I'm confused about what to do with this whole DLC thing. On one hand, I really like Dragon Age, and want to support more DA content. On the other hand, I think timed exclusivity is a SUPER shitty business decision whichever platform it is on, and I want to make a statement to EA that I don't support it.
My desires are in direct conflict. I want to signal that I want more DA content, but I also want to tell EA to knock off the exclusivity thing. I don't know what to do.
EA is a corporation, likes money, and in fact could be said to only even exist to make money. MS paid EA money for exclusive console rights. You not buying it makes no difference.
If you have a PC or a XBone and you want it just get it
I do have a (slightly older) gaming PC that will absolutely run DA:I, but I bought the game on the PS4, and I definitely don't want to buy the game again.
And while ONE PERSON not buying something doesn't rate to them, enough people not buying it would totally make a difference. It's like supporting a podcast or public radio with $20. Your $20 doesn't do jack squat, but the $20 of enough people can make a huge difference.
It also wouldn't be the first time I refused to buy something out of principle — not out of a practical threat of a boycott.
Morrigan was voted the favorite mage. Alistair was voted the favorite warrior. Varric was voted the favorite rogue. The Warden was voted the favorite playable character.
This does not fit into my world view. (I would probably have: Morrigan, Cass, Isabela, and Hawke.)
I'm confused about what to do with this whole DLC thing. On one hand, I really like Dragon Age, and want to support more DA content. On the other hand, I think timed exclusivity is a SUPER shitty business decision whichever platform it is on, and I want to make a statement to EA that I don't support it.
On the one hand, I agree with you. All the various flavors of exclusivity kind of suck. And either EA is really stupid or else MS offered them a staggering amount of money (my guess is the former), because a lot of players will scratch their BW DLC itch on YouTube if they can't buy it before the Let's Play videos start coming out.
On the other hand, I'm amazed that MS didn't shaft the PC yet again by only paying for Xbox exclusivity. Thus, I feel the need to buy it just to encourage MS to make gaming content available on the PC and Xbox simultaneously, going forward.
Morrigan was voted the favorite mage. Alistair was voted the favorite warrior. Varric was voted the favorite rogue. The Warden was voted the favorite playable character.
This does not fit into my world view. (I would probably have: Morrigan, Cass, Isabela, and Hawke.)
Pretty close to how I see things. Morrigan, Cass, Varric, Warden.
I actually liked Hawke quite a lot in DAI, but she's a terrible player character.
On the other hand, I'm amazed that MS didn't shaft the PC yet again by only paying for Xbox exclusivity. Thus, I feel the need to buy it just to encourage MS to make gaming content available on the PC and Xbox simultaneously, going forward.
That part is a little weird. Why is MS fucking over 360 owners as well if they're willing to let it come out on Origin?
Xbox One only makes sense. Xbox One and Xbox 360 make sense. Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC make sense. But why Xbox One and PC? That strikes me as bizarre.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
edited March 2015
Let's see...my personal list would be.
Mage: Hmmm...yeah sure, Morrigan. Or maybe Dorian. Probably Morrigan.
Warrior: Aveline or Cassandra
Rogue: Varric
PC: Hawke
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BassguyGhost Ride the DragonRegistered Userregular
Morrigan was voted the favorite mage. Alistair was voted the favorite warrior. Varric was voted the favorite rogue. The Warden was voted the favorite playable character.
This does not fit into my world view. (I would probably have: Morrigan, Cass, Isabela, and Hawke.)
Pretty close to how I see things. Morrigan, Cass, Varric, Warden.
I actually liked Hawke quite a lot in DAI, but she's a terrible player character.
WHAT?! How is Hawke a terrible PC? She/he might not be super effective, but she/he is BY FAR the most interesting PC. The Warden and Inquisitor are boring cipher characters with hardly any personality whatsoever.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
...An argument eternally rehashed.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
On the other hand, I'm amazed that MS didn't shaft the PC yet again by only paying for Xbox exclusivity. Thus, I feel the need to buy it just to encourage MS to make gaming content available on the PC and Xbox simultaneously, going forward.
That part is a little weird. Why is MS fucking over 360 owners as well if they're willing to let it come out on Origin?
Xbox One only makes sense. Xbox One and Xbox 360 make sense. Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC make sense. But why Xbox One and PC? That strikes me as bizarre.
Who owns Origin?
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BassguyGhost Ride the DragonRegistered Userregular
On the other hand, I'm amazed that MS didn't shaft the PC yet again by only paying for Xbox exclusivity. Thus, I feel the need to buy it just to encourage MS to make gaming content available on the PC and Xbox simultaneously, going forward.
