Dragon Age Inquisition: Let's Begin

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Kurtofan: Feb 16, 2011; hon hon hon

Bioware made a post about Vivienne on their blog:

http://blog.bioware.com/2014/03/28/vivienne-writing-an-imperial-enchanter/

Getting a Merteuil vibe from her.

�Vivienne was fun to write because she let me play around with different ways for a character to be powerful. Any mage can destroy their enemies with fire and ice, but Vivienne can rip her opponents apart verbally, politically, socially�and make ice seem like the gentlest option. She takes great pride in her work, and her interactions with a certain unnamed Inquisition mage can be a little� explosive. In a good way. Mostly.�

quote:

My dear Ambassador,

I don�t believe we�ve met, so allow me to introduce myself. I am First Enchanter Vivienne, Enchanter to the Imperial Court of Orlais, personal advisor to the Empress.

A rumor has reached my ears that you plan on attending the salon held at the duke�s summer estate three weeks hence. I�m certain this rumor must be a scandalous falsehood, Ambassador, as neither you nor anyone else from the Nevarran embassy has been issued an invitation. As host of the party, I trust you did not intend to crash it like some unwashed workman drunk on three tankards of ale and a dare.

I know you are only seventy-third in line for the Nevarran throne, but that is hardly so lowly a position as to relegate you to trailing after Comtesse Montbelliard in the hope that she might give your suit a moment�s thought. She won�t, my dear. She only likes men with self-respect. Perhaps you might sober up and acquire some?

I�m sure I don�t have to tell you, Ambassador, that the world has become a dangerous place. Wars rage across the continent, the sky is torn open, and many say the end of the world is upon us. During such chaotic times, it behooves those of us in power to aid in the restoration of peace and the establishment of order. Lives have already been lost; should we not save those we can? In that spirit, I give you this friendly warning: I am not to be trifled with. I would not be in a rush to hasten my own demise if I were you, darling. If the demons have their way, it will come soon enough.

Most sincerely,

Madame de Fer

# ? Mar 28, 2014 19:16

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# ? Jun 8, 2024 00:45

Leelee: Jul 31, 2012; Syntax Error

In response to the "40 possible endings":

# ? Mar 28, 2014 20:40

Sexgun Rasputin: May 5, 2013; by Ralp
(and can't post for 645 days!)

Kurtofan posted:

Bioware made a post about Vivienne on their blog:

http://blog.bioware.com/2014/03/28/vivienne-writing-an-imperial-enchanter/

Getting a Merteuil vibe from her.

�Vivienne was fun to write because she let me play around with different ways for a character to be powerful. Any mage can destroy their enemies with fire and ice, but Vivienne can rip her opponents apart verbally, politically, socially�and make ice seem like the gentlest option. She takes great pride in her work, and her interactions with a certain unnamed Inquisition mage can be a little� explosive. In a good way. Mostly.�

ugh

# ? Mar 28, 2014 20:49

DrManiac: Feb 29, 2012

Sexgun Rasputin posted:

ugh

Yesss the groan inducing comments from the writers about the characters has begun. I wonder if we can top "From virginal girl next-door to crazy up against the wall, let's have it on right here".

# ? Mar 28, 2014 20:53

KoB: May 1, 2009

Leelee posted:

In response to the "40 possible endings":

Ok so its like DAO. Theres really only three endings: you die, Allistar/Loghain dies, demon baby. I assume the "major variations" would be like who you sided with.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 20:56

Kurtofan: Feb 16, 2011; hon hon hon

Hopefully they're more than just text, I liked what Obsidian did with the Ending Slides, have major characters narrate the fate of their faction/their own fates.

Edit: I know I repeat myself a lot about it, but when I finished New Vegas for the first time and this came up, I was like " :aaaaa:

this is great"

Kurtofan fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Mar 28, 2014

# ? Mar 28, 2014 21:01

Clever Spambot: Sep 16, 2009; You've lost that lovin' feeling,
Now it's gone...gone...GONE....

KoB posted:

Ok so its like DAO. Theres really only three endings: you die, Allistar/Loghain dies, demon baby. I assume the "major variations" would be like who you sided with.

Were those really the three major endings in DA:O? I always found the stuff about how your actions changed the world way more interesting than who died fighting dragon.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 21:23

Kurtofan: Feb 16, 2011; hon hon hon

Yeah, it's fair to say that there was fallout style major variation, stuff like Werewolves going a rampage if you sided with them against the elves etc...

The presentation itself was pretty flat, but the variations are there.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 21:33

Leelee: Jul 31, 2012; Syntax Error

Clever Spambot posted:

Were those really the three major endings in DA:O? I always found the stuff about how your actions changed the world way more interesting than who died fighting dragon.

