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Dragon Age Veilguard, Non Binary character

Nickolaidas

Member
N6iSXo0.jpeg
 

Ogbert

Member
Add in Xbox and maybe you get to 300,000. Add in PC (Steam peaked at 90,000) which who knows what kind of ratio there is between Steam CCU and buyers.

But perhaps in total, so far 1M copies sold?

PS5 est. 220,000
Xbox est. 80,000
PC est. 700,000
---------------------
1,000,000 sounds reasonable?
Not really.

Perhaps not an unmitigated embarrassment, but far from a success.

The game is tragic. The writing abysmal. The world soulless.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Still unbelievable to me that 1m sales is considered disastrous, but alas, here we are.

Out of curiosity, how reliable do these methods of measuring early sales tend to be?
 
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Nickolaidas

Member
Add in Xbox and maybe you get to 300,000. Add in PC (Steam peaked at 90,000) which who knows what kind of ratio there is between Steam CCU and buyers.

But perhaps in total, so far 1M copies sold?

PS5 est. 220,000
Xbox est. 80,000
PC est. 700,000
---------------------
1,000,000 sounds reasonable?
Yeah, that's my estimate as well. 1 million copies sold in first week. While that would otherwise be impressive, this project was in and out of development and re-development for almost a decade and the budget must be pretty insane. Spider-Man 2 levels, maybe.
 
1-1,5M sales, this is an oof moment for EA.
Even at 2 million, it ain't good. The first copies sales announcement they make should at least be 3 million like what FFXVI had. And even then FFXVI's sales weren't anything special so far for FFXVI anyway. Veilguard creators definitely thought it would surpass FFXVI at the very least since big budget WRPGs is suppose to appeal to a lot more folks compared to big budget JRPG.s.

Still unbelievable to me that 1m sales is considered disastrous, but alas, here we are.

Out of curiosity, how reliable do these methods of measuring early sales tend to be?
Depends on the game, 1 million copies sold would be good if you're looking at AA budget tier games like Granblue Fantasy, Wukong, Stellar Blade etc but not for games like Veilguard which cost several times more budget.
 
Add in Xbox and maybe you get to 300,000. Add in PC (Steam peaked at 90,000) which who knows what kind of ratio there is between Steam CCU and buyers.

But perhaps in total, so far 1M copies sold?

PS5 est. 220,000
Xbox est. 80,000
PC est. 700,000
---------------------
1,000,000 sounds reasonable?

You guys are going into retard territory with these estimations now
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
This is the first time I've felt genuinely compelled to review bomb a game. Normally I'm like "Live and let live" and maybe that's because I don't pay attention as much...but this? I can't let this one slide.

Man I love Bioware, but this is not the Bioware I've come to appreciate.
 
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Add in Xbox and maybe you get to 300,000. Add in PC (Steam peaked at 90,000) which who knows what kind of ratio there is between Steam CCU and buyers.

But perhaps in total, so far 1M copies sold?

PS5 est. 220,000
Xbox est. 80,000
PC est. 700,000
---------------------
1,000,000 sounds reasonable?
Seems reasonable and lower than I had estimated, I thought they’d get close to 2 million, and even then it would still be an unimpressive showing, 1 million is flop, not a bomb like Concord, but a definite flop. The equivalent of your summer tentpole action blockbuster doing around $40-50 million on the opening weekend.
 

Topher

Identifies as young
Still unbelievable to me that 1m sales is considered disastrous, but alas, here we are.

What else would it be considered when the previous entry in the series sold 12 million? That was a game that won many a GOTY award. This one isn't in the same league based on everything seen so far.
 
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Duchess

Member
Still unbelievable to me that 1m sales is considered disastrous, but alas, here we are.
The game budget is rumoured to exceed $150m.


If this works the same way as movies, the game would need to bring in $225m to break even (1.5x the production budget).
 
In fairness, the game director was quite forthright in how she wanted the series to go:

And the idea of being who you want to be carries a particularly special meaning for Corinne. “As a queer trans woman,” she says, “I have a perspective on the games that not everyone has. Dragon Age has long been a place where LGBTQIA+ folks can see people like themselves, represented respectfully. It’s inherently very queer, and it’s such a rare thing for marginalized communities to have representation where we feel proud and powerful in how we are depicted. It’s so deeply meaningful for so many. I often get emotional when I think about what it would have meant for a younger version of myself to see someone like her in a game, and as a hero, no less. I hope we can be a safe place for our queer players to know they are not alone, that they are brilliant and worthy, that they are not only welcome but celebrated.”

 

ZehDon

Gold Member
Add in Xbox and maybe you get to 300,000. Add in PC (Steam peaked at 90,000) which who knows what kind of ratio there is between Steam CCU and buyers.

