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David Gaider Profile picture
@davidgaider
Jun 13 • 6 tweets • 2 min read • Read on X
I've been pretty busy, but I finally got a chance to sit down and watch the gameplay reveal. If you're interested, some thoughts from someone who's going into this as fresh as any of you: 1/🧵
Overall, I'd say this made for a better introduction than the reveal trailer. We see some story, and tone-wise it feels a lot darker and more DA. Like I said, trailers often need to be taken with a grain of salt, and my impression is that many fans are relieved. Which is great.
I could pick on a few things. The stylized characters will take some getting used to, but the DA art style has changed every game so that's nothing new. Combat is more action-y, without any tactical elements, but it seems fine. Style is not much different than, say, DA2's combat. Image
The environments look amazing, full stop. To see the sprawl of Minrathous - wow. I wish we could have done this for Kirkwall or even Val Royeaux. Utterly gorgeous, sells the breadth and tone, such great work. Image
I had to laugh when I saw the return of the DA2 dialogue icons. Will "Purple Rook" be a thing? Let's hope so! Paraphrases seem even shorter, if that's possible, but maybe it was just this section of the game. Image
It was lovely to see Solas & get a hint of the story to come. Could probably chatter about the implications for days, and how this aligns (or doesn't) with where I thought the story would go... but I won't. I'm just eager to see where this goes. To the folks at Bio: great job. ♥️ Image

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More from @davidgaider

David Gaider Profile picture
Jun 6
I have to agree with the article here - I don't think it was the card system. That said, Midnight Suns's marketing could have done a lot more to prepare its audience for why its card system worked so well, and to let the RPG audience know that this game was no mere card battler.
This was a card battler game not made for the card battler audience, really... which maybe is the argument the Midnight Suns devs were making? If you're an RPG fan, especially a BioWare RPG fan, who happens to also like superheroes? You owe it to yourself to play this game.
Which is not to say it's perfect. You need to ignore the monetization elements ("spend real $$$ to access these extra outfits!"), and you can. They're pointless. There's also way more constantly running around the maze of the Abbey grounds over and over than is ideal.
Read 4 tweets
David Gaider Profile picture
Dec 26, 2023
This subject came up among the writers fairly often. "How can we make an 'evil path' which is actually satisfying?" The problem, more often than not, boiled down to our ability (or lack thereof) to flag *intention*.
Allow me to explain:

What do people want when they ask for a better "evil path"? Usually it's something clever. Gaining power, manipulating others, etc. But those tend to require long-term goals where, in the short-term, what you do might be indistinguishable from a "good path".
So we'd need some way to flag any "evil path" conversation option with some kind of note that says "yes, this might look like you're agreeing, but your ultimate intention here is to do X", to set the stage for this clever evilness, as it were. Which is awkward.
Read 12 tweets
David Gaider Profile picture
Jun 20, 2023
One narrative design issue I've run into is what I call the "lyrium problem" (for obvious reasons). If you have something in your setting which can technically do anything ("magic" often qualifies, also eezo in ME) then it will, eventually, do *everything*. And that's not good.
Why is it not good? Because it becomes this shiny, easy solution for every issue that prevents the team from doing the work to do anything *else*.

Weird thing happens? Lyrium.
Need a mechanic for a cool gameplay thing? Lyrium.
Something that breaks all existing rules? Lyrium.
You can try to put limitations on your Anything Thing, but for many members of your team it's SITTING RIGHT THERE. It's the equivalent of narrative jazz hands... why do we need to restrict ourselves to a stupid box when anything is *technically* possible, right?
Read 10 tweets
David Gaider Profile picture
May 2, 2023
Writing is one of those disciplines which is constantly undervalued. It's something that everyone thinks they can do ("I can write a sentence! I know what story is!"), and frankly the difference between good and bad writing is lost on many, anyhow. So why pay much for it, right?
In games, you even see this attitude among those who want to get into the field. "I don't have any REAL skills... I can't art, I can't program, so I guess I'll become a writer? It's better than QA!" As if game writing didn't require any actual skill which requires development.
Even BioWare, which built its success on a reputation for good stories and characters, slowly turned from a company that vocally valued its writers to one where we were... quietly resented, with a reliance on expensive narrative seen as the "albatross" holding the company back.
Read 5 tweets
David Gaider Profile picture
Nov 25, 2021
I'm relieved to see that the Mass Effect/Amazon deal is for a potential TV series and not a movie. Even so, the possibility (and likewise for Dragon Age) makes me cringe just a little, unlike many fans who appear... excited?

Let me explain. (Thread)
For starters, ME and DA have a custom protagonist. Meaning said TV show will need to pick whether said protagonist will be male or female. Boom, right off the bat you've just alienated a whole bunch of the built-in fan base who had their hopes up.
Secondly, those protagonists are designed to be a bit of a blank slate, one that the player fills out with their decisions. That's not going to work for a passive medium. So, suddenly, the protagonist will have their own personality... and their own *story*. That will be weird.
Read 13 tweets
David Gaider Profile picture
Sep 16, 2021
The Australian & NZ dev communities are small, lovely, and protective of each other. In the short time I've been part of it, I've quietly heard plenty about what Jennifer has done - and personally watched her drive one talented young man out of the industry entirely.
The difficulty then, as now, is that Jennifer positioned herself publicly as not only a figure of influence but also a marginalized voice who is - by all appearances - on the side of woman in games. Challenging that, especially as a guy, was unthinkable. Yet... here we are.
The fact that Jennifer weaponized her own victimhood could end up damaging the position of every other female and minority dev who are all already trying so goddamn hard... it's disgusting. I demand the @IGDA take note and take action.
Read 4 tweets

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