Sure. In other words, though, it's the same situation as any other sort of niche press, with some bad actors and some questionable practices.
In any case, sartoz was painting with a much broader brush. And his actual apparent position on the subject - that all positive press is bought and paid for by publishers - is tinfoil hat ridiculous.
Can't speak for him, and I don't claim that everyone gets paid, but the general state of gaming journalism is rather dismal.
Can't speak for him, and I don't claim that everyone gets paid, but the general state of gaming journalism is rather dismal.
Journalism as a whole is fairly dismal from where I am sitting.
But that's just it, the "other things" shouldn't be the stupid crap that every grunt and scout are more or less capable of doing.
The Inquisitor is a capable Mage / Fighter, so it stands to reason that he will help when he can, but there are priorities and tasks appropriate to the individual. You don't send jet fighters and attack helicopters to give speeding tickets, and you don't send a general to clean the latrines.
It makes sense for a wandering monster slayer to take monster contracts and the occasional weird side quest.
Hell, even the card game makes a certain amount of sense as an activity to wind down and relax from time to time.
But a supposed general gathering all those odds and ends is just a little bit difficult to take seriously.
I don't really understand why the protagonist had to become the "chosen one" and a leader so quickly, or at all, but at least be consistent.
I do hope that both the next ME and DA game, if we'll ever are in a leadership position, we should reach it during the game, and not start at the top already.
Less than 200 awards compared to over 800 for TW3.
That's the difference between a really good game, and an average game that has famous parents.
10/10 IGN.
They earned their reputation with a lot of "honest" work.
I wasn't the one who used the number of awards to show how great a particular game must be.
But if we are playing the "number of awards" game, you should look at other examples as well to get some perspective.
Generally speaking gaming awards mean very little. Many of them are completely arbitrary, some of them are politically motivated, some simply ride the current hype train, some has shady connections with game developers, etc.
To be fair I read both sides, and not only here, using the award reason in a positive or negative way.
It is true that awards might not mean much, but I still think the fan ones can be used to state that DAI was overall well-received.
At the same time TW3's awards can be used to show it was received even better.
Journalism as a whole is fairly dismal from where I am sitting.
Your tinfoil hat needs re-kajiggering.
<<<<<<<<<<(0)>>>>>>>>>>
LOL.
I had no idea people subscribed to the Hallmark channel.
All I have really heard about this game so far is that there will be big worlds to explore with the new Mako. But if Dragon Age Inquisition is any indicator I say so what? Bioware at this point dose not know how to make big open areas any fun. Now don't get me wrong. I hope that this game is great and I love everything about it. But I REALLY hope the main story plays out like the original Trilogy with missions and set piece locations not having to run around huge planets and do a bunch of random junk to unlock the next story portion of the game...
There will be probably an epic but short series of main and companions missions - like always so far - and this time utterly boring Inquisition-like mmo questing instead of cool every-planet-is-a-mission with actual narrative like in ME2. Guns and Mako might make it better tough, but im looking for the companion moments and story anyway. Skyrim is long overdue. When WoW hit everyone were making mmo-s. I hope the trail of profit of Skyrim wont last much longer and games with strong narratives will return instead of the - not open but - empty world games. Andromeda doesnt look like the ice breaker so far based on what they said.
Or it will be the game of the century and the new legend of video game history - + even better: one that finally breaks the Curse of the Controller unleashed upon the gamer world by Sony and MS and you can legitimately play a single player shooter game with a mouse and a keyboard without thinking of being limited by using an otherwise superior device 
. Probably not, damn.
I don't think DAI's exploration was as bad as some say. I can see why some think it's very boring. I do think considering this was Bioware's first grand attempt at open-world they did a good job in many areas. The focus on environments that look very different is my preferred way to do games like this. I don't want one huge world that looks similar all over. The art direction was fantastic and often a major flaw in open games is they don't reward you very well for exploration. A visually varied game feels far less repetitive to me regardless how fun it is to explore. Bioware does a great job at rewarding you even in the most obscure corners you'll find treasures, lore or relevant banter with companions randomly. It's downsized compared to a game like Skyrim which is also something I preferred because when you have massive open areas you get overwhelmed exploring too easily something I never felt in DAI. Could it use a lot of improvement? Absolutely. I'd say it's no worse than other open-world games and in some ways better. Very few I can say were able to shield against the flaws DAI presented.
