Show don't tell. If lore isn't gameplay then it doesn't exist. If you say a class can do or not do something in lore and then contradict that in gameplay, the lore was wasted effort
Then lore is a wasted effort in every single RPG that isn't an action-RPG with hyperealistic combat, i.e., with 1-hit kills and based entirely on dodging.
We'll have to see whether we have any choice over this in the game.
Also, it's plausible that being the Herald of Andraste might actually be an anti-Chantry position. It's not as if people claiming to be the second coming of Jesus are usually in full support of established Christianities. An individual claiming connection to a religious founder is often doing so from a position of critiquing established religious structures, not supporting them.
Related example: Would you argue that the Haven dragon cultists in Origins were supporting the Chantry?
Then lore is a wasted effort in every single RPG that isn't an action-RPG with hyperealistic combat, i.e., with 1-hit kills and based entirely on dodging.
Of course it is.
Still not good of BioWare to deliver a lackluster port to the main audience for AAA games when trying to launch their new IP.
One hit kills on people in armour is extremely unrealistic, their is a reason to dress like a smiths idea of a lobster and it isn't to commit suicide by rolling in combat(which btw I hate, has nobody who makes these games ever seen hema or arma? )Use the armour it is able to resist an idiot who swings a sword rather than thrusting until you get tired of him and kill him by throwing him on his ass and demonstrating the reason bullock daggers are called bullock daggers
Why do you assume I was referring to people wearing armour? We fight plenty of things that are unarmoured.
The general consensus is that DAO being ported over to the consoles was an 'encouragement' from EA--BioWare had been working on DAO for years, looking for a publisher. Then they get purchased by EA, and DAO development goes to hell. DAO's engine was never designed for consoles, who have proportionally weak processors in comparison to PCs. This ended up with clunky controls, restricted difficulty, and the addition of wave tactics for the console.
DA2 was then outright designed with consoles in mind, but still used the same engine as DAO. So that led to a lot of problems--like hacking away the tactical camera, introducing the wave attacks, using textures that looked more appropriate on the PS2 (or PS1) era.
Now here comes DAI, with a brand new engine, and even more console bias. Kinda sad, really.
DA:O outsold the PC on consoles by a substantial amount. It wasn't about Bioware backing away from the PC, so much as it was the PC not really being that major of a market in comparison.
I'm okay with them. Attributes really seems like it's the same you just control them with Armor instead of with a menu, which is a bit more immersive in my opinion. The Changes to healing, well they say combat has been adjusted to fit it and it seems like I need my mage as much as I needed them in the other two games, just for a slightly different reason.
I could rant for hours about how I feel about the reactions to the changes but let me just sum it up, DA:I is not Dragon age: Origins, stop saying it needs to be and getting upset anytime it deviates away from how Dragon age: Origins played.
I dislike most of the combat changes but meh.
I was only here for the story anyway so *shrug*
Why do you assume I was referring to people wearing armour? We fight plenty of things that are unarmoured.
Why do you assume I was referring to people wearing armour? We fight plenty of things that are unarmoured.
Then yes anyone stupid enough to not wear armour when the stabby, crushy, killy sticks are out deserves to be killed in a few strikes (you can keep fighting after being hit, Swordsmen of the British Empire being a good source for how much killing people actually take on a battlefield) unless magic is keeping you alive somehow ofc, which is certainly part of the lore of any setting, a man in mail or full harness SHOULD be terrifying.
I don't mean people. We fight lots of mooks like darkspawn, demons, animals, etc. that don't have proper armour.
The combat looks nice, and if the impressions from people playing are any indication it feels nice too. I really hope CC combos are still a big thing as I loved them in DA2. I'm hoping on the higher difficulties I really have to utilize an array of tactics and ability combos.
The music sounds terrific.
The world looks pretty good, but I am always wary of the desire for open-world gameplay. The last semi-open world game I played that actually had a great story was...Baldur's Gate 2.
Which is to say that if the story is great then the rest of this doesn't matter and it will be GOTY for me.
I don't mean people. We fight lots of mooks like darkspawn, demons, animals, etc. that don't have proper armour.
DA:O outsold the PC on consoles by a substantial amount. It wasn't about Bioware backing away from the PC, so much as it was the PC not really being that major of a market in comparison.
From what I recall consoles only outsold the PC if you count the Xbox and PS3 sales as one. Might be wrong though but even then I also seem to remember that Dragon Age Origins was their best selling title at the time. In their own words it did better then Mass effect in the first few months, so perhaps there is actually a market for traditional RPGs on consoles as well?
After all we have countless action RPGs released each year but barely any traditional ones. I would think console players would appreciate some variations.
Darkspawn have armour. Rough badly made armour but they have it, animals take a heck of alot of killing in reality, especially things like bears and boars, and dragons? That's when we need magic for survival, let alone victory to make any sense. If lore says all mages can do x..yet ours can't or that all warriors can't do y and ours can, that is when lore is wasted
Darkspawn barely have armour. DA:O's insanity of them having more ornate armour mass produced than the King of Ferelden aside. As for what animals take in terms of killing, that's not exactly right. It takes a lot of hacking and slashing to kill anything, but puncture wounds are very serious, as are cuts. It's not a matter of reducing the HP gauge. Same for armour. A strong hammer blow doesn't have to penetrate armour to shatter ribs.
Darkspawn barely have armour. DA:O's insanity of them having more ornate armour mass produced than the King of Ferelden aside. As for what animals take in terms of killing, that's not exactly right. It takes a lot of hacking and slashing to kill anything, but puncture wounds are very serious, as are cuts. It's not a matter of reducing the HP gauge. Same for armour. A strong hammer blow doesn't have to penetrate armour to shatter ribs.
Combat mechanical changes (healing etc.) - Very positive. Looks like it will be a very enjoyable system with far more interesting tactical considerations than before
Eight ability limit - Cautiously optimistic. Similar systems in other games, albeit MMOs (e.g. GW, Wildstar) have worked well and again made for some interesting choices and created intersting situations where you're forced into chosing between several non-optimal choices instead of the "non-choice" that exists when you always have a "right" option.
No attributes on level up - Neutral. I don't really see the point of this change, but providing the crafting system is as robust as Bioware are claiming, then the end result will be the same, so it doesn't really matter whether the stats are on the character or the gear. From a "lore/RP" point of view, both systems are flawed (my warden increased his strength fivefold over the course of a couple of months....)
Specialisations - Positive. By restricting you to one and not allowing repecs, it increases the importance of your choice and increases the distinction between those choices. (This latter bit in particular is something I feel in general - 2 or 3 options with genuinly differentiated outcomes is better than 20 options with little difference between them: quality of choice, not quantity.)
"Flashiness" of combat - Pretty negative. I don't mind a little stylisation, but from the videos, it looks kinda ridiculous. Spell effects left-right-and-centre, rogues bouncing around like jackrabbits on crack etc.
Romance gating - Very positive. Not everyone finds everyone else attractive. Adding gating back in makes the NPC more believable and thus the world more immersive.
I'm mostly excited about everything, but there is one thing...
...combat animations. Or just the way combat looks in general. Cartoony is the word that comes to mind. I can do without the over-exaggerated, technicolor battles. It lacks a certain maturity and just isn't my preference at all.
That said I'm still going to enjoy the game and as long as the gameplay itself is solid then I can get over the way it looks.
I see many things potentially awesome and many things...weirdly annoying.
I like what I've heard of that perk system, and the race choices. The tactical camera is also welcome, along with the crafting and customization options. Unfortunatelly, the eight skill cap, and specially the stat allocation absence makes me wonder what kind of direction BW is imprinting to the franchise. I need to play the game to see all these things working togheter, though. But, at this moment, I'm a bit worried about the changes.
P.S. - I'm worried about the stat allocation thing because personally, I'm not a fan of loot oriented rpgs like diablo, torchlight, etc. Also, I was expecting the comeback of more peculiar gear against the "randomization" started with DA2.
That's cool. Do we know how it works?
From what I've seen its integrated in abilities rather than weapons. There is a rogue ability that ignores 50% armour for example.
Here it is:
There are a few things that haven't been talked about that I know about.
1) all rogues can open locked chests and doors.
2) Mages can critically hit enemies.
3) It looks like there is no fatigue for wearing armour in this game. I could be mistaken about this though.
Both DA:O & DA2 had their issues, so I'm glad that DA:I doesn't seem to be a clone of either but more of an attempt to blend the two. I like it when companies try something new with their franchise instead of just churning out the same game with shinier graphics or a different setting every year.
Things I was worried about but no longer am
Not having attribute points intrigues me, it looks like they are focusing more on talents rather then points. On the one hand, putting points into things is something that is so ingrained in me that I was shocked when I heard that it was removed, on the other hand, what are attribute points but a means to unlock certain talents? As long we've a good choice of talents then it should still be possible to get some of the builds we want.
The 8 talents to select from in a fight doesn't really bother me because I eventually tend to default to specific spells/talents anyway and use mostly the same ones in every fight. Not having them all to hand will force me to think more about which skills to choose when leveling and which ones to have equipped for a fight.
I was concerned about the lack of healing spells, but as I learnt more I become less worried about it. Patrick Weeks seems to be much worse at combat then I am and he did just fine
Things I'm still worried about
There is really only one thing that concerns me at this stage and its really my own fault. The devs have talked up NPCs reacting to a player better, by reacting not only to the Inquisitors race & personality but also to what class they are. I'm worried I've built this reactivity up too much in my head and it wont be as good as I think it should be.
It is something that I felt was sorely lacking in the previous games, no one cared if you were a Blood Mage or a Templar, when really some people should react to that.
Things I'm looking forward too
The list of companions is great. Normally when BioWare release the companions, I know that there will be some I don't like & that assumption normally turns out to be right, but this time they all seem fantastic and I can't wait to meet them.
The return of playable races, need I say more.
The Character Creator, I can guarantee, I'm going to send the first few hours just tweaking eye and hair colour.
Multiple voices to choose from. I'm a fan of voiced protagonists & having multiple voices for each gender is a great idea that I hope BioWare will continue to do.
The combat looks faster than DA:O but more tactical than DA2, to me it looks like a good balance. As much as I liked DA:O, the sluggish combat has been putting me off starting my 15th play through.
The story, so far it doesn't seem like they are taking the same sort of risk with the story that they did in DA2, but I like that quests can change based on your decisions (e.g. Leliana may not be involved in the E3 demo quest or her involvement will be changed, depending on your relationship with her and on if you took her advice at an earlier par in the game) and who doesn't like a big bad to murder.
I'm not very positive with most of the things I've seen from gameplay. Let's begin:
Negative
No Healing spells (Or 1 only one expensive and endgame healing spell): I still DON'T undrestand this change at all, I mean, we don't even have a creation mage tree - and I'm not even talking about spirit healer spec- . That was my favorite spec, along with blood magic. Now bioware is forcing us to roll dps or buff based mages. Not cool bioware.
No attribute allocation at level up: Casualization at power, we can't have special builds (For example, bulking constitution instead of strength on warriors to make a tank, or to have dex or cunning only rogues). I don't see how they can make up for this, even with a complex perk system.
The 8 slot max on action bar. Really bioware? are the skill/magic trees so lacking that we have a capped toolbar?
Limited qunari hairstyles (and let's not talk about combining hairstyle with horns). They feel so lacking compared to other races.
Neutral
No blood magic: Blood magic was my second fav spec, and I'll miss it but I can understand that you can't reflect it very well in gameplay (it failed miserably on DA II, with my apostate blood mage hawke walking around templars on Act 1). Thing is, I don't see necromancer as a good substitute for the evil magic tree, it should have strong reactions on the npcs to not fall on the Blood magic mistake from DA II and DAO (Even though in origins is kinda justified, being grey warden and all...even some members can abandon you because of that).
Positive
Return of the tactic view: To this day I can't understand why they eliminated it from DA II.
No more enemies magically appearing under the floor or leaping from the roofs: I swear that half of the kirkwall population lived on the roofs and were pissed at hawke. Origins proved that even with 8 or 7 enemies encounter things can get pretty hairy, without needing 20 enemies appearing magically like DA II. Good call on this.
Nice romance arcs: We have a good selection this time, without crazy-like-anders LIs. Even though I didn't get my favorite ( I still want a bi blackwall )
Return of the race selection and qunari's addition: I almost forgot this one lol, good one bioware.
At this point I couldn't give a flying fart about any of the changes, I'll get to that, maybe, when I get to play it. I play for story rather than any special enjoyment of the mechanics anyway. Right now I'm just ready for the damn game to come out already. Is it really still over a month away... 
I'm pretty positive about all the changes.
I really like the change to combat that removes the need for healing. Best thing to happen to the game in ages in my opinion, and I like playing a healer. I appreciate dedicated healers feel burned by it though, so I hope that when these folks actually try the new combat they change their minds.
Also happy about the removal of Blood Magic. Always found that quite jarring in a game where Blood Mages are pretty universally despised, hunetd and killed on sight. Except for you.
The overarching gameplay sounds great, building the inquisition actually having impact on the world you inhabit, terrific stuff.
Not so sure about the 8 ability toolbar but I'm not overly worried about it. Often didn't use more than 8 abilities anyway.
Only thing I'm really not sure about is the lack of attribute points on level up. I'd like to understand more about attribute point progression before making an opinion on it. I'm sure this is related to the combat balancing and if so I can undertand it but even so, I'm a little on the fence about it.
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