Multiplat Dragon Age: The Veilguard

[Bob Gray]

There's also players who don't care about the few minutes of political points and wouldn't if they were conservative points.

If either was a large part of the whole game, I would care. But I also don't watch streamers and get worked up....

Liberals get traumatized and conservatives say you're ruining families, the children and forcing them to whatever.

People from all sides whine, just not all people from all sides.

Sure. If you dont care, you don't care. I'm not saying you should. But Im saying there are legitimate reasons that people dislike it beyond simply whinging.

More often than not this sort of clumsy, heavy handed grandstanding tends to indicate a lot of problems beyond just the one thing being talked about. Its often a sign of lazy creative talent with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer that are preoccupied with things like diversity and soap boxing over narrative and character development.

If you like, you like it. That's cool, I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'll probably wait for a deep sale.

 

[Bob Gray]

You guys don't play JRPGs I take it? Bad writing and beating you over the head with its themes are common in that genre. It's pretty much a meme at this point that every JRPG is about the power of friendship and they're in no way subtle about it. Feels like this game is getting singled out when so many in the industry do this. What are you guys playing exactly that has such amazing writing? I think my biggest issue is the game goes for Marvel type humor which got old really fast after a couple of those movies.

DA has never been a jrpg style game.

 

[Zazen]

DA has never been a jrpg style game.

That wasn't my point at all

 

[Nizam al-Mulk]

You guys don't play JRPGs I take it? Bad writing and beating you over the head with its themes are common in that genre. It's pretty much a meme at this point that every JRPG is about the power of friendship and they're in no way subtle about it. Feels like this game is getting singled out when so many in the industry do this. What are you guys playing exactly that has such amazing writing? I think my biggest issue is the game goes for Marvel type humor which got old really fast after a couple of those movies.

So the writing is bad and we should just accept it when most other stuff has at least mid writing.

The SWTOR Imperial Agent story is really good.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

So I think the game will probably break even for EA since the playerbase has been at least decent, and can claim to be EA's best launch on Steam in the past four years, the most transparent platform with player numbers, as EA began launching games on Steam in mid-2020. Perhaps they might lose money if the playerbase is stronger on PC relative to console versus Jedi Survivor, and it truly cost an additional $50m, since it is steadily outpacing Survivor's playerbase by ~20%-25%.

Don't know what Veilguard's budget was, for development or marketing, but EA does.

Don't know the total sales are across XBox, PS5, & PC.... but EA does.

When I heard the rumors that Veilguard sold less than Star Wars Outlaws, my gut reaction was 'bullshit.' Sales data for Outlaws came out after a month after the release date to confirm it sold 1-ish million units. That rumor that Veilguard sold even was spread around 2 weeks after the release date.

Didn't come close to passing the sniff test.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

 

[Fury]

Sure. If you dont care, you don't care. I'm not saying you should. But Im saying there are legitimate reasons that people dislike it beyond simply whinging.

More often than not this sort of clumsy, heavy handed grandstanding tends to indicate a lot of problems beyond just the one thing being talked about. Its often a sign of lazy creative talent with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer that are preoccupied with things like diversity and soap boxing over narrative and character development.

If you like, you like it. That's cool, I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'll probably wait for a deep sale.

I actually said it's a good steam sale game somewhere above.

Honestly, so many games have bad writing, or examples of bad writing, that I don't equate it with one thing or another.

 

[Nizam al-Mulk]

I actually said it's a good steam sale game somewhere above.

Honestly, so many games have bad writing, or examples of bad writing, that I don't equate it with one thing or another.

If 05 has a bunch of action movies with bad writing the one with badly executed christian themes will stand out and be mocked more.

 

[elreece]

tried it, couldnt make it through the tutorial missions, felt super shit imo. Refunded.

 

[Madmick]

Hmmm....think that might have something to do with the fact the author of the original review is a trannie?

Leana Hafer​

LOL, yeah, the fix is in. "At war with itself." No, it's not at war with itself. The game is part of an ongoing declaration of war against the very people who consume its product type: gamers.

Hey, guess what website showed up to be on the wrong side of history with the "review bombing" smear for the umpteenth consecutive time? None other than Game Rant! (the sister website to Screen Rant which is easily the worst review website in existence counted for TVs and movies by metatrackers like Metacritic & RottenTomatoes...go ahead and give a Google of the keywords "Screen Rant review bomb" a shot).

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is Being Review Bombed​

 

[Fury]

The game is part of an ongoing declaration of war against the very people who consume its product type: gamers.

That's not overly dramatic at all...

