Dragon Age News Thread

Well, who knows 

Like, why did we have to meet Josephine in VR again after saving her butt? This is why loyalty missions should still be doable after the bad guy is defeated.

Or maybe the world just isn't as big as we all seem to think it is? Isseya manages to evacuate the Wycome refugees to Starkhaven in a day in Last Flight. Granted she is on a flying griffon, but I don't think the griffons fly as fast as jumbo jets, plus these ones had to fly carefully so as not to tip over the boats carrying the refugees. If you look at a map, that is about half the distance of Fereldan, so in theory a burdened griffon could fly across Fereldan in about two days.

Let's give the benefit of the doubt to griffons and say they can fly at least as fast as a peregrine falcon that isn't diving. Peregrine falcons average 40-55 km/h when they aren't diving. The griffons, having to be careful, might then be flying at the lower end of that range, so 40 km/h. Supposing that day length in Thedas is similar to day length in the real world, that means Starkhaven is about 960 km away from Wycome. That's also supposing that Isseya's "day of travel" was a full 24 hours. It might have been shorter, so the distance between the two cities would also be shorter. But for the sake of the rest of the post, I'll pretend they flew the full 24 hours.

On foot a fit person used to walking can travel around 5 km/h with equipment and gear. Assuming they walk only 8 hours a day, then, they could travel 40 km over even ground or roads - less over rough ground or if bushwhacking, obviously. It would take about 24 days for such a person to walk from Wycome to Starkhaven. If they walk longer days, the journey would shorten considerably. For example, a 12-hour day of walking would shorten the trip to 16 days.

Our Inquisitors had mounts. On good ground, like a road, a mounted horse can travel as much as 80 km/day, and in hostile environments, like a desert, horses in the real world have been pushed to cover 120 km in a day for three consecutive days. So travelling by horse from Wycome to Starkhaven would take about 12.5 days or considerably shorter if the horses are pushed hard for all or part of the journey.

Sailboats exist in Thedas and may have shortened our Inquisitors' journeys at times, as well - like travelling from Skyhold to Val Royeaux, for example - we could have taken a ship from Halamshiral down the river and across the Waking Sea to Val Royeaux.

Where do we travel to, in the game? Skyhold to the Dales, which are right next door. A couple days riding at the most, maybe. Skyhold to Halamshiral - probably less than a week. Skyhold to the Western Approach - probably a month by land, with maybe shorter time if you take a ship for part of the journey. Skyhold to Val Royeaux - by land and ship, probably less than 2 weeks. Skyhold to Redcliffe - maybe a week by horse, less if you sail across Lake Calenhad. Emprise du Lion and the Exalted Plain are part of the Dales - not that far from Skyhold.

Anyway... I don't think it's impossible to have completed everything in Inquisition over the course of a year or so. Where things get weird is when we, as players run back and forth from the maps to Skyhold all the time. I can see how that might break things for some people. But it's a game... I'm willing to suspend my disbelief while playing.

I save myself a ton of headaches by just...not thinking about it. :ulikeit:

I can play dumb when it suits me.

No, it actually is quite large. In DAO, when you ask Alistair about the other Wardens, he says that Weisshaupt is "thousands of miles away." Even if you reduce that to 1000 miles as the crow flies, it is a considerable distance via horse, and over inefficient roads. The Imperial Highway is deteriorating, and there are also off-road and path situations, as well as ascents to higher elevation, not to mention potential weather difficulties. In fact, with the state of the Imperial Highway, I think it might be safer for a horse to follow alongside on the ground, rather than risk catching a hoof on misplaced stones.

We should also assume that people are using the same horses on the entire journey, rather than switching them out, like a postal horse.

I also think you're underestimating the efficiency of air travel. Even if a griffon is slower, there are no obstacles and you can fly in a straight line.

Regardless of how big or small Thedas is or how long it takes to travel from one place to another, we have some definite dates given to us in the timeline and in the game that clearly show the campaign had to have taken longer than a year.

9:40 Cassandra interviews Varric in Kirkwall. We are told in DAI that she was looking for Hawke to lead the Inquistion. Then having failed to find Hawke she drags Varric along with her to the Conclave to explain to the Divine/sign autographs (whichever story you want to believe). Leliana is also with her. Since none of them get blown up in the Temple, you must assume that they had only just arrived at Haven when it occurred or why weren't the Left and Right hands of the Divine guarding her?

