So are you guys archiving this thread?

Someone is trying to manually but Solas spoke to Conal privately and he advised that he would talk to the team about trying to help with the archiving since the Wiki references dev posts regarding lore.  So hopefully that just let it be archived.  Or at least assist in tools that allow it to be moved off-site.  

There was a lot of good theorycrafting here. It would be a shame to see it go. 

My tumblr experience improved a lot with a blacklist.

 

 

I agree - closing this place is a mistake.  This is BW's offical community.

It did not - it was just weird and scary **** from fandom people. And i'll leave it at that. But I ended up having to delete my fandom blog. And just making another where I have rid my dash of Dragon Age and fandom and reblog pictures of flower. It's fine for that and the messaging on there is nice. And I'm fine without the Dragon Age stuff all over. I'm kind of overloaded on it.  I need a nice long break.  But I'm hoping for June's return on vhenantrash at least in DA4.  

And I do think this is a mistake.  They are scattering their most devoted fans.  Because honestly - the people on here are the most likely to purchase the Collectors Editions, the most likely to purchase the game full price, the most likely to purchase multiple versions of the game, the most likely to purchase stuff off the store. We'll see what they decide to do. It may be resurrected in some form after ME:A. 

I've just seen and read way too many amazing discussions and posters on here to ever see this place as toxic. I've seen the trolls as well but those are everywhere. The majority of good is being overlooked for the minority of bad. I have no idea how or why this place got that sort of reputation when there is far worse out there and how even some posters are even happy to see it go.

Anyway, I think the Cyonan's BSN is probably the best and closest fit for the main blanketfort but I loved how welcoming they were at RDF so I'll just post at both honestly.

It wasn't good a few years ago.  I think overall the chill level has evened out on here(BSN in general - this forum has been really really CHILL) - but the forum CAN be bad like anywhere else. If you were around for DA2 or ME3 it was really really bad.  The things people were saying to Gaider was pretty repugnant and all because DA2 wasn't as good (in people's opinions) as DAO.

You'll get crappy people everywhere, but personally I found the most engaged/comfortable here[tumblr has been AWFUL - I will use it only for the vhenantrash satire blog and that's IT].  It's easier to discuss and while I know I rubbed people the wrong way, I could quickly correct course and clarify or at least smooth some of my rougher edges.  

I'm glad they didn't close the forums then.  Not only because we all would have missed out on the awesomeness that is the Blanketfort but trying to stifle the unhappiness of the community just doesn't work.  Yes there were a lot of useless, unhelpful, rage-y posts but there was also a lot of thoughtful critiques.  People who are unhappy will express themselves wherever and razing the forums isn't going to change that.  At any rate, I hope the devs who enjoy the forum community will be active and welcome at the new BSN.

Oh definitely. I think it was partially that some of the worst of it[like the threats against Gaider/Hepler] was stemming from here and I think there was concern officially housing vile trolls that were threatening developers.  First and foremost, Bioware has to protect their employees.   While the customers/players critiques are important - it can't come at the expense of the emotional/physical safety of their employees.  So it may be a matter of timing and budgets - there isn't anything coming out this year and the forums are relatively quiet and dead so it was a good time to kill it off without appearing like they were silencing people.  I do think from a marketing standpoint, it's a little odd.  They have this captive audience that visit daily and for hours a day long after a game has been released.  Why not use that. 

Regardless, I do hope whatever forum people go to, the reputation for toxicity doesn't transfer.  

Not sure which ones but I find that a little ... hmm, ironic?  The Official forums are being closed, in part as per the official statement, because the devs don't really come to the forums much and use other social media.  So fans create a new set of forums ... which some of the devs sign up for.  And I think it's a good thing they have done so but still ...  

My understanding is that this was not a unanimous decision.  Meaning some devs I think don't care, some wanted them to go, and some wanted them to stay.  So some do really enjoy the community here while others take a Gaider approach and wanted to raze it to the ground.  From what I gathered from Chris Priestly's posts and Allan's post over on the "Concerning our forums thread" this has been a long time coming.  They[meaning higher ups] wanted to ax these forums after the blowout over DA2. And then DEFINITELY  over ME3.  I think part of it was that they(Bioware) can shift the blame of any toxic hullabaloo over onto a non-official site.  I'm hoping they go over there. 

Quoting for emphasis.

