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Dragon Age gets Dorian, a gay guy with a 'stache of magic
BioWare writer David Gaider believes his personally penned Dragon Age character, Dorian, may be "controversial in some corners," but "a fully realized character to fans in the end." Dorian, a gay mage from Tevinter, joins the cast of Dragon Age: Inquisition having rejected the ruling hierarchy of his homeland.
Dragon Age writer calls romance a 'natural outgrowth' for BioWare
A BioWare fan recently asked David Gaider, lead writer for the Dragon Age series, if the company had considered making a game without romance subplots. Gaider responded that it's been a temptation, but he believes it's something BioWare not only does well, but is also something few other developers tackle. "To me, the thing that BioWare does best is not story but characters," Gaider wrote on his Tumblr. "I think our characters are done to a level that few other games even attempt, with an element of agency that strikes a chord in our players ... and romances have been a natural outgrowth of that. Sure we could stop, but that would be turning our backs on something we do which almost no-one else does." While Gaider's defense of romance in BioWare games is certainly passionate, he noted that it's not outside the realm of possibility that they could be left behind in the future. "Perhaps, if we made a new IP, we might decide it's best not to open that particular Pandora's Box (which, yes, romances have always been) and go with something else ... but that 'something else' better be something damned good, as there are a lot of people who enjoy that part of our games immensely and who might not be willing to buy into a new series which didn't have it." "Some folks might be eager to write those fans off, but I'm not really sure that BioWare feels the same."
Clearing the 'hump of assumptions' in making LGBT inclusive games
A "hump of assumptions" can stand in the way of creating and including lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender characters in video games today, said David Gaider, lead writer for the Dragon Age series at BioWare. Speaking on an EA-populated panel at GaymerX in San Francisco today, Gaider and colleagues addressed the importance of heeding the demand for diversity and, more plainly, "reflecting humanity" in modern games. Hesitation over tackling LGBT issues, Gaider said, can come from pessimistic assumptions made – both by creators and marketers – about how the audience will react. One of BioWare's earliest gay characters, Juhani in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, was practically snuck into the game. "I think for a long time it was just assumed that nobody would accept it," he said. "That's what the mentality was. It's not like we went and tried to ask permission or anything - we kind of hid it. She never says, 'She was my lover.' She just says, 'We are very close.'" Not explicitly addressing the topic, however, "seemed like a very obvious exclusion" to Gaider. BioWare's next role-playing game, Jade Empire, was less subtle in its depiction of a same-sex relationship, and it faced far less resistance than the team had assumed. There was no long conversation after the team asked, "Why don't we just make the romances available to both genders?" According to Gaider, "that was the whole conversation."
Irrational's Levine, BioWare's Gaider, and Obsidian's Avellone on why story matters in games
I grew up reading and loving fiction. As I've aged and taken up a profession in journalism, I've erred on the side of nonfiction. And these days, most of my storytelling experiences come from film, television, and video games. But I'd be lying if I said that many of those story experiences – especially in the gaming medium – left the same impression on me as the works of Marquez or Vonnegut.In late summer 2007, I played BioShock, and my tune began to change. Six months later, I played Mass Effect, and my stance on games as storytelling devices was altered even further. Somewhere along the line, between Jill sandwiches and lost princesses, game devs started implementing stories that I actually cared about.Fast-forward to 2011, and the concept of games as storytelling devices is more accepted than ever. But games haven't changed – they're still mechanically driven constructs, and they still allow player agency to run all over what the game dev set out for you to experience. I found myself having conversations with Kotaku's Jason Schreier over the course of the past year about this seeming duality within games. We felt it was time for a proper discussion.Enter: "Plot vs. Play: The Duality of Modern Game Design," the panel Schreier and I hosted at PAX East. Our idea was to gather several game developers who've tackled this duality head on, and have them discuss their individual approaches to navigating that issue. Irrational Games creative director Ken Levine, Obsidian Entertainment creative director Chris Avellone, and BioWare lead writer David Gaider were our first team of game devs to take up the challenge – something we hope to continue at future PAXes – and they did a great job.In our rush to prepare for both the panel and that weekend's coverage plans at our respective outlets, neither Jason nor myself thought to set up a video camera to catch the event on tape. Thankfully, Mash Those Buttons captured the whole hour and put it up on YouTube, which I've dropped above.Let us know what you think, and please suggest any devs you'd like to see play a part in future versions of "Plot vs Play." We're open to ideas!
