Dragon Age dialogue video

[Volourn]

"They claimed DA will be a spiritual successor to BG,"

Fuckin idiot.

They claime dit was the 'spiritual successor' to BG, NWN, KOTOR, and all their games. Dumbass.

They never claimed it would be a carbon copy of any or all of those, dumbnutz. If you want a bG game, then go fuckin' play BG.

Me? I piss on dead games from the late 90s. I shall wait for DA.


" The orcs looked a bit different too"

AMAZING FACTS: The 'orcs' look different than orcs because they aren't orcs. Tool. OMGZ Non orcs don't like orcs. WOWSERZ!


Shoudl pads, btw, do look retarded. However, regenertaing mana and helath is the dumbest thing about the game bar none. Right behind it iks the lameo KOTOR method of dealing with characters who reach 0hp. Of all the fuckin' things to take from KOTOR, they take that shit? FUCK!

 

[J1M]

Protip: If your lip-sync tech looks like shit and doesn't allow mouths to open more than a sliver don't fucking zoom in on faces every 10 seconds.

 

[SimpleComplexity]

I thought this was supposed to be a game not a movie. That video reminded me why i hate the fantasy genre so much, those gay voices combined with a language nobody speaks in such a way. The game tries so hard to be epic. Embarassing.

I might still play it after i watched the whole LOTR movies to set me in the right mood for some epicness.

 

[Lesifoere]

Dragon Age was supposed to be focused on political intrigue, according to Gaider. Lord of the Rings was focused on defeating an ancient evil, and apparently so is DA: Origins.

You meen political intrigue as in a king that betrays his people by a shady agreement with a wizard? Yes Lord of the Rings has it and much more.

It's looks obvious that in that short video they are trying to show a bit of political intrigue too.

Damn, you're right, GRRM has spoiled me.

I hope you'll at least get to choose which side you're on.

He's not right, not necessarily. The political intrigue, such as it is, in LOTR is pretty shallow. But I'll admit--GRRM's spoiled me also.

I hear Melisandre might get a POV next book. That or Loras. Speculations?

 

[Starwars]

I thought was quite decent, definetely looking forward to seeing more. I'm afraid I just don't take to the whole cinematic thing though. You can make it look nice, but it seems to emphasize the player being largely out of the action somehow. I do hope we get the option to kill the blonde at one point or another.

Also, I liked the whole battle scene better this time around, but I also hope there won't be many of these cutscenes where you just watch basically. A few are fine, but don't litter the game with them please.

But yeah, DA has a bunch of stuff that's got me intrigued so far, but also a bunch of stuff I really don't like. We'll see how it plays out.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Decent, but very disappointing if you ever believed their hype (which would be odd). Just your average Bioware game of hopelessly mediocre writing.

Incidentally, who wants to bet about this being called "the greatest story told in video games" by the "journalists"?

 

[fastpunk]

What I'd really like to know is are there any other things to do in DA, except talking and combat? Like some sort of crafting system, or stealth. To be honest, DA looks pretty nice so far but I'd be disappointed if all you did was just talk and fight, like in ME and JE.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

I'm pretty satisfied with it. The cutscenes and dialogues are a major improvement over mass effect and everything else I've heard so far seems to be good. Oh and I doubt those 4 choices actually have different consequences. I mean it's the very beginning of the game I wouldn't blame them if they railroaded you for a bit (it is Bioware after all)

Looking forward to it.

 

[Wyrmlord]

The video looked good. It looked very good. But that said...

God forbid they make it more cinematic than game. Really, the one problem with this video is that there is a brief moment where your character is saying anything, and it really seems like a way to only continue the cinematic.

I don't dig the whole game-movie hybrid thing.

 

[ricolikesrice]

the faces look pretty crap compared to mass effect. too plastic/shiny/etc. similar problem as with NWN 2. glad i usually dont care for this cinematic bullshit with voice overs and lypsynch and have my eyes on the text/subtitles while clicking further as soon as i m done reading.

otherwise not much to see in the trailer. dont really like the graphics-style of DA so far, but from the interviews / previews it sounds like it *might* turn out a pretty decent game still.

