So Dragon Age 3.... No Pressure?

[RedLister]

Expecting to see bioware hanging with westwood and bullfrog in the happy place up in the sky. Old Uncle EA wants he's massive profit and from what i have seen and heard The old Republic isn't doing as well as they hoped and additionally bioware are still licking there wounds from the ME3 ending so the presure is on with DA3. Knowing EA they will probably give bioware fuckall time to make the game and it will suffer for it and then EA will give them the boot. Even though little Bioware listened to Uncle EA's every word like a good little boy/?sellout?

Side note (VERY IMPORTANT): This is my own personal opinion and it is not some prophecy written in stone.

Really hope it don't come to this or something similar because im rather sick of history repeating itself of companies with protential biting the dust just because some insanely overpaid pen pushers want more dosh ASAP and rushing the creative cycle that is game developing.

 

[Fappy]

Dragon Age II sold well and a lot more people liked it than didn't.

I don't know where people get this notion that forum rage is equal to actual broad opinion.

It is always the loud minority that is annoying. Still remember people were accusing the escapist was being bribed when they had a positive review and when the game appeared in the 12 games of x-mas last year.

Some people just see conspiracies everywhere, what some people seem to forget is that not everyone has the same taste.

Wait, wait, wait! People actually said The Escapist was bribed to give it a good review, as opposed to--you know--just liking it? Dear god. I was unaware the level of stupid had reached such critical mass!

It was a huge deal. Some one got banned and they ended up changing the forum policy twice in the same week if I remember correctly.

 

[Frankster]

snip

When a game gets 5/5 and then is perceived to have a number of big problems to not deserve that score, taken in the context of review fixing having been a hot topic at the time you can understand why some believed that.

And you're making big broad statements you can't prove aswell you know See what i quoted earlier.

 

[Clearing the Eye]

Dragon Age II sold well and a lot more people liked it than didn't.

I don't know where people get this notion that forum rage is equal to actual broad opinion.

It is always the loud minority that is annoying. Still remember people were accusing the escapist was being bribed when they had a positive review and when the game appeared in the 12 games of x-mas last year.

Some people just see conspiracies everywhere, what some people seem to forget is that not everyone has the same taste.

Wait, wait, wait! People actually said The Escapist was bribed to give it a good review, as opposed to--you know--just liking it? Dear god. I was unaware the level of stupid had reached such critical mass!

It was a huge deal. Some one got banned and they ended up changing the forum policy twice in the same week if I remember correctly.

This is the problem with universal suffrage: their votes in federal elections count the same as mine :/

 

[yaydod]

[...] They kind of shit all over themselves with kotor II but hey, everyone can make some mistakes right? Alltho in retrospect we should have taken it as a sign that something was amiss.

Bioware releasing a half ass game with more bugs then content? How odd...

[..]

Just want to say this, KotOR II was made by Obsidian not Bioware, and unfortunately LucasArts made them release the game something like 7months before the deadline they agreed on at first. Hopefully there is a fan made patch (YES IT IS A PATCH) which restores allot of content in the game, and makes the end enjoyable from what i heard (didn't get because the game crashed while eating my save files).

I also think that KotOR II had better story with allot of interesting choices, but it is true that it was really unfinished and you had some game braking moves. But one thing that i don't see in 3/4 Bioware games is interesting choices, like Yahtzee said it often is "Which of these options give me the most di** head points?" and they don't really do very original story's. Hopefully their were enjoyable and very fun and interesting until ME2 pocked it's nose out.

 

[Antonio Torrente]

Will all honesty I have, I will enjoy more this game, than I would enjoy Dragon Age 2:

Loren: The Amazon Princess

Spoiler

Seriously, heared good things about this game. This game have even a DLC.

Hmmm....... This looks interesting, I may try it.
Hope its good.

 

[Sp3ratus]

First you say:

The people who praise DA2s combat are the ones who are likely ADD and have no mind for tactics, its easier to "Pres a button, and something awesome has to happen!" than actually plan out how you will approach an encounter.

And then afterwards you say:

Best way to get through the game: Kill first wave, turn on god mode, watch a tv show/youtube until end of combat, pause get to next section, repeat till you are out of TV shows or done with game.

...wat?

Why "turn on god mode"? Because it's hard dealing with more than one wave? I thought you just said the game was so easy, that you could do it without any problems whatsoever, but putting god mode on, to clear a wave, seems to be the exact opposite of that. If I'm wrong in what I took out of those sentences, please correct me.

The next here is not only directed to you, but also all the people who claim the game is easy. There are 4 difficulty levels and I'm pretty sure most of the people here didn't play on nightmare, otherwise those comments would float around so freely. Dealing with waves means constant repositioning in order to keep your weaker party members from harm. Dealing with waves also means not burning every cooldown you have, to take down a lot of minions or take out the toughest monster on the field, but rather conversing cooldowns, because there's a good possibility that you would have use of a big cooldown in wave 2 or 3.

