(though I have to say, I laughed so hard when I finally donned a higher level armor I crafted for Geralt, with what looks like it has frills around the hips from a distance, not to mention an astonishingly red cord accentuating waist and shoulders that at first I took for roses... Geralt, you look a bit like a ballerina! xD)
He's experimenting with a new battle tactic: pirouette then stab!
...Which disproves it
Which is why I said resources and technically, DAI's story was meant to be longer but due to cut content and having to rework the story they stretched their resources too thin
Have you see the last-gen graphics compared to new-gen? They are very different and limited, the current state of DAI pushed the last-gen consoles way past their limits and I heard some consoles even died from it
I play DAI with my PS3 so I have seen them yes though textures seem to be biggest problem otherwise they are fine. Without open world with such high graphics pushed to last-gen consoles and also PC's that aren't ultra I doubt there would have been as much technical problems. Though next-gen has problems too, some players way more than me. Point is that without focus on making such huge world with fetch quests there could have been longer story, meaningful side quests, cinematic dialogues and so on. And likely less technical difficulties. But it really seemed like Bioware wanted to do Skyrim with DA's world.
I don't just like the direction BW went with DAI, game could have been lot better in my opinion. It's not crappy game, but it's bit boring.. and buggy.
But I guess we would get back to LI's for next game.. On that topic I would love BW to make Mae romanceable, but I'm pretty sure they won't. Too risky.
Some of that armor sure is something. My favorite is the "Dad Sweater."
Anyway, let's try to get this back on topic. Forgive me, but I'm pretty exhausted on hearing about TW3, and I'm more curious about LIs for this series going forward.
(though I have to say, I laughed so hard when I finally donned a higher level armor I crafted for Geralt, with what looks frills around the hips from a distance, not to mention an astonishingly red cord accentuating waist and shoulders that at first I took for roses... Geralt, you look a bit like a ballerina! xD)
I wouldn't say no to some rose covered battlerina armour for DA:I.
He's experimenting with a new battle tactic: pirouette then stab!
New? He has always fought by spinning into an attack. Geralt is like the Billy Elliot of dark fantasy.
I preferred the opposite in games lol.
But in real life if you are in a relationship with someone shouldn't you tell them? Or will it be your secret for the duration of the relationship?
In games, during the time when Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins were first released, having bisexual characters (and homosexual characters, so long as they're not integral to the story) was a novel and supposedly "gutsy" (for lack of a better word) move... at least for AAA game developers. It still is, hilariously enough, going by how Mortal Kombat X had Kung Jin and one of the creators doing a Dumbledore by outing him via tweet. So of course, with characters like Anders and Kaidan, how their bisexuality was put into context within the story left much to be desired. One of the big reasons (EDIT; I think) why Kaidan couldn't be a same-sex romance option from the get-go was because queer characters in general weren't looked too fondly upon then. That's just the reality of it.
But it was only a few years later when game designers thought to amend Anders and Kaidan's sexuality. They didn't have to, but they now saw them that way, for better or for worse. But I think the limitations and the general feelings towards homosexuality, bisexuality, etc, back then unfortunately boxed those characters in. And, of course, we just assumed heterosexuality by default because of that.
I think how their sexuality was handled and written, despite how good they were, had been unfortunate because of the apprehension (for lack of better words) of portraying same sex relationships with a degree of respect and sensibility in games during that time.
Now, for real life, I don't know. Because I'm not bisexual. Their sexuality is their business. But I suspect that if they are in a serious relationship with me, they're already passed the point of having been comfortable enough with me to let me know how they identify their sexual orientation anyway.
No that wouldn't be a good idea as the feedback from players would be disgusting.
You players that see yourselves as members of the LGBTQ would flip out at the responses I think.
I mean you can see how some feel about BI people "letting their selves be known beforehand" right?
Now imagine the response to a straight guy romancing what he believes to be a female and then it guts to the romance scene and he sees it's a guy....
Ouch.
That Jerry Springer moment lol.
No it would cause mayhem I think tbh.
Transphobia is not unique to heterosexual people. Just like how expressing a degree of outrage at the bad comments against queer characters isn't just restricted to LGBTQ+ people. But yes, transphobia's also found in the LGBTQ+ community, so people- gay, bi, straight. Some of them would still freak out and make the loudest noise. And it's unfortunate.
That doesn't mean writing shouldn't be free to challenge that thinking though. Like having same-sex romances, gaming companies can only try (with a level of calculated risk), even if the progress has to be slow and long.
