Dragon Age: Origins gameplay and discussion thread.

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Originally Posted by Beskar

think 'frogbeastegg' represents a collective of people who moderate.

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Uh oh, the secret's out! :runs to the frog cave to begin emergency measures!:

With Bioware's earlier games I tended to play a male character because female ones had reduced or inferior content, or were just faintly embarrassing. Around KOTOR they started to improve, and finally with ME, ME2 and DA:O they have drawn even with their male counterparts in terms of content. Now we have - after 12 years - a real official female lead.

Can I swap Miss Official Warden for an official female Shepard? The Warden's such a bland character and the female version of Shepard is widely acknowledged to be miles better than the male thanks to the voice acting. Jennifer Hale is one of the best in the business.

Actually, thinking about the subject, Shepard is flat out the best female character in any game. She's a person first and always; the fact she's female is incidental instead of the defining factor. She does the same things as the male Shepard in much the same way but with a certain touch that's different, she doesn't pose or walk like a model, she doesn't have inflated proportions or a sex appeal outfit, and she doesn't even wear make up unless you choose to! That last is a minor miracle in and of itself; I can only think of a single other major female character (where graphical capability permits) who is not plastered with make up and that's the original Joanna Dark, before the hideous makeover. The Joanna who appeared in the original publicity and N64 game was very different to the one used for the launch publicity, 360 game and forthcoming remake.

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Originally Posted by frogbeastegg

Actually, thinking about the subject, Shepard is flat out the best female character in any game. She's a person first and always; the fact she's female is incidental instead of the defining factor. She does the same things as the male Shepard in much the same way but with a certain touch that's different, she doesn't pose or walk like a model, she doesn't have inflated proportions or a sex appeal outfit, and she doesn't even wear make up unless you choose to!

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Agreed! I was so happy to find out that Jennifer Hale was voicing Shepard for ME2, I was really impressed with her in ME1. :2thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by frogbeastegg

Actually, thinking about the subject, Shepard is flat out the best female character in any game. She's a person first and always...

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What a profoundly amazing coincidence, just half an hour ago I was discussing Shepard vs. Warden with my betrothed. She's played DA:O, ME and ME2 and thinks that the Warden is a much more interesting character because of the room she is allowed to grow into, whereas Shepard is "emotionless, bland and rigid, always the same tough gal regardless of choices made in the game." My position is that Shepard is a soldier first and foremost, a more defined character, yes, but one that the story can delve into in a more profound manner. The Warden is more of a template, not really a "character" as far as traditional methods of storytelling would imply.

Well, it's hard for the warden to compete, in all honestly, simply for the fact he or she doesn't talk, whereas Shepard does. That gives quite some weight to the character.

I went back to ME after unlocking all DA:O achievements, and boy how I was surprised to hear the main character talking. A joke is much more effective if it said by someone rather than read on a screen. Plus the voice acting is actually pretty good, even in french.

It's been officially announced that Oghren is the returning companion in Awakening and not Alistair (who'd most likely be returning but not as a companion).

Dragon Age 2?

To hell with the graphics! And who knows they might've been working on Dragon Age 2 parallel with DA:O, kind of like CA people do with Total War titles....great great news :yes:

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Originally Posted by frogbeastegg

Around KOTOR they started to improve, and finally with ME, ME2 and DA:O they have drawn even with their male counterparts in terms of content. Now we have - after 12 years - a real official female lead.

Can I swap Miss Official Warden for an official female Shepard? The Warden's such a bland character and the female version of Shepard is widely acknowledged to be miles better than the male thanks to the voice acting. Jennifer Hale is one of the best in the business.

Actually, thinking about the subject, Shepard is flat out the best female character in any game. She's a person first and always; the fact she's female is incidental instead of the defining factor. She does the same things as the male Shepard in much the same way but with a certain touch that's different, she doesn't pose or walk like a model, she doesn't have inflated proportions or a sex appeal outfit, and she doesn't even wear make up unless you choose to! That last is a minor miracle in and of itself; I can only think of a single other major female character (where graphical capability permits) who is not plastered with make up and that's the original Joanna Dark, before the hideous makeover. The Joanna who appeared in the original publicity and N64 game was very different to the one used for the launch publicity, 360 game and forthcoming remake.

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I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favourite post in the thread.

Seriously though, Shepard as a female lead is fantastic, and it's great that Dragon Age: Origins material is suggesting that a female Warden is canon. When was the last time an RPG did this, though? Knights of the Old Republic II has a canon female lead in The Exile, but when you consider the flaws of the game and storyline against the original (such is the bane of a rushed release), it doesn't really hold as much weight for me as Commander Shepard.

