Dragon Age Thread - Bring your boxing gloves!

Dashui

Dragon Age 3 returns players to the world of Thedas during a civil war between the mages and templars. It promises a much larger map for players to explore - "four to five times the size of Ferelden" - and greater customization for its characters. It's currently set for a late 2013 release.




Experience the epic sequel to the 2009 Game of the Year from the critically acclaimed makers of Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2. You are one of the few who escaped the destruction of your home. Now forced to fight for survival in an ever-changing world, you must gather the deadliest of allies, amass fame and fortune, and seal your place in history. This is the story of how the world changed forever. The legend of your Rise to Power begins now.

Dragon Age 2 thrusts players into the role of Hawke, a penniless refugee who rises to power to become the single most important character in the world of Dragon Age. Known to be a survivor of the Blight and the Champion of Kirkwall, the legend around Hawke’s rise to power is shrouded in myth and rumor. Featuring an all-new story spanning 10 years, players will help tell that tale by making tough moral choices, gathering the deadliest of allies, amassing fame and fortune, and sealing their place in history. The way you play will write the story of how the world is changed forever.

Key Features:

* Embark upon an all-new adventure that takes place across an entire decade and shapes itself around every decision you make.
* Determine your rise to power from a destitute refugee to the revered champion of the land.
* Think like a general and fight like a Spartan with dynamic new combat mechanics that put you right in the heart of battle whether you are a mage, rogue, or warrior.
* Go deeper into the world of Dragon Age with an entirely new cinematic experience that grabs hold of you from the beginning and never lets go.
* Discover a whole realm rendered in stunning detail with updated graphics and a new visual style.





You are a Grey Warden, one of the last of a legendary order of guardians. With the return of mankind's ancient foe and the kingdom engulfed in civil war, you have been chosen by fate to unite the shattered lands and slay the archdemon once and for all.

Key Features:

* Immerse yourself in a shattered world on the brink of annihiliation
* Experience complex moral decisions that have game-changing consequences
* Sculpt your hero in your own image or fantasy
* Engage in bone-crushing, visceral combat against massive and terrifying creatures


News

09/17/2012 - Dragon Age 3: Inquisition has been announced with a 2013 release date.

10/11/2011 - Dragon Age 2: Mark of the Assassin DLC is now available for purchase and download!

09/16/2011 - Dragon Age 2: Mark of the Assassin DLC has been announced, and will be available October 11th for 9.99 USD or 800 Microsoft Points. Players team up with Tallis, a character voiced by Felicia Day, to travel to a fortress-like estate to steal an ancient relic. The DLC will feature new items, environments, and monsters, as well as giving you more insight into the Orlesians and Qunari. You can view the trailer here: youtube.com/watch?v=_0_41SWzCwk

07/26/2011 - Dragon Age 2: Legacy DLC is now available for purchase and download!

07/07/2011 - Dragon Age 2's first story-based DLC will be available July 26th on the PC and Mac for 9.99 USD, Xbox 360 for 800 Microsoft Points, and the Playstation 3 for 9.99 USD. "Targeted by a vicious criminal cartel that are hunting ‘the blood of the Hawke,’ you must put an end to their relentless attacks. Leave Kirkwall, and journey to an ancient Grey Warden prison in order to find the source of the aggression and uncover the harsh truth about the Hawke lineage. Playable from any point in the DAII campaign, face all new darkspawn, forge a powerful new weapon and come face to face with an ancient horror."

03/08/2011 - Dragon Age 2 is now available for purchase! And a launch trailer has been released that can be viewed at the following link: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-launch-dragon-age/711123

03/07/2011 - The high resolution texture pack has been released. You can view information and download it at the following link: http://social.bioware.com/page/da2-patches

02/22/2011 - The Dragon Age 2 demo is now available for download.

02/11/2011 - Dragon Age 2 has gone gold!

Older News

Spoiler:

02/09/2011 - A Mac version of Dragon Age 2 has been announced, and will ship on the same disc as the PC version.

09/07/2010 - The final Dragon Age: Origins DLC, Witch Hunt, is now available for purchase.

07/08/2010 - Dragon Age 2 officially announced for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360! A debut trailer will be released on August 17th, 2010.

07/06/2010 - Dragon Age: Origins - Leliana's Song addon is now available for purchase!

05/18/2010 - The Dragon Age: Origins - Darkspawn Chronicles addon is now available for purchase!

03/16/2010 - Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening expansion pack is now available for purchase!

01/29/2010 - Dragon Age: Origins - Return to Ostagar addon is now available for purchase!

11/03/2009 - Dragon Age: Origins is now available for purchase!

