Dragon Age: Inquisition

[Tale]

Aren't staves just supposed to focus your magic? Like freezing in arcs or spirit bolts. I think it's harder to do with your hands.

A book can too, either way it's dead trees doing magic because stuff.

 

Or more specifically because they wanted an excuse to give mages a weapon slot item.

[Orogun01]

 

Aren't staves just supposed to focus your magic? Like freezing in arcs or spirit bolts. I think it's harder to do with your hands.

A book can too, either way it's dead trees doing magic because stuff.

 

Or more specifically because they wanted an excuse to give mages a weapon slot item.

 

I kind of like the floating book, its a refreshing change from staves everywhere. 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I'd prefer for my mage to use a sword or an axe.

[Volourn]

But, why? What's the point? Why play a mage if you want to pretend to be a warrior. Isn't the point of mages is to use MAGIC not physical weapons. Too many LOTR fanboys.

 

Don't get me wrong, sword weilding mages can be fun if not overused and it makes sense.

[Nepenthe]

 

 

 

I'm adaptable.

I also hadn't had the time to watch them, so was going just from what I'd read...

 

And thus.. we know he's a a Lawyer.. 

Yeah, if I clung to preconceptions contrary to evidence in the contrary I'd be lawyer's client... Or an engineer :D

 

This post made ask myself a very important question: " What job would be easier to do while drunk, engineer or lawyer?"

 

 

Unfortunately, alcoholism is an endemic problem among lawyers, so I'm gonna have to assume "lawyer".

 

[Magnum Opus]

 

 

One thing I gotta say, eliminate the silly floating spell books for the mages, it's distracting and doesn't make sense.

Makes as much sense as a staff. FEEL THE MAGICAL POWER OF WOOD

 

Aren't staves just supposed to focus your magic? Like freezing in arcs or spirit bolts. I think it's harder to do with your hands.

 

Oi... hate this kind of argument.  It's MAGIC.  The actual mechanics behind the process of shooting a lightning bolt out of a body's arse are precisely however the designers want them to be, and that's the end of it.  The effects of being hit with a jolt of electricity should make sense -- electricity having a real world analogue in... well... electricity, but the process by which that electricity is generated is the stuff of pure fantasy.

 

MY objection to the giant floating grimoire lies in the fact that games have used that sort of visualization for far too long in a meta-story capacity for me to even come close to taking it seriously.  I see the floaty-book of doom as an almost comical visual aid, precisely the same way I see the large golden exclamation point floating over a quest-giver's head.  It's not REALLY in the game world, it's just there for the sake of player convenience.  That's an impression that's been formed over many years, and many games:  Things like that are for the benefit of the player, not part of the player character or game world.  It's as if they feel the animations of the character in deep concentration and waving his arms in mysterious patterns through the air with lights flickering around him isn't enough to convey the sense of "it's magic!  WATCH OUT!" and have to reinforce it with the floatybook.  That's my immediate perception.

 

On a even MORE personal level, I also prefer a more "first principles" approach to the portrayal of magic: the more normal/run down/shabby my mage seems BEFORE casting the earth-shattering, soul-splitting spell, the more impressive the magic itself seems.  If a grimoire is involved, I'd personally prefer to see him pull it out of his backpack, flip a few pages distractedly, or maybe even sit wearily on the ground with the book open in front of him if it's a really big spell, and THEN open the gates of hell.  But that's just me.

 

 

As a side note, however, it would be awesome to see them "break the fourth wall" with the floating spellbook, and have the mage, when in times of close combat, simply fling the book itself at some unsuspecting creature's head.  Book that large has to weigh a fair bit, and could at least stun an unsuspecting peasant, if not end up cracking his skull open.  (and yes, as mentioned, the "fourth wall" thing is only my current perception of what I saw in that vid.  Whether it really IS meta-story information, or if it's a real game-world book, is not for me to decide.  Even without that perception, though, I'd still find it funny to have my mage bludgeon someone to death with his spellbook.  FEEL THE POWER!!)

Edited September 3, 2013 by Magnum Opus

[TrashMan]

Red Templars..with red Lyrium? *THE* red lyrium with only a tiny fragment known to exist and only found in the DEEP ROADS?

Main badguys?

Quanri Inquisitor? WAT?

 

[TrashMan]

 

Aren't staves just supposed to focus your magic? Like freezing in arcs or spirit bolts. I think it's harder to do with your hands.

A book can too, either way it's dead trees doing magic because stuff.

 

Or more specifically because they wanted an excuse to give mages a weapon slot item.

 

 

IIRC; it has to do with the shape, not material. The mage who discovered that principle by accident, used a sausage and noticed it was easier to focus the spell.

 

Either way, I find a giant, floating book silly. Both conceptually and in how it doesn't fit the world. We are talking abotu a world where flying/floating magic is unknown.

 

MAGIC does not make everything equal.

[NOK222]

 

 

MAGIC does not make everything equal.

 

Templar oppressor you. 

[Nepenthe]

Red Templars..with red Lyrium? *THE* red lyrium with only a tiny fragment known to exist and only found in the DEEP ROADS?

Main badguys?

Quanri Inquisitor? WAT?

 

[insert canceled expansion here]

[Keyrock]

Red Templars..with red Lyrium? *THE* red lyrium with only a tiny fragment known to exist and only found in the DEEP ROADS?

Main badguys?

Quanri Inquisitor? WAT?

 

[anubite]

The red lyrium stuff does sound as suspiciously cornball and awful as DA2's "main" antagonist. I wish everything from that game would just be... you know, not used or mentioned ever ever again.

[GhostofAnakin]

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.

 

That's good to hear.

[AGX-17]

Quanri Inquisitor? WAT?

