Dragon Age Dragon Age: The Veilguard Pre-Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[rusty_shackleford]

Surely it's a better job that pays more money?

I know you're being facetious right now, but a serious answer is that's it's simply not something they wanna do. I got offered a job in finances, for example, after an internship. Could make much nicer money, big benefits, and it's still be IT work... just not IT work that'd be fun. Just boredom all day every day doing what felt like pointless shit. So I entered game dev instead where I work for less money and less benefits, but I get to do something that is fairly interesting and sometimes even fun to do. People don't decide on jobs just based on pay, and if some do, I pity them. It's something you're gonna spend almost a third of your life doing, you should aim to make it pleasant for yourself.

But I was just informed that all gamedevs have the worst job in the world, how could you enjoy it?

 

[Konjad]

So, people, is this game coming out? When is the release date? I enjoyed Dragon Ages, but this one takes forever to be made, what's up with that?

 

[Infinitron]

but this one takes forever to be made, what's up with that?

That's because this thread has been about what might effectively be three different Dragon Age 4 games. A single player DA4 that got cancelled, followed by a a live service game that was then retooled back into single player. EA!

 

[Konjad]

Ah well, guess I can forget about the series. It was alright, but cancellation is not a great loss.

 

[Atlantico]

So what's stopping them from going and working in a coal mine right now?

In other words: "learn to code".

 

[rusty_shackleford]

So what's stopping them from going and working in a coal mine right now?

In other words: "learn to code".

Not really comparable. Miners were being forced out of their job by government regulations. People telling them to learn to code were regime propagandists.
Gamedevs willingly work in a job they constantly say is terrible yet refuse to do anything about it.

 

[Atlantico]

Not really comparable. Miners were being forced out of their job by government regulations. People telling them to learn to code were regime propagandists.
Gamedevs willingly work in a job they constantly say is terrible yet refuse to do anything about it.

Fair enough, I should have rephrased.

So when coal miners complain about working conditions, but are willing to continue working in a coal mine, you say: "have you considered learning to code"?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Not really comparable. Miners were being forced out of their job by government regulations. People telling them to learn to code were regime propagandists.
Gamedevs willingly work in a job they constantly say is terrible yet refuse to do anything about it.

Fair enough, I should have rephrased. So when coal miners complain about working conditions, you say: "have you considered learning to code"?

If their complaint was directly related to their job and they made the complaints frequently and loudly, then yes, I'd suggest they get a different job.
My issue with "learn to code" was not the message behind it, but that they killed the jobs people had -- which they presumably liked -- then told them to go learn to do something else.

If you work in the game industry as anything other than a game designer, your skills are applicable to entirely different fields. Choosing to work a job you believe generally has poor working conditions and is unrewarding just reinforces the behavior.

 

[Atlantico]

Choosing to work a job you believe generally has poor working conditions and is unrewarding just reinforces the behavior.

At the same time, coalminers who choose a job which is generally believed to have poor working conditions and being unrewarding are allowed to complain, organize etc.

So perhaps the goal isn't to change the job into unicorns and strawberries, but to mitigate the most egregious management fuck ups.

If Bobby Kotick knows that crunch time is thrice as expensive as regular day-time, he'll try to use that tool very sparingly and only when absolutely needed and not a minute more.

Doesn't eliminate crunch time, but I doubt was ever the point.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Choosing to work a job you believe generally has poor working conditions and is unrewarding just reinforces the behavior.

At the same time, coalminers who choose a job which is generally believed to have poor working conditions and being unrewarding are allowed to complain, organize etc.

So perhaps the goal isn't to change the job into unicorns and strawberries, but to mitigate the most egregious management fuck ups.

I've never been much of a fan of organized labor and think they would have a much better time actually twisting the arms of employers by going to work elsewhere rather than just being annoying. If coal miners went and worked for natural gas companies instead, they'd likely end up getting better job offers to entice them to return.

If Bobby Kotick knows that crunch time is thrice as expensive as regular day-time, he'll try to use that tool very sparingly and only when absolutely needed and not a minute more.

Doesn't eliminate crunch time, but I doubt was ever the point.

I've never worked for an office job where "crunch time" wasn't a thing. It's definitely not something unique to the video game industry, they just cry. A lot.
I always felt it was one of the tradeoffs of not having to break my back doing manual labor. I've worked on a farm and as a plasterer, both were a lot more demanding than having to sometimes put in extra hours to meet deadlines.
OTOH, as a plasterer I got to regularly use stilts. Can't win every battle, I suppose.

 

[Orud]

A lot of game dev positions also very niche, not translating well into possible growth towards other industries or even branches in the same industry (gaming). Management knows of this, and abuses it along with the starry-eyed idiots that'll basically work for free as long as they can work on 'vidya games' or people trying to have a company's name on their resume.

