BioWare Presents: The State of the Game Industry

the rest of the video will be launch day dlc

We were nearing the end of active work on design content for Dragon Age... there was still a lot more bug fixing/polishing/ and fill-content generation ahead but the core plot/writing and level design was finished. My work was rapidly shifting into that of reviewing what the team had put together.

Discussion on Dragon Age 2 began around this time and looking ahead I knew that I wasn't going to be satisfied with what Dragon Age 2 would be. Party control/tactical combat are huge factors in my enjoyment of a role-playing game as is adopting the role of the hero (i.e., customizing my character). I was fairly certain Dragon Age would transition towards more of a Mass Effect experience, which while enjoyable is not the type of role-playing game I play. Could I be the lead designer on such a title? Certainly... though if I were going to work on a game adopting a set-in-stone protagonist I'd rather work on something lighter, like a shooter.

Through a series of circumstances it was decided that with my not wanting to participate on Dragon Age 2 it was time to transition in a new lead to finish the Dragon Age console versions and ramp up for Dragon Age 2. I moved out of an active lead role though I stayed on for several months performing quality assurance and helping with the transition. I completed the game several times during this period and racked up the second or third highest bug totals... so, still busy but doing something quite different.

After this was over and the content locked down I took a sabbatical. When I returned to work I was hoping that there would be a new project lined up for me.

There wasn't, not really. I did some high level design for a potential new project but a few months later I realized that, given cutbacks and other things that it really seemed unlikely that the project I had been 'assigned' to was ever going to materialize. I can't/won't go into any other details other than to point to an old entry I made about this and reiterate: "I'm not the same person I was when I started, and BioWare isn't the same company. "

So I quit, giving a couple months notice to finish up my obligations on the new/hypothetical project and then in early September 2009 I left BioWare.

- Brent Knowles
Lead Designer for Dragon Age: Origins

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[NantoShin]

In the past, UNLOCKING meant playing the game and beating it to get stuff. Now it's PAY MONEY to unlock. Fuck off Bioware.

[highstricker]

Oh hamburger helper

[WillyWallace100]

try the favorite button

[QuikDJ]

Bioware cunts

[YakuzaBoss]

Wow, dragon age 1 was a huge success despite all the risks we took making it! It sold amazingly well and people liked it! What do we do for the sequel? I know, lets throw out all our work we did on the original, make the game exactly like Mass Effect in every possible way from repetitive pointless combat to set main character to really dumbed down dialog choices, and advertise the fuck outta it in all of our games.

[MrRushbrown]

is virginal even a word

[eusouocarameuirmao]

Copycat........desperate for some thumbs up ain't cha ?

[whatisdisshit]

No, bioware is the Collectors that have been zombified by th rEApers.

[Kenshiro3rd]

Glad to see this has been unblocked... EA had it taken down a while back due to copyright.

[sensur1]

Just what i think too. I have never seen the point in having a dlc since they dont contribute to the game in any meaningful fashion. It is such an overtly form of greedy marketing scheme tailored to those people who "has to have it all" with their products i think,.

[SweetPicklesRob]

It needs to be remembered for all time. A monument to greed and hubris. How a great developer can let a bloodsucking evil producer and the sheer pride of their past works can produce an monumental dog turd. And yes, it is a dog turd.

Oh yeah, and that some "fans" will accept anything BioWare does as great...even when it so very obviously is not.

[Hurvl]

Damn, the hordes of the Blight seem petty considering the horde of unlockable items not obtainable by just playing the game. I've never cared about these kind of add-ons. They generally don't make a difference and if they do, they should been added to the main game, so I find no reason to like them.