 

[jagged-jimmy]

It might look like cliche fantasy, but still i somehow got the intense feeling of coming battle (participating would be great). This might turn out atleast very entertaining Kotor with (hopefully) challenging combat.

Also on the technical side, faces are like 100 times better then F3 and overall look is kinda dark and gritty (add some orc/human gore + really evil choices here and it might kick ass atmosphere wise).

 

[Lumpy]

Could anyone read what the dialog choices were? It was too small I couldnt see it.

Could you refuse the kings request?

There is an option "I refuse to be sent on an errand!", which will probably be answered with "But the task is vital, you must do it!" "Okay."
Admittedly, being a Gray Warden, it makes sense that you might not be able to refuse, especially because it's supposedly not a dangerous task. So that would be excusable, except: when the king congratulates you for becoming a Gray Warden, one of the options is "I didn't have a choice, really." So, yeah...

 

[Wyrmlord]

And hence the problem with dialogue trees in general. They are almost only for giving the illusion of choice.

 

[Darth Roxor]

"ENOUGH OF YOUR CONSPIRACY THEORIES!!11"

Grey Wardens did 9/11.

 

[elander_]

And hence the problem with dialogue trees in general. They are almost only for giving the illusion of choice.

Yeah they totally screwed Fallout with dialog trees. Just think of all the choices that game could have had if wasn't for that.

 

[aries202]

I think you all should read this great interview

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/40693
(don't know if there's a topic on this allready?)

Anywho, David Gaider clearly states that if you play as a Mage, you will be distrusted, simply because of what the Chantry teaches.

Basically, the Chantry teaches than mages once rode up to Heaven and were cast out - down to the pits of the Earth. Gaider also mentions that when some comes ro rob you you just tell them *hey, I'm a mage* and they hurry away...

As for political intrigue, Gaider mentions that at GenCON?, there were a member of the audience whispering 'traitor' every time Duncan would appear on the scene (or in the game).

The story itself with the darkspawn and the mages being cast out of Heaven reminds me a lot of John Milton's Paradise Lost. At least the story the Chantry indoctri -ehm- I mean teach people.

Remember that the Chantry's teachings are not necesseraily the TRUTH.

Gaider also reveals that the Mages felt so powerfull that they wanted to conquer Heaven but they failed. He also mentions something about power and men. I wonder if this is some sort of commentary of any current situation?

He also mentions that you will be a Spect -ehm- a Grey Warden in this game. Gaider also mentions that you can be an 'evil, charismatic guy' and some people will still ask you to help them.

Here's a video from chiefjustice79 that spills the beans. It's the 20 minute gameplay video Bioware showed at Gencon.

http://yellow-menace.com/2008/08/dragon ... indy-2008/
(scroll down to the update version hosted at 1UP)

It is on the BIoware boards, too - that's why I post it here. This again shows Bioware strength; allowing the fans to make a video of the gameplay and sharing it with the fans. Other studios would behave differently..

At around 2.00 minutes, there a very interesting discussion about Orlesians and alliances etc.
The shoulder pads seem to be similar to what Kings and soldiers would wear in battle during the late (or high) ages in the 15-17th century in Europe, I think?

The best part of this video is that you can zoom the camera out so you get a somewhat isometric topdown view, you can pan around - and you apparently choose an action from a bar on the right side.

As for people comparing this with LotR or D&D, I do think, it is unavoidable. People will generally relate new stuff to stuff they already know. As for how DA will play out, we shall see...

 

[Serious_Business]

And hence the problem with dialogue trees in general. They are almost only for giving the illusion of choice.

You mean that Bioware makes shitty dialog trees, rather. I believe this is what you meant.