I'm a fan of just about any game that Jennifer Hale puts her vocal talents to, and still think a canon female Shepard would've been a better choice than the sometimes bland delivery of Mark Meer. Cam Clarke is one of my favourite male vocalists for games; gotta love the hammyness. :P

Any representation for women that isn't portrayed by unrealistic body proportions (like Lara could perform all those athletic somersaults without a damn good sports bra) or a stripperific outfit (Bayonetta for example) is great; it shows that developers are finally considering the female gamer. Since the release of the Wii (ugh) and games becoming available to a wider market, I get a lot less "oh, you play video games" than I did back in college when Beskie and I cut class to play Battlefront II. xD

You know secura i completely agree with you. i hate scantily clad video game characters. i dont find it "hot" and i would much rather prefer a women who actually wears armor instead of defying the laws of nature and blocking a sword stroke with her near naked breasts. I couldnt stand playing morrigan and always made her a arcane warrior so she could wear armor.

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Originally Posted by Centurion1

I couldnt stand playing morrigan and always made her a arcane warrior so she could wear armor.

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I actually liked Morrigan's outfit, because it suited her life in the Korcari Wilds and her overall character as a shapeshifter. She doesn't need to be encumbered by robes or chainmail if she's going to transform into a spider or fling spells around, after all, and where would she even procure such clothing from anyway? That and I loved the reaction that her outfit garnered from Leiliana and Oghren; the indignant tone in Claudia Black's retorts regarding the perverts is fantastic.

On the other hand, I dislike the outfit of... say Ivy in Soul Calibur. Her outfit may be as stripperific as Morrigan's, but Ivy's supposed to be an up-close-and-personal kinda gal, stabbing/whipping the living daylights out of her opponents, but her scantily-clad form (and ridiculous proportions) would realistically have no real protective qualities at all.

They may both be fanservice outfits, but at least Morrigan's makes some sense.

You really think something that exposes most of your body is suited for living in a forest? What about all the pointy branches, high grass, slimy plants, biting insects even poisonous plants? You would come home every night scratching, itching and bleeding. Although perhaps Morrigan enjoys that....


I guess she could have stolen a nice dress instead of some shiny mirror...

I found that the lady who drew the Revelation comic, Dana Russo has a gallery on DeviantArt. It has a nice collection of several other Dragon Age comics she's drawn.

BTW a few of the comics have mature content.

Link

In the Revelation comic she's referring to her favourite Warden character who's a female-dwarf-noble, (I think).

http://aimo.deviantart.com/art/ME2-S...rrus-156963498

OT picture, but priceless!

So, Awakenings. Separate thread or continue to use this one? What's the general preference?

I decided that I shall start a new character in Awakenings. DA:O did not make me care about either of the characters I completed it with, and if I take a warrior/archer I can try out the final class type without needing to slog through Origins a third time. I don't want to play Origins again. Ever. It's downright tedious on a replay.

On the subject of gear in DA:O, I can't say that I like the light female armour. Sure it's an improvement over the standard chainmail bikini. It's the pointless stupid cat collar that gets me. Why? Just why?! Does my mage look like someone's pet? Speaking of mages, what's with the entire groin hugging ornament thing and "Oops, I put my bra on after my clothes!" effect?

Haha, it's kind of cheesy that you grow more attached to NPC's than to your own character in a RPG. I feel the same, I don't remember any of my 3 characters' name.

I think we can keep this topic for Awakenings. It was about to die, the expansion will probably bring it back to life a bit (though my overall feeling is that the org community doesn't like DA much).

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Originally Posted by johnhughthom

You really think something that exposes most of your body

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It doesn't really expose that much, really. Her legs are well covered, her arms are mostly protected... she's just showing hella cleavage and some midriff. If you lived in the woodlands and needed clothing, you'd make the best out of what rags you could find too, no? :P

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Originally Posted by Meneldil

though my overall feeling is that the org community doesn't like DA much

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I love DA:O, but it feels as though it was Bioware's stop-gap for their fans until they could release ME2.

I like DAO too, I couldn't put down for almost two weeks straight.

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Originally Posted by Mailman653

I like DAO too, I couldn't put down for almost two weeks straight.

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Same. Zero desire to play since though.

Yeah, I liked it too. Unlocked all achievements, played the game 3 times and almost know it by heart. Still, I don't think I'll remind it much in 10 years.

DA:O was good, but not rememberable as other games.

