949 réponses à ce sujet

[JeffZero]

We get it, man. You don't like DAI. I don't like Final Fantasy XIII, but I didn't spend six months post-release rephrasing my dislike of it in different ways.

 

Sorry, needed to get that off my chest.

 

You do present a fair question here. You're concerned there'll be another Inquisition, so to speak. I actually dislike certain aspects of the game myself, so I can appreciate this particular desired insight. To answer your question, no, we don't know the numbers, and although someone is going to link VGChartz data, I'm going to preempt them by reminding the community that VGChartz data is kind of a laughingstock. It's all estimates and there are huge gaps in their ability to extrapolate, both in ways that would raise numbers if known and ways that would also lower them. The BioWare forums have never really been aware of this as a whole, and the only people that ever bring it up do so in especially snobbish, elitist tones that do nothing to properly convey how true it is. But there's a reason NeoGAF's community has even marked the term "VGChartz" as a banned word in the past. It's rubbish through and through.

 

What we do know is that EA has at least spun DAI as "BioWare's most successful launch in history." Someone here is going to spin this as proof positive that the game has performed extremely well. This, too, is false. It could be that it has performed really well. It could also be that it has failed to hit the sales desires of its publisher. We don't know. Being BioWare's most successful launch is... well, that could mean a million things. Like most things that AAA game publishers publicly state, it's misinformation. It's fancy-looking words intended to assuage the fears of investors. You can spin anything to look grand.

 

Case in point: the Abramsverse Star Trek movies. It's well known of course that they've helped bring Trek into the modern mainstream, and Paramount is ever-quick to tout that more people sat down to watch them in the theater than any other films in the franchise. What's less-known, due to deliberate misinformation, is that the second movie, Into Darkness, barely broke even domestically and worldwide it's only at a +20% profit margin in its release. That's a far cry from the +747% on the earliest movies in the franchise. While it's true that they're still doing well once we account for Blu-Ray sales, television deals, and so forth, it's being brought up here as a golden example of needing all the facts before addressing the truth of economic proclamations.

 

We don't know how much Dragon Age: Inquisition cost to make. We don't know the employee salaries, the costs of retooling the Frostbite engine from scratch (or indeed, if said costs were counted as DAI's budget or BioWare's future-ambitions budgeting and allotted separately). We do know that EA won't disclose the actual sales, which isn't a good sign until you understand that they don't disclose the sales for any of their prestige titles these days, as far as I can tell. Instead, they're content discussing how many millions of dragons have been slain. This gets us as consumers absolutely nowhere.

 

What do we know, then? We know that the developers are speaking in social media as though future Dragon Age projects are en route, but then, that might just be something they have to do to ensure that Inquisition keeps selling for the time being. I don't think so, though. I think DA4 is coming, and for better or worse, I think the focus on exploration will remain. David Gaider recently stated on these very forums that he'd be surprised if there were an axis shift wayward of that plan going forward, but that "refinement and iteration" will likely occur as a result of fan feedback.

 

We also know that DAI did really, really well critically, and given my knowledge of the state of the industry, I dare say that that has impressed EA more than the actual sales numbers. It can pin the game up as a critical darling and capitalize on that with its investors, especially as it won't actually tell them how it sold. That's going to go a long way toward the Next Big Thing for the franchise, and sorry to say, john_sheparrd, but a lot of that will be founded in the open-world approach, IMO.

[LightningPoodle]

Well, the likelihood is is that the next game will continue in a similar fashion. Continuing with how the franchise has developed over the years, I doubt it will be the same as DA:I. Hopefully, the next game will focus more on the story and less on the open world and side quests, but nothing is for certain.

 

Personally, I'm with you. In terms of story, I don't think it stacks up with the rest of the games under BioWares name. Characters, yeah, BioWare usually always get there characters right and DA:I is no exception to that. Loved them all, except for Solas but that isn't because he's a bad character. The world... I think it's to big. There isn't enough gripping, thrilling content in the large world to keep me interested in it. I like open worlds. I prefer them to be filled with things for me to do and invest in, without tons of uninteresting, minor, nameless characters who just want me to do things they could do themselves.

