Dragon Age

Oh, shit, you're right. I must have been thinking of a different game. My bad.

Either way, I don't see a lot of people excited for Anthem, and EA isn't really known for it's mercy when it comes to games not going the way they want it to.

And yeah, DA as a mobile game would probably be the worst possible outcome... which makes me think that's exactly what they'll try, whether or not Bioware is still alive when it happens.

True - EA actually managed to salvage SOME of that. Their sales expectations for a new IP were a tad ludicrous though.

And PLEASE DON'T EVEN THINK IT!

We all saw what they did to Dungeon Keeper. They tried a collectable battler game with the DA IP. Didn't go very far, but it was a foray.

Next thing will be a DA MOBA...

I thought Dragon Age already has a mobile game?

That's the one I was talking about. Trial run perhaps?

I mean, I wouldn't be too scared of that mobile game as it clearly relies itself on the main franchise and doesn't have the method of taking over from it.

Its all about collecting and leveling your favorite characters from the franchise. But its not really able to create new characters and further the story on its own.

But EA wouldn't care about that: look at the DK mobile game; the C&C relaunch.

Basically they drape the IP over a Skinner-box and wait for the money to pop out. Then get surprised if it doesn't.

They have redeemed themselves a bit recently - actually releasing some good fanservice. And they do tend to put out some good product. But their business practice with I Ps seems REALLY wasteful.

Remember kids the E in EA stands for evil

Boy, this game sure gets broken at high levels.

The main way my guys die is friendly fire, usually because I like using Storm of the Century with Anders and my Warden.

I'm not even sure that the 70% fatigue from activating Rock Armor + Shimmering Shield + Flaming Weapons + Spell Might + Spell Wisp is even draining my Warden's mana to the point where I need to switch to blood magic so I can keep casting.

Awakening just destroys game balance as a whole. Like archers went from something of a joke in the base game to being able to one shot elite mooks with autoattack.

If I remember correctly, fatigue just lowers the total possible resource bar. So, like, a good chunk of your mana bar should be missing.

You're thinking of upkeep, not fatigue. Fatigue increases mana/stamina costs by that percentage, upkeep closes off a bar to maintain.

Also, how on earth do you have 70% fatigue? Unless you're wearing ridiculously heavy armor like Aurum Volcanic massive armor (which gives a base 52.5% fatigue), you shouldn't be anywhere near 70% fatigue with those five spells; each of them only increases fatigue by 5%. Even an entire Aurum Volcanic heavy armor set only gives about 35% fatigue.

Edited by ITNW1989 on Nov 26th 2018 at 3:20:59 AM

As much as I love DA 2, Origins still has to be the only game so far with a truly great final boss. Even though Inquisition had an all game Big Bad, fighting Cory wasn't really climactic because of how it's just kinda dumped on you. "Oh, it's the ending?!"

This fight and really all the Battle of Denerim felt like the real culmination of all your efforts. It was just a supremely satisfying resolution with a big, epic struggle.

Not so with either DA 2 or DAI.

Eh, the cannon fodder darkspawn were a chore to kill. Why? Because my two handed characters wung too slow. So she would walk up to a running darkspawn, start to take a swing and then a ranged character had already shot the enemy and killed it because they're specifically made to be one shot. And the final boss just felt awkward.

I may have have Combat Magic turned on also, plus some other armor pieces.

DAO's final boss ended up being a slog from all the cannon fodder darkspawn that seemed to exist purely to make me waste my AOE spells.

This game has an issue of never giving me any idea of just how strong a bog-standard darkspawn is supposed to be. I can't tell whether I'm supposed to be impressed about one-shotting one, or afraid at seeing a bunch of them, or just thinking "how are you this weak stupid" when a soldier NPC gets gutted by one.

I recall being distinctly irritated with DA:O's final boss too. It was an impressive setpiece but kind of a slog to actually play.

I've never really had a problem with the final boss except that one room that keeps infinitely spawning Darkspawn because the game wants you to run to the door. I always died there because I thought I had to kill all of them.

Re:fatigue - nope, just tried unequipping everything and turning off all my sustainables, I have like 30something percent fatigue by default and I have no idea why.

Finished Awakening.

Burned Amaranthine (which I wouldn't have to if the guards weren't absolute morons; feels like the whole reason the main character has to do everything themselves is because everyone else keeps getting surprised by the darkspawn), killed the Architect (because screw giving the darkspawn free will).

But overall I like it much more than the main game. Not sure why. I think it's that each main quest in the plot at least relates to the darkspawn threat in some way, like how each main quest in Mass Effect 1 related to Saren and the Reapers, in contrast to DAO where you don't really do anything regarding the darkspawn for the elf, Circle Tower, and Redcliffe questlines. That, and it toned down on the number of edgy grimdark choices that I get just because they're edgy and grimdark. I mean, I like committing mass murder in video games as much as the next guy, but only when I feel like it, not when the game is telling me "howdy partner, how would you like to massacre all the mages today?"

Currently playing Leliana's song, which was a decent hour or so telling a story that didn't really need to be told. Was this one also meant to be a tie in with some future expansion?

Leliana's Song does have some ties to her character in Inquisition, but I think everything you need to know you could have gotten from DAII instead.

https://venturebeat.com/2018/12/04/dragon-age-4-2021/

Casey Hudson: “If you’ve been following these blogs, or myself and Mark Darrah on Twitter, you know we’re also working on some secret Dragon Age stuff. Dragon Age is an incredibly important franchise in our studio, and we’re excited to continue its legacy. Look for more on this in the coming month (though I won’t tell you where to look …)"

Watch The Game Awards.

Also sources say DA 4 is three years away.

Which has me worried this will be like Blizzard's announcement of that Diablo mobile game.

Ugh. I'm so worried. I'm more worried over this than my finals before university graduation.

I am genuinely, sincerely, hoping that Casey Hudson isn't as tone-deaf as Blizzard and is well aware that hyping up an announcement like this should be about a full-scale Dragon Age game for PC and consoles and not some shitty mobile spin-off.

My suspicions are that we'll get some news on DA4, but only very early teaser stuff before we plunge back into the waiting.

Of course...

Yes... a vision...

I see...

EA All-Stars Battle Royale. At last, my chance to pit Varric Tethras against Mr. FIFA. There will be a Mirror's Edge themed trophy.

While that would be terrible for something hyped up as a Dragon Age thing, I wouldn't be adverse to an EA battle royale game. Well, okay, I'm sure I'll inevitably hate it because microtransactions and whatnot, but I mean I'd like to be able to play a game with all their characters in it. Like Smash for a different company.

Why don't we have more mash-up fighting games like Smash anymore? There are lots of companies that have the rights to dozens of unique characters that would be interesting together.

We'd probably have more if Sony hadn't screwed up their Battle Royale. That game had so much potential.