The Truth About Avowed And The Games Industry

My Discord:
/ discord
Avowed is a game that I was once looking forward to but even before more recent events the marketing was rather poor...then the price came out and then the Art Director decided to sabotage his own game...as it stands now the game is slated to not sell well at all and Obsidian has directly contributed to this by their support of their Art Director and silence. Microsoft has also not helped the situation but Avowed is part of a greater shift in the games industrry...a great corrrection is taking place and this just the beginning....

[@stemike7956]

This 100% an AI channel. It looked at doomer gaming sites and generated the most shit character, that sounds half like sampled fextralife. But the cadence is off, not how humans talk.

[@spellandshield]

I'll take that as a compliment, been working on my A.I. voice, appreciate the kind words! Can't wait for my next upgrade!

[@JackSapeon-y9d]

Sorry Bro, Avowed is a day one buy. Your fake woke go broke BS will not work. To quote Anthony Mackie. CTFO and play the game

[@TheBubbRubb]

Wtf dude his voice and the way he speaks are dead give aways it ain't AI. Just a fan that cares about the gaming industry and wants to share his opinion. He's right about the political side of the game industry it doesn't belong in games at all. It breaks the immersion of games from people who want to escape. It also makes no sense from a business sales standpoint. Every single time a company involves itself in politics it's a loss either it's from sales or reputation.

[@roidnerd2501]

so he does not have a unique voice is what you are saying, imagine being compared to AI generated content and not being AI thats pretty rough ngl but you are wrong in sayings its a AI channel but it does 100 percent come across as if it was created by AI

[@isaacbiddle4681]

I agree. L channel

[@kowaikokoro]

shoutout to matt hansen for saving me from spending 70 bucks on avowed

[@gauthijm]

I agree !

[@celan4288]

I wish there had been a Matt Hansen to save me from buying Starfield.

[@RobertFromEarth]

Handsome Hansen our man, lol I don't care anymore if the game is good or not. Obsidian did nothing about Hansen so I won't give any money to this company that pay the salary of Hansen.

[@Ixar900]

@@celan4288he can't Tod is just on another level his charm stat is full

[@MisterNightfish]

Yea, I was out when he crashed out. Not the type of behavior I want to support

[@dgem1463]

Don't buy games from people who hate you.

[@Dracula2080]

This is the correct take.

[@MaxHardcore-p7t]

Stop acting like a child. Just a game.

[@gauthijm]

correct

[@daboi2126]

Fuck your politics, I'd buy a game from devs who hate me if the game was fun. Stop buying games that aren't fun.

[@OkaySoShit]

@@MaxHardcore-p7t why males are so whiny in america? is this masculinity crisis...

[@lanceuppercut7418]

Trouble is Matt does represent the company and their beliefs. I've seen the leaked messages. They hate us. So I will never give them a penny.

[@sanderkiki]

This, after leaked discord and stuff...Obsidian can rot for all i care.

[@gauthijm]

correct

[@OrcBro]

Exactly

[@CardCrusher29]

Holy cow. So many of Obsidian is doubling into the pronoun thing.

[@ResandOuies]

Not seen any response from the company refuting Matt either. If his tirade had target another demographic he would probably be outed fairly quickly

[@Wrzerq]

Not enough marketing? I think Matt Hansen did quite a lot to put this game in the spotlight.

[@TrevorSullivan]

Yeah Matt did a great job "marketing." 😂

[@ravenroc1784]

Its called negative marketing. How to sink the game sales fast!

[@Cheddar_96]

Lol no one actually gives a god damn about what he said because most gamers play games to have fun. You are the minority.

[@Syli-gw2uq]

​@@Cheddar_96 If the game is good then it's good, but people like Matt have a habit of ruining big budget games with their extremist views.

[@Cheddar_96]

@@Syli-gw2uqyeah the average gamer doesn’t care about his or anyone’s views. The majority of the gaming community won’t even hear about that stupid sh1t

[@lostzephyr2191]

Such a shame that a cool setting got wasted and ruined by awful devs.

[@seagrey75]

Activists made a game not for me thus I will not buy it.

[@ni9274]

You cannot call anyone that doesn't share your political ideas "activist"

[@Tiku-]

@@ni9274 you seems like an activist based of all of your previous comments 🤷‍♂️ what’s up exactly? You were religiously defending your fellow woke activist like your life is on the line 😂 are you that desperate after seeing almost ALL of your fellow woke activist DEI puke projects fail?

[@chhavigarg16]

Don't care, you Nazi activists should follow your Führer.

[@rclaws3230]

​@@ni9274 They would describe themselves as activists, and have said they despise white people. Why are you being disingenuous?

[@MrSpartan993]

@@ni9274cry harder. We don’t owe you jack shit.

[@BlinkBoyBrad]

Boycotting this. They went mask off and crashed out.

[@Cheddar_96]

Boycot it all you want. People like you are the minority because most gamers don’t actually give Two shits what any game developers opinion on anything is. Gamers play games for self enjoyment and nothing more. 90% of the gaming population will never even hear about this r3tarded crap.

[@freezax4]

My biggest gripe is no marketing really that is your reason 😂

[@swaeshow]

I don't buy games from people who hate me and you shouldn't either.

[@BigHatMatt]

I can't get behind this game. As the issue of Matt Hansen, unfortunately does not stop at him. The company is extremely hateful, and will never get my money. It is such a shame, as the game looks decent.

[@dustysmoke4996]

Yup. Any company that foolishly forces out someone like Chris Avellone, literally the one person most responsible for Obsidian's huge successes of the past, has got to have a freakin' screw loose. DEI forever, eh wot?

[@TheGismono]

I know how you feel, I was playing my way in the first pillars game when the Matt issuse happen, and at that point i lost any reason for giving them money for the 2 game. Obsidian are on a black list for me going forward.

[@ni9274]

Any example of obsidian being hateful ? any example of Matt hansen being hateful ?

[@BigHatMatt]

@ni9274 You mean the man who said there are "Too many crusty white dudes" in the gaming industry, and therefore racial discriminated versus them in hiring for art jobs, and the company whose leaked internal communications praised him for it? Racial discrimination is bad no matter who you would it against.

[@Cheddar_96]

Cry me a fucking river 😂😂

[@bearpatrol1558]

7:46 why would you suspect that is due to budget cuts? If anything, that seems like a more fitting skill progression system for an open world game, and you are just cherry picking anything you can to say this game will be bad cuz you dislike the art director and what he said.

[@KofJ-e5w]

Maybe after this game flops, Matt Hansen will get his wish and be replaced.

[@fredh3644]

Yup. Wish he went back to live in the woods years ago.

[@ScytheNoire]

I think a lot of reviewers will be conflicted, especially the fans of Pillars. I think the gameplay might be praised, but the art style will be hated, and so it will really depend on the story if it flops or not. That's not a good sign given recent story writing.

[@spellandshield]

@@ScytheNoire I still feel conflicted as a Pillars fan about this game Lord Scythe...damn shame.

[@OG_McLovin]

Obsidian is dead, long dead, and people need to accept this fact of life. I'm not excited to hear they might be in talks to work on another Fallout game. The team that made lightning-in-a-bottle New Vegas is not the current Obsidian. Those dreamers are gone.

[@MrSpartan993]

LONG gone.

[@hobosapiensSinceShadowMoses]

​@@MrSpartan993same as Bioware... Too many frauds and activist in the industry. Even bringing new mechanics they can't.

[@silaf1496]

I was so excited about Avowed. As an old pillars player i've waited years and was ready to spend even the absurd price of 90 euro on this... Sadly Matt Hansen made it untouchable for me. If Obsidian is standing behind him i can't purchase and support this. Really sad.

[@ni9274]

What did Matt Hansen do that makes the game untouchable ? How is the personal opinion of the art direction something you would even take into account when buying a game ? And you likely don't even know what he said you watch one of the many videos making up lies about him and misrepresenting his tweet

[@Revolver9]

@@ni9274 Matt Hansen is a cultist of the woke mind virus.

