254 réponses à ce sujet

[prosthetic soul]

Feel free to do so: I'm not Gryffindor.
 

I deduct 500 points from Ravenclaw then. 

[Arcian]

It's not cinematic, alright. It's not even interactive content.

You don't seem to understand what "interactive" means.

[Shechinah]

I deduct 500 points from Ravenclaw then. 

 

Ohhh, Ravenclaw's chances at winning is not looking good today but that only makes the odds for my house better! 
 

[Arcian]

No, Corypheus is that way the entire game, and that's just ONE of the things (remember, literally all the things were bad in Inquisition). By contrast, only ME3's endings were supposedly bad (which I didn't think was that bad, but that seems to be the main complaint of most people).

ME3's endings were objectively bad from a narrative standpoint because it did things even the ancient greeks thought was bad for storytelling. It's a giant, corrosive stain that sept into and ruined what would have otherwise been a completely decent game.

[timebean]

Pitfalls to avoid:

 - boring fetch quests with no purpose other than time sinkage

 - boring characters that don't repond to your actions. Ie, not everyone should be a middle-of-the-road  person.  Don't be afraid of having characters with bite (ala Wrex)!

 - lack of choice and consequence.  We are leading an expedition fraught with peril (I assume)...it should feel that way.  There should be some difficult desisons that have real impact. Not the whole DAI style where nothing matters (I am looking at you quanri alliance).

 - bad hair - seriously. Of course, we usually wear helmets in ME, so I am not super concerned about this. 

 - combat style...It was utterly lame (thankfully, I don't think this will be an issue in ME)

 - horses (again, likely not an issue)

 

Good stuff

 - I liked the armor/weapon customization in DAI.  With new tech in a new galaxy, could really do some cool stuff with this in ME, I think.

 - I am struggling to come up with something else here...but in all honesty, I hope they just take inspriration from past ME games, not DAI. 

[Barquiel]

Not sure if that is an unpopular opinion, but I like that there is a choice that altered a whole section of the game (Mages or Templars/In Hushed Whispers or Champions of the Just). In Mass Effect...you can choose whatever and the missions will be the very same (the rachni mission for example).

I also liked the advisors who were full fledges characters and romances (unlike Allers and Traynor for example), and while the war table wasn't perfect, I do like hearing their opinions on how a mission should be complete. I also liked the customizable headquarter (there is a lot of room for improvement ofc) and the crafting (armor/weapon customization).

[Patriciachr34]

I don't even think the companions were good. They didn't have any real motivations apart from the inquisition, nor did they really have any strong reasons to be a part of the inquisition. Dorian was good but I felt his side missions were not that great, and if you didn't choose In Hushed Whispers, you didn't really get to see what makes him tick, except as an info dump when you talked to him in the Skyhold library. Which is like saying 50% of the game gives you no true character development for Dorian. Iron Bull was completely different from any other Qunari we've ever met. It basically spat in the face of the world-building of the previous games. What, give him a bro personality and a bro Freddie Prince Jr voice just 'cause he's big? Although he struggles with the Qun, he is still fresh from the Qun and should act like other Qunari or behave like them - and if you want to slowly develop the Qunari into a more diverse nation, which is a respectable goal, then start out with a familiar position and then through that have him take measured steps into something more unique. Otherwise it's just a jarring and reckless break. Sera was.... uh.... literally none of her cache is revealed or seen to contribute to their efforts, and besides the cache, we fight some dudes in some random area and then one supposed 'noble' is standing there talking about some land squabble we never see. None of that scene really demonstrates what exactly she is doing. It doesn't really come together until Solas speaks about her overall strategy in party banters - that she is upsetting nobility (not to replace, but just to keep them on their toes). She is supposed to be helping the little people, except we never see those little people, or her helping them. And on and on.

I actually really liked the companions.  IMO Dorian's side missions were a reflection of his desire to reform Tevinter.  Most of his personality comes out when you party with him and not from his side quests.

 

Iron Bull is not "fresh from the Qun".  He has been working as a Benhasrath spy throughout Thedas for some years.  If he is not Qunari enough it is because he is a burned out warrior who is questioning his commitment to the Qun.  Plus he is Benhasrath.  As a spy he would need to be able to fit in to a non-Qunari society.  For these reasons I would not expect him to be like other Qunari.

 

Sara is a pretty simple person.  She just wants the chaos to end.  She joins for that reason alone.  The reason I can buy into that was because my dad was the same.  He was not necessarily whacky like Sara, but he was happiest when the world was stable and predictable.  Sara simply wants the same thing and is actively doing her part to pull the world back into her comfort zone.

