Dragon Age - Violence Trailer

GhanBuriGhan said:

Considering that Mansons song is actually a barbed commentary on the mindless infatuation of society with everything that is "extreme", "cool", "violent", i.e. the next media hype (and the next, and the next) this trailer is actually quite a deliciously ironic thing. Just like the song itself, btw, which most probably just mindlessly sing along with, without getting it's meaning at all (do we get it? No! Do we want it? Yes!)I don't know if it is conscious, but if it is, this thing is working on so many levels, that it is actually almost transcending into art. Maybe it is even art especially if it is not conscious...

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Well, this logic would make any internet board into a kind of art.

Seriously, though, what troubles me is that we may be accelerating the flood of these chimeric products by buying these products aimed to "everyone." Such unconscious consumer actions tend to end up with filling the market with junk foods and Hollywood movies. The irony here is, to some extent, we are more political as "consumers" than joining a certain "political activities", which would be one of the reasons why I tend to be bitter/cynical to "political discussions."

Thoth said:

What other genre's are there? Like The Grudge or something?

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Oof, off the top of my head: Birds, The Exorcist, The Shining, Prince of Darkness, It, Cape Fear, Dead Calm... sounds to me that you really ought to broaden your viewing beyond teenie-slasher stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with that either, of course.

chamr said:

Please! No calling for more game-engine sex scenes! I like a little smut as much as the next guy, but let's be honest: the technology (and usually the writers) just isn't up to it. Either do CGI or don't do it at all. In fact, maybe not even with CGI at this point. It's embarrassing. Watching this little piece of DA foolishness made me cringe when it came to the "sex" scene. That kind of eye-roll-inducing, sophomoric, ham-fisted, wooden nonsense justifies the opinion that gamers are overgrown children living with their parents in the basement.

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I've actually kinda gotten to appreciate the unintentional cheesiness of BioWare games. There's something endearing about it. David Gaider is so dreadfully earnest about it, he's like the Ed Wood of computer-game writers.

Prime Junta said:

Oof, off the top of my head: Birds, The Exorcist, The Shining, Prince of Darkness, It, Cape Fear, Dead Calm... sounds to me that you really ought to broaden your viewing beyond teenie-slasher stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with that either, of course.

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I think you are doing an argument for argument's shake here since you know Bioware doesn't have appropriate human-resource for making these works.

Prime Junta said:

I hated David Gaider's writing sample so much that I can't take this thing entirely seriously,

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Prime Junta said:

I've actually kinda gotten to appreciate the unintentional cheesiness of BioWare games. There's something endearing about it. David Gaider is so dreadfully earnest about it, he's like the Ed Wood of computer-game writers.

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I see but I guess he is rather expensive for being an Ed Wood...

JemyM said:

Looks awesome for a game from 2005.

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That's a bit harsh, but I've been wondering along the same lines as well. I mean, it doesn't really look ugly, but it seems to me that the graphics in this game aren't that great neither. And that's kinda weird, because they hit a graphical high note with Mass Effect. Maybe it's because they're putting more NPCs on the screen at one time, coupled with console hardware limitations? It's a shame really.

So the trailer was some kind of profound statement laced with irony?

Mmm, ok.

Dusk said:

Well, this logic would make any internet board into a kind of art.

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So? Art has seen far weirder concepts than that

DArtagnan said:

So the trailer was some kind of profound statement laced with irony?

Mmm, ok.

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I don't know. I somewhat doubt it. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it that way - I think it is a near perfect commentary of the conundrums facing "rebellious" art (like Mansons) in the face of the mass market. Everything gets corrupted, and at the same time gets ironically broken. Beautiful.

Dusk said:

I see but I guess he is rather expensive for being an Ed Wood...

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Indeed he is. I would be much happier if they had better writers, but I guess you can't have everything.

GhanBuriGhan said:

I don't know. I somewhat doubt it. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it that way - I think it is a near perfect commentary of the conundrums facing "rebellious" art (like Mansons) in the face of the mass market. Everything gets corrupted, and at the same time gets ironically broken. Beautiful.

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Reminds me of Ronald Reagan appropriating "Born In The U.S.A." for his electoral campaign.

GhanBuriGhan said:

I don't know. I somewhat doubt it. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it that way - I think it is a near perfect commentary of the conundrums facing "rebellious" art (like Mansons) in the face of the mass market. Everything gets corrupted, and at the same time gets ironically broken. Beautiful.

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Considering this is a mass market title, and that an official spokesperson apparently said this trailer was to capture another kind of audience so they can maximize exposure - I find very little reason to suspect that the trailer was meant to do anything except enthrall those who enjoy gore and sex as the main objective in a game.

The fact that they chose the song they did, tells me they REALLY don't care about people like myself as a potential customer.

But that's ok, I never bought into the hype they've attempted to generate on these boards, and I was never expecting anything but a mildly entertaining and well-produced Bioware game for the masses.

I just didn't expect them to be THIS blatant about it, because I got a different vibe from the Bioware devs around here, that they were treating the game seriously.

Wow ... amazing firestorm of reactions ...

I would suggest that this trailer had a few purposes.

1) To get attention. DA:O now has massive mind-share, people are talking about it all over the internets. It'll probably be on Fox News, too.

2) To boost console sales. Maybe even get more people into Bioware style RPGs.

3) I suspect that the choice of that song was a concious wink to their more hardcore fans. The first time I watched the trailer, I laughed at the over the top silliness.

I've seen enough promising material about this game that I'm not going to let one silly and highly amusing trailer put me off. I was recently watching another you tube clip in which a human noble warrior and an elven mage (mage background) went into the same camp and situation, and had very different experiences. It's not just a couple of lines of dialouge, either. I was impressed, it looks like this game definitely is good for at least two or three playthroughs.

