Tale

Personal preference is irrelevant to me. As long as they are consistent and play to their strengths. Though I have a particular aversion to asterisks.

It was good knowing you, you will be missed.

Thanks for clarifying. And thanks for being informative, Allan.

We wanted to do 3, because it gives us more time per project. What I meant by "what we wanted to do" was that fan outrage didn't crack an EA skin. I actually had considered emailing Aaryn Flynn suggesting we push to 3 projects to effectively move to 3 year dev cycle, only to have him mention it at the following studio meeting. Are you confusing bi-annual for biennial? Or do I not understand the math for how releasing every 4 months gives you more time per release? However that works out to a 3 year cycle, I am happy to hear. But also very curious as to how.

Good. Seriously. You wanted to do two releases a year? That idea scares me for how impractical it could be. Annual creeps me right the heck out. I know from prior discussions about TOR that Bioware was wanting a certain level of success out of a belief it would lead to some autonomy. If it's the same hope for annual Dragon Age, then looking at other annual franchises like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed point to the mistake in that line of thinking. And yet others, like Guitar hero, paint out the danger of investing too heavily in one thing and charging too quickly forward. Every two years can be cool, but Dragon Age 2 didn't seem to target that with its time frame. The difference between Mass Effect 1 and 2 is one of 26 months and resulted in lots of positive reception. That's kind of like what Avellone says about KOTOR 2. If he had to do it again, he would have made it more focused, cut out companions and other things. It would have made for a more solid product. Though that does have its own danger.

I have a Dachsund based mutt named Bailey. Max and Bailey will answer to their names, but they also answer to each other's names. Call one and get both. The cat doesn't give two craps. He'll come if he sees you, but not if you call him.

There's never enough time. I'm working on my Shadowrun Returns project, but I want to play Metro 2033. I'm also sorely wanting to replay Dragon Age: Origins. And then there's books I want to read. I NEED MORE TIME

Depends, will the DLC still only be sold in monopoly money? That's actually one of the big things turning me off to DA3. Legacy sounds cool, but nobody should have to put up with Bioware's purchasing system.

Still building a scene for SRR. First floor is laid out, second floor is laid out, third floor is mostly filled out. Have to try to figure out what I can add to the third floor so it's not bare. I've tried adding more walls and subdividing it, but that didn't make it look any more interesting. They really need more windows.

It's public knowledge, but some people get really upset by any detail, so I'll spoiler it.

Neither am I. That's why I'm surprised. Nearly everyone else was, the ones that weren't vague and static, anyway.

I'd love that, but I doubt it. I haven't seen any supporting hints and Bioware is not hesitant to completely retcon epilogues. Which epilogue are they retconning? The one where she "dissapears into the wilderness and is never seen again" that was retconned with the "Witch Hunt" DLC? Two other epilogues also mention the Frostback Mountains, including pregnant ones. So she pretty much always ends up heading to Orlais. Joining the court is only mentioned without romance and DR.

I'd love that, but I doubt it. I haven't seen any supporting hints and Bioware is not hesitant to completely retcon epilogues.

Bah, stinking analogies. *shakes fist*

It seems that someone disinterested in power fantasies should probably shy away from RPGs. This isn't straight fantasy fiction, this is a game genre built around growing in strength. With the fact that it's a game meaning that you do that to overcome obstacles. Get stronger, win. Macbeth may be great fiction, but it would be a terrible RPG.

Proudest I have been of a map so far. I think I'm really refining my technique. This is actually only a quarter of the map and there's no lighting set up. But it's a good start.

Being able to play as a dwarf or elf is new. And backgrounds are out, partially because of this.

Yes it regenerated. You could "die" when the entire party fell before. I don't anticipate that changing.

Tale when someone like you gets positive about a game it bodes well for the game as I believe you can influence others in the right way as your opinion is respected. I tend to be positive about most games so my view doesn't carry the same credibility as yours I'd be wary respecting my opinion. I'm susceptible to hype and presumptuous. I've been fooled the same as the rest.

That's pretty cool, too. I'm certainly more optimistic than before.

Yes. I like what I'm hearing. Doing multiple races shows that they are listening to the audience, which is good. The world looks fairly open from the footage. They keep promising to fix my biggest gripe with 2, but the trust isn't there that they'll do it. But I guess that can't be helped until someone beats the game. How they're describing the Inquisition is way too adherent to the Bioware formula though. To a ridiculous degree. If the team was working on Jade Empire, there was a release. That seemed like the point he was making.

RED 2 One of the more predictable spy/thrillers around, even if it is technically a comedy. But it was still fun. $10.50 a ticket fun maybe not.

The main lesson I got from DA:O is that the best way to overcome years of skepticism is to appeal to my inner Farscape fanatic. More seriously, I always wonder how long the actual game we ended up with with was in development. They completely overhauled the design twice or so I understand. It certainly doesn't feel like it was a 5 year effort, the end result didn't seem any more expansive or polished than Mass Effect 1 or 2.

I have never been this bad at a mod project before, I swear. My intro plan is being redone again. This has nothing to do with the fact that I accidentally lost my most recent intro map. I have a philosophy here that I need to get on ball with. The introduction should be something of a promise to players. The first things you do should be an example of what the majority of the game will be. If you start with combat, it should be a module about combat. If you start with some openness, dialogues, choices, it should be a module built around that. I was starting with combat with no intent to focus on combat. I also find another spectacular bonus. In cutting this scene, I don't actually have to create any maps to replace it. The scenes I'm replacing it with all use maps I already intended to make.

That's what clued you in? Not the free-to-play Batman and Lord of the Rings games they've been doing?