16183 réponses à ce sujet

[Swoo]

Ash Wind wrote...

Possibly, depends on whether when they say Dragon Age they are referring to the Time Period or the Game, Community, Setting, etc.

They said it as the time period. They said it was set in the Dragon Age and the Age still had well over half of it's time left to place stories in.

[phaonica]

Are we really supposed to be shocked? I detect sarcasm.

[Jacks Smirking Revenge]

I don't know it is quite confusing to me Flemeth, Morrigan or your daughter being the OGB isn't too shocking, but to a newbie or causal audience that may be shocking. Then it could of been sarcasm, but with the delicate frame of mind the community is in they wouldn't tease us with sarcasm would they? They aren't that cruel are they? Well maybe they are who knows.

[Brockololly]

Jacks Smirking Revenge wrote...

I don't know it is quite confusing to me Flemeth, Morrigan or your daughter being the OGB isn't too shocking, but to a newbie or causal audience that may be shocking. Then it could of been sarcasm, but with the delicate frame of mind the community is in they wouldn't tease us with sarcasm would they? They aren't that cruel are they? Well maybe they are who knows.

Its "EVIL" Chris Priestly for a reason, my friend.

[phaonica]

Jacks Smirking Revenge wrote...

I don't know it is quite confusing to me Flemeth, Morrigan or your daughter being the OGB isn't too shocking, but to a newbie or causal audience that may be shocking. Then it could of been sarcasm, but with the delicate frame of mind the community is in they wouldn't tease us with sarcasm would they? They aren't that cruel are they? Well maybe they are who knows.

Oh yeah, they're definitely making sarcastic comments, even now. 

If it is sarcasm, she'll turn out to be someone who surprises none of us, on the forums at least, which means probably Flemeth, Morrigan, or OGB, like you've said. To a new audience, no one would be shocking because... they don't really know any of the characters.

Modifié par phaonica, 09 juillet 2010 - 02:47 .

[Giggles_Manically]

Why exactly does a plot have to include the OGB or Morrigan? While big I dont understand why so many people believe the entire universe swings around that practicular poll.

[MKDAWUSS]

Jacks Smirking Revenge wrote...

I don't know it is quite confusing to me Flemeth, Morrigan or your daughter being the OGB isn't too shocking, but to a newbie or causal audience that may be shocking. Then it could of been sarcasm, but with the delicate frame of mind the community is in they wouldn't tease us with sarcasm would they? They aren't that cruel are they? Well maybe they are who knows.

Well, they are called smokescreens and red herrings for a reason

[MKDAWUSS]

Giggles_Manically wrote...

Why exactly does a plot have to include the OGB or Morrigan? While big I dont understand why so many people believe the entire universe swings around that practicular poll.

I guess it's because of all the storyline potential, and the fact that it is a pretty big variable when taking other endings into effect.

[Swoo]

Giggles_Manically wrote...

Why exactly does a plot have to include the OGB or Morrigan? While big I dont understand why so many people believe the entire universe swings around that practicular poll.

Nobody here has ever said the entire universe swings around the Old God Baby. What we have said - constantly - is that it is both a loose end and a plot hook that is so tantilizing that it is one of the first things that comes to mind when you think of any form of continuation. The purified soul of an Old God taken mortal form with all the power and possibly none of the memories that is a living icon for entire cultures and religion stomping around the world of mortals with no clue exactly how he or she is going to react, interact, or exist vs...

Exactly.

[phaonica]

Giggles_Manically wrote...

Why exactly does a plot have to include the OGB or Morrigan? While big I dont understand why so many people believe the entire universe swings around that practicular poll.

Morrigan is not my favorite character, but I don't pretend that this isn't the biggest and potentially most significant loose end possible at the end of Origins. Maybe my characters will never know what that was really all about, but I sure would like to.

Modifié par phaonica, 09 juillet 2010 - 02:58 .

[Swoo]

Brockololly wrote...

Jacks Smirking Revenge wrote...

I don't know it is quite confusing to me Flemeth, Morrigan or your daughter being the OGB isn't too shocking, but to a newbie or causal audience that may be shocking. Then it could of been sarcasm, but with the delicate frame of mind the community is in they wouldn't tease us with sarcasm would they? They aren't that cruel are they? Well maybe they are who knows.

Its "EVIL" Chris Priestly for a reason, my friend.

Speaking of which, when do you think they will start giving the character bios of party companions like they did for Origins? I'm interested in these sixteen shadows on the cover, and whom from 'that other story' we can expect to see in Dragon Effect.

[MKDAWUSS]

Swoo wrote...

Brockololly wrote...

Jacks Smirking Revenge wrote...

