Very sad to see Dragon Age franchise in this state. But i knew bad things were to come when they changed the title from 'Dreadwolf' to 'Veilguard'. It let me know we weren't getting the Inquisition sequel we deserved. At this point, i'm rather they just make a safe Origins and DA 2 remaster (Like Mass Effect Legendary edition). I don't really trust modern Bioware to ever make a great new entry again. I have fears for Mass Effect 4 as well. This just is not the same Bioware from the past.
Yeah the only way to gain some trust in the fan base will be to remake Origins or DA2 and prove to EA the fans want a good DA game. If the mass effect legendary worked and sold well then a DAO and DA2 remake/remaster will do too
@@mzergcampos1684 DAO will require an expensive remake and they might as well do something new. DA2 is not good at all unless they again do a complete remake with even more changes so...
@@asura7915 remaking Silent Hill 2 is one thing. Remaking a 50 hour RPG with a ton of branching content that most players won't ever see is another. It makes close to no sense to do a full remake. You have to accept the fact that the engine used for DAO will keep that game in the past. At least in our lifetime.
@@mzergcampos1684 This. Origins just needs refreshing but DA2 - solid remake especially in locations. And I wonder what with its engine as they moved to Frostbite from Inquisition. Truth is its much more work than ME Trilogy. If we include DAI - it needs better animations and lesser MMO-like grinding on maps.
the sadness i feel is beyond words. for me and for so many others, this was my favorite game franchise of all time. dragon age has been a part of my life since i was 9 years old, when i first watched my mom play it. im going to be 25 this year. 16 years of my life i have spent loving dragon age. i really do hope that a new team does pick it up. even though they wont have the experience of working on it all these years, i believe there is a chance they could rebuild dragon age into the incredible series it once was. i have to believe that, because the idea of never seeing another dragon age game again, never getting a continuation of the story, is just too sad. i can't bare it. i have to think positively going forward, even if the chances are slim.
I just wish they would stop, who ever they are, just stop ruining franchises. Be it games, series, movies, comics, animations. These people don't know how hard it is to create an iconic IP, they even tried to create the new ones themselves but never succeed. The amount of time, money, attention, and most important thing of all, love, that you have to put it into the media you're making. YEARS of lore, characters, world building, suddenly all go down the drain, just because of 1 bad pre/sequal.
Veilguard was worse than trash, sometimes it is better to leave some things alone instead of milking them. Dragon Age is dead and in the worst way possible. Good news about the writers tho, they got their comeuppance.
You said everything I feel, I know we all like to watch RUclips videos making fun of failures but in truth this is so incredibly disappointing, I loved Dragon Age for it become a mess of modernisms
My stomach has hurt since I found out. I didn't want it to end like this. Where's Hawke? His friends? My Warden? I know I can fill in the blanks, but right now they feel lost. I'll always be grateful for this channel being a safe place to love this series. Kinda wish we we could go back to when we were all waiting and clowning. It was was frustrating toward the end, sure, but for a long time it was fun. Appreciate all of you.
They were going to show our protagonists if they went with Project Joplin. The Warden, if they survived, held off the Calling and starting to look like a Darkspawn. Then whoever we left in the Fade, in my case Hawke, actually survived all that time. They were to help us learn more about Solas by what they have seen in the Fade.
Yes, it is the end. The spark has gone and if Morrigan walking off into the sunset during the ending wasn’t symbolising the end of Dragon Age as a whole, I don’t know what is. It’s a sad realisation that the game that I’ve been invested in since 2013 is over, that’s it. Gone. I just wish it went out in a bang instead of a fizzle.
The stuio that was know for their writing no longer exists, the talents writers that made bioware games famous for their writing have either left or been fired. The BW of old would not have created surface level characters that are were so poorly writeen and forced that they actually hurt the community they were trying to represent.
Welp, the bad PR grew the blight tumor to a dead soul, BioWare no longer has one. I'm playing Veilguard and it is pretty dead beat for jokes. Even me and copilot could come up with a better one.
One thing that absolutely annoys me is how ME5 was announced 4 years ago and the game isn’t even in full production yet. Why even announce it? What was BioWare thinking? Have they learned nothing?
to try and retain investor confidence that they will turn all the L's around: "ok Anthem flopped but its ok we will bounce back for sure with ME:A", "ok ME:A was clowned on and was nowhere as sucessful as our previous ME titles but its ok cause were going to make a new DA game", "ok DA:V was a major flop but its ok cause we have ME5...."
They started production on it, but had to quickly pull all their devs off to salvage Veilguard. Bioware has an extensive history now of games getting stuck in development hell and wasting their developer resources, so it seems like EA wants to see a solid outline in place before they approve a full-scale production.
This is a sign of how far Bioware has fallen. Whether you blame it on the (until recently) current developers, EA leadership, or both. While it is possible that Bioware may recover, I doubt it. The developers who were the heart of the games, especially Origins, need to form a new company that has the agility that the press release claims EA seeks.
I love what Sheryl Chee (writer of Leliana, Harding and more) posted on Bluesky: 'But DA isn't dead. There's fic. There's art. There's the connections we made through the games and because of the games. Technically EA/Bioware own the IP but you can't own an idea, no matter how much you want to. DA isn't dead, because it's yours now'
Pure copium. Harsh but true. And do you honestly think that people will be creating content to celebrate characters like Taash like they did Allistar, Morrigan, and Varric (who is still alive as far as I am concerned since DA: VG isn't canon as far as I am concerned... which is my own admitted copium).
@@TiaraStarbrighterWhat is this comment? I didn't like VG but that's an awesome statement by Chee, and very true. Veilguard's failure has inspired a lot of fans to write and create content to make up for our disappointments- and the content is amazing. That's what makes it special, it can be anything you want it to be, you can change and improve what was let down.
❤ yes, the franchise is ours now. Death of an author is a concept of when a franchise becomes so powerful the fans claim it from the authors. In my mind I'm still creating my own story from inquisition, veilguard just wouldn't happen from my playthrough.
@TiaraStarbrighter no im starting my fanfic from inquisition to prevent the veilguard 😂. I doubt veilguard will have many but I'm sure fans will create stories about the other 3 for many more years.
To me, focusing exclusively on ME5 seems like the only correct option for Bioware. I think it's easy for us to lose sight of you as a content creator in all the noise of controversy. And, while I'm disappointed to see some of the developers go, if we want Dragon Age to revive one day, it's probably a good thing none of the Veilguard team sticks around. Thanks for the years of coverage, Jack. You were the only one that kept the DA train going for me for a lot of years.
As heartbreaking as all of this is, I agree with you on that it's for the best that none of the Veilguard team remains for future projects. They're saying they were happy with the performance of a game most people felt disappointed with was worrying. As if they were purposely ignoring how so many people felt when it came to the game's writing and storytelling.
@@EMP23 Yeah, their response was very much giving "Bethesda telling players they're wrong for not enjoying Starfield" which is always the wrong decision. Their games won't get better if they don't even try to understand and accept criticism.
Dragon Age has been dead ever since David Gaider left, the people that stayed to work on DAV were trying to salvage a broken machine without the engine. I will always cherish the time I have spent playing this game, and will always acknowledge that DAO is one of the greatest games ever made, but it seems that everyone has to move on
Im really upset to hear that Bioware isn't even going to try to repair the damage done with DAV. That they literally are like "here's the bs you didn’t want, kthxbai" is absolutely abhorrent.They don't care about their gamer base. Not even a "here's a remaster of the original DA games". Not even an apology...nothing.
They have said many times that a remaster of Origins and DA2 is impossible, it was made in an old engine and no one knows how to handle it. Remember, the people that made Origins are no longer there.
@@enoughisenough4-d3h I mean, Im no engineer or game designer and wouldn't have a clue how to work on a program like they use. But surely there is a way to remaster the old games using the newer software?
I was LITERALLY just thinking about what you’d say about this after seeing Trick’s post. I’m heartbroken…. this world has been such a safe space for me through so many hard times in my life. I’ll just live through fanfiction and hope that one day, EA allows someone else to take the IP. One thing I am excited about is that these amazing people will have the chance to move on without EA breathing down their neck. I can’t wait to see what they’ll be able to achieve and what YOU will do in the future 🫶🏻 Much love to you, Jack! We’re behind you, no matter where this takes you.
There are no innocents here. But as usual, the team pays the price while CEOs get their bonus to please investors. But I repeat myself; Gaider was the soul of the whole Dragon Age. Weeks is a good writer but not lead material. Veilguard is a mess. And I'm really sorry that this franchise, which was my favorite for a long time, got this mismatched patchwork as a conclusion. I hope everyone will get new places to work and truly learn with this experience. Is better leave as Gaider did than goes down with a project doomed to fail.
@pixelmafiaxbl I have no actual proof, but I sincerely believe that the whole story started with him. I read the books he wrote, and all are so connected with the whole... details, shades of events that connected perfectly with the whole lore. I read the books of other authors in the series, and they are not the same. Could be simply because I connected with his writing, but I think it's more. It was his love, his devotion to it... things I can't see with the others.
I feel like they shit all over my favorite game series and bailed out. I'm so salty. I feel scorned, and it just hurts. Corporate overloards just effing us up again.
We don't really know if "corporate overlords" were an issue. The BioWare hierarchy are quite capable of making their own mistakes, too. But overall, given how the series contorted, EA clearly never truly had confidence in the series from the off. Btw, if you're interested in a phenomenal video essay of epic proportions on the series, check out Noah Caldwell-Gervais's just released work. It's a great, measured, examination of what made the series so good. Only up to DAII, so I've a lot of the video to go yet.
@SabiJD we kinda do, though. I followed the entire development of DAVG. I've been listening to all this development hell shit for 10 years. EA had their hands all over the game with the multi player. And then, in general, no one handled covid well. There were tons of firings and changes. That's all business shit. The original teams did amazing. Project Joplin would have been amazing. The development team wasn't allowed the freedom they should have. Trying to make the game "for everyone" really just effed up the game. It's the company that has the say, not the developers. The workers just do their jobs. And now even more people have been fired or left bioware. They know what happened and they aren't happen with it either. So yes, we really do know.
BioWare vet Mike Laidlaw is working on Eternal Strands! It's still in development (Steam demo available) but I think it has a lot of potential. Also, if you're looking to branch out into sci-fi, a lot of old BioWare people are at Archetype Entertainment working on Exodus, a spacefaring RPG that looks really neat.
this is why i went into vielguard hopeing it did not end on a cliffhanger again and could act as an ending to the series. with all the layoffs it was clear this was the last game.
If we ignore the ending credits then it’s officially over and done with for Dragon Age. What ever happens after is up to the fans to decide, Fanfiction is my way to go for continuing the story after Veilguard. However I fear that so many lay offs from a lot of people that worked on Dragon Age over the years is sadly now dead. I will grieve the lost of my most beloved franchise in gaming history and just consider Solavellan my cannon ending. 😢
Layoffs are par for the course with big gaming companies these days. It usually doesn't even mean a studio is struggling, it just means that they want the investors to get even more money, so they fire all the people before a game releases to stop them getting release bonuses. It's shitty maneuvering.