But perhaps in total, so far 1M copies sold?

PS5 est. 220,000
Xbox est. 80,000
PC est. 700,000
---------------------
1,000,000 sounds reasonable?
1.5m+ seems like the ballpark. That's far from the disaster it's being painted as, but it's not the smash hit Bioware needed to redeem their reputation either. EA put the team to work on Mass Effect with no DLC plans, so I imagine their sales and revenue expectations weren't terribly high. It's seems to have landed as a solid 7/10 and will have sales to match. A limp ending for the series perhaps, but it won't kill the studio. With that said, if they're pushing the teams onto one game, it sounds like they're moving away from the two-team setup, so I imagine layouts might be coming as Bioware scopes down.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
In fairness, the game director was quite forthright in how she wanted the series to go:

And the idea of being who you want to be carries a particularly special meaning for Corinne. “As a queer trans woman,” she says, “I have a perspective on the games that not everyone has. Dragon Age has long been a place where LGBTQIA+ folks can see people like themselves, represented respectfully. It’s inherently very queer, and it’s such a rare thing for marginalized communities to have representation where we feel proud and powerful in how we are depicted. It’s so deeply meaningful for so many. I often get emotional when I think about what it would have meant for a younger version of myself to see someone like her in a game, and as a hero, no less. I hope we can be a safe place for our queer players to know they are not alone, that they are brilliant and worthy, that they are not only welcome but celebrated.”

Weird person pushing sex/gender politics into a video game.

The vast majority of games dont mention sexuality or gender at all. So anyone can imagine what those characters are in their own heads. If this Bioware person and gamers need to be spoon fed blatant content about this topic in an RPG focused about killing monsters and saving the world, they got absurd priorities in their career and gaming plot line.

And that's why people like to make fun of games like this or when the game bombs. And because it's so obviously done and cringey, people laugh at that too. So what they are doing is just feeding the stereotype that LBQT is cringey with hilarious content and dialogue. It's like solidifying the stereotype gay guys are goofy and flamboyant where a movie or TV show has a gay character and almost all the time they are the goofy guy who talks gay and wears colourful loud shirts. Well, if the writers want to keep doing that, then people will keeping thinking it...... the stereotypical flamboyant gay dude.

If these people want to bring their life crisis politics into a something like a video game, expect negative feedback.
 
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lmimmfn

Member
1.5m+ seems like the ballpark. That's far from the disaster it's being painted as, but it's not the smash hit Bioware needed to redeem their reputation either. EA put the team to work on Mass Effect with no DLC plans, so I imagine their sales and revenue expectations weren't terribly high. It's seems to have landed as a solid 7/10 and will have sales to match. A limp ending for the series perhaps, but it won't kill the studio. With that said, if they're pushing the teams onto one game, it sounds like they're moving away from the two-team setup, so I imagine layouts might be coming as Bioware scopes down.
1.5 million x 70euro(for simplicity especially sake ) x 70% once steam/Sony/M$ take their cut is ~75 million, that wouldn't cover dev costs nevermind the additional advertisement costs.
Bioware is in very serious trouble, EA in their last quarterly report signified that they expect DAV to substantially bolster their income in Q4. That's not going to happen snd shareholders will demand action.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
It’s either this or Mass Effect, but either game could be the nail in the coffin for BioWare. I’m convinced BioWare is a shell of their former self. Bring on KOTOR remake so we can all remember the glory days like Dead Space and Visceral. I can’t believe I think BioWare sucks in 2024. Years ago, that would have been blasphemy.
 
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1.5 million x 70euro(for simplicity especially sake ) x 70% once steam/Sony/M$ take their cut is ~75 million, that wouldn't cover dev costs nevermind the additional advertisement costs.
Bioware is in very serious trouble, EA in their last quarterly report signified that they expect DAV to substantially bolster their income in Q4. That's not going to happen snd shareholders will demand action.
Yeah even 2 million sales news for their first week ain't good. This is a game that needs at least 3 million sales news for their first announcement. And they were definitely hoping for a lot more and thought it was going to be a lot more. And it's 60 dollars on Steam instead of 70 so it should be 60 euros too for you guys.
 

Doomtrain

Member
In fairness, the game director was quite forthright in how she wanted the series to go:

And the idea of being who you want to be carries a particularly special meaning for Corinne. “As a queer trans woman,” she says, “I have a perspective on the games that not everyone has. Dragon Age has long been a place where LGBTQIA+ folks can see people like themselves, represented respectfully. It’s inherently very queer, and it’s such a rare thing for marginalized communities to have representation where we feel proud and powerful in how we are depicted. It’s so deeply meaningful for so many. I often get emotional when I think about what it would have meant for a younger version of myself to see someone like her in a game, and as a hero, no less. I hope we can be a safe place for our queer players to know they are not alone, that they are brilliant and worthy, that they are not only welcome but celebrated.”


