107 réponses à ce sujet

[maladictor2009]

Ninjaphrog2.0 wrote...

I disagree with the OP

LOLS THAT RHYMES!

Anyway I disagree...for all of DAOs flaws and needs, it deffinately hasn't ripped off anything from other games. Sounds to me like you're just a well spoken troll wannabe.

Now I used to be the darn best troll on this forum till I retired...trust me, you have much to learn.

sounds like you call anybody a troll if their opinion dosnt coincide with your own. Makes you look quite foolish.

[jth82]

i was the inventor of the word : "The"  , therefor any idea/sentence or spoken word with "The" among them is not original anymore, it is a blatant copy of what i did.

see what i did there?

Modifié par jth82, 22 décembre 2009 - 07:49 .

[Lord Phoebus]

I agree the plot was fairly uninspired and really fell into the standard Bioware mold:

• You're the chosen one (Grey Warden, Jedi, Spirit Monk, Bhaalspawn).
• You have to go to 4-5 locations to get the widget (in this case troops, as opposed to star map or word of power) after which the game becomes linear.
• One of your companions is lost to you at a critical point in the adventure (you can avoid this but there are two companions you can lose at the same point).
• The main villain presented to you in the game isn't the real main villain but you still spend most of the game fighting him.

There's more but I would go into spoilers. The writing wasn't really top notch either, it's good in places, but not so good in others. Imho, they didn't really succeed in bringing out feudal politics in the dwarven city, and the Elven section could have been handled better too, but Redcliffe and the Tower were well done. For the most part the Companions were well done too.



I suppose the plot and story telling were good enough, but nothing great. Though on my second playthrough the escape key does get mashed a lot.

[Darkened Dragon]

Ripped off ... No ... Use of pre-existing TOOLS to create an intriguing and pulling back story and game plot ... Yes



Various mythologies of old had various aspects of this game to portray the godhood/heroic/epic stories/poems/what-not of what they believed or still do of history. Now let me know if I'm wrong .. but I recall Tolkien, and yeah he was one great artist of story writing, lived and wrote far after the nordic, greco-roman, egyptian, and various other pantheons, of which he too used as tools to create the stories of Middle Earth, and not just LOTR which was based off his older book The Hobbit. As far as corruption of men changing their appearance from a diety's will .. IIRC Greek myth's goddess Athena did such to a woman named Arachne, changed her into a spider because she disrespected the gods. Other myths and legends too have these same types of punishments, some as little as deformities, where Tolkien glamorized it further by making elves into orcs, though that was done by a mage's hand if i recall. Other games too have used similar "godly punishments" hence its a tool from mythical ages. Ever see Pinocchio or read the book its made from? Again punishment of misdeeds turned the boys into donkeys. That too was written before Tolkien was even born.



As to the dialog similarities .. well if you look hard enough, I'm sure you will find other quotes that are similar to other tales in both LOTR and DA:O. That doesn't mean they plagiarized other authors or not, its what they felt the characters would say during that time.



I could go on more but am very tired and need sleep.



But here's an FYI .. the term you should use is "Inspired by" not "Stolen from" I guarantee you will get less static from it, and if ya are bothered that much by that then play it the way you want it and don't blast into a forum of the game players blasting something they obviously like or wouldn't be here LOL.

[tinygod81s]

Lord of the rings was not original, hell Tolkien out right stole many of the aspects

the entire franchise was written as an excuse to showcase several of the languages he had written.  He wasnt an author first, he was a linguist (did i spell that right?)

[SleeplessInSigil]

Seriously, all of you screaming rip-off or weak this and unoriginal that, need to present your ideas of something BETTER, and see how they stand up to the scrutiny of everyone on this forum, never-mind having the ability to see those ideas through to market.

[RockGnasher]

My gf and I noticed some bad writing... she was in the darkspawn cave and as you go around the bend there's a woman's voice. She said that the darkspawn spewed in her mouth? We came to the conclusion that some of the story stuff was written by people who may not be the most well-rounded.



