There is a lot I could say about this but in the interest of keeping it a brief youtube comment I will focus on what this could mean for the game. So it sounds like were only recreating Inquisition's major story moments and not the first two games. With the addition of 10 years in-game having passed I suppose that could mean the events of the first two games will be only vaguely reffered to in which case the scope of this new game will be shrunk down tremendously compared to what the series intended from the beginning. Or They will be using the "Bioware canon" for the first two games that they refer to when writing the books and shows. In either case the loss here is I really won't know how the story ends for either my Hero of Fereldon or my Champion of Kirkwall. I might find an ending for Bioware's but it won't be nearly as satisfying. Either version raises some concern for the new release but I am truly looking forward to it and hoping for atleast a strong transition into a new era of Dragon Age. P.S. Writing this made me realize I have a LOT I could say on this topic. Surprised myself honestly.
Savegame imports give players the illusion that all their choices mattered. To sell the illusion, the devs might even build quests or NPC encounters around seemingly insignificant decisions from previous games. BUT remember the world state builder that used to be available on the official site? (Maybe it's still there... haven't checked) That's a peek at the man behind the curtain. The player choices / quest resolutions that get imported cover less than half all of the quests. And on top of that, the storyline of a sequel sometimes completely invalidates the choice made in a previous game, regardless of import. (Leliana's death for example) I think they're just showing us the selection mechanism that would've been applied anyway if savegame imports were a thing. But is it natural to be disappointed that so few of our choices matter? Yeah, of course.
Leliana is revealed to be a lyrium ghost if she died in Origins and you do not make her Divine in DAI. Which is a bit of a dodge on the death situation, but not too far of a reach considering where she died. Raises a lot of questions on what a lyrium ghost Divine Victoria might have ended up doing long term though. Just imagine your Hero of Ferelden hearing about how that person they killed years ago became Divine. The Keep is still up and about and still used for Inquisition. Has not had an update or anything in years though. The save game imports were less an illusion for me but more an attempt to salvage the original intention of DAO. Which was telling a really long term story over a series of DLC packs. A project they could have continued with DA2 being on just an upgraded version of the same engine. Sadly Good ol' EA out here forcing their Frostbite Engine and bad deadlines kind of killed any chance of the save game imports from being anything more than a shell of its original intent.
I don’t think it matters what our opinion is because they already decided to do it this way (without imports). 'For now' Dragon Age Keep will remain up so we can review past story choices. I'm sure Bioware discussed the players' possible complaints before they decided this would have to do, regardless of the importance to us. That said, I played Origins when they thought it would be a one shot game, and I loved it like a favorite book, and my part in it stayed with me all these 15 years. I care far more about my Warden than Hawke or the Inquisitor. I got enjoyment from the crumbs of influence, changes, and relationships my Warden impacted. I hoped for closure all this time but feel it is a lost cause after all the turnover of writer's jobs and EA turmoil with Bioware. However, I won't buy DA: The Veilguard, because of the woke increase, pansexual backstories, full nudity, etc., so I am not who Bioware and EA make games for anymore. I will watch the UA-cam videos that players put out (if they're not filthy) and read the DA Wiki to get the lore I seek to learn and hope for some story closures. I hope there is good writing left in the Bioware company. We'll see.
There is a lot I could say about this but in the interest of keeping it a brief youtube comment I will focus on what this could mean for the game.
So it sounds like were only recreating Inquisition's major story moments and not the first two games. With the addition of 10 years in-game having passed I suppose that could mean the events of the first two games will be only vaguely reffered to in which case the scope of this new game will be shrunk down tremendously compared to what the series intended from the beginning.
Or
They will be using the "Bioware canon" for the first two games that they refer to when writing the books and shows.
In either case the loss here is I really won't know how the story ends for either my Hero of Fereldon or my Champion of Kirkwall. I might find an ending for Bioware's but it won't be nearly as satisfying.
Either version raises some concern for the new release but I am truly looking forward to it and hoping for atleast a strong transition into a new era of Dragon Age.
P.S.
Writing this made me realize I have a LOT I could say on this topic. Surprised myself honestly.
Savegame imports give players the illusion that all their choices mattered. To sell the illusion, the devs might even build quests or NPC encounters around seemingly insignificant decisions from previous games. BUT remember the world state builder that used to be available on the official site? (Maybe it's still there... haven't checked) That's a peek at the man behind the curtain. The player choices / quest resolutions that get imported cover less than half all of the quests. And on top of that, the storyline of a sequel sometimes completely invalidates the choice made in a previous game, regardless of import. (Leliana's death for example) I think they're just showing us the selection mechanism that would've been applied anyway if savegame imports were a thing.
But is it natural to be disappointed that so few of our choices matter? Yeah, of course.
Leliana is revealed to be a lyrium ghost if she died in Origins and you do not make her Divine in DAI. Which is a bit of a dodge on the death situation, but not too far of a reach considering where she died. Raises a lot of questions on what a lyrium ghost Divine Victoria might have ended up doing long term though. Just imagine your Hero of Ferelden hearing about how that person they killed years ago became Divine.
The Keep is still up and about and still used for Inquisition. Has not had an update or anything in years though.
The save game imports were less an illusion for me but more an attempt to salvage the original intention of DAO. Which was telling a really long term story over a series of DLC packs. A project they could have continued with DA2 being on just an upgraded version of the same engine. Sadly Good ol' EA out here forcing their Frostbite Engine and bad deadlines kind of killed any chance of the save game imports from being anything more than a shell of its original intent.
I don’t think it matters what our opinion is because they already decided to do it this way (without imports). 'For now' Dragon Age Keep will remain up so we can review past story choices. I'm sure Bioware discussed the players' possible complaints before they decided this would have to do, regardless of the importance to us.
That said, I played Origins when they thought it would be a one shot game, and I loved it like a favorite book, and my part in it stayed with me all these 15 years. I care far more about my Warden than Hawke or the Inquisitor. I got enjoyment from the crumbs of influence, changes, and relationships my Warden impacted. I hoped for closure all this time but feel it is a lost cause after all the turnover of writer's jobs and EA turmoil with Bioware.
However, I won't buy DA: The Veilguard, because of the woke increase, pansexual backstories, full nudity, etc., so I am not who Bioware and EA make games for anymore. I will watch the UA-cam videos that players put out (if they're not filthy) and read the DA Wiki to get the lore I seek to learn and hope for some story closures. I hope there is good writing left in the Bioware company. We'll see.