#thank you CB devs

[beetlemoss-online]

A fun thing I learned today about cassette beasts is that I’m pretty sure the game doesn’t let you accidentally murder bootlegs before your turn even begins! I found a glass bootleg carniviper that got immediately demolished by two random starter triggers, but it still kept a sliver of health even when it should’ve been KO’d!

Just one more thing that makes bootleg hunting more fun than shiny hunting hehe

[felassan]

August 30th 2024 Developer Q&A (from the official BioWare Discord) - Complete transcript

Under a cut due to length and spoilers.

Update: This post has now been updated into a word-for-word transcript.

[Link to video recording of Q&A] | [Link to equivalent post for first Q&A (June 14th)] | [Link to video recording for first Q&A]

Update: This post has now been updated into a word-for-word transcript.

If you would like to listen to the Q&A for yourself in video format, or listen to it again, Ghil Dirthalen recorded it and has now uploaded a video of it here. This blog post is linked in the description under the video. ( ˶´ ᵕ `˶ )

Please note before proceeding that the devs advised that this Q&A may contain minor spoilers!

Corinne Busche, John Epler and Community Manager Katey were the devs that were there.

KFM: Community Manager Katey JE: John Epler CB: Corinne Busche

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KFM: We’re gonna be joined by John and Corinne here in a sec, just waiting for them to get on. Hey John, hey Corinne, thanks for joining - hey!

JE: Hello! Thank you for having us. It's a pleasure.

CB: Hey y’all. It's so good to see so many people, I see some familiar names here. Good to see you again.

KFM: Yeah, yeah, I'm excited to, you know, bring us this second Q&A on the Discord server. Last time we were really, really happy, with the way it happened, y'know, it turned out and how everyone seemed to really enjoy it so we're back again. Thank you for submitting your questions on the ask-bioware channel. I am going to start and kick that off in just a second, but, for those of you who might be new here, I'm the Community Manager, and I'm going to let Corinne and John introduce themselves as well.

CB: Hey y'all, I'm Corinne Busche, Game Director on Dragon Age: The Veilguard. I just generally help people on the team do cool things and create this world.

JE: And I'm John Epler, the Creative Director on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and Corinne picked probably the best way to describe what I do, too, so I'm just gonna steal that. I'm there to make sure the team can, is enabled to do their best work and I'm super excited to share all this with you.

KFM: Awesome. Yeah before we start I also wanna give a quick heads-up, you might have seen in Announcements, but there are a couple of questions in here that we have answers to that we would consider minor spoilers. I'll give a heads-up before that minor spoiler answer is given, or even the question is read, so you can go, y'know, grab some water, or y'know, go outside for a second, or just do anything, to decide if you want to listen to the answer or not. But, I promise, these spoilers are, y'know, we'll call them out before we say anything.  

CB: That is kinda the coolest part of this session, we're getting closer to launch now, so I think we can do a little bit deeper on some of the questions this time.

KFM: Yes, no this is so exciting! Okay, are you guys ready?

JE: Yes! Yes I am.

CB: Let's do it.

KFM: Let's do it.

KFM: Let's start with a fun one. Do all Evanuris hate tea? Does Ghilly-Flower exclusively drink haunted bog water?

JE: Alright. That is a fun one. Y'know, it's funny because I think Solas is the only one of the elven gods that actually really has a tremendous aversion to tea. That said, we don't really get too into what they drink, I would say though, knowing what I know about Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, I think Elgar'nan probably drinks a combination of gas station coffee and the Thedas equivalent of an energy drink, at all times he's got a big Thermos with him. Whereas Ghilan'nain is all about the herbal concoctions that are supposed to be really good for like, your gut health, things like that - she really takes care of herself, so.

CB: John, I think you just described you, and then me. Interesting.

JE: Hurtful, Corinne, accurate but hurtful.

KFM: Okay, next one. So we know that we can hug Assan, but will we be able to hug any of our companions?

JE: So you can't hug your companions at all times. There's not an option to just walk up and give them a hug. They've got their boundaries, they've got their preferences. But there are opportunities in conversations, in dialogue, in scenes where you will, you know - a companion may ask you for a hug because they're having a rough time and you are able to give it to them.

KFM: And will there be a lot of politicking involved? And by politicking they mean quests like Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts.

JE: Yeah, so I mean, there's not gonna be a quest quite like the Halamshiral Ball, I mean that was very specific to the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor was trying to gain favor with a bunch of different factions, they were trying to form an army. Rook's struggle and Rook's, honestly,  challenge is much more immediate and visceral. That said, it's Dragon Age. It wouldn't be Dragon Age if there weren't politics. You'll have influence on the, y'know, things that are happening, and the fate of nations, that are happening around the world, and Rook, I mean, throughout the game, across this adventure, Rook does become a fairly important figure, so it's natural that you’ll have some influence and some involvement with the affairs of the different factions and nations.

KFM: Gotcha. So this question, this next question comes from Onomatopoeia. I know this has been asked before, but they didn't see an answer for it - is there a way to toggle off nudity and sex scenes?

CB: Yeah, let me take this one. It's so funny, John, you get the fun questions and I get the thirsty nudity questions - I'm here for it. So, let me, let me answer and maybe elaborate. So, there is a toggle for on and off nudity. That is one of the settings we have. And we'll be going deeper into settings and accessibility and things like that as we get a little bit closer to launch. But let me also expand on this. So when you're in character creator, you'll actually be able to select what underclothes your Rook wears, and whether that exposes your chest or your breasts. So, by default nudity is on, chest or breast, that is up to you by your underclothing that you select, particularly as you get into, say, romance scenes, but, at any point you can toggle the setting to be non-nudity and it will override your undergarments. 

KFM: Gotcha. This question comes from DarkGoddessEris. What are the companions’ ages? That was a question that actually came up a bunch, so I'm excited for somebody to be able to answer this one.

JE: Yeah,  I can take this one. So the companions in The Veilguard range anywhere from kind of early-mid twenties with Taash at the youngest, all the way up to Emmrich who is in his early fifties. The rest of the companions tend to be in their late twenties, early thirties, again though, they're all experts in their field, they're all people who have been through a lot, so even the ones that are at the younger end of the age spectrum, their experience, they've been through a tremendous amount by this point by the time you meet them, so, yeah. So I mean, I guess, Taash is the closest to Sera at early twenties, but they’re all in kinda that age range, so.

KFM: This next question I'll pitch to Corinne. How linear is the quest experience? Are there going to be side quests that you can stumble upon and resolve within areas or are you locked into a golden path?

CB: This is such a good one. Yeah, a lot of people have been asking about this so thank you to whoever submitted it. So the content in the game is a mix of directed, kinda like story quest missions, and then explorable content. Or you might say optional content. I don't even like calling it side content because it's a lot of fun, it's really good content. So to give you an idea, a lot of the main story quests are critical path missions if we want to call it that. They're very highly crafted. They're more linear than some of the other parts of the game, because we feel that’s how we can tell the best stories, give you a very intentionally-paced experience, y'know, with lulls and climaxes, so it really hits you. But that's only part of it. You're also gonna explore, fully explore a bunch of the locations in The Veilguard, so like, let me just lay a few on you: Arlathan Forest, Hossberg Wetlands, those are probably two of the biggest ones, the Crossroads - now we've seen Crossroads before in Trespasser, but this, isn't necessarily the Crossroads as you remember it. So you'll be able to explore this, this part of the Crossroads, and as you're there, you're absolutely gonna be discovering new areas, new quests, mysteries and new challenges. So exploration in the game is absolutely about player agency in these larger, less linear levels, and it's really an important part of the overall experience and core to our design. Now, as a player - and I'm just speaking for me personally - I'm the kind of player that wants to 100% every area. I want to go find all the optional quests, all the treasures, I wanna see that big 100% completed on my map. That's gonna take you quite a bit of time. So hopefully that answers the question. It is both.

KFM: I think that's a great answer, thanks, Corinne. This next one is from a user named Benedictus: Will we ever get the Venatori gear?

CB: Yeah, I can take that one as well. Venatori gear - so like, I'm assuming what we mean is for to like, wear on Rooks or on companions. Gosh, y'all, I'm gonna be honest - we really, really tried on that one. Hopefully you've seen in the videos our cloth sim, our hair sim, I think it's quite beautiful. The Venatori gear, generally we couldn't make that work to the quality we'd expect within combat. So, no you can't get most of the Venatori gear, but I will say there is a unique Venatori-themed helmet. I, I don't want to spoil what that is exactly, but, so, you can get a helmet, it is unique, it's pretty interesting and ties into some of the events that can happen in the game but I'm just gonna leave it there.

KFM: Gotcha. So, now we're getting into our first real minor spoiler question, so - consider yourself warned, do whatever you need to do, either listen or don't for the next, like, I don't know, minute. So this question is from Kala: Will there be any romanceable NPCs outside of the companions?

JE: I'll take this one. So, no - not this time. This time the romances for Rook are strictly within the companions. We wanted to really focus on those relationships and make sure that they were as developed and as deep as we could make them. And yet honestly and part of it - the other side of it is - Harding was a great example in DA:I, that was a character that as we were building the game, it really struck us, stuck out to us, this is a character that, actually, y'know, you see a lot, you build this very specific rapport with, and the writer, Sheryl, wanted to create that light romance with Harding. None of the characters in The Veilguard really jumped out to us in that same way as, this is a character we really want to build a relationship with, for Rook, but again, y'know, really focusing down on making sure the companion romances were as deep and meaningful as we could make them.

KFM: And this question is just for fun. So we're passed a spoiler, we'll get back into other spoilers in a bit, but this one's just for fun. We have so many cute, silly bird videos on the internet - Lucanis' Ninth Dagger, by the way, says that birds are their favorite animal - if you could just snap your fingers and a bird Easter Egg would be added for Assan, what would it be?

JE: Oh, that's a good question. So actually I'm gonna cheat, because I am trying to think of bird memes, or bird videos specifically, and I'm having a hard time, but, y'know, the thing about griffons is that they're half bird and also half lion, so I'm gonna go with a cat meme, say my favorite meme, and this is one that still brings me joy years after it came out, is the video of the cat grooving to the guy playing Finnish polka on the drum. Again, years old, I've loved - that's one of my favorite videos on the internet, so y'know, if we were gonna give Assan any kind of Easter Egg it would be that one.

KFM: I love that one - 

CB: You know, don't judge me on this, you're putting me on the spot here, but, the only thing I can picture in my head - y'all remember that video a few years back where the kid unleashes the rabbit into the field and then immediately that hawk comes down and snatches it up?

JE: Yes!

CB: Don't judge me, y'all! Don't judge me. But that's where my head goes.

JE: Oh, man.

CB: Assan just getting a little treat.

JE: I love that.

KFM: I love that.

JE: That's a great, that’s a great answer, Corinne. Fantastic.

KFM: So this next one is from a user named Ash. So Taash breathes fire, Lucanis has wings, Harding is a dwarf who has magic. A lot of our companions have some strange abilities - is this because the Veil is compromised?

JE: Oh, I'd say it's, I mean partially yeah. I mean, we've talked before about how over the course of the time since Dragon Age: Inquisition, I mean, it started at the end of Trespasser. The Veil's not in great shape. Corypheus already did a number on it, and Solas has very clearly, as you saw, in the [inaudible] preview, not been making things better in the intervening times. So, there is to some degree, y'know, I'll use Bellara as an example - Bellara's someone who's seeing these artifacts turn on, and being able to interface with them because there's all this magic that's coming back to the world through the torn Veil. Other characters though, I mean, you are recruiting people to stop the end of the world. You're recruiting extraordinary people, they're gonna have extraordinary abilities, and you know, someone like Davrin, a lot of his abilities are focused around Assan and the fact that he's got this partnership, this, almost, you know, familial bond with Assan, his griffon, so.

KFM: Can we get some Assans in the chat?

JE: I think I'm seeing a lot of Assans in the chat, so I think we're well covered there.

KFM: Me too.

KFM: Alright. This next one is for both of you, and I will say, another quick little spoiler, minor spoiler warning, depending on the way that either of you might want to answer this question. This is, of all the companions, who's the team's favorite and what companion was the most difficult to design?

JE: Ooh. I'm gonna cheat, I wrote Bellara so, I’m definitely not gonna say the companion I wrote because that would be weird, but I will say I loved the companion interactions so I'm gonna go with two of my favorite relationships that Bellara has within the team, friendships that she has within the team. So, Bellara and Lucanis start off as two characters who feel like they're from completely different worlds, their experience growing up was very different, where they lived, what they do, and over the course of the game, they kinda build this friendship over all these things that despite again - very different upbringings - they have a lot of things in common. They're both the, y'know, characters who just believe family is deeply important and that shows up in a lot of their interactions, a lot of, y’know, the way they talk to each other, they interact with each other, both within the Lighthouse but also out in the field. The other one - and this was one that came up organically as we were building the game - is Neve and Bellara and they, y'know, Bellara is a character who, y’know, despite being out in Arlathan is very big on stories, very big on - she finds - gets all the newspapers from Tevinter and she has kind’ve learnt who Neve is through that, and they build this very sisterly relationship that I love and that over the course of the game, I mean, we started out without this kind of as the intention, we started finding all these places that this can show up and it turned into, again, one of my favorite friendships that exists between the companions, so.

CB: Oh, that was such a good answer. Yeah, I think I might cheat as well, John, because, first of all, I don't want to speak on behalf of the entire team. So I'm gonna give you my two faves if that's alright. And I feel like y'all already know me on this. Every time we have a chance to talk about Taash and Emmrich I'm right there for it. I'd say they're probably my two favorites, but here's the thing y'all, here's why I love them so much. When you're out in the field like exploring, or on missions with them, their banter is so good, because they do not see eye-to-eye on necromancy, like, at all, and, it's really funny, it's really delightful, I love seeing how it evolves - so like, look - if you wanted a recommendation from me on like, banter in the field, you've got to hear Taash and Emmrich. Most difficult to design, let's touch on that really quickly. I, so, I'm gonna answer, but I don't want to say that like we put more effort into one versus another, but I would say the most challenging was probably Harding, just because you've probably seen if you saw some of the teaser footage, the pre-release trailer, we have teased some strange new powers for Harding, and when we do that we have to figure out how that layers into her combat kit, and when we onboard that, and, yeah it was an interesting challenge, it was a really fun one.

KFM: Awesome. Backing away from spoilers for a quick second, I'm going to ask this question to Corinne. With only two companions per party, as a Nightmare mode player, how can we balance not having a warrior in the team to tank? Will higher difficulty players be forced to bring Davrin or Taash for a melee instead of bringing the characters that we want?

CB: Oh super good - I was hoping this would come up, especially after we released the combat deep-dive for warrior trailer - hopefully y'all enjoyed that. So, let me start by telling you what's happening under the hood. Well, first of all, I'm not gonna bury the lede - you're not gonna have to bring a tank if you don't want to. But, let me first tell you what's happening under the hood, this is gonna be kind of high level, maybe we can go a little bit deeper when we have more time. Behind the scenes when you walk into an enemy encounter, we generally know how much pressure, or you could say intensity or aggression, we want to be putting on Rook to maintain that satisfying moment-to-moment experience. So to give you an idea of some of the levers we have for each encounter, that is the number of enemies that could be specifically focused on you versus your companions, how many enemies can be attacking at once, and even when you have multiple enemies coming at Rook, we have a ticketing system.

[text block character limit reached]

CB: And what that means is each enemy basically knows when it is allowed to attack or not. So, I tell you all that because basically when we're looking at the different types of classes and team compositions, those levers exist underneath the hood, so that we give you the most autonomy and flexibility, but also maintain that, that pressure, that engagement for you the player. So, a couple of other things on that. Now that you kinda get a sense of like what's happening under the hood, it is absolutely beneficial, but not required to have one of each class in your party. We did go into this with the goal of giving players more flexibility than perhaps we've seen in past entries. It's just a different approach. What we know is that players tend to get very attached to certain characters. If you've got your favorites, you oftentimes wanna bring them with you or if you're romancing a character, sometimes it's a feelbad to feel like you have to leave them behind because maybe they're the same class as you. So, the whole game is built and balanced around flexibility, and giving you the agency. So you can be successful, you can mix it up, but you gotta plan for it. So what, what do I mean by that? If you're not using teamwork, if you're not planning for your party composition for those synergies, it's definitely not gonna end super well. Right? Like, I've done no tank runs, but it takes some foresight in the strategy here. So I'll give you an example if you don't mind, I think I've been pretty out there that my favorite class and specialization right now - could change tomorrow - is the rogue Veil Ranger specialization. And this is very much a ranged archery-based specialization. So, I want to keep enemies at ranged, because I want to get those well-aimed critical hits, right, if those enemies are right up on top of me, I'm not gonna be able to do that. So if I don't have a tank in my party, a couple of the tools that I turn to - and I have done this, in fact, in my last playthrough I did this quite a bit - I might bring Bellara and use her Galvanic Tear, which pulls all the enemies towards like this really cool-looking gravity well and gets them off of me. I might instead use Neve's Time Slow. So the cool thing about this is it slows time for everything in the world except for you and your team, right? So I'm running away, I'm doing a Heavy Draw, getting those headshots, or making other tactical decisions. I could also turn to my rune loadout - hopefully y'all saw runes in the warrior combat deep-dive - that's an important part, especially if you're playing on Nightmare Mode, the strategic and tactical options that gives you, will allow you to overcome things like not having a tank. I think everyone may have saw the rune where you're doing a, basically an AoE freeze, and freezing everything in place. So it's kind of a long-winded answer, I'm sorry, it's complicated, but point is, is I think you're gonna have more flexibility in your build crafting and your synergies, but it's gonna depend on the strategy and composition that you feel works best for you and your own preferences. And then you did mention Nightmare, let me just finish with saying, and this is anecdotal, but in our own Nightmare playthroughs, we actually find that the most challenging aspect to plan around isn't necessarily aggro management, but making sure you have coverage on all the various elemental damage types. So, I just say this for anyone planning to go into Nightmare - plan well.

KFM: Staying on the topic of combat, it was noticed during the high-level combat videos that weapons and armor seem to be tied to different factions. Are there bonuses or something similar involved if Rook is a Grey Warden while using Grey Warden equipment? Are these removed if a Shadow Dragon Rook is using Grey Warden equipment? 

CB: Oh, interesting. You know, everyone went deep on that gameplay video, hey, I’m glad you noticed that. Yeah, so, to answer this, you're going to be working really closely with the factions in the game, right? Like the threat you’re up against is a world-ending threat so you’re going to interact with each of these factions. So that means that you’re gonna get a lot of the gear that that faction tends to use, and especially the stronger you help them become, the more gear you’ll have available from that faction. So when you see a piece of gear that has like the Veil Jumper icon on it, that signifies that it is aligned with that faction, but you can use it regardless of if that’s your faction background or not. All it means is that, you know, if I want to maybe improve it or get more gear in that vein, or that looks similar, I can see it’s from the Veil Jumpers, I’m going to go back to the Veil Jumper quartermaster, and that’s where I will find more items of that type or upgrade possibilities. But it also leans into the thematic identity. So, you know, I think in that video we were using the transmog system, but if I’m using a Veil Jumper gear like an armor, it’s gonna look like it was crafted by the Veil Jumpers, and it’s gonna lean into the mechanical themes of the Veil Jumpers as well, which, one of those themes tends to be lightning damage. Now, I will also say, and this is a little specific, but occasionally you will find gear, or even like skill nodes, that will occasionally be empowered, they’ll get stronger relative to your strength with that given faction. So like if you find a piece of gear that’s really core to your build, and it strengthens the stronger the Veil Jumpers are, like that gives you a pretty good signifier that maybe that’s a faction you wanna focus on.

