Dragon Age: Origins

[Raptor Jesus]

Screenshots!

http://social.bioware.com/da_game_screenshots/262000/261758/Screenshot20091221014024511.jpg
http://social.bioware.com/da_game_screenshots/262000/261758/Screenshot20091221013936095.jpg
Whee! Dragon Ride!

http://social.bioware.com/da_game_screenshots/262000/261758/Screenshot20091219210555469.jpg
If anyone had to die, it would be a good death with a view like that (maybe)

http://social.bioware.com/da_game_screenshots/262000/261758/Screenshot20091214001503908.jpg
Let's go to bed!

If you know about the game, you know about it. If you don't, you don't. And that's too bad, it's really fun for anyone who enjoys games like Baldur's Gate or Mass Effect. If you don't like it, well... sucks to be you.

Deviant Art Meme (http://www.deviantart.com/#order=9&q=dragon+age+meme) WARNING: LOLs and Spoilers abound!

[deoxys]

I'm still early on, I think; I'm at the Urn of Sacred Ashes now, I did a ton of side quests including getting Shale (who is a freaking TANK, btw). But yes, this is definitely one of the best games I've played in a long time, and it's highly addicting as well.

[Raptor Jesus]

Well, you do quests/missions in any order, so saying you're at the Sacred Urn quest is like saying I'm somewhere between point A and Z. lol. If you haven't done the Circle of Magi one yet, I highly suggest it, as you will get a lot of bonus to stats there.

[Doppleganger]

Still unsure of it I should get this. I hope I am indeed getting TF2 for Christmas though. =3=

[Raptor Jesus]

TF2? Team Fortress 2? Isn't that like so 2007? Not that it's bad, but where have you been? lol

[Doppleganger]

Video games are expensive, so I don't play them often. They tend to not interest me anymore either, since so many of them are catered to mainstream taste rather than being game just thrown out there that hope to attract an audience.

Also 2007 is very recent for me. You know I first played Starcraft last year right? @_@

[Raptor Jesus]

Well, TF2 and CoD:MW and other such games are all multiplayer centric, so keeping with the newer ones seem to get the biggest pool of players to compete with. While I'm sure you will still find people to shoot, I can't imagine it being as good as it was when it came out.

Starcraft is kinda ageless seeing as how the games that would have overshadowed it made very big changes to the genre and thus an absurdly different experience. Supreme Commander, the various Command and Conquers, and Warcraft 3 are nothing like Starcraft, thus it keeps popularity. Shooters like TF2, sadly don't differ to much that CoD:MW doesn't overshadow it. Left4Dead (the first one) is pretty cheap IIRC and is still extremely fun and you'll still find people since it's only an '08 title and people boycotted 2 because it's only 1 year later for a new full priced title.

PC games also tend to be cheaper then their console counterparts too. i.e. DA:O is like $40 on PC vs. $60~65 on 360 and PS3.

[Doppleganger]

Morg has been bugging me to get TF2 since the #mahjong folks play it, so there's still a cabal of people I can hang out with even if the game isn't as popular as it once was.

I brought up Starcraft not because I enjoyed it but because it was an old game, and even as an exclusive PC gamer that I am I still haven't played some of the classics of the genre since I tend to stick to one game and milk it for years.

I mean, I played One Must Fall: 2097 up until I was in junior high. That game, plus the other Epic MegaGames titles (Jazz, Pinball) kept me entertained for years and years. Then I moved onto the LucasArts titles but still haven't played a lot of them.

Pokemon...1998-2009. D:

[Raptor Jesus]

Well, I still play Double Dragon 2 on my NES and River City Random (now on virtual console Wii). But I don't think I could play Counter-Strike (the first one) anymore.

[deoxys]

I guess I can't really describe where I am except I'm like level 9 I think. I saved Redcliffe and now I'm trying save the Arl, and I did a few things in Denerim, I have Shale and Zevran as well as Sten and Leliana.

Anyway it's definitely one of the best games I've ever played hands down, best RPG in a long time, too.

And Dopple, I'm pretty sure if you don't get TF2 for Christmas, you can either download it off steam for cheap or head to Best Buy, it was ten bucks last I saw, good game, and very cheap, though if I were you I'd get Orange Box. Portal is worth it alone.

