Dialogue Mechanics thread

Good point.  I often think the people get caught up in the appearances of being given additional dialogue choices in ME1 when, in reality, selecting the different options shown often resulted in the exact same line being uttered by the character or, even more frequently, lines being uttered that were only slightly different and whose differences had absolutely no impact on how the story progressed beyond that point.  When all those lines are removed from the count, ME3 offered as many, if not more, dialogue choices although it is the game of the trilogy most frequently criticized for lacking in such choices.  The autodialogue really just eliminated the act of having to make "artificial" selections only to have the character utter the same sentences regardless of the selection made.

Like you, I hope that Walters is not referring to effectively putting in this artificial "sense of choice" back into the game.  IMO, it's just a waste of time having to select dialogue when no selection is really being offered.

It also won't have gameplay, I'm told.

I see what you're saying but you don't really know what the game's going to do with the actions once the interrupt's made. You could have a "gun" icon representing "use gun" but you don't know if they're going to shoot someone, simply pull it out or use it to convince them by waving it in their faces. If it was a Renegade gun icon, i'd expect someone to get shot. A Paragon icon, i expect a lot of gun waving or just pulling it out but no further actions.

Shepard can still talk them down as long as the right dialogue and the interrupt is chosen. They just won't join Shepard on the Normandy
Reputation has nothing to do with that scene. If Shepard talks with her, she will send Shepard an email who can invite her up for the scene. If Shepard doesn't talk to Liara, no email will be sent for Shepard to invite her up for that scene

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding... but aren't you suggesting 2 or 3 words per dialogue choice available including words describing any action choices available.  In ME1 BDtS for example, action options like [Attack him] were shown along with other dialogue options, including a paragon dialogue and a renegade dialogue.  That is, the wheel had about 5 different 2 or 3 word phrases to be read and processed... not just one.  Indeed, they may also be uncomfortable with other mechanics of the game (for example, some people on the old BSN did mention that they really needed to be able to pause the fighting using the power wheel in order to work the controls and I believe one person mentioned they were played one-handed).  So, what's your point... are you saying they just shouldn't be playing?

Road signage studies indicate that most people can process icons much quicker than written words.  If the selection of icons are outlined in a codex, players would then have the additional opportunity to pre-study their intended meanings before beginning to play the game much like they can study the control layout before playing as well.  It's not like there would be all that many different ones needed to adequately represent even all the different actions Shepard did as a result of the interrupts in ME2 and ME3.

The chat icons in DAI are actually all explained in what amounted to the manual. Not in game though which I think is a problem considering digital having more prominence. Shouldn't have to hit up a webpage to see what all of them are. Some are pretty damn obvious like a red fist. But then you have a armored dude with spiky shoulders and that... means... stoic? Really? Wtf? A lot of them are pretty obvious like a side of a head with a bunch of ??? for confusion or something. Eyes with tears for being sad about shit or sympathetic.

I also don't think you would need NEARLY as many, mostly due to the nature of an interrupt. Your not going to interrupt someone with questionsa bout what there talking about. Your not going to diplomatically interrupt someone. Hard to interrupt someone kindly you know? Paragon interrupts where largely to save someone on a timer. Renegade interrupts where largely to kill or start a fight with an advantage.

Sure in ME3 you had some more nuanced ones like the whole Vega boxing thing to dodge or hit. Personally I think DA2 style 3 things would be nice. Mostly because I would love a sarcastic/joke option sometimes vs a 'shoot and/or save person'. Either way going to complex with it will I feel just be a detriment to the whole idea. They are ultimately simple and limited in nature as you are interrupting/time sensitive ordeals that generally require an action, not so much words.

The text does say that it is "through a greater ability to interrupt-" by the player with examples that seem similar to what we've seen of interrupts previously like the one to pull a gun on something or persuade them through dialogue. I took that to mean this is the player initiating interrupts through the player character. I don't see why this would only affect side stories based on the text?

Most of it does sound ´like what we've had in the previous but not all of it though. 

I thought the indications of that particular interrupt were quite clearly in the dialogue just preceding it.  "You've got two ways down, express or coach."  If that's not Shepard threatening to push him out the window, I don't know what would be.

I do think there can be a bit of an issue with inserting the hints in previous dialogue in that the dialogue that provides the hint may not be selected.  I can't remember the "paragon" line ahead of the interrupt (I'm a victim of "sometimers"), but I don't think it gave any indication of what would happen if the player then did the "bi-polar" flip with Shepard and used the Renegade interrupt.  Some of the other interrupts were quite predictable... but only if the "right" dialogue choices were made ahead of time.  Others (like the using of the omni-tool on the Batarian) were foreshadowed cinematically.  I.E.  There is quite an extended period where Shepard looks long and hard at the omni-tool... so one could probably predict that using that tool would be part of the interrupt, but not necessarily be able to predict that Shepard would kill the Batarian with it.)  For me, a little bit of unpredictability is part of the fun... but I do respect that others don't share that feeling.

I think binary morality has gone out the window at this point.

The more complex "gray morality" is probably the best way to go, so tweaking or removing Paragon/Renegade is a wise choice. 

In it's place, I am hoping they do a tweak to the reputation/approval system. I still maintain that the friend/rival system in Dragon Age II is the best implementation of morality so far, mainly because it's trackable statistics that have no bearing on the inklings of the character, but rather the perception of the said character by outsiders. It also rewards the player for both pathways, and doesn't say one side is inherently "good" over the other, it's up to the player to make that choice. 

For me personally, I think it might be the way to go with Andromeda, reputation of Ryder, coupled with friend/rival status for companions and major NPCs.

Good.

All paragon/renegade system did was make Shepard one-dimensional so a bar could be filled up.