Dragon Age: Origins gameplay and discussion thread.

[Secura]

I guess that I'm a bit late to the party in this regard, but I just found out that there are two more pre-order bonuses, the Lion of Orlais sword and Fadeshear Shield, and that both of these items will not be included in my Signature Edition pre-order.

It appears that Amazon UK have gotten tired of Bioware/EA constantly approaching them saying "we need this preorder code added in" and "can you upgrade these guys to Signature Edition?", which costs Amazon extra money without getting any in return since the upgrade was free; when approached regarding these two items, Amazon UK said no and opted out.

As for Bioware, they're no better, telling all the annoyed British customers that they should direct their ire towards Amazon UK, who proceed to tell you to go and pester Bioware; I don't see why they cannot just send the codes out via email if I provide the documentation from Amazon UK regarding my order.

Is this any way to treat the customer? I've been pretty loyal to Amazon, even purchasing there when it may have been cheaper to go elsewhere... as for Bioware, I've bought pretty much every game they've ever made, expansions/DLC included. The only comfort that I have is that I'm not I didn't order the game from Play, since they actually cancelled alot of SE preorders.

[Kekvit Irae]

I guess that I'm a bit late to the party in this regard, but I just found out that there are two more pre-order bonuses, the Lion of Orlais sword and Fadeshear Shield, and that both of these items will not be included in my Signature Edition pre-order.

It appears that Amazon UK have gotten tired of Bioware/EA constantly approaching them saying "we need this preorder code added in" and "can you upgrade these guys to Signature Edition?", which costs Amazon extra money without getting any in return since the upgrade was free; when approached regarding these two items, Amazon UK said no and opted out.

As for Bioware, they're no better, telling all the annoyed British customers that they should direct their ire towards Amazon UK, who proceed to tell you to go and pester Bioware; I don't see why they cannot just send the codes out via email if I provide the documentation from Amazon UK regarding my order.

Is this any way to treat the customer? I've been pretty loyal to Amazon, even purchasing there when it may have been cheaper to go elsewhere... as for Bioware, I've bought pretty much every game they've ever made, expansions/DLC included. The only comfort that I have is that I'm not I didn't order the game from Play, since they actually cancelled alot of SE preorders.

If what they did with DA:O is any indication, Bioware will allow you to download the pre-order DLCs from their FTP site. Weither or not you'll be able to play them is another matter. Some of the pre-order DLCs from the original game could be downloaded from Bioware and played without autherization*.



* http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/58/index/81613

[johnhughthom]

Is this any way to treat the customer? I've been pretty loyal to Amazon.

EA/Bioware are messing people about here with this Signature Edition/pre-order bonus/let's squeez as much money as we can pigfat they have going on. Good on Amazon I say.

[Secura]

If what they did with DA:O is any indication, Bioware will allow you to download the pre-order DLCs from their FTP site. Weither or not you'll be able to play them is another matter. Some of the pre-order DLCs from the original game could be downloaded from Bioware and played without autherization*.

The problem with that is I'm a console gamer, as I can't play most games properly on my laptop; it's nice that Bioware do offer this service, but it doesn't really do anything for the PS3/360 gamers who draw the short straw.

[Krusader]

I just cancelled my Dragon Age 2 pre-order for the PS3.
Seeing all the DLCs, items and whatnot and seeing DA:O DLCs and expansion, I'm going to wait until they release a Dragon Age 2 Ultimate Edition with everything in it. Plus from what I gather, DLCs and Sony don't mix that well.

[Secura]

I'm going to wait until they release a Dragon Age 2 Ultimate Edition with everything in it. Plus from what I gather, DLCs and Sony don't mix that well.

You'll miss out on all the pre-order bonuses and such, though; the ultimate edition will probably just be a compilation of the downloadable content.

[Krusader]

You'll miss out on all the pre-order bonuses and such, though; the ultimate edition will probably just be a compilation of the downloadable content.

From what I see only pre-order bonuses available is a sword and a shield.
Black Emporium is apparently the "Shale DLC" of DA2, meaning it will be available for anyone who buys DA2, to disencourage second-hand buying.

[Greyblades]

Wait wait wait... We can get shale? Awesome!

[Secura]

From what I see only pre-order bonuses available is a sword and a shield.
Black Emporium is apparently the "Shale DLC" of DA2, meaning it will be available for anyone who buys DA2, to disencourage second-hand buying.

You also miss out on the Signature Edition content, which includes four extra items, an in-game armoury and the game's soundtrack.

