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Dragon Age Dragon Age: Dreadwolf - full reveal in Summer 2024, Solas fangirls rejoice

Tyranicon

A Memory of Eternity
Developer
Joined
Oct 7, 2019
Messages
6,091
Now that I think about it, only Redcliffe and the circle tower are somewhat complete.

These are the only parts of the game that I actually remember (and the Deep Roads for different reasons), so you may be onto something.
 

9ted6

Educated
Joined
Mar 24, 2023
Messages
564
DA:O's writing problems are much more severe than people make them out to be. There are numerous high profile plot points that are either underdeveloped or dropped entirely at some point. Now that I think about it, only Redcliffe and the circle tower are somewhat complete. Everything else is half-baked. Some prominent lore is unnecessary and bogs down the worldbuilding, namely demon possession of mages. The main threat of the darkspawn and specifically the Archdemon remained frustratingly unexplained throughout, which led to them being somehow vague and more telling than showing. I still don't know what the darkspawn and the Archdemon's deal is. The companions are either stereotypes or character templates that don't go anywhere. Most of the time, they are simply recounting their history to you, which is always the worst and most boring kind of character writing.
Origins intentionally left alot of things vague and it was for the best in hindsight. You were given a few different possible stories of what the archdemon and darkspawn were and it was up to you which you believed. If you want to see what happens when Dragon Age decides to explain all of its mysteries look at Inquisition.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
18,026
Pathfinder: Wrath
The issue in this particular case is that there is no mystery, they just haven't come up with any explanations. This is more of a problem than it seems at first glance because it leaves the main plot of the game unengaging and vague.
 

La vie sexuelle

Learned
Joined
Jun 10, 2023
Messages
1,629
Location
La Rochelle
I still don't know what the darkspawn and the Archdemon's deal is.
You're not supposed to. That's one of the mysteries.
Bioware used the mystery box concept before J.J. Abrams destroyed Star Wars :D

Each part, including DLC, had some mystery that drove our actions, without which those actions were superficial (e.g. Morrigan's pregnancy). This mystery was then flattened or discarded in favor of other secrets. I'm sure Solas' plot will end in nothing...BECAUSE THERE IS REALLY AN EVEN BIGGER OPPONENT THAT YOU WILL SEE IN TEN YEARS IN DRAGON AGE 5!!!
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
18,026
Pathfinder: Wrath
I still don't know what the darkspawn and the Archdemon's deal is.
You're not supposed to. That's one of the mysteries.
Bioware used the mystery box concept before J.J. Abrams destroyed Star Wars :D

Each part, including DLC, had some mystery that drove our actions, without which those actions were superficial (e.g. Morrigan's pregnancy). This mystery was then flattened or discarded in favor of other secrets. I'm sure Solas' plot will end in nothing...BECAUSE THERE IS REALLY AN EVEN BIGGER OPPONENT THAT YOU WILL SEE IN TEN YEARS IN DRAGON AGE 5!!!
And it has the same problems as J. J. Abrams' mystery box - there is nothing inside.
 

processdaemon

Scholar
Patron
Joined
Jul 14, 2023
Messages
431
DRAGON AGE 5!!!

I'm not even sure that Bioware are optimistic enough about their future to think they're getting a Dragon Age 5

Bioware may not live to see this happen, but EA have other studios. Or they will simply rent the brand to someone else. Or sell it. Either way, Dragon Age 5 is only a matter of time.
Fair enough, I'll look forward to Larian's reboot in a decade or so
 

Gargaune

Magister
Joined
Mar 12, 2020
Messages
3,213
DA:O's writing problems are much more severe than people make them out to be. There are numerous high profile plot points that are either underdeveloped or dropped entirely at some point. Now that I think about it, only Redcliffe and the circle tower are somewhat complete. Everything else is half-baked. Some prominent lore is unnecessary and bogs down the worldbuilding, namely demon possession of mages. The main threat of the darkspawn and specifically the Archdemon remained frustratingly unexplained throughout, which led to them being somehow vague and more telling than showing. I still don't know what the darkspawn and the Archdemon's deal is. The companions are either stereotypes or character templates that don't go anywhere. Most of the time, they are simply recounting their history to you, which is always the worst and most boring kind of character writing.
Yes, the writing in Origins is nothing mind-blowing and has plenty of problems of its own, as you point out, but the narrative design around that writing is functional, presenting the player with enough development and agency to make it work for an RPG. DA2, on the other hand, has bugger all in that department, the absolute bulk of the quests boil down to go there (where you've been sixteen times before, but that's beside the point), awesome button that combat encounter (all sixteen waves of it, but that's also beside the point), then flap your gums at an NPC and maybe make a single token choice about something that's irrelevant in the moment and will never amount to anything in the future. Even Cyberpunk's got better narrative design than DA2.

However flawed DA:O's writing was, at least the game did something with it, which is why that title's remembered positively whereas mentioning DA2 elicits only legitimate opprobrium.
 

volklore

Arcane
Joined
Jun 19, 2018
Messages
1,658
Idk about better writing because DA2 was so rushed everything is burried under that load. But I find the overall plot of DA2 more interesting, even if crucial events and characters lacked a lot of development (Orsino and Meredith are the biggest victims of that, they only appear at the end of the game when they should have been recurring characters throughout the game, to build up the impact of the finale).
 

Fedora Master

Arcane
Patron
Edgy
Joined
Jun 28, 2017
Messages
28,115
Idk about better writing because DA2 was so rushed everything is burried under that load. But I find the overall plot of DA2 more interesting, even if crucial events and characters lacked a lot of development (Orsino and Meredith are the biggest victims of that, they only appear at the end of the game when they should have been recurring characters throughout the game, to build up the impact of the finale).
What you find interesting is the idea of a possible plot in your head. That's all. There is so little to latch on to your brain is making shit up.
Even if they had had more time, we can see glimpses of what their writing would have been like in the Mage/Templar conflict and the Qunari: Completely retarded garbage and retconning.
 

La vie sexuelle

Learned
Joined
Jun 10, 2023
Messages
1,629
Location
La Rochelle
I still don't know what the darkspawn and the Archdemon's deal is.
You're not supposed to. That's one of the mysteries.
Bioware used the mystery box concept before J.J. Abrams destroyed Star Wars :D

Each part, including DLC, had some mystery that drove our actions, without which those actions were superficial (e.g. Morrigan's pregnancy). This mystery was then flattened or discarded in favor of other secrets. I'm sure Solas' plot will end in nothing...BECAUSE THERE IS REALLY AN EVEN BIGGER OPPONENT THAT YOU WILL SEE IN TEN YEARS IN DRAGON AGE 5!!!
And it has the same problems as J. J. Abrams' mystery box - there is nothing inside.

It's a terrible pity, because Dragon Age had the potential to become something groundbreaking and mature. Unfortunately, the second part emphasized everything that was worst about the first, and then multiplied it in the third.
DRAGON AGE 5!!!

I'm not even sure that Bioware are optimistic enough about their future to think they're getting a Dragon Age 5

Bioware may not live to see this happen, but EA have other studios. Or they will simply rent the brand to someone else. Or sell it. Either way, Dragon Age 5 is only a matter of time.
Fair enough, I'll look forward to Larian's reboot in a decade or so

You're joking, but I think it's quite possible.

Larian has the potential to make Bioware games better than Bioware.
 
Joined
Mar 15, 2022
Messages
39
Location
The Jollyee olde lande ofe Nod
DA2 was great…. Hissy fag Anders, awesome button, David Gaydurr, Hamburger Hepler, noms-her-head…. lots of lols

There is always a catch, life is a catch, I suggest you catch it while you can, A+ writing right there.

Anyone remember that video Duncan saying to submit to the taint while teabagging the camera? Got deleted but I laughed my ass off to it back then.
 

9ted6

Educated
Joined
Mar 24, 2023
Messages
564
DA:O's writing problems are much more severe than people make them out to be. There are numerous high profile plot points that are either underdeveloped or dropped entirely at some point. Now that I think about it, only Redcliffe and the circle tower are somewhat complete. Everything else is half-baked. Some prominent lore is unnecessary and bogs down the worldbuilding, namely demon possession of mages. The main threat of the darkspawn and specifically the Archdemon remained frustratingly unexplained throughout, which led to them being somehow vague and more telling than showing. I still don't know what the darkspawn and the Archdemon's deal is. The companions are either stereotypes or character templates that don't go anywhere. Most of the time, they are simply recounting their history to you, which is always the worst and most boring kind of character writing.
Yes, the writing in Origins is nothing mind-blowing and has plenty of problems of its own, as you point out, but the narrative design around that writing is functional, presenting the player with enough development and agency to make it work for an RPG.
It was functional and serviceable for an RPG framework for sure, way more than can be said for the next two.

That's not to say the writing's particularly good when judged as lore and worldbuilding though and one look at the Origins comic or the two prequel books shows that they were happy to shit all over whatever potential it had long before the EA buyout.

Any time they detailed anything even slightly it was retarded, like making everyone in Orlais wear masks 24/7.
 

Dishonoredbr

Liturgist
Joined
Jun 13, 2019
Messages
2,112

Source:


''Homosexual_Bloomberg'' said that they played the game for a time:

Their opinion on the companions:
The companions I met unfortunately were..."the same". That was one of my biggest criticisms I had with my time with the game. I would describe their dialogue as "marvel-esque" and it's not something I prefer. The companions felt like carbon copies of each other narratively but with different backgrounds. Quips galore and nothing ever really got serious.

I addressed this a couple months ago, and someone gave me the perfect way to describe it. Everyone is Varric now. Elf Varric, (other) Dwarf Varric, Mage Varric, etc. There'll be people who like that. I didn't.

''Confirmed'' that the Alpha gameplay is 100% real.
 

processdaemon

Scholar
Patron
Joined
Jul 14, 2023
Messages
431
If you value anything about Dragon Age other than the setting and story, this isn’t going to be the game for you. If each game since Origins is a step away from it, Dreadwolf is definitely the 3rd step.
:negative:
 

Tyranicon

A Memory of Eternity
Developer
Joined
Oct 7, 2019
Messages
6,091
Vidya games always seem like they're trying to jump on bandwagons far too late. Doing the whole Marvel-esque thing (which is absolutely true, video game writers in the last few years have visibly tried to ape that style) when in 2024 even normies largely hate it and the Marvel movies are going into the toilet.

It's too late to change direction now.
 

Falksi

Arcane
Joined
Feb 14, 2017
Messages
10,593
Location
Nottingham

There are gays and every single one is presented as a hedonist degenerate who doesn't treat relationships the same as others. Hell, the 3 you meet are the ones you can have a foursome with (Isabella, Leliana, Zevran) if I'm remembering correctly. Leliana is a whore desperately trying to present a good girl attitude but will never escape her ways. Zevran is a hedonist who doesn't even love guys, he's just mentally ill & sinful. Going in the right direction with him as a female is the only way to get him to somewhat a normal state mentally.

Tell me how this based depiction of fags is a negative?
Leliana is straight, for all intents and purposes, unless you deliberately court her as a woman PC. Zevran is your standard effeminate fag. DA:O has some protowoke elements but still managed to be pozz-free and non-woke. i.e. no black or Asian Fereldans and Orlesians.
I liked Dragon Age Origins but having gays (although few) in the game is a chink in the armour and the start of the decline. It is still tolerable in the sense that fag Zevran at least can keep his dick in his pants (looking at you BG 3) when you meet him. Plus you can kill the fag off. Also despite being a fag, he is actually a semi-fag (half degenerate) in the sense he romances females as well.

Also what you mentioned not having asian and black Fereldans and Orlesians is a major plus in a fantasy setting, surely in the current world that churns out series like Rings of Power and House of the Dragon.
Zev's queerness is about the only time I can think of where it feels like it actually benefits the character and game.

It reminds me of Peirce Brosnans character in The Long Good Friday, who's a hitman and taken some pole as part of the job. Is he gay, isn't he gay, he's just a fucked up puppy.



There's a certain disgustingness about assassination and homo bummery which goes hand in hand. And for both Zev and Brosnan in TLGF that fits. Like you say, most of us will just kill the cunt in the game anyway, and it's satisfying to off someone so disgusting.
 

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