Can't get over how good POE is & why Bioware abandoned this style of gameplay.

[communard]

People keep saying the companions in PoE are bland. I just...can't understand it. Blandness means something is devoid of unique characteristics, dull. I'm not sure I can think of any companions in PoE that are standard archetypes without unique twists that make them interesting. Edér and Kana are perhaps the closest to "standard", with Durance and Grieving Mother being completely unique, but they all have personality that sets them apart. You couldn't have a party full of Durances and GMs anyway.

[archangel979]

People keep saying the companions in PoE are bland. I just...can't understand it. Blandness means something is devoid of unique characteristics, dull. I'm not sure I can think of any companions in PoE that are standard archetypes without unique twists that make them interesting. Edér and Kana are perhaps the closest to "standard", with Durance and Grieving Mother being completely unique, but they all have personality that sets them apart. You couldn't have a party full of Durances and GMs anyway.

I like Kana a lot. His comment when you go scout mode always makes me laugh.

[CybAnt1]

I think all the PoE companions would be deeper if you had more chance to interact with them.

 

You really can't speak to them unless that little quotation box appears on the portrait, and it didn't seem to be very often. 

 

Basically, there wasn't much dialogue written for them. Thus, little opportunities to dialogue. 

 

I hope there's more in expansions/sequels. 

 

Bioware's ongoing strength remains companion interaction ... it's just too bad that after their 1st game your path to doing so is a silly wheel o' paraphrases. 

 

I think a lot of fans thought that the two series were going to be different. Mass Effect was going to be the consolish action-RPG, Dragon Age the *real* one. (Hmmm. Are my biases showing?) 

 

Then they made them both the same. *sigh*. 

Edited April 23, 2015 by CybAnt1

[communard]

You can speak with them whenever you want, using the speech bubble on the ability bar that comes up when you click their portrait. They have quite a lot to say!

[Zwiebelchen]

 

And still that dog without being able to speak communicated volumes!

 

That is a mark of greatness.

 

And though you may not have "liked" Morrigan or Leliana (or Zevran) they are loved Companions of the game. 

 

Which PoE does not have (because the Companions are bland).

 

And Shale was really cool (but as DLC...*sigh*) - I liked Shale alot.  Especially her hatred for pigeons (and birds in general)! 

 

But what I really liked most were the banters.  If you had Alistair and Morrigan in your party, look out, here come the fireworks!

 

The DA:O Companions are anything but bland.

 

And yeah, you really are a little onion.

 

 

That the dog is probably the best companion out of the DA:O roster doesn't really certificate a good quality of writing. If anything, it means the opposite. That Morrigan, Leliana and Zevran are "loved" companions, is a joke in itself, except if that was a pun you were going for. Literally, the only thing that defined these characters was the romance plot. And even that wasn't deeper than the average episode of your favorite sitcom. Take the cheesy romance plot away and there was no substance left.

It's funny you mention Shale's hatred towards birds. Because that's literally the only thing that I remember about Shale's personality. A whole character basicly reduced to a single cheap slapstick joke...

Yes, all those characters had loads of banter. But PoE still delivered way more personality in it's few lines of dialogue than DA:O delivered in thousands of lines of voiced banters.

 

I agree that PoE could have needed way more banter. I'm totally in for that. But please at the same level of quality of the current dialogue, not just for the sake of bloating up content or to satisfy the promancers and waifu-crowd like DA:O did.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Zwiebelchen

[Valmy]

Wait are you trying to convince people who like something that they are somehow wrong for liking it? I think that is going to be an uphill battle.

[falchen]

 

That the dog is probably the best companion out of the DA:O roster doesn't really certificate a good quality of writing. If anything, it means the opposite. That Morrigan, Leliana and Zevran are "loved" companions, is a joke in itself, except if that was a pun you were going for. Literally, the only thing that defined these characters was the romance plot. And even that wasn't deeper than the average episode of your favorite sitcom. Take the cheesy romance plot away and there was no substance left.

It's funny you mention Shale's hatred towards birds. Because that's literally the only thing that I remember about Shale's personality. A whole character basicly reduced to a single cheap slapstick joke...

