For the the love of God, do not let Dragon Age ROT
To Electronic Arts, IF YOU NO LONGER WANT DRAGON AGE, SELL IT TO SOMEONE WHO DOES. SOMEONE WHO LOVES IT, CARES ABOUT IT, AND WILL NURTURE IT INSTEAD OF LETTING IT ROT. I cannot believe that after everything Dragon Age has given us, after decades of worldbuilding, unforgettable characters, difficult choices, political intrigue, heartbreak, and stories that have stayed with people long after the credits rolled, we are facing the possibility that this franchise will simply be abandoned. With BioWare's reported closure, the future of Dragon Age has become even more uncertain. The studio that created this world, developed its identity, and made millions of people fall in love with Thedas may no longer be there to carry it forward. And that is heartbreaking. But the end of BioWare does not have to mean the end of Dragon Age. EA, you own this franchise. You have the power to decide whether it gets another chance or becomes another beloved intellectual property locked away in a corporate vault, remembered only by the fans who refuse to forget it. If you no longer have the ambition, willingness, or confidence to invest in another Dragon Age, then please do the right thing. SELL IT TO A STUDIO THAT ACTUALLY WANTS IT. Find developers who love role-playing games, understand the importance of companion relationships, want to create intricate political narratives, and are willing to invest in the world rather than simply exploit its name. Dragon Age deserves more than indefinite silence. It deserves a future. And there is so much more this franchise could have been. 1. PROJECT JOPLIN: THE VISION THAT COULD HAVE TAKEN DRAGON AGE IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION One of the most frustrating things about Dragon Age: The Veilguard is looking back at the earlier development concepts and imagining what might have been. Project Joplin and the subsequent development of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf represent different stages in the franchise's history, but the possibilities associated with a more politically focused Dragon Age remain incredibly exciting. I wanted a game that embraced political intrigue, espionage, factional conflict, complicated relationships, and the consequences of decisions that could reshape entire nations. I wanted a game that built upon the legacy of Inquisition instead of making that legacy feel like something the franchise needed to move away from. Imagine playing as Rook, not simply another hero recruited to save the world, but an agent of the Inquisition operating in the shadows of Tevinter and the wider Thedas. Imagine infiltrating organisations, investigating conspiracies, gathering intelligence, cultivating alliances, and deciding which factions deserve your trust. Imagine having to navigate the competing interests of the Inquisition, Tevinter's ruling elite, the Qunari, the Crows, and other powerful organisations while trying to prevent a catastrophe that none of them can solve alone. Imagine Dorian Pavus, Morrigan, and Isabela serving as your advisors, each bringing their own expertise, relationships, and personal agendas to the table. Dorian could help Rook navigate Tevinter's political establishment, its magisters, and its entrenched social hierarchies. Morrigan could advise on ancient elven history, forbidden magic, and the secrets surrounding the Evanuris. Isabela could provide connections to smugglers, pirates, mercenaries, and the criminal underworld. And imagine those advisors disagreeing with one another. Imagine Dorian advocating reform within Tevinter while Morrigan argues that the immediate threat to the world matters more than the Imperium's political future. Imagine Isabela pointing out the practical consequences of decisions made by people who have never had to live with them. Imagine being forced to choose whose advice to follow, knowing that even your most trusted allies might be wrong. This could have been a Dragon Age in which information was as valuable as a sword, relationships mattered as much as combat, and decisions made during seemingly minor missions could have consequences several chapters later. I am not claiming that every early concept was guaranteed to become a finished feature. I am saying that the creative possibilities were exciting, and that the franchise still had so much unexplored potential. I WANTED A DRAGON AGE THAT TRUSTED ITS AUDIENCE WITH COMPLEXITY. 2. CALPERNIA AND IMSHAEL SHOULD HAVE BEEN PARTY MEMBERS Why not take some of the most fascinating characters in the setting and give them the opportunity to become genuine companions? Calpernia is one of the most compelling characters associated with Corypheus and the Venatori. A former Tevinter slave who rose through the ranks of a movement she believed could change her homeland, she embodies the contradictions at the heart of the Imperium. She is not simply a villain who wants power for its own sake. Her motivations are connected to injustice, ambition, and her belief that the existing order is fundamentally broken. Imagine recruiting Calpernia after confronting the consequences of her allegiance. Imagine travelling through Tevinter with someone who knows its institutions from the inside, someone who has suffered under its social hierarchy and nevertheless became involved in a movement that served a terrible cause. Would she believe Tevinter could be reformed? Would she challenge Dorian's methods? Would she consider the Inquisition another organisation trying to impose its will on others? Could Rook earn her trust, or would she eventually decide that the cause mattered more than the people standing beside her? There is an entire companion arc waiting to be explored there. And then there is Imshael. A powerful and unpredictable desire demon, Imshael is exactly the sort of character who could make a party fascinating. Imagine having a companion who delights in temptation, who sees morality differently from everyone else, and whose motives are never entirely trustworthy. Imagine the conversations around the campfire. Imagine Imshael offering solutions that would genuinely help the party, only for those solutions to come with consequences that no sensible person should accept. Would he help Rook because he cared about the cause, because he was entertained, or because he wanted to see