19127 réponses à ce sujet

[Cobwebmaster]

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

I am on the final stages of Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. Big battles ahead. Lots of saves, full inventory but loads of fun.

With all the glitz at their finger tips, it seems all Biodegradable can manage is a recycled antagonist, cameos from earlier games and empty spaces.

I have had to learn a different UI, multiple classes, solve some very interesting puzzles but I am having heaps of fun doing so.

DAI pales in comparison. It could have been so much more. Why no Cleric/Priest class?

Sad really.

A good question. I too loved the HOTU expansion as it brought a whole new and improved gaming experience to the NWN scene following the okay Shadows of Udrentide

I remember playing a paladin/cleric in both NWN and HOTU . I think the problem was that they became too powerful as both tanks and spellcasters. PoE has gone mad with them. In my current party I have a Druid, a chanter, a priest, and something called a cipher. Not tried a monk yet but it's only a question of time. Some of them have real useful spells and melee skills

Bioware's DA dropped fighting clerics in favour of Templars and created a political scenario whereby Templars were prevented from becoming more powerful warrior priests by the chantry strictly controlling their Lyrium exposure. I think the way the DA saga was written that policy was always going to blow up in their faces, The wizard spell trees in DAI have moved towards the "divine" with Spirit but not enough to bridge the gap created by abandoning armoured clerics with divine spellcasting ability. However there is the Knight Enchanter in DAI, a fighter mage who is a tank that deals high melee and magic damage.

[Cobwebmaster]

I can't remember where I read this, so take it with some suspicion as to my memory, but I seem to recall an article not too long ago where someone speculated that games would eventually be up in the 'cloud', played entirely online with nothing to download but a key (after buying it and then paying endless fees, of course).  All the content would be on their servers exclusively. No more pirates, no more incompatibility, no more need for cross-platform anything.  They called it a 'natural evolution of gaming'.  I'd figure it would be more of it's death knell.

That wouldn't be the first time that "geeks" have predicted the future of anything in the technology world and got it wrong. Where they think it (gaming) should go is rarely where it actually ends up. I guess it's up to us to dictate the future we want not the one they want for us that give them wet dreams

I think such things fall under the category of rolling news reports, where you can easily substitute the phrase "haven't a clue" for the word "rolling"

[Sartoz]

I can't remember where I read this, so take it with some suspicion as to my memory, but I seem to recall an article not too long ago where someone speculated that games would eventually be up in the 'cloud', played entirely online with nothing to download but a key (after buying it and then paying endless fees, of course).  All the content would be on their servers exclusively. No more pirates, no more incompatibility, no more need for cross-platform anything.  They called it a 'natural evolution of gaming'.  I'd figure it would be more of it's death knell.

Yes, a "natural" evolution of cloud computing.  I believe Microsoft may have mentioned something along those lines.

[KilrB]

I can't remember where I read this, so take it with some suspicion as to my memory, but I seem to recall an article not too long ago where someone speculated that games would eventually be up in the 'cloud', played entirely online with nothing to download but a key (after buying it and then paying endless fees, of course).  All the content would be on their servers exclusively. No more pirates, no more incompatibility, no more need for cross-platform anything.  They called it a 'natural evolution of gaming'.  I'd figure it would be more of it's death knell.

 

Anytime I pay for something, I expect I better get something in my possession at the end of the transaction. On the "cloud" is not an acceptable option.

 

also

 

If I pay you for a game, I'm not going to be paying you a  monthly fee to play it. One or the other better be free as part of the deal.

[voteDC]

Cloud gaming is still a long way off. It wont be hugely popular unti, we get to the point where everyone has the internet speeds capable of supporting it.

Personally it is cloud gaming that would break me from my gaming habit.I like to know that I can play my single player games even when I don't have an internet connection available.

[Errationatus]

Yes, a "natural" evolution of cloud computing.  I believe Microsoft may have mentioned something along those lines.

 

Ah, thanks, that may be from whence I saw it.

[DavianBurke]

I wonder if my prediction of there being only 1 more 'console gen' after this one will end up true.