[@silaf1496]

@@ni9274 Don't assume tings about me you can't possibly know. I'm a big fan of Obsidian and i'm informed and not in a superficial way. What Matt Hansen did is easy to find on google but my problem isen't him. The problem is Obsidian not taking distance from discriminatory policies in hiring based on race. For a company that's unacceptable and illegal.

[@silaf1496]

@@ni9274 Don't assume what i know. What Matt Hansen did is easy to research on google and even this channel discussed it at least in part. The problem is not him but Obsidian support of discriminatory policies in hiring based on race. This is illegal and unacceptable.

[@silaf1496]

@@ni9274 Lol i only wish you would know how clowny your assumption is. I've watched all youtube videos about avowed since the launch of the game on steam (yes i know i have a problem). Matt Hansen practiced discriminatory policies in hiring based on race and Obsidian is as today still supporting him.

[@gauthijm]

BTW your Take on what Company should have done, you Nailed it 120% ! Bravo S&S .. I am NOT Buying, Period

[@ni9274]

You will buy it and say it's actually not woke after you see it's a good and successful game, the same way the anti-woke mob did with BG3

[@gauthijm]

I am not buying Game sorry, and I have everything I ever bought from Obsidian. 1- I cannot stand Matt Hansen, he hates me so I dont give money to people who hate me 2- the Look of the Characters are awful 3- The Marketing is awful and it will be a flop , it feels that way.. The Look is very FailGuard, and if I evr buy it, it will be 90% off in 3 + years but probably not I Respect your Channel, and your Opinions, but I give up on Obsidian. Esp after that Ex Executive mentioned how awful the Culture has changed. Regards S&S Jean-Michel

[@ni9274]

evidence of Matt hansen hating you ?

[@PaulusAlone]

@@ni9274- The evidence is everything he ever said about gamers! As you well know!😉

[@dotanuki3371]

@@ni9274 did you miss his glee about pissing off chuds?

[@Cheddar_96]

Oh no he hates you????? You should go cry about it on the internet 😂😂😂😂 I can’t fathom actually giving two fucks what any gave dev thinks about anything. I play games for self enjoyment and nothing more. It must suck to get so butt hurt over something so utterly stupid.

[@PaulusAlone]

@Cheddar_96 - Yet YOU felt so strongly about a mere opinion that YOU also felt obliged to comment upon it…and that’s how the comments system works. People have opinions and share them on the relevant topic. Amazing, eh?😉

[@MoogerTuber]

Shouldn’t the implementation of pronouns be explained somehow by the game’s lore? If the previous games in the Pillars of Eternity universe did not have pronouns, and Avowed now does, there must be a viable explanation within the game world. Same applies to the new Dragon Age, whatever it’s called. You cannot just stick pronouns to fantasy game which is not connected to the real world and call it a day.

[@ozawashere]

Well said. You pretty much nailed how i feel about this. I'm a crpg fan that fell in love with the pillars of eternity series. When i saw the first avowed trailer i showed it to all of my friends saying "these guys made poe this could be the next skyrim" but now a few years later i probably wont even buy the game.

[@richeastjr]

The art direction alone from the first reveal up til now is a huge downgrade.

[@rewmangeorge5957]

I mean. The reveal looked so unfinished that Unity asset flips look just one step better. But it did had the feel of Pillars, and thats what counted.

[@pjsurratt]

I was so excited for this game until that rant. I do not want to pay his salary.

[@ni9274]

what did he say ?

[@nosay123]

@@ni9274 Basically if you're white he hates you and want you to disappear from the industry

[@matimusmaximus]

These basement dwelling maga are just pissed that there was a pronoun option. They are just trained to be bullies then call themselves the victims. Ignore them.

[@InternetSupervillain]

Another well done piece. Thx s&s

[@NeoN-PeoN]

This is very simple. They're not marketing because it's not safe to market a Woke game. They know that marketing it will reveal what it is, and then it will die. Of course, NOT marketing it won't save it in the end.

[@Maximum_AC-k6x]

1st -This could be the most boring thing I've ever listened to. 2nd - The color/tone is going to get darker as the game goes on. The plague spreads they are showing the progression of it. 3rd- Matt Hansen and the other devs are entitled to their freedom of speech...you all need to stop being cry babies.

[@nickyb7612]

People getting upset over pronouns in a video game. Grow up.

[@spellandshield]

If they are that unimportant, why put them in the game in the first place?

[@bronight3290]

@@spellandshield You realize we use tons of pronouns in our day to day lives, you don't care to see trans or non-binary ones bc you disagree with their existence on a personal level. You can cut the bs and be honest for once.

[@TrevorSullivan]

10:05 this is exactly what the company SHOULD have done, but they didn't. 💯💯

[@linkrazr]

It’s always the small no name KZbin accounts rage baiting

[@DeusMachina_EXE]

Look, I'm "part of this crowd" in a sense that you mentioned at the start of the video. But I knew of Avowed before this controversy. Saw those initial trailers, back in the day and I got excited. I wanted the dark adventure, as you mentioned, in PoE. But seeing all this new stuff, I see the same garbage that Concord, DA:V did. And those were both HYPER left. From the UI, to the design it's another one of those games. A political pandering "safe" game. And that right there is the problem. Those people just can not be wrong, and you will like this stuff whether you want to or not. They know better then you. And that is what people are pissed off about. And all that stuff you mentioned at 14:00 is EXACTLY what those people are screaming from rooftops to stop all the political pandering. That's how it started, but the more the left started doubling down on their stuff the other sides had to as well. It became a feedback loop. And it kept getting worse and worse.

[@micasa8421]

As someone who loved Pillars of Eternity 2 Deadfire one of the best Rpg's of all time for me. Avowed does not look like something i'm interested in playing.

[@Nazzychan]

same, i hardcore loved deadfire and poe 1, played it so many times. This just feels very...veilguard for me.

[@ni9274]

a game full of political themes

[@AtreyusNinja]

That make no sense, Is literally in Eora.

[@rclaws3230]

​@@ni9274 But not accusatory, intersectional politics bullcrap. You're in every comment thread being disingenuous. Stop it.

[@AkaraVortex]

Words cannot describe how ugly from graphical perspective this game is. And am I sure it will run like ass too, because good programmers are not in quota list.

[@Influunt19]

From a graphical fidelity standpoint, this will be one of the better-looking games out right now. Also, Obsidian games have launched in an extremely polished state for years now, so programming and optimization aren't issues.

[@Avenus112]

​@@Influunt19yeah I can see that point but the rainbow pastel colour scheme is offputting in some way I can't describe. Like seeing a kid playing with MS Paint or something.

[@CrystallineLore]

@@Influunt19 LOL you clearly didn't play Outer Worlds. I'm not sure it's one of the best looking games and the art direction alone doesn't do it for a lot of people, but tht's just subjective. But Obsidian is literally infamous for releasing buggy messes just like Bethesda. The devs even publicly admitted in Deadfire that they barely playtested Path of the Damned and would do it later, just to slam in how buggy they release stuff. Clearly you're not a fan of them at all, because good as their games are they're definitely buggy messes. And since the visuals are one of the most widely debated aspects of the game, perhaps you need a more nuanced perspective.

[@katalinkoszegine4268]

Another sad, but perhaps necessary and sobering experience. Another lost opportunity... Somewhere, the picture is starting to come together in my mind that the change in the colour palette, the art style and the horizontal gameplay experience were all about continuously recalibrating the target audience. As if they had been really unsure who they wanted to sell this game to - or perhaps they still are. I don't even dare mention the music. Oh, but I do: I MISS Justin Bell. There you have it.

[@LordMuzhy]

I gotta admit the colorfulness and character design don’t really appeal to me. I wish it had a darker more grounded look like pillars

[@katalinkoszegine4268]

@@LordMuzhy 100% with you. This may go up to 200% in two weeks. ;-)

[@spellandshield]

Jól mondta Magyarország mestere!

[@DarthDaddy-cg6ro]

I will never know if it is good. They lost me with how they handled Matt Hansen.

