If u are in gaming for stories, you guys are wrong... go and read some books if u want stories, the fact is, this game looks more playable for a greater audience and that's the point, make simple, balanced and most of everything, make it enjoyable, those are the things that sells, and that's the points of games, if they don't sell, they can't make games...
What are you smoking? What is a game without a story?
Some of the biggest games ever released have no story. A game isnt defined by having a story.
While I think Luk is indeed wrong in his extreme statement, there is plenty of room in a lot of games for a decent story (especially RPGs), so are you.
The truth is actually somewhere in the middle of the two of you.
IN the last two years the games that have won "Game of the Year" were games with stories. There are games that can surivive on the combat alone (Demon Souls, Ninja Gaiden, Bayonetta) but some of the best loved have stories that we can attach to.
I think MMORPG is offering Bioware coverage of non-MMOs (DA1 and DA2) in return for exclusives on SWTOR. I dont blame the website, its a good strategy, but its what I noticed a year ago with DA1. DA1 coverage on the site, then they get exclusives from Bioware on SWTOR.
Not sure why this article is on an MMORPG site. The argument of the author to get some insight into an upcoming MMORPG through writing an article about a single-player offline game by the same company sounds bogus at best. And sure, there's nothing in the article about the upcoming MMORPG from Bioware.
Anyway, the last game from Bioware I played and enjoyed was NWN1 and it's expansions. I don't care for console, action, scifi games - and sadly that's all Bioware has produced after NWN1. I bought DA:O but didn't finish it, to me it seemed more like an interactive movie and a cyber-love simulator than an RPG.
YMMV.
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
When I want real MMO news I head over to Massively, when I want articles like this that have nothing to do with MMORPG's I come here. Seriously, you can at least be honest with your reader base and start the article off with "Hey, this has nothing to do with MMO's but we want to nut hug Bioware a little with their upcoming game." To try and convince your reader base that this article has anything to do with mmo's is a farce, mostly because you yourselves know it doesn't belong here. LOL Bravo Jon, Bravo.
When I want real MMO news I head over to Massively, when I want articles like this that have nothing to do with MMORPG's I come here. Seriously, you can at least be honest with your reader base and start the article off with "Hey, this has nothing to do with MMO's but we want to nut hug Bioware a little with their upcoming game." To try and convince your reader base that this article has anything to do with mmo's is a farce, mostly because you yourselves know it doesn't belong here. LOL Bravo Jon, Bravo.
Yup, ya got me. Obviously this is some kind of huge consipracy. I actually live to be dishonest. it's how I like to make my living.
OR, maybe, just MAYBE there actually IS something to be gleaned from looking at previous games from the same company. Maybe, given that The Old Repulic has been touted over and over again as a story-based "Bioware" style game, it's a good idea to actually take a look at the other game that the company is developing simultaneously with TOR. Just because they're not the same game, doesn't mean that tehre's isn't something to look at there and that it isn't worth having at least a terciary knowledge of DAII.
Yiou don't have to agree with me. It's your right not to, but don't pretend that you know me, and don't pretend that you know my motives. You don't. It's that simple.
I'll pick it up simply because I went through the first one, but I hope the combat is made more fluid and we can avoid the pausing for combat and the ability to adjust difficulty level. It should just be made with one difficulty so that I don't feel that I always have a way out.
I guess I must have been one of the few people who didnt like Dragon Age...was it Origins or 1, not really sure because I deleted off of my hard drive. (I'm not going to load up Steam just to see which it is.)
I'm sick and tired of always being the savior of the world, where the king of the realm wants to get on his knees and thank me.... "You must be that new Grey Warden I heard about!"
"Yeah I'm the one who stole every fucking thing he could get his hands on, lied my ass off, and helped a Blood Mage murder people and then escape." "And if I could, I'd kick you in the balls and flip your ass off this two-hundered foot tall span."
Wait, didnt I sort of rant about this before...?
*Walks over to the over-clichéd linear story line and stabs it in the face*
God, if only I could....
And like someone else said..ohh there will be an elf story line. You'll just have to pay extra to play it.