 

Not to say there won't be special gaming hardware, things that focus on playing games, etc whatever.

 

But that things will merge enough several years from now, and incentive to create a gaming-focused console will be low enough, that it'll all be just different forms of personal computers and their various periffery (sp?).

 

Microsoft may be inching towards that in their own way by trying Xbox and Windows 10 together so much. 1-2 gens from now --> Windows 10 on basically a prebuilt PC, something Steam may end up ahead of the curve (or in worst case - too ambitious for the times) on.

 

Steam is experimenting with consoles... the Alienware rig I have is a "hybrid"... size of a console, beefy gaming rig, power supply external like a console... throw some ROMS in here and plug in my usb controller and it IS a console... except it's a PC through and through. 

[Errationatus]

Anytime I pay for something, I expect I better get something in my possession at the end of the transaction. On the "cloud" is not an acceptable option.

 

also

 

If I pay you for a game, I'm not going to be paying you a  monthly fee to play it. One or the other better be free as part of the deal.

 

Well, think about it from their standpoint - it curbs piracy and it milks the consumer forever. It's apparently working for Adobe and Photoshop. Why not for games? They're pushing 'cloud' everything.  Personally, the point behind my data is that it's mine.  "Offsite" for me is a portable HD and that's as far as it needs to go.  No one has the right to whine about privacy when you willingly store stuff on someone else's drives out of your direct access. Maybe I'm just old, but I don't trust anybody that much.

[Errationatus]

Cloud gaming is still a long way off. It wont be hugely popular unti, we get to the point where everyone has the internet speeds capable of supporting it.

Personally it is cloud gaming that would break me from my gaming habit.I like to know that I can play my single player games even when I don't have an internet connection available.

 

Even those are becoming scarce, no?

[AlexTGW]

This video was what made me pre-order the game. I thought I would get this.

Well, lesson learned, I will never pre-order any game ever again.

I like watching that video more than i like playing the game.It looked so damn good and the things i was planning to do with all those choices.I'm on my second playthrough for months now and i can't get even bring myself to get out of the starting area knowing that nothing exciting awaits. Worse is that i feel helpless because i can't change anything about the situation.Bioware doesn't seem to care that much anymore and i can't trust any developer about anything after all this.Complaining is all i can do to vent some of the bad feelings.I try to be constructive and polite about it so as to not antagonize too many people.I envy those that love this game and managed to enjoy it.I wonder how they treated the marketing campaign and the aftermath.Feels like mass effect 3's marketing campaign.I think even mass effect 1 had a feature that got me excited and never was introduced in the game where dinamic dialogue confrontations could pop up among your crew in certain situations. https://www.youtube....h?v=3Li2MIGxOww They do this often it seems https://www.youtube....h?v=bRNG4Lhbj4k but people don't really care i guess.Let me reiterate that i can understand having budget issues and other development problems but at least be clear about what you are about to sell to your customer.

[DavianBurke]

I just realized that Cyan's May 19th deadline... well, that's also when The Witcher 3 is out. Ironically, it's also the day -after- our May Long weekend... and the first day of my additional week off work  

[Cobwebmaster]

Yes, a "natural" evolution of cloud computing.  I believe Microsoft may have mentioned something along those lines.

 Now you mention It I recall that phrase emanating from Microsoft who I believe are rather nervous about losing their monoploy on all things IT. With the advent of tablets, Android and it's myriad useful apps, Smartphones, e book readers, et al, Microsoft has been firmly with it's pants down, or taking forty winks. Surface Pro 2 (and now 3) is good stuff but still suffering heavy casualties against products like HTC, Samsung, and Sony (not forgetting the fabled i stuff) in the race to control the software running mobile devices

Again how Microsoft wants the future to develop, ain't necessarily how it's gonna be. Consumers are driving the market now and the ability of corporate production to meet those demands, will dictate their success or failure not a closed shop virtual monopoly which Microsoft has enjoyed for many years. Cloud may well be a future for some IT elements but as far as gaming is concerned this is still a highly speculative issue

[Gundar3]

Y'know what's really funny?  A day ago I loaded up Diablo III just for yuks and got a ten gig download of fixes, tweaks and new gameplay elements.  Ten gigabytes worth. 

