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Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Dragon Age: The Shitstorm
Back in 2009, EA Bioware sent me a review copy of Dragon Age: Origins. That is remarkable insofar as that I only got a handful of review copies in two decades of writing this blog. I didn't profit much, as the review copy came late, and I had already bought the "Digital Deluxe" version on Steam as pre-order, but of course I was flattered to be considered. I wrote a review, which was overall positive, but not glowing.
In two days, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is being released. I didn't get a review copy this time, which is unsurprising. What is more surprising is how much of a shitstorm the game is already causing on social media before it is even released. So I sorted through a lot of material to find out what is the matter, and why opinions on this game are so divided.
The first part of the problem is marketing shenanigans. EA Bioware is apparently trying to influence early review scores by carefully picking the reviewers. Content creators who had been invited to a preview of the game received review copies based on how positive their reaction was to that preview. Those who, like me in 2009, gave a positive but still somewhat critical first impression didn't get a review copy, while those who gave a glowing first impression then received a copy to review. That led to some of the bigger YouTubers in the RPG domain being excluded, while some very minor streamers were included.
The second part of the problem is, you might have guessed it, the culture wars. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is full of features and dialogues that promote the political correct / DEI / woke / progressive / however you want to call it point of view. There is an option to make transgender characters with mastectomy scars, which is probably not the blood and gore you wanted in your dark fantasy RPG, apart from being out of place in the setting. Political correctness not only upset people being on the other side of the culture wars, but also made more neutral reviewers dislike the dialogues and storytelling as bland. One reviewer described it as "every dialogue sounds as if HR was in the room", others as "millennial writing". Dragon Age: The Veilguard is to Dragon Age: Origins what Rings of Power is to Lord of the Rings.
The third, and maybe most contentious point, is whether Dragon Age: The Veilguard is still a Dragon Age game. Dragon Age: Origins had real-time with pause combat, which was still very tactical. Dragon Age: The Veilguard has a pure action RPG combat, that looks like it was lifted straight out of Gods of War. Also Dragon Age: Origins was very much *not* a politically correct game, and forced people to sometimes make really uncomfortable, dark dialogue choices. In The Veilguard you can only play the politically correct good guy, and never run into real moral dilemmas. The most evil thing you can do to a NPC is not doing the side-quest that helps him. There are also only three choices from previous Dragon Age games that you can input at character creation to have some sort of continuity.
Overall, you'll be probably able to guess the age and political leaning of the content creator by watching his Dragon Age: The Veilguard review. With The Veilguard being 15 years after Origins, and 10 years after Inquisition, there are simply a lot of young players out there who don't have a very deep connection to the earlier games. And if somebody likes action combat and prefers being the good guy, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is probably not a bad choice of game. The disappointed voices are those of people who have waited for a decade or more for a reincarnation of their favorite game, and got something different.
- posted by Tobold @ 7:41 AM Permanent Link
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I'm curious to know how anything at all can be considered "out of place in the setting" in a work of fiction, where the "setting" consists wholly and solely of whatever the creator(s) consider to be appropriate. It's not as though the Dragon Age series takes place in a real-world historical place and time, where there could, at least thoretically, be some objectively correct version of the truth to be upheld.
It's a made-up story in a made-up place so whatever the people who made it up say happens there is de facto correct, isn't it?
It's a made-up story in a made-up place so whatever the people who made it up say happens there is de facto correct, isn't it?
Technology doesn't exist in a vacuum. Mastectomy requires a certain level of medical science. If other parts of the game, e.g. wounded soldiers, suggest that this world doesn't have a very advanced level of medical science, I can see the disparity. Of course the creators could have introduced the option to make breasts disappear with magic, which might have been more consistent, but then why would that operation leave the scars typical for an operation in the 21st century in the real world?
As George R R Martin said (though I can't find the quote now): just because your story has dragons, it doesn't mean it can have iPods.
Culture war bullshit aside at this point Dragon Age has been an Action RPG-lite series for much longer then is was a pseudo "CRPG" with Origins. The folks still wanting Dragon Age to be like Origins need to move on. It's not going to happen.
I'll also note that the accusations of Bioware cherry picking reviewers is mainly coming from a handful of youtubers with Fextralife being the biggest and in my opinion doesn't hold any water. Right now the most popular negative review of the game is Skill Up, who is someone who has expressed how much he disliked Dragon Age Inquisition in the past and also wasn't afraid to share his negativity towards Veilguard during the preview. If EA was truly cherry picking then they really dropped the ball by giving him a review copy.
I say all this as someone who isn't going to buy Veilguard and enjoyed Origins more than any of it's sequels just to clarify that I'm not trying to defend EA or Bioware here, just stating my opinion.
I'll also note that the accusations of Bioware cherry picking reviewers is mainly coming from a handful of youtubers with Fextralife being the biggest and in my opinion doesn't hold any water. Right now the most popular negative review of the game is Skill Up, who is someone who has expressed how much he disliked Dragon Age Inquisition in the past and also wasn't afraid to share his negativity towards Veilguard during the preview. If EA was truly cherry picking then they really dropped the ball by giving him a review copy.
I say all this as someone who isn't going to buy Veilguard and enjoyed Origins more than any of it's sequels just to clarify that I'm not trying to defend EA or Bioware here, just stating my opinion.
There is a saying that you should "Dance with the one that brought you".
There are a lot of industries that seem to have forgotten this simple edict to their financial detriment. There is nothing wrong with trying to grow your product by tweaking it to be more attractive to a larger audience as long as you are mindful to not alienate your core customers.
Unfortunately, there is a new trend to market to a very specific and small demographic and pushing a narrative that is simply out of place and sometimes immersion breaking. When the core customer complains that the changes are creating an inferior product, the gaslighting begins and they are labeled as "Toxic".
In response to @Bhagpuss
The issue is that these changes are NOT being made by the creators.
Dragon Age is the creation of David Gaider who left BioWare almost 10 years ago. Almost all of the games and movies which are receiving so much hate is due to other less talented writers taking over the work of the people who made it successful in the first place and injecting their own personal biases and agenda into it.
This can best be seen in shows like The Witcher, Rings of Power, and Star Wars.
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There are a lot of industries that seem to have forgotten this simple edict to their financial detriment. There is nothing wrong with trying to grow your product by tweaking it to be more attractive to a larger audience as long as you are mindful to not alienate your core customers.
Unfortunately, there is a new trend to market to a very specific and small demographic and pushing a narrative that is simply out of place and sometimes immersion breaking. When the core customer complains that the changes are creating an inferior product, the gaslighting begins and they are labeled as "Toxic".
In response to @Bhagpuss
The issue is that these changes are NOT being made by the creators.
Dragon Age is the creation of David Gaider who left BioWare almost 10 years ago. Almost all of the games and movies which are receiving so much hate is due to other less talented writers taking over the work of the people who made it successful in the first place and injecting their own personal biases and agenda into it.
This can best be seen in shows like The Witcher, Rings of Power, and Star Wars.
# posted by 
: 31/10/24 17:35
: 31/10/24 17:35<< Home
