Dragon Age Dragon Age: The Veilguard - coming October 31st

[Robber Baron]

Disagreed. Do you really think that Rogue Trader has a better ""ruleset"" than Pathfinder Kingmaker and WoTR? WH40k RT would be much better with TT rules. There are some bad TT rulesets, like D&D 4e and PF2e but in general, I never saw any tabletop game with atrocious game mechanics like D3.

Obviously it's up to developer to create a good system that works. DAO was such a case - everything worked. DAO was also a PC game first and foremost. Dragon Age as a franchise is a disaster with no redeeming qualities now exactly because it does everything unlike how it was done in DAO.

 

[Daemongar]

YT just recommended me this. He really hates the look and gameplay.

I saw this on YouTube the other day too. The wider audience is finally getting a look at this game’s gameplay and they aren’t happy with anything they see about it. This game is going to bomb hard.

I watched some of this video and saw this. Look - 3 yellow colored items on the screen, a pole you knock down to get across a chasm, a chest of some type, and a far ladder. Is this really the state of gaming in 2024? Do all games do this now?

 

[Vyvian]

Guys... did you see the hair though?!
Forget that combat looks like dumber Arkham or that everything is pink and purple, LOOK AT THE HAIR.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

YT just recommended me this. He really hates the look and gameplay.

So from this video I learned that you can pet random street cats and dogs. I know Witcher 3 EE added the option to pet Roach because people kept asking for it, but this.... it really broadcasts loud and clear to whom they're marketing the game. The cutesy stuff - the rock, paper & scissors with a skeleton and the petting (no pun) doesn't belong here. DA shouldn't be a gay petting zoo with a maximally bland high-fantasy design. EA wanted this and okayed it, knowing that no-one wanted it, because they're confident that people will settle for it. Settle for worse than mediocre that could easily be bested by an unhindered A.I.

This here is what the gaming industry has come to. My vision of Dragon Age would be something of a mix of Excalibur, Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. With absolutely no cringy modern references to capeshit or anything written by Joss Whedon. Only class, and occasionally some edge. If I'm in the mood for more of the edge and grimdarkness, I go to the Witcher games. If I want high-fantasy and world saving, it's DA:Origins for now.

One thing I've really been thinking is how in the fuck the marketing team okayed these character designs being shown publicly.

Now I know the usual composition of of marketing teams so I shouldn't expect much, but between this, VtMB2, Avowed, Fable, etc, they should know they're dooming their product from the start.

Imagine throwing a face like this on a commercial you paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to air:

View attachment 54921

Somebody in the company had to have said "lol you guys are stupid."

Listen to that person.

How can they not okay these designs when all of western corporate culture is infected with ESG and the resultant adherence to DEI? Every step on the corporate ladder is okay with it, or at least the workers keep their mouths shut as long as they intend to stay employed. They know there will be a loud backlash, but the higher-ups have a plan for spinning even that into a victory, but basically because of ESG, no-one has a choice anymore. The ugly is here to stay until the industry collapses, or until BlackRock is seen as what it really is. A head of the global hydra. Destroyer of free nations.

Remember that video about Concorde where a former designer commented on how his sexier character designs always went through the same "purification" process when handled by different exects and other designers, and in that process they always lost whatever semblance of femininity and healthy body curvature they had? All designs of DA:tVG have no doubt gone through the same wringer, and the mediocre was encouraged because at this point, it's safest according to EA. When they've got their backs against a wall they will always double-down on the pozz, for shareholders. They have no other choice, for they're no longer the masters. BlackRock is.

There is no big boogeyman to blame here. This didn’t happen because of BlackRock or some other bullshit. It’s actually worse, it’s just fucking morons doing it because that’s what they think is good and right, or, because they’re afraid of pissing off what they perceive to be the mass audience and second guess any choice they make to not get backlash on it.

You basically got two different groups with this type of thing; one group self-censors themselves because they think the opinion of ResetEra (which you’ll also see on Twitter and Reddit) make up the majority of what their audience thinks, and then you’ve got people who actually do buy into the kinds of opinions ResetEra is known for that are all too happy to do dumb shit. This is all going to change pretty soon, as it becomes clear the mass audience doesn’t want certain things, and it becomes clear these gaming website that admonish people, games, and studios for this or that doesn’t actually have any real power. I’m sure publishers used to be afraid of some gaming review site starting a campaign to hurt a game’s sales, but after Hogwarts Legacy, Stellar Blade, Palworld, and Black Myth: Wukong that probably isn’t the case anymore.

