Re: The Dragon Age Thread

[Hanako Ikezawa]

[DRAGON AGE]: Josephine is a new character to Dragon Age series. What can you tell us about her?

[SYLVIA FEKETEKUTY]: Josephine is a people person. She’s optimistic, she likes finding solutions, and needs barely any sleep to work at full capacity. She misses the view of the sea from her bedroom in Antiva City (though she only brings that up with friends).

[DA]: What was your process when developing her character?

[SF]: When I came up to DA: Inquisition from the Mass Effect 3 team, the idea for Josephine’s character was basically one word on a whiteboard (“Diplomat???”). When our lead writer, David Gaider, handed me the character and told me to go, that word was enough to get me started. I tried to think of what kind of diplomat would work well with the Inquisition. Why she was the best fit for the role, how the heck she ended up there, how she would bounce off other characters, etc...

[DA]: Was it challenging to start from scratch, or did you enjoy the experience?

[SF]: I enjoyed it, but it was daunting. One of the characters I wrote in Mass Effect 3 was Liara. Fans had gotten to know Liara from ME1 onwards, so I was able to do some fun stuff by pulling from the history players had with her. Josephine, however, I made up from scratch. The freedom was great, but in the back of my mind I was anxiously asking myself “Does her characterization work? Will people enjoy talking with her? Do I know what I’m doing?!”

[DA]: What was the end result?

[SF]: I received some great feedback from the rest of the writing team early on that helped me a great deal. I fell in love with Josephine by the end—especially once I heard her voice actor reading lines for the first time. It was like she’d finally become a real person.

[DA]: As a noblewoman, she seems to bring a different set of skills to the Inquisition. What is her primary area of expertise?

[SF]: Diplomacy. Josephine has worked for years as an ambassador in the royal courts in Thedas. She’s very familiar with Orlesian politics, which comes in handy. She’s an excellent mediator and speaker. Crucially, she knows just how hard it can be to change people’s minds, and how much someone’s ego is tangled up in being “right”. Josephine prefers to gently steer people into agreement whenever possible, but she’ll take a stand when needed. There’s occasionally an iron fist beneath that velvet glove.



[DA]: How would you describe Josephine’s role?

[SF]: Josephine is the head ambassador of the Inquisition. She handles diplomatic disputes on the Inquisitor’s behalf, raising the player’s reputation and spreading the Inquisition’s influence throughout Thedas.

Or in less fancy terms: Josephine does a lot of work that’s very important, and also very boring. Keeping a huge organization like the Inquisition afloat takes negotiations and paperwork and endless politics, but Josephine lives for that kind of stuff. She prides herself on having the Inquisitor’s back (for example, making deals with the right people, or heading off power plays by other nobles) so the Inquisitor is free to make the decisions that actually shape the world.

[DA]: Any other considerations when creating Josephine’s character?

From the start, I knew she shouldn’t be a warrior. She’s surrounded by people who are excellent, highly-skilled fighters, and I wanted our diplomat to be different. Josephine’s handier with a pen than a sword, and much more useful negotiating than wandering the wilderness.

[DA]: What did you enjoy most about writing Josephine?

[SF]: Finding a voice for her, finding the ways she fit into the world. Writing the scenes where she becomes friends with the PC. Those can be tricky, but I love it when they come together. Working with Josephine’s voice actor and cinematic designer (the person who “directs” the conversations) was particularly great.

It was also fun to write a romance again. And because I know people will ask: You can try to win Josephine’s heart as any race or gender. I think we ended up with some fun moments whether you’re trying to romance her or just be her friend, but there’s one particular scene that I love.

[DA]: As a skilled diplomat, she must be difficult to win an argument against. Does she get along well with the other advisors?

[SF]: She has a good relationship with Leliana. They’re old acquaintances, and they both know the other is very good at what they do. That said, I think it is a relief for them to see: “Oh, our work styles mesh after all. Phew!” That’s not to say they always agree with each other, but they’re a good team.

Meanwhile, while Josephine and Cullen respect each other, Josephine would always rather work towards a diplomatic solution while Cullen doesn’t always think it’s the practical choice. Josephine can get impatient with that attitude and the clash in their philosophies.

[DA]: At the end of the day, we’ve got to know: in a battle of fashion, who wins between Josephine and Vivienne?

[SF]: Wow, I feel like the last person on earth qualified to judge that! I’ll just say: Vivienne will wear the latest haute couture, no matter how outrageous, and make it look good. Josephine appreciates finely-made clothing, but when it comes to formal wear, she’s a traditionalist. (Of course, Antiva follows lots of Orlesian fashion trends, but Josephine’s not going to admit that. Hometown pride and all.)