what would happen when someone was pushed to their limits? Could he develop unexpected attachments to his companions without ever becoming entirely safe? Would the player be able to influence his behaviour without fundamentally changing what he was? Calpernia and Imshael would bring radically different perspectives to the party. One understands the human cost of oppressive institutions; the other embodies the dangerous allure of desire and temptation. Both could challenge the player's assumptions. Both could disagree with Rook. Both could create companion quests that explore the moral ambiguity Dragon Age was built to handle. WHY SETTLE FOR A PARTY THAT NEVER FULLY EXPLORES THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE WORLD IT INHABITS? Dragon Age is full of fascinating characters whose stories could go in unexpected directions. Give them the chance to surprise us. 3. BRING STEN BACK AS THE ARISHOK Sten deserves another appearance. Imagine the original companion from Dragon Age: Origins returning as the Arishok, representing the Qunari in a position of immense political and military power. That is an opportunity to bring the franchise's history into its future in a meaningful way. Sten was fascinating because he was not simply a warrior who disagreed with the other characters. He represented an entirely different understanding of society, duty, identity, and freedom. Imagine meeting him again after all these years, no longer travelling through Ferelden as a stranger, but standing before Rook as a leader whose decisions could determine the fate of entire nations. Imagine the tension between two people who might respect one another but have profoundly different beliefs. Imagine negotiating with him while the conflict between the Qunari and Tevinter threatens to engulf the continent. Would he remember the Warden with respect? Would the events of Origins have changed his outlook? Would his personal history matter when his responsibilities to the Qun demanded something entirely different? These are the kinds of questions that make returning characters worthwhile. Not a cameo for nostalgia's sake. Not a brief conversation that exists to remind us of an older game. A genuine continuation of a character's story. LET US SEE STEN AGAIN. LET US SEE WHAT HE HAS BECOME. LET HIS RETURN MATTER. Dragon Age should not be afraid of its own history. The people who played the earlier games deserve to see that history influence the future of Thedas. 4. ARCHON RADONIS DESERVED A PROPER APPEARANCE And what about Archon Radonis? If a game is going to explore Tevinter, then why not give its Archon a proper role in the story? A character holding the highest political office in the Imperium represents an enormous opportunity to explore the institution itself, its internal divisions, and the people who benefit from its existing power structures. Instead of killing Radonis off screen, why not let us meet him? Let us hear his arguments. Let us understand what he wants for Tevinter, what he fears, and what he is willing to do to preserve his position. Is he a reformer? A traditionalist? A pragmatist attempting to hold together an empire that is more fragile than it appears? Could he become an ally? An obstacle? A ruler who believes that making terrible compromises is the only way to prevent something worse? Imagine Rook being granted an audience with the Archon, only to discover that Tevinter's political situation is far more complicated than anyone anticipated. Imagine Radonis playing a meaningful role in negotiations involving the Qunari, the Venatori, the Magisterium, and the future of the Imperium. And if he had to die, then give him an actual story. Let us witness the circumstances, understand the consequences, and experience the political upheaval his death causes. DO NOT DISPOSE OF AN IMPORTANT POLITICAL FIGURE OFF SCREEN SIMPLY BECAUSE HIS ROLE IS DIFFICULT TO WRITE. If Tevinter matters, then explore its government. If the Archon matters, then give him a presence. If his decisions shape the world, then let the player experience them. Thedas is supposed to be a world where politics matters. Its most powerful political figures should not feel like disposable names in a codex. 5. LET US CHOOSE BETWEEN THE QUN AND THE TEVINTER IMPERIUM This could have been one of the most interesting conflicts in the entire franchise. Imagine a Dragon Age in which the struggle between the Qunari and Tevinter is not simply a war taking place in the background, but a central political conflict in which the player has a genuine stake. Imagine Rook being forced to decide whether to work with the Qun or the Tevinter Imperium. Not simply choosing between a good faction and an evil faction. Not choosing whichever side offers the better equipment. Choosing between two powerful societies with fundamentally different ideologies, histories, institutions, and consequences for the people living under them. The Qun offers order, discipline, and a collective purpose, but its rigid social structure raises profound questions about individuality, freedom, and autonomy. Tevinter offers opportunities for ambition and reform, but its institutions are burdened by slavery, entrenched inequality, political corruption, and the concentration of power among the privileged. Imagine the arguments among your advisors. Dorian might believe that Tevinter must be reformed from within rather than surrendered to the Qun. Sten, as the Arishok, could represent a worldview that fundamentally challenges Dorian's assumptions. Morrigan might prioritise the survival of the world over the ideological conflict between two empires. Isabela could focus on the people caught between them. Calpernia could bring her painful history with Tevinter's institutions into the debate. Imshael could delight in exposing the hypocrisy of everyone involved. And Rook would have to make the decision. What happens if you support the Imperium? Does your intervention empower reformers, strengthen traditionalists, or create new enemies within the Magisterium? What happens if you support the Qun? Does the alliance avert a greater war, or does it impose demands that conflict with everything you believe? Could you attempt to forge a third path, or would trying to please everyone leave you without allies when you need them most? Imagine returning to Tevinter after making your choice and seeing the consequences. Imagine factions rising and falling, characters remembering what you did, and entire communities living with the results. That is the kind of branching narrative Dragon Age should be capable of delivering. LET US MAKE DECISIONS THAT ACTUALLY CHANGE THE WORLD. The series has always been at its strongest when players are allowed to wrestle with difficult questions rather than simply watch a predetermined story unfold. Why not build an entire game around that strength? 