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David Gaider

Lead Writer - Dragon Age

Bioware Corp.

 

Not to say that you are lying about your identity, but could you somehow prove that you indeed who you claim to be? :shifty:

 

its dave

 

HA! Good Fun!

"If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."Justice Louis Brandeis, Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927)

"Im indifferent to almost any murder as long as it doesn't affect me or mine."--Gfted1 (September 30, 2019)

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Yeah, it's Gaider alright.

 

 

Well, thanks for the info.

kirottu said:
I was raised by polar bears. I had to fight against blood thirsty wolves and rabid penguins to get my food. Those who were too weak to survive were sent to Sweden.

 

It has made me the man I am today. A man who craves furry hentai.

So let us go and embrace the rustling smells of unseen worlds

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hmm. once a fortnight or so, Gromnir embraces more... common diversions. takes the 1955 recording of Gould's Goldberg Variations off the phonograph, and set aside that first edition Pale Fire. put a cork in the 1982 Chateu Le fiet Rothschild and forgo the pheasant... Gromnir's palette, while discriminating as ever, is also finding enjoyment in the plebeian fare currently being served up by bioware.

"Plebeian fare". Cute. :shifty:

we actually enjoyed much o' mass effect... though am still uncertain how the dialogue wheel were innovative.

I think the dialogue wheel existed simply to facilitate the cinematic quality of the conversations -- the idea was that you could readily read and select what you wanted to keep the flow of the conversation going. I wouldn't call it revolutionary, no, but it was an advancement of that particular technique. I thought it worked well enough for what Mass Effect was aiming at being.

in any event, am looking forward to da... though am as dubious as ever 'bout those seemingly diminishing origins.

Glad to hear it. I'm not sure what you mean by diminishing, though... have they diminished?

 

David Gaider

Lead Writer - Dragon Age

Bioware corp.

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Not to say that you are lying about your identity, but could you somehow prove that you indeed who you claim to be? :shifty:

Nope! :shifty:

 

it is rare to see dave in this place. much likes japanese businessmen who vacation in thailand and singapore, dave seems to end up at rpgcodex... no doubt looking for the most depraved and immoral cesspool imaginable as an extreme alternative to biowarian homogeny and it's seemingly endless zombie kitten gags.

 

*groan*

 

add:

 

 

""Plebeian fare". Cute."

 

Gromnir has always had a way with words.

 

as for origins, am understanding that the all-purpose mysterious stranger origin were dropped at some point.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited by Gromnir

"If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."Justice Louis Brandeis, Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927)

"Im indifferent to almost any murder as long as it doesn't affect me or mine."--Gfted1 (September 30, 2019)

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it is rare to see dave in this place. much likes japanese businessmen who vacation in thailand and singapore, dave seems to end up at rpgcodex... no doubt looking for the most depraved and immoral cesspool imaginable as an extreme alternative to biowarian homogeny and seemingly endless zombie kitten gags.

I don't go there much any more, really. When Bangkok degrades to the point where all you can find are 12 year-old boys in lipstick it gets really hard to pretend you go there for anything else.

 

Wait... inside voice! Inside voice! Doh! :shifty:

as for origins, am understanding that the all-purpose mysterious stranger origin were dropped at some point.

Ahh, that. That was dropped back in the conceptual stages, as opposed to an actual cut. I mentioned it on the forums as something that we had considered doing but that didn't really work for practical reasons. I suppose that could be diminishing, sure-- not to mention that cuts could always happen yet. Nature of the biz.

 

David Gaider

Lead Writer - Dragon Age

Bioware corp.

Edited by Rylock
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All we have for comparison, really, is our earlier fantasy titles-- which is really what people know us for best, no?

 

David Gaider

Lead Writer - Dragon Age

Bioware corp.

 

Speaking of which, how different will Dragon Age be from your last few titles? Because repetitiveness in Bioware's games has really set in for me.

 

I don't get that "repetitiveness" thing. To me Bio's latest games have been very different from each other. KOTOR was very different from BG/NWN; Jade Empire was very different from KOTOR; Mass Effect was very different from Jade Empire. I'm just not seeing repetition here.

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I don't get that "repetitiveness" thing. To me Bio's latest games have been very different from each other. KOTOR was very different from BG/NWN; Jade Empire was very different from KOTOR; Mass Effect was very different from Jade Empire. I'm just not seeing repetition here.

different? sure. very different? yeah, i wouldn't over-egg it.

