2797 odpowiedzi w tym temacie

[QueenPurpleScrap]

Some additional thoughts about stealing, traps, minimaps, skills, etc. I miss stealing and the blizzard spell.
http://social.biowar...46/blog/210588/

Użytkownik QueenPurpleScrap edytował ten post 21 listopad 2011 - 03:36

[Realmzmaster]

I think friendly fire and elemental resistances should be in normal play (not casual). What can be varied between normal, hard and nightmare is to the degree to which it affects the party. That way if a gamer wants to up the difficulty level from hard to nightmare it is not as jarring and you do not have to scrap every tactic use used before, but simply adapt to the greater difficulty. Just a thought.

[OMTING52601]

Adapting to a rise in difficulty is a good start. I mean, sheesh, even playing through on hard there wasn't much change in my tactics. Nightmare... good grief.

[Hurlockkiller2]

We need more awesomeness and spectacularity like meredith leaping 30 meters into the air, exploding chantries and high dragons bathing in fire. also
*female qunari
*Make players able to block enemy attacks (get sparks on it to)
*get more awesome finishing moves something like the last blow in destiny trailer
*better music
*darker  and more emotional story line
*darker colous palette like those in origins
*shiny or glowing(magic) wepons and armor
*more history about the items and stuff

Użytkownik Hurlockkiller2 edytował ten post 02 grudzień 2011 - 12:16

[Pistolized]

Combat should be less ^MMO^ and more ^KOTOR^.
Combat should be less ^swipe-swipe-swipe-swipe-swipe^ and more ^swipe-block-stab-parry-hack-dodge-parry-kick^

Edit:  My level of conviction on this issue is not accurately conveyed here. So let me say that it is very important to me.

Użytkownik Pistolized edytował ten post 03 grudzień 2011 - 08:23

[Pistolized]

Sex sells.  I want sex to stop selling.  It seems *to me* that the pinnacle of a Bioware party member's personal quests are based on getting to the end.  If you know what I mean.  

For example, I desire more buddy relationships.  For example:
...general conversation...
Alistair - *self depricating quip*
Warden - *comedic agreeance*
Alistair - *continuation of quip-based sub-conversation*
...general conversation resumes...
Me - "hahaha he's my freind"

It is also jarring how most romantic possiblities are introduced.  If the player doesn't flirt, the other character will eventually try to flirt with the player.  I think there should be circumstances where a romance will only bloom under certain conditions or outcomes, not just because the player chooses the romance conversation options.  For example, don't take romancable character to a certain mission (or mission-type) so it is not there to notice the tulip flower and you are not able to pick it (flower) for it (character).  Sure, that's work Bioware has to do that won't be seen by many but I suspect that is some of the magic that is needed for the player's motivation to surpass "This is how I get to see the sex scene."

Addendum:  If one culmination of a relationship is a sex scene, why can't there also be a buddy/loyalty/foe/enemy/colleague/brother-in-arms scene?  I like Alistair and Garrus.  I felt like our characters could be  pals.  I like Ashley and Bastila.  I felt that our military backgrounds and convictions could lead to something more (camaraderie).  etc.

P.S.  I fully admit bias in this area, and I admit the possibility that I have neglected to remember or allow myself to see contradictory evidence.  

Użytkownik Pistolized edytował ten post 03 grudzień 2011 - 09:17

[Marvin_Arnold]

Pistolized wrote...

Combat should be less ^swipe-swipe-swipe-swipe-swipe^ and more ^swipe-block-stab-parry-hack-dodge-parry-kick^.

I gather you played a rogue then? With warriors, it's more "CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! AARGH!* CLANG!" Though Rogues are a bit more varied in their basic attack animations...