That part is a little weird. Why is MS fucking over 360 owners as well if they're willing to let it come out on Origin?
Xbox One only makes sense. Xbox One and Xbox 360 make sense. Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC make sense. But why Xbox One and PC? That strikes me as bizarre.
Who owns Origin?
EA, obviously. That's fine. But if MS is laying out cold hard cash for console exclusivity, and it's willing to let the PC get it day and date, why freeze out the 360?
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TTODewbackPuts the drawl in ya'llI think I'm in HellRegistered Userregular
How did Allistair beat Dog.
DOG IS LIFE
Bless your heart.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
On the other hand, I'm amazed that MS didn't shaft the PC yet again by only paying for Xbox exclusivity. Thus, I feel the need to buy it just to encourage MS to make gaming content available on the PC and Xbox simultaneously, going forward.
That part is a little weird. Why is MS fucking over 360 owners as well if they're willing to let it come out on Origin?
Xbox One only makes sense. Xbox One and Xbox 360 make sense. Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC make sense. But why Xbox One and PC? That strikes me as bizarre.
Who owns Origin?
EA, obviously. That's fine. But if MS is laying out cold hard cash for console exclusivity, and it's willing to let the PC get it day and date, why freeze out the 360?
Probably because X1 has EA Access and 360 doesn't.
Though I doubt you need EA Access to access it...so ummm...I don't know. Probably makes sense in their mind.
Maybe the 360 version needs more time in the tank for the port and optimization?
Something seems rushed with this surprise DLC. Maybe they wanted to punt this out the door before everyone buys Pillars of Eternity and becomes a shut in for the play duration of that game?
Steam and CFN: Enexemander
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
What is Pillars of Eternity and how exactly is it about to kill the game?
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BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
Or Microsoft is just continuing to incentivise the Xbox One by offering new stuff before their older console (and other competing platforms etc.)
Re: player characters, Warden was probably chosen because players found it the easiest to project themselves onto the character. "This character is most like me, therefore that me is great".
Morrigan was voted the favorite mage. Alistair was voted the favorite warrior. Varric was voted the favorite rogue. The Warden was voted the favorite playable character.
This does not fit into my world view. (I would probably have: Morrigan, Cass, Isabela, and Hawke.)
Pretty close to how I see things. Morrigan, Cass, Varric, Warden.
I actually liked Hawke quite a lot in DAI, but she's a terrible player character.
WHAT?! How is Hawke a terrible PC? She/he might not be super effective, but she/he is BY FAR the most interesting PC. The Warden and Inquisitor are boring cipher characters with hardly any personality whatsoever.
Hawke failed to give the over the shoulder finger while walking away from Kirkwall at the start of Act III so she's automatically disqualified.
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TTODewbackPuts the drawl in ya'llI think I'm in HellRegistered Userregular
Inquisitor probably got penalized for having that shitty helmet on in everything
Why does Bioware headwear almost always look ugly as sin
What is Pillars of Eternity and how exactly is it about to kill the game?
It's a fantastic game aimed at the same target audience that broke kickstarter records and is made by Obsidian. I think you're going a bit off kilter with the "kill the game" comment. I'm not sure how the bean counters decide when to release something but I would think competition factors in there somewhere.
Idle speculation more than anything. As my career is related to marketing, I'm wondering what the play was to release the DLC without getting the usual hype build up going.
What is Pillars of Eternity and how exactly is it about to kill the game?
It's a fantastic game aimed at the same target audience that broke kickstarter records and is made by Obsidian. I think you're going a bit off kilter with the "kill the game" comment. I'm not sure how the bean counters decide when to release something but I would think competition factors in there somewhere.
Idle speculation more than anything. As my career is related to marketing, I'm wondering what the play was to release the DLC without getting the usual hype build up going.
End of a quarter? Might need to shove it out to push up sales at the last minute?
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
What is Pillars of Eternity and how exactly is it about to kill the game?
It's a fantastic game aimed at the same target audience that broke kickstarter records and is made by Obsidian. I think you're going a bit off kilter with the "kill the game" comment. I'm not sure how the bean counters decide when to release something but I would think competition factors in there somewhere.
Idle speculation more than anything. As my career is related to marketing, I'm wondering what the play was to release the DLC without getting the usual hype build up going.
I was just being a smart ass.
Though I do wonder how much of a marketing push you need for digital DLC.
Most people are going to hear about it from either word of mouth or see it on their dashboard anyway.
Morrigan was voted the favorite mage. Alistair was voted the favorite warrior. Varric was voted the favorite rogue. The Warden was voted the favorite playable character.
This does not fit into my world view. (I would probably have: Morrigan, Cass, Isabela, and Hawke.)