All of that above, in combination with nightmare makes for a tough challenge, because even lesser mobs can do some decent damage to your party. That goes doubly for the two secret demon boss fights in the game, maybe Xebenbeck moreso than Hybris. I thought DA2 was a lot harder in terms of strategy than DA:O, both played on nightmare, both because of the repositioning aspect, but also because of tougher enemies, non-chuggable potions and more thought of when and who to heal/protect.

But please, tell me I'm wrong and have ADD and absolutely no head for strategy. Or better yet, complete DA2 on nightmare, optional boss fights included and tell me there's no strategy involved.

 

[teebeeohh]

i am rather skeptical, because i don't think they are gonna change the things i hated about DA2 (except the stuff everyone disliked, like the copy/pasted dungeons), like the removal of an overhead camera for combat, the wave system (which was a really cheap way to balance the overpowered abilities) and the voiced protagonist.
and this is really sad because we know a lot about the world now and they could start telling more interesting stories than retelling lotro.

 

[ThriKreen]

I think that if SW:TOR enters 2013 with less than 500k subs, BioWare will be shut down and this won't see the light of day.

They probably have charts and stuff that predict the number of subs, if it looks bad im sure they will start to look att the free2play model if they havent already. BioWare has been a big asset to EA and they are in no way shutting them down.

Like they didn't shut down Bullfrog, Westwood, and a large et cetera?

Yeah so BW has like 5 studios, each one dedicated to at least one particular franchise. If the MMO does that badly, they'd shut just the Austin studio down, not the whole group.

 

[Fappy]

I think that if SW:TOR enters 2013 with less than 500k subs, BioWare will be shut down and this won't see the light of day.

They probably have charts and stuff that predict the number of subs, if it looks bad im sure they will start to look att the free2play model if they havent already. BioWare has been a big asset to EA and they are in no way shutting them down.

Like they didn't shut down Bullfrog, Westwood, and a large et cetera?

Yeah so BW has like 5 studios, each one dedicated to at least one particular franchise. If the MMO does that badly, they'd shut just the Austin studio down, not the whole group.

Yeah, Bioware is huge. It would take a lot more than what has happened already to warrant a shut down.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I suppose that's one way of looking at it.

I remember being highly entertained by the feeble mewling of those folks who tried to defend Alpha Protocol when it tanked.

I liked Alpha Protocol =(

Granted, I played it a couple of years after launch, and it was still twitchy and buggy. Knowing Obsidian, I shudder to think of the state it launched in.

I will give it to you that the game MIGHT be much more tactical on nightmare, but I played both on hard mode, and while DA:O was able to offer me an enjoyable challenge throughout where as DA2 did not.

DA:O launched with borked difficulty on the PC, so it provided an accidental challenge. Once the expansion was launched and they re-tuned the difficulty it was a sorry exercise in face-rolling.

DA2's combat was more visceral and fast-paced, and slightly reminiscent of an MMO. For whatever it's worth, it was balanced better and played better than DA:O, whilst being completely nonsensical due to waves/etc.

I enjoyed pre-patch DA:O much more though. It's just a shame it didn't stay that way.

 

[BLAHwhatever]

No more day one buys with bioware.
I'll wait for reviews, then wait for the price to drop below 20 Euros
Then I'll MAYBE get it

 

[WanderingFool]

Well, in terms of ME3, I felt the Extended cut, while not solving the problem, still did helped the ending (lets be honest, there is no way they ccould have possibly undone the damage from ME3's ending, replace it with a new ending wouldnt have fixed anything, leaving it alone wouldnt have fixed anything. What they did is the only best option.)

For Dragon Age, I only played Origins, and I loved it. Ive seen gameplay of DA2, and while the combat did look better, it just wasnt DAO.

 

[ImperialSunlight]

If they do to Dragon Age 3 what they did with Mass Effect 3 (incorporating some of the much-needed RPG elements from the first Mass Effect with the combat and dynamics of the second one) then DA3 should be a stellar game.

Provided it doesn't have a shitty ending, that is. Though, since it's not the end of a trilogy and we haven't maintained the same character throughout the first two games, a "meh" ending could be passable provided the rest of the game is solid.

I really do think (or at least hope) they learned their lesson with DA2.

Bioware has already said that in the case of a (apparently hypothetical) DA3, they would focus on implementing the best features of the first two games. So that sounds promising. While DA2 was a bit on the extreme side, there were still a few beneficial features that could be carried over.

I just want Orlais, is that too much to ask!?

Yes, the movie is in Orlais. BUT IT'S A MOVIE.

DA:O gave a lot of setup for Orlais. I was angry when I found out 2 wasn't there. I mean really....

- You know a lot about politics and how their games work, from Leliana
- You know a bit about the gender inequality from that woman in Denerim's market
- You know about their fashions and cities, from Leliana
- You know they have their own Grey Wardens thanks to Riordan.

Orlais sounds like a really great setting, why on earth did they ignore it in favor of KIRKWALL of all places?