Define gamer for me

 

[Bob Gray]

I thought this was a pretty good, balanced article that pointed out both strengths and flaws with the whole "inclusion" angle.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard's leap forward in trans inclusion comes from a heartfelt place, but its problems left me feeling frustrated, angry, and tired

"Don't tell me who I am."

www.pcgamer.com

He hits the nail on the head with how the language conflicts with the story they're telling. Everybody would criticize it if Morrigan said something like "That's pretty sus. I'd clap back, that's my bae after all. Bet."

Everybody would be "Wtf is this shit?"

That's one of the biggest problems with ham-fistedley stuffing agenda driven talking points into a fantasy game. You're breaking the rules of your own world, and the setting suffers for it.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Hmmm....think that might have something to do with the fact the author of the original review is a trannie?

Leana Hafer​

LOL, yeah, the fix is in. "At war with itself." No, it's not at war with itself. The game is part of an ongoing declaration of war against the very people who consume its product type: gamers.

Hey, guess what website showed up to be on the wrong side of history with the "review bombing" smear for the umpteenth consecutive time? None other than Game Rant! (the sister website to Screen Rant which is easily the worst review website in existence counted for TVs and movies by metatrackers like Metacritic & RottenTomatoes...go ahead and give a Google of the keywords "Screen Rant review bomb" a shot).

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is Being Review Bombed​

Reminds me another recent article...

‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard’ and the Necessity of Games Journalism​

'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' and the Necessity of Games Journalism

'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' has been another example of exactly why players need games journalism more than they know.

www.vice.com

‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard’ has been another example of exactly why players need games journalism more than they know./i]

Spoiler: Entire Article

I'm copying it here so you don't have to give those bastards the click they're baiting everyone to give them.

"We’re going back to the trenches with this one. So, it’s no secret. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the latest “DEI game” to be subjected to criticism with zero bearing on the actual game itself. Because I’m tired and already exhausted myself talking about diversity in games, I’ll keep this one mercifully brief.

Now, the irony of me saying this from a gaming vertical isn’t lost on me. Even if I’m the wrong messenger, I can only hope the message itself is meaningful enough. Let’s imagine a world without video game outlets. No IGN, no Kotaku, no Polygon — they all just poof, overnight. Gone. No more reviews or insights from games journalists.

You know what that leaves you with to gauge how good a game is? “Censoring on metacritic has gotten completely out of hand, not a smart move if you want to stay relevant aka in business coz this whole nwo/great reset/woke psyop has failed, narrative’s crumbling and everybody not bailing out in time will go down with it.” This, in case you couldn’t tell, is a user review from Metacritic.

‘dragon age: the veilguard’ is a lesson to us all​

I want you to really read that review. Let it nestle within your brain for a second. Now, what did you meaningfully glean from that? What information in that excerpt will help you decide whether Veilguard is worth your time? That the game has… characters of different ethnicities? And that’s… …bad?

This brand of “criticism” extends to YouTube where content creators aren’t bound to any kind of journalistic integrity. Sure, a few YouTubers provide thoughtful feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of a game. But some of them couldn’t care less about worthwhile, relevant, informed discourse. They don’t have to talk about the gameplay, visuals, characters, story, pacing, mechanics, or any of the other nuances one looks for in a “traditional” review for a game.

Instead, they can turn their camera on and say a game sucks because it has pronouns in it. Or features too much diversity. Or “ruined a franchise” by introducing any other sexual orientation that isn’t “straight” or gender identity that isn’t “man/woman.” There isn’t a conversation. A point to it all. Just noise.

get me out of here
It’s funny, though. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is getting lambasted for its inclusive elements because it (apparently) isn’t a 10/10 experience. Meanwhile, I don’t recall Baldur’s Gate 3 getting a whole lot of flak for– oh, wait. Never mind, I guess I had a momentary mental lapse. But, traditionally, people will “excuse” all that gross diversity if the quality is high enough. But, true to form, that bar is only cleared once perfection is agreed upon! No real-world parallels there at all!

VICE has become a shill publication in the same vein as Rolling Stone.

 

[Fury]

Reminds me another recent article...

‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard’ and the Necessity of Games Journalism​

'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' and the Necessity of Games Journalism

'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' has been another example of exactly why players need games journalism more than they know.

www.vice.com

‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard’ has been another example of exactly why players need games journalism more than they know./i]

Spoiler: Entire Article

I'm copying it here so you don't have to give those bastards the click they're baiting everyone to give them.

"We’re going back to the trenches with this one. So, it’s no secret. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the latest “DEI game” to be subjected to criticism with zero bearing on the actual game itself. Because I’m tired and already exhausted myself talking about diversity in games, I’ll keep this one mercifully brief.

Now, the irony of me saying this from a gaming vertical isn’t lost on me. Even if I’m the wrong messenger, I can only hope the message itself is meaningful enough. Let’s imagine a world without video game outlets. No IGN, no Kotaku, no Polygon — they all just poof, overnight. Gone. No more reviews or insights from games journalists.

