Dragon Age impressions

[Dnny]

Ok, after having played only 20 % of the game (free time doesn't grow on trees unfortunately) my verdict is that it is the best RPG I have played in the last five years. Unfortunately, it isn't saying much considering what has been put out in those last five years. I like it MUCH better than the witcher, though, and of course it is miles away of crap like Oblivion.
This game gives me a lasting impression and there is much to comment about. I think I will write a full amateurish review once I'll be finished, which, at the pace I play the game, may take a month or two.

 

[1eyedking]

I've been playing the game some more if only for fairness sake. The C&C department feels very weak. A game like The Witcher, for example, had weak consequences to your choices but at least those were very interesting to think about. DA:O fails at making the player doubt, its choices are mostly of the martyr good or asshole evil kind. Nothing wrong with good & evil per se, but it's not the kind you find in PS:T. The fact that the Grey Wardens concept is not fleshed out doesn't help much, either. The lore about them (about everything, really) is very shallow and nondescript.

As for the choices themselves, the good ones don't make you feel warm and fuzzy inside since no emotional bond is ever created with any character, mostly since the writing is utter tripe. Evil choices don't make you feel like a real bastard since they mostly involve you doing LOLKILLZ for the lulz alone. I guess "give me moar moneys" lines would qualify as selfish choices but the game doesn't even try.

Skill checks are almost non-existant and there's almost always another dialogue path that solves the quest with the same end result. At least it's a step above Fallout 3's quest-skipping crap.

Main quests can't be failed, no matter how hard you try. Hardcore.


That's it for the R in RPG. So far I'm not impressed.

 

[Grifthin]

Ummm mwhat ?

I suppose you can be martyr good or evil bastard. There's also other ways. Especially the end of the game really brings to the fore the fact that all the choices you made, made a impact. What allies you bring to the final battle, what people vote in the landsmeet, what companions you have, if you live or die. How is that not choices and consequences ?

My fucking ending blew my mind. It was the fucking most epic and the most fucking depressing ending at the same time. I wanted to fucking toss my pc out of the 3de floor window.

 

[Mystary!]

Funny thing, I replayed the city elf origin. I entered a room with guards who normally would attack on sight, but I had put away my weapons by accident, so now they mistook me for a servant which allowed me to serve them booze spiked with rat poison.

 

[Korgan]

My fucking ending blew my mind. It was the fucking most epic and the most fucking depressing ending at the same time. I wanted to fucking toss my pc out of the 3de floor window.

Just give me a hint about which one it is - you, him or her?

 

[yes plz]

Especially the end of the game really brings to the fore the fact that all the choices you made, made a impact. What allies you bring to the final battle, what people vote in the landsmeet, what companions you have, if you live or die. How is that not choices and consequences ?

What allies you recruited doesn't really change the story of the ending all that much, if at all. I played through the ending on normal difficulty and didn't use any of my army allies as all you mostly fought were grunts. The only companion that truly matters to the ending is Alistar, none of the others have an impact on it that you can change.

 

[Monocause]

What allies you recruited doesn't really change the story of the ending all that much, if at all. I played through the ending on normal difficulty and didn't use any of my army allies as all you mostly fought were grunts. The only companion that truly matters to the ending is Alistar, none of the others have an impact on it that you can change.

What allies do you use doesn't have any impact, true. Your decisions according to them matters though. You get a different ending when you destroy the circle, side with the werewolves etc. The landsmeet resolution is reflected in the ending too.

I don't understand what do you mean by that thing about companions. If you develop your relationship with them enough their respective endings may vary. Morrigan can have at least four endings. I had a strong approval rating with Sten and so I had a choice to travel with him to the Qunari lands and it was reflected in the ending.
You can influence their endings, they just have to like you enough.

its choices are mostly of the martyr good or asshole evil kind. Nothing wrong with good & evil per se, but it's not the kind you find in PS:T. The fact that the Grey Wardens concept is not fleshed out doesn't help much, either. The lore about them (about everything, really) is very shallow and nondescript.

Oh? Which choices are the simple good/evil stuff? Especially 'martyr good/asshole evil'? Perhaps you mistakenly turned KoTOR on instead of DA.

Spoiler

Do you mean the Redcliffe one, perhaps? And what exactly was 'evil' about killing Connor, the maleficar demon-possessed child trained by a blood mage? Or allowing his mother to sacrifice herself if she wished to? Going to the Circle for help wasn't exactly the 'good' choice either. They'd probably lock the kid in the circle, make him a tranquil or send the templars to kill him anyway since he'd probably fail the Harrowing too. Either way the kid is lost to the Arl and if he lives, he remains a potential threat.