 

Witcher III isn't even out yet and not only do we get sixteen free DLC, but they've already announced two expansion packs.  Go to GOG and you can get the game and an f-ton of extra crap for half the price of DA:Trudgery.   Even on the trivial side, your horse actually matters in this game and you can fight whilst riding it.  You can swim and go boating to travel the game world.  Even if it turns out to be as lame as hell, you can still do it.  That alone makes it superior.  The only DLC for DA:Tediousness cost fifteen bucks and gave you a bear as an agent and more fuhhukin' shard quests and puzzles.  We're still waiting on the only free content - the retread Black Emporium - which may or may not show up in May.

 

When a company tells you to stand still for half-an-hour ingame to activate a feature you only needed a click for in the past, you damn-well know they don't give two galloping fahhuks about you as a consumer or a gamer or fan. Pay your money and STFU.

 

The PC still borked for many, no further enhancement past "patch" 7, the maybe BE and no DLC scheduled for this 'game' past that.  A hundred hours of running.  Sequel bait ending.  Don't even get me started on all the reused elements (even from ME3!) in this game, like Solas and Cass using the same model and anims.  They cut so many corners and think we're too stupid to notice.  EA has likely only budgeted Bioware pretending to give a damn through mouthpieces until June and then it'll be total silence.

 

That's the dividend for your loyalty to the DA franchise.

 

This is why I've been scarce.  What's left to say, really?  EA and Bioware basically told we PC folk to go to hell with this game. The devs engage on Twitter and only come here to have a good spit and whine and blame and then vanish back to the circlejerk.

 

That's what your loyalty was worth. 

 

The reason this game was crap is because we're all lousy fans. 

 

That's what your loyalty was worth. 

 

$69.99 with $14.99 tacked on later for more of the same, and you eff'n know it was cut content and nothing else is coming.  You don't deserve it.  They're all off butchering the next ME. 

 

That's what your loyalty was worth.

 

Not mine.

 

Not just my loyalty, but my faith that things could get better for the company.  

 

Did I fall for a bait and switch in the marketing?  Yes.  

 

I purchased the game because of all the hype surrounding the keep and the idea that I would lead an ACTUAL military inquisition with massive battles, castles, templars, mages, and ultimately stop literal Armageddon... That IS what they showed us afterall.  What I didn't want, was to not only not have ANY of those things, but wind up stopping "Armageddon" in act 1, then spending the rest of the game killing a guy I already killed in the last game. (This is uncharitable, but its true)

 

Did I fall for the heavy real world political hand of BW?  Yes.  

 

Had I known prior to purchase that David Gaider had been given total control, I would have been far more cautious.  Hes an activist who wants to push his politics in all his writing/products and current BW under EA is more than excited to help him.  Old BW rung him to being a character guy.  "Pushing the envelope" is something he loves doing.  Every one is allowed their opinion, but I never would have expected Bioware to push so hard in their games.  I feel like I've watched Thedas go from a Grim/Dark Fantasy to a weird, relatavistic, kinda-sorta-all good-"inclusive" nothingness.  So if I criticize the writing, I'm a homophobe.  Well played.  I never knew that being "inclusive" could be so "exclusive".  I do wish we could return to a time when BW simply wrote heroic tales, and didnt try to pander to groups or force-feed me politics.

 

Did I fall for the Crafting and "Open World"?  Yes.

 

Watch Razorfist.  Yes, the crafting of weapons is awesome, but armor crafting is terrible.  The variations are abysmal.  All toons regardless of class wind up looking very similar  at end game.  Dont even get me started on the crap RNG of the schematics.  And as we all know now, the "open world" isn't really that open at all.  They are just large zones that take a long time to traverse because of mobs and constant gathering of "stuff" with the occasional star puzzle and shard you jump to that gets old quick.  Its an illusion.  A very pretty illusion, but an illusion nonetheless.