I think the big problem was that for years companies of all kinds thought Twitter represented what the majority of people thought, and basically used it as free market research. But the thing is Twitter isn’t even kind of a representation of what the average person thinks or wants, so it’s totally fucking shit at being a barometer for what people want. Using Twitter this way would be like if in the ‘90s someone thought catering to the Catholic League was a good idea because they were loud and sometimes got on television.

 

[Dr1f7]

nah these games are all funded by diversity tax cuts/sponsored dei propaganda initiatives that cover the cost of production and at the end of the day they get a free IGN: 8/10 game to add to their EA+ or whatever subscription libraries. doesn't matter if the game sells or not you already paid for it with your taxes.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

Guys... did you see the hair though?!
Forget that combat looks like dumber Arkham or that everything is pink and purple, LOOK AT THE HAIR.

The hair is very nice looking. There is something kind of funny about Frostbite, the engine made for military shooters where everyone has short hair, being so good at doing long flowing hair. It’d be interesting to see this engine used in a good game where characters also have long hair.

 

[Vyvian]

Guys... did you see the hair though?!
Forget that combat looks like dumber Arkham or that everything is pink and purple, LOOK AT THE HAIR.

The hair is very nice looking. There is something kind of funny about Frostbite, the engine made for military shooters where everyone has short hair, being so good at doing long flowing hair. It’d be interesting to see this engine used in a good game where characters also have long hair.

The hair is nice except there's always that moment where it literally looks like a wig. No matter how much it flows and clips it never quite looks attached to the head.
Not sure if that's a Bioware issue or not though.

 

[Old Hans]

Guys... did you see the hair though?!
Forget that combat looks like dumber Arkham or that everything is pink and purple, LOOK AT THE HAIR.

The hair is very nice looking. There is something kind of funny about Frostbite, the engine made for military shooters where everyone has short hair, being so good at doing long flowing hair. It’d be interesting to see this engine used in a good game where characters also have long hair.

The hair is nice except there's always that moment where it literally looks like a wig. No matter how much it flows and clips it never quite looks attached to the head.
Not sure if that's a Bioware issue or not though.

bioware were always terrible with hair and beards, especially Inquisition, where the hair looked like a cheap nylon wig

 

[Tyranicon]

You guys have no idea. The trailer was so ass that some dude on Forbes wrote an entire article about the hair physics.

What the fuck is happening?

 

[Alienman]

40000 hours in research and development for hair tech. Gain 2 customers.

 

[Narax]

I bet most of the budget went to hair physics, which isn't surprising since that is the most important thing to the modern bioware audience, they only care about how "pretty" they can make their troons for the cringe romances and sex scenes. If you go on youtube comment section or reddit, the vast majority of the people who are excited about the game only talk about who they want to romance, and how amazing the hair looks.

 

[Semiurge]

Petting or kissing pixels on a screen will never cease to be cringe in a fully animated 3D game. It has always made me feel uneasy, but I've always completed the romance arcs for the sake of storyfaggotry and completeness. Game romances borderline on that masturbator scene in THX 1138, in the same demeaning and mechanical way. Like the titular THX, gamers are being milked just the same, but for emotions that deserve to remain sacrosanct.

If this game did the unthinkable and allowed you to either kick or pet strays according to your roleplaying intentions, then I'd be okay with it. But since Rook is railroaded into a speckless hero, no can do.

 

[markec]

YT just recommended me this. He really hates the look and gameplay.

At the beginning of the video is a scene where a NPC says "I admire you, what your have been through would break most people." And I just know that the person who wrote that dialog imagined himself as a recipient of such praise for trauma of his dad telling him that wearing a dress does not make him a woman.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

You guys have no idea. The trailer was so ass that some dude on Forbes wrote an entire article about the hair physics.

View attachment 54944

View attachment 54943

What the fuck is happening?

It’s the only interesting thing in the preview.

 

[Habichtswalder]

Their hair tech is so important to the game, so they chose a bald elf as main antagonist.

 

[Nano]

This didn’t happen because of BlackRock or some other bullshit.

Sorry to inform you that it did. The world is literally run by stockholders. You think it was entirely organic the way the West started a rapid cultural decline after Occupy Wall Street?

 

[Caim]

Their hair tech is so important to the game, so they chose a bald elf as main antagonist.

Baldie mad he has no hair, tries to destroy the world over it.

 

[PunchYouInTheFace]

The world is literally run by stockholders

And you will do nothing about it.

More tax cuts for the billionaire!

 

[Heroic Liberator]

They're Not-Tieflings in BioWare's Not-Forgotten-Realms setting. The horns should signify a demonic aspect of the character, something from beyond the Material Plane, something untrustworthy.

In this case, they signify draconic rather than demonic heritage.

 

[onemananadhisdroid]

YT just recommended me this. He really hates the look and gameplay.