9:41 (Havestmere) Sort of the equivalent of our October. We go to Redcliffe Castle to meet with Alexius. We know this date for definite because Dorian asks Fiona what date it is and says it is very important (presumably because he needs to know how much time has passed in order for him to plot our way back in time). She tells him it is 9:42 Havestmere and he states that it is a year has passed since we were in the hall with Alexius.

At this point we have not even sealed the Breach or suffered the attack at Haven, after which we travel to Skyhold. Even if we only follow the main plot line, on reaching Skyhold we still need to travel to Crestwood and meet Hawke's contact, travel back to Skyhold. Travel to the Winter Palace. Travel to the Western Approach and confront Erimond. Travel to Adamant (with siege engines - rather slow). Travel to the Arbor Wilds. Return to Skyhold (via eluvian) and meet Flemeth (which may or may not involve travel back to her shrine). Corypheus re-opens the Breach and we travel to the site of the Sacred Ashes. You cannot tell me we could complete all this in a couple of months in order to come in under 12 months for completing the entire story. That is just plain daft.

That is some fan commitment! The tattoos look good, though. I can't imagine sitting through all of that. My attempt at getting a tattoo like that would end with me forever hosting half a Dread Wolf and the outline of a dragon.

James Hutchison‏ @lifeisanact
BioWare provides choices that make the player feel more engaged with the characters. @patrickweekes #wwcyyc17

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Kai Kiriyama‏ @raggedyauthor

Heading to the writing for video games panel at #wwcyyc17 now! @patrickweekes is here and I may be fangirling.

Oh man @patrickweekes is head writer for Dragon Age. (I didn't know that and fangirl mode is heightened.)
Alright! Here we go. Talking about visual novels and branching narratives. #wwcyyc17
It used to be like writing a choose your own adventure, and are now more like writing an interactive movie/screenwriting #wwcyyc17
With visual novels you are leaning more toward screenwriting, rather than a video game or novel. #wwcyyc17
Players of visual novels, want to feel more like a participant, than an audience member. #wwcyyc17
You want there to be "rewards" for the participant. You want the dialogue to reflect different options/experiences. #wwcyyc17
Looking at it as an experience, rather than a written piece, can help your writing. You want your audience to feel involved. #wwcyyc17
Tone choices are important, because when you can't have a y/n answer, you can make it still feel like a choice. #wwcyyc17
For Bioware games, 4 lines of single NPC dialogue (when giving quests) is max.
In a game like Skyrim, you are playing for freedom. In a game like Uncharted, it's linear gameplay. The appeal is playing thru action.
Players who choose Uncharted want the cinematic. Bioware tries to straddle the fence, which means a lot of writing the thing 2x
Now we're talking about replay ability and how often some modern video games miss that.
In visual novels, the appeal is characters. Don't think of it as a cliched plot. Write for characters.
When writing a game, if you hate it, then your audience likely won't love it, either. Good advice for all writing!
Ugly truth from @patrickweekes - in Dragon Age Origins/Inquisition 60-90 hrs gameplay, trophies for completion 1x is 30%
Replay ability is a nice thought but in a game of length? Not entirely essential.
"Blank slate" characters are tricky, because as a writer you often find adding a character thru dialogue
Had to cut jokes due to it being unreasonable/impossible w/in the game. Ah, writing pitfalls.
Talking about expectations, trust in the writer, and how you need to build trust within the experience.
So breaking trust and breaking the game (or the fourth wall!) doesn't always work.
Examples of dialogue free narrative? Double Dragon. Limbo. (I would add the first Mario Bros.)
Transistor was just mentioned as dialogue free narratives, because the art, sound design, everything worked together.
Visual cues, when the audience can put the cues together makes the impact bigger and makes the audience take ownership.
This whole idea of integrated narrative has been phenomenal.

^ Finery mod in real life. XD

A. That's some serious commitment to a fandom.

B. That's some amazing ink. The artist has some talent.

C. What's on the other arm, an ME sleeve? 

(Oh, wait, I guess the top picture is the other arm? I can't tell if that is the inside of the right elbow, or the outside of the left.)

How is 4 lines too much?

Line 1: Please help me with X? (Quest start)
Line 2: Thank you. (Accepting quest)
Line 3: Oh well, can't help it. (Declining quest)
Line 4: Thank you so much! (Completing quest)

That is 4 lines for 1 NPC.

Hmm, idk, look at this quest, does it seem like "too much"?

NPC: Line 1


NPC: Line 2


Inquisitor:


NPC: Line 3


Inquisitor:


NPC: Line 4


Quest: Aquired