BioWare at the San Diego Comic Con

Hi Everyone,

BioWare is pleased to be visiting San Diego once again to be part of San Diego Comic Con. This year, BioWare will be part of the Dark Horse Comics booth inside the exhibit hall; as part of our booth presence, Community Manager Jessica Merizan will have members of the Dragon Age and Mass Effect teams, along with special guests.

Come out and meet Jessica, along with Mass Effect producer Mike Gamble, Dragon Age editor Ben Gelinas, and Dragon Age artist Nick Thornborrow. Ben and Nick are the creators of the Dragon Age: The World of Thedas lore book, and will be on hand at the BioWare section of the Dark Horse Comics booth to sign autographs with fans; they look forward to talking with fans in attendance. We are also working to have some special guests visit us; we’ll update everyone when they are confirmed.

Visiting the Dark Horse booth is your only chance to get your hands on the San Diego Comic Con exclusive, the Bronze SR-1 Normandy. There are only 300 of these available and are limited to two per person, so make sure you come to get yours before they run out.

We hope to see you at the Dark Horse Comics booth at San Diego Comic Con!

BioWare GM Aaryn Flynn Reflects on E3 2013

Before the world premiere of the Dragon Age: Inquisition teaser trailer aired this past Monday at E3, BioWare GM Aaryn Flynn waited patiently backstage for his name to be called. He was tasked with introducing the video to the hundreds of people in attendance, as well as the hundreds of thousands of people watching the conference live online and on Spike TV. Then, in a matter of two minutes and twenty-eight seconds, it was all over.

We caught up with Aaryn after the event to get his thoughts on what his experience was like, and to confirm the first few known details about Dragon Age: Inquisition.

What did it feel like to show the first glimpse of Dragon Age: Inquisition to the world during the E3 press conference?

[Aaryn Flynn]: Very humbling. Many team members who are much closer to the game could have stood up there, but I got chosen because I’m more ‘expendable’! To represent their collective effort, in front of thousands of people is a big responsibility.

I wish I could convey how hard the team has been working for the past couple of years on the game. They had a vision to not do a CG trailer, but instead to show a trailer made from in-game footage, and they accomplished that in spades. But beyond that, there’s so much we haven’t shown yet, and we will very soon. This was just the team’s way of showing a small window into the game for fans that’ve been with us from the beginning.

The cheers of the live crowd came through loud and clear during the livestream. What was the reception from the crowd like in person and what did it mean to you?

[AMF]: That was crazy! When Peter Moore, EA’s COO, mentioned Dragon Age in the opening of the show and fans in the audience cheered, that was so nice to hear. It was funny to hear Peter call them “BioWare employees”, because in some ways we’re all part of the same extended family. We owe our fans everything, and the time and effort being put into Dragon Age will absolutely reflect that when all is said and done.

You shared just a few of the first details about the game during the conference, but for those that weren’t able to watch, could you leave us with a refresher?

[AMF]: Dragon Age: Inquisition will launch in the Fall of 2014 on PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360. We’ve shown Varric, a Qunari (who has a name, we’re just not releasing it yet!), Cassandra, and Morrigan.

With the breach of the Fade happening in the sky, demons have poured out and created a pretty big problem for the Inquisitor, the character you will play. You’ll have to cover huge areas of Thedas to uncover what happened. As you do, the choices you make will impact the world and bring everything to an ultimate conclusion.

World of Thedas – Volume 1: An Erratum

World of Thedas – Volume 1: An Erratum by Brother Genitivi

I once gave a lecture at the University of Orlais on the conflict between fact and belief.

“Gathering accurate information is challenging in a place as vast and fragmented as Thedas,” I told the students. “Sources may conflict wildly.”

This portion of my lecture was excerpted in a recent encyclopedia entitled The World of Thedas. The author of this text is unnamed, and prefers it that way. But I know him. I have studied with him. And I can speak to his obsession with detail and objectivity, the latter being something with which I sometimes struggle.

You could say that his approach with regards to accuracy is “ruthless.”

But, as I said in Val Royeaux, ours is a large, complicated world. It is perhaps inevitable that a few errors survive numerous readings and are then committed to print.

With this in mind, here are a few points in The World of Thedas that, based on my studies and travels, warrant correction:

Page 12: The main text states that the First Blight lasted one hundred years. Most authorities agree that it was fought for 192 years. The timeline in the tome is correct.

Page 12: The timeline states that the Old Gods whispered to humanity from the Black City in -2800 Ancient. At this time, the legendary city would still be known as “The Golden City,” as it was not yet sullied by the presence of men.

Page 126: The timeline also states that in 8:45 Blessed, the Fereldan nobility continued a “guerrilla war against the occupying Orlesians, led by Brandel’s daughter Moira.” While the Rebel Queen Moira did eventually lead the war, she was born after 8:45 Blessed.

Page 136: The timeline puts Celene’s birth at 9:6 and her ascension at 9:20, making her, according to the timeline, fourteen when she became empress. However, the main text says she was sixteen when she took the throne. By all accounts, the main text is correct. Celene was born in 9:4 Dragon.

Page 141: There are rumors in some circles of an intelligent darkspawn known as the Architect, who attempted to unearth and kill the remaining Old Gods and taint the entire surface world. Though the timeline says 9:14 Dragon, most reliable sources state these events actually occurred in 9:10 Dragon.

Page 146: The timeline states that Bhelen Aeducan was the middle child of King Endrin Aeducan. He was actually King Endrin’s youngest child.

Page 157: The main text says that the darkspawn sacked Minrathous in 1:31 Divine. While it is true that Minrathous nearly fell during the Second Blight, the infamous heart of the Imperium has never actually been taken. This is stated elsewhere in the book.

Page 176: In the glossary, the definition of Archon as Tevinter’s “monarch” is technically incorrect. It would be more accurate to call the Archon a “ruler.”

Page 177: The “First Warden” is the leader of the Grey Wardens at Weisshaupt. The glossary incorrectly states that he is the “Commander of the Grey.” I’m not sure what my peer was drinking when he wrote this one.

With these corrections, perhaps the record has now been set straight. I hope you have found the tome as enlightening as I have.

Yours in scholarly devotion,

Brother Ferdinand Genitivi

BioWare Field Trip in Montreal!

On Monday, May 27th the team at BioWare Montreal spent the afternoon gazing at the heavens at our local planetarium. The team was lucky enough see interesting exhibits including many meteorite specimens, and also gaze at the cosmos for two shows!

Was this research for the next Mass Effect game? Who can say, but it was fun and educational. Plus, the team enjoyed a much deserved afternoon off!

Sundae Fun-Day at BioWare!

On Wednesday May 29 the team at BioWare Edmonton spent some time building a delicious bowl of Ice Cream Sundae. With over 24 toppings to choose from, each person had time to create their own master piece with crunchy, gooey, salty, and an array sweet toppings. A delicious time was had by all!