Dragon Age impressions

[Clockwork Knight]

I wonder why is it so fucking hard to understand that the "four options leading to the same outcome" isn't a fake choice, because any kindergartner can see that the character is agreeing anyway (the storyline must continue. I guess he could say "no, lol" and be killed by the hordes / reload the last save, though), the game isn't trying to fool you into thinking otherwise. It's no different than the character just speaking automatically, or just having a single line just for maintaining the flow of conversation.

Yes, we all noticed all options say "yes". You don't get points for noticing that. Yes, I'm sure you feel really fucking smart for noticing that, and the drooling hordes won't because you're very special. Hur dur.

EDIT: ALSO, SOMEONE DELETE UNMASTERED'S POST. IT'S FUNNY TO DO THAT IN USELESS ANDHAIRA THREADS, BUT HERE IT'S REAL FUCKING ANNOYING.

Edit 2: yaaaaay

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Hmm, well we shall see how this all pans out. Give it a few months to see whether the excitement dies down.

 

[Phelot]

The level of interaction, gameplay I think in many cases even art has greatly declined since everything went 3d. Seems like a 3D world with the impressive graphics of today should create a more attractive atmosphere thent he older 2D games....but thats rarely the case.

My thoughts as well. To me, there are graphics and then there is art. The graphics are simply a way of augmenting and showcasing the art a game has to offer. It's a shame that today's games have graphics that seem to want to hide poor art such as bloom and all this shinyness and blurs. I must politely disagree about the decline occurring when everything turned 3D. Games like Undying and Wheel of Time had some great art in them, though I must admit that I still think Hexen has one of the best art styles of any game. I still love playing it. Along with some of the old adventure games.

Based on hearing this Im not sure I will even buy D2 when it comes out. All these 3D action RPG's feel very much like the same game.

I thought Divinity 2 has been out world wide for awhile now, no?

 

[Gay-Lussac]

I agree with you, sometimes you don't get a choice because YOU DON'T HAVE A FUCKING CHOICE. Honestly haven't any of you ever HAD to do something? Shit life doesn't always give you much choice (at least not many reasonable ones), and Bioware puts those dialogue choices to make you feel like you at least have some say in the manner in which your character responds

Also ban whoever does that infinite quote thing, it's getting really annoying

 

[racofer]

I has OVER 9000 WORDS! Must be a great game, amirite? Oh wait, but KotOR broke the dialog record once, then JE, then ME. And a lot of dialog is what makes it good, right?

I believe I said it was impossible to judge the merit of over 800 000 words of dialogue when only experiencing a few.

Your belief is wrong, as you have not.

So linear now has more than one definition? As in, linear could be, not linear? Lawl.

When applied to games it seems to have many different definitions... depending on the gamer.

So it's up to the player to define whether something is qualifiable as linear or not? If a game progresses in a succession of events that happen alike every time it's played, it is linear. It doesn't matter if there are thousands of side quests with multiple resolutions if the core of the game still progresses towards a single point. In the end all those side quests are just that, side quests. Tell me one Bioware game where a side quest, or even better, a main quest, changes the course of the game considerably, and I will recognize being wrong. And that doesn't take into account the marvelous KotOR/JE/ME Good/Bad side endings, as they've always being alike, with just a different ending cutscene and npc reactions throughout. You always have the same progression during the course of the game no matter what.

]
Browse a few pages back and look at the four options dialog with all of them leading to the very same outcome. Yea, we're the ones being negative.

Because no options in a single piece of dialogue (which may very well have been in the prologue/tutorial for all you know) automatically translates into no different ways of completing any of the main quests. I agree with you that there probably isn't, what I'm saying is that people were already bagging it before they knew based on dodgy evidence like you just provided.

And what do you consider as real evidence? Playing the whole game? Sorry, but as it's said: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Bioware's track record only proves otherwise for the last what, four/five games? I would take that as evidence enough of what to expect from then, and based on all the material we've had access thus far, it seems that once again we're right.

