518 réponses à ce sujet

[Omika_Pearl]

Saboera wrote...

So basically you bought a game that was meant to be a spiritual successor of a game you didn't even like in the first place?

The fact you didn't like DA:O is your opinion, just like mine that DA2 was weak as hell. The difference between you and those who disliked the game like me, is that you went ahead and bought it while fully knowing what it was gonna be. It was advertised as the spiritual sucessor of BG, you are the one that made the mistake of buying something based on a formula you didn't even like in the first place.

The rest of us who loved the old school formula of DA:O a lot got burnt hadcore on false advertising to a sequel that took a 180 degree spin around in a totally different direction cattering to an entirely different demographic. The worse is that in the words of Mike, it remained majorly the same and i bought into that crap based on a trust relationship with Bioware like many others. The best part is where it was 60 bucks, coming along a day 1 DLC for 7 bucks for a rushed game.

There's no way in hell a lot of us can be pissed about that, clearly.

Btw, lots of us also like the more relaxed slow, strategical gameplay over the hyperactive action that plagues game designed for the ''i can't focus on games without explosions and heads blowing up'' crowd (which is fine, i'm not one to judge). But no, instead we're just delusional for liking something else and being promised something that turned out to be entirely different. The problem is that while faster pace games are available in hundreds, slower ones are a disappearing breed. This franchise reanimated the flame in many of us with DA:O and it was killed with DA2.

What?  I liked turn-based games too.  I also love action games and action-RPGs.  I also enjoy chess, and freeze tag.  But you know what I hate?  Real-time pause.  It's this bastardized, ridiculous thing that isn't quite turn-based, so it's not a thinking person's game, and it isn't quite action, so it's just boring and awkward.

The further Bioware gets away from real-time pause, the better, either in the direction of turn-based or the direction of action.  Would it be awesome if Bioware made a turn-based RPG franchise?  Absolutely.  Are they going to?  Maybe.  Is the action in DA2 boring?  No.  Is DA2 poorly written?  Absolutely not - not even compared to other Bioware titles.  Does it lack some choice?  Yes.  Are there moments I found frustrating?  A few.  Did it ruin everything?  No.

I bought DA:O because I like RPGs.  When you like RPGs you buy them.  Unless it's some blatantly misogynistic piece of crap like "The Witcher," then you pass.  Well, I pass.  

Origins wasn't god awful, I just thought it was boring.  If I could play through it again and be able to skip combat like dialogue, I'd do it, just to see all the alternate endings and stuff.

I don't understand why the "lots of us" you keep referring to has such a flaming hatred of fast-paced gameplay.  I like it all.  A good game is a good game, from the original God of War (the sequels were pornographic shlock) to Civilization 4.

DA2 is NOT a bad game, by even the wildest stretches of the imagination.  It is not, however, what the tiny minority of Bioware's sales demographic called the "SUPER OMG OLD SCHOOL" wanted.  

So either go gather up the "a lot of us," and start making old school RPGs again for the "a lot of us," or just continue to sit here and whine ineffectually on the forums.

Either way, I'm happy.  In one scenario, I get to see cool new turn-based RPGs come out.  In the other, I get to amuse myself arguing with super hardcore RPG nerds on a forum.

[Omika_Pearl]

Zanderat wrote...

Yellow Words wrote...

Fran-kiki wrote...

I want Brent Knowles back, he had a clear vision and understood Bioware's fans. I felt like Laidlaw did in fact, just put his middle finger up at us.
You always have to be aware of what the fans want. Dragon Age 2 didn't.

And a lot of fans wanted what DA2 has to offer. 

The evidence (reviews, forum posts metacritc scores, etc.) would seem to indicate otherwise.

You realize there's far more 90+ and 85+ reviews than there are any below that, right?  And you also realize than when your median score is 80 or so, the magic of math makes it EXTREMELY difficult for the score to rise?

Also, since when is  80-85 EPIC FAILURE?

What happened here is an idealogical divide, not the release of a genuinely bad game.  That's what is evidenced in the review collections, not this screaming, zealous minority of hardcore old-schoolers being right about something.

And every single review I've seen that was negative usually wound up saying something stupid, like, "It's too easy."

For a game that has a difficulty slider.  Now THAT'S thorough journalism.