Sorry Jon, I know some people will explode in their pants over this article. But you really gave us nothing. Not saying your writing is bad, just there really wasnt much to say besides this...
"Fans of the old game are going to find a number of things improved, including much better visuals, a new but not-too-different art style, a streamlined UI, improved combat mechanics, archery that doesn't suck, and a dialogue wheel to replace the old dialogue lists. They're going to find some things the same as the overall gameplay experience and storytelling mechanics stay delightfully true to the original game, and they're going to find at least one thing that has the potential to disappoint them in the fact that humans are the only available race."
Thats it, one paragraph. And I'd love to play a new good RPG, just think this is going to be a rehash, just with different dialogue.
*Hands out the tissue to those that need it*
*shrug*
"I understand that if I hear any more words come pouring out of your **** mouth, Ill have to eat every fucking chicken in this room."
I love DA. Not many games actually make me feel like I have so much control.. and it really does feel mmoish at times. In fact if you asked my guild if they'd played and liked DA I doubt you could find one that said no they hadn't. That's saying something. Agreed there's something to be gleaned from looking at this game and TOR if only as far as story. Perhaps more. Who knows?
I don't get what kind of an "insight" on Old Republic can anyone get by looking at Dragon Age 2? they're made by the same company, but are they made by the exact same teams? same programmers, game designers, game artists?
The only thing in common that they have is that the same company funds both games and places its label on them, that's all.
btw, If you want a story, guys, go play old good TES3: Morrowind, that's the best rpg game i've seen since 1990's. Open world, open questing, strong plot and characters, whatever... i didn't fully liked first Mass Effect because it was all zoned up, and ME2 was even worse, and i'd bet a hundred bucks that they'll ruin DA2 too.
I liked ME2 and ME, but I do have to agree with you. Morrowind is one of the best RPG ever made. I have logged so many hours into that game, just exploring. I really hope Elder Scrolls 5 is more like Morrowind then Oblivion.
When I want real MMO news I head over to Massively, when I want articles like this that have nothing to do with MMORPG's I come here. Seriously, you can at least be honest with your reader base and start the article off with "Hey, this has nothing to do with MMO's but we want to nut hug Bioware a little with their upcoming game." To try and convince your reader base that this article has anything to do with mmo's is a farce, mostly because you yourselves know it doesn't belong here. LOL Bravo Jon, Bravo.
Yup, ya got me. Obviously this is some kind of huge consipracy. I actually live to be dishonest. it's how I like to make my living.
OR, maybe, just MAYBE there actually IS something to be gleaned from looking at previous games from the same company. Maybe, given that The Old Repulic has been touted over and over again as a story-based "Bioware" style game, it's a good idea to actually take a look at the other game that the company is developing simultaneously with TOR. Just because they're not the same game, doesn't mean that tehre's isn't something to look at there and that it isn't worth having at least a terciary knowledge of DAII.
Yiou don't have to agree with me. It's your right not to, but don't pretend that you know me, and don't pretend that you know my motives. You don't. It's that simple.
I may not know you or your motives but I don't need to. I can read and comprehend and this article basically makes no correlation between DA2 and TOR other than: they are both using Bioware's tried and true storytelling method. The rest of your entire article is a play review for DA2. Like I said and you state in your own words, trying to tie the 2 together came down to the fact they both use the Bioware story method. Is that somehow new news to anyone? Like I said, your article had nothing to do with TOR or MMO's which you pretty much reveal after your play review. I will disagree with you because the article fail.
Trying to tie this all together with Bioware's upcoming MMO without being able to ask any direct questions about it wasn't easy. Still, I wanted to know about Bioware's very specific storytelling style and how it has managed to endure in its original form when big publishers like EA have had a tendency to push games toward the modern and the shiny and away from classic games making.
The answer that I got from lead Designer Mike Laidlaw was that EA has seen the massive success that Bioware has had in their field and that it's hard to argue with a formula that has brought in that much money.
I get it Stradden... you guys got an opportunity to play DA2 and that's awesome.... But... why?
I really don't want to be rude, I just have a hard time understanding the decisions for articles sometimes...