 

for all the differences in setting and story, the standard Bio formula in the past 3 games has been hero plus two companions, with a common base - ebon hawk or the magnificent dragonfly or the normandy, take your pick - in which the layout of the core adventure areas seem reminiscent of the other 2 games: a hub plus x number of locations. I liked the Mako exploration in Mass Effect, for instance, but i always knew that i wasn't gonna suddenly hit a world with 15 levels because the structure of each world follows the same pattern.

 

the familiarities increased with Mass Effect and KOTOR. unfortunately for Bio, it's difficult to make a futuristic spaceport corridor look different from other futuristic spaceport corridors, so easy for anyone who'd played KOTOR to think when they're getting lost in the Citadel in Mass Effect that they've been here several times before.

 

the other main source of familiarity - indeed probably the thing which seems most familiar from game to game - is Bio's writing: whether it's ancient china, earth in the 22nd century or a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, you get the same rhythyms and beats, the same humour and character types, similar arcs and twists, etc.

 

this isn't nearly as much of a complaint as it probably sounds. to the extent that Bio's games tend to follow a similar pattern, it is at least a popular and successful pattern. certainly i played and liked the last 3 games and look forward to playing DA. but i think the real challenge is for Bio to deliver something that feels fresh and different, not merely from other fantasy CRPGs but from its own, undoubtedly popular, conventions of heroic fantasy.

dumber than a bag of hammers

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I don't get that "repetitiveness" thing. To me Bio's latest games have been very different from each other. KOTOR was very different from BG/NWN; Jade Empire was very different from KOTOR; Mass Effect was very different from Jade Empire. I'm just not seeing repetition here.
Yes, they haven't been repeating, after KOTOR they've been getting progressively worse. :shifty: Sorry, couldn't resist.

"Moral indignation is a standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity." Marshall McLuhan

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I don't get that "repetitiveness" thing. To me Bio's latest games have been very different from each other. KOTOR was very different from BG/NWN; Jade Empire was very different from KOTOR; Mass Effect was very different from Jade Empire. I'm just not seeing repetition here.
Yes, they haven't been repeating, after KOTOR they've been getting progressively worse. :shifty: Sorry, couldn't resist.

Worse how?

 

Mind you I haven't played JE (seemed like more action than roleplaying for my taste) nor ME (too much DRM, had nothing to do with the qualities of the game).

 

Is it just because they haven't done any more SW games? :shifty:

“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein

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The only sameness I really noticed from Bio's last few games was the ONE GREAT PLOT TWIST thingy. There was one in KotOR, JE, and to a slightly lesser degree ME. Now I have no big problem with this kind of plot but come on. The amnesia thing is also something I really do not want to see any more of but that's not solely a Bio deal.

Using a gamepad to control an FPS is like trying to fight evil through maple syrup.

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I don't get that "repetitiveness" thing. To me Bio's latest games have been very different from each other. KOTOR was very different from BG/NWN; Jade Empire was very different from KOTOR; Mass Effect was very different from Jade Empire. I'm just not seeing repetition here.
Yes, they haven't been repeating, after KOTOR they've been getting progressively worse. :shifty: Sorry, couldn't resist.

Worse how?

 

Mind you I haven't played JE (seemed like more action than roleplaying for my taste) nor ME (too much DRM, had nothing to do with the qualities of the game).

 

Is it just because they haven't done any more SW games? :shifty:

SW? Lolz, SW is a kiddy muppet show, not in KOTOR though. In JE, they started rushing, either to release while Xbox was still a viable platform, or for financial reasons. As a result they filled Imperial City with low quality filler or KOTOR retreads. With ME it was much, much worse. They got hold of a broken engine, and spend most of their time just trying to get the damn thing to work. Then at the very end they tried to come up with some simplistic filler to pad out the game. What made things worse is they were too short of memory on 360 to do almost any content, even though 360 has 8 times more memory than the Xbox, and the frame rate was so low they were severely restricted in what they could add. That's what happens when you try to pander to graphics whores.

"Moral indignation is a standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity." Marshall McLuhan

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How is your role in DA different from that in BG2?

