Dragon Age News Thread

John Epler @eplerjc
I live in perpetual fear of my cat somehow stepping on the exact series of keys that screenshots something secret and tweets it out.

I know it's not rational, but still.

elena 'elle' tchi @elenatchii
I mean my cat straight up crashed a playtest by laying on my keyboard...while I was sharing my screen. anything is possible

John Epler @eplerjc
The angriest people have ever gotten at me on Twitter was when I said all art is political, and the counter examples were like…FFVII.

M.H. Williams @automaticzen
I do not envy you, John. I do not!

John Epler @eplerjc
It is an unwinnable argument, because as soon as I said it, I had people worried I was going to put a giant orange demon in the game and call it Tr’uhmp or something and just. No.

For a very long time googling my name was exclusively videos about how I was ruining Dragon Age.

Kotaku @kotaku
Dragon Age's senior creative director has left BioWare:
kotaku.com/dragon-ages-senior-creative-director-has-left-bioware-1848114644?rev=1637721540237&utm_campaign=Kotaku&utm_content=1637721695&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=twitter

His departure was announced earlier today in an email sent to staff by BioWare studio GM Gary McKay:

Hi everyone,

I hope you are well. I’m writing to inform you all that Matt Goldman is leaving BioWare. We have mutually agreed to part ways, and his last day is today.

We understand that Matt’s departure has an impact on you, as well as the game’s development. Rest assured our commitment to a high-quality Dragon Age game has not waivered, and we will not ship a game that is not up to BioWare’s standards.

We, including EA’s executive team, have absolute confidence in the leadership here at the studio and the people working on this game to carry forward our vision.

David Gaider @davidgaider
I'm relieved to see that the Mass Effect/Amazon deal is for a potential TV series and not a movie. Even so, the possibility (and likewise for Dragon Age) makes me cringe just a little, unlike many fans who appear... excited?

Let me explain. (Thread)

For starters, ME and DA have a custom protagonist. Meaning said TV show will need to pick whether said protagonist will be male or female. Boom, right off the bat you've just alienated a whole bunch of the built-in fan base who had their hopes up.

Secondly, those protagonists are designed to be a bit of a blank slate, one that the player fills out with their decisions. That's not going to work for a passive medium. So, suddenly, the protagonist will have their own personality... and their own *story*. That will be weird.

You think I'm wrong? Consider just how MUCH of the story is off-loaded onto the companions. They are the cyphers through which the player gets most of their emotional engagement from. On their own, the DA and ME protagonists are... well, pretty boring. That's not going to fly.

And think of those companions. Think of how MUCH the fanbase is attached to them. Now consider the fact that there is no way in hell any single story could encompass them all equally. Think of the howls of rage when companion X is relegated to a cameo... or not there at all.

Having a TV show instead of a movie allows for more companion options, sure, but consider your own playthrough: only a handful of them had any meaningful presence in a single game. That will need to be the case for this story, to maintain coherence. A few companions, one romance.

And that's IF the TV show makers consider the companions to be all that important. They might toss most of them aside in favor of the PLOT. In my mind, that would be a mistake. Both ME's and DA's plots were, at best, serviceable.

And I don't mean that in a derogatory way.

Those plots had to take into account the player's agency. They were kind of the shell upon which that player's emotional engagement was delivered -- usually through the companions and the choices themselves. Choice heightened engagement. Interactivity was the star, not the plot.

Take all that out, lose most of the companions, and you potentially end up with... a pretty run-of-the-mill fantasy or science-fiction show, one where a lot of the built-in audience has possibly been turned into outraged, howling malcontents before it's even released.

All that is, of course, if the DA or ME series is mishandled. I can think of any number of ways it could be done better... but that involves doing more than a strict adaptation, and that comes with its own complications.

Anyhow, good luck to the showrunners. They'll need it!

EDIT:

I'm seeing responses along the lines of "they could do some story within the DA/ME universe and not just the story of the games" -- that IS what I meant by an adaptation in my last tweet above. In many ways, not simply adapting the story of the games would be wiser.

BUT consider this from the perspective of those making the TV show. They are not making it solely for the fans, those who already know the entire story and would be fine with moving onto something else.

The far larger audience are those who know nothing about ME or DA at all.

At some level, this TV series needs to answer the question "what IS Mass Effect?" ...and that means making something that is *recognizeably* Mass Effect. It means retreading ground in a way that fans don't need, and will likely react poorly to.

Maybe. I guess we'll see.

I'm just gonna leave this here.

www.theverge.com/2021/11/24/22801037/dragon-age-4-matt-goldman-bioware-ea

Here's a team streaming for DA Day in Australia, for those of you who live in or near that time zone!

wardenofmyheart (Keely) wardenofmyheart
This year a small team of Aussies will be streaming Dragon Age (AUS Daylight Time / AUS Eastern Daylight Time) for
@unofficialdaday to raise money for @ablegamers. Come join us, starting at 6am to 12am. Twitch Links in the comments! #DADay #Dec4th2021 #TwitchStreamers


twitch.tv/wardenofmyheart 6am to 10am
10am to 1pm
1pm to 5pm
5pm to 9pm
9pm to 12am

Angela "D.D. & Dalish" Mitchell (She/Her) @drunkdalish
COMING DEC 4: @unofficialdaday TTRPG 1-shot HONEY HEIST: REDCLIFFE RUMBLE—the bears of Thedas go after King Alistair's honey! With @dmjazzyhands, @karinweekes, @imasithduh, @snarkknight1, @anjelica_grey, @joshhoodthebard, DM'd by me (Storvacker)!

Missing it would be—unbearable.

Unofficial Dragon Age Day @unofficialdaday
Don't miss your chance to join a live Q&A with @hildrethmark, the voice of Sten of the Beresaad, on Dragon Age Day! Anyone can watch, but spots for attendees are limited. Support AbleGamers and get your question in by purchasing a seat! tiltify.com/+dragon-age-day-2021/dragon-age-day-2021



This reward will only be available until 7pm PST/9pm EST on Friday, December 3, so reserve your spot as soon as possible!

Unofficial Dragon Age Day @unofficialdaday
The ever-so-charming voice of Dorian Pavus, Ramon Tikaram, is offering a limited number of video greetings and signed photos to support
@ablegamers for #DragonAgeDay!

Check out our Tiltify to see Ramon and other exciting rewards! Sparkles

tiltify.com/+dragon-age-day-2021/dragon-age-day-2021

Unofficial Dragon Age Day @unofficialdaday
For those who've asked, you don't have to be seen or heard during the Zoom chat with the celebrity guests! Even level 1 fans have access to Stealth Mode

tiltify.com/+dragon-age-day-2021/dragon-age-day-2021

Unofficial Dragon Age Day @unofficialdaday
Join the #DragonAgeDay Q&A with the talented and EMMY Award-winning composer @inonzur, who created the memorable music for Origins and 2.

Visit our Tiltify to reserve your spot and get to ask Inon your burning question! Dizzy symbol

tiltify.com/+dragon-age-day-2021/dragon-age-day-2021