Dragon Age: Origins gameplay and discussion thread.

[Vladimir]

That's not so much a surprise given what gifts she prefers.

[Zenicetus]

I understand a game could hardly offer as many "useless" areas nowadays as it did for BG1, mostly because it was easier to develop an area in 2D with poor graphics than it is to with 3D badassness. But I mean, what about a few of those? At least so I can get the feeling that the world is somewhat open.

For a recent game, I think Fallout 3 did a good job of offering an open world with plenty to do outside the main plot. You aren't told, fresh out of the Vault, that the fate of the entire World hangs on your shoulders, as in DA:O or Mass Effect. There was a building sense of urgency if you rushed down the main plot line, but it wasn't presented that way in the early stages. The main plot unfolded slowly, or not at all, if you wanted to spend time exploring the whole game world first.

(mild main plot spoiler if you haven't played F3):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

In fact, the main plot in F3 has a curiously low-key goal for a game like this. You're just improving the local conditions a bit, to favor one side of a conflict between the power armor camps. It was so low-key that one of the DLC's was an attempt to give it a bit more weight, more of a wrap-up of that conflict. But it was still just a small scale thing compared to the grand scale of events in DA:O or Mass Effect. I think that's a good design for an RPG, actually. Not every game has to be about saving the world. There are interesting stories to tell on a smaller scale, although the main one in F3 wasn't very good (IMO), and mainly served as a way to introduce some eye candy at the main story line's conclusion.

The Witcher was like that too, although without as large a region to explore. The game's intro revealed a plot and purpose, but it unfolded slowly. It was more like a mystery novel than an urgent plot pushing at your back all the time, like in DA:O.

After finishing my first play through of DA:O I'm trying to decide if I have the patience for another play-through. I had fun with most of the game the first time through, but there some sequences that feel more like filler than real content... just grinding through endless enemies for the sake of a level-up. For example, most of the Deep Road, or the Mage Tower main quest. I'm not sure I'd have the patience to do all that again, just for the sake of trying out some different combat tactics. Maybe I'll just wait for the first DLC campaign, or user mod campaign.

[Beskar]

I also don't see the point of sex in computer games, that's just one step to far towards geek to me.

But sex in a film and sex in a book is ok? I am not even talking pornography here, just general mainstream. The "sex" part is part of the actual story. The scenes definitely aren't you whipping out your manhood and giving it a bash.

[Zenicetus]

I also don't see the point of sex in computer games, that's just one step to far towards geek to me.

I don't mind it, especially when it's in context within the story being told. If sex can be an intrinsic part of many of the world's great novels, then why shouldn't it be in a computer game that's trying to tell a great story? Even if you take a game like this as more of a "fantasy simulation," there would be obvious tensions and attractions between a party of adventurers like this, especially at the fairly young age most of the characters are represented as. Given the fantasy setting, the sexual attractions in DA:O between party members are probably the most realistic thing in the game.

Same thing in Mass Effect. Talk to anyone who's been at sea for any length of time, on a ship with a mixed sex crew. The only thing unrealistic about Mass Effect is how long it takes for those relationships to develop.

What I don't like though, is seeing it done in hideously bad 3D character animation like in DA:O. The animation in DA:O is optimized for the way characters look in combat. They don't have enough articulation for any believable sex scene, even ones that are just hinted at, with a PG rating like this. It's like watching someone play with Barbie and Ken dolls. The Witcher and Mass Effect both did it better, with carefully chosen camera angles and blurring to hide the inability of the 3D character models to look realistic in that mode.

[Meneldil]

What I don't like though, is seeing it done in hideously bad 3D character animation like in DA:O. The animation in DA:O is optimized for the way characters look in combat. They don't have enough articulation for any believable sex scene, even ones that are just hinted at, with a PG rating like this. It's like watching someone play with Barbie and Ken dolls. The Witcher and Mass Effect both did it better, with carefully chosen camera angles and blurring to hide the inability of the 3D character models to look realistic in that mode.

Agreed. Old games had sex too (BG2 for example), but you didn't have to watch them. Honestly, I could have done without seeing a poorly animated Alistair doing his poorly animated work.

[Vladimir]

Eighty-seven hours, thirty-one seconds. Yes, there were reloads but that's pretty much straight through.

I have really mixed feelings about this game. The gameplay itself wasn't very good but the voice acting, cinematics, and most other features were excellent. I just wish it wasn't so damn frustrating to play.

Oh, I'm officially in love with Morrigan. Were this Japan, I'd marry the girl (re: backroom thread). Claudia...oh yea.

[Lemur]

It's nice to see a wingnut rag like WorldNetDaily noticing videogames now and then.

Players have dirty 'gay' sex in hit game

Trendy Christmas gift features characters naked, kissing in homosexual embrace

A popular role-playing combat video game featuring graphic homosexual sex between a man and an elf has hit store shelves just in time for Christmas.