CB: Katey, I don't know if you're still there.

JE: Yeah.

CB: Did we lose you?

[there is silence on KFM’s line]

JE: Ope.

CB: We may have lost Katey, y’all. 

JE: We can start, just, you know, let’s - 

CB: Yeah. Why don’t, why don’t, I do have the list of questions here so why don’t I ask the next one until Katey comes back. I hope everything’s okay on your side Katey. Alright. Next question I see, the Evoker description on the blog-post highlights ice-based magic. Does that mean we will not be able to have lightning- and fire-themed playstyles as the Evoker? No, no, absolutely not. The Evoker can lean into all of the elements, in fact, all mages can to a degree. You probably have seen the skill trees, you’re gonna pick up abilities, perks, traits, of all elemental types, and powering up those elements. So just because you’re an Evoker, doesn’t mean you’re like pigeon-holed into ice spells. What I will say is, if you’re heading towards that specialization, you’re gonna pass through the section of the skill tree where you’re more easily going to be able to naturally pick up those ice spells, right? So it might lean towards ice, but you can expand it. The name of the game is agency here.

JE: Corinne, why don’t I ask you the question so we can still kinda do a Q&A thing? CB: Yeah, that, that sounds good.

JE: Corinne, can I set the gear to look however I want without losing stats? And that is a question from YoCallMeRob.

CB: Alright, well, y’all know, fashion’s the true end game. So, we did confirm we have a full transmog system, so what I’m gonna do is spend some time going a little more in-depth for y’all, so that we’re getting new information. So yeah, if anyone’s not aware, transmog basically is, I have a piece of gear, but I apply an appearance to it that makes it look like something else that I like better so I can be fabulous. So, how this is gonna work is you’re of course gonna find gear as you adventure through the world, and you can equip that. But any piece of gear you find is also going to unlock the appearance for that gear. So you might find something that you really like, and you wanna look that way, and then you replace it, anything that you’ve already acquired, you can apply the appearance to whatever gear you want. Additionally, and this is one of my favorite parts, is, you’ll also find some appearance-only cosmetics that are specifically used just for transmog. So sometimes these are some of the fancier or more niche pieces of gear, maybe end up looking like a training dummy for instance. So you’ll get these appearance datas from opening treasure chests, exploring the world, and more frequently from vendors. So, look, if you’re in it for fashion, check out those vendor inventories because they got you. I would also say that you can transmog your casual wear, so field wear and casual wear, fully transmoggable. If you wanna be platemail while you’re hanging around the Lighthouse as a mage, more power to you. And then if I were just to give you a practical example of this, like on the Blood Dragon Armor, the pre-order bonus, those are cosmetics, those are just appearance datas, right, so they’re effectively evergreen, you can use them anytime you like without compromising your stats.

JE: I will say that I don’t think I’ve spent as much time in any other menu other than transmog, because as Corinne mentioned at the beginning of this, fashion is the true end-game, so. Katey, have we gotcha back yet?

JE: Katey, have we gotcha back yet?

KFM: Am I back? Can you hear me?

JE: Yay, you’re back. 

CB: Katey, we did our best Katey.

JE: Yeah.

CB: But I don’t think we were very impressive -

KFM: No, I think you both did a great job. It was one of those weird situations where Discord force-quit, but I could still hear everything everyone was saying. I don’t really know what that was about, but.

CB: I just assumed you didn’t like my answer.

KFM: Yeah, I rage-quit actually Corinne, it’s all your fault.

JE: Taken by the Fade.

KFM: No, thank you for taking over while I was figuring that out. There is a non-zero chance that that happens again, so just keep an eye out. 

JE: We’ll keep an eye out for it, we gotcha.

KFM: Thank you.

KFM: So I’ll just pick it up from the next question. The latest, latest - wow, I can’t even talk anymore - video series mentioned how each companion can set up or detonate specific combos. Are those always set in stone or would we get opportunities to change it up, through the skill-trees or otherwise? 

CB: Cool, cool, cool. I eat up these really specific combat questions. So first, let me give you an overview of how the primer-detonator relationship works between the classes. Like, this is very nitty-gritty y’all, if this is your jam, get your pencils out. So here’s the overview. Mages, and this whether, this is true of companions and Rook, mages apply weakened and overwhelmed debuffs, and those are two of the debuffs we call primers. Magers detonate the sundered debuff. Then if we go to rogues, rogues apply weakened and sundered debuffs, and rogues detonate overwhelmed. Warriors apply sundered and overwhelmed, and warriors detonate weakened. So you can see, kinda the interesting rock-paper-scissors relationship there. And when I talk about it as beneficial to bring one of each class? It’s just the inherent nature of that rock-paper-scissors relationship that I’m really thinking of. But, to answer your question, that is just the baseline, that is the default if you don’t modify it. Throughout the game, you will find opportunities, whether it’s from gear, skill-tree nodes, even runes, that allow you to break this paradigm. So when it comes to your companion builds, again it all comes down to the abilities you choose, what gear you’re equipping them with, how you allocate your skill points. Yeah, does that answer the question? There’s quite a bit of flexibility but there is a baseline paradigm as well.

KFM: Yeah, I think that answers the question.

KFM: Let’s see. The next one is, will we see a bit more the Lighthouse before release, as well as non-combat gameplay?

CB: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. We’ll keep it brief here because we are gonna be talking more about exploration and the Lighthouse next month, so forgive me, but I’ll say stay tuned on that one.

KFM: Alright. Then, this next one I believe is a little bit of a spoiler. I know that some people have, can’t hear me still for some reason, if you can’t, tell folks to quit Discord and rejoin it, but -

CB: Okay, minor spoiler y’all, if you can’t hear Katey, this one’s a minor spoiler.

KFM: Yes. Thanks Corinne. This one is, will we be able to give gifts to our companions, either generic or plot-specific?

CB: Yeah, you sure can! I actually wanna shout-out one of our lovely designers, Dusty. This was a passion project from him. He was advocating for this. So, the cool thing about this is, it’s not like a transactional thing, like where I’m gonna go farm a bunch of like nonsensical items and just like, mechanically turn them over. Out in the world, and there in various locations, so you kinda stumble upon them, you can buy a gift that is very personal to any one of the companions, and then you go, you turn that into them, you give it to them, they have a nice acknowledgement. And then, the thing that’s just like so sweet about it, we’ve talked about how the companion rooms evolve over time, but if you go and get them one of these, like, very personalized gifts, they’ll display it in their room. Like it doesn’t go into some stats void. It’s actually on display.

KFM: I love that.

KFM: This next question, I'll pitch it to John. Some of our companions like Neve, Emmrich and Lucanis have been in past short stories and comics and there's also a passing resemblance to some of the old concept art from years ago. What is the process like for making a character at some point and then planning to bring them back as a companion, or were they always written or designed and intended to be companions?

JE: Alright, that's a great question, and it's actually one I'm gonna go a little deep on. So, as we build the game, as we start writing companions we see how they fit in the story, see how they fit together. Some characters have been around, some character concepts have been around for quite some time, others come in a little bit later in development as we realise we have a gap, you know, something in the story that we need someone, who makes sense to fill that gap, to be that character. But part of it’s also just as the writers we want to make sure that the people who are writing these companions are passionate, and they're writing a character they want to write. We don't want to just say "we need X, Y and Z. Write a companion to fill these gaps", but it'll be "hey, in this story, it really doesn't make sense that we don't have somebody, ah, doing X, is there a character we can build for that?" And so, y'know, you'll see the old concept art and a lot of those concepts, y'know, a lot of those, kinda the core of those characters remains intact, we may have changed details of them, we may have decided "okay, they were going to be X but now Y makes a little bit more sense" - Or as a writer I'm a little bit more interested in why, y’know, what, this particular concept speaks to me more. In terms of comics, short stories and such, generally speaking - and this isn't universal - but generally speaking, writers are writing these short stories in particular, it’s a volunteer, we ask the team, like, "hey, does anyone - we've got this short story anthology, who wants to write something for it?”, so writers are going to pick characters that they're passionate about and in those cases they tend to be their companions, so for example. You know, Neve’s shown, is mentioned. Neve, Emmrich, Lucanis have all shown up. Those were written by people who are passionate about those characters and we had already intended for them to be companions. Other characters, though - I mean, and Harding is an excellent example - we create a character to fill a role. In the case of Harding, she was in Inquisition largely to be there to kind of connect those exploration spaces together and give you a sense of the Inquisition’s presence, and then we saw the fan reaction, but beyond that, Sheryl really wanted to explore Harding's arc more deeply, so she got promoted to be a companion as well, so, yeah, I mean, it's an organic process, and I mean again, it comes down to, we want to make sure the people who are building these characters, ah, not just the writers but also the artists, y'know, the cinematic designers, the editors, y'know, the gameplay people, are excited to build these characters. And you know, and actually, I'm gonna go a little bit side topic on that. Bellara's a great example where we knew what Bellara wanted to be, needed to be in the story, but gameplay-wise it took a bit to kinda land on how her gameplay and her character arc and who she was melded together. Y'know, Corinne’s talked earlier about the companions and how they show up in gameplay. A really big thing for us on this project is making sure that the gameplay reflects the characters, their arc and their personality as much as possible, so. Yeah, kind’ve a long answer to say, it depends, but yeah, generally if they show up, especially in something like a short story, we’ve already intended for them to be a companion because, those are the characters that people, the writers are most passionate about, so.

KFM: I love that.

KFM: Apart from wanting to try different classes, what are the main incentives for multiple playthroughs now that, now that stuff seems more overall universal, to be attempted all in a single playthrough. Are there choices presented freely - are there choices presented that are impactful, that wildly different outcomes will come from, while - wow, wow, wow, let me start that one again. I think it’s just, I’m reading it straight off the sheet. 

JE: No worries.

KFM: I'll start from the top. Apart from wanting to try different classes, what are the main incentives for multiple playthroughs now that stuff seems more universal, to be attempted all in a single playthrough? Are there choices that are impactful and wildly different, and different outcomes and decision paths?

JE: So, I mean, there's a few incentives, one of which, is, and I mean, the most basic is, the three classes from a gameplay perspective do play differently and, you know, I’ve, it’s funny, Corinne was talking about how her favorite is the Veil Ranger but that might change. Mine literally changes every time I play, I start a new playthrough, I develop a new favorite class, which is the class I'm currently playing. But more generally, yeah there are choices in the game, there are different outcomes, there’s content that does, that you will see or won't see based on choices you make both within the critical path of the game but also with the followers themselves so, y'know. You're not going to see everything in a single playthrough, you're not even going to see everything necessarily in a couple of playthroughs, but, y'know, you want to see how your choices have different outcomes, that's the best way to do it. 

KFM: This question is - I understand mages having very magical-looking moves, but why do rogues and warriors also have very magical-looking moves? Was making every class look like a mage a purposeful choice? 

CB: Cool, cool, cool. So it's a multi-part answer, but yes, everything we've done has been with intention towards supporting the overall player experience. So I guess the first place I'd go to answer this is from a game-tuning and balance perspective. We knew that supporting multiple damage types like physical, fire, electric etc, that was gonna be an important factor in the strategic depth of the combat system, particularly as it leans into builds and the strategies you'd use to take on various enemies. It’s not the extent of it, but it's an important part of it. So that meant that making sure the various classes in some capacity have access to some or all of these damage types. And that then means that we need to make them read visually as such on the battlefield. So the first part is about making sure you have those strategic options on the battlefield. But there is more to it than that I'd say, we also found - and I've heard this from a lot of you, that some of our magical hybrid classes have been amongst the favorites. My goodness the discourse around Knight Enchanter - 

JE: M-hm -

CB: - So this felt like a very thematic way for us to support that goal if that makes sense, the goal of game balance but also leaning into the things that seem to resonate the most. If I was to just focus on the Warriors out there for a minute though, because we just released the warrior deep dive, we've actually long had a goal within the team of making them more visually interesting and impactful. We know, and I’ve heard from a bunch of you that warrior, y'know, tends not to be peoples’ first choice, but hey, any of the warrior fans out there - big props to you, because I love them, too. So this was like our chance, really, to show what a warrior can do, to make them feel like they have a presence on the battlefield that could be as interesting as some of the other classes, but I will say, I absolutely recognize that there are those of you that like, if you're playing a melee class, you even want a pure, like, physical-based warrior aesthetic, maybe something that's a little more grounded, you can generally make a build that's more physical-focused if that’s more your taste.

KFM: In addition to playing the first three games, what comic books or novels do you recommend reading before playing The Veilguard?

JE: Oh, that's a great question. I mean, generally speaking, one of the things we wanted to make sure with The Veilguard was that players could get into the story, understand what was going on without needing to, y'know, get into the ancillary material. I love the comics, I love the novels, I love the short stories, but they are intended to be kinda side content. One of the things that we hear loud and clear is sometimes folks don't really want that to feel like I need to have read this, I need to have seen this comic, I need to have watched that show for it to make sense. That said, I’d say The Missing, the most recent comic series. is a very clear lead-up to the beginning of The Veilguard, it's setting up events, it’s kinda setting up, y'know, Varric and Harding's search for Solas, it sets up some of the characters that you'll see in the game. Tevinter Nights is another one, not - we mentioned earlier that some of the companions show up there. Beyond just the companions, there’s some thematic stuff that comes out of that as well, some things that we kinda wanted to set up when we wrote those short stories, like, giving you an idea of what the worldstate is, how things have changed over time, and then I’d say, you know, more very recently, we have the podcast, Vows & Vengeance, which is intended to give you a taste of the companions and also, again, talk about the worldstate of Thedas at this point, you know, giving you kind’ve the lead-up to weeks before the events of the Veilguard, so you do have that sense of what’s going on, who are these people, and how, you know, when I first meet them in The Veilguard, you kinda have an idea of who they are. Again, though, this is all stuff that I think enhances the experience, but it’s not required, there’s never going to be, we’re never gonna put you in a situation where a character shows up and, you know, everyone makes a big deal out of it, and you’re sitting there wondering like, who, who is this person? Because they were introduced in other media. We always wanna make sure that you understand, that the only thing that you need to have done to understand The Veilguard is play The Veilguard, so.

KFM: Awesome. Also, yes, Vows & Vengeance is so good, so definitely, you know, give it a chance. The first episode is out now. I think a lot of people in the Vows & Vengeance Discord server, Discord channel are, are really stoked about it.

KFM: This next question. Will we be able to adjust how much damage the companions do in the accessibility settings?

CB: Yeah, so our customized difficulty, and accessibility settings as well, they’re more focused on how you the player experience the game while in control of Rook. So, things like enemy health, timing, things of that nature. So not in the settings, no, but if you really wanna be that kind of player that wants to amp up your companions, like have them do a greater share of the overall damage, there’s a number of ways to accomplish this. You’ll get gear that just strictly says, your companions do more damage. And then there are some unique buffs we support like Rally Party, so you as Rook can trigger this surge in your companions’ ability. So, again, we know how diverse the motivations are within the player-base, so we wanted to make sure those tools were there for y’all.

KFM: So now we’re getting back into spoiler territory. There’s minor spoilers, but, you know, definitely, take heed, for the next couple of minutes if you don’t wanna hear them. Okay, we ready? Will we finally meet Maevaris Tevani in Tevinter?

CB: Oh my goodness, y’all. Alright, you got the spoiler warning, so when I talk about cameos and appearances, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Okay, this one’s very near and dear to my heart as a trans woman myself, I’m pretty open about that. Yeah, yeah, our dear Mae, she’s in the game, happy to confirm it, and I am, every time I see her I absolutely freak out. What I’m not gonna tell you though is what role or capacity she plays, so you’re just gonna have to wait and see. But Maevaris Tilani, she’s in.

KFM: I am living for chat right now. Like, I try not to look at it too much during these, because it’ll distract me, but I’m living for chat right now.

KFM: This next one is also a minor spoiler. Will we find out what happened to Lucanis' parents, for his grandmother to have had charge of him?

JE: Yeah, so I mean, Lucanis is an Antivan Crow. If you know anything about the Antivan Crows you know that they are, well, assassins, and assassins tend to have fairly deadly politics, and the daggers are a lot more literal than you would see somewhere like Orlais, so. That’s all I’m gonna say. You’ll find out, you’ll find out at some point for sure.

KFM: We’re doing a great job at not giving too much away.

KFM: Do we get any jealousy dialogues from any of the companions if you switch up your romance plans partway through? Are any of the romances hard-locked at any point?

JE: Yeah so, you can, I mean, once, there is an opportunity, or there is a place in a romance where you essentially commit to it being exclusive. And we really wanted to make sure that, A), we were very up front about the fact that you were committing to an exclusive romance at that point, and before that, it is portrayed as, you’re flirting, you’re kind’ve, you know, figuring out each other. So, not, there’s no jealousy dialogues, but there are - places where you commit, and we wanted to be very clear to fans. There’s also going to be a place, because I think I’m reading this right, where, there’s a point in the story where if you haven’t committed, if you haven’t said like, yeah, let’s, let’s, you know, I’m in for it, I’m up for this, let’s do this, where you no longer have that opportunity. We’re very clear about what that point is, because again, we don’t want people to be missing out on a romance, to think like, I’ve got some time, you know, I really wanna romance Neve, but, I’ve got a little, and then find out that no, in fact, you don’t have anymore time, so. 

KFM: Are class specializations locked to a particular faction, or can Rook only learn a specialization from a particular faction, like through a faction trainer?

JE: So, the specializations are a lot more thematically tied to the factions than they are a strict, you must be X faction, you must get it from this person. You know, for example, I’ll use the Veil Ranger is all themed, as Corinne said earlier, around electricity, around the use of the Veil, around the use of that kinda magic. So while they are thematically tied, there is no, you must be a Crow to be a Spellblade for example, and part of that is because, while we do like having that connection between gameplay and, you know, roleplay, we also don’t want you to feel like, well, I really wanted to be a Spellblade, but I also really want to be a Grey Warden. We don’t want those two things, sometimes we want gameplay to influence narrative, but we never want you to feel restricted by one against the other, if that makes sense.

KFM: Yeah, definitely

CB: Katey, can I go off-script really quickly?

KFM: Of course.

CB: Alright, so I saw someone post in chat, “okay, poly next time, though”. Let me just say, I cannot make promises, I cannot, but I’m with you. I’m with you. 

KFM: I love it. Anytime you wanna address anything that’s happening in chat, by all means.

JE: Oh, shit, copy that.

KFM: I mean, don’t go too crazy. Alright.

KFM: This next question is from Que Sera Sera. Will we be able to change the font size in the UI, subtitles etc?

CB: I can take that one. So, quick reminder, we are gonna do a deeper dive as we get closer to launch on accessibility settings, but let me just answer this one. Yeah, yeah you absolutely can. There are limits of course, but as a fellow person who often has to squint, I’m 42 y’all, my eyes are starting to go. I can play comfortably, I suspect most players will be able to play comfortably.

KFM: Will there be a way to save characters we make so we don't have to start from scratch each time?

