Dragon Age: Origins gameplay and discussion thread.

[rajpoot]

End game. Morrigan.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Took me a while to figure out that I had to use the ballista to kill the archdemon. But then, the ballista jammed. Barely made it out alive out of that fight.
Well, didn't actually, I chose to sacrifice the character. Liked the epilogue fine, save the bit about Morrigan. I had been hoping that they'll let out a little more about what happens with her.....I mean the romance ending with Morrigan is....just unsatisfactory.
Going to give it a rest now, for some days, before I begin a new game. Planning to try warrior once again, this time with dual wield.
Edit:
Loved the bit about Sten in the epilogue, could almost picture him saying it.

[Monk]

End game. Morrigan.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Took me a while to figure out that I had to use the ballista to kill the archdemon. But then, the ballista jammed. Barely made it out alive out of that fight.
Well, didn't actually, I chose to sacrifice the character. Liked the epilogue fine, save the bit about Morrigan. I had been hoping that they'll let out a little more about what happens with her.....I mean the romance ending with Morrigan is....just unsatisfactory.
Going to give it a rest now, for some days, before I begin a new game. Planning to try warrior once again, this time with dual wield.
Edit:
Loved the bit about Sten in the epilogue, could almost picture him saying it.

On Morrigan's ending and a few bits on Sten:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I smell a sequel! Or at least further DLC, perhaps a new campaign - It's just begging for it and nearly every DA forum i've looked at is already speculating about it.

As for Sten - I laughed when i first read his bit. I agree, very well done in his regard.

On an unrelated and less spoiltastic note, Dwarven Noble is amazing fun as an origin. I mean wow. It may have just stolen the top spot for me, and if it didn't it came very close.

[frogbeastegg]

On an unrelated and less spoiltastic note, Dwarven Noble is amazing fun as an origin.

Yup. It's nicely different to the run of the mill RPG conventions. Did you

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

speak to the noble and the scholar outside the palace doors, side with the scholar and then order the noble executed publicly for causing a scene?

[Monk]

Yup. It's nicely different to the run of the mill RPG conventions. Did you

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

speak to the noble and the scholar outside the palace doors, side with the scholar and then order the noble executed publicly for causing a scene?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

No. I actually took the 'compromise'.

I told the scholar that honor and the Paragons' reputation was far more important than whatever truths history might hold. He wasn't happy about it, but he was thankful for not getting killed in the streets.

[FactionHeir]

Stumbled by pure chance over the fact that 1.01b is out for the PC now. Not sure what the difference to 1.01a is but I installed it and it runs.

They really need a better system of informing people regarding updates, like having an autoupdater in the launcher or so.

Ran into a bug in a new playthrough btw:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Went to Lothering, but figured I should rpobably go to Denerim first before doing anything since I wanted the Archivist belt that increased XP from codex by 50%. So I just did some small quests and off I went to camp first. Bought some stuff and sold DLC items I didn't need. Then went to Denerim, did some minor things and returned to Lothering.
After finishing Lothering (except Sten, because I want to train my persuade up first) and going to Camp I found that Bodahn had the same wares as if I had never met him before. As in he even restocked that skill tome I bought! Also, all my companion convos in Camp suggested I was never in Camp. Total deja-vu!

[al Roumi]

Ran into a bug in a new playthrough btw:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Went to Lothering, but figured I should rpobably go to Denerim first before doing anything since I wanted the Archivist belt that increased XP from codex by 50%. So I just did some small quests and off I went to camp first. Bought some stuff and sold DLC items I didn't need. Then went to Denerim, did some minor things and returned to Lothering.
After finishing Lothering (except Sten, because I want to train my persuade up first) and going to Camp I found that Bodahn had the same wares as if I had never met him before. As in he even restocked that skill tome I bought! Also, all my companion convos in Camp suggested I was never in Camp. Total deja-vu!

Re: Sten

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Be careful you don't do too much before going back to pick him up. I left it too late and Lothering had been destroyed by the blight -Sten too!

I had done the Redclife village, Redclife castle & circle of mages quest sections aswell as both Shale & Warden's keep DLC bits though. Not sure at what point it was deemed I'd left it too long, but I'm assuming the event trigger would be tied to main quest achievemnets... maybe even the CGI cutscenes.

Apparently, you can pick him up easily enough without persuade if you either:
1. Pick the lock (not sure how people in Lothering respond to that)
2. Have Leliana in the party (you may still need some persuade for this to work)

[Meneldil]

Finished the game. Overall I'm not sure whether I'm disappointed or not.

The game was advertised as the new Baldur's Gate, and well, it fails to deliver. Hard.
That, and the role playing part of the game is still very much Black&White (TM). Some dialogue options don't make sense at all.
Furthermore the whole "original fantasy setting inspired by G Martin's books" is a total fail. Sure, there are some original stuffs, such as the way dwarves and elves are regarded, but that's about it. At no point during the game I thought something like "Wow, that's cool" or "Really nice plot here". And the way the supposedly grimdark universe and useless gore are down on your throat is silly as hell. Please Bioware, do not do that anymore, ever.

But, the game looked so terribad in the trailers that I have to give it credit for being quite decent, or even good, despite many flaws. It still doesn't replace BG2 in my earth, but it was fun, though honestly less fun than NWN2+MotB.

[FactionHeir]

Re: Sten

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Be careful you don't do too much before going back to pick him up. I left it too late and Lothering had been destroyed by the blight -Sten too!

I had done the Redclife village, Redclife castle & circle of mages quest sections aswell as both Shale & Warden's keep DLC bits though. Not sure at what point it was deemed I'd left it too long, but I'm assuming the event trigger would be tied to main quest achievemnets... maybe even the CGI cutscenes.

Apparently, you can pick him up easily enough without persuade if you either:
1. Pick the lock (not sure how people in Lothering respond to that)
2. Have Leliana in the party (you may still need some persuade for this to work)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Yeah I think its doing 2 main quests that destroys Lothering.
I got him with Lel in my first playthrough, but I wanted my PC to be able to sway the Mother this time around, just to see how the dialogue differs

[frogbeastegg]

DA:O is the subject of this week's Zero Punctuation. I have to agree with a lot he says, including the part about playing for 25 hours and liking the game even though you're complaining a lot. "Dragon Age is not dark fantasy, nor is it light grey, caffeine free or avocado fantasy. It's just straight fantasy classic."

I'm going to take a break from DA for a bit. Assassin's Creed II should arrive tomorrow, and I could use a change of virtual scenery.

[TinCow]

DA:O is the subject of this week's Zero Punctuation. I have to agree with a lot he says, including the part about playing for 25 hours and liking the game even though you're complaining a lot. "Dragon Age is not dark fantasy, nor is it light grey, caffeine free or avocado fantasy. It's just straight fantasy classic."

My biggest complaint so far is the camera interface. On the PC version, there's a 'top down' camera angle, which is a nice throw-back to the IE games. It's a major improvement over NWN, but it still has some issues:

1) It doesn't zoom out quite far enough. Another few clicks of the mousewheel would have been nice.
2) There is no intermediate step between the furthest back 'third person' view and the top-down view. That shift is a huge one, and there are plenty of times when I wish I was somewhere in between.
3) The third person camera doesn't allow for easy pathfinding in a lot of places that high tight passageways. It's annoying to have to click all over the place just to find a spot that works.

Anyway, I believe this is more a result of their "dark" *yawn* motif. Incorporating realistic and morally flexible options. I hate to think that the incorporation of "controversial" content is a path designers will take to produce the next epic.

That alone does not make a good game, but dealing with mature subject matter in a mature manner certainly helps to make the game itself more mature. The somewhat extreme (for the time) nature of the Fallout games is one of the things most often cited when they are praised as paragons (HA!) of the RPG world. It would seem strange to give praise to FO for that, but deny it to DA:O for the same thing.

[Beskar]

Stumbled by pure chance over the fact that 1.01b is out for the PC now. Not sure what the difference to 1.01a is but I installed it and it runs.

They really need a better system of informing people regarding updates, like having an autoupdater in the launcher or so.

Steam?