6. THE DIVINE, THE CHANTRY, COLE, AND AN ACTUAL ASSAULT ON SOLAS And what about the Divine? What about the Chantry's response to Solas? And what about Cole, one of the most compassionate and distinctive characters in the entire series? The identity of the Divine matters. Whether Leliana, Cassandra, or Vivienne was elected in Inquisition, the decision represents a different vision for the future of the Chantry. These are three very different women with different beliefs, priorities, and approaches to power. Their election should mean more than a line of dialogue or a passing reference. It should influence how the Chantry responds when the fate of the world is at stake. Imagine a future game that acknowledges the player's choice and allows the consequences to unfold. Who is the Divine in your world state? What has her election meant for the Chantry? How has the institution changed? And what happens when she learns that Solas intends to tear down the Veil and fundamentally reshape the world? Imagine the Divine deciding that the threat Solas poses is so enormous that the Chantry can no longer remain on the sidelines. Imagine her launching an actual assault against him. Not merely discussing the threat, sending a few agents, or leaving the consequences to Rook and their companions. An organised, politically consequential operation involving the Chantry, its military resources, its allies, and the people who believe Solas must be stopped at any cost. Imagine the Divine attempting to unite the nations of Thedas against him. Imagine her seeking the Inquisition's assistance, approaching the rulers of Tevinter, and trying to persuade deeply divided political powers to cooperate against a common threat. And imagine the assault failing. What would happen to the Chantry's credibility? Would the Divine become more authoritarian in her desperation? Would the faithful begin questioning whether their religious institutions could protect them? Would political opportunists exploit the fear and uncertainty? Would the Divine double down on her campaign, or would she be forced to accept that Solas could not be defeated through military force alone? Imagine Rook being caught between the Divine's demands, the Inquisition's responsibilities, and the knowledge that a failed assault might make the situation even worse. But the conflict with Solas should not be fought only with armies, political alliances, and weapons. I WANT COLE TO HAVE A ROLE IN REACHING SOLAS THAT NO ONE ELSE COULD FULFIL. Cole is not simply another mage or another companion with a tragic past. He is a spirit of Compassion who came to understand the suffering of mortals and chose to help them. His very existence challenges the assumptions people make about spirits, demons, and what it means to be a person. And that makes him uniquely suited to confront Solas. Solas understands spirits. He knows the Fade, its inhabitants, and the difference between the world as it is and the world as he believes it should be. He has spent centuries carrying the burden of his decisions, convincing himself that the destruction he intends to unleash is justified by what he hopes to restore. But what if, amid all the arguments about history, duty, the Evanuris, and the fate of the Veil, the person who could reach him was not a general, a Divine, or another powerful mage? What if it was Cole? Imagine Cole's voice reaching Solas inside his own mind. Not a military threat. Not another political demand. Not another lecture about how his plan will destroy the world. A voice of compassion that understands suffering, recognises grief, and sees the person beneath the mask of Fen'Harel. Imagine Solas trying to shut that voice out, only for Cole to keep returning to the pain he has buried beneath centuries of rationalisation. Cole could remind him of the lives he intends to sacrifice. The people who will suffer when the Veil falls. The innocent who never chose to become casualties of an ancient conflict. The ordinary people whose futures Solas is prepared to destroy because he believes he knows what the world must become. Imagine Cole asking Solas whether restoring the past is worth murdering the present. Imagine him forcing Solas to confront the contradiction at the heart of his mission: a man who once fought against tyranny now preparing to impose his own vision of the world upon everyone else, regardless of what they want or what it will cost them. And imagine Cole doing this not because he hates Solas, but because he understands that Solas is suffering, and because compassion does not mean pretending that someone's actions are acceptable. COMPASSION IS NOT THE SAME AS FORGIVENESS, AND UNDERSTANDING SOMEONE DOES NOT MEAN LETTING THEM DESTROY THE WORLD. That is precisely why Cole's involvement could be so powerful. He could recognise Solas's grief without excusing his choices. He could understand the weight of his regret without accepting that an entire world should pay for it. He could offer Solas a chance to confront his own pain rather than continuing to bury it beneath the certainty that his plan is necessary. And Solas should not simply change his mind after one conversation. He is intelligent, proud, ancient, and deeply committed to his cause. Reaching him should be difficult. He should resist. He should argue. He should find reasons to dismiss Cole's words. Perhaps Cole could reach him at moments when Solas is alone, when the certainty he presents to the world begins to crack. Perhaps Cole could appear in dreams or in the Fade, speaking to him in a way that no army could ever manage. Perhaps Solas could even begin to fear that Cole sees something in him that he has spent centuries refusing to acknowledge. Imagine the emotional weight of a scene in which Solas tries to convince himself that the suffering he will cause is unavoidable, while Cole gently but relentlessly