Based on my experience with the game so far (and I am admittedly only a little ways into Act 2, though I have read some spoilers about what happens w/ some characters), I have to assume EA's new character consultants are a 14 year old Twilight fangirl (who was asked to describe, in detail, every adolescent romantic fantasy she ever had since she was 13 in reference to Fenris, Anders, and Sebastian) and a 17 year old boy (whose only contributions were "bigger boobs - no BIGGER" and "make Isabella's skirt shorter - no SHORTER"). The PC's sibling is not around long enough to have required much work (though someone's got brother issues, apparently). Merrill was some programmer's mother's idea, presumably, and I can only surmise that the one character that you let a veteran adult writer have any say in was Varric (how did that one slip by?).
So I ask again - SERIOUSLY, BioWare?
I am a 39-year-old adult female gamer. I am a professional, as is my husband, and I think I am about as ideal a consumer as you can have. I have enough disposable income that I can afford to not only buy your games, but to buy the accessories and add-ons that go with them. I have been gaming for a long time (I played Scott Adams text adventures on cassette - cassette, people!) and I am a huge fan - which means that I also don't just buy the regular edition, I buy the collector's/special/signature edition. As a rule (current rant aside) I do not clog your boards with posts - profane complaints about a game's release date or gripes about the cost / hour of gameplay etc. I just buy your games, register them, buy your expansions, buy your guides, buy your OTHER expansions - and then buy your next title.
In return for my faithful and patient patronage, you give me......what? An elf so ridiculously emo that your other NPCs mock him for it? A tortured mage terrorist whose jokes wore thin in Awakenings? A sanctimonious choir boy who took a vow of chastity that he takes seriously - even though he's the last of his line (which he says, repeatedly)? With all the angst floating aroud, I am frankly surprised you did not add my own sibling to the list of eligible suitors!
The one male character who is mildly interesting - Varric - is not even a romantic option. What is WRONG with you?
I am happily married, and I am not looking for in-game virtual/digital romance to fill some emotional void in my life. But I enjoy good storytelling (I am a writer and a writing instructor) and this is NOT it. Not all or, I hope, even MOST, of your female gamers are Twilight fans who want to rescue some hoplelessly damaged soul or agonize over the tragedy of courtly love. Whoever was in charge of the characters in Origins did a much better job. If the same dude/gal was in charge of the chars here, they phoned it in (or had just watched New Moon for the 100th time or something).
And, here's the weird part - I don't get why you thought this brooding collection of adolescent icons would appeal to your fan base. Males 18-35 are still probably your biggest consumer group, and I don't see them being all gung ho about Anders or Fenris. "Who is your favorite PC?" "I love that emo barefoot elf and his huge sword!" "Me? I
Anders - he's so tortured and mysterious!" Now, I fully acknolwedge that Fenris' ginormous blades have a cool factor and that Anders is by far the best healer in the game - but weapons and tactics aside, they are not pleasant characters to have around. So why not make them more appealing? So here's the long and short of it - You gave your male gamers Isabella (who I, as a heterosexual female, can comfortably say is 'hot') and Merrill (someone still likes the waif thing, right?). Aveline may appeal to some guys as well - I can't say. You gave us women....sigh. Last time the guys got Leliana and Morrigan (and Wynn, if you're into that sort of thing). Last time women got Alistair and Zevran (but, thank heaven, not Oghren - I appreciate that). It was fair. This time, the women got screw--, er shaft--, ehm - well, it wasn't quite a satisfying experience. Next time, how about showing your gamer gals a little more love?
Thanks,
Laura
Modifié par Raccoonteuse, 16 mars 2011 - 02:21 .
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