CONFESSION:

In response to the confessions regarding the Feast Day/Prank  gift giving system, in Origins....I pretty much agree how it should never return to the game. As an experiment,  I once gave a ton of cake and thoughtful gifts to Alistair and he declared his feelings to me just before we got out of Lothering.  I'm sure if I had tried it with Zevran I would have gotten his massage offer. It should be a combination of DA2's along with Inquisition where you have a specific quest to help the companion you want to romance. 

In the midst of this current Dragon Age drought, today I'm exploring many reasons why we should all be excited for Dragon Age 4! From its exciting single-player pivot to BioWare's developments with the Frostbite engine, and so much more! 🐲🐺

The Next Dragon Age game is officially titled “Dragon Age: Dreadwolf”.

Latest details

Who is the Dread Wolf?

Solas, the Dread Wolf. Some say he might be an ancient elven god, but some say not. Others say a betrayer of his people… or a savior who now seeks to rescue them at the cost of your world. His motives are inscrutable and his methods sometimes questionable, earning him a reputation as something of a trickster deity—a player of dark and dangerous games.

Whether you’re new to Dragon Age stories or you’ve experienced them all, using Solas’s namesake no doubt suggests a spectrum of endless possibilities on where things may go. But at the core of this, like every past game, is you. If you’re new to Dragon Age, you have no need to worry about not having met our antagonist just yet. He’ll properly introduce himself when the time is right, but we did hint at his return when we announced #TheDreadWolfRises back in 2018.

More Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Later This Year

We suspect you have questions and they’ll be answered in time. While the game won’t be releasing this year, we’re growing closer to that next adventure. Rest assured, Solas is placing his pieces on the board as we speak. That’s all we have for now, but we hope knowing the official title has sparked some intrigue, as we’ll be talking more about the game later this year!

What do you think #Dreadwolf could mean?

[source (Senior Reporter at Kotaku), linked Kotaku article, two, 'FC 24's performance link', three, four, @/N7SeveranceDay (source of the last two images, "Account supporting BioWare employees laid off in 2023."), five, six, Polygon tweet, Polygon article]

"BioWare Continues to Refuse to Pay Severance" statement transcript:

“BioWare Continues to Refuse to Pay Severance On August 23 of this year, BioWare eliminated “approximately 50 roles at BioWare”. Following the layoffs, seven ex-BioWare employees engaged the services of R. Alex Kennedy to represent their interests, stating that the amount of severance offered was insufficient under Alberta common law. Counsel for the employees has attempted to reach a compromise that would avoid requiring lengthy court proceedings, but BioWare’s lawyers refused any offers to negotiate and settle out of court. The basis of Kennedy’s claim is that according to Alberta precedents and under Canadian law, these employees should be receiving approximately 1.7 months of severance per year of service they gave to BioWare. BioWare has now filed a Statement of Defence, which argues that the seven terminated employees are only entitled to two weeks of severance per year spent in service to BioWare, because of a contract provision that Kennedy says is not enforceable. The filing means BioWare will be taking these former employees to court rather than working towards finding an out of court resolution. The developers involved in the suit have expressed their disappointment: - “We are disappointed that BioWare prefers stalling and intimidation tactics to fair dealing with people who have given years, and in some cases decades, of dedication and hard work to the company.” - “We believe they are using intimidation and stalling tactics to try and get us to drop out. A lot of the more junior employees and those with families, who had more monetary pressure on them, could not risk waiting on a court case that may take many months more to resolve, and have already had to drop out.” - “At the time of the layoffs, BioWare offered us professional assistance in finding new employment, and an additional payment, but ONLY on the condition that we signed an agreement saying we cannot talk about any details of the settlement, and that we would completely waive any right to legal action or even to complain in any way about anyone associated with BioWare now or ever in the future. Tactics like that sure make me think that BioWare knows it is in the wrong.” - “Despite what they publicly announced when they laid us off, this process has been anything but empathetic, respectful, and communicative.” The latest BioWare layoffs were the third round so far this year, and many of the developers affected even in earlier rounds are still searching for work, though some have started to find new positions. Regardless of employment status, the members of the current lawsuit state they remain determined to pursue BioWare in court, regardless of their employment status: - “We strongly believe that if Dragon Age: Dreadwolf does not do as well as BioWare or EA wants at launch, there will be more, even larger layoffs. Therefore, regardless of our own well-being, we believe it is important to hold BioWare responsible and get a clear decision on what settlement amount is legal. We’re no longer part of the development team, so the best way we can help our former teammates now is to hold BioWare accountable and ensure that the next group who is laid off are not treated as poorly as we were.” November 7th marks “N7 Day”, which is a fan celebration of BioWare’s Mass Effect games featuring Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy. The developers involved in the lawsuit are hoping N7 Day this year will be a reminder to BioWare of the importance of loyalty to your crew, and hope fans can have a little fun and help express their support with memes and images using an #N7SeveranceDay hashtag. The ex-employees involved in the suit are all based in Canada and have an average of 14 years at BioWare.”

