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BioWare Announces Dragon Age Inquisition For October 7th
An anonymous reader writes "Today BioWare announced a new game in its popular Dragon Age RPG series titled Inquisition. The game will follow the story of an Inquisitor trying to rally the world against the magic-laden forces spewing from rifts opening to another place. The game's creative director, Mike Laidlaw, says players will be able to watch the world descend into chaos, and then deal with the burdens of power as they rally forces in opposition. BioWare is also taking the opportunity to fix all of the things they broke in Dragon Age 2: 'Top-down tactical view is back. Playable races are back. The game seems to have more of an emphasis on challenge thanks to non-regenerative health.' The game will launch on October 7th for the PC, PS3/4, and Xbox 360/One."
Are the enemy spawn waves gone? That's why I stopped playing DA2: having enemies spawn into the middle of my party when I thought I was done fighting and (as such) had expended all my mana was not fun. I liked that I actually knew what was happening in DA:O and had some capacity to plan and deal with it.
Those people are lacking principles. DRM is intolerable to anyone with a brain.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
I'm sure that's why Steam and PSN are some of biggest gaming distribution platforms then - both DRM platforms, both massively popular - in fact Steam is the largest digital distributor of games on the planet and has much the same DRM as EA's origin, apples app/itunes stores, etc (installation to authorized computers only, optional online-only DRM for games, ability to put one or all of your games into 'playable offline').
I'm sure that's why some of the largest games in their genres are also online-only DRM (Starcraft 2 - the largest traditional RTS at present, World of Warcraft - still the largest MMO despite losing more than half it's subscriber base, the modern CoD games - also DRM ridden, and are some of the most popular FPS games to date)
Get real, DRM is completely tolerable - the numbers and money speak for themselves - you're just ignorant or senile.
I still remember this thing called Dragon Age 2...which really wasn't a dragon age game, but you never really did say you screwed up royally on it there Bioware. In fact, I seem to remember that you never apologized for the cookie cutter layouts, or gutting the game in the first place. We shall wait, but faith has not been restored, especially after ME3's ending.
Om, nomnomnom...
Try...
DRM infested great game created by a company that is unfortunately at the mercy of EA.
Don't get me wrong, I believe you are probably right about the DRM infested bit, and I'm personally of the opinion that EA blows ass in general.
But despite the mistakes they've made in the past, I still generally regard Bioware as a company that creates excellent video games, and as such, the announcement of Dragon Age 3 to me isn't something to snort derisively at, but something to look forward to with a bit of wariness included for good measure.
Yes yes, most of us are going to pirate the crap out of it, many of us even having bought it that same day, but let's think about what the new Dragon Age really is promising.
Important, burdensome decisions (like what color of explosion you want at the very end), Inquisitor.
The weight of (small squad) command (in a videogame with plenty of healing and recuperation options - even if your health isn't regenerating like a shield system anymore) Inquisitor.
A colorful cast (okay that one we have to give them, with the number of colors a computer can process nowadays their shades will indeed be legion) Inquisitor
Everybody calling you Inquisitor. Possibly even your own mother. And brother. And children (not that they'll have children if there's any chance any of us might find a way to accidentally catch them in an AoE). Has anyone told them yet just how critically acclaimed little children would be as combat summons yet Inquisitor?
The characters look great and the tactics compelling but there's one important question the preview didn't even try to address: Is the gameplay as carefully balanced and the world at least as immersive, large, and interesting as Skyrim plus expansions? No amount of eye candy can make up for weak gameplay mechanics or a small world. Is the dialogue matched to gameplay? Is it matched to the gamer's style? Is it close enough to bug free that immersion isn't lost? Is the mechanic for buying and selling goods balanced? Does the game support all possible playing styles without falling apart in some way? Is the AI at least decent?
If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
Meh, Origin's crap and I haven't played an EA game in over a year because of it. If they release on Steam, I'd consider it.
Bye!
To speak in the words of the venerable Michael Scott, "Fool me once, strike one, but fool me twice... strike three." What Bioware has proven over and over again is that they haven't been able to make any proper decisions involving their games since they released the "are you ready for the new shit?" trailer to promote DA1. Again and again they have alienated their core player base in order to appeal to a wider market... and failed. DA2 was a pile of shit, the ME3 ending an abortion that turned everything they said over the course of the development of the entire ME series into a lie ("the ending won't simply be a button you push in the last five minutes of the game!"), and the departure of the Doctors the final nail in the coffin. I'm not even going to pirate this. Before ME2, the last game worth my time Bioware produced came out in 2003. It's over, we're never going to get another Baldur's Gate 2, at least not from Bioware.
Though I'm hopeful about Pillars of Eternity.