Bioware hints at the future of Dragon Age DLC and 3
BioWare's Mike Laidlaw (who just joined Twitter!) was up at PAX in Seattle last weekend, dropping a few hints on future Dragon Age 2 DLC, as well as what Bioware is planning for the next iteration in the series, Dragon Age 3. Neogaf has kindly summarized a few reports on the panel, and we'll go even one further for you "TLDR" types: Dragon Age 3 will feature the world of Ferelden at war between mages and templars, with the player traveling around to places as far as Orlais and Tevinter to try and calm (or maybe stoke, knowing Bioware) the fighting. One of the maps shown was "four to five times larger than Ferelden," and cited as the future of the series. The story of the first game's Warden "is over," apparently, and while there's still more of Hawke's story left to tell, writer David Gaider hinted that the protagonist of the third game would be yet another new hero. Co-op is possible but not likely, followers will keep their "unique" armor designs but still change visually over time, and combat will revolve around "preparation, teamwork, and positioning," with less button-smashing and more thought given to prepping your team for battle. In closer plans, Laidlaw said that we'll see more of Varric in upcoming DLC for Dragon Age 2, as well as Leliana and Flemeth. Morrigan will be back as well, and BioWare says that the Legacy DLC was received well, so that will be the model for updates in the future. Minus that last boss fight -- the team agrees that the AI in there wasn't quite as smart as they would have liked. Though it doesn't seem all that hard to program fire to equal bad, right?
'Dragon Age: Asunder' is latest franchise novel, available late 2011
Dragon Age: Asunder, BioWare Lead Writer David Gaider's third novel set in the fantasy realm, will arrive in "late 2011." Gaider had previously chronicled the world of Thedas with Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne and Dragon Age: The Calling -- oh yeah, and both games. Asunder will jump off from Dragon Age 2, with a killer loose in the White Spire, a templar stronghold in the Orlesian Empire. With any luck, Gaider's Asunder novel won't be perceived as neglecting the "straight male" demographic in the same way Dragon Age 2 was accused of doing. To compensate, expect vivid descriptions of Orlesian breasts and a coupon for Domino's pizza hidden in the novel's pages (not confirmed).
Dragon Age 2 writer responds to complaint about BioWare neglecting 'straight male' demographic
For the second time in under six months, Dragon Age senior writer David Gaider felt obligated to step among the Darkspawn in the BioWare Forums to defend the sexual politics of Thedas. A post on the forum declares that "Bioware Neglected Their Main Demographic: The Straight Male Gamer" in Dragon Age 2. The author's thesis (which you should totally read) posits several interesting arguments. Our favorite: "It makes things very awkward when your male companions keep making passes at you. The fact that a 'No Homosexuality' option, which could have been easily implemented, is omitted just proves my point." "We have good numbers, after all, on the number of people who actually used similar sorts of content in [Dragon Age: Origins] and thus don't need to resort to anecdotal evidence to support our idea that their numbers are not insignificant," Gaider wrote, echoing previous sentiments in his response. We think BioWare should seize this opportunity and release some DLC: the big, gaudy, golden "Necklace of Nohomo" that grants +2 against "unwanted advances" -- then donate the proceeds to the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
BioWare responds to same-sex romance complaints about Dragon Age
Dragon Age senior writer David Gaider, who also penned the game's prequel novels, has come to the defense of the studio's decision to include same-sex romances in its games. Gaider posted in the BioWare Forums that as long as game romances "of any kind are optional" (and need to be actively pursued by the player), advocating against content a player doesn't intend to interact with is "largely pointless." "I would hope that some folks could be sensitive enough to be happy for those players [pursuing same-sex romance]," he concluded, "at the very least out of the selfish notion that they may one day end up in the minority of some content issue and receive the same consideration if nothing else." So, it would appear BioWare's Dragon Age team is taking an open approach to sexuality in the sequel (just as it did in the first game). However, when it comes to same-sex romance between males in BioWare games, there's still a big question surrounding the company's intergalactic RPG franchise: Will Commander Shepard, who has been denied bromomance (alien or not) thus far, finally be allowed to explore a man's touch in the trilogy's dramatic conclusion?
BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins receives prequel novel
As with Mass Effect, BioWare's upcoming title, Dragon Age: Origins, will receive a prequel novel. Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne is written by David Gaider, senior writer at BioWare. He previously worked on Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate 2.The book will be available starting March 3 and will cost $14.95. Looking at the book's back cover and the accompanying press release, there should be a rule about not being able to say something is "based on the hit video game" until, you know, the game is -- at a minimum -- released for purchase.
