theSavant
Self-Ejected
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2012
- Messages
- 2,009
I watched now a "Let's Play DA:I Multiplayer"... considering it was just a small game mode added.
But whew... while it only offers a handful levels, the game mode already has the full online program: Ingame Shop, Achievements, Treasure Chests, buy crafting materials, equipment upgrades, new characters with ingame money or real money. Tbh I'm surprised how fleshed out they already made the multiplayer. That multiplayer alone must have taken 50% of the development time. The game sessions themselves (which are to be repeated to advance your character) were only 20 minutes long, and the gameplay basically "Arcade Dragon Age". Imho definitely a harbinger of what's to come in Dragon Age 4.
Is that bad? Debatable.
- The repetitive and bland gameplay in that multiplayer doesn't look that much different to the many repetitive and bland gameplay situations in DA:O.
- The combat and skills in that multiplayer don't look that different to the combat and skills in DA:O.
- Imagine (optimistically thinking) that in DA4 they make story-connected and longer levels (say a length of 1-2 hours). Now think about how the levels of DA:O were all separated from each other, and that you mostly had to progress linearly from A to B. Not much different to these multiplayer levels then.
- Imagine (optimistically thinking) that in DA4 they add a minimal amount of choices & consequences (2 dialogue options), which opens up a different path or location depending on the choice you make (also easy to implement in multiplayer). Now think about how 3/4 dialogue options in dialogues in DA:O ended up the same way. Would not be that much different either.
Objectively seen, that "dumbed down" full online version of a possible Dragon Age 4 wouldn't be that different to DA:O. We probably see more in DA:O than it really is. And we criticize their online approach because we expect something different. We expect them to build their next game on top of the other game (aka bigger, better, more choices, consequences, new skills, items, weapons, enemies, interaction). We expect them to improve on their games, as this would be the natural process of any growing organism. But they don't follow our expectations. All they do is to add multiplayer and monetization. Everything else stays the same. No real progress. That however doesn't make that possible DA4 necessarily bad, but also not interesting.
PS: uhm... I'm not sure why I wrote this. Just elaborating to understand the direction this is possibly going...
But whew... while it only offers a handful levels, the game mode already has the full online program: Ingame Shop, Achievements, Treasure Chests, buy crafting materials, equipment upgrades, new characters with ingame money or real money. Tbh I'm surprised how fleshed out they already made the multiplayer. That multiplayer alone must have taken 50% of the development time. The game sessions themselves (which are to be repeated to advance your character) were only 20 minutes long, and the gameplay basically "Arcade Dragon Age". Imho definitely a harbinger of what's to come in Dragon Age 4.
Is that bad? Debatable.
- The repetitive and bland gameplay in that multiplayer doesn't look that much different to the many repetitive and bland gameplay situations in DA:O.
- The combat and skills in that multiplayer don't look that different to the combat and skills in DA:O.
- Imagine (optimistically thinking) that in DA4 they make story-connected and longer levels (say a length of 1-2 hours). Now think about how the levels of DA:O were all separated from each other, and that you mostly had to progress linearly from A to B. Not much different to these multiplayer levels then.
- Imagine (optimistically thinking) that in DA4 they add a minimal amount of choices & consequences (2 dialogue options), which opens up a different path or location depending on the choice you make (also easy to implement in multiplayer). Now think about how 3/4 dialogue options in dialogues in DA:O ended up the same way. Would not be that much different either.
Objectively seen, that "dumbed down" full online version of a possible Dragon Age 4 wouldn't be that different to DA:O. We probably see more in DA:O than it really is. And we criticize their online approach because we expect something different. We expect them to build their next game on top of the other game (aka bigger, better, more choices, consequences, new skills, items, weapons, enemies, interaction). We expect them to improve on their games, as this would be the natural process of any growing organism. But they don't follow our expectations. All they do is to add multiplayer and monetization. Everything else stays the same. No real progress. That however doesn't make that possible DA4 necessarily bad, but also not interesting.
PS: uhm... I'm not sure why I wrote this. Just elaborating to understand the direction this is possibly going...
