538 réponses à ce sujet

[odiedragon]

sanadawarrior wrote...

odiedragon wrote...

David Gaider wrote...

kaispan wrote...

At least wait til we have some real information.

That would be appreciated, but the lack of real information on a topic has never stopped a good rant on the internet before. Wild assumptions exist to be disproven, not supported.

Thanks for the kind words, kaispan.

Why do I keep seeing this?  We HAVE real information!  Unless you're saying what was released about this Hawke guy is all lies?

If that was the only thing people where jumping to conclusions about you might have a point...

Well, yes, but I can only speak for myself here.  We *know* that the next game will be The Adventures of Sword!Shep, and Sword!Shep isn't Morrigan's child.  Even if the game was exactly the same story, mechanics, and whatnot, but *I* got to pick my character, I'd be feeling a lot better right now.  Not thrilled and still anxious, but still better.  I'd be more in the "well, lets wait and see" camp rather than the "why have you done this to us?!" camp.

[Celies]

Everyone one this forum needs a chill-pill. Dragon Age 2 is going to be great, because Bioware knows what they are doing. Wait for information on the game instead of insulting your own intelligence.

[AllThatJazz]

There IS real info, but not much of it (understandable, given that the game has only just been announced). Nothing has been said yet about the dialogue system, details of the combat mechanics, graphics, romances, companions in general, voiceovers, game length, style or narrative beyond a vague description of the PC and a few 'catch all' phrases like 'Decisions Matter!' 'Visceral Combat!' etc. Yet, the forums are already full of people assuming that this game is going to be Mass Effect with swords. Hell, people were still assuming you could only play as a male PC long after it was confirmed otherwise.



The tiniest bit of information really does lead to monstrous amounts of speculation which, before you can even blink, has turned into irrefutable fact. God Bless the Internet.

[Brockololly]

The thing is the panicked, "OMG! You ruined DA" attitude should be totally expected by BioWare from us more devoted fans at this point.

All they've released are 2 bits of concept art and wild exaggerated marketing claims that DA2 is going to have dynamic action combat, with the most EPIC story EVAR and the most important character EVAR and it has hot new graphics with a new visual style and a host of other changes.

I think many of us just want to know what these changes actually mean or if its just marketing hot air being blown in our faces.

[smudgedhorizon]

I was really disappointed with Mass Effect 2. I actually hated playing it through a second time on insanity, properly hated. It was boring. There was no room to develop your character (the customisation was painfully devolved) and the new squadmates weren't half as good as the original cast. I didn't care about any of them except for Tali and Garrus. Apart from the Overlord pack which was a step in the right direction, the dlc has been horrible and even worse - badly over-priced. I will not be getting Mass Effect 3, yet Mass Effect 1 is one of my favourite games of all time, that's how disappointed I was.



Dragon Age Origins I completely loved - it almost made up for ME2 being a dumbed down immersionless gunfest. Yet the dlc was again overpriced, tacked on and contrived, the 'dialogue system' in Awakenings was shockingly poor and it was completely bugfilled. Now with the recent news of DA2 and the similarities to how ME2 was advertised I can't help but cross it instantly off my 'to buy' list. Once bitten and all that.

[ZaroktheImmortal]

Jorkan wrote...

Well... KOTOR 2 kind of sucked, but other than that, they've always made awesome games!  Give BioWare a chance, and wait for more information before flaming away at them.

I actually quite liked Knights of the Old Republic 2. But that wasn't made by Bioware.

[AllThatJazz]

[quote]Brockololly wrote...

The thing is the panicked, "OMG! You ruined DA" attitude should be totally expected by BioWare from us more devoted fans at this point.


Heh, I'd consider myself a devoted fan, just not one who panics easily ... maybe it's age ...

[Nic-V]

Everyone should wait before whining about the new game. Let's just see what happens, it looks good so far

[snfonseka]

element eater wrote...

DAA was a letdown compared to DAO some aspects of ME2 were a let down and the ME2 comic was a massive letdown and dont forget the EPIC COMMUNITY event so anotherwords yes they have

Agreed on "bold" content....

[Itkovian]

Has Bioware ever let me down?

Only once. At least when it comes to the games I have played.

- The Baldur's Gate series was and remains one of the best RPG experience ever.

- Neverwnter Nights is their one game I never got into. It was mostly multiplayer, and I never got into its modding community. I have no illusion, based on what I've seen since, that it was probably a mistake to move on and never look back at NwN and try and give its multiplayer/modding aspect a change. But I expected a BG-style campaign, and it just wasn't there.

