#DA fandom critical

[bees-bees-fear]

This is what I meant by people can't see Davrin past the dog. They're literally growing and changing together, and through Assan, Davrin learns more about himself and that he doesn't *have* to *be* anything in particular. He's always been trying to find himself and figure out what he's supposed to be doing, and feels a great loss after failing to kill the archdemon (a chapter in his characterization that has nothing to do with the dog, so you missed it). He parallels with Assan and they improve together.

Everything Davrin imposes on Assan for training is based on his own fears and experiences. Everything Davrin hopes for in Assan is him projecting his own desires. The decision on where to let the Griffons go is a reflection of Davrin's internal conflict (because Taash is not the only character with a multicultural background. But you'd know that if you brought him around in your team and listened to him talk about his time in his clan) Davrin wants a purpose *and* he wants to be more than what's imposed on him. And he can't impose the choice on Assan, explicitly because of his bias.

as much as i love assan i think he was way too much involved in davrin's story and writing. like yeah. i like the little guy. but why am i not learning more about davrin. why is assan so focused in most of if not all of davrin's quests. i am here for my buddy, not my buddy's bird-cat.

[awwwokay]

[sha-lyuzar]

"You're just mad it's not like origins"

Yeah, how dare i be disappointed in a game series that has followed a certain tone and theme for three games, and has always been narratively complex, and about navigating hard decisions and moral dilemmas, structual injustices, deep characterisations, beauty and tragedy in tandem, rich worldstates and character arcs and thin lines between heros and villains... it's almost as if my disappointment stems from care and passion for dragon age, and not from an unwillingness to accept change, or a misplaced sense of nostalgia. It's almost as if people are allowed to criticise a thing and discuss its flaws, while also enjoying other aspects of it, and voicing their opinions on the world's most unprofitable social network to a handfull of followers and mutuals, isn't going to make any meaningful dent in the game's success

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

I'm really happy we're getting to choose our origin again for Dragon Age Veilguard but I have dealt with people telling me its going to suck because it won't be like Dragon Age Origins. You know I love Origins too but its been fifteen years to accept the reality that each game was NOT going to be like Origins. Its time to get over it. Even the developers stated years ago that each game would be different.

I remember people were enraged due to DA2 because it was a big departure from Origins. And then there was the very militant/vocal portion of the fandom that trashed Inquisition for being so different than 2 and many Origins fans were still complaining that it wasn't the same as the first game.

Now there is a fourth game and the cycle of complaining continues. People should have realized by now that the Dragon Age games have an established history of trying new things with how they deliver that experience. I get people don't like change, but its been years and A LOT has changed in the gaming world as well as the entire world in general since then. And honestly if a person only likes one game out of a 4 game series, then perhaps its time to accept the series isn't for them and move on. When I'm unhappy with something, I move on. I don't wish for it to fail, I don't wish for people to lose their jobs, and I don't demean people who are looking forward to the next game. And I would never expect the developers to cater to my wants/demands.

[saintlethanavir]

I'm going to say something controversial. If you are disappointed about the world state thing for Veilguard you are valid, but also you need to realize that Dragon Age as a series and Bioware as a company are not BG3 and Larian Studios.

We are spoiled for choice because of BG3 and we live in an internet society where everything is picked apart because that's what gets more clout and likes and attention. But not everything can be BG3 and Veilguard would have ten more years of development if they tried to make it so. Do I think it's silly they SUPPOSEDLY aren't doing anything with the HoF or Hawke? A little bit. Do I think it's silly they're not asking about the Well of Sorrows? yes. Do I think it's sad they're implementing their own canon yet again? Also a little bit.

BUT ALSO

We don't know the storyline, we don't know what they have planned further in the game. We've seen such a small amount of the game from various places and we have not played the game itself. They could have so much shit up their sleeves. Epler said he was okay with all the spoilers they had shared so far because the rest of the game was WILD compared to what they had showed us. I think we need to wait, and it's okay to be disappointed but also hold your horses and not jump to conclusions.

It's going to be okay, and not every single Dragon Age game needs to have every single choice harkened back to. DA2 barely had anything to do with the Hero of Ferelden or the Wardens aside from Anders and Carver or Bethany. In Inquisition we only have a few lines about romances from DA2 and companion choices, the Warden is only mentioned in throwaway lines and a codex entry. You're getting upset about valid things but it's also stuff they've been doing for years.