reminds him that every person he dismisses as a necessary sacrifice is a person with a life, a history, and someone who loves them. Imagine Cole asking him to remember the people he has already lost, and to consider whether his grief has become an excuse to create more grief. Imagine Cole telling him that he does not have to undo every mistake in history to make a difference in the present. And imagine Solas having to decide whether he will listen. This would not diminish Solas's complexity or turn him into a simple villain who can be defeated with a heartfelt speech. It would give the conflict another dimension: a struggle not only over the fate of the world, but over whether Solas can recognise that his desire to restore what was lost has blinded him to the lives that still exist. LET COLE BE THE VOICE THAT SOLAS CANNOT EASILY DISMISS. LET THE SPIRIT OF COMPASSION CHALLENGE THE DREAD WOLF FROM WITHIN HIS OWN MIND. That would be a meaningful continuation of both characters. Cole's story has always been about the difficulty of understanding suffering and choosing how to respond to it. Solas's story is filled with grief, regret, and the conviction that he must do something terrible to correct an ancient wrong. Putting those two characters into direct conflict could create one of the most emotionally powerful relationships in the series. It would also reinforce a central strength of Dragon Age: the idea that the fate of the world is shaped not only by power, magic, and political ambition, but by empathy, relationships, and the choices people make when faced with suffering. And imagine how this could connect to the Divine's assault. While the Chantry mobilises its forces and the nations of Thedas debate whether Solas can be stopped, Cole could be fighting a quieter battle, trying to reach the person behind the legend. The military campaign might fail. The political alliances might fracture. Solas might anticipate every strategy the Inquisition and the Chantry can devise. But perhaps the one thing he cannot fully prepare for is being confronted with compassion that refuses to accept his reasoning. The Divine could represent the institutional response to Solas. The Inquisition could represent the strategic and political response. Cole could represent the personal and moral challenge that neither armies nor institutions can provide. Each could have a meaningful role, and each could influence the outcome in a different way. Imagine the player's choices determining whether the Divine's assault makes a peaceful resolution harder or easier, whether Cole can reach Solas, and whether the Inquisition gives him the opportunity to reconsider his plan. Imagine a world state in which Cole's earlier story and the choices surrounding his nature influence how he approaches Solas. His compassion should not be reduced to a convenient plot device; it should grow naturally from the character players already know. This is how you make the history of Dragon Age matter. Not simply by mentioning old characters, but by allowing their beliefs, experiences, and relationships to shape the future. Solas is not merely another enemy to defeat. His plans challenge the foundations of Thedas: its history, its religious beliefs, and the very nature of the world itself. A threat of that magnitude should produce political upheaval on an equally significant scale. The Chantry should have something meaningful to say about it. The Divine should have to make difficult decisions. Cole should have the opportunity to challenge Solas on a deeply personal level. And if the Divine chooses to launch an assault against him, the player should be able to experience the operation, its consequences, and the difficult questions it raises. Dragon Age should be a story about the world responding to a crisis, not just a handful of companions responding to a villain. The Divine, the Chantry, the Inquisition, Cole, Tevinter, and the Qunari all have the potential to participate meaningfully in a conflict that could change Thedas forever. WHY SHOULD THE PLAYER'S CHOICE OF DIVINE MATTER IF THE NEXT GAME IS NOT GOING TO EXPLORE THE CONSEQUENCES? WHY SHOULD COLE'S COMPASSION MATTER IF IT NEVER HAS THE CHANCE TO CHALLENGE THE PERSON WHO MOST NEEDS TO HEAR IT? This is exactly the kind of political, emotional, and narrative depth that could make a future Dragon Age feel like a continuation of the world we spent years shaping. 7. THE VEILGUARD SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE LIMIT OF OUR AMBITION I know The Veilguard has its fans, and I am not asking EA to dismiss the effort of the developers who worked on it. But I am disappointed in the direction the franchise ultimately took. For me, the earlier concepts and possibilities were more exciting. I wanted a Dragon Age that leaned harder into political intrigue, espionage, factional conflict, and morally complicated decisions. I wanted Rook to have a meaningful connection to the Inquisition. I wanted Dorian, Morrigan, and Isabela to serve as advisors. I wanted Calpernia and Imshael as party members. I wanted Sten to return as the Arishok and Archon Radonis to have a proper on-screen role. I wanted the freedom to choose whether to support the Qun or the Tevinter Imperium, with consequences that would fundamentally change the story. I wanted the identity of the Divine to matter, and I wanted to see the Chantry take meaningful action against Solas, including the possibility of an actual assault that could have political and military consequences for the entire world. I wanted Cole to have a meaningful role in the conflict, using his nature as a spirit of Compassion to challenge Solas in a way no army or political institution could. I wanted to see that quiet, personal struggle unfold alongside the larger battle for Thedas. I wanted a game in which established characters were not simply references to the past, but active participants in a world that continued to evolve. I wanted the political conflicts of Thedas to matter as much as its supernatural threats. None of this means every early idea would automatically have worked. But the possibilities were there, and the franchise had room to explore them. The Veilguard did not have to be the final word on Dragon Age's identity. There were other directions worth exploring, other stories worth telling, and other ways to build upon the legacy of the earlier games. DRAGON AGE STILL HAD SO MUCH ROOM TO GROW. IT STILL DOES. Please do not let one instalment become the reason the entire franchise is abandoned. 