Dragon Age: Inquisition - News Roudnup

Couchpotato

Couchpotato

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Alright time foe more article , and videos for Dragon Age: Inquisition. So lets get started with a new video from Pax Prime 2014 with Outside Xbox.



Morrigan returns for Dragon Age: Inquisition and although the Witch of the Wilds is not a playable party member, she is important and, according to producer Cameron Lee, less of an 'ice queen' this time around. For this and other Dragon Age: Inquisition titbits such as the new-look Fade, undead horse mounts and Mass Effect's Samantha Traynor doing the voice of a female Qunari Inquisitor.
Click to expand...
Next Mike Laidlaw released the whole list of romanceable NPC's for the the game on the forums, and as usual the whole internet is in a up-roar over the choices.

Here are our “core” romance options. They are available to players of any race, and fulfill our first design goal of providing multiple options to everyone:


  • Cassandra is interested in male characters.
  • Blackwall is interested in female characters.
  • Josephine is interested in both male and female characters
  • Iron Bull is interested in both male and female characters
  • Sera is interested in female characters.
  • Dorian is interested in male characters.
Two “additional” romance options were added to the game as a result of the extra development time DA:I received. They are more limited in scope, largely for reasons directly related to their story arcs, but are otherwise the equal of the other options:


  • Cullen is interested in female elves and female humans.

  • Solas is interested in female elves only.
This means that of our core cast, Varric, Vivienne, Cole, and Leliana are not romance options. While we know this may disappoint some fans who were interested in them, we don’t believe that they lose out, as each character engages in their own meaningful story.
Click to expand...
More information.
 
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What's the point of Gaider for releasing this kind of stuff, other than PR?

I say that's a big spoiler.

It would be much more fun to find out possible NPC relationships in the game.
 
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Well the topic is open again and Bioware's Allan Schumacher has a reply to all the hate with a reply all male hetro players deserve to be less catered to.

Link - http://forum.bioware.com/topic/512958-romances-in-dragon-age-inquisition/page-42#entry17263508

Speaking more generally, as I may have hinted towards… if there's a group that I'd be most willing to "short change" (or better stated, since only one group is really benefiting here, I'd be most unwilling to focus on) it'd be the straight male group because within pop culture (games, movies, etc) they are already the beneficiaries of so much content. So I do not consider it the same level of "inequality" to have them get less options than a different group, as opposed to those other groups.

While I fully expect it to be seen as empty words (since for all the talk of trying to focus more on LGBT representation, lesbians and gay men receive less than straight people), I do consider their cries for representation to have a much more solid grounding than some guys who, for maybe the first time in their gaming life, have to deal with the reality that sometimes not everything is going to fall their way.

I actually don't feel it's necessary for all our games to have precisely the same amount of options for all because sometimes a story/narrative may make sense, and in the case of DAI the alternative would be simply not doing that content instead, which is still unfortunate to anyone that would like that content. I do, however, personally feel a bias towards giving straight male gamers the bonus at this time because of their lengthy track record of receiving the most focus and content.

So yes, I actually do feel that gay men and lesbians have a touch more reason to be upset… though if a straight man feels upset I won't begrudge them that feeling. I do hope, however, that they can step back and realize the big picture regarding their disappointment and can better empathize with people that are not like themselves going forward.
 
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How did they manage to make every single character in DA:I butt ugly(male and female)……
Especially Morrigan gee.

I take this back actually, Cullen looks decent enough.
 
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Couchpotato said:
Well the topic is open again and Bioware's Allan Schumacher has a reply to all the hate with a reply all male hetro players deserve to be less catered to.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why this guy felt the need to write this.

Then again my only complaint about the two extra romance options woulld be that they felt the need to put some of the extra developement time into some extra romance options :p
 
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I used to visit Bioware forums quite regularly but stopped after DAO I think. The forums are pretty much invaded by the "politically correct" brigade now and its sad to see Bio dev pander to them at every level. The key example is David Gaider, I used to enjoy reading his posts (about lore and stuff) back in DAO (and before) days but now days he just bends over backwards for the "politically correct" brigade.

So why are Bio boards now invaded by the "politically correct" brigade? I think one of the main reason is romances have gained so much prominence in their games. If you simply glance their boards now, lot of threads are about romances. You won't see this in other gaming boards. Someone new to gaming might be mistake them as the "Harlequin" of gaming!

