Dragon Age 4 (Dreadwolf) now in alpha

[Paul Farquhar]

Yeah, this worries me the most. Will certainly not be pre-ordering until reviews come out.

Well, it's probably being made with a largely new and young team. They may be very good.

 

[wicked cool]

true to game maybe a triple A game like Witcher 3 and they have a lot of enthusiasm but at times they have had a semi unfriendly relationship with their customers. EA has given them a new engine and a long development time for DA4. They got a new office and it seems like working conditions improved. They have had an interesting history from DAO through DAI on decisions made

 

[pukunui]

I just hope they keep building on the lore of Thedas in a satisfying way. Say what you want about DA:I’s gameplay, it really did a fantastic job building on bits of lore from both of its predecessors as well as introducing some new twists, like the truth about the Veil and the elven gods.

 

[pukunui]

Wait, does it depend? He...wants to end the world, basically?

I just finished Trespasser with my female elf inquisitor. I still feel some sympathy for Solas. He seemed genuinely sad about what happened to the elves after he created the Veil. While it turned out poorly, his intentions were good. I don't agree with his plan to restore elves to their former glory at the cost of everyone else's civilizations, but he gave me some hope when he told my elf inquisitor that he'd love for her to prove him wrong. I'm guessing I won't get to play as my inquisitor in DA4, but it would be nice if the game gives me the chance to change Solas' mind and redeem him (rather than have to kill him).

That being said, I acknowledge that Solas is no saint. He is arrogant, believing he is the only one who can make things right. He is also conspicuously silent on the subject of his own role in the elevation of the Evanuris to god-like status. I mean, the Dalish consider him a god, too, and he certainly acts like he thinks he is one.

I also find it interesting that while he is opposed to vallaslin and there don't appear to be any designs dedicated to him, he regards Mythal as "the best among us" and yet she does have vallaslin designs dedicated to her. She obviously wasn't opposed to slavery back in the day, nor did she seem to be opposed to being considered a god by her fellow elves.

Complicating things further is that Solas now has the souls of both Mythal and Urthemiel inside him. And from what I've read about DA4, there seems to be a rumor about him becoming corrupted by red lyrium (and that he may have even been its original creator, since the red lyrium idol from DA2 has been featured in some of the DA4 promo material).

 

[pukunui]

They’ve reached the alpha stage in the game’s development!

Game Update — A New Milestone for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf

The team is incredibly happy to announce a huge step forward in the development of the game you now know as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf™: We have just completed our Alpha milestone!

www.ea.com

 

[Benjamin Olson]

The sale to EA effectively broke the company. They are trying to rebuild, but the only thing they still have are the IPs.

Really, with few exceptions, "they" aren't the same people that made up the "good old days" Bioware. Video game companies in general have a lot of turnover (and the public often imputes too much expectations of consistancy onto companies which, fundamentally, are often not really the same team from project to project), but, as I think you're alluding to, they shed a lot of key people both immediately after and gradually in the years after the EA acquisition. At this point Bioware is just the successor entity holding the IPs with a handful of stragglers from old Bioware.

Which doesn't mean that they couldn't have the right team with a few people who worked on prior Dragon Age games, and a bunch of people who've played them, have a feel for them, and are good at their jobs, to make an excellent Dragon Age game. But there is no longer a meaningful Bioware seal of Biowareness that comes with a Bioware branded product. And obviously EA's branding might as well come withe "Caveat Emptor" written as a slogan below.

 

[wicked cool]

Really, with few exceptions, "they" aren't the same people that made up the "good old days" Bioware. Video game companies in general have a lot of turnover (and the public often imputes too much expectations of consistancy onto companies which, fundamentally, are often not really the same team from project to project), but, as I think you're alluding to, they shed a lot of key people both immediately after and gradually in the years after the EA acquisition. At this point Bioware is just the successor entity holding the IPs with a handful of stragglers from old Bioware.

Which doesn't mean that they couldn't have the right team with a few people who worked on prior Dragon Age games, and a bunch of people who've played them, have a feel for them, and are good at their jobs, to make an excellent Dragon Age game. But there is no longer a meaningful Bioware seal of Biowareness that comes with a Bioware branded product. And obviously EA's branding might as well come withe "Caveat Emptor" written as a slogan below.

I don’t think dragon age origins could be made in todays market. Slavery, rape, prostitution racism etc. people on the boards have speculated that tevinter will be toned down in dread wolf

 

[MarkB]

I don’t think dragon age origins could be made in todays market. Slavery, rape, prostitution racism etc. people on the boards have speculated that tevinter will be toned down in dread wolf

It might be less popular, but hardly impossible. As an immediate for-instance, Cyberpunk 2077 deals with all those themes.

 

[pukunui]

Apparently it's Dragon Age Day, and as part of that, Bioware has released an in-game cinematic trailer with a voiceover by everybody's favorite dwarf.



It doesn't really tell us anything new, but it's still fun to watch.

 

[Mallus]

I picked up a PS5 over Thanksgiving, so I’m ready to give Solas a… stern talking to.

Think there’s a chance for a 2023 release?