 

Current job: Saving specific parts of the thread/forum that the OP links to (E.g. artifact locations) to my drafts on tumblr just so they're somewhere in the case of no community archival success

(Kissiebear here) - In an effort to distance myself from past shenanigans. Also bosco bread is delicious.

Anywho - 2 cents - for those who care and for what its worth. I perused RDF a bit just to see what was what and I saw a major red flag with the main mod. that you all may want to keep in mind.  They had some really unsavory posts about torturing Samson by way of Iron Bull. It was just like 'umm pass'.  I'm not a diehard that is going to cry every time someone disparages a character I enjoy, but the language and tone used made me uncomfortable enough that I will be steering clear of the forum.  It's their opinion and their house, so whatever, but I know it's not a place I would particularly welcome. 

My opinion is - Should you want the community as it is(maybe less toxicity) you should try to start anew as Solas astutely points out. This way you don't feel like you're treading on someone's toes OR having to worry about getting threads locked off because you happen to enjoy something the main mod doesn't.  I have been around here long enough to know that there are plenty of you that really enjoy unpopular characters/antagonists/unpopular parts of the story. You want a community that makes you feel comfortable voicing that love without having to deal with really aggro opinions. 

I know I don't post much anymore -- mostly because there's only so much I can say that's already been said -- but I was hoping to rejoin you all for DA4 at the very least if not ME:A.  

Hi there! Thanks for all the kind words and thoughts you shared here. I never expected Samson and Calpernia to get this kind of love and it's been really amazing. That support helped me especially last year, when I had family illness to cope with: all's well now, but the enthusiasm of our fans was a boost at a time when I really needed one. So thank you for that, too, and for all the cool things you do.

 

Be well, and see you around.

I never really got to know Calpernia - I never quite finished my Templar run through. But Samson was really great.  Such a high point in that story line - (I do have a thing for fallen, holy knights).  He's so well realized and it's clear you put so much thought into him.  From the codex entries to his dialog.  He's on the screen for a total of 15-20 min. but you can see how and why he got there and where he may be going.  And his character just guts you.  I  look forward to any characters you have a hand in, in the upcoming game!

I do have one question from all of us Samson fans for the end of the forum:

1. Any hints as to Samson's fate post-Inquisition

2. Does Samson know peace and happiness? 

Like Raptor Solas misses his vhenan! I will miss this thread:

I just read the news that the forums are going to be removed in a month. Despite the trolls that would occasionally pop into this little thread, I had a great time discussing, dissecting, and appreciating Samson in here. Thanks to everyone who participated and thanks to Jo Berry for popping by to share her insights and her fantastic Samson sculpture with us!

I'm going to miss this place!  Some good discussion here and it was really  nice to find good people that understood why Samson is such a well written and awesome character. 

Thanks for the memories!

But you're eliminating one of those avenues of player feedback, scattering these fans around the internet. And yes, there WILL be some, like myself, who won't be offering any feedback because I don't bother with most of that social media stuff. The BSN was a home for me in the DA community, and now I will have none.

 

Also, it's clear that this forum has existed for the past couple of years with very minimal developer response, yet people still continue to come here and post. The vast majority are fans wanting to discuss these franchises with other fans, regardless of the developer presence. Clearly that discussion was valued and important to these fans, above and beyond whatever input a developer may offer. Many topics aren't even something that needed developer input.

This. Exactly this.  

It also encouraged discussion of minor or less developed characters or pieces of the game. It gave people that were fans of these things a place to congregate safely.  It's really hard to do in other places and you're scattering it to the winds.  So while one might go to NeoGaf, another might go to Twitter and never the twain shall meet. You are splintering the community. You have a hub here that allowed for a jumping off point for people but then also a place to come back to.  If it's not for money, why delete it?

Call me a doomsayer, but I suspect this move is happening in response to a lack of faith at EA/BioWare in the success of MEA and a forthcoming announcement that Dragon Age is over. If things were going great at BioWare and everything was business as usual this wouldn't be happening. EA hasn't released sales figures for DAI for a reason, and BioWare hasn't shown off MEA for a reason.

I doubt that's the case. do believe this is a way to promote other platforms which they believe have more penetration.  The forums are closed - meaning you have to actively seek them out as a fan and then noone else sees them.  This is a way to encourage discussion social network platforms to build a customer base.  People like to be included so they buy things they see their friends talking about excitedly.  

