138959 réponses à ce sujet

[myahele]

Oh wow. Looks like we'll have 666 pages on sunday with the rate this is going :-)

[Ananka]

Whoa, thanks guys! Hmm not sure that's enough to make me buy a special edition of a game. Those suckers are expensive enough as it is!

 

Okay, I have another OT aside to share with y'all, but I'll put it under spoilers since it's really super duper OT:

Spoiler

So last night my friend and I were out drinking, and she was showing me something on her phone, "feminist frequency." I was like, oh, of course, I've heard of it! That's Anita Sarkeesian's website! I love her!" (My friend is a colleague and knows I'm doing research on feminism and gaming.) I gush on and on about her, and what do you know, the guy from the table next to us, is suddenly leaning over and going, excuse me, did I hear you say "feminist frequency"?

 

He proceeds to show me his iPhone case, which has the feminist frequency logo on it, and lo and behold, he says that he is a close friend of Anita's! I was really shocked (and a bit skeptical) because keep in mind I live in a very tiny town in the deep south, so what would a close friend of Anita Sarkeesian's be doing here?? Granted, this is a pretty posh bar (for our town), but still. Anyway, I'm pretty flustered, and me and the guy (and two girls sitting with him) are chatting a bit, and I'm super excited, because it's like meeting the friend of a celebrity, yes, that's how small town I am... Anita Sarkeesian is a celebrity in my mind

 

Well out of nowhere my friend just blurts out "Artemis (except she uses my real name of course) is a professor who's writing about gaming!" OMG... my entire face turned red. I gave her this strangled look. The guy kind of hesitated and smiled, and was like, oh really? Where are you a professor at?" Again, keep in mind I live in a small town. So I, very embarrassed, give the name of my small college, and he's like, oh, that's cool. And the conversation sort of peters out. And I'm sitting there mortified. And later my friend is profusely apologizing, telling me she panicked and wanted to say something to make me look cool, and that's what she came up with. I'd do anything for a do over LOL!

 

So that's my encounter with a friend of a gaming "celebrity" LOL 

 

Wow, what are the odds? Sounds like it went fine though.

I love Feminist Frequency. The videos on Tropes vs Women in Video Games are great.
 

[CuriousArtemis]

I love Feminist Frequency. The videos on Tropes vs Women in Video Games are great.

 

 

I love her, too; the Tropes vs Women series was a thing that needed to happen. It was staring everyone in the face, but no one was paying any attention to the problem. I'd say more, but even in this friendly space, mentioning "the f-word" is bound to entice trolls into our thread, lol!

 

I always get the thread off topic. Sorry, thread.

 

Who's ready for a Cullen party in less than 24 hours?!?!?!

[BioFan (Official)]

Urgh. Bed. Now. Must. Go. zzz. 

 

 

night y'all! 

 

 

Hope we get something juicy this week! Twitter par-tay monday

[Galagraphia]

I don't want to wait for the party, I'll just start one myself. Finished a little comic:

Spoiler

Kind of my theory regarding why was the Inquisition attacking the Grey Wardens in the trailer.

[thats1evildude]

I don't want to wait for the party, I'll just start one myself. Finished a little comic:

Spoiler

Kind of my theory regarding why was the Inquisition attacking the Grey Wardens in the trailer.

 

Pretty cute. 

[wiccame]

Oh, oh, I would say the closest example to what Cullen could be is Joker. Now, let's set aside our feelings of rage at never getting to romance everyone's favorite snarky pilot But I can see Cullen occupying a role of similar import.

As long as he don't shut me down over the unicorn!!!!   I mean ok it may have a horn and all but come on!!!

[wiccame]

Cullen being around to train our military seems weird to me too. Not to say he's not talented cause I'm sure after being a templar for 10+ years he's got some moves, but I feel like someone else could easily do it?

 

I don't know anymore, I'm rambling. 

This...I mean why waste a sword?   he's probably still young enough to handle a bit of stress out in the field....GW seems to be a bit older than him. Surely it would be more tactical to have all available fighters, you know available. Instead of sticking one in an office....

[Sifr]

I might be in the minority with this but I've always felt Bioware games are fairly shallow with romance and it's not believable at all. I really wouldn't mind seeing them develop a relationship more to be more believable.

 

I'd disagree with this and think that they've only gotten better with time. Take Revan and Bastila from KOTOR for instance, that romance had a ton of depth to it and a lot of nuances that only became apparent once you replayed the game and knew the reveal.

 

Bastila lead the assault to either kill or capture the Dark Lord of a Sith, only to fail due to Malak's betrayal, end up saving his life and hand him over to the Jedi Council to mind-wipe into an obedient puppet. A year later, she finds herself being rescued by that same Sith, now a charismatic and charming man loyal to the Republic and who she finds herself increasingly drawn to over the course of the game.