[@Cheddar_96]

Lol cry me a river. People like you are the minority. Because most normal gamers don’t actually give two shits what any developers opinion on anything is and play games for self enjoyment. Have fun being a Whiney baby the rest of your life

[@isaacbiddle4681]

Just checked your channel. You shouldn’t be talking about games considering your KZbin game is trash buddy.

[@Jeff-cn9up]

Random Skyrim modders make companions better in every way than these four. If I played this game, I would reject them all and play alone.

[@That1J1]

Since when did everybody get so triggered by video game language?

[@BagelBBagel]

I clicked on this video thinking maybe it was early review/impressions, but then the conversation moves to pronouns? Who tf cares? It's added customization in an RPG for those that wanna use it. It's such a stupid thing to get annoyed by.

[@CrystallineLore]

@@BagelBBagel A ton of people care, apparently. Even if it doesn't bother me, it seems to be a majority issue in the country where these games are being made in, and America just overwhelmingly voted republican so... the answer is a lot of people disagree with you and I guess they're opinion is as valid as yours so...

[@CrystallineLore]

Probably around when devs started changing it for political reasons instead of because of anything to do with the narrative or setting.

[@nerdjournal]

@@CrystallineLore that isn't really true, though. A ton of people don't care, that's why 0 people have liked your comment. It's just a small section that care, the problem is they yell loud AF. When all they display is a complete lack of media literacy or basic intellect. America literally didn't overwhelmingly vote republican. It was a pretty close margin, and Biden won by a MUCH greater number than Trump. Which doesn't actually mean anything, when the actual poll exit data shows that the votes were more based on economic issues over any Trans issues. I hate this narrative that is being pushed that since Trump won the popular vote by a SIGNIFICANTLY lower rate than Biden did that it is somehow a referendum on cultural issues. When the hot button topic was economics. But where was the ire for the resounding trouncing Biden gave Trump and all you cowards stormed the capitol like a bunch of idiotic babies. Who cares about reality through, right? You have a clear agenda, even though you are trying this quasi-centrist stupidity angle.

[@gatonegro187]

since when are normal people offended when a company defends pdf files

[@runnre]

Mass Effect 2 music in the background giving me nostalgia.

[@spellandshield]

Those were better times...

[@runnre]

@@spellandshield Those were better times and ME2 was at the top in my opinion. I replayed that game so much I could at one point repeat large chunks of the script of the top of my head.

[@Caladir]

@ Mass Effect. Dragon Age. Kotor... Those game really shaped me as kid/teenager. They were amazing. It's so, oh so hard, to let go of things you love.

[@leonov7157]

Matt is 100% the reason I cancelled my pre order.

[@justaquietpeacfuldance]

Where's Matt Hansen at? Is he picking berries with a ladder in the woods yet?

[@machofreak123]

He's busy blowing Tyrone

[@leonkennedy8932]

no, hes just clean bear asses and doing uga uga a random

[@stanislavkimov2779]

If he wanted so much for black dudes to replace the while ones, why didn't he give away position to some talented black dev and went to live in the woods right away? He's a hypocrite. Using his privilege and is virtue signalling at the same time.

[@dasfrundselt]

@@leonkennedy8932 Hardcore Bear ATM!

[@ni9274]

Bro how autistic are you to not understand it was a joke ?

[@MrNocturnalEmission]

If you want a darker fantasy that's rivaling Bethesda check out Tainted Grail The Fall of Avalon, I played the demo and it's promising.

[@surlyunicorn9461]

Yes. I played the demo on Xbox a few weeks ago and it left me wanting more, as a demo should.

[@thedragong]

Have the game and it's good.

[@Nazzychan]

Speaking as someone who loved pillars of eternity, who used to be pretty involved in the fandom about it, i'm not touching a game where the company protects a manchild who just cannot keep it professional, and keep his personal politics to himself. I just dont understand how (mostly) western game companies constantly let their employees make them look incompetent. Every company I've worked in always have some sort of "social media policy" thing, not letting your social media affect the image of your company, etc... but when you're in the game industry you can apparently say dumb things online that ruins the reputation of your game and not get fired for it? ridiculous.

[@Dawid0912]

For them it's not bad influence on company. They believe they have high ground

[@planescaped]

Back in the day you'd get fired in a heartbeat for such unprofessionalism. These days it seems to come with no repercussions. O_o

[@Victor-wi7vr]

Adding gay scenes to KCD2 and a Muslim black character who literally says that Muslims in the Middle Ages treated women better than Christians is not a nothing burger. If you feel that way, then I feel sorry for you.

[@VerminaeSupremacy]

have you seen Dawah pals these days? They're still at it.

[@effive7817]

Wait, a character expressing their own biased in-character opinion... is a big deal?Am i reading this right? Or is it just a big deal when a vampire/monster villian says all humans should die?

[@Ravix0fFourHorn]

@@effive7817 but why does he do it? What the developers want to tell us by including this character and his opinion?

[@effive7817]

@ Maybe to tell us a story? Like every other character that tells us an opinion? Like when a father character thanks you for preventing their daughter from getting into a premarital relationship? Idk, I'd have to see the whole scene to see if it comes off wrong. There is certainly a way to badly write a scene to make it come off as preachy specifically fourth-wall breaking... but without me seeing this all comes off as people getting triggered.

[@Rambletripe1]

I viewed the first trailer less as "dark", more as mature - sort of a gritty "Skyrim for grown-ups", but the shift in art tone from the first trailer to this bright luminous pastiche I haven't been a fan of it. I imagined the Living Lands as lush not luminous pastel with dark canopies and dangerous monsters. I too love the setting, but this is one I *might* pick-up on deep discount in part because of Mr Hansen & Obsidian's behaviour but mainly what little I have seen has me interested. (don't want the politics but if done subtly I can live with it - BG3 is about as far as i can go but even that pushed it for me.) Edit Shit - wrote about BG3 before I got to your part on it. BG3 had plenty of political messaging overt and subtle e.g. refugees are good and worrying about them is bad. Despite the refugees in the first act setting up a criminal ring, stealing a sacred idol, taking homes and food from the residents, and arguably luring and army of goblins to the door to kill them all. Which given it's developed in Europe is a big issue.

[@kittydaddy2023]

Don't tell S&S I'm bringing this up, but BG3 is the ONLY modern game to come out and get praise from both sides. They really walked that line that allowed them to do both. You can find NPCs in the game debating the refugees. My kids like the little kids, and I hate the little kids. They think it's funny the little kids are doing crime. I find them annoying and a blight. You can tell Kagha she's a monster and Wyll supports that, or you can tell her she is just looking out for her own and that's a good thing. Then you find out she's working with the Shadow Druids who are Forgotten Realms' eco terrorist druids that love trees more than people. The game is incredibly complex because Larian was true to the Forgotten Realms source material (for the most part). I picked up the Divinity series on the Steam Winter sale and started playing through that. Larian's storytelling has matured incredibly since their last game Divinity: Original Sin 2. I thought I was going to hate Astarion for being too gay, but he was a very sympathetic character. Even though he was totally degenerate, he made it to the Elder Brain despite me playing the canon murderhobo Dark Urge. There was a deeper "let's work together" urgency in the story. I can take a step back and appreciate that. I've played the game like 10 times. Anyway, I could go on and on about all the morally gray topics in the game that can be seen from different points of view and let the player walk away with a satisfying experience even though they are controversial in todays culture war climate. We'll see how many times I have to edit this post to not get deleted by KZbin for simply writing about these topics. :)

[@editorrbr2107]

Games have politics in them - I would argue politics are integral to an RPG in fact. But games do not have to be political vehicles. And that is the point that everyone misses or ignores.

[@spellandshield]

@@kittydaddy2023 Yeah, BG3 was too well done to fail despite some of the stuff in it.

[@Rambletripe1]

​@ for sure, but for me they also need to fit the setting, characters, etc.. which is where for me many get it wrong.