I know this website is your bread and butter and you will always be protective of it... so let's change subjects and websites.
Lets say you frequent www.motorcycle.com. One day there's a new article up titled "Hands on with the new Honda Hybrid Car".
Wouldn't you be a little confused.. I mean sure, they're both vehicles.. I mean, they have Honda cycles on the site... so in a weird round-about way it makes some kind of superficial sense to post the article on that website.... you know, because looking at the Honda car hands-on you may somehow glean insight into the new Honda cycle that's coming out next year, but, really, probably not.
If you wanted to know about the new Honda car, you would have went to hondacars.com... not motorcycle.com...
Anyway... It's the same thing as the Diablo 2 stuff, and really anything non-MMO related that's posted as a news article.
Your justification just doesn't make sense... you're better off just saying "This website gets more views than GamerTube.com, so we put it here.. deal with it"; instead of making something up about how this game has story, and this game has story, sooooo there.
This actually would have been a great video preview to put up on gamertube to promote that website a bit more.... would have made WAY more sense.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
When I want real MMO news I head over to Massively, when I want articles like this that have nothing to do with MMORPG's I come here. Seriously, you can at least be honest with your reader base and start the article off with "Hey, this has nothing to do with MMO's but we want to nut hug Bioware a little with their upcoming game." To try and convince your reader base that this article has anything to do with mmo's is a farce, mostly because you yourselves know it doesn't belong here. LOL Bravo Jon, Bravo.
Yup, ya got me. Obviously this is some kind of huge consipracy. I actually live to be dishonest. it's how I like to make my living.
OR, maybe, just MAYBE there actually IS something to be gleaned from looking at previous games from the same company. Maybe, given that The Old Repulic has been touted over and over again as a story-based "Bioware" style game, it's a good idea to actually take a look at the other game that the company is developing simultaneously with TOR. Just because they're not the same game, doesn't mean that tehre's isn't something to look at there and that it isn't worth having at least a terciary knowledge of DAII.
Yiou don't have to agree with me. It's your right not to, but don't pretend that you know me, and don't pretend that you know my motives. You don't. It's that simple.
I may not know you or your motives but I don't need to. I can read and comprehend and this article basically makes no correlation between DA2 and TOR other than: they are both using Bioware's tried and true storytelling method. The rest of your entire article is a play review for DA2. Like I said and you state in your own words, trying to tie the 2 together came down to the fact they both use the Bioware story method. Is that somehow new news to anyone? Like I said, your article had nothing to do with TOR or MMO's which you pretty much reveal after your play review. I will disagree with you because the article fail.
Trying to tie this all together with Bioware's upcoming MMO without being able to ask any direct questions about it wasn't easy. Still, I wanted to know about Bioware's very specific storytelling style and how it has managed to endure in its original form when big publishers like EA have had a tendency to push games toward the modern and the shiny and away from classic games making.
The answer that I got from lead Designer Mike Laidlaw was that EA has seen the massive success that Bioware has had in their field and that it's hard to argue with a formula that has brought in that much money.
EA has a reputation of that, because there are titles they do that with. It's something they've gone away from in recent years. When they buy new companies like Westwood, Mythic or BioWare, they usually just tell them to do what they normally do, but they will have more capital to work with.
EA is a very well run company, they just like pumping out premium titles non-stop, same with Activision (although, I hate Activision). Valve and Blizzard are pretty strange animals when it comes to premium titles, because they don't just pump them out the doors.
If u are in gaming for stories, you guys are wrong... go and read some books if u want stories, the fact is, this game looks more playable for a greater audience and that's the point, make simple, balanced and most of everything, make it enjoyable, those are the things that sells, and that's the points of games, if they don't sell, they can't make games...
Dont be absurd
Of course an RPG is about a story ..its a massive part of why you do things
Its not the only thing that matters but without a storyplot you would get bored
Just as I thought, Bioware continues to disappoint me.
First they simplify Mass Effect II (of course the engine is better and the graphical design is better, but both gameplay, characters and story suffered).
