Dragon Age 2 - David Gaider Interview @ Geek and Sundry

Originally Posted by Raggie
Being a man is also not an excuse.

Being you isn't an excuse to be ignorant of reality and failing to understand how other people can respond to it without needing an excuse.

That said, I don't think you need an excuse to be that way - so…

Originally Posted by Raggie
In my world, badmouthing people who are not present is called "gossip".

If you're saying you don't express negative opinions about people who're not present - ever - then you're a liar.

I don't think much of liars in that context.

If you can acknowledge that you do, on occasion, then maybe this isn't such a big deal afterall.

Originally Posted by Arkadia7
I'm a little surprsied at the surprise or outrage that someone commented on her looks, it kind of goes with the territory of being a man (I'm assuming the conversation is being made by mostly males in this thread), in terms of you do judge women on first appearance by how attractive they are, this shouldn't be shocking to anyone in my humble opinion. Superficial, sure. Reality? Yep.

I'm neither shocked nor outraged. I'm merely taking this opportunity to voice my opinion. There is nothing exceptional about KapitanUnterhosen's comment and you are of course right; superficiality is a reality.

Actually, reality sucks in all manner of ways. That's no reason to accept things as they are.

Raggie, fortunately rpg watch posters don't have to conform to your expectations or standards. A side comment: in my years of being active in different forums on the internet have taught me that holier-than-thou posters usually are full of hypocrisy in their real lives, and are usually a bore as well. Keep on pretending to be the arbiter of good taste though.

Please don't pretend you know anything about me, Arkadia.

Originally Posted by Mr Smiley
I'm neither shocked nor outraged. I'm merely taking this opportunity to voice my opinion. There is nothing exceptional about KapitanUnterhosen's comment and you are of course right; superficiality is a reality.

Actually, reality sucks in all manner of ways. That's no reason to accept things as they are.

Responding negatively to how superficial the world is - is actually a way of not accepting it. It's certainly not supporting it.

I find that ironic, considering how you dismissed KU as unworthy of attention based on a response that was obviously a sign of not appreciating superficiality.

Unless, of course, you want to argue that Felicia and Bioware stand for depth in the gaming world?

Personally, I struggle to find a shallower cocktail.

She's is too hot to interview people. I end up ignoring Gaider completely because I just want to look at Felicia Day instead.

"Who's that guy and why is he saying something? Bring the girl back, damn it! Time to fast forward!"

I'm so old I remember a day when Bioware used to make RPGs. Hey Bioware! How about catering to my demographic? I could give a rat"s arse about 'romance' in your games. Unlike 99% of your official forum membership I've actually had sex. In fact, as a man pushing towards forty, I try to avoid it these days. Like I have the energy.

BioWare has had romance options since BG2 though. BG1 is pretty much the only game without it.

True, but I don't remember it being such a focal point in the past.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Are you seriously suggesting the appearance of Felicia Day is irrelevant to her public persona?

It's irrelevant to whether or not the content of the interview is worthwhile.

The fact that Felicia Day was involved to some extent with DAII should be taken into account when she talks about the game. Whether or not someone thinks she's attractive doesn't invalidate her opinion though.

Originally Posted by Mana Garmr
It's irrelevant to whether or not the content of the interview is worthwhile.

The fact that Felicia Day was involved to some extent with DAII should be taken into account when she talks about the game. Whether or not someone thinks she's attractive doesn't invalidate her opinion though.

If she's "famous" because of her looks - and I think that's a very large part of it - then commenting on her looks can be a very relevant thing to do.

It can be expressing your distaste for the superficial nature of media exposition.

It's not necessarily the most pleasant or fair way of doing it, but I certainly both get the point and I agree that the media is being incredibly superficial in its handling of the gaming industry.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Are you seriously suggesting the appearance of Felicia Day is irrelevant to her public persona?

I don't care about her public persona. But I do suggest that her appearance is irrelevant to the actual content of her interview with David Gaider.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Are you saying that because you didn't understand his meaning, he's implicitly at fault somehow?

Yes. If he fails to communicate what he means, that is of course his fault somehow. On the other hand, if I fail to understand what he means, that's of course my fault too.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
I think his meaning was blatantly clear - and I find it surprising that you didn't get it. Whether he was being superficial as well, I can't really say. I don't think that's relevant to the message.

The whole message is the message, and if you call somebody a "mutton-face" that's what you do, even if it's just a device to convey something else.

But I probably wouldn't have reacted to KapitanUnterhose's comment alone; I initially reacted to how Couchpotato (perhaps deliberately) missed the point of darkling's comment about KapitanUnterhose's comment. And perhaps darkling was deliberately misreading as well…

Originally Posted by Mr Smiley
I don't care about her public persona. But I do suggest that her appearance is irrelevant to the actual content of her interview with David Gaider.

The participants are part of the content, and I think her background is very relevant to what she has to say.

Yes. If he fails to communicate what he means, that is of course his fault somehow. On the other hand, if I fail to understand what he means, that's of course my fault too.

My point exactly, and you're suggesting that he did something wrong - since you're the one criticising his communication.

