Dragon Age: Origins Review

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Rts_Rasputin

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Jan 9, 2010
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Really hate to point this out (first time poster an all), isn't this all a little over the top?

The original post was probably meant on the basis "I have 5 minutes I'll just put up what I think of it". So on that premiss the "community" has ripped this guy apart. They have suggested in a link something better, slammed him for grammer and spelling errors and then done a complete critque on his 5 minute post.

Then every person here has followed on the hijack. Yes it is a hijack of his thread and Yes it is a very bad thing done here that no one should be happy about or pat themselves on the back about. Just because you believe it to be a bad "review" of a game gives you no right to boast that your "work" is better. It has spelling and grammer errors. Also add to this that said poster put a lot of time and effort into it makes a hell of a lot worse than a quick 5 minute post.

It was pointed out to me that this is an amusing rip apart of what the original poster said and I was quite simply shocked an appalled enough to register an account and reply.

Putting "NO EFFORT" into a review is not a good helping hand. Ripping it apart doesn't help. Giving an example when you know that it's not great and there is a lot of work better than yours (perhaps a link to this better work would have helped a lot better)is a hijack.

You know what the above is pretty pointless on this thread but I felt it had to be said. The orignal poster should have gone to a mod (if there is one here) and asked for the link to be removed and that poster to be cautioned over noasting about his own work.

So, to join this thread I would simply like to ask the orginal poster a few question so he can elaborate his review so I can understand where he is coming from (This is what every single person here should have done with the exception of the origanl poster who I thank for putting in the effort to make a topic up that can be discussed).

1, How is it like Mass effect? I have never played it.

2, You say the map is similar, is this a in game map? or are you talking about the main map you use the terrian and background for cities etc?

3, Mass effect's graphics and DA are similar how? I have never played each game and I am intrested.

4, Did the akward poses truly get in the way of the game and causing premature death? or was it an annoyance that patience can get over?

5, How long was the game played before review and do any patches exist to get over issues of gameplay?

6, What system can I run it on?

7, Which system and operating system did you run it on?

8, is there a link to a FAQ I can read?

Thank you for taking time in responding to this.

PS, pimppeter2 and Veishan Shame on you Both Sirs! SHAME!

(P.S. Please do not attack my spelling and grammar as I had little time to spell check.)

(P.P.S. Edit for basic Forum error as I tabbed on to post to quickly, my apologies for this).
 

Pompey71

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May 31, 2009
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i guess the main point here is someone will always do something better than you, but that's no reason to give up trying. It wasn't the best review in the world, but if i only had a minute to read something and wanted a quick few ideas about a game it would have done, whereas the "hi-jack" link took time to read. They both have individual merits that should be accepted and appreciated. No-one here is in the wrong.

The biggest issue if there is one is there was no "well done for at least posting something". The first response went in guns blazing and was very undiplomatic in it's criticism. If Norwich City turned up to Old Trafford to play Man United and Man United just said "we're clearly better" and then left... there would be nothing to watch!
 

Rts_Rasputin

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Jan 9, 2010
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snuffle cat said:
ahahahah. this has to be the worst review ever. I honestly learnt nothing about the game except it's resemblence to dead space (which i dont believe). your review seems to be done from a very egocentric and concieted standpoint.

Please quantify this. As I'm pretty sure I've seen worse on Gamer TV and read worse in the Sun, Star, Mirror, independent and Times. Of course with the papers space is of paramount but still.
 

Pimppeter2

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Dec 31, 2008
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Rts_Rasputin said:
Like I said, I can take fault for posting my own review. (But it was on the front page and I was too lazy to go search for someones else's work (I edited now and posted someone else)

You know what, My point still stands.


But I would not have attacked him if he hadn't been such a jackass. I didn't care about the 'hijack' statement. I cared more about this

How I structure my review is with my own prefrences. I can break it into as many parts as I deem nessecary. It would take a long time to elaborate on a massive game like Dragon Age, my version is short and has discriptive facts
So you just totally toss my post aside, and then tell me that you are too lazy to actually review this game.

Thats plain disrespectful. I was so angry that I tore into his review. I wouldn't if he had just asked me not to post a link to my review (Or someone elses for that matter.)

Its the 'fuck you I do whatever I want' Attitude that pissed me off.
 

