JohnEpler wrote...
Let's try to avoid characterizing anyone unhappy with DA2's direction as being simply afraid of change or whiners, shall we?
Wow, I'm impressed, go John Elper, go!
Yes, I agree with John Elper. People should not try to straw-man a differing opinion but should actually consider intellegent or at least polite debate.
The whole "entitlement" claim is really over-used and there are a wide variety of legitimate concerns about where the game is going. The majority of the people here love Bioware games and just want to comment on the changes as they are leaked out. Of course none of us (beside the developers) know what the game will truely be like till Spring on release day. But if we all waited that long to comment, why have a forum?
I don't like several aspects of DA 2 so far that have been leaked and I feel (right now) that it will be an inferior experience to DA:O. It's not skin off my back, I'll keep playing DA:O. This is also just my "feeling" and I will be happy if I am proven wrong by actually full game reviews and maybe playing the game first before I buy it.
Some of the issues that hurt DA 2 for me are: (Caution, Wall of Text ahead. Those with no attention span turn back now
)
1.) Voiced protagonist - It could limit dialogue options or constrain the PC to more of a set personality, limiting the replay value for some players which could lead to less hype for future releases if the fans don't come back to it. I didn't feel the urge to play Mass Effect all the way through more than twice, the voiced dialogue was nifty but it didn't strike me as necessary either.
2.) class limitations - I really don't like the idea that a warrior can't fight effectively with two weapons and that a rogue can't learn how to use a shield effectively. It just makes no sense to me, just like it makes no sense that a mage can't learn how to use weapons either. I think multiclassing would add to the Dragon Age experience and add to player play-throughs of the game, building the fan base and hopefully leading to DA 3! I like the idea of agile fighters having different animations than strength fighters but perhaps that should be regulated by stats and not class? It would be fun to make a nimble fighter.
3.) Less Player Character Options - I know alot of people will moan but I still think losing dwarves and elves is a bit of a mistake. It may add more for the writers to work with in the story, but will it add more for players to experience than it takes away? I thought one of the major sale points to DA:O were the Origins. I played through each Origin at least once and liked them all, thinking that each provided an opportunity for player insites on the world of Thedas. It's a fantasy genre and sure, most people might play at a human PC often, but there are alot of people who enjoy the different story possibility of playing as a dwarf or an elf. It might be fine if DA 2's official campaign was centered around Hawke but I imagine DA 2's mods will only allow human character creation as well.
4.) New Art Direction - This, as the catagory might suggest, is entirely subjective in a way, you cannot escape it as a human being so I'll get the subjective part over with: I liked the art direction of DA:O better, it didn't look to me like Lord of the Rings films (aside from the arcane horror being inspired by the gatekeeper of Mordor). If anything, I thought it looked more like a combination of Ridley Scott's
Legend and John Boorman's
Excalibur. My objective criticism would be that changing the art direction of something that is successful is a bad idea if you continue to sell that product line.
A simplified example might be the fiasco with GAP's logo switch earlier this year. It wasn't grandfathered in, just was suddenly switched and raised alot of eyebrows resulting in a loss of revenue. Increasing the resolution of textures, giving strings to bows and animating weapons I can understand. Changing the look of races and monsters in a dramatic way...it tends to turn into a Blizzard's WoW, or a George Lucas'
Star Wars situation where the lore becomes tongue-in-cheek as the series' progress.
5.) All Your Eggs In One Basket Syndrome - This last catagory is about all the darn threads people still post playing on some form of "Dragon Effect" or "Mass Age." Yes, it can be tiresome but I feel there is some credibility to these worries though people claim it's just paranoia. Should the games be learning from each other and taking on traits of one another? There might be some things each could learn but if they evolve into a fantasy or sci-fi equivalent of one another then it might end up hurting sales rather than helping them.
Instead of buying a fantasy game with a unique playstyle and a sci-fi game with a unique playstyle, perhaps gamer-A prefers a fantasy game but wouldn't want the same offering in a sci-fi world, opting to totally skip on the other title. Meanwhile gamer-B might pass on the fantasy game with the very similar play mechanics and go for the sci-fi title. This could also be a benefit too in this world of shortening attention spans with gamers not wanting to learn an entirely new control scheme or playstyle between genres. Hopefully the gaming world isn't that lazy yet though. I hope Mass Effect and Dragon Age keep very different play styles and don't morph closer and closer. It's only my opinion but diversity in two gaming franchises could only be a strength.
Ending Disclaimer: I hope that DA 2 is a success. As gaming companies go, Bioware is pretty cool and they have released many quality products. I own most of Bioware's games and honestly can say I enjoy playing them. I don't feel entitled in my beliefs or pretend I have any sway over anything involving game production. It is fun to think about these things, hear other's opinions and thanks to Bioware, we have the freedom to talk about what they are working on on their forums! I have no set opinions on DA 2 as they are always evolving till I actually get informed reviews and hopefully play test it myself. Everyone remember to keep an open mind and don't write off the opinions of others just because they are different than yours. Good day!
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