Dragon Age

[Wrath of Dagon]

Rare but powerful just means there isn't a Mages Guild in every town. If you're a mage, not only will you be powerful but also feared and respected.

[Zero]

If you're a mage, not only will you be powerful but also feared and respected.

 

 

Some people will just fear you though, no ? I remember a while back Gaider or someone else (high on the food chain) saying that a fair amount of people would have a strong distrust (e.g. "They're witches!" type deal) towards anyone who can wield magic?

[Xard]

more like villagers are trying to torch you

[RangerSG]

If you're a mage, not only will you be powerful but also feared and respected.

 

 

Some people will just fear you though, no ? I remember a while back Gaider or someone else (high on the food chain) saying that a fair amount of people would have a strong distrust (e.g. "They're witches!" type deal) towards anyone who can wield magic?

 

Exactly, this has been repeated recently as well. Basically, mages are mages from birth. 'And' they are hated by the established religion. I think that's rather interesting.

[Tale]

more like villagers are trying to torch you

Pfft. You call those torches? Let me give you a light. FIREBALL

[newc0253]

Rare but powerful just means there isn't a Mages Guild in every town. If you're a mage, not only will you be powerful but also feared and respected.

that reminds me of the old D&D line about adventurers being a rare breed, in that they could gain levels, unlike those poor 0-level townsfolk schlebs who wandered around with 6 hit points their entire lives (this was before the inanity of 3e and the idea of 12th level grocers and epic-level cobblers).

 

in other words, saying magic is 'rare but powerful' is just another way of saying 'hey, you can do magic! you're special! not like those other poor sods!'.

Edited July 14, 2008 by newc0253

[Volourn]

DA will not be low magic. This is a myth.

 

DA will be awesome though no matter how much magic is in it.

 

And, yeah, the origins will be superior than TOEE's. Though, that's reather easy to do. L0L

[aries101]

DA will not be low magic. This is a myth.

 

DA will be awesome though no matter how much magic is in it.

 

And, yeah, the origins will be superior than TOEE's. Though, that's reather easy to do. L0L

 

 

That rather depends on how you define 'low magic' doesn't it?? David Gaider have said that this game is going to be low magic. Not in terms of there

isn't much magic in the game, but rather in terms of magic being rare and not overused. Ordinary people will fear mages as mages are seens as

powerfull people...

[Enoch]

To me, the key isn't how rare magic is, or how much people love/hate/respect/fear it. Above all of that, I want it to be mysterious.

 

Magic, to me, captures the sense of wonder with which pre-scientific peoples viewed the natural world, which can be a very compelling "hook" to get the player interested in the gameworld. It's an opportunity to legitimately hide the rules of the game from the player and give them lots of little mysteries to figure out. (This is, of course, entirely ruined if all the spells are explained in painstaking detail in appendix III of the game manual.) Great wizards like Gandalf and Obi Wan (orig. trilogy version) are intruiging to a large extent because the reader/viewer has no idea what the extent and nature of their powers are.

 

Sure, give us a standard basic beginner's spellbook (easy fire spell, sleep spell, etc.), but leave the higher-level stuff out until it is discovered in interesting ways by the player (i.e., not just selected from a list on level-up), and make medium-to-high level practitioners rare, reclusive, and very different from one another in the abilities they use. (Custom spells and items are awesome.) And, perhaps, leave the explaining of why all this magical stuff works and how it interacts with the rest of the gameworld to be discovered over the course of the game.

 

I have no idea if DA is designed to deliver on this front, but if it does, even a little bit, I'll be quite happy.

Edited July 14, 2008 by Enoch

[Volourn]

"(This is, of course, entirely ruined if all the spells are explained in painstaking detail in appendix III of the game manual.) Great wizards like Gandalf and Obi Wan (orig. trilogy version) are intruiging to a large extent because the reader/viewer has no idea what the extent and nature of their powers are. "

 

Horrible examples. Books/movies don't come with game play rules that the player/viewer can know. In games, there's a set of rules/guidelines for this kind of stuff so unless the DM 9ie game devloper) 'cheats'; there'll be a lack of mystery in that regard for us players (notwithstanding if we ecounter spellcasters more pwoerful than our controlled characters).

 

That why D&D magic doens't have the 'mystery' you want because there are rulebooks detailing how said spell system works.

 

It's a game. It ahs to have game play and hence rules. And, as a player, I'd like to knbow the rules before I play. This is different, of course, than having to know everything about everything.

 

 

"That rather depends on how you define 'low magic' doesn't it??"

 

And, like I said, it's not gonna be low magic. My standards for that is too high.

[Dark_Raven]

DA will not be low magic. This is a myth.

 

DA will be awesome though no matter how much magic is in it.

 

And, yeah, the origins will be superior than TOEE's. Though, that's reather easy to do. L0L

You're a strange little fellow I'll give you that.

 

Any how, WTF is low and high magic? Magic is magic.

[funcroc]

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/53624

 

Dragon Age Headed to Consoles

by Chris Faylor Jul 14, 2008 6:13pm

 

BioWare's upcoming Dragon Age RPG franchise will eventually extend its reach to consoles following its PC debut next year, the developer has revealed.

 

No details were offered on the console editions, leaving it unclear if the console games will be simple ports or entirely new entries in the myhtology-rich series.

 

Billed as the "spiritual successor" to BioWare's work on the Baldurs Gate games, the first Dragon Age title, Dragon Age: Origins, arrives on PC next year.

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=181474

 

Dragon Age coming to consoles

 

At EA's E3 press conference, BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk mentioned that the Dragon Age franchise would be coming to consoles in the future.

 

Zeschuk was showing Dragon Age: Origins, BioWare's dark fantasy RPG for PC, which he described as the spiritual successor to classic BioWare titles such as Baldur's Gate.

 

He said that he expected Dragon Age to become a major franchise "on PC and, in future, on consoles".

 

It's not clear whether he meant that Origins itself would be ported across, or that other games would be released for consoles under the Dragon Age banner.

 

We'll have more on Dragon Age from the show later in the week.

Edited July 15, 2008 by funcroc

[Volourn]

Awesome. i get to hear more whining from PC crybabies. HAHAHA!

 

Good on BIO and EA!

[Jaesun]

Wow. I NEVER expected that to happen. What next? Final Fantasy 13 will be on the XBox 360... oh wait.

[Volourn]

"What next? Final Fantasy 13 will be on the XBox 360... oh wait."

 

L0L

 

It's only fair. Afterall, both ME and JE were 'xbox/xbox 360' exclusives and they eventually came to PC. This is the same just in reverse.

[Dark_Raven]

Consoles suck. EA is truely the Evil Empire of game design. Poor Bio, we knew you well.

[tripleRRR]

Consoles suck. EA is truely the Evil Empire of game design. Poor Bio, we knew you well.

 

Yeah, despite everything that was said I was very sad to hear EA buying Bio. EA has ruined too many awesome franchises with it's stupid little development philosophy.

[Hurlshort]

Baldur's Gate went to consoles as well. I imagine it will be a similiar situation, on the PC you'll have the depth of party management and more strategic control of combat, and on the console it will be streamlined for ease of play with a controller.

[Volourn]

Extended version of trailer: http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/682217/drago...ler_071408.html

 

 

"Baldur's Gate went to consoles as well."

 

A game with the same title did; but BG itself did not. One was being amde for PS1; but it was canceled. The game youa re thinking of BGDA which while I enjoyed it was not BG PC.

[Nick_i_am]

Awesome. i get to hear more whining from PC crybabies. HAHAHA!

 

Good on BIO and EA!

 

This thead is Volowned.

[Hurlshort]

Extended version of trailer: http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/682217/drago...ler_071408.html

 

 

"Baldur's Gate went to consoles as well."

 

A game with the same title did; but BG itself did not. One was being amde for PS1; but it was canceled. The game youa re thinking of BGDA which while I enjoyed it was not BG PC.

 

I didn't get the impression he was claiming Dragon Age: Origins was in any way going to the consoles. It was a purposefully vague statement about the future of a game that Bioware is hoping will turn into a big franchise. BGDA stood for Baldur's Gate: DA, so I fail to see how this isn't a part of the BG franchise. It may be a distant cousin, but it's got the name. In that same way, a Dragon Age game on the console could be extremely different than the PC version and his general statement would still be true.

[Sand]

I don't care if Dragon Age gets ported or not. A good game is a good game, and a bad game is a bad game, regardless of what platform it is on.

[taks]

no kidding... if it gets ported, and sells well, that would only serve to continue the franchise on any platform.

 

taks

[Sand]

GUIs can be altered to fit the specific needs of the platform while at the same time leave the core gameplay be. The prime exampleof this would be ME. With the complete revision of the GUI, MEPC plays like a native PC game.

[GhostofAnakin]

I'm glad Dragon Age is coming to consoles. I hate playing on the PC, unless absolutely necessary (ie. NWN2). I've converted to console gaming, and Dragon Age on a console makes me a happy person.