[Raptor Jesus]

I'm on my 2nd full run-through ATM. This time I'm actually pimped lol. Rogue on both runs. Next I'm doing a Mage. I've unlocked all the specializations and they carry over to all your games, so it's very convenient.

In fact, all my screenshots above are from this run. My first run I totally f'd up and missed a lot of stuff. As a word of advice, be sure to do all your side-quests and any possible missions before starting the final fight (I believe it's called Final Fight in your quest log lol). You only get access to DLC missions after you complete the game AND NOTHING ELSE! So if you missed out on cool gear or anything, it totally sucks.

[Raptor Jesus]

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/9/index/541856)

Woot? (http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/9/index/546072) Idunno if that makes it up. Looks cool though.

[deoxys]

Dude. awakening looks like awesome. I'm really glad they're giving DA expansions and not putting it off or leaving it with only downloadable content. I do wish they'd release Return to Ostagar though.

[Raptor Jesus]

Yeah.... The Bioware forums have gone pretty insane due to the delay, especially since it was announced early December and didn't get a release day until around Christmas. Then they announce it for after New Years and now it has an indefinite delay >.>; People started posting spam in the RtO delay thread and it was closed by the moderators.

Seems like Tactics might get a reworking, as Bioware's forums has a thread up asking the player community how we feel about it and what improvements we would make.

[Doppleganger]

I finally got TF2 and played it last night, but it's incredibly difficult because I don't have a mouse. My old laptop wasn't powerful enough to play the game, so I unearthed the much-hated Vista laptop which I hadn't touched in half a year. I thought it didn't have a touch-pad, but turns out it did, and luckily? because the wireless mouse I used for this laptop (which was pretty bad) didn't work at all for that one.

So I was playing TF2 with a touchpad and it wasn't very fun at all. It was ok for classes like The Sniper, but once someone got into close proximity I could not maneuver or aim at all, and ended up getting killed by GenteiJanken about 50 times before he left because he was bleeding from boredom. I managed to kill him only once in that session, and it was because he didn't take any medkits and I simply respawned him to death.

It's going to take a lot of practice to play this game properly. :/

[Raptor Jesus]

Good news... 10 hours later... Bad news...

Earlier today they releases Return to Ostagar on XBL. Bioware announced the PC release would be soon. Then, about 20 minutes ago, they pulled RtO off XBL and stated it caused a major glitch. Characters lost their Class Specializations while doing the quests there @.@; Now there's another delay.

Something funny to watch for now:

kDeawqKzEVM&

BTW- You can get the Morrigan Slapping Mod from here (http://social.bioware.com/project/1281/). Yes, it's real.

[Raptor Jesus]

RtO is out as of yesterday apparently.

[Raptor Jesus]

The first expansion is out- Awakenings. I didn't get it yet.

[deoxys]

I stopped playing PC version since its shitty on my computer. Got it for my PS3, much better... I'm loving this game more than I did before. Also got Awakebing for it. Right now I've only done the circle and banged Morrigan so not sure where to go nezt quite yet. Started a dalish story line again with a similar character... can't put the game down...

[Raptor Jesus]

I hate the console versions. The PC version has so many advantages. Firstly, bugs are fixed much quicker, mostly due to EA & Bioware having difficulty setting up content for download. But also the lack of Mods. Especially ones that fix bugs Bioware hasn't bother to fix themselves. Also, slap Morrigan is extremely funny.

Darkspawn Chronicles is coming soon. Instead of passing the Ritual, you die and suddenly take the place of a Darkspawn fighting against Alistair as he leads what remains of the resistance against the Darkspawn.

And I haven't bought Awakenings. A lot more bugs show up and it disables a lot of other content on Origins, which is kinda lame. At the same time, it got a fairly mediocre review compared to Origins. The new stuff just didn't seem as grand as the original according to most reviewers. I don't feel like throwing out $40 for it.

[deoxys]

I do agree the PC version feels much better and is more well supported, but I have a low wend laptop I was hoping to turn into a cheap gamer PC when I decided I would attempt to start PC gaming over console gaming, but I didn't do my research and I got screwed over graphically so most new games look like shit, or they look decent but lag the game up, whatever I choose. So Ariel and I rented the PS3 version from gamefly.
Awakening, from what I've seen Ariel play of it so far, seems very eh. Anders is about the only cool new guy and not being able to talk to party members at any given time blows. Seeing new people go through the joining wth your character in charge is really cool though... that's really all there is to say for now.