Then they start to release a VERY subpar info on TOR and we learn its bassically wow in space with none of the KOTOR spirit.
All I can hope now is that the story is good and we are not going to face some bug race which started to kidnap people from the outskirt towns, while working for a shady mercenary organization...knowing how meII and TOR turned out and how MEIII trailer looks.....it doe snot bode well on this too.
A LOT and I'd even say the majority of players of BW games disagree with you. ME2 is for, again, probably the majority better than ME when it comes to gameplay, characters and story, and is seen by most as an improvement upon ME, you only have to look at several gaming forums and reviews to witness that.
About SW:TOR, well, that's another subject, but suffice to say that the recent preview articles were predominantly positive about their SWTOR gameplay experiences, and to most SW:TOR without a doubt manages to capture the KOTOR spirit.
Maybe it's true that it doesn't bode well for you and that you will not enjoy DA2 or SWTOR, but that certainly doesn't apply to most other people.
Why are you speaking for others? Last I checked, your opinion doesn't count for anyone but yourself, the same way his did? Don't speak for others, speak for yourself and let the rest of us decide if we like it or not.
Why are you speaking for others? Last I checked, your opinion doesn't count for anyone but yourself, the same way his did? Don't speak for others, speak for yourself and let the rest of us decide if we like it or not.
Mate, practice what you preach yourself first else you just sound like a fool. I speak for myself if I want to, and if I want to post an observation of trends in opinion I witnessed, then those conclusions are my own opinion too, that I post when I like it.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
I'm not sure I understand where the hate and annoyance is coming from with being locked into a racial role. The majority of single-player games don't just lock you into a race, they lock you into a specific character. Not only that, your choices are made for you, as well. Dragon Age 2 even with having to play a human is still infinitely more interactive - if it's anything akin to DA:O which, was mentioned, it will be - than 99% of single-player RPGs out there.
Actually, the only other rpg besides Bioware's that I can think of with significant player choices was Fable, and while not bad, is not a game that's up to the standards of DA/ME, in my opinion. ME2 in particular was amazing. That may just be my opinion, but I have a general disdain for the science fiction genre, and ME2 gripped me despite that. It's not easy for a game with guns and androids to keep me interested, and it's remained one of my all-time favorite games of any I've ever played.
So sure, while it might be fun to play a different race, it's not a gamebreaker by any stretch. I didn't see anyone complaining they HAD to be Bayonetta, or that they HAD to be Dante (DMC), or they HAD to be Cloud (FF7), or Squall (FF8) or Yuri (Shadow Hearts) or Laharl (Disgaea) etc etc etc...and those were all great characters and well-loved games. What is the complaint now?
In any case, getting pretty far off-topic for an MMO forum. I just felt like that needed to be said. The Star Wars universe holds absolutely no interest to me, so I'll be passing on SWTOR. But for those into it, I highly recommend you give Bioware the benefit of the doubt. I've yet to be disappointed, and while they doesn't mean they'll never let me down, it does mean they warrant the opportunity to make a mistake before people rip them apart for a supposed one.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
I never liked DA's heavy instancing, no free roam, linear quests and limited races / classes. Still boggles my mind how this game became so popular.
Because not everyone is as easily impressed by a world map you can aimlessly walk around in when there's no real purpose to it besides looking at scenary. There were plenty of side-quests and areas to explore that had nothing to do with the storyline, the only thing that made it different from an open-world was you traveled to those areas from a map instead of wasting a lot of time walking to them. I don't have anything against the open-world thing if that's what people like, but there's a reason why games have begun shying away from it. It's not something I miss.
And DA had 3 races, 27 class trees with Awakening expansion (21 without), and like 2-3 origin stories per race, not to mention the branching storyline. I'm not sure how one finds that limiting, but okay.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
I never liked DA's heavy instancing, no free roam, linear quests and limited races / classes. Still boggles my mind how this game became so popular.
Because not everyone is as easily impressed by a world map you can aimlessly walk around in when there's no real purpose to it besides looking at scenary. There were plenty of side-quests and areas to explore that had nothing to do with the storyline, the only thing that made it different from an open-world was you traveled to those areas from a map instead of wasting a lot of time walking to them. I don't have anything against the open-world thing if that's what people like, but there's a reason why games have begun shying away from it. It's not something I miss.