8. IF YOU WON'T REVIVE PROJECT JOPLIN, THEN GIVE US A FAITHFUL DRAGON AGE IN THE FUTURE I understand that Project Joplin may be a thing of the past. Development plans change, projects get cancelled, and not every idea that once existed behind the scenes can or should be brought back exactly as it was originally imagined. But that does not mean the spirit of those ideas has to disappear with them. IF YOU WON'T REVIVE PROJECT JOPLIN, THEN AT LEAST GIVE US A FUTURE DRAGON AGE THAT IS FAITHFUL TO WHAT MADE THIS FRANCHISE SPECIAL. I am not demanding that EA recreate a cancelled project from years ago, nor am I insisting that every idea in this letter must appear in the next game. I am asking for something much more fundamental: give Dragon Age another chance to be the kind of role-playing franchise that made people fall in love with it in the first place. Give us a game that respects the history of Thedas. Give us companions with complicated beliefs, personal ambitions, flaws, and relationships that develop naturally throughout the story. Give us dialogue that allows characters to disagree with one another and with the player. Give us choices that are difficult because there are genuine consequences on every side, not because the game presents an obvious answer and pretends otherwise. Give us political intrigue that matters. Give us factions with competing interests. Give us a world where religion, magic, class, race, history, and power shape the lives of ordinary people as well as the decisions of kings, emperors, and leaders. Give us the freedom to make mistakes, alienate allies, lose opportunities, and live with the consequences of our actions. Give us a protagonist whose decisions genuinely influence the direction of the story, rather than one who feels like a passenger in a predetermined narrative. And, above all, GIVE US A ROLE-PLAYING GAME THAT TRUSTS US TO ROLE-PLAY. Dragon Age does not need to become a carbon copy of Origins, Dragon Age II, or Inquisition. Each game had its own identity, strengths, and weaknesses. The franchise can evolve, experiment with new mechanics, introduce new characters, and explore different parts of Thedas. But evolution should not mean abandoning the qualities that made the series distinctive. A new combat system does not have to come at the expense of meaningful dialogue. A more cinematic presentation does not have to mean fewer consequential decisions. A new protagonist does not have to mean forgetting the people and events that came before. A story about saving the world does not have to leave the world's politics, cultures, and conflicts feeling like background decoration. There is room for innovation without losing the franchise's identity. There is room for new players without treating longtime fans as though their investment in the previous games no longer matters. There is room for an accessible experience without stripping away the complexity that made Dragon Age worth discussing for years after its release. And there is room for a new creative team to put its own stamp on the series while still respecting the world it has inherited. That is what I want from a future Dragon Age. I want a game that understands why people became attached to Alistair, Morrigan, Leliana, Varric, Cassandra, Dorian, Cole, Solas, and so many others. I want new characters who can inspire that same level of affection, frustration, debate, and emotional investment. I want stories that make us care about what happens to Thedas beyond the immediate threat facing the protagonist. I want world states to matter wherever practical, and I want returning characters to have meaningful roles rather than appearing solely to remind us of older games. I want the writers to be allowed to explore uncomfortable questions without rushing to provide easy answers. I want the consequences of oppression, political corruption, religious authority, and ideological conflict to be treated with the seriousness they deserve. I want the freedom to shape my version of Thedas, even when my decisions lead somewhere unexpected or uncomfortable. And I want the developers to have enough time, stability, resources, and creative freedom to deliver a complete game with a clear vision. I AM NOT ASKING EA TO LIVE IN THE PAST. I AM ASKING EA NOT TO ABANDON WHAT MADE DRAGON AGE WORTH CARING ABOUT. If Joplin cannot be brought back, let it remain an inspiration for what Dragon Age could explore. Take the best lessons from the franchise's history, learn from what did and did not work in previous instalments, and build something worthy of the name. Do not treat the cancellation of one project as the end of every possibility it represented. The idea of a politically complex Dragon Age is not owned by a cancelled development plan. The desire for meaningful player agency does not disappear because a particular game was never made. The potential for incredible companions, difficult choices, and intricate stories does not expire when a studio closes. Those possibilities still exist. Someone simply has to be willing to pursue them. If EA still wants to own Dragon Age, then prove that it is willing to invest in a genuine future for the series. Find a team that understands the franchise, give that team the support it needs, and let it create a game that honours Thedas without being afraid to take it somewhere new. And if EA cannot or will not make that commitment, then please sell the franchise to a studio that can. WE DO NOT NEED PROJECT JOPLIN BACK AT ANY COST. WE NEED DRAGON AGE TO HAVE A FUTURE WORTH GETTING EXCITED ABOUT. Whether that future resembles Joplin, takes inspiration from the earlier games, or explores an entirely new direction, it should still feel like Dragon Age. That is the standard I am asking EA to uphold. Not a perfect recreation of the past. Not endless nostalgia. Not a game that exists only to satisfy a checklist of fan requests. A genuine, ambitious, thoughtfully written role-playing game that respects its world, its characters, its history, and the players who have supported it for years. IF YOU WON'T GIVE US THE DRAGON AGE WE COULD HAVE HAD, THEN AT LEAST GIVE US A DRAGON AGE THAT HONOURS WHAT WE ALREADY LOVE. And