Pompey71

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May 31, 2009
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There's some fair comment there. Really, both the first reply and the response to it were just a little too blunt. You didnt take much time to "teach" him how to write better reviews, only showed him yours as if to say it was the "best" (bearing in mind he was probably caught off guard by the sudden lash of criticism so that's likely how it felt even if not intended) and his response to it was too defensive and didn't seem willing to take onboard that unfortunately, it was a rather minimal review.

I say let bygones be bygones. Let's wait for the next review and maybe it'll be better or we can better help him improve future ones. The one thing that shouldn't come out of this is scaring people from writing anything.
 

Blatherscythe

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Oct 14, 2009
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Rts_Rasputin said:
Really hate to point this out (first time poster an all), isn't this all a little over the top?

The original post was probably meant on the basis "I have 5 minutes I'll just put up what I think of it". So on that premiss the "community" has ripped this guy apart. They have suggested in a link something better, slammed him for grammer and spelling errors and then done a complete critque on his 5 minute post.

Then every person here has followed on the hijack. Yes it is a hijack of his thread and Yes it is a very bad thing done here that no one should be happy about or pat themselves on the back about. Just because you believe it to be a bad "review" of a game gives you no right to boast that your "work" is better. It has spelling and grammer errors. Also add to this that said poster put a lot of time and effort into it makes a hell of a lot worse than a quick 5 minute post.

It was pointed out to me that this is an amusing rip apart of what the original poster said and I was quite simply shocked an appalled enough to register an account and reply.

Putting "NO EFFORT" into a review is not a good helping hand. Ripping it apart doesn't help. Giving an example when you know that it's not great and there is a lot of work better than yours (perhaps a link to this better work would have helped a lot better)is a hijack.

You know what the above is pretty pointless on this thread but I felt it had to be said. The orignal poster should have gone to a mod (if there is one here) and asked for the link to be removed and that poster to be cautioned over noasting about his own work.

So, to join this thread I would simply like to ask the orginal poster a few question so he can elaborate his review so I can understand where he is coming from (This is what every single person here should have done with the exception of the origanl poster who I thank for putting in the effort to make a topic up that can be discussed).

1, How is it like Mass effect? I have never played it.

2, You say the map is similar, is this a in game map? or are you talking about the main map you use the terrian and background for cities etc?

3, Mass effect's graphics and DA are similar how? I have never played each game and I am intrested.

4, Did the akward poses truly get in the way of the game and causing premature death? or was it an annoyance that patience can get over?

5, How long was the game played before review and do any patches exist to get over issues of gameplay?

6, What system can I run it on?

7, Which system and operating system did you run it on?

8, is there a link to a FAQ I can read?

Thank you for taking time in responding to this.

PS, pimppeter2 and Veishan Shame on you Both Sirs! SHAME!

(P.S. Please do not attack my spelling and grammar as I had little time to spell check.)

(P.P.S. Edit for basic Forum error as I tabbed on to post to quickly, my apologies for this).
1. In Mass Effect you join a group of elite operatives to fight an ancient threat. In DA you join a group of warriors battling an ancient threat. You are betrayed early on in both games and also near the end your betrayed in both games. Also in both games you travel to 3 places to try and stop the ancient threat only to travel to 1 more.

2. The maps in both games are very similair in the way they are operated. Both the minimap and travel map.

3. They seem to run on the same graphics engine with just a few minor changes to suit each game.

4. They were merely annoying. Some fixed with time, but others were permanant.

5. I played it a week ago and I did finish it.

6. PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

7. I myself played it on the Xbox 360.

8. You could try the website if there is one for the game or try xbox.com
 

Rts_Rasputin

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Jan 9, 2010
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pimppeter2 I see. You read taht in his reply. I read that he was upset that you told him what to do and how to do it. You didn't ask for explinations you just went right ahead and said "Look at this, do better". You gave a slap to the face insult and did not welcome a first time reviewer with any encouragement. I see the "slap in the face insult" as a complete disreguard for the topic at hand, for blatantly rubbishing a topic with a superiority complex.

I'm no computer game reviewer, but I have reviewed before. I've moderated forums and I have been a lead on quite a few forums for information resources. In all honesty your very lucky he has stuck with this community at all.

By my thoughts and reckoning he was within his rights to "disreguard" your post. At what point did you go on topic with your reply? At what point did you counter his review with a well balanced review of your own. Perhaps explain DA is a clone of WOW or some such game? (purely an off the wall thought not an actual frame of reference).

pimppeter2, your the experienced one here. You have all the tools to help others be better. You have the gaming experience and, dare I say it, love of gaming to advise people about games and give a decent review so they can make a choice. (something I believe the gaming industry wishes to promote). So in my experience it's always best to encourage with questions and politeness from your side of things. Let "them" be rude. See positive in posts and ask questions.

