Dragon Age 3: Inquisition announced

[terry107]

Story: http://www.examiner.com/article/dra...on-announced-by-bioware-for-late-2013-release

Official site: http://www.dragonage.com/inquisition

Cliffs:

• The next game will be called Dragon Age III: Inquisition.
• We won´t be talking about the story of the game today. Though you can make some guesses from the title.
• This game is being made by a lot of the same team that has been working on Dragon Age since Dragon Age: Origins. It´s composed of both experienced BioWare veterans and talented new developers.
• We are working on a new engine which we believe will allow us to deliver a more expansive world, better visuals, more reactivity to player choices, and more customization. At PAX East, we talked about armour and followers… Yeah, that kind of customisation. We´ve started with Frostbite 2 from DICE as a foundation to accomplish this.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Neat. Of course, the big question is: will be like DA1 (great) or DA2 (not).

 

[terry107]

Neat. Of course, the big question is: will be like DA1 (great) or DA2 (not).

Hoping for the former, preparing for the latter.

 

[Cozarkian]

Neat. Of course, the big question is: will be like DA1 (great) or DA2 (not).

IGN revealed their belief it will be on next-gen consoles with the following tag "Psst...it's for next-gen consoles!" While obviously unconfirmed rumor, it does seem to fit with the anticipated release of next-gen consoles in 2013.

This concerns me, because I feel like a lot of the changes in DA2 were made with an eye toward making the game more console friendly, rather than developing a PC game and porting it to consoles like they did with DA:O. If DA3 is being designed with an eye toward next-gen consoles, it might be more like DA2.

 

[dougp]

Neat. Of course, the big question is: will be like DA1 (great) or DA2 (not).

This would be why I only play it on consoles.

Moving to Frostbite 2 seems bad to me ... I wonder if they're going to move it to a more open world like Skyrim, though.

 

[QuantumPion]

We´ve started with Frostbite 2 from DICE as a foundation to accomplish this.

 

[lupi]

It will suck, being pumped out fast to help recoup star wars losses /thread

 

[Dankk]

It will suck, being pumped out fast to help recoup star wars losses /thread

Maybe, except

a) It only just announced almost 2 years after Dragon age 2, twice as long as it took to even make Dragon Age 2

b) Has an estimated release of at the very least 2014, a full 3 years after Dragon age 2.

and

c) Therefore Dragon Age 3 have almost 5 entire years of development time, which is a far cry better than DA2's development time of only 1 year. There's a reason DA2 sucked. You can't make a quality AAA-RPG in only 1 year.

That, combined with a brand new engine, veteran team working on it, and Bioware acknowledging complaints of Dragon age 2, I think there's reason enough to get your hopes up for 3.

 

[cmdrdredd]

It will suck, being pumped out fast to help recoup star wars losses /thread

Maybe...unless they were working it since DA:Origins. Like the Assassin's Creed 3 team was working on that game since AC2 released years ago.

 

[SunnyD]

Maybe, except

a) It only just announced almost 2 years after Dragon age 2, twice as long as it took to even make Dragon Age 2

b) Has an estimated release of at the very least 2014, a full 3 years after Dragon age 2.

and

c) Therefore Dragon Age 3 have almost 5 entire years of development time, which is a far cry better than DA2's development time of only 1 year. There's a reason DA2 sucked. You can't make a quality AAA-RPG in only 1 year.

That, combined with a brand new engine, veteran team working on it, and Bioware acknowledging complaints of Dragon age 2, I think there's reason enough to get your hopes up for 3.

Coupled with EA's announcement that:

a) Single player games are dead

b) Microtransaction games are the new black

c) Pay-to-win content packs is the norm

There's a lot of reasons NOT to get your hopes up for 3.

 

[Dankk]

Coupled with EA's announcement that:

a) Single player games are dead

b) Microtransaction games are the new black

c) Pay-to-win content packs is the norm

There's a lot of reasons NOT to get your hopes up for 3.

The "single player games are dead" line is the only relevant item in that list. And even then, whatever kind of multiplayer component is added to DA3, most people will probably ignore it anyway and simply enjoy the singleplayer game (a la ME3).

Microtransactions and P2W would only apply to an online-focused game. EA would have to fuck up pretty spectacularly to add those elements to a singleplayer RPG. But whatever, if that's the kind of speculation it takes to fuel the EA-hate circlejerk everyone loves being a part of, then so be it.

I'm not an EA defender or apologist. Mass Effect is a borefest and the Dragon Age series doesn't interest me whatsoever. It's just silly to see how many people immediately start bitching as soon as a game is announced, without stopping to look at the facts first.

If it makes you feel any better though, yeah, EA will most likely do some stuff, and a bunch of angry nerds on internet forums will get mad about that stuff. I'm pretty sure that's bound to happen regardless.