I don't know it is quite confusing to me Flemeth, Morrigan or your daughter being the OGB isn't too shocking, but to a newbie or causal audience that may be shocking. Then it could of been sarcasm, but with the delicate frame of mind the community is in they wouldn't tease us with sarcasm would they? They aren't that cruel are they? Well maybe they are who knows.

Its "EVIL" Chris Priestly for a reason, my friend.

Speaking of which, when do you think they will start giving the character bios of party companions like they did for Origins? I'm interested in these sixteen shadows on the cover, and whom from 'that other story' we can expect to see in Dragon Effect.

I think the first will come after the teaser trailer, and the rest will get released periodically from then until the game's release.

[adneate]

If this thread needs a rant, I've got one ready to roll about DA2.

[Brockololly]

*Edit* Beat you to the rant, adneate

Ok so, here goes. I'll try to make this coherent but no promises. I woke up this morning like a giddy kid rushing downstairs to unwrap Christmas presents. I left my browser open on multiple sites for maximum DA news efficiency. I nervously sit down and F5 Game Informer. And what do I see? Conan the Barbarian mixed with 300. My initial reaction consisted of my heart sinking and going "WTF?"

I've had some time to think on things and here are some random musings on the events of the day:

Dragon Age Central is DEAD !!! My savior in digging up dev quotes has been the wondrous Dragon Age Central site. But unless its updated to include the DA2 forum, its limited to only the old DAO forums. That sucks.

Molyneaux, Fable and 10 years- The whole ten year thing is interesting but also troublesome. It likely means a greater degreee of linearity in the overall plot. But it seems very ambitious and this worries me. I have played many games and never have I played one where they span far reaches of time and do a good job with things. Molyneaux tried to hype up the whole passage of time deal with the Fable games and they have all been quite disappointing. Will DA2? Don't know. I bring this up because the DR was butchered by cuts- trying an ambitious thing like a 10 year time span could royally muck the game up if cuts get made.

And as for the game itself taking a decade- I want to know WHEN the game actually starts. Is it before the Blight in Origins and then goes on for 10 years or is it set all after the Blight? Or is it even the Blight from Origins being referenced?


"Rise to power...by any means necessary." Ok, power = Morrigan. It seems they've given Morrigan a pretty easy access point into the game if thats their tagline. But the whole rise to power thing is a bit "meh" to me. Again, it reeks of Fable- become a king, control the land! I'm willing to give it a chance...

The Human Commoner Strikes Back- So it seems the lost human commoner origin is now getting his own full game. The whole "rags to riches" trope is tired as hell, IMO. That said, most stories have been told in one way or another, its all about how you tell them. And I have faith BioWare can make this a good story. But I'm weary because its one thats been told since the beginning of time.

Conan! What is best in life? When I saw the cover for GI this morning I immediately had thoughts of Frank Frazetta, Conan the Barbarian and 300. This doesn't have to be a bad thing at all. If they take it in that direction it could really have a unique visual flavor. But thats my ultimate high hope. The reality is that given all the marketing speak in the info from today, it seems they're catering to the Lowest Common Bro Denominator. Instead of truly unique Frazetta stuff it may be more like the jarring Blood splatter intros in the Leliana DLC or the Marilyn Manson trailer for Origins. At this point, I hope the EXTREME vibes are just marketing trying to get the Bros interested. But at least with Origins we knew it was an old school RPG before they threw heavy metal at it. With DA2 and BioWare's radical changes to ME2, who knows what the future holds?

The name's Hawke. Mike Hawke- The name is goofy. Lets clear that up- it sounds like the name of a guitarist from an 80's Hair metal band. But it seems we're going down the Shepard route with DA2. A fixed protagonist isn't too bad in my view. It sucks from a RP POV, sure. Given that we can still be a mage, rogue or warrior that helps. Maybe being a fixed character adds more depth to the experience?

But a couple major points on Epic Hawke:

- The press release and the website mention how Hawke's story is the "most important story in our world" and how Hawke is " the single most important character in the Dragon Age world." Sooooo how are they going to follow up this game? Marketing fail, much? I just hate how every new game claims your PC or actions are the most important EVER. I thought the Warden was mighty damn important. I guess DA3 will have an even more EPIC HERO of Thedas- cause you know forget that Hawke guy, we're for real this time! And they wonder why forum posters resort to extreme hyperbole... look in the mirror, marketing, look in the mirror...*sighs*

-Will Hawke be voice acted? This would really throw a nail in the coffin for my interest in DA2. I'll get to the ME influence, but the whole point in part with DA is that its a different kind of RPG than ME. In lots of interviews, Muzyka and Zeschuk mention this very fact- that ME and DA hit different chords, what with ME being a more third person narrative as the player directs Shep while DA is about actually being the PC. Thats really important in my view. Its a make or break feature for me. When I RP Hawke and pick his dialogue, I want to be sure he will say or act how I want him properly talking and acting. Thats one of the big flaws in ME's system and you can do plenty of cinematic action without resorting to a VO PC. And not to mention that a VO PC bumps costs up a ton and ultimately limits potential choices and quantity of writing. We shall see....

