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[sycophantichallenger]

Allow me to lead off with an apology. I've been guilty of some pretty aggressive trolling on this board in the past. I do not feel this is because I am a "bad person" or "just a troll" however. Following a recent moment of lucidity I realized that my past trolling was due to an inability to reconcile the changes the sequel to one of my favorite titles with the expectations I had for it. Video games are my escape from a hugely stressfull line of work. I am passionate about them on a level that many people are not. During this moment of clarity it occured to me I should put pen to paper and submit them to the digital ether for deconstruction and criticism by the nameless faceless horde. (yes, I am self aggrandizing for comical effect). Here are my thoughts.

Taking the following points as being true (from my position as they are my personal point of view):

 - The changes to the dialogue system have effectively killed RP in the game for me.
 - The poor/childish visual "redesign" have effectively killed immersion for me.
 - The "push a button and something awesome happens" design philosophy has ruined the appeal of the gameplay.

These are all contributing factors to my current state of dissatisfaction with what this IP has become and I feel a sense of betrayal from the games developers considering that the previous title (DAO) was marketed and sold as a true to roots BIOWARE RPG game. In less than 1 year the have done a complete 180 on many of the fronts that were CRITICAL in causing the first game to be the success that it was They created a game to appeal to an existing fanbase based on the front that it was a "return" to type of experience they had previously.

DAO for what it was, was a huge success. DAO surpassed sales expectations both in sales of copies and sale of DLC by a significant margin. Realizing they have a successfull title on their hands with which the had managed to bridge a gap between "old school RPG nerds" (me) and a younger market of gamers (ie: ppl who appreciate "the new ****" TM), EA GAMES (ie: the money) has decided they would like to make significantly more money on the sequel. This is to be expected of any responsible publicly traded corporation as they exist to make money for their shareholders.

So out come the marketers and their marketing terms. DA2 is going to be a "visually super-hot" experience where you "push a button and something awesome happens". It is a new "cinematic" experience (ie: dialogue wheel, ie: passive experience you watch rather than deciding a course or truly effecting an outcome). These were not empty marketing slogans, but descriptors of things that had changed from the previous title. I would argue that they significantly changed the way the game looks (visual re-design), plays (awesome button), and is experienced (dialogue system), changing core aspects of the game. Some story connections and shared nomenclature between the previous title and the new title does not a sequel make...

So now I am faced with the choice of accepting what is a different and for me, unappealing experience or leaving it behind. Now here is where I get hung up. Because there was a perceived promise of purity of experience that DAO
made to it's "old school fan base". The 180 turnaround on the sequal felt like a slap in the face, a betrayal. Rather than simply moving on to something else as I would if I came accross a website or commercial marketing the SIMS or BULLETSTORM I felt personally slighted. Granted, this was an emotional conflageration rather than a jusified view based on any true or accurate attempt by bioware or EA to give me the finger.

So here is where it stands; DA2 is not created for or marketed to myself or those like me (passionate DAO, Baldur's Gate, classic RPG fans). I have always enjoyed BIOWARE games in the past, based in part on the quality of the story.

Will i play DA2? Yes... I would like to experience the story... I will wait a couple of months and purchase a used copy of the game from EBGAMES. This is a conscious choice to vote with my dollars against these changes as I realize that I can effect no change through intelligent conversation or suggestion since this is not a feedback mechanism that exists in a corporate world (money talks, bull**** walks). I would encourage others who share this viewpoint to do the same... vote with your dollars.

If internal BIOWARE or EA eyes do happen across this forum post, could you please pass it up the chain that IT IS NOT FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE TO ALIENATE YOUR EXISTING FAN BASE IN THE PERSUIT OF A PERCEIVED NEW MARKET. If you see that new market and would like to appeal to it, create a new product... a new IP. Don't missapropriate existing IP to fit a new mold...

Oh... and that recent "interview" of David Silverman by a drunk "yes man" at a convention comes off as being callous and hostile towards the existing DAO fanbase that share my view. Please explain that words can be emotionally violent.

***I'm glad that you've taken the opportunity to read these thoughts and hope to further disuss. Will I be shouted down by the mental mob? Probably? Will some people pick a small part of my post and pick it apart or point
out flawed or inconsistent logic in a rude or dismissive manner? Certainly. That is okay, I realize the social environment of the Bioware forums is not condusive to open debate, it's more of a walled garden of opinion. But one must do what one can right? ***

Modifié par sycophantichallenger, 27 février 2011 - 06:52 .

[John Epler]

Folks, let me remind you that if you don't agree with a poster, you can disagree politely and civilly.

At the same time, of course, if you make a topic, expect to be disagreed with. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, and you don't get to direct the conversation simply because you made the first post.

Leaving this open for now, but let's try to have a discussion here.