if you cannot do that, let someone else try. 9. THE DRAGON AGE KEEP DESERVES A FUTURE TOO And while we are talking about the future of Dragon Age, what about the Dragon Age Keep? The Keep is not just some optional website. It represents something that made this franchise special: the ability to preserve our choices, our sacrifices, our relationships, and our personal histories across multiple games. We spent years shaping Thedas. We decided who lived and who died. We chose who ruled, which alliances survived, which companions we loved, and what kind of world our protagonists left behind. We made decisions that reflected our values, and those decisions became part of our personal history with the setting. The Keep gave us a way to preserve that history and prepare our world states for future adventures. It recognised that Dragon Age was not simply a series of disconnected games, but a continuing story in which our personal versions of Thedas mattered. And that is precisely why it deserves to be protected. If EA no longer wants to maintain the Dragon Age Keep, then SELL IT, TRANSFER IT, OR FIND A RESPONSIBLE WAY TO PUT ITS FUTURE IN THE HANDS OF PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT THE FRANCHISE. Find a capable company, dedicated development team, or suitable organisation willing to preserve its functionality and maintain it for the community. Do not simply let it disappear. Do not let years of player choices become harder to preserve because a corporate owner no longer considers the infrastructure worth maintaining. Do not make the community's ability to revisit its history dependent on whether EA happens to find the Keep commercially useful. The Keep may not be the same kind of asset as the games themselves, and transferring it would require appropriate technical, legal, and privacy arrangements. But those are reasons to find a responsible solution, not reasons to ignore the problem. Even if a future Dragon Age game cannot directly import every decision from every previous instalment, the Keep can still serve as a record of our adventures, a way to preserve our personal canon, and a bridge between generations of fans. I want to revisit my world states. I want to remember the choices I made in Origins, Dragon Age II, and Inquisition. I want my version of Thedas to remain part of my history with this franchise, even if the next game takes years to arrive. THE DRAGON AGE KEEP AND THE DRAGON AGE FRANCHISE ARE PART OF THE SAME LEGACY. THEY SHOULD NOT BE LEFT TO ROT SEPARATELY. The games preserve the stories BioWare told us. The Keep helps preserve the stories we created for ourselves. Both deserve a future. So, EA, if you are stepping away from Dragon Age, consider the whole picture. Do not think only about the intellectual property or the possibility of another game. Think about the community, the continuity, the infrastructure, and the years of player investment that made this franchise what it is. Give the franchise to someone who will care for all of it. The world. The characters. The stories. The choices. And the Keep. 10. THEDAS DESERVES TO BE MORE THAN A MEMORY Dragon Age has always been at its most compelling when it explores the uncomfortable aspects of its world. The oppression experienced by elves. The dangers faced by mages. The corruption of powerful institutions. The conflicts between religion and personal freedom. The brutality of the Qun. The injustices of Tevinter. The consequences of historical atrocities that continue to shape the present. These subjects gave the setting texture. They made its conflicts feel rooted in something deeper than a generic struggle between heroes and villains. They also gave the characters room to disagree in ways that mattered. A character's beliefs were not merely decorative. They shaped relationships, decisions, and the people they were willing to sacrifice. Dragon Age could be funny, heartbreaking, disturbing, romantic, politically charged, and morally challenging, sometimes within the same conversation. That complexity was part of its identity. And there is still so much left to explore. There are the internal politics of Tevinter, the future of the Qunari, the consequences of Solas's plans, the mysteries of the Fade, the history of the Evanuris, the future of the Inquisition, and the stories of characters whose lives have only been partially explored. There are entire societies to examine, relationships to revisit, and conflicts that could sustain multiple games. THEDAS IS NOT AN EMPTY WORLD WAITING FOR ANOTHER CATASTROPHE. IT IS A WORLD FULL OF STORIES WAITING TO BE TOLD. Please do not allow those stories to disappear because the company that owns them no longer knows what to do with them. 11. EA, IF YOU CANNOT GIVE DRAGON AGE A FUTURE, SELL IT TO SOMEONE WHO CAN This is the heart of my plea. If EA still believes in Dragon Age, demonstrate that belief through action. Give the next development team the resources, time, creative leadership, and stability required to make an ambitious role-playing game. Let developers build upon the franchise's history instead of treating its past as something to minimise. Respect the writers, artists, designers, and other developers who helped create this world. Give a new team the freedom to tell stories that take risks and trust the audience to engage with them. But if EA no longer wants to do that, then please consider selling the franchise. Find a studio that genuinely wants to invest in it. Find people who understand that an RPG is more than combat encounters, cinematic set pieces, and a list of objectives. Find developers who care about companion writing, player agency, meaningful consequences, worldbuilding, and the details that make a fictional setting feel alive. A new owner would not need to recreate BioWare exactly as it was. Nobody can simply reproduce the creative circumstances that produced Origins, Dragon Age II, or Inquisition. But another studio could honour that legacy while bringing its own ideas, talents, and perspectives to Thedas. It could recruit experienced RPG developers, consult people familiar with the setting, and establish a long-term creative vision for the franchise. It could make Dragon Age a place where ambitious role-playing stories are told again. And if an immediate sale is not possible, at least preserve the intellectual property, communicate honestly with the community, and make it clear that Dragon Age has not simply been abandoned. Do not keep it dormant indefinitely because the next instalment is not an immediate business priority. Do not let the absence of BioWare become the absence of Dragon Age's future. OWNERSHIP SHOULD NOT MEAN THAT A BELOVED WORLD IS CONDEMNED TO DISAPPEAR WHEN ITS OWNER LOSES INTEREST. 