Dragon Age 2

[mkreku]

folks gotta learns to be more careful and far more cynical.

I must say that I find the cynicism of this forum delightful.

 

It's like a cold shower of truth to remove the remains of the lukewarm gelatin baths that are the bioware and bethesda fora.

You think cynicism is more "truth" than optimism? OK then.

 

For me, reading this forum is comparable to walking into a room of crying retards complaining about everything. It's downright nasty (and slightly creepy).

[Tigranes]

Except all the stuff they don't complain about, right?

[greylord]

Dude, it's from an official EA shareholder release. There's no question as to its accuracy.

 

[Edit links, first showing that DAO shipped 2.7million, second showing they then shipped an extra 500k, illustrating the fact that at the very least the vast majority of the 2.7 million must have sold:

 

Dude, and you are comparing the shipped to sale through. That number (2.7 million) is comparable to at least 3 million for ME2 (and they shipped even MORE later...some estimate upwards of that). For actual sales you are comparing it's 1.3 million to 1.6 million...DUDE.

No, that 2.7 million is equivalent to... the 2 million shipped figure you linked to earlier (and which never got a "we've shipped more!" announcement), not some 3 million figure that materialised out of the ether.

 

If you ship 2.7 million, then another 500k it's a fair assumption that the vast majority of that 2.7 million sold* as the alternative is saying that EA likes producing stock destined to sit around in warehouses- that's why you can fairly compare the 2.7 million shipped with a sell through figure, as I said in the original post. If we want to get picky about things then I could just add a [citation needed] after every one of your figures since I did actually provide links. Simple fact is that EA is bound by law to release accurate figures. They said they sold in 2 million copies of ME2 and sold through 1.6 million. That has to be, legally, as accurate a representation as it can be. NPD (presumably where you are getting the comparison from as they do US only figures; if it's VGChartz then I'll have a quiet laugh at the wasted time and move on) does not have to be accurate by law, and their figures are indicative and based in part on estimation and survey.

 

*Alternatively, if you like maths, 2 million shipped (confirmed) -> 1.6 million sold (confirmed) therefore 3.2 million shipped (confirmed) -> 2.6 million sold (speculation; still a cool million above ME2 though, and matches well with most of the initial 2.7 million having been sold...)

 

I've heard (not from EA at all, or even official Bioware statements, or even NON-Official Bioware statements) that Bioware DID say DA:O was the best selling game they ever had (which could be where the foreign markets come in) in the Summer of last year...but the US numbers don't seem to indicate that.

It's hardly difficult to find, first page of a google search.

 

"Rob Bartel, the principal designer at BioWare, has told MCV that last year

Edited March 7, 2011 by greylord

[Raithe]

Okay, I'll admit it can be a bit annoying that with every game release of Bio's you get the mass-hype and "Best Game Evah!" from both their marketing department and a lot of hard-core fans who are only going by the previews..

 

Which can tend to make a lot of people automatically downgrade the potential.

Throw in a certain level of "catering to the masses means dumbing things down."

 

But we'll still end up with a game with some flaws that a lot of people will still actually ENJOY.

That's the important thing. Not how smart it is, or how bad some of the dialogue is. Or just how closely it cleaves to the Bioware standard of "lone hero meets companions, travels to 4+ locations, has a romance, then defeats the big evil."

It's the fact that most people will actually have fun playing it, regardless of the flaws in it.

 

Sure, I think they could do games a lot tighter and smarter then they have recently.

I don't expect to be out-n-out amazed by it.

But I do expect that regardless of parts of it, I'll generally have fun playing my way through it. And for 20+ hours of potential gameplay.... That's all that matters.

 

Of course, once I've actually sat down to play the full game rather then a broken off demo that doesn't really showcase the game.. I might have a lot of bile and complaints if it truly stinks and I don't enjoy playing it.. But until then.. eh, I'll wait and see what its like ...

[Labadal]

I've enjoyed every BioWare game I have played to date, but the Dragon Age II demo really felt bad. Combat wasn't fun, dialogue from the demo was bad and the design is a mix of good and bad. Not being hyped for a BioWare game is a first for me, wich is a shame. I don't mind if they want more action in a game, but I wish they had done that for another IP. All I wanted for Dragon Age II was to be more of the same with better crafted encounters and slightly better graphics. Unfortunately, enemy encounters seems to be not as good as the first, and graphics are passable, but not the huge leap BioWare themselves said they would be from Origins.

[Volourn]

"But we'll still end up with a game with some flaws that a lot of people will still actually ENJOY"

 

U win.

 

What's funny is the same thing happened pre DA release. A lot of epople were whining that DA was gonna fail, was gonna be BIO's worst game ever, was gonna doom DA to fail, was the fuirst sign of EA killing BIO, etc.,e tc. And, we know how that turned out. L0LZ

 

Rinse and repeat.

 

People will play DA2, and they will like it most likely. Then 3 months from now, those same people will bash it. Two eyars from now when DA3 is about to come out, people will praise DA2 as god's gift to gaminmg while crying that DA3 will destroy BIO.

 

LMAO

[Humanoid]

Unfortunately, enemy encounters seems to be not as good as the first

 

Credit for achieving the impossible I guess.

 

 

I've had an Xbox for a couple months now and don't have any games on it at all (I use it for pay TV streaming). I guess if the gameplay works well with it it's something to consider once things settle down. Better than wearing out my mouse buttons at any rate. On the PC I'd probably struggle to see it as what it is and instead see it as what I want it to be and come out disappointed. On the other hand, I quite liked Final Fight 3 on the SNES, and if I adjust my expectations accordingly.... (not as much a stretch as one might first thing, FF3 had a branching storyline and simple gear upgrades) So yeah, I'll be tracking the platform wars here, feed me!