Pretty close to how I see things. Morrigan, Cass, Varric, Warden.
I actually liked Hawke quite a lot in DAI, but she's a terrible player character.
WHAT?! How is Hawke a terrible PC? She/he might not be super effective, but she/he is BY FAR the most interesting PC. The Warden and Inquisitor are boring cipher characters with hardly any personality whatsoever.
Because she isn't mine. She isn't my character, she's David Gaider's or whomever. I just get to drive her around for a bit.
That automatically disqualifies her as a player character for me. It's literally no different than taking control of Aveline or Merril or Varric or Anders.
Morrigan was voted the favorite mage. Alistair was voted the favorite warrior. Varric was voted the favorite rogue. The Warden was voted the favorite playable character.
This does not fit into my world view. (I would probably have: Morrigan, Cass, Isabela, and Hawke.)
Pretty close to how I see things. Morrigan, Cass, Varric, Warden.
I actually liked Hawke quite a lot in DAI, but she's a terrible player character.
WHAT?! How is Hawke a terrible PC? She/he might not be super effective, but she/he is BY FAR the most interesting PC. The Warden and Inquisitor are boring cipher characters with hardly any personality whatsoever.
Because she isn't mine. She isn't my character, she's David Gaider's or whomever. I just get to drive her around for a bit.
That automatically disqualifies her as a player character for me. It's literally no different than taking control of Aveline or Merril or Varric or Anders.
You're using a definition for player character that most people aren't, then. All that's required for a character to be the player character is that the player be primarily controlling them. You're controlling Hawke around her house. She's required in all parties. It's her dialogue choices you're making. She's the player character, and is the best my favorite one in the DA series.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
edited March 2015
I prefer when PCs have some kind of autonomy because the game will never 100% give me the options I want.
If they did "Fuck this." would be an option at least 90% of the time.
I prefer when PCs have some kind of anatomy because the game will never 100% give me the options I want.
If they did "Fuck this." would be an option at least 90% of the time.
"When I see a tender young dragonling I don't reach for my frost axe, I just want those claws on my dick"
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Blah, on the DLC. I already uninstalled, and between Bloodborne and Pillars of Eternity, I don't have time to come back to DA:I right now. Maybe I'll wait until a couple of DLC's pile up and grab them all at once.
I do really like the "Oh hey surprise, comes out tomorrow!" thing though. More companies should do that.
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
Most companies don't do it because when Sega did it with the Dreamcast they managed to piss off like every retailer.
Probably not as big a deal for digital content that's sold directly off of the platforms.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Well, yeah...a major hardware release is on a different scale than a DLC release. I don't mean every game, and every release, no hype, ever...just that it's a neat thing to do with a DLC like this. Have it be a surprise.
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
edited March 2015
I actually would love to see this with a major release.
The internet would explode. But I doubt it'll ever happen.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
edited March 2015
Too much financial risk in doing it with a major release. We know marketing works and matters, as much as we may all hate it. The list of great games that never made a dime due to bad marketing is as long as the list of shit games that were marketed well and sold a boat load.
Morrigan was voted the favorite mage. Alistair was voted the favorite warrior. Varric was voted the favorite rogue. The Warden was voted the favorite playable character.
This does not fit into my world view. (I would probably have: Morrigan, Cass, Isabela, and Hawke.)
Pretty close to how I see things. Morrigan, Cass, Varric, Warden.
I actually liked Hawke quite a lot in DAI, but she's a terrible player character.
WHAT?! How is Hawke a terrible PC? She/he might not be super effective, but she/he is BY FAR the most interesting PC. The Warden and Inquisitor are boring cipher characters with hardly any personality whatsoever.
Because she isn't mine. She isn't my character, she's David Gaider's or whomever. I just get to drive her around for a bit.
That automatically disqualifies her as a player character for me. It's literally no different than taking control of Aveline or Merril or Varric or Anders.
You're using a definition for player character that most people aren't, then. All that's required for a character to be the player character is that the player be primarily controlling them. You're controlling Hawke around her house. She's required in all parties. It's her dialogue choices you're making. She's the player character, and is the best my favorite one in the DA series.
That's why I very specifically said "for me."
But even so, do you disagree that Hawke is the least customizable playable character in the franchise? You don't pick her race, you don't pick her origin, you don't get a selection of voices to choose from. The only choice you get to make is sex (which is irrelevant in DA2, as all characters are Hawke-sexual) and Mage/Not Mage. Call it four Hawkes.
Compared to Dragon Age Origins? Gender, race, class, and origin. With 11 origins. 11! Most of which play out differently based on your sex. Call it twelve at a minimum, not to mention game-changing differences.
