Because if last year proved anything, it's that live service games never fail :D

Yep. If only it was an always online co-op RPG with microtransactions and other horrors, everyone would have totally overlooked the poor gameplay, poor graphics, one-dimensional characters, high-school sociology class level writing and the fact that it's massively out of step with current cultural norms.

The only question is whether EA can course correct or whether we'll be running a book on whether there's an auction on the EA or UBIsoft IP first.

This was not unexpected. DA: Veilguard pushed identity politics, and most gamers are tired of that in their games.

Not sure about you guys, but when I'm gaming, I don't want a lecture about doing pushups because I misgender someone in my group, whether it's in jest or not.

It's just another deathblow at this point, as Bioware went to **** a long time ago.

Now that its been gutted, perhaps some of the pure eggs that were trapped inside that decaying fish can now prosper.

I'm sure EA is right, i'm sure the fact that Bioware chose to craft Veilguard as a piss poor, divisive, controversial game barely recognizable as something taking place in the DA universe had nothing to so with its abject failure.

lol, only plays tetris ....... :p

If anybody ever needed a case study that pushing identity politics will harm sales, this was it. Granted, the game still managed to build a small and stable fanbase that were okay with the identity politics.

The problem is that this is not a small game targeted at a few people, this is a popular IP under EA's publication with a huge sum of money pumped into it. You cant afford to fuck around with self-inserts about being non-binary. Whilst I think some complaints about "wokies" are overblown, this one actually boggles my mind. To think that the game director expected any of this to work makes me really want to evaluate their thought process.

EA kills studios in multiple different ways, but the one throughline is that most studios that get bought up by EA cease to exist within a few years. Some last longer than others, some die a quick death, but eventually, almost all of them get shut down. Some are, like you say, given too many resources and lose focus, which leads to a decline in quality and ballooning of costs. Others are forced to change games in ways that the players didn't want or ask for, all in the name of trying to mine more money out of them through DLC or microstransactions.

The truly sad part is when they take great games franchises with them, which is what I can't forgive EA for. This came up in another thread, but here's just one article I found on the subject of Franchises EA Destroyed. Who here hasn't played a game from one or more of those series? Many of the series on that list were once titans in the gaming industry, all eventually laid low by EA's involvement.

EDIT - As for the "too woke" argument going on simultaneously in this thread, I don't really buy that, because Dragon Age was woke before "woke" was a cultural thing, really. The first in the series features at least a couple of characters that would qualify as bisexual at the very minimum. I tend to think on this issue, at least, the series creator is right that people whining about the wokeness of Veilguard are new to the series, because it's always been there.

It's maybe more ham-handed this time around, but I'm comfortable blaming EA's meddling for that rather than BioWare directly. It goes along with all the other criticisms of the game, and none of them have anything to do with the game not being "live-service," which is what EA CEO Andrew Wilson blames for the game's "failure." Yeah, it's not selling as well as its predecessors, but what do you expect when you release an entry in a series that is substantially lower quality across the board than the ones that came before it?

Maybe we should ask Maxis, the creators of 2013's SimCity, which was absolute garbage compared to prior releases in the franchise. Oh, wait, we can't ask Maxis, because SimCity is another franchise EA meddled with and then blamed the studio for when it failed. One of the primary reasons it failed? EA pushed for online-interaction in what has always been and always will be a primarily single-player genre. I sense a theme.

Usually there are more forces at play then only one when thought-provoking stuff appears from behind the curtain..... Stuff in the range of, we need another 100Million to finish the project etc etc

Just to be clear, the presence of diversity isn't what makes a game "woke", that's not what is meant by that. Gamers have been buying and playing diverse games forever. There's a reason why Baldur's Gate is a recent GOTY contender whereas Veilguard is "woke".
Yeah that's a fair point

We could have a whole other discussion on what everyone means by "woke," because not everyone defines it the same way when they use it. Some people only bring it up when it's blatantly thrown in your face, but others complain about it when it's something in the background that most people may not even notice if you aren't specifically looking for it or interested in it.

The truth is that some of the people who have been complaining about Veilguard (and I don't mean here at GOG) being too woke haven't cited anything but diversity of characters or romantic options for their arguments. I haven't actually played Veilguard because my computer can't handle it, but as far as I've read, it doesn't force you into a same-sex romance or things of that nature, but those options are among the things I've seen people complaining about.

Just based on what I personally have read, a lot of it seems to fall into the same anti-woke ideology I'm seeing everywhere in life these days, and there's no nuance to any of it most of the time. Someone's gay! WOKE! Someone's non-white! WOKE! Someone's female! WOKE! Games, movies, TV, daily life. It's everywhere.

I'll admit I could be wrong in this case, I'm just getting so tired of EVERYTHING being labeled as woke these days, whether it deserves it or not.

what co-pilot has to say about this

The term "woke" originally comes from African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and means being awake or aware, especially regarding social and political issues. It gained prominence in the 2010s, especially with the rise of movements like Black Lives Matter, where it was used to describe being alert to racial injustice and inequality.

Over time, "woke" has broadened to encompass a wider awareness of various forms of social injustice, including issues related to gender, sexuality, and other marginalized communities. However, it's also become somewhat politicized and can sometimes be used pejoratively to criticize what some perceive as excessive political correctness or progressive activism.

It's quite a nuanced and evolving term, and its meaning can vary depending on the context in which it's used. Does that help clarify things?

African American Vernacular English (AAVE), also known as Black English or Ebonics, is a dialect of English commonly spoken by African Americans. It has its own distinct grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation rules, influenced by the history and cultural experiences of Black Americans.

AAVE has a rich linguistic history, with roots that trace back to the languages spoken by enslaved Africans in the United States and the need for a means of communication. Over time, it has evolved into a unique and vibrant dialect, contributing significantly to American English and popular culture.

Some features of AAVE include:

Vocabulary: Unique words and expressions not found in Standard American English (e.g., "woke," "lit").

Grammar: Differences in verb conjugation and sentence structure (e.g., "He be working" instead of "He is working").

Pronunciation: Distinctive sounds and intonation patterns.

AAVE is a crucial part of African American culture and identity and is celebrated for its expressiveness and creativity.



To be fair..... of course to be awakened, to become fully aware of oneself etc etc is right from the playbook of - how to become a Guru

Wow, that's quite a list, far more and going way further back than I thought.

I probably agree with the sentiment more than most people here, but I'm not sure how true it actually is. "Woke" things succeed.