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Dragon Age 2 Announced

Posted by Soulskill on from the enchantment?-enchantment! dept.

Today BioWare announced a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, titled Dragon Age 2. They've opened an official site for the game, which shares some vague details and concept art, and promises a trailer in mid-August. The story will apparently span an entire decade and involve a new hero, but it will be located in the same world as the original game. The site says there will be "dynamic new combat mechanics," though the same three basic classes will be available. More information should be forthcoming in this month's issue of Game Informer.

183 comments

  1. I can't freakin' wait, man. by Pojut · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I sunk 70+ hours into my first game (female Dwarf Noble) did as many side missions as I could find) and put about 40+ hours into my second game (female City Elf). Dragon Age's world really felt alive, and I felt like I was having a direct impact ont he way things were going.

    I don't usually like to gush on about a game, but even with its flaws (slightly wonky camera, some textures looked like they were from the N64 era while other textures looked very realistic, etc) Dragon Age deserves every bit of attention and praise it gets. Truly great storytelling, and truly engaging gameplay.

    --
    Living With a Nerd
    1. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Theoboley · · Score: 1

      What you said. I've sunk in probably just as much with my female dwarf noble, my male dwarf commoner, and my human mage. top that off with Awakenings, and i've sunk probably around 150+ Hours into the series. I'm anxiously awaiting this.

      --
      Stupidity only gets you so far, then you've gotta try
    2. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by EntropyXP · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I can't wait either. That game was truly epic. Too bad the expansion sucked so bad. I hope the sequel has a good story and is well told.

      --
      "No one will really be free until nerd persecution ends."
    3. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I liked DAO too. The quest for the urn was a pretty epic dungeon crawl.
      Afterwards I decided to reinstall BG2.
      Got to say it: BG2 is still king of the hill. In comparison DAO seems very much targeted at casual gamers, and RPGs shouldn't be imho.

    4. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Kjella · · Score: 1

      I did the same, the only downside I could find was that in the expansion my character was ridiculously overpowered. I started on level 20 with a full deck of 100GP-class items and I didn't feel the level adjustment worked at all, even turning up the difficultly meter to max my character was a tank. I was kinda committed to that character though so just went with it anyway.

      Well, that and the AI was a bit stupid in that if I stuck to melee/ranged attacks he'd keep pounding my tanks, while if I tried to spell slam they'd all go mental chasing the mage. So I'd invest in healing instead and just occasionally use Stonefist and the like to knock mages down long enough for me to rush them. Very fun game, really look forward to this.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    5. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Pojut · · Score: 1

      In comparison DAO seems very much targeted at casual gamers

      On the contrary, Baldur's Gate was targeted at hardcore gamers, not to mention based on what was, for all intents and purposes, a much less forgiving and rudimentary RPG system.

      I wouldn't call a game which could potentially have nearly 100 hours in a single playthrough as "targeted at casual gamers"...just because it isn't as difficult as Baldur's Gate doesn't automatically make it casual oriented.

      RPGs shouldn't be imho.

      For the most part, I agree with you. Luckily, there are a TON of huge RPGs which would make "casual gamers" shit themselves :-)

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    6. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I had an adverse reaction though I played it a bit differently. Like when I played the first Mass Effect, I didn't do any of the sidequests because I wanted to progress the main storyline as fast as possible.

      And that bothered me with Dragon-age, is that I couldn't seem to progress fast enough, no matter what class I chose. I eventually stopped playing - some time just before the landsmeet, after getting all the treaties fulfilled. The boss fights I encountered didn't require any strategy, just enough poltices or a few timed heals, and the trash leading up to a boss fight felt about 50% longer than they needed to be. Then the dialogue on top of it - I don't know whether there was too much or if it was lacking substance, but it kind of felt like everything after Loathering was kind of weak.

      One thing that would have made it infinitely better was a multiplayer option, even just locally. There would be times when I my room mates would want to play, and I would want to play right after. But I wouldn't want to watch because that would ruin the storyline, and I couldn't play his character because he'd go to bed and lose his place. Because everyone was so hyped to play this game, and I wanted to experience it in its fully unruined state, I ended up shutting myself in my room anytime anyone else was playing it. If they had simply made it possible to play with 2-4 players, you know, progress through the storyline, let the other controller control the other storyline characters or another party members once the party is established...

      I dunno, I don't expect my issues with it to be addressed, a lot of people liked the game, I'm just some of the few who were kind of disappointed. Like, it could have been a whole lot more than what it was.

    7. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Pojut · · Score: 1

      I LOVED the Dwarf Noble origin story...the politics portrayed were complicated and engaging, and it was interesting seeing the race try to work out their problems.

      In a way, I wish I had played as a Dwarf Noble for my second playthrough...entering their city as an outsider would have been much more intimidating than starting as a Dwarf.

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    8. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Enderandrew · · Score: 1

      I loved the setting, but I don't understand how some people were spending so long to beat the game. I did every side quest, and tried to get as many achievements as possible in my first play through, and I still beat the game in around 30 hours. I'm a notorious completist who takes his time.

      As much as I loved the setting, I wished the gameplay wasn't as simplistic or as short.

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    9. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Drakensang was far superior.

      I can't wait till the english version of it's sequel comes out in august.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    10. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Pojut · · Score: 1

      Drakensang was far superior.

      I don't agree that it was superior, but it was definitely an under-represented gem.

      I can't wait till the english version of it's sequel comes out in august.

      SERIOUSLY?????? daGHP:S(OEH G(P*ASE HTG(W* EHA I had no idea there even was a sequel! You just made my day :-)

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    11. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by phanboy_iv · · Score: 0

      For the most part, I agree with you. Luckily, there are a TON of huge RPGs which would make "casual gamers" shit themselves :-)

      Really? I can't bring to mind many huge hardcore RPGs from the last 10 years that aren't JRPGs or MMOs.

    12. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Pojut · · Score: 4, Informative

      Who says they have to be from the last 10 years? Still, using your ten year requirement, I'll try.

      Morrowind
      Oblivion
      Fallout 3
      Neverwinter Nights
      Neverwinter Nights 2
      Knights of the Old Republic
      Knights of the Old Republic 2
      The Witcher
      Drakensang
      Baldur's Gate II
      Deus Ex

      I'm sure there are others that I'm missing...

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    13. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Grimbleton · · Score: 1

      Your problem is your own self-imposed time restrictions.

    14. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by phanboy_iv · · Score: 0

      Yes, I'm getting tired of having to play those same 15. We're getting new 'real' RPGs, just not as as many as I'd like.

    15. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by phanboy_iv · · Score: 1

      Imposed for the sake of argument. Sure, tons of great stuff from the early Win/DOS eras. But recently, in recent memory? Some. A few. If all you can point to as good examples are games from several decades ago, you have a dead genre. I don't want it to die. It doesn't deserve to die.

    16. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by flitty · · Score: 1

      I've never heard of anyone trying to get through an RPG as quickly as possible and enjoying it. If you're just trying to "beat" it, you miss out on so much. (BTW, if you play Mass Effect 2, I'd argue that the main mission is not the point of the game. The side missions are the "main" game, and the Main story is just the structure for an ending.)

      If Bioware decides to make it multiplayer, this game would be a mMORPG (minorly-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). The reason why Dragon Age combat was competent was because it was MMO Mechanics where you control each of the other players.

      --
      Whether or not there is some sort of god, I'm not supposed to say/god is a word and the argument ends there-Smog
    17. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by A+Friendly+Troll · · Score: 2, Informative

      I sunk 70+ hours into my first game (female Dwarf Noble) did as many side missions as I could find) and put about 40+ hours into my second game (female City Elf). Dragon Age's world really felt alive, and I felt like I was having a direct impact ont he way things were going.

      You've opened a can of worms, in case you've chosen different outcomes for the "big" events. You might have to play the second game twice with both your saves, in order to see what the differences are :P

    18. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pfft, While I thought the original game was good, I think I liked the expansion more. Yes, it was a shorter story, but it was hardcore! I felt much more involved in the expansion.

      But yeah, DA2 will/should be badass.

    19. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Pojut · · Score: 1

      Wait wait wait.

      First, you complain about the lack of big-time RPGs in the last 10 years. Then, after I create a list showing that many of the most highly regarded nonJRPG RPGs were released in the last 10 years, you complain about having to play the same ones over and over?

      Sheesh. No pleasing some people.

