GamesRPGDragon AgeDragon Age: The VeilguardDragon Age: The Veilguard is bringing back the heinously ugly original sin of preorder/digital deluxe cosmetics, but I’m weirdly nostalgic for it nowWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesRPGDragon AgeDragon Age: The VeilguardDragon Age: The Veilguard is bringing back the heinously ugly original sin of preorder/digital deluxe cosmetics, but I’m weirdly nostalgic for it nowWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: BioWare, Dragon Age Wiki)
I seriouslydug Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s latest trailer, but right at the end I found myself face-to-face with a ghost: “Pre-order now! Receive the Blood Dragon cosmetic armor.” Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.
For my money, the Blood Dragon Armor is a primeval DLC/“Digital Deluxe Edition” original sin on the order of Oblivion’s infamousHorse Armor. The hideous armor set reared its head in four different games at the height of BioWare’s popularity, somehow managing to always feel unwelcome and out of place whether you were exploring a medieval dirt village or the distant spires of an Asari utopia. For a design to have such a place in two iconic franchises, wouldn’t you expect it to be beloved or essential?
Image1of3I thought you were dead.(Image credit: BioWare)Has anyone seen my little boy?(Image credit: BioWare, Dragon Age Wiki)Looking pretty ugly Shep.(Image credit: BioWare, Mass Effect Wiki)
Image1of3I thought you were dead.(Image credit: BioWare)Has anyone seen my little boy?(Image credit: BioWare, Dragon Age Wiki)Looking pretty ugly Shep.(Image credit: BioWare, Mass Effect Wiki)
Image1of3
I thought you were dead.(Image credit: BioWare)Has anyone seen my little boy?(Image credit: BioWare, Dragon Age Wiki)Looking pretty ugly Shep.(Image credit: BioWare, Mass Effect Wiki)
I thought you were dead.(Image credit: BioWare)Has anyone seen my little boy?(Image credit: BioWare, Dragon Age Wiki)Looking pretty ugly Shep.(Image credit: BioWare, Mass Effect Wiki)
I thought you were dead.(Image credit: BioWare)
I thought you were dead.(Image credit: BioWare)
I thought you were dead.(Image credit: BioWare)
I thought you were dead.(Image credit: BioWare)
I thought you were dead.(Image credit: BioWare)
Has anyone seen my little boy?(Image credit: BioWare, Dragon Age Wiki)
Has anyone seen my little boy?(Image credit: BioWare, Dragon Age Wiki)
Has anyone seen my little boy?(Image credit: BioWare, Dragon Age Wiki)
Has anyone seen my little boy?(Image credit: BioWare, Dragon Age Wiki)
Has anyone seen my little boy?(Image credit: BioWare, Dragon Age Wiki)
Looking pretty ugly Shep.(Image credit: BioWare, Mass Effect Wiki)
Looking pretty ugly Shep.(Image credit: BioWare, Mass Effect Wiki)
Looking pretty ugly Shep.(Image credit: BioWare, Mass Effect Wiki)
Looking pretty ugly Shep.(Image credit: BioWare, Mass Effect Wiki)
Looking pretty ugly Shep.(Image credit: BioWare, Mass Effect Wiki)
Its first appearance was the worst of the lot: Theoriginal Blood Dragon Armorreused a dwarven heavy armor model already in the game, one of the chunky “Massive” plate mail sets that made warriors in Dragon Age: Origins look like rejected Gears of War potato men. So it’s a generic model, and the distinctive texture setting it apart was just plain awful: pearlescent white with a neon red dragon streaking across one corner, and, dear god, glowing red eye slits and highlights like the most “A for execution, D- for vision” bespoke gamer rig the late aughts had to offer, a shameful step cousin to Bush-eraAlienware.
TheMass Effect iterationbenefitted from a sleeker model, but there’s just no getting around that color palette—it felt like you were adventuring around the galaxy wearing an advertisement. Commander Shepard would have looked more dignified in space commando armor with a big ole' DraftKings logo across the rump like a pair of MMA trunks.
And yet, for all that whinging, I feel so warm and nostalgic now. The years have tempered my bile for the frankly absurd heights of EA’s monetization schemes for BioWare games, not the least because theylost. I always feel a certain pity for Juul, the punching bag of America’s first wave of moral panic and legislation around youth vaping, now that every middle schooler in the country is honking on some kind of neon candy disposable vape rig that costs 75 cents. In a similar way, EA’s proprietary ecosystem of codes for exclusive gear and $10 companion DLC is just so adorably quaint in comparison to the permanent live service economy we live in now.
In 2024, the Blood Dragon Armor is like some kind of Golden Age comic book villain reduced toslurping applesauce in an old folks home. It can’t hurt us anymore, and I feel all my frustrations at the EA single player microtransaction schemes of yesteryear melt away, leaving only memories of the good times. The armor still looks pretty ugly in The Veilguard, though—even if I preordered the game, you couldn’t catch me in that getup.
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Dragon Age: The Veilguard is my third-favorite game of the year, and I don’t care who knowsAfter years of holding out hope, 2024 was the year I finally gave up on BioWare
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is my third-favorite game of the year, and I don’t care who knows
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is my third-favorite game of the year, and I don’t care who knows
After years of holding out hope, 2024 was the year I finally gave up on BioWare
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Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’
If you’re trying to convince me your ‘companionship’ robot is ‘lifelike’, maybe don’t rip her face off in the demo video
Square Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fans
The Sims begins its 25th anniversary celebration next week with a Behind The Sims episode of news and announcements
Path of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot
Palestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 Nakba
Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’
Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene
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