Think like a general, fight like a Spartan- This has me confused. The whole "think like a general" bit could be neat. I mentioned before that I wouldn't mind if they had some RTS elements in DA, especially if its military strategy type stuff. Combined with the ruler aspect of things, this could be really neat- think the Arl of Amaranthine aspect except fully fleshed out. Good stuff in my book.

Its the Spartan comment that has me worried. Again, it seems like marketing speak to tap into the collective Bro conscience and evoke the manly awesomenss of 300. But then in the press release and website which go overboard on marketing speak claiming dynamic new action and so on. What does that mean!? I'm probably not as attached to the combat system as some- they can tweak it and my heart won't break. But I like it as a throwback to Baldur's Gate and I'm concerned they're "streamlining" it for the console gamers to be more "visceral" or "in your face." Which means hack and slash in my book. No BioWare, just no. Pause and play has a place in DA- refine it, make it better. But don't ditch it.

The Influence of Mass Effect- I love Mass Effect 1 and 2. But I'm starting to not like them so much. They're tainting every other BioWare game out there. First its The Old Republic ditching a voiceless PC in favor of ME style dialogue wheel and VO for the PC. In the linked article, they mention how massively expensive that is and how complicated it gets. To me, the result isn't worth it. I'd much rather have those resources allocated someplace else in the game. And then you've got the fact DA2 is being claimed as a "cinematic experience." This isn't bad, but its the same marketing speak lathered all over Mass Effect. Could they fancy up the cinematics? Sure. But don't make a ME clone. Dragon Age can stay Dragon Age, ME can stay ME. You can come up with new ways to up the cinematics without resorting to a dumbed down voiced PC. 

Updated Graphics and a New Visual Style- This was hinted at all the way back when Zeschuk said DA2 would be "super hot." You've got Gaider mentioning today how DA2's art style is definitely different but you can't judge much based on the current art. And then you've got Victor Wachter saying this:

Your first look at in-game art will come in the next issue of Game Informer. Concept art is occasionally stylized, but concept art is not the same as a model reference for in-game art. Its purpose is just the name implies, to visually demonstrate a concept. So, save judgment for then but based on what you say you prefer, I think you'll like what you see in GI.

My fear is that its going the Borderlands, cel-shaded look. I know some people like that stylized look, but I cannot express my absolute HATE for that kind of crap. Its like Gearbox was making Borderlands and said "Crap, the game looks like aged manure. Lets make everything all stylized to hide the mediocre graphics!" Will DA2 be the same way? We know they're keeping the same engine, but what kind of changes can we expect?

 I'm kind of confused by this talk of a new visual style. But all I know is that it concerns me. Origins looks nice on my PC- not Crysis good, but good nevertheless. My fear is that the shift to a "new visual style" is to cater to the whiners and complainers on consoles who lamented the graphics on the consoles. We'll see in Game Informer apparently. But this change in style could be awesome or disastrous for me. Considering Origins has a realistic look, if they go for some stylizes approach, it just screams out to me "We give up trying to make this game look realistic."

Is this the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights? The writing has been on the wall for a while now that DA2 would be a new PC and brand new story. Its not an inherently bad thing. What irks me is the whole successor to BG thing. Its been said before here, but I'll say it again: what made BG so memorable wasn;t the land or the variety of stories- it was the singular story of the Bhaalspawn and the companions that travelled with him/her and their evolution over the course of the games. Its the continuity, dammit! This seems like the ol' NWN mantra of having a series of one shot stories than it does telling a single epic over a couple games. Now I have no doubt we'll have some sort of continuity from Origins. Victor Wachter posted this earlier:

Victor Wachter wrote...

Wolf--Shadow wrote...

Oh,so everything that was established in DAO is now pointless? And Bioware has decided to take one step forward and three steps back?
 

DA:O is far from pointless, as you'll learn when you play DA2.

I've talked with Design quite a bit about Hawke, the DA2 lead character. There were a lot of directions that they could have gone, but ultimately, I think they made the right choice to tell the best story in this installment. Between now and launch, you'll learn more about Hawke and the story, which will shed a little more light on why Hawke was the hero that the world (i.e. this story) needed.

Make of that what you will. I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall in those design discussions. I'm curious to know if we'll import choices or be able to set choices or if things from Origins will be set canon.

