After the alleged leak of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf (opens in new tab) As of a few weeks ago, I was hoping that BioWare might consider spilling the beans, maybe just a couple of beans, to give us an idea of what it’s really doing here. But no, instead we get a “Game Design 101 (opens in new tab)“blog describing, in granular detail, the skill tree prototyping process, without giving us even a single bean.
I’m kind of torn though, because I’m very much in favor of developers giving us a peek behind the curtain. There is a huge disconnect between players and developers that stems from people fundamentally misunderstanding how games are made, which isn’t helped by developers doing a terrible job of demystifying the process. So a glimpse into how the sausage is made can be priceless. The problem here is that what people really want is to see the damn game.
It’s been a while since BioWare had a slam dunk, and after Andromeda and Anthem there are a lot of completely reasonable doubts about the studio’s ability to make something that will become as beloved as its older RPGs. The alleged leak showed us something very different from what we are used to with Dragon Age, with combat fully integrated into a style more commonly seen in action games. This raises many questions, none of which were remotely addressed in the last blog post.
A lot of time is spent explaining what game designers do and the considerations the UX team has made; while the game’s design philosophy is genuinely interesting, there’s very little meat here.
The most relevant section comes near the beginning and is not attributed to a specific BioWare designer.
All previous Dragon Age games have handled RPG systems such as player progression differently, so naturally we’re being just as experimental in Dreadwolf, taking lessons from the past while also trying something new.
Skill Trees are a fundamental part of a deep RPG experience and give our players the ability to customize how their character functions in combat. A core belief on the team is that when a player invests a skill point, it should have a clear and tangible effect on the game, such as an impactful skill or perk.
The rest of the blog just serves to emphasize this. Skill trees should be clear, with explanations and videos to ensure players know what they’re selecting, and the ability to plan builds early on. Every point you put into them should be meaningful, and you shouldn’t waste points on incremental nonsense just to get to the good part.
OK, that’s cool I guess? But this isn’t a new idea, and while I prefer to make big decisions rather than lots of small ones that I instantly forget, it’s not always as simple as just making sure there’s something fun to put your points on. This is something Blizzard discovered in World of Warcraft. After simplifying the talent trees to ensure players never had to worry about small stat boosts, Blizzard realized that players really didn’t like that, and eventually reintroduced a more elaborate progression system that gives players more control. granular. and it’s much better (opens in new tab).
Maybe BioWare will find a way to let us have our cake and eat it too, but it’s impossible to say right now because all we’re looking at are early prototypes of skill trees without any details. What’s most frustrating is that the studio has finalized the skill tree design – there’s something tangible we can now see. But instead we go to game design school.
It’s not like I don’t sympathize with the complexity of communicating game development progress. Give too much too soon and you’ll raise expectations and be in trouble in the (very likely) event that changes need to be made. And potential players desperately want more information, more communication. But if you don’t have anything to say, maybe it’s best to wait until you do.