Dragon Age Thread - Own DA2? Want a free copy of Mass Effect 2 on PC? Check the OP!

Jakorian

Psycho Internet Hawk wrote: »

Question about the end of Act 1:

Spoiler:

If I don't bring Carver with me to the roads, does he stay alive?

Spoiler:

Yes. He'll also survive if you bring him and Anders.

Shimshai

Psycho Internet Hawk wrote: »

Question about the end of Act 1:

Spoiler:

If I don't bring Carver with me to the roads, does he stay alive?

I've not done it myself but as far as I know

Spoiler:

He stays alive, however..

Spoiler:

He joins the templars so you can't use him

Fig-D

Two questions, both sibling related:

Spoiler:

1. Do the friendship/rivalry bars do anything for them or are they just there to introduce the concept?

2. If Bethany is sent to the circle, can I side with the Templars without killing her? Can I have her join me?[/I]

Foefaller

Fig-D wrote: »

Two questions, both sibling related:

Spoiler:

1. Do the friendship/rivalry bars do anything for them or are they just there to introduce the concept?

2. If Bethany is sent to the circle, can I side with the Templars without killing her? Can I have her join me?[/I]

Spoiler:

I dunno about the friendship/rivalry and if dialog can change if you push it the other way.

As for number 2, yes you can, but it means she is only with you for the final battle, and even then I think only as an NPC

Nine

Foefaller wrote: »

Fig-D wrote: »

Two questions, both sibling related:

Spoiler:

1. Do the friendship/rivalry bars do anything for them or are they just there to introduce the concept?

2. If Bethany is sent to the circle, can I side with the Templars without killing her? Can I have her join me?[/I]

Spoiler:

I dunno about the friendship/rivalry and if dialog can change if you push it the other way.

As for number 2, yes you can, but it means she is only with you for the final battle, and even then I think only as an NPC

Spoiler:

She was able to join my party but that may be contingent on calling out Orsino for working with Quentin.

Pancake

Whhhhhhhhhhhy?

Fig-D

Oh, Gamlen, you are a treasure.

Gaming-Freak

spencermm wrote: »

evilthecat wrote: »

guys, isabela gets that all cured up.

Spoiler:

there's a cutscene where she visits anders in his clinic.

Oh yeah, because I trust Anders.

Spoiler:

If it's any consolation, Seneschal Bran goes there for his "treatment" too.

kedinik

I finished the game a few hours ago.

Storywise, I feel like it had a really cool overarching plot but that most of the actual conversations were poorly written.

ZarathustraEck

Ending Spoiler

Spoiler:

The whole ending sequence makes a LOT more sense if you've sided with the Templars. The mages' desperation, the click of Orsino being a coleague of the bastard who killed your mother... all the way up to Meredith's paranoia getting the best of her when she turns on you (and hell... turns on ALL the Templars).

The first time I played through the game, I sided with the mages and it struck me as a bit odd. I believed Meredith as the foe, but Orsino's blood magic ritual seemed to come out of left field.

Having done both sides, I have to say it feels like they wrote the ending for your siding with the Templars and then kludged something together to use the same assets for your siding with the mages.

kedinik

ZarathustraEck wrote: »

Ending Spoiler

Spoiler:

The whole ending sequence makes a LOT more sense if you've sided with the Templars. The mages' desperation, the click of Orsino being a coleague of the bastard who killed your mother... all the way up to Meredith's paranoia getting the best of her when she turns on you (and hell... turns on ALL the Templars).

The first time I played through the game, I sided with the mages and it struck me as a bit odd. I believed Meredith as the foe, but Orsino's blood magic ritual seemed to come out of left field.

Having done both sides, I have to say it feels like they wrote the ending for your siding with the Templars and then kludged something together to use the same assets for your siding with the mages.

Spoiler:

I played through as a mage, and from that perspective there were several moments where I was like "Ok right about now I should have the option to just start slaughtering every Templar ever. And instead I'm massacring people who I want to join."

Definitely felt pressured to side with the templars instead.

Talith

Kind of get the feeling that they don't really like mages as much as they did in DA:O.

