It`s been a long time since I played dragon age but I only played through it once. I liked the story but from what I remember I didn`t like the combat very much. Almost felt like the game kind of played itself and you were just sitting there watching hitting a button here and there.

I would much rather see topware work on a twoworlds game the scale of skyrim with the kind of story type system dragon age had with the kind of random lists the elder scrolls use.

This is probably because you control not 1, but 4 characters at the same time. To help you out, DA:O lets you define tactics for each char, so their actions become scripted. If you don't want to, just reset all tactics and they will await your command... for each move, again and again.

You will get RSI from all the button clicking.

Dragon Age 2 was a bit more engaging with combat, with Diablo 2 style button mashing and tactics.

If it will be more like Skyrim, I might finally play it, I didn't like the tactical style of the others, so I never played them myself.

Why are so many commenting like DA2 is the only game Bioware has produced?

I think both studios could learn a lot from each other. If you took the best elements of Skyrim and Dragon Age Origins (or just about any bioware game not DA2), you'd have one hell of a game.

I'll believe it when I see it but I don't know if DA3 would be great as a Skyrim clone. Bioware's strength is in Storytelling and while you still can tell a good story in an open world setting, I believe they will benefit from the game being more corridered, Reckoning would be a good example as to how openworld DA should be, maybe half as open. After that, they still need to bring over the good things from origins, Silent Protagonist, excellent stories, excellent characters, real choices instead of happy, sad, neutral that all lead to the same place.

So DA3 will never go back to being an rpg. Seriously its copying skyrim, sure its popular. But on the rpg side, its about as deep as a tea spoon.

[censored] this.

They should try to make a Daggerfall clone instead.

In fact, everyone should try to make a Daggerfall clone, including Bethesda.

...except that they don't really develop RPGs, anymore.

It would be great to see another classic Bioware take on it, like how they did Dragon Age 1. Why can't they just do that?

Because EA wants 10,000 generic POS games to fill the holiday season instead of taking the time to develop a quality game because it would take too long

Here's an idea, Bioware: how about making RPGs like you used to make yourself instead of leaping into the copy-cat arena?

KOTOR, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect... just do a U-turn from the disappointing sequels and go back to the roots of what made the games so great - good characters and solid plot - and not just tack on endless romances and bland minigames.

In order to do a game like Skyrim you need some pretty diverse stats to give a real sense of wow factor, and a sense of progression. You need many stats and perks or some system in place to differentiate play styles for the guilds. You need them for a sense of scale and advancement as well. They also help you get into the role of "your" character by highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. Bioware doesn't believe in stats anymore, according to their internal documents and garbage logic when I seen some of their notes. AWESOME BUTTON!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMcVZQI6ybw

They were impressed by a game that just about all of you are enjoying as I type this. They see everything that folks, who are very much their target audience, liked about Skyrim and thought they might draw from that, sort of like everyone that's been inspired by anything ever. How many threads pop up here from people asking for games like The Elder Scrolls? How often do you see Dragon Age compared to The Elder Scrolls in a negative light because the series doesn't have certain features TES does?

Now they're catching flak for "ripping off" your precious Skyrim?

It's not that, it's the fact that they're amateurish flops when it comes to open world games. Combined with Big Brother EA and is there any REAL hope they can even get the first basic design decision right? IE Done when it's done, but with a goal in mind. Or at least a large amount of time? Seriously, that's the first key difference between the two companies developing method. One has short and strict schedule daddy says he has to follow, and the other gives itself the time it needs. Bioware just look like posers, the one kid trying to fit into a totally different group (just to add more friends to his group) and claiming he does all this amazing similar stuff when it's quite clear daddy won't let him.

I have no problem with them taking inspiration, hell we do it all the time. Except I do have a problem with BIoware itself, if that makes any sense. Also you make it sound like your talking to the exact same people as before. Sure those people might have said that, but now we the new people here say this. We're not a catch all organization of people you can just generalize.