Now you're just combining lots of pretty sounding words together in a derogatory statement that holds nothing else but blatant butthurtness.

That statement is just one epic fail.

Saying that makes you full of win, amirite?

Holy shit dude, are you that dumb?

I'm beginning to think you are.

Is that all you've got? And you want us to take your opinion into account with one liners like that?

 

[Monocause]

Either DU puts the banhammer to its use or this place is useless. What's the point of having a forum about RPGs when you can't discuss RPGs on it because either some 4chan idiot derails the thread with oneliners or because some other idiot breaks everything with a chainquote?

Look, people, man the fuck up. You don't like DA, fine. Now stop being complete jerks and make an effort to do something constructive. If you don't feel like making an effort, shut up or stick to GD.

**

Some flavor impressions from the first 30 minutes, magi origin:

- Writing and voice acting doesn't seem as cringeworthy as the marketing dept. would lead us to believe.

- There seems to be quite a few customisation options in the CC. How viable are different builds remains to be seen.

- The facegen will be my source of hilarity for the next week, I think. Already I've made a clone of Steve Martin and some terribly deformed Elf and had the pleasure of watching them happily engaging in conversation.

- Graphics are palatable when you get past pauldrons and stuff.

- Combat seems MMOish.

- Game runs fine and smooth on my single core P4 3ghz with a HD3850.

My first impressions were actually decent. I'll play more tomorrow.

 

[racofer]

I agree with you, sometimes you don't get a choice because YOU DON'T HAVE A FUCKING CHOICE. Honestly haven't any of you ever HAD to do something? Shit life doesn't always give you much choice

You always have a choice in life, even if that choice results in your death or the death of someone else, or a royal fuck up, or getting gangraped by negroes, that's still a perfectly valid choice.

(at least not many reasonable ones)

So if a choice isn't reasonable, it's better to not have it at all? Please give me some insight into this win button of yours.

and Bioware puts those dialogue choices to make you feel like you at least have some say in the manner in which your character responds

Press Continue to hear the next line
That's bioware level on interactivity.

 

[GarfunkeL]

It is linear to an great extent.

Linearity in a game gives it a fucking storyline. Love of non-linearity is subjective - you can't use it to measure whether a game is good or not (Oblivion being case in point).

In fact, with the exception of Fallout, most non-linear games are fucking shit. Worse than crap.

Whoopsie. So it's been done, we have proof, it can be awesome, WHY NOT DO IT AGAIN?

 

[Grunker]

Whoopsie. So it's been done, we have proof, it can be awesome, like linearity can also be awesome, WHY DO IT AGAIN?

Fixed it for ya

Suffice to say: Linear games that are easily as good as Fallout have been made.

So I'm extremely doubtful as to whether Fallout's non-linearity has anything at all to do with its level of awesome.

 

[draexem]

Your belief is wrong, as you have not.

No, my belief is spot on. I wrote it as clear as day on the previous page. If you can't see it, then you have a problem.

]
So it's up to the player to define whether something is qualifiable as linear or not? If a game progresses in a succession of events that happen alike every time it's played, it is linear.

That depends. The word linear is derived from the latin word 'linearis' meaning created by lines. Non-linear has been and can be interpreted to mean the ability to depart from a set line, or a set path. Therefore, gamers can quite validly call DA or even Oblivion non-linear because, while there is a main quest for you to do, there isn't a set path you must stay on throughout the game. There are points where you must do a quest to progress the main storyline, but the game is more than just the main quest.

And what do you consider as real evidence? Playing the whole game? Sorry, but as it's said: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Bioware's track record only proves otherwise for the last what, four/five games?

This may be so, and you bring up previous games in your arguments against Bioware as a company. But these arguments don't apply to arguments against Dragon Age, especially considering their last 3 games were developed with a completely different intent in mind.

I would take that as evidence enough of what to expect from then, and based on all the material we've had access thus far, it seems that once again we're right.

You've accessed very little material so far, which is why your assertions are so laughable.