CB: Heck yeah, you absolutely can. We, I mean, look, all of you playing Inquisition, you’re still sharing your OC and your characters ten years on. We know how much you love it, so yeah, yeah, absolutely. I do wanna have a, some caveats here though. So, it’s when you’re in the character creator, you can import the character appearance, it’s just gonna be the appearance data, from an existing save of yours. So when I say an existing save, just let me put a very fine point on it, that save has to be local to the machine. Remember, we’re an offline game, there’s no online character sharing built in. But for those of you that like, your OC, are very near and dear to your heart and every time you replay you like to have the same character, and you’ve spent hours and hours and hours working on it, yeah, you can import that.

JE: We saw how many of you were saving screenshots of sliders in DA:I, and that was not a great experience, as we’re well aware, so.

KFM: This next one is, are companion quests going to focus on internal factors or external personal events? Like will it be a growth in character and self-discovery, or are they firmly-rooted in their sense of self and will ask for/need help with their factions, interpersonal relationships, etc?

JE: So that’s a great, another great question. It’s a mix of both. I mean, each companion has their own personal arc over the course of the game. You know, you go on missions with them, you solve problems with them and the nature of those problems, you know, it’s, the problems are a lot, often-times very external in nature, you know, something’s happening that they need help with, but most of the time those problems are also tied to their own personal growth as a character. Again, you know, we really want to make sure that players feel invested in these characters, feel invested in their stories. And we also want to show that these characters do grow over the course of The Veilguard, this is, there aren’t characters that remain completely static from moment one to the end-game. These are characters who grow, and you help them grow. They’re still, their problems are still not going to like, they’re not sitting there saying, well, Rook, you need to do everything for me, but you are, you’re intended to be the leader of this group, but also, you can be their friend and help them with things that, their challenges, so. Yeah, I mean, it’s, it’s a mix of both, we really just, it comes down to the individual character and there is a lot of nuance in that answer I think too.

KFM: This next question from XenoGabby is a minor spoiler, so you’ve been warned once again. The question is, is Lucanis possessed?

JE: So, again, spoilers, everyone has been warned, fairly warned. So Lucanis Dellamorte is also known as The Demon of Vyrantium. And, he has spent a lot of time killing Venatori, who are mages, and who do know a lot about demons, so. Yeah, somebody decided that it might be a good idea to make that nickname stick.

KFM: And this next one, from a user named Crom, is there reactivity towards the specialization that you chose? Like some people might trust more Champions, or maybe freak, others will freak out with Death Callers or Reapers? 

CB: Yeah, what a good question, so, in general the reactivity is reserved for things that aren’t necessarily likely to change, things that can create a throughline that we can keep building and building upon, so like your faction, your lineage, your class, your choices. So that keeps a consistent narrative thread with those elements, and then we can assume that thread continues from A to B. So the answer is no, they don’t react to your specialization, but in part that’s because you can full refund, you can respec at any time, you might a Death Caller one moment and another specialization on the next encounter.

KFM: And, this next question. You mentioned encountering companions on their own missions in the world. If I keep my party mostly the same, does that mean that I miss out on their side missions, or are they unavailable to be picked up during that time? 

CB: Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, you’re, you have all the tools that you’re not gonna miss out on quests based on who’s in your party. How would I answer this - so, there are certain plot elements that can change what quests are available to you, and in some cases, some quests that you might have in your journal can actually expire based on choices and how you advance the plot. So there are ways that quest content gets cut off, or alters. But in general you have the visibility and the tools so that you won’t miss out on it. I can give you a couple of examples, that might be helpful. So when you meet companions out in the world, there’s kinda like a couple of different ways that they can show up. In a recent playthrough, I was exploring Hossberg Wetlands. It was technically for a quest that should’ve been more oriented towards Davrin, but I didn’t have him in my party, and as I got close to the objective, he showed up with Assan and helped me clear the path forward. The other way this will happen, I was out in Arlathan, actually doing, on my way to do a main story mission, and I get to the far reaches of Arlathan Forest, and I already knew that Taash wanted to help me with some of the challenges of that arc. Well, Taash is right there waiting for me, so I actually chose to instead like, ah, Taash seems impatient, I’m gonna actually jump on that story arc right now instead of what I intended to do, so. Just some examples of the way that as you’re journeying through this world, opportunities are gonna show up, but they allow you just to express more agency, you’re generally not going to miss them.

KFM: Awesome. This next one is, minor spoiler, you’ve been warned. This next question is from Tazaba. What's the difference between the Veil Jumper faction and the Veil Ranger Specialization?

CB: Yeah, okay, so, yeah we just wanted to kinda flag this as a spoiler, just because there might be assumptions about how you take on specializations in this game. So John touched on this a little bit already, but specializations really represent the training and fighting styles used by a given faction. As John mentioned, you do not have to be a Veil Jumper to choose a specialization that’s associated with the Veil Jumpers. You’ve just been around them, you’re aware of their techniques, and you wanna take that on yourself. So, in this particular case, and I get the confusion because Veil Jumper and Veil Ranger sound very similar. If I’m playing as a rogue, using the Veil Ranger specialization, all that means is I’m fighting in the style of the Veil Jumpers, like they do, with bow and arrow, typically with electric damage, that sort’ve thing. So just, to be super clear, it’s not required that you have to play a Veil Jumper in order to be a Veil Ranger.

KFM: This next question is, where is the equator in Thedas, or the planet Thedas is on, relative to places we’ve explored?

JE: That is a great question. So, I will say that, you know, it’s funny until I saw this question, it’s not something I’d ever thought a lot about, but as I started thinking about it a little bit more deeply, based on how the climate changes across Thedas, you know, obviously, to the south are the Avvar and things get a little bit more wintry, and then up north is a lot more tropical, I’d say that Thedas is a southern continent on this world, so.

KFM: Are there any main story missions that require you to use a specific companion? Kinda similar to a previous question.

CB: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, there are a few, yes, again, in the warrior deep dive, I’m not gonna describe it, just in case anyone, you know, didn’t wanna have spoilers, you can see that a companion was required for that. However, that’s the exception rather than the rule. In general, we try to give players the agency to bring who they want for these moments. There are these times where a companion, either their faction or their story arc is so closely tied or intersects with the events of a main story mission that they do become required, but it’s not the standard. And then of course, in general, if you’re doing your companions’ arcs, those are the moments where they’re more than likely gonna be required.

KFM: Will we be - 

CB: It's pretty flexible, like if, if you’re worried about like, every mission I go through, like am I gonna have someone that is gonna be mandated? Generally not.

KFM: Sorry, I almost talked over you there Corinne, my bad.

KFM: This next question is, will we be able to pause cutscenes? Will there be any kind of dialogue history to look back on if we miss what was said? 

JE: So, you can pause every cutscene in the game. Obviously, life happens, you know, somebody, maybe you’re cat’s, you know, just to use an example that definitely doesn’t happen to me regularly, my cat might be throwing up in the next room and I need to find a way to get her off the carpet and on to, you know, not the carpet, so you can pause any cutscene, and conversation. There is no dialogue history at the moment unfortunately, and that’s not something, we did look into it but it’s just based on how the dialogue is structured and how it’s built in this game, that’s not something that we are going to have unfortunately. 

KFM: I saw somebody say “cat vomiting is so real”, and I agree, sometimes when I’m playing games, my dog decides to do something insane.

KFM: So, this next question is, since companions can get into relationships with each other, is there a mechanic behind which companions get together? Can a companion leave due to your world decisions, and if so, will their partners leave with them?

JE: I’m gonna answer half this question, the other half is a spoiler that we’re not gonna get into right now. Companions, there is not actually a mechanic behind the companions getting together. We never wanted it to feel like a mechanical thing, and obviously, different companions are gonna have different attractions. One of the fun things is, as you’re going through, especially if you’re not flirting with one of the companions, you can see these relationships starting to develop, and the thing that actually allows them to, you know, completely develop is, generally committing to another relationship, or, you know, not being engaging, not engaging in a romance with those companions at all. So, yeah, I mean, there’s not a mechanic, it’s just what we felt made the most sense and, I think that’s honestly one of my favorite things about the companions is, they’re all written to feel like real people with real preferences and real, you know, attractions. So beyond just romances, they also develop friendships and even rivalries with each other, because of these, them feeling like these characters that exist outside of just the game, so. 

KFM: Awesome.

KFM: This question is all about Davrin. Hildrana would love to know more about Davrin. What’s his personality like, what kind of hobbies or things does he like, and what his relationship with Assan is like?

JE: So Davrin is one of my favorite, I mean, I say one of my favorite characters, honestly I love all seven companions so it’s challenging for me to say which. But Davrin is stern, thoughtful and considerate though, he has a soft side for sure. You see that develop over time as he starts to warm up to the other companions. He has, you know, a kindness to him that is brought out in particular by certain companions, and also a strong sense of pride and when he develops a rivalry with some of the companions. So there’s that sense of, he knows who he wants to be, he knows who he is, and a lot of his arc is making that journey. In terms of how he relates to Assan, you know, his relationship over, evolves over time, I’m not gonna get too deep into spoilers because there are spoilers for that in his quest. The other interesting thing about, about Davrin, and this shows up, we’ve talked about this before. He’s a monster hunter. He’s not just a Warden who sees fighting monsters as, you know, just part of the job. He believes in turning this into a skill-set that he alone, you know like, he has more than anyone else. Learning how to defeat monsters, learning their weaknesses, and that does show up a lot in his character arc, so.

KFM: This next question came through our askbox on Tumblr, so shoutout the BioWare Tumblr. Rosered is asking why do elves seem to not like wearing shoes? Is there a lore reason behind it? Are they not afraid of getting frostbite or stepping in something gross?

JE: So the shoeless elves thing is in part a, it’s a, Dalish are very close to nature, they walk, go around shoeless, in large part, to become closer to nature. It’s part of their culture, it’s part of who they are. But, you know, especially, and it’s not true of every Dalish clan, the Dalish are a tremendously widely-spread and widely-varied people, so. For example, Bellara does not go around shoeless. She wears boots. She’s climbing around on ancient ruins, walking through maybe a shattered eluvian, or a place where eluvian’s shattered, it’s a great way to get your feet sliced up on the hard rocks and on the hard glass. And in general Veil Jumpers are a little bit more, where they go and what they do really requires a lot more care and a lot more protection, so. I mean you’ll notice in Bellara’s visual design but also in the visual design of the other Veil Jumpers, they’re very practically minded, they know that what they’re doing is dangerous, and, you know, and, again, not every Dalish clan goes round shoeless, so.

KFM: ZJ wants to know, do all companions have aesthetic changes when in the Lighthouse and outside of the Lighthouse?

CB: Amazing. Yeah, yeah, they absolutely do. So, just like Rook, each of the companions has what we refer to as their casual wear. This is how they look in their downtime, their more relaxed moments. It’s definitely different from how they look headed into battle. And I’ll tell you this. If Emmrich’s casual wear doesn’t send you, I just don’t know what to tell you.

KFM: I’ve got a fun one coming up. Do they companions have favorite foods, and if so, what are they?

JE: Oh I love this one, so they do. Each of them does have favorite foods. It’s funny, I’d say that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is probably the most we’ve talked about food in a context of Dragon Age, ever. But yeah, I mean, you know, some of them are a little bit more, you know, they have simpler tastes, and in large part that’s because that’s what they’re used to or what they can cook. We talked, I’m gonna actually give a little bit of a, I don’t know if I consider this a spoiler, but maybe if you’re really sensitive to spoilers you don’t wanna listen to this last part. We’ve talked about how there’s people on the team who are better cooks and people on the team who maybe don’t have necessarily the skill-set, who could burn water. So one of the things I really love is, you know, Bellara and Lucanis actually end up being, essentially, the team cooks. Bellara, you know, spending a lot of time out in nature, learning a lot about, you know, different types of cooking, is really big on experimentation, she likes to, you know, try different things. Lucanis comes from the Crows, Lucanis is very big on the finer things, so between the two of them, there’s a point in the story where they basically decide, if we don’t do this, the entire team is going to starve, so let’s just call ourselves the cook, cooks, and make sure that nobody dies of food poisoning, so.

KFM: This next one, I believe we actually might’ve even touched on this in the first Q&A, but, Trev has noticed a lack of dwarves in our promotional material concerning Rook. Inquisition had them sharing facial hair options with humans. So their question is, will dwarves return to more braided, grander beards, or will the facial hair options be shared like previously?

CB: Yeah, we did touch on this briefly, so let me go a little bit deeper. Yeah, there are some grander dwarven beards, like braids, beads woven in, it’s really lovely and really thematic. And y’all have seen our Strand hair, how great that looks, I think it looks just as great for the beards. And I do know, we’re gonna, at some point leading up to launch, we are gonna be showing some dwarf Rooks. So, let’s see if we can’t get some beard options on display there. It actually really was quite the challenge to get the physics to work with all the armor variance we have on those beards. So I’ll tell you what y’all. The team loves hearing from you. Would it be okay if I just asked in chat, could we get some love for our character art and tech anim teams because they put their heart and soul into make sure this would work for y’all. 

JE: It is, it is incredible how good the beards look, like, it just, they did, the work that they’ve done is just spectacular.

CB: Aw y'all are too kind. And then I guess just to finish up this question, we try and let you use as many options as the character creator has for any character you wanna create. So we definitely created bears in mind that are more dwarven in nature. You can use that on a qunari if you want, or you can use a more traditional human beard on a dwarf if you want, but your options are there. Aw, y’all are lovely, thank you so much.

KFM: So we didn't tag this next one as a minor spoiler. I don’t think that it is. But, definitely want to flag it anyway. Will the Solavellans have a chance at a happy ending?

JE: Corinne, I’m gonna let you do this one. 

CB: Oh my goodness, this is the question. Look! I mean, I thought y’all wanted the pain? Didn’t you tell me you wanted the pain, that tortured romance that rips your heart out? Honestly though, I just wouldn’t feel right about spoiling anything there. I’ll just say this, I’ll just say this. Trick has done a fantastic job with Solas, they always do, this is some of ther best work I think. And then I’ll also say, as, for myself as the resident shipper on the leadership team, I’m repping y’all, but that’s all I’m gonna say.

KFM: That’s definitely what I meant by, not really a spoiler, but some people might’ve thought that in the beginning.  

KFM: Okay, next question is, since you can choose to be part of the same faction for most of the companions, will that give you an advantage when trying to befriend them?

JE: So you will get some unique dialogue with the companions that are part of your own faction. The first time you meet them, they may not all know you by face, but they’ve at least heard of you, I’ve heard of who you are, maybe even heard of you leaving the faction to go help Varric to track down Solas. But that said, you know the faction, you don’t necessarily as people. So they will know you but you still have to work to earn their trust and learn, you know, get them, help them with their problems.

KFM: Next question is, will there be more connections between the Veilguard? Like will we see them hanging out together without out us?

JE: Oh, I love this one. Yeah, I mean, honestly, I think I’ve said this twice already, but my favorite thing is how much the companions feel like a, end up feeling like a found family. They’re invested in each others problems, you know they’re, invested in each others’ success and failures, and this manifests through a bunch of different ways. Scenes, banter, even interactions in the Lighthouse itself. Because one of the things that I think is important, I know Corinne also thinks is super important, these worlds, these games feel the best when they don’t feel like they’re there as a theme-park just for you, just to exist for Rook as a protagonist. These are characters that have relationships, have, you know, things going on that don’t necessarily directly involve Rook all the time. They have their own relationships, their own feelings, and we really want them to feel like their own people, and feel like they do exist outside of just the sphere of Rook. So, you know, they’ll follow, you’re the one leading this fight, but the companions don’t just exist for you.

KFM: So this next one is a real minor spoiler warning. Will the companions have interactions with Solas? I imagine the companions will comment on Rook’s decisions regarding Solas, but was wondering if the potential relationship between Solas and the companions will play any part?

JE: Oh, this is a good question. So a lot of Solas’ relationship is with Rook. Rook and Solas have a connection, they have a bond, and part of that is, and I’ve said this before, but Solas sees a lot of himself in Rook. He sees, you know, the person, you know the person he was before, the person he thinks he is, in Rook, and becomes, you know, again, we, they develop a connection. You get to flavor how it is, you can make it more antagonistic, make it friendlier, but ultimately it is a connection between the two of you. Now, that said, the companions are much a part of Rook’s story as Solas is, and sometimes those relationships can cross over, as well as, there are followers who, you know, are going to have a more complicated connection and complicated relationship with just, Solas as an entity, you know, Bellara, for example, is an elf, she’s Dalish, and this a person from her pantheon, so. There’s going to be a lot more of a, I guess, like I said, complex relationship between the two of them. Davrin is another example, someone else who is Dalish, so, you know, their views on the gods in general are going to be a little bit different. And then on the other side,you have someone like Emmrich who is very big on magic and the Fade, so they’ll have their own [inaudible] and their own thoughts. 

KFM: Before I get to this next question I do wanna say we’ve got about a fifteen minute warning, we’ve got about fifteen minutes left, so we’ll get through as many questions as we can in that time. And with that said, our next one is, and, I feel like we might have actually touched on this one earlier, but, keep me honest. Would it be possible to hide some of the combat UI, such as companion trackers and enemy HP bars, for even more immersion? 

CB: Yeah, good question. It’s actually, it’s reasonably robust what you can do with your UI. So let me give you some examples. If, normally when you hit an enemy you’ll see damage floaties come off of it. If you wanna turn those off, you can. If you want to play without, say, the minimap or the wayfinding markers, have a more organic experience, you can. I challenged myself to do a, it was really difficult to do a really difficult run where I turned off my own health bar, you can do that too. And then, I know one of them that a lot of people have been asking about is, we do have the incoming attack indicators, that just help you react. But, if you’re the kind’ve player that wants to turn those off, cut down on the noise, yeah, you can do that too, so. You know, I can’t say that we support every single option that you might have in mind, but it’s reasonably robust. 

KFM: And then, another, just small, minor spoiler, you’ve been warned yet again, is there lock-picking in the game?

CB: Oh gosh lock-picking, notorious lock-picking. Well let me answer it this way. I think the approach we took in The Veilguard is that each companion has a unique, what we’re calling, exploration ability, or abilities, that you can use to solve puzzle, access new areas and find treasure. So, like in that regard it’s not actually dissimilar to lockpicking, it’s just that it is more thematic to the companions and their unique skill-sets within The Veilguard. It’s very specialized, I guess you could say. And, look, I’ve been there when you’re playing and you feel like you have to take a rogue, otherwise you’re not gonna be open the lockpick chests. Some players like that, some players dislike it, but the option that we wanted to give to y’all is that, you know, we did say this is a spoiler right? We did, yeah. So Rook does find a certain dagger and through it a method to channel these exploration abilities of their companions, even when the companion is not in your party. So like, look, if I’m exploring Hossberg, and there’s a puzzle and I know how to solve it, like I’m not running all the way back to like a party swap-point, you can just use the dagger.

KFM: This is not a spoiler, and it is actually something we confirmed a little bit earlier in the Q&A, but it doesn’t hurt to be clear. Can we freely reallocate or refund skillpoints?

CB: Yeah, so we’ve confirmed this, I’m just gonna keep it brief, yes, absolutely. Refund all, refund last, no cost. It’s an entirely friendly refund system. Go experiment, and then let me know what you do.

KFM: Will the acts be broken down into acts or stages at all? Mainly wondering for like spoiler discussion purposes, while they’re all playing and wanting to talk to one another about it?

