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

[BlankSpaceBaby]

I think my frustration also stemmed from having read The Masked Empire by, yup, Patrick Weekes. One of the better elements in that one is the story of Briala and Celine that plays out like a melodramatic love hate HATE HATEEEEEEE tale that, within the context of Orlesian politics, still sees Briala "understanding" why Celine keeps stabbing her in the back and front while she herself steels to do the same. It's a fascinating thing to read.

Having the whole complexity overly simplified into "collect enough of those dumb things and they magically get back together to snu snu 10/10" is so dumb. Briala shouldn't even have been part of the equation, she should have been instead perhaps an ally to subvert Celine's power in the Orlais arc.

 

[Mola Ram]

I think my frustration also stemmed from having read The Masked Empire by, yup, Patrick Weekes. One of the better elements in that one is the story of Briala and Celine that plays out like a melodramatic love hate HATE HATEEEEEEE tale that, within the context of Orlesian politics, still sees Briala "understanding" why Celine keeps stabbing her in the back and front while she herself steels to do the same. It's a fascinating thing to read.

Having the whole complexity overly simplified into "collect enough of those dumb things and they magically get back together to snu snu 10/10" is so dumb. Briala shouldn't even have been part of the equation, she should have been instead perhaps an ally to subvert Celine's power in the Orlais arc.

See? I knew precisely none of that. I avoid tie-in fiction like the plague, which in hindsight meant I was a poor fit for a video game so obviously calculated to become a multimedia franchise. By the way, how are Absolution and other future animated efforts doing in the wake of Veilguard shitting the bed? Did they manage to kill that too? One can hope.

If you ever plan on playing Inquisition again, I heartily recommend the mod that keeps the stone halla in your inventory after using them. You no longer have to find them all, but you still need to do a bit of the scavenger hunt to get the ending you want and/or open the prize doors at the end of the private quarters. It keeps the spirit of the quest intact without the numbfuck requirement that you give up things like meeting Varric in the Fumeur or finding all of Sera's caches. (Really, the worst part of the quest is that the first time you do it you have no clue that using up statues will close off certain endings, which might be the dumbest thing in the entire game in terms of gameplay.)

 

[BigBadBastich]

Leliana is still the best.
If you romance her, she'll always talk about the hero of ferelden in subsequent games, dead or not.

Agreed. I thought her interactions and perspective on things the Warden does were cute especially with that French accent of hers.

 

[Peaches the Wonder Cat]

However, you need to get a number of those Halla or whatever things with the help of a guide if you don't want to replay to trial and error, so I guess Gaider and Friends believe that Lezzy Love Forever is the "best" secret outcome.

True, but Synthesis is the ME3 ending that requires the most war assets to unlock.

 

[BlankSpaceBaby]

I always suspect Synthesis was meant to be the best ending by the developers, because it's all about everyone and everything living in peace and harmony - even if the end result is more dystopian than BioWare likely intended. It is only once the fan backlash started that they pivoted towards Destroy.

 

[LazyLizard]

Of course they do, it's gay and interracial!


It's been quite a while since I played any of these games, and I doubt I'll return to them, but out of curiosity, has this series had any villains who were gay and/or brown, other than Branka in Origins, and Fenris' rapist master in 2?

ironbull does betray you in tresspasser, there's your gay villain

I think my frustration also stemmed from having read The Masked Empire by, yup, Patrick Weekes. One of the better elements in that one is the story of Briala and Celine that plays out like a melodramatic love hate HATE HATEEEEEEE tale that, within the context of Orlesian politics, still sees Briala "understanding" why Celine keeps stabbing her in the back and front while she herself steels to do the same. It's a fascinating thing to read.

Having the whole complexity overly simplified into "collect enough of those dumb things and they magically get back together to snu snu 10/10" is so dumb. Briala shouldn't even have been part of the equation, she should have been instead perhaps an ally to subvert Celine's power in the Orlais arc.

man i read the first 3 Dragon Age books, they were pretty good but The Masked Empire was so boring i quit like 1/5 in, i like court intrigue, i love the DA world but it was such a boring book.