 

[SunnyD]

The "single player games are dead" line is the only relevant item in that list. And even then, whatever kind of multiplayer component is added to DA3, most people will probably ignore it anyway and simply enjoy the singleplayer game (a la ME3).

Microtransactions and P2W would only apply to an online-focused game. EA would have to fuck up pretty spectacularly to add those elements to a singleplayer RPG. But whatever, if that's the kind of speculation it takes to fuel the EA-hate circlejerk everyone loves being a part of, then so be it.

I'm not an EA defender or apologist. Mass Effect is a borefest and the Dragon Age series doesn't interest me whatsoever. It's just silly to see how many people immediately start bitching as soon as a game is announced, without stopping to look at the facts first.

If it makes you feel any better though, yeah, EA will most likely do some stuff, and a bunch of angry nerds on internet forums will get mad about that stuff. I'm pretty sure that's bound to happen regardless.

Don't get me wrong, I have no vested interest either way. I played partway through DAO before walking away, and don't even own DA2. The announcement intrigues me though, because having played DAO, I could see some massive potential for a new installment if done right.

Basically my comments were a knee-jerk reaction to your comments, consider it the preemptive version of what the typical EA/anti-EA zealots will come here with. I personally have no problems with EA and what they put out.

I will say though, my FIRST reaction when I saw Frostbite 2 was "Will I get to stick C4 all over my ATV and drive it into the castle wall and detonate it?" :whiste:

 

[Dankk]

I will say though, my FIRST reaction when I saw Frostbite 2 was "Will I get to stick C4 all over my ATV and drive it into the castle wall and detonate it?" :whiste:

Hahah. Unfortunately, just because it's Frostbite 2, doesn't mean it will have destructible environments. If a new game is announced and it uses the same engine as BF3, people tend to get the wrong impression and go "Oh boy I can't wait to blow up buildings and stuff!". Chances are it's not quite going to work that way.


Although... if implemented correctly... it could be cool. :hmm:

 

[SunnyD]

Hahah. Unfortunately, just because it's Frostbite 2, doesn't mean it will have destructible environments. If a new game is announced and it uses the same engine as BF3, people tend to get the wrong impression and go "Oh boy I can't wait to blow up buildings and stuff!". Chances are it's not quite going to work that way.


Although... if implemented correctly... it could be cool. :hmm:

Remember the good old days of easter eggs in nintendo games, like having Mario or Link pop out in a Zelda game or something like that? Imagine having a BF3 decked out dude pop out in DA3 wielding an AK47 mowing down the mobs. That's what I imagine when I think of Frostbite 2. :biggrin:

CHEAT CODES!!!

 

[Kalmah]

I don't like the thought of having a company that got its roots from making pc games, only made it to where they are because of pc gamers, then toss these pc gamers on the backburner to cater to the casuals on consoles.

Those people who enjoyed the complexities of bg and nwn are still here!

I hope for a good game, I won't be full of anticipation though. Maybe they will surprise me.

I can say this with almost complete certainty, there won't be a toolset like NWN designed for a console. To be honest, that's the only thing that really kept that game thriving for so many years and it was awesome. The other option is to have a grossly awesome and epic story like baldur's gate.

The other variable is the complexity of the rule system for the game. They have been very shallow in every game ever since dnd rules were dropped.

I need 2 of these 3 elements to be able to enjoy an rpg. Toolset, story, or rule complexity.

EDIT: I don't give a shit about destructible environments, just make a good game damnit!

 

[Dumac]

c) Therefore Dragon Age 3 have almost 5 entire years of development time, which is a far cry better than DA2's development time of only 1 year. There's a reason DA2 sucked. You can't make a quality AAA-RPG in only 1 year.

DA2 came out in March 2011, while DA:O came out in November 2009. That is 1 year and 4 months between them.

DA3 is slated for late 2013, which will be about 2.5 years after DA2. Where did you get five years from?

DA:O took 5 years to develop.

Not like I'd buy a Bioware game these days anyway.

 

[Bateluer]

I'll be watching this one with a careful eye, see where it goes. I'm a huge fan of DAO, and still play it occasionally. But DA2 was atrocious. If DA3 follows DA2's path, I'll have to curl up in my bathtub with a bottle of whiskey and cry.

Until Project Eternity.

 

[cmdrdredd]

DA2 came out in March 2011, while DA:O came out in November 2009. That is 1 year and 4 months between them.

DA3 is slated for late 2013, which will be about 2.5 years after DA2. Where did you get five years from?

DA:O took 5 years to develop.

Not like I'd buy a Bioware game these days anyway.

Probably assuming the note about the original DA:O team working on it means that they started on it in 2009 and by the time it releases it would have been almost 5 years (late 2013/early 2014)

 

[Dankk]

DA2 came out in March 2011, while DA:O came out in November 2009. That is 1 year and 4 months between them.

