4 ms·

Personally, being a writer, I can see where she's coming from. Bioware is lauded for its story telling and despite being an avid FPS player, I'm not playing Mas

Personally, being a writer, I can see where she's coming from. Bioware is lauded for its story telling and despite being an avid FPS player, I'm not playing Mass Effect or Dragon Age solely for the combat. If I was forced to choose I'd take a story only game for these, because brain-dead "these are bad guys, shoot them" are a dime a dozen. I bought Mass Effect 2 almost six months before it got into my list of games I was playing, because I love the story. I play the Halo series over any other FPS because I love the story. I don't play CoD anymore because it voided the use of story almost a decade ago. What I hate is seeing moronic, misogynistic, homophobic, redditards do this to a woman who's likely being part of the driving force for making Biowares female characters "real".

true_religion 15y ago
For that matter, she's probably the driving force in making Biowares male characters seem "real".
DanBC 15y ago
You're not alone. [strike]We've recently seen Doublefine raise millions of dollars by offering to create a story-driven game.[/strike] Edit: I agree with kevingadd below.
- kevingadd 15y ago
  Point and click adventure games aren't story-driven, they're puzzle-driven (or to be more general, gameplay-driven). If you watch the discussion between Tim and Ron that's a part of the Kickstarter, they discuss this exact topic.
Argorak 15y ago
* WARNING: MAJOR SPOILER * I loved Mass Effect I & II as well, but lets name their problem: they are padded with boring gameplay. Most of the fights are utterly forgettable (corridor, enemies, your gun, their gun, repeat, end dialogue), the Mako was the worst vehicle ever driven in a game and firing probes on planets - no word about that. When the gameplay actually worked and was interweaved with the storytelling (for example the possibility to skip parts of the boss fight by Mass Effect I by convincing Saren of his evil), it was truly great. I think its time that Bioware managed to cut back on meaningless fights and only allowed interesting battle situations (for example, the ascend to the final fight in Mass Effect I - it was quick, great layout and it had a story to tell: our heroes climbing the final mountain). I wouldn't want to skip them, but often it felt like "and now kill 20 enemies, because its a shooter we play, here!". Especially in Mass Effect 2, where sidestories all followed the same scheme. Oh, about the female/male stuff: I think Mass Effect and Dragon Age are the only franchises that take relationships and gender seriously. I never played the romances in Mass Effect II because I didn't want to break my promise from the first game and the game took note of it - now, thats decision making.
- twiceaday 15y ago
  Dragon Age 1 stands alone in quality writing. It's not fair to compare DA2 or the ME games to it.
  - Argorak 15y ago
    Actually, I got bored by Dragon Age I really quick. The writing was okay, but the characters were (visually) stiff and off-putting. Also if I have to play another RPG where I have to micromanage my inventory of a group of six characters, I'll start a career in accounting. Also, I think that any story involving dragons has been told to death.
    - electromagnetic 15y ago
      I have to agree with the inventory, better weapons and armour should auto-equip. Select weapon class (axe vs dual-wield vs bow) and let them auto-equip up in one weapon or armour class. > Also, I think that any story involving dragons has been told to death. Agreed, but so has every film plot involving racing cars or stealing cars but people still go to see them. I think the problem is that when you appeal to 90% of people, you're stuck eternally trying to appeal to the same people.
      - Argorak 15y ago
        Well, I also haven't seen any films involving car theft and racing for ages :). Taste, taste, taste. I didn't enjoy DA, because it was wasting my time even more than ME, which at least had the inventory cruft cut. I agree that DA should be mentioned in one breath with others when it comes to careful storytelling.
        electromagnetic 15y ago
        I think DA did so well because there's a huge hesitation in people to play a "sci-fi" game. I have no clue why though. My wife even said "that [ME} is too sci-fi, but that [DA} looks interesting". I don't get what the difference is between a Krogan and an Orc. Being a writer, I know I could write a story where I could literally switch terminology and it be either a sci-fi or fantasy. What really gets me is I can never get my wife to sit down and watch more than an episode of BSG, Stargate or something else, but over 3/4 of the movies she picks to see are sci-fi. So I spend a lot of time pulling my hair out on TV choices but for a film I don't even have to ask what it is (although I should keep track of when the damn twilight movies come out as I get sidelined every time).
dkersten 15y ago
If I was forced to choose I'd take a story only game for these Off topic, but have you played either of The Witcher games, especially the second one? They really focused on story and it worked really well. The Witcher 2 is, IMHO, one of the better story-heavy games released in recent years and the graphics and action happen to be fantastic too.

true_religion 15y ago

For that matter, she's probably the driving force in making Biowares male characters seem "real".