I really admire your efforts to voice your enmity towards DA, but you could try, you know, make proper arguments supported with examples instead of claiming stuff that's easily refutable by anyone who played the game. And what's not fleshed out with the Grey Wardens? I finished the game and haven't felt any questions were left unanswered about them.

 

[DreadMessiah]

Yes the reveal as Revan is easy to spot if you pay attention to what is said before hand. Especially the turning an enemy to an ally is power coupled with how certain sith interact with your character. As for the archdemon it got wounded by the older grey warden then fell from the sky and when your character arrives is being attacked by soldiers and what not. I would imagine the archdemon was a little wounded compared to the other dragons in the game. With cone of cold and hex no dragon is very tough on nightmare with three mages keeping it paralyzed or frozen by chaining spells. Also the glyph spells make the game super easy though I feel that many of the fourth tier spells suck compared to 3rd and lower. Glyph of repulsion and fireball chains is hilarious. Three mages with force field means isolating the tougher enemies then dealing with the lesser ones while waiting for the force field to wear off. Shutting down spellcasters with forcefield which is a second tier spell is wonderful on nightmare while fireballs keep archers flying around and burning. The fourth tier spells such as blizzard, chain lightning, inferno I found not worth using compared to most of the 1st-3rd tier spells.

 

[1eyedking]

I'm writing a lengthy, extensive review.

Here's an excerpt:

2. Rules of engagement: Classes, Races & Skills
Let’s round up some history first. BioWare, in its RPG developing history, went from doing games based on AD&D 2nd Edition’s ruleset with Baldur’s Gate and its sequel to D&D 3rd Edition’s for Neverwinter Nights, and later adapting the d20 system for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. They went on their own for Jade Empire’s overly simplistic stats and skills, and Mass Effect’s even smaller gamma of options reduced to merely “Talents”.
Dragon Age is no exception to this kind of amputations. Warriors and Rogues differ only in the way they handle “threat” and position themselves during combat but they share two complete combat trees and are able to use Light, Medium, Heaevy and Massive armor interchangeably (albeit Rogues suffer a hefty penalty to their special abilities – nothing that overly plentiful Mana mushrooms can’t fix, however), as well as most weapons. Strength is vital to both, Dexterity mostly forgettable unless bows are used since armor plays a more important role at shrugging off damage (Age of Decadence’s build system is much more compelling and interesting), Constitution adding only 5 health to every class, Cunning only useful for Rogue skill requirements (since its requirement for extra tactics is made obsolete as more slots are made available as you gain levels), and Willpower completely forgettable (a straight % bonus to spell resistance would have made it more appealing, for example). The idea of Magic dictating how much healing and mana recovery such a character would receive from a potion is very interesting and would have added lots of depth had its implementation been something else than minimal since it really doesn’t make a difference and multiple potion types can be drank at a certain time given their cooldowns do not overlap. Moreover, since they’re not needed for off-combat regeneration their value is diminished further and given that their crafting is cheap and involves no check whatsoever they are always in excessive reserve during battles. As for the Talents themselves, they’re pretty straightforward enough to warrant no special attention. There’s a serious imbalance between the different Combat styles, however: Two-Weapon fighting is way too overpowered and makes the other types of weapon expertise pale in comparison to the sheer amount of damage two swords can deal out. The armor bonus the Shield tree gives is no substitute for a Whirlwind-like attack, two-handed weapons are very, very slow and Archery is suffers from a too many misses to be effective.

Mages, besides also being able to wear all armor types as well provided they have the strength, have one or two spells or spell lines that are worth investing (some even being blatantly overpowered such Spirit’s Mind Blast branch) while everything else isn’t worth investing. Since spells are cast immediately, mostly can’t be interrupted, and do not share cooldowns, selecting multiple level one or two damage-dealing spells is a very cheap way of turning your Mage into a DPS powerhouse. Furthermore, damage is scaled through Spellpower alone which means that any long-term investment along a given line provides no additional benefit besides the extra spells, which aren’t always worth it: there’s no tried-and-true “Fire Mastery” or “Cold Mastery” perks which serve to balance point allocation between damage and utility sorcery. The immediate consequence is that there are no different specialized builds and all mages tend to play quite boringly the same when this was not intended to be so.

Races are practically the same save for stat bonuses (no penalties) and Origins. One would have expected something unique out of elves and dwarves, but alas this is not the case.