10/13/2009 - BioWare's Social Network website is now live! http://social.bioware.com/

Dragon Age: Origins - PC Mods

Many of the following links and descriptions are courtesy of Ranadiel!

Spoiler:

Graphics and Atmosphere:

Improved Atmosphere -- adds more ambiance to the game world and a lot more, I highly recommend it. This mod changes a lot of things in regards to what characters wear and what they're doing in game, so you may want to read through before you install.

Dragon Age Redesigned -- Another major overhaul of the game in terms of graphics, all good in my opinion.

JB Textures -- Improves the look of the game, giving it a more high-res appearance.

Circles Be Gone -- Removes the targeting circles from the game. Makes it a hell of a lot easier to take screen shots and enjoy the view of the game.


Shale Retextured HD -- Improves Shale's bodily textures to a high-res quality.

No Helmet Hack 1.6 - This mod makes helmets invisible "by placing helmets in the cloak slot. Each character maintains their own visibility setting. The helmets are visible on the inventory paperdoll for comparison and easy swapping."


Personal Annoyance Remover -- Removes/reduces the visual effects from many of the sustained modes. Note that there is an option to download a version of Combat Tweaks with this file already installed

Character Generator:

More Hairstyles -- Adds more hairstyle options to the character generator.

Pineappletree's Vibrant Colors -- Adds more colors and tones options for the character generator.

Items & Related:

Camp Chest - This adds an invaluable chest to the player camp for all the pack rats out there.

Leliana's True Sacred Ashes Armor - This mod gives you an armor for Leliana modeled after the one she wore in the Sacred Ashes CG trailer.

Gray Warden Runic Armor - This mod gives you a powerful set of armor, three shields, and several swords as a variant of the Warden armor.

Madd Gift Guide - This mod edits the item description for gifts with the name of the companion it is intended for.

Gift Guide - Awakening - This is a companion mod to Madd Gift Guide that adds support for The Stone Prisoner, Return to Ostagar and Awakening.

Gameplay & Combat:

Extra Dog Slot -- Makes Dog a permanent 5th member by allowing him to be summoned by the Warden. Keep in mind he counts as a Summon so if your Warden is a Ranger, you won't be able to have Dog and one of your summoned animals out at the same time.

Full Combatant Dog -- Improves Dog's base stats and gives him access to more abilities, making him more of a contributing party member. I was never able to get it to work exactly how it states in the description, but it works well enough for me.

Advanced Tactics -- Gives you a ton of new tactics options for setting up your AI. A must-have.

Combat Tweaks -- Overhauls a lot of the spells, talents and formulas in the game. Most of the changes are well-balanced in my opinion and apply to all creatures, not just your party.

No Automatic Deactivation -- Stops the automatic deactivation of certain sustained abilities at the end of combat, such as Berserk and Blood Magic. Really useful.

Skip the Fade - This mod teleports you directly to your companions instead of going through the entire dungeon, as well as giving you all the attribute points, experience points, and codex entries you would have normally earned if you completed the Fade.

Lock Bash - This mod allows you to bash or force locked doors and chest opens, with a number of configuration options such as item breakage and stat requirements.

Special:

The Winter Forge -- Adds a new crafting skill, "Enchantment" to game, to be used in conjunction with the new Winter Forge added to the campsite. A pretty in-depth system that allows you to create entirely new items or modify existing ones with custom stats, effects and abilities.

Awakening in the OC -- Adds the resources, specializations, spells, skills and talents of the Awakening campaign to the OC. Love it.

slinks s3 RAVAge -- Totally overhauls the game world, mostly in terms of combat encounters, weapons, armor and items. Definitely not for everyone, but good if you're seeking more variety in the game or a bigger challenge.

Morrigan Restoration Patch Dialogue Fixpack -- Restores lines and scenes that were cut from the game before release. Fleshes her character out a lot more, making her seem less one-dimensional. Worth checking out if only just to see the missing scenes, such as ratting her out to the Templars at the Circle Tower, or the post-Flemeth encounter scene.

Dragon Age Rules Fixpack -- A set of tweaks and bug fixes, but most importantly a modified events manager file that allows it to take on more of a load without crashing the game. The tweaks and bug fix files are entirely module and don't have to be added, but the Core Files folder does need to be installed for anything to work, as it also includes the events manager files. Very useful.

Character Respecialization - "This addon allows the player to reset the base attributes, specialization points, spells, talents and skills of the hero character and any of the party members to the default values and returns the remaining points so they can be spent again. The addon takes into account every bonus point the characters receive during the game including CE and DLC items, tomes, bonus points from the Fade, etc."

