The Dragon Age: Inquisition Thread

[RK47]

Yet, you continue to play this horrible horrible game...

Cause it gets better past Skyhold(tm), Volly.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Yet, you continue to play this horrible horrible game...

He is doing it for the greater good of Codex, his sacrfice will be remembered!

 

[RK47]

Yet, you continue to play this horrible horrible game...

He is doing it for the greater good of Codex, his sacrfice will be remembered!

I genuinely wanted it to be fun, but you know how Codex defends opinions.
Here's how it goes usually:
1. You didn't play it.
2. You didn't play it right.
3. You haven't reached the good parts <---we're here now.
4. It's probably your personal opinion.
5. R0ffles!

 

[Rake]

it's better than all the other shit they've put out since KOTOR, I'm not sure what you want if you're a "superfan"

Better than DAO? Because that's their only game worth a damn since BG:TOB, and DAO was just a decent "good for what it is" game.

 

[Infinitron]

Shamus bitches some more about DA:I: http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=25139

It’s that time of the year when we count our blessings and overeat. But not in that order. And maybe more the second thing than the first. And then we go shopping.

In any case, I’ve compiled a list of everything I’m thankful for:

1. The loading screens are outrageous. It takes forever to start the program, forever to load a game, forever to change zones, forever to exit back to the main menu, and forever to exit the application.

2. If you want to use a controller, you need to have the controller active when the game is launched. If you forget (or if you use a wireless controller that sleeps when not in use) then you have to exit the game and re-launch it. (See #1.)

3. When the controller is in use, the mouse and keyboard stop working. ESC doesn’t even bring up the menu. I’ve never seen a game that limits input like this. Every other modern game[1] lets you switch freely without needing to change any menu options at all, and doesn’t block one type of input when the other is active.

4. Being deprived of mouse input would be less disorienting if the game didn’t continue to display the now-useless mouse pointer on the menu screen. There’s no way to move it, but it’s floating there anyway for some reason.

5. These misplaced rocks:

As soon as I rolled my first character I saw these rocks hovering beside me. (And if this is supposed to be magic, then they should tumble or bob up and down or something. They’re locked in place and when you visit the spot later you can walk right through them.)

I understand that there are thousands of props in a game like this and once in a while one object ends up where it shouldn’t, but these are from the first seconds of the game.

6. If you’re using the controller and it disconnects (maybe you unplug it, or you’re using wireless and the battery dies) the game doesn’t revert to mouse + keyboard or re-enable them. You literally have no means of inputting things. If you can’t get the controller working, you have to ALT-Tab and kill the game manually.

7. Moreover, if your controller is disconnected the game doesn’t pause! It doesn’t even let you know. This is a major interface no-no and when combined with #3, means a dying battery can get you killed.

8. Sound cuts out sometimes. You can fix this by going through a zone transition or re-loading the game. (See #1.)

9. Animations sometimes stop working. Happened to me.

10. There’s a nice loading screen where you can read some in-game tips and bits of lore. However, it inexplicably vanishes after ten seconds and gives you another twenty seconds of blank screen to stare at.

11. The system requirements doesn’t match the visuals. Yes, the game “looks nice”. But Skyrim also “looks nice”. So does Shadow of Mordor. And Batman: Arkham City. Those games are all in the same general ballpark in terms of graphical details, they have larger crowds, much larger draw distances, and they take a tiny fraction of the power that Inquisition demands. I have Skyrim modded to hell and back with graphical boosts and high-res texture packs, and still out-performs Inquisition by a large margin.

12. Setting model detail on anything other than “high” will inexplicably give everyone highly glossy hair.

It looks shockingly bad. Moreover, this makes no sense. There’s no reason that lowering model detail should impact the lighting, and there’s no reason it needs to look this awful. Again, older games do far more with far less and look far better when reverting to lower settings.

13. Even when model detail set to high, Sera’s face looks like THIS:

14. The in-game Origin Overlay is incompatible with FRAPS. Steam does not have this problem. This is probably a problem with Origin, but the mutliplayer uses the overlay to invite / join games, which means if you’re running FRAPS you can’t send or receive invitations.

15. THIS “ROUND SHIELD” IS NOT:

16. The pose and camera angle always make it look like this lady has no arms.

17. The game has built-in VOIP chat which is always on. You can’t adjust your mic volume. You can’t adjust the sensitivity. You can’t disable the system outright. You can’t set a push-to-talk key.

