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BioWare Wanted "A More Viable Future For The Franchise" With Dragon Age II

by Phil Kollar on Mar 24, 2011 at 01:40 PM

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Are you among the many gamers confused or less-than-thrilled about the many changes made to the Dragon Age formula with BioWare's recent Dragon Age II? In a new interview, lead designer Mike Laidlaw explains why BioWare felt like they had to mix things up to solidify the series' future.

Speaking to GameSpot, Laidlaw says the adjustments in Dragon Age II were for the good of the franchise, and BioWare will not be reversing back to the Dragon Age: Origins style because of fan complaints:

"I think the big key is to not adjust 180 degrees again, because we've done this. I think, as a team, we're quite happy with what we've done with Dragon Age II, and this is establishing a solid foundation that keeps a lot, in fact almost everything I want to keep about Origins, but still has tons of room to grow and, frankly, a more viable future for the franchise. It's one that's more sustainable because we brought the world to a place that's inherently more interesting than 'Yay, we beat the Blight. Good for us!'"

Laidlaw goes on to say that the strong reactions, whether negative or positive, point toward the fact that people care about Dragon Age, which is what BioWare wants. He says that the changes to combat are "a refinement that takes into account the sensibility of it being 2011 and a number of the fundamental gameplay changes we've seen across all genres."

According to Laidlaw, this shift has opened the Dragon Age franchise up to a much wider audience while still allowing the developer to maintain some of the core RPG attributes that they love. For those who have played Dragon Age II, do you agree with Laidlaw? Feelings about this sequel aside, does the future look brighter than it was before for BioWare's troubled world of Thedas?

[Thanks to Nate for the tip.]