@Erg Admittedly, pretty funny. But, honestly, that whole awesome button meme is just another example of how contemptuous and entitled Bioware fans are. Anything the developers say more than one time they latch onto and convert into bile they can spew everywhere in their latest tantrum.
Just because a person doesn't agree with you on what a good game is doesn't make them 'contemptuous and entitled.' And entitled to what, exactly? I most certainly am entitled to complain if a game I spend hard earned money on ends up living to about 0 of my expectations.
There are those such as yourself who didn't like the game, and expressed this in a calm and rational manner. Then there are those who didn't like the game, saw that there was a big ol' hate-filled bandwagon to jump on, and then went raging all over the internet about how DA2 was the worst game ever made, that Bioware was dead to them now, etc. Based on what I've seen of these people, I would consider calling them "comtemptuous and entitled" to be fair.
Well, I don't think Bioware have produced a truly great game since Electronic 'Arts' got their claws into them, but that's another matter entirely . I think I'd be entitled to say as much, no?
That being said, I do know the type of reactionary, over-the-top criticism you're referring to. Still, I'd say those people are entitled to say what they feel as much as anyone else. Are they contemptuous? Probably.
Thing is, I teach English as a foreign language, and I'm fascinated by the use of the word "entitled". In this context it seems to mean "someone who wrongly believe that they are entitled to communicate their criticism in whatever manner they choose." Am I right? When did you (native?) speakers of English start using the word in this manner?
@Erg Admittedly, pretty funny. But, honestly, that whole awesome button meme is just another example of how contemptuous and entitled Bioware fans are. Anything the developers say more than one time they latch onto and convert into bile they can spew everywhere in their latest tantrum.
The wrongly is unstated but implied. The dropped or unstated wrongly is typical of the usage outside of legal proceedings or official documentation (ex. "we are all entitled to equal protection under the law").
My guess is that it was typically used in a sarcastic context - hence why the wrongly would not be stated (as the entire point of sarcasm is to use irony/understatements/opposite statements to underscore a statement).
However I can see how it is confusing when used in the same sentence and in a "parallel" position as another non-sarcastic descriptor (ie contemptuous).
*Xan has one of the coolest items - but his lack of hitpoints and dour demeanor is pretty bad. The fact that he doesn't run with evil parties is another downside. He's no Khalid - but still probably not cool enough to occupy space within a 1 mile radius of the Bhaalspawn for any extended period of time.
*Lastly Dragon Age 2 was a good game and superior to Dragon Age 1 in regards to gameplay. That may be an unpopular opinion - but luckily mine is better than those of you who are less cultured. I will admit that Dragon Age 1 had a better storyline. Then again I executed the main bad guy and forced his daughter to marry me so I could become King - but if you want to save the world you have to break some eggs.
Just because a person doesn't agree with you on what a good game is doesn't make them 'contemptuous and entitled.' And entitled to what, exactly? I most certainly am entitled to complain if a game I spend hard earned money on ends up living to about 0 of my expectations.
EDIT: @erg Thanks for finally showing me how to play that game. I was wondering why it was so awful, but I kept clicking that 'play' button! Very misleading.
If you just didn't like the game, that's fine, because my post would obviously not be directed at you. @TJ_Hooker pretty much summed up the sort of "Bioware fan" that infuriates me with their obnoxiousness. Unless you're marauding around the Internet trying to claim that Dragon Age 2 is objectively bad and that Bioware made it for the purposes of making money and ruin the franchise, assume that you are not who I am addressing.
@Eleuthros Everybody has a right to their opinion, but when I say "entitled," I mean the people that expect to get DLC for free, demand refunds or compensation for not liking the game, or feel they are owed a new ending because they didn't like the one Bioware presented. It is one thing to dislike choices the developers make, and you are free to say as much, but it is quite another to demand that they "fix it," or to act as though your opinions on the creative merit of a given game are anything other than subjective.
Fair enough. Although I haven't liked the direction Bioware has taken under their new overlords, I wasn't one of those people running around signing 'Fix Mass Effect!!!11!' petitions. Incidentally, I didn't finish the game until after it had been 'fixed,' and the (unsatisfying, in my view) ending seemed remarkably similar to the one people were complaining about beforehand.
Still, I'm probably not gonna look into Dragon Age 3 or Mass Effect...4? It's not actually Mass Effect 4, I know, but you get my point...because I feel as though the creative direction is being watered down to market the games on a wider level. Will 'hardcore' RPG's be a thing of the past eventually? I hope not. But it makes me happy that gems like Baldur's Gate are being re-released, so I can be a crotchety old man (A 20 year old old man...) and reminisce about 'the good old days.'
As good as old school stuff like Baldur's Gate were, there are some things they do that are just stupid, and the streamlining of RPGs is positive in that it is weeding out things like player traps, decisions that only exist to fool the inexperienced player and are not effective in gameplay. A Baldur's Gate-specific example would be in vanilla, where a lot of the weapon proficiencies were terrible because they lacked useful magical iterations. Even the breaking of non-magical weapons was an awful idea that makes for gameplay that simply isn't fun. Shepard's gun and Hawke's sword don't have a random chance of breaking, because that's frustrating. Mass Effect 1 wasn't free of player traps, though. Melee damage bonuses in armor mods and the Soldier class talents? Sorry, useless, because every enemy has way too much HP and any melee opponent deals several dozen times more melee damage than you can ever hope to achieve. Of course, when Bioware actually makes the effort to address these things and get rid of useless talent trees, tone down overly useful talents, or combine talents, they get accused of everything from "dumbing down" the game to "ruining the franchise."
