Amentep

I'm sleeping. Maybe. zzzzzzz.

There were loads of complaints about them showing a demo to the press behind closed doors at E3 and not showing the kickstarter backers.

I. That's what Alister seems to imply, and the game supports yes. They lyrium addiction seems to be a part of how the chantry controls the templars (although its supposed to "enhance" their ability) II. I don't recall the intro being a definitive source on the matter, but I agree the gameplay and the story of DAO and DA2 supports the Darkspawn can't taint everyone simply by touching them. III. I still don't see the issue; clearly the timeline for DAO has to include Awakenings to some degree. IV. Why would it? Just because a Mage defeated the Archdemon doesn't mean the mage is incapable of being possessed by a Fade Spirit and killing everyone. Which is the worry with mages. V. I'm not sure I agree with your analogy. Muhammed's tomb is well known so its hard to make an analogy there, and while Jesus' tomb isn't known for certain Christian text says Jesus isn't there so its not terribly important to Christians. However we know objects (like the Shroud of Turin) that claim a connection to divinity are often sources of controversy and doubt over their legitimacy. For all we know the Chantry got a couple of claims a year that Andraste's tomb had been found (and even then, there are questions led by the other party members over whether its really her tomb or not). VI. I still think the rebellions were being planned; we know that there was an uprising at the Circle in Fereldin, the city near Kirkwall, Kirkwall, later other places. I don't think Kirkwall caused later rebellions as much as it was part of a growing sentiment against chantry rule of mages. VII. Well they're not going to be seen very positively if they round up everyone's sons and daughters, kill 66% of them in the joining. But I also agree that I don't 100% trust the Gray Warden's convictions. We know that the home of the Gray Wardens is more or less controlled by the Gray Wardens. Without darkspawn to fight, who'd want to be a Gray Warden and how would they keep their powerbase? I would not be surprised at all to find out that the Gray Wardens want to stop blights, yes, but aren't terribly interested in ending the darkspawn threat entirely. VIII. Yeah, but how do you get the guy there through an army of darkspawn that could potentially taint and take over the army of normals? IX. I'd still argue that its probably there so they can understand how to save people enslaved like that kid was. X. Actually I thought the ArchMage recognized it as well. Since the Litanny was read from the book (and had to be re-read constantly in the fight) perhaps its contents can't be taught? Don't know. Didn't bother me but I see your point.

Also America's insistence on 110V mains power. Ooo, yeah forgot about that one.

What do guys get that is somehow better, is the question that leaps to my mind? If you eliminate the carry over romances (because we're talking ME3 only here) then it boils down to Ashley for MaleShep and Kaiden and Vega (via DLC) for FemShep. Which clearly wasn't going to be able to please all players. If you look at the series as a whole and still eliminate aliens and also eliminate bisexual romances (since the person in question didn't like that in Kaiden), FemShep gets Jacob and Vega and MaleShep gets Ashley, Miranda, Jack. So you could argue as a series, if you eliminate aliens and bisexual romances, FemShep gets 2 choices and MaleShep gets 3 and that this is an intentional slight by Bioware (remember the claim is Bioware is misogynist). If you start factoring in "looks", though, it becomes harder to argue without it being a simple sliding scale of personal taste. A FemShep player not attracted to human "black men" would still have Vega in DLC; a MaleShep player not attracted to human "white women" would have no options.

