Dragon Age 2 article

[arcade109]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/110/1108057p1.html

Just thought you guys might be interested. But it doesn't sound diffrent at all except for the dialouge and the guy writing seems like he never even played the first one. I mean seriously, "orcs", Ill assume he means darkspawn.

 

[The Madman]

What a terribly written and poorly done preview. Are IGN's normally that bad? Honestly I don't visit the site much, but I'd always figured a site that big would at least have a writing integrity higher than your average third-rate blog.

As for the game itself, I'm actually very disappointed with the direction DA2 is taking. If I want Mass Effect, I'll play Mass Effect, and Dragon Age had potential as an independent and unique series. Would have loved to see the origins mechanic worked out further and expanded for example, the strategy elements further refined. But it seems instead Bioware are intent on changing it towards more generic paths.

These changes also seem to just sets it up against The Witcher 2 I might add... Tough competition indeed, probably the toughest Bioware has faced in years. Hmm, could be interesting!

 

[arcade109]

IGN has been going downhill, It used to be my main gaming site but Ive made a change to the escapist. But I check it every once in a while and noticed this.

 

[Dr. wonderful]

What a horrible article, this is the worst:

"Today we got a taste of the new combat system with a mountaintop battle against an army of orcs. They might have been imps or goblins or demons, actually. We're not nerdy enough to know the difference."

Wow, Ign went down so far they can't see the sky,

 

[Broken Orange]

Not everyone is a die hard Dragon Age fan. Plus, I bet this article was written in a hotel or on a smart phone.

 

[The Madman]

Not everyone is a die hard Dragon Age fan. Plus, I bet this article was written in a hotel or on a smart phone.

When you're previewing a sequel to a game in a series, you get someone who knows the series to preview it. Basic journalism 101! You don't send fashion critic to war zones for coverage nor political experts to cover comic conventions: You send someone who knows what they're talking about.

This guy meanwhile don't even seem to have a basic grasp of fantasy, instead he's too busy preening about how 'not nerdy' he is. Guy reviews video-games while visit a comic book convention, hate to break it to him, but he's about as nerdy as it gets for that alone. Time to drop the act, invest in some writing tutorials, and get serious.

 

[Zero47]

And yet there's still a part of me hoping this is all a brilliant ploy by Bioware to create low expectations and surprise us all with the sequel Dragon Age deserves, and more.

As with many changes that were announced I cringed when the previewer talked about the new dialogue options. I think to myself "How could any developer possibly see that as an improvement?"

 

[Zyst]

What a horrible article, this is the worst:

"Today we got a taste of the new combat system with a mountaintop battle against an army of orcs. They might have been imps or goblins or demons, actually. We're not nerdy enough to know the difference."

Wow, Ign went down so far they can't see the sky,

Yeah, I Stopped reading exactly at that point.

 

[Internet Kraken]

We also got to see the new conversation system. Dialogue has been simplified so that you only have up to three choices. Each choice is represented by an icon that indicates whether or it's a "good," "nasty," or "badass" choice. Good choices are represented by an olive branch, nasty by a Greek comedy mask, and badass by a red fist. This is an easy way to gauge what response your dialogue choices will produce.

............what.

I heard they were simplifying the dialogue system to be more like Mass Effects. I was disappointed by that since I didn't think Dragon Age: Origins really needed to be like Mass Effect, but I could tolerate it. But this is just stupid. Mass Effect doesn't restrict you to these specific dialogue options. What the hell happened to being neutral? What if I don't want to sound good, badass, or nasty? Can't I just have a normal conversation? This is a big step backwards. The more I hear about Dragon Age 2, the less I like it.

 

[CK76]

I guess I'm never going to find a rpg to replace Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.

And just when Dragon Age: Origins had given some of us hope...

 

[CK76]

The more I hear about Dragon Age 2, the less I like it.

I like how Bioware said "calm down and wait for more information" and more comes and low expectations go even lower. They really don't get why this is such a let down for many fans of the original game.

