Dragon Age Community News Page

Dragon Age: Origins release date announced!

We are very pleased to announce the official release date for Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age: Origins will be available in North America on October 20, 2009 and in Europe on October 23, 2009. Dragon Age: Origins will simultaneously ship the PC, X-Box 360 and Playstation 3 versions on these dates.

So head out to your local favorite game store and pre-order your copy of Dragon Age: Origins today.

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

GameBanshee interviews Green Ronin about the Dragon Age RPG

Earlier this month, BioWare surprised many of our fans with an announcement that we have teamed up with Green Ronin Publishing to produce a tabletop RPG based on the Dragon Age franchise.

The good folks at GameBanshee sent off some questions to Green Ronin's Chris Pramas in order to learn more about the project.

You can read their question and answer about teh Dragon Age RPG here: Green Ronin Interview

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

Adventures in Geekery

I spent the weekend faux-killing my friends much like the DA Violence trailer but without Mr. Manson singing along and replacing crazy amounts of blood, guts and misery with marshmallows, hot chocolate and a nice waffle breakfast. Part one is up. Extreme nerding ahoy!

Jay W, Community Manager

Dragon Age Pen & Paper game announced

BioWare is very pleased to announce that we have partnered with the good people over at Green Ronin Publishing Green Ronin to create the Dragon Age Pen and Paper role playing game.

The pen and paper game extends the Dragon Age universe, making it more accessible to passionate RPG fans looking for another way to experience the epic fantasy world of Thedas.

You can read more about the game on the Dragon Age site here: Pen & Paper Dragon Age

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

Mabari War Hound update

Dogs are an essential part of Ferelden culture, and no dog is more prized than the Mabari. In Dragon Age: Origins a Mabari Hound can be an essential partner in battle as you face the darkspawn hordes.

We now have a web page devote to the Mabari war hounds with concept art, screenshots and a new video of Dog in action.

You can check out the dog update here: Mabari War Hound

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

New BioWare Blog: The Black, White and Grey choices in RPGs

Alan Miranda, CEO of Ossian Studios, has kindly contributed an entry to the BioWare blog. In his entry, he discusses decisions in gaming and how there needs to be the black, white and grey in the choices you make.

You can check out Alan's blog and the other BioWare blog entries here: The Black, White and Grey

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

Sexy Beasts and Your Chosen Hobby

Let's stop for a moment and consider just how excellent we all are: Top Ten Reasons Gaming Makes You a Sexy Beast

Jay W, Community Manager

Follow BioWare, Dragon Age and Mass Effect on Twitter

BioWare has joined up with Twitter to keep all of our fans up to date on what we are up to. Many different people here at BioWare, such as artists, writers, Ray and Greg, yours truly and many more, will be posting on the Twitter feed.

We'll be sharing cool tips available first to Twitter users, posting about our lives here at the office or at conventions and events and possibly revealing the secret inner workings of the famed BioWare lunch.

Join up with Twitter and follow us along. You can follow our feed here: Follow BioWare on Twitter

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

Violence whoooo!

Not sure if that game, movie, T.V. show, glue and macramé craft project is awesome? Look no further. Face Punching!

Jay W, Community Manager

iGoogle your own Dragon Age Origins homepage

BioWare is pleased to be working with Google to offer you the ability to create a Dragon Age Origins themed personalized iGoogle page.

iGoogle gives you at-a-glance access to information from Google and across the web. Make a Dragon Age Origins iGoogle page your homepage by clicking here: iGoogle Dragon Age Origins

Head over to iGoogle and select your Dragon Age Origins themed iGoogle page now.

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

BioWare, Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect 2 on Gametrailers TV this week

Geoff Keighley and the fine folks from Gametrailers TV were here at the BioWare Edmonton office last week recording and interviewing for their awesome video game news show Gametrailers on Spike TV.