If you're not a programmer, you're largely fucked and need to start from 0 if you ever try to get away from the gaming industry.

 

[Konjad]

A lot of game dev positions also very niche, not translating well into possible growth towards other industries or even branches in the same industry (gaming). Management knows of this, and abuses it along with the starry-eyed idiots that'll basically work for free as long as they can work on 'vidya games' or people trying to have a company's name on their resume.

If you're not a programmer, you're largely fucked and need to start from 0 if you ever try to get away from the gaming industry.

Noyes.

I switched from gaming industry to something else.

I had to start from the lowest position, true.

I still got paid more than before.

I'm sure anybody working in gaming can get at least similar pay even with lower position in another industry.

What I've noticed though is that people working in gaming industry realize other industries wouldn't hire them. This is the problem and they like to bitch because they know nobody is going to hire them except the loser gaming industry. They are usually too lazy and shit.

Obviously I'm not talking about indies but AAA.

 

[TheDiceMustRoll]

Surely it's a better job that pays more money?

I know you're being facetious right now, but a serious answer is that's it's simply not something they wanna do. I got offered a job in finances, for example, after an internship. Could make much nicer money, big benefits, and it's still be IT work... just not IT work that'd be fun. Just boredom all day every day doing what felt like pointless shit. So I entered game dev instead where I work for less money and less benefits, but I get to do something that is fairly interesting and sometimes even fun to do. People don't decide on jobs just based on pay, and if some do, I pity them. It's something you're gonna spend almost a third of your life doing, you should aim to make it pleasant for yourself.

But I was just informed that all gamedevs have the worst job in the world, how could you enjoy it?

I literally didn't say that, thank you for informing the site you are JamesDixon-level stupid

 

[Kleptocratic debt serf]

I literally didn't say that, thank you for informing the site you are JamesDixon-level stupid

Literally just one fucking page back ->

Ya'll realize game development is a soul-crushing hellscape right?

So are most jobs.

I'm so fucking tired of reading "GAMEDEV IS THE WORST JOB EVER I HAVE TO SIT IN A CHAIR AT A DESK FOR LONG HOURS..."
yea go work in a fucking coal mine 14 hours a day

...Sitting in a chair for 14 hours a day getting carpal tunnel, fucking up your eyes, getting no exercise, et al, is also really bad for you...

 

[Larianshill]

followed by a a live service game that was then retooled back into single player. EA!

Isn't it pretty much the same thing that happened to Inquisition? I'm assuming it is, because that thing plays like a single player MMO.

 

[Kleptocratic debt serf]

State of BioWare and Looking Ahead.
by Author -BioWare - Posted onJanuary 6, 2022

As for Dragon Age, we have a veteran group of talented developers working on the next iteration of the franchise. We are focused on a single-player experience that is built on choices that matter.

When I took on the GM role, I talked about rebuilding our reputation, and that remains a huge priority. We are laser-focused on building back the trust of our fans and community, and we plan to do that by delivering the types of games that we are best known for and ensuring they are of the highest quality. Our mission is to “Create worlds of adventure, conflict, and companionship that inspire you to become the hero of your story.” We want the launch of our games to be seminal moments in the industry.

 

[RIT_SKUA]

I'm still pissed they forced me to slog through the garbage-fests that were DA2 and Inquisition just so I could find out what happened to my CHARNAME and best girl Morrigan after we stepped through the Eluvian together. I even sat through tech support fixing being unable to transfer my "choices" to DAI for like an hour, and in the end it turns out that they ended up half-assing that entire aspect as well - they barely provide any info as to where you go and what you do, and the in-game "reunion" is very weakly written.

 

[Larianshill]

They can't provide a satisfying answer, because there's too many variables, and too little is defined about Warden as a person. This is an inherent problem with making sequels to RPGs with a lot of choices.

 

[Roguey]

When I took on the GM role, I talked about rebuilding our reputation, and that remains a huge priority. We are laser-focused on building back the trust of our fans and community, and we plan to do that by delivering the types of games that we are best known for and ensuring they are of the highest quality.

They've been "rebuilding" their reputation and "building back trust" for a decade now.

 

[Skinwalker]

I'm still pissed they forced me to slog through the garbage-fests that were DA2 and Inquisition just so I could find out what happened to my CHARNAME and best girl Morrigan after we stepped through the Eluvian together. I even sat through tech support fixing being unable to transfer my "choices" to DAI for like an hour, and in the end it turns out that they ended up half-assing that entire aspect as well - they barely provide any info as to where you go and what you do, and the in-game "reunion" is very weakly written.

They weren't able to think of what "the place beyond the fade" actually was, and so they had to dance around the issue and be vague.

