...that we will cut out a good chunk of gameplay.

http://www.playstationtrophies.org/news/news-13022-Dragon-Age--Inquisition-is-Almost---%EF%BF%BDContent-Complete---%EF%BF%BD-BioWare-Considering-Cuts.html

So they can sell it as DLC later, of course.

So its Warden's Keep all over again?

This is one of the reasons I don't like looking behind the scenes of game development.

When I got Deus EX HR Directors Cut i was psyched to be able to go through the game with developers commentary...

*hands everyone earplugs* THEN EVERY FRIKKING DEVELOPER COMMENTARY WAS ALL ABOUT THE HUGE SWATHES OF AWESOME CONTENT THEY CUT FROM THE GAME!!! *takes deep breaths*

It was then that I began to realise that what I was playing was a meager shadow of the game the devs originally envisioned. Sometimes this is easily visible like with Ultima 9 or Dragon Age 2 (Both of which have EA to thank for that...), so hearing about how that development was borked comes as no surprise. but with HR looking into the thoughts and comments of the developers too deeply turned a game that I enjoyed into a game that I don't think I can ever happily play again.

Cuts are just a fact. You can't pay a team of 200 developers a full year's extra salary when you have investors to appease and other projects to roll out.

More often than not, cuts help with pacing and keep the game's message, play-style and creative elements focused.

Sometimes they are detrimental (ever seen The Abyss' long version and theatrical version? Completely different movies.).

But cuts happen and should happen. It's just very important to have people who can make the right cuts.

I don't have any worries for this next Dragon Age game. I've liked them all so far, even with the issues they've had. And this next one, from what I've seen, is going to have some spectacular moments.

I see another Witch Hunt on the horizon.

I love Bioware, but lately they seem to be actively encouraging the angry mobs. I mean, this sort of thing obviously happens in the development of every game ever, but when a guy from a company that already has a (mostly undeserved) bad reputation comes out and discuss content cuts, of COURSE the internet is going to take it the worst possible way and start screaming for blood.

Is it nice to work for EA? Do they have a nice lunchtable at least?

;)

I don't think so - in fact I think it has been voted one of the worst companies, for employees, in the US a few years running now. I think they were even the subject of a fairly high profile campaign by spouses of employees a few years back.

I've been accused of working for them twice on the Internets now. :) Man, that would be fun. And I could Canadian! Land of my forefathers.

To be fair, Bioware makes worse games today than they did 10 years ago. But far better interactive fiction. I love their stories, their characters and their settings. I didn't know what a Gray Warden was 10 years ago. And then a few years later, I was trying to sign up to be one at my local National Guard office (that last bit was hyperbole).

Dragon Age 1 was almost perfect for me. It had some difficulty spikey areas that started getting rough for me (I was playing a low-combat high-personality rogueish human lady, so she was fairly useless :D), but even so, it was a pleasure.

#2 had some great story elements and I appreciated the tie-ins and change of perspective moments.

I'm hoping #3 blows me away with its physics-based combat. Blowing out a bridge under an enemy and then reforming it and crossing it just excites me for some reason.

It's an outdated system though that Kickstarter has rendered obsolete. But people who did their deals with the devils aren't able to get out of it now until they get dropped. ^^

You know, stuff got cut from games before DLC was a thing. Sometimes the time and money just aren't there to do everything you wanted.

I think that people fully understand and realize this. But what publishers are now doing is demanding stuff BE cut to TURN INTO DLC; often on day one. That's a bit different.

I've recently returned to PC gaming from the consoles... and my console "DLC" tab is FILLED with additional items I can buy for a game released that day. I know I can choose not to support this and just play the game as sold. I've watched as more and more features are stripped from a game and sold as "upgrades" and "packages" day one of release. And I hope, as publishers and developers take it "one step further" each and every release they realize consumers like me do the same as well and choose not to purchase the games themselves in the first place.

Just about every game ever gets an incredible amount of potentially cool stuff cut out. It's quite natural.

This isn't really new though, especially to PC gaming. Loads of games used to have expansion packs. So long as I get my money's worth out of a game I really don't care about them charging extra for more content. In this case the game will probably last a good 30 hours or so and have a solid ending if it's like the other DA games.

And i thought gaider completely snapped and actually said he to turn the cut stuff into DLC right away after the DA:o dlc shit. This is just normal development process. That would've been entertaining.



The only thing I don't get is what the last paragraph is supposed to mean, just because they said where they are in the development process hardly makes bioware anymore honest than other devs.