You say you want a revolution...wait, did we want a revolution? In the press release, Muzyka says DA2 is a "bold evolution" while DA2 will "revolutionize" the genre. Change can be good. But given DAO's decidedly old school roots, who wanted to revolutionize the DA formula? Oh thats right, its our friends, the Bros. Those who bemoaned how the combat was lame or how we needed a voiced PC like Shep. *facepalm* Again, I hope much of this EXTREME marketing keywords are just that. DAO had room for improvement but I don't understand the seeming notion that they're boldly evolving DA. Its not needed.

"Exciting New Entry Point"? Wait I thought this was a sequel? Again, in the press release, Mark Darrah says DA2 is an " an exciting new entry point
into the Dragon Age universe ..." Again, cut the marketing speak- no doubt they don't want to alienate potential new Bros from getting into DA by saying it continues the story from Origins. But at what point is does this become a spin off and not a sequel? Are they tossing Origins out the window and starting over with this revolutionary new take? I've already been introduced to DA, thanks. The lazy numerical naming convention I thought was dead when they named DAO, with the Origins subtitle. A numerical addition in the title to me at least implies continuity in story and character, not just setting. Again its more like NWN than BG in this regard. Why not have it Dragon Age: Rise to Power or some other subtitle? Maybe its just a nitpick, but its a little thing that bothers me.

And what becomes of the Warden? Our valiant Warden seems kaput. Our dreams of a perfect sequel with the Warden and Morrigan seem dashed. Earier on Gaider's profile he posted about working hard on DA2. To which I replied-
Brockololly: Hooray? Brockololly is
skeptical....don't forget about the Wardens who romanced Morrigan!

Gaider:
I wouldn't leap to any conclusions just yet.

*sigh* Hope remains? Or we're getting GAIDER'd all over again. Priestly mentioned more DLC for Origins and the interview on IGN for Leliana's song also mentioned possible epilogue DLC. And since DA2 isn't coming out until March 2011, what is the 2/1/2011 date? One final ex-pack for the Warden?!? All I know is that if BioWare leaves the Warden with a crummy "Go on your Calling" DLC or just leave him in Limbo with Revan and the Exile, I'll really lose some respect for them as storytellers. Its just lazy and IMO, writer borne cruelty. But I'm willing to see what they have in store...

And now for picture based speculation, Morrigan included!




Seems like a lot of companions...or characters at least. Any guesses? The other interesting thing to note is the blood dragon there- specifically its head. Notice the 2 big horns? Similarities to this woman's hair?



The hair comes to the horn like points. And she's got a similar facial stucture, eye color and lips as Morrigan. Not to mention her clothing is revealing like Morri and even appears to have feathers on the shoulders still.

Then we've got this one: 



Again, same lady. My analysis goes like this. This chick seems like the "face" of DA2. Morri was the "face" of DAO. DA2 is all about power. See where I'm going? My money is this is the new Morrigan. Whats interesting is it seems she has dragon shapeshifting powers. Nifty. Of course this might not be Morrigan, but the similarities seem to be there. Could it be Flemeth, a Morrigan possessed by Flemeth or a Morrigan somehow changed by the DR or maybe the OGB all grown up? Absolutely. But whoever it is, they seem linked to dragons and shapeshifting. Make of that what you will.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Thats my epic rant/thesis for DA2 reveal day. I'm kind of excited for DA2 to be honest, possible changes and all. But there are a ton of unanswered questions that remain that loom like landmines for me:

- Whats Morrigan and the OGB doing?
- Continuity? How is the story from Origins being handled if at all?
-What is 2/1/2011 if its not DA2 now? (keep in mind its a Tuesday, which is game release day in NA)
- What is the combat like now?
-What dialogue system is there?
- How is the Warden going to be handled or not handled going forward?
- Will Hawke be voiced?
- How long will the game be? Shorter or longer than Origins?
- Whats the deal with the new visual style and the graphics?
- Is this a Fable clone?
-Are there romances? If so, who?
- Will Morrigan be the villain, an NPC or a companion?


I've gone on long enough, I'll stop there. And for the love of God, when some kind and generous soul gets the Game Informer, if its before I get my hands on it, SHARE!!!!!! *wink wink*

Modifié par Brockololly, 09 juillet 2010 - 04:55 .

[Swoo]

adneate wrote...

If this thread needs a rant, I've got one ready to roll about DA2.

By all means. Unless we go full-on asskiss mode, no matter how we act it seems rather apparent that Bioware believes we are unfairly going Lord of the Flies on them. So whatever, let it rip!

Now to read Brock's post. To think, I get accused of walls of text!:happy:

[adneate]

Swoo wrote...



On the plus side, there looks to be sixteen NPCs. I'm willing to plunk down money a few of them will be Origin NPCs returned (handwaving whatever ending they received in our games as A.U.) so it's very possible that even if the Warden's not around we can still see the Morrigan's, Leliana's, and Sten's.