 

My God, is actually hard to put it all together.  Characters, retconns, controls, cut-content, PC crashes, multiplayer issues, DLC (thats terribly overpriced yet sorely needed)...  The list of "mediocrity" seems endless.  Its obvious that the project lead didnt actually lead.  There was a clear lack of a singular vision of what this game was supposed to be.  Then all the other teams were sent off to go do what they thought was best.  And at the due date, this is what they had finished... And it took them years for this.

 

Trying to understand current BW both in terms of a company made up of people and understanding Dragon Age is like trying to untangle a web of mediocrity.

 

The real crime, the REAL thing that my loyalty was worth, was giving Bioware one more chance.  And they squandered it.  Why did I care and why do I hang around here now?  Because gaming as I imagine it is for many of us here, is one of my passions.  Theres plenty of people here on these forums that would say "relax, its a game" or "stfu ****** I LUV IT WHOOO".  You'd be right about that second thing, I am just some ****** on the internet.  But that person doesn't know what its like to decide on the system you will be purchasing, based on the question: "what will BW make games for?",  That person doesn't know what it was like to simply wait for the next BW title with eager anticipation, for years I may add, practically ingoring other RPGs because they simply weren't Bioware.  We didn't know what it was, but we knew it was gonna be good.

 

Thats the loyalty they lost.

 

What does this mean for the ME4 team?

 

They could tell me its epic.  Redefining Sci-fi as we know it.  Now that the Reapers are dead, theres a massive civil war between all the races.  You can pick your species, theres tons of well written characters.  Want romance?  You can bang almost anything in the game.  They could show me videos of actually commanding large space battles, numerous ships to choose from for your flagship.  200+ hours of cinematic glory and adrenaline pumping action with almost no fetch quests!  Emotionally engaging decisions that dramatically change the story based on consequences.  Hell, its practically a different game entirely if you choose to be paragon or renegade!!! 

 

This is certainly a game where I would be throwing money at my screen.  I'd wait years to play this...  

 

But I wouldn't believe a damn thing they said.  Why?  Because I saw similar rhetoric for DA:I.  I've seen "footage" of entire segments of the game where you make choices and everything just weeks prior to the game coming out... all to have it be entirely absent.  

 

I find it hilarious that the marketing game has just started for ME4, and what is their first message? "ME4 will NOT be like DA:I".  I had to laugh at that.  Even the ME team is going to try and distance themselves from DA as much as possible now.  Damage control at its finest.

 

I have no hopes for them though.  I wish them the best, but lets be honest, they are going to try to breath life into a series which suffered a franchise killing ending.  I mean its over... just let it go.

[Dubya75]

I can't remember where I read this, so take it with some suspicion as to my memory, but I seem to recall an article not too long ago where someone speculated that games would eventually be up in the 'cloud', played entirely online with nothing to download but a key (after buying it and then paying endless fees, of course).  All the content would be on their servers exclusively. No more pirates, no more incompatibility, no more need for cross-platform anything.  They called it a 'natural evolution of gaming'.  I'd figure it would be more of it's death knell.

 

Not so much evolution as extinction.

[TobyJake]

...snip...

I have no hopes for them though.  I wish them the best, but lets be honest, they are going to try to breath life into a series which suffered a franchise killing ending.  I mean its over... just let it go.

Thank you Gundar3. Very eloquent and heartfelt.

If you were near me I would buy you a beer. Could not have said it better.

[Errationatus]

<SNIPPED for brevity>

 

I have no hopes for them though.  I wish them the best, but lets be honest, they are going to try to breath life into a series which suffered a franchise killing ending.  I mean its over... just let it go.

 

I pretty much agree with everything you've said.  They're not letting anything go because their reality and ours are not the same thing.  Brands and franchises are animals all unto themselves and as long as their carcasses jerk when kicked, they'll see dollar signs.  EA couldn't care less about quality.  They don't make anything but decisions and every decision basically contains the words 'suckers', 'morons' and 'maximum cash for minimum effort'. As they're in control of the ones who do make the product - and that's all it is - product, that's all they need be concerned with.  Like everything else product, it's disposable. 

