Subj : Dragon Age should have been "PC-centric" and mod-friendly, says f
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Tue Sep 19 2023 10:00:03

Dragon Age should have been "PC-centric" and mod-friendly, says former 
Bioware manager

Date:
Tue, 19 Sep 2023 08:48:30 +0000

Description:
Former Bioware manager Aaryn Flynn wishes that Dragon Age had been more 
modder-friendly like CRPG Neverwinter Nights.

FULL STORY
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Former Bioware general manager Aaryn Flynn weighed in on Dragon Age 's past, 
stating that the game should have been "PC-centric" and mod-friendly like 
previous fantasy titles from the studio. 

In an interview with Edge magazine , Flynn outlined his wish that fantasy RPG 
Dragon Age had kept a "Neverwinter-like identity", prizing versatility and 
scope for modding. As part of the interview, Flynn spoke fondly of the design 
approach behind Neverwinter Nights . One of the best RPGs of its time, this 
earlier title from BioWare spawned an active and long-lived community 
sustained by fan content and mods. 

"We wanted everybody to be able to say 'I, as a modder, can build the same 
thing that Bioware does.'," said Flynn. "We didn't want any exceptions to 
that." 

Speaking on how this approach influenced Dragon Age Origins , Flynn made it 
clear that the first entry in the Dragon Age series "had its fair share of 
identity crises. Was it going to be a tools-driven, modding-driven game like 
Neverwinter Nights ? Was it going to be a big single-player RPG like The 
Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion ?" (Image credit: EA) 

Though Flynn was happy that "Dragon Age [Origins] on PC shipped with the 
toolset", he expressed his disappointment that this trend didn't continue for 
Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition." I wish we'd kept that up and stuck 
to that. Unfortunately, we got, I'd say, a little too homogenous between Mass 
Effect and Dragon Age. I wish we would have kept more of a PC-centric, 
Neverwinter-like identity for Dragon Age ." 

Having departed Bioware, Flynn became founder and CEO of Inflexion Games, who 
are currently working on upcoming Victorian-inspired survival title 
Nightingale . 

Though we do not yet know the extent to which Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will 
return to these mod-friendly roots (if at all), wildly popular fantasy RPG 
Baldur's Gate 3 is set to receive official mod support of its own in the near 
future, perhaps ushering in a return to the era of open-ended, mod-friendly 
RPGs. 

 Excited for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf? While you wait, check out our list of the 
best story games as well as our guide to the best single-player games .



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/gaming/consoles-pc/dragon-age-should-have-been-pc-ce
ntric-and-mod-friendly-says-former-bioware-manager


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