It seems to want you to accept that this is a different culture with different values that you should respect, but also make it clear that society is consistently cruel and imperialistic. It feels sometimes more like an attempt at a gotcha than any honest debate.
Then again, the series also acts like the question of whether or not keeping mages as state-owned slaves is proper is a moral debate with two worthwhile sides to it, so maybe the way the Qunari treat their mages isn't supposed to be unambiguously vile either.
+4
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
edited July 2020
The Qunari are a fascinating and interesting society that is completely and utterly horrifying to me on a visceral level.
Like, there is some evidence in their history that they basically started out as a slave caste, escaped from their masters, but for several reasons continued the behavior impressed upon them. There is some interesting stuff there!
Fencingsax on
+10
OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
It seems to want you to accept that this is a different culture with different values that you should respect, but also make it clear that society is consistently cruel and imperialistic. It feels sometimes more like an attempt at a gotcha than any honest debate.
Then again, the series also acts like the question of whether or not keeping mages as state-owned slaves is proper is a moral debate with two worthwhile sides to it, so maybe the way the Qunari treat their mages isn't supposed to be unambiguously vile either.
Thedas is a crapsack world, and everybody is either a monster or is under the power of monsters.
The companions in that one are just hilarious. Finn Ariane and Dog just play so well off each other.
I need to play that one. I will have to see if I still have my saves somewhere.
0
kaceypwe stayed bright as lightningwe sang loud as thunderRegistered Userregular
So I finished DAO on my replay and have moved on to DA2, and one thing that is really striking this time is how much nicer the lighting and coloring are in this game compared to Origins. In retrospect DAO lighting seems like it was pretty flat, but things in DA2 pop a lot more.
It seems to want you to accept that this is a different culture with different values that you should respect, but also make it clear that society is consistently cruel and imperialistic. It feels sometimes more like an attempt at a gotcha than any honest debate.
Then again, the series also acts like the question of whether or not keeping mages as state-owned slaves is proper is a moral debate with two worthwhile sides to it, so maybe the way the Qunari treat their mages isn't supposed to be unambiguously vile either.
No more weird than a culture run by inbred psychopaths and morons who only have power by accident of birth. Or a society built on slavery and blood magic. Or a culture that’s just kind of cool with sexy assassins running around offing people.
The writers were going for depth and nuance with the Qunari. And I think they succeeded.
"I see everything twice!"
0
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
edited July 2020
I think my problem with Qunari is really my problem with fantasy races in general.
In the desire to make them different from us(like irl humans) they are always given a single mindedness that is somewhat unnatural.
Like only humans are allowed a full range of emotions and the "others" are doggedly married to any and all principles they were raised on. With there being a rare exception here or there(who conveniently happens to be your party member 9/10)
I mean this has been something people have brought up and some folks have been trying to address but yeah.
I think my problem with Qunari is really my problem with fantasy races in general.
In the desire to make them different from us(like irl humans) they are always given a single mindedness that is somewhat unnatural.
Like only humans are allowed a full range of emotions and the "others" are doggedly married to any and all principles they were raised on. With there being a rare exception here or there(who conveniently happens to be your party member 9/10)
I mean this has been something people have brought up and some folks have been trying to address but yeah.
The single mindedness is the point. Like, they grow up in a society that hones them into a single point. It's one reason why they suck so much. There are Vashoth and Tal-Vashoth that leave, but those that are Qunari are an enthusiastic part of that society. But they are still people, and so have the quiet resistances where they can.
I restarted the computer, but now it is doing an update. Because Microsoft.
Edit: I got in. Got the newer saves. Still, they are from 2014.
Krathoon on
0
GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
Re the qunari, it’s kind of a race and a governance/ethics/religion. It’s a weird mishmash of things. I’d call it a theocracy, but that’s not really right either. They are, overall, pretty shitty imo.
My biggest problem with DAI is that it is out of balance. The first zone is a enormous, there is way too much to do there. Most of the other zones are pretty reasonable in scope. I am usually on board for these kinds of RPGs. And getting into fights is pretty, and you can put together some pretty nasty builds (wrath/spell purge Templar anyone?). So I enjoyed the game.
So I’m sure a lot of people would think I’m crazy, but I think that DA2 is my favorite of the three. So hear me out.