DanBC 15y ago

You're not alone. [strike]We've recently seen Doublefine raise millions of dollars by offering to create a story-driven game.[/strike] Edit: I agree with kevingadd below.

kevingadd 15y ago
Point and click adventure games aren't story-driven, they're puzzle-driven (or to be more general, gameplay-driven). If you watch the discussion between Tim and Ron that's a part of the Kickstarter, they discuss this exact topic.

Argorak 15y ago

* WARNING: MAJOR SPOILER * I loved Mass Effect I & II as well, but lets name their problem: they are padded with boring gameplay. Most of the fights are utterly forgettable (corridor, enemies, your gun, their gun, repeat, end dialogue), the Mako was the worst vehicle ever driven in a game and firing probes on planets - no word about that. When the gameplay actually worked and was interweaved with the storytelling (for example the possibility to skip parts of the boss fight by Mass Effect I by convincing Saren of his evil), it was truly great. I think its time that Bioware managed to cut back on meaningless fights and only allowed interesting battle situations (for example, the ascend to the final fight in Mass Effect I - it was quick, great layout and it had a story to tell: our heroes climbing the final mountain). I wouldn't want to skip them, but often it felt like "and now kill 20 enemies, because its a shooter we play, here!". Especially in Mass Effect 2, where sidestories all followed the same scheme. Oh, about the female/male stuff: I think Mass Effect and Dragon Age are the only franchises that take relationships and gender seriously. I never played the romances in Mass Effect II because I didn't want to break my promise from the first game and the game took note of it - now, thats decision making.

twiceaday 15y ago
Dragon Age 1 stands alone in quality writing. It's not fair to compare DA2 or the ME games to it.
- Argorak 15y ago
  Actually, I got bored by Dragon Age I really quick. The writing was okay, but the characters were (visually) stiff and off-putting. Also if I have to play another RPG where I have to micromanage my inventory of a group of six characters, I'll start a career in accounting. Also, I think that any story involving dragons has been told to death.
  - electromagnetic 15y ago
    I have to agree with the inventory, better weapons and armour should auto-equip. Select weapon class (axe vs dual-wield vs bow) and let them auto-equip up in one weapon or armour class. > Also, I think that any story involving dragons has been told to death. Agreed, but so has every film plot involving racing cars or stealing cars but people still go to see them. I think the problem is that when you appeal to 90% of people, you're stuck eternally trying to appeal to the same people.
    - Argorak 15y ago
      Well, I also haven't seen any films involving car theft and racing for ages :). Taste, taste, taste. I didn't enjoy DA, because it was wasting my time even more than ME, which at least had the inventory cruft cut. I agree that DA should be mentioned in one breath with others when it comes to careful storytelling.
      - electromagnetic 15y ago
        I think DA did so well because there's a huge hesitation in people to play a "sci-fi" game. I have no clue why though. My wife even said "that [ME} is too sci-fi, but that [DA} looks interesting". I don't get what the difference is between a Krogan and an Orc. Being a writer, I know I could write a story where I could literally switch terminology and it be either a sci-fi or fantasy. What really gets me is I can never get my wife to sit down and watch more than an episode of BSG, Stargate or something else, but over 3/4 of the movies she picks to see are sci-fi. So I spend a lot of time pulling my hair out on TV choices but for a film I don't even have to ask what it is (although I should keep track of when the damn twilight movies come out as I get sidelined every time).

dkersten 15y ago

If I was forced to choose I'd take a story only game for these Off topic, but have you played either of The Witcher games, especially the second one? They really focused on story and it worked really well. The Witcher 2 is, IMHO, one of the better story-heavy games released in recent years and the graphics and action happen to be fantastic too.