I will have to disagree with you, a true story plumbs the depths of human emotion. Conflicts in any good story exist between different POV and it is the differences in conflict which make good stories in video game when the role you are playing can emphisis with a faction that best suites the role play. Take Fallout New Vegas for example, the main factions each have there own POV on how a post nuke wastland can recover, Mr. House the meglomatic benevolent dictator, The legion are strongmen operating with strength and strict police state laws, NCR are the patchwork work by comittee and get their hands dirty outside of normal policy and then the wild card. None of these factions can be called generic brain dead zombies and that is why New Vegas gives more RPG options then DAO, your character can role play an agent for these opposing POV, so much more interesting then killing no name zombies game after game after game after game.
Skyrims most defining motif is a universal truth, programers are not story tellers

You mean Vegas? That game was actually being worked on by Obsidian before Fallout 3 was released. IIRC, I think Obsidian started on it about 6 months before Fallout 3's release as Beth was working on Skyrim right after the release of Fallout 3. Vegas had over 65K written lines in it whereas Fallout 3 had about 40k, so I would think it would take longer than 1.5 years to be honest, but they still had the same graphical assets to work with from Fallout 3, so it may be possible, I but I don't think so.. Working with the Gamebryo engine should have been easy since it was already used in Fallout 3 and Oblivion. Developing the engine actually is the longest process in game development.

nope they had just over a little of a year and a half. Soemthign like 18-20 months head over to the Vegas forums and ask some of the "dino's" there to get some better referances I'm too tired right now to go digging. IF yo udidn't notice alot of those bugs you mention for NV are from FO3, and those are seen in Oblivion and so forth.

Very different, the only two things that are the same between the two games is Silent Protagonist and they are both RPG's. Otherwise they are completely different from each other.

Edited- Andaius is right, Obsidian only had 15-18 months to work on New Vegas and I think Beth may have rushed it out the door when they should've delayed it 6-12 months.

I did say that I could roleplay some in Origins. I've played ME1 and 2 and DAO and DA2. Voiced protagonist is the norm for them now, so harking back to BG2 is useless. They aren't that kind of developer anymore. Bethesda still is.

I wasn't comparing, I was advising the OP that he/she wasn't going to get a flashy codex warning and thus might consider the in-game books fluffy filler and miss a lot. I don't think Origins had any where near the depth of writing that TES books do, but am not going to argue the point. If you add in the companion novels there was a lot for DA. But Mass Effect more codex? Now that makes me laugh.

Ad hominem? Dude. There's no need to go Bioware [really devoted fan] on me. I liked Origins a lot, just not as much as Skyrim or FO3 and FNV precisely because those games allow more roleplay freedom. I only objected to the statement that Skyrim is not for roleplayers. That may be the case for you, but Bioware's more linear, scripted style works the opposite for me. I consider Mass Effect a shooter and thus didn't expect it to be a roleplaying game, so I enjoyed it on that basis. Its story was mediocre.

I fail to see how a game that offers nothing more than exploring has more to offer than what Dragon Age Origins delivered.Apart from the exploring Origins is comprehensively better,better story better characters,better quests better combat.If any game is a gimmick it is skyrim the only thing it has going for it in it's current state is exploration because even else is paper thin.Fair point Skyrim has more content it is a shame 99% of it is repetitive fetch quests that hold no attraction.

They are very different games. Dragon Age is far more about story, character interaction and choice and consequence, while Skyrim is all about adventure and exploration; these are really the biggest differences, and there's really no comparing the awesome dialog of Origin's to Skyrim's drab, lifeless NPCs, or Skyrim's sense of discovery and wonder to DA's mostly linear level design. Still, both use mostly cliche but very detailled and (more importantly) justified fantasy worlds, both have you be the hero of destiny, and amusingly both have a dragon wanting to reshape/destroy the world as a main antagonist. I can safely say that which is better is entirely down to one's opinion.

Myself? I put down Skyrim after 1 playthrough and half of another, and don't intend to finish that one until the game is extensively modded. I played through Origins 4 or 5 times since 2009, always with a very different character, different build, different favored companions, and different outcomes to the campaign. Skyrim only lets me choose if I want to do X thing now or later, and if I want to kill stuff with swords, bows or fireballs. I love Bioware, and Origins is my favourite game from them, Baldur's Gate 2 included.