And that's fine; saying Dragon Age is inconsistent isn't the same as "Dragon Age is bad because I expected it to be about Dragons and it didn't have enough Dragons in it for me." With respect to your points (and given that the system won't allow me to quote all of it): i. Templars and Lyrium The 1st game shows that Templar's require lyrium dependency but Alistair points out they don't really need Lyrium to be a Templar and in fact he never used it and teaches the warden to be a Templar. The 2nd game shows that Templar's require lyrium dependency but the champion becomes a Templar without using Lyrium or being Lyrium dependent. I'm not really seeing the inconsistency; clearly Alistair is right and lyrium isn't required to be a Templar, just that the vast majority of them are using it. (I'll give you the training issue - same problem with the Arcane Warrior class that there's no in-game explanation as to why those skills are learned. That said, I chalk that up to being a game rather than a book). ii. Darkspawn and the tainting of normals From my understanding, the Darkspawn can't taint by touch alone. The indications early on when discussing the wardens, and dog, the taint seems to come from intermingling of blood (which connects to the idea of the brood mothers being created by being forcefed tainted meat). In fact Avaeline's husband clearly takes a blow from a darkspawn that I always took was when he was tainted (perhaps that darkspawn blade was covered by darkspawn blood?). Taking that view, the biggest question I've always had is how/when did Hawke's sibling get tainted - there was no obvious point of infection seen (but perhaps the artifacts being dealt with were of such power it wasn't necessary?) Without understanding the darkspawn better, the answers are hard to see. iii. DA2 saying that DA:O happened in one year I don't see the timeline inconsistency you're seeing. iv. Warden as Mage and fear of Mages post blight The worry about mages was never that they were inherently evil, but that they were liable to be possessed by fade demons. So the Warden, as a mage, could - as far as the layman is concerned - still wake up being a demon tomorrow and kill everyone. Probably an even more powerful demon than a normal mage because they could kill an archdemon. So still scary. v. Andraste's Tomb My memory is that it takes that long for the Chantry to research and admit that it is the final resting place of Andraste in the save scenario. Been too long since I tried the destroyed. vi. Kirkwall's influence on the world Not sure where you got that but perhaps I don't recall it all correctly; clearly there are other mage uprisings already going on (the destruction of the mages tower in the other city, where you can help/turn in the refugees using blood magic) and the Kirkwall situation is only a part of that (but notable because Kirkwall is an important trade/port city). The implication I get of the end is that the incident in Kirkwall snowballed the already existing rebellion movements. vii. Grey Wardens needed to battle Darkspawn...something...something... Really no clue what you mean here. viii. The Joining Anyone can kill the Archdemon, but it jumps into the nearest darkspawn available and "reforms". The Grey Warden secret is that when a Grey Warden kills the Archdemon, its forced to jump into the Warden killing them both. So obviously, the first Grey Warden got Archdemon blood from a failed attempt by normal people to kill the 1st Archdemon wherein the archdemon took over another darkspawn and kept on truckin'. ix. How did the Tower get infested by Blood Mages? The books probably showed them how to contact demons in the Fade and make deals with them, one would assume. Now the natural follow-up question here is "why did the Circle keep books on how to contact and make deals with demons" and I'd argue, since they knew the ritual to break the possession of the one guy's son, that they'd learned how to deal with demons and their contracts by studying demons and their contracts, hence the books. x. Litany of Andralla How do you know no one knows about it (obviously people at the Circle in Ferelden know about it, or else that one guy wouldn't have died trying to get it to the top of the tower) and how do you know no one studied it after the battle? How could you possibly come to that conclusion after the game?

You mean X-Men Origins: Wolverine where the title specifically tells you which X-Man its the Origin of (and very loosely based on a comic book called Wolverine: Origins)? Not really a good example. To make the analogy correct, the title of the first game would have been Dragon Age Origins: Dragons.

I look at the cover of Dragon Age: Origins and think - There's probably a dragon, a sorceress, a knight dude in it. And its probably a time where dragons are important to the setting, because its a "Dragon Age". And that's about it. YMMV, of course. Although I have yet to see how you can see the title "Dragon Age: Origins" and think that its a reference to the origins of dragons as opposed to the origins of the Dragon Age (which it also isn't, since the Origins is a reference to being able to play the "Warden Origin" of your Player Character).

Well, not disputing that it could be bought (I have no clue if it is or not) but punching it to the goalie in the middle instead of the sides could also be from rushing shots, in my experience.

Or they could wait for the movie adaption... I hear the book is good, but it'll probably be some time before I get to it.

You could still get in on the "Greedy Bronze Bastard" tier, though.

Regulations? Shipping cost? £ to $ exchange rate?

Or the story could be about a legend in which the god-tiger of the realm was supposed to return and the calculations (ala the Mayan Doomsday) say the god-tiger is to return during the next 100 years and your story is set in a world anticipating the return of its deity and the period of prophecy is considered the "Tiger Age". You could even have the god-tiger never show up and the name would still be valid since it refers to the prophecies time and not the actual god-tiger. Logically, your argument rings hollow. How much Jade was in JADE EMPIRE? How much Baldur's Gate was in BALDUR'S GATE 2 (not set in or around Baldur's Gate)? Heck, you could argue, under your logic, that RETURN OF THE JEDI is a terrible title because Luke was already a Jedi, the EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is a terrible title because the Empire doesn't actually punch anyone and that A NEW HOPE is a terrible title because they never introduce a New Bob Hope.

