Dragon Age News Thread

Jessica Paulino‏ JessValkyrie
Our Dragon Age Wedding!
www.facebook.com/dragonagekeepers/ …




Mike Laidlaw‏ @mike_Laidlaw
That's so cool!

Cori Nicole‏ @genevrael
Fort May is less fort-like in a room without fluorescents or sun. Featuring art by @sa_roux @regeener & @tonia_Laird!




- Is that something on the wall there...? CSI:BSN! 

Eww...I really don't like the sound of that.

Unfortunately, "out the window" is indeed a direction.

Only time shall tell...

My concern with that is that they'll need to vastly improve the companions AI.  It was manageable - just in DA:I - although you got far more benefit from them by assuming direct control while the Inquisitors abilities were in cooldown.  Even if they go to the MEA style of - was it three?? - active abilities, they'll still need to know "when" to use them and when to use basic attack.  Also - far more importantly - ranged characters will need to stay ranged. And run if they're engaged by melee enemies (or even ranged enemies, I guess).

Maybe a middle ground? - no advanced tactics like in Origins/2, but the modes, or "behaviours" return (ranged, damager, support etc - I can't remember what they all were) and those behaviours completely define activity on the battlefield?

Where did we heard that? I haven't caught it. I remember Mike Laidlaw saying that they're still trying to find the balance between action and strategy. That DA2 went too far into action and DAI was they trying to dial back, and the next one they would try to balance it better.

Hope I'm not misremembering with my wishes.

You bring up an interesting point about ranged characters. You could sort of work around it with the weird DAI follow/defend* etc, but I think there needs to be a behavior setting specifically designed for ranged characters so that they stay ranged.


* I still don't fully understand how all of this works to get people to stay and be where I want.

I'm not sure either.  I think the idea was - Defend (attack the enemy attacking the team mate you're defending) and Follow (attack the enemy the team mate you're following is attacking) and in theory, that's fine.  Ranged characters would pew pew at the appropriate target and everyone goes home happy (presumably except the enemy in question).  The trouble is that it seldom works that way.  "Hold Position" works to a point, but if any enemy closes with them they should run away (like they did in Origins).  I can live with giving up control of the party members (sort of/not really but I don't have much say in the matter) but they need to actually fight 'smart'.  Varric or Sera or one of the mages running up to a dragon or to that jerk from Jaws of Hakkon is simply not helpful.

But why? They have more franchises, why bring them closer together instead of making them more distinct from each other, not only in terms of setting and story, but also mechanics?
MEA bothers me so much because I can't tell the squadies anything other than "go there" or "attack that guy". It is terribly frustrating.
I don't like the possibility of DA going in that direction.

I've recently started my first Nightmare DAI playthrough and, maybe I'm just not setting up the tactics properly, but I can't get past more difficult fights without constantly switching between characters. I place "Preferred" status on certain abilities and yet the companions don't use them, or use them super scarcely. I have to be the one to tell them to use them. The AI needs to be absolutely brilliant to accommodate the MEA style, and even in MEA it wasn't brilliant and most of the time it just got in the way.

Also, I don't want DA to start with the Game Over screen if your character dies because you're not allowed to control another party member. I would be beyond pissed if that ever happened.

Cassandra Allbery-Ju‏ @cassandrajungck
@mike_Laidlaw Are you going to be at PAXWEST this year?? Would not be the same without you I just could not find a Bioware Pax Schedule.

Mike Laidlaw @mike_Laidlaw
Not I, nope.