 

[Mola Ram]

True, but Synthesis is the ME3 ending that requires the most war assets to unlock.

No, that's the "Shepard Lives!" Destroy ending. Actually impossible to unlock without online play in the original, pre-DLC release.

I always suspect Synthesis was meant to be the best ending by the developers, because it's all about everyone and everything living in peace and harmony - even if the end result is more dystopian than BioWare likely intended. It is only once the fan backlash started that they pivoted towards Destroy.

... but Synthesis was pretty obviously intended as the canon ending. "The Reapers are our friends, and all the knowledge of hundreds of forgotten species is now at our fingertips! And our Best Girl EDI is now fully sentient, and Joker is even roboticized enough now that they can doink without crushing Seth Green to a screaming blob of jelly!"

Did they think about the horrifying repercussions of every sentient being in the galaxy being turned into a weird glowing cyborg against their will? My beloved in Kali-Ma, there is a reason people hate Mass Effect 3.

 

[BlankSpaceBaby]

They probably think it's a good thing. The "good endings" either see Shepard becoming the tyrannical Skynet to micromanage everything and PEOPLE WILL LOVE IT, or forcing everyone to be some green hybrid half-synthetic and PEOPLE WILL LOVE IT.

On the other hand, they really don't want you to choose Destroy. Oh, look, but it will kill off the hive mind Geths and EDI. You don't want EDI the walking fleshlight for poor Jokey-poo to DIE, do you, you heartless pig?

Science-fiction always has strong elements of communism and hivemind-ism, as many writers in that genre for some reason are communists by nature or inclination while paradoxically writing about machines finding free will and sentience. But I'd say the endings of Mass Effect 3 really show the political leanings of the people behind BioWare that eventually went out of control over the next two decades.

 

[Prophetic Spirit]

Idk, the secret ending (Shepard Lives! one) is more to the canon ending to me than Synth.
Opens up to more sequels or headcanons, like Independent New Vegas.

 

[El Chacal De La Trompeta]

They haven't closed the studio yet. I think we can assume the studio is safe(for whatever that's worth), if they are open by the end of the year.

whats the fucking point. in their current state they only can shit out mass effects and dragon age time and time again. apropos for nothing but what a fresh experience was playing clair obscure. a new ip can sell if is not dogshit!

 

[Mola Ram]

Idk, the secret ending (Shepard Lives! one) is more to the canon ending to me than Synth.
Opens up to more sequels or headcanons, like Independent New Vegas.

Sure, heartily agreed. But it's not exactly uncommon for the audience to prefer an interpretation than the one intended by the creator, especially when the creator is as big a faggot as the BioWare writers.

 

[Gossip Avoider]

I always suspect Synthesis was meant to be the best ending by the developers, because it's all about everyone and everything living in peace and harmony - even if the end result is more dystopian than BioWare likely intended. It is only once the fan backlash started that they pivoted towards Destroy.

Maybe I misremember, but wasn't synthesis added with the Extended Cut patch?
Always felt like the "having your cake and eat it" ending without much thought behind it.

My favorite is the "shooting space child in the face" ending.
Not for contrarian reasons, but I like the implication that it is not the hero, which will indulge in victory, but his selfless journey can lead to a better future(cycle) for others.
It makes the cryptic crystal wood intro come full circle and gives Liara and Shepard the mythological hero trait, one for preserving the knowledge to defeat the overwhelming evil and the other in achieving the deeds to get that knowledge.

Or even better, playing Enderal, as it actually understands cyclical cosmic horror.
It even has Bioware/Hollywood beat by creating subversive DLC that is worth its salt.

 

[Kane Lives]

Maybe I misremember, but wasn't synthesis added with the Extended Cut patch?

Nope. Synthesis was the "green" colour of the red, blue, green choice trifecta. It was always in.

