Maria Caliban

Not quite. EA picked up BioWare in 2007, right before the recession started. In fall 2008, they lost 681 million and started seriously pruning its workforce. In 2009, DA:O came out and it made a lot of money so they decided they wanted another game pushed out as quickly as possible to boost the 2011 spring quarterly. Sure, you can criticize them for thinking short term with the franchise, but it worked for the company. Because they were aggressive in pushing out 'blockbusters' that quarter showed 11% growth over the previous year. Every quarter, they were able to show that they were making more money than 2010, which is important because, to quote the Q1 report, "Cash flow from operations this quarter totaled a loss of $148 million versus a loss of $328 million a year ago." Right. They were still operating at a loss. They never planned for Dragon Age to be a once-a-year series. EA was in the red, they were laying off lots of employees, and they needed to beat a quarter that had the Sims 3 released among ten AAA titles. Why are they now giving DA:I lots of time? Because of the fan backlash? Nope, because they're now operating at ~250 million gained. They can afford to let BioWare take an extra year to polish the game.

Everything about DA:I is 'due to popular demand.' It seems to be BioWare going to a segment of their audience and saying 'We know we pissed you off so here's a giant ice cream sundae with as many of your favorite toppings as we could possibly fit on it.' That said, you're overstating how much people hate the qunari. The Llomerryn Accord (peace treaty) was signed about 150 ago. No one living in Ferelden or Orlais has been at war with the qunari. They mostly interact with kossith who have rejected the qun and work as mercenaries. It's important to note here that the PC will not follow the Qun. While humans might view you as odd, you're not a heathen, so we won't see the sort of anger directed towards you that Sister Piatrace stirred up in Kirkwall. We know that the PC can be a Dalish elven mage, so I'm guessing they've already come up with a rationale for how someone who normally would be shunned manages to create a powerful organization in the heart of the Orlaisan Empire. We know that there's currently a civil war going on as a Duke is leading a force against the Empress. I'm going to guess that we help crush the Duke so the Empress supports the Inquisition.

I guess that's better than comparing it to Skyrim and the Witcher.

The idea behind the default world state is that it's used by people who don't care much about what happened in previous games. It reduces the number of cameos and special mentions in the game. If you've never met Alistair, what does it matter to you that he's King? Presumably there are players who never touched DA:O and have no interest in whether Morrigan is a mother or not. There's a difference between the default character and the default world state.

I suspect they just want a group that you can kill throughout the game, even after you've befriended/conquered/wiped out the regular Templars. I hope that this time, the Templars have more more anti-magic abilities. Anyways, a hint of the tactical map (not the same as the map you use to move about the world) and your agents. The three agents at the bottom seem to represent the three ways you can build up our keeps: As a military fort, a commerce hub, or an espionage center.

Special Edition DA:I Podcast Game Informer told its reader to send them questions and then they asked Mike Laidlaw to answer them. I'm at work so I haven't heard it yet. Right now, it looks like Grey Wardens 2.0. Though it's not an established group, so you slap people around until they acknowledge you're Grey Wardens 2.0.

Why are you assuming that the PC will be using grimoires? I mean, I doubt we're going to be using red lyrium bows, carry full body shields, or run around shirtless with spike armor. NPCs often have a wide range of visual elements that have nothing to do with the PC or companions. Lyrium is part of the Fade making its way into the physical world. That's why the dwarves' tolerance to lyrium has given them magic resistance. As the Veil is torn, I don't think it's that odd that lyrium is warping or suddenly multiplying. Yes, the game will likely have a main badguy. I'm not sure why this is a bad thing. What is your objection to a qunari Inquisitor? The Inquisition is not a branch of the Chantry. We also know that you can be a Dalish mage and head it. The closed first expression always make the female PC look like she was horribly constipated. Anyways, I think they've done away with the three tone method. No more diplomatic/sarcastic/aggressive.

Female Dwarven Inquisitor.

Newp.

There is auto-attack. The dodge is a skill with a cooldown. There seems to be an action queue. I'm not sure why the guy playing used it so much as I noticed he rolled even when he wasn't under attack. There will be a tactics menu, which means you can get your characters to do things without your input. A simple one is something like 'if health < 30%, drink a potion.' 'if attacked, dodge and cast freeze on your attacker.'

I don't think you'd need to. It's not like the Mass Effect series where it's just one big story. The most important part of DA:O is that you prevented the blight from spreading across the land. DA 2 showed the mages splitting from the Chantry and the Templars starting a war against them. The Templar/Circle war isn't the main conflict of DA:I though. It's that the Veil has torn and demons are spilling into the world.

Morrigan was high int, low wis. Not a clue. :/ Vivienne has an English accent and the Inquisitor is, once again, from Ferelden.

I'm glad you like it.

For a better example of the isocam, there's this video. It also shows off a bit of exploration and confirms you'll be able to switch out your companion's armor and weapons. I'd say that the camera is actually better than the DA:O one. Also, it's for all platforms.

I am partially to blame for the promulgation of the term Kossith. In the Green Ronin RPG, you could pick your race - Human, Dwarf, Elf, or Kossith - and I was told by the developers that they'd checked the book to make sure it aligned with lore.

Yes, you can play as a lady with horns.

More concept art. And Game Informer Reports on the Demo. Contains (small) story spoilers.

Gameplay + Interview video. Click here.

NKKKK, You can play as a large, grey skinned fellow with horns. Zoraper, PC + 3. Just like DA:O and DA 2. Shady Sands, Here’s a better image. The three shapes with yellow rings are companions. The shapes with red rings are enemies. The blue in the middle is an ice wall the mage has placed down to keep the melee attackers from getting to her.

If memory serves, I abused storm of the century by having it cast from so far away the enemies couldn't see my party. They'd just sort of stand there and die. I look forward to doing the same thing in DA:I. They've announced at PAX that. There will be 'isometric' camera Qunari will be a PC race. This is a horrible picture, but if you squint, you can see that the camera is pulled back.

Oh and what is your opinion on why game was suddenly shifted to 3rd person in DA2? DA:O was a third-person game.

== Vivianne: Use a Sign! TRAP IT WITH THE YRDEN. Inquisitor: Maker help me. You're going to betray me in Act 3, aren't you?

Putting the Dragons in Dragon Age

“Through a breach in the sky, the brave now walk where once we feared to dream.” Speculation is that this might mean we're allowed to travel to the Black City or the 'afterlife.'