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    20. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Pojut · · Score: 1

      Once again, the list I showed you included some of the most highly regarded nonJRPG or MMO RPGs that have ever been released...and they all came out in the last 10 years.

      Morrowind
      Oblivion
      Fallout 3
      Neverwinter Nights
      Neverwinter Nights 2
      Knights of the Old Republic
      Knights of the Old Republic 2
      The Witcher
      Drakensang
      Baldur's Gate II
      Deus Ex

      All of them huge games, all of them highly regarded, all of them released within the last ten years, and all of them not only released within the last ten years, but spread out quite evenly. Based on this part of your post:

      If all you can point to as good examples are games from several decades ago, you have a dead genre.

      I'd say the genre is alive and well. What more do you want?!

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    21. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Brazilian+Geek · · Score: 1

      I too loved Dragon Age: Origins.

      The whole world seemed so alive and the break of a few RPG paradigms (No Clerics, dwarfs with US accents, elves with spanish... I FUCKIN' LOVED THAT!) brought back that feeling I had as a teen playing RPGs - I really could lose myself in that world.

      At any rate, I'll anxiously wait for it and I'll buy it like a good Bioware fanboy should and I'll love it.

      I only hope they make a proper PC version for the game like they did for Dragon Age: Origins. I can't even begin to describe how much I hate Mass Effect 2's PC-as-a-second-thought interface. Mind you, the game is awesome, the scope is epic, the story is fantastic, the sound and visuals are breathtaking and the characters are all "real" but the console-like controls drive me nuts.

      --
      All browsers' default homepage should read: Don't Panic...
    22. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MUDs.

      http://www.mudconnector.com

      Thousands of RPGs at your fingertips. Literally.

    23. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by rpillala · · Score: 1

      Planescape: Torment just missed the deadline by being released in 1999.

      --
      When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
    24. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Pojut · · Score: 1

      Sadly...I REALLY REALLY wanted to include it, but alas :(

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    25. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Arx Fatalis
      Gothic
      Gothic II

    26. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 1

      I wasn't just trying to beat it, I was trying to progress the storyline. Just regular progression to the next plot element took too long.

      And Would you consider Fable 2 Multiplayer? It was essentially a hack and slash RPG where you COULD have a second player, but it was never necessary and didn't detract from the game.

    27. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Muds. Thousands of RPGs. All at your finger types.

    28. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by IICV · · Score: 1

      Deus Ex just barely falls out of your age range - its tenth birthday was late last month :)

    29. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Pojut · · Score: 2, Informative

      ARX FATALIS! ::hangs head in shame:: ::trembles::

      How...how could I have forgotten...

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    30. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by MemoryDragon · · Score: 1

      If you count out endless stats rolls, I would call a lot of the european RPGs pretty hardcore although they are more action RPGs, but they are definitely from a role playing aspect more hardcore than the typical bioware game or the mostly pointless Japo RPGs which are endless stats rollers.
      It really depends on what your taste in RPGs is, is it the bookkeeping and stats, is it the story (mostly on rails) or is it really roleplaying within a story.
      My personal taste favors the Witcher, Gothic 1,2 Risen and others way over any Bioware game from the last 5 years which seem to be designed all after the same meta template using the same environmentalless on rails engine.

    31. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And half of these were made by BioWare.
      Dragonage itself is the "spiritual successor" to Neverwinter Nights which was originally pitched as a successor to the Baldur's Gate Series. Let's just say, they mint story lines.

    32. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AC, because I'm just adding a few more good PC-compatible western-RPG titles to Pojut's list, with a focus on off-the-beaten-path titles.

      Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick. I'd recommend Fallout 1 and 2, too, but those were pre-millenial. Expansive cRPGs with tons of content.
      Arx Fatalis. Rather like Morrowind in a lot of ways, but it got utterly missed on release. Also, prettier than vanilla Morrowind overall.
      Avernum 1-6 (and the Geneforge series, on the same basic engine). Indy as heck and none too pretty, but a reliable cRPG series.
      Diablo 2. OK, it's technically 10 years, 8 days old, but D2:LoD is definitely within the 10-year requirement. 'Nuff said.
      Escape Velocity Nova. Top-down space RPG with significant ship modification and a wide set of plotlines leading to independent resolutions.
      Gothic 1-3. They're just a hair linear, but they're also excellent third-person RPGs.
      Icewind Dale II. End of an era, to a certain extent. Good cRPG stuff.
      Mount & Blade. It's free-form, massively moddable, and the best jousting game EVER, but despite my soft spot for indie development, I cannot recommend the multiplayer expansion.
      Sid Meier's Pirates! Getting a bit away from the wRPG template here, but notable in that the excellent newer version is functionally identical to an 8-bit NES game released in 1991 -- and, more amazingly, that that's a good thing!
      Silent Storm, Silent Storm: Sentinels. These are what Fallout Tactics really SHOULD have been. Oh yeah, destructible buildings, too.
      Space Rangers 2: Reboot. It's a graphical space roguelike, and a darn solid one at that, even in spite of the hit-or-miss translation (95% of which is utterly optional). Aside from being turn based, it's a true successor to the Escape Velocity series.
      Titan Quest. Probably the best Diablo II clone out there until we see how Diablo III turns out.
      Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines. Yet another solid first/third-person CRPG.

      In less detail, the Nintendo DS quietly hosts some interesting hybrid RPGs. Etrian Odyssey (1 and 2), Infinite Space, and the World Ends with You each meld elements of western and eastern RPGs into pleasing wholes. The Dark Spire is a mildly brutal dungeon crawler (and that's coming from a fan of roguelikes, so adjust to your taste). I'll leave any listing of console titles to someone else, since I've only hit a few of the well-known titles/series, and honestly they really do lean more towards straight-up JRPGs and SRPGs.

    33. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to troll, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Dragon Age's world felt very static (as do many game worlds in modern RPGs) and I did NOT feel like I was having a direct influence on events (considering the number of quests that turn out exactly the same way regardless of what dialogue options / paths you choose).

      Dragon Age doesn't deserve all the attention and praise it gets by any means. It is pretty much typical "good or evil" modern RPG fare, and besides similarities to BG2 I felt like I could have been playing a game from the early 2000's.

    34. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Draek · · Score: 1

      Well, I *can* wait. Know why? because I'm still not finished with the original game. Spent over a hundred hours in my first playthrough (male Human Noble), I'm 10 hours into my second one (female City Elf) and now I've even got Awakening to look forward to after I finish the original campaign. And after that I'd like to try a mage ;)

      If it had a multiplayer option like NWN it'd be the perfect game, but yeah, even without it its worth every penny and then some.

      --
      No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
    35. Re:I can't freakin' wait, man. by Doggabone · · Score: 1

      I can't even begin to describe how much I hate Mass Effect 2's PC-as-a-second-thought interface. Mind you, the game is awesome, the scope is epic, the story is fantastic, the sound and visuals are breathtaking and the characters are all "real" but the console-like controls drive me nuts.

      The ME2 interface annoyed the crap out of me on the PC. I picked up Xpadder (http://www.xpadder.com/, $10) and plugged in a controller, which took a lot of the sting out it. I find the console style interface easier to live with - or at least less irritating - while using a console controller, and the keyboard and mouse were handy when I wanted them, too.

  2. Dragon Age 2: Legend of the Red Dragon! by Tetsujin · · Score: 2, Informative

    (L)ook for something to kill
    (H)ealer's Hut
    (R)eturn to town

    --
    Bow-ties are cool.
    1. Re:Dragon Age 2: Legend of the Red Dragon! by Enderandrew · · Score: 1

      With beautiful ANSI graphics!

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    2. Re:Dragon Age 2: Legend of the Red Dragon! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you kidding, you're gonna at least need a RIP capable terminal to play it!

    3. Re:Dragon Age 2: Legend of the Red Dragon! by Drive42 · · Score: 1

      No way! You could play that in an ANSI interface! But the RIP version was kinda badass. I used RIPterm as my client, but I think there was at least one more.

      Christ, I played that game forever.

    4. Re:Dragon Age 2: Legend of the Red Dragon! by Tetsujin · · Score: 1

      Good god, I can still remember converting numbers to base-36 because I was too cheap to spring for RIP-paint...

      --
      Bow-ties are cool.
  3. Start by patching Dragon Age 1 ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    If only they would finally release the 1.4 patch fixing the bug introduced in the 1.3 patch ...

    My thief want to do thief things.

    1. Re:Start by patching Dragon Age 1 ... by sa1lnr · · Score: 1

      Not official but...

      http://social.bioware.com/project/2563/

    2. Re:Start by patching Dragon Age 1 ... by chrish · · Score: 1

      At least you got the 1.3 patch.

      The Mac version of Dragon Age: Origins hasn't gotten a patch, can't get the DLC (although you can install it via a 3rd party app) and hasn't gotten the expansion.

      Until a week or two ago when it went on sale for 40% off, it was full-price abandonware. :-(

      Yeah, I'm disappointed and a bit bitter about this. I was pretty excited when the Mac version was announced, and I pre-ordered the "deluxe" version.

      Mac Steam has been treating us much better.

      --
      - chrish
  4. Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by Kenja · · Score: 2, Funny

    Given how much the BioWare games are turning into Japanese "dating" sims. If you dont know who Illusion Games is, think of a gaming company focused 100% on realistic breast manipulation.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by xmorg · · Score: 1

      Still waiting for the Linux client... OF NWN2!!!!!!

    2. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by Pojut · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Given how much the BioWare games are turning into Japanese "dating" sims.

      I call bullshit. The relationship aspect of BioWare games is an entirely option part of the experience, and involves no more strategy than picking the "nice" sounding conversational lines.

      Hardly the same thing as a dating sim.

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    3. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      maybe you should talk to Obsidian about that.

    4. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by Reilaos · · Score: 1

      In general, this strategy works in 'real' dating sims, too, unless you're playing one in which you can die. In that case, you're just as likely to get laid as you are to get killed.

    5. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by Luckyo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Given how much the BioWare games are turning into Japanese "dating" sims.

      I call bullshit. The relationship aspect of BioWare games is an entirely option part of the experience, and involves no more strategy than picking the "nice" sounding conversational lines.

      Hardly the same thing as a dating sim.

      Actually, you just summarized an average dating sim. Picking "nice sounding conversational lines" is generally the only gameplay element in those games.

    6. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by Hatta · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's a pretty poor simulation then. In real life, girls go for the jerks.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    7. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Aaaaand as he stated but you failed to parse, this is BUT ONE aspect of a BioWare game, not "the only gameplay element".

    8. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      "nice sounding conversation lines" was a quote from the parent. It's pretty obvious that sim makers can (and do) make anything from masochists to dominas and from normal girls to killer stalkers.

    9. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by PincushionMan · · Score: 1

      That'll happen. Right after Microsoft ports .NET to Linux.

      If you don't get it, NWN2 has large bits that use at least .NET 2.0 C++ runtimes. As for why they programmed it in Managed C++ - I have no idea. Ran like a two-legged dog on upper mid-range hardware.
      Also, the first game I hit the SecuROM install limit on, because I was trying (and failing) to run it in Wine and Crossover. And no, they didn't reset my install limit, so I now have a very pretty disc 1 coaster on my desk.

    10. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by medv4380 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That really depends on how you play in a real dating sim. Good ones have far more variety then just playing the nice sounding options. That's a good formula for an average ending with a good chance of a bad or null ending. Now if Dragon Age added about 10 times more character conversation trees and made them more time dependent then it would be getting dangerously close to a dating sim. Then again I found it wierd that I could start the story for the Elves leave and complete all other stories then come back to finish the elves and werewolfs. I side with more temporal consequences in my gaming like coming back to find everyone dead because I took to much time.

    11. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I call bullshit.

      I call shotgun.

    12. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by ctchristmas · · Score: 1

      Focused 100% on realistic breast manipulation? Is this in the mission statement?! Do they have any developer openings?!
      My Revised List of Dream Jobs:
      1. Realistic Breast Manipulation Developer
      2. Astronaut
      3. Batman
      4. Fireman

    13. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by sick_soul · · Score: 1

      yeah, I don't like the whole "appease the party" metagame.
      The stat increases basically force you into doing it, but I hated every second of it.

      But that's not the only thing I disliked about the game.
      I had great hopes for it, watched the forums regularly and preordered.

      But the "dating sim" aspect, the bland spellcasting (spells too balanced, too similar, too uninteresting compared to the unbalanced but FUN AD&D ones), and excessive huge fights with countless enemies and frustrating camera controls meant that I abandoned it quite soon without finishing it.

    14. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by Avalain · · Score: 1

      I side with more temporal consequences in my gaming like coming back to find everyone dead because I took to much time.

      Same here. In fact, this is the reason that I tend to stick to the main storyline. I mean, here you are, racing the clock to get somewhere before the bad guys destroy the world, but instead of heading there directly you decide to take some time off and help an old lady get rid of rats in her basement. This really just kills the feeling that your character is part of the world with real world constraints. As an example, I'd love if after Lothering you only had time to go to 3 of the 5 next locations before the other ones were overrun.

    15. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by coopersnick · · Score: 1

      I have just found the perfect employer, and am sending my resume now.

    16. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah. Frankly the women portrayed in Dragon Age are totally unbelievable in that all you basically have to do is be nice to them and give them gifts and they will eventually fight over you. Whereas in real life it's much more complicated than just being nice. I pretty much only did the two because I wanted to see what would happen. The "romance" scenes were kind of laughably over the top, and especially in Morrigan's case didn't really fit the characters. They really broke the tone of the game.

      The "relationship" aspect of DAO was useful in that it provides some cool spells and abilities, and will raise each character's stats the farther you go, but you really don't have to actively work, just figure out which gifts go with which character and you've got it sunk.

    17. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's a pretty poor simulation then. In real life, girls go for the jerks.

      No. In real life, girls go for the smooth jerks. In game, "nice sounding conversational lines" equates to your character being a smooth jerk.

    18. Re:Still waiting on the BioWare / Illusion merger. by xmorg · · Score: 1

      oh the pain of those nightmares! i remember those days. what a horrible game.

  5. The question you know we all want to know... by theswimmingbird · · Score: 2, Funny

    Can we bone Morrigan in this one?

    1. Re:The question you know we all want to know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My question is: if it's longer than your arm, is it still a dagger.. really?
      Wouldn't short sword be more descriptive?

    2. Re:The question you know we all want to know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry bro, don't wanna spoil you... but I guess you didn't really played the first one till the ending.

    3. Re:The question you know we all want to know... by Anaerin · · Score: 2, Informative

      You could bone Morrigan in the first one.

    4. Re:The question you know we all want to know... by MoriT · · Score: 1

      Only if you were playing a male character.

      In BioWare's world, everyone is either straight or bi, and everyone but Shale (who was awesome!!) conforms to gender norms. Maybe in this one we'll have a female fighter or a male healer, a gay dwarf or a straight elf.

      Somehow, though, I'm not holding my breath.

    5. Re:The question you know we all want to know... by theswimmingbird · · Score: 1

      I know, I know. I just didn't want to post any experience-altering spoilers. I have the PC version and have gotten to the last battle at Denerim, but when I got up a set of stairs it crashes my graphics card. So I guess I'm stuck waiting on patch 1.04.

    6. Re:The question you know we all want to know... by Faw · · Score: 1

      Twice.

    7. Re:The question you know we all want to know... by JarinArenos · · Score: 1

      To be fair, you can play a completely lesbian female berserker, or a completely gay male healer. It's only NPCs who... keep their options open. Also, Shale should tot

    8. Re:The question you know we all want to know... by Anaerin · · Score: 1

      True, but you could also get it on with Leliana or Zevran no matter what your PC's gender, and in fact, could have a 3- or 4- way with Isabella in the Pearl.

    9. Re:The question you know we all want to know... by Gudeldar · · Score: 1

      Juhani in the first KOTOR was a female only romance.

  6. interview even more people! by SoupGuru · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not a huge RPG kind of gamer but every now and then I get the itch to battle dragons and cast magic so I got Dragon Age. It's really a pretty good game. Long, not terribly repetitive, plot twists to keep it interesting, interesting characters, etc.

    But one thing that really gets to me about these RPGs is all the damned talking. Talk to the bartender, ask him 20 questions, 15 of which are getting at the same thing only worded slightly differently. Interview the bar patron, ask 20 questions, 15 of which rehash what the bartender said. Interview the barmaid, ask 20 questions.... interview the angry drunkard.... move to the next building and interview 5 more people....

    --
    What doesn't kill you only delays the inevitable
    1. Re:interview even more people! by Pojut · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There are ways around this...Dragon Age (and BioWare games in general) are designed so that if you want to power through them, you can...but if you want to know every little detail about the world, you can do that too.

      The first Mass Effect is a good example. Literally doing everything and talking to everyone I could find took me right around 30 hours.

      My fiancee only extracted the minimum information she needed from each NPC and moved on, and did maybe a handful of side quests. Her total playtime? About 13 hours.

      She enjoyed it just as much as I did, with the only difference being that she knew enough about the Mass Effect world to understand the storyline, while I decided to learn about it on an esoteric level. It all depends on your level of commitment. If you don't want to hear everything an NPC has to say...just don't ask them about it:-)

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    2. Re:interview even more people! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I got to the dwarf part of the storyline I got fed up with all the smalltalk and stopped playing. The game was fun but there was way too much unnecessary dialog.

    3. Re:interview even more people! by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 1

      I couldn't "power through" dragon age. I tried. I got about 8 hours into it and didn't want to play it anymore. The combat is too same-y.

    4. Re:interview even more people! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The majority of the dialogue in a Bioware game is actually OPTIONAL just to please impatient gamers like yourself.

      Really though skipping dialogue in a Bioware game is like eating cookie dough ice cream and eating around all the cookie dough chunks.

    5. Re:interview even more people! by geekoid · · Score: 1

      I hate it when I can't go to a towns folk or guard and just ask directions. "Where is the [color]/[Metal] [Animal] inn?"

      I mean, in any major city I've been in, I can ask people and get dome directions.

      Also, dragon Age quest organization is horrible.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    6. Re:interview even more people! by KnownIssues · · Score: 1

      But one thing that really gets to me about these RPGs is all the damned talking. Talk to the bartender, ask him 20 questions, 15 of which are getting at the same thing only worded slightly differently. Interview the bar patron, ask 20 questions, 15 of which rehash what the bartender said. Interview the barmaid, ask 20 questions.... interview the angry drunkard.... move to the next building and interview 5 more people....

      I don't know if that's meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but come on, there's a reason there's the word "roleplaying" in roleplaying game.

    7. Re:interview even more people! by Lythrdskynrd · · Score: 1
      Except that she will have missed out on a number of opportunities for bonus level ups. I would totally blow through this stuff except for the experience & paragon points....

      Hmmm... maybe I should get a life.

      :)

  7. I approve of the story's time-span. by Uniquitous · · Score: 1

    Few enough RPG's do this. I still have fond memories of SaGa Frontier 2, watching the characters go from juveniles to ancients, even dying and passing on the mantle to a new generation (two, in fact.) It really gives the game that sense of scope that is so often found lacking.

    1. Re:I approve of the story's time-span. by Reilaos · · Score: 1

      watching the characters go from juveniles to ancients, even dying and passing on the mantle to a new generation (two, in fact.)

      One of the Harvest Moon games does this, I think. Rune Factory 2. It's not exactly an RPG, though, and the main character doesn't die so much as just leave.

  8. will they fix the camera? by rcb1974 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is exciting. I played Dragon Age for about 3 hours and loved everything but gave up because I got frustrated by the camera, not being able to tilt it from 0 to 90 Degrees and zoom out far enough to see enough of the battlefield. Anyone know if they're going to unlock the camera for us in Dragon Age 2? I would rather have a more flexible camera even if it means setting the graphics to a lower quality setting.

    1. Re:will they fix the camera? by Pojut · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ...I take it you didn't play it on the PC? Because you could do the very things you described with the camera in the PC version...

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    2. Re:will they fix the camera? by Jaysyn · · Score: 1

      Yeah, the camera & controls on the console version were retarded compared to the PC version.

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
    3. Re:will they fix the camera? by guidryp · · Score: 1

      It was nowhere near as free as the camera in NWN.

    4. Re:will they fix the camera? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I played it on PC, and I agree with GP. The problem was that when you started to tilt the camera, it quickly snapped into over-the-shoulder view, switching controls accordingly. What I want is something like in NWN, where you could tilt all the way down to horizontal - thus gaining the same sight distance as in first person - but with controls remaining what they are.

    5. Re:will they fix the camera? by Pojut · · Score: 1

      Ah, ok...I misunderstood what the OP was getting at.

      I agree, that was a bit annoying. Not really a deal-breaker for me, but definitely noticeable.

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    6. Re:will they fix the camera? by rcb1974 · · Score: 1

      I was playing it on the PC. I heard camera control was even more restricted on the console versions.

    7. Re:will they fix the camera? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even NWN's wasn't generally believed to be unrestricted enough. IIRC, it couldn't go low enough, nor go straight overhead, nor zoom in close or far away. The solution was to patch the executable to unlock the camera. Didn't anyone do this for DA?

  9. maybe more sandbox this time? multiplayer? by spiffmastercow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed DA, but what happened to the ability to do whatever the hell you want (i.e. kill guards, rob houses, etc.) from BG? And what about the awesome multi-player support from NWN? It was the perfect multi-player RPG experience -- you could play with friends, but you didn't have to deal with a bunch of MMO douchebags.

    1. Re:maybe more sandbox this time? multiplayer? by TopherC · · Score: 1

      Even the Baldur's Gate series had multiplayer (even though it wasn't that good). I'd have bought DAO in a heartbeat if it had some kind of LAN-based multiplayer.

    2. Re:maybe more sandbox this time? multiplayer? by geekoid · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      what do you mean 'what happened'? Nothing happened, it was never designed with that concept.

      If that is what you are looking for, maybe you shouldn't buy games that don't have them?

      It's simple amazing that a LAN game has no douchebags compared to a MMORPG. Did you figure that out all by yourself?

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    3. Re:maybe more sandbox this time? multiplayer? by spiffmastercow · · Score: 1

      what do you mean 'what happened'? Nothing happened, it was never designed with that concept.

      If that is what you are looking for, maybe you shouldn't buy games that don't have them?

      It's simple amazing that a LAN game has no douchebags compared to a MMORPG. Did you figure that out all by yourself?

      Did you miss the whole "Baldur's Gate spiritual successor" angle they touted so often in the years it was in production? BG had (rudimentary) multiplayer and a sandbox feel, while still having a great story.

    4. Re:maybe more sandbox this time? multiplayer? by MindlessAutomata · · Score: 1

      NWN may have worse graphics and its own share of problems, but if you ask me, it has way more depth.

    5. Re:maybe more sandbox this time? multiplayer? by kellyb9 · · Score: 1

      Call me strange. But sometimes I prefer more linear gameplay over sandbox environments. While I loved games like Oblivion and Red Dead Redemption, it takes FOREVER to travel across the landscape. From time to time, I don't mind playing a game that gives me a little more of a focused storyline.

    6. Re:maybe more sandbox this time? multiplayer? by Pojut · · Score: 1

      Half-Life 2 is a great example of a game made better by the fact that it's linear.

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    7. Re:maybe more sandbox this time? multiplayer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. NWN was the perfect RPG.

      If they made some minor changes to the scripting language engine (variables in conversations , native arrays) and some trivial changes
      to the online character creation I would never have needed to buy another video game again... could write / play D&D online in total happiness.

      Instead we got NWN II - all graphics - no fun.

      And dragon age - good story - no friends.

    8. Re:maybe more sandbox this time? multiplayer? by Caerdwyn · · Score: 1

      There is a graveyard in Haven. Read the tombstones; Bioware thought the same way you do. It's a feature that they started on but had to cut.

      (side note, I don't recall if the tombstones are "active: until after you complete the Haven quests)

      --
      Everybody gets what the majority deserves.
    9. Re:maybe more sandbox this time? multiplayer? by oji-sama · · Score: 1

      NWN was indeed very nice, but I loved the side quests of BG2. "Hey, what happened to my party member?" (again)

      --
      It is what it is.
  10. How about multiplayer? by Cryolithic · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Still hoping for a true successor to NWN.

    1. Re:How about multiplayer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless Bioware breaks off from EA and miraculously rejoins with Obsidian (for the production) and Interplay (for the IP), you ain't gonna see that happening anytime soon.

    2. Re:How about multiplayer? by Jaysyn · · Score: 1

      Me too as long as it's *not* the crappy new 4e rules.

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
    3. Re:How about multiplayer? by COMON$ · · Score: 1

      I go back a little farther, I am waiting for a true successor to BGII and Icewindale. NWN just didnt cut it for me.

      --
      CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
    4. Re:How about multiplayer? by Cryolithic · · Score: 1

      I go back that far, but I run a NWN persistent world. It was the multiplayer and community content (ya buzzword, but it's true) that made NWN amazing.

    5. Re:How about multiplayer? by COMON$ · · Score: 1

      Ya, regrettably, I didn't get into the community content part of it, I played through most of the single player content and burned out. I was frustrated at the new style system that lacked the control over the character. I am not a D&D guy but I really missed having a 5-6 person party and customizing my character like in BG. Wasnt the reason they moved systems because they didnt want to pay royalties to Wizards of the Coast?

      --
      CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
    6. Re:How about multiplayer? by Omniscientist · · Score: 1

      Still hoping for a true successor to BG. A great story is crucial, however what BG offered to me that NWN never did was the ability to greatly increase the challenge and tactical elements of encounters in the game through the use of tactics and AI improving mods.

      Although NWN featured an editor for creating new modules, I don't believe it offered people the kind of access to the mechanics of the game that the mods created by the reverse-engineered Infinity Engine editors had. I make that assumption because I could never find any mod that increased the AI and the tactical elements of encounters significantly for NWN.

      On the same note, Dragon Age was too easy. You shouldn't be able to beat the last boss on your first or second try, or any significant encounter for that matter when the difficulty is turned up. At that point you are no longer playing a game, you're watching a movie that requires subtle hand movements and simple thought processing for playback.

  11. Gamer's take on DA2 by Robotron23 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    According to Steam's playtime count, I clocked up 106 hours on Dragon Age. Upon hearing the mixed reviews for its expansion (Awakening) I refrained from getting it. As it was informally billed as a successor to the classic Baldur's Gate series I was pretty enthusiastic like a lot of folks who had experience with Shadows of Amn.

    The fact remains that it has only been 9 months since DA released, and the expansion was out 5 months; having not played it I can only echo the commenest gripes of other players which was the relatively short length compared to Dragon Age vanilla (circa 10-15 hours), coupled with a somewhat stilted villain and overall plotline. The characters, most of which are new, haven't endeared themselves as much as the original set featured in DA. My experience with DA was good...but I never saw a villain with the depth or intensity of Irenicus, instead having a faceless entity of orc-like creatures named Darkspawn, with a corrupted Dragon at the helm. The motives of the evil horde were not touched upon much at all in DA...and whilst the characters were a varied bunch I never felt all that engaged thanks to the cropping up of cliches.

    It was a surprise to me when I came across a much less promoted and much more obscure title in the Steam summer sales just a week or so ago. The Witcher expanded edition pulled me in much faster than Dragon Age, with its unusual story steeped in Polish myths - it sure beat DA's rather Lord of the Rings feel that has been done to death not just on the silver screen but to a great extent in gaming too. Despite being inferior in graphics terms to Dragon Age, I found the protagonist pretty refreshing in the same way I liked Clint Eastwood in his most iconic westerns; the medieval world is darker and so suspends disbelief better than the gleaming spires of fantasy I saw in DA. It was less than $10 in the sale too, and offers a very large amount of gameplay. It's even further from Baldur's Gate than DA was, but for what it was it felt much more impressive.

    So after Bioware's content-light expansion, the announcement of a sequel so soon makes me more skeptical than excited. DA was good, but not ground-breaking as most of the perenially bribed gaming press were saying.

    Like any other gamer geek I hope it turns out brilliant, but just like every experienced gamer I've been let down by hyped franchise so many times. With smaller development houses bringing out quality, I start to wonder if there's much point paying all that much attention to the bigger ones with massive capital behind them.

    1. Re:Gamer's take on DA2 by geekoid · · Score: 1

      try Drakensang, Also available on Steam.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Gamer's take on DA2 by Pojut · · Score: 1

      Seconded. Definitely an awesome game worth playing through. It was wonderfully but unidentifiabley charming.

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    3. Re:Gamer's take on DA2 by MemoryDragon · · Score: 1

      Actually the witcher is not really obscure, it sold over 1 mio copies worldwide, and yes it is very good already a classic. The sequel is in the works and this time they wont reuse the Bioware engine, thank god.
      Cannot wait for the sequel, love the first part, and definitely longer than the 120 hours dragon age which shrank to 15 hours in reality.

    4. Re:Gamer's take on DA2 by hibiki_r · · Score: 1

      The problem that The Witcher had was that, at launch, it was a buggy mess that was almost unplayable in most rigs. The loading times were the worst since good old Sin. It was pretty hard to love.

      Now, after giving the developer enough time to actually finish the game, it's very easy to recommend.

    5. Re:Gamer's take on DA2 by TheGoodNamesWereGone · · Score: 1

      The Witcher was just brilliant; better than DA, which was really good too. I just hope Bioware doesn't f the next one up like Mass Effect 2

  12. Hopes high...then dashed by Itninja · · Score: 1

    At first read I thought this was a new Dragon Quest game. A real one...like Legend if the Cursed King. God I loveed that game. I would happy if it would just be re-released fir modern console(s).

    --
    I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
    1. Re:Hopes high...then dashed by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      What, you don't play DQVIII on your PS3? It could also be said that the console it was made for is a modern console since you can still buy it, new, in stores.

    2. Re:Hopes high...then dashed by Itninja · · Score: 1

      I don't have PS3 :(
      Hoping that one day the game will come out an another console.

      --
      I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
    3. Re:Hopes high...then dashed by damnbunni · · Score: 1

      You're aware that Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies comes out this Sunday in the US, right?

      From all I've seen the main quest is roughly as long as Dragon Warrior VII, with lots more sidequests. 100+ hours for the main game, more than a hundred sidequests, and more unlockable with downloads.

      The graphics aren't as good as the Playstation 2 game (it's on the Nintendo DS, after all), but they're better than the Playstation game. And the DS remakes of 4, 5, and 6 basically use the same engine as 7 on the PS1.

      I wouldn't be too terribly surprised to see DQ8 get remade for the 3DS.

  13. not trying to troll here by jollyreaper · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I found the game completely unimmersive. I've played a handful of RPG's that I've really, really liked but have not been able to find any in a long time that feel really engaging. I thought that Oblivion was a tremendously varied mixed bag. The engine was beyond amazing, just completely brilliant. I spent hours just wandering around the damn environment gawking at everything. Top notch! But the storytelling was limp and uninspired. And don't even get me started on the mess with leveling. Good game design should be intuitive and the leveling system was anything but. You had to read up and study on how to do it correctly. You run into the same problem with the quests where you might put your game in an unwinnable state by doing something the designers did not anticipate.

    As far as my playthrough of Dragon Age went, the controls were awful, the maps poorly designed, and the storyline was completely unengaging.

    I'm the same way with fighting games. It's not that I dislike the genre -- I love the Dreamcast Soul Caliber -- but so few measure up to that. There's usually just a lot of extraneous fluff and BS and the gameplay itself isn't enjoyable or demands memorizing an endless series of button combos.

    The whole Dragon Age phenomenon I find rather puzzling. Tons of people like it and it's not a Larry the Cable Guy situation where you can explain it as lowest common denominators with no taste. No, people like it for what it is. I like RPG's and it falls flat. It's weird how subjective tastes can be. Here's someone who loves a given genre, let's show him something that's seen as a classic of that genre, let's be puzzled when he dislikes it. Loves scifi but hates Firefly. Loves Thai food but hates curry. Strange.

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    1. Re:not trying to troll here by metamatic · · Score: 4, Funny

      I thought that Oblivion was a tremendously varied mixed bag. [...] Good game design should be intuitive and the leveling system was anything but. You had to read up and study on how to do it correctly.

      Not to mention that whenever you leveled up, everything else in the game mysteriously leveled up as well, in a way that was so painfully obvious it totally broke my suspension of disbelief. When the wolves mysteriously turned into timber wolves I realized leveling was pointless.

      I also couldn't get past the fact that Oblivion was accessed by diving into giant flaming vaginas, which took you to a place you knew was evil because there was blood everywhere. Was the game designed entirely by gay men? They should have had an evil demoness called Menses to finish it off.

      --
      GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
    2. Re:not trying to troll here by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      Sounds like we have similar tastes. I really got drawn into Oblivion's world despite the ho-hum storyline, while Dragon Age failed to grab me at all. Perhaps it's the open sandbox-style gameplay of Oblivion that appeals to me... Dragon age felt like I was on rails, like one of those Disneyland rides, which is why I gave it up after a few hours.

      By the way, I'm the same with SciFi and Firefly.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    3. Re:not trying to troll here by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 0

      I also couldn't get past the fact that Oblivion was accessed by diving into giant flaming vaginas, which took you to a place you knew was evil because there was blood everywhere. Was the game designed entirely by gay men? They should have had an evil demoness called Menses to finish it off.

      No... didn't see that at all. Maybe this says more about you than it does about the game's designers?

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    4. Re:not trying to troll here by jollyreaper · · Score: 1

      Sounds like we have similar tastes. I really got drawn into Oblivion's world despite the ho-hum storyline, while Dragon Age failed to grab me at all. Perhaps it's the open sandbox-style gameplay of Oblivion that appeals to me... Dragon age felt like I was on rails, like one of those Disneyland rides, which is why I gave it up after a few hours.

      It's funny. I was really impressed by GTAIV and found it quite engaging. A friend of mine who loves gaming and greatly enjoyed GTAIII and Vice City found IV to be tedious and boring. While many times we'll be identical with our likes and hates, sometimes we're so far off from each other it's crazy.

      By the way, I'm the same with SciFi and Firefly.

      Any particular reason why? Some people couldn't get past the setting, some couldn't stand the actors, some hated the Joss Whedon dialog. I'm always curious about when someone's feelings about something goes against their usual tastes -- hates the romance genre but loves this movie, loves scifi but hates that movie that everyone else thinks is the best thing since Star Wars.

      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    5. Re:not trying to troll here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I also couldn't get past the fact that Oblivion was accessed by diving into giant flaming vaginas, which took you to a place you knew was evil because there was blood everywhere. Was the game designed entirely by gay men? They should have had an evil demoness called Menses to finish it off.

      No... didn't see that at all. Maybe this says more about you than it does about the game's designers?

      Agreed, I thought the portals to Oblivion looked more like lava in the shape of cat's eyes than anything else...

    6. Re:not trying to troll here by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      With Firefly it was the setting, mostly. It was too western-y for my taste.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    7. Re:not trying to troll here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ditto on this post.
      add:
      the way dlc was done really runed me off (and I had the dlc), Im cool with dlc providing stuff but it shouldnt be overpowered and unbalance the game (eg wearing dragon armor early on).
      quick lets lets get to the top of the tower and light the torch - but make sure you explore each room and crack open every barrel on the way because time really is not an issue.
      truely annoying AI for your party when fighting even when scripting them. I got frustrated with them always going places I didnt want.

      party members felt like pets, take them out/put them away as you require - plus I never got why I had to have such a small party, that mechanism was very contrived.

    8. Re:not trying to troll here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You say you like RPGs, but I think you have a different definition of RPG than other people. You use Oblivion as an example of an RPG, except it's not the traditional RPG. It's an action-oriented 'RPG', or hack-n-slash game, a less-extreme version of Diablo. Can you list a real RPG that you enjoyed?

      And I'm not idolizing DA as some Bioware fanboi. I didn't play DA, and I hated NWN. I disliked most of Bioware's post-2001 titles.

      Likewise, you say you enjoy science-fiction, but dislike Firefly, and fail to list another science-fiction show that you enjoyed. Did you like Farscape? Stargate? Outer Limits? And please don't list BSG as an example of sci-fi.

    9. Re:not trying to troll here by hibiki_r · · Score: 1

      For those of us that enjoyed older Bioware games, like KOTOR and Baldur's Gate 2, and saw the company release weaker and weaker games over the years, Dragon Age was a breath of fresh air, a glimmer of hope. It's not a perfect game by any means, but the PC version plays pretty well. The difference between what you want and what I want is very simple: What I find important in a computer RPG is the role-playing. I want fleshed out companions, that interact with me and with each other. I want the world to feel at least one bit alive. In that respect, Dragon Age obliterates Oblivion and Fallout 3, with their big, empty worlds, and characters that are made of paper-mache. They might have a sweeping storyline, but the storyline is a very lonely affair, as the NPCs are almost completely non-interactive and uninteresting. In that respect, I think that even Morrowind was better, because while most characters had no personality whatsoever, the world had a sense of culture of some sort, which made the world feel as if it was populated by a society, despite not having one single person actually living on it: Just a few mannequins with a couple of paragraphs of text that you could ask for with the push of a button. Not one single interaction that resembled a conversation in any way.

      Not that Bethesda makes bad games, but that their idea of what an RPG is supposed to be is very different than that of Bioware, and areas where a lot of effort is spent in the good Bioware games are completely absent in Bethesda games.

    10. Re:not trying to troll here by lgw · · Score: 1

      Yeah, for me the whole western-y thing just didn't fit somehow. I've liked SciFi western blends elsewhere, but I just never bought into the low tech/high tech thing in Firefly.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    11. Re:not trying to troll here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What exactly was low-tech in Firefly? The weapons? Ranged munitions can only improve so much before you start to see diminishing returns. This is evidenced in Serenity when Mal easily defeats the Operative in a standoff -- using a revolver against his "high-tech" stun gun.

      In the Firefly pilot, the Independents are using some sort of energy carbines.

      I believe some of Jayne's weapons were not using standard ammunition. Remember Vera?

      If you believe some of the crazier apparent fan-fiction (I just now Googled this) then Mal's own pistol was an ancient imitation in outside appearance only. For the record, I don't believe this.

      I guess I don't understand what you expected. Did you believe in the future, hand-held weapons would annihilate 80-ton armored steel battle tanks? Affordable personal high-powered laser cannons for all? Weapons that could produce a black hole and swallow up a planet whole?

      From Wikipedia, Firefly takes place in the year 2517. Firearms have not significantly advanced technologically over the last 200 years. I don't see why it would be expected to be so different over the next 500.

    12. Re:not trying to troll here by meringuoid · · Score: 1
      Not to mention that whenever you leveled up, everything else in the game mysteriously leveled up as well, in a way that was so painfully obvious it totally broke my suspension of disbelief. When the wolves mysteriously turned into timber wolves I realized leveling was pointless.

      Sounds a lot like Dragon Age. Every monster levels along with you; advance your skills enough and it tells you their level on the mini-map. Every single mook in the room, all the same level, all one level below you.

      Massively pissed me off, because it takes away all the 'omg cool now I kick ass!' reward of levelling up. I don't mind the monsters scaling up to harder kinds of monsters; as I levelled up further in Fallout 3 I randomly encountered yao-guai and deathclaws more and more often and that was fine. And I don't mind the game scaling the difficulty up by throwing monsters at me in greater numbers; I feel really good about levelling up when I massacre dozens of a monster type that used to give me a hard time one on one. But I can't accept that the exact same goons I was slaughtering back at the start of the game have all uniformly levelled up alongside me.

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
  14. BioWare makes awesome games, amiright? by Anaerin · · Score: 1, Informative

    I mean, let's look at the list:

    • MDK 2
    • Baldur's Gate
    • Baldur's Gate 2 (The definitive 2nd Ed. computer game)
    • Neverwinter Nights (3.5 Ed!)
    • Star Wars: KotOR
    • Jade Empire
    • Mass Effect
    • Dragon Age: Origins
    • Mass Effect 2
    • Dragon Age: Origins - Awakenings

    All are truly outstanding games.

    1. Re:BioWare makes awesome games, amiright? by Pojut · · Score: 1

      What about Shattered Steel?

      Also, don't forget about Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment. They weren't made by Bioware, but it utilized their engine.

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    2. Re:BioWare makes awesome games, amiright? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Many would argue that Jade Empire was pretty average although I, personally, enjoyed it.

    3. Re:BioWare makes awesome games, amiright? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Kotor 2 also used a Bioware engine, but it can't really be comoared to Planescape Torment.

      Bioware Ford awsome games and above-decent game engined.

      I love Bioware, but I don' love all their games. Dragon Age was pretty good, but not as great as BG 2, and the online requirements and constant money grabs didn't make me happy. I don't think I'll be paying for DA2

  15. Bioware is over for me. by guidryp · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I was a huge Bioware fan. I don't buy a lot of games, but my shelf is dominated by Bioware. BG,BG2,NWN, KOTOR, KOTOR2.

    But Dragon Age was a disappointment for me. It looked pretty but the RPG engine seems light weight and limited. It felt very dumbed down compared to the D&D based system in NWN. Plus the move to selling in game items was a big turn off.

    I won't be looking into DA2.

    I will just keep playing NWN from that better, pre EA era of Bioware.

    1. Re:Bioware is over for me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Someone please help parent with at least a neutral mod - stating one's likes and dislikes isn't the same as flaming, so not sure why 14-year-old got pissed and modded him/her down.

    2. Re:Bioware is over for me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, but neither is Slashdot a blog, so sharing your likes and dislikes is irrelevant, as no one cares. The only purpose for such a post is to start a pointless flamewar over whose opinion is correct.

    3. Re:Bioware is over for me. by hibiki_r · · Score: 1

      While the selling of in game items is a bad idea IMO, I'd rather play Dragon Age than NWN any day of the week. The only thing that makes it semi-playable is the custom content: What Bioware shipped in the box was about as lackluster as they get.

      D&D is not set up to work with a team of 2 adventurers, or 3: It requires 4 characters at the very least, and a group of 5 or 6 is far better. Given the dreadful hireling system NWN has, the main campaign was designed to support extremely handicapped groups, which made it a total bore. I couldn't bring myself to finish it, even in coop play. They obviously realized that this was not going to work when they built their own system in Mass Effect, so that they could support a smaller party of characters without making most classes completely unnecessary. Dragon Age follows the same formula, but with a larger group, which IMO is a good thing.

      I mark the release of NWN as the day the old Bioware died.

    4. Re:Bioware is over for me. by guidryp · · Score: 1

      D&D doesn't require any set number of characters. Modules were setup that way in P&P because it was a social game. NWN has rogue moduels, fighter modules, mage modules etc... Open class modules, supplied character modules, there are no limits.

      In CRPGs my preference is actually single character control, not party control. You can play the vast majority of NWN modules with just your single character. That is part of making a unique experience. Play again as any combo of 20+ classes and change the experience.

      Character building feels so pointless in DA that they may as well hide the whole thing. It just feels much more like a simplistic console game to me.

      Everyone can have an opinion. But I uninstalled Dragon Age not long after finishing it. The RPG system just seems empty. I am still playing NWN (I played just this weekend past). NWN is my all time favorite Bioware game. I have played all the original modules multiple times, I have played perhaps twenty-five excellent third party modules, I have played in online worlds. I am waiting for further modules in some excellent series I have played.

      NWN was the end of the golden age of free lan play, free online multiplayer, free online worlds...

  16. Warden's Keep? by Kinwolf · · Score: 1

    Still waiting to get something out of Warden's Keep where I let that wizard Avernus live. I guess I won't be seeing it in Dargon Age 2 from what I read here. :-/

  17. How about some decent mac support this time? by prichardson · · Score: 1

    I might get excited if they actually care to update their mac version this time. I'm still waiting for 1.0.2, let alone 1.0.3.

    I think I'll pass this time. I'll stick with companies that actually support their software.

    --
    Help I'm a rock.
    1. Re:How about some decent mac support this time? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who gives a shit about Mac support? Tons of excellent games don't get published for a Mac. If they do, they're almost always delayed by an year or two. Be sure to pass. No Mac user will be missed.

    2. Re:How about some decent mac support this time? by richmaine · · Score: 1

      Same here. I went out of my way to show support for the Mac version of Origins. Before realizing that there was to be a Mac version, I had initially bought a PC version, which I ran in BootCamp. Then when the Mac version came out, I bought it too, mostly just to show support for their doing the Mac one. Being able to avoid rebooting into BootCamp was a slight convenience, but not really enough to justify buying a second copy. My main reason was just to show support.

      But I've felt pretty ill-supported in return. As you say, no 1.02 patch. No expansion pack.

      And now, looking at the list of platforms for Dragon Age 2, I don't see the Mac listed.

    3. Re:How about some decent mac support this time? by WiiVault · · Score: 1

      Well if you sell a title to Mac users you should support it. I would pose the question: What does anybody care what some random trolling AC dick says? Anybody, regardless of plat deserves value for their money. Jackass.

    4. Re:How about some decent mac support this time? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I might get excited if they actually make a Mac version this time. From my perspective, throwing a Wine wrapper around a program doesn't count as making a Mac version.

    5. Re:How about some decent mac support this time? by stewbacca · · Score: 1

      Who cares? Maybe the millions of potential customers, for starters.

  18. First by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 2, Informative

    This time I'll plan on the PC version over the console. The XBox 360 interface on the first DA was horribly hobbled and made the game very frustrating if you're a "I want to control every character's every move" player like me.

    Also, if they bring back the battle scripting, just give me unlimited scripting slots (or some high number I'll never reach). Don't make me expend hard earned development points on opening script slots. Give me scriptable characters or not.

    1. Re:First by pluther · · Score: 1

      just give me unlimited scripting slots (or some high number I'll never reach). Don't make me expend hard earned development points on opening script slots.

      Hear here!

      Though the slots open automatically as they gain levels, I still can't think of any reason not to have them all available from the beginning.

      "Oh, look, the archmage gained another level. Now I can finally tell her to drink a fucking potion whenever she's about to run out of hit points."

      And why is it that every time I set something on fire, all my NPCs (including the mage and the archer) feel the need to run into the flames? In Mass Effect (same company) my NPCs will actually move away from grenades before they explode.

      --
      If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
  19. If you're looking for something else... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've had Eschalon: Book I bookmarked for a while. Haven't bought it yet because I'm working through a backlog of games, but it's piqued my interest as a fan of old-school computer RPGs.

    Looks like they've just come out with a sequel as well.

  20. 64-bit support? by jitterman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I do hope the sequel will support 64-bit platforms. Like most people here, despite some shortcomings I thought the original game was great - all the way until the point where it stopped working on my machine. My PC surpasses the minimum requirements easily, but apparently 64-bit Win7 isn't technically supported. I was able to play up until the point in the game when you enter the town of Redcliffe. At that point, my machine would consistently lock up. Despite all patches being applied and ensuring no background processes were running that would seem likely to interfere, no luck. I contacted Bioware support, who told me to f*ck off as 64-bit OSes were not only not supported, but also that they were not likely to issue a patch in the future to stabilize the title on such systems.

    Did anyone here experience regular lock-ups on Win7 64, and if so, were you able to and how did you solve the issue?

    --
    For conscience is the wound, and there's naught to staunch it
    1. Re:64-bit support? by Pojut · · Score: 1

      I think you might have been encountering a weird one there. My gaming PC, my fiancee's gaming PC, and all of our friends' gaming PCs run Win 7 x64, and none of us had the problems you described.

      We have a variety of hardware, with different brand and model video cards, motherboards, and CPUs...it might be a problem specific to your hardware config. Or the install could have been botched. ::shrug:: sorry

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    2. Re:64-bit support? by Cinder6 · · Score: 1

      Well, I know this post isn't exactly helpful, but I didn't experience any issues on 64-bit Win7, in three playthroughs. Maybe I got lucky, or maybe you got unlucky. Have you tried using the dev console and enabling the Redcliffe debug mode? You can skip to the end of it--which sucks, I know--and maybe then you could continue.

      --
      If you can't convince them, convict them.
    3. Re:64-bit support? by jitterman · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the tip - I honestly didn't think of doing that.

      --
      For conscience is the wound, and there's naught to staunch it
    4. Re:64-bit support? by jitterman · · Score: 1

      I think you're likely to be correct. I'm running dual ATIs (can't remember the model at the moment, wanna say 4800) and a quad-core proc (last one released before the "i" lineup). I have reinstalled (and replayed to the lock-up point) but with no luck. Ah well, may actually do an XP dual-boot just to finish the game. Thanks anyway.

      --
      For conscience is the wound, and there's naught to staunch it
    5. Re:64-bit support? by Pojut · · Score: 1

      It MIGHT have something to do with the fact that you are running Crossfire. I don't know if Dragon Age has any problems with Crossfire, but you might want to try either disabling it or physically removing one of the video cards.

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    6. Re:64-bit support? by hibiki_r · · Score: 1

      What you found is the DREADFUL EA customer support, who can't help in any way.

      I have run DA:Origins on my 64 bit Win7 machine with no problems whatsoever, so I can tell you it does work. But don't expect any support whatsoever: Bioware itself doesn't have their own support desk, and the EA support desk has no interest in fixing your problem, but instead try to get you off their back.

      Why should I buy their games if they won't support me in any way when one of their games fails to run?

    7. Re:64-bit support? by Johnno74 · · Score: 1

      I'm sad to hear of your problems, but I doubt if your 64 bit OS is the problem. Yes bioware suck for not supporting your configuration, but unfortunately thats how things work. Most companies have muppets for support people, they aren't experts and they are just following a script for resolving a known set of problems.

      Here at work all our servers are virtualized, except one... because its running an application written by a vendor that will not support running in a virtualized environment.
      We're 100% sure virtulizing the server wouldn't cause any problems, but if we hit a problem and had to log a support call they wouldn't support us. Even though the problem was unrelated to the virtualized environment.

      Back to your issue, An application or game CANNOT lock up the OS. Its not the game's fault, its something the game is doing that is triggering the bug elsewhere.

      I'd suggest upgrading your GFX drivers, and checking you don't have an overheating problem (clean out heatsinks etc)

      Windows x64 only runs an app as an x64 process if the app is compiled as a 64 bit app. If its a 32 bit app then it runs in a 32 bit process, and should (in theory) be 100% compatible.
      The only problems I've ever heard of with games running on windows x64 have been caused by device drivers requred for DRM that are 32 bit only.

      If windows locks it can only be one of 3 things
      1) hardware problem
      2) bug in a device driver
      3) bug in the OS.

      There are no exceptions to this. If an application locks up your pc then it is not at fault, it is doing something that is triggering one of the above problems.

    8. Re:64-bit support? by lgw · · Score: 1

      Back to your issue, An application or game CANNOT lock up the OS. Its not the game's fault, its something the game is doing that is triggering the bug elsewhere.

      That's an uhelpfully pedantic way of looking at it. If I can play N graphic-intensive games with no toruble, but game N+1 make my system lock up, it's a problem with game N+1. Sure, the actual lock-up is coming from the vid card driver, but so what? All vid drivers are full of problems like that, and adequate QA by the game makers would have lead to discovery and work-around.

      It used to be that big-name game releases would be accompanied by a patch release by the vid-card makers, to actually fix the driver bugs the game devs found, but I haven't seen that since Quake 4.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    9. Re:64-bit support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm currently playing through Dragon Age on Win7 64 bit machine. I've passed Redcliffe, passed the Elves, working on the Dwarves, and I've had none of the problems you're experiencing.

      Perhaps try running it in compatibility mode, or disabling UAC?

    10. Re:64-bit support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I beat the game fine running Windows 7 64bit.

    11. Re:64-bit support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Works without issues on 64bit Vista.

    12. Re:64-bit support? by will_die · · Score: 1

      ANother person with windows 7 64bit and played the game.
      However I did have problems with random crashes until I because of set affinity, once I fixed that no more problems. However I do have problems with affinity and other bioware games.

    13. Re:64-bit support? by V+for+Vendetta · · Score: 1

      Did anyone here experience regular lock-ups on Win7 64, and if so, were you able to and how did you solve the issue?

      Not with the game itself. Just like the guy above mentioned, the game itself runs flawless on my gaming notebook w/ Win7 64 Prof. But the Launcher app killed the machine altogether (machine freezes, sound loop, even CTRL+ALT+DEL didn't work), which neither running in comp. mode nor with raised privileges did cure. Starting the main EXE directly instead, worked like a charm.

  21. Ugh, please no. by Uniquitous · · Score: 2, Insightful

    One thing that would have made it infinitely better was a multiplayer option, even just locally.

    Maybe I'm just a misanthrope, but enough with the goddamn multiplayer. That's what D&D is for.

    1. Re:Ugh, please no. by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 1

      It just made it so that this ridiculously long game tied up the console with only 1 player capable of using it.

    2. Re:Ugh, please no. by Beyond_GoodandEvil · · Score: 1

      It just made it so that this ridiculously long game tied up the console with only 1 player capable of using it.
      Dragon Age on a console? You're doing it wrong. Oh, and to beat the game quickly, just use level exploit to lvl 14ish, get bloodmage/Arc Warrior and then just roll through everything.

      --
      I laughed at the weak who considered themselves good because they lacked claws.
    3. Re:Ugh, please no. by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 1

      I wasn't the one who purchased it - and it was my 360 - so it was already in a playable state, I didn't want to dish out 60 bucks for a game I already had, the only features truly missing being the top down viewpoint. (In terms of picking up items and such, consoles really do seem easier, I don't know why computers haven't properly picked up on this yet).

  22. Less predictable and less grind please by UpnAtom · · Score: 1

    Quite liked the first one but the 'dungeons' were ridiculous. I stopped wanting to go into rooms because I just knew there would be a fight there almost exactly like the last fight.

    If I wanted grind, I'd go back and get to level 200 on Dofus.

    The only fights worth doing in RPGs are epic fights.

  23. I think I'll wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For a version of Dragon Age that includes all the content.

    1. Re:I think I'll wait... by Ifandbut · · Score: 1

      What does the AC mean by that? What content was missing?

    2. Re:I think I'll wait... by someone1234 · · Score: 1

      He meant, he will start playing when DA 1-2-3 is out in a single package.

      --
      Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
    3. Re:I think I'll wait... by nacturation · · Score: 1

      What does the AC mean by that? What content was missing?

      Guard: "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm unable to open this gate by order of his majesty because you have not purchased the downloadable content which was released on the same day as this copy of the game you acquired."

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
    4. Re:I think I'll wait... by Ifandbut · · Score: 1

      So your complaining about DLC then?

      DLC is no more missing from the game then the pre-order bonuses are. Was the DLC released months after the game came out also missing from the original game then? The game and story is perfectly fine without any of the DLC.

    5. Re:I think I'll wait... by nacturation · · Score: 1

      So your complaining about DLC then?

      No. I'm explaining what the AC meant by that, as you asked.

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
    6. Re:I think I'll wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wasn't necessarily complaining about DLC, but between day-one DLC and NPC salesmen, I would say that a lot of it is "missing." If there's a guy there who wants to give me a quest that I can't complete without buying shit, then that game is incomplete. However, if they want to do DLC the right way(like, for instance, Shivering Isles in Oblivion) then I'm all for it.

  24. Talk, in a RPG. Oh MY NOZERS! by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 1

    You don't want to play RPG's, you want to play action RPG's. Switch Bioware for Blizzard next time.

    What next, complain Gran Turismo has to many cars in it?

    You probably return a porn film with the complaint that people have to much sex in it.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  25. Spoilers ahead by MemoryDragon · · Score: 1

    Here are a few spoilers, the surrounding will be entirely non interactive with artificial barries placed left and right, and crates as the only means of storing items.
    The story will revolve around something evil to be beaten, and you have to find 4 whatever or unite 4 whatever before the final showdown.
    Ah yes, also expect the first payware DLC about 1 day before the release of the final game, and then another bunch of pointless shoddy additions and 2 hour campaigns all for cash of course one every week.

  26. Or maybe.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They should PATCH THE HUGE ISSUES WITH THE ORIGINAL, before they abandon it for a sequel...

  27. Oblig. by bruno.fatia · · Score: 1

    http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1930495

  28. I didn't "get" Dragon Age by billcopc · · Score: 1

    Ok fellow nerds, help a brother out.

    I have Dragon Age, I played it for a few hours, arrived at some cliché double-cross in the plot over some emo chick, suddenly wished I had a rocket launcher to kill all those boring old monastery pricks and called it quits. The game has stayed in its box ever since. Everyone is raving about it, I was incredibly annoyed the whole time. Was I even playing the same game ?

    So I ask you, what do you like about Dragon Age, and if (when) I give it another chance, what should I be looking for ? Was I simply stuck in a boring prologue, akin to FFXIII's 26-hour "intro" ?

    --
    -Billco, Fnarg.com
  29. Some radical changes too by Jimbot256 · · Score: 1

    Sorry if this was posted before but the second game will have some pretty big changes when it comes to the player's character. Some people are calling it "Mass Effectication" or Dragon Effect. In Dragon Age 2 you play as a set character named "Hawke". http://dragonage.bioware.com/# . It's currently at the top page under "Dragon Age 2 announced"

    You can only play as a human, too: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/3052334/1#3052434
    So, people are comparing this to Mass Effect's Commander Shepard. Personally, I don't care for it. It woks in Mass Effect 2, but Dragon Age was an entirely different beast altogether. I'd like those two IPs to be as far apart as possible. I'm not going to completely pass judgment, but from what ha been announced, I really don't care for what I read. Some people call it a "superficial" to determine your character's race, but I think it breaks the fantasy of a game when in a world filled with Elves and Dwarves and other stuff, you can only be a human. Especially after the first game established that you can choose your race. Had they only allowed you to be human in the first game, then this would have been a non-issue for me (aside the fact that we play as this pre-determined "Hawke" character).