Random Game Talk (are you really a gamer if you aren't playing BG3?)

[Xmad]

6 minutes ago, Calvert28 said:

Well TBF Bioware started going down hill when it brought political correctness into it's stories.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/10/11/ea-buys-bioware-pandemic

Sure that's totally what ruined bioware, more interesting stories brought them down.

[Calvert28]

Just now, SwoleXmad said:

https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/10/11/ea-buys-bioware-pandemic

Sure that's totally what ruined bioware, more interesting stories brought them down.

They didn't become more interesting. DA1 was beyond awesome in story. DA3 I quit before even getting half way through the game because the characters and story itself held very little interest. Tip toeing around sensitive subjects and then offering 32 different companion flavors for everyone makes the stories pushy and seemed to have an agenda outside of telling a good story.

[naptownskinsfan]

6 hours ago, Calvert28 said:

Well TBF Bioware started going down hill when it brought political correctness into it's stories.

I mean the focus on the single-player mode has gone downhill, and it has to do with EA getting their hands on everything and wanting to milk as much money as possible out of it.  Take The Old Republic MMO for example.  When the game released, you had eight different classes, each with a different storyline, companions, etc.  Once they started releasing new content, it was all merged into one story (you eventually became a character called The Outlander) and that's how it's been ever since.  Apparently the development team is extremely small at this point because of Anthem, too, so there's that as well.  

[skywindO2]

8 hours ago, Calvert28 said:

They didn't become more interesting. DA1 was beyond awesome in story. DA3 I quit before even getting half way through the game because the characters and story itself held very little interest. Tip toeing around sensitive subjects and then offering 32 different companion flavors for everyone makes the stories pushy and seemed to have an agenda outside of telling a good story.

"There was too many options for my small, narrow-minded brain"

[TXsteeler]

11 hours ago, Calvert28 said:

Well TBF Bioware started going down hill when it brought political correctness into it's stories.

What is this in reference to?

[Calvert28]

5 hours ago, naptownskinsfan said:

I mean the focus on the single-player mode has gone downhill, and it has to do with EA getting their hands on everything and wanting to milk as much money as possible out of it.  Take The Old Republic MMO for example.  When the game released, you had eight different classes, each with a different storyline, companions, etc.  Once they started releasing new content, it was all merged into one story (you eventually became a character called The Outlander) and that's how it's been ever since.  Apparently the development team is extremely small at this point because of Anthem, too, so there's that as well.  

Bioware's work was still going pretty stellar even after EA not saying they werent one of the reasons but they didn't really start falling off until 2010 after ME2. Look at the games they produced after that, everyone of them came in a notch below the last one before it. DA2 had a radical new shift change in combat system that was not really necessary because that was not the selling point of DA1. Then TOR and that was just a completely bleh and bland game then the notorious ME3 took a nose dive with 3 of the same sh1tty endings.

Maybe TOR was the beginning of the downfall but that game was so average at it's very best.

DA1 you had multiple major backstories with your character that you could choose from. DA2 you only got the one but it was still pretty decent then DA3. You are no one special or interesting, you're just some A-Hole who just happened along and got the mark of portal thingy on your hand??????

You guys see where I am going with this?

[naptownskinsfan]

1 hour ago, Calvert28 said:

Bioware's work was still going pretty stellar even after EA not saying they werent one of the reasons but they didn't really start falling off until 2010 after ME2. Look at the games they produced after that, everyone of them came in a notch below the last one before it. DA2 had a radical new shift change in combat system that was not really necessary because that was not the selling point of DA1. Then TOR and that was just a completely bleh and bland game then the notorious ME3 took a nose dive with 3 of the same sh1tty endings.

Maybe TOR was the beginning of the downfall but that game was so average at it's very best.

DA1 you had multiple major backstories with your character that you could choose from. DA2 you only got the one but it was still pretty decent then DA3. You are no one special or interesting, you're just some A-Hole who just happened along and got the mark of portal thingy on your hand??????

You guys see where I am going with this?

I haven't played any of the Dragon Age games, but I pointed that out about ME3- because EA wanted to have replay value with multiplayer and offering different DLC weapon and armor packages.  EA did the same thing when they took over Bioware with SWTOR- they trimmed it down from 8 class stories to 1, put a complete emphasis on the Cartel market and launched the game early without much end-game content, which they are still slowly leaking out little by little from the last expansion.  

EA doesn't care about single player immersive stories.  They want to make money with microtransactions (see Battlefront II) and don't really care about that much else.  

