Lesser thought of outcomes of a longer dev time

I think the main change and result from the...well no let me actually think about this for a second.

First off a specific change I could see BioWare having to make (assuming the game was more heavily focused on MP in the first place) was in terms of combat. MMOs and stuff of that nature tend to want to get their players to play it longer for new content and expansions so the combat does tend to be a little more grindy at times. Like TOR was pretty much a boring slug fest.

Other then that though I do not see a lot of the systems needing to change per se. Except maybe the Character creator though more on that in a bit. The big change and 'benefit' from all this extra time is hopefully the updated trends, technology, and customer response data that BioWare can view from over the last eight years to give us a truly updated game. Because that is really the big problem with gaming is that sometimes games release and they are still using yesterday's big mechanics. But with more time and more delay Bio could see what works and what doesen't. Games like the Witcher, God of War, Horizon, and the Assassins Creeds could offer them a huge variety of stuff to learn from in everything from side quests to combat to story to character animations to writing to role playing mechanics and...well a lot.

I think the biggest positive trend from this could be in terms of combat namely. Games of late that have released in this head space have been getting just plain fun to me. The 'action' RPG elements which could make combat fast and brutal rather then slow and meandering is a definite plus.

The biggest negatives however is in lack of CC. A lot of so called RPGs have released without one especially with the push to more realstic mo cap...I could see BioWare forgoing one entirely since really not a lot of the big franchises seem to be doing one anymore.

The wild card in this is the side quests. And it figures just when I was starting to get used to better side quest design with Assassins Creed Odyssey the industry then really seemed to back slide with the whole random encounter stranger thing from Red Dead infecting other games that I have been playing. Again the ideal for side quests should follow Witcher/ ACOD/ Origins. While optional the side quests should still be worth doing.

I'm skeptical Bioware will ever completely do away with with the CC. The inclusivity of being able to play and represent whoever you ever is a big plus point of Bioware games.

I very much hope they won't anyway.

I think the story and characters in DA2 is the best in the series so far, maybe because the writers didn't overthink it to the point where it's original plot makes no sense or so boring with long dialogues info dumps to be used as world building (which is a HUGE problem BioWare has always has and it's especially a big problem in both of the prologues in DAI and MEA the time you should be trying to get the player hooked into your story). Now DA2 it's intentions are/were great but the execution left a lot to be desired.

Isabela leaving the group after Hawke kills the qunari leader at the end of act 2 feels like something that should've seen and heard, especially if Hawke is in a romantic relationship with her, and not just a codex entry, and IMHO it also doesn't make some her and Hawke's line any sense especially about her leaving broke Hawke's heart (again if they're in a romance). IMHO the use of the codex basically to explain what should be major character and plot details is NOT what the codex should be used for. I know why it was done due to rushed development time. But something like the player should've see and heard Hawke and Isabela's argument and not read a vague codex entry about it.