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Post by Hrungr on Dec 3, 2016 3:29:47 GMT
WELCOME ABOARD THE BIOWARE LOVE TRAIN. i dare say if it was not for bioware i would not play video games, with that said i aply lots of other games too, but bioware games... oh man!!! You should also try witcher games. Start with 2 like i did because 1 may seem too clunky. You ll thank me later! I'm going to say something that swims against the popular opinion here, but I did not care for Witcher 3.. at all. Don't get me wrong, the graphics were beautiful and the story line was interesting enough, but I just couldn't get into it. BSN Prime had members comparing it to DA constantly, and I was excited to try it out, thinking I found another game to sink 400 hours into, but I was wrong. I only got about eight hours into W3 on my first play through before switching to another game. Several months later I tried again, started over, and got about twenty-five hours into it before abandoning it. With all the comments I read how "Bioware should have done _____ like in W3" I thought I was going to be blown away, and wasn't. I'll likely give it a third try at some point, not any time soon though. Well, you are most certainly not alone there. I've heard many times people struggling to remain interested through the early going of the game and dropping it. Witcher 1 lost me that way, after 4 tries I've never been able to muster the will to get past Vezima. With W3 I powered through it until I started to appreciate what it does do well rather than stay fixed on what it doesn't. When you get deep into the game, then it starts to shine. But... you gotta get through that early going.
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Post by Croatsky on Dec 5, 2016 0:26:40 GMT
Shit, game is that old?
Then again, I did not got DAI until Jaws of Hakkon was near release. And I did not play Trespasser until few days ago.
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Post by Heimdall on Dec 5, 2016 13:52:45 GMT
I had not played the game in months but the anniversary prompted me to finally pick up the controller and get back into it.
Finally gonna finish the Champions of the Just-Knight Enchanter playthrough...
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Post by midnight tea on Dec 7, 2016 4:43:16 GMT
melbella I think that was primarily my issue as well. Though I love Skyrim and have sunk countless hours into it, I as well became incredibly spoiled with DA's party system. After I played DAI and went back to Skyrim after a couple years of not playing, I started over with a new character and immediately missed having such an interactive party. It helps getting a dog and a follower as soon as possible, but it does get old to hear the same "Cave up ahead" and "What would you like to trade?" lines that pretty much sums up the entire "banter" system in Skyrim. Fun game, but definitely feels somewhat hollow in comparison without companions. dragontartare I don't remember if I made it to Novigrad lol. I remember going to a castle after Geralt finds his girlfriend. I remember a character talking to Geralt about Ciri and where to start looking for her. There I remember I had several options when it came to areas to explore with recommended levels, and I just jumped around and explored. I did a bunch of quests but they seemed rather forgettable. And it's funny you brought up the Val Royeaux comparison because that's one of the ones I was thinking of when I made my last post. I remember reading so many threads about that at the old bsn, that and how Bioware needed to do their quests as good as W3 did (which I thought were bland to be honest). Maybe I didn't give the game enough time. I ought to try again and see what happens lol Give it another shot, but don't do too many side quests (you'll be WAY over-leveled if you do, as I found out). Just do enough to advance the main story, and any side quest that piques your interest. TW3 has its share of fetch quests, too, especially in the starting areas. Most of the monster contracts are basically: talk to NPC, use witcher senses, kill monster, report back to NPC. There are some side quests that are very different, but not so much that CDPR is what every other developer should aspire to (in my opinion). For me, it's the environments, cities especially, that BW could learn from. Kirkwall wasn't too bad (recycled maps aside), but other than that, Dragon Age has nothing that could compare to Novigrad or Beauclair to me...but the story and characters of DA deserve those vibrant cities. So, I guess all my hopes rest on Minrathous being amazing Well, now they actually have a chance to create a large, bustling city - the main reason why some areas, like Val Royeaux, could feel empty was the same reason why many other things were cut from the game: the old gen consoles. You put more people in cutscene or area and they just can't handle it. That was mentioned multiple times by various DA devs. I also recall reading an article from TW3 dev who said that they couldn't have developed Witcher 3 on PS3/Xbox360 plainly because they wouldn't be able to make a game they did. So there you have it. With that that said... I kinda wonder if we'd really see, say, Minrathous ever realized in a scale Novigrad ever was. We may have to put things in perspective - Novigrad existed predominantly to contrast wide, open, fairly scarcely populated areas AND provide some variety. Think about DAI zones what you will, but they were actually numerous and varied, ranging from snow-covered mountains through dense forests and swamps to apocalyptic