- KOTOR I loved. One of my favourites, excellent work.

- Jade Empire I also loved. The whole Wuxia RPG is something I completely embraced, and the story was excellent. I want JE 2.

- When Mass Effect came out, I was enraptured. I loved the Science Fiction RPG style. In the years sense, I've come to understand its significant flaws with pacing and its failings as a shooter, but it certainly did not let me down when it came out.

- Dragon Age is one of the best game I ever played, if not my favourite. Not only did this NOT let me down, but whenever I play it I cannot help but remark how well-polished a game it is. A landmark achievement if there ever was one, and the delays in releasing it clearly showed in its incredible polish and excellent design (be it gameplay, ergonomics, and storyline).

- Mass Effect 2 deserves all the praise it received, and resolved all the flaws I perceived in ME1. A truly excellent game, and the best storytelling in any game to date. The 3PS element was excellent, though I would have liked more RPG elements there, I must admit it is much more fun than ME1.

- Awakenings I enjoyed greatly, it was a great expansion, and quite frankly I am mystified by most of the complaints I have read about it. It certainly felt like a complex expansion to me, and I got 30 hours of gameplay out of it, which is what ME1 was in the first place. It certainly had more bugs than Dragon Age, but I think most people who complain about bugs in Awakenings are using Dragon Age as their baseline, when in fact Dragon Age was very exceptionally bug-free for a modern computer game (likely due to its extensive delays). Awakenings didn't get pushed back several times, and so it's as bugged as most modern games are. Still, I enjoyed it thouroughly.

As for Dragon Age 2?

I don't mind the Shepards-style protagonist, for one thing the canon one has Duncan's Beard, which is a Blessing From Above. My worries are about things we just don't have any data. Is the art-style cartoonie? Are they killing the hardcore RPG aspects that made Dragon Age exceptional in this day and age (and surely contributed to its surprising success, proving there was still a market for hardcore RPGs)? Is the combat style going the way of Diablo?

We just don't know.

Maybe, just maybe what they're doing is merging the best RPG aspects of Mass Effect (stunning storytelling and cinematics) with the hardcore RPG features of Dragon Age. If so, we will be blessed indeed.

But even so, Bioware has consistently shown itself to making masterful RPGs, so I am not really worried about not enjoying DA2. I'm just hoping we don't lose what made DA such a nostalgic experience for me.

Oh, and one note concerning something I read in this thread:

the very idea that having a completely new protagonist means that DAO was meaningless is _completely ridiculous_. A game's meaning is NOT defined by whether or not there is a sequel to continue the same story. That's ludicrous. DAO was about how your hero defeats the 5th Blight before it even gets completely started, saving Ferelden in the process and sparing Thedas at least a decade of warfare (or maybe even a century... some Blights took a LONG time to defeat). THAT is the story, and that is its meaning, and your character's part in Thedas' history is resolved, and he/she is now known as one of the greatest heroes in Thedas' history. It doesn't need a direct sequel to give it meaning.

Would Rocky have been a meaningless movie if they had not made Rocky 2? Is Schindler's List without meaning because they haven't made Schindler's List 2?

No. DAO has its own meaning, and it is resolved. DA2 is another story within Thedas, with perhaps some relations (for example, maybe the antagonist is lovely Flemeth).

Thank you.

Itkovian

[The Elite Elite]

Has BioWare let me down? Not yet. I love every BioWare game I've played so far, and I'm sure DA2 will be no different.

[sanadawarrior]

Itkovian wrote...

Has Bioware ever let me down?

Only once. At least when it comes to the games I have played.

- The Baldur's Gate series was and remains one of the best RPG experience ever.

- Neverwnter Nights is their one game I never got into. It was mostly multiplayer, and I never got into its modding community. I have no illusion, based on what I've seen since, that it was probably a mistake to move on and never look back at NwN and try and give its multiplayer/modding aspect a change. But I expected a BG-style campaign, and it just wasn't there.

- KOTOR I loved. One of my favourites, excellent work.

- Jade Empire I also loved. The whole Wuxia RPG is something I completely embraced, and the story was excellent. I want JE 2.

- When Mass Effect came out, I was enraptured. I loved the Science Fiction RPG style. In the years sense, I've come to understand its significant flaws with pacing and its failings as a shooter, but it certainly did not let me down when it came out.

