Yeah, specialisations probably won't come until what's considered 'end of act 1'/'start of act 2', the rough equivalent of other DA Games, be it story or every 7 levels.
I remember we can switch weapons (and eventually loadouts?) on the fly, maybe mages can have a sword/daggers long before they can choose to be a spellblade.
They did talk about specializations being something we'll have to wait until mid-game to have access to.
And this makes me very, very happy:
"In this demo Rook was a "Melee Mage" whose combat actions already looked amazing at Level 1"
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Maybe my family is weird, but when living with other adults, I can't imagine announcing it to everybody every time I leave the house.
True but my family aren't meant to be working together to save the world/guard the Veil. Also, isn't Rook meant to be de facto leader of this little band? Surely they would at least give us a heads up. "Sorry, Rook, had a message from back in Minrathous, so I won't be available today." That's what I'm getting at. Then the obvious reply would be: "Fair enough", followed by "Anything I can help with?" if that is the sort of character your Rook is.
What I'm struggling to understand is why Rook would head to Minrathous, a place with which Neve is familiar so the most obvious choice for a companion, but instead they just accidentally run into her when they get there. Perhaps we were just going for shopping trip. However, what if we got an urgent message at the Lighthouse, that demanded our attention in Minrathous. Yet, Neve is absent and we have no indication where to find her. Then we just happen to run into her there. To me it would at least make more sense that we know Neve left to attend to business in Minrathous so we actually seek her out when we get there. Then she says she is working on something important so can't help us for the present but will when she has dealt with it. So now we have the choice whether to help her, so freeing her up to assist our mission, or carry on without her. Do you see the difference in what I have described and what was in the article?
The fact is the scenario they give is very contrived and doesn't suggest a team working together but, as you say, an actual family going about their every day lives and touching base occasionally, which is fine when it comes to normal every day problems but not when confronted with a threat to them all. A better analogy might be a family business where everyone pulls their weight and the head of the family does need to be kept informed if you want to take a day off to do things of your own so they can plan accordingly.
I see what you're getting at, but we know pretty much nothing about this Neve scenario. Maybe it triggers if you go to Minrathous without her. Maybe if she's in your party, you reach a trigger point and she says, "hey, I have a lead in this area for my case. Mind if we check it out while we're here?" Maybe she pulls an Isabela-at-the-qunari-compound and ditches you then and there, but then it ends up making sense for the story (or causing Rook to have a talk with her, depending how much of an authority figure we are). We just don't know, but there are ways I think it could work well. It doesn't necessarily seem odd to me, or that this is evidence of a team not working well together. It'll just depend on how it's implemented.
I'm also hoping Rook is more of a leader like Warden or Hawke, and less like the Inquisitor. That is, more of a leader among equals, rather than a true authority figure. That would allow the rest of the group more freedom to do that they need to do. That's just me, though.
I wish we got more scenes of multiple party members just hanging out together, Hawke included. I hope Veilguard will involve Rook in these sorts of things
Well they did remedy that in Inquisition with the card party, so I think they did take on board the criticism of Hawke's non inclusion in DA2. I liked that little scene in DAI and that different people could contribute to the conversation if our PC chose not to. Also, the conclusion to the game. Of course, certain individuals did not participate and that was telling too, although we learn from Blackwall's dialogue that Solas is not actually averse to card games and gambling as he taught him Diamondback and then Solas totally fleeced him. Mind you, perhaps Solas was only pretending not to know the game to begin with. Perhaps Varric had heard about Blackwall's experience and left Solas out deliberately.
So, with any luck we may get some scenes like that in Veilguard, although not everyone may be in attendance.
Unpopular opinion, but I like the idea of that DAI scene more than the execution. I found it very awkward, both due to the weird pauses in dialog, and also because I felt like the Inquisitor was never really one of the gang the way Warden, Hawke, or even Shepard are. It was a step in the right direction, though
You don't have a grenade launcher, lady. Get lost.
Looking forward to Pax-West. Bio will be there and maybe show us the next play demo with a castrati mage in combat. Something I really want to see. And, as many have said, announce DA4's launch date.
A new demo will, hopefully, show us Taash and Bellara as the new NCPs or Taash and Lucanis. Bio being Bio, the demo will showcase, imo. the castrati mage as a melee fighter. Uhg!! In any case, my preference is to see a mage, tank and archer in the demo. Frankly, since the focus is on Rook, the other two are just peripherals.
I'm also hoping Rook is more of a leader like Warden or Hawke, and less like the Inquisitor. That is, more of a leader among equals, rather than a true authority figure. That would allow the rest of the group more freedom to do that they need to do.
Hawke was definitely more just the ring leader among a group of friends, which was appropriate because apart from specific flash points at the end of Acts 2 and 3, we were really just getting on with our lives the best we could in the circumstances, where there was always an underlying tension but even the authorities started looking to Hawke to solve things. If we had run into companions not in our immediate party as we moved round the city it would not have come as a surprise. They also had their own independent base of operations where they lived, except our romance partner who moved into the mansion during Act 2, with the exception of Fenris.