If they shut this down it encourages people to congregate in those spaces and have YOU the player help build their player base.  But I use tumblr. I use twitter.  People use multiple platforms -- I think MOST people on here do.  But I used this to actually talk with fans.  To get my serious nerd on with the game and its playerbase.  If it's not a monetary decision, then I'm confused why not just keep it.

I would at least like something to make it easy to archive threads and PM's.   

This is a real shame. I haven't been super active here since my last playthrough of DA:I but it's been a great place to come talk with fellow fans about Bioware games. We never really expected BW Devs to communicate with us through the forums.

 

And, like other people have pointed out, none of the other suggested sites are very good for in-depth discussion. Tumblr's a blogging platform, and it's a lot of yelling into the void while hoping nobody takes issue with what you're saying. Twitter is terrible for trying to have any sort of nuanced conversation. As is Facebook (especially if you don't want to broadcast your real name). Reddit is intimidating and many places on that site are pretty toxic.

 

Plus, I don't know about you but people use multiple social platforms. I can be active on tumblr and also come on BSN to discuss new Mass Effect info. They're good for different things. So saying that we can just go to tumblr or twitter or reddit, etc, is missing the point. People came to BSN for a reason.

 

Anyways, I'm saddened by this move and hope there's a way to fix the problems you have with the forums in a way that keeps the community together. The old BioBoards was my first forum and I have fond memories of my time both there and here.

This.  I have exactly ZERO problems with this site.  I feel that all discussion has been FOR THE MOST PART civil and chill.  Conflicts tend to resolve themselves. It has been wonderful to discuss the games on here. To really dig into the lore and it has brought large swathes of the community together in one place. What you're doing is encouraging it to splinter.  You make games that people LOVE to talk about.  You should keep the space where they congregate together to talk about them. While I know it's been some time I've been on here, I fully planned to be in the thick of it again for Mass Effect and then DA4.  

And here are the problems with the other platforms you are looking at:

Twitter - you can't put up long form debates there. 

Tumblr - It's a cesspit that was created by Satan to punish man for his sin.  It's a site where everything[and i mean everything] is offensive while also encouraging stalking behavior because their staff doesn't do anything.  So you're relegated to posting pictures if you want to be left alone. It also is just not logistically able to handle DISCUSSION.  It's not a good community. 

Reddit - It allows hate groups post on there.  I mean seriously. While it can be helpful to find tech. support issues or questions answered, I think the community is even more toxic. 

Conventions - While I would love to cry at Jo Berry's feet for writing such a wonderfully sad character as Samson(also can someone answer what happened to him).  I feel like you can't really be honest at a con and you can't really get into actual discussion. 

This is disappointing - But I'm confused that this is supposed to be something where developers can engage.  That's not the purpose of a forum.  

I made friends on this place.  While it was really nice when a writer/developer came on to talk to us, I really used it to engage in discussion the games. And that's what was important.  Tumblr/Twitter are not places you could have discussion. It's just not.  It has never been conducive to that.  

Hmm. My issue with this is, there's already a general feeling that Solas is a failure who screws up every time he tries. Not the best quality to have in a villain, you know? Not if you want your audience to take the villain seriously, at least. At some point they're going to have to give him some serious and resounding victory, if only to avoid the exact same issue they had with Corypheus. 

 

I don't know. I hope they've actually learned from that mistake. And people seem to forget that Solas' plan in Trespasser went off without a hitch. But the fact remains that if they undermine him further, people are just going to call him the same thing they called Corypheus - pathetic. 

 

As a fan of the guy, I think you can understand why I'd want to avoid that. 

 

So, I can see Mythal knowing what Solas will do. I can see her planning around that in order to achieve her own ends. If they want to maintain Solas' credibility as an antagonist and a character, though, I think having Mythal stringing him along and maliciously using him would be a misstep, writing-wise. Call me biased.

A few things:

1. I like Solas - Most of my time on this forum has been in this thread talking about it. You're fan. I'm a fan. We're all fans here.  

2. I disagree. I never thought Solas was a ****-up. I think he's someone who makes sweepingly bad decision because he thinks he knows better.  I don't think that's bad story-telling. That's just like...your opinion man. To quote The Dude.  Solas is very intelligent. His plan goes off without a hitch. You are right.  But have him hamstrung by his mentor no less at the final stretch because their paths suddenly diverge would be heartbreaking to him. He caused all this pain - which we know he didn't want to inflict - to have it go wrong.  IMHO that's pretty tragic. Not pathetic.  Solas mantains his credibility as an antagonist because he's doing something AGAINST the protagonist(you) because you are allowed no choice BUT to try and stop him.  But again that's just like my opinion.  