As for skills, the game is pretty straightforward. As for their checks, that’s an entirely different thing. There’s Coercion which is the equivalent to the usual Speech checks but now involve either Strength for Intimidation or Cunning for Persuasion – checks often involve meeting a certain value, which is one of many ways of handling them; the bad news is, most often than not quests can be solved in almost the same without the need of persuasion or intimidation and at most these checks allow quests to be skipped but do not change the output (save for a bigger or smaller monetary reward), which means that you don’t feel they were worth investing in; Stealing is your usual pocket-picking business except everyone can learn it and there is no risk of someone catching your act of thievery – you either meet the skill requirement or you don’t, but not that you would care since most pockets are filled with random miscellanea and not what the character is actually equipping (i.e.: you can’t sneak your Rogue behind enemy lines, rob enemies of potions, scrolls and arrows to make a certain fight easier). It’s mostly an afterthought skill. Survival pinpoints enemy locations on the minimap and thank god it serves no other dumbed down purpose save for one (and only one) dialogue skill check that nets you no reward at all. There’s not a single outdoorsman check a la Fallout in the whole game which means you won’t be able to avoid random encounters, you’ll always be ambushed by bandits and start in the worst position, and you won’t be able to handle animals the way you could in other D&D games. Trap-Making, Herbalism, and Poison-Making are your token crafting skills, of which only the second is entirely useful. They only limit the tiers of items you can create and there’s no chance of you failing during the process. Something interesting would have been a batch process bonus such as extra items constructed for every certain amount created. Items can be created anywhere thanks to your apparently invisible portable workshops. Immersive. Combat Training and Combat Tactics are the last two, the first offering once again tier access and minor bonuses, and the last one being, as already mentioned, an appendix if you’re looking for the optimum screensaver experience. Last are the thankfully mandatory Rogue-only talents Deft of Hands and Stealth. The first is trap-detection, trap-disarming, and lock-picking all in one. About time someone made this move and made Rogues able to invest in something else. Fairly useful all around, especially when used with the second to scout ahead and tidy up the battlefield. The latter’s ability to hide in the middle of combat, however, is facepalm-inducing. At least there’s a check this time.

 

[1eyedking]

Another:

7. What the speakers are for: Music & Sound
The music in Dragon Age is nothing to write home about. In fact, it ultimately detracts from the overall, already tarnished quality of the game since repetitive orchestral queues tend to get old fast, particularly when pieces such as the ones for combat are used for every violent encounter in the game.
This doesn’t come as a surprise however since it is not unknown that Inon Zur is a very untalented composer. The man hasn’t created a memorable tune throughout all of his career and this is mostly because his work almost always consists of copying others, unoriginal formulaic fanfare or background ostinatos that are prone to ignore the general tone of the game or the piece itself. He even went as far as copying Storm of Zehir’s launch menu’s motif for the Circle’s background. He is a poor man’s Jeremy Soule, and Soule’s music is already forgettable as it is so the result is expectable.
What is an example of good music, you ask? Michael Giaccino’s orchestrated pieces for Medal of Honor are a great show of craftsmanship and epic fanfare done well. StarCraft’s soundtrack is a good example as any, too: for each race there’s a particular style that characterizes it, be them menacing Blade Runner tunes for the aggressive Zerg, calm bass and synths for the contemplative Protoss, or fast paced riffs for the military Terran. If we don’t want to get away from RPGs, there’s Diablo’s eerie choruses and echoes for dungeons and excellent Tristram guitar tabs; its sequel’s act-based themes brim with personality and fit the various settings extremely well; and Fallout’s Mark Morgan’s extensive use of industrial sounds and background chatter: who can forget the pressure machines, ominous sirens, muffled speakers, clattering keyboards and water dripping of Vault 13’s theme?
Inon Zur provides none of that magic and doesn’t even offer catchy tunes to whistle to when bored. It’s below mediocre.

Sounds, on the other hand, are very nice. There’s BioWare’s usual attention to armor noise: moving around in leather sounds like such, as does the clattering metal when wearing a plate, details which are always welcome. Swords slashing, metal clashing, maces thumping, fireballs exploding, monsters screaming and arrows whistling make for a very satisfying sound experience during combat. Menu queues and selection clicks sound solid, and there’s fortunately nothing annoying or distracting enough.
I wish the same could be said about voice acting but it’s thoroughly and consistently bad during the whole course of the game. All actors, be them your companion’s or important plot characters’, sound as if they had been sedated prior to the recording and save for a few occasional exceptions they can’t act the tone of the dialogue at all. I suspect this is in great part due to the massive amount of lines they must deliver and how utterly banal most of those are. As a result generating an attachment to any of the characters in the game becomes even more difficult and if anything forced by the player himself in an attempt to enjoy the game’s storyline. They radiate no personality whatsoever in a genre that is filled with great examples such as Fallout’s Jamaican Sulik, annoying Lynette, and stern Marcus; VtM: Bloodline’s roguish Smiling Jack; BioWare’s own brooding Irenicus; Icewind Dale’s sulky narrator, and dark Kresselack; etc. Even accents sound fake and unconvincing such as Leliana’s french lisping.
There’s one more thing that I’d like to mention: the recycled Infinity Engine inventory sound for armor and journal page flipping. Every sound is new except for those particular cases: I would infer this is mostly a cheap attempt at pulling off nostalgia from “old” BioWare players, but I could be wrong. Then again, it’s been recently done in Torchlight and Majesty 2 so one has to be wary.

