Gileadan
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Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Aug 10, 2023 6:46:23 GMT
So I'm curious. Is there anything you think BioWare will get right, or exceed at, in the next installment? Im just guessing, but I think at least half the folks here probably lie within the skeptical camp (myself included). Part of me is wondering if there's any aspect of the game you are relatively optimistic about. I'm not particularly optimistic about any aspect of DA4. I expect the leaks to be at least somewhat true and the final product turning out to be a somewhat clunky action game with some faint RPG elements. After all the DA series moved away from RPG and towards action with every iteration. I also feel that the writing no longer sets BioWare apart from the rest of the industry. On that front I expect another variant of "bunch of quirky companions crack cheerful one-liners while heading towards victory against an enemy that's very terrible and dangerous according to the letters and diaries they find along the way".
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Gileadan
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Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Aug 8, 2023 6:26:39 GMT
Nothing like fandoms bashing each other and every side thinking their horse is the higher one.
I wouldn't worry about BioWare trying to ape BG3. Their games have consistently moved in the opposite direction so any attempt to copycat BG3 would require a complete reboot anyway.
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Gileadan
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Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Aug 2, 2023 8:52:30 GMT
Patrick Weekes @trickweekes.bsky.social"This is a bad idea that might help get us to a good one," is something that I've gotten comfortable saying and hearing. On Friday, I shared a proposed change to a plot beat that is super important and personal for me. Then another writer added, "Hey, just an idea, but..." and made it 10x better. Did anyone else pick up on this? Is it important? I suppose that during play testing it might become apparent that a certain plot isn't working in the way the original writer envisaged but isn't 9 months on from the Alpha milestone a bit late in the day? So, a sub-quest perhaps that was super important to PW but not essentially when following the main narrative? Just thinking aloud here since I'm not really an expert when it comes to game development. Yeah, you'd think the story would be done at this point... that reminds me. While they were working on DAI I read a tweet by Mr. Gaider, stating how much he enjoyed going back to writing DAI characters, and my first thought was "wait, didn't you start working on this two years ago and are close to release?". A few weeks later we got the one year delay.
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Gileadan
N5
Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Aug 1, 2023 12:27:08 GMT
I've never taken time off for a game release and only very, very few games made me stay up late and lose some sleep over them. The most extreme was the original Vampire: Bloodlines, which made me stay up until 4 AM (and get up again at about 6:30) for over a week. I don't expect Dredwlof to be any danger to my sleep routine. Now this is still a constant problem for me. Especially on my weekends. Always one more quest to do. Weekends was the time I could catch up on sleep after five work days in zombie mode
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Gileadan
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Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Aug 1, 2023 12:04:39 GMT
I've never taken time off for a game release and only very, very few games made me stay up late and lose some sleep over them. The most extreme was the original Vampire: Bloodlines, which made me stay up until 4 AM (and get up again at about 6:30) for over a week.
I don't expect Dredwlof to be any danger to my sleep routine.
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Gileadan
N5
Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 30, 2023 7:30:40 GMT
I have an honest gameplay question. The one thing that put me off recent D&D and Pathfinder games are the "buffing parties" before a big fight where your party stands around while you cast a load of buffs and defensive spells because the game's balance expects you to and you'd likely get your rear end handed to you if you didn't do it.
How's this in BG III please?
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Gileadan
N5
Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 22, 2023 10:16:42 GMT
Yes, stupidity tends to thrive in large groups of people in general, but in BioWare games this is everywhere. As soon as the protagonist's back is turned all those NPC factions run off to do something indescribably stupid and need to be forced back on the path of common sense with a relentless series of kicks to the derriere. I mean, name one faction that doesn't act like a horde of idiots in DAI as long as they aren't being supervised by the Inquisitor? I wasn't referring to any particular plot twist here because it happens so often in so many games... Solas, Blackwall, that guy in AC:Valhalla, Anders in DA2... the list goes on. feature, not a bug. I know... it's just literally a dumb feature. It can't be a sign of good writing when a plot requires copious amounts of stupidity to work out. Wouldn't it be great to have a smart villain for once instead of the answer to the question "how did that dumbass ever get this far" inevitably being "because everyone else is an even bigger dumbass"? But smart is much harder to write, of course.