I got to create much of the setting -- with direction, of course. And I had a bigger hand in the story creation, being a lead now, but otherwise it's much the same. I wrote a big chunk of BG2 and I've written a big chunk of DA. Some people like to ascribe all of DA's creative decisions to me (probably because I talk a lot on the forums), but that's just not so.

 

but i think the real challenge is for Bio to deliver something that feels fresh and different, not merely from other fantasy CRPGs but from its own, undoubtedly popular, conventions of heroic fantasy.

I'll just say that I don't object to the above at all -- I will say, however, that some people seem to want us to do something different just for the sake of it being different. Fresh and different are great, but novelty for its own sake isn't a very worthwhile goal. Just something to consider.

 

David Gaider

Lead Writer - Dragon Age

Bioware corp.

Edited by Rylock
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"Yes, they haven't been repeating, after KOTOR they've been getting progressively worse. Sorry, couldn't resist."

 

Getting better. KOTOR is their worst game that I played.

 

 

"The amnesia thing is also something"

 

No amnesia in ME, or JE. Or any NWN games. Only BIO game to have any form of amnesia was KOTOR.

Edited by Volourn

DWARVES IN PROJECT ETERNITY = VOLOURN HAS PLEDGED $250.

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"Yes, they haven't been repeating, after KOTOR they've been getting progressively worse. Sorry, couldn't resist."

 

Getting better. KOTOR is their worst game that I played.

 

 

"The amnesia thing is also something"

 

No amnesia in ME, or JE. Or any NWN games. Only BIO game to have any form of amnesia was KOTOR.

Error Alert!

 

Worst game is NWN. You know that.

2010spaceships.jpg

Hades was the life of the party. RIP You'll be missed.

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Tough crowd. I've actually enjoyed all of BioWare's PC games. BG2/TOB is my favorite, a real classic... NWN OC was my least favorite, although I enjoyed the expansion... and I've really have great fun with KOTOR, Jade Empire and Mass Effect! Have played them all numerous times.

 

I haven't played any of the Troika games except Arcanum, ( *shudder* Arcanum was enough Troika for me) so I can't really compare combat styles. Since I'm more of a story-oriented than a combat-oriented person when it comes to games, I can pretty much deal with any type of combat used... except the super-hardcore stuff that makes you reload 20 times for every battle. I will say, however, that I had a great deal of fun with Jade Empire's combat! Acrobatics, lots of cool whacking and bowing... what's not to love?? :)

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I haven't played any of the Troika games except Arcanum,

 

I'm more of a story-oriented than a combat-oriented person when it comes to games)

 

Kind of a discrepancy there, heh. You should, excluding TOEE, that's what Troika's games were good at.

kirottu said:
I was raised by polar bears. I had to fight against blood thirsty wolves and rabid penguins to get my food. Those who were too weak to survive were sent to Sweden.

 

It has made me the man I am today. A man who craves furry hentai.

So let us go and embrace the rustling smells of unseen worlds

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Tough crowd. I've actually enjoyed all of BioWare's PC games.

Most people here have indeed enjoyed most if not all Bioware games. The problem is that they aren't as good as most people want.

The problem with the JE combat was that it quickly boiled down to switching back and forth between two styles in nearly endless drudgery.

 

And yeah go play Bloodlines unless you have a massive Vampire phobia.

 

Edit: Or perhaps I should say that Bio games aren't the way most people here want them to be. Good is in the eyes of the beholder.

Edited by Moatilliatta
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Wrong. It's their best gam,e. And, their most successful to date. R00fles!

BG2 is their best and most successful ever.

 

NWN Series Is The Worst Ever!!!

 

I got to create much of the setting -- with direction, of course. And I had a bigger hand in the story creation, being a lead now, but otherwise it's much the same. I wrote a big chunk of BG2 and I've written a big chunk of DA. Some people like to ascribe all of DA's creative decisions to me (probably because I talk a lot on the forums), but that's just not so.

Cool, moving up the food chain. Any hot romances in DA? I know you had a hand in BG2 romances.

2010spaceships.jpg

Hades was the life of the party. RIP You'll be missed.

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"BG2 is their best and most successful ever."

 

You cna argue about which is the 'best'; but the 'most successful' is not really a matter of opinion. Sorry, but I didn't make up the 'NWN is their most successful game' mantra. That was BIO that did. I'd think they know what game of theirs is most successful.

DWARVES IN PROJECT ETERNITY = VOLOURN HAS PLEDGED $250.

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