Better to be "stupid" for ten minutes than ignorant for life.

Finally something I learned about 15 years ago (posting on forums and whatnot). If your "pissed off" walk away from your computer, have a coffee (or other drink of your choice) breathe and them come back to your machine. Smile and read the post again. If it's still looking like it's rude just be positive in your responce and Ask for more respect to a forum you like reading.
 

Pompey71

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May 31, 2009
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the stuck poses are great! You've never seen a Knight of the Realm literally SKATING towards the enemy!
 

Rts_Rasputin

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Jan 9, 2010
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Blatherscythe, thanks :)

How long did it take to finish? Are there RPG style spin off's on it? Or is it all about the main mission?

How do you rate Mass Effect? Worth borrowing bits from it or good as a one off?

I quite like your review style to be honest. I like short sharp punchey reviews. Long reviews with lots of back story that you can get from the main website tend to bore me witless.

Only extra things I'd add in is these (if you don't mind me giving a few pointers).

Make a format up for it, headers are fine. Stick to it for your short reviews.

Add in a weblink for a game for the whole "screen shots, back story" thing. Saves you space and why write it again when someone else has. It also has the added advantage of specs you can use on it.

Add in what you played it on, as Xbox to PC has subtle differnces. Add in if you completed it and how quickly.

I reckon if you tailor it to that you'll get more people like me favouring your reviews over other ones. :) Thanks for the review by the way.
 

Pompey71

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May 31, 2009
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i should add some comments about the game though i suppose.

Most people are saying what's good about it so i thought i'd make the negative points a bit more obvious. I'm a grouch after all.

1) The inventory system is a mess. It may just be me but i struggled making real comparisons between items in Mass Effect and this was no better. It took far too long to find out if one thing was better than the other and therefore kitting your characters out was less fun than it should have been.

2) The dialogue was good but not all strangers in real life want to give you their backstory or the entire history of their city and town! Not enough NPC's told you to naff off which you would really get in this world at least.

3) The map often left you scratching your head and having left the game idle for a week or so, i'd lost my train of thought and the map/quest list didn't help me pick up from where i'd been. It took a lot of stumbling around to get back on track.

4) The blood. Anyone who has played it doesn't need more description. Anyone who hasn't just know... it's comical. If you kill a rat you get 12 pints of blood splatter on every inch of your body. If you kill a dragon... you get the same. No matter what you do you spend 99% of cutscenes covered head to toe in blood. It wouldn't be so bad but there's only ONE blood texture so you get the same splatter on everyone, everytime!

5) It gets a bit boring if i were to be honest. I'm in Oz-fest or whatever the Dwarf city is and i've started skipping most dialogue in an effort to make something happen. There's a lot of nothing between the good bits. With no irony intended it's a double-edged sword. Some games would go from one big incident to another and end in 5 hours of gameplay, but you don't HAVE to bulk it out for the sake of it. The last cool thing i did was save Redcliffe and that was about 20 hours of gaming ago.

6) It's a shame it's not totally free choice as Sten likes pointing out that i seem to be without a plan. I'd love to be able to just run into the other army to try to get to the ultimate bad guy even if we all get chopped up and used as kebab meat.

They were my main gripes but it must be doing something right as i'm still playing. I've only just finished Mass Effect which I must say i thought was better from start to finish and am looking out for ME2 with anticipation.

On the plus, DA:O is a beautiful, fun for the most part, ambitious game that shouldn't be missed out on whatever platform you have.

Actually just before i go to bed:

7) Why do all RPG games insist on this. Animals like spiders and wolves do not carry CASH!!! Unless they spend most their lives eating it then there's no logical reason for them to drop cash... or axes... or swords!

8) Why do people keep such crap in chests?! They seem to leave really expensive stuff out on tables and weapon racks and hide LEAVES and HERBS in chests. Seems dumb. I'm looking at YOU here Risen... and Final Fantasy... and Baldurs Gate... and Neverwinter Nights... and... *walks off mumbling*

Night all!
 

Blatherscythe

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Oct 14, 2009
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http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.166840#4443074

Heres my lastest review, hope it's better. I took "most" of your advice.