Dragon Age: The Veilguard - A woke disaster? Yep!

[Mola Ram]

Not having played Inquisition, how much of the Quanari retcon stuff is not said by Iron Bull or his followers?

None, which is probably the root of the theory that it's all a fairy tale Bull made up for Krem's benefit. We don't see many Qunari in Inquisition proper (just one elf convert), and the ones in Trespasser are generally too hostile to talk. But there are also no codex entries that refer to this magical Troon of the Qun that I can recall.

 

[Zaryiu2]

None, which is probably the root of the theory that it's all a fairy tale Bull made up for Krem's benefit. We don't see many Qunari in Inquisition proper (just one elf convert), and the ones in Trespasser are generally too hostile to talk. But there are also no codex entries that refer to this magical Troon of the Qun that I can recall.

Yeah it sounds more like the well know liar and degenerate made shit up to try and get away with what he was doing. Too bad knowing Bioware almost certainly will make him right in Dreadwolf but who with a functioning brain care since that shit will be uncanon as fuck

 

[Snekposter]

I hate the really weak oppression narrative with the mages and the templars.

I've never even played DA: 2 (well, beyond your arrival to the city) but even I know that shit is terrible. "Oh hey, Mages, we're totally kicking the Templar asses and soon Kirkwall will be free of- Wait, why the fuck are you doing blood magic and summoning demons all of a sudden?"

It kinda puts a damper on things when the people who are supposed to be the poor, oppressed mages can't help but resort to fuckery even as they're on the verge of triumph without making use of said fuckery in the first place.

The qunari retcon is the result of old qunari lore being bigoted.
Sten made it clear that in Qunari society women belong at home rearing children. Gays, troons, and other abnormals would not be accepted as they do not fit in, and do not contribute to the roles designated by the Qun. At best you xould have a gay qunari that still has a wife and children as that's what's expected from him.

But the qunari share similarities with muslim cultures, making them "brown-coded", therefore the good guys opposing the evil patriarchal Imperium.
The qunari are also heavily collectivist appealing to your average lefty wacko

Its funny because even in DA: I Iron Bull says Sera would by a psychological wreck forced to push a broom around under threat of yet more torture.

 

[Lord Neeba]

I hated the whole "everything I do is justified if it's against the rich" excuse for her fuckery. When they decided to explore Red Jenny, I didn't realize they meant Commies.



See now, I liked a lot of Cole's weirdness and the obvious-after-the-fact revelation that he always knew Blackwall's and Solas's big secrets. What I hated about Cole was how much of his story was relegated to tie-in fiction. To this day I'm not terribly clear on who Rhys and Evangeline were, even though they seem to be pretty important -- Rhys is Wynne's long lost son, I think? I hate when they do that, and it happens a lot in Inquisition.

Agreed on the travel time, though. Time is absolutely wacky in DAI, to the point you don't even have day/night cycles in the various zone. Real immersive for an open world game.

Sera isn't really a communist or anything like that, she has utterly no desire to change the system. If anything she's pretty much anathema to any sort of revolutionary: her goal is to embarrass powerful people to keep them semi-honest, not tear down the system so a new one can be born from the ashes.

It--along with portraying a city elf who resents the contempt Dalish elves have for their Andrastian kin--are good character concepts. They're just not executed well.

 

[Leaf Wage Slave]

good concepts. They're just not executed well.

Inquisition in a nutshell really.

The worst part about Inquisition is that there’s parts if the game that are actually fairly good, it’s just everything surrounding them is a fucking slog. There’s days I’m half tempted to just say fuck it and go give it another go - almost entirely for trophy reasons, I’m literally one trophy off of Plat - but I can’t be fucked to slog through everything else that game wants you to do…

 

[Übertroon]

Inquisition in a nutshell really.

The worst part about Inquisition is that there’s parts if the game that are actually fairly good, it’s just everything surrounding them is a fucking slog. There’s days I’m half tempted to just say fuck it and go give it another go - almost entirely for trophy reasons, I’m literally one trophy off of Plat - but I can’t be fucked to slog through everything else that game wants you to do…

Better companions and more opportunities to influence the Inquisition and I think it would have been a great game.

 

[PizzaCrusader]

Better companions and more opportunities to influence the Inquisition and I think it would have been a great game.

No. The story remains a bland, safe, boring mess. The gameplay is still drawn out, uninspired, and again boring, with enemies being hp sponges and the player being limited to 8 abilities.It would be better, but far from great.

 

[G19]

The gameplay is still drawn out, uninspired, and again boring, with enemies being hp sponges and the player being limited to 8 abilities.

God that was maddening. Previous games had screen-length skill slot bars, and then they just decide to... make it worse? Are skill slots too expensive or something? I just kept telling myself the rift is causing the characters to develop amnesia and forget about their previous skills.

The story, as forgettable as it may have been, had some good cinematic moments that I appreciated, particularly the assault on Haven. That first impression made Corypheus feel imposing, like a genuine threat to your makeshift gang you called an army. But yeah the good parts were far and few in-between.

Oh and the tavern music, that was good too. It was a completely irrelevant, but very nice detail that caught my attention in a way few, if any, other RPGs have.

You can have a great game with bland, safe story, if it's executed well and accompanied by great, fun gameplay. DAI could have been this, but failed the latter test. DAD is sure to fail the writing aspect again, but I wonder if they'll actually put any kind of effort into the gameplay. Big doubt, but it's the only thing I can see them potentially doing well.

 

[Mola Ram]

God that was maddening. Previous games had screen-length skill slot bars, and then they just decide to... make it worse? Are skill slots too expensive or something? I just kept telling myself the rift is causing the characters to develop amnesia and forget about their previous skills.

I think it was a concession to consoles. Gamepads can easily map 8 powers. Moreover, there are some powers that work fine with a gamepad but are almost useless if you're going with a mouse/keyboard combo.

 

[G19]

I think it was a concession to consoles. Gamepads can easily map 8 powers. Moreover, there are some powers that work fine with a gamepad but are almost useless if you're going with a mouse/keyboard combo.

It's a real-time with pause RPG, can't consolers just pause and select the proper spell from a list like in previous installments? I know you're right and they always simplify things for the sake of a larger audience and controller accessibility. I'm just shaking my fist at the clouds.
And what's that about some powers being useless on M/KB?

 

[Mola Ram]

And what's that about some powers being useless on M/KB?

Maybe it's just my experience, but I found the powers that are used in reaction to enemy attacks (I'm specifically thinking of one of the shield powers that's meant to shrug off blows) required a faster response than mouse and keyboard allows. I suppose if I focused on the hotkey instead of mouse clicks they might be more effective, but either way it's definitely more awkward than using a controller.

 

[Kane Lives]

It's a real-time with pause RPG, can't consolers just pause and select the proper spell from a list like in previous installments? I know you're right and they always simplify things for the sake of a larger audience and controller accessibility. I'm just shaking my fist at the clouds.
And what's that about some powers being useless on M/KB?

Everyone should adopt FFXIV style button mapping. No excuses in this modern era. (For those not in the know, they allow up to 64 skills map, with either shoulder buttons opening up another subsection. Very elegant when you get used to it, and apparently slick enough that console tards can keep up with PC players in an MMO.)

 

[ZMOT]

It's a real-time with pause RPG, can't consolers just pause and select the proper spell from a list like in previous installments? I know you're right and they always simplify things for the sake of a larger audience and controller accessibility. I'm just shaking my fist at the clouds.
And what's that about some powers being useless on M/KB?

less skills to design, animate and balance; less skills so more brainlets can play it (think moba), and ofc gamepad works too. also remember this:

Everyone should adopt FFXIV style button mapping. No excuses in this modern era. (For those not in the know, they allow up to 64 skills map, with either shoulder buttons opening up another subsection. Very elegant when you get used to it, and apparently slick enough that console tards can keep up with PC players in an MMO.)

lot of those are pointless or utility tho, the actual rotation is pretty simple. just because you can fit them all on a pad doesn't mean it's a good idea.

 

[Hazel Motes]

Thought this might be worth sharing. A very loose definition of 'In-Game Cinematic'. Possibly a sign of how shit it actually looks.

What I really wanted to share was this:

Dragon Age Day 2022​

Trans Empowerment Project​

About this campaign
Dragon Age Day is a fan-created annual holiday that celebrates all things Dragon Age! It's a day for fans to come together to thank all of the game developers, artists, and creators who helped to bring Thedas to life. It's also an opportunity where we ultimately channel all of this energy into raising money for charity. We're proud to note that this year's selected charity for 2022 is Trans Empowerment Project.

About Trans Empowerment Project
We are a federally recognized 501c3 dedicated to moving the Trans* community out of crisis and into empowerment.
We are focused on building power for our community through establishing systems of support, creating education, and growing local power to collaborate on building the equitable future we deserve.

Tiltify - Made for Fundraisers

We give you the tools to engage with your donors and raise more for your charity

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I guess they learned nothing. This game is another Saints Row waiting to happen. May even kill the company off.

 

[Miller]

I guess they learned nothing.

To be honest, Tumblr and troons have been their target audience for quite some time.

 

[Dave.]

Seems like the only people who play BioWare games are teenage girls and wine aunts. I don’t even think trans women are interested in this shit.

 

[Mola Ram]

Seems like the only people who play BioWare games are teenage girls and wine aunts. I don’t even think trans women are interested in this shit.

You have legacy morons like me, who are just curious enough about the DA:I cliffhangers to pray this will be anything remotely resembling a good game and good story, but it's increasingly like being the guy on death row watching the clock tick toward midnight and realizing, nope, the governor is never gonna call.

 

[OutInTheRain]

Bioware developed the weirdest audience. Once the romances became a thing, they slowly developed this cult of fujoshis who squealed over gay romances in everything.

 

[Agarathium1066]

Bioware developed the weirdest audience. Once the romances became a thing, they slowly developed this cult of fujoshis who squealed over gay romances in everything.

I remember how they spoke about Origins and the characters in it. They explained how they intentionally made Alister the 'boy next door' type and various kinds of intentional appeal to women. Then Zevran, despite being a mediocre character with razor thin reasoning to join you, was massively popular with their future loyal customers Turbo Fujos. So they cranked up that gay and its just gotten more extreme to keep them buying.

I'm still shocked they made Solas' romance so restrictive you'd think they'd have gone out of their way to serve his bald ass up on a platter.

 

[OutInTheRain]

I remember that. All the large lasses were thirsting about the gay elf. I'm pretty sure I just killed him outright. The series just got gayer, and deviated from the interesting plot more and more.