GoodKingJayIII

Because all mages are horrible assholes in and around Kirkwall.

kedinik

Jay,

Spoiler:

They make it pretty clear that the vast majority of mage atrocities were caused by Meredith's overbearing persecution.

They even had an entire quest dedicated to that theme.

Blackjack

I kinda feel like DA:O was all "Oh no how horrible it is that they keep mages in these towers and away from people"

and DA2 is all "Yes. And here is why."

undeinPirat

big socks

Decoy

Blackjack wrote: »

I kinda feel like DA:O was all "Oh no how horrible it is that they keep mages in these towers and away from people"

and DA2 is all "Yes. And here is why."

"This is why we can't have nice things."

Dread Pirate Arbuthnot

Gaming-Freak wrote: »

Pancake wrote: »

Zaylenz wrote: »

One thing I kinda wish the game had is after the Deep Roads.

Spoiler:

If Bethany went to the Circle, I think there there should have been a point where you can visit her in the Gallows to talk to her about what the Circle is like. I mean they did include a letter from her, but I think it might have been more effective if you actually had to go through some security or something to talk to her.

Once you join the Circle, you're not really allowed to see your family anymore.

It's as Anders said, "They'll throw you in jail if you even so much as ask about your child!" Bad things happen to mages who try to contact their families, and visa-versa.

But your mom says she went and

Spoiler:

visited Bethany at the Circle.

Pancake

Dread Pirate Arbuthnot wrote: »

Gaming-Freak wrote: »

Pancake wrote: »

Zaylenz wrote: »

One thing I kinda wish the game had is after the Deep Roads.

Spoiler:

If Bethany went to the Circle, I think there there should have been a point where you can visit her in the Gallows to talk to her about what the Circle is like. I mean they did include a letter from her, but I think it might have been more effective if you actually had to go through some security or something to talk to her.

Once you join the Circle, you're not really allowed to see your family anymore.

It's as Anders said, "They'll throw you in jail if you even so much as ask about your child!" Bad things happen to mages who try to contact their families, and visa-versa.

But your mom says she went and

Spoiler:

visited Bethany at the Circle.

But that family is disgusting so you shouldn't listen to anything any of them says.

CaptainNemo

Dread Pirate Arbuthnot wrote: »

Gaming-Freak wrote: »

Pancake wrote: »

Zaylenz wrote: »

One thing I kinda wish the game had is after the Deep Roads.

Spoiler:

If Bethany went to the Circle, I think there there should have been a point where you can visit her in the Gallows to talk to her about what the Circle is like. I mean they did include a letter from her, but I think it might have been more effective if you actually had to go through some security or something to talk to her.

Once you join the Circle, you're not really allowed to see your family anymore.

It's as Anders said, "They'll throw you in jail if you even so much as ask about your child!" Bad things happen to mages who try to contact their families, and visa-versa.

But your mom says she went and

Spoiler:

visited Bethany at the Circle.

Leandra Hawke is also rich and the mother of one of Kirkwall's newest rising stars.

Blackjack

I'm willing to assume they have some sort of system in place where visits can be arranged and family/friends can go to the Circle. Mages going to family/friends is a no-no, though.

-Tal

It would have been nice to visit the circle anyway, just to see how supposedly awful it is in there.

kedinik

The game felt pretty half-baked in general.

I wouldn't call it a bad game.

But you really went through the same locations so, so many times.

Reminded me of Vampires: The Masquerade - Bloodlines with starting strong and occasionally being really good and then devolving into a noticeably glitchy unfocused mess towards the end.

Regina Fong

Blackjack wrote: »

I'm willing to assume they have some sort of system in place where visits can be arranged and family/friends can go to the Circle. Mages going to family/friends is a no-no, though.

I also have a feeling that this is for adult mages who have passed their harrowing.

Valiantheart

All in all I consider this a pretty bad attempt from Bioware. I'm going to wait for patches before i touch it again. Its just soooo buggy and I am finding the lack of a real narrative annoying. There is such a thing as too many side quests.

Wolfprint

Hmm, does anyone know why I cannot find Solivitus the merchant for the Herbalist's Tasks quest? He is not at his usual station in the Gallows. I have picked up two of the quest items before starting the quest. Is that why?