 

[Antagonist]

This was really, really bad. If Bioware doesn't release some material which is a massive improvement over what we saw in this gameplay video the game dropped right of my purchase list (and it was a shaky candidate to begin with). The artwork as as uninspired as it could possibly get, each character seemed to represent a different cliché, the faces looked like made of plastic and worse: You're part of the "elite" so that you can feel "special" again. Plus, judging from the bits we already know about the story it's another ancient evil wants to destroy the world story.

Major disappointment.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Gay. That about sums it up really.

• King: And this is the new recruit I met earlier on the road? I understand congratulations are in order.
  - Thank you, your Majesty.
  - I didn't have a choice really.
  - I don't feel that special.
  
  King: Every Grey Warden is needed now. You should be honoured to join their ranks. Blah blah blah.
  
  Evil Advisor: Lighting a beacon is really important. Not a hard task but vital.
  
  King: Then we should send our best. Send the new guy!
  - I'll do my best, your Majesty.
  - You mean I won't be fighting in the battle?
  - I refuse to be sent on an errand.
  - If it's not dangerous, I can do it myself.
  
  Evil Advisor: You rely on these Grey Wardens too much. Is that truly wise? Blah blah blah.

First set of options looks pretty wank but the second lot look good. However, where do they really lead? Is not lighting the beacon a real option here?

The gameplay video doesn't look like the options are real. The guard wants you to explain yourself and you fob him off with "I don't have to explain myself to you". The guard's response is a rather generic "When they ask me, that's what I'll tell them". That line fits both of the other options as well ("He lunged at me, I had to defend myself" and "He spit on me. He got what he deserved"). We're then told this is the kind of choice that will come back to haunt you later on. I assume they mean killing the guy, not how you said he was killed.

 

[Lumpy]

If it were a real option, there would've been more ways to say it: "I would rather fight in the battle, your majesty" etc. It's safe to assume that all options lead to the same thing.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Look guys, there are good uses of dialogue trees no doubt. But by god, there are so many bad uses of them.

KotOR 2. Your long talk with Atris. Makes absolutely no difference whatsoever. Apart from an alignment shift. Everything you say is just a prompt for Atris to keep talking. More than half the options don't even make a difference. You talk to her, and leave the place with your ship. It's just a cinematic, and your dialogue options are just a Continue button. And this is not even a Bioware game.

And even Planescape:Torment, a game that otherwise makes really good uses of dialogue trees (say the wrong thing to Ignus and he'll get hostile), has alot of pointless moments with it. That talk with Ravel? She explains the result of the ritual. You get three options, asking her to explain what she is saying. You choose each three of them, and then finally you get another option, "But the ritual worked, didn't it?" All those three options, they were just continuing the cinematic.

All the above is hardly different from this Dragon Age example. And let me just say this. Anybody, who actually thinks that browsing through a series of popup menus regarding what to say is a mark of a true RPG, is a poser pretending to be a RPG fan.

 

[elander_]

Every game offers limited options. From a production perspective dialog complexity is measured by the amount of pages of text used and how many game states you assign to each dialog. If you use menus or a parser doesn't affect the amount of dialog states you have in the game. Dialog trees reflects better a conversation with another actor. You can have a joke going on with you and another npc for example, which is very hard to do with a parser. Think about that Fallout quest where you save the daughter of the leader of Shady Sands from raiders and you tell the raider boss you are his father. It's fun because of the way you tell him.

 

[denizsi]

I hate the fag voice and even faggier facial mimics and the eye movement, as well as the overacted gestures during speech. It reminds me of the retarded gestures during dialogue in DX:IW.

Oh and faggot faces:

Reminds me of Oblivion:

Seems like they went a little overkill with the stylization of lightning flashes, but it looks okayish in the video:

Nuclear Launch Detected:

edit: Combat looks shit too.

 

[Fez]

I think he was meant to look like that as part of his character, so if you dislike him then perhaps it is well done.

 

[Warden]

I hate the fag voice and even faggier facial mimics and the eye movement, as well as the overacted gestures during speech.

Yet in Turkey males have buttsecks with each other like no problem.