However, the Warden was the leader even though they had little choice in the matter. Alistair went to pieces after Ostagar, so it was left to us to pick up the pieces and try and mobilise the resistance to the darkspawn. The people we picked up along the way certainly seemed to defer to us when it came to where they went and there was never any sense they had better things to do with their time. What would be the point if we didn't stop the darkspawn? That is why for me there was a similar vibe to DAO and DAI. The only difference was the Inquisition was better organised, already established and running when we entered the picture. Remember it had always been the plan of Divine Justinia to institute such an organisation to enforce the decisions reached at the Conclave and that is why Cassandra and Leliana felt they had her authority behind them until a new Divine was appointed. With the companions in both of these games, we decided whether they joined or not after the initial group (Alistair/Morrigan/Dog and Cassandra/Solas/Varric) and it was possible for them to leave if they were unhappy with our decisions, attack us or betray us at the behest of others. In DA2 and DAI they could also establish romantic liaisons with others if our PC wasn't interested. So they did still have a degree of life of their own.
This is why it seems to me that they can't quite make up their mind whether they want it to feel more like DAI or DA2 with the way the companions relate to the Veilguard. Strangely enough, if they had kept to the original name for the game this would not be such an issue for me. Dreadwolf would just imply that we were united against a common threat without having any real commitment to the organisation because it wasn't really official. Changing it to The Veilguard implies that it is. They changed the name because they wanted us to perceive it and our companions relationship to it in that way.
I'm still waiting to discover whose brainchild it is in world and how we get mixed up in it other than simply being in the same location as Varric/Harding when they are attacked. Were we chosen to represent our faction after they had received an invite? Or were we in Minrathous on our own unrelated business when we just accidentally bumped into them? What was the original purpose of the Veilguard? How were we meant to perform our role? If we aren't the leader taking the initiative and directing operations, then who is?
I'm also hoping Rook is more of a leader like Warden or Hawke, and less like the Inquisitor. That is, more of a leader among equals, rather than a true authority figure. That would snip
I'm still waiting to discover whose brainchild it is in world and how we get mixed up in it other than simply being in the same location as Varric/Harding when they are attacked. Were we chosen to represent our faction after they had received an invite? Or were we in Minrathous on our own unrelated business when we just accidentally bumped into them? What was the original purpose of the Veilguard? How were we meant to perform our role? If we aren't the leader taking the initiative and directing operations, then who is?
Hmm.... I think it starts from the tutorial act where Rook meets Lace somewhere. Didn't that German video (its translation) mentioned the game starts in Sunnet city? Rook meets Bellara as she pops in, then Lace the scout? From there they go to Minrathous for reasons. Sometime later the game switches to Varric's narrative in Minrathous. Did I miss the starting point?
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Was this posted already? Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't let you control your companions because you can't handle it: "This is a much higher actions-per-minute game"
Hmm.... I think it starts from the tutorial act where Rook meets Lace somewhere. Didn't that German video (its translation) mentioned the game starts in Sunnet city? Rook meets Bellara as she pops in, then Lace the scout? From there they go to Minrathous for reasons. Sometime later the game switches to Varric's narrative in Minrathous. Did I miss the starting point?
Where did you see this? I didn't know there was a tutorial before the section we saw in the trailer. I thought that tied into the companion trailer, so we meet Varric and Harding in the inn and then leave with Varric. We don't meet Bellara until after the trailer ended as part of the first quest following the prologue.
I can't imagine what Sunnet City refers to. There is nothing remotely like that on the map of Thedas. What would Bellara be doing there and why is she already connected? (Although if she is the one giving clues about Solas she has gained in Arlathan Forest that would make sense). I suppose having met Harding somewhere else would account for why she has our gear.
Was this posted already? Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't let you control your companions because you can't handle it: "This is a much higher actions-per-minute game"
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*Sigh* I've come to accept no party control and even think I might enjoy it. But removing one party member and limiting active abilities still stings, not going to lie. There's so much I else I hear about this game that sounds absolutely awesome, it's a shame I can't help but feel a bit saddened that this is an aspect that was changed for faster combat (which really isn't my personal appeal).
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*Sigh* I've come to accept no party control and even think I might enjoy it. But removing one party member and limiting active abilities still stings, not going to lie. There's so much I else I hear about this game that sounds absolutely awesome, it's a shame I can't help but feel a bit saddened that this is an aspect that was changed for faster combat (which really isn't my personal appeal).
combat is weird in DA. Like we spend so much time doing it it would necessarily be a huge part of our enjoyment. But really there are so much more things to do in these games that even if I don't like the combat I'm pretty sure there will still be enough to like in the game.
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*Sigh* I've come to accept no party control and even think I might enjoy it. But removing one party member and limiting active abilities still stings, not going to lie. There's so much I else I hear about this game that sounds absolutely awesome, it's a shame I can't help but feel a bit saddened that this is an aspect that was changed for faster combat (which really isn't my personal appeal).
combat is weird in DA. Like we spend so much time doing it it would necessarily be a huge part of our enjoyment. But really there are so much more things to do in these games that even if I don't like the combat I'm pretty sure there will still be enough to like in the game.
Still, I am very disappointed knowing that BG3 like games are in the far distant future (maybe) now that Bioware gone full action mode.
John Epler @eplerjc: Having been in this industry for a while, one thing has proven out, time and time again. Success belongs to the team, and failure belongs to leadership. No game is a one-person show, or even close.