EDIT: Never mind, I just found that he appears after Sundermount.

Auberon

I guess I was just unreasonably lucky. The only bug I get is that the game often starts in windowed mode.

CaptainNemo

kedinik wrote: »

The game felt pretty half-baked in general.

I wouldn't call it a bad game.

But you really went through the same locations so, so many times.

Reminded me of Vampires: The Masquerade - Bloodlines with starting strong and occasionally being really good and then devolving into a noticeably glitchy unfocused mess towards the end.

Yeah, it's worth the sixty bucks, but it has a lot of problems. The writing and combat make up for it, though.

Operative21

Auberon wrote:

I guess I was just unreasonably lucky. The only bug I get is that the game often starts in windowed mode.

Actually, I had the same problem and after some investigation found that for whatever reason, the game is setup to run in windowed mode at the startup. If you look under the game's options there's an option to have it run in fullscreen as the default.

Regina Fong

I've had a single crash so far in this game. Compare that to, say, Fallout 3 which even after many, many patches crashes constantly and I have trouble saying this is a buggy game.

spamfilter

ZarathustraEck wrote: »

Ending Spoiler

Spoiler:

The whole ending sequence makes a LOT more sense if you've sided with the Templars. The mages' desperation, the click of Orsino being a coleague of the bastard who killed your mother... all the way up to Meredith's paranoia getting the best of her when she turns on you (and hell... turns on ALL the Templars).

The first time I played through the game, I sided with the mages and it struck me as a bit odd. I believed Meredith as the foe, but Orsino's blood magic ritual seemed to come out of left field.

Having done both sides, I have to say it feels like they wrote the ending for your siding with the Templars and then kludged something together to use the same assets for your siding with the mages.

This was exactly my comment a few pages ago. Yes, everything flows so much better when you make that choice, I almost felt bad for

Spoiler:

Orsino, because his desperation was palpable. It made no sense when you side with him that he would turn to blood magic. Hey dude, you have on your side the guy who singled handedly fought off the entire Qunari invasion, I think I got this thing under control.

Regina Fong

spamfilter wrote: »

ZarathustraEck wrote: »

Ending Spoiler

Spoiler:

The whole ending sequence makes a LOT more sense if you've sided with the Templars. The mages' desperation, the click of Orsino being a coleague of the bastard who killed your mother... all the way up to Meredith's paranoia getting the best of her when she turns on you (and hell... turns on ALL the Templars).

The first time I played through the game, I sided with the mages and it struck me as a bit odd. I believed Meredith as the foe, but Orsino's blood magic ritual seemed to come out of left field.

Having done both sides, I have to say it feels like they wrote the ending for your siding with the Templars and then kludged something together to use the same assets for your siding with the mages.

This was exactly my comment a few pages ago. Yes, everything flows so much better when you make that choice, I almost felt bad for

Spoiler:

Orsino, because his desperation was palpable. It made no sense when you side with him that he would turn to blood magic. Hey dude, you have on your side the guy who singled handedly fought off the entire Qunari invasion, I think I got this thing under control.

Spoiler:

I also had a similar response some while back. Like many, i sided with the mages my first time through, templars the second time. The templar-side sequence of events leading up to the final battle makes much more sense. The magi side is fucking incoherent.

Psycho Internet Hawk

It's sort of jarring going through the game as a mage because the whole "mages are dangerous assholes" theme is so prevalent. You'd think there'd be someone like Wynne or Irving to show you "see, there are perfectly functional, decent mages about." But nope, apparently I'm the only mage in the entire goddamn city who can keep their shit together.

I'm pretty sure for anyone who hasn't played Origins and rolls a warrior or rogue their first time, mages must look absolutely terrible.

Regina Fong

Psycho Internet Hawk wrote: »

It's sort of jarring going through the game as a mage because the whole "mages are dangerous assholes" theme is so prevalent. You'd think there'd be someone like Wynne or Irving to show you "see, there are perfectly functional, decent mages about." But nope, apparently I'm the only mage in the entire goddamn city who can keep their shit together.

I'm pretty sure for anyone who hasn't played Origins and rolls a warrior or rogue their first time, mages must look absolutely terrible.

The Enigma of Kirkwall revelations go a long way towards explaining this phenomena though.

Pancake

Mages in Kirkwall are all terrible. The Tranquil Solution was a brilliant name and a brilliant plan.

Gaming-Freak

Regina Fong wrote: »

spamfilter wrote: »

ZarathustraEck wrote: »

Ending Spoiler

Spoiler:

The whole ending sequence makes a LOT more sense if you've sided with the Templars. The mages' desperation, the click of Orsino being a coleague of the bastard who killed your mother... all the way up to Meredith's paranoia getting the best of her when she turns on you (and hell... turns on ALL the Templars).

The first time I played through the game, I sided with the mages and it struck me as a bit odd. I believed Meredith as the foe, but Orsino's blood magic ritual seemed to come out of left field.

Having done both sides, I have to say it feels like they wrote the ending for your siding with the Templars and then kludged something together to use the same assets for your siding with the mages.

This was exactly my comment a few pages ago. Yes, everything flows so much better when you make that choice, I almost felt bad for

Spoiler:

Orsino, because his desperation was palpable. It made no sense when you side with him that he would turn to blood magic. Hey dude, you have on your side the guy who singled handedly fought off the entire Qunari invasion, I think I got this thing under control.

Spoiler:

I also had a similar response some while back. Like many, i sided with the mages my first time through, templars the second time. The templar-side sequence of events leading up to the final battle makes much more sense. The magi side is fucking incoherent.

Spoiler:

Right, because it makes more sense that Meredith accuses you of pointless shit at the end, Cullen basically states that under Meredith's orders they intended to arrest Hawke regardless of the fact that he/she was helping the Templars. Oh, and it makes even more sense that Hawke eventually leaves Kirkwall for no reason whatsoever, even though he/she ended the mage threat and brought control and order back to Kirkwall. That's real coherent.

Pancake

Gaming-Freak wrote: »

Regina Fong wrote: »

spamfilter wrote: »

ZarathustraEck wrote: »

Ending Spoiler

Spoiler:

The whole ending sequence makes a LOT more sense if you've sided with the Templars. The mages' desperation, the click of Orsino being a coleague of the bastard who killed your mother... all the way up to Meredith's paranoia getting the best of her when she turns on you (and hell... turns on ALL the Templars).

The first time I played through the game, I sided with the mages and it struck me as a bit odd. I believed Meredith as the foe, but Orsino's blood magic ritual seemed to come out of left field.

Having done both sides, I have to say it feels like they wrote the ending for your siding with the Templars and then kludged something together to use the same assets for your siding with the mages.

This was exactly my comment a few pages ago. Yes, everything flows so much better when you make that choice, I almost felt bad for

Spoiler:

Orsino, because his desperation was palpable. It made no sense when you side with him that he would turn to blood magic. Hey dude, you have on your side the guy who singled handedly fought off the entire Qunari invasion, I think I got this thing under control.

Spoiler:

I also had a similar response some while back. Like many, i sided with the mages my first time through, templars the second time. The templar-side sequence of events leading up to the final battle makes much more sense. The magi side is fucking incoherent.

Spoiler:

Right, because it makes more sense that Meredith accuses you of pointless shit at the end, Cullen basically states that under Meredith's orders they intended to arrest Hawke regardless of the fact that he/she was helping the Templars. Oh, and it makes even more sense that Hawke eventually leaves Kirkwall for no reason whatsoever, even though he/she ended the mage threat and brought control and order back to Kirkwall. That's real coherent.

Spoiler:

There is actually a variety of reasons that you could have left that the game actually gives you involving your party that may or may not come up in a playthrough. And Varric does say you left because "fortunes change," which is incredibly vague, but insinuates that there is more reason than no reason at all.

Regina Fong

Gaming-Freak wrote: »

Regina Fong wrote: »

spamfilter wrote: »

ZarathustraEck wrote: »

Ending Spoiler

Spoiler:

The whole ending sequence makes a LOT more sense if you've sided with the Templars. The mages' desperation, the click of Orsino being a coleague of the bastard who killed your mother... all the way up to Meredith's paranoia getting the best of her when she turns on you (and hell... turns on ALL the Templars).

The first time I played through the game, I sided with the mages and it struck me as a bit odd. I believed Meredith as the foe, but Orsino's blood magic ritual seemed to come out of left field.

Having done both sides, I have to say it feels like they wrote the ending for your siding with the Templars and then kludged something together to use the same assets for your siding with the mages.

This was exactly my comment a few pages ago. Yes, everything flows so much better when you make that choice, I almost felt bad for

Spoiler:

Orsino, because his desperation was palpable. It made no sense when you side with him that he would turn to blood magic. Hey dude, you have on your side the guy who singled handedly fought off the entire Qunari invasion, I think I got this thing under control.

Spoiler:

I also had a similar response some while back. Like many, i sided with the mages my first time through, templars the second time. The templar-side sequence of events leading up to the final battle makes much more sense. The magi side is fucking incoherent.

Spoiler:

Right, because it makes more sense that Meredith accuses you of pointless shit at the end, Cullen basically states that under Meredith's orders they intended to arrest Hawke regardless of the fact that he/she was helping the Templars. Oh, and it makes even more sense that Hawke eventually leaves Kirkwall for no reason whatsoever, even though he/she ended the mage threat and brought control and order back to Kirkwall. That's real coherent.

Spoiler:

Meredith was always planning to use and then betray the champion. That makes perfect sense to me, as does the fact that Cullen and the other templars were willing to go along with it when it was "and then we arrest Hawke, because he's pretty dangerous and we want to be in control" and then they weren't OK with it when it turned into "And then we murder Hawke because I don't want any lose ends."

As for leaving Kirkwall mysteriously, that makes sense because it's a plot hook.

spamfilter

Gaming-Freak wrote: »

Regina Fong wrote: »

spamfilter wrote: »

ZarathustraEck wrote: »

Ending Spoiler

Spoiler:

The whole ending sequence makes a LOT more sense if you've sided with the Templars. The mages' desperation, the click of Orsino being a coleague of the bastard who killed your mother... all the way up to Meredith's paranoia getting the best of her when she turns on you (and hell... turns on ALL the Templars).

The first time I played through the game, I sided with the mages and it struck me as a bit odd. I believed Meredith as the foe, but Orsino's blood magic ritual seemed to come out of left field.

Having done both sides, I have to say it feels like they wrote the ending for your siding with the Templars and then kludged something together to use the same assets for your siding with the mages.

This was exactly my comment a few pages ago. Yes, everything flows so much better when you make that choice, I almost felt bad for

Spoiler:

Orsino, because his desperation was palpable. It made no sense when you side with him that he would turn to blood magic. Hey dude, you have on your side the guy who singled handedly fought off the entire Qunari invasion, I think I got this thing under control.

Spoiler:

I also had a similar response some while back. Like many, i sided with the mages my first time through, templars the second time. The templar-side sequence of events leading up to the final battle makes much more sense. The magi side is fucking incoherent.

Spoiler:

Right, because it makes more sense that Meredith accuses you of pointless shit at the end, Cullen basically states that under Meredith's orders they intended to arrest Hawke regardless of the fact that he/she was helping the Templars. Oh, and it makes even more sense that Hawke eventually leaves Kirkwall for no reason whatsoever, even though he/she ended the mage threat and brought control and order back to Kirkwall. That's real coherent.

Yes, it does make more sense.

Spoiler:

Meredith suspects you because she's got idol induced paranoia, and that makes more sense if you side with her, it proves she's seeing enemies that don't exist and she's nuts. If you sided against her then of course she wants to kill you, and the idol thing then makes no sense.

It also makes the Cullen backing you instead of Meredith turn more sensible, if you sided against the Templars then why is Cullen backing you? Him backing you makes more sense in light of the fact that he's witnessing abnormal paranoia from Meredith right in front of his eyes.

Rorus Raz

So should I expect the game to pretty much force me into using Anders at some point? Much like DA1 did with Wynne?

Unless I crank the difficulty way down.