There was stuff about who you picked as the Dwarven political leader, Alistair and Loghain can live (Alistair becomes a drunk or king), the Circle, the Elves, the Alienage, and your companions also had different endings, depending on if you got their friendship up high or not.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 21:35

Promethium: Dec 31, 2009; Dinosaur Gum

The way that RPGs handle epilogues is getting old at this point. It was never really the right format: the "what happened next" slideshow is appropriate for a documentary, not for a game with sequel hooks. That slide saying Alistair became a wise and beloved king in vague terms is especially ironic given what inspired the setting.

Get rid of the bland history books. The way to show how you changed the world is to actually go into the world again and experience it first hand. It could be a small and self-contained playable epilogue where you can see the consequences in real time and interact with people affected by those events, exploring the aftermath in more detail. I don't really care to see hundreds of minor text changes; deeper is better than wider.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 21:48

Crappy Jack: Nov 21, 2005; We got some serious shit to discuss.

Promethium posted:

The way that RPGs handle epilogues is getting old at this point. It was never really the right format: the "what happened next" slideshow is appropriate for a documentary, not for a game with sequel hooks. That slide saying Alistair became a wise and beloved king in vague terms is especially ironic given what inspired the setting.

Get rid of the bland history books. The way to show how you changed the world is to actually go into the world again and experience it first hand. It could be a small and self-contained playable epilogue where you can see the consequences in real time and interact with people affected by those events, exploring the aftermath in more detail. I don't really care to see hundreds of minor text changes; deeper is better than wider.

Sure, but that's also really loving hard to do, you know. And I mean legitimately difficult, not like "we don't want to do the work". Every plot flag has to go off. More importantly, if you're a month from release and you decide you have to cut a plot thread to make your release date, you now have to COMPLETELY redo your ending. It's just bad resource management.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 21:50

Leelee: Jul 31, 2012; Syntax Error

I just really hope one final screen is "Bees?"

# ? Mar 28, 2014 22:01

KoB: May 1, 2009

Clever Spambot posted:

Were those really the three major endings in DA:O? I always found the stuff about how your actions changed the world way more interesting than who died fighting dragon.

I agree that the other stuff is more interesting, but I just considered the sides you took/etc to be part of the game with the ending being "defeat the archdemon" which is really only "who dies/demon baby." How the dwarves/elves/werewolves/etc come out in the end is more epilogue to me.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 22:17

Red Bones: Aug 9, 2012; "I think he's a bad enough person to stay ghost through his sheer love of child-killing."

I think a little playable epilogue would be a more interesting way to do the whole text epilogues/"where are they now"? style of ending. It's a few months after the end of the game, there's a big festival or the next emperor/empress is being crowned or something, and you can just walk around a city and talk to NPCs you'd met earlier in the game to find out how your choices played out after you left. The NPCs appearing in the city depend on what choices you made.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 22:45

Fojar38: Sep 2, 2011; Sorry I meant to say I hope that the police use maximum force and kill or maim a bunch of innocent people, thus paving a way for a proletarian uprising and socialist utopia

also here's a stupid take
---------------------------->

Leelee posted:

I just really hope one final screen is "Bees?"

Bee infestation whose size is based on how many times you used the bee jar.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 22:47

CottonWolf: Jul 20, 2012; Good ideas generator

Red Bones posted:

I think a little playable epilogue would be a more interesting way to do the whole text epilogues/"where are they now"? style of ending. It's a few months after the end of the game, there's a big festival or the next emperor/empress is being crowned or something, and you can just walk around a city and talk to NPCs you'd met earlier in the game to find out how your choices played out after you left. The NPCs appearing in the city depend on what choices you made.

You mean almost exactly like DAO? Or was that the joke?

Fojar38 posted:

Bee infestation whose size is based on how many times you used the bee jar.

The secret best ending has the economy being restarted by a boom in apiculture.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 23:23

Furism: Feb 21, 2006; Live long and headbang

Kurtofan posted:

Bioware made a post about Vivienne on their blog:

http://blog.bioware.com/2014/03/28/vivienne-writing-an-imperial-enchanter/

Getting a Merteuil vibe from her.

�Vivienne was fun to write because she let me play around with different ways for a character to be powerful. Any mage can destroy their enemies with fire and ice, but Vivienne can rip her opponents apart verbally, politically, socially�and make ice seem like the gentlest option. She takes great pride in her work, and her interactions with a certain unnamed Inquisition mage can be a little� explosive. In a good way. Mostly.�

Yes because a social shark and scheming sociopath would totally leave a written trail of threats to an ambassador.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 23:31

Schubalts: Nov 26, 2007; People say bigger is better.

But for the first time in my life, I think I've gone too far.