Dare I ask why "DRM is intolerable to anyone with a brain"? It's a popular opinion, but I have always failed to see why. As a legal gamer who pay for my games I experience no problems with services like Steam whatsoever. In fact I find the service to be of great value. I never have to worry about keeping/maintaining physical discs for later install, no worries about media format changing or anything like that. I got my Steam account, and thus all my games available for all my PCs I've ever bought and ever will buy. Period. How can this be a bad thing?
No, I would want them to teach me. The mage-templar conflict is boring. Nothing interesting is going to be told there that hasn't already been said in DA1, and literally almost every other form of fantasy media available.
Totally agree with you, but Steam is way more better then the Origin, and Valve is more customer-friendly than EA.
After Battlefield 4 crap I even don't want to hear about EA.
Aha - but then the topic here is the Origin service and not DRM per se. Still, there *are* many out there who express the opinion of the above posters in this thread - and I genuinely wonder why.
"DRM is intolerable to anyone with a brain."
Mass media is intolerable to anyone with a brain.
Taxation is intolerable to anyone with a brain.
Globalised farming is intolerable to anyone with a brain.
Fossil fuel use is intolerable to anyone with a brain.
Absolutist statements like yours sound all well and good, but just like the other examples I've just quoted DRM is a thing that people seem to be prepared to tolerate for the sake of an easy life. I'm really not a fan of DRM but it's a system that games manufacturers have developed in response to the evolutionary pressure of internet piracy. Until you provide a sufficient counterpressure it will continue to be their optimal strategy so I'd rather hear solutions than soundbytes if that's okay with you.
'Don't worry' said the trees when they saw the axe coming, 'The handle is one of us.'
I just want to visit the Golden City in the Fade...
'Don't worry' said the trees when they saw the axe coming, 'The handle is one of us.'
DRM is what actually makes the service better for people who choose to pirate. If you buy DRM'd official cd's you have to deal with DRM bugs and just waste time on making it work while a torrent with cracked version from tbp relieves you from those hassles. DRM only punishes people who choose to donate money to game-makers by buying games.
Or maybe you just have a pack rat obsession with owning things while the rest of us as just looking to get some entertainment. I "buy" a non-transferrable license to a DRM-locked online-tied sandbox, even a DVD which also has DRM is more liberal as I can sell, lend, play anywhere without anyone's approval or activation but even that one I can't back up or format shift legally as I expect to do with my own property. None of that is an absolute necessity though, what matters if if the value (utility, desire) exceeds the costs (money, inconvenience) and if I am confident that I'll get my money's worth from it before Steam goes under and the service disappears in a puff of smoke I come out ahead. If I desperately want to play it 10+ years down the line I suspect it will be available somehow on GOG (legally), TPB (not so legally) or whatever so it's not a "now or never" situation.
Yes, I get pretty pissed when you abuse DRM to deliver use control like unskippable commercials and region locks, crap that acts more like malware (hello StarForce) and such things but ultimately I am looking to get entertained, it's in the same class as Netflix (subscription), Spotify (subscription) not about having my documents and data trapped in proprietary products with lock-in. Realistically if Steam said all games are now a 5 year lease it'd probably not change my habits at all. If they start acting like asses I always have the option to say here are the letters F and U, I'll be sourcing my entertainment elsewhere from now on. It's not like there's a shortage or anything, particularly since it won't cost me a moral fiber to download games I used to have on Steam off TPB should that ever become necessary.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
The combat looked exactly as crappy. I saw lots of rolling and the jump/zoom 40 feet to kill monster. They are making some noise about tactical gameplay, but the guy flat out says you can play the whole thing as an action game. The same shit that made DA2 combat suck. Without even getting into all the other ways DA2 sucked (amazingly ugly, emtpy levels, backtrack over same 3 places over and over, completely uncompelling story, forgettable characters, I honestly can't remember anything I actually liked). I was actually optimistic (stupid I know) until I saw that video. Ah well, I suppose I'll just save my pennies until Witcher 3 comes out.
Sorry, but the Inquisition and its agents is one of the darkest, most evil things humans ever did. I am not going to play one.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Nobody expects the Inquisition!
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
Seriously? Steam rakes in hundred of millions of not billions a year. They are not going anywhere soon. If in 30 years that changes, yes I guess you might be boned but honestly, would you REALLLY give a shit about 30 year old games that probably won't even work on windows 18? It isn't like they are just going to drop off the face of the planet one day, you will see it coming at which point you will stop buying games from them.
Those people are lacking principles. DRM is intolerable to anyone with a brain.
Why is it intolerable? My home computer has had "always-on Internet" for 10 years now. People are even forgetting that advertising slogan it's been so long. Assuming non-buggy DRM, occasional Internet outages hardly qualify as an intolerable interruption.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
I really enjoyed the first game. Pre-ordered the second. It was complete trash in comparison.
I'll be waiting for the user - not the lying paid critic - reviews before I fork out for this one.
It's kind of funny sometimes. Like when EA did the humble bundle, essentially giving away medal of honor and some other games that were worth at least a dollar. I installed it, updated it, and later tried booting it up offline.