 

[Pingieking]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU~
The sequel to my 2009 GotY just crashed and burned. Seriously, Bioware. I don't want a fantasy version of Mass Effect!
*cry*

EDIT: Just noticed that article is by Daemon Hatfield. If I remember correctly he's the chief of the X360 division or something like that. So if someone of his status is producing shit articles at IGN, how bad is the rest of the site?

 

[Irridium]

Why the hell are they simplifying it? It seemed to sell insanely well, which means the "mainstream crowd" went for it. Which means the "mainstream crowd" pretty much likes it, so why the hell are they changing so much? From what I've read of the first game, the only problems it had were unbalanced combat and some console control issues. Those were the biggest, and not very much complained about the dialog system.

If we want Mass Effect, we'll play Mass Effect. Let Dragon Age be unique dammit!

We also got to see the new conversation system. Dialogue has been simplified so that you only have up to three choices. Each choice is represented by an icon that indicates whether or it's a "good," "nasty," or "badass" choice. Good choices are represented by an olive branch, nasty by a Greek comedy mask, and badass by a red fist. This is an easy way to gauge what response your dialogue choices will produce.

............what.

I heard they were simplifying the dialogue system to be more like Mass Effects. I was disappointed by that since I didn't think Dragon Age: Origins really needed to be like Mass Effect, but I could tolerate it. But this is just stupid. Mass Effect doesn't restrict you to these specific dialogue options. What the hell happened to being neutral? What if I don't want to sound good, badass, or nasty? Can't I just have a normal conversation? This is a big step backwards. The more I hear about Dragon Age 2, the less I like it.

Agreed. What happened to the neutral? Honestly, even Mass Effect didn't have this pure Black/White aspect.

 

[Chaos Incarnate]

AHHHHHH DAMN IT, We cant they just make another expansion to Origins rather than this shit they're pumping out.

 

[Internet Kraken]

If we want Mass Effect, we'll play Mass Effect. Let Dragon Age be unique dammit!

I think the worst part is that they don't even appear to be improving these aspect of Mass Effect. They're just taking what Mass Effect 2 had and dumping it into Dragon Age Origins. Now, a sequel doesn't necessarily need to take every aspect of the old game. Sometimes trying something new or improving aspects of other games can result in something better, or at least a product that is still good in its own way. But here it just seems like they are taking what Mass Effect 2 did and not even attempting to improve it. This could only get worse if they say they're going to implement a paragon/renegade system similar to Mass Effect 2's or a karma meter.

 

[Klepa]

Umm... Granted, I'm extremely drunk, but after reading that review, does anyone else get the feeling that this game is going to be.. fucking shit?

I mean, it might be good at it's own merits, but I wanted more of Dragon Age: Origins. The game sounds like a hack and slash, which is not what Dragon Age was about. Although I must admit, the guy who wrote that article seems like an incompetent asshole, so maybe there's some hope left.

 

[LewsTherin]

I am disappoint, bioware.

We also got to see the new conversation system. Dialogue has been simplified so that you only have up to three choices. Each choice is represented by an icon that indicates whether or it's a "good," "nasty," or "badass" choice. Good choices are represented by an olive branch, nasty by a Greek comedy mask, and badass by a red fist. This is an easy way to gauge what response your dialogue choices will produce.

............what.

I heard they were simplifying the dialogue system to be more like Mass Effects. I was disappointed by that since I didn't think Dragon Age: Origins really needed to be like Mass Effect, but I could tolerate it. But this is just stupid. Mass Effect doesn't restrict you to these specific dialogue options. What the hell happened to being neutral? What if I don't want to sound good, badass, or nasty? Can't I just have a normal conversation? This is a big step backwards. The more I hear about Dragon Age 2, the less I like it.

This passage made me lose a good portion of my interest in the game. Actually. If these changes are also in the PC version there will be a reckoning, and the Emperor's justice shall be made manifest, and the heretic shall tremble at his will.