Dialogue Tweaks - This mod "changes companion dialogues for consistency, bug fixing, and adds new minor options. All dialogue is voiced by original game voice actors; these are changes to scripting, text, and dialogue conditions to make use of or correct existing dialogue." The creator suggests using the following two mods in conjunction with Dialogue Tweaks:

Alistair Dialog Patch - This mod "fixes many endgame dialogue issues relating to Alistair and his status, as well as some other adjustments to Alistair's general dialogue and romance-related dialogue."

Endgame Dialogue Fixes - This mod makes "corrections to endgame dialogue issues relating to Alistair and his status, as well as optional endgame slideshow changes to expand on the original story."

Dragon Age 2 - Screenshots

Spoiler:

Dragon Age: Origins - Screenshots

Spoiler:

Dragon Age 2 - PC System Requirements

Spoiler:

Recommended:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz Processor or equivalent
CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 Triple core 2.8 GHz or equivalent
RAM: 2GB (4 GB Vista and Windows 7)
Video: ATI 3850 512 MB or greater
Video: NVIDIA 8800GTS 512 MB or greater
DirectX 11: ATI 5850 or greater
DirectX 11: NVIDIA 460 or greater


Minimum:
OS: Windows XP with SP3
OS: Windows Vista with SP2
OS: Windows 7
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater
RAM: 1 GB (1.5 GB Vista and Windows 7)
Video: Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 256 MB cards
Disc Drive: DVD ROM drive required
Hard Drive: 7 GB
Sound: Direct X 9.0c Compatible Sound Card Windows Experience Index: 4.5

Dragon Age: Origins - PC System Requirements

Spoiler:

Windows XP Minimum Specifications

* OS: Windows XP with SP3
* CPU: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) single core running at 1.4Ghz or greater
* AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8Ghz or greater
* RAM: 1GB or more
* Video: ATI Radeon X850 128MB or greater
* NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB or greater
* DVD ROM (Physical copy)
* 20 GB HD space

Windows Vista Minimum Specifications

* OS: Windows Vista with SP1
* CPU: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) single core running at 1.6Ghz or greater
* AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 2.2GHZ or greater
* RAM: 1.5 GB or more
* Video: ATI Radeon X1550 256MB or greater
* NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB or greater
* DVD ROM (Physical copy)
* 20 GB HD space

Recommended Specifications

* CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz Processor or equivalent
* RAM: 4 GB (Vista) or 2 GB (XP)
* Video: ATI 3850 512 MB or greater
* NVIDIA 8800GTS 512 MB or greater
* DVD ROM (Physical copy)
* 20 GB HD space

Astale

And so the thread title marches on to numbah 3. Here is hoping for an Anders-free zone!

Kyoka Suigetsu

Don't be a goose

We know that isn't happening

WotanAnubis

Dashui wrote: »

Dragon Age 3 returns players to the world of Thedas during a civil war between the mages and templars. It promises a much larger map for players to explore - "four to five times the size of Ferelden" - and greater customization for its characters. It's currently set for a late 2013 release.

Are they talking actual gameplay zones here is it more "the map screen for Orlais covers more ground than the map screen for Ferelden"?

PreciousBodilyFluids

I really doubt it's the latter.

I'm so happy they're taking their time with this one, totes excited for the result.

L Ron Howard

I think I should restart DAO. I'm going to go with the dick route, of "fuck you, got mine".
Keep Sten and Morrigan and Dog with me at all times.
"Help us! Our little town of Redcliffe is being attacked by zombies!"
"Does this help us kill darkspawn?"
"N-no. Not really. But we could really use the help."
"Sorry, gotta go fight darkspawn. Good luck with that."

Morrigan approves +10
Sten approves +15
Dog approves +90000

Blackjack

L Ron Howard wrote: »

I think I should restart DAO. I'm going to go with the dick route, of "fuck you, got mine".
Keep Sten and Morrigan and Dog with me at all times.
"Help us! Our little town of Redcliffe is being attacked by zombies!"
"Does this help us kill darkspawn?"
"N-no. Not really. But we could really use the help."
"Sorry, gotta go fight darkspawn. Good luck with that."

Morrigan approves +10
Sten approves +15
Dog approves +90000

And then you die horribly because the Darkspawn have an army and all you have is a town full of zombies.

Atomika

Did they ever explain why Sten from DAO isn't a giant goat-man like the other qunari?

-Tal

Atomic Ross wrote: »

Did they ever explain why Sten from DAO isn't a giant goat-man like the other qunari?

not everyone is born with horns

Atomika

-Tal wrote: »

Atomic Ross wrote: »

Did they ever explain why Sten from DAO isn't a giant goat-man like the other qunari?

not everyone is born with horns

All the qunari in DA2 had horns, yet none of them did in DAO.


