New Age Dawning: BioWare to think seriously on Dragon Age 3?

Sandal's big secret to be revealed next game? If its in Orlais, he'll certainly be there, with more 'Enchantment!' PHOTO COURTESY OF BIOWARE

By Alexander Leach

This is a bit old, but since I’ve done a lot of Bioware-related stuff and I kinda want to talk about this: executive producer Mark Darrah of BioWare put out an open letter saying he wants to hear from the fans as to what they wanted for the third incarnation of the game.

Dragon Age II wasn’t well-received by fans – reused level maps and bugginess aside, the city-centralized plot and revisting old areas (as opposed to different levels having the same maps) put people off after the army-raised, monolithic evil of the first game. While I didn’t hate the second game in the least – its major sin is that it wasn’t as good at the first, and hyperbole blew out of proportion what was a fun and slightly-faster paced game – it’s not nearly as replayable as the first.

With the Baldur’s Gate re-release for the iPad hinted at release this summer, players have a chance to look at some of the past games BioWare is associated with. Baldur’s Gate I and II got me through my summer after first year when I was working in my hometown, and I consider them to be quite well-written games. I fully expect this to ignite a slew of suggestions for potential Dragon Age 3 features.

There are three main things I want to see.
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That’s it?! Mass Effect players taking action against Bioware for ME3 ending

Players of Mass Effect 3 have donated to the Child's Play charity to 'express our hope that there could be a different direction for a series we have all grown to love.' PHOTO COURTESY OF MASSEFFECT.COM

By Alexander Leach

Apparently the Mass Effect 3 ending is so bad as to personally offend people.

A fan filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against BioWare for false advertising, if the game’s ending is not changed.

On top of this, you have the Child’s Play charity petition – which BioWare has responded to in a typically-noncommittal, PR-friendly way – which has led to donations of $71,464.25 to the organization, as of my writing this post.

I’m avoiding ME3, for reasons I’ve mentioned in previous blogs. If the ending is, in fact, so bad that it compels people to reexamine their lives and donate their money to charity to affirm their humanity, perhaps it’s a good thing. So I know nothing of the ending, and this blog post will focus mostly on the response itself and my thoughts on it. (more…)