- Dragon Age is one of the best game I ever played, if not my favourite. Not only did this NOT let me down, but whenever I play it I cannot help but remark how well-polished a game it is. A landmark achievement if there ever was one, and the delays in releasing it clearly showed in its incredible polish and excellent design (be it gameplay, ergonomics, and storyline).

- Mass Effect 2 deserves all the praise it received, and resolved all the flaws I perceived in ME1. A truly excellent game, and the best storytelling in any game to date. The 3PS element was excellent, though I would have liked more RPG elements there, I must admit it is much more fun than ME1.

- Awakenings I enjoyed greatly, it was a great expansion, and quite frankly I am mystified by most of the complaints I have read about it. It certainly felt like a complex expansion to me, and I got 30 hours of gameplay out of it, which is what ME1 was in the first place. It certainly had more bugs than Dragon Age, but I think most people who complain about bugs in Awakenings are using Dragon Age as their baseline, when in fact Dragon Age was very exceptionally bug-free for a modern computer game (likely due to its extensive delays). Awakenings didn't get pushed back several times, and so it's as bugged as most modern games are. Still, I enjoyed it thouroughly.

As for Dragon Age 2?

I don't mind the Shepards-style protagonist, for one thing the canon one has Duncan's Beard, which is a Blessing From Above. My worries are about things we just don't have any data. Is the art-style cartoonie? Are they killing the hardcore RPG aspects that made Dragon Age exceptional in this day and age (and surely contributed to its surprising success, proving there was still a market for hardcore RPGs)? Is the combat style going the way of Diablo?

We just don't know.

Maybe, just maybe what they're doing is merging the best RPG aspects of Mass Effect (stunning storytelling and cinematics) with the hardcore RPG features of Dragon Age. If so, we will be blessed indeed.

But even so, Bioware has consistently shown itself to making masterful RPGs, so I am not really worried about not enjoying DA2. I'm just hoping we don't lose what made DA such a nostalgic experience for me.

Oh, and one note concerning something I read in this thread:

the very idea that having a completely new protagonist means that DAO was meaningless is _completely ridiculous_. A game's meaning is NOT defined by whether or not there is a sequel to continue the same story. That's ludicrous. DAO was about how your hero defeats the 5th Blight before it even gets completely started, saving Ferelden in the process and sparing Thedas at least a decade of warfare (or maybe even a century... some Blights took a LONG time to defeat). THAT is the story, and that is its meaning, and your character's part in Thedas' history is resolved, and he/she is now known as one of the greatest heroes in Thedas' history. It doesn't need a direct sequel to give it meaning.

Would Rocky have been a meaningless movie if they had not made Rocky 2? Is Schindler's List without meaning because they haven't made Schindler's List 2?

No. DAO has its own meaning, and it is resolved. DA2 is another story within Thedas, with perhaps some relations (for example, maybe the antagonist is lovely Flemeth).

Thank you.

Itkovian

Wow, you put everything Ive ever felt about bioware and it's RPGs (except I didnt like DAO) into words. Even your priase for DAO almost makes me want to pick it up again and try to get through it. Also you convinced me to move from being cautiously optomistic to just plain excited about DA2, bravo good sir you must be some sort of wizard.

Modifié par sanadawarrior, 09 juillet 2010 - 02:52 .

[Valmy]

Dinkamus_Littlelog wrote...

Yeah, Bioware have made a habit of letting me down lately, and seeing buttlicking fanboys suggest they havent gets incredibly annoying

My expectations of Bioware are straight forward: great story and characters and passable enough combat.

I have never been impressed with their balance and scope of their combat.  Even BG2 was ridiculous in the context of Dungeons and Dragons.  But it is ok because of the worlds they make and the characters they create.

So ME2 provided this.  I frankly do not understand the outrage about it.  It seems it was massively "dumbed down" and this horrible attrocity even though it provided exactly what has always been what I enjoyed about Bioware Games.  Am I a big shooter fan?  Not at all but whatever a little shooterism is alright to get what I enjoy.  I prefer more classic RPGs and hopefully DA will continue to provide that but going hysterical with anger and bile over it is a tad over the top.

But what really drives me nuts is how certain anti ME2 people, but certainly not all, is this attitude that there is something wrong WITH US who enjoy it.  Yes that is right, because  I have a freaking different opinion I am a buttlicking fanboy.  I do not think ME2 was perfect and it is nice to have a nice rational discussion about the pluses and minuses of the game instead of having hysterical and irrational insults from the likes of Dinkamus thrown around.

The funny thing is when I do have a conversation with a thoughtful and mature anti-ME2 person they generally concede the things I like about the game were in fact good and I generally recognize that the shortcomings they felt were true about the game were in fact shortcomings.  So in fact our opinions are not that different it is just we put priority on different aspects.  Pity people screaming ridiculous hyperbole about how ME2 was the dumbest down whateva whateva keep people from seeing that and having actual discussions about it.

Modifié par Valmy, 09 juillet 2010 - 03:00 .

[AllThatJazz]

To both Itkovian and Valmy: You took the words right out of my mouth.x

[darth shango]

Bioware has not let me down yet and I celebrate their mastery of their craft. My first Bioware game was Knights of the Old Republic and my favorite game of all time is Mass Effect. From a technical standpoint I don't think they make the most polished games, but they do create the best gaming experiences I've ever had.

[BomimoDK]

Hmm, they shouldn't have made the Social Site. it was meant for genuine discussion... all it has been reduced to is a ****fall of baww and QQ. It's practically impossible to Discuss any Lore of their games here and it's even harder to find threads on whatever encounter you're stuck at.

Other than that, no. each time i "think" i'm dissappointed, the game always grows on me, somehow.

like Itkovian, i fear a simplified DA2, and i hope to god that the old vets on Bioware remember the philosophy behind DA.

Maybe, just maybe what they're doing is merging the best RPG aspects of
Mass Effect (stunning storytelling and cinematics) with the hardcore
RPG features of Dragon Age. If so, we will be blessed indeed.

Leliana's Song did that perfectly. They finally nailed that ****, and they will again.

Modifié par BomimoDK, 09 juillet 2010 - 03:13 .

[Funker Shepard]

On topic: Yes, they have failed me. It's called the PS3 version of Dragon Age. Some of the DLC is a bit hit and miss, too.



Still, better than anybody else.

[LadyVaJedi]

Maniac600 wrote...

Bioware did let me down, when they chose to make KOTOR into a freaking MMO. Other than that, I have enjoyed every product I've bought from them.

 

I agree with that 100%  To me the new KOTOR isn't a squel beacuse it is a MMO and it is on the pc only.  I wish they made it a reg. rpg for the xbox damn it.  Also it seems like they aren't listening to us in the darn place.

[Giltspur]

For the most part, Bioware has been my favorite developer since Baldur's Gate.

It hasn't been perfect—so I'll get that out of the way. For example, I think the BG games are some of the best ever made. They were close to perfect. Neverwinter Nights on the other hand, I never really got into. I wanted  to—believe me. I got it when it came out. Thud. Was it the slow start? Was it the camera controls? I don't know. Got it again when it was Platinum editioned hoping this time it would click. I mean, I'm just throwing money at them while hoping. I already have the freaking game. Nope, not going anywhere.. Okay, I buy Diamond as well. I just don't know what it is about it. It just seemed plodding and less immersive. I was somewhat depressed that Bioware and I were no longer on the same wavelength.

But whatever, I liked all the other games. And Dragon Age was clearly a return to form as fantasy RPG's go. There are things BG does better than DA and things DA does better than BG. But the important character stuff is present in both.

And even their decision to move away from strict RPG to more hybridized RPG's in Mass 2 was fine—for that franchise at least. I mean, I started playing RPG's not because I wanted to stare at menus and engage in exciting mathematical combat (though I get into that stuff and don't mind it) but because I wanted to...wait for it...save anywhere I damn well pleased. The short games that artificially extended play time by giving limited lives in the 80's (and they were short not because of dev laziness usually but because of storage limitations) was pretty lame. So with RPG's I'd found my new genre. Always pressing forward, people. So Bioware keeps the character, the decisions, the constant progress and welds it onto a shooter. Fine. Good for them. Game developers are artists. There's no reason to do the same thing over and over just because fans have some fetish for how it's always been.

As for DA2, what can I say? The thin nature of Awakenings when it comes to the companions and the companions gives me pause; it wasn't, to me, a step in the right direction. It didn't expand upon what was great about DAO--actually took a step back on that stuff. That said, it was a limited project. DA2 is a big project. Bioware's general history gives reason for hope and causes me to be generally confident that the product is worth following and keeping up with.

Modifié par Giltspur, 09 juillet 2010 - 03:29 .