Whoops. Looks like I messed up and posted my list of Dragon Age: Inquisition glitches instead of the list of things that make me thankful. Which means tech support is going to get a really sappy email from me today and have no idea why.

To make up for it, here is a shot of Cassandra just blatantly checking out Varric’s ass:

I guess I’m kind of thankful for that. Have a great day.

 

[eremita]

By the way, Solas is an absolute bro and one of the most interesting, likeable, realistic and non-whingey characters Bioware has ever written. Yeah he can go on about the Fade a bit but he's actually the most level headed character in the game.

That doesn't surprise me, he was written by Weekes after all.

 

[Volrath]

Why does it look so ugly?

 

[Cyberarmy]

Why does it look so ugly?

You cannot handle its ART!

 

[Merlkir]

I've suspected since the beginning that Solas is behind it all, being all friendly with spirits and shit, talking lovingly about the Fade...but hey, he sure is the only one I can talk to without losing interest, or wanting to punch something. Approves of you asking about things and values learning.

 

[Zewp]

I don't really understand why nerds have gotten so obsessed with the idea of "an open world." "Open worlds" inevitably mean diluted or formulaic content. Inquisition isn't really an open world; the Hinterlands pretend it is, but then it becomes a series of very large quest zones, with additional shit to do built into them.

The structure of the game is very much like Dragon Age 2, except instead of sending you back to the same cave over and over, they give you a whole new zone for your sidequests. Don't think of the zones as "big dynamic quest areas." In inquisition, a zone is where -one- important thing happens, and then maybe there's a dragon for later. This may not be universally true--I'm still less than halfway through the plot and completionist-ing the early zones. But that's how it seems.

This is Good Design. Having focus for each region you visit. Would it really improve shit for you if you'd been fast traveling across visitable spaces with nothing or procedurally generated content in them, Bethesda-style?

christ, there are so many things to criticize about the game, but you loathsome spergs insist on attacking the most boring shit. not. contributing. "the maps aren't all one map!" wow. that sure is insightful. how about the fact that Varric will answer questions about Hawke with unchanged dialogue even after I sent Hawke to his death and he was all broken up about it? did that not merit a rerecorded line when I ask about Hawke? what about EVERYTHING bout miss I'M SO ZANY elf chick? what about the Uncle Tomplar black mage woman who's an accidental metaphor for -any- privileged black person in the US defending that cop from Ferguson? I'm not even trying and I came up with this shit.

it's not bad. it's flawed. find flaws and you'll be participating in the conversation. gurgle sewage this way and you aren't.

Where's your dumbfuck tag?

 

[Zewp]

Better than DAO? Because that's their only game worth a damn since BG:TOB, and DAO was just a decent "good for what it is" game.

Nope. DA:O was flawed, but it was the last remotely good thing Bioware put out. Anyone who thinks DAI is better than DAO needs to lay off the stale Doritos and expired Mountain Dew.

 

[bozia2012]

I genuinely wanted it to be fun, but you know how Codex defends opinions.
Here's how it goes usually:
1. You didn't play it.
2. You didn't play it right.
3. You haven't reached the good parts <---we're here now.
4. It's probably your personal opinion.
5. R0ffles!

1. You didn't play it.
2. You didn't play it long enough.
3. Clearly it had to be good if you spent so many hours.

 

[Stokowski]

Okay, decided to check out the "AWESOME SONG" over at You Tube. That is such a ridiculous scene. The song is awful (figured why when I found out who wrote it) but that's not why I started laughing so hard my neighbors came over to see if I was okay. I just couldn't take it when everyone started singing. This is what Bioware is spewing now: DRAGON AGE: GLEE!

And people in the Net are crying over this in an orgasm of feels? Really?

We are doomed.

Yeah, true, but ... 17 years ago some gamers were suddenly discovering their inner weeaboness and moved to tears when Aeris was killed by a deranged emo.

Perhaps the is a far, far longer and shallower slope than is commonly acknowledged?

 

[Ezrite]

Okay, decided to check out the "AWESOME SONG" over at You Tube. That is such a ridiculous scene. The song is awful (figured why when I found out who wrote it) but that's not why I started laughing so hard my neighbors came over to see if I was okay. I just couldn't take it when everyone started singing. This is what Bioware is spewing now: DRAGON AGE: GLEE!

