J: So it sounds like you put a lot of effort into that back-story and just the whole environment.

M: So yeah, this is a universe that has had a lot of work put into it, there are thousands of years of history in various degrees of detail. The area around which the origins take place is written in extreme detail so that there is a lot of story there that has yet to be told.

J: So for the most part is that information people will get through playing the game, or will they need to check out the books as well?

M: There is a lot of information that is presented within the game, as you click on books and things you get codex entries that tell you additional back-story if you are interested in that, but even that just touches the surface of what exists. So some stuff will be further explored within the novels, within the pen and paper games. It’s also just stuff that we will be presenting in future downloadable content and future games as well.

J: What type of material did you use to come up with the universe, as far as sources. Did you get a large group of writers in a room and just say let’s create our own thing?

M: Well at some point, you are going to end up doing that, but there is a lot of inspiration from tradition fantasy. Because essentially what we are trying to do from a genre perspective is that we are trying to take something darker like George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series and then mix the more epic story telling aspects of like a Lord of the Rings and merge them into a more cohesive whole, where you have the overarching story, but you have the intrigue, the politics and the backbiting of a more political setting. So George R.R. Martin and Lord of the Rings are huge impacts. But I think because you are trying to build something new within the genre, it’s important to understand the genre as a whole and do a lot of research around the space.

J: So have you talked much about the DLC that is going to happen in the future?

M: Yeah, we have plans that stretch out for basically two years. And it’s going to be everything from really small stuff like item packs up to larger quests that might last an hour or two up to even fully fledged expansion packs. Really it’s a broad long term support plan for the game.

J: Will those make their way to all platforms?

M: Absolutely. I can imagine we might release something related to the toolset, which would of course be PC only. But at the moment everything is planned to be across all platforms.

J: And as far as mods and stuff go, in all likelihood, we will not be seeing anything on the consoles?

M: There are certainly some issues with getting user generated content onto the consoles, but it would be something we would love to do. So we are exploring that right now.

J: What would you saw the largest hurdle was with the creation of Dragon Age?

M: In a way, I think it’s just brining everything all together. Because ultimately you’re bringing together a new universe of storytelling, a new rule system, new codebase, a new engine and a new story. Each of those things is difficult in and of themselves, but bringing them together into one cohesive whole is probably the hardest part of new IP game development.

J: One of the things I’ve noticed is that the dialogue is just really well done. Do you know how much dialogue actually exists in the game?

M: There are 800,000 words of voice recorded dialogue. So that’s a lot. And then there is just over a million words total including all the codex’s and player responses.

J: So is there anything you’d like to tell our readers?

M: I really hope that what we have done with Dragon Age is please those people that have been Bioware fans for ages by creating a game that harkens back to games they have loved in the past that can give them that feeling they felt before. And for people that maybe haven’t given us a try, this is a game that is accessible for them and opens up a new genre to them. I hope this is a game that can both satisfy our existing fans and bring new people into our fan base.