[Ziggy]

smudgedhorizon wrote...
I was really disappointed with Mass Effect 2. I actually hated playing it through a second time on insanity, properly hated. It was boring. There was no room to develop your character (the customisation was painfully devolved) and the new squadmates weren't half as good as the original cast. I didn't care about any of them except for Tali and Garrus. Apart from the Overlord pack which was a step in the right direction, the dlc has been horrible and even worse - badly over-priced. I will not be getting Mass Effect 3, yet Mass Effect 1 is one of my favourite games of all time, that's how disappointed I was.

Dragon Age Origins I completely loved - it almost made up for ME2 being a dumbed down immersionless gunfest. Yet the dlc was again overpriced, tacked on and contrived, the 'dialogue system' in Awakenings was shockingly poor and it was completely bugfilled. Now with the recent news of DA2 and the similarities to how ME2 was advertised I can't help but cross it instantly off my 'to buy' list. Once bitten and all that.

I agree. It's too early to write it off completely though, but the signs are worrying.

[Rob Sabbaggio]

Bioware are my favourite game developer and I trust them more than anyone else to make a good role playing game.



Their focus on characters, choices, freedom, romances etc is unique and I personally love it. I have bought just about everything they have ever made - Baldurs Gate, Kotor, Jade Empire, Mass Effect 1 and 2 and Dragon Age - and have never been disappointed. (On the other hand, the DLC approach could use some work IMO, but you cant have everything!)



All I can ask is that they keep the same commitment to excellence in refining and expanding the role playing experience, and I'll keep buying.

[grieferbastard]

Valmy wrote...

My expectations of Bioware are straight forward: great story and characters and passable enough combat.

I have never been impressed with their balance and scope of their combat.  Even BG2 was ridiculous in the context of Dungeons and Dragons.  But it is ok because of the worlds they make and the characters they create.

So ME2 provided this.  I frankly do not understand the outrage about it.  It seems it was massively "dumbed down" and this horrible attrocity even though it provided exactly what has always been what I enjoyed about Bioware Games.  Am I a big shooter fan?  Not at all but whatever a little shooterism is alright to get what I enjoy.  I prefer more classic RPGs and hopefully DA will continue to provide that but going hysterical with anger and bile over it is a tad over the top.

But what really drives me nuts is how certain anti ME2 people, but certainly not all, is this attitude that there is something wrong WITH US who enjoy it.  Yes that is right, because  I have a freaking different opinion I am a buttlicking fanboy.  I do not think ME2 was perfect and it is nice to have a nice rational discussion about the pluses and minuses of the game instead of having hysterical and irrational insults from the likes of Dinkamus thrown around.

The funny thing is when I do have a conversation with a thoughtful and mature anti-ME2 person they generally concede the things I like about the game were in fact good and I generally recognize that the shortcomings they felt were true about the game were in fact shortcomings.  So in fact our opinions are not that different it is just we put priority on different aspects.  Pity people screaming ridiculous hyperbole about how ME2 was the dumbest down whateva whateva keep people from seeing that and having actual discussions about it.

I'm absolutely with you on it being a difference in preference and not some inherent superiority of one game style over another.

The real issue is that BioWare does great stories; amazing stories. A big part of that is doing a great job at creating a living, breathing, engrossing world to set it it. Then they tend to have a lot of classical RPG elements in the game - yet at the end of the day, in order to keep with the story, the environment tends to be pretty restrictive. You have to go from point A to point B to get to C.

The killer is that this attracts game fans like myself, who at heart really want a sandbox game set in a living, breathing, engrossing world and with a great story moving in the background. We are willing to put up with a certain amount of 'A to B to C' and limits on choices to get the story part, but there's a limit to it.

ME/ME2 is a great example of where this bites gamers like me. The sandbox elements and classical RPG elements got cut to make a more cinematic experience. I've played ME2 on a friends system and watched a lot of it on YouTube - which is about as much as it interests me. While it's a great story I have no interest in playing it nor could I justify spending money on it. I can absolutely appreciate where it's a far more cinematic experience than ME - just that it went the opposite direction of what my tastes in games are.

DA2 is going the same direction. That's not speculation, that's exactly what has been shown. It's moving further from the sandbox concept, making your own story with your own character in this living/breathing/dynamic world, and more towards playing a very specific role in a very specific, pre-generated story. A, to B, to get to C. I have no doubt that just like ME2 it will be a great story - that's just not something that interests me.

The truth is that BioWare has always been more about telling a specific story than creating an environment for people to create their own, just that sometimes they make a game that skirts the line enough that it draws in some of us from the other side of the fence - then when they start focusing in on what are, to be fair, their core strengths, the aspects that attract the rest of us get cut.

