Square Enix is currently my favorite:
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/d6ee0d8b4870e3d77f4bba314af3579a73d109cf
Yoshi.
That is one of the kindest things I think I've ever seen video game wise, it really is. How much money it is costing them, and why they're spending it.
To sort of add to what they're saying -- posting an ad here is allowed and encouraged (particularly in the forum for such!), and if you've been lurking around here as long as you say you have been, you'll know that you'll need to be at least moderately thick skinned to do said posting. I can't imagine that any ad thread was actually pulled by the admin around here for the reasons you've stated -- it may have ended up moved, but removed? That sounds like a misunderstanding of events on your part.
@auspice I am sincerely glad to hear that. Congratulations! I'm happy for you!
Roster vs premade characters; there have been WoD games that did offer premades -- it worked a lot like the rosters do, except once you took it you took it and it was just yours, and you could generally make minimal changes to adapt it. I never played one of them, but several games definitely tried to use the system. It never seemed to cause any particular headache that I recollect, but I also don't recall it ever being something utilized as heavily as it could've been.
eta: The term that applies here though is definitely "premades" and not rosters, and that WAS a convention in WoD mushing for a while. Probably got carried over from Cam-LARP.
So I played Origins when it hit, skipped DA2 because I wasn't doing video games at the time it released, then played DA:I really heavily. I went back and played DA2 just within the last couple of months, and I am so, so, so, /so/ sad that it took me that long to play it. With everything I'd read I was ready to be underwhelmed but I feel like a- the story was REALLY good and made up for it being pretty light on combat, and b- it is REALLY really good at adding depth to DA:I. Like DA:I was the perfect game for me even without playing it, but playing it again AFTER Kirkwall added eleventy billion more layers to the shit that was going on.
Also, Fenris > all.
(I had to put this here because I don't want to derail the other thread yet again)
Understandable. Yeah, it's not something people are going to go 'how dare you post a game of that format here!!'...but it will probably get a fair amount of flak. Not necessarily because of the genre (though somebody might get crabby about that, who knows), but just because that's how things often roll around here.
For fantasy, I always recommend Michelle West's books (The Sunsword series, the Huntbrother two, the House War books - they're all in the same universe around the same time, and it's pretty epic in scale).
Also, Glen Cook's Black Company stuff. I usually don't like my fantasy dark or very gritty, but it was such a novel premise (the main characters are the bad guys is what I can say without spoiling) and so well written I couldn't put any of it down, really. All of his stuff is good, but the Black Company is worlds above the rest of it.
I probably said all this before. Enh.
How long in do you tend to get bored? At what point? Weeks or months? How big is your usual playgroup?
It sounds to me like it's not a problem with the characters you're building, honestly; there's probably an issue there, but I don't have enough information to determine what it is yet.
What genres have you tried? How many different games?
Edited to add: The only real bit of feedback I would maybe have based on just what's said here -- stop with the very deep and detailed backstory. Leave plenty open to figure out and grow in play. Sometimes we make the mistake of making all the interesting things happen to the character before we start playing them. The story's already done, the issues are resolved. They can be the coolest character ever, but they're never going to achieve the heights they did in their past...and that can make a character fall flat very rapidly.
MageHawke and Fenris-friend (instead of Fenris-rival) story is really, really good. By the end he's laughing, cracking jokes with Varric, and so on. I understand why you might not personally enjoy it, but I feel no shame for your disgust.
Someday I’m gonna make a game in that world. I have permission. She was thrilled to be asked. She is super nice and super engaged with her fans.
I think I am in pain. I'm not sure, I'll figure it out when the shock wears off.
Yeah, totally, and we'll probably have something saying 'I read all the rules' and stuff...but that doesn't mean people actually read them, and while it's annoying as all hell...enh. I don't read ELUAs like I should. It happens. But yeah, I agree in general with what you're saying.
lol thus why I completely left DA:I out of the comparison. DA:I is to date my favorite game's combat.
That's what these last few books are for!
Resolving the plots.
Really, this time.
(maybe not.)
(keep going. I'll read 'em.)
@faceless It is super dumb. Super dumb.
@saosmash Pfft. Peeeeew (like a BAD smell) wallop (like the hitting!).
Also also also.
One of the OTHER things I've noticed that alongside less tolerance for rule-breaking is the fact that I don't make as MANY rules. My questions list for whether or not a rule is necessary has gotten way longer.
Why is this needed?
Is it a personal taste issue that has nothing to do with anything?
Am I making this rule just because other games have this rule?
The big ones I've added to my wheelhouse lately is:
Am I willing to do what would be required to enforce it?
Am I willing to be the one responsible for enforcing it?
Will I enforce it?
(yes, yes, doublepost, but I didn't feel like an edit was appropriate for this. shut up.)
okay this is the last post for a while.
It's okay, my post totally wasn't clear about it. We were talking about all three and then I stopped to make a comparison between two of the three things. Presuming I also included the third unspoken is not a bad take.