Same thing with the whole Golden City/Black City/Throne of the Maker/Evanuris/Cursed Magisters/Dragon Gods/etc mystery. The pieces are there, but they're not actually connected with any backstory when they were written for DAO, and the DAI writers were too dumb to think of anything coherent. And that's how we ended up with "elves are behind literally everything", which is lame, and "the city was already cursed when the magisters came there", which makes absolutely no sense and directly contradicts established lore.

Classic Lost scenario.

 

[Kleptocratic debt serf]

When I took on the GM role, I talked about rebuilding our reputation, and that remains a huge priority. We are laser-focused on building back the trust of our fans and community, and we plan to do that by delivering the types of games that we are best known for and ensuring they are of the highest quality.

They've been "rebuilding" their reputation and "building back trust" for a decade now.

Yeah, that seems to be the punchline. I'm wondering when EA pulls the plug.

 

[BruceVC]

When I took on the GM role, I talked about rebuilding our reputation, and that remains a huge priority. We are laser-focused on building back the trust of our fans and community, and we plan to do that by delivering the types of games that we are best known for and ensuring they are of the highest quality.

They've been "rebuilding" their reputation and "building back trust" for a decade now.

Roguey how do you and others feel about the release of DA4, will you play it? I still enjoy and support Bioware, but I can acknowledge how their games have changed since the heyday of BG2: ToB, my favorite RPG of all time.
I always enjoy ME games and DA4 is something that wont be a " day 1 purchase " for me but I will wait for feedback from the gaming community that will motivate my investment but I cant see myself not buying it ?

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

I will never forget playing origins at 800x600 at 15 fps on a 7100 GS, combat was fun but the brown filter in the game turned me off (to be fair everything at the time had a similar filter). Never played 2 because heard from a lot of people that the game transcurred in the same city for the whole story and couldn't think of a worse thing to do with a RPG. My GF at the time had a PS4 and played inquisition with her until i saw they changed completely the lore of the NotMuslims making then seem ultra liberal having no sexes and Bull even having a tranny in his mercenary company.

 

[BruceVC]

I will never forget playing origins at 800x600 at 15 fps on a 7100 GS, combat was fun but the brown filter in the game turned me off (to be fair everything at the time had a similar filter). Never played 2 because heard from a lot of people that the game transcurred in the same city for the whole story and couldn't think of a worse thing to do with a RPG. My GF at the time had a PS4 and played inquisition with her until i saw they changed completely the lore of the NotMuslims making then seem ultra liberal having no sexes and Bull even having a tranny in his mercenary company.

Great post, what a DA1 experience

Yes DA2 had some clear design shortcuts but you prepare yourself for this and it has real gaming entertainment. For example the narrative is compelling with the Magi and the game is different because the story is about periods of years so you progress on a real journey so the city evolves and not its boring like you may be concerned about

But the typical design issue is repeating this minor dungeon\room quests, thats the main one I can recall?

And then I do feel that sometimes the criticism of Romance in Bioware games is exaggerated, and Im saying this is what you doing, and it shouldn't be a reason you dont play their games because I always Romance in all RPG and the Romance arcs in Bioware games are optional and its easy to immediately shut down any unwanted attention. I didnt have Bull in my party but my first design priority is always the skills of the person and then I always consider Romance arcs so the likes of Isabella and Viconia are a must . In DA2 I had the gay wizard in my party and only once did he flirt with me and it was easy to end the possible relationship. He never flirted with me ever again, it wasnt an issue all. So it would be interesting if you play DA2 and let us know what you think

 

[TheDiceMustRoll]

I literally didn't say that, thank you for informing the site you are JamesDixon-level stupid

Literally just one fucking page back ->

Ya'll realize game development is a soul-crushing hellscape right?

So are most jobs.

I'm so fucking tired of reading "GAMEDEV IS THE WORST JOB EVER I HAVE TO SIT IN A CHAIR AT A DESK FOR LONG HOURS..."
yea go work in a fucking coal mine 14 hours a day

...Sitting in a chair for 14 hours a day getting carpal tunnel, fucking up your eyes, getting no exercise, et al, is also really bad for you...

"IS ALSO"

"IS ALSO"

"IS ALSO"

"IS ALSO"

"IS ALSO"

"IS ALSO"


As in, not the same or worse. You actual moron. It is also bad for you. At no point did I say "Actually Game dev is objectively harder to do than mining." Both jobs have their problems, dangers, etc. Thank you for showing the thread you literally cannot fucking read. Rusty's original post made the retarded claim that coal mining was harder, so I added a few and him and you decided that meant that I thought that it was literally easier to mine coal than it was to write code. They use different skill sets, but over-working can fuck you up, and in the video game industry, you work overlong hours and have no protections. You miss birthdays, work over holidays, slave away at your desk. This means less time being active etc, which is also bad for you in different ways than being a fucking coal miner is. Both can lead you into an early grave you fucking clod, you'd know this if you didn't live in mommy's basement. (which btw is also going to kill you early)