And DA had 3 races, 27 class trees with Awakening expansion (21 without), and like 2-3 origin stories per race, not to mention the branching storyline. I'm not sure how one finds that limiting, but okay.
Mea culpa with the races / classes, didn't even get to explore the ramifications. I get easily bored if I'm hand-held from one area to the other. I just love exploring, and that's one feature you must admit DA lacks.
Oh, thanks for being civil in your reply, that's a rare sight on these forums.
Better to be crazy, provided you know what sane is...
So sure, while it might be fun to play a different race, it's not a gamebreaker by any stretch. I didn't see anyone complaining they HAD to be Bayonetta, or that they HAD to be Dante (DMC), or they HAD to be Cloud (FF7), or Squall (FF8) or Yuri (Shadow Hearts) or Laharl (Disgaea) etc etc etc...and those were all great characters and well-loved games. What is the complaint now?
That's a very good point. It's the whole 'sandbox vs themepark' discussion again and because RPG's like Dragon Age have so much in common with classical RPG's and classical MMORPG's that typical MMO discussion rises up also when it comes to RPG's like Dragon Age, especially here on a site like this.
Originally posted by gaeanprayer
And DA had 3 races, 27 class trees with Awakening expansion (21 without), and like 2-3 origin stories per race, not to mention the branching storyline. I'm not sure how one finds that limiting, but okay.
My guess is that sandbox lovers and sim fans would rather have a free roaming world and an avatar character that is defined for you like in games as Red Dead Redemption (which admittedly is a great game) and Oblivion than an RPG like Dragon Age where you might have a wider variety and freedom of choice for your avatar creation but where the world is less free-roaming and restrictive. I think what's felt as limiting or not, is purely a matter of perception.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
When I want real MMO news I head over to Massively, when I want articles like this that have nothing to do with MMORPG's I come here. Seriously, you can at least be honest with your reader base and start the article off with "Hey, this has nothing to do with MMO's but we want to nut hug Bioware a little with their upcoming game." To try and convince your reader base that this article has anything to do with mmo's is a farce, mostly because you yourselves know it doesn't belong here. LOL Bravo Jon, Bravo.
Yup, ya got me. Obviously this is some kind of huge consipracy. I actually live to be dishonest. it's how I like to make my living.
OR, maybe, just MAYBE there actually IS something to be gleaned from looking at previous games from the same company. Maybe, given that The Old Repulic has been touted over and over again as a story-based "Bioware" style game, it's a good idea to actually take a look at the other game that the company is developing simultaneously with TOR. Just because they're not the same game, doesn't mean that tehre's isn't something to look at there and that it isn't worth having at least a terciary knowledge of DAII.
Yiou don't have to agree with me. It's your right not to, but don't pretend that you know me, and don't pretend that you know my motives. You don't. It's that simple.
Cmmon Stradden.
Its clearly and obviously payed jurnalism. Which is ok. You got to make living somehow.
Actually I blame EA for offering money even to mmorpg sites to advertise their game.
As for DA2
Console game, for console people.
Bioware is long gone from the list of true RPG makers
Unless your not being literal here because if you are true RPG hold to this code
A role-playing game (RPG) is a broad family of games in which players assume the roles ofcharacters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development.[1] Actions taken within the game succeed or fail according to a formal system of rulesand guidelines.[2]
Lets see, you take on the role of a character: check
Take responsibility for those roles: check
according to some kind of rules and guidelines: check
Can i get the defination of true RPG, cause right now that looks like a role playing game to me.
Levels, stats, moving around in a world. Fighting monsters with either spells or swords.
Now whether it belongs on MMORPG or not is the question, right now they have stated it so you can see BW past. That seems to be in the grey area for me as anyone who wanted to know something about BW past would either google it or buy one of their games. But to each their own. IT's their website, we are just members of it.