Stop this ridiculous complaining and attacking.  No one cares.  You're not going to get anywhere.  You're all just making yourselves look like petty, ridiculous basement nerds with no sense of priority.

If only you all could divert this kind of passion towards solving world hunger or helping lift people from poverty.  

If you want to cite something that's indicative of humanity's decline, it's not that someone made an action-y RPG, it's that a group of people, however small, has decided (at a time when a developed nation has been massacred by one of the worst natural disasters in history and now faces a looming nuclear crisis, when bloody demonstrations for human rights are taking place throughout the middle east, and when Congolese rebels are still gang-raping young girls in a country that probably still supplies the minerals to help us all play PC games) that despite everything important going on in the world right now, what's most important is letting someone you've never met know that you hate them for not making a game to your specifications.

Just some food for thought.  

Modifié par Omika_Pearl, 26 mars 2011 - 04:30 .

[Night Prowler76]

Omika_Pearl wrote...

Dragon Age: Origins had to be one of the most boring games I've ever played. I could barely stand a single playthrough. And I'm a big RPG fan - Fallout is one of my favorites. Never saw why everyone thought Baldur's Gate 2 was so awesome, though. I thought it was boring as all hell.

Dragon Age 2 entertained me a LOT more than DA:O. It's even getting a second playthrough. It's not perfect by a longshot, but while DA:O had a, what, 6 year or so development cycle, and DA2 had less than 18 months? I'd say Mike Laidlaw just proved himself to be not only a miracle worker, but someone who knows how to address the major critical issues of a game when making a sequel.

The biggest thing people slammed in DA:O was how effing boring the actual gameplay was. DA2's gameplay is a blast.

You can safely bet, I'm sure, that Mike is just as pissed off as everyone else that he didn't get to give DA2 as much breadth as he'd like to have. So he focused on core gameplay elements and aesthetics, rather than just creating another bland snorefest.

The man turned a bland-looking and bland-playing, bloated "spiritual successor" to a completely overhyped cult classic, and made it into dynamite. He made it into something that stands out and demands attention, and plays very well.

I don't know what the hell you people want. Why don't you all go just start making indie, 2D isometic CRPGs for eachother and stop attacking people's livelihood?

People are getting shot in foreign countries for organizing for human rights, and you guys choose to spend your mental energy on organizing to fight... what? Someone refusing to coddle your nostalgia?

tl;dr version: Mike Laidlaw was handed crap, and he turned it into gold. You people are delusional.

Sales and reviews point to the direction that you are the delusional one.

[Night Prowler76]

Omika_Pearl wrote...

Zanderat wrote...

Yellow Words wrote...

Fran-kiki wrote...

I want Brent Knowles back, he had a clear vision and understood Bioware's fans. I felt like Laidlaw did in fact, just put his middle finger up at us.
You always have to be aware of what the fans want. Dragon Age 2 didn't.

And a lot of fans wanted what DA2 has to offer. 

The evidence (reviews, forum posts metacritc scores, etc.) would seem to indicate otherwise.

You realize there's far more 90+ and 85+ reviews than there are any below that, right?  And you also realize than when your median score is 80 or so, the magic of math makes it EXTREMELY difficult for the score to rise?

Also, since when is  80-85 EPIC FAILURE?

What happened here is an idealogical divide, not the release of a genuinely bad game.  That's what is evidenced in the review collections, not this screaming, zealous minority of hardcore old-schoolers being right about something.

And every single review I've seen that was negative usually wound up saying something stupid, like, "It's too easy."

For a game that has a difficulty slider.  Now THAT'S thorough journalism.

Stop this ridiculous screaming.  No one cares.

There Metascore is around 81 combined on all platforms, so by the laws of mathematics and average, there are not MORE scores of 85-90, maybe you are not very good at math, or just lack intelligence, I will let you decide that for yourself.

[Omika_Pearl]

Night Prowler76 wrote...

Omika_Pearl wrote...

Zanderat wrote...

Yellow Words wrote...

Fran-kiki wrote...

I want Brent Knowles back, he had a clear vision and understood Bioware's fans. I felt like Laidlaw did in fact, just put his middle finger up at us.
You always have to be aware of what the fans want. Dragon Age 2 didn't.

And a lot of fans wanted what DA2 has to offer. 

The evidence (reviews, forum posts metacritc scores, etc.) would seem to indicate otherwise.

You realize there's far more 90+ and 85+ reviews than there are any below that, right?  And you also realize than when your median score is 80 or so, the magic of math makes it EXTREMELY difficult for the score to rise?

Also, since when is  80-85 EPIC FAILURE?

What happened here is an idealogical divide, not the release of a genuinely bad game.  That's what is evidenced in the review collections, not this screaming, zealous minority of hardcore old-schoolers being right about something.

And every single review I've seen that was negative usually wound up saying something stupid, like, "It's too easy."

For a game that has a difficulty slider.  Now THAT'S thorough journalism.

Stop this ridiculous screaming.  No one cares.

There Metascore is around 81 combined on all platforms, so by the laws of mathematics and average, there are not MORE scores of 85-90, maybe you are not very good at math, or just lack intelligence, I will let you decide that for yourself.

There are more.  But look at the scale.  Someone deciding to slam the game with a 60 pulls it twenty points away from a median of 80.  Someone giving it a 90 only pulls it ten points towards 90.

Do you get it now?  Don't be an ass and starting calling people names, you're just making yourself look like a jerk.

[Omika_Pearl]

Night Prowler76 wrote...

Omika_Pearl wrote...

Dragon Age: Origins had to be one of the most boring games I've ever played. I could barely stand a single playthrough. And I'm a big RPG fan - Fallout is one of my favorites. Never saw why everyone thought Baldur's Gate 2 was so awesome, though. I thought it was boring as all hell.

Dragon Age 2 entertained me a LOT more than DA:O. It's even getting a second playthrough. It's not perfect by a longshot, but while DA:O had a, what, 6 year or so development cycle, and DA2 had less than 18 months? I'd say Mike Laidlaw just proved himself to be not only a miracle worker, but someone who knows how to address the major critical issues of a game when making a sequel.

The biggest thing people slammed in DA:O was how effing boring the actual gameplay was. DA2's gameplay is a blast.

You can safely bet, I'm sure, that Mike is just as pissed off as everyone else that he didn't get to give DA2 as much breadth as he'd like to have. So he focused on core gameplay elements and aesthetics, rather than just creating another bland snorefest.

The man turned a bland-looking and bland-playing, bloated "spiritual successor" to a completely overhyped cult classic, and made it into dynamite. He made it into something that stands out and demands attention, and plays very well.

I don't know what the hell you people want. Why don't you all go just start making indie, 2D isometic CRPGs for eachother and stop attacking people's livelihood?

People are getting shot in foreign countries for organizing for human rights, and you guys choose to spend your mental energy on organizing to fight... what? Someone refusing to coddle your nostalgia?

tl;dr version: Mike Laidlaw was handed crap, and he turned it into gold. You people are delusional.

Sales and reviews point to the direction that you are the delusional one.

You mean the incredibly good sales?  And the sterling reviews from most all major, reputable sites?

Or do those not count?  Are they just mainstream sellouts to the RPG hipsters?

[Omika_Pearl]

http://www.metacriti...c/dragon-age-ii

I see 30 reviews in the green, which is 80+. I see a good number of 90+ reviews.

I see only 6 yellow reviews.

So what exactly are you all talking about?

[Woodstock-TC]

bernt knowles++

[_Aine_]

Chances are good that in terms of feedback for this game (or any game for that matter) what makes a game *NOT fun* to some people is equally as important to acknowledge and understand as what makes a game fun to others.

But, then I am a logical sort and like to understand people's motivations, what makes them tick, why and why not things work (or don't) so perhaps I am slanting that judgement to coincide with my own opinion.

Realistically there is only SO much awesome you can fit in a certain length of time for development and within a budget. Every decision to ADD something probably means a sacrifice as to what will be removed in order *to* add that something. I guess it would be more fair to say that I am on the side of wishing the games I like had longer development time so they could be bigger and better, because I am infinitely selfish and want to have something I liked as much as DA:O lol Hey, I am honest at least. =) I am a gaming fan but was never a true RPG fan until that game. But, even in saying that I just like good games and good stories and play one whenever I can. And if I get a game that gives me both? #winning

Modifié par shantisands, 26 mars 2011 - 05:02 .

