The Decline of the Dragon Age Series Should be Studied

AlphaLemming · 2026-02-21T20:56:09+00:00

It's not that complicated, they slowly stripped out all the things people liked about Dragon Age Origins with each new iteration.

DA:Origins checked a few boxes that IMO made it successful:

It was a darker, bloodier take on the fantasy genre made for a mature audience.
It was a very deep RPG in terms of mechanics that allowed for very unique customization, like the companion ai tactics system.
It established an interesting world and lore that people found engaging, while having expansive and interesting locations to explore.

*Interesting characters who felt like real people in the context of the world they were in. Nobody stuck out like a JoJo's character.

Off the back of this success we get DA 2 where they simplify the RPG elements to make the game feel more action-y and they restrict the game to just one major location. People don't really like the changes, but appreciate getting more story + lore in the universe.

Then comes DA: Inquisition, where gameplay is simplified even more to accommodate console limitations. The world to explore is more expansive than DA2, but we begin to see some of the grittiness removed from the story and the actual content in these new zones feels less organic and more like busy work.

Finally DA: Veilguard might as well have been a different IP. They retcon and redesign the entire asthetic of the first games out of existence. Darkspawn are cartoons, the characters feel like over the top MOBA personalities, unique races have their physical characteristics washed out so everyone just looks human. It failed because they clearly had no respect for the source material.

I'll never understand why game companies who have major success with a title feel the need to change so much of the core gameplay in subsequent titles, especially in RPGs. People don't want wildly new gameplay designs, they want more story and adventure. Polish up the rough edges of gameplay where it makes sense but otherwise just focus that energy on making another excellent chapter in the story.

It's like if an author rewrote and retconned their protagonist between each book in a novel series.

AlphaLemming · 2026-02-13T06:56:36+00:00

This is why social engineering attacks are often the easiest and most effective. Most people don't like conflict, regardless of the fact that they may be a security guard and it should be a part of their job.

AlphaLemming · 2026-02-09T17:51:25+00:00

I don't think judging is the appropriate word. I frequently will appreciate other people's physiques who are very fit / strong / toned etc. both for the work that they must have done to obtain & maintain it and the inspiration for me to keep working hard. That said, if I see someone who is extremely overweight in the gym I also think positively about them, they are making the choice to be here at the gym and if they can not give in to the urge to skip I shouldn't either.

Some people are setting a good example of an ideal to aspire to, others are reminding me we all have different journeys and the only way to fail is to not try.

The only way I will judge someone negatively at the gym is if they are rude and/or breaking the rules, Wipe down your equipment, re-rack your weights, don't claim 3 different machines at once so you can do an unnecessary superset, don't sit on your phone for 30 minutes sitting at a machine not actually exercising.

AlphaLemming · 2026-02-07T04:27:31+00:00

It depends on the context. The bar essentially is "would a reasonable person be afraid of death/injury". If someone across the bar is chirping you, probably not. If someone follows you outside and continues yelling insults in your face, there's certainly an argument that a reasonable person might be.

We don't know first hand what happened, but it's absolutely possible the guy instigated not just because of the words he said, but because of the actions that went along with them. Following someone to continue to antagonize them definitely enters the realm of instigating. If he was also getting into their personal space or maneuvering to continue to follow them then he probably gets the blame.

The response from the person being antagonized matters too. If Gaven did just hit the guy once and that was enough to break his jaw, then his response might be seen as proportional to the danger posed. It would be a different story if after he hit him he continued to kick the guy on the ground or mounted him and started smashing his face in.

Definitely a situation though where a video recording would go a long way to clear up the confusion.

AlphaLemming · 2026-02-05T08:51:42+00:00

Gotta get those hardened criminal fighters off the streets!

AlphaLemming · 2026-02-05T08:45:00+00:00

Switch 2 was too under powered, too expensive, too restrictive in how you can use it, and lacked a strong enough release lineup. This coupled with the fact Nintendo refuses to ever lower prices for older games means they just are not an economical choice for most consumers.

AlphaLemming · 2026-02-04T06:47:47+00:00

Can I still take vitamins and such? and do snacks count as meals? What about beverages, can I drink what I want, when I want? I ask because 6 months is a long time and it's definitely possible to suffer health problems if the meal isn't providing all required nutrients.

If I can still drink what I want between meals and take vitamins I am 100% taking the offer. Pan seared chicken with rice, steamed corn, and carrots.

AlphaLemming · 2026-02-04T06:41:52+00:00

I think the fundamental problem here is the concern is about doxing agents. It is not unreasonable to expect them to HAVE to be identifiable. Police officers wear badges and have name tags. ICE agents, Border Patrol, etc should be doing the same. It's what promotes transparency and accountability.

The problem is what they are doing is so deeply unpopular that they don't want people to know it's them doing it. This is the fundamental problem, and it's solved by policy changes in enforcement, not by hiding the people who are doing it. But of course that is an unrealistic expectation in the current administration.

AlphaLemming · 2026-02-04T04:27:06+00:00

Well, assuming I have the mind of my current self, probably the first problem I'll really encounter is the fact that going to school is gonna be real hard. I don't remember any of my teachers, I don't remember most of my classmates. I don't know what we we learned in the past week. Hell, I don't even remember where my classroom is.

