Part 2 of the Bioware Dragon Age 3 Panel at PAX East 2012. Continued from Part 1

(Mike announces open mic Q&A)

Fan #1: We saw the three big suggestions, you posted that you will be listening to the feedback, how can we be sure that what we really want is going to happen in the game? How can you determine that what you are working on is what we really want, that we don't have the same thing that happened, say, in Dragon Age 2? What are you guys doing internally to make sure this doesn't happen.

David Gaider: So I guess what I say is watch what we are doing, wait and see what we are showing you, we are hoping to be more responsive to your feedback. Pay attention to what we are showing you. And don't take my word for it.

Fan #2: I love the Dragon Age series, been a fan from Origin. For most of Dragon Age 2 I didn't feel that everything I did mattered.  Seems like no matter what I do, here is that one possible ending.  Everything got streamlined in the end. Was that on purpose?

Mike Laidlaw: There was an surmounting sens of the inevitable in the storyline. Given the chance to do it over again, on the post champion part, we would have more writing and more reactivity to the twists you made along the way, so the end result wouldve been a wider experience. 

Fan #3: What are the chances to see some sort of Co-Op multiplayer setting in Dragon Age III?

Mike Laidlaw: If we were going to pursue coop ever, where we would start is to have a long hard look at how Baldur's gate did it, that shared experience with friends, and make sure that was priority one. Whether that's going to happen soon or in the future at some point. There are a lot of technical questions that need an answer. But that would be the approach we use. It is a very cool system. But the main thing is to take a look at Baldur's Gate and build from that system.

Fan #4: Story goes beyond the conversation. Story is your character, what decisions you make. Will you have specialization specific storylines? Like where you could use magic, and people would arrest you?

Mark Darrah: We would like to have each of the specialization "specials" with consequences for your actions.

Fan #5: I love the writing, makes me wants to play the games all night long.  What are the chances, possibilites, of seeing our favorite characters from our first two games join in Dragon Age 3?

Mike: I'd say it is quite probable. 

Fan #6: Would like to know more on how we got to where we are. Like what happened to Anders and Bethany.

Mark: I like what happened to Anders and Bethany.  They are part of the story. I don't disagree with the idea that he made the story. We will do our best to make the stories interesting.

Fan #7: Dragon Age is a franchise, more products such as trading cards? Also have you ever considered making Dragon Age into an MMO (booing from crowd)

David: Certainly in the future, someday, I could go with cards, but it would never replace a core line of storytelling. It will be a supplementary product. If we did that, and there are no plans currently.

Fan #8: Dragon Age 1 and 2 both had different story types, one was men vs monster, another was men vs situations. Which worked better

Mike: We are going and try to do something between the two. The DA2 story worked, but next game will be a different story. We want to do a bigger scope. 

David: Both had valid approaches, I respect both stories.

Fan #9: Character interaction, was so-so in Dragon Age 2?

David: The actual volume of the interaction in Dragon Age 2 was the same, but the way we presented it was different.

Fan #10: Any way to make it easier to share our experiences, cut scenes, with other people?

Mark: We are definitely looking for ways to enable players to share their experiences with their friends.