Question for you though...would you want Leliana back in DA2 without the Warden?

Begin Rant



Like I said in the Morrigan thread I want to see Morrigan and that's it. If Leliana was back without the warden It would effectively be character assassination as far as I'm concerned much like MacWalters concerted attempts to destroy Liara T'Soni's character in ME2. If they come in and retcon everything from Origins then I'm out, I won't complain I'll just walk plain and simple.



Choice in games already is a freaking joke nothing you do ever actually matters, you don't like an outcome reload and get the good one. Everyone and everything in the entire universe bends to the PC's will, in DA at least some things resist the player and refuse to be changed. But of course following up that story would be hard and expensive so let's just come in and enforce strict canon but bring back characters anyway and ****** on everything the player ever did. Which leads to the greater question why freaking bother in the first god damn place, if you knew you couldn't ever follow up after creating a game with 20 different endings then don't make them. Instead of something interesting we get the same mass market garbage that any idiot studio can do, It blows my mind that this is what they came up with. After all the **** and bull with Origins and shoehorning The Warden into Awakening in the end it was all for nothing because Hawke can do what The Warden can't which is apparently be Commander Shepard.



But the masses have spoken haven't they, ME2 did way better than Origins so therefore DA should become ME2. People don't want Leliana, Zevran and Morrigan they want Miranda Lawson, Jack and Thane. I can't believe it when people legitimately tell me that ME2's collection of backstory's with faces are better than Oghren and Sten. It's unbelieveable, It's like there is something in the water and everyone is nuts. The analogy is like somebody saying with a straight face that Twilight is better than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet or that Lady Gaga is better than Joy Division. I get that there is personal opinion and people have different tastes but you can't really believe things like that because it's just wrong. If you sat down and actually thought about it you should come to a logical conclusion, 2+2=4 not 55. It's upseting because it seems like nobody cares, BioWare doesn't care, the fans don't really care, nobody gives a crap about anything. People who speak out are just whiners and typical internet crybabies. Everybody is happy to get crap and are ready to assume the consumer position, bent over the table with their pants down.



People say stuff like "Have faith in BioWare" and "They've never let us down before". Where do people get this sense of loyalty to a company who's end goal is to seperate them from their hard earned money. People will shout down dissenters with crap like "BioWare doesn't owe you anything," that's true but why are you defending them? They wouldn't ****** on you if you were on fire. And they have let us down, Killing Shepard so they didn't have to follow up any of the choices you made in the first but still be able to magically ressurrect him is the biggest cop out ever. Why did they do it? Because they promised EA a trilogy and only have enough material for two games and actually following through on the whole choice thing would have undermined their efforts to turn ME2 into a Gears of War clone with a dialogue system. Now we get the same stupid crap excuse in another game, well sorry if this time I don't buy into it.



End Rant.

[Brockololly]

adneate wrote...

People say stuff like "Have faith in BioWare" and "They've never let us down before". Where do people get this sense of loyalty to a company who's end goal is to seperate them from their hard earned money. People will shout down dissenters with crap like "BioWare doesn't owe you anything," that's true but why are you defending them?

Completely agree here. From what I've seen thus far from DA2, I'm skeptical at best nerd raging at worst. I'll give it a chance in due time when more info is out. But given what BioWare has dished out so far, I have every reason to be skeptical and critical of the game.

No developer is flawless, no developer is immune to bad decisions and flops. It goes on a game by game basis. To say DA2 will be awesome at this stage is just as idiotic as saying it will totally suck. Myopic, you might even say. As much as I love the developers who post here, at this stage they're not spilling the beans and they're naturally only going to try and assuage fears and convince you that DA2 is just as good as Origins. Thats just what they did with Awakening- saying Awakening took the best of Origins and just expanded on it. Ok, we know how that turned out.

I happen to have enjoyed most BioWare games I've played. But as of now, with the info I have, its BioWare's onus to make me want to buy DA2.  And they've got a much harder sell for me on DA2, than they did just yesterday.

[adneate]

@Brock You remain far more positive than I do, maybe I have to go to the most negative place just to immunize myself against it.

Maybe DA2 could be good, I don't want to turn all Fallout fan on them and just automatically hate on everything I hear from them. But seriously if this is how they think the series should end (Awakening Power Point Sildes) and this Mass Effecty sequel is where it's supposed to be I really have to question their judgement. Do they have any idea what fans of the game liked? Or are they living in an insular bubble immune from judgement and oversight? If they can't solve The Warden's story arc, or worse yet trivialize everything we did in Origins then why would I want to buy this new game starring Hawke. Since come DA3 generic badass #16435 is going to just overule Hawke's unfinshed storyline anyway.

