Dragon Age - "Massively Single-Player" Details

Kotaku brings more details on BioWare's Social Site interaction with Dragon Age after chatting to online producer Fernando Melo on the phone. Most of this isn't new but there are screens and examples to detail the way the service will work. Some examples:

The PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Dragon Age: Origins will all connect to Bioware's new "Social" website, which will collect data from player's games. The type of data gathered differs between the console and PC versions, but all will share some features. Players of any version of Dragon Age will be able to link their copy of of the game to BioWare's site. The Social site requires users to create a free account. Once the game and the site are linked, a record of the player's accomplishments in the game and the status of their ever-evolving character will appear on the Social site.

Differences between the PC and console:

For console gamers the networking and sharing ends there. But PC players will have one more element pulled into their online chronicle: Screenshots. Dragon Age will automatically pull an in-game screenshot for any major achievement the player has accomplished, including boss kills. (Tests of this on the console produced unacceptable slowdown, Melo said). The PC version will also support the manual uploading of screenshots. These features are intended to make the player-character's chronicle more vivid. BioWare provided a sample of how this will look as well.

…and on Twitter and events:

The Dragon Age connectivity plan doesn't shun Twitter, though. One of the concepts BioWare is testing but won't have ready for launch involves larger community-driven events. Melo offered an example of the full player body of Dragon Age being challenged to kill a set number of enemies in a finite period of time. That might be Tweeted.

Thankfully, you can opt out.
More information.

I guess I'm just an anti-social old curmudgeon. None of that appeals to me in the least.

Likewise!! That sort of thing bores me totally; guess it appeals to the 'target' group!!

What do I need these achievements for?

Epeen enhancement, obviously. I see no other reason.

This new account, is that my old BioWare account, or a new one? Also, the account I need to get access to the 2D flash game, is that a special EA account or my old BW account? Is there even a difference?

I don't care at all about the achievements, but I do care about the 2D game and access to the DLC content for DA:O.

Originally Posted by Maylander
This new account, is that my old BioWare account, or a new one? Also, the account I need to get access to the 2D flash game, is that a special EA account or my old BW account? Is there even a difference?

easy as pie.

use the "Existing Account" feature there:

http://social.bioware.com/signup.php

it will be unlocked for the DA:J and DLC.

OMG, this socail networking/gaming is reaching new heights of stupidness. It's a single player game, don't try to make it into something it's not. I have a feeling that EA's advertising agency is behind this.
Marketing meeting about Dragon Age one year ago:
"ok, this is a single-player game, that's no good…single player games are soooo 1999. Can we make it into an MMO somehow? No? Ok then can we incorporate facebook connect into the game so that you can share every piece of meaningless achievement with your friends? No? But how are people going to share their experience???!!! Sharing and user generated content is the most important buzzword right now in the business!! We have to make sure people know that we know about sharing… Well what about making some really intrusive component and connecting everythign to an account at bioware where people can share screenshots wth their friends? And get a ring of summon zombie kittens if you upload 10 000 unimportant things? YEAH lets do that! Go team!" End meeting…

I still think its going to be a great game, but I'm not buying into their marketing and sales strategies…

I intend to click "no" a lot during the install process… Do you want to connec- NO! Do you want to insta- NO! Do you want to uploa- NO!

Originally Posted by turian
easy as pie.

use the "Existing Account" feature there:

http://social.bioware.com/signup.php

it will be unlocked for the DA:J and DLC.

Thanks, new account created (linked to the old one).

I'm reminded of this recent comic from Penny Arcade.

I thought this part was particularly interesting:

We were trying to figure out how to create these water-cooler moments that people could talk about without spoiling it for people…we wanted to have a way that complements that instead of random [forum] threads."

I have a place for that. It's called RPGwatch. That also brought a rather funny image of me trying to talk to my coworkers about an RPG, lol. They're more the GTA bunch.

let's face it, 'social networking' is the buzz phrase of these times.

Yes, it is.

Much as I've been critical of Bioware, this series of social features do seem to highlight a couple of things but chief among them, a larger push into story as context for players. Look at how character customization in the past has been widely discussed in communities and how it ultimately came to be approached - whether you like the feature or not, and whether it's really worthy in single-player games or not, it's been a pretty high profile aspect for many so-called role-players over time. This basically picks up on the premise of Spore's Sporepedia to let players show the world what they're doing.

It's utterly pointless for gamers only interested in context generated in-game but it's probably going to be a boon for those who want to maintain a semblance of character development outside that very same context, in a way moving role-playing outward and turning it into less of an insular experience.

"Spore monster cocks all over again" Jeez RP, now how many paragraphs can you spin out of restating that liquid water is wet?

Good one By the way, I assume that "RP" was for me. Someone from the Codex, I wonder?

But, y'know, it's kinda like achievements and scores. I don't personally care about fragging my way up to some online leaderboard but to deny others that method of self-expression because I don't enjoy it would make a grumpy old man, rather than just a plain old man.

At this point I'm not even sure I'll play Dragon Age - my PC is a middle range dinossaur right now - and if I will, I don't see myself using those features. But they're certainly a "way out" for Bioware to let players define a bit of their character's stories. Ideally they should do this in-game but heck, my fondest memories in CRPGs are events that were totally not accounted for in the game's narrative (Ian shooting me in the back in Fallout, surviving 4 waves o' hard-boiled nasties in Wizardry 8 with half my party dead, and so on). If that's the kind of thing they're going for - letting personal stories be a part of the game, even in a meta-game kind of way - it's not half-bad. It's certainly more of a bragging point than writing crumy Aribeth fan fiction.

Originally Posted by wolfing
let's face it, 'social networking' is the buzz phrase of these times.

Just be grateful if you're not compelled to learn about, analyze and consult on 'social networking' during your day job. Ugh.