Success = License to hate?

Now I don’t want to go off on a rant here, but I am truly starting to feel like the internet is just filled with people who wait for something to become successful, then pull out their claws and rip to shreds because they are “too cool” for anything that is so loved by the mainstream.  This isn’t really a new thing, of course.  I understand that there will always be people who try to prove how awesome they are by insulting things that become popular.  But lately I have been seeing it get real out of hand.

The obvious example is Blizzard and World of Warcraft.

 

 

Now, I could care less whether or not you like WoW or despite it.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and preferences as to what style of MMO they enjoy the most.  But you don’t even have to throw a stone to be caught up in the vile WoW hatred anymore.  All you have to do is log in to any MMO and wait for the word WoW to be mentioned.  It usually takes about 3.5 seconds in a new MMO, or perhaps a few minutes if the MMO is older.  But to read some of the comments, you would think that Blizzard committed some brutal series of murders to incur so much disgust from people.

Tune in next week when we hear about how WoW is directly linked to HIV and the primary cause of Global Warming.

But seriously, it really is funny to see people get so riled up over a game.  And each argument plays out in the same general way.  The first salvo is usually the WoW is for kiddies argument.  This mostly has to do with WoW having a more cartoony art style and maintaining a strong sense of humor throughout.  Also, WoW is popular as hell and holds more subscriber than any other MMO, and so many younger people do play it.  The community of WoW is not the greatest, I will be the first to say.  Some of the idiots who play it can be extremely annoying.  But I have also seen many adults who absolutely love WoW, and I’ve met many wonderful and mature guilds in my travels there.  So it’s not just kids that enjoy WoW.

But I won’t let facts ruin a good story here, so we’ll move on.

The second place where I see this kind of hatred is with the film Avatar.  Now again, it really does not matter to me whether you like it or hate it.  I’m talking about the people who don’t just hate it….they really hate it.  They hate it to the point that they started making up theories that it was un-American because it depicts American troops in a negative light.  Those people must have watched a different movie than I did, because the movie clearly states that this is a coporate security force.  They wear no flags on their uniforms.

So if anything it is a cautionary tale of corporate forces like Blackwater, but once again, I won’t let facts get in the way of a good story.

 

 

But the freshest example of this sort of behavior would be the massive amount of forum bitching that is popping up in lieu of Dragon Age 2.  Apparently, Bioware has reached the proper success threshold that it is now a cool thing to hate on them as well.  But to make myself clear once again, I am not talking about people who simply didn’t enjoy DA 2.  I am talking about people who have now taken their rage to the forums and are claiming that Bioware is dead, calling them traitors, they hate PC players, they have sold out, they hate RPGs, they assassinated JFK…you know, the whole works.

Seeing crap like this from the gaming populace really concerns me.

You might wonder why this is, given that people also react this way to other forms of creative expression.  Well, the primary reason is that gaming is still struggling mightily for respect and acceptance by the general public.  Though it has made some strides in recent years, gaming is still viewed by many as something for kids…a fanciful distraction that any reasonable adult should eventually “move on” from.  To compound this problem, I see so many of my fellow gamers behaving in an immature and petulant fashion, and so it makes me wonder whether people outside of the gaming community will ever be able to truly look at games as art.

And that is undoubtedly what games are slowly becoming…an art form just like books, music, or film.  But until the gaming community learns to grow up and regard their hobby with a sense of dignity, it may be difficult for games and those who make them to ever receive the worldwide respect they so richly deserve.

Dragon Age II: Early Thoughts

I’m going to keep spoiler free, as I have only put in about 10 hours into Dragon Age 2 so far.  But I did want to make a few comments on the experience as a whole and how it compares to the original.  To begin with the positive…the snazzy new DX 11 effects and speedy animations definitely make for some very fun and engaging combat.  It certainly has more of an action RPG feel than than the original, but I have still found it to be quite enjoyable and much more visceral.  Though the overall pace of the combat does make things feel a little less tactical than before.

 

 

But hey, I always thought I had to spend a little too much time pausing the action in DA 1 to down potions like some sort of hopeless addict, so no complaints on that front.  The function of the combat really isn’t that much different from DA 1 though, with the hotbar abilities and Tactics system for each character working just as they did before.  But everything happens much faster this time around, and you will either love that or hate it depending on what you want out of your RPGs.

The interface also does a better job of streamlining the information you need to know and presenting it to you in a clean fashion.

I really liked how they put the quick heal/mana options on the right side of the hotbar.  Very useful!  But then I found that other elements of DA 2 have been stripped down a little too much for my taste.  On the one hand, I love the Mass Effect-style dialogue wheel and am glad that they ported it over to the Dragon Age series.  But I don’t really like how they have now placed a small icon next to each of your responses.  This tells you exactly where the response will fall in terms of tone, with little hearts next to the romantic ones that take all the guess work and mystery out of discovering these things for yourself.

And while you can change equipment to your heart’s content, this only really applies to your character (Hawke).  Just about everything you find can only be used by him, cutting out much of the inventory and party management that so many RPG-lovers adore.  On that same note, I really don’t understand the great Bioware crusade against inventory systems.  They ripped the very same thing out of Mass Effect 2 and now Dragon Age 2 has also fallen under a similar knife.

It all feels like they are trying to get the game to appeal to a more non-RPG crowd, which just doesn’t make sense to me.

 

 

But to the game’s credit, many of the signature Bioware elements are still in place here.  The writing and voice acting are terrific so far, and it looks like we will have many of the same wonderful moral dilemmas that have become a staple of Bioware RPGs.  Choice is what makes these games stand out, and so far it looks like Dragon Age 2 will be featuring plenty of it.  I do have to mention that I haven’t really seen much of a main plot at this point…and some reviews I have read are confirming my fears that DA 2 doesn’t really possess a central, driving narrative like most RPGs.  It’s more like a series of interconnected quests that add up to something but you’re not always sure of what that might be.

This may take away some of the drive I have to play whenever I have free time, as right now I don’t feel as compelled to see where the overall story is going to go compared to DA 1.

The characters in DA 2 have also failed to make a strong first impression like the ones in Origins did.  Alistair, Morrigan, and Leilania were filled with all sorts of charisma and personality, making them an absolute joy to have around from the get-go.  So far I have met no characters in DA 2 that have pulled me in and inspired in quite the same way, but I still have much game to play as I keep saying.  If we can be sure of anything, it’s that Bioware games have solid writing.  So this may well be a facet of the experience that improves with time.  I should also be honest here and mention that Dragon Age: Origins is a tough act to follow.  Though to be equally as forthcoming, I thought Mass Effect 2 outdid Mass Effect 1 in terms of characterization.

So it is possible for a sequel to surpass its original in that regard. 

But keeping in mind that my opinion might change one way or the other once I play some more, my general consensus is as follows.  Dragon Age 2 can be viewed favorably when looking at the sum of its parts, even though a few of those parts are a bit lacking and the overall story does not sweep you off your feet in the way it should have.

Please leave a message

It should come as no surprise to any of you that MMOs will be taking a backseat in my gaming time these next few days.  So I will not be available.  Do not pass go, do not collect $200, and please leave a message after the beep.  Some things are just more important than MMOs…you know, like killing Darkspawn. 

 

http://dragonage.bioware.com/