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Dragon Age


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edit: I am a coffee elitist.

Never underestimate the power of coffee... http://forums.obsidian.net/index.php?showtopic=419&hl= :)

 

As for Bioware, they currently seem to appeal to a group of people that I don't belong to. Somebody heaping praise on me in a gushing voice doesn't make me feel special, it makes me cringe. Yes, I've been watching Mass Effect videos on Youtube.

 

I am curious about Dragon Age and the current doctrine regarding mini games. I dislike them passionately, so if it doesn't have any (or very few/insignificant ones), it already scores a few points in my book without doing anything else.

“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein
 

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Autogrinding and then pushing a button

 

See? Just like Bioware.

"My hovercraft is full of eels!" - Hungarian tourist
I am Dan Quayle of the Romans.
I want to tattoo a map of the Netherlands on my nether lands.
Heja Sverige!!
Everyone should cuffawkle more.
The wrench is your friend. :bat:

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Autogrinding and then pushing a button

 

See? Just like Bioware.

 

 

lol. Point taken. :)

Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
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Autogrinding and then pushing a button

 

See? Just like Bioware.

 

Actually, i take everything back. This is a much more resembling example.

"Some men see things as they are and say why?"
"I dream things that never were and say why not?"
- George Bernard Shaw

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

"The amount of energy necessary to refute bull**** is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it."

- Some guy 

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I am curious about Dragon Age and the current doctrine regarding mini games. I dislike them passionately, so if it doesn't have any (or very few/insignificant ones), it already scores a few points in my book without doing anything else.

 

There are no mini-games in Dragon Age: Origins.

 

There are puzzles though. (But no towers of hanoi)

"When is this out. I can't wait to play it so I can talk at length about how bad it is." - Gorgon.

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I am curious about Dragon Age and the current doctrine regarding mini games. I dislike them passionately, so if it doesn't have any (or very few/insignificant ones), it already scores a few points in my book without doing anything else.

 

There are no mini-games in Dragon Age: Origins.

 

There are puzzles though. (But no towers of hanoi)

Sweet music :)

 

Heh, Towers of Hanoi brings back memories of one of the less good parts of Kotor. One of the few mods I've ever used (in any game) was the one that removed the randomly occurring turret minigame.

“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein
 

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We need a proper heir to Durlag's Tower and the Severed Hand. If DA can provide (and I think/hope they will try), that alone will make me squeal.

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Bioware is more like Starbucks than Mcdonalds. People go there thinking they're going to get fine coffee, and they leave thinking they're urbane and smart and have good taste, but actually they just had a bit of overpriced, crap coffee, draped in marketing and flavours of the day, custom designed to make them feel smug about themselves.
As opposed to whom?

"Moral indignation is a standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity." Marshall McLuhan

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What?

"My hovercraft is full of eels!" - Hungarian tourist
I am Dan Quayle of the Romans.
I want to tattoo a map of the Netherlands on my nether lands.
Heja Sverige!!
Everyone should cuffawkle more.
The wrench is your friend. :bat:

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Unless there's some sort of legendary coffee shop chain turning out quality after quality coffee, that I'm not aware of, I don't see how my analogy in any way implies there is such a studio.

"My hovercraft is full of eels!" - Hungarian tourist
I am Dan Quayle of the Romans.
I want to tattoo a map of the Netherlands on my nether lands.
Heja Sverige!!
Everyone should cuffawkle more.
The wrench is your friend. :bat:

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I'm sure there are plenty of great coffee shops, in fact you can make great coffee yourself with a little effort. Since you're constantly singling out Bioware for your withering criticism, there must be a much better studio out there you're comparing them with.

"Moral indignation is a standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity." Marshall McLuhan

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The answer is:

 

 

Bethesda!

 

Of course.

 

 

They are the Viking flagship of crpgs

Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
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I don't think it's Bioware hate, actually it's Bioware exasperation.

 

look at many of the comments here (including mine)... people respect them as a developer and enjoy their products (personally I haven't for some time - I find their linear, cut-scene heavy style, not to mention the smothering hype around their products not to my taste). I really respect the Bioware back-story and think they deserve their success.

 

So, as probably the most influential CRPG development house out there, I think it's natural that Fans Like Us (i.e. gamers who care enough to spend our time talking about this stuff on forums) will look to Bio to push the bloody envelope. Not make something that, on the available (and burgeoning) body of evidence is derivative and vanilla and... meh. Yet the hype bombards us like Soviet artillery with how original and ground-breaking it all is.

 

Do something daring, why don't you? You create your own IP and... it's vanilla high fantasy? I reserve the right to be wearily disappointed by that. I like these sorts of games. I'll buy it. I might even enjoy it. But I'd be even happier if the setting was fresher, newer.... different.

 

That's why the realist in me posted the lowest common denominator comments, which I stand by. This setting is. Bio could have used their popularity and muscle to take us in a direction new enough to excite jaded fans but familiar enough to be commercially viable, but they've clearly chosen not to.

 

Cheers

MC

sonsofgygax.JPG

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I don't see how you know it's vanilla high fantasy before you've even played the game.

 

Wrath, there's a DA website chock full of vanilla, high-fantasy DRAMA out there. Even with very basic investigative ability, I quickly scryed the general gist of the setting.

 

Cheers

MC

sonsofgygax.JPG

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The website is presented through the lens of marketing, it would be surprising if it wasn't high fantasy drama. And yes, it is high fantasy, but you can't know if it's plain vanilla until you actually play the game. For all you know, it has a story worthy of Shakespeare.

"Moral indignation is a standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity." Marshall McLuhan

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I think DA will fail the accolade of being "the successor to BG2." What it *will* be is another decent Bioware RPG; no more, no less.

 

I am a little concerned at how rampant stereotypes appear to be so far. Combat seems to be about 8 foot tall manly men in full armor and sickly-looking wizards hiding in back. the NPCs (?) shown so far look pretty generic, and while some companies would use that as a chance to create characters that look shallow and are actually deep, I doubt Bioware is one of them.

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fully decked out in her +5 Bikini of Jiggling Boobs.

 

 

Technically I suppose it is a bikini of boob jiggling +5.

 

Double damage to undead.

Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
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"just like gamers often confuse what they like with quality. "

 

Not confusion, just fact. if I like somehting it is good. Period. It doesn't matter if you disagree with me. Your opinion is irrelevant to me. Vice versa too.

 

 

"That's why the realist in me posted the lowest common denominator comments, which I stand by"

 

And, you are simply wrong. Just soemthing you have to deal with. *shrug*

 

 

"Bio could have used their popularity and muscle to take us in a direction new enough to excite jaded fans but familiar enough to be commercially viable, but they've clearly chosen not to."

 

You are assuming wrong. BIO doesn't have that kind of power. Not even close. They can't afford to go against what their customers want.

 

 

 

" I like these sorts of games. I'll buy it. I might even enjoy it"

 

This. This is why they won't bother to do anything 'different'. Why should they? Why shoudl they when someone like you who is bashing them will likely still buy the game?

 

If you aren't happy with BIO; don't buy their games. Period.

 

Money talks. Whining solves nothing.

DWARVES IN PROJECT ETERNITY = VOLOURN HAS PLEDGED $250.

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