DA3 is slated for late 2013, which will be about 2.5 years after DA2. Where did you get five years from?

Oops. I'm not sure how I got 5 either. Yeah, more like 3. Although cmdrdredd may be correct.

Even still, that's far more development time than DAII had.

Not like I'd buy a Bioware game these days anyway.

Considering there are plenty of other, better things you could be playing, yup.

 

[Cozarkian]

I don't like the thought of having a company that got its roots from making pc games, only made it to where they are because of pc gamers, then toss these pc gamers on the backburner to cater to the casuals on consoles.

PC gamers are not all hardcore and console gamers are not all casual. Look at the Disgaea series, there is nothing in that game that appeals to casuals. There are plenty of hardcore console players that challenge themselves within games (like Zelda no-sword challenge).

The problem isn't that console gamers are "casual" it's that they use a joystick instead of a keyboard. JRPGs work fine on a joystick, but Western RPGs like DA:O are better with a mouse and keyboard. DA:2 tried to move the combat in a more joystick-friendly direction and ended up with something that I didn't find enjoyable on either type of system.

 

[thespyder]

IGN revealed their belief it will be on next-gen consoles with the following tag "Psst...it's for next-gen consoles!" While obviously unconfirmed rumor, it does seem to fit with the anticipated release of next-gen consoles in 2013.

This concerns me, because I feel like a lot of the changes in DA2 were made with an eye toward making the game more console friendly, rather than developing a PC game and porting it to consoles like they did with DA:O. If DA3 is being designed with an eye toward next-gen consoles, it might be more like DA2.

This greatly concerns me. As does the short timeline. I think that both things are what contributed to the downfall of DA2.

If they instead actually focused on building a full and complete game for the PC, then possibly porting it, we might be OK. But not looking good.

And if they are merely adding customization for armor and for the companions in the hopes of shutting up the nay-sayers, they are in for a rude awakening.

But yeah, I am betting on another grab for more money. And once they have totally killed the franchise, they will say "See, we knew that FPS was the wave of the future."

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Coupled with EA's announcement that:

a) Single player games are dead

b) Microtransaction games are the new black

c) Pay-to-win content packs is the norm

There's a lot of reasons NOT to get your hopes up for 3.

It's not really necessary to make lots of arguments- just say one word: "EA". That's why not to get our hopes up.

 

[thespyder]

Maybe, except

a) It only just announced almost 2 years after Dragon age 2, twice as long as it took to even make Dragon Age 2

b) Has an estimated release of at the very least 2014, a full 3 years after Dragon age 2.

and

c) Therefore Dragon Age 3 have almost 5 entire years of development time, which is a far cry better than DA2's development time of only 1 year. There's a reason DA2 sucked. You can't make a quality AAA-RPG in only 1 year.

That, combined with a brand new engine, veteran team working on it, and Bioware acknowledging complaints of Dragon age 2, I think there's reason enough to get your hopes up for 3.

You are making an awefull lot of assumptions here.

a) You are assuming that they started working on DA3 before DA2 came out. This is by no means in evidence.

b) DA2 was built on the bones of DA:O, so same engine with only minor modifications (all of which sucked). DA3, from the above is a whole different engine. So it even with the "Extra" time (which is by no means guaranteed) it might take that long to come up with DA2 + 1.

c) You are assuming that the Vet team has any creative control over it that isn't going to be summarily shotgunned by EA.

d) Time was one factor that majorly hurt DA2. Consolization is another. And this looks to be going that very same way.

 

[StinkyPinky]

You are making an awefull lot of assumptions here.

a) You are assuming that they started working on DA3 before DA2 came out. This is by no means in evidence.

b) DA2 was built on the bones of DA:O, so same engine with only minor modifications (all of which sucked). DA3, from the above is a whole different engine. So it even with the "Extra" time (which is by no means guaranteed) it might take that long to come up with DA2 + 1.

c) You are assuming that the Vet team has any creative control over it that isn't going to be summarily shotgunned by EA.

d) Time was one factor that majorly hurt DA2. Consolization is another. And this looks to be going that very same way.

The letter on the website clearly states they have been working on it for two years already. So that is 3.5 years development time, which sounds about right.

 

[Cozarkian]

a) You are assuming that they started working on DA3 before DA2 came out. This is by no means in evidence.

Not to single you out, but did anyone bother to read the link to the official website? Allow me to provide the relevant quote from the executive producer:

I am pleased to confirm that we are, in fact, working on the next Dragon Age game. Not a big surprise to most of you, I know. We have been working on it in some way for about two years now with the bulk of our efforts ramping up about 18 months ago.

So there you have it, 1.5-2.0 years of development with another 1 - 1.5 years to go (assuming late 2013/early 2014 release).