 

Most of the depth of the romance comes from Bastila's internal conflict that we have no clue about for most of the game, as she struggles with the dual nature of who she knows Revan was, coupled with the disparity with who he now is. And those shades of the former man that remain, his ability to lead others, his prodigious skill with the Force and his charismatic nature, making her wonder if this man will also slip back to the Dark Side.

 

It's not hard to see how Malak used these feelings to turn her and twist her to the Dark Side and convince her that Revan must be destroyed to free herself from her own feelings from him. Yet ultimately, it was Revan's love for her that allowed him to take on an entire army, redeem her and save her life; the same way she had once done for him.

 

Ah yes, "shallow romances". Methinks we have dismissed that claim.

 

[Dirgegun]

Personally, I think the romances are pretty deep and fit in with the story really well. Other games never give romances like Bioware-- and if they do, there's no choice in the matter; it's a built in romance in a game where the PC isn't truly our own character and is a character we just happen to play. I think it almost sounds... ungrateful? To scoff at the romances we're given when no other game does that, let alone romances that add to the character, add to the PC, and aren't just "I have a necklace. Marry me." or "I've danced with you 20 times. Marry me."

 

They seem to only be improving too. 

 

And, I think it was Luke? Said that the entire journey is part of the romance plot, not just the obvious 'romantic' bits they put in, and I think that's exactly right? The entire game becomes a story about this big situation your character and their LI have to deal with together with their friends/the other companions.

 

There are still some little problems, mind, like sex being that 'ding, you've completed the romance subplot!' moment, but the Devs themselves have addressed that and said they want to improve past that.

[R2s Muse]

However, I'd be more apt to think he'd mention Hawke now - not as a crush, necessarily, but as a reflection of where his life has gone in recent years. Or maybe that's just my fangirling of that pairing bleeding through.

 
There! Fixed it for ya!   (Yup, I'm there with ya!)

[Sifr]

I think it almost sounds... ungrateful? To scoff at the romances we're given when no other game does that, let alone romances that add to the character, add to the PC, and aren't just "I have a necklace. Marry me." or "I've danced with you 20 times. Marry me."

 

Skyrim was the worst for that;

 

"I have a necklace and I killed 20 bears/beat the hell out of you in a fist-fight/bought some lumber from you! Clearly, you were meant to be the mother of my adopted children! We shall never have any other conversations except what houses you will spend all day in!"

 

And it only got worse in Dawnguard;

 

"Hey, Serana... we've travelled the length and breadth of Skyrim, flirted and we stopped the end of the world together... I'm even now a Vampire so we've got the rest of eternity to spend together... so, my question is, why the hell am I still stuck in the friendzone?"

 

Bioware romances are epic in comparison and it does irk me to see how entitled (and I feel that word is often overused) we've gotten regarding them. We've incredibly lucky that we've got developers willing to put such time, money and effort into it when they don't have to, as well as get such wonderfully talented people to voice them.

[Yara]

Hm, I like most of the romances in the BioWare games that I played. Personally I really liked the Carth romance in KotOR. He didn't even trust my character at first. I know that this has nothing to do with the romance, but it made the dynamics really interesting. After all, his mistrust wasn't exactly unfounded, and yet he ended up trusting her completely even though he had every reason not to. And I loved that I could even insult him and he just thought that it was funny.

In Dragon Age: Origins, no matter what I try, my characters romance Alistair. My characters are quite different, and sometimes I'm resolved to romance someone else, but when he starts talking, even if some of my characters think "He's annoying" at the beginning, eventually they all fall for him. I think the characterization in DA:O was great for all the characters. For example, my first character could never get along with Morrigan. No matter what I said, she disliked everything, and that was quite irritating, but I loved it as well, because it felt "real". Things like that make the characters really complex.

 

I'm really curious how romances will work out in Inquisition. Normally I have one romance that I prefer over the others, and it's not always the character that I thought it would be.

 

And I hope that Cullen has gotten over his crush on the female mage warden. But my first warden was a Dalish rogue, so he has nothing to talk about anyway

[Jynxed_]

Hey don't you judge my Skyrim romance. FARKAS LOVES ME DAMNIT. YOU CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME.

 

But I personally love the way Bioware does romance, although if I had to choose between DAO or DA2, I'd go DAO, minus the gift system...I just liked 'em better

 

*Also if DHMG isn't romancable by femInquisitor I'm going to cry :3 (Cullen is my backup)

[Panda]

Bioware romances are epic in comparison and it does irk me to see how entitled (and I feel that word is often overused) we've gotten regarding them. We've incredibly lucky that we've got developers willing to put such time, money and effort into it when they don't have to, as well as get such wonderfully talented people to voice them.

