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Dragon Age Fandom Survey: Veilguard Edition RESULTS

Before getting into the responses of this survey, I would like to remind/clarify everyone of a few things:

There is naturally bias from the reach this survey had; while I encouraged people to share it outside of Tumblr, we must remember that the vast majority of the responses are still from Tumblr users specifically. Meaning, this survey cannot account for the DA fandom as a whole across the entire internet.

There was a very drastic difference in the number of responses from people who played a different Dragon Age game before DATV, and those who played DATV first. This means there is a sample size bias. I anticipated this, and it’s why I did separate questions in hopes to compensate at least a little, but it’s something to still keep in mind.

If you would like to view the full spreadsheet of all unfiltered results, you can do so HERE.

Anyone who I caught misgendering Taash and/or misgendering Weekes the writer in the comments was immediately disqualified.

With that out of the way, let’s get into it!

PREVIOUS DRAGON AGE GAME EXPERIENCE

Only 2% of respondents have never played any other Dragon Age game besides Dragon Age: The Veilguard (DATV). 92% of respondents have played all three past games. 97% have at least played Dragon Age: Inquisition (DAI).

ROOK

LINEAGE/RACE SELECTION

While elf was the most popular answer for both set of respondents, brand new DA players were somewhat more likely to choose a human Rook, and not a single new player respondent chose a dwarf Rook.

Respondents with prior game experience selected the following lineages/races for their first DATV game:

Human: 19%

Elf: 59%

Dwarf: 11%

Qunari: 11%

Respondents without prior game experience selected the following lineages/races for their first DATV game:

Human: 30%

Elf: 57%

Dwarf: 0%

Qunari: 13%

FACTION SELECTION

The Shadow Dragons were the most popular for respondents with prior game experience, while the Veil Jumpers were the most popular for brand new DA players. Prior players were least interested in the Lords of Fortune, while new players were least interested in the Mourn Watch.

Respondents with prior game experience selected the following factions for their first DATV game:

Grey Wardens: 16%

Shadow Dragons: 24%

Veil Jumpers: 15%

Mourn Watch: 19%

Lords of Fortune: 10%

Antivan Crows: 17%

Respondents without prior game experience selected the following factions for their first DATV game:

Grey Wardens: 8%

Shadow Dragons: 14%

Veil Jumpers: 30%

Mourn Watch: 10%

Lords of Fortune: 12%

Antivan Crows: 26%

ROOK SATISFACTION

Respondents for whom DATV was their first Dragon Age game were far more likely to be satisfied with Rook as a protagonist than those with prior game experience.

Respondents with prior game experience felt the following satisfaction with Rook:

Very unsatisfied: 27%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 21%

Neutral: 7%

Somewhat satisfied: 21%

Very satisfied: 24%

Respondents without prior game experience felt the following satisfaction with Rook:

Very unsatisfied: 11%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 20%

Neutral: 6%

Somewhat satisfied: 19%

Very satisfied: 44%

I wanted to see if there was any correlation between Rook creation options and satisfaction. So, I filtered responses based on the previous questions and found the following:

There was not much difference in responses based on lineage/race

There was some interesting differences based on faction: Grey Warden players were the most to respond with “very unsatisfied” (36%), with Shadow Dragon players close behind (31%). For every other faction, the satisfaction results were parallel to the overall responses.

ROOK COMMENTS

Here is some of the commonplace praise for Rook as a protagonist:

Strong and charming voice acting performances.

Rook has lots of room for players to come up with their own ideas and interpretations.

Rook has great trans/enby representation options both in charater creation and roleplay dialogue.

Rook fits the setting and narrative well; Rook is “the heart of the team”.

Rook has a “great personality”.

Rook was commonly compared to Hawke in a positive manner.

Here is some of the commonplace critique for Rook as a protagonist:

Rook has “no personality” and not enough of a backstory.

Rook has a “set personality”.

Rook does not have enough space to play with strong opinions on critical issues, compared to previous games.

Rook is unable to be nasty/mean-spirited.

Rook was commonly compared to Hawke in a negative manner.

Rook should’ve had more reactivity based on their background.

Overall, Rook seems to be a very divisive figure. It is interesting to see how different people view positives and negatives of Rook’s character in complete contrast with each other. For example, many people said they like or dislike that Rook is a “blank slate to project on”, while many other people said that they like or dislike that Rook has a “set personality”. Yes, those things both came up as things people enjoyed and things people did not enjoy.