[RavenEyry]

Lets hope this one can actually be listened too, because I'm ignoring any advice from Leliana and Cullen by default.

[Fur28]

here's a list of the new information they gave at the RAPTR Q&A
http://dorianpavus.tumblr.com/post/91198646552/info-dump-from-the-da-i-raptr-q-a

I think this is better than reading all the questions since there are a lot of troll and repetitive ones

[ZerebusPrime]

No Zevran? There goes the running gag of being able to kill him and/or orgy with him in every single Dragon Age game.

[Rifneno]

No Zevran?  There goes the running gag of being able to kill him and/or orgy with him in every single Dragon Age game.

I'm sure he'll be around.  It's a shame that there'll be no import besides that stupid Keep thing.  There should definitely be an achievement for having a threesome with Leliana and Zevran in all 3 games.

[Hanako Ikezawa]

[Hanako Ikezawa]

[ZerebusPrime]

Note to self: letting Leliana get tortured does not do good things to her willingness to follow my orders.

[Rifneno]

Note to self: letting Leliana get tortured does not do good things to her willingness to follow my orders.

*puts away jumper cables*  Sorry, I got a little overzealous.  Won't happen again.

[Guest]

http://www.dragonage.com/#!/en_US/news/dragon-age-inquisition-update?utm_campaign=da-social-na-ic-fb-social-global-ic-na-update-img-site-ramp&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&sourceid=da-social-na-ic-fb-social-global-ic-na-update-img-site-ramp&cid=23518&ts=1406060839130

Nov 18/21 release date change.

[ZerebusPrime]

odd to push something like that back just a few weeks. .....I'd bet money that they wanted to push it back further but EA insisted on getting DAI out ahead of the holiday shopping season.

[Eryri]

The original October release date would have put in in competition with  a lot of other high profile releases, apparently. So the delay might also be a sensible marketing move to put it out at a slightly quieter time of year.

For some masochistic reason, I've been replaying DA2 recently. The first act isn't that bad to be fair. It's only when the horrid realisation hits you that this shitty little town, and that same shitty little warehouse and that same shitty cave is ALL you're going to see that the enjoyment goes downhill. It amuses me to see how much the marketing for DAI is basically saying "it won't be like the last game guys! We swear!"

[CSSteele]

"I'll throw you...."

"I can't fly you daft tit!"

LOL. Obviously a play on Colosus and Wolverine, but still humorous.

[Fur28]

[Guest]

http://www.nerdappropriate.com/2014/07/31/rated-na-special-sdcc-2014-with-patrick-weekes/

[Eryri]

Slightly off topic, but I've just noticed DA2 Legacy on sale on the PSN for £4.99. Is it worth a punt? I've heard it's a bit short.

[DSharrah]

Slightly off topic, but I've just noticed DA2 Legacy on sale on the PSN for £4.99. Is it worth a punt? I've heard it's a bit short.

I thought it was decent...the dialogue amongst your party can be quite interesting...suggested peeps to take: Hawke's sibling, Anders, Varric - these in particular tie really well into the story of Legacy.

[Eryri]

Thanks. I reckon I'll give it a go. I hope Carver's a bit more bearable in it though. I was only too glad to leave that whiny douche behind before the Deep Roads.

[RavenEyry]

Anders gets his opinions retconned if you bring him though. Gaider can't write the chantry with any redeeming qualities so he's gotta make characters schill

[Guest]

In control!

[Hanako Ikezawa]

Slightly off topic, but I've just noticed DA2 Legacy on sale on the PSN for £4.99. Is it worth a punt? I've heard it's a bit short.

I thought it was decent...the dialogue amongst your party can be quite interesting...suggested peeps to take: Hawke's sibling, Anders, Varric - these in particular tie really well into the story of Legacy.

I agree. Anders, Bethany/Carver(especially if they are Grey Wardens in my opinion), and Varric are the three to bring in Legacy.

[Eryri]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll definitely take the fabulous Mr. Tethras along, and Carver for the story. I may have to leave Anders behind on this play through unfortunately. Mainly for party balance reasons as my Hawke is already a healer mage.

[RavenEyry]

If you have a romance, it's worth bringing them cos there's some unique banter with the sibling about it.

[Eryri]

Righto. Fenris, Carver and Varric it is then.

[Hanako Ikezawa]

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