154 réponses à ce sujet

[Bugsie]

Think about it this way: People buy the game because of the romance, the game advertises its romances, so the game makes money because of the romances.
More money made ==> more money available for development. Game companies making money is good, because, differently to what some people might think here, developers do not subsist alone on the love and the positive reinforment that is the BW Forum.

BioWare has found a market niche, and they'd be really stupid if they stopped the romance thing now.

Most people outside of BSN buy and play the game for - ah actually the game.  BSN is a skewed reality.  I play for the game play and story.  Romances are optional.

 

Bioware marketing has NEVER been about the romances - I didn't see a single trailer that showcased the romance aspect of the game, so the claim that its found a marketing niche is a falsehood.  The trailers are what the vast majority of people who buy the game will see.  Even some of the general game play and twitch streams I saw didn't even touch on the topic.

[Jaron Oberyn]

I dont think the romances overshadow the story at all. If anything, it compliments it very well. The DA team in particular has been the leader when it comes to properly integrating romances within their story as opposed to the ME team as the romance takes place over the course of the game rather than 1 sex scene at the end. The focus is also on the relationship progression between the couple, rather than loyalty quest > sex. DAI is a perfect example of this, particularly Josephine's arc. It also adds another layer of depth when the protagonist has one more important thing to fight for. I mean other than restoring order to the world, what does each inquisitor have to fight for? Nothing really personal, but then romances come in which introduce that factor which is interesting. Especially when you get to the emotional level and reach the point of the story where it's like "wow, we can actually die". That's touched upon a couple of times specifically in the Josephine arc, which again made the story all the better for it.

 

One thing the ME team did well was use that emotional factor for their romances in ME3. Having a romance who gets killed by Harbinger on the run to the relay adds more to the story. Seeing your romance get choked up talking to you right before you make that run really hammers in how serious the threat is. Again, things like this really compliment the story if used well, and thus far I'd say Bioware has done an excellent job of not only integrating them - but with DAI making the relationships feel more natural and not confining them to a box like in ME1-2 where it only existed in your squads specific quarters. It is referenced throughout and adds plenty to the story. But that's just my take on it. 

[schall_und_rauch]

 
Bioware marketing has NEVER been about the romances - I didn't see a single trailer that showcased the romance aspect of the game, so the claim that its found a marketing niche is a falsehood.  The trailers are what the vast majority of people who buy the game will see.  Even some of the general game play and twitch streams I saw didn't even touch on the topic.

Please note I said market niche not marketing niche. Those are two entirely different things.
I don't know any other games that include romances as part of a story/rpg which offers the same kind of breadth and depth the romances found in BW games.

And I do think there is some untapped market potential.

[Cheech 2.0]

I brought this topic up with my friend and she asked had I romanced Solas? That there was a fair amount of lore and story content. At first I was a little miffed at the notion of what I wanted from the story being gated behind a romance. But after taking a step back it made sense and I was fine with it. That being said I had no notion or want to play DAI again anytime soon lol.

 

I really wish I could enjoy it like so many people on here seem to be, but ( IMO ) there are so many little problems with the game, when added up just burst my DA squeee. Who knows maybe real life things are to blame, I just don't see myself playing this again until the ultimate edition rears its head. I hope my love affair with Dragon Age gets re-kindled at some point, and maybe just maybe I'll see what all this romance stuff people love is all about.

 

Lots of good points, and discussions. Thanks to everybody who put in their two cents

[Jock Cranley]

I think the real issue isn't having proper romances like this one:

 

[Monica21]

It's one of the reasons why Bethseda will still be sitting on top and bioware just will not be. Dai was a step in the right direction, but the oversimplification of skills is hurting biowares games.

 

Bethesda's sitting on top because Bioware is oversimplifying skills?

[Ryzaki]

Bethesda's sitting on top because Bioware is oversimplifying skills?

 

[Steelcan]

Bethesda sits on top because their world building, exploration, lore, etc.. is second to none

Not to mention incredible mod support that drastically extends the game's life

[Korva]

I really wish I could enjoy it like so many people on here seem to be, but ( IMO ) there are so many little problems with the game, when added up just burst my DA squeee. Who knows maybe real life things are to blame, I just don't see myself playing this again until the ultimate edition rears its head. I hope my love affair with Dragon Age gets re-kindled at some point,

 

Ugh, I know the feeling and hope that it will. It's not fun when you feel a company just stops delivering. Bioware really "lost me" after Origins, and I never even intended to buy this game, but a friend's enthusiasm was too contagious. Inquisition does have big issues: too short in the main plot but too much pointless filler on the side, crappy combat, fiddly UI that is an especially bad joke on the PC. For me, though, the writing and the characters were enough to rope me in hook, line and sinker. I don't think I've ever seen a cast that I liked more. Cassandra and Cole alone make it worth it in my book.

[Monica21]

Bethesda sits on top because their world building, exploration, lore, etc.. is second to none

Not to mention incredible mod support that drastically extends the game's life

I am among those who count Bethesda's "exploration" as pointless filler so you can avoid the main quest for 150 hours. Although, I will give you mod support. It's fantastic and Bethesda goes out of their way to make it easy on the community, unlike BioWare. While I don't think BioWare makes it deliberately difficult to mod, I just don't think they think the cost justifies it.

[Bugsie]

Please note I said market niche not marketing niche. Those are two entirely different things.
I don't know any other games that include romances as part of a story/rpg which offers the same kind of breadth and depth the romances found in BW games.
And I do think there is some untapped market potential.

I'll grant you that, but to conclude Bioware make money predominantly because of the romances in the game is false. It's one aspect, and an entirely optional one at that. There are plenty of people who play and skip the romances or only skim the surface of that aspect of the game. The thing is, you rarely find that type of person on BSN (they're not unicorns by any stretch I've definitely seen them here!)

[errantknight]

Bethesda sits on top because their world building, exploration, lore, etc.. is second to none

Not to mention incredible mod support that drastically extends the game's life

Well, I agree about the ability to mod, but while I enjoy some Bethesda games I tend to feel no particular need to complete them because I'm just not that engaged with the characters. That never happens with a Bioware game. The downside to open world games it that the plot takes a backseat to exploration and I'm a person who plays for engaging plot, first and foremost.

 

Much as I like Inquisition, I doubt I'll be playing back to back playthroughs for more than a year as I did with origins. That was partly because the different origin stories allowed for such varied gameplay and the story was so compelling, but also because I was modding and trying out other mods.

[Rekkampum]

I thought Jack fit well with plot.. not overtly and in your face like Liara, but Shepard could relate personally... especially Sole Survivor (but ME2's story in general works alone). They're both Cerberus guinea pigs. Cortez... never romanced him. As a friend, he was touching, because he reminded me of the simple human dignity that you fought for all along in ME2.. all the colonists. 

No, that's not what I was referring to re: Jack.

Spoiler

Basically, if you romance Jack, once you've done the deed she changes personality entirely and loses virtually any of the edge she had at first. So, to put it bluntly, Shep solves her emotional problems by sleeping with her. Very problematic. They redeemed her character in 3. Cortez on the other hand, it's like he's mourning the death of his husband and two months afterward you're trying to date him. Not to mention the final message his husband left screams soap opera.

[crimzontearz]

Bethesda sits on top because their world building, exploration, lore, etc.. is second to none

Not to mention incredible mod support that drastically extends the game's life

Yeah....no. Not for me at least.

Sure their world building is peerless but their worlds are bland as all hell if you ask me....I rarely feel any desire to talk to characters or even progress with the story


The mod support I give to you.....if only we had it for consoles.

[Monica21]

Yeah....no. Not for me at least.

Sure their world building is peerless but their worlds are bland as all hell if you ask me....I rarely feel any desire to talk to characters or even progress with the story


The mod support I give to you.....if only we had it for consoles.

 

I don't know what's going on in the lore world for ES games these days, but back in Morrowind times they had an amazing group of people on the Lore forums. (Seriously, moderators. Can we get one of those for DA?) There was a "Trial of Vivec" thread and posters played different characters. It was awesome and tons of fun to watch play out. But Bethesda's also had almost 20 years to build on their lore. I mean, I just google'd it and Daggerfall came out in 1996. I think the lore in DA is pretty remarkable for the short time span because you've got the comics and books in addition to the games, but you'd almost never know it because threads get buried so fast.

[crimzontearz]

I don't know what's going on in the lore world for ES games these days, but back in Morrowind times they had an amazing group of people on the Lore forums. (Seriously, moderators. Can we get one of those for DA?) There was a "Trial of Vivec" thread and posters played different characters. It was awesome and tons of fun to watch play out. But Bethesda's also had almost 20 years to build on their lore. I mean, I just google'd it and Daggerfall came out in 1996. I think the lore in DA is pretty remarkable for the short time span because you've got the comics and books in addition to the games, but you'd almost never know it because threads get buried so fast.

But the lore is NOT presented well nor in an engaging way and it always only tangentially relates to the pc in a way that would make you intetested...and becomes less relevant as the games focus on wildly different parts of it

[AWTEW]

I choose the lesser evil


That "art" ruined a whole trilogy for me.

 

Yeah, that 'art' was a cop-out tbh. They should have just made it clear that shepard dies no-matter what.

It's fine. I'm used to that feeling. 

 

 

Or the developers ruining your version of the protagonists, like Hawke or even worse Revan. 

 

Yeah they ruined sarcastic hawke in DAI..

I brought this topic up with my friend and she asked had I romanced Solas? That there was a fair amount of lore and story content. At first I was a little miffed at the notion of what I wanted from the story being gated behind a romance. But after taking a step back it made sense and I was fine with it. That being said I had no notion or want to play DAI again anytime soon lol.

 

I really wish I could enjoy it like so many people on here seem to be, but ( IMO ) there are so many little problems with the game, when added up just burst my DA squeee. Who knows maybe real life things are to blame, I just don't see myself playing this again until the ultimate edition rears its head. I hope my love affair with Dragon Age gets re-kindled at some point, and maybe just maybe I'll see what all this romance stuff people love is all about.

 

Lots of good points, and discussions. Thanks to everybody who put in their two cents

 

You know you want to romance, solas. 

 

Bethesda sits on top because their world building, exploration, lore, etc.. is second to none

Not to mention incredible mod support that drastically extends the game's life

 

and Bethesda sits at the bottom for their story and characters.

[Monica21]

But the lore is NOT presented well nor in an engaging way and it always only tangentially relates to the pc in a way that would make you intetested...and becomes less relevant as the games focus on wildly different parts of it

 

Are you talking about DA or ES? I haven't played ES since a half a playthrough of Oblivion.

[crimzontearz]

Yeah, that 'art' was a cop-out tbh. They should have just made it clear that shepard dies no-matter what.

Yes because force killing your character is such a GRAND idea.

That is exactly why I did not buy inquisition until full spoilers were out.

Same will happen with ME4

[crimzontearz]

Are you talking about DA or ES? I haven't played ES since a half a playthrough of Oblivion.

ES

[Monica21]

ES

 

Bummer. That used to be Bethesda's strong point.

[crimzontearz]

Bummer. That used to be Bethesda's strong point.

Not in oblivion....or FO3....or Skyrim

[Rekkampum]

Not in oblivion....or FO3....or Skyrim

That depends on how one plays it. I'd say the faction quests are always the best part of the games as far as TES is concerned. I ee

 

But the lore is NOT presented well nor in an engaging way and it always only tangentially relates to the pc in a way that would make you intetested...and becomes less relevant as the games focus on wildly different parts of it

That all depends on how you play it and one's perspective. If you stick to the story it holds well. Of course most of us don't because the main questline usually pales in comparison to the faction quests. They're not beacons of perfection, but they definitely are lore-centered. The player of course, has more leeway in shaping some of the smaller details.

[schall_und_rauch]

I'll grant you that, but to conclude Bioware make money predominantly because of the romances in the game is false.

I said that they make money becaus of romances. I never said they make money predominantly because of romances.

If they sell 10% more units because of romances, them that's still more miney for them, even though 90% of the earned money is not romance related.

[Panda]

Bioware should market romance aspects more since they are what lot of players are intrested it. If it wasn't superiority of romances and companions I wouldn't value BW's games higher than Elder Scrolls, Witcher, <insert any rpg series>. I know many think like me, some even buy the game for romances.