Saying that makes you full of win, amirite?

I know that's what you were thinking when you originally made your stupid reply, but not everyone suffers from the same brain disease you do.

Is that all you've got? And you want us to take your opinion into account with one liners like that?

Pot and kettle.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

I has OVER 9000 WORDS! Must be a great game, amirite? Oh wait, but KotOR broke the dialog record once, then JE, then ME. And a lot of dialog is what makes it good, right?

I believe I said it was impossible to judge the merit of over 800 000 words of dialogue when only experiencing a few.

Your belief is wrong, as you have not.

Well with this I think you already proved that you can't actually read (I blame our public school system) which makes it a little hard to discuss things in a forum with words and stuff, so I'll just make a mental note to disregard anything you write. Maybe 4chan is a better place for you?

 

[Hamster]

It's no different than the character just speaking automatically, or just having a single line just for maintaining the flow of conversation.

What really matters in this situation is how well it is presented to the player. Game should convince me that situation is really desperate and i have no choice. What i am hearing so far about this particular dialogue seem ok, with you being a low level dwarf thrown out in to a middle of monster-infested wastelands.

When it's done bad, well, we all remember those episodes from various games where your uber avatar of destruction is forced to surrender by a bunch of low level guards, because they, omg, surrounded you.

 

[racofer]

Look, people, man the fuck up. You don't like DA, fine. Now stop being complete jerks and make an effort to do something constructive. If you don't feel like making an effort, shut up or stick to GD.

What kind of constructive effort do you expect to be done? Do you think arguing over and over about all the flaws of bioware games in here, would make them better in the future? We've dealt with all the mistakes bioware does on their games all the time, we've discussed them throughout several thread over here, yet some morons believe we're not entitled to express our previous statements because "YO HAVENT PLAEID TEH GAEM! DUM TALK SUCH ROT BOUT BANGINWHORE!".

If anyone needs to man the fuck up, it's the flamboyant fanboys that continue to ignore the fact RPGCodex likes RPGs by definition, and all of bioware's games completely lack any of those defining elements we evaluate on games. If they continue to post in here with that fanboy smugness and one liners of pretentious superiority, flame war is all we're gonna have.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Without playing the game you wouldn't have experienced a great deal of the dialogue (there is reportedly over 800 000 words) so you wouldn't be able to make this statement. Well, you could say the dialogue is pure Bioware because they made the game, but calling it trite without playing the game would mean it's based off nothing more than a couple of random pieces you've glimpsed here or there.

Haha. I've watched every video released so far. You know what they all have? Dialog. Quite a lot of it. Easily enough to say that it won't be a hidden gem. Especially since main writer is Gaider and his two books have turned out to be shit.

Depends on your definition of linear.

Well, your honor, whether I had sex with that woman depends on your definion of the word "is".

Linearity as in the main quest goes A->B->C->D and if you go to D before B nothing happens. And there is only one way to proceed.

Now you're just combining lots of pretty sounding words together in a derogatory statement that holds no real information because you haven't played the game and therefore have no real information to share.

Uuh, retard much? You missed that character creator they published? Or did you miss the skill/abilities-screen when you molded your characters eyebrows? Everyone who cared to find out has known nearly everything about the character-system, how the combat works and what spells the game has for weeks (if not months) by now. It's very easy to notice that Bioware studied D&D 4th ED and WoW.

So yes, those three, imho very important elements in an RPG, are dumbed down, lite-versions of systems we have seen previously.

EDIT: yes yes, it's possible that the game turns around halfway in but since that hasn't happened in any previous Bioware title...

Indeed, it may be possible sometime in the future that the Sun will cease to exist, but since that hasn't happened to date I see no reason for that event to ever occur.[/quote]

Oh, how clever and witty of you. You really must the topdog at your day-care center! Mommy must be proud!

Hint: creating an analogy between human behaviour and astronomical events doesn't really make you look smart, quite the opposite.