JE: So while we don’t officially within the game say this is this act, this is the next act, there are some pretty obvious narrative breakpoints where the context changes, or there is, you know, events that make it clear that things are now advancing into a different stage. That’s now, to be clear, that’s largely around the critical path. Other content can largely be done at any time, but even there we do unlock certain things over the course of time, because, again, it makes, it maybe doesn’t make narrative sense in the context of, say, an earlier act, but now, you know, you’re into act two, it feels a lot more meaningful and makes a lot more sense in the world. You can do a lot of content in any order, but the critical path is largely broken into acts.

KFM: Now, I think this next question might be the most important question we can answer. A user by the name of doggiesnores says, would you please tell me happy birthday? 

JE: Happy birthday doggiesnores.

CB: Aww, happy birthday doggie - I feel weird saying doggiesnores. I mean, listen -

JE: You gotta roll with it Corinne.

CB: John, Katey, do we wanna sing? Do we wanna sing?

JE: No!

KFM: Oh we can - oh, okay.

JE: You can sing.

CB: Alright. [sings] Happy birthday to you -

KFM: - [sings] to you - [stops singing] are we gonna stop now? Okay.

CB: We’ll stop, we’ll stop. 

JE: Yeah, I think, yeah. 

CB: We gotta get back to the questions.

KFM: Yeah, we do have a time limit now.

KFM: Alright, next question, alright. This is from Guapa. Okay. I wanna know the helmet situation. Back in Inquisition, there were helmets exclusive to races, and to be honest, most helmets were exclusive to humans. Will elves and humans share helmets since their head shape seems to be more similar now, and will there be qunari helmets rather than just facepaints?

CB: Love this described as “the helmet situation”. I love it. Yeah, so let me describe this to you. All the helmets can be worn by all the lineages with one big exception. The qunari still use the vitaar face paint. So each helmet has a unique look, and if you’re using the vitaar variant of that instead, that too has a unique look, so you’ll wear that facepaint instead of the helmet. And we, we felt that this was just generally a good precedent following Inquisition and, really what led us to this decision is that, when you see horn customization, and hair customization with the horns in character creator, we didn’t want to sacrifice that aspect of it in character creator. It’s just effing cool, that’s all I can say about it. So, yeah, the qunari will use vitaar. All the other helmets can be worn by all lineages. We’ve talked a lot about transmog, so of course you can transmog them, you can hide your helmet, you can hide your helmet in certain situations. So I’d say, as a “situation”, we’re pretty happy with it.

KFM: This next question is, will we be able to tint and change the color of our armours, or have they, or do they have their default colors only?

CB: Oh cool, yeah, that kinda gets to transmog in a way. Gosh, what’s the, the best way to answer this I think is that each armor piece, like gear piece you have, will have bespoke colors, but for almost every single armor piece, while you can’t dye them, we have created color-variant cosmetics and they’re very often aligned with the various factions in the world, right? So like, there’s one, for instance, that has this like, incredible, like flowing cape, I use it all the time. There’s a variant of it for each faction with different faction, with different colors and logos and things of that nature. So you can’t dye, but it really is flexible and very thematic. And then I guess, going back to the Venatori armor question we had way at the beginning, while I wouldn’t say they’re explicitly Venatori, there are some very Venatori-like color schemes in some of the armors you’ll find.

KFM: I think this might be our last minor spoiler question, so once again, you’ve been warned. AelaFireheart asks, will we be seeing other griffons from The Last Flight? 

JE: So, again, just to be clear, spoilers, but yeah, Assan has brothers and sisters, so Assan is not the only griffon that shows up in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. 

CB: Hey, I just gotta respond to something in comment, that somebody says, wait, does that mean I can’t be pink? And I’m assuming we’re talking about armors. There are some pink armors. Don’t worry -

KFM: Confirmed.

CB: - there’s some pink.

KFM: As some of the companions come from media outside of the games, were they already chosen as companions for the game and then integrated into the additional media, or were they characters outside of the game, and the team wanted to bring them in?

JE: I think this is pretty similar to a question we answered earlier, so I mean, again, it depends, but if they showed up, especially in Tevinter Nights, they were already intended to be companions at that point, so.

KFM: Are there any lineage-based surnames or is it just based on the background?

JE: So surnames in this game are entirely based on your background choice. The reason for this is we do reference your surname in dialogue, a not inconsiderable amount, and we didn’t, at a certain point it becomes unsustainable in terms of how many different variations, so. We reference it based on your surnames, sorry, your background.

KFM: Is there any chance that we will be getting any audio snippets of some of the companions and Rook’s voicelines before release?

JE: Well that’s the great news about the, Vows & Vengeance, is that, each companion will show up in one of the episodes, and you’ll be able to hear their voice in there, so. First episode yesterday, and there’s more to come.  

KFM: Remember when I said that was the last, or we had already read the last minor spoiler, I was wrong, there is one more. So, once again, you’ve been warned, minor spoiler upcoming. This question is from SammyCherryLee. Considering Varric’s timeskip, looks are a direct, Varric’s timeskip looks are a direct translation of how he looked in the comics. What thought process went into Morrigan’s new design, and what do you usually consider when bringing in old beloved characters back, but also make sure to adapt them to the years that have passed within the game?

JE: So, in every case, any time we’re bringing back a character, we want to think about, what would, what’s changed for that character in the time since you’ve last saw them, so, Varric, Morrigan, any other characters we bring back, there is this thought of, okay, it’s been, in this case, you know, almost ten years, what’s changed for these characters in that intervening time? In the case of Morrigan, she’s coming to terms with a lot of truths about both herself but also her mother, you know, you see her with Flemeth’s crown, or a variation of it, and that’s speaking to her personal journey of, what I would call, kind’ve acceptance of who she is and how she connects to Flemeth, because ultimately we want this to feel like a real world. It’s, they’re not the same person they are ten years ago, none of us are, and we don’t want characters to feel like, either ten years have passed, and hey, I’m exactly the same, because that’s stagnation for the character, and it’s just not believable or, honestly, fun, for you. And it doesn’t do justice to those characters.

KFM: Can we clarify - ooh, fuck, I think my Discord just went down again.

JE: Yep, I can still hear you.

CB: We can, we can hear you Katey, so.

KFM: Oh, good!

CB: Yeah.

KFM: I’ll just keep talking!

CB: Great, let’s do it!

KFM: I’m so sorry for the f-bomb, I didn’t know you could still hear me. 

CB: Hey, we’ve all been there.

JE: Cursing, in our Discord, my goodness!

CB: How very human of you.

KFM: Ban me, ban me. This next question is, can you clarify if Spellblade will be forced to use a dagger, or can we still use staff as a melee combat weapon?

CB: Oh, heck yeah, let’s go. You know, I was wondering if this was gonna be clear in the combat video we put out, so I’ll speak about mage, but this is generally true of all the classes. So they each have two weapon sets, if you’ve seen the character sheet. So for mage, you’re gonna have your staff slot and then you’re gonna have the orb-and-dagger slot. So, at any point, like even between weapon swings, you can swap to your class alternate weapon set by hitting down on the D-pad. So you’re not locked down into one weapon set or the other, even if you’re in a given class or specialization. Now, like what I would say is that the Spellblade specialization has a lot of extra functionality and depth that like is augmented when using the orb-and-dagger, but, like if I give you an anecdote of how I play, the staff heavy-attack armor, I take this, or, the staff heavy attack charge, I take a trait where when I’m doing damage and playing, it’s building up that heavy attack charge on my staff. Even when I’m playing as my Spellblade. So I’ll be, just going to down with orb and dagger, I’ll notice that my staff is fully-charged, I’ll swap at a convenient moment, use my heavy staff attack, blast the enemies down, I was telling y’all, like, these Nightmare players, like planning around your elemental damage types, it’s really great to have weapons of multiple elemental types, right? So I go up against something that’s resistant to fire, I’m gonna hit down and maybe swap to my necrotic weapon.

KFM: I'm back, in record time. 

JE: Welcome back! 

KFM: Okay, did we get to the next one, or was that just the Spellblade question?

CB: Oh that was, sorry I was geeking out too much Katey.

KFM: Oh that’s okay, no, it’s great!

CB: We hit upon a favorite topic of mine.

KFM: That’s okay. Do we think we have time for one more, or do we think it’s time to wrap up?

JE: I can go a little late, we’ve got, I think we can do a couple more, for sure.

KFM: Okay, we do only have three left, so.

JE: Let’s finish the list!

KFM: Let’s do it.

KFM: Alright, next question. Since it was mentioned that playing as an elf in the Veil Jumpers will see you more of a, see you as more of a Dalish elf, and a City elf if you play as a Shadow Dragon, what kind of elf would you be in the other factions?

JE: So this is actually a really interesting question for me because I think one of the things I’d say is, while City Elf versus Dalish Elf is a lot more of a useful distinction in, you know, Ferelden, Orlais, we’re in northern Thedas, things are different up here. And a great example is Rivain. Dalish settlements, you know, they have Dalish settlements within cities, integrated into the cities, because, again, they don’t have that same bias, that same distinction. So it’s not really a City Elf versus Dalish Elf thing in a lot of those cases. It’s a lot more about, how you play into the faction, you know, and, in some cases it matters more that you’re an elf, in other cases it doesn’t actually matter to the people of that faction, they’re just looking for someone who could do the work. A great example, and I’ll just, very, very light spoilers, Mourn Watch is a great example where, they just care that you are capable of, you know, executing the duties that you’re given, so.

KFM: This next question, we’ve definitely confirmed a few times today already, but I’m sure there’s been a couple of people who cycled in and out. Will, when will we be releasing detailed information on the full list of accessibility features in the game?

JE: So yeah, so I mean, we mentioned, we’re not quite ready to talk about them, but we will be diving into them before launch. We wanna make sure as many people as possible can enjoy and play the game, so.

CB: Yeah, I think we’re doing a feature, some kind of blogpost on that, but, that’ll be a good format where we can be a little bit more in-depth.

JE: Yeah.

KFM: Alright, and the final question that I have on my list. It’s about localization. WoodenSmith says, I’d like to hear more about how localization works. What sorts of things have to be changed or adjusted so they make sense in different regions? Do localization teams have to be super careful when they translate to make sure they’re not accidentally revealing more than was intended in other versions? I’ve also always been very curious about accents in other versions. For example, do the, I’m gonna butcher this, do the Orl - Orlesian -

JE: Orlesian.

KFM: Orlesian, thank you, John. Character voice -

CB: That was really good, Katey!

KFM: I tried!

JE: Yeah, you tried, you got most of the way there, yeah!

KFM: For example, do the Orlesian character voice actors speak in a French accent in the Japanese version, or dwarf characters speak with an American accent in the French version?

JE: So I’m going to talk broadly about localization, and I’ll get a little bit into the accent question. So, localization is a thing that we’re doing constantly. We’re almost working with the teams, we have regular syncs with them, and a lot of that is because localization is not just, a lot of people think of it like, yeah, you’re just translating. Well, you’re not, you’re, you know, you’re, again, there’s different things to understand about different languages, they have different rules around grammar and, I will say, I think every writer has at least one story where they wrote, kind’ve, a fun double-entendre into a conversation, and then they got a ping from some of the localization teams saying, hey, can you very thoroughly explain what you meant there? And that’s what I like to describe as being hoist on your own petard because, sometimes, you’re like, oh I said this, it was really ribald, and now I don’t want to talk to this person who is very seriously and very concernedly, looking, it’s just like, ‘can you please tell us what that means?’ But yeah, I mean, in general, it’s an art-form of its own. You know, different sayings translate differently into different languages, different metaphors translate differently to different languages, and we always wanna make sure that other people, you know, people are playing this game in every language have an experience that feels authentic and meaningful, and doesn’t feel like it’s just kind’ve, you know, phoned in, we just, we just ran it through Google Translate or something, so. Again, localization is a huge part of what we do, the localization team we have is amazing, they do fantastic work, I love working with them. As far as accents, yeah, we do try to keep some consistency, it’s not always going to be a one to one, but we do try to say like, okay, so, this character, this group of characters needs to sound similar, and they’ll find an accent that works with the language that they’re trying, because, again, different accents work differently with different languages, and we wanna make sure that there’s that consistency, so, yeah.

KFM: We did it!

JE: Yeah!

KFM: That’s all of our questions that we’re able to get to you today. Wanna just say a quick thanks again to the community for submitting all of these really questions, it was a lot of fun going through them and, you know, making sure that we were able to give you some new stuff this time around. Yeah, anything you guys wanna say before we hop off?

CB: Yeah, can I just say, look, we love here, being here answering questions for you but the support, the interest you all show, it really fuels us in the team.

JE: Mhm.

CB: You all are a big part of us being able to make this game what it is, and I really hope we do you proud, so just, sincere thank you to everyone. 

JE: Yeah, just, I just wanna echo that. I’ve been on this project for a while, and it’s been a lot of, not getting to talk about it, and quietly saying I don’t know, are we making more new Dragon Age? So being able to actually have these conversations and give you the details that you want without spoiling the game, it’s, it’s a lot of fun. This is genuinely the funnest part of my week, so thank you everyone.

KFM: Awesome, well thank you both so much for your time, Corinne and John. And, yeah, we have recorded the audio for this, so we’re going to turn that into a transcription, and put that in the Q&A archive channel, which lives underneath ask-bioware. That will be coming, you know, in the next couple of days to a week or so, you know, we’ll, we’ll be working away at it as soon as possible, so just let, let me know if you have any questions.

JE: Awesome. Thank you so much everyone, have a good Friday, good weekend, and I’m gonna go eat a sandwich, so.

CB: Happy Friday!

KFM: Happy Friday, and happy sandwich day!

CB: Bye bye.

JE: Thank you.

KFM: Bye.

JE: Bye.

[source: the official BioWare Discord server, August 30th dev Q&A]

Update: If you would like to listen to the Q&A for yourself in video format, or listen to it again, Ghil Dirthalen recorded it and has now uploaded a video of it here.

[dalt20]

Tooning in 4. Dev Ross part 4 of 7

DL: Yeah. Well the episode all’s Fahrenheit in love and war? Process of that episode?

DR: I believe that was a script doctor job. They weren’t please with..uh.. the first writers take on it, so i took it over and redid it.

DL: Well do you remember people like John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson? They were the creators of quack pack. They wrote for darkwing duck.

DR: Not really. I didn't interact with them

DL: Well but you know them right?

DR: Of them only. Our department was getting really big by then.

DL: Well you know Doug langdale? He was working the same time as you on DD, goof troop and bonkers. Also Aladdin.

DR: Yes, I knew him but barely

DL: Well, he went in to do great things. He’s working with Hollywood producer James wan on samurai rabbit for Netflix.

DR: Nice! I no longer follow any animation as I only work in live action now.

DL: Yeah! Well we’ll save that special project until the end of the interview. But don’t worry we’ll come back to it.

DR: No worries.

DL: The darkwing Duck episode, up up and awry. Process on that episode?

DR: Don't really remember anything about it

DL: Oh well it was your lowest rated darkwing episode on IMDb. 6.9 to be exact.

DR: Well, you can't please all the time.

DL: Time and punishment? Process for that episode?

DR: My inspiration was that Christmas movie where an Angel takes Jimmy Stewart forward in time to see the effects on his family and community if he committed suicide!

DL: Oh it’s it a wonderful life, eh?

DR: Right! Are we going to go thru every episode I wrote because I really don't remember... Tad and I would sit in his office and just throw around crazy ideas. He was fantastic to play off of. So many times we'd come up with concepts just by riffing. We'd talk about movies, books, look at comic books, the news...

DL: By note, yeah it would be redundant to just go over every darkwing Duck episode you wrote .

DR: Thanks! I would have to excuse myself then. I don't think about the old stories ever! A writer must stay current or die

DL: Writing for The little mermaid for Disney and CBS .

DR: Horrible experience.

DL: Why was that?

DR: I had come back to Disney after being lent out to Universal. I was assigned Little Mermaid but my story editors never came into the office so we couldn't riff on ideas like I used to with Tad. Their was hardly anyone around then and very uninspiring. No team work or comraderie. I was really unhappy so quit soon after. I went freelance then and only worked with Tad and Kevin Hopps. I worked a bit with two other story editors but again no teamwork there.

DL: Oh. Kevin hopps was a sitcom writer. He wrote for Norman lear.

DR: Yes! Great talent and great human being!

DL: I know. So, did you watch the original film?

DR: Which one?

DL: The 1989 film with Jodi benson? The classic box office success! Putted Disney in the map again and started the Disney renaissance.

DR: Yes, I did!

DL: Thoughts on the film?

DR: It was charming. Songs were fantastic! May I ask you a question?

DL: Sure, Go ahead!

DR: I don't want to sound rude, However, I wrote for Disney so long ago. I don't understand how my thought are even interesting on such old work. How my thoughts are even halfway interesting on why I wrote something. I'm curious as to what you will do with my answers.

DL: I’ll post on my blog. My job is to know about the writing process of the episodes of some shows.

DR: I'm not ungrateful, just wondering.

DL: As a interviewer. As of saying.

DR: Most staff writing processes are the same. We team up to throw around ideas to see what sticks.

DL: Hmm. Ok.

DR: I mean it will more interesting to talk more about the dtv films.

DL: We pitch ideas to our producers to see what interests them. They may like half of an idea from me and the only half from you and then tell us to construct a story out of the blended ideas. That's the way it works.

DL: Ok. Can I ask you about Aladdin : return of Jafar?

DR: That was totally a group think story. A dozen of us sat around and spit balled ideas. We agreed on one the broke up the story with each of us writing a section of the movie.

DL: Was it true that the film was a pilot for a tv series.but Michael Eisner didn’t know how to release the show, so he told you to make a pilot film?

DR: I don't remember.

DL: Well that’s what most people say. But it was the most sold video in 1994, next to the lion king!

DR: Right!

DL: Did you got a cut of the VHS sales?

DR: No! Staff writers only got salary. It's how most animation writers get ripped off. My films for Univeral made millions but I got nothing but a small fee for writing.

DL: Oh, I’m thinking about theatrical films. Now they get the money from the films.

DR: Depends! It depends on their agent!

DL: Yeah. So you wrote 4 episodes of cro for children’s television workshop/film Roman and ABC. Tell me what was cro?

DR: It was a show all about math.

DL: Oh. So how would your episodes work with a premise of cavemen and math?

DR: Vey difficult! You have to know the conceit of the show.

DL: Oh. What age were they approaching to?

DR: Very hard to write for!

DL: So how was CTW in general, The creators of Sesame Street?

DR: Loved them!

DL: Can you tell me about them.

DR: Just very smart and innovative thinkers. I love that! I love working for out of the box thinkers. They also appreciate crazy creators like me.

DL: well were you happy mark zaslove was the story editor on the show?

DR: Mark was brilliant but was a very tough boss. Very talented and very demanding.

DL: well did you feel upset when the show got canceled?

DR: No!! It was a very hard show to write for!

DL: Well apparently CTW got upset, that's why they created the cable channel noggin.Did you know that?

DR: No.

DL: well yeah. going back to disney, you wrote for bonkers and jungle cubs.

DR: Yes. Hated Bonkers.

DL: why? was it a roger rabbit ripoff?

DR: I believe so. It just wasn't a good concept. Character was horribly unlikeable. Not at all fun to write for.

DL: who was? bonkers or  lucky? or in season 2, miranda?

