Veilguard Anti-Criticisms and How They Missed the Mark : Slavery

 Okay so... here's the thing. I've been seeing a lot of posts that simultaneously defend DA Veilguard and argue against pretty much any and all criticisms. And like... okay... so... okay. Just... okay. Since people's reading comprehension is severely lacking - let's start by saying that if you love the game, that's fine. No one's saying you can't love this game. It's a fun game to play. The characters are interesting. The voice acting is pretty good. The writing is... uh... up to... personal preference? Most of it is good. The game itself, the actual game, runs flawlessly. I've personally done ten full playthroughs, start to finish, most of them include every side quest there is, and I have had it crash only once and have witnessed only one glitch. So, that alone says a lot. It shouldn't but in this day and age - it does.

But there are issues with the writing. Big ones. And these aren't personal preference kind of issues. And the anti-criticism posts I've been seeing have all missed the mark on the real problems with the game. One of the most recent anti-criticism things I've seen has been revolving around slavery in the game or rather, the lack of.

To better organize my thoughts on this, it's formatted a bit oddly.

The anti-criticisms seem to argue against = DA Veilguard didn't address slavery in Tevinter. And thus, the anti-criticism is that the audience should just know that slavery is a thing. And that the player base should assume that the blood that the blood mages are blooding themselves with come from slaves. And, there's no reason it should be shoved into our faces.

The actual criticism though = DA Veilguard sterilizes slavery in Tevinter. This is actually a two part problem in the game. 1. We only see one slave in the game and he's in the Necropolis. We see none in Minrathous. We only find out from an ex-slave Rook that this is a part of their backstory in a single line dialogue never to be revisited again. 2. The game leads one to believe that only the Venatori keep slaves.

The reason this is a problem = Slavery has always been a thing in the DA universe. And 'everyone in Thedas' knows that slaves are a very big thing in Tevinter. Slavers comb far and wide for slaves specifically to sell in Tevinter. People are stolen all over for that purpose. So, in Minrathous, the capital of the Tevinter Imperium, we should see slaves. Not saying they had to show an auction or public whippings or anything but they should have been there. Doing the shopping, following their 'masters' around, running errands etc. Things we know they did. We know from Orana that she and her Papa did the shopping for their Magister master. We know from Fenris that he went out into the city with Danarius all the time as security, intimidation, and to just be shown off. (We also know that there's no such thing as a free slave in Tevinter, so that rules out the argument of us only being in the "poorer" part of Minrathous and thus, not seeing them - especially the elves.) We know from Dorian that his house had slaves. That most did/do. And that, even to the much adored Dorian, slavery is "better than being poor". Like, it's such a part of the life there that it's literally everywhere.

So, the only people who would think that only blood mages have slaves are people who have played DA2 only, and only know about slaves from Orana and Fenris, who both had horrible experiences involving slaves and blood magic. And still, they said nothing about Ventatori. But according to Dorian, slavery is just how it is in Tevinter. Not just Venatori own slaves. All Magisters own them. Everyone of a certain wealth owns them.

And, before anyone balks, it is unknown whether or not Maevaris actually owned slaves because prior to Veilguard, even the Lucerni had nothing to do with anti-slavery. (I like to think she didn't but who knows.) They were only ever supposed to be anti-Venatori and by extension, anti-corruption. But slavery was never included in that until they heavily implied that in Veilguard.

There's a difference between shoving something in someone's face and understanding that it's a part of the world. If Veilguard is the first game that some people have played, how are they supposed to know that slavery is such an intrinsic part of life in Tevinter and not just something the evil Venatori do as another thing that makes them ultra-evil? Because that seems to be a big chunk of the player base. Which makes since, the last DA game was ten years ago. And in fact, even for those who played Inquisition - maybe some of you need to go play that game again. There's a very frustrating conversation with Dorian in that game that is very enlightening into the way that Tevinter people just think about slavery and how different it is.

Now, could Dorian have learned not to be a pro-slavery person? Uh, yeah. Of course. Did everyone in Minrathous suddenly turn anti-slavery over the past decade? Unlikely. Especially if you're still getting newspaper headlines about slave uprisings in other cities.

And that's the other side of this. We have the Shadow Dragons, right? Their whole thing seems to revolve around freeing slaves. Even though they're supposed to be about so much more - what we hear the most about is freeing slaves. And that's great. But... what slaves? Where are they? They... got them all out? Awesome. Seriously, though. We don't even see remnants of them being moved around. Rook has an optional stumble-upon side-quest to save potential slaves (3... they save 3...) in Minrathous and that's... it. That's it. That's all.

And it's not that they don't want you to see horrific things. Ghilan'nain's tooth eye is fucking horrifying. Desiccated bodies just lying around in droves is horrifying. So then, what exactly was their reason for not showing any real signs of slavery?

Because it's not that it's horrifying. Showing a slave trailing behind a master in the market isn't horrifying. It's uncomfortable. It incites anger, injustice, and tons of other very strong emotions. As it should. That's the point.

A fictional character with a chomping eyeball is just horrifying. Even the poverty that is shown in the game doesn't actually show real poverty. Everyone has somewhere to go/live. They don't look really dirty, they aren't sleeping on benches w/ dividers inhibiting them, or pushing around carts with all of their belongings, or starving, etc. And they give you a way to help them (give coin). So you can pat yourself on the back. But it doesn't make you uncomfortable.

And that's the biggest criticism of the game. Things that would make the average person uncomfortable are not in the game. Slavery, nope. Antivan crows buying kids? Nope. Severely questionable training methods for assassins? Nope. Not even mentioned, actually. But a grandmother starving her own grandchildren are in the game, oddly enough. Just in a codex entry, mind you - not like... out loud. Because again. Uncomfortable. Child abuse and all that. A non-binary character facing actual bigotry? Nope. Tranquil mages? Nope. Visualized sexual imagery? Nope. (Which, not a huge loss but w/e). The Blight transforming people all the time, like that being what the blight does? And it being oober contagious and/ transmittable to the point of like blood in mouth/in a cut or you've just been around it too long, you're now blighted and will not die, nope - you will become a darkspawn? Nope. Hell, even addressing a real argument after the fact? Nope. Discomfort. The whole elves in alienages being treated like absolute shit and having their lands stolen and all of that? Nope with a capital N.

So many things that are a part of Thedas, a part of this world, big parts, that are just... carved out. The problem with presenting a half-assed Utopian world to a fan base that was in the shit in the last game is that... it comes off as half-assed. It does appear to be catering to a specific age group that should not be playing a game like this. Because there still are things in the game that are very adult. Torture. Killing (duh). Human (elf) sacrifice. The loss of a loved one/ loss of a Mother!

And while yes, I get that the game is the result of multiple start/stop projects - that reason (excuse) can only get them so far. When the steps to fix these very big issues would have taken less time than the steps they took to gloss over them, then it cheapens the game.

So - while the game is fun and the characters are interesting. It's more of a... spin off. A fan fiction of Dragon Age rather than the next game in the series. You can't take it too seriously if you want to really enjoy it if you've been a Dragon Age fan since before Veilguard. If you're used to Thedas as we've known it for the past 16 years - you cannot take this game seriously. Take it as a fun game to play but... only skin deep. Don't go looking for the same kind of thought-provoking veiled real-world issues that previous games and books have had. Because this is decidedly not it.

Lucanis Kiss Scene in Dragon Age the Veilguard

So, I've seen the whole thing about Lucanis being an inexperienced demisexual virgin and... while I'll say that personally, I think these little crumbs of "well I intended for this to be such and such way" well after the fact are... eh... kinda toeing the line of bullshit (yeah, I know she created him but... that's like Mary Shelley coming back from the dead and going well the monster I created actually likes the warm glow of fire, my husband just changed it! it'd be a little... meh... you'd make the meh face, is all I'm sayin') but anyway! 

Point being! I don't have a particular opinion about Lucanis' sexuality as I think that's open to interpretation and very head-canon-esq territory. But what I am narrowing my eyes suspiciously at is this theme that seems to be running wild in the wake of Mary Kirby's info-droplet. And has everything to do with explaining away the Kiss scene. 

But I just wanted to do a quick post about this.

The kiss scene. How Lucanis gets all up in Rook's grill and then at that last second, backs off and leaves the room. Everyone's going on about how this is an example of him panicking and while... I kinda get that... I also kinda don't. Dude don't panic. He lives literally locked in his head specifically so he doesn't panic. Now - it could easily be argued that he was being drawn slowly out of that prison by the encounter but at the same time... was he though? Again, head-canon territory.