desert landscapes, peppered throughout with multitude of ruined or settlements of various nations or cultures, both modern and ancient. Witcher however was quite uniform in that regard - even if there were differences between, say, Velen and Skellige, they weren't really that significant, nor had much variety in architecture or distinctions between races or nations, with a few exceptions. If it wasn't for Novigrad - which I think many view as highlight of TW3 - we'd not have many places to go even for a change of scenery, atmosphere or game pace. It was its big (if not the biggest) selling point, later proven with creation of Beauclair (of course that was easier now that they've had all of the (programming) architecture and knowing how to do that). I think they've found their niche in building densely-populated areas and will likely continue with it as their main strength, considering that Cyberpunk 2077 will likely happen entirely in a massive city. And personally I just don't see DA4 or BW go in that direction. First: I really don't see them creating even bigger, singular zone that we'd spend 3 zillion more time than in Hinterlands (Witcher 3 was actually Skyrimmy that way than DAI ever was) only to return to the city (and occasional one or two smaller ones). Considering that we've seen an introduction of active eluvian network, spanning entire continent (or even father away) - and some indications that Dorian will be working on his own - I expect we'd travel to many more remote and varied places on the map than we ever did in DAI. I actually assume we'd see even more zones, but they'd be tighter - maybe the size of Storm Coast or Western Approach at best, with most perhaps the same size or somewhat bigger than zones in Trespasser. So the question is whether Minrathous would ever be... necessary. Val Royeaux wasn't. Aside from certain quests or shops it was simply not worth the effort to build the entire city. The main hub of the game was Skyhold. And the way I see it, that's the only way Minrathous could be realized - considering that (the main) Inquisition has effectively gone underground and is moving to Tevinter we likely won't be having a base like Skyhold, nevermind returning to Skyhold itself. Minrathous could then technically be more of a dispersed (and way bigger) base, with companions scattered throughout bigger area, same with crafting spots, shops and decision centers. Even then though I'm not sure it requires a fully-realized city, nor I think I'd really need one, personally. ___ As for my relationship with DAI/DA... DAI was literally supposed to be a filler. I was playing ESO at a time, and while I play regularly even today, there was a long period where not much was happening in terms of new content. I was burned out at that point, which is when a few people from my guild began mentioning playing in DAI and how much they enjoy it. I've never played any BW game before (I did hear enough to be aware of existence of franchises like DA or ME, but hardly anything beside that), but hearing all the praise and seeing a few favorable reviews I've decided to give it a try. ...Somewhere halfway through the game I was literally "Dammit... so much for a filler - I've found a new thing to obsess about! (*shakes fist*)". I was pretty much hooked and it only got worse from there the more I got to know the universe. My hours played count clocks now at 2022 hours (although at least 15-20% of that time is just me having a bad habit of leaving game running idly in the background while I did something else on my other monitor.). Admittedly I played earlier titles less, with some pt's still needing to be finished - I enjoy the story as I do in DAI more or less, but I can't get over the graphics (among some smaller things). Someone had mentioned that DAO didn't age that well and I have to agree. I will give DAO another run once I properly mod it - last time I've done it, there were some hilarious glitches (which apparently I can't get rid of without fully reinstalling the game) that included removing some major characters' heads, which completely killed my immersion
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Post by dragontartare on Dec 7, 2016 5:22:24 GMT
Give it another shot, but don't do too many side quests (you'll be WAY over-leveled if you do, as I found out). Just do enough to advance the main story, and any side quest that piques your interest. TW3 has its share of fetch quests, too, especially in the starting areas. Most of the monster contracts are basically: talk to NPC, use witcher senses, kill monster, report back to NPC. There are some side quests that are very different, but not so much that CDPR is what every other developer should aspire to (in my opinion). For me, it's the environments, cities especially, that BW could learn from. Kirkwall wasn't too bad (recycled maps aside), but other than that, Dragon Age has nothing that could compare to Novigrad or Beauclair to me...but the story and characters of DA deserve those vibrant cities. So, I guess all my hopes rest on Minrathous being amazing Well, now they actually have a chance to create a large, bustling city - the main reason why some areas, like Val Royeaux, could feel empty was the same reason why many other things were cut from the game: the old gen consoles. You put more people in cutscene or area and they just can't handle it. That was mentioned multiple times by various DA devs. I also recall reading an article from TW3 dev who said that they couldn't have developed Witcher 3 on PS3/Xbox360 plainly because they wouldn't be able to make a game they did.