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Gileadan
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Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 20, 2023 11:43:07 GMT
I like to refer to it as "scripted incompetence". I seriously thought for a moment that my game was bugged when I didn't get an action pop up to hit the shuttle's brakes and teach Kai Leng another lesson of why Sir Isaac Newton is indeed the baddest mofo in space. But Trespasser is the crown jewel of this type of nonsense. It's not even a cutscene. "Two years later, the Inquisition is now riddled with spies from all over the neighbourhood... also everyone hates you now because you keep squatting in those keeps." Wait, what? Where was my Inquisitor during those entire two years? On vacation? Drinking spree? Coma? Then I get bitched at like it was all my fault. Also funny when you see their clever plot twist coming from miles away and you just can't do anything about it and have to watch your character act so surprised at the reveal. Enforcement of incompetence and/or stupidity just isn't a good pillar to base a story on. A cursurory examination of current events indicates that such enforced stupidity is quite the feature of large organizations, corporations, governments...etc. Regardless of what the Inquisitor was doing, and we have some idea, it makes perfect sense for the local powers to either feel threatened, or want a piece of that particular action. And are you talking about the Solas being Dread Wolf twist? The one that they actually told us about at the end of the main game? You are right though they could've handled the Inquisitor figuring out about that a little better then they did rather then hunting down some random murals and lore entries, but even then to their credit you do actually have that option to have the Inquisitor go 'aha, I knew it.' Yes, stupidity tends to thrive in large groups of people in general, but in BioWare games this is everywhere. As soon as the protagonist's back is turned all those NPC factions run off to do something indescribably stupid and need to be forced back on the path of common sense with a relentless series of kicks to the derriere. I mean, name one faction that doesn't act like a horde of idiots in DAI as long as they aren't being supervised by the Inquisitor? I wasn't referring to any particular plot twist here because it happens so often in so many games... Solas, Blackwall, that guy in AC:Valhalla, Anders in DA2... the list goes on.
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Gileadan
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Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 20, 2023 8:29:27 GMT
Okay, technically this isn't BW-specific, but I'm sure it cuts deep for many of the BioFam... Scripted events.I find few things in gaming are as annoying as scripted events that would normally be preventable in-game. Oh, and let's add... - Scripted escapes for antagonists. - Scripted ally deaths. - Removing even the option of going after/attacking an antagonist, ally, etc. I'm going to hang onto a thread of hope there aren't any in DA:D, but.... yeah. I like to refer to it as "scripted incompetence". I seriously thought for a moment that my game was bugged when I didn't get an action pop up to hit the shuttle's brakes and teach Kai Leng another lesson of why Sir Isaac Newton is indeed the baddest mofo in space. But Trespasser is the crown jewel of this type of nonsense. It's not even a cutscene. "Two years later, the Inquisition is now riddled with spies from all over the neighbourhood... also everyone hates you now because you keep squatting in those keeps." Wait, what? Where was my Inquisitor during those entire two years? On vacation? Drinking spree? Coma? Then I get bitched at like it was all my fault. Also funny when you see their clever plot twist coming from miles away and you just can't do anything about it and have to watch your character act so surprised at the reveal. Enforcement of incompetence and/or stupidity just isn't a good pillar to base a story on.
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Gileadan
N5
Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 17, 2023 5:41:15 GMT
Well, so far I'm less that 50% into Valhalla and I still have no idea why I should care about this entire assassins vs the order thing. It just so happens that some of Eivor's adversaries belong to the order (and only the order, the assassins seem to be squeaky clean so far). I think Valhalla might have been better as just a Viking game - might as well stop pretending that Eivor is the good girl with all the raiding and pillaging she does. But Valhalla as a whole is an odd bird of a game... like high production value mediocrity. I think the motivation is supposed to be that the Order are trying to control England, which is the new home of the Raven clan, and as such they present a threat to the clan. That's just my read on it, but as motivation for hunting down a disparate group of reactionaries...it works, but only just. Yeah... a lot of it seems like "preemptive murder" to me though. The next guy I have marked is a smith. He doesn't seem to do any harm other than making arms for the order people and Eivor is just going to murder him. I bet Geralt of Rivia and Adam Jensen would have tried to reason with such people first. And what a frigging blight Ravensthorpe is economy wise. The raiding you have to do just to construct a few more houses... poor England could probably ill afford a second viking village.
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Gileadan
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Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 16, 2023 11:05:56 GMT
How witches and assassins might be connected is anyone's guess... Then again, same thing could said about pirates, Vikings, and street gangs yet there they are. Well, so far I'm less that 50% into Valhalla and I still have no idea why I should care about this entire assassins vs the order thing. It just so happens that some of Eivor's adversaries belong to the order (and only the order, the assassins seem to be squeaky clean so far). I think Valhalla might have been better as just a Viking game - might as well stop pretending that Eivor is the good girl with all the raiding and pillaging she does. But Valhalla as a whole is an odd bird of a game... like high production value mediocrity.