Yes, all those characters had loads of banter. But PoE still delivered way more personality in it's few lines of dialogue than DA:O delivered in thousands of lines of voiced banters.

 

I agree that PoE could have needed way more banter. I'm totally in for that. But please at the same level of quality of the current dialogue, not just for the sake of bloating up content or to satisfy the promancers and waifu-crowd like DA:O did.

 

 

Did you actually play the game? There's quite more than that to Shale for example (she's actually a drarf turned into a golem), Alistair has the whole actualy being a heir to the throne thing and there's several ways that can turn out, Lelianna is a former spy who convinced herself god speaks to her because she got bored of being a nun, etc. They've got as much personality to them as the PoE companions.

Edited April 23, 2015 by falchen

[Zwiebelchen]

Wait are you trying to convince people who like something that they are somehow wrong for liking it? I think that is going to be an uphill battle.

 

Yeah, you're probably right. But I was just giving my oppinions on that one.

 

 

 

Did you actually play the game? There's quite more than that to Shale for example (she's actually a drarf turned into a golem), Alistair has the whole actualy being a heir to the throne thing and there's several ways that can turn out, Lelianna is a former spy who convinced herself god speaks to her because she got bored of being a nun, etc. They've got as much personality to them as the PoE companions.

 

 

And yet I remember none of these things. I actually had to look up the characters on the game wiki to even remember their names. That's how forgettable they were.

 

On the contrary, I don't have to look up Dakkon, Morte, Jan Jansen or Viconia to know exactly what backstories they had. I don't have to look up Garrus or Wrex. Heck, I even remember HK-47 despite it being 10 years or even longer since I played KOTOR (though the latter is probably because his personality basicly resembled an AK-47...).

Edited April 23, 2015 by Zwiebelchen

[draego]

You really can't speak to them unless that little quotation box appears on the portrait, and it didn't seem to be very often. 

 

This is not true. You can talk with them at any time and get more background than the little quotation box provides. If you click on the character portrait you will see the little quotation box as an option in the companions menu. 

[falchen]

All I remember about Viconia is that you can cure her nastyness by sexing her, did she actually have a backstory? And Jan Jensen was the craaaazy gnome who kept ranting about turnips, much like Shale was only that golem that ranted about pidgeons, right?

 

It's easy to make any character sound boring or unmemorable if you want to.

Edited April 23, 2015 by falchen

[MReed]

...

CitySkylines is definitely didn't crush Simcity. As PoE, Skylines made OK enterence to the industry. That's all. No need to be so dramatic about It.

 

This is a joke, right?  Cities: Skylines is still in the top 10 fastest selling games on Steam (since March 10th, so ~40 days now), has been on that list more or less continuously since it was released (despite several high profile AAA launches), and has just passed 1 million units sold (according to SteamSpy).  And it has done all of this at a tiny fraction of the budget of SimCity 2014?

 

If that's not hitting it out of the park, then I think your standards are unreasonable, to say the least.

 

Now, it is perfectly reasonable to say that PoE hasn't (and won't) "crushed" DAI, but I suspect it probably has met or exceeded Obsidian's internal sales targets -- in short, "an OK entrance to the industry".  But to say the same thing about Skylines...

[ruzen]

 

...

CitySkylines is definitely didn't crush Simcity. As PoE, Skylines made OK enterence to the industry. That's all. No need to be so dramatic about It.

 

This is a joke, right?  Cities: Skylines is still in the top 10 fastest selling games on Steam (since March 10th, so ~40 days now), has been on that list more or less continuously since it was released (despite several high profile AAA launches), and has just passed 1 million units sold (according to SteamSpy).  And it has done all of this at a tiny fraction of the budget of SimCity 2014?

 

If that's not hitting it out of the park, then I think your standards are unreasonable, to say the least.

 

Now, it is perfectly reasonable to say that PoE hasn't (and won't) "crushed" DAI, but I suspect it probably has met or exceeded Obsidian's internal sales targets -- in short, "an OK entrance to the industry".  But to say the same thing about Skylines...