 

Well to me Bioware's romances aren't add-on in the game, they are essential part of it and what makes Bioware's games stand out along side with other interaction with characters and storytelling. That's at least what makes BW's games my favs compared to other developers games ^^

[MageTarot]

 

The best paced romances in DA and ME I'd say are Fenris and M!Shep x Kaidan. I say M!Shep only because it builds on a friendship from the past two games that clearly takes years to turn into something more. Really sweet. Of course there are a LOT of romances I haven't tried, like... any other ME romance as well as all the DA:O romances except Zevran.

 

I've played ME with the mod that allows my BroShep to romance Kaidan in ME1 as well as the vanilla version which has them finally admtting their feelings towards each other in ME3. And you know what? I prefer the vanilla version. I feel it's such a better payout emotionally watching Shepard and Kaidan's relationship grow into something more intimate over the course of the trilogy...which naturally makes Kaidan pleading with Shepard not to leave him behind during the beam run in ME3 all the more heartbreaking.   Oy, I was such an emotional wreck with the original ending!! 

[wiccame]

Well to me Bioware's romances aren't add-on in the game, they are essential part of it and what makes Bioware's games stand out along side with other interaction with characters and storytelling. That's at least what makes BW's games my favs compared to other developers games ^^

While I don't see romances as a must have part of the game, I see them as an extra element to really dig deeper into your pc's character.

I used to play games like Tomb Raider or even mmo's like guild wars and head cannon a life for them outside the 'hero of the day' role.  To me, I wanted to see there was more to them than simply the one that does nothing but their job and I wanted to imagine they had a life too.

So, having them interact with their companions was a real joy for me and then to find out I could romance one......well, let's say I can never go back to 2d characters again.

[Panda]

While I don't see romances as a must have part of the game, I see them as an extra element to really dig deeper into your pc's character.

I used to play games like Tomb Raider or even mmo's like guild wars and head cannon a life for them outside the 'hero of the day' role.  To me, I wanted to see there was more to them than simply the one that does nothing but their job and I wanted to imagine they had a life too.

So, having them interact with their companions was a real joy for me and then to find out I could romance one......well, let's say I can never go back to 2d characters again.

 

Maybe not essential but at least important selling point ^^

Well characters, interaction you can have with them including romance and the story are best parts for me in playing the game. Because of that if the romance was missing it'd feel like big part was away of game. If it was replaced with different kind of interaction with characters I wouldn't mind so much but if not then I wouldn't like it ^^;

[Potato Cat]

Personally, I think the romances are pretty deep and fit in with the story really well. Other games never give romances like Bioware-- and if they do, there's no choice in the matter; it's a built in romance in a game where the PC isn't truly our own character and is a character we just happen to play. I think it almost sounds... ungrateful? To scoff at the romances we're given when no other game does that, let alone romances that add to the character, add to the PC, and aren't just "I have a necklace. Marry me." or "I've danced with you 20 times. Marry me."
 
They seem to only be improving too. 
 
And, I think it was Luke? Said that the entire journey is part of the romance plot, not just the obvious 'romantic' bits they put in, and I think that's exactly right? The entire game becomes a story about this big situation your character and their LI have to deal with together with their friends/the other companions.
 
There are still some little problems, mind, like sex being that 'ding, you've completed the romance subplot!' moment, but the Devs themselves have addressed that and said they want to improve past that.

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, we get less content through the romance, which takes away replayability and could potentially make for a shallower romance. However, on the other hand, it could potentially mean the romance is more like Alistair's. As we've discussed before, there were a lot of flirts we registered as flirts that the game didn't, which gave the illusion of the romance being much more padded out. They just better hope that the NPC romances, and even the bloody friendships, are better than ME counterparts.

[wiccame]

Maybe not essential but at least important selling point ^^

Well characters, interaction you can have with them including romance and the story are best parts for me in playing the game. Because of that if the romance was missing it'd feel like big part was away of game. If it was replaced with different kind of interaction with characters I wouldn't mind so much but if not then I wouldn't like it ^^;

Oh I agree with you there, I absolutely love the interactions you can have with characters. The games I mentioned before were fun but I always saw them as flat characters, either their character was set and you had no control over their interactions with others or you'd have a team that always fought with you but you never had the chance to get to know them, they were just there. Thus all your pc was was a person that went out and fought bad guys and that was their sole purpose in life.  I always hungered for more detail....and BW certainly gave that to me, not just in the romance (though that really is an added bonus for me) but in the interactions and relationships you can form, with the people that you are essentially putting you life in their hands with.

[R2s Muse]

Need more Cullen on this page. Broody DA:I Cullen? 

 

Cullen Sketch by MellorianJ

 

[R2s Muse]

Dragon Age Tarot: 12 by emanonix

 

[R2s Muse]

Romantic Cullen (hee hee hee, companion art to my DA Big Bang fic) 
 
WhatCounts - Early Morning by vieralynn
 

[R2s Muse]

Pensive Cullen.

 

Contemplate by Louvette

 

[R2s Muse]

*sigh* one of my favorites.

 

Cullen and Amell by Agregor