What's absolutely killing this game for me right now is continuity. It just seems like they don't care, that all the variables the player creates in Origins are an annoyance. It just really feels like they listened to the people who said "We want another BioWare RPG" and stuck Dragon Age on said game just to avoiding having to tell the shareholders that they are making another new IP.

I hate this garbage about accomodating people who didn't play the first game, it makes no sense THEY DIDN'T BUY IT THE FIRST TIME WHY WILL THEY THIS TIME? It seems game companies have a habit of making their games for people who don't buy them. In the end we just get crap, and they don't buy it anyway since they never did to begin with.

Honestly the Fable comparisons only make things worse, Fable is the definition of half-baked ideas and pointless "innovation". Fable 1 was bad, there is no way around it that game was not good. But the sequel is even worse it's so easy I find it insulting that I'm being asked to play it and it's filled with "innovative" ideas for no real reason other than because they could.

Edit: Should say I'm being fairly harsh on ME2 but it's not out of any foaming hatred for that game, I enjoyed it well enough. However it has big flaws story and character wise, and the direction it's headed in is not one I want Dragon Age to go in.

Modifié par adneate, 09 juillet 2010 - 05:20 .

[Brockololly]

@adneate:

Oh trust me, I was royally pissed this morning. I was raging- no happy dance upon seeing that GI cover. Its like the 5 steps of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. At this point I'm just accepting DA2 as what it is, for better or worse.

Now that doesn't mean I'm happy with it, but it is what it is at this point, you know? We can only express our displeasure on the forums and vote with out wallets when the time comes to plunk more $$$ down on DA stuff.

And if you read the marketing blurbs on the Origins site it really reads much the same as DA2. Basically, I'm holding off further rage until the Game Informer 10 page article comes out. I'm not impressed with whats been revealed so far, but besides marketing speak and 2 concept arts , nothing has been revealed. Post Game Informer I'll have a better frame of mind whether or not BioWare has caved to the Bro crowd or if everything we're fearing today is just marketing bluster trying to attract the mainstream audience.

But trust me, I'm primed for a nerd rage given the right consequences. If they "streamline" DA for the ME crowd...oooh boy.  I'll be feeling like Samuel L Jackson here (NSFW)- "I'm a mushroom cloud laying mother******, mother******. I'm superfly TNT."

You wouldn't like me when I'm angry BioWare. *Hulks out and starts Exalted March:O*

Modifié par Brockololly, 09 juillet 2010 - 05:29 .

[Jacks Smirking Revenge]

Brockololly wrote...

adneate wrote...

People say stuff like "Have faith in BioWare" and "They've never let us down before". Where do people get this sense of loyalty to a company who's end goal is to seperate them from their hard earned money. People will shout down dissenters with crap like "BioWare doesn't owe you anything," that's true but why are you defending them?

Completely agree here. From what I've seen thus far from DA2, I'm skeptical at best nerd raging at worst. I'll give it a chance in due time when more info is out. But given what BioWare has dished out so far, I have every reason to be skeptical and critical of the game.

No developer is flawless, no developer is immune to bad decisions and flops. It goes on a game by game basis. To say DA2 will be awesome at this stage is just as idiotic as saying it will totally suck. Myopic, you might even say. As much as I love the developers who post here, at this stage they're not spilling the beans and they're naturally only going to try and assuage fears and convince you that DA2 is just as good as Origins. Thats just what they did with Awakening- saying Awakening took the best of Origins and just expanded on it. Ok, we know how that turned out.

I happen to have enjoyed most BioWare games I've played. But as of now, with the info I have, its BioWare's onus to make me want to buy DA2.  And they've got a much harder sell for me on DA2, than they did just yesterday.

I understand people not being hyped and they are concerened since this game is shifting away from it's origins pun intended, but with such little information even me one of the more optimistic people on this board have a hard time going over "speculation" there isn't enough information to proclaim it a sucess or a failure yet. Which lots of people seem to be doing off of what they are "speculating". It has been announced for one day, well two now for some how can anyone make an accurate opinion let alone critisize/judge Bioware when they know about 1% of the details. I guess people are allowed to assume, but you know how that is.

I'd like to make a comment on the decade span if they implement it poorly like Fable it will cause a lot of angry posts and rants deservedly so too, but if they do it properly it will be a cornerstone of the game. I think Bioware is a better producer than Lionhead Studios, so I believe they will bring in the decade span with quality.

I'm not saying all the details we have learned are great puppy and sunshine details. I certainly am "speculating" on some of their ideas. The PC looks more and more like he will be VA which IMO is a very very bad thing. The Hawke wordplay is ridicilous and soooooooo annoying. The humanizing of the PC is kind of discouraging I myself don't play elf or dwarf characters much, but I do think it is unfair for the ones that do. My fiance never plays a human in fantasy games to her that is bland and boring, and Hawke only being a human took the wind out of her sails.