Now don't get me wrong, I am not against romances in games. In fact it can be fun. I am not even against gay romances as well. In fact I don't even care if the only romance is gay etc. What bothers me is the crowd Bio is attracting due to adding romance and how that changed Bio from a good RPG developer to a romance developer now days. I think DAI will still million even if they simply stripped all the RPG stuff out and left the only the romance…
 
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Thorwyn99 said:
How did they manage to make every single character in DA:I butt ugly(male and female)……
Especially Morrigan gee.
Click to expand...
She can look like a troll for all I care - I'm in love with her voice!


lostforever, I don't visit Bio forums regularily nor ever did.
I do peek there here and there just to get some news, check if Bioware Points finally went on sale which never happens and that's it. Of course I make a troll post or a few. ;)

Threads are less informative than I'd like to see on an official game forum and I just can't adapt to the general IQ level of that board.
But it's not just Boware forums, Sims forums are just as horrible. Sometimes I think EA pays some regulars there to dumb down, derail or utterly destroy a quality discussion.
The huge turnoff for me is that I can't ask everything I want to ask. I mean, I can, but mustn't. As I'd probably get an instaban. It's nothing vulgar or profane, just the same stuff I'm not afraid to ask on other games official forums.
For whatever reason, the overall climate on both Bio/Maxis forums is let's pretend everything is beautiful and shiny and let's keep the dirty laundry hidden.
Apart from that, I just hate when I'm warned or censored when posting "wtf" by the same people who use that abbr. daily in RL.
 
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HiddenX said:
What's the point of Gaider for releasing this kind of stuff, other than PR?

I say that's a big spoiler.

It would be much more fun to find out possible NPC relationships in the game.
Click to expand...

Couch made a mistake. Mike Laidlaw is the one who made the post about all the romance options, not Gaider.

It was done because people were agonizing over at the BSN (I'm not joking, I think a few of them were having anxiety attacks). I personally think it's really stupid to reveal all this stuff.
 
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azarhal said:
Couch made a mistake. Mike Laidlaw is the one who made the post about all the romance options, not Gaider.

It was done because people were agonizing over at the BSN (I'm not joking, I think a few of them were having anxiety attacks). I personally think it's really stupid to reveal all this stuff.
Click to expand...

Also some people don't want to accidentally trigger gay or lesbian romance so they pretty much telling you straight up whom to hit on or not :)
 
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lostforever said:
Also some people don't want to accidentally trigger gay or lesbian romance so they pretty much telling you straight up whom to hit on or not :)
Click to expand...

True roleplaying:
Make choices - live with the consequences, don't reload.

Knowing the consequences before playing is the highest level of uncool.
 
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booboo said:
Are there benefits to romancing characters? I remember in DAO you got various bonuses if you had people entirely 'under your spell'. That's the only reason I'd bother, since this aspect of games holds 0 intetest for me.
Click to expand...

I don't know about stats benefits but if you want certain story outcome then it might be wroth having certain characters under your "spell".
 
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booboo said:
Are there benefits to romancing characters? I remember in DAO you got various bonuses if you had people entirely 'under your spell'.
Click to expand...

The in-game effects of npc relationships have never been affected by romance. You could get the maximum approval rating with a character (which brought a stat bonus for you in DAO, and unlocked skills for them in DA2) whether or not you romanced them - - it's never made any difference.
 
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On a side note, if you want some good laughs, read some of the bioware forum thread.
It's comedy gold from all sides IMO.
 
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Couchpotato said:
Well the topic is open again and Bioware's Allan Schumacher has a reply to all the hate with a reply all male hetro players deserve to be less catered to.

Link - http://forum.bioware.com/topic/512958-romances-in-dragon-age-inquisition/page-42#entry17263508

Speaking more generally, as I may have hinted towards… if there's a group that I'd be most willing to "short change" (or better stated, since only one group is really benefiting here, I'd be most unwilling to focus on) it'd be the straight male group because within pop culture (games, movies, etc) they are already the beneficiaries of so much content. So I do not consider it the same level of "inequality" to have them get less options than a different group, as opposed to those other groups.

While I fully expect it to be seen as empty words (since for all the talk of trying to focus more on LGBT representation, lesbians and gay men receive less than straight people), I do consider their cries for representation to have a much more solid grounding than some guys who, for maybe the first time in their gaming life, have to deal with the reality that sometimes not everything is going to fall their way.

I actually don't feel it's necessary for all our games to have precisely the same amount of options for all because sometimes a story/narrative may make sense, and in the case of DAI the alternative would be simply not doing that content instead, which is still unfortunate to anyone that would like that content. I do, however, personally feel a bias towards giving straight male gamers the bonus at this time because of their lengthy track record of receiving the most focus and content.