The whole message is the message, and if you call somebody a "mutton-face" that's what you do, even if it's just a device to convey something else.

Obviously.

But I probably wouldn't have reacted to KapitanUnterhose's comment alone; I initially reacted to how Couchpotato (perhaps deliberately) missed the point of darkling's comment about KapitanUnterhose's comment. And perhaps darkling was deliberately misreading as well…

I see, but you did call him out specifically and suggested he had nothing interesting to say.

Originally Posted by Mr Smiley
KapitanUnterhose made a comment about the interviewer, not about some game character. And I know nothing about MoTA or Talis; Dragon Age II was so bad that I haven't bothered taking in any information about any DLC.

The interviewer = Felicia Day = Talis. That's why the interviewer in this case is fair game, imho.

If BioWare are saying "screw you "old" RPG players, we want this hot nerd-bait chick to haul in the cool pubescent teen cosplay, e-waifu audience to market our new big boob awesome action game", then disliking Felicia Day, the interviewer (and what she represents) makes a bit more sense.

Originally Posted by Raggie
I've never read any nasty posts from him on BSN, he's always come across a nice guy. maybe I've just read different posts, can't say.
Sounds like he was joking. Besides, Gaider didn't write Leliana.
Gaider didn't also write Anders or the Qunari.

Gaider was never nasty. He was just flippant and slightly arrogant. He may not have written Leliana but he is the lead writer and nothing gets past him. Irrelevant in any case, since the problem is not Leliana but the fact he(they) retconned her back to life.

"Suck it up princess" is a direct quote (in response to a poster who didn't like the removal of companion armor customization).

In another thread (about the dialog wheel, iirc), in a barrage of criticism (which with hindsight he should have been paying attention to), he talked about "knocking down fans' sandcastles" as though his customers were children and he was taking pleasure in destroying something they held dear.

If you need more 'flippant', look no further than his 'five stages of grief' post. He thought this would apply to fans and their eventual embrace of DA2. Here is a snippet:

Originally Posted by DAVID GAIDER
"Stage 1: Denial You refuse to accept the presence of X in your beloved game, or any game for that matter, and begin a bitter campaign to convince everyone else that it is the travesty you think it is. If you play the game, you are determined to hate it—and voila! You do! You hang out on RPG Codex."

As to slightly arrogant(deluded) how about this post:

Originally Posted by DAVID GAIDER
We are well aware of what the 4chan folks are up to and they’re [sic] desperation to sound more important/numerous than they are. I mean, is it any wonder that why multiple people have suddenly been running here going “OMG” look at the Metacritic user reviews!” when nobody has ever done that before? Seriously.

Originally Posted by Gaxkang
The interviewer = Felicia Day = Talis. That's why the interviewer in this case is fair game, imho.

If BioWare are saying "screw you "old" RPG players, we want this hot nerd-bait chick to haul in the cool pubescent teen cosplay, e-waifu audience to market our new big boob awesome action game", then disliking Felicia Day, the interviewer (and what she represents) makes a bit more sense.

Why not criticize Bioware for bad marketing then, or this woman for her work? Do you know the meaning of constructive criticism?

This place feels more like a forum to spew hatred lately, instead of discussing RPGs.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
The participants are part of the content, and I think her background is very relevant to what she has to say.

Yes, I agree that her background, while not her appearance, is relevant. And I confess that I was not aware of her role as Talis, since I haven't bothered with the DLC.

I consider Dragon Age 2 the worst Bioware game so far, and I was only interested in the interview to see if David Gaider had something to say that could, even indirectly, shed further light on why it turned out so bad, and whether they are going to continue in that direction.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
My point exactly, and you're suggesting that he did something wrong - since you're the one criticising his communication.

Well, he did call her "mutton-face", which, as this ensuing debate proves, distracted from whatever else he was trying to say.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
I see, but you did call him out specifically and suggested he had nothing interesting to say.

If I called anybody out, it was Couchpotato, for misreading darkling, who might have misread KapitanUnterhose in the first place. But I guess that's just how it goes in a forum like this.

And I maintain that commenting on appearances undermines your own credibility, and should therefore be avoided.

Anyway, I'm sure "Felicia" will get along just fine in spite of a perceived slight on the internet on some message board, lets get real.

Originally Posted by Gaxkang
Because he retcons a lot and then gives "suck it up, princess" responses on the BioWare Social forum. For example, look at how he handled Leliana. If you killed her in DA:O she reappears rather alive in DA2. When asked on the forums why this had been done, he said something like (paraphrasing) 'just because you killed her doesn't mean she's dead.' And changes entire personalities - look at how Anders morphed from a witty rogue in DAA to emo terrorist nutjob in DA2. And changes entire races - see how the Qunari were reinvented from DA:O to DA2. Not built upon, but reinvented. Lots of integrity from everyone!

Grand! Made my day.

Artistic integrity is such a K.O. argument in a discussion. Beats a dead horse any day. And nothing the opposing side of the argument can do about it. Much like the fabled instant-win-button.

Just… well what Gaxkang said!


PS: Yes, I snuck the "artistic" in there.