 

[Grifthin]

My fucking ending blew my mind. It was the fucking most epic and the most fucking depressing ending at the same time. I wanted to fucking toss my pc out of the 3de floor window.

Just give me a hint about which one it is - you, him or her?

None of those.

 

[Volourn]

That review is horrible. It's either flat out lies.

Example: " Races are practically the same save for stat bonuses (no penalties) and Origins."

That's bullshit. Dwraves cannot be mages at all, but get a 10%MR in return. Man, why do people feel the need to bullshit.

Also, crap like 'con only gives 5hp'. That's more bullshit.

The rest is just you trying to make it sound as simplified as your spamming words are. But, hey, go suck on BG2's overrated ass. Your lies just shows that you cna't be taken seriously.

 

[Jaesun]

1eyedking, you are trying too hard.

Obvious troll is obvious. Hell the n00b alts are doing a better job....

 

[Monkeyfinger]

Also, crap like 'con only gives 5hp'. That's more bullshit.

As far as I can tell, that's true. What else does it do?

 

[kris]

Also, crap like 'con only gives 5hp'. That's more bullshit.

As far as I can tell, that's true. What else does it do?

At least it adds to physical resistance.

 

[Barrow_Bug]

I'm starting to understand why the 'dex is having babies over DA. High Fantasy Setting. Snore.

 

[Monocause]

Dragon Age is no exception to this kind of amputations. Warriors and Rogues differ only in the way they handle “threat” and position themselves during combat but they share two complete combat trees and are able to use Light, Medium, Heaevy and Massive armor interchangeably (albeit Rogues suffer a hefty penalty to their special abilities – nothing that overly plentiful Mana potions can’t fix, however)

Rogue's set of talents makes playing him a completely different affair from playing a warrior. You won't wear any heavy or massive armor with a rogue, unless you want to cripple your build by leaving out Dex and Cun, which are essential for backstabs and criticals - which are what the rogue is for, combat-wise.
Rogues, just as warriors, can't drink lyrium (mana) potions. It's obvious that you don't have a fucking clue about the game.

, as well as most weapons. Strength is vital to both, Dexterity mostly forgettable unless bows are used since armor plays a more important role at shrugging off damage (Age of Decadence’s build system is much more compelling and interesting), Constitution adding only 5 health to every class, Cunning only useful for Rogue skill requirements (since its requirement for extra tactics is made obsolete as more slots are made available as you gain levels), and Willpower completely forgettable (a straight % bonus to spell resistance would have made it more appealing, for example).

You haven't even bothered to actually read what various stats give, did you? Do so, please. I won't do you the pleasure of posting the whole list of what various attributes really do, especially if the info is available at the fucking character screen you have access to from the very beginning of the game
It is completely feasible to leave strength at the beginning level and still make a worthwhile rogue. On the other hand, if you pump cunning only to the level required by talents (26 IIRC), you're doing it wrong, unless going for an archer rogue. Still there's a lot of chests and traps you wouldn't be able to lockpick/disarm, even with the fourth tool use talent.

The idea of Magic dictating how much healing and mana recovery such a character would receive from a potion is very interesting and would have added lots of depth had its implementation been something else than minimal since it really doesn’t make a difference and multiple potion types can be drank at a certain time given their cooldowns do not overlap.

Stronger health potions are expensive and rare enough that you won't be able to base keeping your party members alive by quaffing three different potions.
If you leave your magic at the starting level, drinking a lesser potion and a normal potion will not save your character from falling. You'll pause in combat for ~130 regained HP which isn't a problem for enemies to take away again. Especially if you're standing and doing nothing but drinking potions.

Moreover, since they’re not needed for off-combat regeneration their value is diminished further and given that their crafting is cheap and involves no check whatsoever they are always in excessive reserve during battles.

The only potions that are cheap to craft are the lesser ones. Only mages can use them consistently later in the game since these +40/50 HP isn't going to mean anything for a warrior - while +80/90 a mage gets can be a lifesaver.
Stronger potions require the use of agents which are expensive. They also aren't in excessive supply. When I finished the game I had 4 standard health potions remaining and more than 50 lesser HP potions - no potent or greater ones since I couldn't afford crafting them and used up rather quickly the ones I occasionally found. The latter because, like I said, only the mages drank them.