Role playing doesn't require leveling up, so I don't think it fits "role play" "level up". Leveling up, is an abstraction though. Since P&P games didn't have the kind of advantages computer games can have in terms of calculating numbers, to my mind its a representation of a character getting better over time and use of skills and training. I'd argue the lack of a limit on skill utility is part of the game aspect - ie you have to keep it fun for the player even if it doesn't model real life.

Yes, I believe you go to a bar, pay for and have them fill the bag. The bag then allows you to serve through the system and keeps the beer "fresh" at home without having to return to the bar until you need the bag. Or friends. Or something.

^suppose the big question is - will the corporations be allowed to get married if the corporations are gay or not...? To be fair, no one is forcing an employee to work for Hobby Lobby, as far as I know. Reading a bit more, it seems the concern comes not from the two companies in this suit, but that 90% of US companies could meet the "closely held" status and what that means for the workforce.

Yeah, that's basically my understanding. The RFRA was put in place after Oregon v Smith, then there was a justice ruling that RFRA only applied to federal law (in a case of a church that imported an illegal tea that was used at the home of the church in South America) and so a bunch of states made their own RFRAs. Perhaps, though I'm not so sure that it will follow naturally since the tests of RFRA have typically three points to consider: Strict scrutiny Religious liberty can only be limited for a compelling government interest If religious liberty is to be limited, it must be done in the least restrictive manner possible I suppose the real test is for someone to form "The Church of Debauchery" and see what they can get away with.

Yes Hobby Lobby's complaint, as far as I know, was not about contraceptives in general (although I believe Catholic Schools and hospitals DID have concern about contraceptives in general under the AHCA)

"Dragon Age" is, in the lore, named because of the sighting of the first high dragon in centuries and thus noticed by the chantry at the end of the Blessed Age. So the title is a reference to a specific time of the Chantry Calendar in Thedas, and not actually about any specific creature.

'cause that just how we roll.

That's not true, as I understand it. What the ruling on the 1990 case says is that states have the power to accommodate illegal acts done in pursuit of religious pursuits states are not required to make those accommodations. Its important to note that the Hobby Lobby case is not regarding a state, but the federal government, so its not exactly the same thing (and as I understand it the RFRA is specific to the federal government; states would have to pass a state version for it to be applied at the state level).

Everything old is new again, I guess...

Hobby Lobby is a privately owned corporation, owned and run at the top by a single family. The family are conservative Christians who believe that specifically the mandate that would require the company to cover "day after pills" or emergency contraceptives that, essentially, abort a fertilized egg would force them to be a party to the killing of babies. The government's argument, that Hobby Lobby could hire a private insurance company and they wouldn't have to be responsible for what that company did, was rejected as still being essentially that the family would be forced by the government to do something that their religious convictions said was immoral. To be fair, no one is forcing an employee to work for Hobby Lobby, as far as I know. As far as I know the issue was never contraceptives, in general, but the emergency contraceptives that would essentially do an abortion, from the family's perspective.

I think for me that while I know some women gamers, they're not of a unified opinion on game content1 and I'm not sure - not being a woman - I'm in the position to best judge what anyone outside of myself would think. I can, however, still judge an argument on the merits of the argument that don't presuppose certain gender-specific knowledge. For me, the article linked here was built on weak arguments - for example it pre-supposed that the games the author is against are "****ty" which immediately is a set up to imply the people who like ****ty things are also ****ty. Others may feel differently. Which gets to the heart of the problem, in my eyes, that often these complaints are brought up in a vacuum, without any attempt to contextualize or understand the intent of the creation or storytelling.2 1Heck, I know women who disagree about online actions that I find kinda creepy and that can't even be classed as "game content" controlled by the game maker - some dislike the unwanted attention, others don't care. So which side am I to fall on regarding guys messaging women, in game, a/s/l (or the modern equivalent) much less what's actually in a game - with respect to the female gender? 2For me the ultimate justification for game content is the game itself; I think a lot of these problems could be side-stepped if a developer could just step in and say "we chose to do this because of..." and then use the game or game creation aspect of why that choice was made. There may still be disagreement over whether the choice was right, but at least there's a defensible position that's already been thought about because a choice was made rather than becoming something that exists without thought or consideration within the game.

And people still complained about it.* And Lanfear complained about her inclusion in the game (and, IIRC, left the boards) because of the execution. *heck there are people in the PoE forums here complaining that people who pledged more money in the pledge tiers than them got the ability to make stuff in the game and how this was unfair to them, being that they were too poor to pledge more but wanted to create stuff in the game. And that to be fair, Obsidian should also raffle off design space to the poorer forum members.