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:
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:)

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 :D

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.

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 ;)

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.

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?
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.

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.'

This is a funny position. You think people on the forums are any better? None of them have agenda's? I don't think anyone is an "expert" in rpg's, what the hell is that anyways? I think that if a reviewer or person shares similar tastes in rpgs with what you do its safe to say his opinion carries merrit. I myself like to try most games and see if they appeal to me.

I'm not an elitist who believes my opinion on a game is the only one that matters or that I can shoehorn a game into a mold that strictly classifies it as to what it is.

darn you desslock now I am interessed in the game again :P

BTW Oblivion objectively is not a good game….. unless good game, equals good graphics…. I do not know why someone would like generic gameplay and killing the same kind of monsters who are the same level as you 100's of times… But it is a good simulation of exploring a computer generated world… I just cannot stretch so far as to call it a good game…

A bit LTTP, but… oh-kay! Between this and the very Michael Moorcock-esque Fade teaser, I'm suddenly feeling a bit more interested in this thing again.

Interest level +2.

All true -- but he has a very long and very solid track record of having pretty damn good opinions. I'd say about 80% good (which is the overlap between his opinion and mine, naturally).

That's why I'm lending his opinion a good deal more weight than, to pick an example at random, yours -- rationale or not.

Desslock wrote in his Oblivion review that only bad thing in the game are NPC-s and that otherwise its a masterpiece. I hate Oblivion so its obvious that I and Desslock have different taste in games, so why should i care about his opinion especially when he only says that a game is better then every piece of official information has showed. I believe in what I see not what someone says, and up to today I havent seen many good things about Dragon Age.

I've had the same feeling as Desslock for quite a while, and I certainly haven't tried to keep it a secret - I still believe DA will be a solid title, despite the marketing department in EA being completely bonkers.

It's just something about the way David Gaider, Patrick Weekes, Stormwaltz and so on show up on our forums and defend the title. They sound honest. Why bother coming here to lie in our faces? That makes no sense; everyone who knows anything about the Watch knows that most people around here are too thorough to buy a game based on hype anyway.

It's nice to get a confirmation that the game seems to be on the right track though, from such a well established writer as Desslock (especially after he got to play the game for several hours).

If I was Gaider, I'd probably beat someone up over at the marketing department: "I've been working on this title for FIVE LONG YEARS, and you good-for-nothing morons manage to squeeze it through the same marketing scheme as The Sims!".

The Sims featured Marilyn Manson and geysirs of blood? O_O

(Come to think of it, that reminds me of Sam Peckinpah's Salad Days.)

I was referring to the lame sex part, not "the new shit". That looks more like a random FPS game. Probably the same lame EA marketing department though.

Uh, interesting thought …

If carried out correctly …

For my part, I've never suspected those developers of lying.

It's not about that, it's about how being part of that environment can color your own perceptions, especially if you're directly involved in the development of said title. I don't think you'll find many developers who think of themselves as lacking in creative integrity - and obviously companies like Bethesda and Bioware consider themselves on the forefront of gaming development.

It's only natural they'd come here to defend their titles, as it's their livelihood and likely their passion.

I'm sure many would come here and defend Jade Empire and Mass Effect, for instance, calling them great games. Many here would agree, but I consider them both gigantic steps back in most of the important ways.

Unfortunately, we all expect different things - and personally, being an enthusiastic "hardcore" gamer - I despise the mass market approach, no matter how understandable it is.

So, it's not as clear cut as you might think.

Anyway, in this case - based on Desslock's comments, I'm inclined to believe I might have been too harsh. I'll gladly eat my words about it, and apologize if that's the case. Not that anyone cares, but I think it's only fair.

But I'll have to wait and see the final product and play it for a good while before making my mind up. Again, first impressions are often very misleading in this modern gaming industry.

I'm wondering more and more whether I should buy this game at all.

It is just too dark for my taste.

I'll rather keep the Drakensang prequel in mind.

The answer for you is simple, Alrik:
Buy none of the upcoming games. You need a new PC or a decent upgrade first. Your old PC is even too slow for the first Drakensang with all the eye candy on. Newer games wouldn't even run on minimum, which means you would ruin the atmosphere.
The good news is that the consoles are limiting the stress put on PC hardware. Relatively cheap hardware will suffice until the next console cycle if you don't need a bigger upgrade for full-HD gaming on a 24" TFT.

Yes…it's an opinion. I'm not sure why you think this needs to be pointed out. It was a comment on another forum that we plucked out and used as news so I'm sure he can live with the fact that he didn't provide evidence or - shock! - additional facts.

As for questioning his views…remember that it was an opinion, yes? Most of us are capable of rational thought and his opinion is simply an additional piece of information to consider.

Very pleased to hear that from Desslock. Looks like a likely buy again.

While Oblivion is not a game I would defend … saying it is 'objectively not good' is different than 'full of flaws' which I would support. Because as a console action game with RPG-lite elements and a huge, well rendered open world I would say that it *is* objectively a good game.

… but I still think it is overrated in the general press.

I also agree that Desslock expressing an opinion is just that - but since he has a history, you can get some feel for what it might be like. Sort of like reading info from one of the folks here. We all know something about each other and therefore can judge opinions accordingly.

Another important factor is that while Desslocks opinion is certainly subjective, it is the opinion of someone who has 20+ years of experience in RPGs/writing such opinions about RPGs. He generally knows what to look for and what to expect. He can compare it to 100s of titles he has previously played, reviewed and given feedback on.

As for Oblivion: It's not a bad game. It's just a very hyped up game, which makes it easy to try to bring it down further than what it deserves. Very similar to WoW - there are quite a few people claiming it is "the worst MMO ever made", which it clearly is not, but it's easy to hate since it's such a giant/so hyped up. The more hyped up something gets, the easier it is for people who don't like it to hate it (even though the hate comes from the hype and all the people claiming it's the best thing ever, not the actual product).

To me, personally, there are elements in Oblivion that more or less ruins my overall experience. However, when I try to be objective, I can easily see that it would appeal to a lot of people, especially after modding it.

Lol i was gonna post my newfound optimism until i read this Desslock guy actually praised Oblivion.

I thought this was a place for connaiseurs, you shouldn't allow dumbasses with their "oblivion are teh awesum"

Also pissing out the window is awesome, doesn't mean it's good.

This is the cruelty of critic notoriety. You can write for years until everyone knows you. Then you write a stupid review(prolly while you were high), and suddenly you reveal that you're a fucktard and nobody cares about your opinion anymore.

It's pretty much what happened to that other idiot yahtzee Crapsho.

Let's all agree that no game in the world is objectively good, please.

Stop being a troll Quests.Muin.

^
||

You dear Watch people have a problem with MY posting style? ;)