It's Orlais, and she's advisor to the Empress herself. I don't think she would care much about some ambassador not liking her, or people finding out she had him killed for being a persistent dumbass.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 23:39

Torrannor: Apr 27, 2013; ---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE

KoB posted:

I agree that the other stuff is more interesting, but I just considered the sides you took/etc to be part of the game with the ending being "defeat the archdemon" which is really only "who dies/demon baby." How the dwarves/elves/werewolves/etc come out in the end is more epilogue to me.

But this is a matter of definition then. Or there needs to be a new term. Even if it just smaller scale stuff in DA:O, in ME3 the galaxy can be massively different even apart from the "actual" endings.

Perhaps they should have said: "There are roughly 40 ways the actual endings and major choices throughout the game can be combined with one another."

But in the end, what counts is their clarification, because that seems like an achievable goal, and not ME3/DA2 hyperbole.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 23:40

marshmallow creep: Dec 10, 2008; I've been sitting here for 5 mins trying to think of a joke to make but I just realised the animators of Mass Effect already did it for me

I'm going to wait until I see Vivienne in action before I make a decision on her.

# ? Mar 28, 2014 23:58

Four Score: Feb 27, 2014; by zen death robot; Lipstick Apathy

The real question is if BioWare can write a believable human (you know what I mean) being as opposed to a walking stereotype/amalgamation of creepy tropes.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 00:03

Generic American: Mar 15, 2012; I love my Peng

First Bass posted:

The real question is if BioWare can write a believable human (you know what I mean) being as opposed to a walking stereotype/amalgamation of creepy tropes.

Going by their track record? It's pretty much a lock. Maybe moreso Mass Effect than Dragon Age, but people hoist Bioware to the top of the industry for their standard of quality for characters. Really, the only blatant stand-out one in my book is probably Merril as far as being "an amalgamation of creepy tropes". And probably Isabela as well, though I'm hesitant to actually put her on the same level due to her portrayal in the first game being much more balanced...

The real question is whether those believable humans will be absolutely insufferable, like Anders. :v:

# ? Mar 29, 2014 00:08

MoreLikeTen: Oct 21, 2012; The farmer's mistake was believing he had any control over his life.

Pattonesque posted:

http://forum.bioware.com/topic/497878-official-xbox-magazine-dragon-age-inquisition-preview/

5. Endings:
"Bioware is promising a staggering 40 possible endings for the game, dependent not only on choices made in character generation but by actions taken throughout the storyline. [Mark] Darrah stresses, however, that the endings will all be meaningfully different from one another. You won't find 40 endings with only slight degrees of variation between them."

This is some incredible nerve

# ? Mar 29, 2014 01:24

Krowley: Feb 15, 2008

Generic American posted:

Going by their track record? It's pretty much a lock. Maybe moreso Mass Effect than Dragon Age, but people hoist Bioware to the top of the industry for their standard of quality for characters. Really, the only blatant stand-out one in my book is probably Merril as far as being "an amalgamation of creepy tropes". And probably Isabela as well, though I'm hesitant to actually put her on the same level due to her portrayal in the first game being much more balanced...

The real question is whether those believable humans will be absolutely insufferable, like Anders.

What was Isabela's role in DA: O besides being down to gently caress the Warden and some of his friends?

# ? Mar 29, 2014 01:53

Kibayasu: Mar 28, 2010

Krowley posted:

What was Isabela's role in DA: O besides being down to gently caress the Warden and some of his friends?

She teaches the duelist specialization.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 01:55

Grand Theft Autobot: Feb 28, 2008; I'm something of a fucking idiot myself

Lotish posted:

I'm going to wait until I see Vivienne in action before I make a decision on her.

Yeah, all we know about her right now is that she's a terrible writer.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 02:05

Sexgun Rasputin: May 5, 2013; by Ralp
(and can't post for 645 days!)

why doesn't bioware fire all the poo poo tier tumblr fanfic writers they have on staff and replace them with actual writers? boggles the mind.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 02:17

Schubalts: Nov 26, 2007; People say bigger is better.

But for the first time in my life, I think I've gone too far.

Generic American posted:

Going by their track record? It's pretty much a lock. Maybe moreso Mass Effect than Dragon Age, but people hoist Bioware to the top of the industry for their standard of quality for characters. Really, the only blatant stand-out one in my book is probably Merril as far as being "an amalgamation of creepy tropes". And probably Isabela as well, though I'm hesitant to actually put her on the same level due to her portrayal in the first game being much more balanced...

Merril was a completely different person in DA:O. The similarities are Dalish elf, Keeper's First, friends with Dalish Warden.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 02:25

Pattonesque: Jul 15, 2004; johnny jesus and the infield fly rule

Schubalts posted:

Merril was a completely different person in DA:O. The similarities are Dalish elf, Keeper's First, friends with Dalish Warden.