So from this video I learned that you can pet random street cats and dogs. I know Witcher 3 EE added the option to pet Roach because people kept asking for it, but this.... it really broadcasts loud and clear to whom they're marketing the game. The cutesy stuff - the rock, paper & scissors with a skeleton and the petting (no pun) doesn't belong here. DA shouldn't be a gay petting zoo with a maximally bland high-fantasy design. EA wanted this and okayed it, knowing that no-one wanted it, because they're confident that people will settle for it. Settle for worse than mediocre that could easily be bested by an unhindered A.I.

This here is what the gaming industry has come to. My vision of Dragon Age would be something of a mix of Excalibur, Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. With absolutely no cringy modern references to capeshit or anything written by Joss Whedon. Only class, and occasionally some edge. If I'm in the mood for more of the edge and grimdarkness, I go to the Witcher games. If I want high-fantasy and world saving, it's DA:Origins for now.

One thing I've really been thinking is how in the fuck the marketing team okayed these character designs being shown publicly.

Now I know the usual composition of of marketing teams so I shouldn't expect much, but between this, VtMB2, Avowed, Fable, etc, they should know they're dooming their product from the start.

Imagine throwing a face like this on a commercial you paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to air:

View attachment 54921

Somebody in the company had to have said "lol you guys are stupid."

Listen to that person.

How can they not okay these designs when all of western corporate culture is infected with ESG and the resultant adherence to DEI? Every step on the corporate ladder is okay with it, or at least the workers keep their mouths shut as long as they intend to stay employed. They know there will be a loud backlash, but the higher-ups have a plan for spinning even that into a victory, but basically because of ESG, no-one has a choice anymore. The ugly is here to stay until the industry collapses, or until BlackRock is seen as what it really is. A head of the global hydra. Destroyer of free nations.

Remember that video about Concorde where a former designer commented on how his sexier character designs always went through the same "purification" process when handled by different exects and other designers, and in that process they always lost whatever semblance of femininity and healthy body curvature they had? All designs of DA:tVG have no doubt gone through the same wringer, and the mediocre was encouraged because at this point, it's safest according to EA. When they've got their backs against a wall they will always double-down on the pozz, for shareholders. They have no other choice, for they're no longer the masters. BlackRock is.

There is no big boogeyman to blame here. This didn’t happen because of BlackRock or some other bullshit. It’s actually worse, it’s just fucking morons doing it because that’s what they think is good and right, or, because they’re afraid of pissing off what they perceive to be the mass audience and second guess any choice they make to not get backlash on it.

You basically got two different groups with this type of thing; one group self-censors themselves because they think the opinion of ResetEra (which you’ll also see on Twitter and Reddit) make up the majority of what their audience thinks, and then you’ve got people who actually do buy into the kinds of opinions ResetEra is known for that are all too happy to do dumb shit. This is all going to change pretty soon, as it becomes clear the mass audience doesn’t want certain things, and it becomes clear these gaming website that admonish people, games, and studios for this or that doesn’t actually have any real power. I’m sure publishers used to be afraid of some gaming review site starting a campaign to hurt a game’s sales, but after Hogwarts Legacy, Stellar Blade, Palworld, and Black Myth: Wukong that probably isn’t the case anymore.

I think the big problem was that for years companies of all kinds thought Twitter represented what the majority of people thought, and basically used it as free market research. But the thing is Twitter isn’t even kind of a representation of what the average person thinks or wants, so it’s totally fucking shit at being a barometer for what people want. Using Twitter this way would be like if in the ‘90s someone thought catering to the Catholic League was a good idea because they were loud and sometimes got on television.

Should have better done their research on the Codex.

 

[thesecret1]

So from this video I learned that you can pet random street cats and dogs.

I've noticed that this feature is becoming more and more common, especially among shit games (though not every game featuring it is shit). I think it's because it's something that will virtually always make it to marketing (because most reviewers love this garbage), and because it appeals to the men of soy, while other people just ignore it.

 

[Stoned Ape]

So from this video I learned that you can pet random street cats and dogs.

I've noticed that this feature is becoming more and more common, especially among shit games (though not every game featuring it is shit). I think it's because it's something that will virtually always make it to marketing (because most reviewers love this garbage), and because it appeals to the men of soy, while other people just ignore it.

They should add a feature where you can feed any cats you find to dogs, or drop kick them into rivers.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

It’s been pretty common since the Can You Pet the Dog? Twitter account has been a thing. And it’s been something that shows up in the marketing of some games for the last few years...which is also the point where it officially became fucking annoying.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

Welp. I was gifted this game. Now I have to play it I guess.

 

[Butter]

Welp. I was gifted this game. Now I have to play it I guess.

Call the NAACP. This is a hate crime.