You could always report it if you think it violates some kind of rule but i dare say they probably already looked into that before posting about it.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
Comments
IN the last two years the games that have won "Game of the Year" were games with stories. There are games that can surivive on the combat alone (Demon Souls, Ninja Gaiden, Bayonetta) but some of the best loved have stories that we can attach to.
I think MMORPG is offering Bioware coverage of non-MMOs (DA1 and DA2) in return for exclusives on SWTOR. I dont blame the website, its a good strategy, but its what I noticed a year ago with DA1. DA1 coverage on the site, then they get exclusives from Bioware on SWTOR.
Not sure why this article is on an MMORPG site. The argument of the author to get some insight into an upcoming MMORPG through writing an article about a single-player offline game by the same company sounds bogus at best. And sure, there's nothing in the article about the upcoming MMORPG from Bioware.
Anyway, the last game from Bioware I played and enjoyed was NWN1 and it's expansions. I don't care for console, action, scifi games - and sadly that's all Bioware has produced after NWN1. I bought DA:O but didn't finish it, to me it seemed more like an interactive movie and a cyber-love simulator than an RPG.
YMMV.
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
When I want real MMO news I head over to Massively, when I want articles like this that have nothing to do with MMORPG's I come here. Seriously, you can at least be honest with your reader base and start the article off with "Hey, this has nothing to do with MMO's but we want to nut hug Bioware a little with their upcoming game." To try and convince your reader base that this article has anything to do with mmo's is a farce, mostly because you yourselves know it doesn't belong here. LOL Bravo Jon, Bravo.
Im playing Origins now and Im loving it..
DA II is definitely on my wish list.
Yup, ya got me. Obviously this is some kind of huge consipracy. I actually live to be dishonest. it's how I like to make my living.
OR, maybe, just MAYBE there actually IS something to be gleaned from looking at previous games from the same company. Maybe, given that The Old Repulic has been touted over and over again as a story-based "Bioware" style game, it's a good idea to actually take a look at the other game that the company is developing simultaneously with TOR. Just because they're not the same game, doesn't mean that tehre's isn't something to look at there and that it isn't worth having at least a terciary knowledge of DAII.
Yiou don't have to agree with me. It's your right not to, but don't pretend that you know me, and don't pretend that you know my motives. You don't. It's that simple.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
I'll pick it up simply because I went through the first one, but I hope the combat is made more fluid and we can avoid the pausing for combat and the ability to adjust difficulty level. It should just be made with one difficulty so that I don't feel that I always have a way out.
I guess I must have been one of the few people who didnt like Dragon Age...was it Origins or 1, not really sure because I deleted off of my hard drive. (I'm not going to load up Steam just to see which it is.)
I'm sick and tired of always being the savior of the world, where the king of the realm wants to get on his knees and thank me.... "You must be that new Grey Warden I heard about!"
"Yeah I'm the one who stole every fucking thing he could get his hands on, lied my ass off, and helped a Blood Mage murder people and then escape." "And if I could, I'd kick you in the balls and flip your ass off this two-hundered foot tall span."
Wait, didnt I sort of rant about this before...?
*Walks over to the over-clichéd linear story line and stabs it in the face*
God, if only I could....
And like someone else said..ohh there will be an elf story line. You'll just have to pay extra to play it.
Sorry Jon, I know some people will explode in their pants over this article. But you really gave us nothing. Not saying your writing is bad, just there really wasnt much to say besides this...
"Fans of the old game are going to find a number of things improved, including much better visuals, a new but not-too-different art style, a streamlined UI, improved combat mechanics, archery that doesn't suck, and a dialogue wheel to replace the old dialogue lists. They're going to find some things the same as the overall gameplay experience and storytelling mechanics stay delightfully true to the original game, and they're going to find at least one thing that has the potential to disappoint them in the fact that humans are the only available race."
Thats it, one paragraph. And I'd love to play a new good RPG, just think this is going to be a rehash, just with different dialogue.
*Hands out the tissue to those that need it*
*shrug*
"I understand that if I hear any more words come pouring out of your **** mouth, Ill have to eat every fucking chicken in this room."
I could care less if they talk about other games. Most gamers who play MMOs play other games.