Is this like a Klingon ret-con thing or something?

Couscous

Atomic Ross wrote: »

-Tal wrote: »

Atomic Ross wrote: »

Did they ever explain why Sten from DAO isn't a giant goat-man like the other qunari?

not everyone is born with horns

All the qunari in DA2 had horns, yet none of them did in DAO.


Is this like a Klingon ret-con thing or something?

Pretty much.

-Tal

Sten was originally going to have horns, hence why ogres have them, but they cut it because they couldn't get it to work with helmets. then in DA2 they didn't have to worry about it and came up with a reason for the discrepancy.

Dragkonias

Yeah. It was basically a retcon.

Not that I'm complaining. As far as DA1 was concerned I thought the Qunari were just a bunch of tall black dudes.

Same way that elves actually look somewhat different from human now instead of being slightly shorter with pointy ears.

Atomika

Dragkonias wrote: »

Yeah. It was basically a retcon.

Not that I'm complaining. As far as DA1 was concerned I thought the Qunari were just a bunch of tall black dudes.

Same way that elves actually look somewhat different from human now instead of being slightly shorter with pointy ears.

Well, they left themselves an out with the whole "regular folks can be qunari, too" thing they put in DA2, but Sten is definitely part of a genetically-separate race, further evidenced by the few other qunari in DAO looking exactly like him.

I've got an explanation in my mind for this, but it's just something I made up, not anything really supported by canon.

-Tal

non-kossith converts to the qun were part of the lore in DAO

every qunari looking like Sten, and everyone in general looking very human-like, is due to development constraints

Spoit

Peshaw, next you'll say thst there actually are female turrians

Professor Phobos

I actually liked the "near human" look of the races in DA:O. Felt very restrained, low-fantasy that served the medieval atmosphere well.

-Tal

the thing is the setting and atmosphere of Dragon Age is the most generic fantasy ever

Egos

DARKSPAWN

Atomika

-Tal wrote: »

the thing is the setting and atmosphere of Dragon Age is the most generic fantasy ever

It is, but it does a great job of giving that setting a lot of texture and depth. To me, that's more important than being uber-creative for novelty's sake.

I know that DA rips straight from our cultures when giving certain nations their own texture, like the way Orlais, Antiva, and Ferelden are clearly analogues for France, Spain, and Britain, but they don't stop there and shorthand everything. It's a complex world with a deep history and constantly-shifting political realities. It's a testament to that complexity that you can have a game like DA2 that tells a completely different story than DAO, but still comfortably fits within that world.

That's the great part about Dragon Age, at least for me anyway. I love fantasy worlds with a consistent mythology that subvert the trappings of the genre while using them to tell interesting stories. The whole idea of the Grey Wardens is fascinating; clearly, there's parallels to the Jedi there as they're both para-military forces with questionable methods and motive, but the Wardens pay a high price for their supernatural gifts.

If anyone has ever researched Tolkien's notion of a "secondary world," Thedas fits that bill to T; it's not just stories about guys in armor fighting faceless orcs, it's about the relationships you cultivate and the political dynamics that you have to account for, and how your struggles and progress must fit within that framework.

Egos

Atomic Ross wrote: »

That's the great part about Dragon Age, at least for me anyway. I love fantasy worlds with a consistent mythology that subvert the trappings of the genre while using them to tell interesting stories. The whole idea of the Grey Wardens is fascinating; clearly, there's parallels to the Jedi there as they're both para-military forces with questionable methods and motive, but the Wardens pay a high price for their supernatural gifts.

I thought the Grey Wardens were basically the Night's Watch...

:rotate:

-Tal

it is almost impressive how much the politics in Dragon Age are ripped straight from Medieval Europe

Ferelden = Britain
Orlais = France
Antiva = Italy but with Spanish accents
Rivain = Spain
Anderfels = Holy Roman Empire
Tevinter = Byzantine Empire
Qunari = Ottoman Empire
Seheron = Cyprus
Nevarra = Prussia

Free Marches are the most original, they incorporate elements of some of the above but otherwise aren't so obviously tied to one country

Atomika

Egos wrote: »

Atomic Ross wrote: »

That's the great part about Dragon Age, at least for me anyway. I love fantasy worlds with a consistent mythology that subvert the trappings of the genre while using them to tell interesting stories. The whole idea of the Grey Wardens is fascinating; clearly, there's parallels to the Jedi there as they're both para-military forces with questionable methods and motive, but the Wardens pay a high price for their supernatural gifts.

I thought the Grey Wardens were basically the Night's Watch...

:rotate:

Kinda, except they have supernatural abilities, are allowed to have sexual relationships, and generally have a lot more political freedom.

But I love all the political reality that DA infuses into its mythology. You can look at something like most fantasy works where wizards are just cool dudes with beards who are beloved by everyone, but in DA they're feared and held prisoner because magic is fucking terrifying.

-Tal

I very much like the way this setting deals with magic

it tends to be best when it's either super-feared or super-casual

gjaustin

Atomic Ross wrote: »

Dragkonias wrote: »

Yeah. It was basically a retcon.

Not that I'm complaining. As far as DA1 was concerned I thought the Qunari were just a bunch of tall black dudes.

Same way that elves actually look somewhat different from human now instead of being slightly shorter with pointy ears.

Well, they left themselves an out with the whole "regular folks can be qunari, too" thing they put in DA2, but Sten is definitely part of a genetically-separate race, further evidenced by the few other qunari in DAO looking exactly like him.

I've got an explanation in my mind for this, but it's just something I made up, not anything really supported by canon.

I'm pretty sure that the official explanation is that some Qunari are born without horns and are therefore considered special.

Daenur

I have been reading some about the decline of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and was kinda reminded by Orzammar in Origins. Even in the face of foreign invaders nobles were reluctant to arm the peasants, because you know... don't want them getting any ideas. It was also hard for the king or really anyone to get things changed since the nobles were so autonomous and could just overrule stuff they did not like.

I guess the same could probably be said for many feudal realms but I had some fun comparing the two and I agree it's great how so much in Dragon age can be compared to real world history/politics.

Extreaminatus

Re: Sten not having horns.

Hey, Sten, I heard Qunari had horns?

Spoiler:

It is a long story and we do not share it with outsiders.

Olivaw

There's certainly enough to Thedas to separate it from other fantasy settings, even despite the darkspawn (and their colossally stupid name)

But its aesthetic was never super captivating

Atomika

Olivaw wrote: »

There's certainly enough to Thedas to separate it from other fantasy settings, even despite the darkspawn (and their colossally stupid name)

But its aesthetic was never super captivating

DA2 is a lot more aesthetically challenging than DAO. People and places look downright dashing in that game.

Aegeri

If they use frostbite I would love it if they incorporated destruction into the game in some manner. Being able to blow a hole in a wall as a mage would be awesome.

Blackjack

Just reinstalled DAO and DA2...was determined to go through them in order, but I got about halfway through Ostagar before deciding I couldn't take any more and started up DA2. I am like the antithesis of most Dragon Age fans.

Spoit

Atomic Ross wrote: »

Olivaw wrote: »

There's certainly enough to Thedas to separate it from other fantasy settings, even despite the darkspawn (and their colossally stupid name)

But its aesthetic was never super captivating

DA2 is a lot more aesthetically challenging than DAO. People and places look downright dashing in that game.

Eh, other than the chantry and deep road maps, the environmental design wasn't that impressive.

Olivaw

Spoit wrote: »

Atomic Ross wrote: »

Olivaw wrote: »

There's certainly enough to Thedas to separate it from other fantasy settings, even despite the darkspawn (and their colossally stupid name)

But its aesthetic was never super captivating

DA2 is a lot more aesthetically challenging than DAO. People and places look downright dashing in that game.

Eh, other than the chantry and deep road maps, the environmental design wasn't that impressive.

I would go so far as to say that there is nowhere in DA2 that looks good! Or at least looks even vaguely impressive

The environmental design in that game is utter garbage and yes I know eight months but them's the facts

Spoit

I dunno, the non-reused deep road maps were pretty impressive looking

EDIT: I do wonder if Frostbite will allow them to have removable roofs, something that inexplicably became impossible between DAO and 2 even though they used the same engine

Dragkonias

Neither game has terribly great architectural design from what I remember.

Kyoka Suigetsu

Orzammar was kinda cool lookin, if a bit generic.

Atomika

The Deep Roads looked pretty cool.

Otherwise, no, it's not a visually-impressive landscape.

Morninglord

I liked the aesthetic but it wasn't super original.

Wyborn

So I'm gonna Origins it up.

Is there a particular origin that's super cool? I was thinking a female dwarf commoner who bashes the shit out of people with her hammer, but my wife played human noble about a year ago and really enjoyed it.

Kyoka Suigetsu

City elf is probably the best of them behind human noble

Dragkonias

Hmmm....I always felt that human noble was your standard fantasy fare. Though I did enjoy it.