Dragon Age Inquisition was a huge step forward from 2. Four races, mage/not-mage origins, four voices, good stuff! Not as good as Origins', but I'll take it.
So, yeah. Hawke to me is like any other party character in the franchise. Not somebody I made, just another character I drive around.
Posts
it's just DLC
I'm going to be really disappointed if you don't fight him by throwing goats at his castle.
Morrigan was voted the favorite mage. Alistair was voted the favorite warrior. Varric was voted the favorite rogue. The Warden was voted the favorite playable character.
This does not fit into my world view. (I would probably have: Morrigan, Cass, Isabela, and Hawke.)
On the one hand, I agree with you. All the various flavors of exclusivity kind of suck. And either EA is really stupid or else MS offered them a staggering amount of money (my guess is the former), because a lot of players will scratch their BW DLC itch on YouTube if they can't buy it before the Let's Play videos start coming out.
On the other hand, I'm amazed that MS didn't shaft the PC yet again by only paying for Xbox exclusivity. Thus, I feel the need to buy it just to encourage MS to make gaming content available on the PC and Xbox simultaneously, going forward.
I actually liked Hawke quite a lot in DAI, but she's a terrible player character.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Xbox One only makes sense. Xbox One and Xbox 360 make sense. Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC make sense. But why Xbox One and PC? That strikes me as bizarre.
Mage: Hmmm...yeah sure, Morrigan. Or maybe Dorian. Probably Morrigan.
Warrior: Aveline or Cassandra
Rogue: Varric
PC: Hawke
Who owns Origin?
DOG IS LIFE
Probably because X1 has EA Access and 360 doesn't.
Though I doubt you need EA Access to access it...so ummm...I don't know. Probably makes sense in their mind.
Something seems rushed with this surprise DLC. Maybe they wanted to punt this out the door before everyone buys Pillars of Eternity and becomes a shut in for the play duration of that game?
Re: player characters, Warden was probably chosen because players found it the easiest to project themselves onto the character. "This character is most like me, therefore that me is great".
So is Morrigan.
That poll is crazy.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Hawke failed to give the over the shoulder finger while walking away from Kirkwall at the start of Act III so she's automatically disqualified.
Why does Bioware headwear almost always look ugly as sin
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
At first I thought Morrigan was the worst...but I mean look...
Morrigan, Wynne
Bethany, Anders, Merril
Vivienne, Dorian, Solas.
Like...70% of them are fighting over being the worst.
edit:
mage cowl looks awesome on a rogue.
too bad its got like no stats and 0 armor.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
It's a fantastic game aimed at the same target audience that broke kickstarter records and is made by Obsidian. I think you're going a bit off kilter with the "kill the game" comment. I'm not sure how the bean counters decide when to release something but I would think competition factors in there somewhere.
Idle speculation more than anything. As my career is related to marketing, I'm wondering what the play was to release the DLC without getting the usual hype build up going.
I was just being a smart ass.
Though I do wonder how much of a marketing push you need for digital DLC.
Most people are going to hear about it from either word of mouth or see it on their dashboard anyway.
That automatically disqualifies her as a player character for me. It's literally no different than taking control of Aveline or Merril or Varric or Anders.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
if it's a helmet, sure
if it's a tiara, or a flower crown, or a rogueish feather cap, or a maleficent hat you best believe i'm toggling helmets on
You're using a definition for player character that most people aren't, then. All that's required for a character to be the player character is that the player be primarily controlling them. You're controlling Hawke around her house. She's required in all parties. It's her dialogue choices you're making. She's the player character, and is the best my favorite one in the DA series.
If they did "Fuck this." would be an option at least 90% of the time.
"When I see a tender young dragonling I don't reach for my frost axe, I just want those claws on my dick"
I do really like the "Oh hey surprise, comes out tomorrow!" thing though. More companies should do that.
Probably not as big a deal for digital content that's sold directly off of the platforms.
The internet would explode. But I doubt it'll ever happen.
But even so, do you disagree that Hawke is the least customizable playable character in the franchise? You don't pick her race, you don't pick her origin, you don't get a selection of voices to choose from. The only choice you get to make is sex (which is irrelevant in DA2, as all characters are Hawke-sexual) and Mage/Not Mage. Call it four Hawkes.
Compared to Dragon Age Origins? Gender, race, class, and origin. With 11 origins. 11! Most of which play out differently based on your sex. Call it twelve at a minimum, not to mention game-changing differences.
Dragon Age Inquisition was a huge step forward from 2. Four races, mage/not-mage origins, four voices, good stuff! Not as good as Origins', but I'll take it.
So, yeah. Hawke to me is like any other party character in the franchise. Not somebody I made, just another character I drive around.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists