I am not in any kind of corner, as far as I'm concerned. I usually have a clear pattern of choosing games to purchase. I am an adult, and I have people to feed, clothe, and house. I have to support the upkeep of a car. My 'free' money is limited. Therefore, I am usually very careful with purchases.
The usual way I choose to go when it comes to games is to wait and see. When Oblivion came out, I waited for reactions. I knew Bethsoft, and I know their strong points and their short-comings. I was quite sure that it would fall way short of "Morrowind", because I expected it to do so. I waited a good amount of time until Oblivion's price went down, and until the modding community was able to fix and expand the game.Only then did I purchase it. I put "Knights of the Nine" on my Christmas list, because all their DLC came bundled with it. Same with "Shivering Isles", that went on my birthday list.
I'm happy with Oblivion. It's the most heavily modded game I've ever played, but it is enjoyable. I feel I received my money's worth. This is my usual buying behavior for all games. Except for the DA IP. I let myself be fooled into thinking it was a true sequel. Perhaps because the word "sequel" was thrown around often, very often. Or perhaps it was because the name of the game was "DA 2", keypoint being the numeral 2.
I loved DA:O. This was the major reason I blindly rushed out and bought DA 2. I spent all my 'free' money on a product that I should've waited for. I should have adhered to my usual buying habits. I let myself be fooled by the number "2", my love for the predecessor, and the name Bioware. My own bloody fault? Perhaps. I'm not denying that I acted like a fool, but I did have reasons to trust the company and like I said, I love DA:O. I am aware of its flaws, but I love it nevertheless. And no, I'm not using DA:O to 'bash' DA 2. I did however, base my brainless behavior on the fact that DA:O was and is one of my favorite games.
That no longer applies. It was an expensive lesson, but I've learned it. I can get action RPG hybrids for a much cheaper price. I don't like them all that much anyway, but I do like some.
GOG has not done me wrong yet, especially because they don't pack nasty DRM's into their merchandise. From now on that goes on my "caution" list as well. I will wait for every game and see if it packs a DRM. If it does, I'll pass. Due to my usual habits, I was quite able to bypass games that packed snoopware, especially malware that nestles itself into an administrator position on my system, but not this time. That only adds to my severe disappointment.
Another habit of mine was to watch out for the DLC issue. I watch and research a game, and if it becomes clear that the base game is incomplete and needs further milking of customers, I pass. No thanks. I either get a complete game for my complete money, or I'll keep my money. There are other choices out there, sell your incomplete game to someone else, thank you all the same. I refuse to buy DLC, not for DA:O (which I love) nor for any other games. I was even careful with Awakenings. I researched it, came to the conclusion that it was most definitely NOT worth my money, and passed on it.
I will expand these spending habits to any and all games from now on. I will wait and see, and wait some more. The name Bioware will no longer mean automatic quality. They will no longer get first choice. I saved my money up for DA:O. Because it was a bioware title, and because I loved the sound of it. There were years spent on assorted forums (fora?) talking about the game, and everyone jumped in, including the devs/creators. It was fun.
I rushed out to buy DA:O, and haven't regretted it ever. DA:O had no predecessor to ride piggy-back on, but DA 2 did. And I acted like a fool and let myself be drawn into a blind rush buy. So lesson learned, and from now on I will treat bioware and its IP's like any other developer. No more preferential treatment, no more recommendations to friends and acquaintances before facts are in. I never pre-order anyway, so no changes there.
I'm not in any corner, but I no longer trust the company. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. It'll not happen, trust me. I want to play a game that I consider RPG. I don't know about anyone else's definiton of RPG, but I know mine, and DA 2 is not it. The Wardens are MY Wardens. I love them all. Hawke is not mine. I never connected in any way, shape or form with her. I felt no emotions, no suspense, nothing.
I was watching an interactive movie, and got to move their little pixel doll around. I never even really knew what the character, that is supposedly mine would say at any given moment. My character development was severely limited. I was told many things, and saw almost none of it. I was told that Kirkwall was a city full of life, but I was shown a dull, neverchanging, lifeless city. I was told that many years had passed, but was shown none of that. Nothing changed. Change the word "Years" to "Month" and it will stay the same. It's a word, nothing more. The list goes on and on, and as far as I'm concerned, personally, this is not an RPG.
Are they in a corner? I doubt it. Once a company feels they can ride roughshot over a large chunk of their fans, they will continue on that path. Does DA 2 have its supporters? Indisputably, and I'm happy for them. However, to me, personally, and imo, DA 2 is 'meh'. It's an average interactive movie/action RPG that was nowhere near worth the 56 euros I paid for it.
So in my conclusion, no one is in any corner. If bioware wishes to continue on this path, I wish them luck and a grande journey. I, on the other hand, will cast my eyes toward other companies that produce RPG's and I will keep the purchasing habits I had, and expand it over all companies. There are enough out there, and action RPG's are churned out by the score. I will re-direct my attention toward the indies and toward the older games. I also will watch the eastern market, who knows, they've shown patches of trying to capture the western market. Maybe they'll manage to do that.
Retour en haut
:(
I don't hate DA2, it iust is meh due to the flaws I can't ignore.
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