*(critical hit)

[Marvin_Arnold]

Bring back (if it ain't broken (DA:O), don't try to fix it (DA2)!):

• item lore (!!!!, I want to know why a sword is called "Amazing Flamberg of the Exploding Knickers" and why a generic "Ring" has more power than my "Sacred Band of Butterfly Cthulhu"),
• skills vs. abilities,
• cross-class abilities like dual wield and archery for warriors
• more varied conversations, (more than "here's my story part 1 of 4" or "Here's my pet peeve. Agree or disagree!" Though some dialogues were pretty funny, tbh.)
• more varied combat animations,
• better loot for bigger enemies (I kill a pride demon and what do I get? A chipped opal worth 5 silver??),
• more than ONE mansion, cave, warehouse, dungeon map,
• different degrees of friendly fire across difficulties,
• 80+ hours of gameplay (not counting DLC!),
• physically/anatomically/esthetically/lorewise believable (=consistent) non-anime Elves,
• Darkspawn that look and sound frightening instead of goofy. (DA:O hurlocks, for example, looked as if they were actually constantly bleeding all over. DA2 hurlocks look like mimes in chainmail. And don't get me started on the emissaries... and give them back their growls and laughs. They aren't screeching skeletons!)
• RICHNESS AND DETAIL!!! In a nutshell: A proper (w)RPG!

It all boils down to

• Next time TAKE YOUR **** TIME with a game, Bioware! No more rush jobs! Ever!

I DO hope these days aren't gone forever...

Użytkownik Marvin_Arnold edytował ten post 03 grudzień 2011 - 10:03

[mdigs150]

please please please take away the armour degradation system! can't tell you how much I hated this when compared to origins

[Lucrece]

 I got around to playing through all the content, and here is a compilation of my criticism and praise -- I hope in a format that is useful to developers. I'm using my experience in years of beta for various MMO's and other games.

---
What Dind't Work Well

The game, despite all the flak it got, was deeply enjoyable to me. I would not come anywhere to returning my copy. I will start with experiences that hampered my enjoyment of the game, will move on to what worked for me, and add a few suggestions along the way.

Recycled environments is the dead horse here. If I have to return to an environment, it should have changed from my decisions and circumstances of the game. Environments named differently SHOULD NOT recycle models. It's jarring. Environments should be distinctive. I also hope that in taking cues from Skyrim, you AVOID the cliche drab grey environments of caustic teenage apocalyptic tropes that seem to permeate every game that wants to come off "serious" and "adult". Color should not be avoided.

Both Anders and Fenris were ill-served by their models in-game relative to concept art, reducing attractiveness and resulting in mods to alter appearance. Anders because the stubble does not translate well into the face, and his hair looked too stiff and didn't flatter his face. Fenris suffered the elf model revamp and as a result looks freakishly lanky. For the same reason Varric cannot be a romantic interest Fenris makes a strange choice for LI, because sexually he's not believable in proportions attractive to a human. At least straight/lesbian players had the option of Isabela.

The most frustrating aspect of the game for me was letter font. It was dreadful. It seemed like a taunt to my already average vision. Especially when you didn't have an ingredient and the color was red. This also applied to ability pre-reqs in red. Very hard to read and in the future the font should have both better spacing between letters and be of enough size and contrast with its background to be legible (i.e. not red with a red wine background).

Controls for consoles were insufficient for the amount of activated abilities one could pick up, and pausing the game constantly to activate an ability disrupts combat and makes for a less involved experience. My suggestion is similar to what Guild Wars 2 does where there are chain abilities, so when you press an ability there is a small time window where that button is replaced with a follow up skill. It provides button slot compression. Additionally, switching between teammates could be moved to the menu commands, and L1/L2 for the PS3 be saved for additional button slots -- that would at least open up 6 more skills slots that would be much appreciated.

Targeting was also of issue. Many times Mark of Doom ended on the wrong target due to movement and couldn't benefit from my Assassinate. The select button or the arrow buttons in the controller could be assigned to the target lock switching function.

Some skills contradicted each other. Throw the Gauntlet contradicted Blindside, which every rogue wants to take,  resulting in TTG's boosts not being as good as they should be since they cost you Blindside damage. Blindside could've been modified to include the damage bonus on targets affected by TTG.

Archer Hawke was subpar thanks to a single archery tree and the other specializations synergized with dual wield more than anything else. Varric puts you to shame. If Hawke can't get more than one archery tree, at least all his specialization talents and passives should have dual benefits for either the dual wield build or an archer build. For example, Vendetta/Assassinate could have an Archer equivalent functionally altered to mesh with the Archer playstyle.