[sevalaricgirl]

I like what Mike did. No the game isn't perfect but it can be fixed with patches. My suggestion to Bioware is to get the new toolset out. That will compensate pc users who paid 60.00 for an incomplete game. Frankly I think they should have taken a different direction in the writing and the game but I'd be happy with good DLC. The Exiled Prince was not, in my opinion, a good DLC character. I did the personal quests and left him in the chantry. On the other hand, Shale went almost every where with me. Shale had an awesome funny, sarcastic personality. Sebastian was blah.

I should add, I don't know what will compensate console users unless they make the toolset compatible with consoles.

Modifié par sevalaricgirl, 26 mars 2011 - 05:00 .

[Well]

sevalaricgirl wrote...

I like what Mike did. No the game isn't perfect but it can be fixed with patches. My suggestion to Bioware is to get the new toolset out. That will compensate pc users who paid 60.00 for an incomplete game. Frankly I think they should have taken a different direction in the writing and the game but I'd be happy with good DLC. The Exiled Prince was not, in my opinion, a good DLC character. I did the personal quests and left him in the chantry. On the other hand, Shale went almost every where with me. Shale had an awesome funny, sarcastic personality. Sebastian was blah.

I should add, I don't know what will compensate console users unless they make the toolset compatible with consoles.

The game is far from perfect.I doubt it could be fixed.To me it was just ok.I agree with you about this.

"Frankly I think they should have taken a different direction in the writing and the game but I'd be happy with good DLC."
Also Shale was my favorite chr in DAO.He was funny.The best DLC that came out for the game.

[Night Prowler76]

Omika_Pearl wrote...

Night Prowler76 wrote...

Omika_Pearl wrote...

Zanderat wrote...

Yellow Words wrote...

Fran-kiki wrote...

I want Brent Knowles back, he had a clear vision and understood Bioware's fans. I felt like Laidlaw did in fact, just put his middle finger up at us.
You always have to be aware of what the fans want. Dragon Age 2 didn't.

And a lot of fans wanted what DA2 has to offer. 

The evidence (reviews, forum posts metacritc scores, etc.) would seem to indicate otherwise.

You realize there's far more 90+ and 85+ reviews than there are any below that, right?  And you also realize than when your median score is 80 or so, the magic of math makes it EXTREMELY difficult for the score to rise?

Also, since when is  80-85 EPIC FAILURE?

What happened here is an idealogical divide, not the release of a genuinely bad game.  That's what is evidenced in the review collections, not this screaming, zealous minority of hardcore old-schoolers being right about something.

And every single review I've seen that was negative usually wound up saying something stupid, like, "It's too easy."

For a game that has a difficulty slider.  Now THAT'S thorough journalism.

Stop this ridiculous screaming.  No one cares.

There Metascore is around 81 combined on all platforms, so by the laws of mathematics and average, there are not MORE scores of 85-90, maybe you are not very good at math, or just lack intelligence, I will let you decide that for yourself.

There are more.  But look at the scale.  Someone deciding to slam the game with a 60 pulls it twenty points away from a median of 80.  Someone giving it a 90 only pulls it ten points towards 90.

Do you get it now?  Don't be an ass and starting calling people names, you're just making yourself look like a jerk.

They are based on averages, you obviously cannot comprehend this, and for that I am sorry for you, the game has also gotten generous scores like 100 and high 90's which pulled it up to a false level, just like you clain that a 60 lowers it, get your facts straight, or I should say, quit spreading false information to plead your case.

Just some food for thought there.

[Omika_Pearl]

Night Prowler76 wrote...

Omika_Pearl wrote...

Night Prowler76 wrote...

Omika_Pearl wrote...

Zanderat wrote...

Yellow Words wrote...

Fran-kiki wrote...

I want Brent Knowles back, he had a clear vision and understood Bioware's fans. I felt like Laidlaw did in fact, just put his middle finger up at us.
You always have to be aware of what the fans want. Dragon Age 2 didn't.

And a lot of fans wanted what DA2 has to offer. 

The evidence (reviews, forum posts metacritc scores, etc.) would seem to indicate otherwise.