 

If this game sucks, well, the average user shrugs and goes to the next one.  Integrity costs money.  That eats into profit.  Therefore integrity's gotta go.  Quality takes time.  Time is money.  Therefore quality's gotta go. Complicity by the game makers is understandable - they have to be employed,  They gotta eat. A job's a job, and as long as it pleases the cheque-signers, the job's been done and done right.  Fans are toxic retards what's gotta to be told what's good, cos they too dumb ta know on dey's own.

 

The only way this cyclone cycle of crap stops is if the majority of gamers stop shelling out for said crap.  But they're not going to do that.  It's the age of having hundreds of 'friends' you've never seen in a generation that can no longer write cursively or think in complete sentences and absolutely everything is disposable.  They barely notice.  It's not the companies that have changed.  They've always been about grubbing for every penny at the lowest of lowest common denominators. 

 

It's the people that give two actual damns that are becoming obsolete.  We notice the 'decline' because we care.  Unfortunately we're the only ones and we're going extinct. 

[Errationatus]

Not so much evolution as extinction.

 

Pretty much. As has been pointed out, it's not a foregone conclusion. It makes sense though, from a money-grubbing standpoint. They hide behind nonsense about 'data protection' and 'protecting intellectual rights', but it's all about profit and nothing else.  Whatever limits consumer choice and expands profit margins is all that matters.

 

But, if you (the general 'you') think that consumers decide how a product evolves, you've not been paying attention.  Ask anyone who slavishly buys Apple anything, no matter how overpriced and functionally limited their products are.  The consumers sure as hell aren't influencing how Apple products develop. It took ten years for Apple to change iTunes, and even then all they did was change the icon from blue to red.  It's only been recently that Microsoft even bothers with the appearance of 'caring' what their users think, and that's only because they think they have to (They shouldn't, but that's another discussion). Otherwise, it's cheaper to pretend to listen than actually do it..

[glosoli]

BW team as we have witnessed so far does not have the talent of re-defining anything, let alone the sci-fi genre. These would be bold words and they would be basically creating more vulnerabilities for themselves.

[Elhanan]

Am concerned that some may believe that the PC in the thread title means Politically Correct; cannot imagine why more are not taking this thread seriously....

Hope we get more quickslots, fewer weapon and class restrictions, and more Tier abilities, if possible. Would also like to target Portraits.

[They call me a SpaceCowboy]

Where did they say that about ME4 not being like DAI? Anyone have a link? I haven't ben looking for ME info, so have no idea what the game will be like.

 

That said, I would not be the least surprised if it's an MMO that takes place during the reaper war.

[They call me a SpaceCowboy]

Am concerned that some may believe that the PC in the tread title means Politically Correct; cannot imagine why more are not taking this thread seriously....

Hope we get more quickslots, fewer weapon and class restrictions, and more Tier abilities, if possible. Would also like to target Portraits.

 

As much as I'd like it, I really doubt they are going to give us more quick slots. Certainly not just for PC players. For whatever reason that is the direction they chose to take the game. Action combat, no pausing to select skills etc. This is no longer a tactical team based game. Well, ok, except for the tacked on tactical mode.

[Elhanan]

As much as I'd like it, I really doubt they are going to give us more quick slots. Certainly not just for PC players. For whatever reason that is the direction they chose to take the game. Action combat, no pausing to select skills etc. This is no longer a tactical team based game. Well, ok, except for the tacked on tactical mode.

What kinda rankles is that this was apparently done to balance with console play, but varied platforms cannot interact anyway. So if the PC were granted a sliding bar like DAO, it would not create an imbalance issue with any other platform, esp in a single player game.

And while certain abilities are combined with others thru upgrades, perhaps allowing the Players to select from eight Active choices might allow for more variety than all taking the same four choices.