COMPANIONS

COMPANION SATISFACTION

Respondents for whom DATV was their first Dragon Age game were more likely to be satisfied with the companions than those with prior game experience.

Respondents with prior game experience felt the following satisfaction with the companions:

Very unsatisfied: 17%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 24%

Neutral: 7%

Somewhat satisfied: 31%

Very satisfied: 21%

Respondents without prior game experience felt the following satisfaction with the companions:

Very unsatisfied: 9%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 14%

Neutral: 12%

Somewhat satisfied: 40%

Very satisfied: 26%

COMPANION COMMENTS

Here is some of the commonplace praise for the companions and their personal quests:

Companions are integrated into the main story well.

Companions are fun to build relationships with doing simple things, like feeding birds with Taash or visiting graves with Emmrich.

Companions feel relatable.

Here is some of the commonplace critique for the companions and their personal quests:

Companion quests lack impact.

Companions lack romantic content.

Some companions feel like they received unequal/unfinished content compared to others.

Taash’s questline specifically received a lot of criticism for what many respondents consider a poor handling of multiculturalism.

FACTIONS

FACTION SATISFACTION

Respondents for whom DATV was their first Dragon Age game were more likely to be satisfied with the factions than those with prior game experience.

Respondents with prior game experience felt the following satisfaction with the factions:

Very unsatisfied: 24%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 22%

Neutral: 15%

Somewhat satisfied: 30%

Very satisfied: 9%

Respondents without prior game experience felt the following satisfaction with the factions:

Very unsatisfied: 9%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 14%

Neutral: 17%

Somewhat satisfied: 45%

Very satisfied: 16%

FACTION COMMENTS

Here is some of the commonplace praise for the factions and their related quests:

Factions are a good way of introducing different cultures in Thedas.

Factions offered good opportunities for role-playing.

Here is some of the commonplace critique for the factions and their related quests:

Factions lack any “grey morality” or “internal conflict”.

Some factions feel like they received unequal/unfinished content compared to others.

Factions feel more like a mechanic than a natural part of the world-building.

The Antivan Crows specifically received a lot of criticism for being written as much more heroic and good-natured than in previous games.

The Shadow Dragons specifically received a lot of criticism for being “too passive” against Tevinter inequalities.

MAIN STORY

MAIN STORY SATISFACTION

Respondents for whom DATV was their first Dragon Age game were far more likely to be satisfied with the main story than those with prior game experience.

Respondents with prior game experience felt the following satisfaction with the main story:

Very unsatisfied: 27%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 19%

Neutral: 11%

Somewhat satisfied: 24%

Very satisfied: 19%

Respondents without prior game experience felt the following satisfaction with the main story:

Very unsatisfied: 11%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 17%

Neutral: 7%

Somewhat satisfied: 30%

Very satisfied: 35%

MAIN STORY COMMENTS

Here is some of the commonplace praise for the main story:

The story has a satisfying ending.

The story feels “deeply impacting” and “emotional”.

The story has a good pace with lots of replay value.

The main story features the best quests in the game.

Here is some of the commonplace critique for the main story:

The story has an unsatisfying ending.

The story feels disconnected from the previous games / suffers from a lack of worldstate choices from previous games.

Many respondents are unhappy with the off-screen destruction of Southern Thedas mentioned.

Many respondents are unhappy with the racism, islamophobia, and orientalism found in the handling of the Antaam, specifically.

PREVIOUS OTHER DRAGON AGE MEDIA EXPERIENCE

Most respondents have engaged with at least some other form of Dragon Age media, with the most common being the animated show, Dragon Age: Absolution (57%). This is followed by the anthology book, Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights (49%). Only 13% of respondents said they have never had any experience with any extra Dragon Age media.

TEVINTER NIGHTS

Because Tevinter Nights (TN) established a lot leading up to DATV, I was very curious to see if that had any impact on DATV perceptions specifically. My one regret here is that I forgot to include Aelia in the list of characters who first appear in TN. Whoops.

In most cases, TN readers responded more positively to supporting characters who first appeared in the anthology, than non-readers.