As for the Talents themselves, they’re pretty straightforward enough to warrant no special attention. There’s a serious imbalance between the different Combat styles, however: Two-Weapon fighting is way too overpowered and makes the other types of weapon expertise pale in comparison to the sheer amount of damage two swords can deal out. The armor bonus the Shield tree gives is no substitute for a Whirlwind-like attack, two-handed weapons are very, very slow and Archery is suffers from a too many misses to be effective.

I agree that sword&shield sucks and should've been better. The rest is bullshit. My 2W rogue got insanely fast, but couldn't penetrate armor too much. The 2H warrior was slower but was mowing down armored targets at ease - and that's just because I designed it so. You need one guy who's dealing out raw DPS quick and one who can penetrate armor. Both 2H and 2W are viable choices.
Archery is a completely different case. And it is very useful, especially when fighting mages or other ranged characters. Suffers from too many misses? Probably because you considered dexterity to be a dump stat. Get yourself together.

Mages, besides also being able to wear all armor types as well provided they have the strength

Which can render them completely useless as they'll burn all their mana on 3-4 underpowered (because of all the attribute points you've wasted on STR) spells and then are left in their useless armor which they shouldn't wear unless you make an Arcane Warrior build (and even then putting armor on a mage is rather stupid).

, have one or two spells or spell lines that are worth investing (some even being blatantly overpowered such Spirit’s Mind Blast branch) while everything else isn’t worth investing.

What's overpowered about it? While very useful, stunning a couple of enemies isn't going to save your day. Forcefield has tactical meaning limited to special occasions. Telekinetic weapons is nice but not overpowered in any way, while most of the powerful enemies save against being held in the crushing prison. They still get the spirit damage but it isn't much. Do tell.

Since spells are cast immediately, mostly can’t be interrupted, and do not share cooldowns, selecting multiple level one or two damage-dealing spells is a very cheap way of turning your Mage into a DPS powerhouse.

This is an excellent way to make your mage completely useless. You'd burn mana at casting spells inefficiently (since you can wear only so much equipment and equipment is essential for maximising damage). You'd be struggling with combat a lot, since you'd have too little means to debilitate and weaken your opponents or protect/heal/buff party members. Did you even try to apply what you propose?

Furthermore, damage is scaled through Spellpower alone which means that any long-term investment along a given line provides no additional benefit besides the extra spells, which aren’t always worth it: there’s no tried-and-true “Fire Mastery” or “Cold Mastery” perks which serve to balance point allocation between damage and utility sorcery. The immediate consequence is that there are no different specialized builds and all mages tend to play quite boringly the same when this was not intended to be so.

I had two mages in my team and they played completely different and served a completely different purpose. If you consider a spell to be 'not worth it', don't get it. There aren't many spells that are 'not worth it', and they get 'not worth it' not because they're objectively useless but because they don't fit your tactics.

Races are practically the same save for stat bonuses (no penalties) and Origins. One would have expected something unique out of elves and dwarves, but alas this is not the case.

Volly already called bullshit on that one.

As for skills, the game is pretty straightforward. As for their checks, that’s an entirely different thing. There’s Coercion which is the equivalent to the usual Speech checks but now involve either Strength for Intimidation or Cunning for Persuasion – checks often involve meeting a certain value, which is one of many ways of handling them; the bad news is, most often than not quests can be solved in almost the same without the need of persuasion or intimidation and at most these checks allow quests to be skipped but do not change the output (save for a bigger or smaller monetary reward), which means that you don’t feel they were worth investing in.

This is ridiculous. You must be trolling. Intimidation and persuasion offer routes out of quests that wouldn't be available otherwise multiple times.

Stealing is your usual pocket-picking business except everyone can learn it and there is no risk of someone catching your act of thievery – you either meet the skill requirement or you don’t, but not that you would care since most pockets are filled with random miscellanea and not what the character is actually equipping (i.e.: you can’t sneak your Rogue behind enemy lines, rob enemies of potions, scrolls and arrows to make a certain fight easier). It’s mostly an afterthought skill.

True, and that's how it's designed.

Survival pinpoints enemy locations on the minimap and thank god it serves no other dumbed down purpose save for one (and only one) dialogue skill check that nets you no reward at all. There’s not a single outdoorsman check a la Fallout in the whole game which means you won’t be able to avoid random encounters

I don't know about the dialogue checks since my PC didn't have anything put in survival. My other party member did, however, and the skill turned out to be most useful, compensating for my rogue's lack of stealth development. The fact that you know enemy numbers and positions is essential to creating successful tactics.

, you’ll always be ambushed by bandits and start in the worst position, and you won’t be able to handle animals the way you could in other D&D games.