[Calvert28]

2 minutes ago, naptownskinsfan said:

I haven't played any of the Dragon Age games, but I pointed that out about ME3- because EA wanted to have replay value with multiplayer and offering different DLC weapon and armor packages.  EA did the same thing when they took over Bioware with SWTOR- they trimmed it down from 8 class stories to 1, put a complete emphasis on the Cartel market and launched the game early without much end-game content, which they are still slowly leaking out little by little from the last expansion.  

EA doesn't care about single player immersive stories.  They want to make money with microtransactions (see Battlefront II) and don't really care about that much else.  

Oh I agree EA is a terrible company. But many of the core writers were still there throughout all of that. Their content just went downhill.

[Thelonebillsfan]

The whole point of DA:I is that you're some random nobody who just fluked into a position of total power. The entire narrative deals with the nature of religion, belief, and how we convince ourselves that those with power must be of divine mandate but in reality are just random shmucks who make mistakes and get people killed. DA1 is a wrote, by the numbers tale of political betrayal and a nebulous end of the world thrown there because they needed an overarching villain. The backgrounds mean far less in Origins than the racial choices and construction of your character does in DA:I. And acting like Origins isn't politically overbearing in it's ethos and message is hilarious. Stories are about things, I'm sorry you don't like that they're about things.

But sure, reeeeeeeeeee gay people or whatever.

Edited January 23, 2019 by Thelonebillsfan

[Thelonebillsfan]

And Inquisition doesn't "tip toe" around anything lol, the entire narrative thrust of the game is "Religion is easily wielded as a weapon against those that don't share those beliefs". The title is literally Inquisition, like it's not subtle about it's message. Along with tertiary themes about the dangers of feudalism, the conflicts of a class structure, and what creates environments for racism to foster.

[KManX89]

On 1/4/2019 at 8:43 PM, thrILL! said:

PS Plus members should check out Steep.  It's available for free under the Plus banner on the PS4.  

It's got everything from snowboarding to skiing to wing suit skydiving.

I'm not sure when and how often they rotate these free games in and out but you can always add them to your library to DL later.  This one has been a blast so far and I'm not even remotely into X-games kind of stuff.

Nice. It's been a long time since we last got a good snowboarding game, so I might check it out.

SSX, we miss you.

[Calvert28]

On 1/22/2019 at 9:34 PM, Thelonebillsfan said:

The whole point of DA:I is that you're some random nobody who just fluked into a position of total power. The entire narrative deals with the nature of religion, belief, and how we convince ourselves that those with power must be of divine mandate but in reality are just random shmucks who make mistakes and get people killed. DA1 is a wrote, by the numbers tale of political betrayal and a nebulous end of the world thrown there because they needed an overarching villain. The backgrounds mean far less in Origins than the racial choices and construction of your character does in DA:I. And acting like Origins isn't politically overbearing in it's ethos and message is hilarious. Stories are about things, I'm sorry you don't like that they're about things.

But sure, reeeeeeeeeee gay people or whatever.

Yea I got the point of it and it still sucked. They dealt with religion and politics just fine in DA:1, nothing I saw in DA3 even came close to the choices and trials presented in finding the ashes of that Jesus woman. That was a thoroughly interesting side plot that added a whole level of debate on the abuse of someone's power and blind faith. What did DA3 have? Oh lets go to a Masquerade Ball and hunt animals or hey lets give lets give them a tough choice of "preference" between mages and templars, nothing affects the outcome of the game and you go through basically the same damn quest when trying to acquire one or the other. But hey, choices.....right?

 

Jumping to conclusions I see. Never once mentioned any particular preference and I only pointed it because all it does is adds fluff. Nothing meaningful from companionships.

 

[Calvert28]

On 1/22/2019 at 9:44 PM, Thelonebillsfan said:

And Inquisition doesn't "tip toe" around anything lol, the entire narrative thrust of the game is "Religion is easily wielded as a weapon against those that don't share those beliefs". The title is literally Inquisition, like it's not subtle about it's message. Along with tertiary themes about the dangers of feudalism, the conflicts of a class structure, and what creates environments for racism to foster.

Yea nothing about an political agenda in that narrative.

[TXsteeler]

11 hours ago, Calvert28 said:

Yea nothing about an political agenda in that narrative.

When a religion is powerful enough to enact an inquisition, it is the government at that point, which therefore causes it to be political in nature.

[Calvert28]

4 hours ago, TXsteeler said:

When a religion is powerful enough to enact an inquisition, it is the government at that point, which therefore causes it to be political in nature.

It's going to be political regardless.

You sure as hell wouldn't catch these guys writing into the story anything about the left. They think it's just perfect over there but still have to point out everything they think is wrong with the right.