Good article and I can't wait to hear more about DA2.
I love DA. Not many games actually make me feel like I have so much control.. and it really does feel mmoish at times. In fact if you asked my guild if they'd played and liked DA I doubt you could find one that said no they hadn't. That's saying something. Agreed there's something to be gleaned from looking at this game and TOR if only as far as story. Perhaps more. Who knows?
I liked ME2 and ME, but I do have to agree with you. Morrowind is one of the best RPG ever made. I have logged so many hours into that game, just exploring. I really hope Elder Scrolls 5 is more like Morrowind then Oblivion.
I may not know you or your motives but I don't need to. I can read and comprehend and this article basically makes no correlation between DA2 and TOR other than: they are both using Bioware's tried and true storytelling method. The rest of your entire article is a play review for DA2. Like I said and you state in your own words, trying to tie the 2 together came down to the fact they both use the Bioware story method. Is that somehow new news to anyone? Like I said, your article had nothing to do with TOR or MMO's which you pretty much reveal after your play review. I will disagree with you because the article fail.
Trying to tie this all together with Bioware's upcoming MMO without being able to ask any direct questions about it wasn't easy. Still, I wanted to know about Bioware's very specific storytelling style and how it has managed to endure in its original form when big publishers like EA have had a tendency to push games toward the modern and the shiny and away from classic games making.
The answer that I got from lead Designer Mike Laidlaw was that EA has seen the massive success that Bioware has had in their field and that it's hard to argue with a formula that has brought in that much money.
I get it Stradden... you guys got an opportunity to play DA2 and that's awesome.... But... why?
I really don't want to be rude, I just have a hard time understanding the decisions for articles sometimes...
I know this website is your bread and butter and you will always be protective of it... so let's change subjects and websites.
Lets say you frequent www.motorcycle.com. One day there's a new article up titled "Hands on with the new Honda Hybrid Car".
Wouldn't you be a little confused.. I mean sure, they're both vehicles.. I mean, they have Honda cycles on the site... so in a weird round-about way it makes some kind of superficial sense to post the article on that website.... you know, because looking at the Honda car hands-on you may somehow glean insight into the new Honda cycle that's coming out next year, but, really, probably not.
If you wanted to know about the new Honda car, you would have went to hondacars.com... not motorcycle.com...
Anyway... It's the same thing as the Diablo 2 stuff, and really anything non-MMO related that's posted as a news article.
Your justification just doesn't make sense... you're better off just saying "This website gets more views than GamerTube.com, so we put it here.. deal with it"; instead of making something up about how this game has story, and this game has story, sooooo there.
This actually would have been a great video preview to put up on gamertube to promote that website a bit more.... would have made WAY more sense.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
Yes, I did. I prefer FPS-style combat for MMOs, though. However, in single-player RPGs with no PvP, I really do like it.
EA has a reputation of that, because there are titles they do that with. It's something they've gone away from in recent years. When they buy new companies like Westwood, Mythic or BioWare, they usually just tell them to do what they normally do, but they will have more capital to work with.
EA is a very well run company, they just like pumping out premium titles non-stop, same with Activision (although, I hate Activision). Valve and Blizzard are pretty strange animals when it comes to premium titles, because they don't just pump them out the doors.
Dont be absurd
Of course an RPG is about a story ..its a massive part of why you do things
Its not the only thing that matters but without a storyplot you would get bored
"after the time of dice came the day of mice "
Why are you speaking for others? Last I checked, your opinion doesn't count for anyone but yourself, the same way his did? Don't speak for others, speak for yourself and let the rest of us decide if we like it or not.
Mate, practice what you preach yourself first else you just sound like a fool. I speak for myself if I want to, and if I want to post an observation of trends in opinion I witnessed, then those conclusions are my own opinion too, that I post when I like it.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
I'm not sure I understand where the hate and annoyance is coming from with being locked into a racial role. The majority of single-player games don't just lock you into a race, they lock you into a specific character. Not only that, your choices are made for you, as well. Dragon Age 2 even with having to play a human is still infinitely more interactive - if it's anything akin to DA:O which, was mentioned, it will be - than 99% of single-player RPGs out there.
