77 réponses à ce sujet

[hw78]

I enjoyed the sidequests until I realized they were only padding the length of the game. I started hitting the main story quests and I was appalled at how quickly the plot went. It's like they made an MMO, decided to convert it to single-player, and then tacked on the plot at the last minute. DAI plays exactly like The Old Republic. I know the story has been in the works for a long time but it seems so last minute compared to the ridiculous amount of content in this game.

 

So it's not "OCD" for me, it doesn't hit those buttons, but it is really overwhelming and annoying. I can see the strings from the developers. "Ah, yes, make sure this quest wraps up easily so she gets hit with the endorphin rush and wants to move on to the next one!"

 

TBH this game is Skyrim but wearing Dragon Age as a suit. It's disappointing, that's not what I play Dragon Age for :\

[Etragorn]

I definitely have the same issue. Its what has slowed me down from playing DA:I quite as much. Too much to make sure its complete and everything in mopped up before moving on to a new area, etc...

[zeypher]

A lot of side quests, companion quests are extremely tedious and small, it was like thats it ? done. Honestly quest design in this game has been bioware's weakest. 

[Saphiron123]

Most of it actually isn't bad, but the hinterlands was just... brutal. Still, they should have done 1/10th the quests and replaced all those scrolls on the ground and find 48 of this and find 18 of that with quests with actual dialogue and companion interaction. Finding 48 copies of Varrick's book or 15 coins in the palace isn't really very fun.

Dragon age is capable of some pretty great substance, we need more of that, less fluff.

[hw78]

The problem is bloat. If you strip away the non-story oriented sidequests then the game would only be, what, 20 or so hours long? Even the rushed Dragon Age 2 had more content than that. And that's not even considering how scant the romances are.

What I liked about DAO is that the sidequests usually tied into the plot somehow. (I'm mainly thinking of Redcliffe.) The sidequests here are just World of Warcraft style **** except there aren't even any sweet loot drops because of the crafting system. Everything is vendor trash.

What I'm saying is that for a year's subscription to WoW, you can get the same experience as DAI except WoW is a lot more community oriented and doesn't cast the player out into the wastelands of an abandoned server.

[SwobyJ]

It isn't the quests in themeselves. I'm fine with most of them (again in themselves) and the shard/mosaic/astrarium/etc stuff doesn't bother me.

 

But the feeling that we could have had more quality content instead of this stuff, in many areas of the maps, ew.

 

Bloat.

 

I don't think DAI has only 20 hours of main content though. I'd bring that to 30-40. Which would have been fine for a shooterish Mass Effect game, but maybe could be considered disgraceful for Dragon Age.

 

I'm largely fine with all this side stuff in my main Nightmare playthrough. In fact, I feel every bit of exp/gold/loot because I want to make sure I'm optimized (as well as my RP allows at least) for the main storyline. I wasn't strong enough for the Mage quest (Lv 6-7) and I needed to grind some levels (Lv 8-9) in order to deal with it, and that meant completing most of Hinterlands, half of Storm Coast, and some of Forgotten Oasis. I think the game is good with this in mind, but for lower difficulties, it just gives me the feeling of, as said earlier, bloat.

 

I can understand this design, to a degree, for a studio trying the 'open world' concept for a first time, just as I gave Bioware a bit of a pass for doing the 'shooter' concept for the first time with the first Mass Effect, and the 'cinematic' concept with KOTOR or Mass Effect (depends what you first consider cinematic), and action-combat with DA2, but after that, I get annoyed.

 

If:

-DAI DLC is more of the same of this (Hey here's a zone! Oh but 1/2 or more of it is utter filler with little interesting. Go get shards! Hahaha!)

-DA4 is more of the same, or worse, contains even MORE filler and pushes even MORE into being a MMO without declaring itself as such

-'ME4' seems to not have taken a clue from DAI, and instead has this problem as well

 

Then that's a bad sign, to me. But core DAI itself? Okay, I'll go through your hoops. Because Bioware marketing is right - its a 'wonderful world'. I like doing random crap in it. But I won't like doing it more than 1-2 times, and I'll be looking for substance elsewhere.

[AlanC9]

The problem is bloat. If you strip away the non-story oriented sidequests then the game would only be, what, 20 or so hours long? Even the rushed Dragon Age 2 had more content than that. And that's not even considering how scant the romances are.
What I liked about DAO is that the sidequests usually tied into the plot somehow. (I'm mainly thinking of Redcliffe.)

Classifying Redcliffe as a "sidequest" because it's possible to just let the town die? Makes sense, but isn't that quest a little atypical for DAO?