The issue I take with it is this... just because someone is demisexual... just because they're inexperienced... doesn't mean they have to be... well, rude. I get it. Someone realizes they are in over their head. I'm not saying he should have gone through with something he was uncomfortable with, no. At any point, in any situation like that, one is uncomfortable - bow out. But bow out with grace. His body language went from interested to decidedly not interested. From turning his entire body away from Rook all the way to not even looking at them again as he left the room. And then not even speaking with them about it, like... at all, ever. That's not just rude, that's truly shitty. Like Rook just... doesn't have feelings at all? I'm not saying it was enough to make someone start bawling (I mean, it might but that's not what I'm getting at) but what if your Rook is also demi? And like... they're really growing close to Lucanis? And he does that? Fucking ouch. Rejection is fine, it happens but it's the way in which someone rejects someone or the situation. For a game that is trying so hard not to hurt anyone's feelings, it sure is turning a blind eye to Rook.

I know everyone is different, perceives things differently, etc. But it's almost alarming how people are so willing to write this off under the guise of inexperience, being overwhelmed, etc. And it's like... that's fine and Rook can be understanding of that. But that, getting that close? Drawing them in that far? Only to turn away like that? If you've got an insecure Rook? Which the game allows you to play out in talks with Varric, by the way. And Lucanis does this? I mean, there's just so many ways this can backfire and there's no mention of it after the fact. It's just... forgotten.

But that's been a running theme in the game. Rook is just... forgotten. I mean, they themselves isn't. But their heart is. Their feelings. The only people who ask after them that way is Varric (not real), Solas (god of fucking lies), and I think Emmrich asks once or twice. That's gotta be disheartening, if you think about it. But I'm not going to go too deep into that, because I'll write a whole other ted talk about it.

I also feel the need to point out that this is almost like a systemic problem with games. DA2 Fenris post scene reminds me of this. Yes, dude has some serious trauma and serious issues that Hawke couldn't even begin to comprehend. Leaving them like he did after? Yeah, not great. But at least he tried to talk to them about it. He didn't just go "I gotta go" and literally leave with not another word, ever, about it.

Taash : The Good & The Bad

 

Screen Capture taken in game by me.

Let me start this off with with saying that I personally think that Taash could have been a great character. In the past, I (again, personally) have not been able to really get on board with Bioware's token "obnoxious" characters. (Sera, Jack, even Isabela at times). But Taash didn't hit as hard on the obnoxious scale and I was intensely grateful for that. I love how the voice actor gave them a DGAF attitude and it really came through in the tone of voice and their mannerisms. That being said...

There are some issues with their character as a whole. And before anyone gets all uppity about it because Lord Elgar'nan knows someone will try, it has nothing to do with "the non-binary stuff". 

Taash is young. They do a pretty good job of making them out that way though we aren't entirely sure exactly how young. And the fact that, even though they have lived a pretty exciting life thus far what with the dragon hunting and all - Shathann has, for the most part, kept them pretty sheltered. So, it's hard to pin down a real age for them and while some may think that doesn't matter, it does. Maturity of a character does matter and when it comes to Taash and certain interactions they have, they were clearly written as rather immature. Perhaps it was to showcase either how sheltered they have been or how young they are - either way, it's a stretch and sometimes they just come off being rude.

Now, this might just be me but the other thing I noticed is that Taash is... a bit of a know-it-all. They over explain things to Rook as if Rook couldn't possibly know them. Even if they are a Lord of Fortune Rook, they will explain Lord of Fortune stuff to Rook, such as how they do their treasure hunting and what they do with the treasure. Note however, Taash has only been with the Lords for four months, no idea what has been going on in their life before that - it's never actually said. Presumably, they've just been puttering around the Halls of Valor anyway. Also, they will explain the Antaam to a Crow Rook, as if Rook doesn't know anything about the Antaam that are currently occupying Treviso. It gets to the point where it's more like "mansplaining" than the devs using Taash as a mouthpiece to explain aspects of factions and Rivaini culture. 

Then there is the blatant hypocrisy and double-standards that Taash seems to have. There's one instance where Taash reprimands Spite for smelling people without their permission (odd but okay) and then, within the same conversation, says that they know something about the exact same person because they smelled it on them. Spite, rightfully, calls them out on this but Taash doesn't respond. And yes, I am aware that this is all dialogue written by writers but it gives us a representation of their character.

Taash expects people to respect their decisions and their space, their preferences but doesn't extend that same curtesy to others, primarily Emmrich. Taash is insanely rude to Emmrich. So, okay, Taash doesn't like necromancy, that's completely fair and valid. However, it is Emmrich's life work and the way Taash explodes on him about it, just calling it wrong without even saying that it makes them uncomfortable is just straight up rude. Especially since Emmrich has tried to be nothing but accommodating. In that same dialogue, we find out that Taash has actively been calling Emmrich derogatory names (skull-fucker). Which is absolutely not cool and Rook should be able to call Taash out on this. Because a normal person would. I know I would have. I would have, rightfully, been like "what the actual fuck?" 

This same conversation happening if you play a Mourn Watch Rook, you can ask Taash if your necromancy bothers them and they will straight up say no, that Rook's deals more with spirits. At no point, anywhere, has that been said or indicated in the game. The only thing Rook doesn't do is the corpse whispering thing - otherwise, it's fully insinuated that Rook does exactly the same thing that Emmrich does. They just don't show it. So, there's this huge double standard that is displayed but Emmrich is the target of Taash's disrespect. And Rook should be able to call them on this.

Taash also talks to Spite like he's a dog. They do. And while it's marginally funny, it's only funny when you don't consider Spite's feelings on the matter. And you completely ignore every single time Taash brings up the fact that "spirits are a part of Rivaini culture". Rook should be able to call Taash out on this, stand up for Spite, point this out and remind them that they shouldn't talk to spirits like this. Especially a Mourn Watch Rook. Or a Lords of Fortune Rook who is Rivaini. Because they don't talk to Spirits like they are lesser like Taash talks to Spite. That's decidedly not okay. 

Now, this is not about the "non-binary stuff" but it is "non-binary stuff" adjacent. During the coming out conversation/very awkward dinner scene with Shathann, Taash shuts her mother down. Look, I get it, it's a very tense moment and Taash just wants her mother to accept it at face value and leave it alone. I get it. But Shathann is literally extending an olive branch saying "here is something in my deeply seeded brain-washed since the cradle culture that is exactly what you are saying so I can better understand this" and Taash just snaps at her. And that sucks. It shows a couple of things. It shows Taash's tension and anxiety. It shows Taash's trauma over their past relationship and interactions with their mother but it also shows Taash's self-centeredness. They don't care that Shathann is trying to understand it in a way that helps her. They want Shathann to just accept it as is. In other words, they don't want Shathann to actually understand it. And also, later, Taash refers to it as a fight when it's really not. I mean, I don't know what people think a fight is these days but that wasn't. Shathann was shut down and then left. She didn't storm out... she didn't yell... that wasn't a fight. That was Taash shutting her down and Shathann leaving. So... what fight? Or rather - Taash was expecting a fight and that was what happened in their head. They didn't give Shathann a chance to talk, expecting the worst. It's shitty and had Taash given Shathann a moment to speak, they might have actually gotten somewhere. But Taash was not in a place to listen, if they ever really were. Does that excuse the stuff Shathann had done in the past? No. Shathann clearly made mistakes. She's aware of this. But just because Taash is the "child" in the relationship, that doesn't absolve them of their role within that conversation either. 

Now... ignoring the annoying ass "roaring" that Taash does (that's not the voice actor's fault or the characters fault - that's whoever decided that would be a good sound to add in's fault). Ignoring that - Taash does have some redeeming qualities and honestly, it's a shame that the flaws are so poignant - because they could have been a really good character. 

The second Rook I played was a male qunari, mage, Shadow Dragon. And they romanced Taash. And 100%, again, ignoring the above, it was a great playthrough. There are so many points in Taash's story that are truly emotional and well written. Taash's struggles with who they are and why they feel the way they do (though I was disappointed that a they/them Rook didn't have a unique dialogue a few times when Taash was questioning a few things... seems like it would have been a great opportunity but whatever). And Rook being able to help Taash with those feelings, help support them through it, that's amazing. As either a friend or a partner. Of course, I head-canoned my Rook (Nells) as being completely comfortable and confident in himself so things like Taash picking him up? Didn't bother him at all. Never felt emasculated or anything stupid like that.

Encouraging Taash to lean more towards Rivaini culture is more of a 'knowing what the Qun really is' thing rather than a real choice, in my opinion. And while yeah, it'd be great to think of the Qun as something more religious and something that can be tailored, it really isn't. Simply because it's not just a religion, it's a whole way of thinking, a way of life. And Taash would not fit within that very strict structure. They've been raised in Rivain, they've been influenced too much by "bas". There's no way they'd fit within the Qun. And a qunari Rook would know that. The private conversations that Rook can have with Taash are heartfelt and they feel important. That's really where their character shines. 

And "soft Taash" is just as beautiful as "strong, hard hitting" Taash. Vulnerable Taash is just as amazing as Tough Taash. They really did do a good job of making them multi-facetted. And it was very easy to see a certain kind of Rook falling head over for them. But there's just those issues that I mentioned above that make it such a shame. Shathann's death scene literally makes me teary-eyed because the voice acting done by Jin Maley is so on point and you can hear the heartbreak in Taash's voice. And afterwards, the vulnerability in Taash that we witness is very potent. Whether Rook is a friend or a partner, it's a very strong moment. 