Can't we all come together thanks to our shared hatred of mages? Besides, there are apostate Qunari running around, they've already established a legitimate explanation. If an ugly elf can be a qunari in DA2 DLC, why can't a Qunari be a Catholic? Or whatever the religion of Thedas is called.

Edited September 3, 2013 by AGX-17

[anubite]

If they're needing to clarify the dialogue wheel responses, why not simply revert to having sentences at the bottom of the screen? Was this so broken and upsetting to people, and is having a circle at the bottom of the screen so important? Seems a little illogical to implement all of these extra measures for the sake of having a circle present.

This is the deep psychology of EA, BioWare, or somebody at work - basically, screenshots and gameplay videos cannot reach the masses of eyes that play video games, because boxes containing text in a game are boring. Because people associate such a thing with old, only-losers-play-that, or out-dated video games like Point-n'-Click adventures, more traditional games like Dungeons and Dragons or more typically, old RPGs like Final Fantasy or Baldur's Gate. Those games are boring and old and slow. If you have a shiny "dialogue-wheel" you can repackage the mechanic as something new and alien and associate it with the action-y thrill of a whack-a-mole Mass Effect game. A tiny little wheel doesn't look as enormously oppressive as a big black box covering a quarter of the screen. Even though such functionality allows for richer text and interaction, the average person who does still like the old mechanic of reading can get their sip of pleasure, while still being able to market and advertise and demonstrate the game to the average dude bro. It's all about marketing and if it's not a designer at BioWare doing this consciously, it's the bigwigs over at EA stipulating it. It's probably why sex is a big thing with this generation of RPGs - because the average dude bro consumer can relate with 'getting laid' and can motivate them to read words on a screen.

 

Let me iterate on this, because people always take it the wrong way. I'm not saying that this is right or fair, I'm not even saying "dude bros" are horrible people. I am attacking this concept that some people in marketing apparently have. Maybe it's a stigma of marketers I have, but I believe people who work in marketing see the world through a lense of stereotypes and statistics, instead of reality.

 

The public at large does have a stigma against people who play more "traditional" games like Chess or Dungeons and Dragons. This high school mentality at least exists in America. I saw it in high school, I see it in my university, there's no reason to think it's gone away or does go away easily. People who go to LARPs have something socially or mentally deficient in them, many of my friends have expressed opinions that turn-based games, or at least, the concept of a "turn" is something that's old and extends from the limits of computing hardware in the past, that it is strictly a bad idea to make a turn based game, that turn-based games are inherently un-fun and dull. All it takes to see this is to flip through the latest vapid television shows still on, like, I dunno, the Big Bang Theory. There exist multiple episodes where the jokes are, succinctly, "lol that nerd plays dungeons and dragons!" There is a strong public perception about what is "fun" that marketers are very qucik to latch on to. Since nobody believes in demos, you have to sell a game via its box art or some thirty-second clip of gameplay - or you have to sell the game based on it being a part of a historical franchise. You can't sell a game, let a lone a new game, that uses turn-based mechanics - not to the western masses anyway. Small indie games get away with this, but it's not enough to move ten or fifty thousand units.

Edited September 3, 2013 by anubite

[Keyrock]

I miss the Jade Empire mechanic where your character smiled for open fist and made a grrrrr face for closed fist responses.  Much better than color coding.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Keyrock

[Maria Caliban]

On a even MORE personal level, I also prefer a more "first principles" approach to the portrayal of magic: the more normal/run down/shabby my mage seems BEFORE casting the earth-shattering, soul-splitting spell, the more impressive the magic itself seems. If a grimoire is involved, I'd personally prefer to see him pull it out of his backpack, flip a few pages distractedly, or maybe even sit wearily on the ground with the book open in front of him if it's a really big spell, and THEN open the gates of hell. But that's just me.

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.

 

 

Red Templars..with red Lyrium? *THE* red lyrium with only a tiny fragment known to exist and only found in the DEEP ROADS?

Main badguys?

Quanri Inquisitor? WAT?

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?

 

 

Besides, there are apostate Qunari running around, they've already established a legitimate explanation. If an ugly elf can be a qunari in DA2 DLC, why can't a Qunari be a Catholic? Or whatever the religion of Thedas is called.

The Inquisition is not a branch of the Chantry. We also know that you can be a Dalish mage and head it.

 

 

I miss the Jade Empire mechanic where your character smiled for open fist and made a grrrrr face for closed fist responses. Much better than color coding.

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.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Maria Caliban

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

So is the Inquistion sort of like Grey Wardens 2.0 or closer to The Avengers and The Justice League?

[Tale]

They're clearly Jedi.

[Orogun01]

So is the Inquistion sort of like Grey Wardens 2.0 or closer to The Avengers and The Justice League?

In the land of Thedas people take their after school clubs very seriously.

[Maria Caliban]

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.

 

So is the Inquistion sort of like Grey Wardens 2.0 or closer to The Avengers and The Justice League?

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.

[HoonDing]

Red Templars..with red Lyrium? *THE* red lyrium with only a tiny fragment known to exist and only found in the DEEP ROADS?

Main badguys?

Quanri Inquisitor? WAT?

 

Wasn't red lyrium what transformed Meredith into the Scarlet Witch?

[Tale]

Wasn't red lyrium what transformed Meredith into the Scarlet Witch?

Exactly.

 

I now have my suspicion that the way they're getting around drastic changes to the setting from the Mage/Templar war is that it's only the crazy "Red" Templars and the Abominations that are fighting. With all the less extreme Circle mages and Templars sticking around to go back to how things were afterwards, if under the Inquisition.

[Maria Caliban]

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.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Maria Caliban

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I hope that this time, the Templar have more more anti-magic abilities.

I hope that every specialization has more specific abilities, like anti-magic for Templars and demon summoning for Blood Mages.