 

In terms of success. DA:I has done pretty well. I just pray that they don't see those figures as the main reason to continue on the current path they are on.

[Sanunes]

BioWare has a history of changing things with each game so I wouldn't expect any game to be identical to any other, unlike other companies that don't make changes to their titles aside from cosmetics because of higher fidelity.

 

Something I learned long ago is you need to judge every game on its own merit, no matter of the staff, company, developer, publisher, franchise, etc for it could be better or worse then what has been released in the past.  Its like The Witcher 3 with me, I have no plans to buy it right now for I want to make sure that areas of the game changed that I had issues with in the past, but I won't instantly write it off because I hated the combat in the first two either.

 

Edit to add: There was also a comment from an interview when they said that players weren't acting in a manner they expected to clear every zone before moving on.  So its not like they aren't listening to what people are saying.  Combine that with my belief that having released the game for the 360 and PS3 hindered the game, I am not worried.

Modifié par Sanunes, 17 mai 2015 - 01:51 .

[LightningPoodle]

I also want story focused (and linear) Bioware games back but it really seems like those days are over

 

Hopefully not. It underwent a lot of cuts, for reasons I don't believe are specified but now that all BioWare games will be on PC, Xbox One and PS4, they should be a little better for it. With DA:I, a fair amount of people have voiced that the story isn't exactly great, and that it could be longer. I know BioWare do take on criticism, and I think that feedback is fair and should be acted on, so *crosses fingers* the next game should have a more invested in story than DA:I's.

[Ashaantha]

Each DA game so far has been pretty different in style, as well as alike in style, however the open world thing is a big consumer seller over-all (not for single franchise fans just generally) and a lot of video game companies are attempting that style at least once. Remember Bioware is owned by EA, so the DA team etc really don't get much choice and have to do what EA says even if they know their fans will hate them for it. I hope they continue trying out different styles rather then being forced to remain with this expansive underutilised world they have for DAI.

 

In terms of success, I think it has done rather well in physical copy sales figures. 1.4 million in first week I think it was which isn't bad, it doesn't top charts but it is up with the better sellers. Thanks to EA I expect quite a few paid DLC's coming along and I cross my fingers for a decent expansion.

[Mr Plow]

oh I hated Final Fantasy XIII too     what a first game for me to pick to get into that franchise

 

 

And I am sure we will one day see Dragon Age 4: Solas Strikes Back

[SofaJockey]

Since I think its terrible I'm afraid for the future of the franchise

They only changed things because DA2 flopped (sadly, it was a good game but needed more time)

Anyone know any numbers? Will we be getting DA:I 2 at this rate? (pls no)

 

We know you don't like it, that's not the consensus view.

The future of the franchise is fine, though why be afraid for a franchise you don't like?

BioWare improved things after the good but flawed DA2.

EA financial results indicate an almost inevitable follow up, hurray to that.

[JeffZero]

As I mentioned, EA financial reports don't really say a whole lot of anything, although I agree we're likely to see a follow-up.

[General TSAR]

If you want to go by sales:

During last night’s EA Q3 2015 earnings call, the publisher said that Dragon Age: Inquisition was the most successful launch for developer BioWare. Today, we get a bit more detail.

 

“In particular, Dragon Age: Inquisition had by far the most successful launch in BioWare’s history, exceeding our expectations. In addition, game sales for last-generation consoles were also much stronger than we had anticipated,” said Blake Jorgensen, EA’s CFO during the call.

http://www.vg247.com...based-on-sales/

 

It's pretty successful. 

[JeffZero]

I wish I could copy/paste what I said in my first response, but alas, this campus PC is being rather wonky.

 

Anyway, it's up to personal interpretation of course, but for my money, that's only saying so much. It's saying enough to strongly suggest DAI has done at least adequately, but as always with EA financials, the PR spin is real.

[Wulfram]

We also know that DAI did really, really well critically

Do we? Its metacritic score is pretty mediocre for a Bioware game

[dreamgazer]

Do we? Its metacritic score is pretty mediocre for a Bioware game

It's far above DA2 in that regard, though.

[JeffZero]

Huh, that's a fair point. It isn't quite sterling as far as BioWare Metacritic scores are concerned. An 85 is still very good, but not so good that it is going to turn a plethora of faces given what BioWare has achieved in the past, perhaps. However, it will turn faces relative to Watch Dogs' 80, Destiny's 75, and especially, Assassin's Creed: Unity's 70. And The Order's 63. And, stretching things farther, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's 83. Heh. And so on and so forth. 2014's AAA reception was... not good. (I realize The Order was February 2015, but as it was a hotly-anticipated "2014-esque" kind of game for a while, it's worth mentioning, maybe.)

 

More pivotally, EA has made it a point to remind the world of just how many GOTY awards Inquisition has won. Other devs can and will do the same, but man, Inquisition did get a bunch. It comes with the caveat that many consumers are in unison that Inquisition pulled it off thanks to really, really weak competition, but investors are typically going to look at the big number and go, "wow. I want to invest."

[Seraphim24]

oh I hated Final Fantasy XIII too     what a first game for me to pick to get into that franchise

 

 

And I am sure we will one day see Dragon Age 4: Solas Strikes Back

 

Ouch well FF's glory days were in the SNES era really which is kind of ancient history now.

 

As to this topic I'm sure it was moderately successful, it'll never sell like Skyrim kind of thing.

[JeffZero]

PSX era, IMO!

[Sanunes]

Do we? Its metacritic score is pretty mediocre for a Bioware game

 

The thing is I have seen a lot of lower scores over the last couple of years and find games as a whole are being scored a lot lower, I would be very surprised if Mass Effect 2 was released today if it would get the scores it got back then.

[duckley]

Overall. DA;I has seemed to be quite a successful game.  It has won numerous awards and has been rated pretty high by many, many reviewers.  There are some flaws in it, for sure, but also elements that are absolutely brilliant and breath-taking. I would suspect we will get more in the DA series, but whether it will be related specifically to the Inquisition or not remains to be seen. Like the Wardens, Templars and Seekers, the Inquisition may remain as a sort of United Nations in Thedas. Yes folks, you heard it here first

 

Personally I thought the size of the open world was fine (no bigger please). I differentiate between side quests,  fetch quests and collections. To me side quests are related to the game ( e.g. companion quests) and these could be built up even more. The go fetch quests (bring me that sword, lay flowers on the grave, if you find my ring) I enjoy to some degree because they force me  to scour every nook and cranny of the beautiful world they have created instead of going a more linear route. I have found many a treasure this way. Also some of these quests were intended to build influence and acceptance - making the common folk value and appreciate the Inquisition, so there was a purpose to them. Collection and puzzle quests are fun, but I don't worry too much about them.

[JeffZero]

There has been somewhat of a shift in review policy across the board, yes.

[Elhanan]

Do we? Its metacritic score is pretty mediocre for a Bioware game

Metacritic allows for anyone to post scores and reviews, so many are invalid. Flawed math is used to adjust scores, and many scores appear on launch day, or possibly earlier. As it draws both extreme views (ie; Zeros and Tens) and actually uses them as part of the equations, the site is full of false data; not a top choice to look for intel.

[duckley]

As an aside wasn't the Metacritic score an 89?

[Wulfram]

Metacritic allows for anyone to post scores and reviews, so many are invalid. Flawed math is used to adjust scores, and many scores appear on launch day, or possibly earlier. As it draws both extreme views (ie; Zeros and Tens) and actually uses them as part of the equations, the site is full of false data; not a top choice to look for intel.

It's not perfect, but I don't think there's a better way to get a broad sense of critical opinion.

As an aside wasn't the Metacritic score an 89?

89 for PS4, 85 for PC and XBox One.

[In Exile]

If you want to go by sales:
http://www.vg247.com...based-on-sales/

It's pretty successful.

The other point is that VGs are like movies. Raw numbers are great and all, but exceeding expectations is THE key to getting a sequel greenlight (and getting more resources).

The old-gen comment is interesting and possibly bad news.