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

[Weltraumfürst]

At least Pinnacle Station has that neat little apartment and the gambling terminal which can get you Battlemaster/Rage Armor, Level X Spectre weapons, and various Level X mods. It's practically a necessity in LE thanks to the way they changed the Spectre X rewards.

Fair point. The actual content sucked, though, since it was just a combat arena, and ME1 combat isn't exactly stellar. Pun intended.

I also wanted to comment on Anders. I think the biggest issue was the change in writers. If I recall correctly, OG Anders was written by Gaider while DA2 Anders was written by Jen Hepler, which is why he felt like a totally different character. I actually think his perspective in Awakening was interesting, since he understood why the circle was a thing and thought that abolishing it was madness. Just he personally wanted to be free, because being locked up in a tower wasn't his thing. Sure, changing his mind on this isn't out of the question, but it still felt like an odd 180° turn.

 

[strawberry15]

I was looking at D&D elvish lore for my game and i noticed there is a god very similar in name and nature: Fenmaren Mestarine.
>He is an isolated elvish god that is staying away from other deities,known as Lone wolf
>Had an affeir with Lloth before she became evil
>God of Outcasts, Scapegoats etc.
>Because of his affir with Lloth kinda clashing with other elvish gods and also against the leader of the said pantheon.

It is an interesting inspiration nonetheless.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Fenmarel_Mestarine

 

[Ishtar]

IIRC there was some comic or something that seems to be where Solas and a lot of the evanuris plot was inspired by or very close too.

But all the elf stuff in dragon age is a pretty common narrative, divine hubris, revenge, rebellion-Solas and flemeth/mythal are more mythological archetypes than fantasy ones.

 

[Snekposter]

It's practically a necessity in LE thanks to the way they changed the Spectre X rewards.

I don't recall what they did there. Refresh my memory?

 

[Ishtar]

Fair point. The actual content sucked, though, since it was just a combat arena, and ME1 combat isn't exactly stellar. Pun intended.

I also wanted to comment on Anders. I think the biggest issue was the change in writers. If I recall correctly, OG Anders was written by Gaider while DA2 Anders was written by Jen Hepler, which is why he felt like a totally different character. I actually think his perspective in Awakening was interesting, since he understood why the circle was a thing and thought that abolishing it was madness. Just he personally wanted to be free, because being locked up in a tower wasn't his thing. Sure, changing his mind on this isn't out of the question, but it still felt like an odd 180° turn.

DA2 Anders is merged with Justice-a spirit of the Fade. The concerns of mage liberation were seen as injust, and thus when Justice and Anders became one-mage liberation became the overriding concern of Anders' life.

This is pretty well explained in DA2 itself.

Let me find the quote, I myself made,

DA2 Anders is the union of Anders' aspirations with an idealized construct made alive and real. We only see glimpses of DAA Anders in DA2-he is merged with a spirit and that has made him obsessed with mage freedom as the object of Justice.

The difference is anders in DAA is self interested and indifferent-Justice by his nature cannot be selfish or indifferent-so DA2 Anders is the union of Anders own desire for freedom from the circle, with Justice being who/what he is.

 

[Mola Ram]

I don't recall what they did there. Refresh my memory?

So in the original game the Spectre weapons were unlocked after you got the "Rich" achievement (which you got for having a million credits) and hit level 50. On subsequent playthroughs, the Spectre VII weapons would be available from the beginning of the game and the Spectre X weapons would be available when you, again, hit level 50.

LE got rid of the Rich achievement, which apparently meddled with this setup. Now the Spectre VII weapons are unlocked from the beginning of any playthrough, but the Spectre X weapons are unavailable until you've either finished all the plot worlds or left the Citadel to go to Ilos, I forget which. The point is you'll only have the level X versions after you've done most of the game.

I suppose you could leave lots of side missions to do before starting the endgame, but I personally hate playing that way. Pinnacle Station makes it possible to get all the Level X weapons as soon as you have the cash to gamble 220k credits a shot.

 

[Peaches the Wonder Cat]

I suppose you could leave lots of side missions to do before starting the endgame, but I personally hate playing that way. Pinnacle Station makes it possible to get all the Level X weapons as soon as you have the cash to gamble 220k credits a shot.

You can't because many of the side missions require you to go back to the Citadel to get a debriefing, pick up rewards, or continue in the mission chain (like the Admiral Kahoku story.) Not all of them are like this but many of them are, and who wants to keep track of which missions you can complete after picking up Spectre X gear? Plus by the time you are told to go to Ilos you are wrapping things up. The last thing you want is to head off and kill Geth on five planets to make Hackett and Tali happy, or get Wrex's family armor (assuming Wrex is alive because getting his armor helps him trust you), or that crappy paragon mission where you have to kill crazy blood mages biotics and not kill any civilians.

 

[Mola Ram]

You can't because many of the side missions require you to go back to the Citadel to get a debriefing, pick up rewards, or continue in the mission chain (like the Admiral Kahoku story.) Not all of them are like this but many of them are, and who wants to keep track of which missions you can complete after picking up Spectre X gear? Plus by the time you are told to go to Ilos you are wrapping things up. The last thing you want is to head off and kill Geth on five planets to make Hackett and Tali happy, or get Wrex's family armor (assuming Wrex is alive because getting his armor helps him trust you), or that crappy paragon mission where you have to kill crazy blood mages biotics and not kill any civilians.

Honestly didn't even think of this, but you're absolutely right. Pinnacle Station mod wins!

Also, it may not have been getting rid of the Rich achievement that scotched the original system. I keep forgetting LE has that option of using the traditional 60 level scale or a 30 level scale to bring it in line with ME2. You would think there'd be a toggle that could know the difference between 50th level in one and 25th level in the other, but I guess not.

 

[We've all been there]

Interested in seeking mod recommendations for the game. Playing with some currently, the main fix packs, a couple of retextures for characters and environments, better/more tactics, camp chest, dog slot, etc.

One that keeps getting recommended is the one that adds Warden armor from DA2+ into the game, and nearly every modder seems to go out of their way to be compatible with it. That one seems to be against the spirit of DAO. It's my first time playing in a long time, but my impression was the Wardens in Ferelden are mostly relatively new due to the order only recently being allowed to return, and because Duncan feared a new Blight soon. It makes sense they'd still be wearing whatever was on hand, plus they're basically in the armpit of nowhere, a poor backwater country. It would make sense the Wardens wouldn't or couldn't smith enough armor and ship it thousands of miles on Duncan's hunch that a Blight was coming (all indications are in the DA universe people are still mining, refining, and smithing metal, not magically mass-producing it). It makes perfect sense that the only uniform Warden equipment you see comes from Soldier's Peak.

Now that I'm thinking about it, it seems more like Wardens were initially set up as this sort of black sheep, a group that everyone paid lip service to but wanted to go away because they represented something no one wanted to think about. Duncan makes a comment about even those powers that support the Wardens do so begrudgingly. They probably aren't committing the kind of resources the Wardens would need to maintain a standing army with matching uniforms. Hence, Duncan wearing a unique armor set that's been customized for the very specific job he has. Most Wardens would be the same, I assume. They'd be traveling in small groups to eliminate random Darkspawn outbreaks, communicating with Weisshaupt sporadically. Of course, their kits would be made up of whatever met their needs at the time and they could easily maintain. Plus, it doesn't seem like it's always wise to openly wear Grey Warden emblems in a place like Ferelden, even before the events of DAO.

But far be it from me to question Bioware's stewardship of the lore.

Anyway, mod recommendations welcome.

 

[Ishtar]

The Wardens had been expelled from ferelden and by the time of Origins had only been invited back...for about 20 years IIRC? You see this with the Soldier's Peak DLC-the Wardens conspired against King Arland in 7:5 storm(about 225 years before Origins).

Duncan has other wardens with him-you see them in the Dwarf noble origin. As far as armor goes-the warden's iconic blue grey armor was invented in DA2, but if you wanted an IU explanation-I think you could argue Duncan really didn't have a lot of resources-he didn't have a castle(Soldier's Peak or Vigil's Keep)-to produce such clothing, nor did the prior warden commander.

Communication with Weishaupt is treated throughout the games to be scattered, often out of date-and barely centralized. Wardens follow orders-but their usual duties don't entail directly waiting on what Weishaupt wants, which tends to be playing politics in the Anderfels.

If anything DA2-DAV's standardized warden armor is kind of unrealistic-its cool definitely, but are wardens in orlais or the free marches getting the same template?

 

[Mola Ram]

The Wardens had been expelled from ferelden and by the time of Origins had only been invited back...for about 20 years IIRC? You see this with the Soldier's Peak DLC-the Wardens conspired against King Arland in 7:5 storm(about 225 years before Origins).

Duncan has other wardens with him-you see them in the Dwarf noble origin. As far as armor goes-the warden's iconic blue grey armor was invented in DA2, but if you wanted an IU explanation-I think you could argue Duncan really didn't have a lot of resources-he didn't have a castle(Soldier's Peak or Vigil's Keep)-to produce such clothing, nor did the prior warden commander.

Communication with Weishaupt is treated throughout the games to be scattered, often out of date-and barely centralized. Wardens follow orders-but their usual duties don't entail directly waiting on what Weishaupt wants, which tends to be playing politics in the Anderfels.

If anything DA2-DAV's standardized warden armor is kind of unrealistic-its cool definitely, but are wardens in orlais or the free marches getting the same template?

