I would also like to point out that Origins, despite its horrible DLC track record, managed to sell a ton of copies of Awakening, did it not? And those were 20 bucks a pop. What's the last game you recall that sold a ton of what amounts to an old style expac?

I was looking through old magazines on the crapper and suddenly realized the same guy who gave Dragon Age 2 a 94% in PC Gamer, Rich McCormick, is the one that gave Risen a 65%.

So... screw that guy. Remind me never to pay attention to Rich McCormick reviews again.

He was in charge of the console ports of DA:O which I guess explains a lot. The previous lead of the PC version left Bioware as he was not happy with the direction the sequel was taking. Which seems to be a very wise decision.

Oh, so I have Laidlaw to thank for the craptastic XBox 360 experience I got for my money, wonderful. Now that you mention it, I think you or someone else posted the old lead's blog about him moving on at some point. It sounds like he was disenchanted with all of Bioware but he never came out and said why, or even gave good hints. That's too bad, but still worth the 5-10 minutes spent reading it.

Brent Knowles That's his impression of the Dragon Age 2 demo.

On a side note, I'm pretty sure this is why we can't have nice things:

http://www.destructoid.com/bioware-writer-defends-romance-options-in-dragon-age-ii-197187.phtml

I'm going to give this a big fat, who cares? Has anyone watched The Gamers: Dorkness Rising? The scene with the two male role players having their characters have sex was pretty common back in the day. Does a player of male Hawke give a crap that Anders comes on to him? They had "my huge boobs give me amazing dexterity" pirate chick come onto male Hawke in the demo, after all.

So again, who gives a shit? The romance in games is typically about as optional and important as your average RPG sidequest. What's more any actual video game love and sex makes a slightly above average porn film look like a well portrayed love story.

The hate about Alpha Protocol was almost exclusively an attack on Bugsidian. TBH most people didn't encounter the game breakers it was literally blown out of all proportions by a small minority who revelled in the "hurr it's an Obsidian game therefore it's broken" lulz. Alpha Protocol didn't deserve that but, some of the fault is also SEGA's for not actually patching the game properly. Obsidian wanted to but SEGA were quite clear the game didn't match expectations so they did a Saints Row 2.

The problem with DA2 isn't bugs (but it has plenty) it's the actual design of the game and that isn't something that can be fixed with a patch. I'm glad DA2 is getting a real kicking from critics because it will force Bioware to look at why DA:O sold X amount and DA2 only sold Y. The logical conclusion is that they simply changed the game so much that the original fans didn't like it and they didn't change it enough to appeal to this casual shooter crowd they were aiming for.

Which brings us back again to Mike Laidlaw who seems to think designing an RPG game for people who don't play RPG games is a GOOD IDEA. What Dragon Age 2 is is Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Dood, the way to save da RPG is to make it not no RPG no more dood!

Okay, but the universal bashing might have that consequence, that DA3 will never get made (unlikely, but possible). Sure, the game has flaws and such, but It doesn't deserve all the hate it gets. Criticism is of course a good thing, but it needs to be constructive :)

Please don't kill me because of my beliefs :(


Edit. I'm bad at quoteing (?), so forgive me :D

The chances of no Dragon Age 3 are pretty small. It's a well-known brand now and despite the lower ratings and such I bet DA2 ends up selling well. A lot of console gamers love the new combat, they are just disappointed in other aspects.

I bet DA3 is not much different from DA2. I bet despite the low reviews they continue to streamline and try to find that middle-ground where everyone is happy, which is almost impossible. They will make little corrections back toward Origins on some things but then probably stay the course or further streamline other things.

I mentioned this on the BSN. Publishers only care about money and figures. EA will look at the sales figures for Origins, then they will look at the sales figures for DA2. They will want to know why exactly a sequel to one of the most widely well regarded RPG's in recent years tanked. It's Bioware that has been driving the 'innovation' behind Dragon Age because most EA suits don't understand the word. It would have been EA's choice to grind out an identikit sequel with little to no changes over Origins. Instead DA2 has been completely redesigned over the original under Laidlaw's vision and since he is so fond of saying "I want" in all these interviews he should be the one to take the fall for DA2's poor reception.

I don't think it deserves the hate, no, but it definitely deserves some very harsh criticism. BioWare really just mailed this one in. There are various story issues that just don't make sense, they recycled areas ad nauseum, there are some serious bugs that shouldn't have gotten into the final release, some of the 'quests' are just horrid (seriously - find an item, take it back to the marked quest point and get some cash and XP. No depth whatsoever. That's fine for one or two, but there are many of these), and the combat encounters are almost all exactly the same with waves of enemies that spawn into combat out of thin air. Just for a few things. This game is not up to BioWare's usual standards and they need to be told that.

Having said that, there are the bones of a good game in there, there are some nice visuals, the combat talents/spells and the cross class combos are an interesting idea that just didn't quite click (for me, at least), and there are some story elements that are pretty good. But the entirety of this recipe just isn't cooked enough.

True, Laidlaw doesn't seem to be the brightest of the bunch, and if DA2 does fail at sales, then the lead designer should take the responsibility..

Hmm, Da2 has been quite well received in the finnish gaming media..

Peliplaneetta.net (gaming site) 88/100
Pelit (gaming site and a magazine, biggest in Finland) 85/100
Pelaaja (gaming magazine) 9/10
v2.fi (major gaming site) 85/100

Compared to Origins, which had:
Pelit 88/100
Pelaaja 9/10
V2.fi 95/100
Peliplaneetta.net 95/100

If you ask me after the inevitable 'Isabela's Thong' and 'Bitch Hunt' DLC's they should just shoot the franchise in the head and put it out of its misery while it still retains some of its dignity, specially if the alternative is DA3 done according to what Mike 'Streamlined' Laidlaw envisioned for the franchise.