majestic

That is a little too simplified. We don't know enough to draw a conclusion like that, all we know is what he posted on FB and twitter - a sudden opening, a growing idea and him not being able to say anything yet. There's a number of reason why he could have left Obsidian and accepted a position at another development studio, be it a problem with the general direction (like the oft cited Amored Warfare F2P thingie), personal issues or simply not wanting to have a managerial position any more where his duties to his company interferes with what he wants to do - be creative and develop games, as opposed to being a glorified PR figure and living Kickstarter stretch goal. Or he wants to do something else completely, like travelling trough India for a while and seeking enlightenment. Stranger things have happened.

What I hated the most were those moments when you think you're back in the 80ies playing a game that aggrevates you on purpose. More doors than keys? Opening exactly the right ones to get the quest solution that is the most work, while being probably the WORST way you could pick when you look over the possible endings? Feeling the constant pressure of declining court approval that makes you run around like a headless chicken while looking everywhere for silly coings to fix the approval back up, only to realize you really wouldn't have needed them anyway? On the bright side, on any replays you could really just rush through, don't bother saving Celine and do away with the silly elf. Best ending on a silver platter and it's absolutely no work at all.

Kidnapped by aliens so they could steal his game design secrets, managed to escape but decided to go back to the aliens because they have more advanced technology and a better medical plan. On a serious note, I think the most popular theories right now are: a) Going to InXile b) Going to Bethesda c) Burnt out and taking a break from game development I don't think it is the burn out. He could simply state that he's taking a break, why the secrecy ("can't say yet", "ideas keep growing") if it isn't at least something related to game development. Well unless he really made a pact with aliens and will be the first human ever to fully develop a working perpetuum mobile.

Well he got cookies from Bioware, so he joined the Dark Side and will be developing mobile f2p games. Stay tuned for Dragon Age: Mobile and... wait. There WAS a Mass Effect mobile phone game so I'd better stop talking. Blech. =(

HULK SMASH!

Well, the Frostback Basin is by far the hardest regular area in the game. Actually, if you play on Normal difficulty I'd say even some boss fights are way easier than just the Basin (not the ruins) alone, especially those rifts can be a real pain in the backside. I'd say be as high as you possibly can get before going there, but if you're slightly masochistic you might have fun with less...

Should have clarified that. Every non-sport game is going to run Frostbite in the future, as per EA's announcement. So Frostbite becoming so popular is not only because the engine is good, but because EA actively tells their divisions to use it. Now if they're really going to Frostbite the next Sims installment, who knows? Fact is, we're going to see a lot more Frostbite and a lot less everything else that EA needs to fork over royalties for - hence ME4 going to use Frostbite instead of Unreal. The rest was pure speculation on the technical shortcomings of DA:I, not all of which are related to shoddy console porting. The entire game feels like a first installment with all the associated problems and shortcomings, or at least I'm hoping that was the case. I want my next Dragon Age to be something else than Skyrim with Darkspawn and Templars. Beh.

As for the discussion of how DA:I failed to find its own style, that's partly EA's fault. I posted it before but I'll post it again - EA decided to force ALL their divisions to use the Frostbite engine to create cross-division talent synergies (I get how that makes sense from EA's POV). Which also means that Mass Effect 4 will use Frostbite rather than Unreal. While I have no idea how much developtment went into DA:I before this engine switch came along, however, if it was in the middle of the process that might just explain a good bunch of the games engine-related shortcomings, the controls among them (not the 8 abilities limit but the unresponsiveness). So that out of the way I seem to be the only one who liked the main plot and it's massive implications on established Thedas lore, and besides you get to be the first ones since ancient Tevinter to walk through the fade in person. How's that not awesome? Solas' comments alone had me nerd-discussing things for hours upon hours. My main gripe would be that the storyline isn't very long and less verbose than I would have liked, but hey, it has Origins beat by a mile. Mostly because Origins had no plot what-so-ever (like ME2). I wonder if all the pointless filler content went into the game because the main plot was so short or if the main plot became so short because they ran out of time creating all the pointless filler content. I wished more areas were like Emprise du Lion. That didn't feel pointless, it was still fairly large but focused on a goal with tangible relations to Corypheus' plans. Unlike, say, silly Storm Coast.

I'm sure there's an anal-rentitive OCD anonymous group somewhere who would really like them to tell you their story, it's just that we certainly don't want to, in case that you missed the result of your poll entirely.

If you want them to be less annoying look for a little help online. YouTube is full of videos explaining how to kill them high dragons in 10 seconds or less. On nightmare.

System Shock 2 is 85% off currently. If you haven't played it yet, NOW is the time to get it. Respect the will of the many. Glory to the flesh. Glory to the mass.

Whatever they have planned I sure hope it isn't like combat in Anachronox.

Seems like that is what Bioware copied when they made DA:I's "tactical" mode.

Not only for them, their families stand to profit enormously as well, and they don't even need semi-well paying jobs for that. We had an indian colleague working a menial warehouse job and he sent every last unused cent back home. Every now and then he'd go back on vacation and come back showing pictures of his home and family. Yeah. Said home is a large, beautiful mansion on a huge estate, nice gardens and a really awesome pool. On the wage of a warehouse guy pushing boxes all day.

I bet all those pinko-commie leftist garbage people here will come to complain soon.

I especially liked the comment on how poorly her post was written and that Bethesda would never hire poor writers.

I was more thinking Shub-Niggurath but it could be any one of them - or worse, ALL of them.

I'd also want more and, well, more current games on GOG but only if they don't lose focus on their actual job: Getting the good old stuff to work with no DRM strings attached. Call me paranoid but there is something dark lurking in the deep recesses of Galaxy, patiently biding its time, poised to strike. Wouldn't be the first major disappointment though, there's a reason why I so stubbornly refuse to use Steam for anything after Valve began to mutate into the scary behemoth it is today.

Not really interested. I generally believe Bethesda games to be highly overrated (well Daggerfall was at least innovative) but that is simply my opinion. A bunch of my friends and co-workers racked up hundreds of hours playing them and still can't believe that I don't like them, but they're not really bothered by the combat systems or the utterly boring NPCs that usually populate their games. Nothing I've seen so far would convince me that this one can be any better. I don't know how they manage to be so wildly successful and never really manage to pick up at least SOME writers that can make you care about NPCs or form a coherent plot worth following in a game so choke full of distractions that oooooh shiny...

Why not? Andraste was after all a real person who led a revolt against the remains of the Tevinter Imperium. You're not called Herald of the Maker in the game after all. /wordmincing

If a dwarf dies in a cave and no one is around to witness it, is the combat mechanic flawed? Hm, then what is the sound of one axe grinding?

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Also, I love the 30$ Tier. It's just plain epic and had me laughing hard.

Back the Early Bard Premium Collector's Edition.

Psssst. A game was ready for launch when McPartyson doesn't experience a bug playing it and it clearly isn't working ticky boo when he does. You could of know that, silly. It's the only sane and objective measurement for buggyness.