As a progressive, this is a great encapsulation of exactly what bothers me about this stuff. Taash *isn't* presented respectfully, or as a character to be celebrated. Taash's entire character arc is to demand to be referred to with a different pronoun. Then a bunch of people walk on eggshells for various reasons. Then someone uses the pronoun.

That's not proud. It's not powerful. It's not something anyone should look up to. It makes Taash look small and petty, but because even the slightest mild criticism of the movement as a whole is dismissed as "alt-right" or whatever, even progressives can't demand better from what is ostensibly our own cause.

This always makes me think about the show Queer Eye. The message there is basically, "Gay people are fucking awesome. They have senses of humor and they'll teach you to cook and dress well and they'll help remodel your home. They'll even wingman for you." Veilguard's message is, "Non-binary people are obsessed with semantics and have a skin-deep perception of who they are. They demand constant back pats and attention simply for existing. They're hard to get along with and when you inevitably cross one, you must repent with physical labor. Other characters can overcome their own struggles, but non-binary characters need others to do it for them." I don't agree with this message and it's ludicrous to pretend this is good PR.
 
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As a progressive, this is a great encapsulation of exactly what bothers me about this stuff. Taash *isn't* presented respectfully, or as a character to be celebrated. Taash's entire character arc is to demand to be referred to with a different pronoun. Then a bunch of people walk on eggshells for various reasons. Then someone uses the pronoun.

That's not proud. It's not powerful. It's not something anyone should look up to. It makes Taash look small and petty, but because even the slightest mild criticism of the movement as a whole is dismissed as "alt-right" or whatever, even progressives can't demand better from what is ostensibly our own cause.

This always makes me think about the show Queer Eye. The message there is basically, "Gay people are fucking awesome. They have senses of humor and they'll teach you to cook and dress well and they'll help remodel your home. They'll even wingman for you." Veilguard's message is, "Non-binary people are obsessed with semantics and have a skin-deep perception of who they are. They demand constant back pats and attention simply for existing. They're hard to get along with and when you inevitably cross one, you must repent with physical labor. Other characters can overcome their own struggles, but non-binary characters need others to do it for them." I don't agree with this message and it's ludicrous to pretend this is good PR.
Agreed these kind of things definitely do not help and actually makes things worse.

The kind of stories that does do great lgbt characters never make a big deal or push the whole "it's ma'am" or pronouns stuff on others. Like Griffon from Berserk and Puri Puri from One Punch Man are both gay characters. But both of them are great characters and the story never focus on them being gays too much but rather cool characters just like any other. And I have never seen any bigoted comments towards them from the forums either. They were merely just another great character that was there within a great show/manga.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
As a progressive, this is a great encapsulation of exactly what bothers me about this stuff. Taash *isn't* presented respectfully, or as a character to be celebrated. Taash's entire character arc is to demand to be referred to with a different pronoun. Then a bunch of people walk on eggshells for various reasons. Then someone uses the pronoun.

That's not proud. It's not powerful. It's not something anyone should look up to. It makes Taash look small and petty, but because even the slightest mild criticism of the movement as a whole is dismissed as "alt-right" or whatever, even progressives can't demand better from what is ostensibly our own cause.

This always makes me think about the show Queer Eye. The message there is basically, "Gay people are fucking awesome. They have senses of humor and they'll teach you to cook and dress well and they'll help remodel your home. They'll even wingman for you." Veilguard's message is, "Non-binary people are obsessed with semantics and have a skin-deep perception of who they are. They demand constant back pats and attention simply for existing. They're hard to get along with and when you inevitably cross one, you must repent with physical labor. Other characters can overcome their own struggles, but non-binary characters need others to do it for them." I don't agree with this message and it's ludicrous to pretend this is good PR.
Problem with political strategies is that they are usually a blanket approach. And most people arent that political, dont want politics in their video game, bowl of cereal or when they shop for patio stones for their backyard.

So that's why it's a big turn off for many, and for others a big laugh fest at cringey content or when it fails. The customers never asked for it. But the company did it anyway. Mentally odd people think the entire world revolves around them 24/7 as if Fred and Wilma down the street need to be re-educated about LBGT people. Guess what? They dont care. They got other things to worry about like paying off a mortgage, taking care of their kids or just sitting home watching Netflix. Then tomorrow, it's the usual daily grind again of work and coming home. Rinse and repeat.

