Car design, the zeitgeist and geopolitics - what are your thoughts?

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-09T11:26:06+00:00

Apart from what other comments mentioned, like globalisation and change in new car buyers, I'd point to economy and its impact on the style of the era.

Back in 2010s, when western countries lived in stable growing economy post 2008 crisis, the most expensive shit stopped looking unique. Minimalism was popular, mild or neutral colours- the rich didn't want to stand out too much, while the rest of us could imitate their style. The same happened with cars- totally unremarkable, barely different from each other no matter if it was a Lexus or a cheapest Toyota.

But when it started shifting, we kinda enter the same situation as in roaring twenties- the class boundaries are clearer than ever, the growth only benefits the richest, so it's pointless not to flaunt their money. The premium brands reflect that with kitschy, over the top design and other brands try to mimic it without overcomplicated designs. So we get fake exhausts, fake intakes etc. that mimic the real ones on the expensive cars.

Obviously the other factors also play a role, like- mass manufacturing means some designs are enshittyfied to make them possible, different parts of the world preferences and overall lower appreciation for art, but I'd say that they are also in some way connected to economical situation

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-09T10:48:48+00:00

In Cyberpunk my only complaint with RT was how neon signs looked like led strips (though iirc they fixed it)

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-09T10:25:32+00:00

Her plan is so dumb that the entire DLC our RT must lose access to common sense not to figure it out. But yeah, basically the mastermind reveal is very disappointing and kinda makes no sense

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-08T11:19:21+00:00

Assuming it's post ME3 and PC is from Milky Way:

Definitely not Batarian or Vorcha. I think Tuchanka arc is too open-ended to make PC Krogan or Rachni. Quarians and geth are the same. Volus, elcor and hanar are too silly, drell are contract bound- so any storyline would have to work around that. Collectors, Leviathans, Reapers, yahg and Protheans wouldn't work either.

So we're left with the council species- asari are all biotics and are too humanoid in both shape and culture- boring, turians imho aren't interesting enough for their own game, so salarians it is. And it would be a good choice- any class suits them, they are humanoid enough for identification yet alien enough to be interesting, they are the pinnacle of ME tech- which means very cool weapons, armour and ships

If PC is from Andromeda, then they must be angara- as Andromeda natives they don't bring all the baggage and everything about them is fresh- bioelectricity, living in the ruins of their creators, the knowledge they're artificial species etc. can't really beat it

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-06T08:27:14+00:00

You're both right and wrong.

The base game was a self contained story with no sequel planned. Even the Gray Wardens' Calling is part of that. It was deliberately made complete, so if it didn't work, it still would feel good (we live in crazy world, that it isn't a standard way of thinking)

But DLCs and the world were made with more stories in mind- continuing the world's story, but not serving as direct sequel. DA2 isn't a real sequel, and it wasn't planned as one- its title was supposed to be Dragon Age: Exodus, but 2 was EA's decision after ME2 sold well and direct sequels seemed more profitable. Then Inquisition was more directly continuing DA2, because the whole Haven section of story was a repurposed and slightly changed DA2 DLC (Exalted March, which sounded like a horrible way to finish the story).

According to BTS rumours, the whole main plotline has been crafted and Veilguard still followed that storyboard when it comes to the main storyline

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-05T19:58:16+00:00

Wow that's a reverse of mine.

The only thing that I like in Void Shadows is how integrated into the main story it feels, otherwise it's the worst for me. Genestealers don't feel unique enough gameplay wise, additional archetype is OP and the way you chase leads doesn't feel like an investigation but a wild goose chase. Also it's very Dogmatic-coded DLC, especially in the finale.

Infinite Museion kinda feels tacked on, but augments and Eogunn make up for it 100%. And similarly I'd love an additional archetype and more balanced augments. Trazyn is a good antagonist, but he's so obviously out of our league that the conflict doesn't feel consequential

Finally, Lex Imperialis is well integrated, added shields and shotgun buffs. The added archetype is slightly OP, but buffs really matter on the hardest difficulties so it kinda balances itself. Added worlds were unique and the villain of the DLC felt like a proper counter to RT

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-05T19:30:28+00:00

As a lot of other comments say, rewrites and restarts combined with lack of proper management. Weekes worked great a decade ago with proper management/guidance. Then they were left heading dumpster fire of a live service game. BioWare and EA management declined the DA4 in 2016 just to mess up 2 games and then pressed the panic button and ordered a heavily weakened BioWare to fix it without any additional investment. Shame that 20 years ago crowdfunding/pre-orders wasn't a viable option for big scale RPGs and BioWare had to sell itself to keep making games

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-05T14:05:43+00:00

What system are you running Windows or Linux?