Wait wait wait... We can get shale? Awesome!

He meant that the Black Emporium is equivalent to DA:O's Stone Prisoner, in that they both come with the game from the start; however, as far as I can recall you were actually able to download the Stone Prisoner content via PSN/XBLM.

Now that EA is pushing this whole "buy the game brand new or else!" thing, as seen with their sports games (Online Pass) and Mass Effect 2 (exclusive content), they've added the Black Emporium et al as a sort of inticement to buy the game new, lest you miss out on some cool content. It won't be available to download.

[Krusader]

You also miss out on the Signature Edition content, which includes four extra items, an in-game armoury and the game's soundtrack.

Pre-ordered after Signature Edition cutoff date so wouldn't get it anyhow.
And yes correct on "Shale DLC" meaning DLC coming with the game itself.

Since I can't get Signature Edition content, I'll rather wait for the Ultimate Edition coming in 1-2 years. Got Rift, Fallout: New Vegas, Red Dead Redemption & Mass Effect 2 to keep me interested until Witcher 2 and beyond.

[johnhughthom]

EA/Bioware are messing people about here with this Signature Edition/pre-order bonus/let's squeez as much money as we can pigfat they have going on. Good on Amazon I say.

Hmm, hours after I posted this I got an email from EA giving me a £20 off code for anything from their store, a "birthday present" as I signed up for something 2 years ago it seems. Got DA2 for £15...

[Husar]

armoury

Is that a place where you can watch all the differently-coloured versions of the same armour models hang around on torsos?
I don't think I need that if it costs 80€ extra...

[Secura]

Is that a place where you can watch all the differently-coloured versions of the same armour models hang around on torsos?
I don't think I need that if it costs 80€ extra...

Who says that the armour models are all the same save for different colours? o_O

And the content doesn't cost extra; the upgrade to Signature Edition was free. :P

[Husar]

Who says that the armour models are all the same save for different colours? o_O

They certainly were in DA:O, not all of course but the different materials were just different colours on the same model and so were most of the really good "special" armours.
It was the same in Mass Effect so I don't really expect that they have changed this for DA2, although I would certainly not complain if they have.

The extra cost is the retail(or preorder) price + all DLC - the 20€ I paid for the Complete Edition of DA during the last Steam Christmas Sale.

[rajpoot]

Not exactly related to the game discussion, but this ought to be gratifying news for PC owners who've been stung time and again, each time a publishing house supports its DRM or release decision by blaming PC piracy.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

When that dev build of Crysis 2 leaked a few weeks ago, EA was quick to condemn the PC gaming community, saying that PC piracy “continues to damage the PC packaged goods market and the PC development community.” I do wonder whether EA will be as quick to condemn console piracy now that Dragon Age 2, to be released next week, has also leaked. That’s right: the Xbox 360 version is now floating around out there, so it’s clear to me that console owners should now be subjected to the same kind of silly DRM that PC owners have had to put up with for years now.

Link to article

[Monk]

Not exactly related to the game discussion, but this ought to be gratifying news for PC owners who've been stung time and again, each time a publishing house supports its DRM or release decision by blaming PC piracy.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Link to article

Console owners already are subject to DRM. The amount of work it takes to hack/flash your xbox isn't that intensive (if you know your way around a PC its just following instructions) but its still a suffecient pain in the backside. Not to mention if you don't take steps to hide your console while playing games before release date, your console is banned from xbox live. PC users can complain about DRM all they want, and in a lot of cases they are totally justified, but last time i checked there's no DRM in place that shuts off your ISP if you break street date.

So i'm really not sure what the article is talking about.

[rajpoot]

So i'm really not sure what the article is talking about.

It's not so much about the DRM as the constant refrain of the publishers that all PC gamers are pirates and thus the PC gaming industry is going down. (Or citing it as the reason why they won't release on the PC)
I really wanted to get Red Dead Redemption. I can never get over the fact that Rockstar never released it for the PC. So yeah, I'd like to see that what will the publishers do if there a re a few more such incidents with the console versions of their games.

[Monk]

It's not so much about the DRM as the constant refrain of the publishers that all PC gamers are pirates and thus the PC gaming industry is going down. (Or citing it as the reason why they won't release on the PC)
I really wanted to get Red Dead Redemption. I can never get over the fact that Rockstar never released it for the PC. So yeah, I'd like to see that what will the publishers do if there a re a few more such incidents with the console versions of their games.

Games are almost always leaked before release date. Either through Mom & Pops stores selling before the actual street date, or actual piracy, people manage to get their hands on a game before they're supposed to. This is the case across ALL platforms. What shocked everyone in the case of Crysis 2 was not only how early it got leaked (months before release) but also the fact that the multiplayer key algorithm was stolen. Normally when a big game gets leaked that has Multiplayer, people really don't bat an eyelash since without buying the game you're stuck with playing SP. Case in point: Modern Warfare 2. It was the biggest selling game to date, and also the most pirated.

However, thanks to some pirates, Crysis 2 was leaked with a fully functioning multiplayer component. Which means EA has a much bigger problem on their hands than normal. Their number one fallback (buy for multiplayer) was negated, so they lashed out in PR. Wasn't a smart thing to do, but when you step back and look at the situation I can understand why they said what they said.

I really don't think there will be any response to this. First because Dragon Age 2 is released next week, in 4 days people will have it by legit means. Secondly, console DRM is one of the hardest hitting there is. You get caught and your box is banned, no exceptions.

As for the case of RDR, i fully feel your pain. It was one of the absolute greatest games of its year and a shame it never came to PC. Those who didnt get to play it missed a real gem.

[Techno Viking]

Bioware: We put the A button into RPG's.

[Kekvit Irae]

As for the case of RDR, i fully feel your pain. It was one of the absolute greatest games of its year and a shame it never came to PC. Those who didnt get to play it missed a real gem.

For me, I'm certainly not mourning the loss of a PC port of Red Dead Redemption. It was a mediocre game at best.

[Monk]

For me, I'm certainly not mourning the loss of a PC port of Red Dead Redemption. It was a mediocre game at best.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Oh you.

[Mailman653]

Dragon-Age:-Origins---Legend-of-Zelda-Gear-Pack
It's not news, but I thought id link it just cause I think there are some Zelda fans here and I thought they would get a kick out of it.

[Kekvit Irae]

Dragon-Age:-Origins---Legend-of-Zelda-Gear-Pack
It's not news, but I thought id link it just cause I think there are some Zelda fans here and I thought they would get a kick out of it.

psst...
http://www.dragonagenexus.com/index.php

[econ21]

Very belatedly played this game - wow, it was excellent, a true successor to BG1/BG2 and justifies a 28 page Org thread! What are peoples' opinions on Morrigan's motivation at the end of the game?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The whole give me an "old god" baby request? I said no, as the only motivation that made sense to me was that she intended to do to it what Flemeth did to her children: possess it to achieve power and cheat death. I formed this opinion, as power and survival seem to be her main motivations. Furthermore, she seemed utterly ruthless in her attitude to the Warden doing anything out of concern for the welfare of others, so I believe she would sacrifice a life to achieve her ultimate goals. Also, she had read the grimoires telling her of Flemeth's secret and more, so probably had the means. And finally she suspiciously refused to say what she planned for the child or give any reassurances about her intentions towards it. Any other possibility just seems ad hoc and not linked to what had gone before.

Did other players interpret her request the same way as I did? Maybe I am seeing her in an overly dark manner, as a result of endless "Morrigan disapproves: -2 approval" messages.

[Apologies if this has been discussed before in the thread - I've read the whole thing a couple of times without clicking spoilers, but gave up this time after page 14 or so.]

[rajpoot]

What are peoples' opinions on Morrigan's motivation at the end of the game?

Did you play the DLCs? Witch Hunt to be more specific?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

While Morrigan's motives might seem very sinister near the end of the game, but later on, in the DLC and in Dragon Age 2 (don't get that one...it's a turd), it is revealed that Flemeth is actually planning to do something a lot worse and on a far larger scale...probably a story that will arc through the entire series of Dragon Age games, and Morrigan is merely trying to get ready to do something to counter her.
Anyway, she allows the Warden to come with her to meet his son at the end of the DLC so most probably her plans won't turn out to be all that evil...or at least the lesser evil.

[phonicsmonkey]

Did other players interpret her request the same way as I did?

Totally, which is why

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I let her have the baby hoping she / it would show up in one of the sequels to cause trouble for my warden.

[econ21]

Did you play the DLCs? Witch Hunt to be more specific?

No I didn't, but thanks for the insight. It seems my son was right: he was a Morrigan fan and was sure I was painting her too black. Although I do think my interpretation is more juicy, from a dramatic standpoint. I kind of like that the story gave you that flexibility to interpret it in different ways. Loose ends are perhaps under-used in game stories; they add authenticity and scope for imagination.