Thank you, Jackdaw, for these amazing years of content! I discovered Dragon Age in 2020, been hooked ever since, and I watched your videos and clowned with you, waiting for Dragon Age 4, which became Dreadwolf, and then eventually became Veilguard. (I only spent four years waiting for the next installment, unlike most of you). Every update, every tinfoil hat theory… made the drought of infos that was happening a little bit more bearable Even though DAV wasn’t really what I was hoping for, I still had tons of fun. And the fandom itself, particularly this channel, was always very welcoming and nice! I had the time of my life.. with you! (Yes, I also love Taylor Swift puns and DATV will always be Dragon Age Taylor’s Version) Let’s see what the future holds for us, and I hope this new phase will be successful for your channel!
As one of the devs have said, Dragon Age is ours. We can do whatever we'd like to do with it and if we can keep it alive for 10 years on breadcrumbs, we can keep it alive for whatever time needed. I am incredibly sad about the devs having to be laid off. It's a shame they have to go through this. Let's keep our hopes up for ME and the next potential DA! Thx for the video, Jack!
It's been a really beautiful journey. Dragon Age Origins and 2 were much needed escapism for me as a teen and I quickly grew to deeply love the franchise. I hope I see it again one day, but if not I'm just happy it was there for me and I can revisit my favorites any time I want. Cheers for the content, Jackdaw.
I love the DA franchise, I've been playing since Origins came out and I've enjoyed every installment (yep, even DATV). Even though it may be sad, all good things must eventually come to an end. I look forward to your channel's new direction, Jackdaw! I hope the Fable reboot is amazing!
There are much more short lived IPs that still have active fandoms, so while there may not be any more games, there will still be fans of the franchise around. But I salute your willingness to adapt and expand as a content creator instead of trying to ride a dead horse in infinity. As I commented on someone else's video, it's a strong irony that if EA hadn't stuck their greedy fingers into the early development of the game and forced "live service" into it (a concept which later was scrapped anyway) instead of just letting BioWare do their thing, the game would have been out years ago and probably been the success everyone wanted it to be.
Thanks for always keeping the excitement alive during the absolute drought that was DA:TV’s development cycle. Even before release, the turbulence at the studio always gave me the feeling this would be the last DA game, but the secret ending had inspired hope that it wasn’t over. The team made a pretty good game and it was impressively polished and visually beautiful, but the overall writing and depth of our companions was shallow and mediocre by BioWares previous standards and in comparison to past Dragon Age titles. I REALLY hope they cook with the next Mass Effect and I hope they focus on just creating a great story.
Honestly, they deserve it. Game was a shell of what is used to be, Dragon Age ended up as a franchise for them to milk. It would have been smarter to keep Dragon Age as a trilogy like Mass Effect, then take a break and maybe come back with a new run of games under an entirely new name.
Thank you for all your hard work, jackdaw. You kept our hope up for 10 years, and whatever the shift means for the future, we are here with you. I will keep a glimpse of hope always. Dragon age has always been my main game and a source of inspiration. No one can take the love away from us, no matter what is ahead of us.
Some of the fault rests on the extremist community of Dragon Age,. Whenever someone say any criticism of the game they were being banned, ridiculed, targeted or accused of something like hater, bigot, or whatnot for at least 10 years.
I mean just look at how criticism worked during the dev cycle for DAV. Basically if you said that you had a problem with DEI being in the game that you were a grifter, toxic, etc. That you were engaged in "ragebait". Failure to understand the critique as legimate lol because apparently that's not a valid opinion. DEI hires aren't bad for no reason, they are bad because they don't produce the best game and because they often do not have the same kind of love for game dev that these other devs do. In the end, looks like the "grifters" were right after all
@ghtyz9105 yeah. It's not just DEI and Bioware. Passionate big big divisions have started to develop everywhere since 2014. I would say Jackdaw was fairly objective in the beginning. But eventually, i think he became out of touch with his messaging, too.
@@ghtyz9105. Exactly, if you don't hire people by merit, and instead hire people with no talent only because of "diversity" then you cannot expect to get a good product .
@@ghtyz9105 Imagine not liking a video game and vaguely blaming ''minorities'' for it because you think not being a white man makes people who work there inferior and less competent. Why are you surprised you're getting called an asshole when that's what you deserve?
I think we kind of all knew it was coming after Veilguard didn't do well commercially, but it still hurts. I guess it's some small comfort that at least we got an ending, even if it wasn't the ending we wanted. I always thought that DA was in trouble without David Gaider at the narrative helm, and once Mike Laidlaw and Arryn Flynn left, taking their DA knowledge with them, it really felt like the writing was on the wall. Given EA's track record, the chances of another DA game look slim at best as they rarely reassign IP to new studios or bring franchises they deem "dead" back again. The best hope we have for more DA is probably a remaster/remake of Origins in the future to test if there is still interest in the market, but even that is a long shot.
What's insane to me is that Mass Effect 4/5 had an official trailer announcement in 2020. That's almost 5 years ago, and the game is still in early stages of development? Why the hell did you even announce it back then? As for Dragon Age I am not sad to see it go. I love Origins and DA2. Inquisition is something that I had a decent amount of fun once but I will never replay that game again in my life because it's like a single player MMO. Veilguard was a turd. At this point I'd rather they did a Legendary Edition of sorts for at least Origins and then BioWare can shut down for all I care.
After watching Mark Darrah's video I think it less has to do with this being the end of dragon age and more of a shifting of focus. While I am concerned, I think this isn't the end. I have more opinions in regards to how people have reacted (I.E so called "fans" cheering the end of this studio, not thinking about the very people who made these beloved games now being out of a job, but that's another story for later). But let's hope ME might be successful
There are now 0 dragon age writers (origins, 2, or others) left at BioWare. It is dead. If BioWare gets to release ME5 it won't come until 2029+. Who knows who will even be left on the mass effect side by then
@Potatoespotate Well what can we do? I acknowledge that Dragon Age as we know it has changed, but if ME5 is Bioware's last opportunity, then all I can do is hope
@Potatoespotate I just feel exhausted. I enjoyed Veilguard and loved every moment even when I wanted more. I don't know what I'm getting at here. I just want Bioware to still be around
@@Potatoespotate Not the first time people who left or were laid off return though at Bioware. That said, there's nothing wrong with new writers taking on Dragon Age either which I think is where people are being a bit unfair, still it sucks how they treated their veteran ones either way.
This is similar to what happened with me3 when it first came out, the fans love the franchise and dev but have been left very disappointed recently with DAV especially
0:36 By what metric have you decided that Bioware employees have been "unjustly laid off?" I don't see any evidence for this in your video and fear your relationships with some of these developers may blind you to what is a completely justified purging of many of the people who destroyed the Dragon Age IP. Dragon Age: The Veilguard was an unmitigated disaster: a complete sales miss (they expended 3 million SALES and got 1.5 million "engagements" which include Gamepass, refunded games, and free Veilguard copies bundled with other promotions. The game did so poorly that this will be the first Dragon Age game that didn't get DLC. It went on sale fairly shortly after it was released, including two price drops on Steam while the much older Baldur's Gate 3 is still full price. Fans like myself who loved the franchise, who bought all the games and their DLC, took one look and noped out even as we held onto hope we were wrong... only to be told again and again we were totally right. This was not a Dragon Age game but instead defecated on its legacy when the developers decided to the realms from the first three games because they were too lazy to carry on the decisions. My Warden didn't save Fereldan so it could be destroyed off camera in VG. My Hawke didn't fight for Kirkwall so its people could be chased out by Darkspawn in VG. My Inquisitor didn't scour half of Thedas to save it only to let it fall in Veilguard. 4:58 You seem to believe that firing/letting go the Veilguard developers killed Dragon Age. No, those developers killed Dragon Age. That includes those who were around since the beginning: if they allowed or even helped to create this abomination, what good were they? Either cowards who didn't speak up or they were only capable of executing good work those who left. If their legacy meant so little to them that they didn't fight for them, the fans are better off without them. Dragon Age is dead. We mourn, we reminisce, and we MOVE ON just as you are going. I wish you luck.
yup, I shifted to Kingdom Come Deliverance, and oh my, what a difference, I'd describe it as not the best game ever but one of the best experiences I had in a videogame, for a very long while. RIP Dragon Age sad
Yeah. As much as I love Dragon Age, there wasn't a single moment during my 117 hours where I felt "lost" in the story. From the poor writing to the shift in visuals and unconvincing voice acting... I could just tell this wasn't a true passion project. Origins really was the peak. *sigh*
It’s honestly brutal what’s happened with the devs, breaks my heart man. Veilguard wasn’t everything I hoped for but it was still an escape which I enjoyed playing while I played it. I would adore to see you cover other games such as Fable and Avowed. I know you’re a fan of the Witcher so seeing you make content regarding the Witcher 4 or other new Witcher projects could be fun. You’ve got so much potential, Jack, don’t forget you’re limitless! And, of course, it’ll be fun to see the build-up to the next Mass Effect. Speaking of, I remember years and years ago when I was just a teenager, watching your videos any chance I got on my dad’s tablet during the build-up for Mass Effect: Andromeda (or Mass Effect 4 as we were calling it then) and it has been an absolute privilege to see your channel and community grow. You’ve also improved massively in your editing and voice-overs, it’s difficult not to feel proud of you. I can’t wait to see more content from you, to see your channel continue to grow to see you continue to grow. I’ve spent the better part of the last watching you cover Dragon Age and Mass Effect across multiple RUclips accounts lol. You’ve helped me through so many difficult times, I can’t even begin to tell you just how much you and your content mean to me. You’ve been fantastic, absolutely fantastic, and I know you’ll continue to be. So don’t fret too much over the idea of moving onto other games, people don’t just come here for Dragon Age we come here for your specific style of content, the energy you bring to nerding out over the things we all love.
Oh man... as much as I love Mass Effect, Dragon Age has always been my absolute favourite video game of all times. All of them! The Veilguard felt a little weaker than the previous ones, but I still enjoyed it a lot and will be playing it over and over again for a while! I'm not usually optimistic, but I just won't accept that this will most likely be the last game of the series. I don't care if it takes them years and a new team, I don't even care if the game is smaller and less epic than the first four, but I really really hope there will still be at least one more in the future, at some point. Dragon Age was both my introduction to actual video games (beyond simulation games like the sims or minecraft) and to fantasy rpgs, which soon led me to DnD which is a big part of my life now. So much entertainment, content, fanart and lore discussions have come from this series that I really can't believe it's just supposed to be over. Especially with the insane amount of reveals and new discoveries we get in the Veilguard, I was really hoping to see a game where all of that is worked through by people. How does the world develop after the latest events? What does the general public feel about all this? What will become of the Warden, Hawke, the Inquisitor and Rook? I wish we could just get a game that gives us closure for all the characters. I want to see them all reach their happy endings, no matter how boring the game. But alas, there's nothing we can do because EA once again messed up. Hoping that the future may still bring positive surprised and that at least Mass Effect gets all the attention it deserves! And thanks for all the good content over the years, from game discussions to news drops to patiently waiting together for ten years.
Honestly? DA is one of the most toxic fandoms I've been a part of. Some people are so obsessed with their interpretation of certain characters and proving that it's canon with anyone else being wrong in theirs, it's bizarre.
I wouldn't worry brother, we still love you, and i know i will always watch your videos. Thank you for keeping my dreams alive about Dragon age. Thank you so much for your time and the amount of Effort you put in. You are amazing Jackdaw.
Considering what they've done in bringing Mass Effect back, my suspicions is they'll do the same for Dragon Age if ME5 is any good. EA on the other hand has thoroughly butchered BioWare like every studio before them. Jackdaw I'd go to Obsidian if I were you, they've been living in BioWare's shadow long enough and they are actually doing quite well. Hell they are now the studio BioWare once was literally.
Damn.. I knew Veilguard was bad, but I didn't think it was kill the entire franchise bad. Smh, how did they make a worse game than Andromeda. I'm so sad.
I'd say it was about on par, with moments that rose above in Veilguard. I honestly think a lot of it was studio interference. It's an easy way to make excuses sometimes, but a development like DAV is impossible to have without issues there.
As a long-time Dragon Age fan, this is sad to see, but BioWare deserved it with their actions. Dragon Age The Veilguard is not a video game, but a tool to push leftist propaganda onto everyone, of course it failed. Patrick Weekes was a normal guy just a few years ago, but then one day, he realized he is a they/them, clearly pushed by his surroundings and the leftist culture around him. I feel sorry for him and for Corinne Busche. With the political change in the US, this is not a surprise. Hopefully, some other studio will take over Dragon Age and make a good RPG, not a game where the most important aspect is being afraid to insult someone.
Yep, it was a fantasy game but in my eyes not a dragon age game. I was suprised to hear people in the community defending it tbh. Honestly now i just feel like i was gaslit
@@ghtyz9105 "Propaganda" is a disingenuous term mostly used by social conservatives (bigots, generally) to try to discredit anything and everything they're either too scared of or just manically opposed to. This does not make something "propaganda"... Such people seem incapable of comprehending that there are others in the world with different world views, who actually do care about such matters. It is a fundamental failure of empathy (look at the chaotically hateful far-right regime in the States at the moment. these people see empathy and mercy as weaknesses, almost as sins). Art is about self-expression, correct? Then what was in DAV is as subjectively acceptable as anything else in art, in any medium. Did DAV execute on its ideas with characters like Taash well? No... but that doesn't make it frikkin' propaganda. The key failure was tone, and blurred with that is the quality of some of the writing. I think DAV is arguably the best developed and most cohesive game to actually play in the series. Superbly thought out combat design, fantastic loot flow, and the synergies between skills/items/passives was excellent. But yes, it sucked as a Dragon Age... because of how disinterested it was in the world it exists in, and its gutless sanitisation of the moral and social complexities established by the trilogy. Very good game to play, bad DA. So it's both an excellent and bad game at once. I'd be fine if it was just a one-off in the series - a tonal anomaly. I think it might still be, but we have perhaps a decade to find out, sadly.
The reality is, even if DAV hit it out of the park and into a new postcode, this would have happened. Ten years development (off and on), restarts, redesigns, revisions, tens of millions invested… it never stood a chance. I’m pretty certain that like Andromeda, we’re going to find out this game was desperately pulled together in record time in the last months before release. I’m not as hysterical as some about the quality of the game, it’s ok. It’s fun. It works. They landed the ending with Solas. There’s enough lore in the codex to keep the world alive. But this doesn’t make up for the obvious things it lacks - particularly the nuanced character relationships, well-paced storytelling and the music (the forgettable soundtrack is a tragic disappointment, DAI’s main theme was a banger!). The switch from long-lived experienced teams to the ‘agile’ way of working is happening in every industry now, not just gaming. It’s about efficiency and maximising value. Story-focussed franchises like DA and Mass Effect will suffer whilst your run-of-the-mill cookie cutter annual releases will thrive.
Thank you, @Jack! Whatever disagreements I've had with your choices, I know you always mean well and that you are a peacemaker. You are also pretty professional even while you have fun. You 'hung in there' when many quit. Some of my best experiences of Dragon Age Fandom were made here. I hope you do well in all your ways! 🎉
My prediction. ME5 gets released. BioWare gets dissolved as a studio. The end. Veilguard was a love letter to us from the devs, they knew at the time and we didn't and now that I look on it with new eyes and with that knowledge, the game is far more special to me.
Well. That's it then, i guess. I really hoped that after the teaser post credits scene, they'd be planning DA5, at least at some point. I was really excited to see where the series could take us next, i spent tens of hours taking screenshots and writing notes and data mining textures. But oh well. Corporate grees, etc etc. I'm endlessly sad for the devs. They put their all into VG and it really shows. I enioyed the game a lot (even though i really didn't like the action combat), and I'm glad most plot threads got some kind of wrap-up. (Except the Well, which i will forever be salty over lol) Trick Weekes has given me one of the greatest romances of all time with Solavellan, and i will forever be grateful and in awe for that. Don't let the haters win, though. DA stayed DA until the end. Whether they want to see it or not.
What haters? It's precisely this toxic positivity, that helped pulverize Dragon Age. No, Veilguard wasn't Dragon Age, the fandom has spoken. Whether you want to see it or not.
This is really sad news to be sure. I saw the tweets on Bluesky when they happened as well as from moots. I’m not surprised. I saw this coming for awhile now. However, I think it’s smart to add more content to your channel and I’m here for it. Especially Fable. I’ve played all the games when they released and they were a blast. Not sure what this new one will bring but I plan to play it anyway and I look forward to you take on the new game 😊
Lost elf hits differently now 😢 but I will still be watching your content regardless. I love fantasy rpgs so you’ll still be appealing to my interests. Very heartbreaking day for dragon age and BioWare fans, but I suppose it was a long time coming, unfortunately.
I'm not mad or worried. Letting the Dragon Age team leaders go was probably a release from torture and a relief for them. This also allows the Mass Effect leadership to pick and choose talented Sci-Fi nerds they want to work with as devs. People who know how to get the most from the UE5 engine.
Whatever videos you make in the future, I’ll still be following your Contant, because I like your channel and I like the way you explain lore and theories
Dragonage origins was my first RPG experience on the Xbox 360. I was a wee little 19 years discovering thedas! it was the best time of my life, and with Vielguard I got so emotional at the ending, because I knew it would be the last hoorah. It was EPIC! I wish only the best to those amazing developers!! Thank you for such a wonderful tale. I will be following you Jackdaw, whatever you will do in the future will be clownish and awesome! Thank you as well for your tinfoiled adventures!! (I a bit emotional, oh my) thank you!
Even though Dragon Age is one of my favorite series of all time, I honestly think it's probably for the best that it's put on the backburner for now. It'll be a long time before people forget the issues Veilguard had, and they'll need to knock the next Mass Effect out of the park to build any sort of trust back for most people to even consider buying the next Dragon Age game.
Honestly, as sad as it is, this to me spells that BioWare most likely won’t be around much longer. As for mass effect 5, I wouldn’t be surprised if it never came out. 4 years in pre-production is a long time.
The biggest letdown of Veilguard is not the lack of player choice or world states or controllable party members or more skill trees or the option to be an asshole - a good story could still be told without those things. The problem is that the Dragon Age world is nuanced, there are no easy answers, and there are some ancient mysteries that cannot by definition be explained. The elves are a stand in for any marginalized group who has had their own history taken from them and erased, and you the player are left to piece together what might be the truth somewhere between the variety of cultural, religious and philosophical interpretations. It's a compelling story becusse it refuses to give you easy, simple answers, and makes you think about the way this world interacts with itself, the ripples of imperialism, racism, religious theocracy, and the struggle to survive in a bizarre and cold world that reflects our own. [Spoilers ahead] Veilguard gives up the payoff to a decade of mysteries, and the payoff is... Solas did it. He did all of it. Solas is responsible for everything, everywhere. He's more or less the actual Maker. Oh sure, he was just a normal man once, but every aspect of this world is a direct result of Solas. Solas created the Golden City, Solas blackened it, Solas unleashed the blight, Solas defeated the titans, Solas severed dwarves from the fade, Solas imprisoned the ancient gods, Solas created the Veil, Solas knew and collaborated with Mythal who was preparing for his eventual rise to power, Solas manipulated the Inquisition toward its goals, Solas was responsible for the fall of Elvhenan, Solas created the Red Lyrium Idol, Solas' actions created the archdemons and the first blights, Solas was responsible for the first elves coming into corporeal bodies, Solas led the war against the titans and won it, Solas Solas Solas Solas. It's all fucking Solas. He has a hand in every part of Thedas' history and essentially created the world in which this rich, vibrant, messy nuanced history takes place, and in the end all that has to happen is for Solas to be really emotionally conflicted about the repercussion of his actions, betray his own principals and his allies repeatedly, lie to everyone all the time, and then finally get a heroic death where he sacrifices himself to preserve the world, thus eliminating any need for him to make amends to the world that spent a millenia suffering because of his actions. Solas probably created Andraste, or maybe he was the voice that spoke to her which she interpreted as the Makers voice. Solas was probably the voice who spoke to Leliana in Origins, because for some reason this one elven mage is the only important person in the entire history of Thedas. It's ludicrous. I *LIKE* Solas as a character, especially as he's portrayed in Inquisition - you get the sense that this guy was involved in a lot of heavy, world changing stuff, but was not the sole author of it all, just a very old man with a lot of regret who is trying to fix the mistakes of his past. But the big payoff to virtually every single unsolved element of this world is essentially that Solas is responsible for most everything that's ever happened. It's bad storytelling to let this one guy be the central focal point of an entire world history's worth of mysteries. No one man is THIS important, and to make Solas the ultimate-super-mage-hero-villain is misunderstanding what makes Dragon Age a good world: the real world does not have simple answers. We don't ever get to know for SURE what actually happened in our own history. We don't know exactly what happened to Joan of Arc, or Genghis Khan, or Jesus Christ, or Muhammad, or Cao Cao, or Oda Nobunaga. We exist in a complicated and messy reality where we subsist only on the barest scraps of what we can recall, much like the Dalish, and we keep living anyway because that's what being human is. Solas' direct involvement with every major event in history is an insult because it implies any one person can be that important, that powerful, and that impactful. Solas, as depicted in Inquisition, as just one guy with a fucked up past flailing to fix his own mistakes by making more, that's a character I can appreciate, whether I like him or not. But Solas is the central fulcrum upon which all of Thedas turns? It's a complete non-answer to a decades worth of good, unanswerable philosophical questions.
