Dragon Age

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Well, it might be redundant to say that when it comes to fantasy. Of course it is just "pseudo" medieval since... there were no Dragons and sorcerers in the real medieval times..

 

[Dire Bare]

I wasn't aware "pseudo-medieval" was a genre.

Oh, it is. Or, at least it's a fairly accurate descriptor for "standard" fantasy.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Dragon Age went into development before The Witcher, as I recall. That thing baked for a LONG time.

It also changed often and significantly in that time. The "mature themes," buckets of blood, and grimdark dark grittiness of the gritty dark bits? Those were relatively new additions.

I remember being told I could enslave countries with necromancy... :<

 

[DracoSuave]

Dragon Age is a stock rpg setting?

So... um... what world with backstabbing Medici-esque political backstabbing dwarves and elves recovering from centuries of forced slavery accompanying the bitterness did YOU read that's so similiar to this?

Ah well, not everyone can be original like Shakespeare--OH WAIT

 

[fba827]

There is another thread with the first preview of the Dragon Age Role Playing game.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/269067-dragon-age-rpg-preview.html

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As far as the setting it concerned, sure, some bits are similar (and some are the same) as other things from various sources, but, to me, a setting needs to serve as a place for a good story and I am enjoying the story, thus, the setting serves its purpose and is more than adequate for me.

I'm going to start my third play through of the video game next week (after finishing some projects) and so far I keep finding new things about the setting and/or story that keep me interested. so it's all good as far as i'm concerned - everyone has their own tastes though (as is evident by this thread alone).

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Wasn't The Witcher based on the same game engine driving Neverwinter Nights 1? Since that was from Bioware, I suppose aesthetic similarities are not a coincidence, even if it's a new engine.

It was developed by a European company who licensed the engine, I think. That doesn't mean Bioware had to know much about the game.

People who are actually in that industry, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the transaction goes like this:

Bioware: You want to pay us money to use and improve one of our old UIs that we're already moving beyond? Will that be cash, check, or charge?

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

It was developed by a European company who licensed the engine, I think. That doesn't mean Bioware had to know much about the game.

People who are actually in that industry, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the transaction goes like this:

Bioware: You want to pay us money to use and improve one of our old UIs that we're already moving beyond? Will that be cash, check, or charge?

I am mostly saying that the technology behind it might be related. It might be a very much overhauled version of the engine, or if not that, it might have been made by the same people, resulting in similar designs, behaviors or general "feeling" of the system.

I am not sure whether Neverwinter Nights 2 was based on the same engine or not, but it always thought that the feel of NWN 1 and NWN 2 were very different to me. Maybe it was just more Anti-Aliasing or something like that, but overall I liked the NWN 1 version (and the Witchers engine) more than NWN 2, even if NWN 2 was the more "advanced" version.
But of course it could all just be my imagination or a coincidence.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

I am mostly saying that the technology behind it might be related. It might be a very much overhauled version of the engine, or if not that, it might have been made by the same people, resulting in similar designs, behaviors or general "feeling" of the system.

Point taken. But as I understand it the version of Aurora used for Witcher wasn't tile based, allowing them to "lovingly craft" the "world." So, while the player probably interacts with the world is a similar UI, and that will definitely influence some design decisions, especially in terms of the types of fights there are and such, the look of the world is 100% in the control of the game creators.

Plus, I'm of the opinion that the "setting" is really expressed in the text blocks and voice overs. Fundamentally, a good game is a good game even if you're playing it in ASCII art so no one can complain that the "Darkspawn" look too much like "Uruk-hai"

That stuff (i.e. graphics) isn't there for us, anyway. We'll play the thing in our heads and on paper. There are different hooks intended for the cats who hang out on sites like this one. The graphics are there to draw in the mass market who will never sit down and think about the influences. But they will immediately "get" the Darkspawn that look like the big orcs from that movie with the hobbits.

 

[Armadillo]

So, to fight a rogue you need perception (seeing) and willpower (self-discipline) to not be backstabbed regularly.

Hmm, so Backstab doesn't mind if you are ranged or melee, but requires you to move to them (meaning not a good idea for ranged).
Seems to be only one attack (reminds me of 2nd editions backstab was one attack).

It will also help if you prevent them from maneuvering behind you.

As for the ranged backstab, it may be that there are stunts, like Pierce Armor, that will allow for a devastating ranged attack.

This is looking like it will be a fun game.

 

[Mournblade94]

Plot and setting are two different things, though.

DA:O has some magnificent quest creation. That doesn't make the setting any less rubbish.

Arcanum, for example, was a gaslight setting with various races superimposed with stereotypes. That in of itself isn't original, but the presentation and actual details of it were, and to top it off, it's a setting that the genre hadn't seen before, at all.

What about Planescape? Both the setting and the vidya game? I'd say it was pretty damn original indeed.

Fallout/Wasteland? Mad Max had been done before. Post apoc had been done before. But the touch of 50's pulp and the retro feel to it gave it a life of it's own.

DA:O just doesn't stand out, setting wise. It's not a bad game, and I thought it would be. But it IS a bad setting.

I think the setting with its traditional races is a STRENGTH. There are plenty of fantasy settings that escape the traditional, I for one am very glad that everything in Dragon age was traditional. It was refreshing to get back to pseudomedieval western settings again.

There are plenty of games that are original in setting but I really don't care about that. I care about story design. The story was great though it was not original.

If we were going to hack it on originality, every aspect of the game can be criticized.