The DA2 Warden colors are a marketing decision, nothing more.

I was surprised and frankly relieved that Mass Effect LE didn't retcon the appearance of the Normandy in ME1 to match the Alliance color and uniform schemes in ME3, and I find mods for DA that do so for the Wardens are pretty unnecessary.

Besides, the Soldier's Peak Warden Commander armor and the Awakening Armor of the Sentinel are objectively the most badass Warden outfits we see in the whole series, and stupidly they were never brought back.

 

[BlankSpaceBaby]

To be fair, the DA2 warden colors let your non-Arcane Warrior mages and rogues wear something that aren't Karen librarian skirts or boring rogue skirt/armors.

 

[Mr. Zed da Robot Poon Fed]

I knew shit was going downhill when I heard in a pre release leak that the desire demon was the one enemy type that was completely cut from Inquisition.

I know a lot of people subscribe to the "coomers bad" mentality but I genuinely do think toning down sexual content is almost always a red flag.

It means the game is going in a softer direction and mature themes will be toned down or gotten rid of entirely.

Every single time.

Nevermind that the nudity filter doesn’t do anything, which is kinda suspect. Why even have it if no nipples will be shown regardless of its setting?

Bull's is atrocious, right down in the cellar with Sera's ... actually, it might be worse than Sera's; I just find Bull more tolerable as a character.

Is it even accurate to call Bull’s a “romance”? Whatever fling he and the Inquisitor had amounted to no more than a friends-with-benefits relationship.

Schrödinger's woman, both empowered and a victim at the same time, they want pure sexual freedom but also if you sexualize a woman you are evil and any woman who sexualizes herself must just be forced by men to do it.

Explains why there’s little, if any, pushback from feminists in regards to stuff like OnlyFans and Fansly, which is the bane of what they’re supposed to be against.

I knew shit was going downhill when I heard in a pre release leak that the desire demon was the one enemy type that was completely cut from Inquisition.

I know a lot of people subscribe to the "coomers bad" mentality but I genuinely do think toning down sexual content is almost always a red flag.

It means the game is going in a softer direction and mature themes will be toned down or gotten rid of entirely.

Every single time.

There was a point where I foolishly thought that between DAI showing nudity and MEA showing nudity that there was some semblance of growth within the company not interfered by EA.

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

Unpopular opinion but I love the mage robes in Origins and 2. The women got dem hips.

Still a shame that Calpurnia got cut from Inquisition party.

 

[CAPTAIN HAPPY]

 

[Prophetic Spirit]

You know what the most stupid thing in Inquisition?
You have the worst characters before the entire game of Shitguard called Iron Shit and Sera but in the same fucking game you have both Blackwall and Cole.
Wtf.

 

[Duane Dibbley]

What are the chances that the original DA3 is resurrected by whichever company buys EA and writes Failguard off as a non-canon piece of shit?

 

[Mola Ram]

What are the chances that the original DA3 is resurrected by whichever company buys EA and writes Failguard off as a non-canon piece of shit?

The best you can hope for is a game 1 reboot when the dust settles after BioWare is finally euthanized, which I would put at a bare minimum of five years.

I really don't see any point to it. The franchise is befucked and beshitted; the storyline was burnt to the ground by Veilguard; you could maybe repackage the various mysteries and revelations into a better game, but who cares at this late date?

 

[Duane Dibbley]

The best you can hope for is a game 1 reboot when the dust settles after BioWare is finally euthanized, which I would put at a bare minimum of five years.

I really don't see any point to it. The franchise is befucked and beshitted; the storyline was burnt to the ground by Veilguard; you could maybe repackage the various mysteries and revelations into a better game, but who cares at this late date?

I refuse to play veilguard.
For me, DA is like ME; the first game was the only story that counts, everything after is pointless. Bioware should have stuck to the one and done like Jade Empire.
At least they had the good sense to let a better studio run with KOTOR after 1.

 

[StacticShock]

The best you can hope for is a game 1 reboot when the dust settles after BioWare is finally euthanized, which I would put at a bare minimum of five years.

I really don't see any point to it. The franchise is befucked and beshitted; the storyline was burnt to the ground by Veilguard; you could maybe repackage the various mysteries and revelations into a better game, but who cares at this late date?

by hiring competent writers? just write off veilguard as a bad blood ritual trip that some demon named dementia is showing the inquisitor, kill off the inquisition fags and course correct to develop solas and the war they were trying to do with dread wolf, you know, before they renamed to veilguard...

also speaking on remasters, i'd like to have my favorite mental asylum janitor simulator remastered, i can appreciate bioware for gunning it with the smug dialogue and it's a refreshing thing to play through again when other games try to take themselves so seriously and you don't even have a option to talk shit to people.

i fucking love this comment i fished from a video of DA2 i was watching.