No go: the basically free game which was three years old needed an online connection, even for single player. You know, to make sure I donated at least a penny to the EFF for the game instead of just pirating it.
To me, they seem to be crappy only in their sales. For a while, they were saying things along the lines of "We don't think 'steam sales' are really the way to go. I don't think players really demand that, etc." Which is downright funny, even before they woke up and realized that you can't challenge something as dominant as steam by explicitly offering customers less incentive to join up just by telling them they want it, and had one or two sales.
As far as origin itself in function, I don't really have complaints. I use steam far, far more often, so it's probably just a sampling error, but I've had multiple instances of steam not allowing me to play in offline mode, while this never seems to happen with origin. I would estimate I've had that problem one in two hundred or so times starting up steam, while in the ten or so times I've started up origin, it's done offline mode fine. Some games have required a connection, but not origin. So there's that.
Because it's an attempt to control what I do on my own computer, which is intolerable. Anyone who says otherwise needs to get some principles.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
Or maybe you just have a pack rat obsession with owning things while the rest of us as just looking to get some entertainment.
Or maybe you're just completely lacking principles. I can't imagine why anyone would enjoy not being able to have full control of the computer they bought, and even enjoy having scumbag companies using digital restrictions management to take further control away from them. They'll basically saying that everyone is a 'pirate,' and people should be opposed to such things on principle.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
Absolutist statements like yours sound all well and good
And in this case, it is all well and good. If you accept scumbag companies using digital restrictions management against you in an effort to control you, then you're a fool.
but it's a system that games manufacturers have developed in response to the evolutionary pressure of internet piracy.
Even if that were true, that does not justify it. Furthermore, it's more about control than it is about 'piracy' (a mere propaganda term).
Until you provide a sufficient counterpressure it will continue to be their optimal strategy so I'd rather hear solutions than soundbytes if that's okay with you.
Solution: Don't use DRM.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
It's a popular opinion, but I have always failed to see why.
Because it is attempt by scumbag companies to control your computing.
As a legal gamer who pay for my games I experience no problems with services like Steam whatsoever.
You seem to be presuming that DRM only affects people who don't get the game from authorized channels, but even Steam sometimes affects 'innocents.'
But that's besides the point. I'm someone who wants full control over my computer, so of course DRM is going to be intolerable to me.
I never have to worry about keeping/maintaining physical discs for later install, no worries about media format changing or anything like that.
Guess what? Services like GoG exist, and they don't use DRM.
Steam games don't always use DRM, though, but since it supports a DRM scheme (Steamworks, I think it's called), I cannot support that company.
I forgo many convenient things simply because I stick by my principles.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
Yes, I still play very old games on old equipment. Some of us do care about things like ownership and control.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
How do you suggest these Bioware stop everyone just downloading their game?
It is unjustifiable to unleash DRM against people just to stop the copyright infringement bogeyman. Furthermore, how does GoG do it? They don't. They don't treat their potential customers like scum and trust them to buy the games. DRM almost always fails to stop anyone but normal people, anyway, and when it doesn't, it's so horribly draconian (e.g. Diablo 3) that the game is worthless.
Because although a lot of /.ers complain about DRM and wanting everything to be free, these games actually cost A LOT of money to make. You can't hate a company for at least trying to break even.
Incorrect. I can hate a company for trying to make money through immoral means. Digital restrictions management, that which attempts to take control of your computing from you, is immoral.
It's hard to believe so many pieces of ignorant trash are still around. How is it that there are still fools like you repeating myths about DRM that were repeated so many times in the past, and subsequently debunked?
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
Get real, DRM is completely tolerable - the numbers and money speak for themselves - you're just ignorant or senile.
DRM is intolerable *to anyone with a brain*. Appealing to popularity will not save you. Most gamers are unprincipled little wimps who will take any abuse these scumbag corporations, who think of them all as 'pirates', throw forth, simply because they want their precious "entertainment." They've never once known what it's like to have principles.
Digital restrictions management is disgusting and tries to take control of your computing from you, which is absolutely intolerable to those with brains and principles. If you say otherwise, you're admitting that you lack some very important things.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
So, do you not use Windows or OSX then? or any Autodesk or Adobe product that has been paid for? Because they're all locked down with some form of DRM as well.
rehab is for quitters
I don't use those things.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
I don't care what the vast majority of you imbeciles care about. I care about morality and being able to control what I own (and being able to own things, of course).
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
Dragon Age can be one of my favorite game, not only because I like the middle ages style, but also the way we players can play. I think the character of each people is very clear, they have their own styles of living attitude. But I still think DA1 is better than DA2 (or Bioware is preparing something amazing for DA3?), DA2's conception of world is a little small, it just happened in a small town, and just branch line of DA1..However, it's very nice of that DA2 can inheritthe data of DA1 !! And I'm going to play DA3 too.