BioWare: Next Dragon Age Will Draw From Skyrim

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The next entry in the fantasy role-playing Dragon Age series will draw inspiration from both of its predecessors as well as open-world games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, developer BioWare said.

Speaking to Wired.com in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon, BioWare CEO and co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka said the company has been listening to its fans and learning from the strengths and weaknesses of both Dragon Age II, the latest entry in the popular series, and other games that are on the market today.

“[The next Dragon Age] is gonna have the best of features from the prior Dragon Age games, but it’s also gonna have a lot of things I think players are gonna find compelling from some of the games that are out now that are doing really well with more of an open world feel,” Muzyka said.

“We’re checking [Skyrim] out aggressively. We like it. We’re big admirers of [Bethesda] and the product,” he said. “We think we can do some wonderful things.”

Dragon Age II, which BioWare released earlier this year for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, drew polarized reactions from both critics and fans. While some lauded its character development and writing, others, including Wired.com, criticized the game for feeling rushed and disjointed.

Muzyka acknowledged that polarization, saying that although he is proud of the Dragon Age II team and the innovations it brought to the table, he is listening closely to fan reactions for the next game in the series.

“How do we combine the new innovations we brought in Dragon Age II with the experience people were looking for in Dragon Age: Origins?” Muzyka said.

The story of Dragon Age II took place across a decade-long span in the city of Kirkwall, allowing players to see how the city and characters evolved over the years. Muzyka hinted that the next Dragon Age game could take that narrative structure and apply it to a variety of areas, rather than a single city.

Muzyka also addressed the common criticism that players could not equip their party members in Dragon Age II, saying BioWare took that feedback to heart.

“We realize that’s important to the players,” he said.

Though BioWare has not yet officially announced the next Dragon Age game, rumors have been swirling about a possible multiplayer mode that could feature playable dragons.

“Our goal is to surprise and delight our fans,” Muzyka said. “I’ve seen something in the last couple of weeks that is really the future of that franchise that is so compelling, I am so looking forward to being able to announce it.”

Muzyka would not elaborate on this tease, though BioWare VP and co-founder Greg Zeschuk chimed in with a joking suggestion of his own.

“The most realistic beards ever in videogames,” Zeschuk said.
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What's funny was I was joking about Bioware doing something like this on a older topic. I don't know if this is good news or bad news. To me DragonAge is not an open world type of rpg.

What about the rest of you?

Link-http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/12/dragon-age-3/
 
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I'm not going to object to an open world RPG if that is their intent though I'm not sure it plays to their strengths which is heavily scripted environments. I'm more concerned about the multiplayer talk though that certainly would do better in open world environment.
 
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“How do we combine the new innovations we brought in Dragon Age II with the experience people were looking for in Dragon Age: Origins?” Muzyka said.
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You don't. Just start with DA:O, and go from there. Forget about anything DA2 brought to the table because it was largely inferior.
 
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Hmm, that is interesting. Maybe I will have to adjust my view on Dragon Age 3. The open world comment intrigues me. Baldur's Gate did this in a way, it had a very open feeling and plenty of exploration and discovery, but at the same time was story-driven.
 
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Arkadia7 said:
Hmm, that is interesting. Maybe I will have to adjust my view on Dragon Age 3. The open world comment intrigues me. Baldur's Gate did this in a way, it had a very open feeling and plenty of exploration and discovery, but at the same time was story-driven.
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Ah but you see this isn't the same company that they once were. They even stated they would never make another Baldur's Gate type of game again. I'm curious to see what the final product comes out as but I lost my blind faith in the company these last couple of years.

JDR13 said:
You don't. Just start with DA:O, and go from there. Forget about anything DA2 brought to the table because it was largely inferior.
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The docs at Bioware don't see it that way after a year and all the mixed reviews and criticism.

"The doctors acknowledge that Dragon Age II was a very polarizing game and claim to have heard the complaints of some hardcore fans regarding the fantasy sequel. "We think that Dragon Age II succeeded in a lot of ways"
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it kills me to listen to them. They act like they just missed with da2. Like a tweak here or there and it would have been great. There were so many things wrong with it and it was so bad. They must be in some serious denial. Even if every location in the game was totally unique it still would have been terrible.

What I don't understand is why they feel the sudden need to listen to fans and try to copy anything successful that other dev's are doing. when they made BG series, nwn, kotor, me1 or dao the didn't need fans telling them how to do it or copy other games.

For some reason after all that success and before me2 and da2 they started this, we are listening to fan feedback and this is what they want crap.

Bioware knows how to make great rpg's. they just need to forget about the awesome button and the call of duty fans or what bethesda's doing or pandering to every single fans whim and get back to their roots, which is making great party-based crpg's.
 
Personally, I think it's great to hear, but not anything really surprising.

Most game devs play and are influenced by all kinds of games. Certainly they pay close attention to what sorts of features might translate well to whatever game they are working on at the time. Since there are so few AAA RPGs released each year is it really shocking that they would be playing Skryim these days?

sakichop1061113865 said:
it kills me to listen to them. They act like they just missed with da2. Like a tweak here or there and it would have been great. There were so many things wrong with it and it was so bad. They must be in some serious denial. Even if every location in the game was totally unique it still would have been terrible.
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Honestly I believe the main problem with DA2 boils down to a serious lack of side quests and joinable factions. It was this linear aspect of the game that made it feel like it was on rails.

