Thats not what I want in a game, at all. My favorite games have small development teams, no hype and small budget. Although I love ME2... just DA2 does not fit the ME2ification of the Dragon Age series at all in my opinion. Bleh I say, bleh.

Fair enough!

Your "wants" out of a game are certainly in the minority (mass market yo), so I can certainly understand why you would not like DA2.

I do understand why there are pissed off people about the changes made to DA2, heck, I was taken aback by the changes myself.

I just jumped in and started playing, and im digging it (12 hours in). Is it the "bestest game ever"? No, Bioware has done better, but that being said, its still a blast to play, im interested in the story, I love the art, and the combat (on Nightmare, PC) is crazy fun.

Other topic:

Was this game rushed?

Yes, and this is not an opinion, I know this for a FACT. EA lays the hammer down on release schedules. I agree that the game could have benifited from more time in the cooker, but that is certainly the reality many developers are faced with, tis' a concern in the games market, I know.

Thats not what i want in a game either. Id rather it take them 4-5 years to do a great sequel then pump about a dumbed down, ok at best sequel in two years. Sorry i am not part of the crowd that wants their game fast and flashy and easy. I want them to take their time, and make it challenging even on the easiest setting, and yeah i may be part of a niche group but id still like for them to consider us in that niche because thats who the original game was marketed to. You cannot market the first game for your "niche" crowd and then turn around and make sequel and totally alienate them and then not expect backlash.

Looks like I'll wait to get it then. As I've learned from these types of games, ALWAYS wait for the GotY or the 'complete' editions. Bugs will be fixed, new DLC which I otherwise probably would have skipped, and it'll be cheaper. I've got a lot of backlog to go through anyway, so... I guess I'll be playing DA2 next year. Hopefully the experience will be much better then.

You raise a fair point, DAO was certainly aimed to the more "Niche" crowd, so I can certainly understand the backlash after the changes are made.

As my counter point, im willing to bet that having more mass appeal and higher game sales trumps the niche market. They tried for the middle ground, perhaps too far on the streamlined side of things I'll admit, but I do understand what they tried for here.

For example, lets say there are 100 pissed off "niche" customers, if they get 200 "new" console customers, they are going to opt for that, its a business. They cannot please everyone, they can try (and I honestly belive they were trying for that) while they are shooting for the bigger marketplace. The pressures of being signed with a mass market publisher (EA) are HUGE, and while I do still wish Bioware was solo, thats just not in the cards.
In this age of mega DLC, and constant updates I have to admit that is pretty much ALWAYS the best course of action.

(I get ALOT of "freebies" and am spoiled by this perk, if I bought all of the games I obtain (legally BTW) I would wait for a better package much like you outlined more often then not)

The guys at Escapist don't like anything. I take their reviews with a dram of sco--I mean a grain of salt. The only thing I didn't like about Origins was that I was lead to believe it was a hack 'n slash, not a "Squad-based RTS". That sort of thing is okay in Mass Effect, with guns and grenades, but I was expecting more "Oblivion-style w/ followers".

I have extreme hatred for EA since 7 years ago. First Westwood, then Bullfrog, then Maxis and now Bioware. Guess what some of my favourite games are, Simcity, Baldur's Gate, C&C, Theme Park etc.

Oh I strongly agree - those are my favorite games as well. DA2 is really C&C4 for Bioware and I fear it might totally destroy them in the long run if they keep going down this path, or drop the PC platform completely.

Seriously, DA2 is a joke - there's no soul there. The people making it, made it as if it was their job, which is not how games should be made. It's all functional but basic and that's not how I like my games. See, Theme Park was an art of love - so many little touches that make the full game. If EA made it now, it would have simplistic menus, all the little touches kicked out and keeping the base functionality with a park with 5 visitors because it would be a console port and consoles couldn't handle more than 5 visitors at once *rolls eyes*

And EA does it AGAIN, not much surprise actually:

http://music.ign.com/articles/115/1154594p1.html

"I'm really looking forward to see it. I know there are a few bugs that still need to be fixed. Unlike other titles from Bioware, this [score] was kind of a rush job. EA really wanted to capitalize on the success of Origins, so the game was really being pushed hard to be released now. "

And here it is, the proverbial "high horse"

No soul?

Really, you didnt notice all the little touches in the combat? The many, MANY variations to how each character attacks in different situations, against different foes? (Show me another game of this ilk that does THAT, really, go ahead, I'll wait, because I have played them ALL, and none have this much animation diversity.)

The artistic revisioning of pretty much every single armor and weapon type in the game? (they could have been lazy and just reused the assets)

The metric ton of Bioware easter eggs, through dialog, items, world art, etc.

The MASSIVE amount of real consequence to your actions/decisions in this damn game. Again, go ahead and try and show me another title that has as much real in game impact off of the dialog. (Im willing to bet you have no clue as to this fact, due to not really playing the game.)

The great voice acting, DX11 implementation, the game engine rebuild, all works done with care.

I get the dislike of the streamline approach, I get the shock of the systems change from DAO.

But no soul? No effort? Give me a break.

Ha! Doesnt surprise me one bit to be honest. The original dev team behind C&C4 pretty much said the exact same thing. Only C&C4 was supposed to be its own game, a spin off, and if i remember right some kind of MMO. C&C4 was supposed to be a experiment, but the EA suits told EA LA to slap C&C4 on it and push it out, and hence the complete shit us C&C fans are left with to end a 15 year series. Idiots had the balls to call C&C4 an epic conclusion to the 15 year series. Yeah, it was epic, epic failure. Whats funnier about the whole thing with C&C4 in mind is that it was marketed to a totally different crowd. Your going to end a series of games by marketing it to the casual crowd? That alone spelled failure. Anyway, glad to see my suspicions were correct. DA2 was a rush job, forced by EA. Yeah sure, its a good game on its own, but i can bet its nothing like what Bioware wanted or could have done, if EA would have left them the fuck alone and let them do their job.

Wow someone's touchy.

How about the ugly and soulless menus. Or the stupid icons replacing proper item icons? Or what about the very simplified interface? Or what about the tons of recycling of locations and areas? Dull and stark streets? Lack of proper ambient atmosphere and sounds? Loads of stuff that is just plain WRONG like the way people act, strong disconnection of dialog with the world, etc. etc. etc. Seriously, open your eyes. The world art as you describe it isn't a patch on that of the first game. If you can't see the many cut corners, you're only fooling yourself.

Oh, the schadenfreude!
I love how the reception for this game is turning out.

No reported securom, dumbed down first game (or a reskin of ME2), hires textures not included with game?, Call of Duty gameplay (corridor & enemy spawning), button mashing action, banning disappointed buyers on official forums (and thus from game)... the list goes on ^^

But the sad fact is the game will do really good on consoles and just cement more the direction where the genre is heading.

On the plus side we have the old gems preserved on GOG so we can relive the glory days of the PC master race.

For more DA2 fun check out the guys from RPGcodex, they really love to bash this gem.

Incorrect BioWare hasn't banned anyone other than their usual 72hour slap on the wrist from the forums which still enables you to access your game and DLC. People who have been banned completely have been banned by EA usually by their actions to customer service reps.