I agree, too many cliches... the darkspawn are taking over in RL with their tactless and tasteless expressions of computer world depravity. I suggest that the writers go on a hike and write some poetry... figure out a way to see things in a warmer light, just not the light where darkspawn vomit into human females' mouths.



I guess not everyone has the love... careers these days are more about what looks good on paper, not necessarily what looks good in RL, or in a game...

[bzombo]

RockGnasher wrote...

My gf and I noticed some bad writing... she was in the darkspawn cave and as you go around the bend there's a woman's voice. She said that the darkspawn spewed in her mouth? We came to the conclusion that some of the story stuff was written by people who may not be the most well-rounded.

I agree, too many cliches... the darkspawn are taking over in RL with their tactless and tasteless expressions of computer world depravity. I suggest that the writers go on a hike and write some poetry... figure out a way to see things in a warmer light, just not the light where darkspawn vomit into human females' mouths.

I guess not everyone has the love... careers these days are more about what looks good on paper, not necessarily what looks good in RL, or in a game...

[Dam Wookie]

Uh.. Ah.. Di... Eh...



That's all they get to say when I hit the escape key on the second play through. As most chats involve exhausting the options it's nearly always already been said.



Uh.. Ah.. Eh... Ay.. Ya.. Do..





There really needed plot twists and complications. Morigan you are my sister.. but we..earlier we..... oh ... blaaaah... huuurl.

Whynne...is the leader of the darkspawn. Evil old byatch. Never trust someone thats always grinning.

In a flashback to the battle of os you see Duncan shout strike me down and I will become stronger than you can ever imagine and he turns up and protects you in the final battle.

...You find a ring which needs casting into the pit of mount doom otherwise you will not weaken the end boss.

..You get caught in a hurricane and must get back to home using your magic red shoes.

..You are being chased by a group of ghosts and have to find and eat a magic yellow pill to kill them.







It doesn't matter that there is a long line of influence and evolution in ideas, the problem with this game is that there isn't a single spark of creativity amongst the very polished rpg.

Planescape, BG, Fallout, The Witcher are all games that managed some at some point.

[soteria]

Naked Fury wrote...

I think many didn't understand this first sentence of the OP. To sow means to plant, the fruits of which are reaped later. The opening scene planted seeds, but my total disinterest with the story (hitting escape) didn't "flower" until 75% through.

It looks like most responders thought I was hitting escape from the outset. Like I've said several times now, I did give DA chance. And I said in the OP that I didn't skip any of BG2 or KOTOR, so you can't pull out the powergamer card.

You know, if most people misunderstand what you intended to say, it's probably your fault at communicating poorly.  In this case, it's a matter of the rest of your post drowning out the opening sentence--the *only* examples you give for not liking the story/setting are from the opening video.  If you give three or four specific examples of what you didn't like in the opening sequence, and then just throw out a blanket, "and the writing was bad," what do you expect us to think?  ...yeah.

Besides, your examples are pretty lame--we can't have corrupted men wearing black (which aren't even in the game, btw, that clip was just symbolic) without ripping off LoTR now?  An opening sequence showing mountains, which is an incredibly common cinematic effect that LoTR hardly invented, and that means the story rips off LoTR?

Your final paragraph kinda solidified the impression that you skipped most of the dialogue in the game.  Nowhere do you imply that you paid attention to it for more than the first few hours, but saying that "I didn't skip dialogue in BG2 or KOTOR [but I did in DA:O]" implies that you skipped a lot of it. 

Like others, I am questioning why you are posting about this.  Pretty much the only things of substance you've said are, "The opening sequence reminded me of the intro to the LoTR movies.  The story didn't catch my interest.  I liked the Dragonlance books from the 80's."  You're certainly entitled to not like this game or anything you please, but I think it's immature of you to use your own tastes to insult the people who did enjoy it by saying "You just don't read enough [good] books [like the ones I like to read]."

[b4igum]

some liked it, some didnt...thatz true with EVERY piece of literature on the planet. i think we have gone far enough with this topic...any1 else agree...or do u disagree? i dont care either way



Chrono Trigger = Best RPG Ever...if only Nintendo had Windows XP and quad core CPU's back then...le sigh

[Zenon]

Lord Phoebus wrote...

