Dragon Age 2 - Laidlaw: "Aware of the concerns"

Dhruin

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Mike Laidlaw has addressed the Bioforums, saying "I'm not only aware of the concerns, but I agree that there are aspects of DA II that not only can but must be improved in future installments". Here's an excerpt:
Following the launch of DA II, I did some interviews and some of you interpreted my statements to mean I was blind to the concerns that have been voiced repeatedly on these forums. That was never my intent, nor the message I wanted to convey.

I am absolutely aware of the concerns voiced here. Issues like level re-use, the implementation of wave combat, concerns about the narrative and significance of choice and so on have all been not only noted, but examined,
inspected and even aided me (and many, many others on the team) in formulating future plans. Further, I'm not only aware of the concerns, but I agree that there are aspects of DA II that not only can but must be improved in future installments. And that is precisely our intent.

Finally, let me conclude by saying that while we are all aware of your concerns, I am very proud of what the team accomplished with Dragon Age II. I know many are advocating a "it wasn't broke, why did you try to fix it?" stance, and I absolutely understand why. From my perspective, as someone looking to the future and the DA franchise, I think that DA II moved us into a space that has more potential.

A larger potential audience? Sure, who wouldn’t want more players diving into the experience of playing an RPG? More importantly, though, I believe that there's also more potential for rich stories, for deeper RPG mechanics, for more choice, and for something even more epic to come. The story events of DA II have fundamentally altered the political and power landscape of Thedas, in a way that's open to intrigue, drama and sweeping conflict in the future, and evolves a world that, while still very much involving the Grey Wardens and Darkspawn, is about more than just that one struggle.
Thanks to Zohaib for a similar link.
More information.
 
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in a way that's open to intrigue, drama and sweeping conflict in the future, and evolves a world that, while still very much involving the Grey Wardens and Darkspawn, is about more than just that one struggle.

Translation :

"Expect more diversity of games from that franchise."
 
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I guess it might be churlish to say "about time too". Still, a decent and measured response that seems to acknowledge some of the most glaring problems with DA2.
 
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"We didn't make enough money, so now we'll try bullshitting and pretending to understand game design."
 
I love how he tries to qualify the use of the word 'potential'. We all know that, now more than ever, potential for Bioware titles is tied primarily to profit. I just wish people would stop calling their interactive movies RPGs.
 
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If he were aware of the concerns, then DAII would not have been such a shitty game to begin with, as there were quite a few of us on their forums bitching about their new design up until its launch, but nothing changed.

Then when sales are poor and they're losing tons of fans, they suddenly realize how bad they fucked up, and then they try to change their tune. Yeah sorry Bioware, but ya already lost me and I doubt you'll win me back with another DA!

SW:TOR is your last chance to keep me around, so we'll see!
 
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If SW:TOR is our only hope, dark side has already won. I loved kotor games and I'd have instantly bought kotor 3 if they had ever decided to make one, but I don't care about mmos. Kotor series had so much potential and they threw all of that away. Such a shame.

Besides Bioware has never made a mmo before, so there is always the possibility that this game can sink them just as easily as it can bring them huge profits...
 
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If SW:TOR is our only hope, dark side has already won. I loved kotor games and I'd have instantly bought kotor 3 if they had ever decided to make one, but I don't care about mmos. Kotor series had so much potential and they threw all of that away. Such a shame.
I don't think you need to worry too much. Even though they call it an mmo I suspect there will be strong singleplayer elements to it.

Besides Bioware has never made a mmo before, so there is always the possibility that this game can sink them just as easily as it can bring them huge profits…
The HeroEngine that they use has not been tested on these scales so they definitely need a public beta (which I'll be happy to participate in). I predict massive launch sales and lots of server capacity problems the first months. If they have enough content to keep players busy for 5-8 months they will probably be sitting on a goldmine (with George Lucas' head spinning with new mechandice tie-ins).

On topic: here's a recent interview with Brent Knowles with some hints maybe of why he left Bioware:
I worked on a variety of projects. The most fun I had was on Baldur’s Gate 2 and Hordes of the Underdark, the second expansion for Neverwinter Nights. On these projects the team size was small enough that everybody involved really bonded and we had the flexibility and independence to fill those games with as many cool things as we could think of.
 
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I think the future of Bioware RPGs is very shaky with this guy at the helm.
 
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Strange timing to suck up to the fans right after a far superior game in the witcher 2 was released. Coincidence I think not. Looks like a lot of the lemmings on the bioware forum bought it though. I guess time to mend fences so we'll buy the da3 lies or sorry I mean hype.

The opened open a potentially larger audience with da 2? I don't know about that seem like they got rid of a lot of diehard faithful fans to bring in some casual gamers. Larger audience but how loyal will they be?
 
I don't think you need to worry too much. Even though they call it an mmo I suspect there will be strong singleplayer elements to it.


:

yeah. the monthly fee makes the massively singleplayer mmo so worth it

:rolleyes:
 
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"k, our game sucked blah blah, would you shut up already, we´ve DLCs to sell"
 
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It's great how I "don't meet the requirements to post that the forum."

I haven't been to Bioware "social" nonsense in awhile and never came across that particular feature of that forum because I always bought their games. It didn't matter what they released I always bought it without giving it a second thought. Hell, I even bought their action game Jade Empire TWICE! Once for the Xbox and once again for the PC when it was released, but Dragon Age 2 I won't touch with a ten foot pole till it's on sale for 10 bucks.

As for what he said, I don't believe a word of it. Bioware fooled me into thinking that with Dragon Age: Origins they would try in future releases to mix the old with the new style of RPG. Well that lasted all of one release and they dropped the old-school part of their game like a bad habit.

Laidlaw can keep his words. I'll be playing Frayed Knights, Dungeons of Dredmor, KOTC 2, ADOM and Eschalon 3 whenever they decide to release DA3. If the gameplay footage and previews show that they are trying for a more old-school game again then I'll buy it without any reservations, but if they keep up this nonsense then I'll wait for bargain bin prices.
 
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Look he finally bows his head and tries to apologize. Its a little to late to put my faith back in the company. They can keep there KOTOR MMO while there at it.
 
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Look he finally bows his heads and tries to apologize. Its a little to late to put my faith back in the company. They can keep there KOTOR MMO while there at it.

I tend to forget about that one.
 
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