And people in the Net are crying over this in an orgasm of feels? Really?

We are doomed.

Yeah, true, but ... 17 years ago some gamers were suddenly discovering their inner weeaboness and moved to tears when Aeris was killed by an deranged emo.

Perhaps the is a far, far longer and shallower slope than is commonly acknowledged?

What? People cried over that? I rather cry for Lee and Clem in the Walking Dead. That was sad.

 

[Ezrite]

This game is so bad I get tempted to try it.

I mean, it probably got some redeeming qualities for newbie gamers and more casual people but damn, as an RPG? What in the...I would blush less playing Sakura Spirit.

it's really fine. it's not great. it's not terrible. please stop with the same moronic OMG TOO COOL TO PLAY UNIRONICALLY bullshit. it's been said a thousand times before by a thousand people just as disingenuous as you are. go, get it, think about it, come back and tell us how it made you feel and where it could've been better. this hipstrocious nonsense is not a contribution.

I was a super fan of Bioware. Im not paying 60 bucks for this.

it's better than all the other shit they've put out since KOTOR, I'm not sure what you want if you're a "superfan"

and oh man, if it's Hawke vs Loghain or Allistair...that's a) some narrative love, writing it three different ways, and b) welp, no need to write Hawke-is-still-alive worldstates for future games. talk about charisma versus charisn'tma.

Did you miss the "I was"?

And sayin this is t he best since KOTOR do not make it a good RPG.

Inquisition of what exactly? You seem to just fuck around and sing silly songs and got so perfectly chosen to be the Prophet Moses of Thedas. I much rather play a Europe inspired Inquisition. Running around trying to shake up people for confessions and rattle out heretics from their hidey holes all over the land. That would have been interesting and a side step from these heroic fantasy stories Bioware is always throwing. Not only did Dragon Age become fantasy Mass Effect but its also a bad fantasy Mass Effect.

No, lets not be a harsh and brutal inquisition, we are now a Saint-Prophet-King of the idiots who fuck mentally retarded elves and gather upp all the freak outcasts of the world to fight demons. Hell, let the demons have Thedas. But oh! You cannot be evil or brutal in this game...cause it is the Lord of the Rings of Bioware.

 

[msxyz]

How's doing sales wise? I saw some random week#1 EU numbers and it was outsold by other AAA games, some of which where a few weeks older than this.

It doesn't spell good for the series. Also, since it hasn't been cracked yet, neither on PC or 'next gen' consoles, EA doesn't even have piracy to blame.

 

[Space Satan]

How's doing sales wise? I saw some random week#1 EU numbers and it was outsold by other AAA games, some of which where a few weeks older than this.

It doesn't spell good for the series. Also, since it hasn't been cracked yet, neither on PC or 'next gen' consoles, EA doesn't even have piracy to blame.

You are lateto the party, piracy thing is outdated, they started blaming homophobic lobby, 4chan hater trolls and deliberate raids on Metacritic since Dragon Age 2.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

A First Week Diary From An Excited Fanboy:

November 19th, 2014, 22:22
Overall the game is great so far and I am enjoying myself a lot. Just takes some getting use to after something as open and flexible as Skyrim. At the moment my personal rating is 8/10 overall.

November 20th, 2014, 16:36
Based on my first 12 hours so far my scale is now a 7/10 (it was 8/10 eariler). I am hoping as I get exposed to more companions and quests it will get a bit better.

November 22nd, 2014, 17:01
Don't want to sound to harsh. A 7 is still above an average 5 score so to me my personal score of 7/10 still stands as a good/ok game so far.

November 22nd, 2014, 18:19
Storm Coast is 8.5 for me though - lot of fun (playing it now, had to get coffee). I would give them points if my character could wear some armor like Iron Bull. Also enjoying the dialogue and side comments a lot with the followers.

November 23rd, 2014, 21:22
Just amazing. I have some quibble still with some graphic glitches around head/necks but in general this game really picks up. At the moment my score has jumped to 9/10 as I am loving some of the quests now and the interaction with the companions is awesome.

November 25th, 2014, 02:55
Could this game get any more epic? Fuck it is awesome. Just did a big mid-point of the game (well the second mid-point) that is a turning point. That song was so moving. Just loving the hell out of the whole cool epic feeling and cinematics and characters.
Plus some of the dialogue options I am getting … really enjoying those. Yea this game has a really picked up. For this style of game (more story focused versus sandbox) it is very well done.
Enjoying myself a lot.