I remember only the Zevran encounter and one of the darkspawn encounters to put you in a horrible position. The survival skill never claimed to influence random encounters, so I don't know what your point is. Your second issue with survival is just stupid.

Trap-Making, Herbalism, and Poison-Making are your token crafting skills, of which only the second is entirely useful. They only limit the tiers of items you can create and there’s no chance of you failing during the process. Something interesting would have been a batch process bonus such as extra items constructed for every certain amount created. Items can be created anywhere thanks to your apparently invisible portable workshops. Immersive.

All the crafting skills are extremely useful. Unfortunately, you won't use all three of them since the recipes are very expensive. Choices!
Failure rate is irrelevant since ingredients for higher tiered stuff is rare or expensive. Usually both. Your 'portable workshop' argument is correct and that you can do crafting in combat indeed is a flaw of the game. Too bad that it's the first one you've managed to name in this wall of text.

Combat Training and Combat Tactics are the last two, the first offering once again tier access and minor bonuses, and the last one being, as already mentioned, an appendix if you’re looking for the optimum screensaver experience.

Tactics skills are useful for everyone who doesn't want to micromanage every battle. Screensaver? I guess you mean that it's some sort of an autowin option where you can automate everything. Nope, doesn't work that way. You can (and should unless you go all-micro) optimise behaviour with tactics, but it's far from being enough to prevent you from being raped by the occasional lowly darkspawn band.

Last are the thankfully mandatory Rogue-only talents Deft of Hands and Stealth.

Yes, talents. Not skills. Neither is mandatory. Deft of hands is extremely useful, but still not mandatory. Stealth is not mandatory at all unless you aim for a rogue build geared for stealth. I have used stealth maybe five times during the entire playthrough and I've read reports of people who used it in each and every combat.

The first is trap-detection, trap-disarming, and lock-picking all in one. About time someone made this move and made Rogues able to invest in something else. Fairly useful all around, especially when used with the second to scout ahead and tidy up the battlefield. The latter’s ability to hide in the middle of combat, however, is facepalm-inducing. At least there’s a check this time.

You conveniently forgot to mention that there're also penalties to these checks when you try to hide mid-combat.

 

[Barrow_Bug]

WikipediaForever Donate Now[Hide][Show]Wikipedia Forever Our shared knowledge. Our shared treasure. Help us protect it. [Show]Wikipedia Forever Our shared knowledge. Our shared treasure. Help us protect it. Boredom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"Boring" and "Bored" redirect here. For other uses, see Boring (disambiguation) and Bored (disambiguation).
For the Buzzcocks song, see Spiral Scratch (EP).
Boredom is an emotional state experienced during periods lacking activity or when individuals are uninterested in the opportunities surrounding them. The first record of the word boredom is in the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens, written in 1852,[1] in which it appears six times, although the expression to be a bore had been used in the sense of "to be tiresome or dull" since 1768.[2]

Contents [hide]
1 Psychology
2 Philosophy
3 Causes and effects
4 Popular culture and the arts
5 See also
6 References


Psychology

Boredom in terms of challenge level and skill level. Clickable.[3]Boredom has been defined by C. D. Fisher in terms of its central psychological processes: “an unpleasant, transient affective state in which the individual feels a pervasive lack of interest in and difficulty concentrating on the current activity.”[4] M. R. Leary and others describe boredom as “an affective experience associated with cognitive attentional processes.”[5] In positive psychology, anxiety is described as a response to a moderate challenge for which the subject has more than enough skill.[3]. These definitions make it clear that boredom arises not from a lack of things to do but from the inability to latch onto any specific activity.

There are three types of boredom, all of which involve problems of engagement of attention. These include times when we are prevented from engaging in something, when we are forced to engage in some unwanted activity, or when we are simply unable, for no apparent reason, to maintain engagement in any activity or spectacle.[6] Boredom proneness is a tendency to experience boredom of all types. This is typically assessed by the Boredom Proneness Scale.[7] Consistent with the definition provided above, recent research has found that boredom proneness is clearly and consistently associated with failures of attention.[8] Boredom and boredom proneness are both theoretically and empirically linked to depression and depressive symptoms.[9][10][11] Nonetheless, boredom proneness has been found to be as strongly correlated with attentional lapses as with depression.[9] Although boredom is often viewed as a trivial and mild irritant, proneness to boredom has been linked to a very diverse range of possible psychological, physical, educational, and social problems.

Philosophy
Boredom is a condition characterized by perception of one's environment as dull, tedious, and lacking in stimulation. This can result from leisure and a lack of aesthetic interests. Labor, however, and even art may be alienated and passive, or immersed in tedium (see Marx's theory of alienation). There is an inherent anxiety in boredom; people will expend considerable effort to prevent or remedy it, yet in many circumstances, it is accepted as suffering to be endured. Common passive ways to escape boredom are to sleep or to think creative thoughts (daydream). Typical active solutions consist in an intentional activity of some sort, often something new, as familiarity and repetition lead to the tedious.

