Too many fan service cameos can 'ultimately cheapen the arcs and the authenticity of these characters' says Dragon Age: The Veilguard's game director
I think this is directed at the Zevran fans, sorry.
(Image credit: Electronic Arts)
Over just a few games, Dragon Age has produced a lot of well-loved characters, so it's no surprise that fans are constantly asking if their faves are going to show up in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. But look, they can't all show up, BioWare says.
During the Q&A portion of The Veilguard's preview event earlier this month, the team was asked how BioWare decided who to pull from the existing cast and bring into Veilguard as side characters or cameos.
Focusing on Storytelling and Character Depth
"It honestly comes down to: Do they have more of a story to tell," creative director John Epler said. "We don't want to just bring back characters so you can be like 'hey, I recognize that person!' but certain characters have more to their story.
"Do we have something interesting to say with them? Do they have an interesting role? And does their story progress as a result of what they do or what they don't do in the story we're telling right now?"
Caution Against Fan Service
Game director Corinne Busche agreed, adding that "it's great to see cameos, but fan service can sometimes be exciting in the moment but ultimately cheapen the arcs and the authenticity of these characters."
That does track with all the returning characters that we know are coming to Veilguard so far. Everyone was quite jazzed to see Morrigan again, and her involvement makes sense given her relationship to the elven gods. We've also recently learned that your prior game protagonist The Inquisitor will make an appearance, not surprising since they've got an interest in stopping Solas' whole world destruction bit.
This seems more aimed at everyone who has desperately wanted Zevran, the Antivan Crow party member from Dragon Age: Origins, to turn up in The Veilguard. Yes, we're going to visit parts of Anvita and yes the Crows are getting a bigger presence than ever before. But he cameoed in Dragon Age 2 and it was already a stretch then. We've gotta let him retire. If Dorian Pavus isn't a whole side character though I will definitely have words with someone.
There's been plenty of Veilguard information flying about in the past couple months for anyone not already sticking their head in the sand to avoid spoilers. In the same Q&A session BioWare also said you might be able to give some bad advice to any of your party members who decide to date each other in The Veilguard. Some of you do like to get messy.
Launch Date and Expectations
We'll finally know all the answers to cameos and everything else when The Veilguard launches on October 31.