As for the general point, isn't this to some extent an issue with DAI not integrating its filler content into the main missions? To finish in Orzammar you have to slog through the Deep Roads, to get to the werewolves you have to slog through a bunch of irrelevant undead in the fortress and some random stuff in the Brecilian Forest, etc. and so forth. KotOR did the same thing.

[hw78]

That's pretty much what I'm saying, yeah. I like it when things are tied into the story.

Totally different developer but what I wanted out of The Elder Dragon Scrolls were dungeons like in Zelda. You have to fight your way through the dungeons and then come out with plot progression on the other hand. There are other dungeons too but they're optional.

That's my other issue with the quests then. There's hardly any dungeon crawling. Just WoW "bring me the head of this creature" type stuff. Which isn't a bad quest at all it was simply used too much here.

The excess filler hurts the game overall.

[Marika]

The amount of quests never really bothered me but the fact that very few of them actually have any relevance to the story/plot of the game is what really gets me about them.

 

Slightly off topic: I personally blame a lot of the issues with this game on the MP. If they wouldn't waste time, people, and money on MP and invested said items into the SP the game in my mind would have been much better.

 

DAI MP is just ME3 MP v2.0

[Octarin]

I have a minor case of OCD (Yes even the mental health experts can agree) and ADHD (was diagnose of this condition as a child) and I felt so overwhelmed by the so many filler quests and complicated (Those ridiculous star puzzles needs to be toned down a bit to make it less frustrating) quests that I felt like I was suffocating. It got to the point where I started hating the game.... even to the point where I had to force myself to save the game, and to exit out to cool off.

 

How did you fare in Skyrim, btw? Out of curiosity. Cause that got even me swamped.

[Insaner Robot]

Overwhelmed is the wrong word I think, although I suppose it depends on what triggers the compulsion.

 

For me it was the case that I couldn't not complete any quest I had in my journal, no matter how small or tedious.

I'm curious, how many of you were actually diagnosed with OCD?

 

I've been diagnosed with severe OCD, free prescriptions (I'm in the UK), blue disabled parking badge, therapy and more besides. It's not fun.

[DaemionMoadrin]

Overwhelmed is the wrong word I think, although I suppose it depends on what triggers the compulsion.

 

For me it was more a that I couldn't not complete any quest I had in my journal, no matter how small or tedious

 

I've been diagnosed with severe OCD, free prescriptions (I'm in the UK), blue disabled parking badge, therapy and more besides. It's not fun.

 

I asked because many people online use OCD as reason for their picky, neat or controlling behaviour which I find belittles the mental illness other people actually suffer from. It isn't fun, just as you said.

 

[Thane4Ever]

For some reason he's not there on my most recent playthrough, he's the guy that whines to Cassandra in Haven right?

No, it's not that guy.  He only shows up in Skyhold if you side with the Templars, I believe.  I didn't have him on either of my "pro" mage playthroughs.

 

Are there any streamlined quest guides out there?  Maybe tailored to different RP styles like "if you want to help all mages, do these side quests".  I did a lot on my first two playthroughs, on my current one I plan on skipping a lot.  I just hope it doesn't come to bite my in the arse when a DLC or expansion comes out.

 

Good god, Skyrim is much more overwhelming to me because it simply does not end.  I read somewhere that the side quests are infinite, is that right? Seems like it 300 hours later.

[Thane4Ever]

That's pretty much what I'm saying, yeah. I like it when things are tied into the story.

Totally different developer but what I wanted out of The Elder Dragon Scrolls were dungeons like in Zelda. You have to fight your way through the dungeons and then come out with plot progression on the other hand. There are other dungeons too but they're optional.

That's my other issue with the quests then. There's hardly any dungeon crawling. Just WoW "bring me the head of this creature" type stuff. Which isn't a bad quest at all it was simply used too much here.

The excess filler hurts the game overall.

The "dungeons" in this game are there but come in the shape of abandoned castles, keeps, tombs, dwarven thaigs and some caves.  I think that "fight your way through the 20th similar dungeon, get a piece of gear" playstyle is a little old fashioned TBH.  I totally agree that being tied into the story is much better.

[Akka le Vil]

TBH this game is Skyrim but wearing Dragon Age as a suit. It's disappointing, that's not what I play Dragon Age for :\

 

I found Skyrim on the whole boring and the most overhyped and dumbed down sequel of all times, but I'll grant it one thing : the exploration is awe-inspiring, and it's about 90 % of the soul of the game.

 

DAI tried to ape Skyrim, but completely failed on what it was mostly trying to get, which is this exploration part. DAI never felt like "exploring", it was just the typical "big maps with plenty of walls everywhere" that were so decried in SWTOR. Bioware has always been lousy with making maps and exploration, and increasing the size 'till they become a pain to "complete" never managed to give me this feeling of "oooh it looks nice over there, and I've never seen it, let's have a look at what it does contain !".

[Elhanan]

NWN burned the OCD out of gaming for me some time ago. Now I choose what content to play; what to skip if possible. And Skyrim taught me not to try and perform every quest (Factions and Main) in one campaign; to craft my own stories and tales, and enjoy the game itself.

DAI allows me to do all of that. No need to do every quest, take every Perk, speak to every follower, etc. Even Dragon hunting is optional. And I ain't going to complain on having too much content. Great game!

[Kulyok]

Oh yes. In Origins, it was easier, because every quest folded neatly in my mind. I remembered which chest had what, where every codex entry was - everything.

 

Here, though, it's a disaster. Especially with collections that aren't mentioned ANYWHERE. You want to collect all the banners? Sorry, the locations aren't available even on game-maps dot com. Mosaics? Sorry, this one is bugged. Regions in the Exalted Plains? You'll never get them, either - bugged. Oh, you want to hear all the dialogue? Sorry, Varric dialogue about Inquisition bugs out after you raise his approval with him, Mr Trifles is practically un-findable, and those lovely random banters? Bugged again. No Josie-Blackwall or Iron Bull-Dorian for you, and now that you've mentioned that, you won't hear half of the random War Table/Inquisition Hall banter, either, because Fen'Harel alone knows when they trigger, and that guy left the building.

[zeypher]

I hope they avoid useless stuff like this in their future games but looking at ME3 and now DA:i i am worried. There is a very good reason i avoid ubisoft games as they have tons of pointless bloat, i do not want to add bio to that list as well.

[Thane4Ever]

Oh yes. In Origins, it was easier, because every quest folded neatly in my mind. I remembered which chest had what, where every codex entry was - everything.

 

Here, though, it's a disaster. Especially with collections that aren't mentioned ANYWHERE. You want to collect all the banners? Sorry, the locations aren't available even on game-maps dot com. Mosaics? Sorry, this one is bugged. Regions in the Exalted Plains? You'll never get them, either - bugged. Oh, you want to hear all the dialogue? Sorry, Varric dialogue about Inquisition bugs out after you raise his approval with him, Mr Trifles is practically un-findable, and those lovely random banters? Bugged again. No Josie-Blackwall or Iron Bull-Dorian for you, and now that you've mentioned that, you won't hear half of the random War Table/Inquisition Hall banter, either, because Fen'Harel alone knows when they trigger, and that guy left the building.

Regarding the collections, could it be that it's hard to find info since people are still trying to complete the game?  It's still fairly new.  And I hadn't heard about the Varric thing, how does that bug out?  Are these mostly PC related bugs?  I played on PS3 and PS4 and haven't had these issues.

[Biotic Flash Kick]

what sidequests?

i've already done everything before the final mission. 

 

i have nothing left.

all requisitions are done.

all tombs in all places raided.

all mosaics finished 

all bottles found

all shards found

every chest looted

[Marika]

what sidequests?

i've already done everything before the final mission. 

 

i have nothing left.

all requisitions are done.

all tombs in all places raided.

all mosaics finished 

all bottles found

all shards found

every chest looted

every little mission you picked up while looking for those is a side mission.

[grammagamer1]

my completionist self is trouble enough, never mind cdo (correct order for anacromyn) ^^...the mosaics are driving me batty.
can't get to the last one in hinterlands,
can't find the last 2 (for me) in the western approach even going through twice with game-maps.com open
i thought i'd focus on them this PT just to see what they look like completed... arrgh!!
maybe decaf will help although a patch for the 360 would be much better
ferelden locks??? ladder or rock to reach mosaic in hinterlands cave, companion banter, sound cutting in & out

[mLIQUID]

To get that librarian you have to side with the mages before skyhold, but to answer the bulk of this post, yeah you can get caught up in the checklist aspect of this game. My only advice is that you're not obligated to complete them. I mean in the end it's only bonus xp and not end game things at risk. Take the time to read the codex and really consider whether it's something your character would do. After that you should find yourself liberated.

[Teddie Sage]

I decided to read the codex entries once I'm done with this game. I don't really like stopping midway while questing to read stuff, I prefer being in the middle of the action and enjoy fights. Too busy to read.