Also, I want everyone to remember what EA/Bioware put in your face after insulting your intelligence with the ending:

 

[The Doom Slayer]

Maybe I misremember, but wasn't synthesis added with the Extended Cut patch?
Always felt like the "having your cake and eat it" ending without much thought behind it.

Control/Synthesis/Destroy were there from the beginning, they just got expanded in the EC.
Shooting Starchild was the one that got added afterwards.

I wouldn't take what the creators intended too seriously. It was all literally just some bullshit haphazardly scribbled down on a napkin by hacks after disposing of the original Karpyshyn ending (which itself never sounded great to me).

 

[Prophetic Spirit]

Nope. Synthesis was the "green" colour of the red, blue, green choice trifecta. It was always in.

Also, I want everyone to remember what EA/Bioware put in your face after insulting your intelligence with the ending:
View attachment 7295323

They changed that with a thanks letter with EC, right?

 

[Kane Lives]

They changed that with a thanks letter with EC, right?

Yep. Probably only belatedly realised how horrible it looks when the ending flopped.

 

[Prophetic Spirit]

Yep. Probably only belatedly realised how horrible it looks when the ending flopped.

Fucking ending message. Even the ME1 one is nice about "thanks for supporting us over the years".

 

[AnOminous]

They probably think it's a good thing. The "good endings" either see Shepard becoming the tyrannical Skynet to micromanage everything and PEOPLE WILL LOVE IT, or forcing everyone to be some green hybrid half-synthetic and PEOPLE WILL LOVE IT.

So basically The Conversion Bureau.

 

[BlankSpaceBaby]

Looks like Gaider is feeling his Dragon Age oats again, based on this article at The Park Place (article, archive).

I can certainly believe that EA favors Mass Effect, since that series had always outsold Dragon Age until Mass Effect: Andromeda shit the bed hard.

It also no doubt stings like hell how EA fucked up Dragon Age 2 by treating it as a slot filler in their release date because a more favored IP release was delayed. If I were one of the developers of that game and was forced to shit it out in like 2 years because some fucker in a suit demanded it, I'd still hold a grudge to this very day.

However, all this doesn't mean anything at this point in time, as both IPs have completely been shot to tranny damn hell and back.

Gaider should be focusing on making his hot trans mess of a musical game halfway palatable as that's his present. The fact that people kept asking him about BioWare and not his present projects must secretly eat at him. It's like people keep asking you about how your ex is doing, constantly reopening old wounds and reminding you that you still haven't gotten over that ex; your ex is now a meth junkie while you're a ketamine addict, and things were so much better when the two of you were together and sober, and you are kept reminded of that sad fact.

It has to bother him. And it can't happen to a nicer POS.

 

[April Ryan]

View attachment 7296238

Looks like Gaider is feeling his Dragon Age oats again, based on this article at The Park Place (article, archive).

I can certainly believe that EA favors Mass Effect, since that series had always outsold Dragon Age until Mass Effect: Andromeda shit the bed hard.

It also no doubt stings like hell how EA fucked up Dragon Age 2 by treating it as a slot filler in their release date because a more favored IP release was delayed. If I were one of the developers of that game and was forced to shit it out in like 2 years because some fucker in a suit demanded it, I'd still hold a grudge to this very day.

However, all this doesn't mean anything at this point in time, as both IPs have completely been shot to tranny damn hell and back.

Gaider should be focusing on making his hot trans mess of a musical game halfway palatable as that's his present. The fact that people kept asking him about BioWare and not his present projects must secretly eat at him. It's like people keep asking you about how your ex is doing, constantly reopening old wounds and reminding you that you still haven't gotten over that ex; your ex is now a meth junkie while you're a ketamine addict, and things were so much better when the two of you were together and sober, and you are kept reminded of that sad fact.

It has to bother him. And it can't happen to a nicer POS.

In what conceivable way did mass effect out sell Dragon Age? Origins outsold 1 and 2 combined. 3 was the only Mass Effect game that sold well, but was still heavily outsold by Inquisition.

DA was always by far the more popular and better selling franchise.