[Labadal]

But Final Fight 3 had great combat!

[Slowtrain]

folks gotta learns to be more careful and far more cynical.

I must say that I find the cynicism of this forum delightful.

 

It's like a cold shower of truth to remove the remains of the lukewarm gelatin baths that are the bioware and bethesda fora.

You think cynicism is more "truth" than optimism? OK then.

 

For me, reading this forum is comparable to walking into a room of crying retards complaining about everything. It's downright nasty (and slightly creepy).

 

 

*shrug*

 

I can find optimism on Bio and Beth's fora. It's unremarkable and rather dull (and more than slightly creepy).

[Volourn]

Kinda like lookin' in the mirror, right?

[Slowtrain]

Kinda like lookin' in the mirror, right?

 

 

Sure. I'm a cynical bastard, at least when it comes to game development in this day and age. NO doubt about it. Never tried to pretend otherwise.

[Jaesun]

Sadly, Dragon Age II is the first Bioware game I'll not be buying. I just have no interest in it at all, other than finally seeing a LP thread of it on the codex.

[Hurlshort]

I've decided not to pick up my pre-order of Dragon Age 2. I'm pretty busy with Rift, Risen, and Battlefield: BC2, and I can't see myself playing another single player RPG right now. So I'll just wait a couple months and get it during a dry spell.

[Wrath of Dagon]

It just occurred to me that it's weird I haven't seen any US reviews yet when the game's out tomorrow.

Edited March 7, 2011 by Wrath of Dagon

[WorstUsernameEver]

It just occurred to me that it's weird I haven't seen any US reviews yet when the game's out tomorrow.

 

AFAIK EA puts an embargo on all their titles, major or not. I have no doubt DAII will have, at the very least, solid reviews. Most previews/impressions of the demo, for example, were rather gushing in tone.

[Jaesun]

It just occurred to me that it's weird I haven't seen any US reviews yet when the game's out tomorrow.

 

AFAIK EA puts an embargo on all their titles, major or not. I have no doubt DAII will have, at the very least, solid reviews. Most previews/impressions of the demo, for example, were rather gushing in tone.

 

Not all actually: The Decline of the Classic RPG

Edited March 7, 2011 by Jaesun

[Nepenthe]

Better than wearing out my mouse buttons at any rate. O

Why would this game wear out your mouse buttons?!

[Wrath of Dagon]

It just occurred to me that it's weird I haven't seen any US reviews yet when the game's out tomorrow.

 

AFAIK EA puts an embargo on all their titles, major or not. I have no doubt DAII will have, at the very least, solid reviews. Most previews/impressions of the demo, for example, were rather gushing in tone.

Apparently they do it for a lot of games, but Dead Space 2 for example didn't have an embargo until release day. Another example of dishonest behavior by EA IMO. It's sickening how the gaming "press" and the publishers collaborate to mislead the consumer, I haven't seen the mention of the embargo on a single gaming site. Edit: Previews are normally a lot more gushing than the reviews, that's another example of the collaboration.

Edited March 7, 2011 by Wrath of Dagon

[Hassat Hunter]

The gaming mag I read (PC Gameplay - Belgium) made note of the DA2 Press Embargo (and a few other games), and how they found it a bad thing, and advised people to wait it out for Dragon Age II instead.

Not really good press I would say, but if that's how EA wants to be mentioned.

 

I also asked a friend if he tried the DA2 demo. He, like me, really likes DA:O. This is the response;

I have now.

Holy **** that sucked. From the diablo 2 style character choice to the end, it's like they wanted to make it as bad as possible.

 

ze hebben de interface kapot gemaakt

(translation; "They ruined the interface")

And only afterwards I told him my impression.

[Nightshape]

It just occurred to me that it's weird I haven't seen any US reviews yet when the game's out tomorrow.

 

AFAIK EA puts an embargo on all their titles, major or not. I have no doubt DAII will have, at the very least, solid reviews. Most previews/impressions of the demo, for example, were rather gushing in tone.

 

Not all actually: The Decline of the Classic RPG

 

Read article...

 

Thought article was written by a fool who managed to rant for three pages and say very little.

 

Stupid pretentious article.

[Nepenthe]

Stupid pretentious article.

Yes, we are not used to that in the obsid forums!

 

 

Also, from reading the article, it's a "review" of the demo (which is why it's titled an "editorial") - he hasn't played the whole game.

Edited March 7, 2011 by Nepenthe

[entrerix]

whoa this thread went crazy the past few days.

 

I'm not really enthralled with any games right now, so at least DA2 will give me something to play, its probably not terrible, but probably not great either. Kinda like DAO was when it was released, it was fun, (i liked it more than kotor1 and NWN OC) but it wasn't a return to form for crpg's like it was hyped to be, mostly because the combat was insanely repetitive and the vast majority of encounters and creatures were badly designed and implemented. I gave a lot of that a pass on my first playthrough because I was enamored with a new toy, on later playthroughs the encounter design crushed my enjoyment.

 

DA2 looks to be exactly the same, mediocre or bad combat, and boring encounters, but overall interesting enough to keep me entertained for at least one fun playthrough regardless.

 

Of the recent Bio games, the only one I was able to play more than once all the way through was ME2.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Also, from reading the article, it's a "review" of the demo (which is why it's titled an "editorial") - he hasn't played the whole game.

 

No one said otherwise unless you're implying that the article writer is not entitled to have opinions based on the demo which is pretty stupid overall.

 

I didn't really like the article by the way, he makes a couple of good points, but it's mostly lost in a sea of confusing writing and inaccurate statements.

[Tale]

The demo for DAO is spectacularly silly. I can't believe it would sell anyone on the game.

[Bendu]

High Resolution Texture Pack for the PC version of Dragon Age II.