fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3017 ]

[ SECRET POST #3017 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3017 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 063 secrets from Secret Submission Post #431.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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Damn you anon, I want to know! I can't think of many games where the builds tend to be that important... (Probably because I don't play them.) Uh, maybe something like Borderlands? Though I would think Borderlands had fic. Or maybe the game is more obscure? You don't have to tell me, I just like guessing.

Honestly, when I can't find discussion anywhere else I go to tumblr (or reddit). I am very aware that tumblr is not the place for discussion, but occasionally you'll get meta posts and if you're desperate for some back and forth, sometimes people do comment. It's hard to follow and I can't be bothered participating because of the format, but sometimes it's better than nothing. Forums and message boards are a lot easier to follow, but if everyone talks about the same couple topics what's the point? :/

I don't even know how to answer that. I've been going to BSN for so long that maybe I've become desensitized to the bad behavior, lol. There are def assholes there but if you look hard enough there's some intelligent discussion and there's plenty of frank opinions, both of which I like. There's also lots of complaining (some petty, some completely reasonable), so it's kind of a mix of everything.

What I will say about BSN, is they're very thorough; those folks are excellent testers. Inquisition is the first BioWare game I've bothered patching right away (sure I've patched others, but I wasn't waiting for the patches to hit like with Inquisition; the bugs weren't as plenty or glaring back then), and this time at least the patches seem to cause just as many problems as they solve. So I basically check BSN before going online with Origin and downloading/installing anything. They've been helpful in regards to bad patches.

(Nothing will ever compare to BSN after ME3, though. Then...yes, it was a shitstorm of hatred and wank, and you couldn't look anywhere without seeing people angrily ranting about how dead BioWare was to them, lmao. I say this as someone who has their issues with ME3 myself; it was crazy.)

Nope, it is Borderlands! There is a little fic, but the majority seems to be of the "LOL, my OC/self insert comes into the Borderlands universe and hooks up with -insert author's favorite here-" variety. It's also got a much smaller pool of fic than you'd probably expect.

Yeah, the only places I've found for Borderlands stuff are tumblr [which is pretty much just art], and the official forms for the game. Telltale's forms do have something now, but it's mostly focused on ship-war-ish stuff and when the next episode is coming out. So actual discussion can be pretty sparse on anything else.

Alright, it doesn't sound that bad, tbh. From what I'd heard it sounded like it was more whining/nastiness than anything else, but I might check it out seeing as it's not that bad.

[ME3 was a shit storm from all sides, iirc, which is understandable. Personally, I didn't really have too many problems with it - but I can see why it pissed people off.]

Wow, I was right?! I pulled that one out of my ass, so I'm kind of impressed, haha. I haven't played Borderlands but it seems like a lot of fun. I'm sorry there isn't more discussion or fanfic. (Is the story pretty good? It's a pretty popular franchise, right? I would've expected more from the fandom.)

In that case, you would probably need to start your own discussion. It can be daunting, but sometimes that's the only way you'll find anyone to talk with. Have you tried posting on the official forums? You could always abandon your account if you decide you don't want to use it again. Maybe you should post about it here on f!s in GC... I'm sure we have at least a few members who have played. Pretty sure anyway.

Why would people wage ship wars on the official forum?! Or at all, but seriously. This is doubly weird since you say most the fanfic is OC/PC stuff.

Well, don't get me wrong, there IS a lot of whining, but mostly I feel like it's predictable whining. And some of it I even agree with, though I'm not so... Enthusiastic about it, and have an easier time letting go. Considering BioWare's fanbase though (And that people want to be heard, thinking maybe their opinions might sway BioWare's future decisions) I get it. There's plenty of dumb shit too, but I feel like that happens on all forums. I've seen some interesting meta and character/story analysis, but of course that isn't every post.

DA2 was pretty bad too, tbh. Not the game itself (Though plenty of people believe that, and I won't fight that opinion though I don't completely agree), but the reaction. Inquisition has a lot of haters, but in a fanbase as big as BioWare's I expect nothing else. (Especially considering I don't think Inquisition is as nearly as good as it could've been.)

It is! It's got a lot of humor in it, which is awesome.

