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Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2019 7:55 am There's nothing wrong with leisure suits, but in the proper setting. It's like asking Larry Laffer to wield a double-bladed axe, like Oghren. It won't be Larry Laffer any more. Right?

Larry's all about women's axes.
Just axe him. He will tell you.

That's just axing for trouble, so I think I'll bow out before Oghren spears me with a trident for tri-ing too hard.

Finished "Andromeda" tonight. Or rather, finished it enough. 100% planetary viability, all loyalty missions and planet missions accounted for. Even every planet scanned because I'm apparently a masochist. After getting through the original trilogy, the books, and that James Vega movie, this is my fault for being a "Mass Effect" enthusiast.

That said, I don't think I hate the game as much as other people do. It's a train wreck, but also sort of a fun train wreck? Design-wise, it feels like the writers were onto something, where the exploration and story choices were really well-integrated. But then they got high on their own stash** and turned the game into a laughable piece of cringe-worthy fan-fiction. And then somewhere during the halfway point, it all spirals out of control. The worst part was probably when dozens of side-missions appeared at once, and half involved seemingly endless back-tracking between planets. That was where I conceded that this is probably not a game worth finishing, but I did it anyway.

**Also, I know I joked that the game's writers were high, but it's hard not to believe it when my teammates keep sending me on "snack runs". Whoever wrote ME:A had the munchies, end of story.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:25 amAndromeda is like the game I go and play, when I am feeling so great, that I know I need to ruin my mood. One of these years, I believe, I may eventually finish it between my hour sessions of playing and hating myself for even trying

No, I think you cashed out at the right time. The right time being whenever you decide the game's over. Just assume the Pathfinder crew wins and there's no sequel. Humanity is saved!

DeadPoolX wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2019 9:33 pmAndromeda's big issue for me is ... ... ... the inability to save when and where I want if you're involved in a story-related mission. That's complete BS too, because all the other DA and ME games allowed this.

This was driving me nuts too until I discovered the game autosaves during story missions. I had to drop out of final missions several times to attend to baby stuff, and never lost more than a minute's progress when I started it back up. I agree, however, that it's very unnerving how the save button is always off. Of all the game's faults, I'm certain they could've gotten that one thing working.

Saw this today...

Meh. If there's no Oghren, I ain't interested ...

Honestly, though, DA2 and DAI were very unlike DAO. DAO was a lot of fun -- not just the party banter, not just the fact that you could piss off your companions enough that they leave you (so much humour!) ... try to recruit Loghain, and then have a party with Loghain and Zevran in it. You'll see what I mean.

DA2 and DAI were humourless by comparison. They took themselves so very seriously.

I really, really hope the Grey Wardens play a bigger role in DA4. Maybe we could see one of the previous Blights? Maybe even the original Blight -- and the original Warden(s)? Yes, it could be like DAO, in that you (maybe?) could play the First Warden, and try to convince people that it's really bad -- but you couldn't say it's a Blight, because no-one would know what a Blight is (because there hadn't been one before! ) So you would have to battle genlocks alone and bring one back (alive OR dead) to show people and say, "See? We've never faced something like this before! We need a new strategy!" ...

... which leads to consulting with the dwarves or elves, to see if they know something. And the dwarves would say, "Screw you, humans! We've been dealing with this crap for a long time down here!" ... cue you and your follower(s), if any, shoulder to shoulder with the dwarves -- or even the Legion? -- battling the Darkspawn way below ground.

Could be fun!

Hmm. No reply, eh?

Well, to me I don't know if you can capture the lightning in the bottle that DA:O had.

And the downside is - the Grey Wardens have one specific job. Fight Darkspawn.

If the game is just always Grey Warden vs Darkspawn, it's going to feel repetitive no matter what.

I think a new kind of threat should be introduced. Or at the very least, do what Gears of War did and introduce elements (literal elements, like electrical storms, sand storms, acid rain) that you need to deal with to make it not just go to Point A to Point B to fight Darkspawn.

Hmm. DAO had political in-fighting among the humans (and dwarves). Remember Harrowmont vs. Bhelen? And Loghain vs. Cailan? And Loghain vs. Eamon? And Loghain vs. everybody?

DAO also had some grey-and-grey moral dilemmas ... e.g. "Do I let the Pride Demon enslave the templar, because she gives him the happiness he never knew? Or do I kill her, because - duh! - she's a friggin' demon!" In contrast, I don't remember that kind of dilemma in DA2 and DAI.

In DAI, particularly, it was a case of "Hey, lookit! It's that character from DAO again!" That happened with Morrigan and Cullen and Varric and Dagna and Leliana and ..... you get the picture. DA2 had that, too, but only with Alistair and only for one scene.

I like you idea of a new kind of threat. An evolved Darkspawn, perhaps? Maybe take the idea of the Architect (from DAO: Awakening) further - maybe now that they can talk, the Darkspawn form their own civilisation. A crude and violent one, sure, but one that needs dealing with. How? Well, that's up to Bioware, hmm?

Besides, even if the Grey Wardens only have one job - fighting Darkspawn - that doesn't matter too much, surely? Everyone (almost) agrees that DAO was the best instalment in the series. What's wrong with creating another?