Every character has good and bad points. That's nothing new, but the issues within Veilguard are that the bad points of the characters should have never happened or could have easily been rectified by additional dialogue choices given to Rook to call them out on their bullshit. Hypocracy and disrespect are Taash's "bad" points. Disrespect towards Emmrich and Spite. Hypocracy in double standard thinking about Emmrich vs. Rook's necromancy and about what they themselves are allowed to do vs. what others can do. These are very big character flaws that were choices of the writers. Now, if they were intentional - that's a shame that we weren't able to address them in game. If they were unintentional - then that says something about the writer. 

Dragon Age Veilguard... Full Disclosure.

 Okay. Here we go. 

There is a lot to go over with this game and I know I'm going to have to break it into a few posts or it'd be a freaking novel. But, I figured, I'd start off with this.

I have been playing Dragon Age for much... much longer than Inquisition. I'm not going to gate keep on being a fan or anything like that but I do know more than just what was in DA3. 

It all started when a friend of mine got me Origins back on the 360. And I love that game (though, fuck the fade, seriously takes forever omg). And Awakening and Witch Hunt, all the DLC content, is absolutely awesome. The fodder it gives for creation is just jaw dropping. So much fan art and fan fiction has been born out of that single game alone that it is staggering. And then Dragon Age 2? I personally love it. And I don't mean omg I love it, no... I love that game. Yes, the areas are repeats and yes, I know they pumped the game out to capitalize on Origins success but the characters? Um, hello - they are... I mean there just aren't any words, really. I have countless Hawkes, countless stories, and so much just... I mean, I can't even. And Varric. He's the kind of character you just want to stuff in your pocket and carry around with you forever. He's the bestfriend. Always will be. And I have very strong opinions about Anders but I will not go into them here. Moving on!

I got Inquisition when I got my xBox One - part of that whole package deal. I was up and going on day freaking one and I do so love that game and the DLCs. Yeah, people heed and hawed about it but whatever, I loved it. Still do. I still love all of the Dragon Age games. I've read the comics/graphic novels, I own about four of David Gaider's books and have read them. I own Dawn of the Seeker, have seen all of Felicia Day's stuff for the franchise. I mean, big fan here, that's what I'm getting at. 

So... that being said... imagine my excitement about the Dread Wolf Rises... eer... I mean Veilguard. Which, let me take a moment right here and say that is the stupidest fucking name ever. I'm sorry but it's clunky. It doesn't roll off the tongue in any way. It's awkward. Anyway! But I was super excited, like a lot of people and then we see the teases and the meager scraps of information which I was completely understanding about because fuck a lot of the "fans" and the super shitty way they acted about Andromeda (which I happened to like so :P on y'all). But then the game comes out and yes I preordered it because I was going to buy it anyway because I don't trust reviewers, not after Andromeda or Cyberpunk because internet people are assholes. But, I mean, I get it and I'm right there, waiting. Now, I wasn't able to play it day one, I had to work (responsibilities) but I did get to play it the following weekend. 

Now... I'm going to say straight off the bat... I'm not a huge Solas fan in that I wasn't one of those Solavellan people. I was one of those people going "yes crack the egg!" thinking that he was going to be the antagonist that we get to fight, knowing full well that we were playing a new antagonist because that's Bioware's prerogative with Dragon Age games. But then, we find out that he's not and it's like meh, okay, I mean he is kinda a woos so... gotta give us a bigger baddie to fight. Okay, okay. But... like... here's the thing...

I mean, I do like the game. In that... it's fun. But... eer... and I mean Frostbite is lookin' pretty good... they've done an amazing job. But... um... okay, so... 

It's like someone wrote fan fiction about Dragon Age and turned that into a game. They took out all the parts they didn't like and parts that didn't fit their story... and then added in a bunch of fluff... but they wanted to be able to slap a G rating on it... and then put that out there as the game itself. Oh, and they absolutely were a Solavellan fan. 

Because the game ignores so much lore. I'm not talking about the lack of offensive/problematic stuff though there is that too... I'm talking about stuff that is just... canon in the Dragon Age universe. It just simply ignores it, blatantly... with bullshit little excuses that are all tee-hee it's just not like that and the people who have paid any attention at all, even if they only played Inquisition are going "uh, but it very much is like that". 

So yeah... it's a fan faction about Dragon Age. It is not a Dragon Age game. It's like a spin off. An alternate universe. 

And I get that it was like three different false start projects all mashed together or whatever but that doesn't help nor explain away that whole 'we're going to just ignore canon' thing. 

I have played through the game like five times (I've got a problem, I know) and there are still parts that make my left eye twitch. But it can be a fun game, as long as you don't consider it to be the next game in the franchise. Don't take this shit seriously because it's not - not when it comes to Dragon Age. I'll make another post about why because again, this could easily turn into a novel. 

But I wanted to put like a disclosure. I'm not an expert but I'm so far from a novice. I can (sadly) spout lore from off the top of my head about Dragon Age, a lot of it. Kind of that, I know what I'm talking about thing. I am by no means gate keeping or anything but if there's a new fan going "oh, you know, you can totally just walk away from the Wardens" there is going to be me and a whole lot of other people going "Actually, you really can't." That kind of thing. So yeah... yeah... and it's such a shame too. It really is.

Cyberpunk 2077–First Impressions

Okay – so! Let’s cut to the chase here. 1. I haven’t forgotten this blog, I’ve just been hella busy with the holidays and oh, yeah, the US trying to tear itself apart because of some dumb fucked-up complete waste of fucking space morons decided they no longer liked democracy and would much rather proceed to commit a laughable attempt at a coup that resulted in the death of five people for no fucking reason other than that whole group of people was collectively being dumber than a bag of fucking rocks.

Okay… woooosaaaah. Let’s just… take a moment to relax. Chill. Deep breath. Check out my V before we start. Vega Bakker Wells. Because, to him, a name isn't where you come from, it's who you belong to. 

Alright, now, let’s get to the point of this actual post. Previously, I had been playing Cyberpunk 2077 on ‘current gen’ console (xBox one) and while it was commendable, it honestly wasn’t built for it. It just wasn’t. In my opinion, it really shouldn’t have been released in 2020 at all. I get why they wanted a 20202 release date (Cyberpunk 2020 and Johnny being from 2020 etc). But it really needed to wait. Not because the game itself needed a lot more time, it really didn’t (I’ll explain later) – but because we, the people, needed more time so that more people had next gen consoles in their homes. I was lucky enough to get my hands on an xBox series S. I opted for the S over the X because $$ and because honestly, I don’t use disks anymore. Plus, I have a 4 TB external hard drive that works just fine so problem solved there.

That being said – I’m now playing on next gen. And it’s better. Way better. Like… it’s fine. I haven’t had a single glitch at all and I’m well past where I was on current gen. I’m past Jackie’s memorial and have done some questing after that. I’m sure I’ll run into some glitches down the line because, it’s a game, and games have glitches. It’s impossible to have none. I’ve even had Destiny 2 crash to home-screen on me before. It’s extremely rare, but it still happens. Anyway. My first impressions are thus…

1. The game is huge. It’s packed with so much stuff. There are revolving little quest things (assaults in progress) that just pop up all over the place. They’re apparently never-ending and are a great way to earn street cred (I had V up to 20 street cred before even starting the Heist job). The world is full of NPCs in the city, more densely populated at the city center and thinning out the further away from there you get. Which is a nice touch. All of the NPCs react and are hilarious if you even get near them with a vehicle. The children are even funnier because they’re just little people. No video game has really cracked the code on kids yet, not really. The city itself is just huge, enormous. Maybe not in foot print but in the amount of things happening around you all the time.

2. It’s overwhelming. And no, you don’t get used to it – or at least, I haven’t. There’s stuff happening all the time, all around you. It can be a little… much. Like – okay, when I was in Las Vegas, I heard slot machines so much that I started hearing them in my fucking sleep. It’s like that. Night City is so crowded, so incredibly Night City that it can be a little much. Getting out into the badlands is priority numero uno for my V.

3. I started out with the Corpo life path on my current gen play, but on this one – which I’ll be following through with – I went Nomad. Which is just so much fun. It’s the most interesting. The game incites so many ways for you to build up your own V in your head. Vega Bakker Wells, which is my guy, is complicated but kind of not. He’s kinda mean but kinda not. And after Jackie, he’s hurting. Bad. Right away, you get so many opportunities to build your own story in Night City, or outside of it. That’s the sign of a good world, a good story.

4. Johnny Silverhand is an asshole. I’ve said it before and I will say it again. He’s a fucking dick. But – eventually – he comes around. And you get where he’s coming from on a lot of things but others, he’s just an ass.

5. The combat isn’t as bad as people are saying. Maybe if you use the technical combat modes in games that are optional – then you might not like it. But it’s not that bad. It’s pretty standard. –shrug- People are just bitching.

6. There are some hilarious quests in the game, I’ve been on a few so far that were just too funny. [Flaming Crotch Guy]

7. The romance options? What the fucking fuck, CDPR? Seriously. I’m not even going to go into in depth here because I have quite a bit to say about it. But, we’ll just say, as I’m sure you know by now. That female V gets 2 options, Male V gets 2 options. One gay, one straight. Done. Fin. That’s it. In this world of “choices”, those are your choices.

8. The story is a good one but you can see some plot holes. It’s based on a table top game, so there are intentional holes in the story. So, CDPR couldn’t lean on the table top game for those plot holes, that should be filled by players – and you can tell where those holes are. I’m not dissing the writers at CDPR, but you can tell which is Cyberpunk and which is CDPR, if that makes sense. [Yes, I know V is CDPR].

9. Jackie tore me up, just like I knew he would. But, I wish we could have gone on more quests with him. Really get to know him a lot better. Maybe actually help him pick something out for Misty or something. That would have been nice.

10. As a Nomad V, I’d like to know what happened with their family, why’d they leave? What exactly happened. I don’t know if they explain it in the game and I’m not going to go look for it online.

11. The detail is amazing. The graphics are awesome. And current gen doesn’t hold a candle to what next gen can do with this game. It really doesn’t. Keep that in mind if you’re playing on current gen console. If you’re playing on PC, the higher level the equipment, obviously – the better the game performance will be.

Well, that’s about it for this one. I covered a few things and I’ll be posting about the whole romance option debacle next here, hopefully, in a few days.

A Lull, Glitches, and Twitch

I know it's been awhile since I've posted (aside from the one I just made) and it's not that I've forgotten this blog. Far from it. I've been in a major funk - no it's not "the rona". 

But! I'm getting super excited for Cyberpunk. It's pre-loaded on my tank (six year old xbox one) and it's ready to go! I cannot wait. It's going to be so awesome and honestly, one of the things I'm looking forward to the most... are the glitches. 

Glitches are... hilarious. They are. I haven't seen a glitch yet that wasn't drop-down funny. They make a game... I don't know how to explain it. Take Bioware games. The glitches are part of the games! Just like Bethesda. Not Fallout76, which is just... a nightmare. Ignore that game, pretend it doesn't exist because it shouldn't. No, I mean like Skyrim glitches that send giants careening into the sky never to be seen again. Those kinds of glitches! Bioware glitches that have characters just... sinking. It's too funny. I love it. 

Now, Twitch... I still haven't figured out how to get the mic settings right on console. When I download the few streams I have done, I can barely hear what I'm saying. I'll figure it out eventually but until then - I've taken a hiatus from there but I will stream again soon - I've ordered those little wind-shield foam things for the mic on my Rig because it can pick up the fan in the room and that just sucks. So - that'll be in towards the end of the week. I still have to figure out what I'm going to do with my YT channel. Honestly - I have no idea. I mean, I have some ideas but nothing concrete by any means. 

Well - that's about it for now. See y'all in Night City!

CDPR Hate and Discord... Again

Alright - I get it, some people just... hate. Haters gonna hate, right? But damn... the level of bitching that goes on around new game releases is obscene. And it’s insane - it’s like... Trump-follower-level bitching. You can’t talk to these people. They’re hell-bent on dragging a game through the mud to anyone who will listen, like they have some personal axe to grind against any developer that isn’t their favorite one. Or they think that... games just magically materialize fully formed with zero issues and fairies just dropped them off that way without any hard work put into them at all - that they just... come out of the stars, descending from heaven with no glitches, no issues, and no delays ever. 

Obviously, it’s the Cyberpunk 2077 discord that’s prompted this post. But holy shit. If there was ever an example of the complete and utter horse-shit that goes on for a developer around a game release, this would be it. We’re experiencing a planet wide pandemic. And this game delays it’s launch by one month, not even a whole month. And people lose their god-damned minds. Suddenly, CDPR is evil-incarnate. It doesn’t matter why it was delayed, it really doesn’t. People were going to react the same way. Like a bunch of whining little fucking toddlers. And then there was the crunch thing. Ewww ewww they lieeeed waaaaa. Holy shit. It never entered these people’s tiny little minds that “crunch” does not mean the same thing there as it does here in the US. CDPR is based in Poland, that’s where they do their work. That’s where their employees are. And Poland... even though they have social issues, major social issues, they still have - in comparison to the US - extremely favorable employment laws. They literally can’t overwork their employees, they’re legally not allowed. So “crunch” there? Means quite literally 8 hours extra a week... for five weeks. Five days. Five more days. That was all. Holy shit and people LOST it! Seriously? Another big strike against “crunch” is underpaying people - well, if these people would take a minute to learn anything, then they’d learn that these devs are getting 10% of the sales to split amongst them as a bonus. Not their pay, a bonus. They’re seriously getting paid. I mean... they’re banking hard. Which is good. They put a lot of work into this game. But all people wanted to see or hear was “mandatory crunch”! So, yeah, they didn’t want to know about the fact that it was only five days. They didn’t want to know about the fact that it would end with a serious pay bonus. Nope, none of that because that wouldn’t fit in with their CDPR is evil script. Then, when that bitch-fit didn’t seem to... I don’t know what they hoped to achieve? Shut them down? They moved on to trying to pick apart the game itself. Well, uh, I’m not going to pre-order it because, uh, well, it’s perpetuating steriotyp... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Ugh, get fucked.

There’s a very simple solution to all of this hating.

Don’t like it? Don’t fucking buy it. Done. Simple. Problem solved.

Cyberpunk 2077 Romance Options?

So – of the many things that have been going around the wire lately have been the information dropped during a post-show interview with one of CDPR’s quest designers after the last episode of Night City Wire. Patrick Mills didn’t want to let too much out about the romance options, apparently because some of them are intrinsically tied to the main quest line. I get that, however, he didn’t even give a number – he was asked how many there’d be. But – that’s kind of beside the point. The point is – when he was answering this anticipated question – he said that something he could tell us was that we have already seen all of the romance options for V. As in, literally. We’ve seen all of them – I’m assuming either in trailers, game place footage, or screenshots. Now, this little – seemingly innocent answer – has created an entire whirlwind of guesses going on. And I’ve been seeing a lot of people making a lot of guesses and some of them range from the pretty ordinary to the strange and unusual to the down-right creepy. So, I figured I’d weight in too.

Now, I haven’t read all of the lore available yet but I’m pretty up to date on the basic knowledge, for the most part – I say that because obviously I don’t know if I know all there is to know about these characters. So, keep that in mind.

First, I’ll talk about some of the more common suggestions that I’ve been seeing as possible romance options. Now, these are romance options – not “casual encounters” which are also very much a thing in the game. Fair warning : Certain spoilerish stuff ahead. If you don’t want to know anything about these characters, stop now. Anything I’m posting here, though, can be easily found on the Wiki or YT.

So – firstly, the obvious one has been Jackie. Jackie Wells. The 30 year old former Valentino is V’s first real point of contact and how well you know him from the start of the game, apparently, depends on which life path you choose. Oddly enough, if you choose the Corpo life path – you and he go way back? I would have thought it was if you chose the Street Kid life path but whatever. Now, while a lot of people have been throwing this one around due to Jackie’s little mating bird dance – I think he’s going to become sort of like a Varric character. Unobtainable. See, Jackie’s got himself a girlfriend already and we know he dies fairly early on. Which… sucks. Big time. Because I already know I’m going to adore him. –shimmy shimmy shake-

Next up – we have two some-what “confirmed” romance options. I say “confirmed” like that because they haven’t officially been confirmed but they kind of sort have? It’s weird. Anyway… you’ve got Judy Alvarez. She’s a Moxie at Lizzie’s Bar who helps you do some Brain Dancing and apparently, is who you go to for some extra special BD’s. –A wink, wink-. Anyway – she looks quite young but then again, with immortality kind of being a thing, who knows. Plus – V’s quite young (22). Now she’s rumored to only like women, which is fine by me. Plus, she’s got some kick ass tattoos. And maybe it’s just me… but she looks kind of sad.

 

Then there’s Meredith fucking Stout, the Senior Operations Manager for Militech. Okay, so I still get a slight twitch in my left eye whenever I encounter a female character in a position of authoritative power that is clearly corrupt that is also named Meredith. Pick a different name, my god. But I know a lot of people are apparently looking forward to this one – maybe it’s the whole I will set you ablaze right naowwww look in her eyes or it’s the heels and leather and yes may i have another! Who knows. But – it is what it is. Apparently though, if you don’t pick the Corpo life path – you can kiss that leather-covered ass goodbye because she’s only in it for the game.

I’ve also seen some people suggesting Oleg and Dexter DeShawn. Other than ew – there’s not a lot to go on here. Unless you’re into one word wonders and a Mr. T’esk vibe – that’s about all there is that’s going on there. Just my opinion though – some people may be into that. Of course, Dexter DeShawn is a Fixer, in case you didn’t know, he’s one of the first ones V meets and his bodygaurd / driver is Oleg. This dude. As far as I know, neither are affiliated with anyone other than Dexter DeShawn, as in… they’re both affiliated with… Dexter… De… oh nevermind.

 

Another one I’ve seen is Evelyn Parker. Now, I think this is just wishful thinking and probably more likely to be one of those casual encounters – she’s a character V meets during Dexter’s quest, in fact, it’s her Brain Dance that Judy gives us. Now, right off the bat, apparently, Evelyn is trying to get V to betray Dexter (hindsight 2020 and all that –ahem- anyway). So, she’s got some serious ambition and while we do meet her at Lizzie’s Bar, she actually works at the Doll House. Now, I’m not saying that a sex worker can’t have a relationship – but given her general ambitious / step on anyone to get to the top nature? I’m betting a relationship isn’t in her focus right now. She’s got big plans, after all.

 

And if all of those weren’t even remotely close to your thing – we’ve got the Voodoo Boys. Ah yes, Voodoo Boys. I can’t say that without perking an eyebrow and grinning. I love it. Anyway, both the Head of the gang and the second in command have been suggested as possible romances for V. And while one or neither may be a possibility (see what I did there) – I’m hoping for Placide personally, he’s just… –ahem- look, he’s got presence is what I’m saying here. At 35 and second in command of the Voodoo Boys, Placide is almost an instant enemy of V’s. Yeah, enemy. See the trope I’m hinting at here… see it? Yeah. Okay – apparently, Placide betrays V during a mission or something and knocks V unconscious… probably by hacking us or something and when we wake up, we’re understandably pissed, which leads to a confrontation and voila – tension! –jazz hands- Plus, the dude’s got one hell of an accent on him. –finger kisses- Magnifique.

And then there’s Brigitte. She’s the head of the Voodoo Boys. Otherwise known as Maman Brigitte (Mama Brigitte for those who’ve never set foot anywhere near anything remotely Creole before). She looks pretty damn good for being 41, but who knows her real age, again with immortality being a thing. She’s levvel headed but ruthless, and in the Net? You definitely don’t want to stumble across her there, she’ll fuck you up something fierce. She is the leader of a gang after all, she didn’t get there by baking fucking cookies. She’s a badass to the max and she knows it too. And while some have suggested her… I’m not sure I see this one happening, only because she’s too mature for V. Not too old – age doesn’t matter when it comes to maturity. In fact, I don’t see any of the actual gang leaders being romance options.

And now, one of the big one’s I’ve seen being thrown around is Johnny Silverhand. I lump him up with Jackie. People can dream all day long but I don’t think this is going to happen, for a few small but vitally important reasons. Kind of big spoilers here if you haven’t learned anything about him yet and want to keep him a total mystery – seriously don’t read this next part.

Seriously…

Okay, I’ve done all I could.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, Johnny’s dead. He’s… so very, very dead. Has been for a long ass time. Who we deal with is his consciousness – not the man himself, well… it’s kind of him but… kind of not? It’s weird. So there’s that. But also, on top of that, he’s seriously taken. There’s a whole tragic backstory to him and his girlfriend, Alt Cunningham, but I’m not going to go into it here. So… if there was any kind of relationship there… it’d literally be taking place inside V’s head. So… it’d be a fantasy? I don’t know. Not gonna happen though.

 

Then there’s one that I’ve seen, actually, very little mention of. Emmerick Bronson. He’s the bouncer at the Afterlife – the merc bar that V and Jackie and all the little wild crazy mercs hang out at. Now, he’s a bit of a conundrum. He’s a bouncer right… but he’s also, apparently, affiliated with the Animals gang. I’m not sure if he’s just starting out because he’s not… ya know… –takes in a lot of air like a puffer fish-. I mean, he’s built but no more than some of the other dudes who aren’t in the Animals. But, he’s affiliated with them so I don’t know what’s going on there. But – he’s one of the few dudes that one, V deals with all the time that isn’t butt fucking ugly or crazy ass old and he seems like one of those side characters that shouldn’t be featured as much as he’s been featured. He’s in the center of the Animals promo picture for cryin’ out loud. See? Right in the middle. 

So, for me personally? Just from what I’ve listed here? It’d be Emmerick and Placide. Because Jackie… –shimmy shimmy shake- is beyond our reach.

*Note: All the images are CDPR's and were lifted taken borrowed obtained from the Cyberpunk 2077 Wiki*

HC vs Canon

So, with the D4 announcement that we got – I have been seeing a lot of Solas unrest. It’s with that in mind that I figured that I would make a post about the egg and what I generally think about him and the discord surrounding him. obviously these are my opinions and while there are some things supported by canon material – a lot of it is conjecture. Now, with that out of the way…

First, Solas is a villain. Yes, I know all the bruhaha about people wanting him to have a redemption arc and all of that and while he might in DA4, it’s highly unlikely. See – there are a couple of problems that go on simultaneously when it comes to ol’ egghead. One, he was the first romance option in Bioware that straight up betrays the player and leaves. His betrayal is different, it’s not an immediate result betrayal – it’s got long range consequences. His betrayal is his lie and his infiltration of the Inquisition and of the player’s inner circle. Isabella betrays Hawke but, if played correctly, she has a redemption arc. Solas, doesn’t. And they made an entire DLC to prove that Solas isn’t going to have one. That he is the villain and while he may try to spin it like he doesn’t want to do this – the player isn’t going to stop him. Even a romanced player. And in my opinion, that’s even worse. They’ve already come out and said it, the final discussion with Solas is the final boss battle. Because it says to the player, in no uncertain terms, that Solas is the bad guy here and that he will go through with his plan, no matter what the player says or does, he won’t change his mind. He looks forward to you trying… but he won’t change his mind. Solas is an ends justify the means character and while befriending or romancing him does show him that the elves of Thedas are real people, he still considers everyone else acceptable casualties.

And those are the things that people seem to skip right over when they start defending Solas. Let’s make one thing clear here – you can like Solas as a character, you can appreciate that he’s well written and you can like the romance that he has with Lavellan, but still understand that he is the villain in this part of the story. When he’s with the player in the beginning of the game, in the part that we don’t see, he’s not a nurse maid. He’s trying to figure out how to get the anchor off the Inquisitor’s hand without destroying the anchor. He doesn’t give two shits if the Inquisitor dies, as long as the anchor survives. Then, the only reason he’s with the Inquisition after that is because he wasn’t able to get it off. So, he tries to influence the Inquisition, basically babysit his anchor. Let’s not forget that the whole temple explosion and rift is his fault in the first place – if he’d had the power to do it when he woke up, he would have and yeah, it would have been just as bad. Even if you want to chalk it up by saying well, he didn’t know anyone yet – he just woke up in a strange world etc. Okay… but – he doesn’t change the way he thinks about it. It’s not like he “sees the error of his ways” or anything, no matter what the Inquisitor says or does. Once the foci is broken, he bounces – he has no use for the Inquisition anymore and subsequently the Inquisitor anymore. He has other stuff he’s got to do – including sucking the life out of other old gods to get powered up. He can feel like he’s in between a rock and a hard place all he wants but he’s the one who put himself there. Especially since, if the Inquisitor doesn’t “change everything”, then “the people” aren’t even on his list of people to take care of. Plus, let’s not forget his big plan. Which, we aren’t entirely sure of only that he’s got a huge spy network that he’s been building up for however long he’s been with the Inquisition, using his place in the Inquisition to do so since apparently he just woke up before the temple explosion – and then his plan to tear down the veil which will throw Thedas into chaos, which he’ll have to deal with as will everyone else and maybe the world will… eventually chill out… one day… in the distant future?

To put it extremely simply, Solas is responsible for everyone who died at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, who died due to any rift demons all across Thedas, and he’s okay with that. He barely sees humans, dwarves, and qunari as people, and if not befriended/romanced, he barely sees elves as people. He’s got no problem sacrificing however many are going to die once the veil goes. And all because… he wants to bring back a way of life that he’s responsible for ending in the first place. That’s Solas in a nutshell. And while we can say all day long that he made mistakes and he’s just trying to fix it, that he’s redeemable, that he can be saved… I think there’s an important thing that’s being missed.

It’s been a long time since Inquisition dropped. Six years. Six whole years. That’s six years of head canons running wild and a lot of them have been about Solas. Six years of people writing stories, coming up with hypothesis, and conjectures. And that matters… because a lot of what people are expecting out of DA4 with Solas seems to me, to be leaning heavily on a lot of head canon and not canon-canon. Canon = Solas is a villain with no redemption arc. Head Canon = Solas’ love for Lavellan will make him see the error of his ways because she changed everything. See the difference? The first one is what happened, the second one is what people want to happen and while the second one does seem great – it’s probably not going to happen. Even if you want to weave a lot into his character – which is complex – it probably won’t matter in the game. He’s still going to do what he planned to do and it’s going to be our job to try and stop him. Because, he’s the antagonist. He’s the quintessential villain who doesn’t think he’s a villain, who thinks his cause is worthy, and honestly – he’s got a little martyrdom going on in his head. His “feelings” don’t matter – only the cause. What he “wants” doesn’t matter – only the cause. These are things that are canon and in game. We’ve seen it. But – again – head canon gets in the way, it clouds the issues because six years.

Now, me personally? I don’t mind Solas – I’m not a huge Solas fan but I admit it openly, my first play through, my Lavellan romanced the fuck outta Solas and consequently got her heart broke. It was a jarring moment and it was so well written, it was amazing. I mean, award winning shock because what!? But yeah, it was great. But – I’m more of a Blackwall fan. Cullen’s okay… he’s about equal with Solas for me.

Now – head canon Solas? He’s fucking awesome and yes! Of course he is – everyone’s HC characters are much better than canon, because they’re better for us because we made edited them to our preferences. Which is why you’ll see Solas drawn without a sunken in stomach and a bit beefier – because in game he’s… sickly skinny. Even I do it because yeah – put some weight on that dude, no reason for his stomach to be thinner than his waist. But, I digress.

The point of the matter is – we’ve got six years of head canons to shelf when DA4 drops, and I hope that these preconceived notions that are so heavily influenced by head canons don’t get in the way and cause a lot of negative reactions to the game when it does come out.

Commander Zavala & the Traveler’s Chosen

So, I won’t put any spoilers here since this quest line is still very new to the game and there are still, undoubtedly, many people who are working on it. But, since the lore is very accessible on the Ishtar collective – I’ll kind of talk about it but won’t at the same time, if that makes sense.

First, let me start off by saying that you can get ahold of this lore by either visiting the Ishtar Collective here, or by checking out Byf over on YouTube who goes into a lot of this in-depth. But – cliff’s notes for what I’m going to be talking about here?

With the darkness returning, all of the dark little tid bits all over the place are gearing up – including the Ahmakara bones – like the one that Shaxx keeps netted up over his freaking head. And apparently, according to some lore entries, something… somewhere… is watching the tower through it. We don’t know who or what but it’s got it’s creepy dark little slimy eye dead set on…. well, you can probably guess based upon the title of this post. This may or may not be a spoiler but since this information doesn’t directly pertain to the quest, I’m going to call it easily accessible lore and there for out of the realm of spoilers.

But… we’ve been seeing Zavala kind of… withdraw, ever since Cayde was killed. A lot of fans wanted to think that Zavala didn’t care about Cayde and was basically unaffected by his death simply because he didn’t want revenge against Uldren. Oh, he wanted it. He just simply couldn’t act on it and here’s why.

“We are not an army, we are not conqueres.” That line is actually very important. Think about that for a moment. Guardians are immortal, barring what happened with Ghaul and the red war, and even then – Guardians are hard as hell to kill. Imagine if they all got together and decided they were a legit army? They couldn’t be stopped. Now, people – humans – don’t like strange and different other people. You think the mortal humans of the city look on the guardians kindly and perfectly all the time? No. There are a few neighborhoods in that entire big ass city where Guardians can live alongside normal people. That’s it. Everywhere else? No Guardians allowed. Because people are scared of them, or they straight up have a huge distaste for them (-cough-Hawthorne-cough-). Either way, imagine if Guardians started looking less like a group of beings that kind of did stuff kind of over… there… in small groups… and started looking more like a big ass group with a single mission? Yeah. Because the Red Legion came for the city, right? Nope, they came for the Traveler and the light, and yes, the Guardians. So – Guardians absolutely cannot appear to be an army of any kind. And banding together, even to avenge a fallen friend? That’s a hard no. And Zavala knows this. He knows that if they decide to go off half cocked, which he knows damn near all hunters will at the drop of a hat if given word one to do so – and if they do end up starting some crazy ass war with the Reef and the Awoken? Who, then, is going to suffer their revenge scheme? The people in the city. Not the guardians – they’ll just get rezzed and be fine. But the people? Not so much. So, Zavala doesn’t have the luxury of thinking in terms of right now. So, he literally can’t condone it.

But since that moment… he’s been… noticeably different. He’s been… sadder. Losing his light changed him and then losing Cayde? It was like a reminder that things were never going to be the way they were before. His relationship with Ikora is fractured, the Vanguard is crumbling before his very eyes and it appears he just doesn’t have the will to want to save it at all. Basically speaking, we’ve got a commander that looks like he’s dealing with some serious depression. A crisis of faith. PTSD from losing his light. A strong warrior like him suddenly rendered powerless? That’s a hard thing to deal with for him and yet, he can’t deal with any of it because he’s the Commander. He has to appear strong, still a leader, still right there in the forefront.

And if you go read about that slimy spy in that skull – with its eye on Zavala – you can read about how it sees that gaping hole in him, where his faith used to be. His faith in the Traveler. Because he doesn’t believe the Traveler will save them anymore. Why? Because she didn’t. It’s a classic crisis of faith only he’s not angry about it – I don’t think he has the strength to be angry anymore. I think he’s dead ass tired of it. Something, I’m sure, all guardians go through at some point. And that hole inside of him isn’t going to be left empty for long if that spy has anything to say about it. It’s going to get filled up with darkness. Don’t forget – Zavala’s awoken and that actually matters here. Awoken have the capacity to have both great light and great darkness inside of them and they have to operate on a knife’s edge – not having too much of one or the other. That’s why they’re so damned creepy most of the time and that’s why Uldren was so easy to corrupt. It only takes a nudge. Most of the time, they can balance just fine – because they’re surprisingly strong of mind but when they’re hurt, when they’re struggling (for Uldren, loosing his sister fucked him all up – for Zavala… losing his light, losing Cayde… losing the life he once had…) when they’re like that? It’s so very easy for them to fall to the darkness that’s already inside of them and then? To have more darkness be poured in? Fuck that. It’s usually over. Uldren was oddly lucky, being spit out the way he was. But Zavala’s going to be consumed from within if he’s not careful… but with his depression – will he even notice that he’s being eaten alive? Will he even care?

I’ve got a really bad feeling that he’s going to be the next character we lose and it worries me.

What Will They Call You…

So, I (along with damn near everyone else in the DA fandom) have been thinking a lot about that one line - because of course, we only got like three lines out of the teaser.

They call me the dread wolf. What will they call you, when this is over?

I know there are variances with voice actors and they do multiple takes so we may not even get that particular one in the game or even that line at all.

But, it’s said with a certain amount of... familiarity? If that makes sense. The way he stresses the “me” part, almost incredulously - we know it’s a moniker he doesn’t necessarily like, but one he begrudgingly accepts.

We also know that if it does make it into the game, it could be dialogue in response to choices made during conversation - so some may not get it and others might. Or it might be said differently, who knows.

There is one thing though - that the devs and writers have been pretty clear about, at least in the past when Trespasser dropped. Any relationship with Solas is considered concluded, complete. So, there probably won’t be any of that, even if he romanced the Inquisitor though it’s going to be very interesting to see what dialogue is given from a romanced Solas. And, it would be super sweet, I mean talk about a treat from devs and writers if we could don the mantel of Inquisitor once more and play our Inquisitor for just a moment for a romanced Solas - kind of a meet in shadows kind of thing, even if it’s only for a conversation. That’d be sweet. But - highly unlikely. However, who knows.

And yes, romance is a big part of the discussion because of one simple thing...

We know the game’s going to be good. Game play / fighting / tactics / all of that has never been a problem with Dragon Age (or even Mass Effect, I can’t speak for the other Bioware games outside Baldur’s Gate because I didn’t play the others). But the romance options? That’s something that has always set Dragon Age apart - set Mass Effect apart - the relationships that our characters form with those around them. And I cannot wait.

Anastasia Bray and Rasputin

Y’all.... I cannot stop thinking about the whole possibility of Rasputin being turned into an Exo. I mean... come on. What if... oh man, there are so many what if’s. So, spoiler warning up front because this is going to get into some apparently data-mined information or supposedly “leaked” info or whatever. But first…

Let’s talk about the EXO program created by Bray Tech. I find the Exo’s to be extremely interesting. The entire concept has been done quite a few times over in various genres and games/stories/worlds. We saw something similar in Dragon Age Origins with the Golems. Unwilling or willing souls being put into stone bodies so they could basically be impervious to harm and essentially be super soldiers. The whole “robo cop” thing and “master chief”, hell even Fallout 4 did something with the robo-brains. It’s been done, a lot. But, I think, Destiny has done it the most… comprehensively. There’s a huge backstory to go along with them and a lot of complexities. Not to get too technical because I’m not going to go all lore-in-depth on this but… the EXO program was so incredibly controversial for the EXO’s that they won’t even talk about it. From what I understand, they are the ones that shut that shit down and they damn sure won’t talk about it. None of them will. Now, not all of them even remember it but those that do – won’t say shit. Because the EXO program was jacked up. For starters, as it always is, not everyone was a willing participant. And, as usual, a lot of people died during the program. I mean, it was an experiment. There were bound to be casualties as they figured out how to make it work. But some of the casualties were… unnecessary. Bray Tech suffered severely from the “science brain” thing. Some of the early Exo’s went insane because they were people… trapped in robot bodies. Something any regular, random, laymen would be like “well… duh, of course they went crazy” about. But, something that flew right over the scientists heads. Basically, what ended up having to happen was they had to give Exo’s the physical ability to eat, drink, sleep, and… do… other things. Yeah, that. –droll stare-. So, for all the fan fic writers out there, there you go. They have the equipment. Because people want, people crave, covet, desire and to not be able to fulfill those things? To not be able to sate those desires? They go fucking crazy. And crazy people do crazy shit and when you put crazy people in basically indestructible metal insanely strong bodies, bad things can happen. So, a lot of people died before they figured this basic shit out. Then once they figured that out, if the Exo’s didn’t do what they were told, basically, they just reset them. Scrambled things up just enough so that they were compliant again. And basically kept them as slaves. Now, everyone knows how that works out in the end. So, from what I understand, the Exo’s shut down the Exo program so that there couldn’t be any more Exo’s made because it fucking sucks. Yeah, it sounds great, be strong – be basically immortal – live forever – never get hurt! Yeah! But it sucks. As most guardians can probably attest to after a few centuries of watching people and places just kind of… fade away. I’m still not entirely clear on how Exo’s become guardians, especially if they haven’t actually died yet… or if it’s like… they’re just… shut down or in stasis or like in “sleep mode” or something. I don’t know. Anyway! That’s the Exo part and that’s only a fraction of what Bray Tech did. (They also built Rasputin, who fucked humanity over in a big way but in that way of logic. Sacrifice 1 to save 100 kind of way only he did it on a much bigger scale. Again, robo-brain, i-robot, it’s apparently what AI’s are just going to do…) So yeah… moving on.

Okay, unpopular opinion here... but... I cannot stand Ana Bray. Well, kind of, okay, let me explain. First, let me say that as a character, Ana is adorable. But she’s not without her flaws, which is what makes her a good character. She’s incredibly well written and that’s what makes her great. She’s got a rich history and backstory, she comes from an incredibly interesting family and franchise or whatever you want to call it but… yeah… the Anastasia Bray... thinks that her family? Was like... the greatest ever. That they... didn’t do anything wrong. When... erhm... they did a lot wrong. But! She thinks... or appears to think... that they... didn’t? Or rather, that the ends justified the means. So, like, even though the entire Exo program was horrible. Completely and 100% unconscionable... she supports it. Because it gave the world such great and wonderful golden age technology and advancements. And that, that right there - that thinking? That’s what makes her a Bray. Now, I know the arguments. People can go back and forth all day long about whether or not technological advancements should happen and personally? I think that they should but that scientists should still maintain their moral compasses and take those moments to really think about what they’re doing. Like... maybe don’t force people into robot bodies and then effectively kill them because they’ve gone insane... because you put them in a robot body! Anyway... and then there’s that whole faking her death thing. But not for the reasons one might think. I mean, she saw an out and damn she took it - good on her. But it was the reason she took it that was kind of shitty. I’m not saying Guardians shouldn’t go looking for who they were before, that’s fine though often, you won’t like what you find down the rabbit hole but you might? So, who knows. But... she did abandon people she called friend to chase after it. And that would be fine as long as she stayed gone not pop back up all “oh yeah... this is my pet robot...” Which, by the way, her view of is so incredibly skewed, it’s not even funny. You can see the beginnings of it when you go get the shard to tempt Xol with in the EDZ when Rasputin damn near kills your ass and Zavala’s all “how’d you get him to do that?” And she’s all “I asked him... he listens to me.” Which are two entirely different things but she apparently doesn’t understand that. Highlighted further by the fact that Rasputin doesn’t listen to her for shit. He doesn’t listen to anyone. He’s an extremely advanced, extremely traumatized, extremely homicidal AI, that has been isolated from any interactions other than extreme hostility from all fronts until this one person comes along (Ana) and is all “oh he listens to me, he’s my friend, I’m his buddy” and he might look at her like that but come on... he damn sure isn’t all “friends! my glorious friends!!!” And if he is? He isn’t going to be all 100% sure what friendship actually means.

Also, if Ana did slap his ass onto what amounts to a hard drive? He’s going to freak out. He is literally going to go insane, just as her ghost warns. He’s going to fucking flip. Imagine being able to be damn near everywhere all the time and then suddenly what? You’re here. Only. Right there. No where else. You’re in a box. A cage. He’s going to fucking flip out. If he doesn’t straight up try to kill her, or kill her ghost because he knows how the whole guardian thing works – he damn sure isn’t going to stick around. He’ll bolt, he’ll leave, he’ll get the fuck away from her, probably in a blind panic. And that’s the end of my speculation, I’m sure he’ll try desperately to find a way to… transfer himself back into his old… hardware? Or something.

But… fantasy type speculation time… because this wouldn’t actually happen in game but might be canon – like… how Eris is apparently our bestie canonically.

Wouldn’t it be fucking wicked if like… Rasputin went to find us? Like, our guardian and just fucking showed up? And we didn’t know who he was at all, just some random Exo? And then he spoke, desperate sounding freaky ass Russian? (Which always bugs me, the fucker knows English, he just speaks his version of Russian to be an ass.) And imagine our guardian being all “WHAT THE FUCK?!?” Because Rasputin?! An Exo?! OH OH OH And we take him to Zavala because what else are we going to do with him?! And our ghost is like “this is a way bad idea…” and we’re like, again, “well, what else are we going to do with him!” And Zavala’s like “…..” And Rasputin’s like “…..” And then it’s a huge game of keep the two titans away from each other because Rasputin? Oh, he’d have titan qualities, he wouldn’t be one because he wouldn’t be a guardian but he’d damn sure be close. OH OH OH And he’d have the Valkyrie! So, he’d be like a Warlock? OH OH OH!!!! And Ikora’s just like “why is this my life? –ugh-“ And we’re like dragging this Exo away who’s damn near screaming obvious threats at Zavala in some freaky ass computer Russian and Zavala’s just simmering, telling anyone who will listen that he wants that thing out of the tower. So where do we take him? OH OH OH!!! We take him to Ada-1. Because what else are we going to do with him!!!!! And then Ada-1 is all “Who is this?” And we’re like “You don’t want to know.” And she’s like “Actually I do, which is why I asked.” And then suddenly he’s like “Rasputin.” And we’re like “I knew you spoke English, you asshole!” And Rasputin is just all staring at some of the gun mock-ups and Ada’s like “… is he okay?” And we’re like “uh… so fucking far from okay it’s not funny.” Meanwhile, Ana’s burning up Zavala’s comm link and ours all “RASPUTIN IS AN EXO AND HE’S FUCKING MISSING!” And finally we bark back “WE FUCKING KNOW YOU GOD DAMN PSYCHO WHAT THE FUCK WHERE YOU THINKING!” And then she’s like “Oh thank the Traveler, he’s with you.” Like he’s some god damned run-away teenager that was like I’m going to go live with Dad! rawr! And then we hear the fucking Drifter all “well, well, well, who do we have here.” And we’re like “Fucking nobody, Eli, go back to your bank.” And Rasputin’s like “garble-garble-Russian-garble-Valkyrie-DIE!” And Ada’s all “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!” And Ghost is just like “ugh…” And we’re just like “Fucking kill him, Rasputin, I don’t even care at this point.” And you aren’t going to do anything until you hear Eli make a strange sound that sounds like some kind of weird rat squealing in pain and then you have to run down the hall because the Drifter ran, he’s not stupid, and you have to pull Rasputin off of him and it’s like Terminator 3 and you’re just like “how did my life end up like this.” And then you hear Calus over there tapping into his little stooge all “Guardian?? Is that… you…” and you’re like “SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU GOD DAMNED CREEP.” And you finally get Rasputin off world. And now you have an Exo side-kick and Zavala’s not talking to you and the Drifter’s trying to buy him from you and Calus is sending you little heart emoji’s and Ana’s begging you to bring him back and Ada’s suggesting you take him to some weird undisclosed location and your ghost is just lamenting about how things used to be when hive Princes and Taken Kings were the only things you had to worry about.

Wow… that kind of got out of hand… but then again, Rasputin being an Exo would make everything get out of hand.

First Couple of Streams

So, I started a Twitch account. And I’ve streamed a grand total of three times. The first two were complete tests to see how the mic and stuff would work out. There was an original first one but I deleted it because apparently 1080p on the Twitch app streaming direct from xBox was not a good idea. It couldn’t keep up or something, it came out horrible. So – gone. The new first one has no mic audio because I’m apparently a dumbass and straight up didn’t have the mic turned on via xBox audio settings. The second one is better, there’s mic audio but the fan makes it sound like I’m heavy breathing into the mic the entire time. The third one, it was too late in the night so I just pu on there no mic/chat. I think I’ll do that every now and again for the middle of the night streams when I’m just going to grind out some things on there.

So far, the experience has been okay but honestly, I wish I could get rid of the streaming bar on the screen. The moment I know someone is watching (which I’ve had a few people so far come and go, which is weird) – my game gets off for a few seconds. You know how it is – you’re all fine until someone watches you then you start to suck.

Anyway, I just wanted to put a little post about it. So far, it’s okay. The mic audio seems to be a second or so behind the video though so some of my commentary doesn’t exactly line up – which I’m sure is a xBox Twitch app thing. It’d probably be better if I was using the PC to stream but c'est la vie.

I’ve added the new links to both the new YouTube channel – which so far has nothing on it because I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to put on there yet – and the new Twitch channel – to the menu bar. I’m also going to be messing around with the blog design soon, updating it and adding my new header though I really do enjoy this one. We’ll see what I do with it. 

Twitch, Streaming, YouTube and the Like

The other day, Hamish suggested that I start a Twitch channel? I’ll be perfectly honest, like most people who reach a certain age, I hopped off the new app train quite awhile ago. I mean… come on… Blogger. Yeah. Anyway, I did a little reading, a little watching and figured, it might be worth a go? And while I do have a few games on my laptop (MSi) – I do about 99.9-% of my gaming on my beloved xBox (which has started giving me disk reading issues – I’m hoping that just means I need to clean it… though it is about five years plus old now). Anyway – I do the bulk of my gaming on the xBox and while I know they have a Twitch app, allowing one to stream live using the xBox and you can even do announcing type voice over, you won’t see the chat box – at least that’s my understanding. I also know that these are live streams, they don’t hang around on your channel after you sign off. So – I’m thinking, if I do that then I’d need to start a YouTube channel. I have one but it’s a hodge-podge of a channel that has everything from fan-made music videos to my son’s first steps to bar concerts. So, a dedicated channel. I know that I can go into the settings on the Twitch account and have it save the streams, to which I can later download and then port over to YouTube or at the least, use it as content material if something interesting happened. Who knows – but it might be worth doing, especially with Beyond Light heading our way and Cyberpunk 2077. Plus, we might also be getting ourselves a remastered Mass Effect Trilogy (please, please, please, please). So, I think if I do that – then it would take some setting up. I might play around with it some this week and next week. Hmm. It’d be interesting – that’s for sure.

An Open Letter to Bungie - Updated

With the recent commencement of the 2020 Solstice of Heroes, Destiny 2 has, once again, brought one of its most glaring defects to the forefront, in my humble opinion. I’m not talking about the discord over last year’s fumble of silver in exchange for glow effects in armor that was quickly rendered useless. No, I’m talking about an issue that is more systemic in the game itself and has been since it’s initial launch. Perhaps it’s because Destiny itself is such a community centered game that this issue has gone seemingly unnoticed by many. However, I am sure that I’m not alone in my thinking when I say that Destiny 2 does a very poor job of straddling the line between a single player first person shooter game and a massively multiplayer online game. Allow me to elaborate, though I can only speak on my experience with Destiny 2. Though I have played Destiny 1 – it has been as a single player only while Destiny 2, I have had the pleasure of experiencing it with a fireteam a time or two.

Upon starting Destiny 2 – you begin the game alone. In fact, almost all of the story missions as well as the expansions – all of those initial “quests” are done alone. Even if you were previously in a fire team, you will be going through them alone once you initiate them. And, in my opinion, that’s a good thing. It removes the waiting that you might experience if you were required to have a fireteam for the entire game. Your inventory, your characters, and more recently – the choices you have made are all shaping your character. This is amazing and I adore it. By far, the best part of the entire game.  That’s not to say that the multiplayer aspect of it is some less – far from it. Joining up with other players in strikes, the crucible, and other events is one of the many high pointes of the game. It’s a lot of fun and while it can bring with it a certain set of challenges – that’s to be expected when you throw in a few unknown elements. You toss in clans and you have the opportunity to create something truly inspiring. And, from what I understand, nothing in Destiny is better than completing a raid. I say it that way because I’ve never done one. That’s the other side to this. There is this whole other side of the game that I will probably never experience, especially come November 10th when Leviathan will officially be locked in the vault for the foreseeable future. And, while I am bummed, it’s alright. I’ve been playing Destiny 2 since it launched, I pre-ordered it and everything. And I haven’t set foot in a raid with a fireteam. Haven’t been able to get one together. Because I don’t have any real friends that play the game and I am painfully shy. Not to mention the fact that I’m a mid-thirties woman. That tends to create a bit of a problem when trying to get a group together. But, it is what it is and I’m okay with that – since there really isn’t any other option. But that leads me to the main point of this letter. Forced participation.

For example – the Lore seal. I am literally two things away from completing it. I have been two things away for months. The two things? One ahamkara bone and one corrupted egg. Both locked behind boss walls in the Last Wish raid. I’ve gotten the others, accessible via the wish wall. But, since I haven’t been able to get a raid team together… there you have it. For a single player like me, the Lore seal is literally impossible to get, even though it is not a raid seal, which there is one of those. But this is not that. This is a game wide Lore seal. Additionally – this year’s Solstice of Heroes armor set, to achieve “Majestic” level on all the various pieces, will require a fireteam. Not one that is match made. No, one that I have to supply myself. Just like last year. Last year, I managed to get everything done that I could without a fireteam. I don’t have a dog in the fight of the argument over the glow effects because… I never got any. Never could. And this year looks like it will end up being the same. I pre-ordered Destiny 2. Later bought Destiny 1. I’ve pre-ordered every expansion, I’ve always held a season pass. And I’ve pre-ordered Beyond Light, Deluxe Edition. And while I’m paying for the full game… I’m only getting about three quarters the content.

Let me make one thing very clear – I have never even thought to complain about not being able to get raid gear, guns, armor, seals, or triumphs. Because they come raids. Raids require a full fireteam. I’ve never thought to complain about not being able to get the raid seal or the Dreaming City seal, which relies heavily on the Last Wish raid. Because… raids require a full fireteam.

But when an event comes out that claims to be “for all”… and it simply isn’t – it can be rather disheartening to even continue the event when you know you aren’t going to be able to complete it. I play a hunter main… and this year’s requirements for the Majestic set are:

• Helmet: Complete a Nightfall: The Ordeal Strike on Master difficulty. – This requires your own fireteam. I just finished a Nightfall tonight with a match made fireteam. People I’ve never played with before, wearing Tier 2 Solstice Armor – and we finished with a score of over 100k in the Ordeal Strange Terrain. So, I can clearly hold my own. A suitable substitute for this would be to do just that – Hero and 100k. Which isn’t easy by any means.
• Gauntlets: Complete a Nightmare Hunt on the Moon – This is something everyone can do.
• Chest: Complete the Pit of Heresy Dungeon on the Moon – Again, requires your own fireteam. Technically, you can solo this but it’s insanely hard, as in – only the best can do it. A suitable substitute would be some more EAZ runs – since the area’s apparently forgotten entirely for this step of the event. It can even be an insane number like 100.
• Boots: Win matches in Trials of Osiris. – This is again, something everyone can do – from what I understand.
• Cloak: Defeat the final boss in Altars of Sorrow on the Moon. – Another thing everyone can do.

So, for me – the things I’m going to struggle with completely are going to be the Helmet and the Chest. The Chest is going to be the hardest, but, I’ll try to find some people to play with. The thing is – the Solstice of Heroes even is supposed to be “for all”. But when you lock the final steps behind required fireteam activities – then it isn’t “for all”. It’s for “MMO” players. Which, Destiny is not completely made of.

Let me say that I adore Destiny, obviously. I think it’s a wonderful game, it’s beautiful and the stories are amazing. The lore is immersive and the worlds are stunning. Honestly, this is literally the only problem I have with the game, but, it’s a big one. The thing is though, it’s so easily fixable. I really do hope that you, Bungie, consider this option, this path, as you continue on your own – shaping Destiny into the aw-inspiring game that it can continue to be. I know that it was mentioned before that “choices” were going to become more a part of the game and for that, I cannot wait to see what will happen, what the future will hold. I really do believe that Destiny can comfortably have one foot in choice based, RPG first person shooter and in amazing MMO. Destiny can continue to be the game that other MMOs are compared to.

Signed, A Destiny Player. 

*Updated 8/17/2020

A correction to the above open letter that I felt necessary to post. The armor set for this year's solstice of heroes event doesn't have to be made "Magnificent" in order to get the glowy bits. However, if you want glowy bits that you don't pay for, either by silver or an insane amount of bright dust, you will have to go magnificent. Which, I wrongly refer to as Majestic most of the time above. I do so apologize for any confusion on that one. Also, it's probably worth noting that the glowy bits you purchase from Eververse are universal ornaments while the glowy bit you earn is not. So, there's that.