Story-wise it depends on the game, and how much attention you're paying. The first game's story isn't actually all that strong since it's basically "Find a vault, fight cool stuff and get awesome loot." The second game has a stronger plot since it has a antagonist - and one whose fun at that. The pre-sequel's story is, in a lot of ways the strongest since it's the first one where the pcs really do much talking beyond battle barks, and it does benefit from having characters that are already established since it's basically BLs's antagonist's back story. Tell Tale's spinoff is, of course, the strongest writing-wise which isn't a surprise. [tl;dr: The games' stories get stronger as you go]

I probably will try at some point both on the forms and tumblr [not the best place, but who knows] and see if anyone bites.

Well, it started out more as a joke than anything else, iirc. It just ended up having people taking it too far - and bringing it up every post even when someone does try to make a meta post- and some people not quite getting "it's fine if someone disagrees with you", like most ship wars I think. It also doesn't help that it kind of stands out since the majority of other stuff you'll find on that forum is "Telltale, hurry up with the next episode already!"

Oh, I don't doubt it. I've poked my head into the DA fandom a few times and it seems like people talk a lot about they wish someone was a love interest, or how someone was bisexual, etc. I might go check it out, since it sounds like it could be pretty interesting!

Yeah, I like that they were trying for a smaller story with DA2, but yeah...The reaction was a bit out of proportion to the bad points the game had. I can't say I've seen too much hate directed at Inquisition, but most of the people I know in fandom loved it so I probably just missed it. [What did you think it could have done better?]

I always thought Borderlands was about the loot but it still sounds pretty cool! The character designs are fun anyway, and the Tell Tale spinoff looks like a hoot. (I love TWDG, so I don't doubt they did a great job on this too.) I haven't played many games recently simply because the gameplay looked enjoyable, but Borderlands is something I feel I should make an exception for.

I hope you find someone! Fandom is a lot more fulfilling when you have someone to share it with.

Oh the joys of ship wars... I guess people have to have something to talk about, and discussion about the next release gets stale. At least people aren't too serious business about it.

Haha, yes, people are very serious about their BioWare romances. I think there's a sizable subset of people who care more about the romance than anything else. I don't even blame those people because I get ridiculously excited about them too, but sometimes people go overboard with their disappointment or whatever.

I liked the smaller scale of DA2, too. I feel like Inquisition could've used a bit of that. I don't even mind the open world aspect of the game, I just wish the quests were better. I do like the ability to explore the massive maps, but I hate that you can run around for a good ten minutes sometimes and see next to nothing. I think if the quests were higher quality the game would've been amazing. The main quests were great (In Your Heart Shall Burn was epic and is one of my favorite Dragon age quests now) but they weren't long enough imo, and there weren't enough of them.

Maybe I wouldn't have minded so much if the side quests were a bit more thorough. That's something I liked about the first two Dragon Age games; even with their other faults, the quests were pretty good. The fetch quests aren't necessarily the worst thing ever, but once you've done them once or twice... It's a drag to have to go through them again. The companion quests are sort of excellent... The writing is great, they tend to be fun or insightful, and I love how they move along the story or character development, but I do wish they were a bit more involved. They're so short!

I actually thought the War Table was a good idea and the execution was nice (some of the different outcomes are cool, though they don't feel like they amount to much) but some of those quests sounded more interesting than the side quests we got, lol. I was jealous.

I don't usually mind being an errand boy or girl, but though the stake of Thedas is at stake there isn't as much pressure as I'd like. Also, the last boss was terribly underwhelming. Ugh.

I could talk more, but I probably shouldn't lmao. (I'm on my phone. My poor battery.)

What did you think about it?

Loot is one of the major selling points and there *is* a lot of it. But the humor in it is fun, and if you don't mind indirect narrative [via audio logs you can find/being chatted at on a radio-ish thing] then I'd definitely recommend starting with BL2 when it goes on sale. Since it's got a much better UI and story than the first, and the one that most recently came out is the back story for BL2. [And if you do get it and want to coop with someone, feel free to drop a line here.]

Of course, even if that style of play isn't your thing, the Telltale game is awesome and very like TWD in mechanics, and Borderlands overall graphical style is very similar as well. So that'd be something I'd totally recommend checking out.