DR: Both... I didn't write on season two and barely on one. I shouldn't say both, definitely Bonkers. I think so. It was a bad ripoff.

DL: well question. why anyone make a show about a cartoon in a cartoon? that makes no sense.

DR: Exactly.

DL: thoughts on the president of Disney TVA, frank price? he was your boss on jungle cubs and return of jafar.

DR: No opinion. I had enough on my plate being a full time writer with three kids!

DL: oh. well moving on to jungle cubs, how was writing the humans must be crazy?

DR: I liked that show a lot but was freelance by then and only did 2 episodes.

DL: oh how did you feel about the jungle book characters but as babies, a la muppet babies?

DR: I liked them a lot. It is always fun to imagine what an adult was like as a child! I think that about people I meet!

DL: well did you like the orginal film?

DR: Loved it!

[j10kkuno]

Okay, so this scene with Yuno and Dundee almost made me cry last night. It was so touching and sweet and in character but you could tell how thankful Sykkuno was for Whippy and afterwards Whippy told his chat how thankful he was for Sykkuno and it was just so sweet. Sykkuno actually went no cam for this and I think it gave him a lot of freedom? Even for a few minutes, he got even deeper into Yuno honestly.

So basically after the Rainbow Road heist, Yuno called Dundee to tell him about it and Dundee said he suppressed him. Yuno said no, of course not but Dundee said Yuno had more connections, had hacked more banks, had more bags and money, was one of the biggest criminals. Yuno said that Dundee had him, which meant every skill Yuno had, Dundee had. Dundee said that what he was trying to say is that he needed Yuno but Yuno didn't need Dundee anymore. Yuno said that wasn't true and could they meet?

They met at Burger Shot and then went to a nice parking garage with a gorgeous view of a sunset(Either through chance or devs messing with the weather for the Vault and chase, the weather for second half of stream was very fitting). Yuno asked him if Dundee remembered what he'd always ask him-What was his goal in the city? And it'd always change-rob a bank, rob the vault, buy an expensive car- but he'd realized that his goal was fulfilled his first day in the city. When he walked out of the apartments and Dundee picked him up on his bike. All Yuno really wanted was good friends and people who believed in him. And Dundee was the first.

He realized he didn't need the vault to have fun, he had fun and good friends that first day, stealing that microwave. Dundee says Yuno is the only one of his pupils who has surpassed him. Yuno still insists he hasn't, and says he only started because of Dundee. He said that Dundee will always have Yuno working for him and they hugged and agreed they've both come far(Very true!).

Right after that, Yuno picked Dundee up and threatened to throw him off the edge and Dundee called him an asshole as Yuno put him down. As they ran back to Yuno's Sultan, Dundee said Yuno reminded him of the Mindshaft and Yuno was like, I'm not like that. As they drove off, Dundee told Yuno about how X wanted to rob some 24/7s and Yuno was like 24/7s?(Dundee cackled and said X was down bad) and said that barely paid. Dundee was like "Is it about the money?" and Yuno huffed a laugh and said "I guess you're right." And they continued chatting, about racing and a Soy Boys vault and Yuno being exhausted and Dundee gently telling him just to go to bed.

It just felt really real. Like a real nice convo. Laughing over their friend and getting startled by street racers and I just loved the entire scene. It felt like a season finale. Like, Yuno's this big bank buster and he normally rolls with CB and CG and sometime X but his heart will always take him back to Dundee, his best friend. And their friendship is one of those that picks up exactly where it left off. And they're each other's ride and dies.

Also the shot of them from behind is my new header because it's perfect.

[twisted-leader-of-something]

I was curious, since the devs said that magic enforcement police and the likes of STYX exist, had they ever tried to create a magic gun? You know a gun that was powered by magic crystals and creates laser bullets? I dont think Disney will take gun like objects so lightly tho.

Honestly? I don’t think it’s going to have to be guns, I see too many references to one series in particular during this arc, namely the TRON series, and they do not have guns. They have staffs and discs, so I’m doubtful if TWST will have guns with this, if it truly is a reference. I mean, I could totally be imagining this up, but look at this shot from the Ignihyde arc, and the other from TRON: Legacy [Cut is for those who don’t want spoilers]:

There are lots in common here, even visually: The usage of black and blue, namely blue on black, simple shapes being used to make more complex ones, the usage of glowing things, even the high technology the two share. And that’s not even getting into the other comparisons I can make about the two we know so far that isn’t physical shots: A missing parental figure, a male heir to a company that doesn’t want his place in the company, mentions of gods in their respective world namely the Greek gods, for me, there’s way too many similarities between the two series, but I lack evidence that it’s a reference yet. 

So, here’s what I think: No guns will be involved, since TRON lacks the usage of guns altogether. Instead, I think they’ll have batons and discs. And based on CHARON’s weapons, I think I might be unto something. 

As the Baton we know from TRON to me looks awfully similar to the staff CHARON carries, by not that much mind you, but for me the color scheme is close as this also can come in a silver color, which looks very, very close to the staff CHARON carries. 

( Link because Tumblr decided no thanks Selena no uploading this for you: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/tron/images/5/56/786Baton2.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/630?cb=20120619044950 )

So, therefore, I think we will see weapons like this:

( Again link because Tumblr said no more photos for you Selena: https://tron.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Weapons ) 

So, with all of this evidence, I’d say it’s highly likely that we will see more TRON based weapons than actual magical guns. Don’t get me wrong, that would be super cool and could also be a reference to something else, but so far, I’m leaning more towards the TRON reference Ignihyde is making. 

[am-ebusiness]

Dev Anand I heard this name from my grandparents and father as a super iconic star in Bollywood. He is well known for his style and fashion. This book is one of the great works by Govind Sharma. This in-depth biography details Dev Anand Saab's life so far. From his early life and his journey to fame on the X-Factor to box-office hit star, this book gets you closer to Dev Anand Saab than ever before. we follow the rollercoaster of emotions and passion in his work, and we learn how Dev Anand re-invented himself. Dev Anand has also cultivated a career as a director and producer, featuring in box-office hits like Guide, Jewel Thief, and Johny Mera Naam. It reveals some unknown facts about Dev Saab which will inspire the youth. This is a book that gets you to the heart of the famous star of the year, a must-read for all of Dev Saab's fans Thank you Govind Sharma for writing this and making Dev Anand Saab in our hearts forever. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb-CT2OrjLi/?utm_medium=tumblr

[neo-shitty]

ITS FINE ASFSDFJHDSF pag binubuksan ko den yung ask na ean sa phone ko, todo lag 🕳️🚶 kaya need naka pc para mabasa reply mo HUHU sorry bout that btw! kaya kailangan den ng read me ng asks ih 💀 aaa i feel like mapupunta nga ako kay jaemin dhil sa yt,,,,,, 😭 ito yung inconsistent 😔 anyways, binging nct pa den these past days tas naabot na den s7 ng nct life. productive for kpop only <33

slight cool if ghosts are real kasi it means makakalibot ka pa after death pero 3/4 scary bc ibig sabihin non nandito lng sila,,, invisible... pinapanood tayo. */sniff naur. pero alt world with ghosts would be interesting af. same here with losing interest in bts bc of their songs ;-;; i still keep up with their cbs in hopes na ma tripan ko ulit songs pero yung recent releases nila is di ko vibe sadzzz. after mots:7, nawala na ako Y^Y

thank you aaaaa :">> pero agree den na work hard lng hehezz. btw, my parents bought me an anatomy and physiology textbook and yun yung pinagkakaabalahan ko den since last week. i really love it since with the internet, i dont really know where to start kasi yung mga vid na napapanood ko uses advanced terms ~.~ pero yeee medicine yung gusto kong i take 🤩 if you dont mind me asking, what s your dream? 👀

dbaaa kaya umalis ako ng stan twt agad agad, di ko keri yung toxicity :<< buti nga i came across tumblr kasi i was still able to find friends with same interests as ako pero still, yung environment is safe :>> mga maliliit na bagay iniisyu nila don sa twt 😭 pati mga away with other fandoms, mangddamay pa sila ng groups. mag ttrend silang offensive hashtags ganon e nakikita kaya eon ng mga idols HUHU like legit, andami kong nakikitang na bbash dahil lang multi fan ?? waaaat ?? da fuq ?? (https://ibb.co/rkt5jQs) kaya tuwang tuwa ako dito sa tumblr kasi hindi lang iisang grp yung pwede kong mapag usapan with other people. and very true, deserve nilang lahat yung success <333

AHDHJSADJJHSHJSA relatable yung watching with no subs <//3 makikita ko nlng sa comments na pag uusapan nila yung vid e like "pano nila na ggets ??" tas di pala naka on captions 😭 minsan kasi matic naka turn on if may captions pero minsan naman, tatamarin si youtube huehue. PATI ANOOO i think yesterday lang to, i forgot, nag release skz at nct ng teaser (teaser ba yung sa nct??) at the same time. di ko alam ano uunahin HSDHJFJDHAFFHJD WAIT ANDAMI KONG TANONG TUNGKOL NCT....

fist of all, ganda ng winter falls UGHHH NAIIYAK AKO SA WHITE HIGHLIGHTS SA BUHOK NI SEUNGMINNNN :">> excited nako i cri. yung sa nct, ANOO BA EONN??? teaser ba eon wat. or short film wat. prng like intro sa album ganern kasi diba mag ccb sila ?? ANO yung nct 2021 ?? lahat ng membs nandon e dba nct u na tawag don ? HUHU NAKAKAHIYA WALA AKONG MA GETS 🕳️🕳️🕳️🚶 pasensya na. pati nakita ko sa comments na may theories eme eme den pala nct, binge watching na ulit to 😎 pati asan si winwin ;-;;;

ayy ano kasi, lumipat ako sa school na eon for 7th grade kasi buong elem nasa all girls ako Y^Y want ng parents ko ng exposure kaya linipat ako co ed. okay naman siya kasi yung classmate ko from gr 5-6 dun den pala lumipat kaya charan, besties na kami ngaun 🤩 hinelp niya ako mag adjust since nakakapanibago eh siya like 2 yrs lang nag all girls so mej sanay pa :>> may parang cream section kasi pero transferees bawal pa don kasi prove urself daw LMAO e si student A matic cream ng first yr kasi since elem pa sha nandoon sa school na eon. kaya nung 8th grade, prng naging "transferee" ulit ako kasi napuntang cream sec tas iba na yung classmates na kasama ko. sila, close close na kasi years na silang magkakaklase since bawat taon nasa cream sec silang lahat ganern. yung mga prends ko from kabilang section is tropa ko nung grade 7 AHSHHASHDSAH anyways, thank you for listening sa rant ko pala huhuhuhu <33 pati feel ko kaya naman yan ni student A, sobrang ano lang niya pagdating sa acads pero mabait naman. charac dev otw. CHAROT. 1/2

AHHAHAHADDSHHDSDHHJA BAT KA KINALIBUTAN AHHAHHAHA 😭 mejo surface level den ako sa kanila, na miss ko lang since napanood ko i land <//3 malaki potential nila for me kaya i ll wait for them to grow pa 🤩 HAHHAHAHA INGATT KA TOFFF 💀 ganun den ako nung bata, kung san san tumatama pero di napapansin lol lagi ako nasesermon ng mama ko non kasi bat daw di ko alam san nanggaling HUHU

WHYY ?? opm is great though. i dont think you ll find things na mapapa dislike ka sa opm 🤔 IM SORRY BUT THE ART REALLY IS BAD Y^Y lalo na earlier chapters pero yun nga, plot wise, high tier 👌👌👌 mob pysho is about a student na may powers tas ewan mga ganap lng sa buhay niya,,, hMM ung expla ko made it seem boring pero it s 1000x better than what you would understand based sa sinabi ko lol though na boringan ako sa first 3 eps, worth it na tinuloy ko pa dennn. may listahan den ako ng mga anime at manga na di ko tinloy 💀 PRAMIS punong puno yung notes ko. yung katekyo hitman tungkol siya sa anak ng mafia ganon. i just realized na i m really bad at summarizing LOL namatay kasi yung boss ng fam nila tas biglaan may bumisita kay anak na maliit na baby para i train sya for next boss ganon. sa father s side niya kasi yung mafia and i think di aware yung mom niya ?? di k sure forgot na and havent finished 💀 MAGI IS GREAT AAA adventures siya ni alladin and alibaba tas great plot lng. i ll rewatch bigla kong na miss <33 dw, magic sarap den una kong naisip nung narinig ko eon huhuhu i think mha is nearly done ?? not sure... pero excited to hear your thoughts abt it !

i honestly forgot na why i wasn t satisifed with kny s ending 💀 partly dahil parang sa series, it showed yung importance nung flower ?? and it wasn t really explained deeply kaya :<< if i m not wrong, sabi lng necessary siya for treatment sa past ni michael jackson PERO I THOUGHT IT D BE MORE THAN THAT AAAA yun yung inaabangan ko kasi kala ko may malupitang revelation about don kaya sadge. other than that, nag abang den ako like full arcs about sa past ng lahat ng pillars ;-;; yung war sa end parang ang bilis na nangyayari ang stuff. dba uh !!SPOILER!! naging demon si tanjiro? DI KO INEEXPECT NA MA CCONVERT SIYA BACK INTO HUMAN AGAD AGAD AAAAA pati yung med para maging tao ulet si nezuko,, kala ko mas i eexplain pa ganon kaya ~.~ pero yes puro expectations ko lang yan kaya siguro it felt short for me hhhhhh pero still love it <333

it s fun talking to you kaya 🤩 pati chill lang ako, i dont really feel pressured na masagot ka agad lalo na i know naman na you d understand na i m busy these days. hopefully di ka den na ppressure 😭 take your time answering the asks kasi lahat naman tayo may buhay and busy bc of school and uni so 😎 yun nga, weekend babad nct and reading new text book :>> how bout you??

- 👻

mas marami pa ata nasusulat ko dito kaysa sa mga fic ko lately. i think asks have the read me option! i've tried it before pero siguro sa di anon lang. if you ever swerve to jaemin let me know ;) my next big project is for him HAHA productive for kpop only is soooo felt. about bts, mag-ccb pa ba sila before may magenlist? like album cb or something?

i think as a good nawawala yung worldly miseries. but won't you miss out din? you wouldn't need to eat with no physical digestive system to sustain. so what do you do as a ghost? talk to other ghosts? come to think about it, there are more dead people buried in the earth kaysa sa currently buhay. sooooo if there are ghosts around... siguro nakaface palm na sila bc of what we've done to the earth/to the country.

oh god anatomy and physiology ang tagal pa ;n; diba sa college pa yan tinatackle T_T pero it's nice that you're starting early. a lot of my irls wish that they did. what's my dream? tbh, i don't really have one bc i didn't think i'd live past senior high LMAO. i try not to dream or expect a lot bc it hits hard when i get disappointed. i think my only dream is nct dream HAJSHAJH hbu?

i enjoyed my stay sa stan twt bc i never really interacted pero tru, it gets draining sometimes. they make huge issues out of the smallest of things (wait lmao di ko nabasa na sinabi mo dito) and TBH TUMBLR'S A MUCH BETTER PLACE. i'm not being grilled for being a multi here. right :// i'm especially infuriated with stays bc of their tendency to blow things up, WELL AWARE that chan often sees content. i used that mark meme too much last year.

nung napanood ko wala pa talagang captions so. HAHJAH tru youtube tamad. idk when the simultaneous teaser drops happened but YES oml nauna yung notif ng nct so nauna ko panuorin yun then skz.

yung winter falls akala ko soft and fluffy but angsty yung dating??? im excited too pero di ko nga lang alam kung kelan idrodrop kasi wala ako sa twt HAJSAH yung nct talaga ang ganda ;n; regarding sa nct, when all the members are included in a comeback usually ninaname after the year. yung first na cb nila as a whole was nct 2018, then nct 2020, then nct 2021. there are tracks na kasama lahat ng members and nacrecredit yung tracks na yun as nct 2018 (for black on black) and nct 2020 (for resonance). it tends to be nct u kung members from different units are combined into one unit. it's alright, took me a while to learn all of this last year. nakailang beses ko na ring tinuro so sanay na aq. naisip ko kung magkaamnesia kaya ako would amnesiac me bother re-memorizing nct again? and if i do, would i still end up with donghyuck as my bias? 9:30 pm thoughts. nct theories are really nice but COMPLICATED OML DEFINE SAKIT SA ULO. and winwin is in china filming for a drama!!

how was the all girls school experience? hanggang catholic school lang ako. HAHAH ang cute niyo ng cm mo from your prev school. LOL felt yung cream section. i used to belong to one nung elementary ako. i never really realized how separated we were sa ibang sections until ngayong college na ako? the other sections had fun and we were all focusing on grades and shit. CHILDHOOD WASTED. no prob with the ranting. feel free to rant here any time you want. there's a lot of hope for student A. i don't think i had a glow up attitude wise until quarantine started.

i just find it weird thinking about the enha boys na kaedad ko lang. i envision them in the class and how...i don't think i'll get along with anyone. yeah, i think the potential is huge too. sana di masyadong i-hinder growth nila ng company. magiingat na sa paglilinis >:) sometimes we get bruised without us knowing yk, our moms gotta understand than.

HAHAHAH i hope the plot will make up for the bad art of opm. bat ewan na ganap niya sa buhay HAJSHAJ i laughed (this is for mob psycho) anak ng mafia WHEEZE. HAHA it's alright, some things are hard to some up talaga. hala bat left in the dark yung mom o.O hala inchresting yung magi parang retelling. yep! mha is nearly done so inaantay ko nalang talaga.

dude i didn't even realize that a flower was involved in the plot until much later. oo nga no, isa siyang di na elaborate. baka bc of your expectations lang, i get it tho. ay oo nga no it wouldve been better kung lahat ng pillars may arcs o.O but i found myself satisfied with the short background stories lang sjdhksf baka kasi kung patagalin pa demons 1 > tao 0 na HAHAH ang OP kaya ni tanjiro as demon ALSO MICHAEL JACKSON JDSKJAHJA i can't seem to hate him pero im not entirely keen on liking him kasi grabe mangdamay nak nam—

it's fun talking to you too!! studies prio bestie! i hope you get your break soon tho ;n; konting kembot nalang magpapasko na. enjoy your textbook reading along side nct. lately i've been cleaning the house and it's so therapeutic. i rested today tho, back to cleaning naman tomorrow. i'm rereading looking for alaska by john green atm AND I FINISHED YOUR REQUEST FOR THE MILESTONE THINGY HEHE will post within this week. maybe friday or maybe earlier :3 how was your day?

[screenandcinema]

Coming Attractions March 2019

As usual, we present monthly previews of new movies being released. These are the movies what will be hitting your local cinemas this month:

March 1st

Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral - In the eleventh and final installment of the Madea film series, somebody dies. 

Greta - Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Grace Moretz star in this pseudo-horror film which premiered to excellent reviews at Toronto International Film Festival late last year.

March 8th

Captain Marvel - Brie Larson stars as the titular hero in this newest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Early buzz is overwhelmingly positive, but isn’t that we are taught to expect from Marvel Studios films these days? Go higher, further, and faster with Carol Danvers this month.

The Kid - Vincent D’Onofrio directs this film about the notorious outlaw Billy the Kid, played by Dane DeHaan. D’Onofrio also stars in the film alongside Ethan Hawke and Chris Pratt. Hey, look! A The Newton Boys reunite! Not to mention Pratt, Hawke, and D’Onofio also made up almost half of 2016′s The Magnificent Seven - well, 42.9% percent to be exact.