3. Corypheus was only pathetic because the writing was bad.  Corypheus was supposed to be a tragic villain.  He broke into the Fade to meet his God to prove that Dumat was real and to serve him. Because Corypheus was faithful.  When he got there it was empty. He lost his faith.  The chantry story of the blight was supposed to be a horror story about what happens if you lose your faith in the maker.  The blight - according to the Chantry -  is disbelief made flesh.  

ANYWAYS - So by the end of DAI - when he calls out to his god and you kill him. He dies believing again.  All of this HAS to be gleaned from supplemental material so it's poor writing.  But you even see hints of that in codex entries.  Again, this is bad writing and yes he came off sort of silly but even according to the devs he was supposed to be tragic.  

But didn't Abelas mention that the Dread Wolf had nothing to do with her death? I don't see why she'd be seeking revenge on Solas...unless there's some deeper motive we don't yet know about? But I didn't see any animosity between the two when Solas met back up with Flemeth.

It's not revenge on Solas. It's revenge on whomever else - which we don't know yet.  That's the next game's story.  She's just using Solas as a tool to do that.  I think they're goals will be the same up until a point.  I don't think there is animosity either. Solas uses the Inquisitor even though he loves her or cares for them as a friend.  

I think they mean Flemythal's vengeance on the Evanuris. They have to be freed from beyond the Veil for her to take her revenge on them.

Yes, I know, he sounds completely insane, and everything he's doing goes contrary to what he's said he believes in previously. Those are not lightly held convictions, either. I feel like there has to be something else forcing his hand...

 

I just can't get over the Well scene and how vehement he was when you get back if you drank from it. He's angry, he's horrified. And this is Mythal, his lady, possibly once (or still) his master. He seems to know intimately what the geas entails. And you know, I realize most people disagree with me, I get it, I can speculate until I'm blue in the face, along with everyone else... and we could all end up being wrong.

 

Here's some nice meta though from benefaris on tumblr: 

The Canticle of Exaltations: Prophecy Breakdown Edition

She went into why the Canticle of Exaltations is so important, if you want to see where the story will probably go, pretty well, I think. It's a shame I haven't seen more discussion about it, because I think what it describes will figure heavily into the next couple games.

Oh no. I don't think anything is forcing his hand.  I think this is what he believes, and  whatever he's doing is the only way. Don't take what I saw as disparaging.  He's pretty tragic.  And he's def. my favorite character.  My point is, is that he Mythal and him are on the same page. Solas thinks they are working in tandem and for the same goal. I think they are. Up to a point.  I do think Mythal is pushing him to actions though that may NOT be in alignment with what he would like and I think in the end he's going to be betrayed. I don't know what they are. How they will happen. Call it a gut feeling.  

Well, Flemeth wouldn't sacrifice herself and entrust Solas with Mythal's power if she didn't believe he would finish the job.

Yeah. That was my point.

I think we'd end up getting into an endless cycle "Does she know I know she knows..." and on and on.  I think Solas is blinded by his...cause.  I watched the ending to Trespasser again and he sounds INSANE. I mean I thought so a few months ago, but now he sounds so deluded.  He's definitely refusing to take a step back and consider - which we all know since your Lavellan is like 'Umm..what are you doing?"  I think he's aware of what she's capable of but I think he loves her and trusts her above anyone else. I truly do.  I think she will screw him over. I think she will put him a position that will be against what he hopes to do(whatever that is) and that's what I don't think he'll see coming. 

What I like about Flemeth/Mythal - and be extension the pantheon(do not doubt my devotion to the Sparkle Pantheon) - is that they are monstrously human.  Mythal/Flemeth are fantastic characters.  They are painted to be sort of all-knowing, wise, and righteous and well...god like but she is not. She has one goal. Revenge.  That's it.  That's all there is.  She is consumed by her anger and her need to exact vengeance on whoever killed her.  It's so destructive. And it makes for awesome story-telling. 

As for the Mythal-elf. There is some weirdness to the timeline because it can happen before that.  But even if you take that as a fluke - wouldn't it be easier for Solas to convince the elves to join him if he came in the form of the Loving/Protective mother goddess?  You can manipulate the Fade and dreams into being anything.   I think Mythal is alive. I think Solas is control of himself - I was merely opining that Mythal is manipulating Solas.  She sets up events that she knows will goad Solas into action.  And this is not to excuse Solas. It just is. 