Yeah, Idk - the romances are fun, and they provide variety in gameplay which is great, and it's nice to see people get really excited. I just also usually end up feeling bad for the writers since it seems like they get pestered a *lot* about the romance options.

Yeah, the main quests/companion quests were great - which is pretty normal with bioware's stuff, imo. Though I kind of wonder how much of the side quest blandness was because they had a schedule to stick to. I mean, the first DA was started back when they weren't owned by a big publisher, so they could take the time they wanted more or less, and in DA2 they reused so many assets that it probably left them with a lot of time to work on other areas of the game. I can't imagine they had the extra time like that when making DA:I, and EA isn't known for being the most laid back of companies when it comes to releases.

Tbh? I've always found it weird when people call it an open world game, simply because you're still pretty tied to the plot in terms of what areas you have access to, you know? Don't get me wrong, the exploration is nice, and I really like the astrology things they've scattered around! I just wish they didn't prevent you from going to certain areas for large chunks of the game.

The war table was great. It made sense, and did make it feel more like the inquisitor had actual power/an army, and like their choices really had an impact [...at least until it turns out they usually end up with little actual impact game-wise XD;;]. Idk if that makes any sense, but in some ways that added to why I enjoyed the war table stuff.

Yeah, the ending wasn't that great, but I'm not really sure what they could have done beyond make the boss fight harder.

I don't mind indirect narrative at all, though I prefer a combination. (I loved the audio logs in BioShock, and several other games have used a similar system to deliver story. It works rather well.) I wish the game didn't require Steam, though. (I bought Shadow of Mordor around Christmas and still haven't played it because Steam didn't want to let me install from the disc, plus I have to watch my internet usage so I can't be downloading 3 gigs of updates or 33 gigs to start the game off. Oh, the joys of the internet age.)

If the Telltale game goes to disc (and doesn't require steam), I might try that though!

Sometimes I feel bad for the writers too. I understand wanting to be able to romance a certain character with a specific PC (I would've loved to romance Cass with a woman, or Solas or Cullen with a man), but my imagination works just fine.

You might be right regarding the side quests and time. It seems BioWare cut out a lot of things both relating to exploration, decisions, side quests and romance and I wouldn't be entirely surprised if some of that was just because they didn't have enough time to finish everything up the way they wanted. In that case...I find it sad and EA should get off their back. I would've happily waited another six months if the game could have been a bit more fleshed out.

Maybe open world isn't the most accurate description, but I guess I call it that because there are entire maps you don't have to visit to complete the game. (And that don't change much in regards to the story.) I'm a completionist; I can't always finish everything, but I try. By the end of DAI I had almost completely cleared each area (or at least the quests I found, lol; I'm sure I missed things) and had a ridiculous amount of power that I had nothing to use on. It kind of irritated me because I felt like not only did I not need to finish everything (it didn't make much difference, imo), but it sort of felt like maybe I wasn't supposed to? It's a small thing, but I wish we could turn in power for money; that would've been nice when I was buying schematics earlier in the game.

I did like seeing the Inquisition soldiers roaming the maps, and getting to make decisions that affect all of Thedas even if they don't seem awfully noteworthy afterward.

What I wanted was to see my army and have them involved in the final battle somehow. They went in a different direction so that didn't happen, but I think that would've made it more enjoyable for me. I liked how in DA:O you could build an army and then actually use them, even for a limited time. Even in DA2 you could get help from some NPCs if you met certain requirements. (I loved Zevran showing up, though it felt a bit random. It made me so happy.) The ending didn't ruin the game for me or anything (and I LOVED the big reveal), but it could've been better. (Though, again, I did enjoy the game. I always felt ME3 should've put more emphasis on working with the allies you had gathered, so this isn't the only game I have that issue with.)

Have you tried what valve suggests here (https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=5357-FSQM-0382)? I don't know how well it works, but it looks like this might fix the issue you're having. Sorry if you've tried that, I just figured that Valve, even with its terrible customer service, would have had to have some work around for it. ^^;;

As for BL 2 discs, you can get the game of the year version which seems like it might not have too much patching to do? Iirc, it came out right around the last major patch for BL2, so it should be close to fully updated, if not completely updated. [And sorry if I seem pushy, I've actually seen that question come up before so I figured I'd pass the answer along since it'd kind of come up.]