Joystiq interview: Dragon Age storytelling (Page 2)
How would you compare what you've done with the story in Dragon Age to what you did with Baldur's Gate?Dragon Age is a huge game, much like Baldur's Gate. I don't know that we'd ever make a game as big as Baldur's Gate again, though. That game was just ridiculously huge. That said, there is something to making a game that is substantial like that. The word "epic" is thrown around like there's no tomorrow, but in some ways epic does fit with the scope of the game's story. It's a long story that takes your character through this large arc. It's appropriate for what we're doing. It is also similar to Baldur's Gate insofar as how much we focus on character. You have all your party members, and I would say almost a third of the writing that's been done is just for the members themselves. The amount of talking they do may in fact be sort of endless. I think for a lot of players that's really important. To this day in any given forum, people will still bring up characters from Baldur's Gate. Some of them are quite beloved. I would like to think as a writer that Dragon Age is the next step from there. Not to knock the Baldur's Gate characters, but these are the characters you'll be interacting with at length for a long period of time ... they're important to the story.Go for the eyes Boo! Go for the eyes! Exactly. It seems as though Dragon Age is very much BioWare returning to its roots. Was that a conscious decision or just a reaction to the way the company and gaming as a hobby has been going? The company has gotten big enough now that we can have several projects on the go at any given time. Console has its place, of course, and we can't ignore them. "We chose the subtitle 'Origins' specifically. This is where it begins, and we're not abandoning the PC gamer." I'm sure a lot of PC gamers would love it if we did, but we can't. What PC players hate, though, is when you have a game that tries to work on a PC and a console at the same time. It has to go for the "lowest common denominator." I think that's a legitimate concern. I think there are games that have successfully worked on both platforms, I don't think it needs to be that way. But here we're focusing on, we're starting on the PC. We're doing a couple of things differently with this game, though. I mean, we announced Dragon Age really really early. In the normal scheme of things, we would have probably only been announcing it around now for release next year. Instead we announced it really early so that PC gamers wouldn't feel left out. They could look at Mass Effect and know we had huge plans for Dragon Age as a world. We chose the subtitle "Origins" specifically. This is where it begins, this is where the new story starts, and we're not abandoning the PC gamer. That's something I wanted to mention; origins would seem to suggest a number of things especially for PC gamers. A lot of them still see the Baldur's Gate series as this great franchise that they'll really appreciate forever. Do you see Dragon Age as an attempt to go for that kind of success? In the end the proof is going to be in the pudding. Rather, the proof is in the eating of the pudding. A lot will depend on how well the game does, right? Before we go crazy with it we want to see how the game is received. I think we're very confident, though, that there's a big group out there that has been anxiously waiting for something like this. I think they'll really respond if we've done well. I have a good feeling about it, it's not just because I created the world. I watched this game grow before my eyes, I got to start see the cutscenes back, see the world I created take on a life of its own. The coolest thing is when the artists started getting on board. They're one step ahead of me now, instead of me being the one to say "well this is what this should look like". I have that same feeling as I did when we were at this point in developing Baldur's Gate. There's always that point where you're like 'this game is utter crap!' Then it starts to change, and finally we're at the point where we're like 'wow, this game is awesome!' We really hope this is the launching point for something bigger. << PAGE ONE PAGE THREE >>
Joystiq interview: Dragon Age storytelling
BioWare's return to PC as a primary platform has been met with rapture and glee from the PC gaming crowd. The development chops of the Canadian company are almost impossible to question, with hit after hit being released from its Edmonton headquarters. Now the reunion with keyboard and mouse is accompanied by the most ambitious fantasy RPG BioWare has attempted since the original Baldur's Gate. Dragon Age: Origins is a true return to roots for the company, a homecoming with its dearest fans.It makes sense then to find David Gaider, one of the original writers of the Baldur's Gate plot, at the keyboard behind Dragon Age. We had the chance to talk briefly with the author about what this highly-anticipated title will offer. Though he couldn't reveal much in the way of story components, he did offer a tantalizing view into the world's history. Join us as we talk with Gaider about stepping back from Mass Effect's advances, the joys of returning to PC gaming, and what he considers required reading for any Dragon Age fan.%Gallery-28224%
Dragon Age to get kissy with it
Sorcerer's Place recently posted a summary of the latest activity on BioWare's Dragon Age forum, and a considerable amount of the discussion was focused on potential romantic encounters in the game. Lead Writer David Gaider explains:"In terms of the animations themselves, I actually wanted a kiss in KotOR, but we just couldn't fit in the animation...We got the kissing animation in Jade Empire, and we'll have it for DA, but I doubt we'll get much more in the way of animations for that."But it's not all physical, folks. Gaider continues: "I'm hoping that the romances will feel much more organic this time around...a series of dialogues and choices that builds the relationship between you and your NPC. But instead of building towards getting married and having babies, you're building towards a close friendship. We're also talking about being able to switch between that kind of friendship path and a romantic path for those characters which you can romance."So if that special lady in your life gives you crap about spending hours in front of the computer after Dragon Age arrives, just tell her you're learning all about building meaningful and lasting relationships. She just might leave you alone. One other note from the forums -- Dragon Age won't necessarily ship in 2007, despite what you may have read in GameSpot or PC Gamer. However, Mass Effect should be in stores this holiday season.[via RPGDot]
