Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Committing Heresy - Dragon Age

Discuss -

I just do not feel like loading up Dragon Age right now.

As a matter of fact, I almost dread it. I seem to like it once I am in, but something holds me back from starting it in the first place. As I look over icons on my desktop, the last game I want to load up is Dragon Age.

Thoughts? Ideas how to get past this (since I already dumped the cash on it...). And I most definitely did not hate it...but, something else makes me falter at the double click...

Cheers

10 comments:

Makkaio said...

I love DAO, but for me, I don't have the time. Well, that's kind of a lie. A better way to say it is that I don't have the kind of time I would like to give to the game. A half an hour here and a half an hour there just wasn't cutting it. It takes that long just to get reorientated. I've literally found that I have to schedule a date with DAO to play it.

Elementalistly said...

Bingo. Maybe that is the issue Makkaio. As soon as I load up, I know it is going to be at least a 2 hour affair if not more. Cut scenes, combat all are long winded.
Now, if I could motivate myself to get into the game on the weekends, it may help.
But, when I have other games that I can start up, play for 30 minutes or for hours if I wish...maybe that is one detriment to the DAO saga.

Any other thoughts people?

Gamer Hudson said...

Its not multiplayer. Just not the same. I tend to get realllly board playing it

Jay said...

Here's the issue that I had and I touched upon it in my review for Channel Massive...

You (the player) is never really fully engaged in the experience because Bioware spends WAY too much time telling you a story instead of letting you live the story.

It's kind of hard to fire it up for a 30 minute play session knowing that you're going to end up spending 15 of those minutes reading quest text or watching cut scenes.

Jason (the resident drunken idiot of Channel Massive)

Elementalistly said...

Jason
Also spot on. I remember reading that review as well.
Don't get me wrong, as the story is awesome, and as well, Final Fantasy does not cause this issue (but, it HAS been years since I played a Final Fantasy game...FFX to be exact)...just for some reason, there is TOO much talk.
Well, at least you guys are helping me understand the issue...and maybe I should not feel bad.

Just my wallet hates me now.

Longasc said...

You recently started playing in a new online world. MMOs usually take precedence over offline games.

Now I don't know about your gaming habits, but I am playing these games:

LOTRO - Mirkwood just got released
Fallout 3 - still did not play some DLCs
Torchlight - did not play it much yet
Guild Wars - is always worth playing
Mount & Blade - I am in the Beta for the multiplayer release but not in the mood to play it atm
Heroes of Might and Magic V: I have not even started the Hammers of Fate and Tribes of the East expansions
King's Bounty: Armored Princess - this is going to be played next
Windows 7 - to be installed soon, xmas wish
Dragon Age - I will play it in the 27th or 28th hour of the day

I think you have enough fun and enough to do in EverQuest II already.

And Dragon Age is not something you play for 5 minutes, it is something like an offline-MMO. Basically, a whole world to explore. This takes time. It is also a game you don't play in a group, and you want to play with your family.

So yeah, great game or not, I can't help - I probably won't play it before 2010 either. There is only so much one can play at a time.

It is a good thing to have so much choice!

Unknown said...

I'm having the same problem. And don't agree with you LongASC about it being like an MMO. It's rather closed off and gated by too many zones and cutscenes. If it were more like Oblivion I'd probably look forward to playing it a little more.

Bhagpuss said...

I played Dragon Age non-stop for about four or five days after I got it. Then I played it two or thre more times for short sessions over the next week. Then I stopped and haven't even thought about it most days since then.

I agree with most of the reasons given above, but the overwhelming reason is that nothing that happens in DA "matters" the way it does for even an insignificant character in an MMO. I fell that i am wasting my time there in a way that I have never felt in a decade of playign MMOs.

I can still recall characters and events in MMOs from many years ago, rather as if they were things that actually happened to me. I don't get the feeling that DA will ever create memories like that, so why spend time on it?

Crimson Starfire said...

Same problem here. I find the game has no driver. The only reason I want to play is so that I can complete it and say I got my money's worth. It's a good game, but no more addictive than the 50 other Steam titles I purchased on special. I'll complete it one day, but urgency is low.

Jayedub said...

Dragon Age is awesome, but it is a game that you do not want to play casually, you will want to spend large amounts of time with it.