 

[Grunker]

It's no different than the character just speaking automatically, or just having a single line just for maintaining the flow of conversation.

If this is the case, no game fucking ever hit the spot even remotely. Every game with dialogue-options suffers from the above.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Whoopsie. So it's been done, we have proof, it can be awesome, like linearity can also be awesome, WHY DO IT AGAIN?

Fixed it for ya

Suffice to say: Linear games that are easily as good as Fallout have been made.

So I'm extremely doubtful as to whether Fallout's non-linearity has anything at all to do with its level of awesome.

Please, please, please tell me what those games are!

 

[Grunker]

Whoopsie. So it's been done, we have proof, it can be awesome, like linearity can also be awesome, WHY DO IT AGAIN?

Fixed it for ya

Suffice to say: Linear games that are easily as good as Fallout have been made.

So I'm extremely doubtful as to whether Fallout's non-linearity has anything at all to do with its level of awesome.

Please, please, please tell me what those games are!

Planescape: Torment?

 

[1eyedking]

Game is shit. Confirmed.

:D

 

[Grunker]

Game is shit. Confirmed.

:D

Hey I actually have a serious question for you, since you liked The Witcher. The marketing made it seem like this game would rip off The Witcher's choice/consequence system. Does it, in any way, achieve something similar?

 

[racofer]

Well with this I think you already proved that you can't actually read (I blame our public school system) which makes it a little hard to discuss things in a forum with words and stuff, so I'll just make a mental note to disregard anything you write. Maybe 4chan is a better place for you?

Please disregard anything I say from now on and spare me from ever having to reply to your posts devoid of any argumentation other than "OH LOOK I SEE SOEMTHIN WRONG HERE LEMME PWN HIS ASS!"

 

[draexem]

Haha. I've watched every video released so far. You know what they all have? Dialog. Quite a lot of it. Easily enough to say that it won't be a hidden gem. Especially since main writer is Gaider and his two books have turned out to be shit.

Like I said before, you'd have glimpses, but there's over 800 000 words spoken during the game (not to mention more of the written variety). Saying you have a good grasp of the dialogue throughout the game based on a couple of videos is just funny and sad.

Linearity as in the main quest goes A->B->C->D and if you go to D before B nothing happens. And there is only one way to proceed.

Yes, linearity IN THE MAIN QUEST does go like that, but a linear main quest does not a linear game make.

Uuh, retard much? You missed that character creator they published? Or did you miss the skill/abilities-screen when you molded your characters eyebrows? Everyone who cared to find out has known nearly everything about the character-system, how the combat works and what spells the game has for weeks (if not months) by now. It's very easy to notice that Bioware studied D&D 4th ED and WoW.

Now you're not even talking about gameplay anymore, you're judging purely off character creation/progression. Usually people call this being very nit-picky but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here.

And I still haven't got anything from you about the combat system, and I don't expect to either. Everything I've heard from people who have actually played the game is that combat is good on PCs (not so much on consoles). I'd like to hear how you'd consider combat to be lite when compared to previous games. It should be especially interesting to hear considering you've never played said game.

Hint: creating an analogy between human behaviour and astronomical events doesn't really make you look smart, quite the opposite.

This coming from someone who raised an argument based upon the theory that the future is easily predictable by studying the events of the past, because nothing ever changes and the past is set to repeat itself for ever and for ever because you said so. A theory that’s about as retarded as you can get.

 

[draexem]

Please disregard anything I say from now on and spare me from ever having to reply to your posts devoid of any argumentation other than "OH LOOK I SEE SOEMTHIN WRONG HERE LEMME PWN HIS ASS!"

Does the Codex have a prise for the biggest hypocritical statement of the year?

 

[racofer]

No, my belief is spot on. I wrote it as clear as day on the previous page. If you can't see it, then you have a problem.

Again, you have not.

That depends. The word linear is derived from the latin word 'linearis' meaning created by lines.

Thank you for defining the word for me, now:

Non-linear has been and can be interpreted to mean the ability to depart from a set line, or a set path.