I admit, I that I thought it was nice that they didn't make every LI interested in every Inquisitor. It just felt less like walking down an aisle and picking one off a shelf, and does make the companions seem more real since it's possible you'll be turned down. Idk, maybe it's just me since the fandom seems to absolutely hate that.

Yeah, I'm also probably a little spoiled since a couple of my favorite games are *amazing* open world games and that's definitely coloring my point of view. I'm not a completionist - I try but I always get completely distracted - but the other part I didn't exactly enjoy about the open-world-ish stuff was that it just ended up feeling grind-y. Like, even though you weren't enjoying the quests and you'd explored that area before, you still had to go and find x amount of y to finish a quest so you could get at the next fun story mission and...for what? Like you said, there's only so many thing you can use the power you grind before it just starts stacking up with nothing to be spent on. I agree that turning that power in for money, or maybe even some of the rarer materials would have been awesome and would have made things not feel so..."Ugh, this again?"

It would have been pretty cool to turn it into a bigger battle! Or, at least see a bigger battle going on prior to the boss fight, but I'm not sure how easy it would have been to shove in a big army battle where you're actually controlling the army in a game that isn't a strategy game. If they could figure out a way to make it work, then it'd be *epic* - I'm just not sure how it could work.

I actually ended up having the ending spoiled for me [damn you people who don't tag spoilers! -shakes fist-], so while it was a really interesting place to take the story, and set up for the sequel, it didn't come as a big shock. The one thing I didn't get about the ending was why people were saying Solas was a traitor. I mean, maybe I just missed something but...how did he betray the Inquisitor?

No no, you aren't pushy at all, and I thank you for trying to help! It's very kind of you.

I however have tried this exact work around and couldn't get it to work. Knowing me I am somehow to blame, but no dice. I'll try it again (eventually), but hate having to be connected to a specific service to play a game. (Origin has been somewhat better, though I still wish I didn't have to use it. I originally had the same problem with Origin wanting to download DAI, but ended up finding some way to install from disc. The installation was a long, frustrating pain in the ass, but thankfully it worked.)

I will keep this in mind! The game of the year editions usually seem to be the best options.

It isn't just you! I've seen others in fandom express the same opinion. To me...it isn't necessarily that I want to be able to romance every single character with either gender, but when I think about it character to character, I love them so much that yes, it often turns into "Oh, but if Cass and Solas and Cullen were bi that would be cool." I guess for me the perfect sweet spot would be having more bisexual characters, but I don't expect BioWare to give me that and am okay with the game as is. (Well, in regards to romance. Obviously this whole conversation has illuminated some faults I've found in the game, though I still love it.)

Exactly. Skyrim is the obvious comparison just because it's so huge and massively popular, but Skyrim had actual interesting side-quests with neat stories and purposes and DAI had a lot of 'go here, gather this'. Things still wouldn't be perfect if you could turn in power for money or materials, but it would certainly make some of the more grindy bits of the game not so frustrating. At least then it would feel like you were working towards something. (Since, as you say, you need a certain amount of power to unlock story missions, which while annoying...there's no real reason for you to do the rest after that besides storytelling reasons, or just wanting to level up. The bits of story we get are nice, but there isn't as much as I'd like.)

See, I was thinking of a sort of ME2 end-game thing. Instead of giving your party orders to carry out that could effect the mission (and their own lives), you could do a similar thing with your army. You wouldn't see all of it, but it would have some sort of impact on your final boss. That's probably asking for too much, but I loved the suicide mission in ME2 and was honestly disappointed there wasn't something comparable in ME3.

The reveal is such a terrible thing to have spoiled. I'm sorry. :(

(As for the traitor thing...I don't know? From what I've experienced people just seem to be angry that he lied to the Inquisitor, but being lied to in a BioWare game is nothing new, and he had his own reasons. It didn't bother me that much. And he didn't betray the Inquisitor as far as I know...he didn't even know the Inquisitor when the whole thing started, and he actually tried to clean up his own mess after that. He can grow to respect or love them, so maybe people are sore about the fact that he didn't come clean earlier. I can understand why a person would be upset about that since trust is an important part of any relationship, but...it's a video game. He is a god. It's weird and complicated. The drama is great.)

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