As someone who's never played the original fable games, I'd love to hear stuff on it. On a side note I've been here for so long your video is both realistic, somber but also factual. Our journey in thedas may be over for now, but.. Perhaps it is time we once more look to the stars.
i never in my life thought there would be a day where i never want to see another dragon age game. i have spent 1000 hours plus in the series. i habe played dragon age origins 10 + times from start to finish, i have played inquisition 2-3 times from start to finish. If someone reads this, Understand that i like dragon age aswell, but not veilguard. to me veilguard was one step forward and 10 steps back. Don’t misunderstand me. i love Origins and Inquisition. i think the trespasser dlc is one of the studios best work ever. to me. veilguard removed everything i liked about dragon age. the simplified the things i liked about the previous game and somehow turned the RPG into a therapy session. i got one thing or two positive about the game, the visuals are alright considering the performance is excellent. the lightning system is great...but it highlights the lack of texture. My biggest issue however is that this was Solas final chapter…to me not playing the inquisitor makes no sense. after inquisition, i only wanted to play as the inquisitor in the sequel and i feel like Rook is out of place.
I didn't expect that... I'm first hearing this news from you...and I dont know how to feel, because before a week ago we were worried about the rumours that the whole Bio Ware will be shut down. Now idk which is worse - to know that your fave studio has been shut down completely, or that it is alive,but no longer making anything related to your fave franchise 😢 I am in mourning for what BW once was and what DA represented - at least for me bc it turns out they had different things to say in each new installation... thank you for the news and for continuing to create !
Honestly after what they have done with Dragon Age, I think this is good. I don't want the key figures involved with The Veilguard anywhere close to the next Mass Effect. I am glad the main team that has been working on Mass Effect 5 is still there, and that they get to pick their own team and direction. Sure it is sad for the people that are losing their job but come on. The Veilguard was an absolute travesty of writing and direction. I like Dragon Age as a franchise, but I love Mass Effect with whole my heart so to know that the key figures that ruined DA are gone is good news to me.
Why would you post this before I go to sleep? Why you bringing me sad times for bedtime J-Dawg 😭💔 I'm holding out hope for an Origins Remake, might reawaken some of that old spark within the team too 🥹
Thank you Jack. This is so sad your videos always uplift me even when they are sad like this. Whatever you decide to do I will always support you and I hope to see you explore new lore and continue to bring light to our community.
Very sad, feels like the end of an era. I grew up with Dragon Age, and it feels awful to see it end like this. But the memories will always be there, and the games that we have are as well. I'll always treasure it. Your coverage of the series has always been so much fun to follow. I'll definitely stick around for whatever you do next. I'm definitely keen to see some stuff on Avowed- the pillars of eternity universe it's set in is so rich in lore and themes, so there's some great potential content there 😊
As much as it pains me to accept this fact, I can't deny that I agree, Dragon Age is probably done at this point. I had already kind of come to this conclusion even before the post seeing as how the constant vocal outcry against it seriously hurt it's potential, and I always felt that if Veilguard received the same pushback that Andromeda did, it would suffer the same fate. Lo and behold, it did. I'm not even holding my breath for Mass Effect 5 at this point. I will definitely play it, but I have no expectations going into it anymore. The Bioware of old is gone (even if not fully in terms of OG people, the heart and soul is gone), and there's no bringing that back. RIP Dragon Age; it'll always have a special place in my heart.
So EA has killed another studio. And yes, I absolutely blame EA. I already mourned the franchise, because I knew sometime around the time that the second reboot was cancelled that it was a lost cause. I don't say this as a "hater", but as someone who has loved this game franchise deeply. I have a map of Thedas on my computer desktop, and Nathaniel Howe on the lockscreen of my phone. But all good things must come to an end, and I saw that Thedas was dying years ago and have been mourning it. So while this is still sad news, it's like when someone who was very sick for a very long time dies and you're sorry to hear it, but at the same time, you knew it was coming. Rest in Peace, Thedas.
Well, now DA belongs to the fandom, its ours now. But honestly, this would be an awesome opportunity for Bioware to do what CDPR did with REDkit. Unfortunately, EA probably would not allow for that. -sigh-
That is sad that they are laying off people. But focusing one game at a time is a good idea. One of the things i criticize about DA - the graphic image in each game are not consistent not like Mass Effect. Do not like the looks of dark spawns look different in each game. Personally DA Veilguard should have been the end of game. DA O and DA I the graphics looks great. And the story, DA O and DA I stories are amazing, and your choices makes a difference. Disappointed some of your choices at DA I did not have any effect in Veilguard. If they green light a DA 5, it should be the last, even if it successful, it should be the last. End high than continue low.
it is sad but i'm hopeful for the future. either someone will buy DA or we get games that are reminiscent of it and are maybe even better. tbh it should've been considered the end, because even if we gtt another DA, it would've been 1000% different. it won't be in fereldan or orlais or north thedas. it will be in qantar (i think i misspelled it) and the new land across the sea. the DA you and i loved is finished. no more blights, no more elven gods, no more magisters. we saved Thedas and that's about it. the only thing that might be able to save DA is to go back to the submarine idea so that we keep visiting the places we were once part of. what we can do is to look out for beloved devs and projects they're working on.
I wonder how many in the audience were clapping seals shilling for this game just weeks ago. Mindless consumerism is a major part of the problem, and dogmatic ideology is the antithesis of creative freedom. The BioWare brand is exhausted, and the future of Dragon Age hinges on whether it can truly return to form with the next Mass Effect.
Really conflicted thoughts on this. Never good to hear people jobs have gone however for me I loved dragon age since I was a kid. That spark or heart just wasn’t there in veilg guard so what have we really lost ? The soul of dragon age was already gone.
The kindest thing they could do is sell the IP to a more capable company. I would purchase a remaster of DAO/DA2. but im personally not at all interested in any new games of any kind made by this company. This was also my favorite game franchise of all time, but now we have Larian, who successfully captured the magic of Bioware and made it even BETTER. At this point, Im not even sad to let this one go. EA has sucked so much life out of Bioware its literally sitting on life support. Pulling the plug altogether would feel like mercy.
Hopefully this is a wake up call for BioWare and EA MEL was a success They should be heavily inspired by their early games, not trying to please a specific community
although unprecedented times such as this is very worrying for most of us. please refrain from fearmongering, because so many franchises have bounced back from so much worse. silent hill, a franchise that had lost its way for several decades made a glorious comeback this last october with the silent hill 2 remake. tomb raider survived and prospered after a disastrous release in 2003 that led to the series ip being taken away from it’s original developers, and yet since then tomb raider released several games that were commercially and financially successful, allowing the series to continue on. game franchises long since passed have received incredible reboots and remakes that breathed new life into them, cultivating renaissances that have allowed these franchises to be at there most successful. it’s never over.
The problem isn't the franchise....it is the need of the devs to empower their life choices at the expense of all else. Hopefully the gaming industry will learn something from this.
Unfortunately I doubt they will learn anything. This isn’t the first time this has happened and they keep making the same bad decisions despite the backlash.
@@ReformingRegentthat's what i don't understand, why does this keep happening? Aren't these evil corporations that people are talking about in the comments supposed to make profit? They reached like 50% of sales expectations lol
Sadly, even in it's highest point, DA was seen as a risk to EA rather than an opportunity. To think that a franchise that was heralded as the spiritual succesor to Baldur's Gate would be terminated right when Baldur's Gate 3 is such a huge success is crazy. Eager to your new ventures on new fantasy universes. Recently finished the first of the "Divinity" games from Larian and will also try the Pillars of Eternity games so I'm ready to dive into tinfoil madness aboutt those universes. Divinity jumps so much back an forth in its timeline that it is quite hard to predict new games. The next one could be another prequel for all we know.
It’s been a wild ride for all of us. But happy to share it with you, Jackdaw. Never thought it would end this way… So many stories and characters unresolved.
… just a year ago we were all in a similar state of mind. And then there was the announcement of Veilguard … and now … we’re even downer in the dumps than before. 😭 I guess it’s just time to be cautiously optimistic again - at least for me. Mass Effect, will arguably be the last chance.
I'm sad to see dragon age in this state, but it was sadly self-inflicted. However was in charge of DAV should be fired not the howl crew. I hope Mass Effect 5 is better.
After seeing the DA4 art book and seeing the REAL game that was intended for release...I'm ok with this. I used to want to work for bioware as a writer, but after BG3 and everyone saying that's the exception rather than the rule I've decided I'd rather work for someone like Larian over money hungry Bioware and EA. Bioware is not the company it was when it started in a basement.
It must be a very uncertain time for you, Jackdaw, and I sympathize with that. I enjoy your videos, and I am certain that you will continue to do a great job covering whatever catches your interest. Thank you for your Dragon Age videos (past, present and future). It's a Franchise I have enjoyed as well.
People will be very cautious with the next Mass Effect, maybe even wait until the first play throughs are out. For me, I don’t need ME5 because Shepards story is done. Unless they fix Andromeda with it. That said, it’s quite sad to see DA end like this. I would rather read a book that brings the story full circle than have a botched-up continuation in, like, 15 years or something.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Very sad to see Dragon Age franchise in this state. But i knew bad things were to come when they changed the title from 'Dreadwolf' to 'Veilguard'. It let me know we weren't getting the Inquisition sequel we deserved.
At this point, i'm rather they just make a safe Origins and DA 2 remaster (Like Mass Effect Legendary edition). I don't really trust modern Bioware to ever make a great new entry again. I have fears for Mass Effect 4 as well. This just is not the same Bioware from the past.
Yeah the only way to gain some trust in the fan base will be to remake Origins or DA2 and prove to EA the fans want a good DA game. If the mass effect legendary worked and sold well then a DAO and DA2 remake/remaster will do too
@@mzergcampos1684 DAO will require an expensive remake and they might as well do something new. DA2 is not good at all unless they again do a complete remake with even more changes so...
@@heavyartillery-qm5hu a remake of a fan favorite is always more safe than doing something new and in the situation that bioware is now they need safe
@@asura7915 remaking Silent Hill 2 is one thing. Remaking a 50 hour RPG with a ton of branching content that most players won't ever see is another.
It makes close to no sense to do a full remake. You have to accept the fact that the engine used for DAO will keep that game in the past. At least in our lifetime.
@@mzergcampos1684 This. Origins just needs refreshing but DA2 - solid remake especially in locations. And I wonder what with its engine as they moved to Frostbite from Inquisition. Truth is its much more work than ME Trilogy. If we include DAI - it needs better animations and lesser MMO-like grinding on maps.
the sadness i feel is beyond words. for me and for so many others, this was my favorite game franchise of all time. dragon age has been a part of my life since i was 9 years old, when i first watched my mom play it. im going to be 25 this year. 16 years of my life i have spent loving dragon age. i really do hope that a new team does pick it up. even though they wont have the experience of working on it all these years, i believe there is a chance they could rebuild dragon age into the incredible series it once was. i have to believe that, because the idea of never seeing another dragon age game again, never getting a continuation of the story, is just too sad. i can't bare it. i have to think positively going forward, even if the chances are slim.
I just wish they would stop, who ever they are, just stop ruining franchises.
Be it games, series, movies, comics, animations.
These people don't know how hard it is to create an iconic IP, they even tried to create the new ones themselves but never succeed.
The amount of time, money, attention, and most important thing of all, love, that you have to put it into the media you're making.
YEARS of lore, characters, world building, suddenly all go down the drain, just because of 1 bad pre/sequal.
Well people have to realize why it failed
Veilguard was worse than trash, sometimes it is better to leave some things alone instead of milking them.