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Gileadan
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 15, 2023 22:03:56 GMT
"Hexe" literally means "witch" in German. An 8 pointed star might possibly refer to the 8 major Wiccan sabbats within a year.
However the gloomy landscape doesn't give me the "kill all the order people" vibes.
How witches and assassins might be connected is anyone's guess...
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Gileadan
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 14, 2023 7:10:57 GMT
Didn't Larian complain once that too many people picked humans during early access? As if different ear shapes, skin colours or glowing eyes make a character somehow more interesting. A character could have purple eyes, pointy ears, bat wings and a tail and still be a complete bore. It goes deeper than that, if you played a certain race in Early Access you were treated almost like royalty by the ennemy and could stroll in their camp no problem. Well that's something, good on them. What I find more important and interesting are the everyday reactions. Can you make a character look like some crazy hellspawn and walk into the next pub and no patron will raise an eyebrow and the barkeep will serve you as if you were that boring white male people dislike so much?
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Gileadan
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Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 13, 2023 19:56:14 GMT
Didn't Larian complain once that too many people picked humans during early access? As if different ear shapes, skin colours or glowing eyes make a character somehow more interesting. A character could have purple eyes, pointy ears, bat wings and a tail and still be a complete bore.
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Gileadan
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 12, 2023 12:22:11 GMT
Not that BioWare would ever get away with it, but I'd be completely fine with a romance free game. Not every recipe needs sugar and not every story needs romance. It might also prevent a few nervous breakdowns when certain characters turn out to be uninterested in certain genders.
But either way, before the romance there needs to be a character interesting enough to be romanced anyway.
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Gileadan
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 11, 2023 7:17:00 GMT
Eh, I think it's just a slightly different type of cringe than BioWare's marketing... Larian just still has the journey ahead of them that BioWare is already well underway on.
Remember "this is the new shit" for Origins? The awesome button of Dragon Age 2? Andromeda's marketing that couldn't decide whether humanity was traveling to another galaxy for exploration or resources or to escape some not commonly know threat at that time or even how to spell the Helios/Helius/Heleus cluster?
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Gileadan
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 9, 2023 11:03:06 GMT
There's a huge difference between a long dev time that actually contributes to the final product and a long dev time because of development hell and/or reboots.
Duke Nukem Forever wasn't really in development for twelve or more years, that's just the time spent on failed attempts without a result. Failed attempts don't count. The actual dev time counter starts after the final reboot.
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Gileadan
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Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 9, 2023 7:42:59 GMT
Wow. BG III must be an awesome piece of work if it has the competition quaking in their boots preemptively, even before its release. Maybe I should check it out after all... after it has had some time to mature given the complexity it will most likely have.
I don't think that comparing BG III to DA4 when it eventually releases will do much good anyway since BioWare's games got more actiony and further away from tabletop RPG rules with every iteration.
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Gileadan
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 8, 2023 6:33:48 GMT
how many old hands are left in any job? What counts as an old hand? 21 years is a long time for any job or any career so that too is a testiment to BioWare and that doesen't mean their replacements will be arse anyways. I mean 21 years is a long time and bio did have their share of these veterans. They'd have to retire eventually. Agreed, sooner or later in ones Career you have to admit its time to move on and make room for those are trying to start there's and give them a chance to learn and grow. You think that's why people are leaving BioWare (or any other company really)? To kindly provide someone else with a job and an income and a chance to learn the ropes?
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Gileadan
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Agent 46
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 7, 2023 20:27:49 GMT
Well it can't happen that often again in the future anyway... I mean, how many of the "old hands" are left by now?
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Gileadan
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Post by Gileadan on Jul 3, 2023 8:11:32 GMT
I just got to the gates of Lunden, go me! Yes, I'm slow and easily distracted. I think AC: Valhalla is a nice game to meander around in. The story isn't really grabbing me and I'm mostly killing those Order people because Hytham thinks it's a good idea. The fact that so much of the game's economy is based on raiding - i.e. taking what someone else worked for - is something I don't like and it made me detach myself from the story, making it more a game I' playing and less of a story I'm experiencing. But I do enjoy trying out different weapons and see how they work for me. I lost count of often Gunnar upgraded and downgraded my stuff because I felt like trying something else and I'm not even that far in the game. Combat seems a bit of a mixed bag. I don't like how the power difference is factored into damage received and damage dealt (as opposed to simply being the difference of actual health and skills). It made the fights at against the witches a bit of an embuggerance, with almost every mistake resulting in near instant death. WTF was that 350 something lady doing in East Anglia? Like I'd remember coming back for her later, thank you. Also at least part of the combat mechanics must have been designed by pike salesmen. Pikes hit you even when you should be too close to be stabbed, can be swung like axes and warhammers and have an integrated force field for parrying two handed axes and the like. Not sure what they were thinking here. On the other hand, once you've killed the first pike guy you can enter a chain of Throw weapon -> Stomp -> Throw weapon until there's peace and quiet again. Now I'm sitting pretty at power level ~200 and I don't really know what to spend my skill points on anymore. But as long as there's fun stuff to find and try out I will go and enjoy that just fine.