I agree the plot was fairly uninspired and really fell into the standard Bioware mold:

• You're the chosen one (Grey Warden, Jedi, Spirit Monk, Bhaalspawn).
• You have to go to 4-5 locations to get the widget (in this case troops, as opposed to star map or word of power) after which the game becomes linear.
• One of your companions is lost to you at a critical point in the adventure (you can avoid this but there are two companions you can lose at the same point).
• The main villain presented to you in the game isn't the real main villain but you still spend most of the game fighting him.

There's more but I would go into spoilers. The writing wasn't really top notch either, it's good in places, but not so good in others. Imho, they didn't really succeed in bringing out feudal politics in the dwarven city, and the Elven section could have been handled better too, but Redcliffe and the Tower were well done. For the most part the Companions were well done too.

I suppose the plot and story telling were good enough, but nothing great. Though on my second playthrough the escape key does get mashed a lot.

While I admit there are parallels to the storytelling structure of other Bioware games, they did some things differently. As a whole I disagree with this opinion, but explaining why is almost impossible without revealing spoilers. My hero was much less "the (only) chosen one" compared to e.g. Mass Effect, as he's not the only Grey Warden in Ferelden. In DA:O more than in all games before "the path is the goal". The actual enemy is revealed pretty early in the game. Much less surprise effect than in e.g. Jade Empire. As far as I know losing companions in DA entirely depends on the player's choices.

About a certain way of storytelling: Needless to say, that almost all fantasy novels are about a hero overcoming a big enemy in the end. It's actually a trait of writing great entertaining stories with high suspense. If it's well written, I'll always enjoy it. Even if the basic low level pattern remains pretty much the same. Also in movies there are many parallels. Take 007 James Bond for example. It's almost always some incredibly powerful villain, who needs to be stopped with 007 getting on a suicide mission, often being captured by his enemy, but after a great deal of fighting and special FX succeeding in winning the final battle. Does this make Bond movies boring? In most cases they are great.

There are games, which have less intense storytelling and a fairly open. Most of those were less thrilling to me, I have to say. I never finished Morrowind, to name one candidate. I didn't bother getting Oblivion until now. Maybe I start Morrowind again someday...

[GHL_Soul_Reaver]

Well the op is right about one thing... it is an LOTR clone in many ways... don't be blindfolded by the bits and bytes.

Just remember the scenes where the Rohan King is possessed by Saruman... The Great Ancient tree from there as well... Defending Helms Deep... Mines of Moria... The Orc wars and Sauron.... Saruman Imprisoning Gandalf... and what more... draw the parallels and compare with alot of the stuff... Just take the Races from LOTR and compare it is Human, Elf and dwarf.

It feels cliche as it is, I wish they had come up with something more than just this... it is easy to copy another story so I wonder why it took this long to create the game as it is.

I don't say that I dislike the game though, but the copycat thing I have noticed as well and denying that they are there is just stupid.

Modifié par GHL_Soul_Reaver, 23 décembre 2009 - 10:17 .

[Zenon]

GHL_Soul_Reaver wrote...

Well the op is right about one thing... it is an LOTR clone in many ways... don't be blindfolded by the bits and bytes.

Just remember the scenes where the Rohan King is possessed by Saruman... The Great Ancient tree from there as well... Defending Helms Deep... Mines of Moria... The Orc wars and Sauron.... Saruman Imprisoning Gandalf... and what more... draw the parallels and compare with alot of the stuff... Just take the Races from LOTR and compare it is Human, Elf and dwarf.

It feels cliche as it is, I wish they had come up with something more than just this... it is easy to copy another story so I wonder why it took this long to create the game as it is.

I don't say that I dislike the game though, but the copycat thing I have noticed as well and denying that they are there is just stupid.

They gave a twist to the history of Elves for example...