Dragon Age is dead and in the worst way possible. Good news about the writers tho, they got their comeuppance.
You said everything I feel, I know we all like to watch RUclips videos making fun of failures but in truth this is so incredibly disappointing, I loved Dragon Age for it become a mess of modernisms
My stomach has hurt since I found out. I didn't want it to end like this. Where's Hawke? His friends? My Warden? I know I can fill in the blanks, but right now they feel lost.
I'll always be grateful for this channel being a safe place to love this series. Kinda wish we we could go back to when we were all waiting and clowning. It was was frustrating toward the end, sure, but for a long time it was fun. Appreciate all of you.
They were going to show our protagonists if they went with Project Joplin. The Warden, if they survived, held off the Calling and starting to look like a Darkspawn.
Then whoever we left in the Fade, in my case Hawke, actually survived all that time. They were to help us learn more about Solas by what they have seen in the Fade.
Yes, it is the end. The spark has gone and if Morrigan walking off into the sunset during the ending wasn’t symbolising the end of Dragon Age as a whole, I don’t know what is. It’s a sad realisation that the game that I’ve been invested in since 2013 is over, that’s it. Gone. I just wish it went out in a bang instead of a fizzle.
I feel that. Been a day 1 fan and for Veilguard to be written and created in the way that resulted it's final product was an absolute backstab.
For a studio that is renowned for their superior writing, they have the absolute worst PR responses.
The stuio that was know for their writing no longer exists, the talents writers that made bioware games famous for their writing have either left or been fired. The BW of old would not have created surface level characters that are were so poorly writeen and forced that they actually hurt the community they were trying to represent.
Welp, the bad PR grew the blight tumor to a dead soul, BioWare no longer has one. I'm playing Veilguard and it is pretty dead beat for jokes. Even me and copilot could come up with a better one.
that studio died after DA Origins, Mass Effect 2, different people, different studio
As for those of us with skills, take initiative and make our own, screw the big companies.
They fired all the writers, so there was no-one left to write the blog.
One thing that absolutely annoys me is how ME5 was announced 4 years ago and the game isn’t even in full production yet. Why even announce it? What was BioWare thinking? Have they learned nothing?
to try and retain investor confidence that they will turn all the L's around: "ok Anthem flopped but its ok we will bounce back for sure with ME:A", "ok ME:A was clowned on and was nowhere as sucessful as our previous ME titles but its ok cause were going to make a new DA game", "ok DA:V was a major flop but its ok cause we have ME5...."
@@kmel3588 Wasn't Andromeda before anthem?
They started production on it, but had to quickly pull all their devs off to salvage Veilguard. Bioware has an extensive history now of games getting stuck in development hell and wasting their developer resources, so it seems like EA wants to see a solid outline in place before they approve a full-scale production.
Mark Darrah stated announcement was defensive, to prove to EA that Mass Effect still has legs to stand on.
This is a sign of how far Bioware has fallen. Whether you blame it on the (until recently) current developers, EA leadership, or both.
While it is possible that Bioware may recover, I doubt it. The developers who were the heart of the games, especially Origins, need to form a new company that has the agility that the press release claims EA seeks.
I love what Sheryl Chee (writer of Leliana, Harding and more) posted on Bluesky: 'But DA isn't dead. There's fic. There's art. There's the connections we made through the games and because of the games. Technically EA/Bioware own the IP but you can't own an idea, no matter how much you want to. DA isn't dead, because it's yours now'
Good post. I like that ❤
Pure copium.
Harsh but true. And do you honestly think that people will be creating content to celebrate characters like Taash like they did Allistar, Morrigan, and Varric (who is still alive as far as I am concerned since DA: VG isn't canon as far as I am concerned... which is my own admitted copium).
@@TiaraStarbrighterWhat is this comment? I didn't like VG but that's an awesome statement by Chee, and very true. Veilguard's failure has inspired a lot of fans to write and create content to make up for our disappointments- and the content is amazing. That's what makes it special, it can be anything you want it to be, you can change and improve what was let down.
❤ yes, the franchise is ours now. Death of an author is a concept of when a franchise becomes so powerful the fans claim it from the authors. In my mind I'm still creating my own story from inquisition, veilguard just wouldn't happen from my playthrough.
@TiaraStarbrighter no im starting my fanfic from inquisition to prevent the veilguard 😂. I doubt veilguard will have many but I'm sure fans will create stories about the other 3 for many more years.
To me, focusing exclusively on ME5 seems like the only correct option for Bioware.
I think it's easy for us to lose sight of you as a content creator in all the noise of controversy. And, while I'm disappointed to see some of the developers go, if we want Dragon Age to revive one day, it's probably a good thing none of the Veilguard team sticks around. Thanks for the years of coverage, Jack. You were the only one that kept the DA train going for me for a lot of years.
As heartbreaking as all of this is, I agree with you on that it's for the best that none of the Veilguard team remains for future projects. They're saying they were happy with the performance of a game most people felt disappointed with was worrying. As if they were purposely ignoring how so many people felt when it came to the game's writing and storytelling.
@@EMP23 Yeah, their response was very much giving "Bethesda telling players they're wrong for not enjoying Starfield" which is always the wrong decision. Their games won't get better if they don't even try to understand and accept criticism.
no...we have no reason turst them at this point..they should first fix the mess before anyone should even consider to touch ME
@@Nyxakeyinprecisely, how entitled of them. Like your fanbase loves you, why don't you try listening to them?
Dragon Age has been dead ever since David Gaider left, the people that stayed to work on DAV were trying to salvage a broken machine without the engine. I will always cherish the time I have spent playing this game, and will always acknowledge that DAO is one of the greatest games ever made, but it seems that everyone has to move on
Im really upset to hear that Bioware isn't even going to try to repair the damage done with DAV. That they literally are like "here's the bs you didn’t want, kthxbai" is absolutely abhorrent.They don't care about their gamer base. Not even a "here's a remaster of the original DA games". Not even an apology...nothing.
It's not Bioware that made this call. It was EA. Direct all your ire at them.
Bioware isnt absolved of Dragon age veilguard. Bioware made the writing decisions that killed the game.
@TheP1x3l
They have said many times that a remaster of Origins and DA2 is impossible, it was made in an old engine and no one knows how to handle it.
Remember, the people that made Origins are no longer there.
@@enoughisenough4-d3h I mean, Im no engineer or game designer and wouldn't have a clue how to work on a program like they use. But surely there is a way to remaster the old games using the newer software?
@@TheP1x3llast i checked Andrew Wilson wasn't the game director of Veilguard
Imagine if Larian would buy the rights to Dragon Age
would be gold mine
Where can we sign this petition? This is the way.
Stop with this Larian bullshit
EA needs to hire them for the next DA definitely
Are you jelous of a great gaming company? What a loser.@@Blast_S_rank_1
If Mass Effect is anything short of a GOTY contender, Bioware is done.
when was the last time Bio ware made a good game? ME2 was 15 years ago
I was LITERALLY just thinking about what you’d say about this after seeing Trick’s post. I’m heartbroken…. this world has been such a safe space for me through so many hard times in my life. I’ll just live through fanfiction and hope that one day, EA allows someone else to take the IP.
One thing I am excited about is that these amazing people will have the chance to move on without EA breathing down their neck. I can’t wait to see what they’ll be able to achieve and what YOU will do in the future 🫶🏻
Much love to you, Jack! We’re behind you, no matter where this takes you.
There are no innocents here. But as usual, the team pays the price while CEOs get their bonus to please investors.
But I repeat myself; Gaider was the soul of the whole Dragon Age. Weeks is a good writer but not lead material.
Veilguard is a mess. And I'm really sorry that this franchise, which was my favorite for a long time, got this mismatched patchwork as a conclusion.
I hope everyone will get new places to work and truly learn with this experience. Is better leave as Gaider did than goes down with a project doomed to fail.
I agree about Gaider, even though just one person, I think BioWare losing him undoubtedly hurt the overall quality of writing.
@pixelmafiaxbl I have no actual proof, but I sincerely believe that the whole story started with him. I read the books he wrote, and all are so connected with the whole... details, shades of events that connected perfectly with the whole lore. I read the books of other authors in the series, and they are not the same. Could be simply because I connected with his writing, but I think it's more. It was his love, his devotion to it... things I can't see with the others.
I feel like they shit all over my favorite game series and bailed out. I'm so salty. I feel scorned, and it just hurts. Corporate overloards just effing us up again.
We don't really know if "corporate overlords" were an issue. The BioWare hierarchy are quite capable of making their own mistakes, too.
But overall, given how the series contorted, EA clearly never truly had confidence in the series from the off.
Btw, if you're interested in a phenomenal video essay of epic proportions on the series, check out Noah Caldwell-Gervais's just released work. It's a great, measured, examination of what made the series so good. Only up to DAII, so I've a lot of the video to go yet.
@SabiJD we kinda do, though. I followed the entire development of DAVG. I've been listening to all this development hell shit for 10 years. EA had their hands all over the game with the multi player. And then, in general, no one handled covid well. There were tons of firings and changes. That's all business shit. The original teams did amazing. Project Joplin would have been amazing. The development team wasn't allowed the freedom they should have. Trying to make the game "for everyone" really just effed up the game. It's the company that has the say, not the developers. The workers just do their jobs. And now even more people have been fired or left bioware. They know what happened and they aren't happen with it either. So yes, we really do know.
BioWare vet Mike Laidlaw is working on Eternal Strands! It's still in development (Steam demo available) but I think it has a lot of potential.
Also, if you're looking to branch out into sci-fi, a lot of old BioWare people are at Archetype Entertainment working on Exodus, a spacefaring RPG that looks really neat.
I'm waiting for Exodus with baited breath.
Eternal Strands was fully released on 28 January, actually! Alex Jordan (masc BrE Rook) is streaming it on his Twitch channel.
Played eternal last night. Game is trash to. Its made for the modern audience. Not a single white male in this game.
this is why i went into vielguard hopeing it did not end on a cliffhanger again and could act as an ending to the series.
with all the layoffs it was clear this was the last game.
The layoffs def killed the potential as layoffs always do
If we ignore the ending credits then it’s officially over and done with for Dragon Age. What ever happens after is up to the fans to decide, Fanfiction is my way to go for continuing the story after Veilguard. However I fear that so many lay offs from a lot of people that worked on Dragon Age over the years is sadly now dead. I will grieve the lost of my most beloved franchise in gaming history and just consider Solavellan my cannon ending. 😢
@@runningcoyote7463 I can’t wait to on executor if we get another da game
Layoffs are par for the course with big gaming companies these days. It usually doesn't even mean a studio is struggling, it just means that they want the investors to get even more money, so they fire all the people before a game releases to stop them getting release bonuses. It's shitty maneuvering.
@@robertgronewold3326 it honestly is I enjoyed veilguard but a lot felt like it was missing in the game
Thank you, Jackdaw, for these amazing years of content!