 

No It wasnt a joke. Skylines is a marketing success, yes. Just because It fully supports modding doesnt make It good. A broken traffic simulation game which is fed from the hatred of simcity 2013 is not a successfull game for my liking.

[Idleray]

Blah blah blah Jersey Shore blah blah waifu blah

 

 

Look, I've never watched Jersey Shore, so I have no idea what you're on about over there, but you seem obsessed with scoring brownie points over how much better the writing in PoE is compared to DAO.

 

We get it.

 

DAO doesn't hold a candle to the uniqueness that is POE's characters. POE's writing is the height of profundity. Its got Gods and Souls! Animancy and mature issues and ****!...

 

...actually I can't do this. I actually like PoE as well so I'm not gonna sink to your level of petty "my game is better than your game" bs.

 

Enjoy the game and lay off the Jersey Shore or whatever that is

[Zwiebelchen]

 

 

...

CitySkylines is definitely didn't crush Simcity. As PoE, Skylines made OK enterence to the industry. That's all. No need to be so dramatic about It.

 

This is a joke, right?  Cities: Skylines is still in the top 10 fastest selling games on Steam (since March 10th, so ~40 days now), has been on that list more or less continuously since it was released (despite several high profile AAA launches), and has just passed 1 million units sold (according to SteamSpy).  And it has done all of this at a tiny fraction of the budget of SimCity 2014?

 

If that's not hitting it out of the park, then I think your standards are unreasonable, to say the least.

 

Now, it is perfectly reasonable to say that PoE hasn't (and won't) "crushed" DAI, but I suspect it probably has met or exceeded Obsidian's internal sales targets -- in short, "an OK entrance to the industry".  But to say the same thing about Skylines...

 

No It wasnt a joke. Skylines is a marketing success, yes. Just because It fully supports modding doesnt make It good. A broken traffic simulation game which is fed from the hatred of simcity 2013 is not a successfull game for my liking.

 

 

Then why did I have so much fun with Skylines whereas the latest Sim City releases sucked balls for me? :/

I'm confused...

 

 

 

 

Blah blah blah Jersey Shore blah blah waifu blah

 

 

Look, I've never watched Jersey Shore, so I have no idea what you're on about over there, but you seem obsessed with scoring brownie points over how much better the writing in PoE is compared to DAO.

 

We get it.

 

DAO doesn't hold a candle to the uniqueness that is POE's characters. POE's writing is the height of profundity. Its got Gods and Souls! Animancy and mature issues and ****!...

 

...actually I can't do this. I actually like PoE as well so I'm not gonna sink to your level of petty "my game is better than your game" bs.

 

Enjoy the game and lay off the Jersey Shore or whatever that is

 

 

So we get personal now? Nah, sorry, I'm out then.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Zwiebelchen

[Idleray]

/

Edited April 23, 2015 by Idleray

[Zwiebelchen]

Are you actually confused or pretend confused because its ironic to appear that narcissistic?

 

Dude, what the actual **** is your problem? I expressed oppinions, nothing more. I never attacked someone personally or insulted someone. If you feel the need to get something out of your system, do it somewhere else.

[Jasta11]

"I can't get over" why people need to bash one game that is loved by many to praise another. PoE and DA:I are very different games, both have their strengths and weaknesses and which one you prefer is a matter of taste.

 

QFT. I enjoyed DA:I thanks to its better companions and fun, if easy combat, and the dragon fights? freacking spectacular. I enjoyed PoE a bit more, thanks to its fairly robust mechanics, C&C, and dat Obsidian writing. I can't understand, for the life of me, why one has to drag one of the games down.  There's more than enough place on the market for both. And for bother styles of RPGs such as Banner Saga and The Witcher as well.

 

I enjoyed DA:O more than either games, that being said, but that's a given since it's my second favorite RPG after PS:T. And to the people whining about EA, well I have no lost love for them, but they acquired Bioware in 2007 (as the company was financially dying, and before the Kickstarter safety net existed) and released DA:O, Bioware's best game IMO, in 2009. So for that alone I'm willing to accept a DA2 crap from time to time.

[ruzen]

 

 

 

...

CitySkylines is definitely didn't crush Simcity. As PoE, Skylines made OK enterence to the industry. That's all. No need to be so dramatic about It.