EDIT: [HEADING=1]GOOD NEWS EVERYONE![/HEADING]
After perusing the comments, I have found a smidgen of hope linked from the Bioware forms, posts by the dev team:

Here [http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/3209421/4]
"We put up to 5 choice options and 5 investigate options per dialog node. There is also a difference between choices (where you are actually deciding something) and giving you the opportunity to express yourself in different ways (which I think is quite cool, but not something I believe we have released any details on yet)."

And here: [http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/3209421/9]
"I'm not really sure where the "there are only three options for dialog" impression they got came from. Perhaps it was when I showed one half of the dialog wheel with three options...which, you know, leaves another half open for...you know...other....options. *Shrug*



Also probably worth noting that we're not locked into specific icons per place in the wheel. Oh no. We have -much- more flexibility than that. We're like gymnasts."

So this might not turn out as turd-tastic as we have been led to believe. And there was much rejoicing.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Well he obviously did not play the original. I do not understand what the complaining about simplifying the combat system is about though. It sounds like it plays the same as the console port of the original game, and they have stated that the combat would be very different on the console as opposed to the PC. But I agree with the previous statements on the dialogue system though. It does not seem like it could possibly convey the depth of choice from the original with only 3 dialogue options, two of which sound the same.

 

[Irridium]

If we want Mass Effect, we'll play Mass Effect. Let Dragon Age be unique dammit!

I think the worst part is that they don't even appear to be improving these aspect of Mass Effect. They're just taking what Mass Effect 2 had and dumping it into Dragon Age Origins. Now, a sequel doesn't necessarily need to take every aspect of the old game. Sometimes trying something new or improving aspects of other games can result in something better, or at least a product that is still good in its own way. But here it just seems like they are taking what Mass Effect 2 did and not even attempting to improve it.

Agreed. If they said they were adding in aspects of Mass Effect and improving/tweaking them, then I'd be able to swallow it down a bit better. But right now it seems they're just putting in stuff from Mass Effect, and making it worse. There is no reason at all for all this simplifying. There have been many news posts about how the first Dragon Age was a major success. On all consoles. So that would mean all audiences liked it. Both the "mainstream" and "hardcore" crowd. So there really isn't any real reason to make it so much more simplified. I know I should't be passing judgement on a game thats still so early in development, but so far things do not look good.

Honestly, it'll be impossible to just be normal friends with any "love interests", since it seems your only options when talking to them will be "I love you, lets make sweet love" and "I hate you, leave me alone."

Honestly I don't mind the lack of origin choices. That doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that they took a great dialog system, which was also very mod-friendly, and are changing it into something that isn't needed.

I just really hope Bioware keeps DA2 as modifiable as the first.

This could only get worse if they say they're going to implement a paragon/renegade system similar to Mass Effect 2's or a karma meter.

Shh! Don't give them any ideas! At the rate this is going, I wouldn't be surprised if this is going to happen sooner or later.

I'm really hoping its just the previewer's insanely crappy writing and crappy descriptions that are making the game sound so awful.

 

[Internet Kraken]

And here: [http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/3209421/9]
"I'm not really sure where the "there are only three options for dialog" impression they got came from. Perhaps it was when I showed one half of the dialog wheel with three options...which, you know, leaves another half open for...you know...other....options. *Shrug*



Also probably worth noting that we're not locked into specific icons per place in the wheel. Oh no. We have -much- more flexibility than that. We're like gymnasts."

So this might not turn out as turd-tastic as we have been led to believe. And there was much rejoicing.

Oh thank god. This already seemed bad enough, but then Irridium mentioned the impact this would have on BioWare's already poor approached to romance dialogue. Suddenly it was horrifying. This might actually be a good thing now, since it may clearly label which dialogue choices initiate a romance. Now that is an improvement, assuming they have non-romance dialogue that doesn't make you sound like a prick or have the character in-question perceive you as one (example; renegade points for telling Tali you weren't interested in her. wtf).

So I guess this just further reinforces the poor job the reporters did with this article.