Dragon Age 2 - Combat Preview @ IGN

Shouldn't it be retitled 'Dragon Age:Effect' ?

DA:O wasn't particularly good, and from what I've seen of DA2 it's going to be dumbed-down to a action RPG. A rather ugly looking action RPG.
 
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My post expresses neither fanboism nor is any form of sarcasm expresses. I always say what I mean and I think. And up till now (from what I've seen) I believe and think that DA:O is Bioware's finest game to date. At least when it comes to the story, the banter, the characters and the dialogue, and the choices in the quest-lines. It feels like Bioware wanted to prove something here, especially when it comes to the main story. It is not so much about fighting darkspawn, I find, but it is more about what happens to people when they find themselves in times of trouble, e.g. facing a threat like the darkspawn.
The only real gripe I have with the game right now is that it feels (and is) way too long.

As for the changes to Dragon Age 2, I concur and agree with Alrik Fassbauer's latest post. The problem for any game developer is to maybe distinguish between the nerds and geeks and the solid, stable masses that'll buy and play the game - just like Alrik said.
 
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DA:O was definitely good, by today's crpg standards anyways, which seem to be getting lower all the time.

I thought it was Bioware's best game since 2001, but it still pales in comparison to the Baldur's Gate trilogy.
 
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Just in case this gets missed, the newsbit has been updated as per the info in DPB's post. BioWare denies only three responses and says the icons aren't that simple.
Thank goodness you put that up. I think I would have gone to Amazon.com and searched for "pitchfork" and "torch" before bothering with the comments. ;)

The icons still worry me a LOT, though. One of the neat things about DA:O are the tricky moral choices. (Hmmm, kill the succubus or let the guy dream of his family for awhile longer - until the cavalry storms up here and blows them away?) If they just mark one as good and another as bad, that would really defeat the fun of it.

Well, it sounds like they have a ways to go on the system regardless. No need to hit the panic button yet.
 
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(Hmmm, kill the succubus or let the guy dream of his family for awhile longer - until the cavalry storms up here and blows them away?)

Interesting example.

What I'd be doing is develop the Succubus as a feeling, sensitive person, a person who actually has her own dreams of founding and living with a family - maybe even as a local farmer out there, caring for the crops, but never being evil, only longing for an end of a lonely life. End of longing for "real love", even.

You know that I'm that weird. This is the way I think. I break all barriers and all clichés and make something new out of them.

This is why I loved the character of Fall-From-Grace so much. ;)
 
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The icons still worry me a LOT, though. One of the neat things about DA:O are the tricky moral choices. (Hmmm, kill the succubus or let the guy dream of his family for awhile longer - until the cavalry storms up here and blows them away?) If they just mark one as good and another as bad, that would really defeat the fun of it.
I have a feeling that's not really what the icons are for, rather they might be to help explain 'tone' or 'body language'. In ye olde days we'd have just had a [sarcasm] tag or [lie], but that's textual, and probably not the direction Bioware are heading in. If they can use icons to represent states that aren't clear from the words themselves then I think it's probably adding to the conversation system rather than reducing it.
 
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well if we cant have a decent rpg, maybe we become a nice action game here?
 
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Commercially and critically it was 'particularly good'.

If it was so, why are they rushing to dumb it down even further?

You are naive if you think it was a good game.
 
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If it was so, why are they rushing to dumb it down even further?

You are naive if you think it was a good game.

Just to correct - there is no "naive" involved one way or the other, nor is their any "thinking as in opinion" involved with the sales.

Regardless of your personal feelings DAO sold extremely well and did good on the market. That clearly indicates it was a "good" game by a large number of people, even if you are not one of them.

You might consider looking up terms like subjective and objective, because they are fairly relevant when talking about "tastes" in games. Calling someone "naive" for claiming something is a good game is ... well kettle and pot since one persons good game is another persons bad game - it is a matter of subjective taste. Not to mention I think that poster was also making a claim of it being good based on sales - which was an objective statement.

As for dumbing down ... well that is anyone's conjecture, although I know David Gaider and others have commented on the marketing aspects and the change in design numerous times - so there are plenty of reasons given by the Biow-folks. Whether you believe that or not is a different story though.
 
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If it was so, why are they rushing to dumb it down even further?
We don't know they're doing anything of the sort to be honest. I think they are trying to improve the game however, which they're entitled to do - games don't stand still and if they've got an opportunity to improve an already well received game further then it'd be bad business not to take it.

You are naive if you think it was a good game.
1) What's my opinion got to do with it? I was talking about commercial and critical reception. Okay, I make up 1/10,000,000th or whatever of the former, but I hardly think that's significant.

2) Er, why? What's naive about a subjective opinion about a game anyway? Especially one that is objectively 'particularly good'.
 
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I'm critical of the changes for DA2 but really enjoyed Dragon Age. There are flaws but, overall, it's one of my favourite games for the last couple of years...I'm not sure how that makes me naive, though.
 
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Regardless of your personal feelings DAO sold extremely well and did good on the market. That clearly indicates it was a "good" game by a large number of people, even if you are not one of them.

Now you're being subjective.

Don't worry, I'm not going to be dragged into a philosophical argument.
 
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Now you're being subjective.

Don't worry, I'm not going to be dragged into a philosophical argument.

I certainly don't want to drag you into anything :) But at least satisfy my curiosity, how was it subjective?

I said: "Regardless of your personal feelings"
Which isn't subjective as you made it clear what your personal feelings were.

I said: "DAO sold extremely well and did good on the market."
That isn't subjective as it is backed up by sales data.

I said: "That clearly indicates it was a "good" game by a large number of people"
Perhaps this is your quibble? I put "good" in quotes for a reason. I suppose, with some mental stretching, it could be considered subjective. But do you seriously think a large majority of people would buy a "bad" game? The reason I put "good" in quotes was to indicate the good aspect may be open to interpretation (subjective) as either GOOD being a lot of sales and hence it was "good" for EA/Bioware, or it was GOOD for players as why would a player buy a bad game, or both. To me it is less subjective and more objective. Selling a large quantity of games seems like a fairly objective way of saying a lot of people liked it and that it sold well so was also good for the company.

I said "even if you are not one of them. "
This was not subjective as you made it clear you were not one of them.

So I guess it was the whole "good" thing. Meh. I think it is pretty clear most people would consider the fact that the game did very well meant it was good for a lot of people and the company. It may not have been good for those who did not want to see the game do well or simply thought it wasn't a good game for whatever reason, but clearly it was good for many, as indicated by the sales and positive scores, reviews, and support it got. "Good" is a subjective term in and off itself but that doesn't mean it can't be used in an objective statement.

If I said "This is a good game" that is subjective. If we have 10 people and 8 of those people say "This is a good game" and 2 people say "This is a bad game" they are all subjective. But if I then say "most of the 10 people thought the game was good" then I am being objective buy stating a fact (even if the word good is usually a subjective word).
 
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If it had been a good game Bio wouldn't have felt the need to change the sequel into Mass Effect: Fantasy Land.
So obviously you are being subjective. ;)
EDIT:
Juba asserts that “nostalgia can only carry a series so far” and that “(BioWare’s) Edmonton studio is aware that future games in the franchise can’t endlessly go back to the well of fond memories.”
So it obviously wasn't a good game. Not even for Bioware. It was just carried by nostalgia.
 
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