As many have said, DA is very linear. However, they do both involve battles with dragons.

I love them for different reasons.

Some people like to be told a story. Other people like to tell their own stories. The folks who like to be told a story will probably prefer Dragon Age. The folks who like to tell their own stories are likely to prefer Skyrim.

Most of the entertainment value I get out of an RPG is supplied by my own imagination. I make up my own stories. And I have a pretty vivid imagination. The stories, dialog, and quests I invent myself are deeper and more interesting than anything I have seen from a developer. Even Bioware.

The Elder Scrolls games give me the freedom to make up my own stories on the fly. I start with an outline, as most writers do, but once in the game I allow my characters, and events in the game to have a hand in shaping my stories. This just isn't possible in a Bioware game.

When I play a Bioware game I am an actor in their movie. When I play a Bethesda game I am the director of my own movie.

Dragon age was a significantly better rpg

Interesting.

I always did consider DA:O more of a character driven game, well FF for that matter as well, and TES as more of a player driven game.

Well said sir.

Subjective opinion is... well... subjective.

This and Skyrim has no story. Read the posts look for the word imagine in them. If you like RPGs give it a miss it's not an RPG it's a dumbed down action sandbox game. The 2 things skyrim does have more of is fan boys, and game breaking bugs that may be fixed later maybe. You'll finish the quests main, side, or faction and feel empty about it. At least in DAO you felt like you got something done well.

Thanks for pointing that out.

What do you mean Skyrim has no story?

Bethesda and TES have been sewing the narrative of this story for almost two decades. Please try again.

The main difference is that the main map/environment in Syrim is sandbox/openworld like Grand theft auto, where as the DA environment is limited to a flat map with portals to small dungeon areas.

Uhhh, yeah, pretty much this.

Well said. Loved DAO; loathed DA2..and that Arishok comedy clip summed up my experience as well..epic fail..and utterly adore Skyrim. Origins and Skyrim are different types of games..fun in their own way but not very similar in style. Thanks for the laugh.

From a topographical standpoint? Yes, I believe so.

The other 'main' difference is in combat and builds.

Dragon Age : Origins sticks with traditional archetypes, where Skyrim allows you to create infinite subarchetypes within a framework that still affords traditional archetypes the viability to become insanely OP'd.

I prefer Skyrim, but that's just my opinion.

Sure would like that backstab *poof* for Rogue/Assassin types from the next DA, but wutevs.

But the story in Dragon Age is so cliche, and boring. The only redeeming quality is the interaction between the NPCs.

One should not have to use their imagination and go out of the perimeters of the game to make the story some what bearable.Everyone is entitled to their opinion and i respect yours but i for one do not submit to the Barney the dinosaur philosophy.

Well Minecraft sold over a million copies with no story except for the one the player made. Story isn't necessary for a good game.

I wouldn't say 'cliche' per se... in fact I would think Skyrim's story would be much more 'cliche'.

The narrative in DA:O was much more enjoyable for me when considering Skyrim as a stand alone title.

Considering the foreshadowing of past TES titles though, I prefer Skyrim's.

DA:O's is still pretty engrossing though for a first installation. The next game though? Blah...

Yeah OK maybe Morrowind had pretty good story. After that is was a down hill slide. Unless the real lore is beer pong at Beth? Look been playing TES from game one till now. And from everything I see now story + lore + NPC development < 70 voice actors all saying the same 5 lines and graphics to wow 12yr olds who want to play the big boy games.

Oh elves who live in a forest, dwarves who live under ground... oh a dwarf with a drinking problem. I understand when you draw influence from fantasy games, as most players want some context to go along with the lore and characters. However Dragon Age feels like a stereotypical fantasy RPG. TES has a lot more going on in terms of lore that is unique. The multiple elf races, multiple human races, and the beast races are all unique and varied drawing more on real world cultures than fantasy books. The lore in TES is deep, interesting, and engaging. I've actually spent hours reading the lore like a super nerd because I find it interesting and enriches the gameplay experience.

For me TES is like Star Wars, they both have very interesting backgrounds and lore. I rarely hear people discussing the lore of Dragon Age like they do Star Wars or TES.





The story in Bethesda games has never been amazing, and I'd argue it doesn't need to be because you're the story. The story doesn't revolve around the lives of NPCs and this grand problem only you can solve. It revolves around you, and your journeys through these worlds.