the game more epic: bigger enemies -- a room-filling ogre was shown during the demo -- as well as larger battles with dozens of combatants. "We're going to be mixing it up a little more," he says.

Conclusion:

But really, breaking new ground is not what Dragon Age is about -- and the tactical use of party-based combos, a hallmark of the Baldur's Gate series, looks amazingly fun. We saw a mage drop a grease spell across the floor of a room, which then was lit up by the group's flaming weapons, causing a stunning conflagration that engulfed the enemies. In another spot, one party member paralyzed the baddies while his cohorts picked them off one by one. It's these tactical opportunities and multitudes of different combat possibilities that gave classic RPGs such depth and replayability, and Dragon Age looks to be a truly worthy of the tradition.

Re: Dragon Age
 

Euh... no. One trick combos are not the reason rpgs have replayability or depth. It's because of the story and setting as well as the numerous paths. I hope they start talking about the story and setting soon.

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From Gamespot. I hope this link works. This is the type of information I was looking for: Actual Dragon Age Gameplay; 3 minutes worth.

http://www.gamespot.com/video/0/6194...up=e32008_live

Re: Dragon Age
 

Here's another video on YouTube: (easier for those on slow speed connections)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q-jVM9fe8w

Add me to the list of "not particularly impressed".
Lord of Rings generics? Pass.
Only four characters and not six? Pass.
This fact alone makes me think it owes more to NWN than to BG, really.

Ahh well. At least there's plenty more older classics for me to play yet. :)

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Dragon Age: Origins coming to consoles News

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=217002

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Now *THAT* is the real bloody NWN2! (Only if they add Multiplayer. If they don't, it'll become history in 4 weeks) DA could create a new golden age of RPGing again finally.
I'll be opening a forum and webarea for that for SURE.


No multiplayer is a death sentence for Dragon Age.

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Yeah I can't wait for it either.

Dragon Age Origin is only the first game they plan to make with the engine. Some of them will for sure be multiplayer.

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No Multiplayer? Ugh. I don't know why Bioware keeps doing this with their games. If it's because everyone gets to be the hero, then that's crap. I remember Baldurs Gate. I was a tagalong friend from Candlekeep, and was fine with it :D

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It doesn't have multiplayer? Or are we just guessing?

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Bioware stated its a single player - BUT you can share mods with the toolset they provide. While that IS cool--they make awesome toolsets, but to me, its pointless not to make it multiplayer. :( ugh.... I hope the decide to change their minds or with a patch......

Re: Dragon Age
 

Has anyone seen the two new videos on their website?

http://dragonage.bioware.com/

Seriously, I'm drooling over this game right now. It's like BG and NWN combined with graphics that are kickass.

Re: Dragon Age
 

This is definitely an RPG I am looking forward to. Unfortunately I think EA is going to do what they have done with Crysis: Warhead and Spore and that is their DRM scheme.

There is serious backlash against EA. Check out Amazon.com and search for either of the two games and you'll see what I mean.

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But Bioware is making Dragon Age.

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Yes, I know, but EA purchased BioWare and will be publishing Dragon Age. They purchased Westwood Stusios a few years ago and Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars had SecuRom. Spore has it and this was designed by another company. Crysis:Warhead has it.

What has people up in arms over EA is not only the SecuRom (which can wreck havoc with some PCs and just try removing it after uninstall) but the limitations EA now places on how many times you can install the game on your very own system makes it a rent-to-own but the lease runs out after 3.

Hopefully Bioware has more clout because of their reoutation and quality, but EA is now paying the checks. We'll see.

Re: Dragon Age
 

Yeah... And I am f'ing sick of new games 'checking a server' and allowing only..3 or so installs per game. (Uninstalling resets it, but I nuke shit all the time..) and online checking is bad, as in 10 years, you wanna play it again for old times, and EA doesn't exist, nor do their servers, and you can't play the game. BAD....

So, get your cracks now for it--only if you bought these games tho. :) Just crappy.. Hell, Microsoft won't exist in 10 years, and we'll be using some future unknown OS in 10 years..... based on a totally new code and 128bit.

Re: Dragon Age
 

Just something I wanted to add. Just looking at their trailers on their main site, it seems that they infused D&D with WoW style of play. Video 4 shows the warrior class working in action. It looks like they just press an ability button and wait for it to cooldown before they can use it. The UI looks a bit WoWish too on the bottom.

I'm hoping there is a little more depth/substance to character control at least. Maybe it is just me sticking to my ol' Baldur's Gate style of play roots.

However spell combos look pretty neat.

Re: Dragon Age
 

*Bump*

Hey Ziroc did you see the toolset presentation/demo they gave?
http://dragonage.bioware.com/gallery_worldbuilders.html

I'm just asking you of your opinion on it, seeing as you've had extensive experience with the NWN Aurora toolset. Any chance we'll see some modding done by yourself, even if it is SP only?

Re: Dragon Age
 

Has everyone here at IW lost all love for BioWare or something? I thought us fellow IWers would be more excited about DragonAge...

Anyway, this is just a bump. For those who haven't been following this recently, there is a crap-load of information on their website. Many a nice demo video as well.

Re: Dragon Age
 

I'm really looking forward to the game, but I'm not the kind of person who follow the development and check out video previews in advance. I like to get a fresh view just before it comes out, so I don't have unrealistic expectations.

But I'm pretty sure I'll get it no matter what. Did they give a release date yet?

Re: Dragon Age
 

Not a definitive one. Just "spring 2009" for PC, and "holidays 2009" for consoles. There is supposed to be a "big" update to the site today, so maybe they'll give an actual date.

Re: Dragon Age
 

God this game looks great. The interaction and story plus the whole "origin" concept is all awesome, but even the little things like the interface looks streamlined and non-intrusive. The engine looks sleek and even combat with 4 of your party appears easy to manage. These are the things I look for, story and content is great, but we all know a clunky engine and dizzy camera with crazy AI can make or break a game (see NWN's 2 - which HAS improved since but at release, was horrible)

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What I'm really excited for is how spells interact with one another. It's no longer "Someone cast web! DISPEL MAGIC!" Maybe you could burn the web away... or something. I dunno. Excited for it though. :D