Topic Proposal

For my project I would like to use the video game Dragon Age: Inquisition as my media artifact. With this I would like to examine how it very thoughtfully addresses many social and cultural issues. While many don’t think of video games advocating for much more than wasting time and endorsing violence, Bioware, the game’s producing company, uses this fantasy RPG as a platform to address issues from many perspectives with its unique storytelling. The game allows players to experience many different viewpoints on issues that run parallel to real world problems with the help of it’s strong focus on character choice and the ramifications of those choices in this easy-to-swallow fantasy setting. The varying stories and choices in this game were written with vast overarching stories and ideas set so that the players can immerse themselves in as the main character. Because of these qualities I would love to examine this game in much more depth for this project. My research question would be: “How does the video game Dragon Age: Inquisition address real world topics with its story choices and setting to have real debates about these issues?”

Possible sources for this project could be:

DragonAgeWiki.com: a fan run website that records the every facet of the game, and often insights from the creators on how it was made.

Bioware.com: The home sight for the games creator, which could offer numerous forums and disccusions that address design, choices, and story building for the game.

Various game review sites, from steam to game informer which often include interviews with writers and programmers as well as fan opinions.