So yes, I actually do feel that gay men and lesbians have a touch more reason to be upset… though if a straight man feels upset I won't begrudge them that feeling. I do hope, however, that they can step back and realize the big picture regarding their disappointment and can better empathize with people that are not like themselves going forward.
Click to expand...

Thanks for highlighting this Couch.

It almost seems like BioWare has made a conscious decision to alienate straight male gamers ("…if there's a group that I'd be most willing to 'short change' … it'd be the straight male group") This is apparently justified since that "straight male group" is nothing but a bunch of insensitive "guys who, for maybe the first time in their gaming life, have to deal with the reality that sometimes not everything is going to fall their way."

Somebody needs to tell these guys that EA/BioWare isn't some privately funded art foundation; that actually it's a publicly owned, for-profit company. That being the case the substantial revenue potential of that despicable "straight male group" still ought to count for something. Moreover, it's simply not necessary to put down or talk down to majority groups in order to support minority groups.

This sort of condescending customer treatment has hurt BioWare in the past. Chalk this up as yet another lesson not learned.

__
 
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RPGFool said:
Somebody needs to tell these guys that EA/BioWare isn't some privately funded art foundation; that actually it's a publicly owned, for-profit company.
Click to expand...

I have never seen a gamer express the wish that EA would focus more on the bottom line before.
 
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lostforever said:
I used to visit Bioware forums quite regularly but stopped after DAO I think. The forums are pretty much invaded by the "politically correct" brigade now and its sad to see Bio dev pander to them at every level. The key example is David Gaider, I used to enjoy reading his posts (about lore and stuff) back in DAO (and before) days but now days he just bends over backwards for the "politically correct" brigade.

So why are Bio boards now invaded by the "politically correct" brigade? I think one of the main reason is romances have gained so much prominence in their games. If you simply glance their boards now, lot of threads are about romances. You won't see this in other gaming boards. Someone new to gaming might be mistake them as the "Harlequin" of gaming!

Now don't get me wrong, I am not against romances in games. In fact it can be fun. I am not even against gay romances as well. In fact I don't even care if the only romance is gay etc. What bothers me is the crowd Bio is attracting due to adding romance and how that changed Bio from a good RPG developer to a romance developer now days. I think DAI will still million even if they simply stripped all the RPG stuff out and left the only the romance…
Click to expand...



You turn the entire logic of the idea upside down! You make it sound like it is the fault of gay people that we are oppressed!

So gay people are usually excluded from story told in video games. And because gay people are unsatisfied with that and speak up, it is THEIR fault for "making a PC fuzz about it"?

You know, with the same your logic you could argue against Black People having the right to sit in the same place in the bus in the 1960ies! "What do those Negros always want to sit in the bus with White people! They and their stupid PC demands, they are now everywhere demanding equal rights! Where will the world come to, they pester me with their politics!" Your entire logic is upside down. Not the "PC" people bringing it up are the problem, the widespread EXCLUSION of entire groups of people, THAT is the issue. We don't bring it up to pester anyone or because we are notorious rioters, because we are EXCLUDED, made invisible in almost every other game. So how is simply just TALKING about the issue such an offensive, unbearable "political correctness tyranny" for you? If such simple conversations already irritate you, you must live in a VERY small world!
 
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Nobody likes having their comfortable assumptions questioned. When it's new for you, it feels like a terrible imposition.
 
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RPGFool said:
Thanks for highlighting this Couch.

It almost seems like BioWare has made a conscious decision to alienate straight male gamers ("…if there's a group that I'd be most willing to 'short change' … it'd be the straight male group") This is apparently justified since that "straight male group" is nothing but a bunch of insensitive "guys who, for maybe the first time in their gaming life, have to deal with the reality that sometimes not everything is going to fall their way."

Somebody needs to tell these guys that EA/BioWare isn't some privately funded art foundation; that actually it's a publicly owned, for-profit company. That being the case the substantial revenue potential of that despicable "straight male group" still ought to count for something. Moreover, it's simply not necessary to put down or talk down to majority groups in order to support minority groups.

This sort of condescending customer treatment has hurt BioWare in the past. Chalk this up as yet another lesson not learned.

__
Click to expand...
I agree with you as soon as I read his reply my jaw literally hit the floor. You do not talk to your paying customers that way on a forum of the company you work for.

He basically said they did this on purpose, and that segment deserved it. He later went on to say he meant something else but it was to late by then. Just read the comments.
 
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