You know what that leaves you with to gauge how good a game is? “Censoring on metacritic has gotten completely out of hand, not a smart move if you want to stay relevant aka in business coz this whole nwo/great reset/woke psyop has failed, narrative’s crumbling and everybody not bailing out in time will go down with it.” This, in case you couldn’t tell, is a user review from Metacritic.

Spoiler: Entire Article

‘dragon age: the veilguard’ is a lesson to us all​

I want you to really read that review. Let it nestle within your brain for a second. Now, what did you meaningfully glean from that? What information in that excerpt will help you decide whether Veilguard is worth your time? That the game has… characters of different ethnicities? And that’s… …bad?

This brand of “criticism” extends to YouTube where content creators aren’t bound to any kind of journalistic integrity. Sure, a few YouTubers provide thoughtful feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of a game. But some of them couldn’t care less about worthwhile, relevant, informed discourse. They don’t have to talk about the gameplay, visuals, characters, story, pacing, mechanics, or any of the other nuances one looks for in a “traditional” review for a game.

Instead, they can turn their camera on and say a game sucks because it has pronouns in it. Or features too much diversity. Or “ruined a franchise” by introducing any other sexual orientation that isn’t “straight” or gender identity that isn’t “man/woman.” There isn’t a conversation. A point to it all. Just noise.

get me out of here
It’s funny, though. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is getting lambasted for its inclusive elements because it (apparently) isn’t a 10/10 experience. Meanwhile, I don’t recall Baldur’s Gate 3 getting a whole lot of flak for– oh, wait. Never mind, I guess I had a momentary mental lapse. But, traditionally, people will “excuse” all that gross diversity if the quality is high enough. But, true to form, that bar is only cleared once perfection is agreed upon! No real-world parallels there at all!

VICE has become a shill publication in the same vein as Rolling Stone.

That's not a journalist, it's an activist.

 

[Dizzy]

This thread is still going? Lol

Can’t stop the brain rot.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

That's not a journalist, it's an activist.

100% agreed.... for once.

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

Reminds me another recent article...

‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard’ and the Necessity of Games Journalism​

'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' and the Necessity of Games Journalism

'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' has been another example of exactly why players need games journalism more than they know.

www.vice.com

‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard’ has been another example of exactly why players need games journalism more than they know./i]

Spoiler: Entire Article

I'm copying it here so you don't have to give those bastards the click they're baiting everyone to give them.

"We’re going back to the trenches with this one. So, it’s no secret. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the latest “DEI game” to be subjected to criticism with zero bearing on the actual game itself. Because I’m tired and already exhausted myself talking about diversity in games, I’ll keep this one mercifully brief.

Now, the irony of me saying this from a gaming vertical isn’t lost on me. Even if I’m the wrong messenger, I can only hope the message itself is meaningful enough. Let’s imagine a world without video game outlets. No IGN, no Kotaku, no Polygon — they all just poof, overnight. Gone. No more reviews or insights from games journalists.

You know what that leaves you with to gauge how good a game is? “Censoring on metacritic has gotten completely out of hand, not a smart move if you want to stay relevant aka in business coz this whole nwo/great reset/woke psyop has failed, narrative’s crumbling and everybody not bailing out in time will go down with it.” This, in case you couldn’t tell, is a user review from Metacritic.

Spoiler: Entire Article

‘dragon age: the veilguard’ is a lesson to us all​

I want you to really read that review. Let it nestle within your brain for a second. Now, what did you meaningfully glean from that? What information in that excerpt will help you decide whether Veilguard is worth your time? That the game has… characters of different ethnicities? And that’s… …bad?

This brand of “criticism” extends to YouTube where content creators aren’t bound to any kind of journalistic integrity. Sure, a few YouTubers provide thoughtful feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of a game. But some of them couldn’t care less about worthwhile, relevant, informed discourse. They don’t have to talk about the gameplay, visuals, characters, story, pacing, mechanics, or any of the other nuances one looks for in a “traditional” review for a game.

Instead, they can turn their camera on and say a game sucks because it has pronouns in it. Or features too much diversity. Or “ruined a franchise” by introducing any other sexual orientation that isn’t “straight” or gender identity that isn’t “man/woman.” There isn’t a conversation. A point to it all. Just noise.

get me out of here
It’s funny, though. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is getting lambasted for its inclusive elements because it (apparently) isn’t a 10/10 experience. Meanwhile, I don’t recall Baldur’s Gate 3 getting a whole lot of flak for– oh, wait. Never mind, I guess I had a momentary mental lapse. But, traditionally, people will “excuse” all that gross diversity if the quality is high enough. But, true to form, that bar is only cleared once perfection is agreed upon! No real-world parallels there at all!