Edit
Just look at Mass Effect 3 development, I have a feeling that thing is going to be a buggy mess. I mean damn, they're under some serious time constraints. Can you possibly imagine EA was going to force them to launch THIS YEAR to compete with Skyrim. I seen parts of that demo, it literally wasn't done yet. They only delayed it because no doubt EA knew it wouldn't sell, and BIoware has some credit with them for making money. So they tacked on some extra months of development, but I still can't see how it's going to get finished. I expect to see the axeman chopping block for a LOT of content. It's simple time, they didn't get enough of it. Unless EA can allow them to work with a bit more time, it won't ever happen. Simple mathematics, unless they hired like the largest development team in history with like 10k coders or something.

World exploration isn't really Bioware's thing, especially not recently. They're going for more linear story/character driven experience, where the only open worldy thing about it is in which order you want to go through linear sequences. Do you want to go to Denerim forest and fight your way through a linear forest right now, or first the Circle tower where you fight your way through a linear tower?. Both have their little side paths and rooms, but not much.

Not a bad thing, but I don't see Bioware changing their focus to an open world. At most I'd expect to see some more Lothering style open'ish areas.

Well, I played Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and various expansions (but not Dragon Age), so I have lots of love for Bioware. To me it sounds like a very good thing.

or

you know

they could go back to the original DA design?!
I'd like to believe this is a good thing, but Bioware is not known for TES style open-world environments with the amount of foundationless design that a TES game possesses. They're known for their story, and tightly polished, semi-linear questlines.

it takes a lot of skill to make a game on par with The Elder Scrolls, as I'd imagine it takes a lot of skill to make a game on par with a Bioware game, but I don't think one should trust Bioware to create a TES style game as I would not trust Beth. to make a Bioware style game.

here's to hoping, but I have my doubts.
Oh how the mighty have fallen

please note that I don't mean "foundationless" as a criticism of Beth. TES is foundationless if you think about it. The games often don't have a clearly defined direction, rather, they let the player choose for themselves. Bioware does not do this. Their games have very clear foundations (usually established through their stories) that send the player in a very clearly defined direction.

My issue is bioware watered down DA2 (and mass effect, but this is about DA). Bethesda watered down skyrim. Instead of actully adding more rpg elements, they are being "inspired" by a watered down rpg. Meaning at best, things stay as shallow as DA2. God I hope they look at kingdoms of Amalur. Atleast then there may be some depth.

well i had ameadiate buyers remorse when i got DA:O and found out that it did not have an open world, and was basicly a linear pos which's only replay value was the origin part of starting your character. in which i ended up just playing the origin stories and quiting to start the next one after getting into the main quest.

Eh. After DA2, I think anything would be an improvement. So I don't really care. But truth be told, I've always been of the opinion that they don't know what the hell they want to do with the series, especially with how "Me too!" DA2 was. This only seems to further confirm that.

It's not as if the idea became apparent just now. All of Bethesda's main TES games have sold well, and Morrowind onward they achieved AAA status and sales numbers that were the best in the RPG industry and rivaling every other in video games.

Open World RPGs being lucrative and a well crafted one probably being able to sell well is something I doubt Bioware or EA just went o.o too. But Skyrim did enhance the thought base of such a game. However Bethesda for the last decade has had a stronghold on such games just as Rockstar does on the third person action/adventure sandbox game market.

And even if Bioware thought of crafting such a game I doubt the outcome. Much of what Bioware's been good at comes off Black Isle's hard work. They have trouble as it is on the games they make, I they made an open world game with the development cycle of 8 months they'd fail both on the party-oriented and linear story focused front as well as the miscellaneous spread Bethesda makes bread and butter from.

I thought Dragon Age would have a more open world feel to it when I first played it, so I look forward to this.

Why don't they make it a Dragon Age Origins clone?

That game was superb and it was very successful, why not just make another one like that? That seems like a no brainer to me.

Exactly. I'm not saying that making it like Skyrim is going to ruin it, but I'd much prefer if it stuck to the original formula of Origins.