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

[p1138]

They count total number of times people bought or rented the game, they don't count refunds or people dropping the game. Starfield also similarly boasted about 6 gorrilion sales, most of which ended up being game pass rentals or copies that were eventually returned via steam. If a game is on Game Pass, always subtract the total number of "sales" and then account for how many people are likely to return it on Steam. If a game is known for getting refunds, that's not good.
I would be surprised if Troonguard even got 1M sales total, and I mean actual sales not rentals. This game is DOA, it will never make the money back no matter how people cope about it.

Gamepass is why some devs try to brag about player count, instead of sales. "x million characters created" "y million players" shit like that. It obfuscates the fact that it didn't sell for shit and the only reason so many people even touched it, is because it was free or they quickly got a refund.

 

[bort420]

Gamepass is why some devs try to brag about player count, instead of sales. "x million characters created" "y million players" shit like that. It obfuscates the fact that it didn't sell for shit and the only reason so many people even touched it, is because it was free or they quickly got a refund.

Goodhart's law. When a measure becomes a target it ceases to be a useful measure.

They optimized for popularity and profit forgetting that those came because the games were good games first

 

[Ishtar]

I know Aveline, Varric and Merril are the only ones which never leaves the party.

Merrill will fight against you if side with the templars and like never talked to her the entire game or something.

Its extremely rare but it can happen.

 

[TrainWreckWatcher]

They count total number of times people bought or rented the game, they don't count refunds or people dropping the game. Starfield also similarly boasted about 6 gorrilion sales, most of which ended up being game pass rentals or copies that were eventually returned via steam. If a game is on Game Pass, always subtract the total number of "sales" and then account for how many people are likely to return it on Steam. If a game is known for getting refunds, that's not good.
I would be surprised if Troonguard even got 1M sales total, and I mean actual sales not rentals. This game is DOA, it will never make the money back no matter how people cope about it.

Reminds me of Alan Wake 2 which they triumph as their great game. But it still hasn't turned a profit.
This never had a chance

 

[Ishtar]

I can't believe the only way to get rid off Traash is being killed in a specific quest.
Meanwhile:

• Morrigan is essential until later in the main quest to ask her to leave.
• Leliana can be recruited up to 2 times in Lothering before leaving perma. Can be killed by being aggresive by defing the urn if not hardened.
• Sten can be killed if not rescued. Can be asked to leave up by dialogue or killed in specific circunstances.
• Alistair is essential until Landsmet. Can be exiled or killed afterwards.
• Zevran can be killed first meeting. Can be asked to leave afterwards.
• Shale can be asked to leave after recruitment. Can be killed in Paragon of her Kind by specific conditions too.
• Wynne can be killed in the tower by 2 options and later defyling the urn, which is automatic.
• Anders can be taken by templars (in DAO Awakening), asked to leave permantently in a specific quest or killed in the end of DA2, both.
• Fenris can be given to slavers, or betraying you in the last quest by specific conditions met.
• Isabela can leave permanently or taken by the Qun.
• Bethany/Carver can either taken away, being killed by the Taint or taken by the Grey Wardens.

I know Aveline, Varric and Merril are the only ones which never leaves the party.

Dorian, Cole, Vivienne, Blackwall, and Iron Bull's recruitment is also all optional. Sera is as well-Sera can be kicked out, and some members will leave if you really try to be as vicious as possible. Only Cassandra, Solas, and Varric are required in Inquisition.

(Though Dorian comes back and is mandatory in Trespasser).

Even ME2-the game DAV is clearly trying to emulate, requires maybe five companions. Everyone else is optional, at least members can be killed in their loyalty missions. Every other companion is optional-you'll get a better outcome admittedly if you recruit Tali or Legion, but you can play ME2 with a small party.

 

[30+GameOvers]

Reminds me of Alan Wake 2 which they triumph as their great game. But it still hasn't turned a profit.
This never had a chance

I guarantee you that having a white woman replaced with a negress had something to do with it. I know I am not the only one who was cautiously optimistic about the game and then dropped it like a rock. It helps that this was around the time when SBI started getting "popular".
This hurt Remedy's brand more than anything else, now nobody wants to see them remake Max Payne, especially after Max's VA death.

 

[Ishtar]

So beyond the atrocious character writing, (and ridiculous plot),

What are everyone's opinions on the big Lore(TM) reveals?

Elves were spirits
Elves fought the titans
Dwarves were shattered like a fetus ripped from its mother.
Solas, and the Evanuris really are responsible for basically everything bad in Thedas.

 

[p1138]

I guarantee you that having a white woman replaced with a negress had something to do with it. I know I am not the only one who was cautiously optimistic about the game and then dropped it like a rock. It helps that this was around the time when SBI started getting "popular".
This hurt Remedy's brand more than anything else, now nobody wants to see them remake Max Payne, especially after Max's VA death.

There's a little more to it than that. Epic funded the game with a 50/50 profit split, but that only occurs after Epic recoups their investment. Which means that Microsoft and Sony take their 30% up front(since it's on console), and then Epic still keeps the 70% from those sales. But on PC, because Epic is Epic, the game wasn't sold on the largest platform when it's well known by now that a very large percentage of potential buyers will ignore shit released exclusively on Epic Game Store. So instead of gaining additional sales and leaving the 30% to Valve and using the additional 70% from those sales to help recoup their investment, they fucked the entire thing by cutting out a large portion of the market that hates their sale platform.

It's cutting off their nose to spite their face. Remedy didn't have any say in the matter because Epic funded it, but Epic being Epic fucked the potential for revenue just because they hate valve.

 

[The Doom Slayer]

Another whistleblower from Bioware went to Smash JT and told him that the game sold 3 million copies, while there are words of layoffs coming.
View attachment 6738855

This:



Makes me extremely skeptical of this report. These people never back down; they ALWAYS double down. They are fanatics and the only way this would even have a chance of happening is if an Elon Musk/Twitter-style cleanout happened. I guess the layoffs could be that, but I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[p1138]

This:

View attachment 6741854

Makes me extremely skeptical of this report. These people never back down; they ALWAYS double down. They are fanatics and the only way this would even have a chance of happening is if an Elon Musk/Twitter-style cleanout happened. I guess the layoffs could be that, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Unless the layoffs include the studio leadership, all of the lead designers, producers, directors, etc. it won't amount to shit. It'll likely involve all of the lower level artists, audio guys, testers, people writing NPC dialogue, animators, shit like that. These places are fucked from the top down, layoffs tend to be from the bottom up.

 

[moocow]

Makes me extremely skeptical of this report. These people never back down; they ALWAYS double down.

Oh the bit you quoted doesn't mean they're backing down. "Gamer-focused" probably refers to their notion of the "modern gamer," so they're going to keep on targeting that non-existent demographic and double-down on the stupid shit they think those people want (that all of us actual people hate). The Message(tm) will continue being pushed.

 

[DavidS877]

A little over a month and it's already got a sale for $38.99


I'm sure that's not the fastest price drop, but it's gotta be up there.

 

[Snekposter]

Dorian, Cole, Vivienne, Blackwall, and Iron Bull's recruitment is also all optional. Sera is as well-Sera can be kicked out, and some members will leave if you really try to be as vicious as possible. Only Cassandra, Solas, and Varric are required in Inquisition.

(Though Dorian comes back and is mandatory in Trespasser).

Even ME2-the game DAV is clearly trying to emulate, requires maybe five companions. Everyone else is optional, at least members can be killed in their loyalty missions. Every other companion is optional-you'll get a better outcome admittedly if you recruit Tali or Legion, but you can play ME2 with a small party.

I'm pretty sure that in ME1 Tali, Wrex, and Garrus are all optional with Liara being mandatory due to her Asari "embrace eternity" space magic, so that's just three.

 

[Anon88]

Elves were spirits

Seems kind of dumb I mean I kind of just figured they were just natural like humans and dwarfs. Why do they need a special background story it just feels like they’re trying to make them the special race instead just another race.

Elves fought the titans

From what I’ve seen of this it kind of looks cool. I wouldn’t mind seeing something taking place during this event.

Dwarves were shattered like a fetus ripped from its mother.

I would rather see more about their old empire then about their relationship with the titians and their inability to dream. It’s not bad but just not something I was really interested in.

Solas, and the Evanuris really are responsible for basically everything bad in Thedas.

Good that means every bad thing the humans did to the elves is now justified.

I'm pretty sure that in ME1 Tali, Wrex, and Garrus are all optional with Liara being mandatory due to her Asari "embrace eternity" space magic, so that's just three.

Doesn’t Tali refuse to give you the information about Saren if you don’t take her along? I swear you have to have her in ME1.

 

[Mola Ram]

I'm pretty sure that in ME1 Tali, Wrex, and Garrus are all optional with Liara being mandatory due to her Asari "embrace eternity" space magic, so that's just three.

Tali's not optional; her info on Saren is crucial to the plot.

I think you can skip Wrex or Garrus, but not both.

 

[>IMPLYING]

I'm pretty sure that in ME1 Tali, Wrex, and Garrus are all optional with Liara being mandatory due to her Asari "embrace eternity" space magic, so that's just three.

Actually only Wrex and Garrus are optional. Udina insists you take Tali with you after you get the incriminating evidence from her. The reason she and Liara aren't optional is so you can have a full squad during Virmire when Kaiden and Ashley go off and do their respective tasks.

 

[Next Task]

Cry me a river, Michael Bryan. Veilguard sucks.

I sure hope there's no record of people who work in games saying bad things about Kingdom Come's lack of black people in 13th century Bohemia. That would sure be awkward for the point he's trying to make, That is, if people like this had any shame about their hypocrisies.

I'm looking for the clip that has seinfeld music with the laugh track while a character in the game malds about their pronouns.

The clip really emphasises how intolerably juvenile Taash is. There's already a word for what she thinks she is in her culture, but no, she has to have Current Year human terminology, because that's sensical. Not only that, she breaks out the very modern petulance of, "Why can't you just be happy for me?" It's because you're being stupid and insulting and are trying to make the entire world revolve around you and your feelings. Isn't something more important going on? Apparently not.

This game is just so pathetic. They looked at the gay noble guy from the previous game and thought that it need to be redone but with an even more modern take, with a far less sympathetic character, and no redeeming qualities.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

So beyond the atrocious character writing, (and ridiculous plot),

What are everyone's opinions on the big Lore(TM) reveals?

Elves were spirits
Elves fought the titans
Dwarves were shattered like a fetus ripped from its mother.
Solas, and the Evanuris really are responsible for basically everything bad in Thedas.

So like Did they ever fully explain how the whole Darkspawn and Golden City thing actually went down?

 

[God of Nothing]

So like Did they ever fully explain how the whole Darkspawn and Golden City thing actually went down?

>hoping for an explanation to the biggest question in the setting
take the they/them/was/then and like it

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

>hoping for an explanation to the biggest question in the setting
take the they/them/was/then and like it

So...No?