All that being said, I'm happy to see Bioware will not be doing DAI exploration in ME:A. That comes straight from Flynn's mouth. He said ME has their own identity and while the game will be heavily focused on exploration it will not be similar to DAI. Hence why they added the Mako because they felt they could easily improve on that experience from ME1 and deliver the promises it never fulfilled. ME:A has the potential to be genre defining in their exploration when you really think about it. Can you imagine a sci-fi space game that expands the limits of your imagination? I'm hoping No Man's Sky on PS4 will do that for me and I really hope Bioware sees the potential this genre can do for open-world exploration. They have the opportunity to do something no other devs have done and I'm most excited they're no longer on bottlenecked PS3/360 hardware which Flynn admitted had a huge impact on how they're doing exploration over DAI. You could tell DAI wanted to do things but was bottlenecked due to being included on old hardware.
The potential is there so hopefully Bioware doesn't squander this opportunity at innovation. I would think that after all these years they're doing everything they can because this game has been in development what seems like forever. I know it's not their longest project yet but you have to think this studio is vastly bigger so for a project to sit in development for 4+ years it's going to be BIG for them. No doubt it has a higher budget than DAI because it's easily a more popular franchise.
If I had to pick a game to emulate then obviously it would be the favorite among many in Witcher 3. It was very narrative focused on the side missions. If you peeled back that part of the quests you'd realize they were just as repetitive as any other game but it's the narrative that made it unique. Ironically, Bioware has their own examples of this in the past yet they did not use it in DAI for some bizarre reason. CDProjekt just did it in a masterful way. I'd like to see it extended even further by making each planet feel 100% unique and you could easily do this by making environmental hazards play HEAVILY into the gameplay.
I wasn't the one who used the number of awards to show how great a particular game must be.
But if we are playing the "number of awards" game, you should look at other examples as well to get some perspective.
Generally speaking gaming awards mean very little. Many of them are completely arbitrary, some of them are politically motivated, some simply ride the current hype train, some has shady connections with game developers, etc.
The number weren't used to show great the game is. As usual E just uses the number to show that the game is well liked.
Can't speak for him, and I don't claim that everyone gets paid, but the general state of gaming journalism is rather dismal.
Journalism as a whole is fairly dismal from where I am sitting.
More like this. The idea that the state of gaming journalism is any more or less dismal than any other industry specific press, say auto journalism or sports journalism, is completely silly.
I think this is true. All journalism, at least major journalism in Western society, has been watered down to the point where it's become another competitive market for hits/likes/ads/viewer numbers rather than to actually act as a source of impartial information. It's gotten really bad in the States during the election cycle, where news outlets are more about getting ratings and reporting on candidates as sensational topics rather than try to explore the candidates' policies and fact check what they're saying. I know this is getting off topic, but Donald Trump has probably received more help from mainstream media than anywhere else, as they are obsessed with reporting on him constantly.
In this regard, we can't condemn gaming journalism for no longer being impartial and honest instead of biased based on big companies. All journalism is doing this. But this doesn't excuse gaming journalism from being held accountable for losing their impartiality. I think the only less-than-stellar reviews I've seen of any major game in the last few years has been from independent bloggers, not large media outlets.
Let's not forget the "coincidental" Diana Allers IGN face model in ME3 and IGN's glowing review of the game...
In this regard, we can't condemn gaming journalism for no longer being impartial and honest instead of biased based on big companies. All journalism is doing this.
As bad as the general state of affairs is, gaming "journalism" is probably worse.
I think that some of them see this as somewhat of a victim-less crime. I mean it's just a video game after all, so what if we bend the truth a little?
So what if we have a not-so-secret mutually beneficial relationship with major game publishers?
And that's before the cynical manipulations and the creation of fake controversies and shameless click-baiting.
They also have a lot of respect for the intelligence of video game consumers, as evidenced by horror-shows like this one:
As bad as the general state of affairs is, gaming "journalism" is probably worse.
I think that some of them see this as somewhat of a victim-less crime. I mean it's just a video game after all, so what if we bend the truth a little?
So what if we have a not-so-secret mutually beneficial relationship with major game publishers?
And that's before the cynical manipulations and the creation of fake controversies and shameless click-baiting.
They also have a lot of respect for the intelligence of video game consumers, as evidenced by horror-shows like this one:
In my local paper today there were at least two paid advertisements that looks suspiciously like news articles for they were written by staff writers and formatted exactly like a real article. The only way you knew they weren't real articles was a really small word at the very top of the article called "advertorial" that could have been easily missed.
In my local paper today there were at least two paid advertisements that looks suspiciously like news articles for they were written by staff writers and formatted exactly like a real article. The only way you knew they weren't real articles was a really small word at the very top of the article called "advertorial" that could have been easily missed.
Well, I don't remember seeing a small notice like that on a gaming website. Ever.
That must mean that they only write objective stuff, right?...
Some of the content people complain about first comes available before the Herald is the Inquisitor. At that point, I would argue that the Herald is a junior member of the team.To be fair, it's not realistic to send the Inquisitor out to do anything except close rifts after you've already locked them down. If the Inquisitor dies then the world is screwed so the last thing you want to do is put them in direct combat with anything ever.
but the game would be boring if we did nothing but sit on a throne giving orders to other people to go save the world.
As bad as the general state of affairs is, gaming "journalism" is probably worse.
I think that some of them see this as somewhat of a victim-less crime. I mean it's just a video game after all, so what if we bend the truth a little?
So what if we have a not-so-secret mutually beneficial relationship with major game publishers?
And that's before the cynical manipulations and the creation of fake controversies and shameless click-baiting.
They also have a lot of respect for the intelligence of video game consumers, as evidenced by horror-shows like this one:
I'm going to be honest, I would never trust any information provided by a man sitting next to a bag of Doritos and Mountain Dew. Even if he were on CNN or 60 Minutes. Actually, maybe especially in that case.
Some of the content people complain about first comes available before the Herald is the Inquisitor. At that point, I would argue that the Herald is a junior member of the team.
Once Inquisitor, you're suddenly the most powerful diplomatic tool the Inquisition has. You should be the one heading out to make connections, and sometimes those trips will be dangerous.
I also think it's a mistake to look at this through a modern filter. Many medieval generals (and before that, tribal chieftans) led from the front. The Inquisitor can be viewed similarly.
I agree with the intention behind your post. I think DAI did a poor job, unfortunately, of narrating the progression of the PC from Herald to Inquisitor. So there is effectively no difference between the PC prior to IYHSB and after we reach Skyhold. I think we should have seen some variation in the Hinterlands based on whether we had already reached Skyhold or not. We should have had additional dialogue options for the Hinterlands/Fallow Mire/Storm Coast quests based on our progress in the game. But this shows one of the flaws of the game, that it's not dynamic based on any progress made throughout the plot.
Open world systems need to be reactive based on the PC's progress. It's why Crestwood is one of the best maps in the game, as there can be changes based on our actions. Most of the maps are static regardless of what we do.
I agree in principle, though there is a danger in that sort of design that it will restrict what you can do to a narrow path.I agree with the intention behind your post. I think DAI did a poor job, unfortunately, of narrating the progression of the PC from Herald to Inquisitor. So there is effectively no difference between the PC prior to IYHSB and after we reach Skyhold. I think we should have seen some variation in the Hinterlands based on whether we had already reached Skyhold or not. We should have had additional dialogue options for the Hinterlands/Fallow Mire/Storm Coast quests based on our progress in the game. But this shows one of the flaws of the game, that it's not dynamic based on any progress made throughout the plot.
Open world systems need to be reactive based on the PC's progress. It's why Crestwood is one of the best maps in the game, as there can be changes based on our actions. Most of the maps are static regardless of what we do.
Journalism as a whole is fairly dismal from where I am sitting.
Most likely because many people are looking for pieces that validate their opinions/biases, rather than actual journalism. Gaming is no exception; look at the rabble-rousing that happens when X game has too low a score in the minds of its fans on Y review site/publications. People want their darlings to be liked by everyone else. Lo and behold, popular games get high scores because it placates the internet lynch mobs and keeps the big publishers happy.
Some of the content people complain about first comes available before the Herald is the Inquisitor. At that point, I would argue that the Herald is a junior member of the team.
Once Inquisitor, you're suddenly the most powerful diplomatic tool the Inquisition has. You should be the one heading out to make connections, and sometimes those trips will be dangerous.
I also think it's a mistake to look at this through a modern filter. Many medieval generals (and before that, tribal chieftans) led from the front. Warrior-kings were a thing. The Inquisitor can be viewed similarly.
Well the main issue with how it's all set up pre-Skyhold is that they basically just randomly accept the Herald as the unofficial leader of everything. It's really sudden and makes no real sense when they should be putting their trust in Cassanda, Leliana, or Cullen at that point. Only after you prove yourself should you be given the leadership role.
After moving to Skyhold it's not just about being a diplomatic tool and it's not the same as the warrior kings of old. You're literally the world's only hope for survival. It's not a case of "If the Inquisitor dies we'll just put someone else in charge", because you're the only one with the mark that can affect the rifts.
So it's downright stupid to put the Inquisitor at risk if you don't absolutely have to. Nobody with half a mind for strategy would dare put the Inquisitor on the front lines unless Corypheus entered into the battle.
It's not about being a leader, it's about being the least expendable person in all of Thedas.
Well the main issue with how it's all set up pre-Skyhold is that they basically just randomly accept the Herald as the unofficial leader of everything. It's really sudden and makes no real sense when they should be putting their trust in Cassanda, Leliana, or Cullen at that point. Only after you prove yourself should you be given the leadership role.
After moving to Skyhold it's not just about being a diplomatic tool and it's not the same as the warrior kings of old. You're literally the world's only hope for survival. It's not a case of "If the Inquisitor dies we'll just put someone else in charge", because you're the only one with the mark that can affect the rifts.
So it's downright stupid to put the Inquisitor at risk if you don't absolutely have to. Nobody with half a mind for strategy would dare put the Inquisitor on the front lines unless Corypheus entered into the battle.
It's not about being a leader, it's about being the least expendable person in all of Thedas.
......................................................
Tell that to Capt Kirk....
Picard is better.
Or Witcher fans are just really boring.
Hey, does anyone know where the "salty" metaphor comes from? I've never heard it spoken, only online.
salty (adj.) mid-15c., "tasting of salt, impregnated with salt," from salt (n.) + -y (2). Meaning "racy" is from 1866, from salt in the sense of "that which gives life or pungency" (1570s, originally of words or wit). Meaning "racy, sexy" is from 1866. U.S. slang sense of "angry, irritated" is first attested 1938 (probably from similar use with regard to sailors, "tough, aggressive," attested by 1920), especially in phrase jump salty "to unexpectedly become enraged."
And come on, we can't all be boring.
I hate to break it to you guys but games journalism was never this "gentle impartial beast" you guys seem to think it is it was always 98% rampant fanboyism and just kind of off the cuff spritz and spratz.
If you look at a Gamepro review from 1995 or something you'll basically just see over-enthusiastic gamer rage/excitement along with fierce brand recognition and dozens of other things.
Plus I mean one of the major magazines was Nintendo Power, which was like literally owned by Nintendo, so can you guess what game tended to win Game of the year? That's right! A Nintendo game.
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