12. DO NOT LET DRAGON AGE BECOME ANOTHER FORGOTTEN FRANCHISE The games industry is full of franchises that once meant everything to their fans and now exist primarily as memories. Some disappear because their developers close. Others are abandoned after disappointing releases. Some remain locked away because their owners cannot justify investing in another game. Dragon Age should not become another example. It has a passionate community, a rich history, and a world that can support so many more stories. Its characters and conflicts have inspired years of discussion, fan art, fiction, analysis, and emotional investment. People still care because this world still means something to them. A disappointing instalment does not have to be the end. A change in ownership does not have to be the end. The closure of the studio that created a franchise does not automatically have to be the end, either. But if nobody is willing to invest in the future, eventually the franchise will fade. That is what I want EA to understand. You still have a choice. You can give Dragon Age a future under a new team and a renewed creative vision. You can give another developer the chance to continue the story. You can find someone to preserve the Keep and protect the continuity that matters to so many players. Or you can leave everything sitting in your portfolio until the world and the people who love it are slowly forgotten. Please choose the first options over the last. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, EA, DO NOT LET DRAGON AGE ROT I want to see Thedas again. I want to see Dorian's future unfold. I want Morrigan's knowledge and history to matter. I want Isabela to return in a role that gives her something meaningful to do. I want Calpernia to become a companion whose past and beliefs challenge the player. I want Imshael to be a dangerous, fascinating, unpredictable presence whose motives are never entirely comfortable. I want Sten to return as the Arishok, carrying the weight of everything that has happened since Origins. I want Archon Radonis to have a proper place in the story, with the political significance and character development that such a figure deserves. I want to choose whether to support the Qun or the Tevinter Imperium, and I want those decisions to change the world in ways that cannot simply be undone with a conversation or a minor quest reward. I want Rook to be an agent of the Inquisition, working with advisors whose knowledge, relationships, and conflicting interests make every decision more complicated. I want the Divine and the Chantry to respond to Solas in ways that reflect the world I created in Inquisition. I want to see the consequences of the Divine's election, her decisions, and her willingness to launch an assault against him. And I want Cole to be there, too: the Spirit of Compassion who can reach Solas in the depths of his own mind, challenge the justifications he has built around his plans, and remind him that the lives of the present are not disposable simply because the past was lost. I want a story in which political power, military action, personal relationships, and compassion all matter. A story in which Solas cannot simply be reduced to a villain, but also cannot escape accountability for what he intends to do. I want political intrigue, meaningful companion quests, factional conflict, espionage, difficult moral decisions, and a story that recognises the full depth of the world it inhabits. I want the ambition that those earlier concepts inspired. But if Project Joplin can never be revived, I still want a future Dragon Age that honours the qualities that made the series special. I want a new team to take those possibilities and turn them into something real, something ambitious, something that feels unmistakably like Dragon Age. I want Dragon Age to take risks again. I want the next game to make people argue about their decisions, debate the morality of their alliances, fall in love with new characters, and revisit old ones with a deeper understanding of who they have become. I want the Dragon Age Keep to remain available as a way to preserve the history we created throughout the series. I want to know that the choices I made over the years will not simply become another casualty of corporate indifference. I want Dragon Age to make people excited about the future instead of wondering whether there will ever be one. And I know that none of these particular ideas is guaranteed to be the perfect direction for the franchise. That is not the point. The point is that there are still so many directions worth exploring, so many stories worth telling, and so many reasons not to give up on this world. EA, if you want to continue Dragon Age, give it the commitment it deserves. If you do not, then sell it. Sell the franchise to someone who will love it, nurture it, and give it the future it deserves. Find a responsible way to preserve the Keep. Let a passionate studio take a chance on this world. Let new developers build upon its history. Let experienced writers and artists help preserve its identity. Let Thedas continue to evolve. Do not let corporate ownership become a prison for a franchise that still has so much potential. Do not let Dragon Age become a name that people remember only when they talk about the games they wish had received another chance. BIOWARE MAY BE GONE, BUT DRAGON AGE DOES NOT HAVE TO DIE WITH IT. Please give this franchise a future. Please let another studio love it, nurture it, and help it grow. Please recognise that there is still something here worth fighting for. For the love of God, EA: SELL DRAGON AGE TO SOMEONE WHO CARES. PRESERVE THE KEEP. GIVE THEDAS A FUTURE. DO NOT LET IT ROT. Not this world. Not these characters. Not these stories. Not the choices we made. Not the compassion that once made its characters feel human, even when they were spirits. Not this legacy. NOT DRAGON AGE.
SPEAK OUT AND SAVE MASS EFFECT AND DRAGON AGE FROM FADING INTO OBSCURITY!!