You realize there's far more 90+ and 85+ reviews than there are any below that, right?  And you also realize than when your median score is 80 or so, the magic of math makes it EXTREMELY difficult for the score to rise?

Also, since when is  80-85 EPIC FAILURE?

What happened here is an idealogical divide, not the release of a genuinely bad game.  That's what is evidenced in the review collections, not this screaming, zealous minority of hardcore old-schoolers being right about something.

And every single review I've seen that was negative usually wound up saying something stupid, like, "It's too easy."

For a game that has a difficulty slider.  Now THAT'S thorough journalism.

Stop this ridiculous screaming.  No one cares.

There Metascore is around 81 combined on all platforms, so by the laws of mathematics and average, there are not MORE scores of 85-90, maybe you are not very good at math, or just lack intelligence, I will let you decide that for yourself.

There are more.  But look at the scale.  Someone deciding to slam the game with a 60 pulls it twenty points away from a median of 80.  Someone giving it a 90 only pulls it ten points towards 90.

Do you get it now?  Don't be an ass and starting calling people names, you're just making yourself look like a jerk.

They are based on averages, you obviously cannot comprehend this, and for that I am sorry for you, the game has also gotten generous scores like 100 and high 90's which pulled it up to a false level, just like you clain that a 60 lowers it, get your facts straight, or I should say, quit spreading false information to plead your case.

Just some food for thought there.

http://www.metacriti...c/dragon-age-ii



Let's just make it even more basic, then.  Count the reviews.  Tell me how many there are, and what the scores are.

Modifié par Omika_Pearl, 26 mars 2011 - 06:23 .

[sevalaricgirl]

Well wrote...

sevalaricgirl wrote...

I like what Mike did. No the game isn't perfect but it can be fixed with patches. My suggestion to Bioware is to get the new toolset out. That will compensate pc users who paid 60.00 for an incomplete game. Frankly I think they should have taken a different direction in the writing and the game but I'd be happy with good DLC. The Exiled Prince was not, in my opinion, a good DLC character. I did the personal quests and left him in the chantry. On the other hand, Shale went almost every where with me. Shale had an awesome funny, sarcastic personality. Sebastian was blah.

I should add, I don't know what will compensate console users unless they make the toolset compatible with consoles.

The game is far from perfect.I doubt it could be fixed.To me it was just ok.I agree with you about this.

"Frankly I think they should have taken a different direction in the writing and the game but I'd be happy with good DLC."
Also Shale was my favorite chr in DAO.He was funny.The best DLC that came out for the game.

I am more displeased with the bugs than with anything else.  Hawke is running around Kirwall.  I don't mind the reuse of areas as much as I mind Alistair appearing and acting as if his still alive love interest is dead.  My import was Dalish elf GW.  Alistair stayed in the GWs with her.  The line is there, the import is broken.  That can be fixed.  If they release Mass Effect quality DLC and not DAO quality DLC and an updated toolset, I'd be happy.

Modifié par sevalaricgirl, 26 mars 2011 - 06:28 .

[Darthbill52]

Omika_Pearl wrote...

http://www.metacriti...c/dragon-age-ii

I see 30 reviews in the green, which is 80+. I see a good number of 90+ reviews.

I see only 6 yellow reviews.

So what exactly are you all talking about?

Your talking about metacritic right, you mean the review site where BIOWARE Employees on the Dragon Age II project  have put numerous positive reviews there.  Look it up,Its was big news. 

But also  Look at all the incentive content, just to pre order the game, thats either thanks for your support, here is some swag or what happened in this case free stuff to soften the blow this is a clunker.  Its all advertising and money and flawed reviews.  Siting Metacritic these days doesnt prove anything. 

[Speakeasy13]

I am reserving my judgment for Mr. Laidlaw until the sales & PR period is over and when he can finally comment on his own job objectively without having to speaking in favor of DA2. I may gladly change my mind and say he is a visionary and if given a more lenient timetable could bring the DA franchise to a new height.

That said, I really do feel, from watching him in the dev diary and the post-release interviews, that Mr. Laidlaw needs a charm coach. He came across as having a bit too much confidence in his vision and ability than the actual product is speaking for itself; and the fact that he openly suggests that DA:O's loyal fanbase, namely myself, is not modern enough and needs to keep up with him did hurt my feelings. Indeed, this may represent THE problem why DA2 came under so much fire from its fanbase.

