StaceyPowers

DA II is actually my favourite. But I totally get where you are coming from, and in a general sense, I agree--ME does work much better as a series. And on the whole, I tend to choose to think of the DA games as independent titles set in Thedas, if that makes sense, as I find that frames them better than thinking of them as part of one long saga.

TIL that sometimes, if you are trying to install and run an old game on Win 10 and it won’t work, it is actually the install file that is incompatible, and not the game. You can sometimes solve this just by choosing an alternate means of installation. Quake III did not install from the CD-ROM, for example, but did install from Bethesda and run.

So, after about a week of work AND bugs, I finally cured my vampirism in Oblivion. I have to say, being a vampire in Oblivion is just awful, and the quest to cure it is a LOT of work. I guess that is all somewhat realistic, but not particularly fun. Did they go too far?

Seriously, what is the longest you have ever gone in any Bethesda RPG without some kind of significant glitch? I’d guess no more than eight hours for me.

How much help do you want from your companions in a game? How much fighting should they do? How effective should they be? Or would you prefer them to only offer other forms of support?

What are some beautiful, unexpected interludes in games that have stayed with you? An obvious example, for instance, would be the scene with the giraffes in TLOU.

When games offer you optional hints, do you use them? What makes you decide whether to do so or not?

What game world do you think has the most fascinating lore? I really like Dragon Age in this respect.

What is your preferred way to discover lore in a game? I really like audio logs, when they make sense for a game environment.

Are there any types of games or genres you think are poorly described by their name? What name would you pick instead?

The concept of the “immersive sim” confuses me a bit. Can someone please explain?

When you play a game where you are controlling a specific character with their own beliefs/goals, do you feel their story is about you, the player, or that your experience is about them, the character? Is it your story, or theirs (or both)? I feel it is their story, and I am simply being given a chance to experience it “firsthand.” It is my story only insofar as I allow myself to "be" them for a while, adopting their goals.

How do you feel about the Chantry in Dragon Age? I find it quite aggressive and controlling, but was surprised when my brother told me recently he didn’t see it as an extreme organization at all.

When you make choices in RPGs, do you go out of your way to try and prevent your RL knowledge or beliefs from leaking in? How do you go about this, if so?

If you’ve played both, which series is your favorite? I don’t think I could pick one or the other as an “overall” winner. But there are things I feel each does best. I felt DA’s portrayal of gray, complicated politics was best, but ME’s overall story-arcing was more satisfying, etc.

Here is the first image from TLOU HBO show:

So, I actually made the pudding from the Skyrim cookbook this weekend. It was quite good.

Was there ever a time this wasn’t the case? If there was, it hasn’t been in my lifetime =D

Are there any developers that seem to favor boss/battle mechanics that just drive you crazy? I find Bioware’s boss fights in DA and ME extremely annoying. There is so much repetition, and every fight is basically one of attrition against an epic bullet (or arrow) sponge. It’s always: 1-Fight boss. 2-Boss becomes unavailable to damage, sends minions. 3-Fight boss again. 4-More minions. 5-Fight boss again. 6-More minions … 7-Hopefully kill boss. This can go on for up to 40 min for me sometimes.

Is there a genre/type of game you really dislike in general, but with one game you like in particular anyway? For example, I don’t usually enjoy puzzles in video games, but I loved an old DOS game called Heaven and Earth.

What is a series of games that features some installments that are vastly easier or harder than the others on average?

What games feature the widest gaps between difficulty levels? I feel Dragon Age and Mass Effect are major offenders here. Case in point, I was playing DA: Origins on “normal” or whatever the last time I was in the Fade, and the final boss fight took me like 30 min. I was playing it on “casual” this time (one level down), and it took me about 3 min. That is a ridiculous jump.

Do you spend money playing MMOs? If you feel comfortable sharing, how much have you spent to date? And is it on subscriptions, in-game purchases, or something else?

What, if anything, do you find most obnoxious about console wars? Speaking mostly here about the warring attitudes of consumers rather than competition between the manufacturers. But both, really.

What are some games that feature unusual art styles?