[@Rambletripe1]

@ pretty much agree with nearly all your points especially Astarion* - great character story (* after a lifetime of hanging out with people who are gay I always found the overly camp ones too much.) I found some of the politicking to be walking a fine line and to be one sided but overall good enough to roll with and it didn't bother me enough to not play it. Something I do not think will be the case with avowed sadly.

[@Tyranthraxus78]

Before any game comes out, I like to Google photos of the dev team and company staff. More often than not, it is a very ideal measurement of the outcome of their games. (Ubisoft)

[@seagrey75]

Wise man.

[@SoulgnasherFriendlyDragon-w9z]

Nose ring, danger haircut.

[@kittydaddy2023]

@@SoulgnasherFriendlyDragon-w9z I can save her

[@cruvensilverwing7948]

Number of women to straight white males pretty much will always tell you.

[@ni9274]

Ubisoft devs are 95% white males, you won't find any video game studio in a white country that isn't 95% white males And please by god himself don't go tell them you felt for one of these pictures taken on international women's day that features only women and not the entire dev team

[@marqod1437]

Pronouns are used when referring to someone by a proper name repeatedly in short order gets awkward and cumbersome. He/him, she/her is not used when talking to someone, it's used when talking about someone to a different person. Insisting on the use of a particular pronoun is not imposing on others how to talk to them, but how to talk about them to others.

[@spellandshield]

LOL. You know that is not what this is about...

[@justaquietpeacefuldance]

Yep, BG3 isn't the gatcha that they think it is. Your ideology is yet to produce anything of substance... Just because Swen Vincke, with the might of a whole talented studio, was able to turn absolute wokness of WotC into something that wasn't an abhorrent activism, doesn't mean you get to claim that as a W. It still would've been a better game without a swap out genitals and other freakery.

[@kittydaddy2023]

yeah, like I need to cusomize my pen15 before I can really get into a DnD game. It is ridiculous.

[@ScytheNoire]

@@kittydaddy2023 Hey, deciding if you have a small, medium, or large penis is very important in a game. I'm trying to remember the first game that had a penis slider. Was it the Conan MMO? I know it didn't exist in games when I was a kid in the 80s and 90s, not even the adult games.

[@rclaws3230]

No, game's woke in all its interpretations. To say it isn't is cope because people don't want to admit that they were taken in by a woke product that was (initially) subtle enough to bypass their intersectional politics radar (it crashed out hard in the third act that only 15% of players bothered playing).

[@domm6812]

​@@rclaws3230 I don't think you can put the drop off in completion down to political messaging (real or imagined). If you look at steam stats just about every large game has a big drop off in completion. People buy games and just don't finish them. They run out of time, get distracted by life or a different game, etc. I'm not necessarily saying you're wrong about BG3 being more subtle at first, but as I said, that play time drop off is common in RPGs & big games.

[@rclaws3230]

@@domm6812 You're right, but that doesn't diminish my point that the hammer of woke dropped hard at the end of the second act and was loudly clanging around the third, which most people didn't play, which means that most of those saying "it's not woke" have an incomplete picture and are now just coping at the success of one of the most woke games of the last ten years. It's up there with Dustborn and Concord for explicit wokery, it's just more subtle and let people pretend it wasn't through superficial decisionmaking.

[@jloren4647]

I think this was a sober take on many things. Where cynical it seemed appropriately informed by past trends. Criticism would be very constructive on goal oriented people but these are brainwashed lenninists.

[@PwnySlaystation01]

I have a theory that the reason you couldn't be anything but super nice in The Veilguard is because they couldn't have you being mean to Taash. And it would be too obvious to make Taash the only one you couldn't be mean to. Maybe you even talked about this idea in a previous video, I can't remember. That would be a great overt example of the politics directly affecting game quality. Sera from Dragon Age Inquisition was that year's version... Much more subdued of course, but she was always talking about "punching down" etc. She was the quintessential class-warrior. But you could tell her to kick rocks any time you talked to her. Kick her right out of the inquisition if you wanted! They'd never let you do something like that with Taash.

[@PrimaItalia]

The game has been scoped down and I think Obsidian and Microsoft are not confident in it. I do not think it will extremely woke despite pronouns. I just do not think it will be a very good game and even worse there is very little interest in the game. I also hope we can return to the era a decade past when there was no real life politics in games. I do not want woke or the opposite to what it is, in games.

[@arobotarmy9878]

Woke is zero sum. Woke is not just about inclusion but also tearing down demographics they hate. BG3 did not approach inclusiveness in a zero sum fashion. It’s not woke. Neither was DA1 through DA3. Those games were not woke because they were not zero sum. DA4 however is woke because it is zero sum. It is actively antagonistic towards certain demographics. The woke interpretation of inclusivity is paradoxically exclusionary.

[@ni9274]

Explain how woke tear down certains demographics ? How wanting to make games that features characters of every races bad ? " BG3 did not approach inclusiveness in a zero sum fashion" Explain what BG3 did differently in term of "inclusivity" than games that you call woke ? It literally has trans characters, pansexual companions, extremely diverse cast, progressive political message and was made by a studio who openly support the LGBTQ+ movement. You don't want to call BG3 woke cause it's successful, proof is that the anti-woke content creators were calling BG3 woke before it released. Explain what makes Veilguard woke and not BG3 ? Can you provide any evidence of Veilguard being "antagonistic towards certain demographics" ? (You won't obviously, such a ridiculous claim) "The woke interpretation of inclusivity is paradoxically exclusionary" It's good to say things but it's worthless when you don't even try to argument

[@Altonraen]

@@ni9274idk he said it in a overcomplicated way but i think what he’s trying to say is that bg3’s world just has inclusivity therefore it’s normal while veilguard’s panders and shoves it’s message about a certain character down your throat without any nuance or whatever

[@PaulusAlone]

@@ni9274- Stop pretending that you don’t get the argument because you cannot be that dense…unless you are an anime harem protagonist…and I KNOW you get that reference as well!😸

[@dotanuki3371]

@@ni9274 in BG3 you can make your PC a woman that looks like a woman. In Veilguard you can't, to the exclusion of everyone that likes women that looks like women.

[@arobotarmy9878]

@@ni9274 You sound like those Christian people who try to claim that their religion has a monopoly on morality. Inclusion existed well before it was disingenuously appropriated by the woke. Before woke propaganda it was simply known as being a decent human being and it was commonplace. On this very channel is an example of the zero sum nature of woke “inclusion”. There is a video where Spell&Shield is unable to make the same character as he did in previous Dragon Age games because the woke developers have decided that female features are offensive and must be excluded. Couldn’t just add whatever else they wanted. Had to remove options too. Zero sum. Also look at how they excluded player agency, which was a hallmark of prior BioWare RPGs. Players are now forced to experience the story the developers want you to have. Rather than let you shape your own story from among meaningful choices, choice is now just flavor text and nothing more. Zero sum. Finally, they have no respect for the writers that came before them. Their contributions had to be excluded from the story so they simply wiped out entire regions of the map and even sidelined prominent characters from the earlier games, including the originally announced titular character. They couldn’t be bothered integrating their own story into established lore and game history. No, they had to delete and replace. Zero sum. In every case, “inclusion” is achieved by paradoxically excluding something. BG3 continued the tradition of earlier BioWare games like DA1-3, and were actually inclusive. Nobody was deemed offensive. Nor was anyone put on a pedestal. They took great care at integrating into established lore and characters, honoring the work of those that came before them, instead of pushing it to the side. The developers for these games were simply decent human beings and their games reflected that. They are not woke.

[@marcelodomene]

From wish listed to ignored. Only way I play it is if many people I trust start sayuing it is a masterpiece. And even then probably not, I have a long list of games to play without playing one that hates me. By this point I have a mild case of ptsd or allergies, I do not trust people that force this kind of politic on entertainment, burned one too many times.

[@robustdelirium9277]

They went from next to no marketing to the art director committing anti-marketing. What a ride.

[@Sanoda87]

I identify as non-BUY-nary

[@ni9274]

You will change when the game ends up successful like you ppl did with bg3

[@Dedhaven]

your comment will age like milk once it ends up like Veilguard

[@Sanoda87]

​@@ni9274 BG3 never had a developer going completely insane on social media

[@LordsofMedia]

Not even close to an overcorrection when the correction has just started.