November 25th, 2014, 15:15
To avoid frustration I play on easier settings for now. Less tedium in trying to move everyone. Instead I use tactical for the big fights and for all the rest I let the AI run free and just focus on my own character.

November 27th, 2104, 03:24
I am going to revise again at an 8. Parts of this game really rock but other parts really show an MMO foundation. Such as respawning mobs, grinding for certain items, farming, and other such annoying past-times. But some of the quests are a lot of fun and good characters. But I have to agree it has an MMO back bone to it in many ways.

I think this is a much better guide of how people are reacting to the game in the wider world and is more useful than getting impressions from argument-based fanboy posts. This guy was uber-hyped for the game and has no agenda of hatred. So this is useful for seeing where the game actually fits in the "is it good" debate from the fanboy perspective and possibly why the Meta score is lower than expected. I think we can agree the game has great value for a certain mindset, but even for those people, the game is inconsistent in quality and player-motivation.

 

[Bliblablubb]

He is doing it for the greater good of Codex, his sacrfice will be remembered!

I genuinely wanted him to stop in the beginning, to save his soul and all that.. Then I remembered who he is and what else he has endured. By now he is probably just an empty shell anyway.
Or he was a robot all along!
That said, I would brofist your heroic sacrifices, but Dark Underbro thinks I need to continue practicing fisting in private before I am allowed to pound people in public. Carry on RK47-kun, our resident martyr.

The frightening thing is: the more I watch his LP, the more I find myself thinking "doesn't look that bad actually", since he cuts out the annoyning parts (and just watching doesn't make you experience the control issues).

 

[AwesomeButton]

Sorry, I'm not a native speaker of English, but is there a language in which "And I you" means something when said as a reply to "I look forward to working with you"?

it's a completely valid standard English elided construction of a returned sentiment, yes, usually used in this context, when expressing a sentiment about something you anticipate. the unelided sentence would be "And I [look forward to working with] you." sorry, it's correct. the delivery might've been wrong, but there's no other way to say "And I you" in English than in that context, so I doubt the voiceactor misunderstood what was going on.

source: native speaker, language student or else I'd've been much meaner about you trying to nitpick verbiage in a non-native language. actually, I'm gonna be mean anyway. you're a fucking idiot, it's perfectly correct, maybe complain about something real rather than trying to be a grammar nazi -in a language you are not even apparently fluent in.-

fuck.

You're most probably not a language student. Your species is called a retarded asshole and you inhabit forums where you look for people to troll. And you are wrong, you can't have an ellipsis for a verb that was used one sentence ago.

BTW - and I you. If you didn't understand what I meant by that, I was agreeing with the opinion that you are an idiot who is illiterate in his native language, if indeed English is your native language.

Sorry, I'm not a native speaker of English, but is there a language in which "And I you" means something when said as a reply to "I look forward to working with you"?

Common and grammatically accurate, actually.

Edit: Ninja'd

Anyway I just killed two dragons on hard mode without using my party at all. Not a tough game I take it.

It would have meant something if it contained "with", like "And I with you". "And I you" means bollocks.

 

[Slow James]

I genuinely wanted him to stop in the beginning, to save his soul and all that.. Then I remembered who he is and what else he has endured. By now he is probably just an empty shell anyway.
Or he was a robot all along!
That said, I would brofist your heroic sacrifices, but Dark Underbro thinks I need to continue practicing fisting in private before I am allowed to pound people in public. Carry on RK47-kun, our resident martyr.

The frightening thing is: the more I watch his LP, the more I find myself thinking "doesn't look that bad actually", since he cuts out the annoyning parts (and just watching doesn't make you experience the control issues).

Heh. The thing that makes it entertaining is what would draw people to it unintentionally.

Mother of God...

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

non-native speakers lecturing native speakers on the subtleties of their language, just a normal day on the Codex

 

[Space Satan]

Let me remind you that at some point in the past people considered a possability that Bioware would develop a Warhammer 40k RPG.
Look upon DAI and rejoice, thinking about the horrors we were spared.

 

[Grunker]

non-native speakers lecturing native speakers on the subtleties of their language, just a normal day on the Codex

 

[Grunker]

I'd actually like to play a BioWare WH40k rpg. Just less romance and more retard-renegade. That would be