If you don't want to play it don't play it, but I think those of us that do want to play it need to sing this games praises when it does come out. Otherwise we may not get another Dragon Age or Mass Effect game. The chads and incels are doing our job for us we don't need to add fuel to the fire.

[eye-of-the-queen]

If you’re one of my friends (or someone else who found me through the tumblr algorithm) who is upset about the latest veilguard news turn away now because you’re most likely not going to like what I’m about to say

Rant under the cut

People are being so dramatic for no reason I’m sorry

“This was all a waste of time” when they literally say in the article that the events of the games STILL happen, it’s not like they’re retconning them. And most likely world state decisions from the previous games will still be asked in the games going forward AS they become important, they literally said they chose the world state choices based on what would be relevant to the story of the new game

It’s a new area of thedas and literal DECADES after the events of the previous games, I’m sorry it just seems silly to expect the events of the past games to still have the same relevance that they did in inquisition, which is only 2 years after da2 and 10 years after origins and also took place in the same area of the continent as them

I do agree that not including the well of sorrows decision is certainly a choice, but we also don’t know the complete story of veilguard literally at all. What we do know is solas has the aspect of mythal that was in flemeth, we also know that for at least some portion of the game he’s trapped in the fade and rook is kind of his mouth piece. Maybe the reason it won’t come up is because with him being trapped he can’t actually do anything with his powers, that’s been my theory for a while at least

I genuinely do not know how y’all got “The inquisitor either hated solas or romanced him” from what they said. The leap in logic is crazy to me because they literally said that your relationship regardless of whether you romanced him or not is going to be important

“How are they going to write around these world state decisions with them not being choosable?” Well considering the game is fully written and is coming out next month it seems they found a way

The way y’all were all hyping up this game as the next best thing and then ONE thing that you don’t like is revealed and y’all all turned on it is crazy

Also to tie this up, we literally know that veilguard has gone through at least 2 rewrites because in the same article where they revealed the world state stuff they literally said there was an iteration of da4 that just did not have that much solas involvement. Have yall considered that maybe the rewrites were due to them getting stuck on all of the choices that could be made in past games and so they decided to just pick the ones that were going to be the most relevant to the story to start with and then go from there in subsequent games

I’m sorry, coming from someone who’s literal favorite game franchise is dragon age and has replayed origins multiple times, this all just seems like such a non issue to me

[justcallmecappy]

One of the criticisms I've seen DA players have in response to Anders' actions at the Kirkwall Chantry is some degree of, 'his actions forced innocent mages into a war they had no choice whether or not they wanted to be involved in'.

What a lot of these players seem to miss is this: The mages were already involved. They have been involved since childhood, when their magic manifested.

If you are born a mage in Southern Thedas, you are marked. The Templars will find you, or your neighbors who were conditioned by the Chantry to fear magic will turn you in, and you are brought to the Circle where you are at risk of Tranquility, or Annulment, and subjected to a Harrowing. Your children born to you in the Circle will be taken from you to be raised in a Chantry orphanage (like Wynne's child was). You are not allowed to get married, or start a family, or own land. You are not allowed to leave your Circle ever, unless conscripted to fight in the army (like in the Fifth Blight) or fulfilling some whim or need of those in power (like Malcolm Hawke being made to entertain nobles at a party). You might be thrown into the dungeon and left to starve to death, like the mage child Cole (and other mage apprentices of the White Spire) did. You are at risk of physical and sexual abuse, like the mages of the Gallows were.

Innocent mages were already involved. They were already being killed, they were already fighting for their lives for centuries since the inception of Circles, long before Anders' actions.

Also, in the case of the Gallows specifically, Knight-Commander Meredith had already called for the Annulment as early as the beginning/mid of Act 3. The mages' lives were already in danger, even before the Chantry was destroyed.

Anders tried for six years to make people listen and show how magic is not meant to be feared and can be used for good -- by publishing a manifesto, by providing free magical healthcare in Darktown -- to bring people's attention to the plight of mages and change things for the better. It took the imminent threat of his people being slaughtered wholesale for him to resort to what is aptly titled 'The Last Straw'.