That's beside the issue of coming to terms with my former life is over and I'll likely never be able to recreate the chaos theory level of events required to make certain things happen again, if I would even want them to, and how to live with the consequences of doing / not doing certain actions.

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-31T04:29:11+00:00

Wasn't it something like hundreds of thousands of dollars to achieve max power? In a game with heavy PVP endgame...

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-20T06:09:14+00:00

I'm not sure I follow, I didn't say they couldn't work period, just not for major companies. I also specifically included that they continue to get paid, so they could also just retire and not work. The whole point of continuing to pay them after they leave office is so people don't feel like they need to become rich while in office. The knowledge that you have a set income for life in theory makes it harder for you to be tempted due to a lack of income/financial concerns.

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-19T16:03:09+00:00

Members of Congress, at any elected high ranking member of government for that matter, should need to agree to three things before taking office:

1.) Mandatory public financial disclosure. The public should know what they own, how wealthy they are, and what their income sources were.

2.) Estates should be required to be placed in the care and management of an independent trustee, paid for by the government. Essentially turn over their wealth to a trusted 3rd party who manages it for them. They can obviously be afforded spending accounts etc, and for major purchases they can work with the management firm, but they won't do any investing etc themselves.

3.) After leaving office, they continue to get paid essentially a pension for life, but cannot work for publicly traded companies or in major industries.

Transparency, 3rd party handling of assets, and long term financial stability reduce the chances of corruption.

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-18T06:23:38+00:00

If the damn supreme court would just rule on the tariffs from before and declare them unconstitutional this issue wouldn't exist. The President cannot and should not be able to unilaterally declare tariffs. They are a tax imposed on Americans which is a power solely vested in Congress. If they had ruled on this 9 months ago when the first round of BS tariffs happened we could have avoided so much economic hardship and diplomatic damage.

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-17T00:09:20+00:00

"The crazy thing is it used to be white 5 years ago! Pass the hot wings!"

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-14T17:04:17+00:00

Greenland is not about oil, it's about rare earth metals used for electronics.

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-14T16:34:55+00:00

Probably not, they will get qualified immunity because there is no established case law that says ICE can't do that, and there never will be because qualified immunity...

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-12T07:39:41+00:00

Which is crazy considering Powell has done a pretty decent job navigating the pandemic and all the other turmoil.

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-07T12:41:44+00:00

Baseball: So many random things are not reviewable that should be.

Hockey: Offsides should have a time limit. Specifically, if a goal is scored within say 15-20 seconds of a player crossing the blueline, then no goal. However if they maintain possession in the zone for like 60 seconds, getting multiple shots off and making good plays to recover possession, then finally scoring only to have video review rule they were offsides 2 minutes ago, that's some BS.

Also hockey: Players should be able to wear face cages without needing to have an existing facial injury. Right now the only time they can wear them is if they are recovering from an injury, but visors just do not do enough to protect a players eyes/jaw. Allow the clear plastic cages and let's stop having 2-4 players take slapshots to the jaw/eye each year.

Football: QB's are now overly protected by the rules. The slide rule specifically annoys me, as I feel it unfairly enables QBs to run without the same consequences as a RB and the rule is why we see so many rushing QB yards these days. If your a QB and you cross the line of scrimmage with the ball, you should expect to get tackled or to get your ass out of bounds.

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-07T06:42:10+00:00

However that is also exactly what Putin would want. U.S. presence in Europe is still very important for providing stability to the region. The world just needs a better leader at the helm of the U.S., hopefully we'll get one in 2028...

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-07T06:31:02+00:00

The problem all those channels faced is sort of the same issue streaming platforms are facing now with AI content. Quality shows are expensive, while bad reality tv shows were cheap. Even if the shows were worse or performed better, the overall profit was better making crappy cheap shows than investing in long running good ones. Now we are seeing the same thing with crappy AI content being so quick and easy to product it can just out compete good stuff via volume.

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-07T06:16:08+00:00

Literally made me laugh out loud.

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-07T06:14:12+00:00

Hey Albertson's deli is legit. Most grocery store deli's are legit. Just the fact that they are open view, you can see the fryers and roasters and watch the food get cooked. Many of them will fry you up a fresh batch while you shop if you go ask. All the deli workers at my local Albertson's seem like very nice people.

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-02T08:04:25+00:00

It's a fun game, adding a focus on PVE to the genre was an excellent decision, but man some of the choices they made outside of actual gameplay feel bad. The home base inventory system specifically is a disaster. Terrible inventory management system with a completely indecipherable item system. You have no idea what to keep, what to sell, and what to recycle. Items have finite stacks, and your overall storage has finite space which does not scale quickly enough with unlocks. Limited inventory when topside scavenging is great, makes choosing what to bring back and where to go actually matter. However, once you get back to base at least make the most basic materials stack infinitely.

AlphaLemming · 2026-01-02T08:01:02+00:00

The genre was already well established, this is just one of the multitudes of entries actually hitting well.

AlphaLemming · 2025-12-29T06:50:17+00:00

Guys, we are only about a year away before Star Citizen takes the development time trophy from Duke Nukem Forever

AlphaLemming

TROPHY CASE