So I must admit to some irritation with the future of the Dragon Age games series. Don’t get me wrong, I am fairly open minded as a gamer, and the story of Dragon Age 2 seems epic in scale — but the fact that the true role playing element of choice has been removed is a bit of a slap in the face to those of us who played and enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins as an RPG. As a sequel to a game that is considered by the creators as the spiritual successor to one of the most popular roleplaying games of all time, I am left wondering this: what crushed that spirit?
Dragon Age 2′s announcement has been met with questions and a good deal of surprise from BioWare’s more traditional fanbase. The questions have ranged from asking for confirmation about the game’s new direction as a more Mass Effect style of role play, to whether or not the single human character you get to play will even be allowed a gender choice. Chris Priestly, the social voice of BioWare, has been very straightforward and speedy in his responses, showing that BioWare and EA were likely expecting a bit of fallout on their new direction.
What are the answers, you ask? See below for some paraphrasing of conversations taking place on the BioWare Social Network here, and here(these are not direct quotes, so don’t take them as such):
Will Dragon Age 2 really be focused on a single human character — which is the only choice of race or origin you will get?Yes. The story follows the tale of Hawke, an escapee from Lothering as it was overtaken by the Blight in Dragon Age: Origins. You start out penniless, and a refugee, and over the course of 10 years (epic, yes?) rise to become the Champion of Kirkwall. Your tough moral choices and your choice of companions will define you — and define the shape of things to come.Is Hawke a male or female character?Hawke is marketed as a male because that is still the largest segment of people who purchase BioWare’s games, and those purchasers predominantly play male characters. It’s all about branding here, and appealing to the largest part of the target market. There will be the option to play as a female Hawke, however, and Chris promises to keep up his championing of the strong and growing minority of female BioWare gamers.
Now to be fair, I like Mass Effect very much. The story was good enough that I really didn’t care that the character creation choices were limited. I also think that BioWare will put forth a story equally fantastic for Dragon Age 2, and that its pure epic-ness may be enough to win over many of the classic RPG’ers out there. I’m a story guy. I will, in all probability, enjoy the hell out of the game.
I can even see why BioWare and EA went the way they did: the market for an action/adventure “RPG” that allows a player to live the story without being too involved in the main character’s details is much, much bigger than the market for traditional role play. If it wasn’t, D&D would have taken over for Football/Soccer as a televised sport and there would be more RPGs out there than sports titles. I also recognize that limiting character origins allows BioWare to focus more on the character’s story — and while it could be argued that a Dwarf or an Elf could have served just as well, the raw fact is that your average gamer tends to play a Human Warrior. If that wasn’t true, the face of RPGs would have changed a long time ago.
HOWEVER! Teasing me with something as open and infinitely superior in its complexity as was Dragon Age: Origins, only to follow up with something that is simply NOT in the same style or genre, is completely and utterly unfair. As a gamer and a fan, I care how much profit BioWare makes only insofar as it keeps them afloat to continue making more cool stuff that I like. Selfish, but true of most gamers. I don’t want to see things get blanded away from the features and elements that made BioWare my favourite game maker. While I understand their need to grow and expand, on an intellectual level, I am thoroughly disheartened at this turn of events.
I’ll deal. I’ll be ok. I’ll still love them.
But I’ll miss them too.
