Dragon Age - Desslock Comments

It feels like the Dragon Age show today, although this one might bring heart to some readers. Badesumofu points out some interesting comments from respected RPG writer Desslock on the QT3 forums:

This game is going to surprise a lot of the naysayers who have been turned off by the dumb advertising -- combat definitely has got a solid BG2 feel, the dialogue system seems a step above anything BioWare has previously done in terms of offering varied conversation choices that actually seem viable and have meaningful consequences, and the world and background lore seems deeper and more interesting than I expected.

From what I've played of the game (only about 8 hours), it actually seems great, and so far has far exceeded my expectations given some of the trailers and advertising.

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More information.

That sounds exactly just like another advertise.
"You didn't like impression the last ad gave? Oh wait, well, in truth it's even much better than you could have ever imagined in your mind. Stupendous."

Surlent apparently doesn't know who Desslock is.

I was just going to say that. Amazing. Desslock has been around a long time.

Not a fan of this Manson advertising, so this news is reassuring. Everything else looks great though.

Yeah, was going to say, Desslock is one of the few who I really take notice of. My heart warmed a little when I read this comment, because it's basically Desslock confirming my best hopes about the game.

After reading what Desslock had to say about Oblivion and then playing the game myself I don't really trust his preview much.

I liked oblivion...heaven forbid huh?

And I take desslocks comments way over your opinion

quasimodo said:

After reading what Desslock had to say about Oblivion and then playing the game myself I don't really trust his preview much.

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Agreed - anyone who thinks Oblivion is a good game gets no respect from me.

Wow, a guy with 30 posts and a guy with 8 posts vs Desslock, who has written for magazines and websites for 20 years. Hmmm, think I'll go with Desslock's opinion over theirs. Anybody heard of quasimodo or pantheon, outside of a few forums? Didn't think so

Oblivion was an awesome game. It may not be your cup of tea, but it was an awesome game, nevertheless. I hated the Gothics, but they were awesome games too. Why do I say so? Because many people here, whom I respect, say so. They just weren't an awesome game for me.

I wasn't very interested in Dragon Age at all. Desslock has probably made me a buyer. I'll wait for a few of my forum mates' comments first, but color me intrigued.

The point behind the newsbit is that Desslock is so far the only available RPG expert with the opportunity to play the game for a several hours.

crpgnut said:

Oblivion was an awesome game. It may not be your cup of tea, but it was an awesome game, nevertheless. I hated the Gothics, but they were awesome games too. Why do I say so? Because many people here, whom I respect, say so. They just weren't an awesome game for me.

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Sorry, but I don't call any game I don't like 'awesome' - no matter who else says it is.

... and he has a similar take on the adverts that many of us do, and is positive about the experience.

On Oblivion ... I believe the devs did exactly what they set out to do. Whether or not that was what WE wanted is something entirely different

pantheon said:

Sorry, but I don't call any game I don't like 'awesome' - no matter who else says it is.

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Understanding the difference between saying "I like this" and saying "this is good" is a good thing. I didn't like Mass Effect all that much, but I can recognise that it was a pretty good game. Similar with Oblivion - not my cup of tea, but I can see why so many people enjoyed it so much. In my opinion, Oblivion was a good game, but a bad RPG. It is a fact that I didn't like it very much.

What we have here, though, is someone who can be legitimately considered an expert on RPGs, who has actually played the game for 'about 8 hours', has a similar view of the marketing as us, and similar tastes to many of us, who is saying that it seems like a good game. It could also be reasonbly implied that he liked the 8 hours of the game that he played.

That, and what I previously said, is why I brought the post to the attention of the editors of this fine site.

I agree too. Good game and good RPG are not the same thing. For many people Diablo was an awesome game, but definitely not for me. Many consider PS-T awesome, but others dislike it intensely. It's a matter of taste and opinion. I've rarely disagreed with Desslock over MANY,MANY years of reading his stuff!!

Reviewers are no longer reviewers but new kind of advertisers (I don't know Desslock, I'm talking about reviewers in general). That's why I no longer read any reviews but care about people's opinions on forums much more.

Interesting news. I've not been very found of Biowares lates but maybe Dragon Age will surprise me.

This is a pleasant surprise. I trust Desslock more than the majority of modern gaming journalists - and his take is the kind of thing I haven't been expecting.

For what it's worth, my original response to Oblivion was very postive indeed - and it took me quite a while to appreciate just how shallow it really was. If you, as someone who writes in public under the circumstances that are true for Desslock, you can't just easily "back out" if you've praised a game to high heaven.

Not that I know what he originally wrote, but I can't fault anyone for having an initial positive reaction towards Oblivion - because that's exactly what Bethesda are so damn good at - namely first impressions. Their entire objective and motivation seems, to me anyway, to be about making the strongest first impression possible - with longevity and solid underpinning being a distant side-goal for them.

Anyway, I'm taking the first step in getting ready to "eat my words" about Dragon Age - but as always, I remain sceptical. Many games make a strong first impression, only to show their true colors later. I had much the same response to Mass Effect until I took a good look at the skill/item mechanics.

But still, sounds great.

BillSeurer said:

Surlent apparently doesn't know who Desslock is.

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Actually I do know who he is. But even then why should I care for his opinion about a game when it is only that, an opinion?

Desslock said:

-- combat definitely has got a solid BG2 feel, the dialogue system seems a step above anything BioWare has previously done in terms of offering varied conversation choices that actually seem viable and have meaningful consequences, and the world and background lore seems deeper and more interesting than I expected.

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His post is all opinion.

He offered no rationale for his opinions. Not to mention he didn't provide any new facts about the product. His background and history on the net puts him in a position to make endorsements. We can already see how many on this forum admires his views without questioning them.

Surlent said:

He offered no rationale for his opinions. Not to mention he didn't provide any new facts about the product. His background and history on the net puts him in a position to make endorsements. We can already see how many on this forum admires his views without questioning them.

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This is true for just about any 'review' or 'reviewer' on the net or in print. To single out Desslock for this is interesting.

Maybe the guy just rubs you (the metaphor type of rubbing) the wrong way or you just think he's 'sold out' to the 'marketers.'