Flemeth =/= Mythal. 

It's unclear if Flemeth is still along for the ride with Mythal when Solas absorbed her.  But it's unlikely we will hear Kate Mulgrew's voice again.  That identity is dead. 

Solas would do it.   I think we'll see in the end that Solas is just a pawn.  Right now he looks like he has all the cards and he has a lot of them, but the implication from the easter eggs in Trespasser and from Solas himself is that there is something much worse and much bigger.  Whatever THAT is, I think is where Mythal may come again because for YEARS she has been setting up these pieces INCLUDING putting Solas back in play to deal with whatever the actual Big Bad is.  She knew what he would do. How he would react. She knew he would come back to her.  He's more powerful than a modern Thedosian mage, of course she would tag along with him.  Regardless, at the end of the day she will be pulling the strings and it will be through him.

I'm aware that it probably will lead nowhere, but there still is some optimism in me. Maybe Flemeth will return once Solas is defeated and her power leaves his body.

Later on, it will be time to bring her "reckoning to shake the very heavens" and the Inquisitor will play a role as one of Mythal's servants.

I think Flemeth is dead. Dead as a door-nail.  Mythal found a more useful and powerful vessel...Solas.  Mythal is still very much alive and it's her revenge story still.  

Gameplay wise - I think the well decision will matter(referring to your previous post).  DAI and Trespasser has wrapped up a BUNCH of loose ends that the first game introduced.  The writers acknowledged that they wrote themselves into few corners with the decisions there and now...they've sort of wrote themselves out[the craziest/best being Lyrium Ghost Leliana].  All the decisions you make in this game I do think will matter in the next.  Siding with the sentinels. Drinking from the well or not.  Deciding to disband the Inquisition or not. Who you make Divine.  They are going to mean something.  That's why you don't have many decisions to make in this game - at least not ones with much carryover.  A lot of them are self-contained to the main game - like romances which I don't think will matter much beyond the Solavellan.  

Happy Birthday, Darth!

AH the waifu pillow. I remember when that was drawn.  Also hilarious.

I agree with you for the most part, but there is a place to do that I don't think it's here or on AO3. I think it's important to respect the culture of the whatever discussion group you're in whether you agree with it or not.

I do agree. That's something people have to feel out and that's the risk you run by posting stuff like that on a forum, but again there may be other forums on here  that are more open tot hat. You have to feel out the atmosphere.  Though I do think saying "i didn't particularly like this because x,y,z"  isnot that bad. It's no different than the multitudes of discussions we've had on here about preferences i.e. hahren/dalen, AU's, canon, rarepairs blah blah.  

As this is specifically the Solas thread, I'm personally fine with criticism of Solas, making fun of him, criticism of the developers and the choices they made for the characters related to him in the actual canon game I paid for - and sharing and discussion of making Solas-related fanfic, fanart and fanworks, because that's fun to me.

 

Detailed, unsolicited criticism of amateur, unpaid efforts, well, to me, it's distasteful. The writing, art, vids and bits and bobs are all free and done out of love, and the amazing and talented people surrounding me are the ones who make them, so why even go there? 

 

Several people here have repeatedly requested constructive criticism of their work. Perhaps you can get scratch your itch as a literary expert, and help someone improve at the same time?

I never particularly understood that sentiment.  You put a creative work out into the world and people will and do have the right to talk about it; critically/uncritically -- and providing meaningful discussion about a work or saying why they didn't like it is not distasteful.  You have to accept that as an artist people will do that, and frankly you can ignore it.  You take in what criticism and what praise you want.  It's out there - you've published it whether you get paid or not is not relevant.  There are artists that we talk about all the time that died poor and never knowing fame so you know..

Every writer is an amateur at first.  It takes a lot to get paid because the unfortunate truth is that the world devalues writing -- many think it's something they can do(mostly because we have to write in order to communicate unlike say drawing) and it's just not so.  Does it suck sometimes to hear something not postive about a piece...most certainly but I think quashing discussion and criticism is wrong.  Not because the writer/author won't grow...but because it devalues creative works as something easy that require no thought. They are not. They deserve to be commended for the hard work but they also deserve to be taken apart and put back together with a critical eye.