NEVE SATISFACTION

Respondents who read TN felt the following satisfaction with Neve in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 6%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 9%

Neutral: 19%

Somewhat satisfied: 25%

Very satisfied: 41%

Respondents who did not read TN felt the following satisfaction with Neve in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 7%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 11%

Neutral: 13%

Somewhat satisfied: 30%

Very satisfied: 39%

LUCANIS SATISFACTION

Respondents who read TN felt the following satisfaction with Lucanis in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 21%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 13%

Neutral: 9%

Somewhat satisfied: 26%

Very satisfied: 31%

Respondents who did not read TN felt the following satisfaction with Lucanis in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 16%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 18%

Neutral: 15%

Somewhat satisfied: 28%

Very satisfied: 24%

EMMRICH SATISFACTION

Respondents who read TN felt the following satisfaction with Emmrich in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 6%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 6%

Neutral: 16%

Somewhat satisfied: 27%

Very satisfied: 44%

Respondents who did not read TN felt the following satisfaction with Emmrich in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 5%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 8%

Neutral: 14%

Somewhat satisfied: 28%

Very satisfied: 45%

ILLARIO SATISFACTION

Respondents who read TN felt the following satisfaction with Illario in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 20%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 21%

Neutral: 20%

Somewhat satisfied: 21%

Very satisfied: 18%

Respondents who did not read TN felt the following satisfaction with Illario in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 15%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 19%

Neutral: 37%

Somewhat satisfied: 20%

Very satisfied: 10%

MYRNA SATISFACTION

Respondents who read TN felt the following satisfaction with Myrna in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 6%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 10%

Neutral: 36%

Somewhat satisfied: 22%

Very satisfied: 26%

Respondents who did not read TN felt the following satisfaction with Myrna in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 6%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 6%

Neutral: 57%

Somewhat satisfied: 18%

Very satisfied: 12%

STRIFE SATISFACTION

Respondents who read TN felt the following satisfaction with Strife in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 13%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 16%

Neutral: 28%

Somewhat satisfied: 23%

Very satisfied: 20%

Respondents who did not read TN felt the following satisfaction with Strife in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 7%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 13%

Neutral: 48%

Somewhat satisfied: 22%

Very satisfied: 9%

IRELIN SATISFACTION

Respondents who read TN felt the following satisfaction with Irelin in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 14%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 16%

Neutral: 34%

Somewhat satisfied: 21%

Very satisfied: 16%

Respondents who did not read TN felt the following satisfaction with Irelin in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 6%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 14%

Neutral: 56%

Somewhat satisfied: 17%

Very satisfied: 7%

TEIA SATISFACTION

Respondents who read TN felt the following satisfaction with my beloved Teia in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 7%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 8%

Neutral: 14%

Somewhat satisfied: 28%

Very satisfied: 42%

Respondents who did not read TN felt the following satisfaction with my beloved Teia in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 6%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 8%

Neutral: 27%

Somewhat satisfied: 30%

Very satisfied: 29%

VIAGO SATISFACTION

Respondents who read TN felt the following satisfaction with my beloved Viago in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 7%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 9%

Neutral: 15%

Somewhat satisfied: 29%

Very satisfied: 40%

Respondents who did not read TN felt the following satisfaction with my beloved Viago in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 6%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 8%

Neutral: 30%

Somewhat satisfied: 30%

Very satisfied: 26%

EVKA SATISFACTION

Respondents who read TN felt the following satisfaction with Evka in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 4%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 3%

Neutral: 12%

Somewhat satisfied: 21%

Very satisfied: 60%

Respondents who did not read TN felt the following satisfaction with Evka in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 5%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 5%

Neutral: 17%

Somewhat satisfied: 23%

Very satisfied: 51%

ANTOINE SATISFACTION

Respondents who read TN felt the following satisfaction with Antoine in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 4%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 3%

Neutral: 12%

Somewhat satisfied: 21%

Very satisfied: 60%

Respondents who did not read TN felt the following satisfaction with Antoine in DATV:

Very unsatisfied: 5%

Somewhat unsatisfied: 5%

Neutral: 17%

Somewhat satisfied: 22%

Very satisfied: 50%

TEVINTER NIGHTS INTO VEILGUARD SAMPLE COMMENTS

“Tevinter Nights painted a picture of a bleak world, but filled with tons of interesting people. Many of them have the same feeling both in DATV and the book (I think only Irelin and Strife didn't, really). Tevinter Nights set up the atmosphere I missed in the game. It set expectations that didn't make it into the game. But it's a must read, especially when plunging into Veilguard.”

“I love Teia and Viago as characters best overall, but did not feel like they were introduced well in game in a way that would allow them to stand on their own the way Antoine and Evka were.”

“Strife should’ve had his Scottish accent.”

“I would have loved to get more of Mean Girl Irelin. She had way sharper teeth in the book.”

“I was really, really excited for Neve after Tevinter Nights, because I'm a disabled woman, and I still liked her in Veilguard but I do wish there'd been a bit more to her from a disability lens.”

“Tevinter Nights had so much more horror than Veilguard even tried to deliver. The Crows were delightfully messy and Viago was so unwell I’m in love with him. They hinted at Lucanis having complicated feelings about his grandmother that I was looking forward to exploring more, but which got dropped pretty much immediately. (The idea that even the prodigy grandson of the First Talon got tortured as part of his training is exactly the kind of fucked-up Crow lore that I expected and wanted to see more of.) I really loved all the hints at weird and scary threats we’ve literally never seen before (the head-stealing monster in the Minrathous gardens??), but none of that got followed up on.”

“As with previous books, there were several characters I found more compelling and interesting in the book than the game. Books have more freedom to do that, to be fair, but Strife in particular felt like a completely different character in the game.”

OTHER MEDIA INTO VEILGUARD SAMPLE COMMENTS

“I think that Veilguard’s depiction of the events of Last Flight and its principal character of Isseya was probably one of the most offensive parts of the story, as it felt like it didn't understand the book or even its themes at all.”

“I enjoyed Absolution and, again, I was expecting Veilguard to be closer to it in tone, themes, and treatment of the Tevinter-related world building.”

NARRATIVE CONSISTENCY

[The following works on a scale of 1 = worst, to 10 = best]

Most respondents felt BioWare does not do a very good job at maintaining a consistent narrative from the previous games, into DATV overall:

11%

12%

18%

13%

12%

11%

Most respondents felt BioWare does not do a very good job at maintaining a consistent narrative from the previous games, into DATV, regarding different lineages/races and cultures in Thedas:

16%

12%

17%

15%

Most respondents felt BioWare does not do a very good job at maintaining a consistent narrative from the previous games, into DATV, regarding different nations in Thedas:

13%

10%

12%

10%

11%

Most respondents felt BioWare does not do a very good job at maintaining a consistent narrative from the previous games, into DATV, regarding different factions in Thedas:

14%

12%

13%

11%

12%

11%

Most respondents felt BioWare does not do a very good job at maintaining a consistent narrative from the previous games, into DATV, regarding recurring characters:

16%

11%

13%

11%

12%

10%

NARRATIVE SAMPLE COMMENTS

“Overall I am quite satisfied with the direction Bioware took the story and the outcomes for most of the recurring characters Bioware had in Veilguard.”

“I think the entire Dragon Age series has struggled to some extent with narrative consistency, but this game felt so jarringly different from prior games that at times it doesn't feel like a Dragon Age game at all. I recognize that with a ten year time gap that there are going to be changes in-universe, but I feel like 0 effort was put into helping transition players from the old status quo to the new one (and in fact a lot of the writing erases the old status quo). The sociopolitical conflicts common to the series (like the oppression of elves and mages, the cultural hegemony of the Chantry, dwarven society and their diaspora, etc) felt largely if not totally absent from Veilguard. And also there are direct plot threads from Inquisition that are just never touched on (like the Well of Sorrows choice, to pick an example).”

“I think the choice to place Veilguard in the north was a good one, and also freed the writers from some narrative obligations (it doesn't really matter who the king of Ferelden is). I really liked seeing all the familiar conflicts and prejudices from the northern perspectives.”

“Thedas didn’t feel like Thedas. Nothing mattered anymore. Tevinter didn’t feel like Fenris and Dorian described it in the previous games neither like what we saw of it in the comics/book and others adaptations. Same issue with the Crows who appeared like a found family while they technically enslave children. There was none of the darker themes of Thedas (besides the Blight) so we never got to fight the actual corruption beside the one dimensional black and white villains the Evanuris were turned into. Elves oppression issue was totally ignored too. So much was also lacking due to the lack of worldstate.”

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

Some of the frequently mentioned strengths for DATV include the following:

Good balance between open world and linear maps.

Beautiful art design, especially the environments.

An advanced character creation system.

Fun and engaging combat/gameplay system.

Beloved characters.

Thematic consistency (regret, grief, trauma, hope).

Good voice acting.

Some of the frequently mentioned weaknesses for DATV include the following:

Racism and other bigotries present in the writing.

Lore inconsistencies.

Lack of continuity with the previous game installments.

Lack of “political” or “deep” themes.

Feeling “oversimplified”.

Feels unfinished and/or rushed in places.

It’s also worth noting that many people said they consider some of these merits and flaws to be carried over from the existing IP, rather than exclusive to DATV. Like for example, pointing out that Dragon Age has always had issues with racism in the writing.

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