Dragon Age Forum News (Sep. 23, 04)

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Here are today's Dragon Age forum highlights, collected by NWVault. Please take into account that these are only single parts of various threads and should not be taken out of context. Bear in mind also that the posts presented here are copied as-is, and that any bad spelling and grammar does not get corrected on our end.

David Gaider, Designer

The Writers and designers of Dragon Age

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Is he an . . . evil creative genius?

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Mostly evil. And a bit pushy.

More:

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How difficult is it to 'share' a character with another writer? Or even a plotline?

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It's not that bad. Normally responsibility lies with one writer, though, and they check up on what the other writers do with the character to check for consistency.

You get accustomed to the fact, though, that the writers you work with are here for a reason. They generally know their stuff.

Darcy Pajak, Assistant Producer

Lets talk about rules
I don't think we're ready to discuss anything about the rules system at this time. That doesn't mean rules people enjoy, or want to see shouldn't be discussed here, but it does mean that we're probably not going to give anything out for a while.

DA vs. NWN2
Why not buy both?

Derek French, Technical Producer

Saving game!
There isn't a scale large enough to measure the hatred I have for games that restrict saving. I have pretty much uninstalled any game that I have discovered that doesn't allow me to save almost anywhere. If there is something going on in Real Life and I need to stop playing right now, I don't want any hassles. Save and exit and off I go.

If you don't like save anywhere yourself, simply exercise some self-control and don't use it so much

Tim Smith, Tools Programmer

An easier toolset
Ease of use, productivity and ease of content creation are all related but in different ways. Ease of use can enhance productivity by making the designer's day to days live a bit easer. However, there is a limit to how far you can go with this. Ease of content creation can also increase productivity but there is a limit. When your design requirements surpass the ability of the toolset to generate the content you require, then the ease of content creation starts having a negative impact on productivity. NWN toolset is a prime example of this problem in action.

As far as extensible toolsets, it is really to early to talk about that possibility. I can tell you that the toolset isn't monolithic in design but that doesn't mean it will be end user extensible. Just remember, bribes are always welcome.

More: One more thing about ease of use and productivity. Quality of life does impact productivity. Thus if you improve someone's quality of life, their productivity can improve.

James Henley, Technical Designer

Racial Limitations

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I think it adds another level to the game, in some ways, forcing characters into roles and creating a better party atmosphere. You'll want to play races with the best associated "talent" set, so you can be competitive in a solo or group atmosphere. At high(est) levels, it can dramatically shift the playability of a character.

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I think the key word there is "forcing" characters into roles, which is something we strive not to do. Freedom is more appreciated than being railroaded down a path, and I, for one, am not fond of having racial limitations in a game. I find that it detracts from the overall experience and sometimes prevents you from playing the kind of character you'd like to play.