After the very recent closing of BioWare, I have felt helpless to what might happen to the IPs such as Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Games that have changed lives and made a real impact on the community for their stories and the studio's dedication to creating a game for the sake of telling a story rather than profit. I do not want to grieve these games, not when I know there is room for remasters and new games to come from something as fantastic as this. EA's decisions in the past few decades have been nothing but profit driven and it's an insult to BioWare and their work and to us players for thinking they can just destroy passion and love driven studios for monetary gain. So, I ask you, the community, the supporters of a game culture empowered by storytelling and creativity rather than capitalism corporate greed, to act. Send letters to EA Send emails Sign petitions Keep the discussion alive Boycott EA But whatever you do, do not take this lying down. We can't let these people destroy something we enjoy and love. Stay vocal and keep shouting from the rooftops. Thank You.Full Xbox Controller Support to Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II on PC
To all the fans out there, I am writing as a longtime fan of Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II. I am asking for your help to convince BioWare and Electronic Arts to bring full Xbox-style controller support to the PC versions of Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II. I love both of these games, but there is one major thing that has kept me from enjoying the PC versions as much as I enjoy the Xbox versions: the controller experience. I strongly prefer playing these games with an Xbox controller. The Xbox versions were designed around controller gameplay, and I really enjoy the way the controls, menus, and overall interface work with a controller. Unfortunately, simply connecting an Xbox controller to the PC versions does not provide the same experience. The PC versions still rely heavily on the mouse and keyboard interface, which means that even when using a controller, I have to use the mouse cursor to interact with various menus and interfaces. What I would really like is a true Xbox-style controller mode for the PC versions, similar to the controller experience already provided by Dragon Age: Inquisition on PC. Dragon Age: Inquisition demonstrates that a Dragon Age game can provide PC players with a proper controller-based experience. I would love to see that same philosophy applied to Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II. Ideally, when an Xbox controller is connected, I would like the games to: * Use the Xbox controller as the primary input device. * Provide controls that closely match the Xbox versions. * Provide a console-style interface designed specifically for controller use. * Eliminate the need to use a mouse cursor during normal gameplay. * Allow menus to be completely navigated with the controller. * Make inventory, character screens, abilities/talents, dialogue choices, maps, and other interfaces fully controller-friendly. * Display Xbox controller buttons and prompts. * Allow the entire game to be played using the controller without constantly having to use the mouse cursor. * Ideally allow players to choose between the traditional PC interface and an Xbox-style controller interface. I am not asking to change the gameplay, story, characters, graphics, balance, or mechanics of these games. I am simply asking for the opportunity to experience these existing games on a modern PC while having the same type of full controller experience that made the Xbox versions so enjoyable. I understand that Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II are older games, and I realize that implementing a complete controller interface could require significant development work. However, these games still have an extremely dedicated fanbase, and I believe many longtime players would welcome the opportunity to play them on PC with a modern, fully supported controller experience. For me personally, this would make an enormous difference. I want to be able to sit down at my PC with an Xbox controller, start Dragon Age: Origins or Dragon Age II, and simply play the game naturally—without having to constantly use the mouse cursor simply because the PC interface was designed around it. The existing PC versions already provide access to the officially released expansions and downloadable content. I am not asking for additional content or changes to the games themselves. I am asking for the existing games to receive a properly integrated controller experience. If BioWare and EA could provide an update or modernized PC release for Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II featuring: Full Xbox-style controller support like Dragon Age: Inquisition + a fully controller-navigable interface + modern PC compatibility, I would be extremely grateful. These games have remained special to me for many years, and I would love the opportunity to experience them again on PC without having to give up the controller experience that made the Xbox versions so enjoyable. Thank you for taking the time to read my request and thank you to everyone at BioWare who helped create these wonderful games. Sincerely, Krazy2c A longtime Dragon Age fan
DA2 dlcs problems on Steam
I have recently bought DA origins and DA 2 from Steam. With Origins, I had no problem with the DLCs, however with DA 2 I just reached Act 2 and noticed that the DLC statues did not appear in my estate. I then went and checked and saw that my dlcs are unauthorized, Also, the game is not letting me log in with my EA account. Is there a solution for this, or do I just have to accept that you can't play DA2 dlcs from Steam?Dragon Age Keep - Error
I've been trying to get into the Keep to edit a new world state, however I can only log in and always get an error message when trying to get to the tapestry or any other part of the site. I've tried clearing the cache, updating the password, using mobile device to log in, creating a new account, different browsers, all to no avail. The error message is the "Oops, an error occurred. Please refresh and try again". When I tried to create a new account I got the 500 error message. I'd like to avoid using a save editor to update, but I've not been able to solve this issue. If anyone has a solution I am listening.
[PC] DA2 launching in background, black screen bug
Title explains it all. DA2 is unusable and keeps launching in the background. Occasionally it launches successfully but everything but the UI is completely black. That seems to indicate a driver problem, but dxdiag shows no issues as far as I can see. I have no idea if these errors are related or two separate issues, but the black screen bug started after I signed into my Bioware account from another one since I believed the launch issue might have sprung from a discrepancy between the email associated with the EA app account and the Bioware account used in game. The launching started working perfectly but it was obviously unplayable due to the black screen bug. I used local saves so I don't think it's a data loss issue, but starting a new game still gives a black screen even on the class select screen. I haven't changed any settings since that error, but now it's back to only launching in background. I've done full reinstalls, restarts, cleared cache, and ran as admin, but nothing changes and there's no way to consistently get the same error. I'm completely at a loss as to what's wrong with my game.
praise for Dragon age 2 auto health regeneration after combat feature part 2 .
Both Dragon age Origins and dragon age 2 had the awesome auto health regeneration after combat feature. I love origins and 2 for its customization, weapons, armor and classes I always love the 2 games that other 2 dragon age games Inquisition and veilguard will never have the most important feature that was extremely helpful the auto health regeneration after each combat encounters . I roleplay the cool elf mage in origins and human rouge in da2 .