VICE has become a shill publication in the same vein as Rolling Stone.

It was simpler when I was a kid.

The Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine and the Demo Disk that came with it.

I read the articles, played a bit of the game and if I liked it enough, I bought it. I knew what I liked, what I was looking for, and never bought a game just because someone else said that it was good.

I don't particularly care about "Journalistic Integrity" when it comes to reviewers, and I wouldn't care if IGN or Polygon or Kotaku was wiped off the map. Same with film and music reviews. Just a bunch of snobs thinking their opinions are better just because they get paid to write about it.

 

[Fury]

100% agreed.... for once.

I don't play sides, just have my own opinions. My trumper aunt tells me I'm a liberal and my liberal friends tell me I'm an asshole.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

It was simpler when I was a kid.

The Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine and the Demo Disk that came with it.

Agreed.
The vast majority of games that received high reviews deserves the high scores, and were worth renting or buying.

The first instance of clear & obvious deception I noticed was the 2003 EGM issue with a 12-page preview of how Enter The Matrix was going to be one of the most incredible games ever.

I traded in my copy of Halo CE for $10 store-credit to get it on release day.

Needless to say, the game was such dogshit that as a 6-year EGM subscriber I didn't renew it.

By the way, they did actually review Enter The Martix.... in an issue released two months later.
And a month later in the fanmail part of the magazine they mentioned all the hatemail they reveived... and they basically said "we didn't tell you to buy it."


But that was a clear case, and the first case, of blantant and obvious misleading the customer base of the magazine to fool them into purchasing a dogshit game.
With modern critics, for games, TV, and movies, its more like production companies for all entertainment are catering to activist media reviewers... who praise media who cater to their politics (high scores) while giving mediocre scores to media that don't.

And its my sneaking suspicion that the reviewers, in most cases, don't mention the political propaganda in the media because they want the consumer to do be coerced into adopting the politics as a part of their worldview.

Now some activist reviewers mention the politics, and some don't, but the smart ones don't.

This entire environment of broken trust between reviewers and consumers had led to a gradual collapse of the publications. While consumers are finding individual reviewers, not employed by publications, to trust for worthy games of their purchase and time to play.

And that's exactly how it should be.


Angry Joe has never recommended a bad game.
Say what you will about his politics (outside of his videos) and I may agree with you on alot, and he may be theatrical with his anger but he has always been consistent.

And I could go on for about five or six other examples but at this point I feel like I'm writing an article.

Anyway, the discreditation of publication reviewer has been gradual and earned.

 

[Fury]

Agreed.
The vast majority of games that received high reviews deserves the high scores, and were worth renting or buying.

The first instance of clear & obvious deception I noticed was the 2003 EGM issue with a 12-page preview of how Enter The Matrix was going to be one of the most incredible games ever.

I traded in my copy of Halo CE for $10 store-credit to get it on release day.

Needless to say, the game was such dogshit that as a 6-year EGM subscriber I didn't renew it.

By the way, they did actually review Enter The Martix.... in an issue released two months later.
And a month later in the fanmail part of the magazine they mentioned all the hatemail they reveived... and they basically said "we didn't tell you to buy it."


But that was a clear case, and the first case, of blantant and obvious misleading the customer base of the magazine to fool them into purchasing a dogshit game.
With modern critics, for games, TV, and movies, its more like production companies for all entertainment are catering to activist media reviewers... who praise media who cater to their politics (high scores) while giving mediocre scores to media that don't.

And its my sneaking suspicion that the reviewers, in most cases, don't mention the political propaganda in the media because they want the consumer to do be coerced into adopting the politics as a part of their worldview.

Now some activist reviewers mention the politics, and some don't, but the smart ones don't.

This entire environment of broken trust between reviewers and consumers had led to a gradual collapse of the publications. While consumers are finding individual reviewers, not employed by publications, to trust for worthy games of their purchase and time to play.

And that's exactly how it should be.


Angry Joe has never recommended a bad game.
Say what you will about his politics (outside of his videos) and I may agree with you on alot, and he may be theatrical with his anger but he has always been consistent.

And I could go on for about five or six other examples but at this point I feel like I'm writing an article.

Anyway, the discreditation of publication reviewer has been gradual and earned.

Angry Joe is an interesting example. I actually figured out that I would like a game based on his bad review of it. It's not that he and I disagree on "views", but he showed some good parts and the things he didn't like. The things he didn't like were not things that would stop me from enjoying the good even though they did for him.


Miracle of miracles.... He actually informed me about a game in a helpful way.

Edit: basically, I don't even need to agree with the reviewer but need to be objectively informed