The line between expanding your audience and neglect your fanbase is a very fine one. I am willing to be open-minded and give Bioware room for experiment. But even if that experiment is not entirely disastrous (I don't think DA2 was a terrible game in every aspect), I still expect our respect and support to be reciprocated by Mr. Laidlaw, which I am simply not sensing at this point,

Modifié par Speakeasy13, 26 mars 2011 - 07:35 .

[Darthbill52]

Speakeasy13 wrote...

That said, I really do feel, from watching him in the dev diary and the post-release interviews, that Mr. Laidlaw needs a charm coach. He came across as having a bit too much confidence in his vision and ability than the actual product is speaking for itself; and the fact that he openly suggests that DA:O's loyal fanbase, namely myself, is not modern enough and needs to keep up with him did hurt my feelings. Indeed, this may represent THE problem why DA2 came under so much fire from its fanbase.

The line between expanding your audience and neglect your fanbase is a very fine one. I am willing to be open-minded and give Bioware room for experiment. But even if that experiment is not entirely disastrous (I don't think DA2 was a terrible game in every aspect), I still expect our respect and support to be reciprocated by Mr. Laidlaw, which I am simply not sensing at this point,

I am a firm believer is silence is an admission of guilt, your telling me.  No one official has seen this forum/thread,and most threads of these nature espically recently dont have long lives.  Give me a break, I think no one wants to go on record "yes this man isnt lacking charm and isnt a bit full of themselves." They agree, they just cant officially say it,lol. 

[Cutlasskiwi]

Zanderat wrote...

Yellow Words wrote...

Fran-kiki wrote...

I want Brent Knowles back, he had a clear vision and understood Bioware's fans. I felt like Laidlaw did in fact, just put his middle finger up at us.
You always have to be aware of what the fans want. Dragon Age 2 didn't.

And a lot of fans wanted what DA2 has to offer. 

The evidence (reviews, forum posts metacritc scores, etc.) would seem to indicate otherwise.

Some of them, sure. But you can't just shrug of the positives ones and pretend that they doesn't exist. 

[Speakeasy13]

Darthbill52 wrote...
A case that proves my point -Sun Chips.  A few years back Sun Chips went eco friendly bag that could be composted, bad side effect that bags were extremely noisy.  Many people including myself stopped buying them because of the bag.  Eventually when enough people complained and it hit them in the wallet things changed.  So that is what we must do.  Hit them in the wallet....then things will change

Your point aside, you chose quietness over eco-friendliness? That's terrible! How can you be proudly suggesting that?

[Speakeasy13]

Yellow Words wrote...
Some of them, sure. But you can't just shrug of the positives ones and pretend that they doesn't exist. 

Well I don't think DA2 is a bad game per say. I think most of the dissatisfaction came from the fact that it's a Bioware game, and we expected more.

when you take into account that the positive ones used to be the mainstream, and now it's more of a mixed-bag, then you could safely conclude that DA2 is pretty much one of the if not the worst Bioware game to date in the reviews department.

[Omika_Pearl]

Darthbill52 wrote...

Omika_Pearl wrote...

http://www.metacriti...c/dragon-age-ii

I see 30 reviews in the green, which is 80+. I see a good number of 90+ reviews.

I see only 6 yellow reviews.

So what exactly are you all talking about?

Your talking about metacritic right, you mean the review site where BIOWARE Employees on the Dragon Age II project  have put numerous positive reviews there.  Look it up,Its was big news. 

But also  Look at all the incentive content, just to pre order the game, thats either thanks for your support, here is some swag or what happened in this case free stuff to soften the blow this is a clunker.  Its all advertising and money and flawed reviews.  Siting Metacritic these days doesnt prove anything. 

The professional reviews, not the user reviews.

And a Bioware employee has every right to speak out on behalf of the game in a user review.

Professional reviews.  Look at the professional reviews.  That's what generates the score.

You cannot seriously, earnestly be sitting there and insisting that anyone who disagrees with you is a corporate shill and a sellout.  We're entering into conspiracy theory territory, now.

Also, given all the incredible **** going on in the world right now, your concept of "big news" is as hilarious as it is terrifying.