So DA:O gets put on my shelf next to ME, and the empty space where DA2 won't be put is right next to the empty space where ME2 will never sit. I've dropped around $200 on DA:O, including DLC and other franchise products. I admit I have no real interest in any new DA:O DLC suddenly. It's a bit of a buzz-kill.

So, yeah. People are going to complain. Some rationally, some not. I can understand the business decisions behind it (and the writers) - it just irks a bit to find that a product you enjoy is shifting its market focus a bit and you're not included anymore.

[Valmy]

I was really disappointed with Mass Effect 2. I actually hated playing it through a second time on insanity, properly hated. It was boring. There was no room to develop your character (the customisation was painfully devolved) and the new squadmates weren't half as good as the original cast. I didn't care about any of them except for Tali and Garrus. Apart from the Overlord pack which was a step in the right direction, the dlc has been horrible and even worse - badly over-priced. I will not be getting Mass Effect 3, yet Mass Effect 1 is one of my favourite games of all time, that's how disappointed I was.

Well I will have to respectfully disagree about the characters in ME2. In ME1 they did not really do much and in ME2 each one had at least one entire plot all about them and their developement. I do not understand how you could feel the characters were less in ME2. I also do not get how you could find ME2 boring but ME1 with huge stretches of empty areas and generic cookie cutter dungeons and repetitive enemies was one of your favorite games ever.



Generic dungeons and fewer and less developed companions were superior?



As for the devolved character choices...well I only disgree a bit since in ME1 you got so many skills points you pretty much just specialized in everything. There was not really many character choices and it was pretty much exactly the same in ME2. The combat style of ME is not really my thing, not being a shooter fan, but even I appreciate the combat and RPG system was less broken than in ME1. In ME1 you could become all but a God even with minimal effort developing your character, at least in ME2 you always at least had a little bit of sense of danger and having to use a little bit of strategy. I mean in both games you essentially either clicked on a power or pointed and shot.



Not really much character choice to speak of...which is why claiming ME1 is amazing and ME2 is horrible when they are both pretty much the exact same freaking game baffles me. ME1 was not some hardcore RPG with amazing combat. It was a broken poorly designed RPG with a great plot and characters. ME2 was a less broken and poorly designed RPG with a meh plot and great characters and character developement. In fact I hope future Bioware games takes the whole 'each character gets its own section of the game to star in' concept in the future. Great next step in character developement IMO. Bioware always had NPC quests but ME2 took it to another level and I, for one, was very glad to see that.

[Shoko86]

Has Bioware let me down? Yes. Mass Effect 2 .... EPIC COMMUNITY EVENT, Not fixing the glitches for DA:O & DA:A and still continue to come out with more DLC, Dragon Age animu... ****ty art for Mass Effect and Dragon Age comics... oh god.



But I think I still have faith in Bioware. Maybe.

[odiedragon]

grieferbastard wrote...

ME/ME2 is a great example of where this bites gamers like me. The sandbox elements and classical RPG elements got cut to make a more cinematic experience. I've played ME2 on a friends system and watched a lot of it on YouTube - which is about as much as it interests me. While it's a great story I have no interest in playing it nor could I justify spending money on it. I can absolutely appreciate where it's a far more cinematic experience than ME - just that it went the opposite direction of what my tastes in games are.

DA2 is going the same direction. That's not speculation, that's exactly what has been shown. It's moving further from the sandbox concept, making your own story with your own character in this living/breathing/dynamic world, and more towards playing a very specific role in a very specific, pre-generated story. A, to B, to get to C. I have no doubt that just like ME2 it will be a great story - that's just not something that interests me.

The truth is that BioWare has always been more about telling a specific story than creating an environment for people to create their own, just that sometimes they make a game that skirts the line enough that it draws in some of us from the other side of the fence - then when they start focusing in on what are, to be fair, their core strengths, the aspects that attract the rest of us get cut.

So DA:O gets put on my shelf next to ME, and the empty space where DA2 won't be put is right next to the empty space where ME2 will never sit. I've dropped around $200 on DA:O, including DLC and other franchise products. I admit I have no real interest in any new DA:O DLC suddenly. It's a bit of a buzz-kill.

So, yeah. People are going to complain. Some rationally, some not. I can understand the business decisions behind it (and the writers) - it just irks a bit to find that a product you enjoy is shifting its market focus a bit and you're not included anymore.

Thank you for expressing this in a way that I never could.