Same thing happened with Anders.

Weirdo terrorist DA2 Anders makes more sense if you pretend he's impersonating magebro Awakening Anders.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 02:26

DotyManX: Aug 9, 2004; Yeah I drive a minivan, big deal, wanna fight about it?

CottonWolf posted:

You mean almost exactly like DAO? Or was that the joke?

I think something more like the party from the ME3 DLC would be the best way to do an epilogue for one of these games

# ? Mar 29, 2014 02:33

Internet Kraken: Apr 24, 2010; slightly amused

Merril basically wasn't a character in DA:O. The only hint of personality in her was a slight bit of arrogance. That's it, she was about as close to a blank slate as you can get for a character. So its pretty impressive that they actually managed to gently caress up Merril's charater so hard she felt like a totally different person. That's what happens when someone is so incompetent they can't even hold a casual conversation without tripping over their stupid tongue.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 02:34

Super No Vacancy: Jul 26, 2012

Sexgun Rasputin posted:

why doesn't bioware fire all the poo poo tier tumblr fanfic writers they have on staff and replace them with actual writers? boggles the mind.

poo poo writing and tumblr roleplay romance is infinitely more popular than good writing

# ? Mar 29, 2014 02:34

Penakoto: Aug 21, 2013

Sexgun Rasputin posted:

why doesn't bioware fire all the poo poo tier tumblr fanfic writers they have on staff and replace them with actual writers? boggles the mind.

If I was Bioware, I'd be calling you homophobe or something right now.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 02:54

Sexgun Rasputin: May 5, 2013; by Ralp
(and can't post for 645 days!)

isn't chris avellone gay?

# ? Mar 29, 2014 03:13

DrakePegasus: Jan 30, 2009; It was Plundersaurus Rex's dream to be the greatest pirate dragon ever.

Sexgun Rasputin posted:

why doesn't bioware fire all the poo poo tier tumblr fanfic writers they have on staff and replace them with actual writers? boggles the mind.

They're too heavily enamored with the style of their main influences: Whedon, Meyer, Martin, etc.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 03:26

Sexgun Rasputin: May 5, 2013; by Ralp
(and can't post for 645 days!)

those are some good answers thank you

it's bad, and they should feel bad about it, and endeavor to change. da:o had a couple of decently nuanced characters. lots of cringeworthy stuff but overall it was ambitious and successful with pretty good writing, for a video game. da2 read like it was written by a fat teenager who has never been on a date. the hawke/merril romance would've been hilarious if it was done on purpose, i love being abusive and controlling of my rpg waifu. but it wasn't on purpose. it was just halfass shoehorned twilight/buffy tropes that somehow ended up being way less than the sum of their parts.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 04:14

Brother Entropy: Dec 27, 2009

quote:

According to the magazine, while enemy levels don't scale to your characters, you can affect environmental changes to drastically influence local settlements, establish trade
routes, capture territory and disrupt the local ecosystem.

Wild flora and fauna, useful for crafting can be hunted to scarcity, allowing other species to proliferate.

Defeating intelligent enemies like bandits or dragons will have a significant effect on a given region.

This is basically the perfect example of a 'realism' idea that sounds sorta neat on paper but will be either superfluous or tedious to deal with.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 04:35

Jimbot: Jul 22, 2008

Penakoto posted:

If I was Bioware, I'd be calling you homophobe or something right now.

Actually, if I were the gaming press I'd strawman your argument over the writer's gender/race/creed/orientation despite it being a solid argument or criticism rather than a bigoted idiot comment.

I honestly wouldn't expect much other than a character being a larger-than-life caricature with a troubled past or some-such so they can claim the character has depth or something. You know, that can be fine too. Varric didn't have much depth and he was the best thing about the second game.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 04:38

Uncle Wemus: Mar 4, 2004

Now that bioware has opened their mouth again I'm starting to think they haven't learned anything from DA2 OR ME3.

# ? Mar 29, 2014 05:14

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# ? Jun 8, 2024 00:45

Generic American: Mar 15, 2012; I love my Peng

Am I the weird one here? Because other than the stuff specifically about the endings which isn't even unique to Bioware (seriously, "[x number of] endings" is such blatant marketing speak that I've never taken it seriously, whether we're talking The Witcher or Fallout), this is nowhere near the standard that they set during the Dragon Age II pre-release. It's pretty bland listing of cool features that might or might not work or even matter, and I don't see anything that's really worth mocking yet unless you really try to stretch things.

Or is this thread just kicking into another "haha, Bioware sucks, am I right" phase?

# ? Mar 29, 2014 05:38

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