And you can tell they are egotistical. That's why they always need pats of the back and reconfirmation from the world, when in reality most people dont do that. Not because they hate you. But simply because they got other things to think about in life than random LBQGT person X who lives down the block. Just as the LBGT doesnt give a shit what Fred and Wilma does at home, they think the same back. Not hard to understand.

If they really want a smoother sailing reception, inject politics into products that involve politics from the get go (if there are any) or aim it at the segment of the market that is big on politics and hope you change opinions there.

Textbook marketing 101 is aim a product and its message at an intended audience. And politics is not one of those traits. That's why few products involve politics, but media industry is one of them. You dont blanket odd messages across the universe. Even the most mainstream stuff in the world like Coke or Honda Civics or salt and pepper makers dont get involved with politics when they could try to reshape the world with sex preference viewpoints.
 
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ZehDon

Gold Member
1.5 million x 70euro(for simplicity especially sake ) x 70% once steam/Sony/M$ take their cut is ~75 million, that wouldn't cover dev costs nevermind the additional advertisement costs.
Bioware is in very serious trouble, EA in their last quarterly report signified that they expect DAV to substantially bolster their income in Q4. That's not going to happen snd shareholders will demand action.
The game hasn't finished it's first month on the shelves and we don't know what the dev costs are. EA shifted Dragon Age away from a live service model, launched it with no internal monetisation, it has no DRM, and EA has no DLC plans - each point decreases their sales and revenue expectations quite a bit. Clearly, they didn't have high hopes. I'd wager EA basically kicked this thing out the door after its troubled development looking to re-coup literally anything before shifting every over to Mass Effect and canning the series.
 

Ogbert

Member
Veilguard's message is, "Non-binary people are obsessed with semantics and have a skin-deep perception of who they are. They demand constant back pats and attention simply for existing. They're hard to get along with and when you inevitably cross one, you must repent with physical labor.
Well, in that regard, we should applaud Bioware writers for capturing the essence of the matter.

Non-binary people are utterly vacuous, attention seeking dickheads.
 

GHG

Gold Member
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS DIALOGUE?



What the fuck did I just watch?

If that was a heterosexual bloke doing exactly the same thing Taash is then these journos and purple haired freaks would be screaming from the rooftops about how this game is promoting rape culture.

But because this is a trans/non-binary character being depicted, this is all good?
 

PeteBull

Member
Dial back the rhetoric and hate.
In fairness, the game director was quite forthright in how she wanted the series to go:

And the idea of being who you want to be carries a particularly special meaning for Corinne. “As a queer trans woman,” she says, “I have a perspective on the games that not everyone has. Dragon Age has long been a place where LGBTQIA+ folks can see people like themselves, represented respectfully. It’s inherently very queer, and it’s such a rare thing for marginalized communities to have representation where we feel proud and powerful in how we are depicted. It’s so deeply meaningful for so many. I often get emotional when I think about what it would have meant for a younger version of myself to see someone like her in a game, and as a hero, no less. I hope we can be a safe place for our queer players to know they are not alone, that they are brilliant and worthy, that they are not only welcome but celebrated.”

Its ok bro, u can call him a man, and just do ur 10 push ups, its a man with cut off balls and dick, who changed his name, put on make up and artifically injected himself with female hormones, looks like he was full on activist too including raging supporter of BLM:messenger_ok:

Its no wonder game turned the way it did(so shit af) when his only previous experience with rpg games was fucking sims 4 at maxis :messenger_weary: add to that pushing ideology and no matter how good coders/programmers and any1 else in the bioware devteam were, they all were under mentally ill game director and had to do his bidding even if they didnt agree with it one bit.

alexanderthegreat1.jpg
 

RagnarokIV

Battlebus imprisoning me \m/ >.< \m/
What the fuck did I just watch?

If that was a heterosexual bloke doing exactly the same thing Taash is then these journos and purple haired freaks would be screaming from the rooftops about how this game is promoting rape culture.

But because this is a trans/non-binary character being depicted, this is all good?

Doesn't even need to be that bad really, remember Deacon looked at his wife's bum (in jeans) when she was picking flowers and they went fucken mental over it.

The alphabet crowd have their own rules. Look at BG3 sexing up bears, Resident Evil Village step on me mommy etc. if they want it, it's quirky/queer. It's called "queer thirst"

You want a good laugh? Read this shite:


Then on the flip side...


I did this so you don't have to.


I felt pretty disgusting even testing this - why anyone would want to try this is beyond me - but it's certainly unnerving having a virtual video game character bend down and stare directly at you.

But is this enough? At least in the original she voiced her discomfort. I'd argue seedy players should be called out on this further than just an irritated glance.

Other changes from the original have been made in the remake, including finally hiring an Asian voice actor for Ada Wong to ensure more authentic representation.
 
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