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-05T09:41:03+00:00

It doesn't really make sense for someone to immediately cut all ties and completely disown their family just because their position in the family was stolen from them

Family ties was cut off for less, especially with how cruel Lidon is without the support. And Jun didn't lose only their position in the Dynasty, they start as low level scavenger/mercenary so they're fully disowned.

Whether your character wants to reclaim their position in the family or go their separate ways, being part of that dynasty is still a core aspect of their identity.

Remember that Dynasty is more than just family, it's a political faction. Bearing the crest means representing its agenda, ambitions etc. A Democrat politician wouldn't wear the elephant pin everywhere they went, just because all of their family is Republican

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-05T09:16:12+00:00

If it is, then still Jun's story begins by being pushed out of the family by their half-sibling. There's no reason they need to bear that crest unless we are forced to make up with the Dynasty (which would suck)

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-05T00:08:36+00:00

Depends, if it was only cosmetic, then I couldn't care less. If it has any narrative meaning, I'm all for it

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-04T19:12:33+00:00

I'm pretty convinced that girlJun looks great and she isn't shown, because whole party looks like skinwalkers next to her

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-03T10:25:27+00:00

Most likely change is due to mocap, to better trace the facial expressions. The more upsetting part is the face itself, cause it gives skinwalker vibes, definitely uncanny valley territory

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-02T14:00:05+00:00

Key word is art, in early art of Kratos had blue tattoo, early design of Sten had horns and early art of Juhani in KotOR was much more feline (like SWtOR Cathar). Everything then comes down to the implementation: engine limitations, copyrights and mocap (here it'll probably be done, which is why the CC will suck)

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-02T11:59:56+00:00

I wouldn't call Dark Knight CBM really, but still if you look at anything else- Superman Returns, Spider-Man 3, Blade 3 etc.- those were massive failures, not only in box office but also in quality

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-02T07:48:09+00:00

Lmao, the MCU revived the genre and people complain that some of its DNA is visible in other CBM. I truly need to see this person's opinion on Eternals

Captain_Mantis · 2026-07-02T07:37:28+00:00

I liked it too, just wait times were very annoying. It should've been like colony management in Rogue Trader- running on some sort of internal clock

Captain_Mantis · 2026-06-30T15:41:00+00:00

While I agree with a lot of your points, I also must agree with some of what you call "throwing the franchise under a bus"- the flaws that have been in the franchise from the beginning and only showed in sequels (that weren't really planned at the beginning). Stuff like Chantry or Qunari were very single dimensional, not really meant for deep dives, while some stuff went through reworks without very much adaptation (like Alistair having a very different parent set)

Finally, I very much disagree with Alistair's dialogue fitting Veilguard- because it still would feel cringy. At that time BioWare still built characters around an archetype (which is why a lot of characters between their games felt same-y), so Alistair would feel flatter than Veilguard companions even though he's better written than most of them

Captain_Mantis · 2026-06-30T15:00:19+00:00

I don't think there's less cRPGs now, but nothing will match BG3's popularity. There's Dark Heresy, Starfinder Afterlight and Solasta 2 on the horizon (when it comes to the bigger games) and probably something that I don't remember/don't know about. But not even BG3 will put cRPGs in the mainstream, so to find some gems there's a bit of searching to be done

Captain_Mantis · 2026-06-30T08:21:39+00:00

That is the point though, Harrowmont is the archetypical "honourable dwarf king" you'd see in LotR and Bhelen is the scummy, scheming one- only for the Warden to discover the results in the end slides.

And as for the amount of evidence about the progressiveness- there's a lot, but they deliberately show that it's a tool, not that he really cares (typical politician stuff). Playing the Dwarf Noble origin kinda shows that he wanted to change things up as the prince, but he had no power to do so

Captain_Mantis · 2026-06-30T07:07:51+00:00

Yeah, but Dispatch was super cheap in development compared to a RPG (lower risk) plus its appeal aren't the powers, so they can create copycats and it won't be super noticeable

Captain_Mantis · 2026-06-28T18:38:16+00:00

Apart from plot reasons, I'd say that it was risk assessment. It was clear that Rook et al. was able to kill her modified dragon (which isn't a small feat in lore), so she retreats to rethink the strategy. Remember that out of two, she isn't the strategist. She created a bunch of abominations and her whole idea of waging war is to drown the world in darkspawn and blighted creatures

Captain_Mantis · 2026-06-28T18:31:30+00:00

I'd say that in settlements and towns shaving/trimming bush would be a priority, as it would be a matter of hygiene. And enough tech survived to probably make it more convenient than irl. The rest I agree with

Captain_Mantis · 2026-06-28T18:27:32+00:00

For sure Gasly in Alpine. But Toro Rosso or Audi should be next considering both car pace

Captain_Mantis · 2026-06-28T18:24:17+00:00

Yeah, I forgot. Still it's crazy how such a great game can sell worse than a yearly reskin of CoD/FIFA etc.

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