Me I'm holding my opinion on it until I get a lot more details, but I will keep questioning and speculating, but I aslo will give Bioware the benefit of the doubt until they give me reason not to. I believe they have earned that they delivered with DA:O, and despite what a lot people think I myself enjoyed ME2 was it as good as other titles they have released no, but today people have been proclaiming it the holocaust of gaming, and the worst video game ever  created.

[Swoo]

Molyneaux, Fable and 10 years

That's
one of my biggest concerns too. There is nothing saying Bioware can't
pull it off, but recent games which promised the moon of this type
storyline progression have fallen short to stay the least. I haven't seen the link yet personally, but people
were saying that at least parts of DA2 are supposed to happen during
Origins, so perhaps your village is wiped out during the Blight and by
the end of the 10-year plan we have progressed about five years after
Awakening.

Conan! What is best
in life?

The first thing I thought
of was that this is what the anime is going to look like. The 'White
Witch' really, really seems to carry that sort of style to her. If so,
very cool. Also, Origins really didn't have any defining look to it
(Other than in Thedas, everyone looks stupid in a hat). It was rather
'common fantasy' but had nothing seperating it from the pack. I like the idea of them putting an actual stamp on the
franchise and giving it it's own look.  It could go horribly wrong
since we don't have any information to really base it on at the moment,
but I'm glad they are at least trying to get away from the common, muddy
brown mess than visually defined Origins.

" the single most important character
in the Dragon Age world."

Meh, PR doublespeak. I hate it, but I ignore it
all the same. You hear it everywhere, it's always the most recent thing
that's going to be the best thing ever. Posturing, tiriiiiiing.

Will Hawke be voice acted?

I believe it's a certainty. Fully voiced games seem to
be Bioware's 'thing' now, and with ME3 and TOR being
fully voiced, it makes sense they will do DA2 the same. Something I wonder is if DLC is so
absolutely binding their hands as to what they can do, what's the
increased cost of fully voiced PC dialogue
going to do with them? Nitpicking I'm sure, but it was my first thought.

Think like a general, fight like a Spartan

My first thought was lead
armies in RTS like battles or have actual
strategy with troop placement, judgement calls like Loghain had, or
increased 'builder' options like the Keep in Awakening. And Spartan.
Spartan, Spartan, Spartan. How I hate that as a
comparison.

Updated
Graphics and a New Visual
Style

I think it's going to use the
same graphic engine that they are using for Mass Effect 3, and I touched on the style beforehand. If the White Witch
is anything to judge by, I think we will like
this new look.

Is this
the spiritual successor to
Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights?

Good question. I'm leaning
towards Neverwinter Nights personally as the indications we have been
given at the moment is that it's the land that matters, people are
replacable, and fan investment is a worrisome side-effect that can be
brushed aside if they will just quit being myopic. But they'll keep
claiming it's the successor to BG, because noone wants to claim it's the
successor to an average RPG line.

Make of that what you
will. I'm curious to know if we'll import choices
or be able to set choices or if things from Origins will be set canon.

I would want to say we would import a save and it
would read our choices and drop the character into that game world but
honestly I think that's expecting too much
from them. If they had any interest in true continuity, they wouldn't be
pushing for such a break from Origins like they are. So basically I think they are hinting at the fact they are
canonizing their own playthrough of Origins, and those choices really
mattered and have an effect on the world, thus Origins wasn't a
throwaway experience like we are believing currently.

And what becomes of the Warden?

They
said DA2 isn't the Feb-11 release, so with the information given that
it's going to be a multiple console game, I have
to believe it's some sort of expansion that puts some sort of send-off
to the Hero of Ferelden. I won't lie, they
promise me closure for my Warden in a game before DA2 and I'll preorder
DA2 right now. Without that closure, it raises a bunch of doubts and
emotional detatchment from the franchise that frankly, I don't feel like tossing my money towards until I'm
well and sure what's going onto my harddrive.

Could it be
Flemeth, a Morrigan possessed by Flemeth or a Morrigan
somehow changed by the DR or maybe the OGB all grown up? Absolutely.

I'm
wondering if she is perhaps one of the Old Gods. That could be the big
'surprise' moment. Maybe Dragon Age is the story about the redemption
and resurgance of The Seven? I have no clue at
the moment honestly, I'll get back to you in a month or two when we
know more.

nothing you do ever actually
matters

This is what stings doesn't it? They made a point of
stressing just how much choices matters, even today saying to back off
the nothing mattered wagon and see what's shaking in DA2, yet what they
are also saying in the DA2 forums seems to ****** away everything we did
in Origins.