I discovered Dragon Age in 2020, been hooked ever since, and I watched your videos and clowned with you, waiting for Dragon Age 4, which became Dreadwolf, and then eventually became Veilguard. (I only spent four years waiting for the next installment, unlike most of you). Every update, every tinfoil hat theory… made the drought of infos that was happening a little bit more bearable
Even though DAV wasn’t really what I was hoping for, I still had tons of fun. And the fandom itself, particularly this channel, was always very welcoming and nice!
I had the time of my life.. with you! (Yes, I also love Taylor Swift puns and DATV will always be Dragon Age Taylor’s Version)
Let’s see what the future holds for us, and I hope this new phase will be successful for your channel!
As one of the devs have said, Dragon Age is ours. We can do whatever we'd like to do with it and if we can keep it alive for 10 years on breadcrumbs, we can keep it alive for whatever time needed. I am incredibly sad about the devs having to be laid off. It's a shame they have to go through this. Let's keep our hopes up for ME and the next potential DA!
Thx for the video, Jack!
100% this!
I am not sad about the writers and devs.
They got their comeuppance.
It's been a really beautiful journey. Dragon Age Origins and 2 were much needed escapism for me as a teen and I quickly grew to deeply love the franchise. I hope I see it again one day, but if not I'm just happy it was there for me and I can revisit my favorites any time I want. Cheers for the content, Jackdaw.
In war victory, in peace vigilance, in death sacrifice 💔
I will never lose hope for a future.
I love the DA franchise, I've been playing since Origins came out and I've enjoyed every installment (yep, even DATV). Even though it may be sad, all good things must eventually come to an end. I look forward to your channel's new direction, Jackdaw! I hope the Fable reboot is amazing!
There are much more short lived IPs that still have active fandoms, so while there may not be any more games, there will still be fans of the franchise around. But I salute your willingness to adapt and expand as a content creator instead of trying to ride a dead horse in infinity.
As I commented on someone else's video, it's a strong irony that if EA hadn't stuck their greedy fingers into the early development of the game and forced "live service" into it (a concept which later was scrapped anyway) instead of just letting BioWare do their thing, the game would have been out years ago and probably been the success everyone wanted it to be.
Thanks for always keeping the excitement alive during the absolute drought that was DA:TV’s development cycle. Even before release, the turbulence at the studio always gave me the feeling this would be the last DA game, but the secret ending had inspired hope that it wasn’t over. The team made a pretty good game and it was impressively polished and visually beautiful, but the overall writing and depth of our companions was shallow and mediocre by BioWares previous standards and in comparison to past Dragon Age titles. I REALLY hope they cook with the next Mass Effect and I hope they focus on just creating a great story.
Honestly, they deserve it. Game was a shell of what is used to be, Dragon Age ended up as a franchise for them to milk.
It would have been smarter to keep Dragon Age as a trilogy like Mass Effect, then take a break and maybe come back
with a new run of games under an entirely new name.
Thank you for all your hard work, jackdaw. You kept our hope up for 10 years, and whatever the shift means for the future, we are here with you.
I will keep a glimpse of hope always. Dragon age has always been my main game and a source of inspiration. No one can take the love away from us, no matter what is ahead of us.
Some of the fault rests on the extremist community of Dragon Age,. Whenever someone say any criticism of the game they were being banned, ridiculed, targeted or accused of something like hater, bigot, or whatnot for at least 10 years.
I mean just look at how criticism worked during the dev cycle for DAV. Basically if you said that you had a problem with DEI being in the game that you were a grifter, toxic, etc. That you were engaged in "ragebait". Failure to understand the critique as legimate lol because apparently that's not a valid opinion. DEI hires aren't bad for no reason, they are bad because they don't produce the best game and because they often do not have the same kind of love for game dev that these other devs do. In the end, looks like the "grifters" were right after all
@ghtyz9105 yeah. It's not just DEI and Bioware. Passionate big big divisions have started to develop everywhere since 2014. I would say Jackdaw was fairly objective in the beginning. But eventually, i think he became out of touch with his messaging, too.
Definitely, I totally agree with this.
Your comment is full of truth my friend. This is one of the consequences of toxic positivity.
@@ghtyz9105. Exactly, if you don't hire people by merit, and instead hire people with no talent only because of "diversity" then you cannot expect to get a good product .
@@ghtyz9105 Imagine not liking a video game and vaguely blaming ''minorities'' for it because you think not being a white man makes people who work there inferior and less competent. Why are you surprised you're getting called an asshole when that's what you deserve?
I think we kind of all knew it was coming after Veilguard didn't do well commercially, but it still hurts. I guess it's some small comfort that at least we got an ending, even if it wasn't the ending we wanted.
I always thought that DA was in trouble without David Gaider at the narrative helm, and once Mike Laidlaw and Arryn Flynn left, taking their DA knowledge with them, it really felt like the writing was on the wall.
Given EA's track record, the chances of another DA game look slim at best as they rarely reassign IP to new studios or bring franchises they deem "dead" back again. The best hope we have for more DA is probably a remaster/remake of Origins in the future to test if there is still interest in the market, but even that is a long shot.
What's insane to me is that Mass Effect 4/5 had an official trailer announcement in 2020. That's almost 5 years ago, and the game is still in early stages of development? Why the hell did you even announce it back then?
As for Dragon Age I am not sad to see it go. I love Origins and DA2. Inquisition is something that I had a decent amount of fun once but I will never replay that game again in my life because it's like a single player MMO. Veilguard was a turd. At this point I'd rather they did a Legendary Edition of sorts for at least Origins and then BioWare can shut down for all I care.
After watching Mark Darrah's video I think it less has to do with this being the end of dragon age and more of a shifting of focus. While I am concerned, I think this isn't the end. I have more opinions in regards to how people have reacted (I.E so called "fans" cheering the end of this studio, not thinking about the very people who made these beloved games now being out of a job, but that's another story for later). But let's hope ME might be successful
There are now 0 dragon age writers (origins, 2, or others) left at BioWare. It is dead. If BioWare gets to release ME5 it won't come until 2029+. Who knows who will even be left on the mass effect side by then
@Potatoespotate Well what can we do? I acknowledge that Dragon Age as we know it has changed, but if ME5 is Bioware's last opportunity, then all I can do is hope
@Potatoespotate I just feel exhausted. I enjoyed Veilguard and loved every moment even when I wanted more. I don't know what I'm getting at here. I just want Bioware to still be around
@@Potatoespotate Not the first time people who left or were laid off return though at Bioware. That said, there's nothing wrong with new writers taking on Dragon Age either which I think is where people are being a bit unfair, still it sucks how they treated their veteran ones either way.
This is similar to what happened with me3 when it first came out, the fans love the franchise and dev but have been left very disappointed recently with DAV especially
Dragon age will return.
But not this way please, and i mean veilguard 2 lol.
0:36 By what metric have you decided that Bioware employees have been "unjustly laid off?" I don't see any evidence for this in your video and fear your relationships with some of these developers may blind you to what is a completely justified purging of many of the people who destroyed the Dragon Age IP.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard was an unmitigated disaster: a complete sales miss (they expended 3 million SALES and got 1.5 million "engagements" which include Gamepass, refunded games, and free Veilguard copies bundled with other promotions. The game did so poorly that this will be the first Dragon Age game that didn't get DLC. It went on sale fairly shortly after it was released, including two price drops on Steam while the much older Baldur's Gate 3 is still full price.
Fans like myself who loved the franchise, who bought all the games and their DLC, took one look and noped out even as we held onto hope we were wrong... only to be told again and again we were totally right. This was not a Dragon Age game but instead defecated on its legacy when the developers decided to the realms from the first three games because they were too lazy to carry on the decisions. My Warden didn't save Fereldan so it could be destroyed off camera in VG. My Hawke didn't fight for Kirkwall so its people could be chased out by Darkspawn in VG. My Inquisitor didn't scour half of Thedas to save it only to let it fall in Veilguard.
4:58 You seem to believe that firing/letting go the Veilguard developers killed Dragon Age. No, those developers killed Dragon Age. That includes those who were around since the beginning: if they allowed or even helped to create this abomination, what good were they? Either cowards who didn't speak up or they were only capable of executing good work those who left. If their legacy meant so little to them that they didn't fight for them, the fans are better off without them.
Dragon Age is dead. We mourn, we reminisce, and we MOVE ON just as you are going. I wish you luck.
For the first time in my gaming life, it felt like I wasted 120 hrs playing this game. Such an enormous shame. RIP Dragon Age.
yup, I shifted to Kingdom Come Deliverance, and oh my, what a difference, I'd describe it as not the best game ever but one of the best experiences I had in a videogame, for a very long while. RIP Dragon Age sad
Yeah. As much as I love Dragon Age, there wasn't a single moment during my 117 hours where I felt "lost" in the story. From the poor writing to the shift in visuals and unconvincing voice acting... I could just tell this wasn't a true passion project. Origins really was the peak. *sigh*
It’s honestly brutal what’s happened with the devs, breaks my heart man. Veilguard wasn’t everything I hoped for but it was still an escape which I enjoyed playing while I played it. I would adore to see you cover other games such as Fable and Avowed. I know you’re a fan of the Witcher so seeing you make content regarding the Witcher 4 or other new Witcher projects could be fun. You’ve got so much potential, Jack, don’t forget you’re limitless!
And, of course, it’ll be fun to see the build-up to the next Mass Effect. Speaking of, I remember years and years ago when I was just a teenager, watching your videos any chance I got on my dad’s tablet during the build-up for Mass Effect: Andromeda (or Mass Effect 4 as we were calling it then) and it has been an absolute privilege to see your channel and community grow. You’ve also improved massively in your editing and voice-overs, it’s difficult not to feel proud of you. I can’t wait to see more content from you, to see your channel continue to grow to see you continue to grow. I’ve spent the better part of the last watching you cover Dragon Age and Mass Effect across multiple RUclips accounts lol. You’ve helped me through so many difficult times, I can’t even begin to tell you just how much you and your content mean to me. You’ve been fantastic, absolutely fantastic, and I know you’ll continue to be. So don’t fret too much over the idea of moving onto other games, people don’t just come here for Dragon Age we come here for your specific style of content, the energy you bring to nerding out over the things we all love.
Oh man...
as much as I love Mass Effect, Dragon Age has always been my absolute favourite video game of all times. All of them! The Veilguard felt a little weaker than the previous ones, but I still enjoyed it a lot and will be playing it over and over again for a while! I'm not usually optimistic, but I just won't accept that this will most likely be the last game of the series. I don't care if it takes them years and a new team, I don't even care if the game is smaller and less epic than the first four, but I really really hope there will still be at least one more in the future, at some point.
Dragon Age was both my introduction to actual video games (beyond simulation games like the sims or minecraft) and to fantasy rpgs, which soon led me to DnD which is a big part of my life now. So much entertainment, content, fanart and lore discussions have come from this series that I really can't believe it's just supposed to be over.
Especially with the insane amount of reveals and new discoveries we get in the Veilguard, I was really hoping to see a game where all of that is worked through by people. How does the world develop after the latest events? What does the general public feel about all this? What will become of the Warden, Hawke, the Inquisitor and Rook? I wish we could just get a game that gives us closure for all the characters. I want to see them all reach their happy endings, no matter how boring the game.
But alas, there's nothing we can do because EA once again messed up. Hoping that the future may still bring positive surprised and that at least Mass Effect gets all the attention it deserves!
And thanks for all the good content over the years, from game discussions to news drops to patiently waiting together for ten years.
Dragon Age and this wonderful fandom will remain vigilant.
I'am so sad... 😢
Honestly? DA is one of the most toxic fandoms I've been a part of. Some people are so obsessed with their interpretation of certain characters and proving that it's canon with anyone else being wrong in theirs, it's bizarre.
I wouldn't worry brother, we still love you, and i know i will always watch your videos. Thank you for keeping my dreams alive about Dragon age. Thank you so much for your time and the amount of Effort you put in. You are amazing Jackdaw.
Dragon Age "died" because Varric died - so no more Main Characters that he could find, since the Hero of Ferelden is gone forever.
Considering what they've done in bringing Mass Effect back, my suspicions is they'll do the same for Dragon Age if ME5 is any good. EA on the other hand has thoroughly butchered BioWare like every studio before them. Jackdaw I'd go to Obsidian if I were you, they've been living in BioWare's shadow long enough and they are actually doing quite well. Hell they are now the studio BioWare once was literally.
Damn.. I knew Veilguard was bad, but I didn't think it was kill the entire franchise bad. Smh, how did they make a worse game than Andromeda. I'm so sad.
Talking bullshit
I'd say it was about on par, with moments that rose above in Veilguard. I honestly think a lot of it was studio interference. It's an easy way to make excuses sometimes, but a development like DAV is impossible to have without issues there.
Veilguard was even a Dragon Age game except for the name.
As a long-time Dragon Age fan, this is sad to see, but BioWare deserved it with their actions. Dragon Age The Veilguard is not a video game, but a tool to push leftist propaganda onto everyone, of course it failed. Patrick Weekes was a normal guy just a few years ago, but then one day, he realized he is a they/them, clearly pushed by his surroundings and the leftist culture around him. I feel sorry for him and for Corinne Busche. With the political change in the US, this is not a surprise. Hopefully, some other studio will take over Dragon Age and make a good RPG, not a game where the most important aspect is being afraid to insult someone.
"Leftist propaganda"? Oh jeese...
@SabiJD I mean it was
Yep, it was a fantasy game but in my eyes not a dragon age game. I was suprised to hear people in the community defending it tbh. Honestly now i just feel like i was gaslit
@@ghtyz9105 "Propaganda" is a disingenuous term mostly used by social conservatives (bigots, generally) to try to discredit anything and everything they're either too scared of or just manically opposed to. This does not make something "propaganda"...
Such people seem incapable of comprehending that there are others in the world with different world views, who actually do care about such matters. It is a fundamental failure of empathy (look at the chaotically hateful far-right regime in the States at the moment. these people see empathy and mercy as weaknesses, almost as sins). Art is about self-expression, correct? Then what was in DAV is as subjectively acceptable as anything else in art, in any medium.
Did DAV execute on its ideas with characters like Taash well? No... but that doesn't make it frikkin' propaganda. The key failure was tone, and blurred with that is the quality of some of the writing.
I think DAV is arguably the best developed and most cohesive game to actually play in the series. Superbly thought out combat design, fantastic loot flow, and the synergies between skills/items/passives was excellent.
But yes, it sucked as a Dragon Age... because of how disinterested it was in the world it exists in, and its gutless sanitisation of the moral and social complexities established by the trilogy.
Very good game to play, bad DA. So it's both an excellent and bad game at once. I'd be fine if it was just a one-off in the series - a tonal anomaly. I think it might still be, but we have perhaps a decade to find out, sadly.
The reality is, even if DAV hit it out of the park and into a new postcode, this would have happened. Ten years development (off and on), restarts, redesigns, revisions, tens of millions invested… it never stood a chance. I’m pretty certain that like Andromeda, we’re going to find out this game was desperately pulled together in record time in the last months before release. I’m not as hysterical as some about the quality of the game, it’s ok. It’s fun. It works. They landed the ending with Solas. There’s enough lore in the codex to keep the world alive. But this doesn’t make up for the obvious things it lacks - particularly the nuanced character relationships, well-paced storytelling and the music (the forgettable soundtrack is a tragic disappointment, DAI’s main theme was a banger!). The switch from long-lived experienced teams to the ‘agile’ way of working is happening in every industry now, not just gaming. It’s about efficiency and maximising value. Story-focussed franchises like DA and Mass Effect will suffer whilst your run-of-the-mill cookie cutter annual releases will thrive.
Thank you, @Jack!
Whatever disagreements I've had with your choices, I know you always mean well and that you are a peacemaker. You are also pretty professional even while you have fun. You 'hung in there' when many quit. Some of my best experiences of Dragon Age Fandom were made here.
I hope you do well in all your ways! 🎉
My prediction. ME5 gets released. BioWare gets dissolved as a studio. The end. Veilguard was a love letter to us from the devs, they knew at the time and we didn't and now that I look on it with new eyes and with that knowledge, the game is far more special to me.
Thank you, Jack. 🫂
Well. That's it then, i guess. I really hoped that after the teaser post credits scene, they'd be planning DA5, at least at some point. I was really excited to see where the series could take us next, i spent tens of hours taking screenshots and writing notes and data mining textures. But oh well. Corporate grees, etc etc.
I'm endlessly sad for the devs. They put their all into VG and it really shows. I enioyed the game a lot (even though i really didn't like the action combat), and I'm glad most plot threads got some kind of wrap-up. (Except the Well, which i will forever be salty over lol)
Trick Weekes has given me one of the greatest romances of all time with Solavellan, and i will forever be grateful and in awe for that.
Don't let the haters win, though. DA stayed DA until the end. Whether they want to see it or not.
What haters? It's precisely this toxic positivity, that helped pulverize Dragon Age.
No, Veilguard wasn't Dragon Age, the fandom has spoken. Whether you want to see it or not.
Deserved.
This is really sad news to be sure. I saw the tweets on Bluesky when they happened as well as from moots. I’m not surprised. I saw this coming for awhile now. However, I think it’s smart to add more content to your channel and I’m here for it. Especially Fable. I’ve played all the games when they released and they were a blast. Not sure what this new one will bring but I plan to play it anyway and I look forward to you take on the new game 😊
Why do you think the game failed?
No rush but give Eternal Strands a shot. It's lead by Laidlaw the former Dragon Age creative director although it is not a Dragon Age game.
They have lost all credibility along with their brightest lights. I don't expect anything else from them I will be willing to play.
Lost elf hits differently now 😢 but I will still be watching your content regardless. I love fantasy rpgs so you’ll still be appealing to my interests. Very heartbreaking day for dragon age and BioWare fans, but I suppose it was a long time coming, unfortunately.
I'm not mad or worried. Letting the Dragon Age team leaders go was probably a release from torture and a relief for them. This also allows the Mass Effect leadership to pick and choose talented Sci-Fi nerds they want to work with as devs. People who know how to get the most from the UE5 engine.
Whatever videos you make in the future, I’ll still be following your Contant, because I like your channel and I like the way you explain lore and theories
Dragonage origins was my first RPG experience on the Xbox 360. I was a wee little 19 years discovering thedas! it was the best time of my life, and with Vielguard I got so emotional at the ending, because I knew it would be the last hoorah. It was EPIC! I wish only the best to those amazing developers!! Thank you for such a wonderful tale. I will be following you Jackdaw, whatever you will do in the future will be clownish and awesome!
Thank you as well for your tinfoiled adventures!! (I a bit emotional, oh my) thank you!
Even though Dragon Age is one of my favorite series of all time, I honestly think it's probably for the best that it's put on the backburner for now. It'll be a long time before people forget the issues Veilguard had, and they'll need to knock the next Mass Effect out of the park to build any sort of trust back for most people to even consider buying the next Dragon Age game.
Honestly, as sad as it is, this to me spells that BioWare most likely won’t be around much longer. As for mass effect 5, I wouldn’t be surprised if it never came out. 4 years in pre-production is a long time.
Corporate greed crush creativity and strangle innovation.🤦
How's it corporate greed? Can you explain that?
Always remain a Keeper of the lore!
The biggest letdown of Veilguard is not the lack of player choice or world states or controllable party members or more skill trees or the option to be an asshole - a good story could still be told without those things.
The problem is that the Dragon Age world is nuanced, there are no easy answers, and there are some ancient mysteries that cannot by definition be explained. The elves are a stand in for any marginalized group who has had their own history taken from them and erased, and you the player are left to piece together what might be the truth somewhere between the variety of cultural, religious and philosophical interpretations. It's a compelling story becusse it refuses to give you easy, simple answers, and makes you think about the way this world interacts with itself, the ripples of imperialism, racism, religious theocracy, and the struggle to survive in a bizarre and cold world that reflects our own.
[Spoilers ahead]
Veilguard gives up the payoff to a decade of mysteries, and the payoff is... Solas did it. He did all of it. Solas is responsible for everything, everywhere. He's more or less the actual Maker. Oh sure, he was just a normal man once, but every aspect of this world is a direct result of Solas. Solas created the Golden City, Solas blackened it, Solas unleashed the blight, Solas defeated the titans, Solas severed dwarves from the fade, Solas imprisoned the ancient gods, Solas created the Veil, Solas knew and collaborated with Mythal who was preparing for his eventual rise to power, Solas manipulated the Inquisition toward its goals, Solas was responsible for the fall of Elvhenan, Solas created the Red Lyrium Idol, Solas' actions created the archdemons and the first blights, Solas was responsible for the first elves coming into corporeal bodies, Solas led the war against the titans and won it, Solas Solas Solas Solas. It's all fucking Solas. He has a hand in every part of Thedas' history and essentially created the world in which this rich, vibrant, messy nuanced history takes place, and in the end all that has to happen is for Solas to be really emotionally conflicted about the repercussion of his actions, betray his own principals and his allies repeatedly, lie to everyone all the time, and then finally get a heroic death where he sacrifices himself to preserve the world, thus eliminating any need for him to make amends to the world that spent a millenia suffering because of his actions. Solas probably created Andraste, or maybe he was the voice that spoke to her which she interpreted as the Makers voice. Solas was probably the voice who spoke to Leliana in Origins, because for some reason this one elven mage is the only important person in the entire history of Thedas. It's ludicrous. I *LIKE* Solas as a character, especially as he's portrayed in Inquisition - you get the sense that this guy was involved in a lot of heavy, world changing stuff, but was not the sole author of it all, just a very old man with a lot of regret who is trying to fix the mistakes of his past. But the big payoff to virtually every single unsolved element of this world is essentially that Solas is responsible for most everything that's ever happened.
It's bad storytelling to let this one guy be the central focal point of an entire world history's worth of mysteries. No one man is THIS important, and to make Solas the ultimate-super-mage-hero-villain is misunderstanding what makes Dragon Age a good world: the real world does not have simple answers. We don't ever get to know for SURE what actually happened in our own history. We don't know exactly what happened to Joan of Arc, or Genghis Khan, or Jesus Christ, or Muhammad, or Cao Cao, or Oda Nobunaga. We exist in a complicated and messy reality where we subsist only on the barest scraps of what we can recall, much like the Dalish, and we keep living anyway because that's what being human is. Solas' direct involvement with every major event in history is an insult because it implies any one person can be that important, that powerful, and that impactful. Solas, as depicted in Inquisition, as just one guy with a fucked up past flailing to fix his own mistakes by making more, that's a character I can appreciate, whether I like him or not. But Solas is the central fulcrum upon which all of Thedas turns? It's a complete non-answer to a decades worth of good, unanswerable philosophical questions.
As someone who's never played the original fable games, I'd love to hear stuff on it. On a side note I've been here for so long your video is both realistic, somber but also factual. Our journey in thedas may be over for now, but.. Perhaps it is time we once more look to the stars.
i never in my life thought there would be a day where i never want to see another dragon age game. i have spent 1000 hours plus in the series. i habe played dragon age origins 10 + times from start to finish, i have played inquisition 2-3 times from start to finish. If someone reads this, Understand that i like dragon age aswell, but not veilguard. to me veilguard was one step forward and 10 steps back.
Don’t misunderstand me. i love Origins and Inquisition. i think the trespasser dlc is one of the studios best work ever.
to me. veilguard removed everything i liked about dragon age. the simplified the things i liked about the previous game and somehow turned the RPG into a therapy session.
i got one thing or two positive about the game, the visuals are alright considering the performance is excellent. the lightning system is great...but it highlights the lack of texture.
My biggest issue however is that this was Solas final chapter…to me not playing the inquisitor makes no sense. after inquisition, i only wanted to play as the inquisitor in the sequel and i feel like Rook is out of place.
What happened to all the high ratings DA:V got
I didn't expect that... I'm first hearing this news from you...and I dont know how to feel, because before a week ago we were worried about the rumours that the whole Bio Ware will be shut down. Now idk which is worse - to know that your fave studio has been shut down completely, or that it is alive,but no longer making anything related to your fave franchise 😢 I am in mourning for what BW once was and what DA represented - at least for me bc it turns out they had different things to say in each new installation... thank you for the news and for continuing to create !
Jack can you tell me where can i see your first whole playtrough of DA TV?
Honestly after what they have done with Dragon Age, I think this is good. I don't want the key figures involved with The Veilguard anywhere close to the next Mass Effect. I am glad the main team that has been working on Mass Effect 5 is still there, and that they get to pick their own team and direction. Sure it is sad for the people that are losing their job but come on. The Veilguard was an absolute travesty of writing and direction. I like Dragon Age as a franchise, but I love Mass Effect with whole my heart so to know that the key figures that ruined DA are gone is good news to me.
ME is so shallow and surface level compared to DA that it genuinely baffles me that there are people who prefer ME but to each their own
Why would you post this before I go to sleep? Why you bringing me sad times for bedtime J-Dawg 😭💔
I'm holding out hope for an Origins Remake, might reawaken some of that old spark within the team too 🥹
I just came for the thumbnail because Solas is pretty. It’s a shame that we won’t see him in future cut scenes ever again. It makes me sad.
jack my friend, while dragon age may be sadly drifting away, i for one will be staying here!! I love fable!! you should do some videos on that!
Thank you Jack. This is so sad your videos always uplift me even when they are sad like this. Whatever you decide to do I will always support you and I hope to see you explore new lore and continue to bring light to our community.
The dragon age may have come to an end, but perhaps someday in the hands of a new team, the new age may see the light of dawn.
Very sad, feels like the end of an era. I grew up with Dragon Age, and it feels awful to see it end like this. But the memories will always be there, and the games that we have are as well. I'll always treasure it.
Your coverage of the series has always been so much fun to follow. I'll definitely stick around for whatever you do next. I'm definitely keen to see some stuff on Avowed- the pillars of eternity universe it's set in is so rich in lore and themes, so there's some great potential content there 😊
Just like Varric’s body was never shown, Dragon Age will return one day…
Incompetence and personal agenda killed the saga.
Pretty much
Sad but TRUE
As much as it pains me to accept this fact, I can't deny that I agree, Dragon Age is probably done at this point. I had already kind of come to this conclusion even before the post seeing as how the constant vocal outcry against it seriously hurt it's potential, and I always felt that if Veilguard received the same pushback that Andromeda did, it would suffer the same fate. Lo and behold, it did. I'm not even holding my breath for Mass Effect 5 at this point. I will definitely play it, but I have no expectations going into it anymore. The Bioware of old is gone (even if not fully in terms of OG people, the heart and soul is gone), and there's no bringing that back. RIP Dragon Age; it'll always have a special place in my heart.
So EA has killed another studio. And yes, I absolutely blame EA. I already mourned the franchise, because I knew sometime around the time that the second reboot was cancelled that it was a lost cause. I don't say this as a "hater", but as someone who has loved this game franchise deeply. I have a map of Thedas on my computer desktop, and Nathaniel Howe on the lockscreen of my phone. But all good things must come to an end, and I saw that Thedas was dying years ago and have been mourning it. So while this is still sad news, it's like when someone who was very sick for a very long time dies and you're sorry to hear it, but at the same time, you knew it was coming. Rest in Peace, Thedas.
Well, now DA belongs to the fandom, its ours now. But honestly, this would be an awesome opportunity for Bioware to do what CDPR did with REDkit. Unfortunately, EA probably would not allow for that. -sigh-
I think Gaiders exit was the death knoll
That is sad that they are laying off people. But focusing one game at a time is a good idea. One of the things i criticize about DA - the graphic image in each game are not consistent not like Mass Effect. Do not like the looks of dark spawns look different in each game. Personally DA Veilguard should have been the end of game. DA O and DA I the graphics looks great. And the story, DA O and DA I stories are amazing, and your choices makes a difference. Disappointed some of your choices at DA I did not have any effect in Veilguard. If they green light a DA 5, it should be the last, even if it successful, it should be the last. End high than continue low.
it is sad but i'm hopeful for the future. either someone will buy DA or we get games that are reminiscent of it and are maybe even better. tbh it should've been considered the end, because even if we gtt another DA, it would've been 1000% different. it won't be in fereldan or orlais or north thedas. it will be in qantar (i think i misspelled it) and the new land across the sea. the DA you and i loved is finished. no more blights, no more elven gods, no more magisters. we saved Thedas and that's about it. the only thing that might be able to save DA is to go back to the submarine idea so that we keep visiting the places we were once part of. what we can do is to look out for beloved devs and projects they're working on.
I wonder how many in the audience were clapping seals shilling for this game just weeks ago. Mindless consumerism is a major part of the problem, and dogmatic ideology is the antithesis of creative freedom. The BioWare brand is exhausted, and the future of Dragon Age hinges on whether it can truly return to form with the next Mass Effect.
Really conflicted thoughts on this. Never good to hear people jobs have gone however for me I loved dragon age since I was a kid. That spark or heart just wasn’t there in veilg guard so what have we really lost ? The soul of dragon age was already gone.
Imagine Dragons Age IP sold to Larian. Not gonna happen, but just imagine :D
The kindest thing they could do is sell the IP to a more capable company. I would purchase a remaster of DAO/DA2. but im personally not at all interested in any new games of any kind made by this company. This was also my favorite game franchise of all time, but now we have Larian, who successfully captured the magic of Bioware and made it even BETTER. At this point, Im not even sad to let this one go. EA has sucked so much life out of Bioware its literally sitting on life support. Pulling the plug altogether would feel like mercy.
Hopefully this is a wake up call for BioWare and EA
MEL was a success
They should be heavily inspired by their early games, not trying to please a specific community
although unprecedented times such as this is very worrying for most of us. please refrain from fearmongering, because so many franchises have bounced back from so much worse.
silent hill, a franchise that had lost its way for several decades made a glorious comeback this last october with the silent hill 2 remake.
tomb raider survived and prospered after a disastrous release in 2003 that led to the series ip being taken away from it’s original developers, and yet since then tomb raider released several games that were commercially and financially successful, allowing the series to continue on.
game franchises long since passed have received incredible reboots and remakes that breathed new life into them, cultivating renaissances that have allowed these franchises to be at there most successful.
it’s never over.
Fear mongering such as?
Just admit it already, Dragon age Veilguard was a horrible game.
The problem isn't the franchise....it is the need of the devs to empower their life choices at the expense of all else. Hopefully the gaming industry will learn something from this.
I think we all know what you mean
Unfortunately I doubt they will learn anything. This isn’t the first time this has happened and they keep making the same bad decisions despite the backlash.
@@ReformingRegentthat's what i don't understand, why does this keep happening? Aren't these evil corporations that people are talking about in the comments supposed to make profit? They reached like 50% of sales expectations lol
The best thing they could do is is remake Dragon Age origins and then potentially do an earlier story
Something pre origins
Like 100 years before
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a game you should cover then
"We hereby conduct this post mortem" There's a TS song for every occasion :D
So are people going to apologize to the "grifters" now?
i'm sad about bioware, but also quite excited for Avowed and Fable. No one to blame but EA.
Ive spent the past decade waiting for and theorising the next dragon age. Im absolutley gutted that its just done. Because there is now nobody left.
Sadly, even in it's highest point, DA was seen as a risk to EA rather than an opportunity. To think that a franchise that was heralded as the spiritual succesor to Baldur's Gate would be terminated right when Baldur's Gate 3 is such a huge success is crazy.
Eager to your new ventures on new fantasy universes. Recently finished the first of the "Divinity" games from Larian and will also try the Pillars of Eternity games so I'm ready to dive into tinfoil madness aboutt those universes. Divinity jumps so much back an forth in its timeline that it is quite hard to predict new games. The next one could be another prequel for all we know.
It’s been a wild ride for all of us. But happy to share it with you, Jackdaw. Never thought it would end this way… So many stories and characters unresolved.
… just a year ago we were all in a similar state of mind. And then there was the announcement of Veilguard … and now … we’re even downer in the dumps than before. 😭 I guess it’s just time to be cautiously optimistic again - at least for me. Mass Effect, will arguably be the last chance.
I'm sad to see dragon age in this state, but it was sadly self-inflicted. However was in charge of DAV should be fired not the howl crew. I hope Mass Effect 5 is better.
After seeing the DA4 art book and seeing the REAL game that was intended for release...I'm ok with this. I used to want to work for bioware as a writer, but after BG3 and everyone saying that's the exception rather than the rule I've decided I'd rather work for someone like Larian over money hungry Bioware and EA. Bioware is not the company it was when it started in a basement.
It must be a very uncertain time for you, Jackdaw, and I sympathize with that. I enjoy your videos, and I am certain that you will continue to do a great job covering whatever catches your interest. Thank you for your Dragon Age videos (past, present and future). It's a Franchise I have enjoyed as well.
People will be very cautious with the next Mass Effect, maybe even wait until the first play throughs are out. For me, I don’t need ME5 because Shepards story is done. Unless they fix Andromeda with it.
That said, it’s quite sad to see DA end like this. I would rather read a book that brings the story full circle than have a botched-up continuation in, like, 15 years or something.