As for Awakenings, Bioware stated it has 15 hours of gameplay did they not? Considering the word was 60-80 hours for DA:O and I used 45 on first playthrough with all dialogue, I'm not keen on dropping 30 € for what I think is 10 hours worth of content, if not less. RtO was also very little for the price.

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Originally Posted by Krusader

As for Awakenings, Bioware stated it has 15 hours of gameplay did they not? Considering the word was 60-80 hours for DA:O and I used 45 on first playthrough with all dialogue, I'm not keen on dropping 30 € for what I think is 10 hours worth of content, if not less.

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That's a good point, I easly must of done 8+hrs on the first day without even noticing how much time I spent playing the game. Spending what I think is half the price of the original game on an expansion that I might might finish in a day and a half doesn't seem like a good investment dispite it's appeal.

I think the advertised lenght is more like 30 hours, but I might be wrong on this.

I liked DA:O a lot more on the first playthrough than the second. Some of the area design is very poor, and the pacing is all over the place. There were plenty of places I didn't want to revisit and none I looked forward to seeing again. Presentation is the another killer. Visually the game is bland, generic, boring and occasionally downright ugly, both in terms of design and in terms of graphics. The conversations are boring to watch and are years behind those of the original Mass Effect. The third and final blow comes from the plot - it's rubbish. Comparing what we got to what Bioware promised I do rather wonder if they a)read any fantasy books which aren’t aimed at young adults and b)played their own game.

The companions are mostly very good. They're one of the game's strongest points, and most of my better memories of the game involve standing around chatting or the pithy little comments they interject into conversations with other characters. I do like the challenge presented by combat and I like the need to think of tactics. The character building system is decent, though the skills are not balanced as well as they need to be. No good and evil metre, hurrah! Individual influence with your party which ebbs and flows in a reasonably natural manner, hurrah!

I shall pick up Awakenings when I can find it for a reasonable price. At first they insisted there would be no disc based version for the xbox, and the price they've been throwing around is far more than I'd want to pay. A few days ago I noticed a disc based version has quietly slipped onto the release schedules; roll on the discounts.

Rock Paper Shotgun has a short article with videos of companions, as its coming out tomorrow in US and Thursday/Friday in Europe:

RPS article

I'm just not that interested in this expansion really. When Steam has a Thanksgiving/Christmas sales again, I'll pick it up.

Oh snap... the DLC is out at the end of the weekend?

I was saving my points for Rock Band DLC this week, but I've been waiting for Awakening for a while. >.<

18th = Thursday.

Bah, I think The Subways and Lady Gaga will end up cheaper than Awakening, so I'll have to wait til I can buy more points. :<

Awakening is out on Thursday? I know what I will be doing then.

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Originally Posted by Secura

Lady Gaga will end up cheaper than Awakening

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Nothing is cheaper than Lady Gaga. Oh wait, you mean the Rock Band DLC... :juggle2:

Ok, I installed Awakening and to my surprise none of my DLC stuff is working. Through searching the official forums, I found out it's by design. Now my Blood Mage is naked. -.-
Thankfully, there's already a mod for that. http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=874

Thanks for the link. Quite handy, as my rogue and war are covered with DLC items.

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Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae

Ok, I installed Awakening and to my surprise none of my DLC stuff is working. Through searching the official forums, I found out it's by design. Now my Blood Mage is naked. -.-
Thankfully, there's already a mod for that. http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=874

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"Thankfully, there's already a mod" to make your Blood Mage naked?

For some reason, that is what I read your post as the first time.

Any first impressions from the expansion pack?

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Originally Posted by Mailman653

Any first impressions from the expansion pack?

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So far, it's on par with the original game. It adds a whole new tier of techniques for each class, a new teir for each weapon teir, three new skills (Runecrafting, +health, +mana/stamina), two new prestige classes for each class, there is a crap load of sidequests, some of your actions in DA will affect some dialogue in Awakening (just like ME1>ME2), Oghren is still the same lovable drunkard as he always was, and the writing and voice acting is still great..

Just about the only thing I don't like is that (if memory serves me correct), it was hyped as having a revamped dialogue system. I haven't seen any change whatsoever. Oh, and the memory leaks at around 30-60 minute mark.

While redoing several of my favourite bits in the original game to get in the mood for the xpack, I was going through the end of the Sacred Ashes quest with Leliana and Oghren both in my team. This time around I got a bit of dialogue which might be the 'scientific' explanation for the mystical power of the ashes.
When Leliana starts to get all excited about the ashes and their power, Oghren basically tells her to keep her pants on since he sees in the walls of the mountain very thick veins of Lyrium, and according to him, it's the Lyrium that is affecting everything within the temple walls, slowly changing stuff.