Boredom also plays a role in existentialist thought. In contexts where one is confined, spatially or otherwise, boredom may be met with various religious activities, not because religion would want to associate itself with tedium, but rather, partly because boredom may be taken as the essential human condition, to which God, wisdom, or morality are the ultimate answers. Boredom is in fact taken in this sense by virtually all existentialist philosophers as well as by Schopenhauer. Heidegger wrote about boredom in two texts available in English, in the 1929/30 semester lecture course The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics, and again in the essay What is Metaphysics? published in the same year. In the lecture, Heidegger included about 100 pages on boredom, probably the most extensive philosophical treatment ever of the subject. He focused on waiting at train stations in particular as a major context of boredom.[12] In Kierkegaard's remark in Either/Or, that "patience cannot be depicted" visually, there is a sense that any immediate moment of life may be fundamentally tedious.

Without stimulus or focus, the individual is confronted with nothingness, the meaninglessness of existence, and experiences existential anxiety. Heidegger states this idea nicely: "Profound boredom, drifting here and there in the abysses of our existence like a muffling fog, removes all things and men and oneself along with it into a remarkable indifference. This boredom reveals being as a whole."[13] Arthur Schopenhauer used the existence of boredom in an attempt to prove the vanity of human existence, stating, "...for if life, in the desire for which our essence and existence consists, possessed in itself a positive value and real content, there would be no such thing as boredom: mere existence would fulfil and satisfy us."[14]

Erich Fromm and other similar thinkers of critical theory speak of bourgeois society in terms similar to boredom, and Fromm mentions sex and the automobile as fundamental outlets of postmodern boredom. Above and beyond taste and character, the universal case of boredom consists in any instance of waiting, as Heidegger noted, such as in line, for someone else to arrive or finish a task, or while one is travelling. Boredom, however, may also increase as travel becomes more convenient, as the vehicle may become more like the windowless monad in Leibniz's monadology.[citation needed] The automobile requires fast reflexes, making its operator busy and hence, perhaps for other reasons as well, making the ride more tedious despite being over sooner.

Causes and effects
Although it has not been widely studied, research on boredom suggests that boredom is a major factor impacting diverse areas of a person's life. People ranked low on a boredom-proneness scale were found to have better performance in a wide variety of aspects of their lives, including career, education, and autonomy.[15] Boredom can be a symptom of clinical depression. Boredom can be a form of learned helplessness, a phenomenon closely related to depression. Some philosophies of parenting propose that if children are raised in an environment devoid of stimuli, and are not allowed or encouraged to interact with their environment, they will fail to develop the mental capacities to do so.


The Unsmiling Tsarevna (Nesmeyana), by Viktor VasnetsovIn a learning environment, a common cause of boredom is lack of understanding; for instance, if one is not following or connecting to the material in a class or lecture, it will usually seem boring. However, the opposite can also be true; something that is too easily understood, simple or transparent, can also be boring. Boredom is often inversely related to learning, and in school it may be a sign that a student is not challenged enough, or too challenged. An activity that is predictable to the students is likely to bore them.[16]

A study of 1989 indicated that an individual's impression of boredom may be influenced by the individuals degree of attention, as a higher acoustic level of distraction from the environment correlated with higher reportings of boredom.[17]

Boredom has been studied as being related to drug abuse among teens.[18] Boredom has been proposed as a cause of pathological gambling behavior. A study found results consistent with the hypothesis that pathological gamblers seek stimulation to avoid states of boredom and depression.[19]

Popular culture and the arts
In Chapter 18 of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) it is written; "The only horrible thing in the world is ennui, Dorian. That is the one sin for which there is no forgiveness." John Sebastian, Iggy Pop, the Deftones, Buzzcocks, and Blink-182 have all written songs with boredom mentioned in the title. Other songs about boredom and activities people turn to when bored include Green Day's song "Longview", System of a Down's "Lonely Day", and Bloodhound Gang's "Mope". Douglas Adams depicted a robot named Marvin the Paranoid Android whose boredom appeared to be the defining trait of his existence in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

The 1969 Vocational Guidance Counsellor sketch on Monty Python's Flying Circus established a lasting stereotype of accountants as boring.[20] The Yellow Pages used to carry an entry under Boring, "See civil engineers", but this was changed in 1996 to "See sites exploration."[21]