 

That being said, I have played the game several times and it took me some time to suss out the various personalities and private reasons they joined the Inquisition.  I like the DAI story and loved seeing how different decisions nuanced my experience.  Some of the quests and quest areas were a bit long.  For example think we spent too much time in the Hinterlands.  I liked the war table and generally run out of missions before I finish an area or chapter, but it would be nice to see how these missions affect the areas in which you are adventuring or even how people react to you.  I think this would give those missions a bit more punch.  Fetch quests are fine and all, but I would love to see those tied into the main plot or side plots more effectively.  Honestly, I'm just here for the stories.  Anything that can be done to make these stories better or more immersive is fine by me.

[serviteur de femto]

This.

The war table is DA:I's Mako. Good concept, poor execution, I'd rather see it improved than discarded entirely.

 

Glad to hear it, I did not liked that much the war table operation but I don't want them to be discarded entirely, I want bioware bioware to improve on that not to remove it.

[DarkKnightHolmes]

Just don't have millions of boring fetch side quests in a boring open world area and MEA should be fine.

[serviteur de femto]

Not sure if that is a unpopular opinion, but I like that there is a choice that altered a whole section of the game (Mages or Templars/In Hushed Whispers or Champions of the Just). In Mass Effect...you can choose whatever and the missions will be the very same (the rachni mission for example).

I also liked the advisors who were full fledges characters and romances (unlike Allers and Traynor for example), and while the war table wasn't perfect, I do like hearing their opinions on how a mission should be complete. I also liked the customizable headquarter (there is a lot of room for improvement ofc) and the crafting (armor/weapon customization).

 

Its certainly not unpopular, the romance that were outside of the main companion were much better done in DAI than they were ever before,

 

at first we had kelly chambers in ME 2 which could barely count as a romance, I think we can count on one hand the new dialogue we can have with her if we romance her in ME2é.

 

than there was improvment in ME 3 with traynor and cortez even if it was certainly not as good as a companion romance.

 

And then we got cullen and josehpine romance, who were nearly as develop as the main companion romance.

[Bacus]

Greetings all

 

 

Though I would add companions to this. I felt DAI really did a great job with companions and the romance department. The interactions were believable. Too bad the rest of the story was so lackluster.

 

I'm afraid I don't endorse your opinion, I felt the opposite, I even felt the companions where "imposed on me" (even if i could actually tell them to get the hell out of my inquisition.

 

I actually liked the War Table missions.  They were an opportunity to expand the story beyond what the Inquisitor personally witnesses.  Letting us make more far-reaching choices without devoting too many zots to it.

 

Could it have been done better?  Sure.  But the concept is sound

 

Well, it could be. I still believe there is a generally sound idea on the war table, but is was so God-awfully executed that i'm terrified by a War Table 2.0

[serviteur de femto]

 

I'm afraid I don't endorse your opinion, I felt the opposite, I even felt the companions where "imposed on me" (even if i could actually tell them to get the hell out of my inquisition.

 

Can you explain that feeling?

[In Exile]

I don't think you'd get that much zots from the war table missione for making a lot of story content. Like the non-cinematic dialogues, they are made to expand the game's content without using too many resources.

You'd actually get zero zots, basically, as it's all just text. Your resource is a writer's time - you could probably put the writer to work on QA or DLC but you're not really seeing additional content.

[Kabraxal]

You'd actually get zero zots, basically, as it's all just text. Your resource is a writer's time - you could probably put the writer to work on QA or DLC but you're not really seeing additional content.

Except text is an acceptable delivery vehicle... Especially in a real situation like the game, letters were the main method to learn what is happening. I really don't understand this aversion to not only reading, but a realistic delivery of events that you don't personally witness.

Should some missions be more involved from the table? That would be great. But I do not want every outcome to be some dramatic cinematic. There is no way my character would see every event actually happen.

[vbibbi]

OP, telling people not to bicker about something is an implicit invitation for people to bicker about something.

No it's not!

 

I'm betting that we'll be locating insignias and medallions and writings again.

But oh, yeah, that's right, this was new to Inquisition and all.

 

So because DAI wasn't the first game that had an element that many dislike, it's not a valid criticism? Isn't that more of an incentive to criticize, since Bio doesn't seem to get the hint that people dislike it?

[In Exile]

Except text is an acceptable delivery vehicle... Especially in a real situation like the game, letters were the main method to learn what is happening. I really don't understand this aversion to not only reading, but a realistic delivery of events that you don't personally witness.

Should some missions be more involved from the table? That would be great. But I do not want every outcome to be some dramatic cinematic. There is no way my character would see every event actually happen.

I'm not sure many would agree - the complaint here seems to be that the letters were not good ways of conveying information in side quests. You're right the zot could go to letters - but it seems to me these zots are better used on a new feature (war table) than the same one (letters).

[Kabraxal]

I'm not sure many would agree - the complaint here seems to be that the letters were not good ways of conveying information in side quests. You're right the zot could go to letters - but it seems to me these zots are better used on a new feature (war table) than the same one (letters).

But of those that hate the letters, none have actually given a realistic readon to why the Inquisitor would personally witness the events or the outcomes from said events. In reality, the Inquistor would look at a board, make a choice, then hear or see nothing until a courier returns with a written report for so many of these quests.