As a rogue I often felt skimped on armor rewards outside armor sets, and my weapons looked nowhere nearas aesthetically pleasing as the warrior/mage equivalents. Rogue armor outside Enasalin and Champion leave a lot to be desired compared to mage/warrior armor, since the rogue armors made me feel more scrappish warrior than and actual rogue/master of subterfuge/swashbuckler aesthetic. Ironically as well, the mage champion set seemed more appropriate to a rogue while the rogue set seemed fit for a mage. But both are very pretty so I was willing to let that go! The Warden Scout set was very ugly to my rogue, however, as it seemed like some chain mail knight set that didn't mesh with my rogue in the slightest. The Mark of Assassin set seemed curiously close to the Enasalin set.

What I'm trying to say is, please don't restrict just the nice looks to endgame/DLC armor. It makes you want to rush through the game because it's hard to stomach a mismatched, aesthetically unpleasant look for the several hours into early/middle game. Daggers never goot too elaborate/interesting until The Hawke's Key and Finesse+. Some variety and pizzazz to the dagger designed would've helped.

Concerning companions, Isabela was hard to befriend before the critical point if you didn't try to romance her. As a rogue it's hard not to need to include Aveline (great chacter, by the way, love her) for your tank and Anders for a healer, followed by Merril for damage and combo support that Isabela couldn't afford my rogue. The scenarios where you can get friendship with her without needing to kill off ambiguous characters are few.

Giving same-class companions a reason to include them in my party would be nice, in a way of providing synergy to me. So that my warrior is still interested in Aveline/Carver Fenris, my rogue in Isabela/Varric, and my mage in Merril/Bethany.

Act specific attriubute tomes/potions/upgrades were not fun, particularly since Black Emporium gear was so expensive and the methods for earning money in-game outside few extortion opportunities in dialogue were not plentiful. I missed several stat/ability boosts since I wanted to see Black Emporium gear when it was relevant (Black Emporium gear becomes irrelevant in Act 3 besides the belt, amulet, and rings). If armor and weapons are gonna cost 90+ Sovereign, I'd hope they would remain as top competitors for end-game gear.

---
What Worked Really Well

With my main complaints over, I'll proceed to the many positives I feel are underplayed.

I LOVE the combat. It's fast, dynamic, and entertaining. Please don't slow it down or bog it down with unnecessary pre combat preparations. Tactic setups were enough time spent not in action.

My dual wield rogue was ridiculously fun. Vendetta was just so wonderfully Rogue-like in vanishing smoke transport ambush, and I loved the feeling of my class as tricky, slippery, and a master disabler/spiker. Hopefully the same can be recreated next time for the archer branch.

I like that I do not need to babysit my companions' armor. Accessories and weapons were enough. People might be complaining about armor slots, but my game would not be enjoyable if I had to also worry about tracking 4 more pieces for EACH companion lest my companions become subpar/noticeable inferior to a min-maxed companion. If you are going to implement armor slots, please allow them to be organically earned through playthrough and not something that needs to be tracked down/grind for.

I loved my gay Anders (and would've loved Fenris if I wasn't so sympathetic to Ander's fate of being alone in his mission). Thank you so much, Bioware, for providing my Hawke with a character that touchingly calls me "love" during times in our adventure. My romance with Anders truly seems organic. It is my fear that since I'm moving to PC from PS3, in DA3 if the champion is not the character I'm using (and I'm gonna miss Hawke a lot if that's the case) that without an imported save Hawke will be romanced to somebody else in the default. The romance was just beautiful and thank so much the writers for allowing me to share a burden and be a fugitive alongside Anders . I love my kooky mage and his Justice outbursts. Hopefully we can recover Ser Pounce- A- Lot.

Flemeth's revamped aesthetic was simply amazing. Beautiful character redesign. The look is just spot on. I say the same of the Arishok, whom I misss and whose horns and hair combination alongside attire I greatly envy. His looks were testament to his position. Brilliant character design in DA2 alongside the honorable mention of Corypheus -- good reference to the design of the magnificent Architect.

I was pleased mightily by the voice work and subsequent DLC's. Legacy lived up to developers' wishest to let the environment tell the story (to be honest, maybe too effectively as I'm the person who gets too tense in horror atmospheres like trap-ridden mines and demonic ruins -- certainly something I'll play in pieces to rest from). Mark of the Assassin was just beautiful in the variety of gameplay, from several puzzles to sneaking around, to using diplomacy and wooing Lord Cyril to steal his key. Both the duke and Corypheus fights were abominably fun. If they are the example you talked about when wanting to emphasize tactics over enduring waves of countless enemies, you've succeeded. They were fairly doable in casual difficulty while requiring good tactical play in harder modes, making the experience accessible for all. Hopefully rewards will be better next time, as none of the rewards could hold a candle to the Emporium +attribute bonuses accessories, and there was one odd ring with +2 strength and +2 magic that just didn't seem well-designed as an accessory.