I play DAI with my PS3 so I have seen them yes though textures seem to be biggest problem otherwise they are fine. Without open world with such high graphics pushed to last-gen consoles and also PC's that aren't ultra I doubt there would have been as much technical problems. Though next-gen has problems too, some players way more than me. Point is that without focus on making such huge world with fetch quests there could have been longer story, meaningful side quests, cinematic dialogues and so on.
Sorry Natashina, just want to point one thing here before I go back to actual topic. Mr. Gaider himself told us (in one of BW forum threads, possibly one about the recent interview with him) that even if entire side content was be cut, it still wouldn't amount to anything new on crit path. In other words, I don't think it's as simple as 'shifting focus' from huge world with fetch quests to a smaller, more focused one....
It's hard to compare things like quality in areas that are hardly comparable, which makes terms like "quality" an empty word if nobody took time to establish what this 'quality' is really about.
Graphics or quest design - sure, have at it, but even things like quests have different goals or objectives, overall. I'm not saying that experience can't be improved in DAI, but more than a few times I've seen people misrepresent what was in game entirely, while over-exaggerating how meticulously-crafted quests in Witcher are (a lot of them are really nice, but after doing quite a few myself I already see a recognizable - and relatively predictable - design pattern).
I also don't really think graphics are really an issue - both games look stunning, next-gen or no. What really amuses me though is that suddenly all the people who complained that "Inquisition is too bight and colorful" suddenly got silent... possibly because Witcher offers some beautiful vistas and excellent (and vibrant) color palette as well.
(though I have to say, I laughed so hard when I finally donned a higher level armor I crafted for Geralt, with what looks frills around the hips from a distance, not to mention an astonishingly red cord accentuating waist and shoulders that at first I took for roses... Geralt, you look a bit like a ballerina! xD)
Yep some of those armor designs are shocking lol.
But I think the main point for the comparison is that CDPR and BW both embarked on using a new engine to create an open world game yet Bw's game suffered so much more than CDPR's.
Had Witcher 3 not been an open world RPG then there would be no comparisons made.
The main issues with DA:I is the lack of content and the ton of pointless content (fetch quests/war table)
Sorry Natashina, just want to point one thing here before I go back to actual topic. Mr. Gaider himself told us (in one of BW forum threads, possibly one about the recent interview with him) that even if entire side content was be cut, it still wouldn't amount to anything new on crit path. In other words, I don't think it's as simple as 'shifting focus' from huge world with fetch quests to a smaller, more focused one....
I think you got your quotes mixed up. You were quoting Panda there. 
Edit: For what's its worth, I agree with you.
Yep some of those armor designs are shocking lol.
But I think the main point for the comparison is that CDPR and BW both embarked on using a new engine to create an open world game yet Bw's game suffered so much more than CDPR's.
Had Witcher 3 not been an open world RPG then there would be no comparisons made.
The main issues with DA:I is the lack of content and the ton of pointless content (fetch quests/war table)
The difference is that CDPR uses their one engine (and doesn't bother with PS3/XboX360, which Laidlaw admitted was one of major reasons why they had to scale down some things), while - if I understand it correctly - Bioware HAD to use Frostbite, which in many ways is revolutionary, but also tricky to master.
In games, during the time when Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins were first released, having bisexual characters (and homosexual characters, so long as they're not integral to the story) was a novel and supposedly "gutsy" (for lack of a better word) move... at least for AAA game developers. It still is, hilariously enough, going by how Mortal Kombat X had Kung Jin and one of the creators doing a Dumbledore by outing him via tweet. So of course, with characters like Anders and Kaidan, how their bisexuality was put into context within the story left much to be desired. One of the big reasons why Kaidan couldn't be a same-sex romance option from the get-go was because queer characters in general weren't looked too fondly upon then. That's just the reality of it.
Isn't it sad that games often tout themselves as new/revolutionary/young media yet they still suffer from old problems?
I think you got your quotes mixed up. You were quoting Panda there.
Edit: For what's its worth, I agree with you.
No, I'm just tired, so I just placed response to you below the quote I took from Panda, not above _^_ Sorry.
No, I'm just tired, so I just placed response to you below the quote I took from Panda, not above _^_ Sorry.
All good. Although some sleep might not be a bad idea. 
What were you responding to, exactly? I'm not sure what you are getting at.
Sorry Natashina, just want to point one thing here before I go back to actual topic. Mr. Gaider himself told us (in one of BW forum threads, possibly one about the recent interview with him) that even if entire side content was be cut, it still wouldn't amount to anything new on crit path. In other words, I don't think it's as simple as 'shifting focus' from huge world with fetch quests to a smaller, more focused one....
I'm not sure what you mean by side content here and how not designing it in the game first place wouldn't have reserved resources to other stuff.. but I guess this talk doesn't matter so much since what's done is done. Hopefully it's done better in ME4 and DA4 ^^
I'm not sure what you mean by side content here and how not designing it in the game first place wouldn't have reserved resources to other stuff.. but I guess this talk doesn't matter so much since what's done is done. Hopefully it's done better in ME4 and DA4 ^^
I don't know about that. This is some good things to discuss for DA4 and beyond. Done bun can't be undone, but we can help give some ideas for the future. 
In games, during the time when Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins were first released, having bisexual characters (and homosexual characters, so long as they're not integral to the story) was a novel and supposedly "gutsy" (for lack of a better word) move... at least for AAA game developers. It still is, hilariously enough, going by how Mortal Kombat X had Kung Jin and one of the creators doing a Dumbledore by outing him via tweet. So of course, with characters like Anders and Kaidan, how their bisexuality was put into context within the story left much to be desired. One of the big reasons (EDIT; I think) why Kaidan couldn't be a same-sex romance option from the get-go was because queer characters in general weren't looked too fondly upon then. That's just the reality of it.
But it was only a few years later when game designers thought to amend Anders and Kaidan's sexuality. They didn't have to, but they now saw them that way, for better or for worse. But I think the limitations and the general feelings towards homosexuality, bisexuality, etc, back then unfortunately boxed those characters in. And, of course, we just assumed heterosexuality by default because of that.
I think how their sexuality was handled and written, despite how good they were, had been unfortunate because of the apprehension (for lack of better words) of portraying same sex relationships with a degree of respect and sensibility in games during that time.
Now, for real life, I don't know. Because I'm not bisexual. Their sexuality is their business. But I suspect that if they are in a serious relationship with me, they're already passed the point of having been comfortable enough with me to let me know how they identify their sexual orientation anyway.
Transphobia is not unique to heterosexual people. Just like how expressing a degree of outrage at the bad comments against queer characters isn't just restricted to LGBTQ+ people. But yes, transphobia's also found in the LGBTQ+ community, so people- gay, bi, straight. Some of them would still freak out and make the loudest noise. And it's unfortunate.
That doesn't mean writing shouldn't be free to challenge that thinking though. Like having same-sex romances, gaming companies can only try (with a level of calculated risk), even if the progress has to be slow and long.
LMFAO never knew that about MKX lol.
Yeah personally I hated what was done with Anders as it felt like it was forced upon me and if I didn't like it then there would be a problem which is just so ignorant and biased lol.
Kaiden... I never ever actually noticed tbh.
Concerning the real life thing yeah I would expect my partner if bi to tell me otherwise where is the trust which all relationships should be built on right?
And Yeah some members of the LGBTQ would probably feel "cheated" also for being a overly proud lesbian expecting to romance a female but then it turns out to be a guy lol.
Yeah it would incite rage across the board tbh lol.
The difference is that CDPR uses their one engine (and doesn't bother with PS3/XboX360, which Laidlaw admitted was one of major reasons why they had to scale down some things), while - if I understand it correctly - Bioware HAD to use Frostbite, which in many ways is revolutionary, but also tricky to master.
CDPR had to scale down too as Xboxone/PS4 cannot handle 60fps at 1080p so no way they could handle PC's 2k textures or 4k textures at 60fps.
And just so you know PS3 could actually handle 60fps at 1080p lol.
CDPR had to scale down too as Xboxone/PS4 cannot handle 60fps at 1080p so no way they could handle PC's 2k textures or 4k textures at 60fps.
And just so you know PS3 could actually handle 60fps at 1080p lol
Scaling down to Xbone/PS4 is hardly comparable to scaling down to old-gen console level. You cannot be serious in suggesting that a (relatively) brand new hardware is comparable in terms of what it can do to, say, Playstation system released in 2006.
PS3/XboX360 are pretty much decade-old consoles now. In technical years that's like a frikking millenium - so much has changed since then! That PS3 may handle 60fps at 1080 is irrelevant if it can't handle powerful new engines or effects that require more calculating power. My own PS3 is from 2008 - and it's beyond any realm of possibility that it can rival even my 2011 computer specs (I'm a graphic designer, I need powerful comp to withstand my work, yet my 2010/2011 PC couldn't handle Inquisition on medium-high settings), much less my new one (flawless ultra for Witcher 3 and DAI).
Besides, like I said - it's been already admitted in interviews by Mr. Laidlaw that the reason why many mechanics were cut was in large part because older consoles just couldn't handle them (this is also we have smaller clusters of enemies as well). We're not talking mere scaling down of textures here...
BioWare may try as hard as they can but they never please everyone... There will be always complaining voices... I think they are doing great job - at least romantic / sexual content is discussed (as here), building bridges, overcoming stereotypes... they are always trying something new even when feedback isn't quite favorable. If they weren't, we would still have only one max two straight options like more than 10 years ago. So we have to excuse those few missteps or "imperfection"
Having Krem in game is great, I like his personality and teasing with Bull, but I also think players community is not ready yet for such romance.
For ME4... I would like to have possibilibity of having relationship with synthetic. I am not talking about some "robo-sex" or Joker's wild images of EDI just close possibly romantic relationship without anything physical. I loved Legion, it was so hard to let him / it die 
Scaling down to Xbone/PS4 is hardly comparable to scaling down to old-gen console level. You cannot be serious in suggesting that a (relatively) brand new hardware is comparable in terms of what it can do to, say, Playstation system released in 2006.
PS3/XboX360 are pretty much decade-old consoles now. That PS3 may handle 60fps at 1080 is irrelevant if it can't handle powerful new engines or effects that require more calculating power. My own PS3 is from 2008 - and it's beyond any realm of possibility that it can rival even my 2011 computer specs (I'm a graphic designer, I need powerful comp to withstand my work, yet my 2010/2011 PC couldn't handle Inquisition on medium-high settings), much less my new one (flawless ultra for Witcher 3 and DAI).
Besides, like I said - it's been already admitted in interviews by Mr. Laidlaw that the reason why many mechanics were cut was in large part because older consoles just couldn't handle them (this is also we have smaller clusters of enemies as well). We're not talking mere scaling down of textures here...
There is nothing "brand new" about the PS4 or Xboxone.
They have tech which is 6+ years old.
But that was only part of the problem.
The main problem came from the Dev's running out of resources due to wasting resources on the mistakes they made trying to get this new engine to work.
There is nothing "brand new" about the PS4 or Xboxone.
They have tech which is 6+ years old.
But that was only part of the problem.
The main problem came from the Dev's running out of resources due to wasting resources on the mistakes they made trying to get this new engine to work.
6+ years old is still miles better than 10+ - there's no point even arguing this. The dip in quality between PS3 and 4 or Xbox360/Xbox also speaks volumes of what these devices can't or can handle.
We also don't know anything about "wasting resources" - that's nothing more than idle speculation.
6+ years old is still miles better than 10+ - there's no point even arguing this. The dip in quality between PS3 and 4 or Xbox360/Xbox also speaks volumes of what these devices can't or can handle.
We also don't know anything about "wasting resources" - that's nothing more than idle speculation.
"There is, however, not one single batch of "resources" that you allocate.
There are different people with different skills, and different kinds of content require different people to work on them. One cannot necessarily work on another. The main storyline quests, for instance, are very cinematic-heavy...if you cut content that has no or little cinematics, you can cut to your heart's content and you will not free up any resources for the main storyline. You will have a lot of level designers twiddling their thumbs waiting for someone to work on whatever they've created.
That's how it works. We're quite aware of the need to balance our resources -- insofar as whether the team "learned" anything about balancing the amount of exploration content vs. cinematic content, I suppose you'll have to wait and see what Mike and co. do in the years to come. I think they've been pretty up-front about the focus on exploration content, so I suspect you'll see refinement and iteration rather than a complete axis shift on that front...but who knows? DA is sort of the Aliens franchise of the gaming world, in terms of its willingness to redefine itself." ~ DG
Source: http://forum.bioware...view/?bioware=1
Straight from the developers mouth
Balancing resources between exploration content vs. cinematic content is not the same as "wasting resources on the mistakes they made trying to get this new engine to work".
You're reading things there Gaider simply did not say.
do you believe they did not have any problems making fb a semi-RPG engine?
Did I say that I don't believe they haven't encountered any problems? I don't believe that at all - I think that adapting to new engine was one of the biggest hurdles. But adapting to new engine isn't the same as claiming that all that process of adapting new engine is a wasted effort or a "waste of resources". It had to be done! If anything, it means that work on DA4 should be smoother and will help them expand the game in terms of story and mechanics, or even next title's "open worldness", which they obviously are't planning to drop.
Guys, we're veering off course again:
Guys, we're veering off course again:
We've never had a lady elf for male elf protagonists to romance, eh? Or a blonde?
So, uh...
*desperately fumbles for topic*
I wouldn't mind seeing that. So perhaps hopefully in the next game they'll consider it for a romance option for male player-characters.
First idea I thought of is a Dalish warrior hell-bent on revenge against Tevinter slavers for slaughtering her friends and family, and ending up being captured along with you en route to Tevinter. Yes...
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