Yes the exploration was very limited, the inventory and loot system was crap and the choices you make along the way didn't impact the ending, among many other problems, but I could have overlooked all of that if only there were more compelling side quests that didn't consist of

Step 1. find some random object in a dungeon
Step 2. some random person on the street gives you gold
Step 3. check quest journal to find out why they gave you money
 
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JDR13 said:
You don't. Just start with DA:O, and go from there. Forget about anything DA2 brought to the table because it was largely inferior.
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Well said. Bravo ;) maybe, they can keep the sinergy between various attacks, for the rest, it's just as you said.
 
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There's is one reason for this, and one reason only:

Skyrim - 10 million copies shipped.

That is all.
 
DArtagnan said:
They also said Dragon Age 2 was innovative, and Mass Effect 2 is the best game they've ever made.
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Ah double standards and contradictions. Gotta love them.;)
 
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sakichop said:
...

Bioware knows how to make great rpg's. they just need to forget about the awesome button and the call of duty fans or what bethesda's doing or pandering to every single fans whim and get back to their roots, which is making great party-based crpg's.
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Well put.
C
 
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sakichop said:
Bioware knows how to make great rpg's. they just need to forget about the awesome button and the call of duty fans or what bethesda's doing or pandering to every single fans whim and get back to their roots, which is making great party-based crpg's.
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Unfortunately, that's not going to happen, because the market doesn't go in that way.
And that's even more sadder if you think that EA owns Ultima rights...
 
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DArtagnan said:
There's is one reason for this, and one reason only:

Skyrim - 10 million copies shipped.

That is all.
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lol

You just made me think that the BioDoc said they wanted to sell 10 millions copies last year. Their biggest success is DAO though, but EA still think RPGs don't sell wells.

Maybe they finally got the power to tell EA finance department to shut up with Skyrim's success.
 
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I really don't know - this is a mere guessing - but could Skyrim's success have something to do that it looks rather "dark & gritty" ? Especially on those advertisements.

I wonder, because Dragon Age 1 tried to go the same route. "Dark & Gritty". Although in a different way. Emotionally, among other things. (Does Skyrim have an actual emotional impact on its players (through the plot) ? I really don't know, since I haven't played Skyrim yet.)

Dragon Age 2 failed insofar as it ... well, tried to be more gritty, but kind of overdid it. It became ... a kind of "over-the-top"-cliché of "grittyness". Fountains of blood, for example, (which looked interesting meanwhile pausing the game. 3D blood fountains.)

I really don't know what indeed constitutes the success of Skyrim - and that of Dragon Age 1. It would be interesting to see a poll of why people had bought the game - which aspect of the marketting apperaled to them most.

Because we here, we are rather "the informed ones". We discusson within a news site. We get the news here every day (thanks to an tireless staff).

I guess that we know a bit more here about the game than other groups of gamers do. - But ... that's a guess once again.

What I want to say with it is that some people might perhaps (another guess ! ;) ) rather buy Skyrim (or Dragon Age) because of he marketing, rather than because of actual information on the game itself.

But so far I / we really don't have any data to be able to answer these questions.
 
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This smells like name dropping to me, just to get Skyrim fans. Same way they've used name dropping to get action fans in the past.

It's a marketing trick. I very much doubt DA3 will be similar to Skyrim in any way.
 
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Really Ray? Are we so bankrupt for ideas, inspiration and creativity we are now just outright saying we need to look outside the studio for concepts?

What he really means however is something different then how it came off, let me translate the Biospeak. "We see how many units Skyrim sold in such a short time breaking records with ease, and want a part of that pie. We are also envious of the production values, ability for Beth to put as much time and resources into a game as they want until they consider it done because we used to be able to do that until we sold out to EA and now just another cog in their machine. We see that is what we could have become, but now never will as our hands are tied to be able to ever put out a game like that again. Perhaps if we tell our EA overlords we want to copy skyrim they will see the value in that and let us as they are too afraid to let us do anything unique anymore as they poses to much risk in their eyes."

M2C
 
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This is definitely a wait and see case for me. Like most here, my blind faith in Bioware is long gone now, and no matter how good the previews are or the promises sound I'll never pre-order another of their games again.

However, that won't stop me from buying a good game no matter who makes it. If Bio can privately take what they've learned from DA:O, understand where they went off the track with DA2 and incorporate some of the stronger elements of the Bethesda games, they could have a winner. I'm not saying that will happen, and I certainly won't expect it, but I'll watch and see what develops.
 
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Maylander said:
This smells like name dropping to me, just to get Skyrim fans. Same way they've used name dropping to get action fans in the past.

It's a marketing trick. I very much doubt DA3 will be similar to Skyrim in any way.
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You got it man. They want some of that Skyrim money. And really, it's a smart marketing move. They planted the seed. Now people on the fence about buying DA3 will think to themselves, "well, it DOES have aspects from Skyrim, so it's got to be good!" Even gamers who aren't concerned with Dragon Age 3 will have heard that the people making it took their ideas from Skyrim. So it's a cheap way to get people looking out for your game.

Whether or not they will take any real ideas from Skyrim remains to be seen. Who knows, maybe they will surprise us, but I doubt it. It would mean re-writing the Dragon Age game completely. It just doesn't appear to be the type of game that's built for real open-world exploration. So I just view this as a bunch of crap really.
 
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