The initial creative direction for BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins was a battleground of competing visions, pitting art department desires for a Conan the Barbarian-inspired aesthetic against designers' preference for a Lord of the Rings tone, according to former lead writer David Gaider.
Gaider, now creative director at Summerfall Studios, detailed this internal conflict in a recent interview as part of the Summer Eternal anthology. He explained that the early days of Dragon Age lacked a singular, guiding vision, which contributed to significant shifts in the series' identity across its installments. This ambiguity was particularly pronounced during the development of the first Dragon Age game.
"When we started, Dragon Age's big premise was 'it's D&D, but it's not,'" Gaider stated. "We'll just file off the serial numbers enough to make it our own. That was not great because there are different kinds of fantasy."
The art department, Gaider recalled, was heavily influenced by Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, envisioning a world with "sexy sorceresses" and "bare-chested fighters." He pointed to early E3 announcement materials, which showcased a distinctively Conan-esque style, as evidence of this faction's push. "And that part of the team was determined that their vision was set out," he said.
Conversely, the design department leaned more towards the high fantasy of Tolkien. "The design department was mostly like, 'no, this is Lord of the Rings, man, okay? Fuck Conan,'" Gaider recounted. This fundamental disagreement led to a stalemate where neither side fully yielded, contributing to the eventual hybrid style of Dragon Age: Origins.
Adding another layer of complexity, the producers reportedly had their own ideas, suggesting the game should emulate the style of Diablo. This suggestion was largely ignored by both the art and design teams. However, the producers did manage to influence the game's tone, pushing for a higher degree of gore. "They wanted that if you hit creatures, they'd just explode in blood," Gaider noted. While the developers implemented some of this, he mentioned it was later toned down as it "just didn't feel right."
Gaider suggested that BioWare found a more cohesive vision with Mass Effect, largely due to project director Casey Hudson's ability to establish and enforce a singular direction. "Mass Effect went through much the same kind of struggle," Gaider said. "It's science fiction. It's 'their Star Wars,' is what that was supposed to be. But there's so many different kinds of science fiction. And they had the benefit that Casey Hudson was the responsible person, and realised sooner than Dragon Age did that we need a singular vision. And he eventually put his foot down and said, 'This is what it is.'"
He concluded that Mass Effect maintained a stronger throughline of vision across its series, contrasting with Dragon Age, which he described as starting as "a jumble" and evolving through reaction with each subsequent release. The development of the most recent installment, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, also reportedly faced significant challenges.
Gaider emphasized the importance of establishing a core identity for a game early in development, a lesson learned through the often-turbulent creation of the Dragon Age series.