---

What I hope for

Besides the suggestions I've already offered, please look into mod usage for consoles and allowing for some way of inter-platform save imports. If that can't be the case, a story builder feature for all key flag moments to use as an import for people who've switched platform would be a good alternative to forcing them to start from scratch in a previous installment to import a save that respects the world and characters they've shaped/created.

More rogue support with promo items if you go heavy on promo items as well for DA3, please.

Please keep the bisexual model. I know people like to harp about "realism", but cutting yourself and laying magical waste isn't realistic to begin with, and that sacrifices what makes  RPG so enjoyable: options. Sre, you'd be creating a tailor-made gay/straight character that seems "deep/unique", but what that does is limit my romance options because if, say, I didn't like Zevran but was deeply smitten by Alistair as a male player, I was screwed without mods. Yes, that's how it often happens in real life, that people you actually like might not be available, but the point of a game is allowing some greater measure of control in realizing a fantasy.

More Flemeth, please. Bring another Arishok that looks just as cool as the former one. Those gorgeous horns must return.

It'd be cool if similar to how you allowed different races/backgrounds in DAO, you could afford the option of allowing players to either start on a new personality, or at least reprise the role of Hawke. I really, really like and have grown attached to my Hawke. He is a bearded sexiness your concept artists had the boundless generosity to bless me with. I must have more adventures with my beloved Anders and steadfast Aveline at least!

On a final note, I know you guys aren't often provided with all the tools/resources you would like, and that despite your efforts to try something else people might not appreciate the countless hours you devote into this franchise. So I want to take this time to thank you for the stress and scrutiny and harsh feedback environment you guys put yourself through in order to a) feed your families while doing something you love, and bring people like me such an irreplaceable experience in the Dragon Age and Mass Effect worlds.

you Bioware and thanks for being one of the very few companies I as a gay gamer can always look forward to for my RPG experiences. 

Użytkownik Lucrece edytował ten post 04 styczeń 2012 - 04:10

[Shanook]

I love this thread. I ADORED DA2, and for people to trash it completely is heartbreaking for me. But that's not to say it didn't have flaws that need to be addressed, because it did. But whining and complaining isn't the way to go about it.

The biggest thing I think was missing from DA2 was random NPC interactions. Little sidequests that were nothing but conversation. The story is about this city that is rapidly descending into madness over the span of a few years. Unfortunately, that feeling doesn't really come across very well. You can see it in some of your companions (most obviously Anders) and in a few recurring minor characters, but everyone else seems wholly unaware of anything happening around them. What really was missing was quick, dialogue-only sidequests, something along the lines of "Family Matter" in ME1, that let you get to know the people that you're supposed to be protecting. A few recurring minor characters unimportant to the overall plot that allow you to see that life is getting worse and worse in Kirkwall for the ordinary people.

I'm sure that any other little problems I had have already been addressed. I am quite confident that DA3 will be an amazing game, better than DA:O and DA2 combined. Love you, BioWare!

[Demx]

NPC interactions could help, but another problem was the overarching threat needed to be explained in more detail. In DA:O Bioware pretty much said: "Derp, you see these guys and that dragon over there? Everything is going to go to hell if someone doesn't stop it." Then you take control for a bit, learn the mechanics of the game, join a club, and get all giddy. Then Bioware turns around and taps your shoulder and says: "Now that you've joined the fancy blight stopping club Derp, we forgot to tell you that this nice gentleman right here is trying to stop you. Are you up to the challenge?" You naturally cross your arms and accept the challenge.

Sadly, any clear definition of the overarching threat is muddled by their storytelling style. So the player is left guessing what that could possibly be. Then there are the technical aspects such as: constantly repeated rooms, being stuck in a single city that never changes, enemies spawning from the skies with several waves of them politely waiting their turn to attack you just to pad out the game, clunky controls, and a camera that you always have to manually operate. Alright, the last two problems were the same in both games. I could also mention that everything was bland and brown, but when has Dragon Age never been like that.