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Gileadan
N5
Agent 46
Clearance Level Ultra
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Origin: ALoneGretchin
Posts: 2,844 Likes: 7,117
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Gileadan
Clearance Level Ultra
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gileadan
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
ALoneGretchin
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Post by Gileadan on Jun 30, 2023 15:08:53 GMT
Citadel DLC is just a shorter name for The Mass Effect Holiday Special. It just can't be taken seriously. Some frigging Shepard clone - and not even a particularly competent one - is the reason "to bring the entire team back" because it's such a big, big threat. Who cares what those little robo-Cthulhus are doing out there while the crew is having a laugh and a party. Worked better than the endings. You dont always need pan-galactic holocaust to tell a decent story. I thought neither worked that well but the combination of both was the real headscratcher for me. There's a reason why no one tried to make an action comedy about the battle of Stalingrad... yet. But people liked it so we got more of the same in MEA.
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Gileadan
N5
Agent 46
Clearance Level Ultra
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Origin: ALoneGretchin
Posts: 2,844 Likes: 7,117
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Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
ALoneGretchin
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Post by Gileadan on Jun 30, 2023 14:28:28 GMT
I still think Citadel DLC always felt wrong. The only context where I could enjoy it is completely separately from the trilogy and pretending they are unrelated. Just happen to have the same lore and characters, what a funny coincidence. Citadel DLC is just a shorter name for The Mass Effect Holiday Special. It just can't be taken seriously. Some frigging Shepard clone - and not even a particularly competent one - is the reason "to bring the entire team back" because it's such a big, big threat. Who cares what those little robo-Cthulhus are doing out there while the crew is having a laugh and a party.
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Gileadan
N5
Agent 46
Clearance Level Ultra
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Origin: ALoneGretchin
Posts: 2,844 Likes: 7,117
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177
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7,117
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Clearance Level Ultra
2,844
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gileadan
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
ALoneGretchin
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Post by Gileadan on Jun 28, 2023 12:23:37 GMT
That whole section with DA and ME was such a nothingburger they’d have been better off not saying anything at all. Well, it's corpo speak, so the interesting bits are the things that it doesn't mention. "Emotionally charged single-player games" and such. Now where did that word/acronym "RPG" go? Always look for the stuff that's being left out, it tends to tell you more than the things they're actually saying.
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Gileadan
N5
Agent 46
Clearance Level Ultra
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Origin: ALoneGretchin
Posts: 2,844 Likes: 7,117
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177
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7,117
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Clearance Level Ultra
2,844
August 2016
gileadan
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
ALoneGretchin
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Post by Gileadan on Jun 24, 2023 7:48:32 GMT
I'm fine with there being lots of different agendas at play. I'm just hoping we can have our own agenda. My preference would definitely be to kill qunari over working with them. I still ideally hope we aren't even part of the inquisition. With what they’ve set up, we most likely will be part of them or at the very least an ally of the Inquisition. To be honest I agree with you since if we are that’s just another reason why couldn’t we just continue as the Inquisitor? To bring this back on topic, if they did dual protagonists it would be interesting if certain choices and different agendas left us interfering with ourselves. Yes, this. If we work with the Inquisition anyway then the entire "we need someone Solas doesn't know" reasoning lands flat on its arse because our connection with them will lead Solas right to us anyway. And in that case, why play a copy when the original still exists. Of course on the other hand I distinctly remember disbanding the Inquisition at the end of Trespasser and sending everyone home to a well deserved safe civilian life with a heart felt "thank you for your service, I will miss you all". DAD better doesn't reverse that decision. And I would greatly prefer to not have to work with the Qunari. Other than the problems I have with their entire philosophy there are also security concerns. If connection with the Inquisition can lead Solas to me, I'm sure that a connection to any other big faction can do the same thing. And I really want BioWare to make good on their trailer theme "what will you do when those in power do nothing". I mean, let's face it, the protagonist is going to have to do all the work anyway.
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