I disagree that the breaking of non-magical weapons is an awful idea, but I'm not here to debate that. It isn't so much the changes to game mechanics in the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series that bothers me, as much as it is a change to the overall 'feel' of the games. They have become almost formulaic in their narrative. A good example of this was Mass Effect 3. I was genuinely pretty upset early on in the game when (I'll try to keep this relatively spoiler free, in case people haven't played) a character I liked from the previous game sacrificed himself to save the day. But then, I keep doing more missions, and every old face shows up and starts throwing themselves in front of metaphorical bullets for me left and right. By the end, I was more bored with the concept than surprised. But at least Mass Effect made me care about (some of) the characters. Dragon Age (both of them) and even NWN 1+2 before that? The story, the characters, hell even my player character meant absolutely nothing to me. NWN was redeemed because it had an amazing multiplayer and modding community, but that's another matter.
So its not the tweaking of game mechanics that makes me dislike recent Bioware games. It's the fact that I haven't gotten the sense of immersion that Baldur's Gate still gives me from any of their games since KOTOR, basically.
Isn't it interesting how these newer games, with their impressive graphiics, and higher "realism," aren't as immersive (at least to some of us)?
I attribute a lot of it to the creativity of games like BG, where the focus is on story, and on the players having a lot of freedom to explore the game world in a style of our own choosing. Not just in what color our hair is, but in which freaking direction we can go and what tactics we devise to get through dilemmas.
@Eleutheros Those with a "sense of entitlement," tend to react as though a service they have paid for has not been received, even though it has been. Either because the service has fallen short of their expectations or because they simply didn't like what they got.
Some would see it as unreasonable for those people to complain that they have been hard done by, when in fact they got exactly what was intended to be given.
My query was answered and this subject gone beyond the subject. Could someone close it..unless the folks want to talk about the Moonblade that is. Thanks for all the answers, on subject or not.
Comments
That being said, I do know the type of reactionary, over-the-top criticism you're referring to. Still, I'd say those people are entitled to say what they feel as much as anyone else. Are they contemptuous? Probably.
The next question would be whether they are contemptuous enough to be contemptible isn't it?
In the context @Schneidend has used it in: The wrongly is unstated but implied. The dropped or unstated wrongly is typical of the usage outside of legal proceedings or official documentation (ex. "we are all entitled to equal protection under the law").
My guess is that it was typically used in a sarcastic context - hence why the wrongly would not be stated (as the entire point of sarcasm is to use irony/understatements/opposite statements to underscore a statement).
However I can see how it is confusing when used in the same sentence and in a "parallel" position as another non-sarcastic descriptor (ie contemptuous).
*Xan has one of the coolest items - but his lack of hitpoints and dour demeanor is pretty bad. The fact that he doesn't run with evil parties is another downside. He's no Khalid - but still probably not cool enough to occupy space within a 1 mile radius of the Bhaalspawn for any extended period of time.
*Lastly Dragon Age 2 was a good game and superior to Dragon Age 1 in regards to gameplay. That may be an unpopular opinion - but luckily mine is better than those of you who are less cultured. I will admit that Dragon Age 1 had a better storyline. Then again I executed the main bad guy and forced his daughter to marry me so I could become King - but if you want to save the world you have to break some eggs.
@Eleuthros
Everybody has a right to their opinion, but when I say "entitled," I mean the people that expect to get DLC for free, demand refunds or compensation for not liking the game, or feel they are owed a new ending because they didn't like the one Bioware presented. It is one thing to dislike choices the developers make, and you are free to say as much, but it is quite another to demand that they "fix it," or to act as though your opinions on the creative merit of a given game are anything other than subjective.
Fair enough. Although I haven't liked the direction Bioware has taken under their new overlords, I wasn't one of those people running around signing 'Fix Mass Effect!!!11!' petitions. Incidentally, I didn't finish the game until after it had been 'fixed,' and the (unsatisfying, in my view) ending seemed remarkably similar to the one people were complaining about beforehand.
Still, I'm probably not gonna look into Dragon Age 3 or Mass Effect...4? It's not actually Mass Effect 4, I know, but you get my point...because I feel as though the creative direction is being watered down to market the games on a wider level. Will 'hardcore' RPG's be a thing of the past eventually? I hope not. But it makes me happy that gems like Baldur's Gate are being re-released, so I can be a crotchety old man (A 20 year old old man...) and reminisce about 'the good old days.'
So its not the tweaking of game mechanics that makes me dislike recent Bioware games. It's the fact that I haven't gotten the sense of immersion that Baldur's Gate still gives me from any of their games since KOTOR, basically.
Isn't it interesting how these newer games, with their impressive graphiics, and higher "realism," aren't as immersive (at least to some of us)?
I attribute a lot of it to the creativity of games like BG, where the focus is on story, and on the players having a lot of freedom to explore the game world in a style of our own choosing. Not just in what color our hair is, but in which freaking direction we can go and what tactics we devise to get through dilemmas.
And also one of these games has Boo. So it's not really a level playing field.
Anyway, sorry for hijacking this thread with my joke at Dragon Age's expense, folks. Goodnight!
Even if you choose not to use Xan in melee, he still has a better AC and fire resistance than a vanilla enchanter.
Those with a "sense of entitlement," tend to react as though a service they have paid for has not been received, even though it has been. Either because the service has fallen short of their expectations or because they simply didn't like what they got.
Some would see it as unreasonable for those people to complain that they have been hard done by, when in fact they got exactly what was intended to be given.