[Phoenix Phire 13]

 Eh, I'm not entirely sure if I've posted in this thread yet, but I think I have a far more reformed opinion than when I first played through DA2. I would first like to say that DA2 is an excellent game. It takes some steps back from Origins, but has many improvements as well. Bioware, don't feel overly negative towards the critical reception for DA2. The game feels more cohesive and has more of a "soul" than Origins, there were many moments in the game where I felt legitimately touched by a quest or dialouge (Most notably the sibling quest and ending of Legacy in Act 3). The game is often hilarious, with characters that develop more maturely than in Origins. The combat is far more fast paced than Origins, and the skill trees feel far more organic and unique. However, I do have some problems I would like to mention. 

--Dislikes--

Combat:
-Infinitely spawning enemies
-Mobs which teleport
-Low class flexibility (Fenris and Carver can't suitably replace Aveline as a Tank, nor can Merill or Bethany replace Anders as a healer effectively) 
-Unique items (DLC, character exclusive items)  which don't level with PC (most notably the Mantle of the Champion and the Staff of Parthlan. PLEASE make the staff level to Hawke in a future update!)

Story:
-Create a more cohesive story, like in DA:O (i.e. a main antagonist, single plot thread (rather than the multiple ones in DA2), more satisfying(sp?) ending) 
-Attempt to answer more questions about the lore, rather than raising more questions ("What truely is the blight?", "What is the relationship between the elven gods and the maker?", "What is the golden city?") 

UI/Inventory:
-Fix the problem with "trash" loot. Either give it more importance (need specific loot for certain quests, etc.) or get rid of it entirely. 
-Make the codex more manageable (easier to find quest related entries, possibly add a search function)
-Better looking item sets! (compare the item sets from MoTA and earlier tier sets to DA:O sets like the Juggernaut plate and Dragonbone Plate set) 
-Make the storage chest more manageable! Add search and filter functions!

Environment: 
-Better looking environmental textures/graphics. I wouldn't consider myself a huge advocate of graphics, but many of the textures/environments of DA2 are stale/bad looking. 
-More variety in environments! This goes without saying due to the "copy-paste" style of dungeons in DA2, I would like to see the variety we had in origins like dwarven deep-roads, ancient forests, arcane towers, and zombie-infested castles
-Longer and less linear dungeons! I extremely enjoyed Dungeons in Origins like the Deep Roads and Brecilian Forest, which were filled with sidequests and exploration. The dungeons in DA2 felt short and completely linear. 
-A "living" environment. Though this was improved from Origins in DA2, Dragon age could still use some improvements in this department. I want to see bazaars bustling with trade and commerce, cities filled with moving people talking to friends and walking down the streets, and forests with more wildlife. If you want a good example of this living environment, see Bethesda's TESV: Skyrim. Though DA doesn't necessarily need to be on that large a scale, the ambient life could use some work. 
-Make it less stressful for resource finding. Keep the system in DA2 which lets you keep resources permanently, but allow the player more chances to find the resources. There were many resources in DA2 located in temporary dungeons and areas which could be missed by the PC, resulting in permanent loss of that resource 

Thats about it. Thanks for reading

[QueenPurpleScrap]

I am disappointed that Mark Darragh's thread is closed. I will put my additional thoughts here and in my blog, hoping they get read. I love DAO. I still play DAO. I will continue to play DAO. DA2, not so much.

Abandoning the expansion for DA2: I wish they hadn't done that. I think some sort of expansion post-Kirkwall meltdown would have been nice. I think it could have provided a bit more closure to Hawke's story and still left some mystery. A small group of people could have been working on the story for DA3 while the expansion was being done.

More time for development: Increase the time between major releases so there is time to do an expansion, if planned, and the next major release isn't rushed to meet an arbitrary deadline.

DLC's: The DLC's for DA2 were better than the game. They were also somewhat jarring because storywise they were less integrated in the DA2 story than the DLC's for Origins. In Origins, Wardens Keep, Return to Ostagar, and The Stone Prisoner all seem to be part of the same game and world as Origins.