Actually, the only other rpg besides Bioware's that I can think of with significant player choices was Fable, and while not bad, is not a game that's up to the standards of DA/ME, in my opinion. ME2 in particular was amazing. That may just be my opinion, but I have a general disdain for the science fiction genre, and ME2 gripped me despite that. It's not easy for a game with guns and androids to keep me interested, and it's remained one of my all-time favorite games of any I've ever played.
So sure, while it might be fun to play a different race, it's not a gamebreaker by any stretch. I didn't see anyone complaining they HAD to be Bayonetta, or that they HAD to be Dante (DMC), or they HAD to be Cloud (FF7), or Squall (FF8) or Yuri (Shadow Hearts) or Laharl (Disgaea) etc etc etc...and those were all great characters and well-loved games. What is the complaint now?
In any case, getting pretty far off-topic for an MMO forum. I just felt like that needed to be said. The Star Wars universe holds absolutely no interest to me, so I'll be passing on SWTOR. But for those into it, I highly recommend you give Bioware the benefit of the doubt. I've yet to be disappointed, and while they doesn't mean they'll never let me down, it does mean they warrant the opportunity to make a mistake before people rip them apart for a supposed one.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
I never liked DA's heavy instancing, no free roam, linear quests and limited races / classes. Still boggles my mind how this game became so popular.
Better to be crazy, provided you know what sane is...
Because not everyone is as easily impressed by a world map you can aimlessly walk around in when there's no real purpose to it besides looking at scenary. There were plenty of side-quests and areas to explore that had nothing to do with the storyline, the only thing that made it different from an open-world was you traveled to those areas from a map instead of wasting a lot of time walking to them. I don't have anything against the open-world thing if that's what people like, but there's a reason why games have begun shying away from it. It's not something I miss.
And DA had 3 races, 27 class trees with Awakening expansion (21 without), and like 2-3 origin stories per race, not to mention the branching storyline. I'm not sure how one finds that limiting, but okay.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
Mea culpa with the races / classes, didn't even get to explore the ramifications. I get easily bored if I'm hand-held from one area to the other. I just love exploring, and that's one feature you must admit DA lacks.
Oh, thanks for being civil in your reply, that's a rare sight on these forums.
Better to be crazy, provided you know what sane is...
That's a very good point. It's the whole 'sandbox vs themepark' discussion again and because RPG's like Dragon Age have so much in common with classical RPG's and classical MMORPG's that typical MMO discussion rises up also when it comes to RPG's like Dragon Age, especially here on a site like this.
My guess is that sandbox lovers and sim fans would rather have a free roaming world and an avatar character that is defined for you like in games as Red Dead Redemption (which admittedly is a great game) and Oblivion than an RPG like Dragon Age where you might have a wider variety and freedom of choice for your avatar creation but where the world is less free-roaming and restrictive. I think what's felt as limiting or not, is purely a matter of perception.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Cmmon Stradden.
Its clearly and obviously payed jurnalism. Which is ok. You got to make living somehow.
Actually I blame EA for offering money even to mmorpg sites to advertise their game.
As for DA2
Console game, for console people.
Bioware is long gone from the list of true RPG makers
Unless your not being literal here because if you are true RPG hold to this code
A role-playing game (RPG) is a broad family of games in which players assume the roles ofcharacters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development.[1] Actions taken within the game succeed or fail according to a formal system of rulesand guidelines.[2]
Lets see, you take on the role of a character: check
Take responsibility for those roles: check
according to some kind of rules and guidelines: check
Can i get the defination of true RPG, cause right now that looks like a role playing game to me.
Levels, stats, moving around in a world. Fighting monsters with either spells or swords.
Now whether it belongs on MMORPG or not is the question, right now they have stated it so you can see BW past. That seems to be in the grey area for me as anyone who wanted to know something about BW past would either google it or buy one of their games. But to each their own. IT's their website, we are just members of it.
You could always report it if you think it violates some kind of rule but i dare say they probably already looked into that before posting about it.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.