See also
Apathy
Boreout
Dysthymia
Motivation
References
^ Oxford Old English Dictionary
^ Online Etymology Dictionary
^ a b Csikszentmihalyi, M., Finding Flow, 1997
^ Fisher, C. D. (1993). Boredom at work: A neglected concept. Human Relations, 46, 395–417, p. 396.
^ Leary, M. R., Rogers, P. A., Canfield, R. W., & Coe, C. (1986). Boredom in interpersonal encounters: Antecedents and social implications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 968–975, p. 968.
^ Cheyne, J. A., Carriere, J. S. A., & Smilek, D. (2006). Absent-mindedness: Lapses in conscious awareness and everyday cognitive failures. Consciousness and Cognition, 15, 578-592.
^ Farmer, R. & Sundberg, N. D. (1986). Boredom proneness: The development and correlates of a new scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 50, 4–17.
^ Fisher, C. D. (1993). Boredom at work: A neglected concept. ‘’Human Relations, 46’’, 395–417
^ a b Carriere, J. S. A., Cheyne, J. A., & Smilek, D. (in press). Everyday Attention Lapses and Memory Failures: The Affective Consequences of Mindlessness. Consciousness and Cognition.
^ Sawin, D. A. & Scerbo, M. W. (1995). Effects of instruction type and boredom proneness in vigilance: Implications for boredom and workload. Human Factors, 37, 752–765.
^ Vodanovich, S. J., Verner, K. M., & Gilbride, T. V. (1991). Boredom proneness: Its relationship to positive and negative affect. Psychological Reports, 69, 1139–1146.
^ Martin Heidegger. The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics, pp. 78-164.
^ Martin Heidegger, What is Metaphysics? (1929)
^ Arthur Schopenhauer, Essays and Aphorisms, Penguin Classics, ISBN0140442278 (2004), p53 Full text available online: [1]
^ [2] John D. Watt, Stephen J. Vodanovich Boredom Proneness and Psychosocial Development Journal of Psychology, Vol. 133, (1999)
^ [3] - R.V. Small et al. Dimensions of Interest and Boredom in Instructional Situations, Proceedings of Selected Research and Development Presentations at the 1996 National Convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (18th, Indianapolis, IN), (1996)
^ Damrad-Frye, R; Laird JD (1989). "The experience of boredom: the role of the self-perception of attention". J Personality Social Psych 57: 315–20. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.2.315.
^ Abstract Iso-Ahola, Seppo E.; Crowley, Edward D. Adolescent Substance Abuse and Leisure Boredom, Journal of Leisure Research, v23 n3 p260-71 (1991)
^ [4] Blaszczynski A, McConaghy N, Frankova A. Boredom proneness in pathological gambling Psychol Rep. 1990 Aug; 67(1):35-42.
^ Learn the elementary bits about business, Financial Times, 14 October 2008
^ Exciting times for London civil engineers, Chicago Sun Times, 23 August, 1996
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[Grifthin]

You fail copy troll.

 

[Barrow_Bug]

You fail copy troll.

How so? I valiantly copied the text, and then when the chips were down, I did indeed paste it. I overcome numerous obstacles to get where I am, so Sir, there is only Win in my wonderful act. Do you see?

 

[1eyedking]

@Monocause:
Holy shit man, I feel compelled to answer your post if only because you took the time to read my review and answer it. A shame it would be a horrible mess since there are too many quotes flying around.

As for the stamina thing, I actually meant the mushrooms which I always have in excess and you can eat tens in a row.

Give me some more time to finish it and then we can discuss more.

 

[Emotional Vampire]

You're our champion, 1eyedking :hakunin:

 

[1eyedking]

LOLLERZ: Something of note for some people bullshitting around: Force Field & Crushing Prison offer no saving throw, but typical BioWare encounter cheese kicks since bosses can't be affected by said spells.

There's nothing that quite breaks world believability and reeks of bad encounter design as characters being immune to effects that should otherwise normally affect them. It was one of the things I loved about IWD2 which BG2 sorely lacked: every single boss in the game could die to a Finger of Death from a well-crafted mage. It made them feel vulnerable and thus much more believable: the rules of the world were no exception to them. In Baldur's Gate 2 you would see the FoD flower animation loading up but in the end nothing happened. Alas, Dragon Age is no exception.

LOLLERZ Plus: I've encountered >1000 HP rogues (Majorlaine for example) during the course of my adventures, as well as >1000 HP mages (the Hermit in the Brecillian forest, Arcane Horror bosses here and there). Nah, BioWare obviously doesn't resort to that sort of crap

 

[Monkeyfinger]

I don't know about forcefield because I never use it on enemies, but mooks can save against crushing prison. It's rare but it does happen.

 

[1eyedking]

I don't know about forcefield because I never use it on enemies, but mooks can save against crushing prison. It's rare but it does happen.

Were they unique, by chance?