[source]

You can express your support using the hashtag #N7SeveranceDay.

Edit: [Part 2/update] [more on the Keywords topic]

they gave him long greying hair 4 me<3xoxoxo

did a piece in the LU server's gift exchange ! something of survival and reunions and smug little shadowguys

dorian scetch because i miss him :(

Marian Hawke's wardrobe through the years (9:30-9:42)

Can I say something that blows my mind about Varric and Solas’ relationship? Imo Varric was THIS close to actually convincing Solas. we all talk about romanced Lavellan almost getting him to admit everything and possibly give up his plans, but we neeeeddddd to give Varric props like this man was really about to convince a whole ass god (literally named Pride) that he is wrong, that going through with some self destructive attempt at rectifying ur mistakes by destroying the world is Not the proper way to process ur grief, and Varric doesn’t even know he’s doing it. Varric really is the party bard fr the charisma score on this man………..

yes I’m talking about the man on the island banter. Every time I hear it I tear my hair out because VARRIC you almost HAD HIM he was CRUMBLING I just KNOW IT

"Meeting you was the most important thing to ever happen to me, Hawke."

Guess who romanced him again.

CONFESSION

When it comes to an inquisitor cameo, I'm not expecting a big cameo because its been a long time since Dragon Age Inquisition and the fandom only represents a small portion of who actually buy these games.  They have to create this game for the average consumer who purchases a few games a year.  They are not going to waste the budget/resources on a big cameo.   And if there is a cameo, there will be those who will like it, there will be those neutral on it, and there will be the fringe group who will be so disappointed and angry they will think the developers are out to get back at them because it will not be the came they wanted or expected. No matter the outcome its going to be a no win situation.

Anyone wanna play "Who's Brave Enough to Poke Meredith?"

bioware this year:

a revelation.

(please do not tag/comment with your OC)

Source: posted to Twitter just now by Jon Renish [link]

Transcript:

"Terminated BioWare Employees Sue for Better Severance On August 23 of this year, Edmonton video game studio BioWare ULC terminated 50 employees without cause. In most recent court cases of termination without cause, Alberta Courts have awarded at least one month of severance pay per year of service, with the full value of all benefits included; the severance that BioWare offered to these employees was significantly less than this amount. Several of those ex-employees attempted to negotiate with BioWare for adequate severance, but BioWare refused to increase its severance amounts. Seven employees, with an average of 14 years at BioWare, have refused to accept BioWare's low offers, and have filed a Statement of Claim with Alberta's Court of King's Bench, requesting fair severance pay and including a request for punitive damages for what they say is unreasonably poor treatment by BioWare. "In light of the numerous recent industry layoffs and the fact that BioWare's NDAs prevent us from showing any of our recent work on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf in our portfolios, we are very concerned about the difficulty many of us will have finding work as the holiday season approaches," said one of the terminated employees, "While we remain supportive of the game we worked so hard on, and of our colleagues continuing that work, we are struggling to understand why BioWare is shortchanging us in this challenging time." R. Alex Kennedy, counsel for the seven employees, says that even in cases where BioWare has contracts that discuss termination, BioWare may have included illegal provisions: "There are many situations where employers include termination provisions that are not enforced by the Courts," he said, "and I think we see that in this case too. BioWare attempted to reduce its obligation to these employees well below what the courts typically award, including by eliminating benefits from its termination pay - that appears to be contrary to the Employment Standards Code." In Kennedy's opinion, these employees deserve generous severance pay: "These people are artists and creators who have worked very hard and for a very long time in a difficult industry, producing big profits for their employer. Their termination without cause en masse like this calls for a response. Employers here can terminate anyone at any time without cause, but with that right comes a responsibility to the people they put in that situation.""

Bee (that’s me) would like to thank all voters who have participated in the BioWare Blorbo Beat Down of 2023! Congratulations to Tali and Fenris for winning second place in their respective titles! Check back in tomorrow to see who has become The Best Blorbo!