Edit:

The revamped dialogue system, if Bioware forums are an accepted source, simply refers to the fact that the Warden can no longer have long camp conversations with the characters about their past and stuff. Atleast that is what I understood.

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Originally Posted by india

The revamped dialogue system, if Bioware forums are an accepted source, simply refers to the fact that the Warden can no longer have long camp conversations with the characters about their past and stuff. Atleast that is what I understood.

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Then there's no point to gifts. At level 24, I couldn't care less about a meager +2 or whatever bonus to stats for having a high attitude rating. If there's no deep conversations, there's no point.

Here's what's exactly been done.
Quoting a user from the Bioware forum (no spoilers, the tags are there so that it remains neat) -

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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The dialogue changes.. I'm sure I will catch a lot of flak for this point but I feel it needs to be noted. For those of you who don't know what this is all about the way you can interact with your companions has been modified. In Origins you could initiate a conversation with party members in the field or in camp whenever you wanted via a right click, and from there you could delve through a great many dialogue options (some useful, some not so much but that's beside the point). In Awakening this functionality has been removed and replaced with companion interactions that are only available when it is convenient to the story, so to speak. You can no longer talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime, but are marshaled by plot flags signaling an important conversation needs to take place or the use of environmental mediums to to be a point of conversation. What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? I can see the logic behind this change, some of the dialogue in Origins was essentially fat and this new system does fit well with the pacing of Awakening but the involving party conversations was one of the highlights of Origins for me and I found myself missing this aspect immensely. I couldn't help feeling that maybe I would have connected with the new cast on a deeper level if they felt more human and accessible. When there was no conversation available for a particular character you would hear a generic line of dialogue spoken as you would expect from right clicking on a non-important NPC.

Now I am sympathetic to why these changes were made, trying to slim down the "fat" dialogue, faster game pace needed a slimmer dialogue system, wanting to cater to players who didn't enjoy the conversation heavy Origins, and so on. That's all well and good and I'm not suggesting that this system should be reverted entirely for the next installment but I do believe a happy medium is in order. This isn't a Mass Effect hybrid game, it's a CRPG, plain and simple, slimming down the immerse elements like deep and involving conversation is not allowed!

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Here's a link to the thread.

Why do they keep slimming stuff down? They slim down RTS games, they slim down RPGs, they slim down shooters.....they slim down everything. Not cool.

Oooooooookey dokey... Not my best idea ever. Pulled all nighter to see if my suspicion that I could get through the game in one (long) sitting was possible.

Complement sandwich:

Goods:

1) I like the new specializations quite a bit, add some new flavor and strategy.

2) The expansion's construction seems, I dunno, somehow well built. Can't really put my thumb on what I mean.

3) Return of Wade.

Bads:

1) Ogren

2) Lack of warrior choices for NPC characters.

3) Game a bit easy at times with a rogue-focused party, as they simply deal out sooooooooo much damage.

4) No initiated discussions- kind of a problem for me, npc characters don't really feel all that well developed as a result.

5) Ogren

6) Howe kid? Really? Really?

Goods(again):

1) Rogues good enough to exclude Ogren from party.

2) New guy mage is easily best NPC- if for nothing else, his intro. Sorta like hippy, guy version of Morrigan(and the big plus of not starting with shapeshifting)

3) Game not as short as initially feared- roughly 11-12 hours into it. Plot fairly clear, but still estimating at least 5 more hours, maybe more.


Overall, probably not worth the price at the moment, as I'd figured. If not for them cleverly releasing it while I was on spring break, my discipline would have held better. Still enjoyable, I think. Also, all the more reason DA:O is better for PC- I'm willing to bet modders can get the new specializations, items, and stuff into the main campaign.

What don't you like about Oghren, Yaseikhaan?

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Originally Posted by Scienter

What don't you like about Oghren, Yaseikhaan?

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99% of his dialogue can be summarized as one of the following:

1) "Oghren, your breath smells terrible!" "Yeah, aint I a scamp?"

2) "Oghren, you really do drink too much." "Yeah, aint I a scamp?"

or lastly,

3) "Hey, *insert female NPC*, whatcha doing tonight?" "Get away, Oghren." "Aint I a scamp?"

It really gets tiresome after hearing it for what feels like the millionth time. For me, alcoholism and womanizing cease to be funny when that's the 99% of the character's development. I've had one reference to something unrelated, Branka. Which ended up being a reference for his womanizing. :wall:

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Originally Posted by india

Here's what's exactly been done.
Quoting a user from the Bioware forum (no spoilers, the tags are there so that it remains neat) -


Here's a link to the thread.

Why do they keep slimming stuff down? They slim down RTS games, they slim down RPGs, they slim down shooters.....they slim down everything. Not cool.

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Maybe they hope to keep the "traditional fans" while they slim down so more of the "RAAARGH! Why is there thinking involved, let me fight" crowd will buy the game.

IGN Awakening review, spoiler free

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Though the main quest could probably be completed in a few days of focused play, exploring all the side quests and gathering up all the codex entries could take twice that time.

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Sounds good to me!

Can someone explain how you port your character from the main game to the expansion? I've played through the game at least six times so does that mean I can only port the character I'm with now, or can I pick from my past characters?

You can pick any character you want. When you start a game, you have a choice: either you make a new Orlesian Warden, or you take any of the characters saved in your profile.

Note that, as Kekvit Irae said, a character using gear from DLC's (Warden's Keep, Prisonner of Stone or Return to Ostagar, and probably Blood Dragon Armor and other promotional items) will start naked.

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Originally Posted by Meneldil

You can pick any character you want. When you start a game, you have a choice: either you make a new Orlesian Warden, or you take any of the characters saved in your profile.

Note that, as Kekvit Irae said, a character using gear from DLC's (Warden's Keep, Prisonner of Stone or Return to Ostagar, and probably Blood Dragon Armor and other promotional items) will start naked.

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Its been odd for me. I got some of my DLC, but not all. eg- I started with the Helmet of Honleath, but did not get my two Warden's Keep-related swords. Also of note, items which I got from mods also came through. :shrug:

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Originally Posted by Yaseikhaan

Its been odd for me. I got some of my DLC, but not all. eg- I started with the Helmet of Honleath, but did not get my two Warden's Keep-related swords. Also of note, items which I got from mods also came through. :shrug:

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Apparently, only The Stone Prisoner and Return to Ostagar import just fine without problems. Every other official DLC is hosed.

Ok, finished the game. More compliment sandwhich:

Pros:

1) Game does a pretty solid job of making you want to end the game and see what happens. Seems like a solid choice presented to you right before the end.

2) Despite what I thought was overdoing it, in terms of upgrading armor and weapons, the final boss still presented a challenge.

3) NPC's behave a bit more realistically at a juncture point at the end, ended up having to fight two at once for it. However, radical choice was made, radical consequences to be expected.

Cons:

1) Game started looping on me after the final battle, with the cutscene not wanting to go away after it was done. Took hitting escape a lot to get out.

2) Game ends abruptly. I thought I'd get a bit more story, or at least see *character redacted, you'll know when you get there* again. But nope. I was hoping a few more things might get expanded upon, cleared up. Especially the concept of the Children were not explained, for some reason.

3) Related to 1, massive technical problems. Final battle took forever, due to enormous lag problems. Probably the memory leak thing. Very irksome, DA:O had no such problem.

4) In terms of enemies, there's not much new in concept. Some "new" enemies are basically re-skins of other enemies from DA:O

Pros, again:

1: End "credits"/epilogue seemed more thorough than DA:O was, on a per capita basis, anyways.

2) I rather liked the story, for the most part. They had a fair bit of good ideas. Only issue- see con #2.

3) Last few areas well designed, not an excessive dungeon crawl-fest to get to the last boss, unlike DA:O, which took roughly three years to get through the last battle.

I just realised it, there isn't any dog.....why? Where'd the dog go?

Apparently, an advertising shipped with the game shows the date 01.02.2011 and a blood dragon. DA2? Looks like it.

Does anyone know how to edit a saved file so I can change a result of a quest? The game did a bug and it has really upset me, I will put it in spoilers.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I went to the city and I got a quest from the smugglers to talk to this bar guy, I ultimately never did it anyway, since I got another quest from the guard to put an end to the smugglers. So I went around and killed the smugglers, etc etc. So I went to the guard to talk to him and he just goes "You are not better than a common murderer" "I don't want to talk to you". So I am sitting here going "What the..." and all the city guards go "Even Grey Wardens can be bought for gold". So yeah... now my entire city hates me, because the quests bugged and there is nothing I can do about it and if I want to correct it, I would have to re-do the whole expansion when I am most likely near the end of it. It has really frustrated me and it prevents me from even continuing the game, because it is utterly stupid that I should be penalised for something I didn't even do.

Played and completed. Awakenings was like a digest version of the main game; same general overview (forest area, deep road area, fade area, big battle area, etc) but more condensed and in some ways better for it. It felt like there was less filler; fewer repetitive battles, less slogging around desolate areas to fill in blanks on the map. I won't attempt to play through it a second time as I know I'd enjoy it a lot less.

It took me around 16 hours to do the main quest with nearly all of the side quests. I went back to an earlier save to try the other side of the big choice you make, so that’s some additional play time. Not bad.

Anders=Alistair with a different name, class and model. It's even the same voice actor, right? Or if not he sounds remarkably similar.

Lots more good banter dialogues. The characters I acquired early on were an interesting bunch. Nate and Anders were a golden pairing, both in terms of what they gave me in battle and in terms of banter. Sigrun was nice. Ogren managed to be mostly tolerable. Justice would have been more interesting if I'd had more time with him, as the game didn't give him much chance to talk to me. I couldn't stand that magic elf chick; constant vocal attitude and whining about everything, and she was an inferior mage compared to Anders anyway.

I started out with a newly built warrior/archer as planned, hit level 20 and decided it was not suited to me at all so I imported my rogue/dual wielder. Deadly in Origins, he became death incarnate in Awakenings. 36% of the total party damage belonged to him according to the heroic stats ... and everyone else had 7% or under. I walked all over everything the game threw at me; sky high dex plus all of the evasion boosting skills meant little could hit me, solid armour and a tonne of health meant the hits which did get through barely made me blink, and dual wielding a pair of ubered up weapons with massive bonuses to critical chance and damage and backstab damage meant I dealt good damage with my basic attack, meaning skills and modes could be saved for when they were most needed.

Awakenings feels like it should be the end of this particular entry into the Dragon Age universe. The story is tied up, the characters have been assigned detailed fates, and the game mechanics can't offer much more without some heavier tweaking. I've played as all 3 major character types, seen all 4 main endings for the basic game and both for Awakenings, got all of the achievements, and definitely feel like I am done. Time for a true sequel, not more DLC or expansions.

Completed Awkening now myself. It is a pleasant expansion taking a total of 11:30 for the first playthrough. It left me inspired to re-do the entire game up to Awakening on a character, to trying make an experience out of it all. Possibly doing Awakening as a Cousland would bring up some very interesting choices.

Finished in around 15 hours with almost all sidequests. Sadly, the power creep and more uniform difficulty made the actual gameplay experience worse IMO - you start powerful and end up overpowered. There's pretty much not a single challenge in the whole game, and this on Nightmare. I didn't lose a single battle, and a party member was downed perhaps half a dozen times across the entire game. Even the endboss

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

was pathetically easy for an archer plucking away at long range, other party members nearby in hold position.

About archery... something is seriously wrong if the most effective way to play a class is to activate a couple of abilities and then keep auto-attacking. The dual-wielding Momentum rogue has at least a few useful combat Talents, but the archer is actually penalized for using Talents. Debilitating attacks mean little when any target dies in seconds, and using them is pretty much pointless anyways on the higher difficulties where debuff durations are extremely short.

In short I agree with Froggy, game mechanics need a serious overhaul. The new Mage abilities and specializations are especially ridiculous. More useful active Talents, less boring sustained abilities, nerf damage across the board, make status effects useful again.

Finished it now. Didn't do many side quests, just rushed through.
So first thought is, that putting in the rune crafting system in such a short expansion seems useless.
Second, they really have made the warrior class better. Of the two new specializations, the fade one is actually quite good for damage dealing.
Third, the epilogue was....very thorough. Though it kind of rubbished the Origins epilogue.
Spoiler about the epilogue-

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Origins said that the Warden decided to pursue Morrigan....I was hoping that after Awakening, that'll be mentioned somehow in the end, but it wasn't.....all it said that the Warden vanished without a word.

Alienware is giving away a free DLC shield in limited quantities. Around than 240,000 left.

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Bulwark of the True King

Dragon Age: Origins Stats


* Tier 5
* +3 Willpower
* +2 Constitution
* +3 Defense
* +1 Armor

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Stats


* Tier 7
* +5 Willpower
* +3 Constitution
* +3 Defense
* +1 Armor
* Absorbs Damage

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Wow, that's a nice shield; does it upgrade automatically if I upload my Origins Warden into Awakening?

I'm yet to get the latter, you see. :3

EDIT: Nevermind, it's North America only! :<

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Originally Posted by Secura

Wow, that's a nice shield; does it upgrade automatically if I upload my Origins Warden into Awakening?

I'm yet to get the latter, you see. :3

EDIT: Nevermind, it's North America only! :<

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I don't think it upgrades, but the code grants you two shields, one for Origins and one for Awakening, so it's possible you get a new one if you transfer a character into Awakening.

And as for the little NA-only problem, you could always get a Yank friend who doesn't play to sign up and give you his/her code.

It's also PC only, I have the game on 360. :<

I really should have read it better; I play a tanking character, saw it and got pretty excited (I got reallly unlucky with the Fade Wall shield), so kinda jumped on it with a reply without looking deeper into the link.

Thanks anyway! :P

To those who read the codex entries, did anyone else notice Bioware pulled a "Mass Effect 2" on us with Awakening? Some codex entries don't match up with what I did in Origins.
Regarding Isolde: "She gave her life to free Connor from demonic possession." Uhh... no, she didn't. I didn't go all the way back to the Circle Tower just so she could die.

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Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae

To those who read the codex entries, did anyone else notice Bioware pulled a "Mass Effect 2" on us with Awakening? Some codex entries don't match up with what I did in Origins.
Regarding Isolde: "She gave her life to free Connor from demonic possession." Uhh... no, she didn't. I didn't go all the way back to the Circle Tower just so she could die.

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That was a bug in Origins too.

Just when I thought I was done buying new DLC for DA:O after the craptastic Return to Ostagar, Bioware pulls out an April Fools Day DLC pack.

http://dragonage.bioware.com/addon/feastday

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Throughout Thedas, the great holiday of Satinalia is marked by sumptuous feasts, wild celebration, and naming the town fool as ruler for a day. Amid the feasting, it is customary for friends, lovers, and traveling companions to exchange gifts and pranks.

Feastday gifts and pranks offer the player a chance to explore the approval system in Dragon Age: Origins at greater depth by making your companions despise or adore you. Feastday gifts and pranks packs are available for purchase individually or as a combo pack containing both the Gifts and Pranks.

Feastday Gifts and Pranks are available for the following party members:

* Alistair
* Leliana
* Morrigan
* Shale
* Wynne

* Dog
* Loghain
* Oghren
* Sten
* Zevran

* Feastday gifts and pranks are only playable from Dragon Age: Origins game.

http://na.llnet.bioware.cdn.ea.com/u...dog_pranks.png

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Not bad for only three dollars.

Nice.
Although I'll wait, as the scenes from that DLC pack will surely end up on Youtube later.

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Originally Posted by Krusader

Nice.
Although I'll wait, as the scenes from that DLC pack will surely end up on Youtube later.

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If you're a PC owner, then there's one more reason why you should wait: EA takes your money without giving you your DLC. Apparently, this only happens if you buy it from the BioWare store and not from in-game menu.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae

If you're a PC owner, then there's one more reason why you should wait: EA takes your money without giving you your DLC. Apparently, this only happens if you buy it from the BioWare store and not from in-game menu.

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Bioware seems to have blunders with is fans these latest two months. First Ostagar, then Firewalker DLC, the Bazaar and now this...luckily I still have my 1200 Bioware points...although will wait and see if other peoples have problems buying the Kasumi DLC for Mass Effect 2.

After FINALLY being able to download the April Fools DLC, I am now laughing my butt off at the cleverness of some of the tricks. I gave the Uncrushable Pigeon to Shale, which now resides on her shoulder. As an apology, I gave her the Pet Rock (which I named Alistair). Good times.

EDIT: Oh, and not to mention that the tricks are actually pretty useful. The Butterfly Sword (for Sten) gives a +12 Attack, +1.5 Armor Penetration, "Rainbow Power", "Attracts Butterflies", and "Low Morale"

Bioware has just announced The Darkspawn Chronicles DLC.

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You now fight as the Darkspawn! The city of Denerim, jewel of Ferelden, girds itself for war. As a hurlock vanguard, you alone hold the power to make thralls of your fellow darkspawn and drive them into the heat of battle. Heed the archdemon's call--Denerim must burn!

* A look at an alternate history: what if your character had died in the Joining ceremony, and the Grey Wardens marched under Alistair's command instead?
* A standalone adventure in which you command genlocks, hurlocks, shrieks, and even the mighty ogres.
* Complete the module and unlock an epic Darkspawn item in DA:O and Awakening.

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All I can say is... AWESOME!

Dragon Age Machinima. The Warden's Fall, Episode 1 -

http://www.machinima.com:80/film/view&id=49389

Can't get it to show in the post for some reason. So, I've put in the link to the page.

Where does the video fit into the DA story? Is it after the first game and before awakening, or is the the awakening story? (I never got the expansion pack).

It's after the Archdemon is slain, and before Awakening. The Wardens, far as I understood, are the Orlesian Wardens who have already died by the time Awakening begins. The bald Warden with the round shield on his back is most likely Kristoff.
There are a lot of 'maybe's because this is just the first episode. The whole story is about Kristoff and his final mission.

Edit:
If you didn't get the Awakening, then the story won't make sense I guess. But it still is a very well done video. Makes me want to start messing about with the toolset myself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae

Bioware has just announced The Darkspawn Chronicles DLC.




All I can say is... AWESOME!

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I had hopes that it would've had a bit more depth, but at $5 I don't have a lot of room to complain. It was nice and mindless and amused me for about an hour, though I can't say I would play it again. :book:

More DLC: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/to.../index/2899778

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Originally Posted by johnhughthom

More DLC: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/to.../index/2899778

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This is my angry face. :skull:

I guess the most logical question is why? We already know the story of Leliana's journey into the chantry, she gives quite a lot of detail when recounting it during the main game. Why devote an entire DLC to something we already know is beyond me. While we're at it, why not devote an entire DLC to Ostogar and... oh.

I like the idea of taking control of a former party member as your character, but shouldn't we be focusing more on future events rather than the past? Dragon Age 2 is likely an inevitability at this point, why not some in-between stories like the sten's journey home? Bah, i say.

Question is easy to answer:

They got the story already. Only have to fill in a few gaps, expand and stretch a bit there and done. Overpriced DLC for little amount of work (although Bioware might surprise us).

I heard somewhere you can get a lot more money in the Dwarf Noble origin than any other one, yet even after selling almost everything but weapons, armor, and poultices, I only make 63 sliver. I think I made more money in my pansy Dalish Elf origin... what am I doing wrong? Is there some kind of hidden stash of gold if you can pick locks?

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Originally Posted by Double A

I heard somewhere you can get a lot more money in the Dwarf Noble origin than any other one, yet even after selling almost everything but weapons, armor, and poultices, I only make 63 sliver. I think I made more money in my pansy Dalish Elf origin... what am I doing wrong? Is there some kind of hidden stash of gold if you can pick locks?

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Haven't done it, but you're to agree to support one of the nobles for a lot of money (100 gold iirc) and then sell the "check" for less money in a store (since you only keep money at the end).

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Originally Posted by johnhughthom

More DLC: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/to.../index/2899778

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So Corinne Kempa was telling the truth! More Leliana! <3

I don't even have Return to Ostagar. If I don't plan on getting now, and I'm in Ostagar for the first time, should I open up the mage's chest? I read on the wiki you can't get some kind of magic staff if you open it.

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Originally Posted by Secura

More Leliana! <3

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Hottest bisexual bard evar. Of course, I'm having a hard time thinking of any other bards, so I guess the competition isn't fierce.

Shame on Bioware. I played through DA:O three times in a row, bought RtO and WK and realized this once awesome company turned into a bunch of greedy bastards. So no DA:OA or any other cheap DLC either. As for ME2, I'll get it when it's on sale on Impulse or Steam.

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Originally Posted by Meneldil

Shame on Bioware. I played through DA:O three times in a row, bought RtO and WK and realized this once awesome company turned into a bunch of greedy bastards. So no DA:OA or any other cheap DLC either. As for ME2, I'll be it when it's on sale on Impulse or Steam.

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Who publishes BioWare games again?

Exactly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Meneldil

Shame on Bioware. I played through DA:O three times in a row, bought RtO and WK and realized this once awesome company turned into a bunch of greedy bastards. So no DA:OA or any other cheap DLC either. As for ME2, I'll be it when it's on sale on Impulse or Steam.

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DA:OA was quite bland in my opinion, very meh. I think it was around the third or fourth major boss fight where I realized.. not a single character who i had met was likable or at all relate-able. Don't get me wrong they were quite interesting, but interesting does not transfer into likability. I didn't want to see any of those people live through the encounters we were going into, yet I was stuck with them at my side. There was one character who I found to be tolerable, and Bioware took quite the :daisy: route and killed her off. I was really disappointed. She may have been bland, but she was the only person I actually wanted to talk to. I uninstalled the game shortly after the 4th hour mark, and will likely never go back. IMHO you're not missing much.

Mass Effect 2 on the other hand, well, i detailed my thoughts on that months ago. Still play it to this day. :yes: