Have you Heard They're making Dragon Age 2, but......

[DarthNato]

Bioware in currently making a Dragon Age 2, though from pictures i've seen for it show that they've changed the look of a fair few things in game. Reason: They believe that the current Dragon Age looks a bit too much like LOTR. Is This a Good or Bad thing, and please express your opinion.

[Vindekarr]

Is there an image I can see of it somwhere? or a description?

 

I think the current one looks OK, but a little bland. But thats just me. I like my games stylised and artisitic, realism be damned. EG WarHammer DOW II and Burnout appeal to me a lot more than Company Of Heroes and Gran Turismo. But ofcourse you can go to far. Worl Of Warcraft just looked a bit silly to me, and dont even get me started on Fable II...

 

The point is, if it looks beautiful I honestly dont think it needs explaining or excuses-or even realism. Ofcourse people will always cry out "oh, but it doesnt look real! art sucks!" likewise people will respond "but real is boring, real sucks!" the point is that you cant please everyone. But even still, its better to have a huge argument and look beautiful and express the story, as opposed to being dull bornw and bland and have a happy bland playerbase of... accountants.

 

The other point I'll raise is that nothing is truly original. Im a writer, in particular, Im a science fiction writer, and you see constant themes across many, many diferent stories and universes. Worlds, stories and characters change, but the ideas? a good idea is as much a gift to the audience as it is to other writers, they'll take inspiration, and create their own new worlds from it, not in the sense of piracy. But in the way that Lord Of The Rings has inspired so many great and enjoyable fantasy. Or how WarHammer appears to have given life to StarCraft, among other things, they are completely diferent to play, but thay also have points where you can see them borrowing style and ideas from eachother.

[brokenergy]

Here is everything you need to know about DA2 Vin or anyone else for that matter

 

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/3064634&lf=8

 

There first one was a bit cliche with the whole "slay the dragon, be the hero thing" but in DA2 there is none of that. In fact DA2 is more political and "going deeper to the swamps" than Origins. The characters of Origins are very interesting and as you noticed from my sig, yes characters are very important. In fact I can say that it was the characters who saved the story. The game play was okay but you have to hand it to BW as they have to make their own rules/IP and none of the D&D rules that is dragging in the courts. DA2 sounds interesting but I'll have to wait for PC game play before commenting on it but many of the changes are good in a way (in terms of character design and .

 

P.S. Vin how could you not love reality? There is so many funny things going on that it is ridiculous :woot: such as the elections. Actually I see many authors make connotations to reality, look at George Orwell for instances (I'm going literature here). Animal Farm, 1984 all got to deal with communism/totalitarianism in general and it was able to spread it's message across effectively. A good author can make a story but a great author can make it relevant to the times. Science Fiction, fantasy, other novelists can make or steel ideas (don't do that Vin or anyone else, it is bad) :devil: from others and make their own but it is the relevance that can make a classic. But... this is just a personal opinion about writing in general.

[DarkNinja13]

I know it's wierd to compare games to each other when they are totally different, but .... :confused:

 

THQ did the same thing on the SmackDown vs Raw Games. Speaking from a purely cosmetic viewpoint, their S v R 2006 was the best looking game they did. They then went and started messing with the graphics which annoyed me as I felt that they had already achieved perfection on that one.

 

They also tweaked the controls to a format I didn't like - which made it all the more easy to walk away from it. :unsure:

 

These game companies have to get it into their heads that how a game looks can be forgiven if the gameplay is there. Give me a control scheme that is quick to learn and easy to use as well as a top-notch story and the characters onscreen can be stick figures for all I care. :thumbsup:

[grannywils]

I guess I'm sort of with both sides on this one. I really love good graphics; but they do not necessarily have to be "realistic" or "lifelike". I just like it when things flow well and colors are well blended and attractive to look at. But for me, what is even more important is simple game play. Maybe I'm not the most co-ordinated person on the block, but it drives me crazy when I have 37 different buttons to push and half the time they have multiple options, and they don't always work. I believe in "keep it simple stupid". And ok, maybe I'm the "stupid" in this scenario, but I just don't believe that game playing should be causing more stress. I, for one, use game playing to relieve stress. Anyway, I don't have the time right now, but will go to brokenergy's link later (Hi, brokenergy. Haven't spoken to you in forever) and check it out. Well, that's my two cents for now.

[brokenergy]

I'm hearing that there is no aerial view and toolset but I can't confirm this till I have dev confirmation.

 

Edit: People who read this, don't panic. There is no removal of any of those things for PC. Full story here

 

http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/226280-dragon-age-2-no-toolset-or-isometric-view-developed-for-consoles/page__pid__1997653#entry1997653