The developer says that they want to go somewhere "a little more... French".

Sounds familiar...

 

[Sp3ratus]

Its not hard dealing with one wave or 15 waves, but when damn near every fight breaks down into wave after wave of enemies it gets tedious,not hard.

"Oh look, yet another wave of bandits, its not like I didn't just fight 20 of these in the last corridor."

And I don't ever recall using the word easy, just that it lacks tactics, which is not the same thing.

I will give it to you that the game MIGHT be much more tactical on nightmare, but I played both on hard mode, and while DA:O was able to offer me an enjoyable challenge throughout where as DA2 did not.

I hope that clears things up a bit.

It is very tactical on nightmare. Apologies for the "easy" comment, I meant to say that more to some other people I've seen, that claim that the game is easy, it wasn't meant to be directed at you. Again, apologies for that.

I can highly recommend playing on nightmare, because there's a huge difference from hard to nightmare in terms of difficulty and tactics, not in the least because of immunities and friendly fire. I still maintain that conversing cooldowns and having to reposition your party members is part of the tactics of a fight. I don't remember how crucial it is on hard, but it's very important on nightmare, unless you want to meet a swift end. I get the sense that you don't think so, so let's agree to disagree on that point.

I somewhat agree with that not every fight needed to be waves, it is a bit silly, but I didn't mind all that much. Then again, I very much enjoy the combat aspect of both DA:O and DA2, which might be why.

I liked Alpha Protocol =(

Granted, I played it a couple of years after launch, and it was still twitchy and buggy. Knowing Obsidian, I shudder to think of the state it launched in.

You're not alone Guppy, I quite like Alpha Protocol as well, but like you, I didn't pick it up until some time after launch, so the bugs might have been ironed out by then. In either case, I didn't really encounter any major bugs at all.

 

[Uriain]

If DA2 and ME3 are any indication, it's going to be a complete and utter shitfest.

If Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 1 & 2, Jade Empire, KoToR I , and SWTOR's story telling and combat are any indication its going to be pretty frackin awesome.

Dont like DA2 or ME3?, thats cool. I do, others do, and yet still others prefer these over their originals. So when comments like the one above come in, makes the conversation look a little silly.

We can all agree (to varying degree's) that ME3 ending wasnt as strong as it could have been, and DA2 wasnt as clear as it could have been. What we can agree to disagree on is how that personally effects your view of the game (As, for example, I like DA2 and ME3 in their entirety just as much as their respective prequels, where you seem to not enjoy DA2 and ME3).

The fact you cant content is that by in large, Bioware puts out some of the best story's in the last 10 years of gaming, and baring some mistakes (as all companies make mistakes) and poor choices along the way, not many other franchies are in the same tier of quality that the Bioware RPG's are.

I do agree with some posts here though, I would like to see the a Jade Empire, KoToR 3, and a return of the DA series back to a "bigger" DA:O style, as I did prefer it over DA2 due to the size of the environment I Could travel around in

 

[Threeseventyfive]

I'm going to laugh when DA3 is a shooter and EA says it has to sell 666,000,000 copies for a sequel or it isn't worth their time.

After Mass Effect 2's dumbing down of the series, Dragon Age 2's existence and Mass Effect 3's awful writing I couldn't care less if Bioware went bankrupt.

 

[Pandabearparade]

That they will. Never have I seen such a horrible fanbase as Biowares.

How dare customers demand quality. Don't we know we should take the excrement we get shoveled onto our plates and ask for seconds?!

Seriously, Dragon Age II was complete garbage and the end of Mass Effect 3 ruined an otherwise fantastic game. It doesn't make me a "horrible fan" to acknowledge obvious abject failure.

 

[Frission]

/angry snip

As a note this isn't directed at you, but at those with the same attitude.

Just chill out. Take a walk outside or something. Nothing warrants getting so aggressive over something so trivial.

OP: It will suck or it will not suck. We have to see.

 

[Uriain]

That they will. Never have I seen such a horrible fanbase as Biowares.

How dare customers demand quality. Don't we know we should take the excrement we get shoveled onto our plates and ask for seconds?!

Seriously, Dragon Age II was complete garbage and the end of Mass Effect 3 ruined an otherwise fantastic game. It doesn't make me a "horrible fan" to acknowledge obvious abject failure.

The problem with your comment here is that, Demanding quality is one thing (and we should demand quality) shrieking like a howler monkey and throwing poop everywhere (IE internet rage) is completely different. The Howler monkey syndrom people get on the internet IS what makes a horrible fan

DAII might be garbage to you, but its not to everyone, ME3 ending might not have been that great to you, but others didnt mind it, and others still liked it. The ME3 EC endings might not have been what you wanted, but it was for others.

Your OPINION about a particular aspect of any game does not invalidate the rest of it, or make it truth. You are right in the fact that it "doesn't make you a horrible fan to acknowledge obvious issues", but abject failure is what you conceive it to be, as it is not a uniform opinion.