"Dragon Age: Origins," released Nov. 3 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, depicts two men in various sex positions in a secret scene of homosexual seduction. [...]

The video cuts to a scene in which the two men are dirty, naked and kissing. They are depicted in various homosexual sex positions, and the clip concludes with the two nestling together and gazing into one another's eyes. [...]

[A] young boy possessed by a demon declares, "You'll never win! You'll never take him! He's mine!"

The child is slain, and a female demon with horns and a tail emerges from his corpse.

Isn't it fun when opinionators attempt to filter our pastime through their stupid-colored glasses? Two questions: Where's the "dirty" coming from? The only disfiguration of the characters are those outrageous blood splatters; there is no dirt on the models. And why is "gay" in quotes in the title? Are they saying it isn't gay?

[Vladimir]

Where did they get "secret" from? As I said, everyone knows elves are (at the very least) bisexual. Zevran was blatant.

As if the Mature rating wasn't enough. My playthrough was PG-13ish, as usual. I thought the scene was funny.

[Centurion1]

theres no requirement to have gay sex.... just ignore it. i do.

so anyone have problems with revenants? i do even at like level 12 and has anyone got all the silverite juggernaut armor from elves quest all i need is the chest armor...... and then sten has full silverite including weapon and shield.

please advise

[Xiahou]

so anyone have problems with revenants? i do even at like level 12 and has anyone got all the silverite juggernaut armor from elves quest all i need is the chest armor...... and then sten has full silverite including weapon and shield.

please advise

Yeah, I found the revenants to be some of the toughest fights thus far.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

What worked for me was to have one warrior tank them, I used Sten, while I cleaned up all of the miscellaneous undead that spawn. Afterwards, myself and the rest of the party switch to ranged weapons to attack the revenant. Revenants can hit multiple party members for big damage at melee range- your healers will never keep up. So the plan is the focus your healing on one party member while everyone else takes it apart at a safe distance.

[Lemur]

A slightly different take on revenants:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Blast them repeatedly with the cone of cold spell. Doesn't damage them much, but it roots 'em and prevents their l33t melee skills from wailing on your party. A single mage can keep the revenant under control for the entire encounter.

[seireikhaan]

A slightly different take on revenants:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Blast them repeatedly with the cone of cold spell. Doesn't damage them much, but it roots 'em and prevents their l33t melee skills from wailing on your party. A single mage can keep the revenant under control for the entire encounter.

Yup. Definitely the best strategy I've found. Of course, take out the rest of their undead buddies first, and just do your best to minimize the damage from the revenant.

[Meneldil]

If you have Shale, stock him up with fire items. Have a mage use Fire weapons (do not use Ice weapons).
As said, the best way to beat them is to chain cone of ice them. Ice spells don't harm revenants, but they still can froze them. Then, simply shoot at them while they're frozen. Having ranged characters is better, but you can still defeat them with three melees, as long as you have a mage than can chain freeze them.

Talking about that, am I the only one who find cone of ice to be completely and ridiculously overpowered? Back in BG, and in most RPG's I know, uber spells such as this one, power word: death and what not wouldn't work on bosses. In DA:O, you can use cone of ice against pretty much everyone, even dragons or ice based creatures (such as revenants), making most fights trivial if you have two mages.

[Monk]

If you have Shale, stock him up with fire items. Have a mage use Fire weapons (do not use Ice weapons).
As said, the best way to beat them is to chain cone of ice them. Ice spells don't harm revenants, but they still can froze them. Then, simply shoot at them while they're frozen. Having ranged characters is better, but you can still defeat them with three melees, as long as you have a mage than can chain freeze them.

Talking about that, am I the only one who find cone of ice to be completely and ridiculously overpowered? Back in BG, and in most RPG's I know, uber spells such as this one, power word: death and what not wouldn't work on bosses. In DA:O, you can use cone of ice against pretty much everyone, even dragons or ice based creatures (such as revenants), making most fights trivial if you have two mages.

Ive been thinking the same and it's almost made my mage playthrough boring. The amount of control in any given fight I have paired with Morrigan is absurd, I think i've only died once in the 17 or so hours i've done on my mage. After the second plot quest I let Morrigan hang around the camp instead of coming with me, it's just too powerful a combo.

[al Roumi]

Talking about that, am I the only one who find cone of ice to be completely and ridiculously overpowered? Back in BG, and in most RPG's I know, uber spells such as this one, power word: death and what not wouldn't work on bosses. In DA:O, you can use cone of ice against pretty much everyone, even dragons or ice based creatures (such as revenants), making most fights trivial if you have two mages.

Ive been thinking the same and it's almost made my mage playthrough boring. The amount of control in any given fight I have paired with Morrigan is absurd, I think i've only died once in the 17 or so hours i've done on my mage. After the second plot quest I let Morrigan hang around the camp instead of coming with me, it's just too powerful a combo.

BG had a much wider range of spells you could use -along with more tactical options due to the deeper classes and 6 characters (+Summoning) you could have in your party at any time. I remember fighting the shadow dragon and calling forth every creature i had access to -even giberlings!

"Orange" bosses in DA:O do have much higher resistance to all spells, which also covers how long they are affected by them.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Fighting the archdemon or Flemeth, I remember CoC only lasting a heartbeat on them.

Nonetheless, I agree that most corridor fights become a little too easy, that said I've only been playing on Medium/Normal. Maybe time to up the difficulty...

[FactionHeir]

Ah yes, disintegrate FTW!

[Centurion1]

about the juggernaout quest

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

but in the forest wheres the last piece of juggernaut armor? i found gauntlets and helm, and also the legs but wheres the chestplate? is there one?

[al Roumi]

about the juggernaout quest

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

but in the forest wheres the last piece of juggernaut armor? i found gauntlets and helm, and also the legs but wheres the chestplate? is there one?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

AFAIK you can ask the trader/smith/crafter guy in the Dalish camp to make you either a bow or a breatplate from the Iron Bark he asks you to bring him, does that complete the set?

[Meneldil]

about the juggernaout quest

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

but in the forest wheres the last piece of juggernaut armor? i found gauntlets and helm, and also the legs but wheres the chestplate? is there one?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It's inside the ruins. You have to complete some quest to open a door. There you'll find the chest. Can't remember the quest itself though.

[Monk]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It's inside the ruins. You have to complete some quest to open a door. There you'll find the chest. Can't remember the quest itself though.

I believe it's this one.

[rajpoot]

Yup, that is it.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Just follow the boy.....Mind you, he'll lead you past a Dragon...you'll hear roars or something before you get there though....At the very end, you'll come across a hall with this sarcophagus, guarded by an elven spirit once you finish her off the armour is yours.
Too bad they don't have some sort of key to the 'elvish' language.....would've loved to know what the woman screams before she attacks....
Her and those songs.....still can't find lyrics anywhere.....
On another not, IMO, Wade's superior Dragonbone Armour is better that the Juggernaut armour....I mean it makes the fire damage almost zero.....I equipped my warrior with it and turned on Indomitable....then got my mage to fire inferno and stuff.....game became a breeze there after.

[Centurion1]

yeah but i like having full sets of armor.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

right now i have Alistair wearing the templar armor.... simply because it looks so awesome with that helmet.

oh i did the jug thing but i thought when you summoned the two shades that was it..... oh silly me that doesnt even make sense. was there a point in the mages circle to summoning the three creatures?

[Lemur]

Somebody with too much time on their hands discovered a way to have a foursome in DA. Yikes! Let's just be thankful that this plays out with no animation. I'm not sure my tender eyeballs are ready for a poorly animated FFFM encounter.

[Scienter]

Ive been thinking the same and it's almost made my mage playthrough boring. The amount of control in any given fight I have paired with Morrigan is absurd, I think i've only died once in the 17 or so hours i've done on my mage. After the second plot quest I let Morrigan hang around the camp instead of coming with me, it's just too powerful a combo.

I'm playing a warrior and I didn't use Morrigan hardly at all after I got Wynne because my party needed a healer. But, once Morrigan leveled enough for me to give her Spirit Healer, I use her instead of Wynne. I can definitely see how Morrigan + PC mage could be overpowered.

[Mailman653]

Somebody with too much time on their hands discovered a way to have a foursome in DA. Yikes! Let's just be thankful that this plays out with no animation. I'm not sure my tender eyeballs are ready for a poorly animated FFFM encounter.

That video is hillarious, and look at Liliana, watching no less

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hkf...video_response
Another with Alistair proving he has more than just Darkspawn in the head.

[FactionHeir]

No animation involved in any of the Isabela scenes.

[TinCow]

Having finished the game, I definitely agree it doesn't qualify as 'dark.' Sure, there are plenty of morally ambiguous choices to make, but the game is so consistently humorous that it's hard to categorize it as dark at all. Alister, Shale, Oghren, and Zevran seem to be almost totally devoted to comic relief, and that's about half of your entire party right there. I can't even remember a single NPC-to-NPC banter that wasn't amusing in some manner. It's hard to be 'dark' when jokes are being cracked in nearly every dialog.

[Vladimir]

Hell! I even have a hard time getting laid in a computer game.

[Veho Nex]

lol

[Krusader]

I don't know what the hell happened, but now I got a new DLC called "The Edge" AND it screwed up Stone Prisoner at least. When I try to talk to Shale, I get the first two dialogue options up...Activate or Leave Golem. Otherwise works fine, but not knowing what got happen with Soldier's Peak too, so had to reload a savegame for 2 hours earlier. Bleh.

Also, there are so far 3-4 massive armor sets in the game (with DLCs), but only one for rogues and none for mages. Really wish Bioware could have added some good stuff for rogues & mages too.