EternalNothingness

Really. I think you guys are criticizing DA:I to death because it was published by EA, and you can't trust EA with anything even though it had its own occasions of making good games.

Usually, in almost any other group-based adventure, the hero's friends would protect the hero himself with their own respective skill-sets, whether it's strength, intelligence, or heart. But by the climax of those adventures, it's up to the hero and the hero alone to finish the fight and protect his friends back.

For example, the S4 story-arc of My Little Pony? I know that there are plenty of you people who have never watched the show, so everything I say is going to be a spoiler. Technically, in that arc, Twilight Sparkle's friends fought against their own Elements of Harmony, taught somepony else about their Elements, and received keys from them as a result. These keys were needed to open a blue box containing Rainbow Power, but once the Mane Five did their jobs, it was up to Twilight to finish the fight by overcoming her own Element of Magic, teaching a reformed former villain about her Element, and receive her final key from him as a result.

Another example of this was the finale to Sailor Moon Classic. Technically, all four of the title protagonist's teammates all died defeating enemies guarding the villain's lair, just to carve a path for her to reach the final battle.

And that's what definitely describes MOBA's like League of Legends and DotA 2. That is, four players protecting a fifth until he maxes out on levels and gear, at which point it's up to him to finish the fight. The Carry is usually the main-protagonist, and the four other characters are his supporting cast. The supporting cast protect the Carry/protagonist and help him increase his levels and equipment. But by the end game, the Carry/protagonist is on his own, as if he outgrew his friends to become his own individual person.

@rothbart: I'm not saying that World of Warcraft sucks. I never played the game or its expansion packs in my life, but I keep hearing good things about that series.

In fact, I never even played Warcraft III in my life. The only RTS I'm playing right now is a mobile smart-phone game called Clash of Clans. And, even though I'm always creamed in that game, regardless if I'm on offense or defense, all that matters is that I have fun with it.

It's just that I like the idea of building and maintaining an army and base, and going into war against another person's army and base, because it's cool. It all reminds me of managing a party in an RPG, because of this whole division of labor thing.

I liked Tails and Knuckles back in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, at least when I played it on Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the Playstation 2. Compared to their later incarnations like in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes, Tails and Knuckles played just like Sonic but with their own powers. Tails could fly and reach platforms not even Sonic could reach, while Knuckles could climb walls, glide, and punch through fragile walls to access lower routes.

It's just that with later installments, they would end up being used badly, making them deviate from the things that made the two characters work in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, just to force them into gameplay mechanics that end up being unpolished and poorly developed. For example, I liked that Tails and Knuckles followed Sonic around like baggage back in Sonic Heroes. It's just that they were badly developed baggage, hampered by broken controls and camera angles, while the only times Sonic Heroes was good don't even give players control, which is running fast as Sonic.

Now, as a disclaimer, I have absolutely nothing against Warcraft as an MMORPG like with World of Warcraft. After all, it has everything that makes an MMO cool, such as the 25-to-40-man cooperative raids on high level, end-game dungeons.

It's just that I almost wish Blizzard would go back to making Warcraft an RTS game with a possible Warcraft IV. Nowadays, I seem to be obsessed with the idea of building and managing a base and army, because it's almost no different from party or team management. Technically, base and army management involves division of labor, like building a party or raid; the buildings mass-produce and research new units and unit upgrades, while the units themselves defend their buildings while attacking the enemy's. Likewise for a 25/40-man raid; half of the team are tanks/defenders and healers/supports who sustain the main attackers, like buildings, and the other half are the main-attackers themselves, whether physical, ranged, or magical, similar to units.

For me, it's most likely Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Back then in that game, Tails and Knuckles played the same as Sonic and went through the same stages as him. The difference, however, was in their powers; Tails could fly, while Knuckles could climb walls, glide, and punch through fragile walls.

And that's the thing about writing and developing multiple playable characters within the same game. Each and every playable character within the same game cannot deviate too far from said game's core mechanics, but cannot play too similarly to each other, either. They need to have their own unique skill-sets that contribute to the rest of the group, while sticking to the core gameplay mechanics that makes that game work.

For example, Super Mario 3D World. That game was able to make Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and Rosalina unique from each other in-terms of speed, sprinting, and jumping, without making them deviate from the Mario series' core platforming. Same for Persona 4 and the Mass Effect trilogy; in both cases, Yu Narukami and Commander Shepard's respective teammates all had their own powers weapons, from Yosuke Hanamura's wind-based powers, to Liara T'Soni's biotics, from Yukiko Amagi's fire powers, to Tali'Zorah's skills with an omni-tool. And yet despite all that, neither Yu Narukami's friends nor Commander Shepard's squadmates deviated from the core gameplay of Persona 4 and the Mass Effect trilogy.

Sonic's friends, on the other hand, are almost the opposite, unless it's Sonic 3 & Knuckles, or the Sonic Advance trilogy, or even Sonic Rush. Tails and Knuckles constantly deviated from what made them work back in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, like Adventure 2 where Tails piloted a mech and Knuckles went treasure hunting, or Sonic Heroes when Tails flied his teammates to different platforms and Knuckles defended them from Eggman robots. The rest of the gang, too; Shadow received his own spin-off that gave up on Sonic's signature speed for gun-violence, swearing, and a supposedly "mature" storyline, while Silver was all about telekinetic powers, and the Chaotix Team was all about tedious treasure hunting back in Sonic Heroes.

And for a good reason, too: Because Sega usually has no idea what to do with their signature mascot or any of his friends, other than cram in things that end up getting in the way of Sonic's signature speed. And, that incompetence was a result of Sega's complete lack of confidence in their own mascot.

@donchipotle: Even better, it'll be a homage to Super Sentai, like Chroma Squad before it, but with socializing with teammates and resolving their character-arcs, just like past BioWare games!

Since BioWare tackled two space operas (Star Wars: KOTOR, Mass Effect), three fantasy settings (Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Dragon Age) and one Chinese martial arts game (Jade Empire), which setting do you think BioWare should tackle next?

For me, I would have liked to see BioWare develop a modern-day cops-and-robbers game on the level of Grand Theft Auto. You could either play as a cop or criminal and go through the very things they'd normally go through, robbing banks for the latter, arresting criminals for the former. However, like past BioWare games, it would involve socializing with your AI-controlled teammates and resolving their character-arcs.

I'd also like to see BioWare tackle a high school setting, similar to all of those Japanese visual novels. It won't have combat, considering that the player would be in high school. But, it would most definitely feel appropriate for BioWare's signature socializing and multiple character-arcs, as you make all sorts of friends, resolve their stories, and even romance one of them.

Remember how GTA V had three protagonists? The next GTA should most likely go up a level and create eight protagonists. The characters would all most likely include:

1. The leader

2. The strategist

3. The stealth specialist

4. The gun specialist

5. The aircraft pilot

6. The vehicle driver

7. The hacker

8. The medic

And, to reduce sexism, half of that team of eight characters could be female!

@atwa: As I said before, Sonic 3 & Knuckles did multiple playable characters right. Tails and Knuckles could all go fast like Sonic, but have their own powers that lets them access routes not even Sonic could access. For example, Tails could fly and take the upper routes as a result, while Knuckles could take the lower routes with his giant fists. As for Sonic, without Tails' flying and Knuckles' strength, he's stuck taking the middle routes, which would technically imply that despite his speed and bad attitude, he's just some Average Joe protagonist with nothing special about him compared to Tails and Knuckles.