[@blumiu2426]

Reactions can be and they are already. People are going after anyone not perfectly aligned like Progressives did. It truly did become two sides of the same coin near immediately. Trying to cancel people, brining up old drama that Progressives did. Hard disagree.

[@KratosisGod]

​@@blumiu2426Guess who started the cancel culture 😂

[@Katie-hb8iq]

It is an overcorrection though when the leading anti-woke crusade is about 1 gay character in a 100+ hour rpg in a setting where such a thing could historically make sense. It's no longer about crusading against critical race theory, neo-feminism and gender ideology - now it's just about anything that even smells .01% woke. That's what he means by over-correction.

[@TheGismono]

@@blumiu2426 -- "Reactions can be and they are already" highly highly disagree. An overreaction would be D-threats and/or physical confrontation (both of which the progressives in the gameing space has done plenty) that or worse. Outright black listing a game company that you don't want to trade with is a mild correction. Talking on a bigger scale, how many things have the progressive targeted at Elon musk and others? Everything from making fake SA allegations to attacks on X offices with bricks etc.. Literally multiable bounties on someones head (to the point was people was starting to joke about it). Where is the overcorrection on the other side?? I think your just uninformed on how far out the pendulum has been out.

[@blumiu2426]

@ That's irrelevant as who started it wasn't in question. Tit for tat only means when it comes around again, it will be far worse.

[@bjornskivids]

"We're not going to give you what you want. You're going to get this narrative-filled garbage and like it" Yeah, you have fun with that. I'll be off doing something else.

[@ni9274]

By narrative you mean any politics you don't agree with ? Nope you will be buying the game when you see it's succesful, you will say it's wasn't woke after all like you ppl said with BG3

[@ColorMeHoppy]

​@@ni9274this is why people should work on overcoming FOMO and being cognizant on what you choose to support and spend your time on. If people want to play Avowed, no one is stopping them. I would rather support companies and people that do not hate whole demographics because it's socially acceptable due to sociology 101 word salad (impressive only to midwits and bad actors).

[@jimprice9703]

I have been enjoying the fine art of touching grass. I highly recommend it.

[@robertoconforto9644]

Stupid video without nothing about the game.

[@spellandshield]

Without nothing? Is that English?

[@thant0s]

Well said. And of course, most people who have a bias in either direction are far more likely to just dismissively focus on the greatest, over-the-top examples of "either side" out of comfort and excuse not to look further into it, not to acknowledge truths which they may find painful to admit.

[@RealTuckered]

The overwhelming presence of the color purple has become an indication of a game’s quality as of late.

[@stanislavkimov2779]

Can we just again have the games made by enthusiasts with love and no hidden agenda? Is it so hard?

[@ni9274]

Games always had political message, and why do you say hidden agenda when the devs are pretty explicit about being progressive/leftists ?

[@MrMooMoo088]

​@ni9274 you can literally have both overt and subtle influence in any form of media. Veilguard didn't stop at surface level stuff. It retconned established lore or redefined established people/groups to be more in line with their personal bias. Veilguard is like turning Malazan into a Pixar movie, and even apolitical people know who to blame now.

[@stanislavkimov2779]

@@ni9274 games never had such a political message, it was never hateful, it was always to make the story better. Also they were made by passionate people who respect the player audience. Clearly not a case with this game.

[@jackstover1439]

You keep calling it a tirade or a rant. I don't think you understand what those words mean. Though based on the rest of the video I don't think you understand much of anything. Your complaint that colorful = unserious is the same tired arguments that happened two decades ago when Wind Waker was revealed by Nintendo.

[@spellandshield]

Thank you for your enlightening and eductional comment!

[@jackstover1439]

@@spellandshield It was three-or-four tweets where he said people getting mad at the non-binary options only empower them as a studio and he couldn't wait until people see what the default choice was. A tirade implies dozens of tweets. Which never happened. The fact that later in the video you call for the removal of the non-binary option, which is literally two seconds in the character creator, shows where your true intentions are. You might as well stop pretending to be neutral and go all-in on the grift.

[@spellandshield]

@ Why is it a grift to not want pronouns in the game? Do YOU know what grift even means? grift verb ˈgrift grifted; grifting; grifts transitive verb : to obtain (money or property) illicitly (as in a confidence game) intransitive verb : to acquire money or property illicitly I just have a different view. I never claimed to be neutral. I definitely do NOT want extreme IRL politics in my games and I have never pretended otherwise; that is my honest view so there is no grift. Grift would imply I secretly DO want that stuff in my games but I am pretending not to in order to swindle people. Grifter just means someone I don't like these days, which is the way you used the word and I only added this because you were being so pedantic about the meaning of tirade...ell, I can be pedantic back.

[@jackstover1439]

Look at your videos. Every culture war video gets more views. That's the grift. That's why people chase controversy. Instead of being excited for a game, it's far more profitable to hate it because it's "woke". The art director made a handful of tweets because people were mad that the game had non-binary options and you called it a "tirade" multiple times and implied he should fall on his hands and knees and beg for forgiveness. SkillUp was a hero when he negatively reviewed Veilguard, but when he had a positive preview for Avowed, suddenly he wasn't trustworthy. Once you go all-in on the culture war, there's no going back. No room for compromise. Don't forget Baldur's Gate 3 had a myriad of "modern day politics" in it and it was GOTY many times over.

[@spellandshield]

@@jackstover1439 Lots of calories you expended there and again, that is not what grift means since there is no deception or swindle involved. You like being pedantic so I am just returning the favour. Yes, people actually don't like ultra progressive politics from IRL in their games. That is honest, no deception.

[@HairryTurttleneck]

im going off nothing but my gut here, but, its going to zuck bad. so bad they dont even want you to talk about it. a lot like how redfall was treated. again, Im speaking out my u kno wut... but i will be shocked, legit so, if this is a 6/10 game

[@spellandshield]

I honestly think it will be 6/10 but it does not change the recent history of Obsidian.

[@ОлексійКолодочка]

@@spellandshield Not going to lie; the Avowed - The Outer Worlds 2 combo gives me the same feeling the Andromeda - Dragon Age 4 did. As in, we're likely to see playable but aggressively mediocre games from a studio of the former renown.

[@vanhowler2995]

Looks like first person Veilguard. Nah, gonna pass.

[@aaronschneberger348]

I’m sorry but hypnotic, endymiontv and so on used to cover gaming news in general that being said, I disagree with you saying they will disappear. I watched them far before the woke BS infection came to the gaming scene.

[@spellandshield]

They did not blow up before that though.

[@NinesIng]

@@spellandshield It won't matter, they seem capable enough to transform their content when needed. They got their spotlight and that will be enough for most of them.

[@ANGRYWOLVERINE2060-ft2nc]

They won't disappear. Sweet Baby still is working maybe with at least 30 companies/studios plus that other consultant group they are working with plus there are others working on games so "woke" games I don't believe will ever entirely disappear.There will alway be "true believers" as studio heads/developers/game company investors/game company Presidents and CEOs who will try to have so called "woke ideology" in their games despite it all.

[@tomasz9429]

@@spellandshield Endymion had 5 times your subscribe count before he switched sides on a dime and became "anti-woke." I know, because I watched him back then. I no longer do, because he just spews the same nonsense in every video. Ain't nobody got time for this.

[@spellandshield]

@@tomasz9429 What does his subscriber count have to do with mine? I am not following this. He was bigger, and? He really blew up on the anti-woke content though and that is what got him the views.

[@deathbycognitivedissonance5036]

Yeah, Obsidian being silent on the issue has not helped. I will only play it after I hear your review.

[@TheGismono]

1 review is not going to make me want to pay for this. It have to be a socalled world beater of a game.

[@deathbycognitivedissonance5036]

@TheGismono 😞

[@TheGismono]

@ If you want to pay people that hold mindsets that Gamers are awful, why be a customer at a place like that.

[@ni9274]

What issue ? Matt hansen saying he would prioritize giving JOB ADVICE AND PROTFOLIO REVIEW to black people and making a joke about wanting to be replaced to go back in the woods (idk how dumb you would need to be to think this wasn't a joke and he actually want to be replaced and return live in the woods).

[@CIA_Informant_number_8629]

​@ni9274 remember chuds, when they say they hate you, they hate you, unless ni9274 says it's a joke now, it's a joke they want to replace you... a joke

[@Kododie]

On similar topic: "Real Game Awards" hosted by Sidescrollers featured by some hyper-left political dev and won in some category. Votes are done by audience. Apparently it was a good game and there were nothing political about it. Nobody knew who this dev is until dev came out on twitter, mad and denouncing the award. And in this dev's name there was: palestine flag, trans flag, BLM, ACAB. The same kind of energy like when Mouthwashing composer didn't like when this game was appreciated by Asmongold. You can't have the "wrong" kind of people like your product... There's a lesson in this which they will likely ignore.

[@dotanuki3371]

This is why victim mentality is harmful, it creates losers, and losers manage to turn even a win into a loss.

[@nicholasaldama7080]

Marketing doesn't make the game. It's either a good game or it's not. The game looks amazing and looks fun.everyone loves to hate on anything they can. You complain worse than a child. Lol

[@spellandshield]

Marketing is very important. Games are good or bad yes but that is enough. One of Obsidians best games ever, Tyrrany is a great game but was a commercial flop; why? because no one had heard of it.

[@sallydrum7669]

Right up there with Concord for worst character design and art direction in gaming history

[@Billy-bc8pk]

What makes Concord so bad is that it's a very competently made game as far as mechanics go. What a massive waste.

[@CrystallineLore]

@@Billy-bc8pk Yes, a lot of games are competently made. That's rarely what makes a game bad. Veilguard was also competently made too. Ran very well, all the pieces worked.

[@BalaamsAss]

To be honest, I never wanted Avowed. Another Pillars style of game would have been great. Unfortunately, the lack of marketing doomed Deadfire. Low and behold, we see the same lack of marketing plaguing Avowed... then add on Obsidians antics and this game is doomed as well.

[@MrShadowfax42]

16:38 There is a bit of political messaging when it comes to refugees in BG3 that I noticed, actually. Not much, but it is definitely there.

[@Christina-J.94]

Absolutely. You'll even come across a man refusing refugees the use of his home (and rightfully so), and he's painted as the bad guy. The refugees try to forcefully occupy his house, and the owner says if they try, they'll be forcefully evicted from his property. That's how any sane person, rich or poor, would react to someone bursting into your house and claiming it for themselves. Obviously, turns out the house owner was a t*rrorist who planted bombs in toys meant for refugee children. Very predictable, and very blatant propaganda.

[@ScytheNoire]

There's actually a lot of political messaging in BG3. It's just that most people are thinking of culture war crap, not actual political stuff. Politics has been completely tainted by this culture war crap, meanwhile, the ruling class has become wealthier than ever while using it to distract us.

[@rclaws3230]

There's also the feminism, anti-patriarchy, radical equality, demographic anachronism, anti-masculinity, white hatred, alternative lifestyle hyperrepresentation, idealization of alternative lifestyles, etc. etc. Actually, the list is endless. Actually, it's a woke game.

[@dotanuki3371]

a bit? it's very heavy handed and has no nuance at all. could have been an interesting topic to explore, but it's just poor innocent refugees and MEANY LACISTS

[@MrShadowfax42]

@@dotanuki3371 You may be right but what I mean is it does not last long or take up much of the game.,

[@MatthewThompson-n3q]

It's nice to find calm voices in this time, especially given how anger gets more clicks. Hopefully things stabilise

[@marducms]

No dwarven goldpact paladin, with a chanter and cipher in my team, no purchase. And the problem with politics, is that it became a symptom of lack of quality. And this is proven to be coredt more often then not.

[@PhantomZwei]

I was genuinely excited for Avowed, but Matt Hanson sold a ton of profit down the river over a political tantrum. I don't even care if Avowed has redeeming qualities anymore, I'll never touch it. I'm more than happy to vote with my wallet and let Obsidian feel the consequences of their inaction in response to such a childish meltdown.

[@nejidin]

He was responding to Elon who was whining about "pronouns being utterly unacceptable in a fantasy video game". If the richest man in the world complained about my game, I'd probably start clicking away at the keyboard too.

[@kittydaddy2023]

My daughters criticized these bendy metal suits of plate armor. I literally cried. My girls are haters just like me.

[@LordsofMedia]

lol

[@andrewh3079]

#1 thing I want from games is immersion, and there's no way that happens with political propaganda in the game. At least for me

[@panwu6602]

Man, 7 months ago... When I was still excited for this game.

[@markpaterson2053]

I already started to lose interest---this video will be my last look at Avowed...if the game comes out and turns out to be brilliant, then I'll take interest again.

[@NeoN-PeoN]

I don't agree that KC:D 2 is a "nothing burger". You don't understand why people are mad at the creator? He lied to them. He lied about the FACT that he accepted millions of dollars in order to put in homosexual content, and shoehorned black people. That is no nothing burger, bro. People do NOT like being lied to.

[@CIA_Informant_number_8629]

Early life will answer why he lied 👃

[@dimaadamov8501]

Exactly, I would've been okay if those things were in the game originally, but instead studio made claims that "Henry is straight" and "There were no black people in medieval Bohemia" only to backtrack and try to hide it.

[@aquapendulum]

The skill checks in dialogue showed me some hope, but combat footage so far is not inspiring confidence. Obsidian seems to have reverted back to the day of Alpha Protocol combat.

[@seaglass3034]

Either they fire Mr. Thuper Duper for his egregious professional misconduct, and take some time to course correct ー or, this thing is gonna fail. And good riddance if it does indeed fail. These people belong scooping my fries, and bagging my groceries ー not making my entertainment.

[@mandolorian9893]

What an arrogant and pompous person you must be. If I were Obsidian I wouldn't want someone like you as a "fan". If their course alienates losers like you then they are on the right course.

[@Katie-hb8iq]

There are two possibilities at this point, because no marketing is even worse than silence: 💀 Redfall 2.0 → Silent launch, bad reviews, major backlash 😬 Mediocre but playable → Keep it quiet, let Game Pass carry it, move on It’s sad to say, but this situation is really starting to feel like damage control, not marketing. And yeah, that means do not preorder! The best thing Obsidian and Microsoft could have done was hype up the game, and do deep dives on how great the character creation and progression systems were in detail. Actually hype us for the game. You don't even have to address the controversy head on - just talk positively and build excitement while passively dealing with fears about the pronouns. Since they didn't do any of that, I suspect the game is either bad or mediocre, which leads me to the 2 outcomes I outlined above.

[@NkenKenY]

bro saying shove politicals down their throats but literally said remove pronouns lmao thats not political at all? it is lmao

[@nejidin]

Literally. Nowadays just having black people or gay people in video games gets called political and then people start crying about "woke."

[@wolfmirebacta8710]

I had interest in the game. But once Matt started running his mouth, I lost all interest. Which is a shame because it does look good. But I will not be getting this game unless it's steeply discounted, Matt is told to shut his dumb fucking mouth and work on the game, or I take to the seas with me mateys. This was a stupid political/marketing stunt that has done nothing more than piss off those who would be interested in the game or those already interested in it. I'm just more shocked Microsoft isn't doing anything about this. This kind of stuff never helps and hurts games more. I remember the tone shift. When people brought it up I honestly thought it was a completely different game and people were getting mad at something different. That was till I found out they were the same game and was shocked at sort of how deceptive the marketing either was, or how drastically they changed

[@Vagabond_Gaming]

Really enjoyed your take on all this. To be fair, without Endymion , smashJT or other anti-woke youtubers, it would've taken longer time to see the demise of DEI. So they have played their part. But yes, its time to remove any politics in game and have only fun and immersive games.

[@VerminaeSupremacy]

Correction. It's time to stop real life preaching and put in adult, nuanced in-universe politics and complex topics back into games!

[@ronignino]

I don't agree , It was way obvious before those KZbinrs got attention. I believe it all started with last of us 2. Let me tell you. I love that game, and after that, every game that pushed that kind of contented , it was just adding, till it reach a point , where I feel attacked , because I was borne white and straight. As I said multiple time, I don't care if they make from scratch, a woke game. At the end of the day, it's their game and their right to do what ever they want. The problem is when they pick up an already stablished franchise and start applying that political agenda. Thats where the hate come from. People are used to some characters , stories and suddenly that kinda stuff keeps appearing everywhere.

[@spellandshield]

@@VerminaeSupremacy 100% correct Lord Verminae; put the politics in the universe and make it interesting, NOT what is being done now.

[@VerminaeSupremacy]

@@spellandshield 'm afraid I am still a lady, though in year 2025, being unladylike goth punk, you can transition just like Taash, sitting your mom at the table, saying "Sooooo, I'm non-binary" and then acting like a little baby, throwing tantrum when mom doesn't get all the newspeak, ahaha >:D

[@ni9274]

The demise of "DEI" ? They still call every new games woke, and the most successful games of the past few years are almost all woke. Explain how DEI is bad ? "But yes, its time to remove any politics in game and have only fun and immersive games." That's censorship by definition, games are form of arts and arts is about expressions, and expressions can include politics. Almost all of the best RPG ever made (Fallout 1/2, Fallout New Vegas, Disco Elysium, BG3, Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, POE1 and 2, KOTOR) include political themes and messaging, how dare you call yourself a gamer when you're basically advocating for every games to be dopamine generators like Genshin impact ? Do you realize that politics is in no way opposite to immersion ? Immersion is about the depiction of the fictional world where the game take place being believable, unless you're fictional world is straight out of a cartoon for children it will have politics.

[@GodParticleZero]

Avowed looks too cartoony, and that user interface is awful. Throw in that clown director, and it's a big pass for me

[@E.S.86]

I played PoE II for about 35 hours and was done with it. I didn't particularly like it that much, but wouldn't hate giving Avowed a shot, until I saw the "owning the chuds" narrative, and that absolutely cemented that I would never buy or support this game in any way other than helping creators hatefarm it.

[@celan4288]

You never played the first game? I think it was better in many ways.

[@E.S.86]

@celan4288 I didn't. I grew up playing many of the most popular RPGs such as baldur's gate and baldur's gate 2, ultima online, everquest, diablo 1.. but had never heard of pillars of eternity until I heard some buzz about dead fire and bought it

[@spellandshield]

@@E.S.86 POE 1 has a better ambiance and story...might as well give it a go.

[@E.S.86]

@@spellandshield Thanks for the recommendation I'll check it out!

[@usov656]

Honestly avowed looked just "ok" from.the beggining. It just never excited me in any way. The whole tirades just pushed me away from this because there was nothing else holding me to it. And frankly, all the warning signs we had for bioware and blizzard are there for obsidian. The people who made the whole thing great arent there anymore, its just the corpse of what was once great being puppeteered by people who have no real passion for the game, at least not as much as they have for themselves or their political ideologies. It didnt work back then when the political climate favored that sort of stupidity, and it certainly wont work now that the political climate changed. Its almost the same path bioware took, step by step. We even have employees anonymously sending messages to people telling them just how toxic their work environment is.

[@Caladir]

I will just cry in corner, because we didn't got PoE3 a true big budget CRPG. Deadfire was so amazing... I'm just sad they decided to go that way with Eora.

[@ni9274]

There is literally no way for them to make a big budget CRPG without the appeal of a bigger franchise or a proof of concept THe only reason Larian managed to make BG3 is cause of the huge financial success of DOS 2 and the fact they were chosen to do BG3 and given exclusive access to D&D license (which in turn helped them to get help from Tencent)

[@Caladir]

@@ni9274 I know. That's why I weep. And to be fair, even with unlimited money, Josh Sawyer said he prolly couldn't make big success as BG3. His games are for different audience, they're for me, and people like me are in vast minority. I get it.

[@InvertedWIng]

You say you don't like pronouns not for political reasons, but for linguistic ones, but you have to understand that politics is indeed at the heart of it. Politics is all about the leveraging and gaining of power, and the left's dogmatic approach to pronouns, to the point of turning them into royal titles, is itself a ploy to gain power in the most insidious way: by changing and manipulating language. Language affects the way we think, and by altering how pronouns are supposed to work, the left is forcefully altering how society thinks to be more in line with the way it wants.

[@misanthropicattackhelicopt4148]

Glad more people are noticing this. The left is indeed trying to pervert the way we speak.

[@25xxfrostxx]

The world looks decent but the character design is really bad. The designs of the demi humans and people with fungus on their faces just look off-putting at best or stupid at worst. The only real exposure I had to the game after being warded off by art style was, funnily enough, the art director himself having his childlike meltdown. It's going to be a pass from me, even on game pass which I already have active.

[@lawsonfletcher7840]

Refreshing to find someone commenting on games that isn't brain broken with the anti woke mob... Both ends of the spectrum are insufferable. This guy gets it... Subbed

[@jacobyrassilon]

He basically said the same thing that the so called "anit-woke" content creators said...he just said it in a nicer way. I bet "mean tweets" keeps you up at night too.

[@HitmannDDD]

Loved the PoE games in the before times. Now, I gotta pass.

[@intelligentunite4557]

Dont buy any game where there is signs of WOKE.

[@mateuscristianschannelen961]

16:25 Disco Elysium. Papers Please. Bioshock. Fallout New Vegas. I very much believe that games can be overtly politically, but they must be good, they must be honest about it and not pull a bait and switch or use a preexisting series (like Dragon Age Failguard), and the politics must be part of the game, as oppose to grinding the game to a halt for a 10 minute finger wagling. I'm willing to give Avowed a chance, same way I did Veilguard. If it's good, great, if it sucks, I get my money back and move on.

[@spellandshield]

Wait, Disco Elysium. Papers Please. Bioshock. Fallout New Vegas were about gender ideology and pronouns? I don't remember that.

[@adseri]

​@@spellandshield New Vegas wasn't strictly about it but it had some overtones. If you don't even trust me, then there is some reason transgender community dubs New Vegas as trans-sympathetic, for some reason. Playing devil's advocate, we're looking wits suspicion at Avowed due to them having pronouns, cartoonish "off" stylistic choice and marketing choice. We can add believing devs are not to par with Obsidian's legacy, but most people who accuse Avowed likely aren't looking this deep. I believe, observing from time's perspective, that BG3 indeed is at least woke-adjacent. It also has pronouns, body types. While they don't directly tell who is good and who is bad, they reference it not-so-subtly if you get through a paper cover. Now, I haven't made it to act 3, but I hear people saying that things get more in-your-face there - but not many people made it that far, like 15% of players? I think BG3 was lucky to not get caught in cultural counter-swing, they made it just before, also they didn't have pronouns during their long alpha period, they added them significantly later, some of their messaging was different in alpha - for example act 1 paladins haunting Karlach being changed from "I try to pursue good but fell in the process" to "yes, I'm evil, and I'd do it again" when you as much as push him lightly. Refugees are taking a lot of resources, housing from druids, they brought with them kid's thieves' guild, but they are desperate, you can't take it against them. And the kids are just kids, even you catch them by hand, people will side with them because they're just kids. And if you dislike them, you can't take a direct action against them because they're just kids. They robbed you, you witnessed them robbing others, they tried to steal an important artifact too and you want to punish them? Well, too bad because they're just kids with invincibility so you can't do anything to them. The only too option is to take an evil choice of siding with goblins - which will rob you of content if you do (Karlach quest, less content). Goblins vs grove is another woke-adjacent thing. It is portrayed as an equal choice but if one digs a little deeper, he will see they really aren't. It's not overt with lgbt messaging, but their representation is definitely skewing the proportions. Majority of people there and in real life are straight as evidenced by civilization still being alive, with new kids. One can go their entire life without noticing them. In BG3 they are seen at every step. There are gnome lovers who embrace each other if trapped gnome is rescued, there are letters here and there not-so-subtly hinting at gay relationships (plural), there is plot-important gay couple in act 2, from time to time there are dialogues between such couples. If we take cases of in-your-face straight and homosexual encounters, then one might suspect the ratio is at least 50:50. There is no alphabet (banned) mod that lists all those little things. While they are probably overreacting, the list of changes isn't short. Not to mention more subtle things, like protagonists all having reversed gender roles, with males having low strength and less "figtery" classes and all females having more combatitive classes and higher strength. Continuing, in act 3, there is a guy whose house is stolen by refugees, but Larian still decides to portray the refugees as the good guys, having them invoke Tyr or Torm (I cannot recall) and the home owner being involved in a murderous plot to blow up children. To repeat, you pop down a well and find corpses labelled as murdered refugees when you would no way of knowing that. Another very early quest in Chapter 3 involves a refugee being scapegoated for murder and the fact that he is a refugee specifically cited as a reason for him being wrongly accused. If there is a conflict of good and evil, then the evil is the non-woke side and the good side has all the virtues that woke put forward. To repeat, I think that success of BG3 is due to them just missing the counter swing, introducing more woke things late, long after people started to love BG3 based on act 1 alpha period, and Larian being competent with decent PR. And additionally, now non-woke people don't like bringing BG3 out because they themselves liked it and they essentially don't want to think about exceptional recent game they like as woke, so many of us are willing to overlook the fact that if BG3 were to be released today, they'd likely get caught in the recent allergic reaction. And there would be more than enough valid reasons than Avowed having those 3-4 downsides I mentioned earlier. Or KCD2, with its one black character, 2 missable gay scenes and Henry being optionally gay, along with the PR stumble and their shares being partially owned by one of those woke-pushing companies.

[@planescaped]

@@spellandshield They're referring to political in the actual sense of the world and not the way you intended. Woke is a good word to sum up the nonsense... but it has negative connotations now, and just saying it gets people to start reeeee'ing like in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

[@LordMuzhy]

I still can’t believe this game comes out in 3 weeks. Also I thought it was crazy that they didn’t showcase this game in the most recent Xbox direct alongside Doom, Ninja Gaiden and South of midnight. I will be there on February 18th to check the steam chart peak count 😅

[@vanhowler2995]

18 of February, really? I though it was March or something...

[@doingmypart666]

Politics aside, 70 EUR for this game quality? 25 TOP. The combat, spells, animations, lights, shadows, thats very bad. Game is too outdated for current standards. I wanted to say 10 years but that would be wrong, time flies .. 2015 was kinda best year in gaming ever for my taste. Witcher, Batman, Metal Gear Solid. People call it "The Skyrim killer". Even Skyrim in 2012 had better fire magic than this game.

[@MrMeddyman]

Avowed's setting was leaked like 4 years ago to be the Living Lands, which we knew from PoE 1 and PoE 2 is this very topographically diverse, colorful wilderness. I'd also say that neither of the other two games are particularly "dark" they deal with colonialism and at times that can bring up dark subject matter, but Pillars of Eternity's palette has always been light, the Engwithan colors of green adra, mysterious forests, blue coastal oceans because this is a game about colonialism and colonialists targeted more lush areas of the world, Americas, Caribbean, sub-Saharan African coast/Ivory Coast. Pillars of Eternity 2 is even MORE lush and tropical because it takes place on an archipelago. Maybe you can say the trailer is misleading, but to expected PoE to be have dark BG2/Torment aesthetic wasn't reasonable to begin with. The trailer refers to Woedica and her aesthetic is dark, "Sun in Shadow", "The Burnt Queen" etc. But that's not what the Living Lands are described to be and they didn't change the whole games' aesthetic in two years. They're evocative of classic Infinity Engine games like BG 1 minus the Bhaalspawn stuff. I never got this, the game was marketed as dark and gritty point, that's not what Pillars is, it's introspective and asks a lot of what should we make of this and doesn't explore Good vs Evil as a theme, but Man vs Nature or Man vs Himself (reincarnation past lives more like) style thematics.

[@wolfpacore]

You're right, but these dorks just want to be mad at pronouns. I'm convinced they only don't like the art is because its directed by this guy they hate.

[@CrystallineLore]

People say this, yet a ton of fans strongly disagree. You've also clearly never seen a real tropical place. PoE and Deadfire both had somber, dark areas and bright areas. People are not saying the games are 1000% grimdark black and brown blandness all the time. Not even literal grimdark games like Dark Souls are like that. However, the original PoE especially had a far more grounded, earthy art style. PoE did 2 but it was offset by the tropical setting which seems to have overwhelmed peoples' memories of the game because it had a lot of dark, earthy spaces too. Even the devs disagree with you because the original leaks and showcase of the game showed a far less vibrant art direction, which is something what was changed. Also, none of the things you're talking about inherently indicate a need for an overly bright, almost cartoonish art style. Like I swear some of you haven't actually played PoE 1 and 2 all the way through. For the record, the art direction is one of the game's biggest criticism and this was true long before what their art direction said. It's fine if you think PoE 1/2 had a bright color pallete but but a ton of fans disagree with you so don't take it as absolute fact.

[@CrystallineLore]

@@wolfpacore This criticism about the art existed before he ever said anything. It's highly ironic how much of a mirror you are to the people you hate, 'dork.'

[@wolfpacore]

@@CrystallineLore I don't care if you don't like the art, or that guy on Twitter. Honestly, I did like deadfire's art a little bit more, but i think this still looks good. But hating the game because of pronouns in character creation is just straight up loser behavior. It's just such a non-issue that these people get pissed about. But hey, if your criticism Is the art, I got no issue with you.

[@CrystallineLore]

@@wolfpacore Yeah the art and character designs are really my only problem, but even that won't be enough for me to care as long as the story is good which right now we simply don't know. I didn't like TOW's writing, especially the second half, so I'm a bit concern about how Avowed was scaled down, rebooted twice, and changed directors, but I will judge it myself. If the writing is bad I'll just refund on steam.

[@greyw3aver]

Their identity politics have been evident since POE2 Deadfire, with themes of feminism, socialism, anti-colonialism, and diversity. Even i couldn't avoid getting hit on by ALL companion NPCs, despite already being in a romantic relationship with Xoti.

[@cinerir8203]

I always had the impression that Veilguard was tailored towards a young audience or children, not least because of the art style. Because they know they can't change the minds of adults who have some experience in life and already formed their opinions. They target young people, whose minds they believe to influence by pushing these topics into their faces. Aside from that....I believe Veilguard would have fared better if they called it "The Veilguard: A Dragon Age Story" or something, to decouple it a bit from the beloved series.

[@ni9274]

lmao funny you people say that when you have thousands of content creators from every countries making hundreds of video by month about how woke is bad, how women are bad and how they should call any game with a black protagonist woke recommended to kids by the algorithm. Kids are far more likely to be exposed to content telling them they should not respect women than content telling them that trans people exist and they should not bully them. Veilguard is rated 18+, also you do not target a young audience that plays Roblox with actions RPGs,.

[@dragonpencil4131]

@@ni9274 Can you prove any of your claims?

[@kristenrobinson7189]

Looks like concord 3.0 - Woke nose ring on that designer or whatever....1000% not interested.

[@babakgeblee3343]

Bro a major in linguistics? i knew it from the way you speak so eloquently

[@feelingveryattackedrn5750]

I'll save anybody else from listening to this drivel for over 20 minutes: this guy is a Gamer™who hates the game for having pronouns. There, you've discovered the "truth of avowed" without all the pablum. At this point just put the words woke or dei on your thumbnail so normal people know to stay away, itll help you build your echo chamber community anyway.

[@spellandshield]

And here you are spending time leaving your own pablum here! Amazing!

[@feelingveryattackedrn5750]

@ it took me 5 seconds to write and hopefully saves other potential viewers 3-20 min. Seethe more!