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 8:23 pm I like you idea of a new kind of threat. An evolved Darkspawn, perhaps? Maybe take the idea of the Architect (from DAO: Awakening) further - maybe now that they can talk, the Darkspawn form their own civilisation. A crude and violent one, sure, but one that needs dealing with. How? Well, that's up to Bioware, hmm?
Besides, even if the Grey Wardens only have one job - fighting Darkspawn - that doesn't matter too much, surely? Everyone (almost) agrees that DAO was the best instalment in the series. What's wrong with creating another?

I wouldn't mind if it is Darkspawn again. I just want a new element added. Like in Gears of War, you fight the Locust (which is the group name). But there several types of creatures from the Locust. (More on that). So if it is Darkspawn - I'd like to see some variation - some kind of rank and order, like drones, tougher ones, maybe show that they've got a leader who is pulling the strings. Something. Other than do a few quests, fight the big bad. If the enemy always looks the same, it gets boring. It also becomes obvious how to fight them. If the enemy is different, they may have different immunities (immune to sharp weapons, immune to lightning, etc).

Because, when I play Gears of War, I can kill Locust all day - but as soon as a Beserker shows up - and they're not even bosses - my blood pressure is elevated.

So I'd love to see them adapt something like that.

But my fear is - while I didn't mind DA:I - the whole "open world" thing is pretty big right now (Fornite, and the like). So I can almost.... sense... that's what they are gonna go for. Something along the lines of DA:I.

And if they're still bound to EA... after Mass Effect: Andromeda... which I've still not finished, because I don't like it (and I beat the other ME games within a week or two! - this came out THREE YEARS AGO!)... my faith isn't there.

Huh. I've never been into shoot-em-up games (except the old-fashioned platformers), so I never got into Gears of War. *shrug* I never played any shoot-em-ups after playing the old Wolfenstein 3D on DOS! The only vaguely shooty game I played after that was Team Fortress 2.

I agree I would like to face the Darkspawn again, but yes - some variation would be good. But maybe not immunities within the Darkspawn -- maybe more resistances? For instance, the Genlocks would have no resistances (but would get an attack bonus if close to another genlock, due to morale -- which would make them more difficult to beat in large numbers). As Genlocks specialise in various weapons (e.g. bows, swords etc.), they could get 2-3 special attacks -- just nothing that would make them too hard to beat.

The Hurlocks would be bigger, stronger, and maybe have more special attacks/resistances. Shrieks (like the DAO shrieks, being the Darkspawn assassins) would be weaker than hurlocks, but stronger than genlocks, and moving along the assassin tree. And so on.

Here's an idea: After the end of DAO: Awakening, it's canon that the Grey Wardens begin to hunt and capture some of the Disciples in order to investigate them. What if they find some? Where would they lead?

Just a thought ...

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 4:23 am Huh. I've never been into shoot-em-up games (except the old-fashioned platformers), so I never got into Gears of War. *shrug* I never played any shoot-em-ups after playing the old Wolfenstein 3D on DOS! The only vaguely shooty game I played after that was Team Fortress 2.

Gears of War is as much as a "shoot'em up" as Dragon Age: Origins is just "hack and slash."

Oh? What is Gears of War, then? By "shoot-em-up", I mean First-Person Shooters. (Sorry -- I've never played GoW, so I don't know).

What do you think of the Dragon Age idea(s), then? (i.e. resistances instead of immunities to make things easier. For instance, if you make genlocks immune to slashing weapons, and all your heroes have are swords/daggers, they'd have to run away -- and all the villagers would mock them. Nyah nyah, look at the mighty heroes running away from puny genlocks!)

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:10 am Oh? What is Gears of War, then? By "shoot-em-up", I mean First-Person Shooters. (Sorry -- I've never played GoW, so I don't know).

It's not first person. And it has a ton of very rich story.

For example...

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:10 am What do you think of the Dragon Age idea(s), then? (i.e. resistances instead of immunities to make things easier. For instance, if you make genlocks immune to slashing weapons, and all your heroes have are swords/daggers, they'd have to run away -- and all the villagers would mock them. Nyah nyah, look at the mighty heroes running away from puny genlocks!)

Well, I think resistances or immunities is kind of a cool idea, because some people might rely on a specific spell (Fireball) or weapon (piercing) - so it will force people to change their tactics.

*breathes out* Well. All right, OK. That matriarch is one scary piece of you-know-what.

Marcus's voice reminds me of some character -- I just can't remember who -- gimme a minute -- oh, right! This guy.

I think resistances are better than immunities, but only because your character will start combat very early on, without the chance to grab lots of different weapons. If your enemies in the first combat are immune to whatever weapon you have, then you're stuffed. On the other hand, if they have a resistance to it but can still be damaged, you have a chance, yes?

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sat Sep 05, 2020 4:40 am *breathes out* Well. All right, OK. That matriarch is one scary piece of you-know-what.

Yeah. She's an amped up version of a Beserker (which I'd mention in this thread, scares me during game play! )

That's something I think Dragon Age is missing. It's always the same - the monsters just look different. But there's nothing there that makes you change tactics, or brings fear into your heart, just because of the type of monster it is.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sat Sep 05, 2020 4:40 am I think resistances are better than immunities, but only because your character will start combat very early on, without the chance to grab lots of different weapons. If your enemies in the first combat are immune to whatever weapon you have, then you're stuffed. On the other hand, if they have a resistance to it but can still be damaged, you have a chance, yes?

Well, the idea would be you'd build up to these encounters. So ideally, at first, you're fighting easier stuff, until you get different weapons and spells. And as the game progresses, you'd encounter the more difficult things.