March 15th  

Triple Frontier (March 13th) - This upcoming action thriller with a screenplay by Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty) stars Ben Affleck, Oscar Issac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, and Pablo Pascal. While it opens in select cities the week prior, it lands on Netflix today. 

Wonder Park - A cartoon about theme parks. Do I have to write more or is that enough? It’s enough? Great, thank you so much for your help.

Captive State - Rupert Wyatt directs his first film since 2014′s The Gambler with the science fiction thriller, John Goodman stars in the film about the world a decade into an alien occupation.

Five Feet Apart - Two teenagers with cystic fibrosis fall in love yet keep their distance in this adaptation of a novel of the same name.

Nancy Drew and the Staircase - Sophia Lillis of It fame stars as the young sleuth Nancy Drew is this new adaptation. I’m still disappointed that CBS didn’t pick up the adult Nancy Drew procedural from pilot season a couple years ago.

The Aftermath - Kiera Knightly, Alexander Skarsgard, Jason Clarke star in this drama about the relationship between the wife of a British colonel and a German widower in postwar Germany in 1946.

March 22nd

Us - Jordan Peele’s newest psychological horror film starring Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke is finally here. Hopefully, Peele is able to translate some of his Get Out magic in Us.

The Beach Bum - McConaughey goes full McConaughey this month in The Beach Bum. His character’s name is Moondog for crying out loud. Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg (Yup), Jimmy Buffett (Yup again), Zac Efron, Martin Lawrence, and John Hill costar.

Hotel Mumbai - Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, and Nazanin Boniadi star in this thriller based on the 2009 documentary, Surviving Mumbai, about the 2008 attack on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in India.

The Dirt - Someone told Netflix that musical biopics are trendy because here comes another. Based on the book written by the band, the story of  Mötley Crüe is coming to the small screen this month.

March 29th

Dumbo - Tim Burton directs one of three animated turned live-action adaptations for Disney this year (the debate about whether the new Lion King is live-action notwithstanding). Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Alan Arkin join the eponymous elephant this reimagining of the fantasy adventure classic.

Now for a quick look ahead to April, my top picks for next month are Shazam! and Avengers: Endgame

-MB-

[narcisbolgor-blog]

‘Crazy Rich Asians’ proves Asian men can be leading men

(CNN)We don't want to spoil "Crazy Rich Asians" for you, but the male lead, Henry Golding, is pretty hot.

The rom-com made big bucks -- with an estimated $25.2 million at the domestic box office this weekend (as well as $34 million over its five-day opening) -- and history, as the first major studio film since "The Joy Luck Club" 25 years ago to feature a predominately Asian cast.

'Crazy Rich Asians' exceeds expectations, takes top spot at box office

It's also stirred lots of chatter about Golding, 31, for whom the role of mega-wealthy Singaporean heir and college professor Nick Young is his first big acting gig, breaking through as a leading man.

The former BBC travel TV host told In Style in July that his film made just that statement.

"You can have Asians being leading men that are sex symbols," Golding said. "You can have leading women powering through."

Representation matters, and "Crazy Rich Asians" is being hailed for shining a light on that fact.

It also doesn't hurt that it has a beautiful cast of Asian men and women.

"I was a little concerned that 'Crazy Rich Asians' would just be about making Asian men into sex symbols BUT it's mostly about how badass Asian-American women are and I am down with that," one person tweeted. "The men are also hot."

And in case you didn't know, there are other Asian and Asian-American actors out there who could also easily take up the heartthrob/leading man mantle.

Here are a few:

Pierre Png

Png plays hunky Michael Teo in "Crazy Rich Asians."

He's got a steamy scene that has some moviegoers declaring his abs a scene stealer.

Png told Harper's Bazaar Singapore that it took some prep for the role.

"I was made to go under a very strict diet and to train under a personal trainer. I am, by nature, on the scrawny side," he said. "I had to bulk up within a short time -- three weeks."

Daniel Dae Hyun Kim

The Korean-American actor is best known for his roles in "Lost" and "Hawaii Five-0."

He made headlines last year when he left "Hawaii Five-0" after seven seasons in a dispute over pay equality.

'Hawaii Five-0' boss: Departing actors offered 'unprecedented raises'

"Though I made myself available to come back, CBS and I weren't able to agree to terms on a new contract, so I made the difficult choice not to continue," Kim wrote in a note on Facebook in which he thanked the show's producers and network.

Lewis Tan

Preparing for my next role while dreaming of this freezing cold cenote... #Tulum #wuassassins #comingsoon

A post shared by LEWIS TAN (@lewistanofficial) on Jul 27, 2018 at 10:33pm PDT

The son of a British mother and a father of Chinese descent from Singapore, Tan was one of the bright light's in the Netflix series "Iron Fist."

Since then, he has moved on to roles in "Into the Badlands" and "Deadpool 2."

He talked to CNN last year about Hollywood's perception that Asians could only play "ninjas, monks, nerds, the third, fourth, fifth best friend who is a nerd, killers, doctors and for women, the sexy Asian woman who's dating a white guy."

Beyond 'nerds' and 'ninjas,' slow progress for Asian actors in Hollywood

The actor said progress was being made.

"It's an exciting time in a lot of ways because things are opening up," Tan said. "There was a time when things weren't as open for [Asian actors], so it's exciting for me to see actors being booked and called in for roles."

Godfrey Gao

👀 the new menswear brand ambassador look for @massimodutti 🧥Which outfit is your favorite? 🧐

A post shared by Godfrey Gao (@godfreygao) on Jul 9, 2018 at 6:10pm PDT

The model/actor had been in a bunch of Taiwanese movies and television shows before he made his US debut in the 2013 film "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones."

He'll next be seen in the Renny Harlin-directed film "Legend of the Ancient Sword."

Dev Patel

Patel was only the third actor of Indian descent to be nominated for an Oscar, for his role in "Lion" last year.

He talked to CNN last year about President Trump's proposed travel ban, noting that he is the son of immigrants.

Dev Patel: Trump travel ban 'terrifies me'

"It's kind of a strange situation when you are walking a red carpet and people are out marching the streets because of so much strife in the air," he said of the hoopla surrounding awards season, which was happening at the same time as the debate over the ban.

Ross Butler

3 weeks back on the grind. Time to towel off.

A post shared by Ross Butler (@rossbutler) on Jun 20, 2018 at 3:43pm PDT

The "Riverdale" star is one of "Crazy Rich Asians'" biggest fans.

Butler -- who was born in Singapore to father of British-Dutch ancestry and a Chinese-Malaysian mother and raised in the US -- posted on his official Instagram account about the film, which he said "made me feel bada**, funny, and sophisticated while staying true to Asian culture."

Just watched #CrazyRichAsians last night and I am so filled with pride. Finally a movie that made me feel badass, funny, and sophisticated while staying true to Asian culture. Even if you aren't Asian, you will find yourself in these characters. SEE. THIS. MOVIE. SEE. THIS. MOVIE.

A post shared by Ross Butler (@rossbutler) on Aug 8, 2018 at 11:23am PDT

"Even if you aren't Asian, you will find yourself in these characters," he wrote in the caption. "SEE. THIS. MOVIE. SEE. THIS. MOVIE."

Original Article : HERE ; This post was curated & posted using : RealSpecific

=> *********************************************** Originally Published Here: ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ proves Asian men can be leading men ************************************ =>

‘Crazy Rich Asians’ proves Asian men can be leading men was originally posted by Viral News - Feed

[lauramalchowblog]

The Definitive Guide to Saturated Fatty Acids

I’ve written guides to fat in general, animal fats in particular, and edible oils as well. I’ve written a definitive guide to saturated fat. But what are these fats, exactly? Today, I’m writing the Definitive Guide to Saturated Fatty Acids—a guide to all the individual fatty acids that make up the saturated fats we eat, store, and burn.

I won’t cover every single saturated fatty acid in existence. Some of them don’t play any significant role in human health or diet. Like cerotic acid, which appears mainly in beeswax. Or arachidic acid, which you can get by hydrogenating arachidonic acid or eating a ton of durian. There are a few more that aren’t very relevant.

I will instead cover the most important ones.

But First, a Word about Saturated Fatty Acids…

Saturated fats have all available carbon bonds paired with hydrogen atoms, making them highly stable and resistant to oxidation and rancidity—even when heated. That’s why our bodies tend to build cellular membranes with a significant portion of saturated fats. They provide stability and a strong foundation.

Caproic Acid, Caprylic Acid and Capric Acid

I included these together because their names come from the Latin word for “goat,” and all three are found most famously in goat milk—they run about 15% of goat milk fat. Capric acid is also found in coconut oil (10% of coconut fat) and palm oil (4% of palm fat).

The “goat” fats are what give goat milk its distinctive “goaty” odors. Come to think of it, I’ve had coconut oil that had a “funk” to it, and I bet the capric/caprylic acid was to blame. But if you can get past the goatiness, there are benefits to these fatty acids.

Capric acid has been used to inhibit seizures in people with epilepsy, and if you combine it with caprylic acid, the anti-seizure effect seems to increase.

As medium-chain triglycerides, the goat fatty acids increase ketone production. In fact, caprylic acid is the most ketogenic medium-chain triglyceride of all.

Capric acid has anti-fungal properties, showing particular efficacy against Candida, while all three are effective against oral bacteria.

Best sources: goat milk, coconut oil, palm oil.

Lauric Acid

Another medium-chain triglyceride, lauric acid is the primary fatty acid in coconut fat (40-50% lauric acid) and palm kernel fat. It also appears in human breast milk (about 6.2% of total fat).

Lauric acid is anti-microbial. That’s why it appears in breast milk—to help infants ward off pathogens while their immune systems are still developing. And it’s probably why people report getting rid of foot and toenail fungus by smearing their feet with coconut oil at night.

Lauric acid reduces hunger. In one study, people who had lauric acid shot directly into their guts ate less food than the people who had oleic acid shot in.

When you consume lauric acid, some of it is converted into monolaurin, a more potent compound (both coconut oil and breast milk also contain some monolaurin directly) with anti-viral, anti-microbial, and anti-fungal properties.

Lauric acid is not as directly ketogenic as the “goaty” medium-chain triglycerides.

Best sources: coconut fat, palm kernel fat, breast milk.

Myristic Acid

Myristic acid is a perplexing one. Some studies find that its presence in the blood indicates metabolic issues, whereas, as you’ll see below, in the diet it can have some good effects and play some important roles.

The odor of myristic acid draws the newborn to the breast and helps trigger the appetite for mother’s milk.

Myristic acid in milk also possesses anti-listeria activity.

Eating 1-2% of calories as myristic acid—about what you’d get from including a little coconut or moderate amounts of full-fat dairy in your daily diet—improves red blood cell membrane fluidity and lipid profile. Eating that much also improves omega-3 status.

High-fat dairy is consistently linked to better cardiovascular health despite being one of the best sources of myristic acid.

The Tokelau islanders ate a coconut-based diet that was very high in myristic acid; they had excellent cardiovascular health.

What’s happening? Why the discrepancies?

Some in the diet is way better than none. Too much more than 1-2% of calories (about 10% of calories from dairy fat), and the benefits start dropping and even reversing. However, that “1-2%” limit was in the context of a higher-carb diet. If you’re lower carb, you can probably benefit from higher intakes.

Myristic acid in the blood isn’t so much “dangerous” as it is indicative of metabolic dysfunction. For instance, the most reliable way to reduce blood levels of myristic acid is to reduce your carbohydrate intake.

Best sources: nutmeg butter (don’t eat that and go driving, though; nutmeg is downright psychoactive), coconut fat, palm kernel oil, milk fat, breast milk.

Stearic Acid

Stearic acid is enjoying a bit of a renaissance lately. People are mixing isolated stearic acid into clarified butter to create a “super-stearic butter.” Why?

Stearic acid is one of the saturated fats that even SFA-phobes admit has a neutral effect on cholesterol levels. If anything it boosts HDL.

Dietary stearic acid appears to cause “fusing” of our mitochondria—the power plants of our cells—and increase fatty acid oxidation shortly after consumption. In other words, it’s a potent boost to our ability to generate energy.

Diets based on either red meat or cheese—two foods high in stearic acid—improve metabolic and blood markers.

It’s getting really tough to deny the benefits of stearic acid.

Best sources: cocoa butter, beef fat (steer/stearic), dairy, lard.

Palmitic Acid

Palmitic acid gets a terrible rap. In study after study, we find palmitic acid doing bad things to our cells and our health markers. And when you douse cells in pure palmitic acid, they tend to suffer and even die. This looks really bad.

For instance, palmitic acid lowers expression of the LDL receptor gene. Less LDL receptor activity, more time for LDL to hang around in the bloodstream and cause trouble. That’s not good.

Or the fact that palmitic acid is toxic to skeletal muscle cells, impairing glucose uptake and increasing insulin resistance.

Or that palmitic acid induces inflammation and disrupts insulin signaling, suggestive of diabetes. We don’t want diabetes, we don’t want heart disease, and we like our muscle cells to function, so we should probably stop eating any palmitic acid, right?

Except a modicum of oleic acid stimulates LDL receptor activity. And arachidonic acid, a polyunsaturated fat found in animal products often alongside palmitic acid, prevents cell toxicity. And finally, if you throw in a little oleic acid alongside that “inflammatory” palmitic acid, you obliterate the inflammation.

Okay, but what about serum palmitic acid being a harbinger of metabolic disorder? Easy. When you overeat sugar and there’s nowhere to put it and you can’t burn it, the liver converts any extra into palmitic acid to be stored. Elevated palmitic acid is a marker of eating too many carbohydrates (and food in general).

Best sources: dairy fat, ruminant fat, palm oil.

What does it all mean?

Even though today’s post was about the individual saturated fatty acids, we very rarely eat individual fatty acids. Instead, we’re eating fats that contain a half dozen fatty acids or more, or foods that contain fats that contain a half dozen fatty acids. We aren’t cooking with lauric acid or sprinkling pure palmitic acid in the pan. We’re eating foods. And, as part of the food matrix, all the saturated fatty acids I’ve examined have important and valid roles to play.

If you want to avoid palmitic acid but welcome stearic acid, guess what? You’re gonna have to craft some Frankenstein-fat. Foods that contain stearic acid also contain palmitic acid. The best sources of lauric acid are also pretty high in stearic, palmitic, and myristic acid. And so it goes. You can’t avoid palmitic acid and only eat lauric and stearic acid while eating actual food.

If you have any questions, drop them down below.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

References

Wlaz P, Socala K, Nieoczym D, et al. Acute anticonvulsant effects of capric acid in seizure tests in mice. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2015;57:110-6.

Huang CB, Alimova Y, Myers TM, Ebersole JL. Short- and medium-chain fatty acids exhibit antimicrobial activity for oral microorganisms. Arch Oral Biol. 2011;56(7):650-4.

Feltrin KL, Little TJ, Meyer JH, et al. Comparative effects of intraduodenal infusions of lauric and oleic acids on antropyloroduodenal motility, plasma cholecystokinin and peptide YY, appetite, and energy intake in healthy men. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008;87(5):1181-7.

Intorre F, Venneria E, Finotti E, et al. Fatty acid content of serum lipid fractions and blood lipids in normolipidaemic volunteers fed two types of cheese having different fat compositions: a pilot study. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2013;64(2):185-93.

Gutiérrez-garcía AG, Contreras CM, Díaz-marte C. Myristic acid in amniotic fluid produces appetitive responses in human newborns. Early Hum Dev. 2017;115:32-37.

Chen X, Zhao X, Deng Y, Bu X, Ye H, Guo N. Antimicrobial potential of myristic acid against Listeria monocytogenes in milk. J Antibiot. 2019;72(5):298-305.

Prior IA, Davidson F, Salmond CE, Czochanska Z. Cholesterol, coconuts, and diet on Polynesian atolls: a natural experiment: the Pukapuka and Tokelau island studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 1981;34(8):1552-61.

Hunter JE, Zhang J, Kris-etherton PM. Cardiovascular disease risk of dietary stearic acid compared with trans, other saturated, and unsaturated fatty acids: a systematic review. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;91(1):46-63.

Thorning TK, Raziani F, Bendsen NT, Astrup A, Tholstrup T, Raben A. Diets with high-fat cheese, high-fat meat, or carbohydrate on cardiovascular risk markers in overweight postmenopausal women: a randomized crossover trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;102(3):573-81.

Mustad VA, Ellsworth JL, Cooper AD, Kris-etherton PM, Etherton TD. Dietary linoleic acid increases and palmitic acid decreases hepatic LDL receptor protein and mRNA abundance in young pigs. J Lipid Res. 1996;37(11):2310-23.

Wen H, Gris D, Lei Y, et al. Fatty acid-induced NLRP3-ASC inflammasome activation interferes with insulin signaling. Nat Immunol. 2011;12(5):408-15.

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The Definitive Guide to Saturated Fatty Acids published first on https://venabeahan.tumblr.com

[jesseneufeld]

The Definitive Guide to Saturated Fatty Acids

I’ve written guides to fat in general, animal fats in particular, and edible oils as well. I’ve written a definitive guide to saturated fat. But what are these fats, exactly? Today, I’m writing the Definitive Guide to Saturated Fatty Acids—a guide to all the individual fatty acids that make up the saturated fats we eat, store, and burn.

I won’t cover every single saturated fatty acid in existence. Some of them don’t play any significant role in human health or diet. Like cerotic acid, which appears mainly in beeswax. Or arachidic acid, which you can get by hydrogenating arachidonic acid or eating a ton of durian. There are a few more that aren’t very relevant.

I will instead cover the most important ones.

But First, a Word about Saturated Fatty Acids…

Saturated fats have all available carbon bonds paired with hydrogen atoms, making them highly stable and resistant to oxidation and rancidity—even when heated. That’s why our bodies tend to build cellular membranes with a significant portion of saturated fats. They provide stability and a strong foundation.

Caproic Acid, Caprylic Acid and Capric Acid

I included these together because their names come from the Latin word for “goat,” and all three are found most famously in goat milk—they run about 15% of goat milk fat. Capric acid is also found in coconut oil (10% of coconut fat) and palm oil (4% of palm fat).

The “goat” fats are what give goat milk its distinctive “goaty” odors. Come to think of it, I’ve had coconut oil that had a “funk” to it, and I bet the capric/caprylic acid was to blame. But if you can get past the goatiness, there are benefits to these fatty acids.

Capric acid has been used to inhibit seizures in people with epilepsy, and if you combine it with caprylic acid, the anti-seizure effect seems to increase.

As medium-chain triglycerides, the goat fatty acids increase ketone production. In fact, caprylic acid is the most ketogenic medium-chain triglyceride of all.

Capric acid has anti-fungal properties, showing particular efficacy against Candida, while all three are effective against oral bacteria.

Best sources: goat milk, coconut oil, palm oil.

Lauric Acid

Another medium-chain triglyceride, lauric acid is the primary fatty acid in coconut fat (40-50% lauric acid) and palm kernel fat. It also appears in human breast milk (about 6.2% of total fat).

Lauric acid is anti-microbial. That’s why it appears in breast milk—to help infants ward off pathogens while their immune systems are still developing. And it’s probably why people report getting rid of foot and toenail fungus by smearing their feet with coconut oil at night.

Lauric acid reduces hunger. In one study, people who had lauric acid shot directly into their guts ate less food than the people who had oleic acid shot in.

When you consume lauric acid, some of it is converted into monolaurin, a more potent compound (both coconut oil and breast milk also contain some monolaurin directly) with anti-viral, anti-microbial, and anti-fungal properties.

Lauric acid is not as directly ketogenic as the “goaty” medium-chain triglycerides.

Best sources: coconut fat, palm kernel fat, breast milk.

Myristic Acid

Myristic acid is a perplexing one. Some studies find that its presence in the blood indicates metabolic issues, whereas, as you’ll see below, in the diet it can have some good effects and play some important roles.

The odor of myristic acid draws the newborn to the breast and helps trigger the appetite for mother’s milk.

Myristic acid in milk also possesses anti-listeria activity.

Eating 1-2% of calories as myristic acid—about what you’d get from including a little coconut or moderate amounts of full-fat dairy in your daily diet—improves red blood cell membrane fluidity and lipid profile. Eating that much also improves omega-3 status.

High-fat dairy is consistently linked to better cardiovascular health despite being one of the best sources of myristic acid.

The Tokelau islanders ate a coconut-based diet that was very high in myristic acid; they had excellent cardiovascular health.

What’s happening? Why the discrepancies?

Some in the diet is way better than none. Too much more than 1-2% of calories (about 10% of calories from dairy fat), and the benefits start dropping and even reversing. However, that “1-2%” limit was in the context of a higher-carb diet. If you’re lower carb, you can probably benefit from higher intakes.

Myristic acid in the blood isn’t so much “dangerous” as it is indicative of metabolic dysfunction. For instance, the most reliable way to reduce blood levels of myristic acid is to reduce your carbohydrate intake.

Best sources: nutmeg butter (don’t eat that and go driving, though; nutmeg is downright psychoactive), coconut fat, palm kernel oil, milk fat, breast milk.

Stearic Acid

Stearic acid is enjoying a bit of a renaissance lately. People are mixing isolated stearic acid into clarified butter to create a “super-stearic butter.” Why?

Stearic acid is one of the saturated fats that even SFA-phobes admit has a neutral effect on cholesterol levels. If anything it boosts HDL.

Dietary stearic acid appears to cause “fusing” of our mitochondria—the power plants of our cells—and increase fatty acid oxidation shortly after consumption. In other words, it’s a potent boost to our ability to generate energy.

Diets based on either red meat or cheese—two foods high in stearic acid—improve metabolic and blood markers.

It’s getting really tough to deny the benefits of stearic acid.

Best sources: cocoa butter, beef fat (steer/stearic), dairy, lard.

Palmitic Acid

Palmitic acid gets a terrible rap. In study after study, we find palmitic acid doing bad things to our cells and our health markers. And when you douse cells in pure palmitic acid, they tend to suffer and even die. This looks really bad.

For instance, palmitic acid lowers expression of the LDL receptor gene. Less LDL receptor activity, more time for LDL to hang around in the bloodstream and cause trouble. That’s not good.

Or the fact that palmitic acid is toxic to skeletal muscle cells, impairing glucose uptake and increasing insulin resistance.

Or that palmitic acid induces inflammation and disrupts insulin signaling, suggestive of diabetes. We don’t want diabetes, we don’t want heart disease, and we like our muscle cells to function, so we should probably stop eating any palmitic acid, right?

Except a modicum of oleic acid stimulates LDL receptor activity. And arachidonic acid, a polyunsaturated fat found in animal products often alongside palmitic acid, prevents cell toxicity. And finally, if you throw in a little oleic acid alongside that “inflammatory” palmitic acid, you obliterate the inflammation.

Okay, but what about serum palmitic acid being a harbinger of metabolic disorder? Easy. When you overeat sugar and there’s nowhere to put it and you can’t burn it, the liver converts any extra into palmitic acid to be stored. Elevated palmitic acid is a marker of eating too many carbohydrates (and food in general).

Best sources: dairy fat, ruminant fat, palm oil.

What does it all mean?

Even though today’s post was about the individual saturated fatty acids, we very rarely eat individual fatty acids. Instead, we’re eating fats that contain a half dozen fatty acids or more, or foods that contain fats that contain a half dozen fatty acids. We aren’t cooking with lauric acid or sprinkling pure palmitic acid in the pan. We’re eating foods. And, as part of the food matrix, all the saturated fatty acids I’ve examined have important and valid roles to play.

If you want to avoid palmitic acid but welcome stearic acid, guess what? You’re gonna have to craft some Frankenstein-fat. Foods that contain stearic acid also contain palmitic acid. The best sources of lauric acid are also pretty high in stearic, palmitic, and myristic acid. And so it goes. You can’t avoid palmitic acid and only eat lauric and stearic acid while eating actual food.

If you have any questions, drop them down below.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

References

Wlaz P, Socala K, Nieoczym D, et al. Acute anticonvulsant effects of capric acid in seizure tests in mice. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2015;57:110-6.

Huang CB, Alimova Y, Myers TM, Ebersole JL. Short- and medium-chain fatty acids exhibit antimicrobial activity for oral microorganisms. Arch Oral Biol. 2011;56(7):650-4.

Feltrin KL, Little TJ, Meyer JH, et al. Comparative effects of intraduodenal infusions of lauric and oleic acids on antropyloroduodenal motility, plasma cholecystokinin and peptide YY, appetite, and energy intake in healthy men. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008;87(5):1181-7.

Intorre F, Venneria E, Finotti E, et al. Fatty acid content of serum lipid fractions and blood lipids in normolipidaemic volunteers fed two types of cheese having different fat compositions: a pilot study. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2013;64(2):185-93.

Gutiérrez-garcía AG, Contreras CM, Díaz-marte C. Myristic acid in amniotic fluid produces appetitive responses in human newborns. Early Hum Dev. 2017;115:32-37.

Chen X, Zhao X, Deng Y, Bu X, Ye H, Guo N. Antimicrobial potential of myristic acid against Listeria monocytogenes in milk. J Antibiot. 2019;72(5):298-305.

Prior IA, Davidson F, Salmond CE, Czochanska Z. Cholesterol, coconuts, and diet on Polynesian atolls: a natural experiment: the Pukapuka and Tokelau island studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 1981;34(8):1552-61.

Hunter JE, Zhang J, Kris-etherton PM. Cardiovascular disease risk of dietary stearic acid compared with trans, other saturated, and unsaturated fatty acids: a systematic review. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;91(1):46-63.

Thorning TK, Raziani F, Bendsen NT, Astrup A, Tholstrup T, Raben A. Diets with high-fat cheese, high-fat meat, or carbohydrate on cardiovascular risk markers in overweight postmenopausal women: a randomized crossover trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;102(3):573-81.

Mustad VA, Ellsworth JL, Cooper AD, Kris-etherton PM, Etherton TD. Dietary linoleic acid increases and palmitic acid decreases hepatic LDL receptor protein and mRNA abundance in young pigs. J Lipid Res. 1996;37(11):2310-23.

Wen H, Gris D, Lei Y, et al. Fatty acid-induced NLRP3-ASC inflammasome activation interferes with insulin signaling. Nat Immunol. 2011;12(5):408-15.

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[felassan]

This post contains a transcript/text version of the dev commentary in the IGN 22 Minutes of Gameplay Video. the transcript was written and put together by Bluesky user Kiranox, they kindly sent it to me with permission to post it (thank you!!).

the post is under a cut due to length and containing what some peeps may consider spoilers.

KB: Kat Bailey, IGN CB: Corinne Busche, BioWare JE: John Epler, BioWare

The transcript also contains a note of dialogue from the game. these are included in this post as images.

---

KB: What's up everybody I'm Kat Bailey and this is our extended look at Dragon Age The Veilguard's gameplay I'm here with BioWare lead developers Corinne Busche and John Epler. Corinne, what are we looking at today? CB: Hey y'all so today we're going to be helping out one of our companions, Davin. This is part of his personal arc to rescue the griffons, long thought extinct. We're going to take a quick journey through The Lighthouse, your base of operations. We're going to head into the crossroads and make our way to the dark swamps of Hossberg wetlands JE: So you're in the lighthouse as Corinne mentioned, this is your base of operations that you inherited willingly or unwillingly from Solas. It is located in the fade, it's where Solas was able to start planning his rebellion against the Elven Gods millennia ago. Right now you and your team have occupied it, started to build it, started to shape itself around your personality. As Corinne mentioned we are going to go talk to Davrin which is who is located up above Each of these spaces kind of shapes itself around your companions as they live - as they basically spend their arcs in those rooms CB: And we see here the glowing light above indicates Davrin's ready for us. Let's check in with him

JE: So earlier in Davrin's arc you were introduced to his nemesis the Gloom Howler, a creature that's been hunting and stalking wardens for quite some time. It has kidnapped a bunch of other griffons and Davrin has been trying to track it down, now he's got a lead so we're going to go find this and go track this thing down CB: Now Davin he prefers the direct approach we're going to choose a tough response and see if we can get his approval

KB: Have to say that I find the griffon adorable JE: And very importantly, I know this is a question on everyone's mind -- yes you can pet Assan KB: Well thank goodness for that. And all right what are we going to be doing next?

CB: Alright we're going to finish getting this information from Davrin on the Gloom Howler and we'll be off to Hossberg and the Crossroads

KB: So, I assume that Assan can be helpful during the gameplay? CB: Oh, absolutely, in fact a lot of Davrin's abilities revolve around calling Assan in the heat of battle. I in particularly love when you're going against enemies and you see Assan swoop down -- especially if it triggers a combo between your companions JE: As Corinne mentioned earlier one of the interesting fun things we've done is if you see the lights on in a room, companions have something to say. You can see Harding up in that space there, Neve behind you as well and Bellara, but we have a mission ahead of us. We're going to go find the Gloom Howler if we can and we're going to go through the crossroads in order to do that. And -- the crossroads if you've played previous Dragon Age games - Trespasser in particular - is a location in the fade that contains a number of eluvians, allowing you to travel across Thedas in a matter of minutes. But at this point the crossroads are under assault by the other Elven Gods, it's a dangerous place and we are going to be in for a bit of a fight CB: And this eluvian, the vi'revas, is the central focus point of the lighthouse. This is going to take us to Solas's pocket area of the crossroads and it might look a little bit different from what you've seen in Trespasser KB: Can you tell us a little bit about the role that the crossroads plays in the structure and the gameplay? JE: Yes, so the crossroads is -again- it's the area that you spend a lot of time traveling through as you go from area to area. It's also a space that has at one point served as Solas's main base of operations and training ground for his rebellion against the Elven Gods. So as you go through it you're going to find fragments of the past, things that Solas had done previously that are going to give you a bit of insight into Solas as a character, but also into the Elven gods and their motivations

CB: Some of my favorite content that you'll find if you go exploring in The Crossroads is these opportunities to actually relive some of the memories Solas had during his rebellion. You actually get to take part in this ancient rebellion JE: And here we have the Caretaker, a mysterious spirit that was actually here before Solas was and started to help Solas with his rebellion, but also to turn this into a safe haven for spirits

JE: Again, as I mentioned before, the gods are assaulting the crossroads so it's no longer the safe haven it once was, but you're going to work with this caretaker through quite a large amount of ancillary content to rebuild this into that safe home for these creatures, that if anyone knows Solas, he has a tremendous amount of affection, for spirits CB: Alright, now we're going to get into combat here and this time we're playing as a mage. Now, mage is one of my favorite classes to play, it's primarily a ranged attacker and when we're surrounded by swarming darkspawn I really have to use a variety of strategies to control the battlefield. I'm going to use my heavy charged attacks to knock down these ghouls, get them out of the way and of course darkspawn are vulnerable to fire, so we made sure to equip our fire staff and have our fire abilities on hand JE: You may notice something about the darkspawn is that they look a little bit different than they have previously and part of that is because Ghilan'nain, who has always been focused on using the blight as essentially a "crafting material", a way to alter life itself, has been enhancing and changing these darkspawn as part of her army KB: Corinne, I noticed that you were doing a combo opportunity. Can you tell us a little bit more about how the role that plays in the actual combat? CB: Yes, so the combat system in this game, the deep strategy behind it, is really to manage the various abilities your companions and Rook have in concert. So in this case Harding has a combo opportunity with "shred". It's going to apply the sundered effect and deal a high amount of "stagger". Now you'll notice I can combo that with Rook's ability "Spirit Bomb" that's going to cause a detonation combo

JE: So again, one of the things you'll notice about the terrain here is it's very snowy, very mountainous. The crossroads is a realm that reflects the waking world, in this case it's an amalgamation of all the real world spaces that are tied to it. In this case we've got Hossberg, we've got other mountainous regions, so it's kind of this mix of the swamp and as you'll see, as we move towards these eluvians, the architecture around them very clearly reflects what's on the side we're not going to spoiler and tell you exactly what's on the other side, but you can maybe make a few guesses based on what you're seeing KB: Do I have to do the crossroads, or can I just fast travel right through? CB: So it depends how you progress through the game, the first time you go to any of the new regions in the world, you'll traverse the crossroads to get there. Subsequent times we of course support fast travel, but it behooves you to actually go back and explore the crossroads, as some of the deepest secrets lie within JE: So now you're in Hossberg Wetland, it's an area that has been almost completely consumed by the blight. The grey wardens have set up an outpost here, again, if you know anything about the grey wardens, they fight the blight anywhere they see it and they're noticing something strange is going on here. The blight is not behaving as they expect it to and as it historically has so they've set up shop in this place called Lavendel and you are here to work with them, help them out and help them find an answer to the questions about the blight that they're asking

KB: Tell me a little bit more about this area, it looks a little bit like a hub where you can get a lot of quests and things like that? CB: That's right so here we find one of the bases of the Grey Wardens so you'll see they've really built up a small fighting force here to hold off the darkspawn. What's more, the Grey wardens are a faction we're going to be working with throughout the game. We've got Holden, one of the Grey Warden quartermasters, we're actually going to upgrade his shop and see what items he has in store for us, see if maybe it gives us an edge in combat JE: And the Grey Wardens are much like the other factions, they understand the stakes of the Gods being out they want to help you, but you need to help them first. They have -again as Corinne mentioned- they're holding off the darkspawn here, they have other priorities, so getting them more powerful allows them to more meaningfully contribute to your fight against the Elven Gods

KB: So where are we going next? CB: All right, so we're heading out of the Grey Warden Fortress into the small town of Lavendel. Now this used to be a beautiful place full of life, flowers and you can see what effect the blight has had

CB: But the residents are still here, they're trying to make the most of their lives and you can see there's plenty of opportunities to help them, in fact we're going to quickly check in with Flynn The Physician and see what he has in store for us JE: So Flynn -again one of the focuses of this game is characters not causes

JE: And Flynn is a warden who you will do quests with. We wanted to make sure that the side content of dragon age the veil guard felt as meaningful and tied to the overall conflict of the game as anything else you do. We don't want to you to just go off and do random tasks. Everything needs to feel meaningful either contributing to your fight against the gods or contributing to the growth of your companions and the factions that you need at your side to stop the gods

CB: All right so we picked up a couple of quests in Lavendel, but we're here to help Davrin, so we're going to make our way through the perils of Hossberg and try to get to this Warden fortress of The Cauldron KB: Seeing a lot of - kind of organic matter, I suppose that's the blight? JE: Absolutely. So the blight at this point -as mentioned before the wardens understand it's changed, it's become a lot more organic, a lot more alive. You know, back in Dragon Age 2, Inquisition, Origins, the blight -while it was a slow moving wall. It didn't have this almost thought behind it and obviously we've talked about how the gods that are out are blighted, that probably has something to do with it and it's made this area far more dangerous than it would have been before CB: And you might notice as we get into combat with some of these darkspawn that they do look a little bit different than before and that's very intentional. Ghilan'nain the god of monsters. She uses blight like a medium to sculpt and warp the darkspawn to do her bidding, to suit her purposes JE: So right now you'll see a couple of Hurlock, uh one with some pretty disgusting growths on its back -again the idea that the darkspawn and the blight is an organic weapon, they're not just coming out and you know making swords, making armor. They're using the blight to augment themselves so they can more effectively defeat you and also give the gods the world that they desire CB: All right now I'm actually going to switch to my orb and dagger on the mage and those of you that were a fans of the Knight Enchanter in Dragon Age Inquisition, you might feel right at home with this. This is a more melee focused, more agile version of the mage. One of the main mechanics here is you can use this elemental orb to apply stacks of elemental damage to the enemy and then unleash them with your dagger to detonate them JE: So -again you'll notice that there are blight pools, the darkspawn aren't just coming out of nowhere, the blight is spawning them. Again, part of Ghilan'nain's attempt to turn this into an army for the gods is to use these darkspawn not just -again whereas you have the Venatori and the Antaam, one case representing magical power in the other case representing physical strength the darkspawn are representing overwhelming force KB: That was a pretty clutch heal a little earlier by the way CB: You know we've talked at length before that our fans have asked us "where is the healing magic? Can you bring it back?" and Neve in this game is happy to oblige with a kit of healing spells JE: So one of the interesting things that I love about our companions is each of them, their abilities, the way that they're built, they're very thematically appropriate to the character. They're very focused on making sure that the gameplay and the narrative are as close aligned as possible in the case of Neve versus Bellara versus Emmrich, our mages, each of them has a healing ability that is thematically appropriate to them, makes sense when you know them as a character

KB: Watching you play I'm struck by sort of the size and the scope of this particular area. It seems like there's a lot of explorating that I can be doing right here CB: That was really one of our goals with these areas, of course we are a mission-based game but we really emphasize player autonomy. You can revisit these spaces, they're full of secrets, puzzles, some pretty incredible bosses and treasure. And of course as we saw earlier in Lavendel, some really narratively rich side quests JE: One thing that's interesting is you'll find we're going on a quest for Davrin, but Davrin is not currently in our party. That's because Davrin has gone ahead of us and is waiting for us at The Cauldron. This is - again we want the followers, the companions to feel like they have autonomy and while they won't complete the quest on their, they will go ahead and get things ready so when you get there you can talk to them, you can have a conversation with them and it feels like they're as invested in the success of their journey their stories as you are KB: This looks like a pretty contiguous zone, is that right? CB: It is yes. So it's full of branching paths, different areas to explore and what I love is the more content you do in the area, the more shortcuts you're going to discover, you're really going to have a lot more flexibility in how you navigate between your remaining missions and quests JE: What I think is something really interesting too about the way that our team has built these spaces is there's this idea of each space has its own story to tell and while those quests - you know we talked earlier about those quests and side quests being narratively relevant they also contribute to a more of a meta narrative, meta story about the space itself. So in the case of Hossberg, we talked about how this is an area surrounded by blight and you're kind of getting to the center of what exactly is going on in Hossberg and Lavendel and these quests that you do and the content Corinne is currently engaged in helps to tell that story CB: All right we can see our companions are up here attacking this darkspawn on their own, let's give them a quick hand - all right, now I love positional gameplay making use of the environment to your advantage KB: And I just saw that you could do a takedown move, so it's kind of a finishing move?

CB: You can, now in this particular build I'm really focused on using necromantic energies to siphon life force, but if I for instance wanted to go the Stagger route I could go a full takedown build if I like. It's a really powerful heavy hitting style of gameplay

JE: All right so you'll notice Davrin is waiting for us, so let's go see what he has to say … Assan flies in

JE: So something tore through the gate that's probably not great, looks like we should probably get moving

JE: So because we don't have Davrin in our party he's going to move ahead and wait for us while we bring Neve and Harding along to clear a path for ourselves to find Davrin and get to where he is KB: Can you talk a little bit about how Nev and Harding uh sort of synergized during thecombat? JE: Yeah so Neve and Harding. Neve is a mage, Harding is a rogue and each of the classes -and you can build a party entirely of one class if you want- but the idea is that the classes synergize and they can set up and detonate each other's abilities in a very interesting way. Now because you have a lot of freedom in how you build your character you can - again as said - you can have all Rogue party, all Mage party, all Warrior party, it still works. But in this case Neve and Harding are very effective at setting up and detonating in this case, as Corinne's going to show CB: So we're in danger here and this is really what I love about the tactical layer of combat: if you get in that clutch situation where you've got this devastating incoming attack, great time to pause game play weigh your options and in this case I'm going to go back to our combo here and see if I can just quickly get out of the way … All right, you can see I've applied siphoning to these enemies so I'm actually going to be leeching their health when I use my mage beam Now you'll notice there's blight boils throughout the area and that's part of our philosophy on the combat encounters. If I don't destroy these blight boils, ghouls are going to continue to emerge. So I'm really focused on "what targets do I take down first?" this enemy is a little bit weaker, I think I'm going to have my companions focus on them while I deal with this grenadier that's giving me some problem JE: Yeah I will say Corinne is much better at this game than I am CB: As you say that! [Corinne nearly dies] JE: Well most of the time, yes, 100%. But each enemy - again really leaning into the organic - what I love about the grenadiers is they basically rip off pieces of themselves and throw them at you which explode as blight and again really leading to the idea that the blight is organic and disgusting KB: One thing that I'm noticing is that the combat encounters can get pretty intense, you'll end up fighting a lot of different enemies, you can absolutely die if you're not careful CB: Yes and this - as we mentioned earlier - this is well into the game so combat counters have really ramped up and it really shows the importance of positioning using your companions wisely and looking for those synergies and combos. [Corinne dies] Now this is interesting. We just went down. We've built our companions to be able to come to our aid, so we're actually going to use a revive here and Neve to the rescue! JE: and as Corinne mentioned, this is later in the game and Hossberg itself is what I would consider a later game area and the encounter is a little bit more challenging. It's a more dangerous space, this shows up in the encounter but it also shows up in the visuals the storytelling here. This is a place that you don't want to be, you don't want to be in Hossberg, it is full of darkspawn full of blight and generally not a pleasant place to be KB: Well we'll be able to explore more of The Cauldron when Dragon Age the Veilguard comes out on October 31st. In the meantime we are going to be continuing on with our IGN first coverage of Dragon Age for the rest of September and for everything that's great about games and RPGs keep it locked on IGN

(end transcript)

[source]

note: this transcript was written and put together by Bluesky user Kiranox, they kindly sent it to me with permission to post it (thank you!).

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Drones, Take Two & Stargate

Welcome, hello, G’Day, hi, we are glad to announce the latest episode from Nerds Amalgamated is here. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed recording it for you. Also as Supanova Brisbane has now happened we have to say thank you to all those who stopped by the booth, it was fantastic to meet you all. We hope everyone enjoyed the week end and have lots of photos to remember how cool it was. It was awesome seeing so many amazing cosplayers and catching up with our friends from Comics2Movies, the Sons of Obiwan, Jamie Johnson, Super Tee, Cyanide Pop Press among so many others.

First up this week we have facial recognition drones being utilised by Police Scotland to help find people who get lost. That’s right folks, AI drones using facial recognition to find individuals. Now, we know what you are thinking, hang on, this is a problem, next we know it will be used for… You will need to listen in to find out more. But we are sure you will enjoy it and have a laugh.

Second, we have news that is promising for game developers and gamers all over the world. Yep, that is a bold claim, but we are sure you will agree when you hear it. Those legends at Take Two have discussed the future of gaming and the expectations of a drop in the costs of game development. What is suggested is great and worth looking forward to. We have some fun on this topic and really get into it.

Our third topic for the week is about Stargate Command. No, the Goa'uld aren’t attacking, and the Wraith haven’t found the way through the Stargate to our universe. No, it is sad news, but possibly good news also. That’s right, a little bit of good news to look forward to that off sets the bad news. Now for the fans of Stargate this news is pretty big, and for those who need to evolve their appreciation then you better hurry up. The Professor and Buck are now contemplating a marathon viewing based on this news. Want to know what this news is you know what to do.

As normal we have the shout outs, birthdays, remembrances, and special events. As always, thank you for listening, take care of yourselve’s, look out for each other and stay hydrated.

Facial Recognition Drones - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-50262650

Take Two’s hot take on Next gen - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-09-19-next-gen-wont-see-dev-costs-spike-take-two

MGM shutting down Stargate Command - https://boundingintocomics.com/2019/11/01/mgm-shuts-down-stargate-command/

Games currently playing

Buck

– Call OF Duty WW2 - https://store.steampowered.com/app/476600/Call_of_Duty_WWII/

Prof

– Call Of Duty WW2 - https://store.steampowered.com/app/476600/Call_of_Duty_WWII/

DJ

- Did Not Play

Other topics discussed

Drone Interrupts soccer match

- https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/15/albania-charged-uefa-serbia

Chinese police anti drone guns

- https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2079045/chinese-police-force-equipped-anti-drone-guns

Hong Kong bans make up

- https://boingboing.net/2019/10/05/facially-absurd.html

Hong Kong ban masks

- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/hong-kong-protesters-rally-ban-wearing-masks-191004144726630.html

Dutch police use eagles to hunt drones

- https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/12/16767000/police-netherlands-eagles-rogue-drones

‘Missing’ Icelandic tourist

- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/missing-icelandic-tourist-goes-in-search-of-herself-8096831.html

An Aspie Life (PC Game)

- https://store.steampowered.com/app/786410/An_Aspie_Life/

Joseph Mallozzi’s blog post on the future of Stargate Command site

- https://josephmallozzi.com/2019/10/31/october-31-2019-stargate-command-and-the-future-of-stargate/

New Melbourne Brown Coats (Firefly & Serenity fan club in Melbourne Victoria)

- https://www.facebook.com/newmelbournebrowncoats/

Drostand Hynd (Call of Duty : WWII Character voiced by David Tennent)

- https://callofduty.fandom.com/wiki/Drostan_Hynd

The Monuments Men (2014 war film directed by George Clooney, and written and produced by Clooney and Grant Heslov.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monuments_Men

Canadarm (also known as Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS))

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadarm

Chicken Run 2

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Run_2

Hulk (2003 American superhero film directed by Ang Lee based on the fictionalMarvel Comicscharacter of the same name.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulk_(film)

Lou Ferrigno (American actor, fitness trainer, fitness consultant and retired professional bodybuilder)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Ferrigno

The Incredible Hulk (2008 American superhero film directed by Louis Leterrier based on the Marvel Comics character the Hulk, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Universal Pictures)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Hulk_(film)

Shoutouts

4 Nov 1922 – In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Thus, began a monumental excavation process in which Carter carefully explored the four-room tomb over several years, uncovering an incredible collection of several thousand objects. The most splendid architectural find was a stone sarcophagus containing three coffins nested within each other. Inside the final coffin, which was made from solid gold, was the mummy of the boy-king Tutankhamen, preserved for more than 3,000 years. Most of these treasures are now housed in the Cairo Museum. - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/entrance-to-king-tuts-tomb-discovered

4 Nov 1942 – Disobeying a direct order by Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel begins a retreat of his forces after a costly defeat during the Second Battle of El Alamein. The retreat would ultimately last five months. The Allied victory in the Second Battle of El Alamein was a huge morale boost after a long period of attrition in North Africa, and it made a national hero out of General Montgomery. - http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/4/newsid_3564000/3564385.stm

4 Nov 1973 – The Netherlands experiences the first Car-Free Sunday caused by the 1973 oil crisis. Highways are used only by cyclists and roller skaters. - http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/november4th.html

Remembrances

4 Nov 1992 - George Klein, Hamilton, Ontario-born Canadian inventor who is often called the most productive inventor in Canada in the 20th century. His inventions include key contributions to the first electric wheelchairs for quadriplegics, the first microsurgical staple gun, the ZEEP nuclear reactor which was the precursor to the CANDU reactor, the international system for classifying ground-cover snow, aircraft skis, the Weasel all-terrain vehicle, the STEM antenna for the space program, and the Canadarm. He died at the age of 88 in Ottawa,Ontario - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Klein_(inventor)

4 Nov 2008 – Michael Crichton, American author, screenwriter, and film director and producer best known for his work in the science fiction, thriller, and medical fiction genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works are usually within the action genre and heavily feature technology. His novels epitomize the techno-thriller genre of literature, often exploring technology and failures of human interaction with it, especially resulting in catastrophes with biotechnology. Many of his novels have medical or scientific underpinnings, reflecting his medical training and scientific background. He wrote, among other works Congo,Sphere,Jurassic Park, Rising Sun & The Lost World. Films he wrote and directed included Westworld,Coma, The Great Train Robbery, Looker, and Runaway. He died from lymphoma at the age of 66 in Los Angeles, California - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton

4 Nov 2014 – S. Donald Stookey, American inventor. He had 60 patents in his name related to glass and ceramics, some patents solely his and others shared as joint patents with other inventors. His discoveries and inventions have contributed to the development of ceramics, eyeglasses, sunglasses, cookware, defense systems, and electronics. He was a research director at Corning Glass Works for 47 years doing R & D in glass and ceramic development. His inventions include Fotoform, CorningWare, Cercor, Pyroceram and Photochromic Ophthalmic glass eyewear. He died at the age of 99 in Rochester, New York - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._Donald_Stookey

Famous Birthdays

4 Nov 1925 - Doris Roberts, American actress, author, and philanthropist whose career spanned six decades of television and film. She received five Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild award during her acting career, which began in 1951. She had several prominent roles in movies, including playing opposite Shirley Stoler in The Honeymoon Killers, Billy Crystal in Rabbit Test and Robert Carradine in Number One with a Bullet among many others. She achieved continuing success in television, becoming known for her role as Raymond Barone's mother, Marie Barone, on the long-running CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. She was born in St. Louis,Missouri - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Roberts

4 Nov 1933 - Sir Charles Kuen Kao, physicist and electrical engineer who pioneered the development and use of fibre optics in telecommunications. In the 1960s, Kao created various methods to combine glass fibres with lasers in order to transmit digital data, which laid the groundwork for the evolution of the Internet. Known as the "Godfather of Broadband", the "Father of Fiber Optics", and the "Father of Fiber Optic Communications", Kao was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for "groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication". He was born in Shanghai - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_K._Kao

4 Nov 1953 - Peter Lord, English animator, film producer, director and co-founder of the Academy Award-winningAardman Animations studio, an animation firm best known for its clay-animated films and shorts, particularly those featuring plasticine duo Wallace and Gromit. He also directed The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! which was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 85th Academy Awards. Lord is the executive producer of every Aardman work, including Chicken Run, Arthur Christmas and Flushed Away. He was born in Bristol - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Lord

Events of Interest

4 Nov 1847 – Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish physician, discovers the anaesthetic properties of chloroform. On inhaling the chemical, they found that a general mood of cheer and humour had set in. But suddenly all of them collapsed only to regain consciousness the next morning. Simpson knew, as soon as he woke up, that he had found something that could be used as an anaesthetic. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Young_Simpson

4 Nov 1960 - Mary Leakey and Louis Leakey discover first Homo habilis jaw fragments (OH 7) also nicknamed "Johnny's Child" at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. The remains are dated to approximately 1.75 million years, and consist of fragmented parts of a lower mandible, an isolated maxillary molar, two parietal bones, and twenty-one finger, hand, and wrist bones. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OH_7

4 Nov 1977 - The Incredible Hulk, an American television series based on the Marvel Comics character The Hulk premiered on CBS. It starred Bill Bixby as Dr. David Bruce Banner, Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk, and Jack Colvin as Jack McGee. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Hulk_(1978_TV_series)

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

Follow us on

Facebook

- Page - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/

- Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/440485136816406/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/NAmalgamated

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Nux69rftdBeeEXwD8GXrS

iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/top-shelf-nerds/id1347661094

RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rss

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nerds_amalgamated/

General Enquiries

Email - Nerds.Amalgamated@gmail.com

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[theworldenews-blog]

New Post has been published on The World ePost

New Post has been published on http://theworldepost.com/2017/09/top-technology-news-of-the-day/

Top Technology News Of The Day

Technology

More about

Uber

Transport for London

London

Uber will be banned from operating in London for deceptive practices

Digital Trends 4h ago

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Uber: Major UK cities have no plans to follow London in banning taxi-app

Local Source Evening Standard 4h ago

Uber Fails To Get Its License To Continue Service In London

Socpedia 1h ago

Uber To Be Kicked Out Of London Over ‘Lack Of Responsibility’

Android Headlines 8h ago

Uber Loses License to Operate in London

In Depth New York Times 3h ago

London’s Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

Opinion Bloomberg 5h ago

1:29

London says Uber not fit to operate in its city

CNET UK

iPhone 8, 8 Plus draw fewer Apple fans as many hold out for X

CNET 2h ago

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Use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in Control Center with iOS 11 – Apple Support

Most Referenced Apple Support 4h ago

Apple has done a horrible job advertising the iPhone 8

BGR 6h ago

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iPhone 8 Teardown – iFixit

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PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Dev Threatens Epic Over Fortnite’s Similar New Mode

GameSpot 4h ago

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Fortnite Battle Royale Launches September 26 – PlayStation.Blog

Most Referenced PlayStation.Blog 12h ago

Nyko Is Mercifully Making the Wireless SNES Controller That Nintendo Refuses to

Gizmodo 2h ago

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5:06

Super NES Classic Edition UNBOXING

YouTube

The Apple Watch Series 3 appears to charge only on certain Qi wireless chargers

The Verge 7h ago

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Apple Watch Series 3 first look: So far, no LTE problems

Engadget 2h ago

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Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE review: missed connections

Highly Cited The Verge Sep 20, 2017

Apple Extends iTunes Movie Rental Window to 48 Hours in United States

Mac Rumors 2h ago

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Find and watch movies with 4K, HDR, or Dolby Vision – Apple Support

Most Referenced Apple Support 3h ago

We Need To Talk About Destiny 2’s Frustrating Leviathan Raid

Forbes 2h ago

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iPhone 8 survives bend, burn and scratch test

CNET 2h ago

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iPhone 8 Durability Test – BEND TEST – Glass Scratch Video!

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Facebook accidentally promotes Instagram post highlighting rape, murder threats

BGR 1h ago

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Facebook Used an ‘I Will Rape You’ Image to Invite Users to Instagram

Highly Cited Gizmodo 22h ago

Nexus 6P vs Nexus 5X: Android Oreo Update Now LIVE

Know Your Mobile 5h ago

Get a Moto G5S Plus for $229.99

CNET 4h ago

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Nintendo has a bizarre answer for people who can’t find the Switch: ‘We dramatically over-delivered’

Business Insider 5h ago

Fitbit Ionic review: Meet the $300 fitness-focused smartwatch

Ars Technica 6h ago

Pokemon Ultra Sun And Moon’s Latest Trailer Shows Off New Surfing Game And Photo Mode

GameSpot 5h ago

‘Destiny 2:’ Where Is Xur, And What Should You Buy From Him? Sept. 22-26

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Forbes 2h ago

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Microsoft’s subsea speed monster: A cable 16 million times faster than your broadband

ZDNet 8h ago

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The manufacturing and beach landing of Marea – the most advanced transatlantic subsea cable

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The iPhone 8 has the best smartphone camera, DxOMark says, but iPhone X will probably beat it

Macworld 1h ago

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[vivocha-tech]

Code Styling as a Demonstration of Beauty

Programming goes beyond the super-nerd concept of “writing code for a machine”.

Yes, it’s the hard truth but, today, writing code is also a social display of respect.

Respect for you as developer, respect for your team.

Quoting this interesting post:

“Write code for your later self and for your co-workers in the first place - not for the machine”  - @RisingStack

Writing one-line, chained statements full of language (and unreadable) tricks quickly becomes no more than a vain practice, when reiterated.

Thus, in case of medium and large codebases, adopting a shared code styling actually becomes mandatory. Enabling all the developers in your team to be able to read the code each other developer writes is another safe practice (referring to the Modern Agile’s “Make Safety a Prerequisite” concept).

Using in your development workflow a linter plus a shared code style (enforced by automatic rules) helps in making your code more safe, less error-prone and more readable by developers.

Some examples of what a linter + code styling can enforce are: avoiding variables usage before their declarations, avoiding not used variables, avoiding suspicious or not guarded for loops, avoiding to long lines, avoiding missing semicolons, and so on…

Talking about JavaScript, ESLint is a very nice pluggable linting utility for that programming language.

Configuring and using ESLint allows developers to check their code before execution, at writing-time. ESLint, thanks to its extendible set of common rules, makes the work for you. It can be used as a command-line tool and becomes really useful when plugged in your preferred IDE, which visually remarks all the issues related to linting your code.

For example, in the following picture we can see Visual Studio Code IDE showing some issues about our code, in particular: suggesting to use const instead of var and rising a code style exception in using spaces inside parens.

The other aspect is Code Styling. Code styling refers to code conventions and how to write it. For example: using semicolons or not, naming conventions for variables and functions (camel-case or Pascal-case?), named function expressions instead of function declarations, code lines length, how many spaces in tabs and so on…

A nice (and very used) code styling is the one adopted and published by AirBnB team, have fun exploring it!

The cool thing is that they provide a set of plugins for ESLint in order to use them in your code, simply configuring the latter.

In a very pragmatic way, starting using ESLint + AirBnB Code Style in a Node.js project means:

1.  Installing ESLint and AirBnB plugins as dev dependencies:

"devDependencies": { ... "eslint": "^3.19.0", "eslint-config-airbnb-base": "^11.1.3", "eslint-plugin-import": "^2.2.0", "eslint-plugin-mocha": "^4.9.0", ... },

2.  creating the .eslintrc.json ESLint configuration file in your project root directory (your IDE will use it)

A possible configuration (we are using) can be the following:

{ "extends": "airbnb-base", "plugins": [ "import", "mocha"], "rules": { "no-console": "off", "no-restricted-syntax": "off", "no-shadow": ["error", { "allow": ["done", "resolve", "reject", "done", "cb", "callback", "err", "req", "res"] }], "mocha/no-exclusive-tests": "error" } }

As depicted in the previous snippet, we overrode some rules. For example there we are telling ESLint to allow the JS console usage, to allow variables shadowing only for done, resolve, reject, cb, etc…

We’re also using the mocha plugin in order to instruct ESLint about allowing particular functions like describe(), it(), and so on...

Among other issues, using the linter we quickly:

discovered a lot of language tricks (i.e. !!, Boolean(), …);

discovered a lot of not-required statements and conditional checking;

discovered a lot of undeclared variables;

improved code readability;

Avoided verbose syntactic sugar;

Discovered a lot of missing or unnecessary semicolons;

...and lot of other things!

In this post we remarked the power of a code style adoption:  to catch bugs at writing time and to converge on a shared code styling in the development team, allowing people to write more readable code, simplifying collaboration and codebase maintenance. 

Code quality also includes well-written code and it is a public demonstration of beauty.