Modifié par Omika_Pearl, 26 mars 2011 - 08:25 .

[nightlordv]

Omika_Pearl wrote...

Zanderat wrote...

Yellow Words wrote...

Fran-kiki wrote...

I want Brent Knowles back, he had a clear vision and understood Bioware's fans. I felt like Laidlaw did in fact, just put his middle finger up at us.
You always have to be aware of what the fans want. Dragon Age 2 didn't.

And a lot of fans wanted what DA2 has to offer. 

The evidence (reviews, forum posts metacritc scores, etc.) would seem to indicate otherwise.

You realize there's far more 90+ and 85+ reviews than there are any below that, right?  And you also realize than when your median score is 80 or so, the magic of math makes it EXTREMELY difficult for the score to rise?

Also, since when is  80-85 EPIC FAILURE?

What happened here is an idealogical divide, not the release of a genuinely bad game.  That's what is evidenced in the review collections, not this screaming, zealous minority of hardcore old-schoolers being right about something.

And every single review I've seen that was negative usually wound up saying something stupid, like, "It's too easy."

For a game that has a difficulty slider.  Now THAT'S thorough journalism.

Stop this ridiculous complaining and attacking.  No one cares.  You're not going to get anywhere.  You're all just making yourselves look like petty, ridiculous basement nerds with no sense of priority.

If only you all could divert this kind of passion towards solving world hunger or helping lift people from poverty.  

If you want to cite something that's indicative of humanity's decline, it's not that someone made an action-y RPG, it's that a group of people, however small, has decided (at a time when a developed nation has been massacred by one of the worst natural disasters in history and now faces a looming nuclear crisis, when bloody demonstrations for human rights are taking place throughout the middle east, and when Congolese rebels are still gang-raping young girls in a country that probably still supplies the minerals to help us all play PC games) that despite everything important going on in the world right now, what's most important is letting someone you've never met know that you hate them for not making a game to your specifications.

Just some food for thought.  

You do realize that reviews can be bought right? You don't find it strange that all the big major review sites praise this game with high scores yet the unobscure review sites have low scores? Fact is regardless of metacritic score many fans just plain do not like this game and they have good reason not to. It was rushed, and made for consoles to appeal to new customers over the loyal fans that made Origins a success. I do not hate the game, I would give it a 7/10 but its obvious Bioware could have made it a lot better with more time for development.

[Everwarden]

Omika_Pearl wrote...
Professional reviews.  Look at the professional reviews.  That's what generates the score.

I find it difficult to take professional reviews seriously at this point, especailly after Escapist gave DA2 a 100%. (No matter how much you love DA2, it is -not- a 100 score game). We're in a recession, and the major reviewers all make their paychecks on advertising revenue. If someone posts a realistic review of a major title from a major publisher they risk losing a great deal of money. The only low score that I've seen of DA2 so far is from GameCritics (who now have earned my respect by putting their integrity over their paychecks). 

User reviews on the other hand didn't get sent a 'review copy' for free, and don't make money advertising games. They actually had to -pay- money for the product, so doesn't it stand to reason that their opinion should be taken more seriously?

You cannot seriously, earnestly be sitting there and insisting that anyone who disagrees with you is a corporate shill and a sellout.  We're entering into conspiracy theory territory, now.

No. I'm saying that Dragon Age 2 is an inferior game to Origins. If you disagree, well, buy five copies to spite me. Free country. 

[skyrend]

Omika_Pearl wrote...

And every single review I've seen that was negative usually wound up saying something stupid, like, "It's too easy."

For a game that has a difficulty slider.  Now THAT'S thorough journalism.

You're delusional.  I haven't seen many reviews key in on the easiness of the game.  It's more of the laziness that permeates through every facet of the game: re-used levels, enemies popping out of thin air EVERY battle, the stale setting, Kirkwall feeling like a ghost-town, less interaction with your companions, etc.

[Wynne]

It is astounding to me that anyone could think they know what goes on at Bioware well enough to judge *any* employee's fitness or lack of fitness to do his job. That is almost laughable arrogance.

Mike is a spokesperson. That doesn't make him the problem, certainly not if the game was a bit on the rushed side. Designers don't get to make those decisions.