Yes, however:

Therefore, gamers can quite validly call DA or even Oblivion non-linear because, while there is a main quest for you to do, there isn't a set path you must stay on throughout the game.

So delaying quests makes it non-linear? Even though those quests are still completely linear, to the point where they nearly complete themselves for you as in Oblivion? You mistake non-linearity with free roaming. Oblivion was a complete free roam experience, as in, you could do quests at any order you wanted (save the mainquest), but each quest was still the same regardless. DA follows the same line of thought as every quest:
A)Ends in a completely meaningless way relative to anything else in the game;
B)Cannot progresses beyond a predefined set of events;

It doesn't matter if the quests have multiple resolutions if they progress alike each time you play, and you cannot skip certain parts of it. All of bioware's quests follow the A->B->C->D progression.

There are points where you must do a quest to progress the main storyline, but the game is more than just the main quest.

Yet every quest needs to be completed in order to unlock the next one, regarding the storyline, thus, linear.

This may be so, and you bring up previous games in your arguments against Bioware as a company. But these arguments don't apply to arguments against Dragon Age, especially considering their last 3 games were developed with a completely different intent in mind.

And what higher purpose does DA tries to achieve that the previous games have not?

You've accessed very little material so far, which is why your assertions are so laughable.

I know that's what you were thinking when you originally made your stupid reply, but not everyone suffers from the same brain disease you do.

Does the Codex have a prise for the biggest hypocritical statement of the year?

Please, don't be such a cry baby.

 

[Scruffy]

No. The first thing that needs modding is yourself for buying that.

But does the camera suck?

http://hamand.eggman.us/crap/candc.jpg

Look at this picture. You cannot fully see the surroundings and the little visible parts are all blurred out. So yes, it does suck.

i looked at that picture. and all the choices you are given mean "yes".
is the remaning part of the dialogue not showing up and you can actually decline or what?

Spoiler

In that situation your only other literal choice is to remain in those caves and die, because no one's going to let you out. You've basically been sentenced to death.

oh ok
makes sense
thanks

does answering something different change the group "morale" towards you or something?

I wonder why is it so fucking hard to understand that the "four options leading to the same outcome" isn't a fake choice, because any kindergartner can see that the character is agreeing anyway (the storyline must continue. I guess he could say "no, lol" and be killed by the hordes / reload the last save, though), the game isn't trying to fool you into thinking otherwise. It's no different than the character just speaking automatically, or just having a single line just for maintaining the flow of conversation.

Yes, we all noticed all options say "yes". You don't get points for noticing that. Yes, I'm sure you feel really fucking smart for noticing that, and the drooling hordes won't because you're very special. Hur dur.

EDIT: ALSO, SOMEONE DELETE UNMASTERED'S POST. IT'S FUNNY TO DO THAT IN USELESS ANDHAIRA THREADS, BUT HERE IT'S REAL FUCKING ANNOYING.

Edit 2: yaaaaay

sucks to be you

 

[Clockwork Knight]

It's no different than the character just speaking automatically, or just having a single line just for maintaining the flow of conversation.

If this is the case, no game fucking ever hit the spot even remotely. Every game with dialogue-options suffers from the above.

Yes, this is the case. You either go with them or suffer obvious incoming gangrape. The game doesn't consider you being a suicidal retard (which would only result in death -> reload ->try again), and lets you choose how to agree so your character responds in an appropriate manner (i.e, your barbarian won't reply politely). Whether you consider this important is up to opinion. Do I care about it? Not really, but I think it's nice to choose how to answer instead of having a set way of answering.

Point is, that screen is there just for flavor, and isn't trying to fool the player into thinking he has a choice (mostly because the situation doesn't allow for it - why am I forced to end up in the island at Risen? Why can't I choose to jump into the monster's mouth? Because then the story ends).

Anyone that finds it unnecessary can just hit the first option and continue.

sucks to be you

Eh, we agree. Shall we get married, now? Embarassed