If players want to blame anyone for subjecting mages to a conflict they did not want, look no further than the Chantry and their system of exploitation and oppression over the mages. Put blame on the Chantry for forcing mages into lives they did not choose, and asserting methods of culling and control over them, simply for how they were born. It was the Chantry that gave them no choice whether or not they had a say in staying alive or dying.

And if DA players would still say that the mages could have tried for a more "peaceful route" to alleviate their circumstances (despite seeing how Anders' manifesto, his Darktown clinic, and years of trying to negotiate with Elthina failed and Meredith was calling for Annulment anyway): very rarely do the oppressed win change by pandering to the morals of their oppressors.

Innocent mages were already suffering and being murdered in droves, for centuries. Innocent mages were already involved in this struggle, whether they wanted to be or not. And Anders' actions at the Chantry was like a rallying cry: If we're going to die anyway, then I'd rather die trying to take them down than giving them what they want.

(Also, I have not yet gone into detail on what actually started the mage-templar war, which was the Seekers hiding the cure for Tranquility, and Lord Seeker Lambert's decision to dissolve the Nevarran accord and take the Templars hunting for the free mages across the countryside because he decided dead mages were better than free mages -- because that's a whole separate post.)

[eff-plays]

"Don't judge me too hard, but as a Solavellan player" Girl.

[swoleas]

unpopular opinion maybe but da2 qunari were the most racist they'd ever been in terms of being orientalist antiblack stereotypes. that doesn't mean i think the Veilguard qunari designs are necessarily good, but why are we praising da2 for theirs? in da2 qunari were all nearly identical big muscular brutes and war lords. like by design. regardless of whether they were qunari or tal vashoth. literally they all looked the same and we were expected to kill them in droves like a faceless inhuman horde

getting ahead of the "oh but this is a retelling by varric to Cassandra so maybe all the qunari looked big scary and identical in their imagination" argument. 1) that is a lazy excuse for bioware for their own flawed writing in da2. 2) implies that varric and Cassandra are racists lmao

they are "militant Islamic borg" in case you have forgotten what bioware writers have said about them in the past. they were antiblack / north African caricatures (and i cannot stress this enough) BY DESIGN. are u guys being serious here? or did i play a completely different da2 than everyone else?

[themournwatcher]

“I don’t need to block people” I saids foolishly. Little did i know it was a fandom. the dragon age fandom. featuring. the fandom

[calicostorms]

"Vivienne doesn't care about other peple" where were you during any of her cutscenes or approvals??? Hello?????

[awwwokay]

Yeah no, I don’t feel bad for y’all at this point. You deserve those 3 choices if this is your response

[visceralcoma]

Gotta love the people who are so uncreative they can't imagine what can be done with the only prior game choices that matter are what your inqy looks like and who they romanced.

I'm willing to bet it means we're only seeing the Inquisitor through Solas's memories that we experience in the Lighthouse. Fingers crossed maybe even Varric's as he's there too.

I mean the inqy doesn't even have a prosthetic or their arm missing. That should be the biggest indicator we're not seeing "current" Inqy, but rather a memory.

[dragonageconfessions]

Anonymous Submissions shut down for the time being

I received 27 submissions on Varric's appearance in the trailer. 60% were mostly positive while the 40% were outraged and some were viciously angry and very profane to the developers which I do not allow on this blog. And here is a little reminder of how Varric looked like in the Inquisition reveal trailer....

I was around back then. In fact here's a confession about it and back then I got a ton of complaint-confessions about it.

Here is how Varric in the game.

I remember the multitude of complaints about the Inquisition reveal trailers because this blog was around then so I am not surprised to see it for the new trailer. Please remember trailers are different than what its going to look like in the game.

Thanks for reading

[saintlethanavir]

Tbh I'm pretty tired of people yelling about how Bioware's canon inquisitor is MAYBE a romanced Lavellan by Solas -- simply because they're a woman lavellan with no vallaslin. And also who cares? You can literally change your Inquisitor, you're not locked in. Bioware isn't forcing your Inquisitor to kiss the egg

[alstroermeria]

The DA fandom is so back because what does it mean that you're disappointed that your character isn't called with a fantasy slur😭??