But the
masses have spoken haven't they, ME2 did way better than Origins
so therefore DA should become ME2.

I'm waiting to see how much
like ME it truly is. If they are going all out
to turn it into a Fighter/RPG like ME is a
shooter/RPG, then I am going to take that as a
knock to the franchise. There are things ME does
rather well that I wouldn't mind seeing
incorporated into DA, but there are also many other things that I think will destroy what makes Bioware fantasy RPGs
great if they bring them in.

I can't believe it when people
legitimately tell me that ME2's
collection of backstory's with faces are better than Oghren and Sten

It makes me laugh as well, and then a little
sad as I realize they honestly mean it.
Garrus is probably my favorite ME NPC and even
he is hardly fleshed out with two games under his belt than any of the
Origins NPCs, but then again you have to think of the culture of gamers
nowadays. How many threads did you see of people ****ing about 'too
much talking' and how they hated the Camp time in DA? In this A.D.D.
Brotastic Idiocracy, more swords, more skin, less talky is the order of
the day. Let's see how far they cave.

People say stuff
like "Have faith in BioWare" and "They've never let us
down before".

Other than the fact they have. Until KOTOR hit I was really worried
Bioware had lost that Baldur's Gate magic. Jade Empire was universally
'praised' as good but not great, and seems to be the forgotten Bioware
RPG. Neverwinter Nights was an incredibly average game mechanically and
storywise as a single player experience, it's shining point was the
multi-player that allowed you to play computer campaigns in the DnD world. KOTOR2 and NWN2 are abortions, they may have
had a ton of potential to be great but what we bought at the end of the
day were average games that teased you with the greatness they followed
and snippets of it that shone through in their own sequels. 'But those
weren't made by Bioware!' SO...WHAT. Bioware let them take their baby
and run with it, so they are just as much at fault as the ones who put
it out under their guidance.

[Swoo]

Wow, the forums mangled that post. Same old, same old.

[adneate]

Brockololly wrote...

Oh trust me, I was royally pissed this morning. I was raging- no happy dance upon seeing that GI cover. Its like the 5 steps of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. At this point I'm just accepting DA2 as what it is, for better or worse.

Now that doesn't mean I'm happy with it, but it is what it is at this point, you know? We can only express our displeasure on the forums and vote with out wallets when the time comes to plunk more $$$ down on DA stuff.

Indeed I went though some of that too. Where I've ended up is similar, I have grave concerns about this "sequel" to put it lightly. What I've heard so far from the developers have not endeared this game to me in the least and I cannot wrap my head around their reasoning processes in a way that puts my mind at ease. It's not god's punishment for a sinful world but I'm going to need some serious convincing before I get my hopes up for this thing.

[Quett]

KnightofPhoenix wrote...

Brockololly wrote...

Quett wrote...

Wow, I didn't know the term "Gaider'd" had spread this far.

You championed the phrase in the Morrigan group! Its common vernacular in this thread and amongst the beaten down Morrigan romancers!

What does "Gaidered" officially mean?
So I know when to use it.

@ MKdauss

Origins in the game did not impose a personality on characters. They imposed a background, family name and circumstances that can shape your personality. But you were free to imagine and create your personality in whatever way you desired.

I made two Couslands, two mages, 1 Aeducan and planing to make another. All of which are completely different in terms of personality.

"Gaidered" is a term that refers to when a person get's WTFPWN'D! by a stories ending, especially those relating to tragic romances.  It was created to refer to endings of Bioware games, and specifically those accredited to(Justly or not) Bioware writer David Gaider.  Note that Mr. Gaider may or may not actually be responsible for the Gaidering events in question.  Examples of Gaider-esque endings include the hopeless Morrigan romance in DA:O(to which the term owes it's inspiration), the disapperance of Revan in KOTOR 2's backstory, and the aweful text-epilogues I've heard of in the Baldur's Gate series.  In a wider sense, it can refer to any kind of nerd-rage inducing mindscrew by Bioware developers, such as those cryptic comments the Bioware folks like to leave in the forums. 
Example:  Nerdrage88:  OMG is Morrigan in DA:2?!?  Wut about teh babies!?!
                  BiowareInc:  Well that's an interesting question, isn't it?  I do love how all of you are so invested in the stores we've written.  It's so rewarding to hear all of the speculation the fandom makes on these forums, because it tells us that we've done a really good job! Now, to answer your question:  Who knows?  You'll just have to wait and see!  Nyohoho!

Modifié par Quett, 09 juillet 2010 - 06:03 .

[Brockololly]

FWIW, Game Informer has their DA2 hub up: http://gameinformer....dragonage2.aspx

Seems like they're giving the ol' middle finger to Baldur's Gate.... *sigh*

Modifié par Brockololly, 09 juillet 2010 - 06:18 .