chevalier
Tue, 16th Nov '04, 10:14am
Here are today's Dragon Age forum highlights, collected by NWVault (http://nwvault.ign.com). Please take into account that these are only single parts of various threads and should not be taken out of context. Bear in mind also that the posts presented here are copied as-is, and that any bad spelling and grammar does not get corrected on our end.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Georg Zoeller, Designer</font>
A current example of an "arcade" gameplay decision (http://forums.bioware.com//viewpost.html?topic=394347&post=3257208&forum=84&highlight=)
Decisions are not made under the light of "arcade" vs. "realism", they are made by asking the question "what does this add to gameplay" and "is this a feature that fits in the game we want to make".
Challenging gameplay (note that there is no direct connection to "realism" with that) contributes as much to a player's enjoyment as do other important things, without the knowledge of defeat there is no joy in victory. There is a fine line to walk between "chore" and "challenge" and we are aware of that. We know that the RPG audience is more mature than the audience for other game genres and Dragon Age will, in some ways, be a game for a more mature audience.
As for "arcade" - reflex based gaming - if you were ok with Baldur's Gate or NWN, you'll do fine in NWN. (Yes, I'm purposefully misinterpreting the way you mean "arcade", because I do not think that "arcade" relates to "easy" or "dumbed down"). Our other game in development, Jade Empire (http://jade.bioware.com) is branded as an Action RPG, because it's combat system is based real time input and reflexes - this game, Dragon Age, is not an Action RPG.
I'd call this a classic example of taking a post and overinterpreting it to the point where kittens start dying for no discernable reason. Poor James isn't even close to Dragon Age at the moment.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Georg Zoeller, Designer</font>
A current example of an "arcade" gameplay decision (http://forums.bioware.com//viewpost.html?topic=394347&post=3257208&forum=84&highlight=)
Decisions are not made under the light of "arcade" vs. "realism", they are made by asking the question "what does this add to gameplay" and "is this a feature that fits in the game we want to make".
Challenging gameplay (note that there is no direct connection to "realism" with that) contributes as much to a player's enjoyment as do other important things, without the knowledge of defeat there is no joy in victory. There is a fine line to walk between "chore" and "challenge" and we are aware of that. We know that the RPG audience is more mature than the audience for other game genres and Dragon Age will, in some ways, be a game for a more mature audience.
As for "arcade" - reflex based gaming - if you were ok with Baldur's Gate or NWN, you'll do fine in NWN. (Yes, I'm purposefully misinterpreting the way you mean "arcade", because I do not think that "arcade" relates to "easy" or "dumbed down"). Our other game in development, Jade Empire (http://jade.bioware.com) is branded as an Action RPG, because it's combat system is based real time input and reflexes - this game, Dragon Age, is not an Action RPG.
I'd call this a classic example of taking a post and overinterpreting it to the point where kittens start dying for no discernable reason. Poor James isn't even close to Dragon Age at the moment.