Also, excuse typos and mistaking b's for n's, phone keyboards aren't exactly... ideal for typing

E: oh yes, I noticed the new DLC, that looks awesome, an alternate story seems badass. Its actually probably one of the last ideas for DLC I would have thought of.... Bioware really knows what they're doing when it comes to making a good game, that's for sure.

On a side note, I wonder what will take place in DA2 when it comes out on february first? I would love a direct sequel, and something involving Morrigan, but as someone pointed out, a direct sequel could be repetitive, so they would need to set it in the future. I could see a sequel focusing mainly on a new threat, one involving dragons and a possible uprising, which could cause all sorts of plot choices, great boss fights, characters picking sides etc. As it is called dragon age, after all, and set in an age period named for dragons, as deemed by the chantry...

[Raptor Jesus]

I had thought the next game would involve the main character being Morrigan's child :x

[deoxys]

I want my main character to carry over somehow ;_;

[Raptor Jesus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRVTl2ii8BM

Machinima made a canonical episodic videos telling the story of another Grey Warden after the final events of Origins. More episodes to come in the future. Looks pretty good too.

[big bad birtha]

I decided to get my hands on this. So far, it isn't bad, and it seems that with the team support thing, being a mage won't be such a bitch to start with.

[Raptor Jesus]

Mages are arguably the best class in Dragon Age. And depending on your specialization (Arcane Warrior), you can actually tank. But sadly, Shapeshifter is god awful.

[Talon87]

Well then, the game's dumb. We all know shapeshifters are a force to be reckoned with. Almost took over the entire galaxy! (http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Changeling)

[Raptor Jesus]

When it comes to Shapeshifter, Dragon Age really dropped the ball.

Essentially when you shapeshift, you turn from a useful spell casting mage to a almost useless monster spider, bear, or swarm of flies as you cannot cast spells while in monster form. And since mages invest into mostly Magic and Willpower, they have no business doing melee as one of those monsters. So unless you make your Shapeshifter have shit stats for a mage, you're left with a relatively useless specialization.

Meanwhile, Arcane Warrior turns your Magic stat into your Strength stat, which makes the Magic stat serve multipurpose, increasing melee and magic damage as well as allowing the mage to equip high strength armor.

So yeah. Shapeshifter sucks. There are some mods that make it better, but in the base form, it really sucks.

[big bad birtha]

I've actually been trying to think what I should branch off to. I was thinking blood mage since it seems to be the only one that actually boosts my magic damage. I dunno if it would do anything to my character's reputation, since they're heavily frowned upon.

[Raptor Jesus]

Actually, it's largely ignored. You would think all those Chantry and Templar seeing you do Blood Magic would peeve them, but oddly enough they're all completely ignorant. Stealing from people (and not succeeding) has a higher effect on the overall than using illegal demonic magic. Odd world lol.

[Blastoise]

I haven't played Dragon Age, but are we really that surprised that shapeshifters are pretty worthless? Shapeshifting is one of my favorite fantasy concepts/superpowers, but it's almost always mechanically useless in RPGs unless there's an entire class that revolves around it.

[Talon87]

cough * ROGUE * cough

Well, a subclass of rogue: the spy.

Few fantasy games make espionage part of the gameplay. But if you picture a marriage between WoW and Splinter Cell, then lol, one could easily see the power in having a shapeshifter on your squad. "Dude! Turn into a bug and go scout ahead for us!"

[Blastoise]

cough * ROGUE * cough

Well, a subclass of rogue: the spy.

Few fantasy games make espionage part of the gameplay. But if you picture a marriage between WoW and Splinter Cell, then lol, one could easily see the power in having a shapeshifter on your squad. "Dude! Turn into a bug and go scout ahead for us!"

Yeah, but shapeshifting like that is really better suited to PnP RPGs where you have some wiggle room in your shapeshifting beyond n flavors of combat monster. Computer RPGs have to balance shapeshifting mages around the fact that they don't want the mage to suddenly transition from fragile spell-slinger to ass-kicking melee master at the touch of a button, and the balance almost always comes out with shapeshifting being neat but largely worthless.

[Talon87]

A shame.

[Jerichi]

I would consider playing this game sheerly for the GAY SEX.

Too bad the hottest guy doesn't have a pre-programmed gay option.

[Raptor Jesus]

Who's the hottest guy?

[big bad birtha]

My character is the hottest of course!

Also, I've found shapeshifting to save my arse in combat. I mean, it's quest shapeshifting, but it's still a form of it I guess. Like in Sloth's dream world, I would use the burning man for his AOE fire magic, since I didn't have the fire bomb yet. The immunity to fire was a lifesaver too. The golem form saved my arse against Sloth himself. I would bombard him with magic until my magic ran out, then just pummeled against him in golem form (my party sucks so they all died.)

For the blood magic thing, I read a bit into it, and they actually have some logic into people not minding it. Apparently Gray Wardens are allowed to use it. I guess since they already have demonic blood in them, using demonic magic is a-ok. When you said they didn't mind, I first thought it was just laziness.

Life as a mage has been kick ass. I would use the rest of my party as a distraction, and even against a hoard of enemies, my guy can clear them in a little bit. Gotta love mass AOE.

[Raptor Jesus]

In the Fade is not the same as the class. In the Fade, it gives you insanely powerful forms- Flame Warrior, Golem, Lich. Compared to... Spider, Bear, and a Swarm of flies...

[Raptor Jesus]

BBB, I don't know if you know, but if you still don't have version 1.03, it is likely best you just keep it on 1.02. Version 1.03 was released for compatibility with Awakening, but Awakenings has a ridiculous amount of bugs. >.>;;

Regardless of whether you have any version, you should download and install this mod (http://social.bioware.com/project/2563/) to fix like a million bugs in the game. Makes it much more enjoyable.

[big bad birtha]

I'm honestly not sure which version I have. Since it's PS3, it updates automatically, so it's probably the latest version.

Also, I haven't noticed many bugs. I mean, there's times where I have to skip dialogue since the person is stuck on a line and doesn't say anything. It also sometimes lags when I use too many spells at once. Other than that, it's been smooth.

[Raptor Jesus]

OH NO! PS3 version! /cry

[Doppleganger]

I haven't played Dragon Age, but are we really that surprised that shapeshifters are pretty worthless? Shapeshifting is one of my favorite fantasy concepts/superpowers, but it's almost always mechanically useless in RPGs unless there's an entire class that revolves around it.

This seems true only for the player characters.

[big bad birtha]

I'm curious, does the relationship building serve any purpose other than learning the characters' background stories and preventing a potential leave? I mean, it's easy and all, but I don't like the thought of my party mates (mostly male) flirting with my character, so I never got them too high. If I make a female character, I might go for Alister, but that's because of the whole him becoming a king thing. It would be cool if it made my character queen. If some big nice reward or quest came out of it, I wouldn't mind buttering up to my party mates.

Another question. Do all the subclasses automatically unlock at one point in the game? I only remember unlocking like two, then all of a sudden, I had all of the possible classes unlocked.

[Raptor Jesus]

High approval (90%) unlocks special passive abilities that give them Attribute bonuses up to plus 6.

Alistair - Constitution
Morrigan - Magic
Leliana - Cunning
Sten - Strength
Wynne - Willpower
Zevran - Dexterity
Oghren - Constitution
Secret Guy - Strength
Shale (DLC) - Constitution

With decent approval (about 30 or 40), most will unlock a companion quest, which will typically give them a unique piece of equipment for that companion. Some are good, some suck. Wynne's has a secret bonus linked to her Vessel of the Spirit special ability (which is also unlocked from high approval), effectively doubling it's bonus effects and removing the stun effect when it wears off.

Only Alistair, Morrigan, Leliana, and Zevran can be romanced, the later two being bisexual.

[Raptor Jesus]

Seems like Bioware makes movies now:

http://www.ea.com/news/anime-movie-deal-for-dragon-age-franchise

[Raptor Jesus]

Dragon Age 2 Official (http://dragonage.bioware.com/da2/)

Seems by the description thus far, it will be a larger scale game than DAO and will likely make decisions have bigger impacts. Darkspawn still seems to be the main problem as well.