First, and this is very important for me, it’s fun to play. It is a nice balance of active combat and the pause/tactical model. It is fun to do things as any class. I ran a force mage my first go and just watching everything get tossed around the battlefield was great.
Hawke is a great character. They are just very fun to play. And their story is a breath of fresh air. A random person thrown into circumstances beyond their control, and just responding as best they can. And despite their best efforts everything still goes wrong in the end. In many ways through no fault of their own. No savior of the world shit. It is a story about a person, their successes, failures, pain, regrets, and character. Humanity, man. I think that’s actually pretty subversive for an rpg.
I just really like all the characters. I had my favorites obviously but I don’t recall a bad companion. I thought the loyalty/rivalry thing worked pretty well in terms of how they responded to Hawke without Hawke necessarily being a complete shitbag or a saint.
It is a pretty self contained story. Doesn’t meander too much. Let’s you see different parts of Thedas. The city is a cool place to get to know, like another character.
Yes it was rushed and yes there are tons of reused assets. But honestly if that is the biggest complaint I have, and I liked a lot of the others so much, I think it deserves much more credit than it got.
I think what bugged me about DA2 more than the reused assets was the enemies warping into combat. Who needs tactics amirite?
+4
ShadowenSnores in the morningLoserdomRegistered Userregular
Yeah, in marketing they were all "Tactical! Smart!" And then almost every fight worked so if you actually tried tactical positioning it would be useless after a single wave.
+2
GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
That was my big issue with Divinity Original Sin 2 funny enough. I don’t remember feeling that way about DA2 but yeah definitely enemies just dropping out of the sky. I guess it didn’t bug me because I would just go ham and everything died.
Battletag: Threeve#1501
PSN: Threeve703
+2
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
I think what bugged me about DA2 more than the reused assets was the enemies warping into combat. Who needs tactics amirite?
I like how they were homing missiles onto your mages and backline characters. It meant any tactics or positioning was worthless, which on higher difficulties also made combat highly frustrating for 0 good reason.
This combined with the repetition of environments just made me utterly hate DA2s gameplay.
BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
In the midst of very passionate talk online about a Mass Effect trilogy remake, I would honestly say that out of BioWare's entire portfolio the game that would benefit the most from a loving remaster/remake would be Dragon Age II. The fundamental structures like the character writing and base combat are already there, fully formed. A more visually-detailed Kirkwall and more complex/unique dungeons and boss fights would legitimately seal the deal and make it one of Bioware's most interesting games.
People want Mass Effect 1 remade with 3 (or Andromeda) combat, I want Dragon Age II remade in Inquisition colors.
Started Inquisition Kay night first time ever. Bought it a couple of months back then got distracted. I wish i had spent more time in the character creator, my dude looks like he walked into a rake repeatedly for a couple of hours.
Also i was annoyed at having to interest with a website to import days from my previous 2 games, and i barely remember what my choices were, so i went with the default world state.
0
kaceypwe stayed bright as lightningwe sang loud as thunderRegistered Userregular
Just finished Act 1 of DA2 again. The difficulty settings on this game could've maybe used some fine-tuning. I'm pretty sure when I first played I thought combat in general was a bit easy, so I switched to Hard...and then got destroyed by the Ancient Rock Wraith. This time I've kept it on Normal and got destroyed by the Wraith again. Partly because I forgot how to avoid its big energy attack. Dropped it to Casual and then of course that felt way too easy.
Poor Bethany, died in the Deep Roads. But I'm trying something I haven't really done before; having a Hawke that actually changes throughout the game. This Hawke started out as AggroHawke, ruthless and mercenary, but after Bethany's death will soften a bit to Sarcastic Hawke, and will probably eventually be Diplomatic Hawke, noble but still snarky.
Just finished Act 1 of DA2 again. The difficulty settings on this game could've maybe used some fine-tuning. I'm pretty sure when I first played I thought combat in general was a bit easy, so I switched to Hard...and then got destroyed by the Ancient Rock Wraith. This time I've kept it on Normal and got destroyed by the Wraith again. Partly because I forgot how to avoid its big energy attack. Dropped it to Casual and then of course that felt way too easy.
Poor Bethany, died in the Deep Roads. But I'm trying something I haven't really done before; having a Hawke that actually changes throughout the game. This Hawke started out as AggroHawke, ruthless and mercenary, but after Bethany's death will soften a bit to Sarcastic Hawke, and will probably eventually be Diplomatic Hawke, noble but still snarky.
I think the passage of time effect that the Act structure has is actually really effective at exploring the ways people's character can change over time. Ofc it's extremely videogamey in the way that Bioware just is, but Dragon Age II's system of having a 'baseline' personality that you can shape depending on Hawke's station and situation over time is really just a hell of a lot of fun.
0
kaceypwe stayed bright as lightningwe sang loud as thunderRegistered Userregular
Just finished Act 1 of DA2 again. The difficulty settings on this game could've maybe used some fine-tuning. I'm pretty sure when I first played I thought combat in general was a bit easy, so I switched to Hard...and then got destroyed by the Ancient Rock Wraith. This time I've kept it on Normal and got destroyed by the Wraith again. Partly because I forgot how to avoid its big energy attack. Dropped it to Casual and then of course that felt way too easy.
Poor Bethany, died in the Deep Roads. But I'm trying something I haven't really done before; having a Hawke that actually changes throughout the game. This Hawke started out as AggroHawke, ruthless and mercenary, but after Bethany's death will soften a bit to Sarcastic Hawke, and will probably eventually be Diplomatic Hawke, noble but still snarky.
I think the passage of time effect that the Act structure has is actually really effective at exploring the ways people's character can change over time. Ofc it's extremely videogamey in the way that Bioware just is, but Dragon Age II's system of having a 'baseline' personality that you can shape depending on Hawke's station and situation over time is really just a hell of a lot of fun.
Yeah, the way DA2 is setup is what led me to do it. You could also have a Warden or Inquisitor that changes throughout the story, but DA2 really lends itself to it.
Speaking of time...I'm reminded this time that the time skips do not always interact logically with story and dialogue bits. First, the way that Flemeth asks you to take her amulet to the Dalish after you get to Kirkwall...and Hawke apparently waits a full year after getting there to do it.
But also I've just had people like Isabela telling me, at the start of Act II, that they were sorry to hear about Bethany. That was 3 years ago!
It reads pretty sincere to me. Maybe if there were other tweets that put it into a different context. Quick glance at the rest of his twitter feed (including Clancy Brown supporting the tweet we're talking about and Ellis re-tweeting Brown's support) doesn't lead me to think it's sarcastic either
I looked through his history before posting this tweet, he seems to have been doing a series of podcasts with some terfy ladies called the Femsplainers. One of the subjects of a podcast was that young cis girls are somehow pressured into getting gender reassignment surgery and hormones, calling it "the new anorexia." So yeah, he's legitimately gross.
Posts
The companions in that one are just hilarious. Finn Ariane and Dog just play so well off each other.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
At the end of the game, I stripped off his armor and sent him into the final fight.
It seems to want you to accept that this is a different culture with different values that you should respect, but also make it clear that society is consistently cruel and imperialistic. It feels sometimes more like an attempt at a gotcha than any honest debate.
Then again, the series also acts like the question of whether or not keeping mages as state-owned slaves is proper is a moral debate with two worthwhile sides to it, so maybe the way the Qunari treat their mages isn't supposed to be unambiguously vile either.
Like, there is some evidence in their history that they basically started out as a slave caste, escaped from their masters, but for several reasons continued the behavior impressed upon them. There is some interesting stuff there!
Thedas is a crapsack world, and everybody is either a monster or is under the power of monsters.
I need to play that one. I will have to see if I still have my saves somewhere.
The writers were going for depth and nuance with the Qunari. And I think they succeeded.
In the desire to make them different from us(like irl humans) they are always given a single mindedness that is somewhat unnatural.
Like only humans are allowed a full range of emotions and the "others" are doggedly married to any and all principles they were raised on. With there being a rare exception here or there(who conveniently happens to be your party member 9/10)
I mean this has been something people have brought up and some folks have been trying to address but yeah.
They share this in common with a lot of Thedas' peoples.
And that's another problem I have with it too cause then "lol genocide" becomes a meme.
And not to be dramatic but as I've gotten older and better understand the nature of propaganda in general stuff like that is very blah to me.
Edit: Ah, it can't be current because I played Awakening after I beat the game and there are no saves from that. It must be on my last computer.
Edit: I thought my last computer broke, but it started up. I'll have to hook it up again.
Edit: My computer is making a weird noise when I play Dragon Age Origins.
The single mindedness is the point. Like, they grow up in a society that hones them into a single point. It's one reason why they suck so much. There are Vashoth and Tal-Vashoth that leave, but those that are Qunari are an enthusiastic part of that society. But they are still people, and so have the quiet resistances where they can.
I restarted the computer, but now it is doing an update. Because Microsoft.
Edit: I got in. Got the newer saves. Still, they are from 2014.
My biggest problem with DAI is that it is out of balance. The first zone is a enormous, there is way too much to do there. Most of the other zones are pretty reasonable in scope. I am usually on board for these kinds of RPGs. And getting into fights is pretty, and you can put together some pretty nasty builds (wrath/spell purge Templar anyone?). So I enjoyed the game.
So I’m sure a lot of people would think I’m crazy, but I think that DA2 is my favorite of the three. So hear me out.
First, and this is very important for me, it’s fun to play. It is a nice balance of active combat and the pause/tactical model. It is fun to do things as any class. I ran a force mage my first go and just watching everything get tossed around the battlefield was great.
Hawke is a great character. They are just very fun to play. And their story is a breath of fresh air. A random person thrown into circumstances beyond their control, and just responding as best they can. And despite their best efforts everything still goes wrong in the end. In many ways through no fault of their own. No savior of the world shit. It is a story about a person, their successes, failures, pain, regrets, and character. Humanity, man. I think that’s actually pretty subversive for an rpg.
I just really like all the characters. I had my favorites obviously but I don’t recall a bad companion. I thought the loyalty/rivalry thing worked pretty well in terms of how they responded to Hawke without Hawke necessarily being a complete shitbag or a saint.
It is a pretty self contained story. Doesn’t meander too much. Let’s you see different parts of Thedas. The city is a cool place to get to know, like another character.
Yes it was rushed and yes there are tons of reused assets. But honestly if that is the biggest complaint I have, and I liked a lot of the others so much, I think it deserves much more credit than it got.
PSN: Threeve703
PSN: Threeve703
I like how they were homing missiles onto your mages and backline characters. It meant any tactics or positioning was worthless, which on higher difficulties also made combat highly frustrating for 0 good reason.
This combined with the repetition of environments just made me utterly hate DA2s gameplay.
People want Mass Effect 1 remade with 3 (or Andromeda) combat, I want Dragon Age II remade in Inquisition colors.
Also i was annoyed at having to interest with a website to import days from my previous 2 games, and i barely remember what my choices were, so i went with the default world state.
Poor Bethany, died in the Deep Roads. But I'm trying something I haven't really done before; having a Hawke that actually changes throughout the game. This Hawke started out as AggroHawke, ruthless and mercenary, but after Bethany's death will soften a bit to Sarcastic Hawke, and will probably eventually be Diplomatic Hawke, noble but still snarky.
I need you to find me three matchsteeks.
Look when we're younger we all do things we'll regret later.
I think the passage of time effect that the Act structure has is actually really effective at exploring the ways people's character can change over time. Ofc it's extremely videogamey in the way that Bioware just is, but Dragon Age II's system of having a 'baseline' personality that you can shape depending on Hawke's station and situation over time is really just a hell of a lot of fun.
Yeah, the way DA2 is setup is what led me to do it. You could also have a Warden or Inquisitor that changes throughout the story, but DA2 really lends itself to it.
Speaking of time...I'm reminded this time that the time skips do not always interact logically with story and dialogue bits. First, the way that Flemeth asks you to take her amulet to the Dalish after you get to Kirkwall...and Hawke apparently waits a full year after getting there to do it.
But also I've just had people like Isabela telling me, at the start of Act II, that they were sorry to hear about Bethany. That was 3 years ago!
That feels at least possibly sarcastic to me.
It reads pretty sincere to me. Maybe if there were other tweets that put it into a different context. Quick glance at the rest of his twitter feed (including Clancy Brown supporting the tweet we're talking about and Ellis re-tweeting Brown's support) doesn't lead me to think it's sarcastic either
They're retweeting a TERF, so probably not.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
I looked through his history before posting this tweet, he seems to have been doing a series of podcasts with some terfy ladies called the Femsplainers. One of the subjects of a podcast was that young cis girls are somehow pressured into getting gender reassignment surgery and hormones, calling it "the new anorexia." So yeah, he's legitimately gross.