And for non war table moments, no one has been able to explain why we would see the events instead of the aftermath those events cause. The Inquisition is not the driving force behind most events, but reacting to them. Besides, I saw very little complaining for Origins when we saw no werewolf attack on the Elven haravel, only the wounds on one soldier. Or how most of that quest line's pertinent information was a direct info dump on the Warden. Inquisition showed many things, but instead shoving it into a cinematic, it used the world to realistically convey what had happened.

The argument really is down to forced cinematics versus a deeper more varied and often subtle story delivery.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Yes, because instead of fighting Cerberus on the Citadel, we should just read a screen that says the fight happened. That's a game for you.

 

To be fair, ME isn't *entirely* devoid of this sort of thing. In ME1, there are the salvage operations where you click on a planet and get a message box telling you that Adams or Tali or somebody brought a prothean data disc aboard, and ME3 has the side missions that are completed just by launching probes and then talking to somebody on the Citadel (even when it's something that ought to be more complicated, e.g. rescuing Elcor civilians).

 

What wasn't entirely clear to me was whether your choices in how to handle the war table situations resulted in different content outside of the war table room.

[Addictress]

It doesn't even need to be a cinematic cut scene. It can be a mission, that you go to and do things in. If you don't like cinematic cut scenes, fine. Interactive zoomed-out scripted scenes like the bard college quests in Skyrim - that's also interactive without holding your hand.

And having some side quests like war assets in ME3 is OK but such a huuugge chunk of them - some stories fairly big and involving the inquisition's major characters, used that format. And the side missions we did participate in were lackluster.

[Addictress]

Wow my phone autocorrected stories to panties.

[panzerwzh]

Things to avoid:

Terrible story-telling and quest design,  superficial characters and the Hinterland nightmare.

Horrible facial animation

Val Royeaux

[KaiserShep]

Literally nothing else. Not the war table, not the main plot, not the dialogue, not the writing, no tactics, bugged combat, nothing.

I dunno. As a system, I think DA:I's dialogue is vastly superior to Bio's other offerings. In this game, we can finally interact in party banter rather than being completely passive observers with our PC automatically saying something. As far as writing is concerned, I'd say that all of the DA games are better written than any game out of the original Mass Effect trilogy.

[goishen]

Solas, but his role and lore reveal were already planned a long time ago.

 

 

 

Actually, if you listen to BioFan's interview with Patrick Weekes, you can see that the first draft of this wasn't amazing.

[frylock23]

I think if you are going to take the time to do a massive open world environment, then don't waste it by pairing it with such a sparse main story line.

 

That, to me, was one of DA:I's main pitfalls - all those beautiful regions, so few main story quest lines to take place in them. Instead, we had so much empty filler content. It was interesting, entertaining enough, but it robbed the main story of its sense of urgency. Instead of spending so much time on filler ... why not devote some of it to main story relevant questing?

 

The war table was fine for its first run. Once I got the concept of how it worked, it took no time at all to develop a rhythm of hitting the war table before hitting the road, and tapping the truly long war table quests before shutting down for the night. If I'm going to be sleeping and otherwise occupied with various real life activities for about 12 hours or so, who cares if that's how long it takes to pow-wow with someone over Lady Thus-and-Such's Garters? That being said, I'd like to see the various story lines expanded on in the War Table start to interwtine with and lead back to the main character's questing on occasion or otherwise impact events. It might even be interesting to see you assign actual companions to them from time to time and have to account for those companions being unavailable for missions for the duration. Wouldn't it be interesting if they got XP too?

 

Companion wise, I thought DA:I did pretty good. I think the pacing of relationship needs to be reflective of the amount of time players will spend in the game along with the main quest itself. Sometimes, it felt like I'd unlock new tidbits of relationship only to spend the next 10 or 15 hours of gametimes replaying the same kiss scene over and over while I slogged through another region or two of filler leveling to tackle the next bit of story.

[Spectr61]

Reading the results means nothing. It isn't content in the game, but just a codex....which I would have been just as satisfied with. No you are devoting time because you actually have to travel to the war table, find a guide for the "best" choices, select said choices, and then leave to go do w/e. Then you come back and repeat. I often had to "cheat" just so I could move on to the next story mission because the war table actually has more good story content than the world does. It is a boring and unimaginative system.
Dude when you have to say "turn the game off and go for a walk" you know its bad. That's like the exact thing you shouldn't want to do when faced with a great game.

No.

It's all about desired end state. And deciding on a strategy to achieve it. And deciding which missions to assign to who.

Deciding on an overall goal for how you want your efforts to turn out, examples; if you want a "softened" Leliana as Divine, or not losing all the surviving wardens, then the war table missions, and the reading and selecting or different courses of action, not to mention who they are assigned to, are very important and interesting.

And if impatience is a problem with their progression, then advancing the time is not difficult (PC), or barring that, shards to hunt or fade-touched mats to farm...