(minor spoilers)

Also, you see the characters make a genuine choice about how to treat a prisoner... and making the nice choice meant you missed out on some items. In fact, if you're nice, you never even find out that there could have been a reward. If you take a 'what's in it for me?' approach, you can cash in. And it wasn't just a binary choice, either. And it wasn't like The Witcher where each choice is explicitly presented and binary. The choices seem to have consequences, they feel natural as well. You can get everything you want from a character, then just murder him. Or you can offer him help without asking for anything, and he more or less takes advantage of you. He doesn't just give you the reward anyway at the end. There are no good or bad points either. It's real role-playing, not choosing between whether you need gold, items, or good points.

(spoilers over)

The combat looks excellent as well. I think this could be one of the best RPGs of its scope in a very long time. This trailer just shows that they aren't taking themselves too seriously, and that 'dark and gritty' doesn't mean it won't also be tons of fun.

For the record, I thought ME was kinda bland, repetitive, and just not memorable at all. JE was a bit of fun, but nothing special. NWN1 was so bad I never finished the first chapter. So I am by no means a Bioware fanboy. But I have a really good feeling about DA:O. I think it could really be something special.

DArtagnan said:

The fact that they chose the song they did, tells me they REALLY don't care about people like myself as a potential customer.

I just didn't expect them to be THIS blatant about it, because I got a different vibe from the Bioware devs around here, that they were treating the game seriously.

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It's a trailer, not the game itself. Just because they make one trailer that is aimed at different people than you, that means they don't care you? I don't see how the choie of music for the trailer indicates that they don't care about a certain section of gamers, either.

I just find it bizzare that people seem to feel almost betrayed because Bioware made one silly trailer. They've put out masses of stuff that details various elements of the game, like role playing, the effect of your character's background on the way people treat you, the combat, the choices and consequences.

They are a business. They want to get as much attention for their product as possible.

Badesumofu said:

It's a trailer, not the game itself. Just because they make one trailer that is aimed at different people than you, that means they don't care you? I don't see how the choie of music for the trailer indicates that they don't care about a certain section of gamers, either.

I just find it bizzare that people seem to feel almost betrayed because Bioware made one silly trailer. They've put out masses of stuff that details various elements of the game, like role playing, the effect of your character's background on the way people treat you, the combat, the choices and consequences.

They are a business. They want to get as much attention for their product as possible.

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I don't feel betrayed - and the trailer just confirms what I already knew.

I would never expect them to care about me as an individual - that would be ridiculous.

I can have an opinion about their marketing and their games without being emotionally hurt - you know.

A Norwegian gamesite has just published a preview (hands-on) of Dragon Age. Link: http://www.gamer.no/article.php?articleId=17771

Basically, the writer is a huge fan of BG2, and was very worried by the violence trailer, but was completely blown away by the actual game. His mediocre expectations became high once more, and he's greatly looking forward to the game.

He mainly focuses on the solid combat and good dialogues. However, he didn't see too much of the game, so he wouldn't pass any final judgement at this point.

Well, I almost expected for someone to scream: "This... is... FERELDEN!!!"
By the way, I liked the voiceover of the guy speaking in the beginning.

I don't know, the trailer is kinda silly, not very atmospheric, but I'm telling myself that this is merely a trailer. It probably won't affect my decision to buy the game.

As for the blood and gore - I'm not sure about this trailer, but the blood in some of the earlier screenshots (on people's faces, etc.) looked extremely low-res. If there's going to be so much blood, then it better not stand out in a negative way.

GhanBuriGhan said:

Considering that Mansons song is actually a barbed commentary on the mindless infatuation of society with everything that is "extreme", "cool", "violent", i.e. the next media hype (and the next, and the next) this trailer is actually quite a deliciously ironic thing. Just like the song itself, btw, which most probably just mindlessly sing along with, without getting it's meaning at all (do we get it? No! Do we want it? Yes!)

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Damn, I didn't listen to the lyrics at first, but now that you mention it, I wonder if this was intentional...

Whoa buddy. In my on-again, off-again feelings about this game, I'm back to mildly turned off now. That was the most juvenile silly thing I've seen in a long time,especially that dorky semi-sexy glup. Calling it Ed Wood-ish is throwing roses at it.

@GhanburiGhan; Nice insight on the Manson thing. I don't get much of any kind of feeling of genuineness from this though, even irony.

BioWare's strong suit isn't irony, so I'll file this one into the Ed Wood/Dave Gaider file.

I've watched ALL the previous Dragon Age video releases and I was and still am excited about the game as much as ever. This new "violence" trailer was different and I thought it was actually fun...

Anyone who's been following the development of the game knows and has seen that the game will deal with more mature themes as far as story and moral choices as well and the element of blood and violence in the game.

This new video is not what I'd call a surprise...it only showcases elements of the game that's always been there, now just compressed into a a short film clip depicting as much.

And YES, I agree that it was a sound marketing move, the web is buzzing about it and I'm sure there are players out there that are aware of the game who weren't before...so I'd call that a success.

To any who now cry foul and spout now waning interest because of this new trailer...I can only say that you didn't really understand what the game was about or contained before. That said, the whole game is not going to be a hyper paced bloodbath of violence. It will be there at times and that's what this video is portraying in a stylized condensed form.

All that's been shone before will be there as well, so it's all good in my book

Again it's funny to see the aristocracy get their panties in a dither over something that imo should be taken as fun and intentionally over the top

/Nuns...no sense of humor!

heh

Regards