Companions: I do not agree with the choice to have Anders be a main character in DA2. It is another disconnect. When I played Awakenings, if Anders lived he made the choice, after a brief sojourn away, to live out his life with the Wardens in Amaranthine. A cameo by Anders where he is checking up on a recruit who ran away from the Wardens would have been fine. It would have been in keeping with Anders Awakening personality to not turn him in, his own experiences being hunted by templars would have seen to that. Don't make the same mistake in DA3.

Cameos: More judiciously applied. Some, like Alistair, made more sense than others. I found Isolde in MotA to be irritating and odd.

Dialogue: I actually got tired of the voiced Hawke. Legacy and MotA made me want to do more playthroughs, as well as the idea of seeing Alistair in more roles. However, the same voice for my different Hawke's took away from my sense of 'ownership' of the character. I would actually be fine with the Origins style dialogue, but with better animations. If you go with voiced, how about a filter so I can select the register (tenor, baritone, soprano, etc.) One recording, but still allows for some customization. I realize this may not be technically possible.

Toolset: RELEASE A TOOLSET. Most of my creative energies are currently going into a fanfic, but I do have ideas for 4 more mods, one of which will happen after Origins. I uploaded some preset options a few months ago. One of the things that makes DAO fresh and so much fun after a few playthroughs is the variety of mods available. You don't have to release the toolset the same time as the game is released. Release it 3 or 4 months later, after the first patch or two. Again, this can be incorporated into a longer time frame between major releases.

Most of my concerns have already been addressed in this forum or others, and in my blog(s). Thank you for listening to our concerns.

[Alain Baxter]

Wow! I remember this thread... I was one of many that spent a lot of time collecting and graphing (excel, you are my friend..) all of this feedback and using some of it to adjust and modify our DLC content. In the end, I feel this was time well spent and it's good to see that the community (and the dev team) still feels passionate about the Dragon Age Franchise.

I've dusted the old data files, but if I can make a recommendation, could someone create another thread? Over 100 pages is a lot to go through for new people to catch up on.

[KennethAFTopp]

Alain Baxter wrote...

Wow! I remember this thread... I was one of many that spent a lot of time collecting and graphing (excel, you are my friend..) all of this feedback and using some of it to adjust and modify our DLC content. In the end, I feel this was time well spent and it's good to see that the community (and the dev team) still feels passionate about the Dragon Age Franchise.

I've dusted the old data files, but if I can make a recommendation, could someone create another thread? Over 100 pages is a lot to go through for new people to catch up on.

I thought that was what Mark Darrah's thread was about?

Also I don't think it's illegal for you to create one yourself if you so desired;)

Użytkownik KennethAFTopp edytował ten post 22 marzec 2012 - 03:39

[Alain Baxter]

KennethAFTopp wrote...

Alain Baxter wrote...

Wow! I remember this thread... I was one of many that spent a lot of time collecting and graphing (excel, you are my friend..) all of this feedback and using some of it to adjust and modify our DLC content. In the end, I feel this was time well spent and it's good to see that the community (and the dev team) still feels passionate about the Dragon Age Franchise.

I've dusted the old data files, but if I can make a recommendation, could someone create another thread? Over 100 pages is a lot to go through for new people to catch up on.

I thought that was what Mark Darrah's thread was about?

Also I don't think it's illegal for you to create one yourself if you so desired;)

Touché!
I'd just rather the community do this then me... I'm still surprised Mark and the gang let me in here... 

[KennethAFTopp]

Alain Baxter wrote...

KennethAFTopp wrote...

Alain Baxter wrote...

Wow! I remember this thread... I was one of many that spent a lot of time collecting and graphing (excel, you are my friend..) all of this feedback and using some of it to adjust and modify our DLC content. In the end, I feel this was time well spent and it's good to see that the community (and the dev team) still feels passionate about the Dragon Age Franchise.

I've dusted the old data files, but if I can make a recommendation, could someone create another thread? Over 100 pages is a lot to go through for new people to catch up on.

I thought that was what Mark Darrah's thread was about?

Also I don't think it's illegal for you to create one yourself if you so desired;)

Touché!
I'd just rather the community do this then me... I'm still surprised Mark and the gang let me in here... 

I don't think they know yet.

[QueenPurpleScrap]

I created a new thread. http://social.biowar...ndex/10472660/1

Użytkownik QueenPurpleScrap edytował ten post 24 marzec 2012 - 07:28