The episode where they discuss BioWare, Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect 2 featuring interviews with Ray Muzyka, Dan Tudge and Casey Hudson will be available on Spike TV this Friday March 27 at 10 pm PST.

Check your local schedules for times to make sure you don't miss the coolness. Here is a small taste of what you'll see when you catch their show: Watch Gametrailers

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

Dragon Age Toolset Beta Test now open

We are taking applications now from Community members who want to participate in this closed-beta test of the Dragon Age: Origins Toolset, an opportunity to help temper the Dragon Age Toolset into something that may be used for years to come by a vast and thriving community.

We are looking for a wide range of computer systems, testing experience and a variety of technical areas of expertise. No experience with toolsets? No problem. We are looking for all types of users.

To Apply for the Dragon Age Toolset Beta test, please click here: Dragon Age Toolset Beta

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

David Gaider's tips for writers on how to enter the video game industry.

Ever wonder how to get into the games business as a writer?

David Gaider, Lead Writer for Dragon Age: Origins and author of Dragon Age The Stolen Throne, gives us some tips in a new installment on the BioWare Blog.

You can read Mr Gaider's tips and other BioWare blog entries here: Tips to get a job as a writer for video games

We'd like to hear your thoughts on David's tips. You can ask them in a thread on the Dragon Age forums here: Discussion Thread

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

Finishing a Novel Q&A with David Gaider

On March 3, Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne hit bookstores for fans everywhere. Author David Gaider, Lead Writer on the Dragon Age: Origins video game answered a few questions on this unique experience as a professional story teller:

Question: Have you seen your book on store shelves yet? If so how did that feel?

David Gaider: I haven’t seen the book on a store shelf just yet, though I’ve been told by some others who have. I have to admit to feeling tempted to drive out to a bookstore just to see it there, however. I’ve already seen the book in its finished form, as my publisher sent me an advance copy hot off the presses just so I could hold it in my hands. That was quite a feeling, I have to say. It made me sit down and immediately start reading it all over again, and somehow it felt like I was doing that for the first time. Having everything all typeset right there on the page… incredible. I may have done a little dance.

Question: What was the most difficult part of the whole process from inception to finished copy?

DG: The most difficult part is the beginning. You can plan as much as you want, but when you sit down to write those first few pages you’ll find yourself staring at a blank wall. You know these characters perfectly, and somehow you’ve got to introduce them to the reader and set up the situation before you can hit that “comfortable spot” where everyone knows what’s going on and you’re in the groove. I still don’t know that the way I started the book off was the best way to go. Once I finished it, I probably changed it a dozen times and now could probably happily re-write the entire chapter to start the story off differently. At some point, however, you have to stop second-guessing yourself. I see a lot of would-be authors who dwell on each and every page, striving for perfection. While perfection is admirable, it’s not achievable and chances are you’re just going to become discouraged if you make no headway. Sometimes you just need to write and then come back to that part later and edit. My editor kept telling me this constantly and it took me a long time to believe it.

Question: Any advice for writers on where to start?

DG: Advice on where to start? An outline – and by that I don’t mean something brief and point-form, I mean a detailed outline. I know myself, and if I don’t have a clear idea of where I’m supposed to be going I will wander off track. I hear that from so many other writers. “I wrote an outline but three chapters in I went somewhere else completely! And then I got stuck!” You didn’t write an outline, then, and you didn’t have a clear idea of what you were doing before you began. Some writers advise keeping detailed documentation on everything, from every sub-plot to every character. I don’t think I could do that. I’m not a very document-oriented person. But it was invaluable for me to work up to a chapter-by-chapter breakdown where I outlined exactly what was happening and why. I had to see it in my head and imagine the scenes as they might be written. If you leave something vague you’re going to get to that point in your writing and draw a blank – you need to make sure that you can proceed from A to B to C and it makes sense to you. My outline was about twenty pages and worked great. Individual mileage may vary (I know someone who writes out of sequence – I couldn’t do that. I have to write the less-exciting parts as they come, or I know I’ll never find my way back to them later) but if what you’re doing hasn’t been working for you so far then you need to try something else, don’t you?