I have to say this kind of whining about some aspects of the game or setting were similar to other "stock" fantasy is naive to say the least. And I'm getting tired of reading such. Every game based on D&D or variants have Elves, Dwarves, Orcs (none seen in DA), probably also Goblins, Halflings, Kobolds, Trolls, Ogres, etc. It's a feature of this type of high-fantasy setting. Also DA has been advertised to be a spiritual successor of the BG series, which implies there must be similarities in the gameworld. You had to know this before, but you did buy it anyway and now feel like complaining? Shut up, will ya?

There were more original and unique role-playing games around. I still love Vampire Bloodlines. Obviously the game didn't sell well enough, since the developer went out of business. Perhaps unique and new settings don't please enough people and are certainly an economical risk for the developers as these costs go into the millions $$!

What's unique about the n-th FPS with a similar engine and gameplay? CoD_MW2 sells like hell without being exceptionally innovative apart from irritating the press with a highly questionable content in one level. The test I read said, that the developers didn't even bother to make a good story for this game. What's original about it? I'd be interested if there are also many fans of this game bashing it after playing it.

This destructive criticism puts me off. If you have a constructive suggestion, fine. But stop blabing around just for the sake to read your own posts or relieve your stress from being unsatisfied with something. Coming to think of it, why do I spend my time in the forums replying to frustrated posts instead of enjoying the game myself? Sometimes I'm a mystery to myself. Must be some kind of...

eNcHaNtMeNt?

[phordicus]

the problem may be that the world they invented is too derivative and/or cliched to be interesting, thus all that dialog and journal reading becomes a chore. they might have been better served by leaving out places such as Orlais and aliens like the Qunari altogether and focused on making Ferelden itself more interesting, or at the very least, more desirable to save. hinting at what might be out there is far easier to internalize than pages of dialog about a place that is currently utterly irrelevant.

[Alexus_VG]

Ok so the game has some obvious elements of classic fantasy storytelling. Show me one big bugget production in any media, be it book, movie or game that doesn't. There is a reason theese elements are called classic and that is because they work and make a strong basis for a solid story. Much like in any media what makes the base storyline and wolrd unique is the NPC's that inhabit it. If you can not identify or become attached to some of the NPC's there is no way you will be drawn into the story itself. In DA:O in spesific there are some great NPC's in my oppinion and overuse of the escape key will rob you of the opportunity to enjoy those.

[GHL_Soul_Reaver]

Zenon wrote...

GHL_Soul_Reaver wrote...

Well the op is right about one thing... it is an LOTR clone in many ways... don't be blindfolded by the bits and bytes.

Just remember the scenes where the Rohan King is possessed by Saruman... The Great Ancient tree from there as well... Defending Helms Deep... Mines of Moria... The Orc wars and Sauron.... Saruman Imprisoning Gandalf... and what more... draw the parallels and compare with alot of the stuff... Just take the Races from LOTR and compare it is Human, Elf and dwarf.

It feels cliche as it is, I wish they had come up with something more than just this... it is easy to copy another story so I wonder why it took this long to create the game as it is.

I don't say that I dislike the game though, but the copycat thing I have noticed as well and denying that they are there is just stupid.

They gave a twist to the history of Elves for example...

I have to say this kind of whining about some aspects of the game or setting were similar to other "stock" fantasy is naive to say the least. And I'm getting tired of reading such. Every game based on D&D or variants have Elves, Dwarves, Orcs (none seen in DA), probably also Goblins, Halflings, Kobolds, Trolls, Ogres, etc. It's a feature of this type of high-fantasy setting. Also DA has been advertised to be a spiritual successor of the BG series, which implies there must be similarities in the gameworld. You had to know this before, but you did buy it anyway and now feel like complaining? Shut up, will ya?

There were more original and unique role-playing games around. I still love Vampire Bloodlines. Obviously the game didn't sell well enough, since the developer went out of business. Perhaps unique and new settings don't please enough people and are certainly an economical risk for the developers as these costs go into the millions $$!

What's unique about the n-th FPS with a similar engine and gameplay? CoD_MW2 sells like hell without being exceptionally innovative apart from irritating the press with a highly questionable content in one level. The test I read said, that the developers didn't even bother to make a good story for this game. What's original about it? I'd be interested if there are also many fans of this game bashing it after playing it.

This destructive criticism puts me off. If you have a constructive suggestion, fine. But stop blabing around just for the sake to read your own posts or relieve your stress from being unsatisfied with something. Coming to think of it, why do I spend my time in the forums replying to frustrated posts instead of enjoying the game myself? Sometimes I'm a mystery to myself. Must be some kind of...

eNcHaNtMeNt?

How can it be destructive coming up with pure facts.. D&D based or whatever then D&D has the option to go many various ways as well as having 100s of different stories, background stories and whatsoever else in which most of the D&D based computer games has been like, a different story a different way.

Then DAO was released... but still.. it is like I already know what is going to happen except for all the cool dialog it is all about gathering allies to an extend that it for sure looks like just a LOTR clone in which I did point out, I like playing DAO still though, I also mentioned that... but trying to be honest about the situation rather than being some kind of fanboy supporting bioware rather than the game they have made, I wish for more constructive stories in the future rather than a copy of another story in which already has a game made though a MMORPG.

Spiritual successor of BG2 I think not though, come on, it is way out of enviroment even being close on BG2, instead they made a game that could go with most MMO standards just singleplayer.

I still like to play the game though, nothing wrong there, but it gets old rather fast.. and it is not fun keeping up on beating the crap out of the NPCs.

[The Console Version is good]

After my first playthrough I skipped every cut scene and diaologue options.

Modifié par The Console Version is good, 23 décembre 2009 - 12:48 .

[Zenon]

@GHL_Soul_Reaver:

Perhaps you'll like "The Witcher" more then. Although there are also elves and dwarves in that game, the setting and gameplay is quite different from DA:O. It's only one single hero though and no party. I haven't finished it myself yet, but maybe it's more open than DA:O.

And in most fantasy stories there are parallels or inspirations from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. MERP and D&D basically picked up the ball from there and created a game from it. There are subtle differences between the D&D elf and dwarf compared to Tolkien, but the general idea is very much inspired or derived from there. That's fact, allright. Is it a bad thing? No!

Fact is, that almost all classic high-fantasy revolves around this core set of ideas with elves, dwarves, orcs, etc. If it's well made, I don't get tired of this. Like I made an analogy to 007 in a previous post.

And even you have to admit, that the concept of DA magic system (compared to D&D style magic) and especially the fade is new and unique. Also the important difference, that "clerics" have no supernatural powers at all is a refreshing twist in world-design. Darkspawn are similar to undead, ok. But then how much different can these evils be created? Also the whole demon concept is unique in the way they put it. At the same time the game is easier to understand, if there is at least some common ground left for the player to start out from.

There were some extremely unique games created like MDK, MDK2 (Bioware even), Sacrifice (great game), Fahrenheit to name some I played. (MDK actually not much, MDK2 only demo... wasn't my taste). Correct me if I'm wrong, but most of these games seem to have been much less successful than their "classic" competitors like Quake for example.

Modifié par Zenon, 23 décembre 2009 - 01:48 .

[Godeshus]

Naked Fury wrote...


Looking back, the seeds of my dialogue-skipping addiction were sown as early as the opening movie. I was immediately turned off by the outright Lord of the Rings borrowing. Even some lines were nearly identical to the LoTR film narration ("it was the hubris of men that brought...").

Several hooded figures in black are shown. They were once men, we are told, "twisted and cursed by their own corruption." You don't say? Ever hear of the Black Riders? Yes, I believe you have.

The darkspawn army is growing. A dark horizon is shown. Mountains. The final shot is indistinguishable from the horizon of Mordor.

Then there were the ridiculous cliches, not only in the opening film but throughout the writing. It reminded me of the Christian Rock genre, where there is a glossary of about 200 words and phrases from which lyrics are almost exclusively chosen. Likewise Dragon Age pulls from a glossary of ideas, duct-taping them together to form a simulacrum of a story.

I was not always the addict that I am today. I didn't skip dialogue in BG2 or KOTOR. I remember being interested and experiencing something unique. There is a creative spark in those two games. Each has engaging characters. Each tells a story which happens to have a fantasy setting. With Dragon Age, we only have the setting. Things seem to be happening in that setting, but they aren't interesting enough for me to care.

Yet I ride on, with my precious escape key as my companion. So get me to the next quest, get me to the next fight, get me to the end. Dragon Age, maybe I'm just not that into you.

How do you know what you've missed if you hit the escape key the whole time? Seems to me like not reading a book and then critiquing it.,or not paying any attention during a movie then calling it bad. 

[GHL_Soul_Reaver]

Zenon wrote...

@GHL_Soul_Reaver:

Perhaps you'll like "The Witcher" more then. Although there are also elves and dwarves in that game, the setting and gameplay is quite different from DA:O. It's only one single hero though and no party. I haven't finished it myself yet, but maybe it's more open than DA:O.

And in most fantasy stories there are parallels or inspirations from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. MERP and D&D basically picked up the ball from there and created a game from it. There are subtle differences between the D&D elf and dwarf compared to Tolkien, but the general idea is very much inspired or derived from there. That's fact, allright. Is it a bad thing? No!

Fact is, that almost all classic high-fantasy revolves around this core set of ideas with elves, dwarves, orcs, etc. If it's well made, I don't get tired of this. Like I made an analogy to 007 in a previous post.

And even you have to admit, that the concept of DA magic system (compared to D&D style magic) and especially the fade is new and unique. Also the important difference, that "clerics" have no supernatural powers at all is a refreshing twist in world-design. Darkspawn are similar to undead, ok. But then how much different can these evils be created? Also the whole demon concept is unique in the way they put it. At the same time the game is easier to understand, if there is at least some common ground left for the player to start out from.

There were some extremely unique games created like MDK, MDK2 (Bioware even), Sacrifice (great game), Fahrenheit to name some I played. (MDK actually not much, MDK2 only demo... wasn't my taste). Correct me if I'm wrong, but most of these games seem to have been much less successful than their "classic" competitors like Quake for example.

It is not what I am saying damn you... I am saying that the entire STORY is basically a copy of LOTR... not the lore or whatever it is reused many places and the true lore origins from myths and and folk lore, Not some Tolkien dude or gary Gylgarnax however his name is spelt.

I am speaking about the story line... most of the concept is just LOTR if you watch the three movies as well as if you read the three BOOKs which are better than the movies you would understand what it was I would be talking about.. friggen hell the general lore can be reused... it you read between the lines you would see that I even mentioned that.

I hope for a better made seequal maybe... as it is it made me not want to get ME2 for an instance, bioware is not what it used to be as it is, simple as that.

AS I SAID BEFORE I STILL LIKE PLAYING THE DAMNED GAME, NOW GET IT... MERELY JUST POINTING OUT IT IS A COPY OF ANOTHER GAME BASICALLY, OR RATHER THEY COULD ALTER THE PERSONS IN THE GAME AND ALTER THE GFX A BIT AND CALL IT LOTR THE SINGLEPLAYER CAMPAIGN IS ALL.

[DragonRageGT]

@GHL_Soul_Reaver when you say something like "I am saying that the entire STORY is basically a copy of LOTR" ... please add, "in my fraking opinion".

I've read the books, actually I read them all once per year, I watch the 3 Extended Edition DVD's every now and them, I rp'ed in hardcore LotR PW servers in NWN with amazing lore from the books, all of them (which I've read all too), not just the trilogy and I completely disagree with that statement of yours.

And were it such, Tolkien Enterprises would be more than happy to collect their share, one way or the other. And The One Ring dot Net would certainly be crowded with posts and articles about it.

Modifié par RageGT, 23 décembre 2009 - 02:31 .

[Zenon]

RageGT wrote...

@GHL_Soul_Reaver when you say something like "I am saying that the entire STORY is basically a copy of LOTR" ... please add, "in my fraking opinion".

I've read the books, actually I read them all once per year, I watch the 3 Extended Edition DVD's every now and them, I rp'ed in hardcore LotR PW servers in NWN with amazing lore from the books, all of them (which I've read all too), not just the trilogy and I completely disagree with that statement of yours.

And were it such, Tolkien Enterprises would be more than happy to collect their share, one way or the other. And The One Ring dot Net would certainly be crowded with posts and articles about it.

I second that. I wasn't aware, that the Fellowship of the Ring had the purpose to gather an army. Also there was no battle against Sauron himself. The story, especially the movies, were about the One Ring rather than the group of heroes.

There is also no equivalent or similar kind of monster like the Nazgul in DA:O. The only obvious similarity may be the Deep Roads compared to Mines of Moria. But then again I saw no golems in LotR movies, while there were no trolls in DA:O.

I could go on, but this is a non-spoiler forum, so many details can't be discussed here.

[Kamthra]

Naked Fury wrote...

Looking back, the seeds of my dialogue-skipping addiction were sown as early as the opening movie. I was immediately turned off by the outright Lord of the Rings borrowing. Even some lines were nearly identical to the LoTR film narration ("it was the hubris of men that brought...").

Several hooded figures in black are shown. They were once men, we are told, "twisted and cursed by their own corruption." You don't say? Ever hear of the Black Riders? Yes, I believe you have.

The darkspawn army is growing. A dark horizon is shown. Mountains. The final shot is indistinguishable from the horizon of Mordor.

Then there were the ridiculous cliches, not only in the opening film but throughout the writing. It reminded me of the Christian Rock genre, where there is a glossary of about 200 words and phrases from which lyrics are almost exclusively chosen. Likewise Dragon Age pulls from a glossary of ideas, duct-taping them together to form a simulacrum of a story.

I was not always the addict that I am today. I didn't skip dialogue in BG2 or KOTOR. I remember being interested and experiencing something unique. There is a creative spark in those two games. Each has engaging characters. Each tells a story which happens to have a fantasy setting. With Dragon Age, we only have the setting. Things seem to be happening in that setting, but they aren't interesting enough for me to care.

Yet I ride on, with my precious escape key as my companion. So get me to the next quest, get me to the next fight, get me to the end. Dragon Age, maybe I'm just not that into you.

It's easy and human nature to make comparisons against something similar or familiar. It's much harder to see the differences which make something unique.

If you distill any story down to the most basic level, there are certain themes that will recur. Whatever the route the story takes, ultimately it ends with a Hero vs Villain.

What makes a story different and unique is how it progresses, the incidents and accidents along the way, the setting and context. Culture, assumed knowledge, attitudes of the inhabitants, all can change the texture and tone of the story.

In a world without superpowers, the one who has, becomes special.
In a world where everyone has superpowers, the one who doesn't, becomes special.

Different sides of the same coin.

I guess when you've read as much of a genre as it seems you have, the familiarities become more noticeable, due to your exposure and experience. It's sad when a person becomes jaded and can no longer see something for what it is, instead of comparing it to something it isn't.

I too have felt the urge to skip some scenes, but have resisted the urge and even gone out of the way to read through the lore, because your first exposure informs any subsequent ones.

I like the Dragon Age setting, it's a clean new setting, some of the rules may be similiar, but a lot of them aren't. I can also see lots of potential in the setting, and am actually feeling quite optimistic, precisely because they haven't plumbed all of the potential out of it in the first go.

[PriscilaSSR]

Gods... Why can't people STOP COMPLANING?
 
And it's always the same complains. "Too hard!" "Too easy!" "Too different from other RPGs/Fantasy settings" "Too equal to other RPGs/Fantasy settings"... How can a game be so many opposite things at the same time? It doesn't make sense, these complains are useless! They don't add anything new or interesting to the forums! It's just endless discussions about pointless opinions that won’t change. I'm tired.

 
(Sorry, if I sound rude... But I'm tired of these topics cluttering the forum... Just ignore me if you don't agree...)

Modifié par PriscilaSSR, 23 décembre 2009 - 03:08 .