With any success comes expectations, and it’s fair to say that the expectations surrounding Dragon Age II, the follow-up to BioWare‘s universally-acclaimed RPG, Dragon Age: Origins, have reached critical mass. More than ten VFS grads worked on DA: O, and at the end of 2009 the accolades came pouring in: The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ RPG of the Year; Spike Video Game Awards’ PC Game of the Year/RPG of the Year; IGN’s PC Game of the Year/Best Story of the Year; PC Gamer’s Game of the Year.

DA: O garnered a devoted, some might say obsessive, fan base, one especially loyal to the game’s core features. How loyal? When news of Dragon Age II’s changes to the combat system started to leak, the internet erupted in fear and consternation. A playable demo has assuaged those fears to a certain degree, but tension remains high over whether or not Bioware can deliver a sequel every bit as good, if not better, than the original.

Mark Barazzuol knows these expectations all too well. The Game Design grad handled companion mechanics on the first game, and once again found himself responsible for the hero’s followers in Dragon Age II by designing the follower base system.

“The first game took 6 years.  Which is somewhat good for content but really bad for everything else.  We honestly couldn’t do that again.  We could listen to the fans, evolve the game and make it better though.  And we did that. We are always thinking of, and listening to, what the fans would want (and not want).”

Bioware is known for crafting games with a lot of player choice, which can have a significant effect on the outcome of the game. Those multiple options can have a dramatic effect on other game elements as well. “Accounting for player choice and customization is a huge challenge,” says 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad Nathan Zufelt, whose team handled cinematics. “We have to make creative decisions around players using different archetypes for their main character as well as take into consideration the other party members. This greatly limits the ways that the characters and story can unfold within our cut scenes.”

All that acclaim, coupled with intricate design problems, brings tremendous responsibilities. How do you keep producing work that can match ever-increasing fan expectations?

The grads relish this challenge. “We just have to keep doing what we are doing to be honest,” Mark says. “Trying to improve and learn every single time. To paraphrase Patton, ‘If you’ve given your best, what else is there?’”

For Nathan, the responsibility is what makes his job so great. “The most rewarding part of my job is the amount of ownership the cinematic animators at BioWare are given over their scenes. We often get to take our own scenes from storyboard to final picturelock and are responsible for all camera, layout, animation and final implementation.”

And what about those concerned fans?

“If you do have some feedback for Dragon Age 2, please, please post on the forums,” says Mark. “We do actually read them and take them into consideration.  There really are a bunch of people very passionate about making great games working here, and I’m very proud to be counted among them.”

Also on the team were Game Design alumni John Lacanlale and Cody Ouimet, and Sound Design for Visual Media grad Joel Green.

See their work in Dragon Age II from BioWare, available March 8.

Update: Turns out we missed a bunch of alumni – Mike Kent, Jeremie Voillot, Jordan Ivey, Steven Bigras, and Patrick Biason from Sound Design, and Samuel Irwin from Game Design. Well done!