David wrote an article on the experience of writing a novel for the first time here: Writing a Novel

We'd like to hear your thoughts on the Q&A with David about his novel. You can post them in a thread on the Dragon Age forums here: Discussion Thread

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

Discuss the new Dragon Age novel: The Stolen Throne authored by BioWare's David Gaider

The novel Dragon Age: The Stone Throne by David Gaider is due on store shelves March 3 here in North America (check with your local retailer for exact release date.) David is not only the author of the novel, he is also the Lead Writer for Dragon Age Origins.

We know there are going to be many fans of both Dragon Age and of great Fantasy novels who will be picking up this book, so we have created a discussion thread on the forums for you to post your feedback.

Please keep in mind that other fans will be discussing the novel here, so their posts may contain story or plot spoilers. If you do not want to risk having anything spoiled for you, maybe wait until you read your own copy and then join in the discusison.

Who knows? Maybe even the author himself may stop in to discuss his book?

So please purchase your copy today, read it through a few times, and then come join the discussion on the novel here: Discussion Thread

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

Dragon Age Trailer Preview

On February 12th we are premiering a brand new Dragon Age trailer on Gamespot, and want to give our community members a sneakpeek at this thrilling video. Head over to the gallery page and sign in to see exclusive still shots from the trailer. If you are not a community member, simply sign up to access these shots and see other exclusive content. Discuss.

We're ready to go at the Comic Con

The PCs all arrived intact (and these are $7000 Alienware supermachines. Seriously, they could run China.), the hard drives all hooked up corrctly, the posters are ready to be given away and we're all ready to go.

All we need is you. Come out and see us. COME NOW!

More details tomorrow night after the first day's madness. Stay Tuned.

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

Eat at Becco's

We just got back from Becco's Italian Restaurant.

I don't know if you are aware of this, but New York has Italian Restaurants. No, it's true. I don't know the exact number, but it is likely more than 6.

Anyways, Becco's is a great place to eat. The food was incredible (including the Tagliatelle with black truffles and the zabaglione), the servers were friendly and helpful, the wine was excellent and everything was top notch.

So if you are in New York tonight and are thinking "Hmmm... I could go for some spinach ravioli and a veal parm, Becco's has Evil Chris Priestly's recommendation.

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

Dragon Age in New York City

HEELLLOOO NNEEEWWW YOOORRKKKK!!!

Sorry, thought I was Mick Jagger for a second there. Well hello anyways from NYC where the BioWare Community guys are in town for Comic Con.

We're getting ready to head over to the Javitts Center to set up our booth and get the demo of Dragon Age Origins ready for fans to come by and experiece first hand. We've also got a bunch of other cool EA titles on hand and some free DAO Origin Story posters to give away. Make sure you come by our booth and see us and watch the new DA trailer on the screens at the booth.

We're also going to be updating the Conventions Page with images and videos of the trip. So make sure you check out the Conferences page for updates: Convention Page

We'll post some details soon. Stay Tuned.

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

New BioWare Blog: Cori May blogs about being a technical designer at BioWare why DA custcenes make her swoon

The BioWare Blog has been updated with two new installments written by Cori May, BioWare's first female technical designer.

In her blogs, Cori discusses some of the highs of her job here (like helping create the appearance of Carth Onassi and making sexy cutscenes) and the lows as well (like getting pulled into giant tasks not related to her level design or cutscene work).

She also drops some hints about the more "adult" nature of some of Dragon Age Origin's cutscenes and why they make her swoon.

You can read Cori's thoughts and the other BioWare blog entries here: Trials and Tribulations of Being a Level Designer

We'd like to hear your thoughts on Cori's blog or if you have any questions for Cori. You can ask them in a thread on the Dragon Age forums here: Discussion Thread

Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator