15759 réponses à ce sujet

[TheOgre]

No, it didn't. DA:O had a fixed good character, with the occasional option to go full on balls-to-the-wall insane with pointless cruelty. But in terms of meaningful variation in a character, DA:I is the an exemplar in how you can customize your PCs emotions, beliefs, and personal relationships. 

 

... So wait, do you not restore order for the Chantry? Take in and protect either Templar or Mage? Preserve the knowledge of the ancient elves in some way?

 

You had a lot more options to be an A hole in DAO than in DAI. "No it didn't". Just because you stop a blight doesn't mean you did so through heroics. Sacrificing Alistair, or using a child as a sacrifice. Pfft.

[Saphiron123]

Minor spoilers for the Witcher 3.

There's this one sidequest where a dwarf's workshop is burned down by someone. You track him down and talk to him. He comes off as a drunk asshat, but he reveals a little sob story about his dead mommeh and how he had to sell her tools for money.

Seeing as how that has literally nothing to do with him burning the workshop down so I turned him in. You do the crime you do the time buddy. The dwarf called the guards and they proceeded to hang him.

That shocked the living hell out of me, and I literally felt bad for the guy. But life goes on. I had bigger fish to fry.

Although short, that sidequest left a pretty big (yet minor) feeling of assholishness in me. I felt kinda guilty. That's how a sidequest should be done.

That's what dragon age used to have. Choices with consequences. DAI doesn't.

[9TailsFox]

If the only they take from Witcher 3 is better side quests and quests in general I'd be happy with that.

Given the choice between a fixed protagonist or my own, I'd pick my own. Also for me an adventuring party is better than a single person. Not deal breakers either though.

I've not had a chance to play much of W3 either but was blown away with what I have played. Down graded graphics really? Not sure how much more awesome my machine - which is fairly beefy could take.

Everyone cry about down graded graphics, me to it's wasn't downgraded enough, my poor PC 

[Dreadstruck]

Everyone cry about down graded graphics, me to it's wasn't downgraded enough, my poor PC 

 

I am glad to be playing on medium-high on my laptop and it is, without a doubt, still the best looking game I have ever played this year, lol.

 

I wish I had these first world problems of spoiled kids complaining about downgrades and stuff.

[In Exile]

... So wait, do you not restore order for the Chantry? Take in and protect either Templar or Mage? Preserve the knowledge of the ancient elves in some way?

 

You had a lot more options to be an A hole in DAO than in DAI. "No it didn't". Just because you stop a blight doesn't mean you did so through heroics. Sacrificing Alistair, or using a child as a sacrifice. Pfft.

 

Every single major choice is justifiable on an utilitarian calculus. The choice in DA:O isn't between "good" and "evil". It's between "pragmatic, utilitarian good" and "pure, moral paragon, good". The only exception is the werewolf choice, where you encourage the massacre of a clan. But let's go through the options here: 

 

1. Redcliffe. The "pure good" option is to have the Circle jump in and save Connor without blood magic, which means leaving Redcliffe alone for days (?). Not taking that risk - and not playing with tens or hundreds of lives that you may have saved - is easily justifiable on a "moral good' scale. 

2. The Anvil. The darkspawn are pure evil rape abominations who poison the land by existing on it. The process of creating golems is horrific. But that doesn't mean that it isn't justifiable - again on utilitarian moral principles - to save the anvil and create golems.

3. The Circle. Blood mages are dangerous, and can control minds. Freedom vs. security is a debate we have IRL. 

4. The Landsmeet. Loghain (and Anora) may well be more capable figures in stopping the Blight and preserving Ferelden. 

 

These are purely heroic outcomes, the "ends justify the means" heroes like Jack Bauer that some people love. Even the darkest possible choice - the werewolf one - is justifiable on the basis that werewolves are just better soldiers at fighting the blight. Even when you're talking about sacrificing elves for a CON+ point, Sten has a moral argument in favour of it (that you need that power to stop the blight). 

 

Of course, you can come up with completely insane moral reasons for doing these things - because you're an evil person that gets off on inflicting pain - but that's really not supported in the game. 

 

DA:I removes a lot of the psychotic, pointless cruelty, but it doesn't change the moral calculus. 

 

Edit: To add to this, my Inquisitors are typically quite power hungry. But not being complete and total idiots, they're smart enough to know that skinning cats alive in the middle of Skyhold while rubbing themselves is not a great way to actually acquire power, so they play it cool and do lawful to chaotic good things. 

[Zinho73]

What I do think is that Bioware should be more like CD project:

 

1. Discounts for fans of the series;

2. NO serious crashes during gameplay; I personally did not experienced it but there are reports of some.

3. Excellent graphic performance day 1;

4. Seamless change between mouse+keyboard and controller during gameplay;

5. Fast loading times;

6. Huge world that is easy to navigate, explore, find things and subquests that are interesting;

7. Rewarding combat and an easy option for button pressers.

8. Thinking about upgrades are not only fun but useful.

9. Awesome cut scenes and a lot of cinematic moments in dialogues between them.

10. Everything you do is related to your character - collecting flowers as a witcher makes sense, but, as a leader of a rebellious army, it does not.

11. Menus are cluttered and cumbersome - and it is still better than in DAI and easier to navigate.

12. A horse that works.

13. NPCs that are numerous and interesting.

14. A really good mini card game to pass time in-game.

15. Mature content that is still a little bit juvenile - but just a bit - and people at least look good naked.

16. Everything they said that were in the game is in the game in a working state.

 

 

The games are different in style and I like the idea of having different styles - as long as they are competent entries. The half-baked DAI can be enjoyable, but you have to forgive much to do so (or do not care about many things that I care, like stability).

 

The Witcher might not be your style, but it is a competent technical effort, delivered as promised, and it shows in so many details that the devs have actually played the game they built. And that they like playing it.

[herkles]

I did almost every single side quest in DAI and I can only say that one zone for certain had a real compelling questline and it was Crestwood.

 

Same; also this brings me to something which I have found out in the witcher today. That if you clear certain areas, people will return there. For instance I cleaned a small road-side shrine of the eternal fire and come day time there are passing pilgrims there, and a useful herbalist.

 

snip

Of corse in the regards to 1: there was no consquense for going to the mages. also you ca save the mages without them being killed. 

 

Now one thing I have noticed here is that a lot of people don't want to be an anti-hero, they want to be the joker, or Ramsey Snow. I don't want there to be 'evil' opitions because as you mentioned a lot of them are pointless, pyschotic cruelity. That just leads to something which bioware has been moving away from, ie the binary good v evil. I want choices like Harrowmount v Bahlen. 

 

[Natashina]

What I do think is that Bioware should be more like CD project:

 

<snipped for space>

 

 

Okay, I'm gonna address this one.  If any of my comments sound dismissive or crabby, I apologize in advance.   I'm really sick at the moment.  

 

1) If you mean a "discount for the fans," are you referring to a season pass?  That sounds like a decent idea.

 

2) I can and will happily pull up several games that have had many more crashing and first day issues.  That were best sellers (hi Skyrim.) 

 

3) I have the sneaking suspicion that some of the Witcher fans are not being 100% honest about a lack of bugs on these forums.  I have seen fans go from one site where they brag about their game being better to their game's official forums to complain.  I saw it myself during WoW vs ToR days.  The WoW vs RIFT days too.  I saw it when Skyrim got huge here and on other forums.

 

4) 100% agreed.  I also think the PC controls are an afterthought in DA:I as well.

 

5) I started with fairly short load times, before the patches and DLC showed up for Inquisition.  I don't think TW3 is going to be any different, but I hope it stays short for the players.  

 

6) YMMV.  I didn't have much trouble getting around.  I explored, I found things, I did sidequests.  So that's subjective and not something that would help the DA team.  The only big complaint I have is the lack of a topography option for the mini map.  It would have been nice if I had a small terrain map that allowed some sense of scale.  "Hey, the mini-map shows that there's a mountain up ahead."

 

7) This is the easiest combat I've ever had in a DA game.  I played my first DA tank because I found the abilities smooth and easy to use.  So, again, YMMV.

 

8) I found upgrades fun and useful.  I've seen other posters that agree with you and some that agreed with me.  YMMV.

 

9) I found plenty of cutscenes with awesome character moments in DA:I.  I have heard that TW3 from people that gave examples that did sound pretty neat.  Your post tells me nothing useful though.

 

10) Okay, I can agree with this.  Still, do you have an alternative suggestion?  What could the DA team do differently here?  Send out advisers or scouts?  Establish a trading area where the player can buy materials provided that they have found them once?  This isn't helpful feedback if you don't give a suggestion.

 

11) Screenshots of the menus in TW3 would be nice.  I'd like to see what you're talking about.  If anyone could upload an example, now I'm curious.  

 

12) My mounts all work just fine.  What was the issue you ran into with yours?  

 

13) I found the NPCs numerous and very interesting.  So, YMMV.

 

14) Mini-games...I normally loathe them, but given the longer war table missions, I'm down for a Wicked Grace mini-game.  That could be a lot of fun.

 

15) YMMV, big time.  I found the content in DA:I perfectly mature without being graphic, and I admired both Bull's and Dorian's backsides.  Also, I've seen that not many fans care about nudity one way or the other.  Some feel strongly, but I haven't seen a lot of people claim that as their big reason for buying TW.

 

16)  What "everything?"  Do you mean the graphics downgrade?  The "17 free DLCs" that were actually a part of a Season Pass?  Are you using the promises from a leaked version of the Alpha version of the game (that wasn't meant to be seen by the public,) like folks here are doing DA:I?  I'm referring to the "promises" of the Keep mechanic (the famous "Save Crestwood Village or Save the Keep Quest from Alpha that was cut,) and the more recent perceived "promises of new hair and such."

 

I didn't find DA:I half baked, and very little of your post had anything useful for the devs other than, "Play this game and your game will be good."  Sorry, but I've been watching some good feedback (even have seen actual examples of what you're spouting out there,) but stuff like this isn't constructive.  

[chrstnmonks]

He/she did exaggerate a bit but the basic point about the Witcher was correct. Too many female characters do swoon over Geralt.

 

To be fair the devs are sort of sticking to the source material on that, as in the books there are plenty of female characters who behave like groupies around Geralt. Book Geralt is kind of a Mary Sue in the romance department and the games follow suit.

The thing about that is IMO is the fact he is sterile and disease resistent. In a time where catching an std is a possiable death sentence or childbirth for that matter, he would be very appealing.Also him having all his teeth doesn't hurt either.

[DSiKn355]

The thing about that is IMO is the fact he is sterile and disease resistant. In a time where catching an std is a possible death sentence or childbirth for that matter, he would be very appealing.Also him having all his teeth doesn't hurt either.

 

Tell it like it is lmao

 

People usually discount the era it is set in when play these fantasy games.

[KBomb]

The thing about that is IMO is the fact he is sterile and disease resistent. In a time where catching an std is a possiable death sentence or childbirth for that matter, he would be very appealing.Also him having all his teeth doesn't hurt either.

Not to mention Geralt is mysterious and forbidden. Witchers are looked at with fear and awe and they're considered powerful. People are drawn to that. A lot of women throw themselves at him like groupies, because that is what they are-- in a medieval sense.

This sort if thing presents itself even in DAI. If you choose the Champion specialization, your instructor tells you how everyone wants to bed you.

[herkles]

Tell it like it is lmao

 

People usually discount the era it is set in when play these fantasy games.

Of course being someone who enjoys studying the middle ages of the world, a good bit of what we imagine about the era isn't accurate. Of course hard to state something specific when the period can cover about a thousand years. 

 

Though someone brought up the war-torn nature of some of the areas, notably the prologue area and Valen in the Witcher. You felt like there really was a war going on here, in contrast to DA:I where the only real war area was the exalted plains and there is a still a notably darker tone in how the conflict is shown in the witcher. Of course the big issue IMO with the exalted plains is that we don't actually get to see the orlasian civil war. If one had to say pick a side here, and this is how you would have gotten your invitation to the Ball by fighting for either Celene's forces or Gaspards and dealing with the politics there.

[Natashina]

Also, TW3 is bug free from serious crashes?  Then what's this I'm hearing:

 

http://www.inquisitr...possible-fixes/

https://www.reddit.c...ial_bug_thread/

http://gearnuke.com/...s4-pc-xbox-one/

http://www.eurogamer...3-day-one-patch

 

And I see that they have a Day One patch as well.  Before anyone goes, "Well, I didn't have that hard of a time," the same could be said about DA:I players as well.  Please, just tell us what you like about the game rather than pretending that it's smooth and perfect.  This shouldn't be that hard and all games have problems on release.  I didn't think that was the point of the thread.  I thought the point was to see what the DA team could take from TW3 to improve their games, not make it some sort of stupid unrealistic contest between fans.  I also didn't think the point was to make the DA team do everything just like CDPR does.

 

Thanks to Ogre, Exile, herkles, KBomb and others for giving some reasonable feedback.  

[VelvetV]

The tiny font is amusing, the same issue existed in TW2 and they still released the next title with unreadable font. Talk about people not learning from their mistakes. Normal fonts will probably be patched in or modded in.

 

I like the nature effects. Day\night cycle, wind, howls, very good ambient sound for everything, it makes you feel like you're there.

 

I wouldn't jump on the band wagon to say that TW3 is better than DA:I. TW3 will never have great companions and a protagonist that appeals to wide audience, and DA:I will never have good side quests. These games could learn from each other

[AresKeith]

The tiny font is amusing, the same issue existed in TW2 and they still released the next title with unreadable font. Talk about people not learning from their mistakes. Normal fonts will probably be patched in or modded in.

 

I like the nature effects. Day\night cycle, wind, howls, very good ambient sound for everything, it makes you feel like you're there.

 

I wouldn't jump on the band wagon to say that TW3 is better than DA:I. TW3 will never have great companions and a protagonist that appeals to wide audience, and DA:I will never have good side quests. These games could learn from each other

 

I hope to see that appear in DA games in the future, I know Bioware thought about the idea for DAI but it would've been too much for last-gen too handle

[VelvetV]

I want to defend DA:I a little, because I think some opinions are just unfair and sound like nitpicking.

 

4. Seamless change between mouse+keyboard and controller during gameplay;

 

Except keys aren't rebindable. I can get used to anything as a pianist, but it's an issue for others!

 

5. Fast loading times;

 

If we have long loading times in DA:I, I never noticed.

 

Rewarding combat and an easy option for button pressers.

 

Combat is way too different to compare. Extremely unfair. Apples and oranges.

 

11. Menus are cluttered and cumbersome - and it is still better than in DAI and easier to navigate.

 

My feeling is that it's vice versa. So it's up to one's taste.

 

14. A really good mini card game to pass time in-game.

 

Are such things really aren't important enough to mention? 

 

15. Mature content that is still a little bit juvenile - but just a bit - and people at least look good naked.

 

Again, not important to the overall quality of the game. Besides, I personally can't see how an adult content that caters to a very specific audience can be an advantage. I perceive it as merely a trick to cater to one type of fan that falls flat for everyone else. At least DA:I is diverse, they're far ahead in that department.

[Drantwo]

Till now my greatest criticism about Witcher 3 is control optimization. I play on PC and I can tell you that the game felt like it was meant to played with gamepad, something I find very disappointing. I am left handed and I don't really use WASD which makes it very awkward since you cannot remap the movement keys. Strong Attack is [LeftShift+Click] and to dodge you need to push [a,w,s,d+alt]. It becomes very difficult when in combat to use these keys. I thought the controls in DA:I very bad but those in TW3 are worse especially since there is a lot of dodging and sliding to do. Also there in no FOV slider.  I hope they fix these in their next patches. Rest of the game is a gem.  Minor issues I've had were that the font felt a little small at times. I have played for 2.5 hours till now and haven't experienced a single crash. 

[Zinho73]

 

 

 

Okay, I'm gonna address this one.  If any of my comments sound dismissive or crabby, I apologize in advance.   I'm really sick at the moment.  

 

1) If you mean a "discount for the fans," are you referring to a season pass?  That sounds like a decent idea.

 

2) I can and will happily pull up several games that have had many more crashing and first day issues.  That were best sellers (hi Skyrim.) 

 

3) I have the sneaking suspicion that some of the Witcher fans are not being 100% honest about a lack of bugs on these forums.  I have seen fans go from one site where they brag about their game being better to their game's official forums to complain.  I saw it myself during WoW vs ToR days.  The WoW vs RIFT days too.  I saw it when Skyrim got huge here and on other forums.

 

4) 100% agreed.  I also think the PC controls are an afterthought in DA:I as well.

 

5) I started with fairly short load times, before the patches and DLC showed up for Inquisition.  I don't think TW3 is going to be any different, but I hope it stays short for the players.  

 

6) YMMV.  I didn't have much trouble getting around.  I explored, I found things, I did sidequests.  So that's subjective and not something that would help the DA team.  The only big complaint I have is the lack of a topography option for the mini map.  It would have been nice if I had a small terrain map that allowed some sense of scale.  "Hey, the mini-map shows that there's a mountain up ahead."

 

7) This is the easiest combat I've ever had in a DA game.  I played my first DA tank because I found the abilities smooth and easy to use.  So, again, YMMV.

 

8) I found upgrades fun and useful.  I've seen other posters that agree with you and some that agreed with me.  YMMV.

 

9) I found plenty of cutscenes with awesome character moments in DA:I.  I have heard that TW3 from people that gave examples that did sound pretty neat.  Your post tells me nothing useful though.

 

10) Okay, I can agree with this.  Still, do you have an alternative suggestion?  What could the DA team do differently here?  Send out advisers or scouts?  Establish a trading area where the player can buy materials provided that they have found them once?  This isn't helpful feedback if you don't give a suggestion.

 

11) Screenshots of the menus in TW3 would be nice.  I'd like to see what you're talking about.  If anyone could upload an example, now I'm curious.  

 

12) My mounts all work just fine.  What was the issue you ran into with yours?  

 

13) I found the NPCs numerous and very interesting.  So, YMMV.

 

14) Mini-games...I normally loathe them, but given the longer war table missions, I'm down for a Wicked Grace mini-game.  That could be a lot of fun.

 

15) YMMV, big time.  I found the content in DA:I perfectly mature without being graphic, and I admired both Bull's and Dorian's backsides.  Also, I've seen that not many fans care about nudity one way or the other.  Some feel strongly, but I haven't seen a lot of people claim that as their big reason for buying TW.

 

16)  What "everything?"  Do you mean the graphics downgrade?  The "17 free DLCs" that were actually a part of a Season Pass?  Are you using the promises from a leaked version of the Alpha version of the game (that wasn't meant to be seen by the public,) like folks here are doing DA:I?  I'm referring to the "promises" of the Keep mechanic (the famous "Save Crestwood Village or Save the Keep Quest from Alpha that was cut,) and the more recent perceived "promises of new hair and such."

 

I didn't find DA:I half baked, and very little of your post had anything useful for the devs other than, "Play this game and your game will be good."  Sorry, but I've been watching some good feedback (even have seen actual examples of what you're spouting out there,) but stuff like this isn't constructive.  

 

Only some clarifications:

1. If you owned The Witcher 2 you got 5 to 10% discount on pre-order.

2. And this is something to be proud of? IN any case, I played Skyrim to completion despite of its bugs - and I definitely could play it on day one. I had to wait several weaks and three patches to play DAI with some semblance of stability.

3. Performance is not about bugs. The game detected my system correctly and ran at 60fps with a slight drop in some areas.  It took DAI two patches to get rid of atrocious random FPS drops. Also, the game was terribly optimized at launch, consuming much more resources than it should. People with decent rigs had to turn off Origin overlays, antiviruses and other stuff.

6. Moving around: circumnavigating mountains and having to click the search buttons every two seconds gets old fast. It is not hard, but the map function in the witcher is really fast to use.

7. Yes. Combat in DAI is like a substandard MMO by default. Combat in The Witcher is more involved - AND it has a dumb option if that's your thing. Also harder difficulties in the Witcher are more than just a bigger health bar for monsters (although monsters do have a bigger health bar).

8. Upgrades in DAI can be fun, but you only need to think about it to fight dragons (and only on hard). IN the Witcher thinking about your fights and upgrading accordingly makes an enormous difference. You also may want to do quests that favor the upgrades you just made and skip some for later.

9. The story feedback is much better balanced in The Witcher, You have lots of interesting stuff between the main events. Lots of quests with memorable NPCs that you encounter later and react to what you did, foreshadowing, quests that split into others and even the dumb fetch quests can lead to something interesting and unexpected, with great dialogue and cutscenes moving forward most of this stuff. In DAI you can play for hours and complete several quests with the strange sensation that nothing is happening.

10. Feedback and suggestions are two different things and the former is quite useful without the later. Actually, in development, it is quite common to have one team identifying the problems and another looking for the solutions. In any case, the game has a built in solution: The war table. My suggestion? The thing should operate in reverse: Let me play all the intrigue, rescue and exploring missions of the war table and let my minions gather resources and deliver flowers and blankets off screen.

11. When I am crafting in DAI I do not know if the stuff I am crafting is better than the ones I have. In the Witcher menus I have all information in a much more useful way. It is still cluttered because it is a lot of information (much more than in DAI), but it is quick to access.

 

The other points were discussed in other threads already and you are right, the graphical downgrade is an issue - not as big as saying the game was develop by pc gamers for pc gamers, but it happened (the game still looks amazing, though).

 

But, seriously, what do you consider useful?

I am developing a game now and the most useful are the most harsh, blunt and concise criticisms - even broad subjective ones like "I hated this feature". Finding the solution is my problem as a developer and not the tester's.

 

Sometimes it is cool to get an explanation why the feature did not work and we do appreciate suggestions, but the former is not difficult to infer and the later has little chance to be implemented in most cases due to several practical reasons.

[Zinho73]

Also, TW3 is bug free from serious crashes?  Then what's this I'm hearing:

 

http://www.inquisitr...possible-fixes/

https://www.reddit.c...ial_bug_thread/

http://gearnuke.com/...s4-pc-xbox-one/

http://www.eurogamer...3-day-one-patch

 

And I see that they have a Day One patch as well.  Before anyone goes, "Well, I didn't have that hard of a time," the same could be said about DA:I players as well.  Please, just tell us what you like about the game rather than pretending that it's smooth and perfect.  This shouldn't be that hard and all games have problems on release.  I didn't think that was the point of the thread.  I thought the point was to see what the DA team could take from TW3 to improve their games, not make it some sort of stupid unrealistic contest between fans.  I also didn't think the point was to make the DA team do everything just like CDPR does.

 

Thanks to Ogre, Exile, herkles, KBomb and others for giving some reasonable feedback.  

Touché.

[Natashina]

Only some clarifications:

<snip>

But, seriously, what do you consider useful?

I am developing a game now and the most useful are the most harsh, blunt and concise criticisms - even broad subjective ones like "I hated this feature". Finding the solution is my problem as a developer and not the tester's.

 

Sometimes it is cool to get an explanation why the feature did not work and we do appreciate suggestions, but the former is not difficult to infer and the later has little chance to be implemented in most cases due to several practical reasons.

2) Proud of?  Hardly, but you had this tone like TW3 had almost no problems with Day One, like it was superior to DA:I or any other game.  I was pointing out that the Day One issues happen across all games.  I'll take that as tone lost over text and I know I probably misunderstood your e-tone here.  Again, I'm ill so I do sincerely apologize.  

 

3)  I've been reading a lot of folks going, "Well, there is only some issues," in regards to DA:I as well.  For as many FPS and crashing problems, I've read even more people state that there game is just fine.  Performance issues are about bugs.  It isn't just about FPS drops.  For TW3, what about the people that are trying to access menus and freezing?  Does that not count as a bug that affects performance?  Or the folks that are needing large workarounds just like they did for DA:I?  Do you mean the FPS problems that I barely even noticed after Patch 2?   Also, I've had to turn off Origin overlay with other games as well.  I had to turn off the Steam overlay for the TW: Ultimate Edition and I have a damned good computer.  I'm betting if I looked right now, there would be folks with similar issues in TW3.  That reddit thread is very active.

 

7) How is the Witcher's combat that much more involved?  I've played many MMOs in my past, and I didn't see the combat as watered down at all in DA:I.  See, this is what I mean.  You're telling me how good something is without giving me details.  Also, what is a "dumb" mode?  So far, you're literally (I don't use that word lightly) one of the very few on the forums that has complained that the combat didn't have an easier mode.  If anything, I've kept reading, "Stop dumbing down combat, DA devs!"  I found the combat very easy and fluid, more so than Origins (with that stupid shuffle and bloated skill trees) or DA2.  I'm not trying to give you a hard time, I promise.  It's just an unusual request for the BSN.

 

8)  Disagreed 100%.  I found myself on normal having to carefully balance my upgrades and I enjoyed it.  It was fun experimenting with different fade-touched stats, and I used it for way way more than just dragons.  I would have several arms and legs before the game was done both times I finished it.

 

9) Okay, again, give me an example.  It could be in spoiler tags, if you don't want to give anything away from folks in the middle of the game.  I could name a lot of foreshadowing in DA:I from several companions and NPCs.  I've been paying careful attention and the majority of those "fetch quests" are Requisition missions.  If anyone thinks they are too much, then stop doing them.  If you mean the Dalish, then you can skip that quest.  I haven't seen very many required fetch quests, and I've been watching for them in my last two plays of DA:I (and I'm watching it on my third.)  What do you mean that, "The Witcher feels like something is happening."  You're not giving me an example here, and that's what I'm asking for.  

 

10) "X feature is so much better," isn't a good suggestion either.  It doesn't lend itself to any real ideas for what the devs can do.  When I see someone spouting constant amounts of praise without context, I'm instantly more leery of their stances.  You did just give a great example of what the devs could do differently next time.

 

11)  I have no idea why that's the case there.  I found the crafting system and the related numbers pretty clear to follow.  Would you be willing to elaborate further?

 

12) Am I the only PC user that didn't think BioWare was lying or deceiving us much past the crappy PC controls?  That's subjective and I know it's an unpopular opinion.  Not all PC users can agree here..

 

What do I find useful in this case?  If someone is going to compare one game with another, and wants to highlight what one company does better than the other, they need to provide examples.  An example of a quest style/story (like the children crying over a dead body,) or more dynamic gameplay (such as a day night cycle.)  If the menu is better, then I'd like to see some examples of it.  I have no problem with someone going, "I hate X feature," but in a game comparison thread, that tells me nothing.  Same with, "Well, I love X feature."  Why do you love it?  What about that feature is compelling?  

 

From my own experiences directly talking to BW developers (one of which I worked with testing the party banter bug,) the loud and the angry fans stating, "I hate this," is payed attention to as much as the polite fans are.  However, they appreciate some stated examples for comparisons.  If someone prefers something TW3 over DA:I, that's awesome.  I'd just like to hear why, especially if they think it could benefit my favorite RPG series.  

 

I do want to say thank you for elaborating more on your points.  That's the kind of feedback and suggestions I like to read.  

[In Exile]

On the bug front I've had more bugs and crashes than with DAI but it's notable that I've always had bug free experiences with Bioware (and even Obsidian).

I've played deeper into the game. I continue to think the combat is an unresponsive and unmitigated piece of ****, but that's always been my view on TW combat. I can appreciate what the developers tried to do - create a combat system based on careful timing and environmental control. Part of that works - the choreography is there and so is the fragility of Geralt. But they failed miserably with enemies - they are often (speaking of humanoid enemies) HP bloated monsters that are also damage sponges that can't be staggered. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but so far the combat is borderline unenjoyable.

The open world is a LOT like Assassin's Creed in terms of content. The game doesn't have fetch quests per set but part of that is that so far quests are a more minor part of the open world. The content for story missions (I've only played one major one post prologue) is excellent however and, again, all of the proper side quests are totally superior.

The placing of enemies in the world is bizarre and makes no sense to me. I have level 7 bandits next to level 14 bandits in random distributions across the map with no apparent logic. Not that this matters per set since everything seems to be loot driven.

All of this ends up being a weird experience so far in the open world - I'm doing a MQ mission now only because all the open world content I can find is so above my level that I'm not sure if I'm being herded or just playing wrong.

What I think Bioware needs to learn (so far):

1) Conserve your cinematics - TW3 uses valuable and complicated cinematics sparingly.
2) Have one consistent vision and then execute it. TW3 was clearly made with one experience in mind and the developers polished it. No one will be able to prove this but I think their last delay was to touch up their open world content and side quests given DAIs criticism (lots of it is Geralt narrating investigations so far - so just his VO in the recording booth resources wise but it works).
3) How to build a world that feels lived in. The distribution of very tiny "villages" (really just a few huts) of NPCs with 0 lines you can't interact with makes the world feel a lot more alive.
4) related to 3) have some random stuff you can uncover. In weird way all of the content in Bioware games is connected to a quest giver - whether it's a codex note or a person. That makes the world feel contrived.

On the other hand DAI doesn't have the pure ass combat od TW3. If I haven't mentioned it already I hate the **** out of this combat. And this is coming from someone who played TW2 at release pre-nerf on normal/hard.

[Gileadan]

I'll give it a try too. I have only managed to play six hours so far, and I'm still in White Orchard, which seems to be a small starting area (about the size of an average DAI map, roughly).  What do I really like about TW3?

 

In no special order:

 

- The minimap is useful. I can see herbs, enemies, unlooted corpses, merchants (what type of merchant, if specialized), where I left my horse, notice boards, and probably more stuff I just can't remember right now.

 

- The horse is useful. Of course, there's no banter to lose when riding, but it goes at three different speeds, and each speed has its use, whether you trot through a village to avoid riding someone down, canter to cover some ground without overly straining your horse, or gallop for maximum speed but depleting its stamina.

 

- The world feels more alive. Kids playing outside, people working in the fields, soldiers patrolling... and the sound effects in the wilderness. Wind, the creaking of underbrush, the growls of monsters in the distance. 

 

- Loot. If it isn't an upgrade, I can still have a craftsman dismantle it for crafting resources. It's a real improvement of DA:I's flood of gray and low level blues that got dumped on the nearest vendor en masse.

 

- Conversations feel a bit more personal. Even if there's no custom animation for it, the camera does move in close and you see the person's face, expressions and gestures up close.

 

On the other hand:

 

The combat did take some getting used to, and it has the hardest counterattack system (or maybe I haven't fully figured it out yet) of anything out of my recent memory. It seems you really need to watch the enemy's animation carefully to effectively counterattack... which is hard to do because monsters that travel in packs like to gang up on you and make charges from all sides. On the bright side, no spazz-outs like DA:I's pommel strike, which can hit empty air against non human enemies half a dozen times before connecting.

 

Stability wise, I didn't see huge differences yet. TW3 hasn't had any glitches or crashes so far, but I played only six hours, while DA:I only very rarely crashed for me - there was a chance for a crash whenever Josie reported on a finished war table mission, heh.

 

I'm not sure yet how big of a danger curve monsters of a higher level represent. I play on "Blood and broken bones" difficulty, but I did hack through a few gangs of level 5-6 monsters while I was level 1 (and very recently, 2) so far. Each fight was a very close affair though, so I wouldn't say it's necessarily bad yet.

[CronoDragoon]

I have heard TW3's hardest difficulty is actually pretty damn hard. I think needing a fade -touched difficulty level is something most of us agree DA:I could use.

[Lord Bolton]

I'm playing The Witcher 3 right now and everything I disliked in DA:I is very well designed here. Sidequests are very entertaining and long, (my choices lead to death of some minor character. I felt bad about this...) they have dialogue cutscenes and main protagonist has a personality (yay for mean dialogue options!). Dragon Age Inquisition would be so much better game with these elements. *dreamy eyes*

[Zinho73]

2) Proud of?  Hardly, but you had this tone like TW3 had almost no problems with Day One, like it was superior to DA:I or any other game.  I was pointing out that the Day One issues happen across all games.  I'll take that as tone lost over text and I know I probably misunderstood your e-tone here.  Again, I'm ill so I do sincerely apologize.  

 

3)  I've been reading a lot of folks going, "Well, there is only some issues," in regards to DA:I as well.  For as many FPS and crashing problems, I've read even more people state that there game is just fine.  Performance issues are about bugs.  It isn't just about FPS drops.  For TW3, what about the people that are trying to access menus and freezing?  Does that not count as a bug that affects performance?  Or the folks that are needing large workarounds just like they did for DA:I?  Do you mean the FPS problems that I barely even noticed after Patch 2?   Also, I've had to turn off Origin overlay with other games as well.  I had to turn off the Steam overlay for the TW: Ultimate Edition and I have a damned good computer.  I'm betting if I looked right now, there would be folks with similar issues in TW3.  That reddit thread is very active.

 

7) How is the Witcher's combat that much more involved?  I've played many MMOs in my past, and I didn't see the combat as watered down at all in DA:I.  See, this is what I mean.  You're telling me how good something is without giving me details.  Also, what is a "dumb" mode?  So far, you're literally (I don't use that word lightly) one of the very few on the forums that has complained that the combat didn't have an easier mode.  If anything, I've kept reading, "Stop dumbing down combat, DA devs!"  I found the combat very easy and fluid, more so than Origins (with that stupid shuffle and bloated skill trees) or DA2.  I'm not trying to give you a hard time, I promise.  It's just an unusual request for the BSN.

 

8)  Disagreed 100%.  I found myself on normal having to carefully balance my upgrades and I enjoyed it.  It was fun experimenting with different fade-touched stats, and I used it for way way more than just dragons.  I would have several arms and legs before the game was done both times I finished it.

 

9) Okay, again, give me an example.  It could be in spoiler tags, if you don't want to give anything away from folks in the middle of the game.  I could name a lot of foreshadowing in DA:I from several companions and NPCs.  I've been paying careful attention and the majority of those "fetch quests" are Requisition missions.  If anyone thinks they are too much, then stop doing them.  If you mean the Dalish, then you can skip that quest.  I haven't seen very many required fetch quests, and I've been watching for them in my last two plays of DA:I (and I'm watching it on my third.)  What do you mean that, "The Witcher feels like something is happening."  You're not giving me an example here, and that's what I'm asking for.  

 

10) "X feature is so much better," isn't a good suggestion either.  It doesn't lend itself to any real ideas for what the devs can do.  When I see someone spouting constant amounts of praise without context, I'm instantly more leery of their stances.  You did just give a great example of what the devs could do differently next time.

 

11)  I have no idea why that's the case there.  I found the crafting system and the related numbers pretty clear to follow.  Would you be willing to elaborate further?

 

12) Am I the only PC user that didn't think BioWare was lying or deceiving us much past the crappy PC controls?  That's subjective and I know it's an unpopular opinion.  Not all PC users can agree here..

 

What do I find useful in this case?  If someone is going to compare one game with another, and wants to highlight what one company does better than the other, they need to provide examples.  An example of a quest style/story (like the children crying over a dead body,) or more dynamic gameplay (such as a day night cycle.)  If the menu is better, then I'd like to see some examples of it.  I have no problem with someone going, "I hate X feature," but in a game comparison thread, that tells me nothing.  Same with, "Well, I love X feature."  Why do you love it?  What about that feature is compelling?  

 

From my own experiences directly talking to BW developers (one of which I worked with testing the party banter bug,) the loud and the angry fans stating, "I hate this," is payed attention to as much as the polite fans are.  However, they appreciate some stated examples for comparisons.  If someone prefers something TW3 over DA:I, that's awesome.  I'd just like to hear why, especially if they think it could benefit my favorite RPG series.  

 

I do want to say thank you for elaborating more on your points.  That's the kind of feedback and suggestions I like to read.  

The problem with those long posts is that you can misconstrue everything unless you are willing to be super detailed about it, which I am not, sorry. My post was intended as just a few pointers to think about and not to dissect because each one of those things is a thread in itself (and several of them, if not all, already have a thread).

 

The general gist is that The Witcher 3 simply looks like a much more focused effort. It may not even be a better game for a lot of people and this is quite fair. But I think there is some borderline amateurish things in the Bioware game - TW3 doesn't have keyboard mapping (witch is bad), but DAI has a whole tactical function that works like garbage, probably costed money and time and doesn't even need to be used (aside from a few dragon fights on hard).

 

About the combat: I do not think DAI needs an even dumber combat (god forbid). I think that TW3 was kind enough to add a dumb option for people that just like to press buttons without thinking about it, like in DAI. In Witcher 3 the combat is more involved because you have to time your button presses, chose your loadout before almost every battle and you have to look at the screen.

 

My son will complete two years in a couple of months, he barely speaks and can kick ass in DAI with me moving the analog sticks once in a while (with the probable exception of some knights, bears and dragons). This kind of combat can be mindless fun (I found it fun on occasion), but it is not involved, it requires almost nothing from you.

 

Same thing with crafting. It is super cool, but with atrocious menus and no need to think about it much, since the game is so easy. You can build super strong stuff, you just do not need to. You can build specialized stuff, but you do not need to.

 

I get that you only like to read essays about the game, but I hope you understand that if I am going to go into the level of detail you want I will probably write three pages - and would need pictures - and the discussion is long enough as it is.

 

There is another guy that also disagreed with most of what I said. I think he understood perfectly my criticisms and I understood perfectly his counterpoints, I didn't even reply to him (or her). NO need for examples, nothing.

 

I think any designer at Bioware (and almost anyone on these forums, really) can perfectly understand my points, because there is a context to them. There is countless of threads about the game crash issues, the poor PC interface, the poor performance (which can be related to bugs in the code, but not gameplay bugs), the lousy side quests, the "consolitis" of the menus and so on. The idea is not to explain in detail each of my points, but to provide general feedback on what I think Bioware can improve.

 

Please, see my post as a corroboration of what has been already discussed to death and not the first post about all those topics. 

 

But I did pull the trigger too soon on the stability issue. The game ran so beautifully at my PC, though.