 

This is a joke, right?  Cities: Skylines is still in the top 10 fastest selling games on Steam (since March 10th, so ~40 days now), has been on that list more or less continuously since it was released (despite several high profile AAA launches), and has just passed 1 million units sold (according to SteamSpy).  And it has done all of this at a tiny fraction of the budget of SimCity 2014?

 

If that's not hitting it out of the park, then I think your standards are unreasonable, to say the least.

 

Now, it is perfectly reasonable to say that PoE hasn't (and won't) "crushed" DAI, but I suspect it probably has met or exceeded Obsidian's internal sales targets -- in short, "an OK entrance to the industry".  But to say the same thing about Skylines...

 

No It wasnt a joke. Skylines is a marketing success, yes. Just because It fully supports modding doesnt make It good. A broken traffic simulation game which is fed from the hatred of simcity 2013 is not a successfull game for my liking.

 

 

Then why did I have so much fun with Skylines whereas the latest Sim City releases sucked balls for me? :/

I'm confused...

 

 

 

Dont get confused, we are different people =)

[mrmonocle]

PoE is in no way a DA:I killer. The scale is just too different.

[b0rsuk]

One of things I like the most about PoE is the isometric view. In DA:O, Mass Effect, Deus Ex, Assassin's Creed, Thief4, Dishonored, Skyrim, and just about any AAA game the focus is on haircuts. Here, appearance and angsty character doesn't matter as much. In battle, focus is on tactics, positioning and not flying ketchup. It's refreshing to see something like this again. Also, I don't think character models look bad - the last cRPG game I played was Wasteland 2.

[Yellow Rabbit]

Wait are you trying to convince people who like something that they are somehow wrong for liking it? I think that is going to be an uphill battle.

This entire board looks like such battle for quite some time already. Why not give a little rest to poor Baldur's Gate and argue over DA:O for a change?

 

Btw, I got bored with DA:O within 10 hours, dropped and never felt like trying it again. Would someone try to convince me it's an awesome game? Anyone?

 

On topic, though, PoE couldn't "destroy" any of the Dragon Ages to begin with simply because they're playing in different leagues, let alone have entirely different design filosophies. Comparing them is just not right.

[Idleray]

 

Wait are you trying to convince people who like something that they are somehow wrong for liking it? I think that is going to be an uphill battle.

This entire board looks like such battle for quite some time already. Why not give a little rest to poor Baldur's Gate and argue over DA:O for a change?

 

Btw, I got bored with DA:O within 10 hours, dropped and never felt like trying it again. Would someone try to convince me it's an awesome game? Anyone?

 

On topic, though, PoE couldn't "destroy" any of the Dragon Ages to begin with simply because they're playing in different leagues, let alone have entirely different design filosophies. Comparing them is just not right.

 

 

IMO if DAO didn't grab you in the first 1-2 hours then it's not gonna be your kind of game. For me personally it grabbed me in that time and didn't let go. Other people think its bland and generic. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

[Archaven]

I'm not quite interested in Bioware products anymore. Each new releases became more watered-down, simplified, gimped and actioney just for the awesome mashing crowd. Sure the graphics and the exploration of the world are huge but that's the only thing it has, sadly.

[Ink Blot]

 

Btw, I got bored with DA:O within 10 hours, dropped and never felt like trying it again. Would someone try to convince me it's an awesome game? Anyone?

 

 

Nope. As Idleray noted, it's probably just not your kind of game. I love it, but there are plenty (as demonstrated in this thread) that think it's complete ****. That's the way the turkey tumbles.

[Valmy]

I'm not quite interested in Bioware products anymore. Each new releases became more watered-down, simplified, gimped and actioney just for the awesome mashing crowd. Sure the graphics and the exploration of the world are huge but that's the only thing it has, sadly.

Yep. They went from being the darlings of us RPG fans to being melodramatic cheese with actiony gameplay. I have come to terms with it and have forgiven them. I had to go through a similar period of grieving and acceptance with Bethesda when Oblivion came out (though for different reasons).

 

It is really up to a few smallish developers now.