So there you have it. With that that said... I kinda wonder if we'd really see, say, Minrathous ever realized in a scale Novigrad ever was. We may have to put things in perspective - Novigrad existed predominantly to contrast wide, open, fairly scarcely populated areas AND provide some variety. Think about DAI zones what you will, but they were actually numerous and varied, ranging from snow-covered mountains through dense forests and swamps to apocalyptic desert landscapes, peppered throughout with multitude of ruined or settlements of various nations or cultures, both modern and ancient. Witcher however was quite uniform in that regard - even if there were differences between, say, Velen and Skellige, they weren't really that significant, nor had much variety in architecture or distinctions between races or nations, with a few exceptions. If it wasn't for Novigrad - which I think many view as highlight of TW3 - we'd not have many places to go even for a change of scenery, atmosphere or game pace. It was its big (if not the biggest) selling point, later proven with creation of Beauclair (of course that was easier now that they've had all of the (programming) architecture and knowing how to do that). I think they've found their niche in building densely-populated areas and will likely continue with it as their main strength, considering that Cyberpunk 2077 will likely happen entirely in a massive city. And personally I just don't see DA4 or BW go in that direction. First: I really don't see them creating even bigger, singular zone that we'd spend 3 zillion more time than in Hinterlands (Witcher 3 was actually Skyrimmy that way than DAI ever was) only to return to the city (and occasional one or two smaller ones). Considering that we've seen an introduction of active eluvian network, spanning entire continent (or even father away) - and some indications that Dorian will be working on his own - I expect we'd travel to many more remote and varied places on the map than we ever did in DAI. I actually assume we'd see even more zones, but they'd be tighter - maybe the size of Storm Coast or Western Approach at best, with most perhaps the same size or somewhat bigger than zones in Trespasser. So the question is whether Minrathous would ever be... necessary. Val Royeaux wasn't. Aside from certain quests or shops it was simply not worth the effort to build the entire city. The main hub of the game was Skyhold. And the way I see it, that's the only way Minrathous could be realized - considering that (the main) Inquisition has effectively gone underground and is moving to Tevinter we likely won't be having a base like Skyhold, nevermind returning to Skyhold itself. Minrathous could then technically be more of a dispersed (and way bigger) base, with companions scattered throughout bigger area, same with crafting spots, shops and decision centers. Even then though I'm not sure it requires a fully-realized city, nor I think I'd really need one, personally. ___ As for my relationship with DAI/DA... DAI was literally supposed to be a filler. I was playing ESO at a time, and while I play regularly even today, there was a long period where not much was happening in terms of new content. I was burned out at that point, which is when a few people from my guild began mentioning playing in DAI and how much they enjoy it. I've never played any BW game before (I did hear enough to be aware of existence of franchises like DA or ME, but hardly anything beside that), but hearing all the praise and seeing a few favorable reviews I've decided to give it a try. ...Somewhere halfway through the game I was literally "Dammit... so much for a filler - I've found a new thing to obsess about! (*shakes fist*)". I was pretty much hooked and it only got worse from there the more I got to know the universe. My hours played count clocks now at 2022 hours (although at least 15-20% of that time is just me having a bad habit of leaving game running idly in the background while I did something else on my other monitor.). Admittedly I played earlier titles less, with some pt's still needing to be finished - I enjoy the story as I do in DAI more or less, but I can't get over the graphics (among some smaller things). Someone had mentioned that DAO didn't age that well and I have to agree. I will give DAO another run once I properly mod it - last time I've done it, there were some hilarious glitches (which apparently I can't get rid of without fully reinstalling the game) that included removing some major characters' heads, which completely killed my immersion I know very little about consoles. I didn't realize that DAI was designed to run on a console that was...what, 9 or 10 years old at the game's release? That seems insane to me. I wouldn't expect my present computer to be able to run new games 9 or 10 years from now. In any case, it isn't the size of Val Royeaux that is my main concern, but rather how dead it feels. It felt like a physically large but very unpopular market in the middle of nowhere. You walk along a few alleys with a couple of shops in them and the occasional rich person, and on one side you are stopped by the ocean. The rest of the city just...doesn't seem to be there. It breaks immersion for me. Even seeing a lot of other streets open up in various areas would have been better to me (as was done with Kirkwall...you couldn't walk the whole city, but you definitely felt that it was there). So, as much as I would love to walk through a sprawling Minrathous, I would accept getting a smaller slice of the city -- or maybe a suburb instead -- that really feels lived in.
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Post by Hrungr on Dec 7, 2016 6:30:56 GMT
Well, now they actually have a chance to create a large, bustling city - the main reason why some areas, like Val Royeaux, could feel empty was the same reason why many other things were cut from the game: the old gen consoles. You put more people in cutscene or area and they just can't handle it. That was mentioned multiple times by various DA devs. I also recall reading an article from TW3 dev who said that they couldn't have developed Witcher 3 on PS3/Xbox360 plainly because they wouldn't be able to make a game they did.
So there you have it. With that that said... I kinda wonder if we'd really see, say, Minrathous ever realized in a scale Novigrad ever was. <snip> I know very little about consoles. I didn't realize that DAI was designed to run on a console that was...what, 9 or 10 years old at the game's release? That seems insane to me. I wouldn't expect my present computer to be able to run new games 9 or 10 years from now. In any case, it isn't the size of Val Royeaux that is my main concern, but rather how dead it feels. It felt like a physically large but very unpopular market in the middle of nowhere. You walk along a few alleys with a couple of shops in them and the occasional rich person, and on one side you are stopped by the ocean. The rest of the city just...doesn't seem to be there. It breaks immersion for me. Even seeing a lot of other streets open up in various areas would have been better to me (as was done with Kirkwall...you couldn't walk the whole city, but you definitely felt that it was there). So, as much as I would love to walk through a sprawling Minrathous, I would accept getting a smaller slice of the city -- or maybe a suburb instead -- that really feels lived in. I'm hoping we'll see a district or two in Minrathous in DA4, even to just get a taste of urban Tevinter. It would be far too large to put the entire city in the game (it has a pop. of 1,000,000 after all), but for me it'd be enough to see some of the highlights - the Circle of Magi, the Dwarven Embassy, the Grand Proving Arena, the Argent Spire and their surrounding areas... And it would be nice to see maybe a smaller town and villages as well to contrast with the big city.
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