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Dragon Age: Origins: Dragons and Dalish and Darkspawn Oh My! (Gameplay tips in OP)

1356761

Posts

  • KlatuKlatu Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi OiRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Careful, you'll spark another debate about Morrigan and to a lesser degree Lelianna :)

    Klatu on
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  • RonaldoTheGypsyRonaldoTheGypsy Yes, yes Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I just finished my first playthrough as a 2hand warrior. I'm thinking I want my next run to be as a mage or a duelist.

    RonaldoTheGypsy on
  • zerg rushzerg rush Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Reynolds wrote: »
    So, apparently one of the downloaded bonus items has disappeared along with the party member that had it equipped. Will I ever get it back? The other times I'd had characters join and then leave, it had given me back anything I had equipped on them...

    Disappear as in "fucking magic trick" or disappear as in "I told him to go kill himself in the woods". If it's the latter, you never get it back.

    zerg rush on
  • Delta AssaultDelta Assault Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Pancake wrote: »
    I hate you, BioWare. I just heard a banter between Leliana and Alistair about my relationship with her and they both kept referring to my character as he and him.

    BioWare ruins everything about everything.

    I'm glad someone else plays as their own gender in RPGs. I can't stand people who go all "Haha, I only ever play as the other sex, cause then I'll get to stare at their hot ass when I play the game for hours on end." I fucking hate those idiots. Hate em, hate em, just wanna gouge their eyes out. Seriously, who stares at their third person avatar when they actually play? What, you're just fixated on that polygonal body of yours and never look around at anything else? Shouldn't you actually be looking around at the environment and enemies ahead and where you're going and all that?

    Delta Assault on
  • AntihippyAntihippy Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Who honestly cares?

    Antihippy on
    10454_nujabes2.pngPSN: Antiwhippy
  • surrealitychecksurrealitycheck lonely, but not unloved dreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    you did make a very good megapode

    surrealitycheck on
    obF2Wuw.png
  • AntihippyAntihippy Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I do have alot of experience in running.

    Antihippy on
    10454_nujabes2.pngPSN: Antiwhippy
  • MindLibMindLib Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Does anyone not like this game?

    I gotta say I much more enjoyed games like NWN 1, and Kotor. My biggest gripe is the generic fantasy art direction, and music. I fee like I'm playing a LoTR knock off. There's not enough ingenuity going on here to keep me engaged, story, or art-wise.

    Don't get me wrong I think the game deserves a lot of respect, it's a very well put together game, and people who are new to the genre will probably really enjoy it. I just can't help but feel 'meh' about it.

    MindLib on
  • BlurblBlurbl -_- Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Yeah, compared to Mass Effect the story and atmosphere really felt like a step down.

    Blurbl on
  • surrealitychecksurrealitycheck lonely, but not unloved dreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I never completed it. The story kind of failed for me.

    surrealitycheck on
    obF2Wuw.png
  • FiarynFiaryn Omnicidal Madman Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    MindLib wrote: »
    Does anyone not like this game?

    I gotta say I much more enjoyed games like NWN 1, and Kotor. My biggest gripe is the generic fantasy art direction, and music. I fee like I'm playing a LoTR knock off. There's not enough ingenuity going on here to keep me engaged, story, or art-wise.

    Don't get me wrong I think the game deserves a lot of respect, it's a very well put together game, and people who are new to the genre will probably really enjoy it. I just can't help but feel 'meh' about it.

    NWN1? Really? As much as I love that game for the multiplayer possibilities it presented, it's a complete hunk of shit in and of itself. A generic fetch quest formula repeated across an entire campaign of ancient D&D tropes given names rather than actual characters.

    KOTOR suffers from the same problem. Star Wars is a setting that really only permits for one thing: black and white fairy tales with caricatures of characters.

    I'd say Dragon Age: Origins beats them both out on the basis of, while not doing anything outlandishly original (it's hard to be truly original at this stage without coming across as "trying too hard") excels at believability. The cast feels real, their motivations are very valid, and how they got here is understandable. I do feel Mass Effect did certain things better than Dragon Age, but NWN1 and KOTOR? God no.

    And hey no retarded scottish dwarves for once.

    Fiaryn on
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  • QuirkyLittleTyrantQuirkyLittleTyrant A Mug Featuring Pichu On A Cloud Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Endgame/Landsmeet spoilers:
    Oh God, Anora's "rile-em-up" inspirational speech to the troops before the battle for Denerim is so horrible.

    QuirkyLittleTyrant on
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  • DrunkMcDrunkMc Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I'm 10hrs into my 2nd playthrough cause I can't beat the last battle on my first toon since 2 of my best and well equipped characters left right before it. :'-(

    Once I beat it once fairly, I will re-load on my first toon before they leave, pander to their bullshit and let the come with me and I'll beat it even though both the choices go against everything that character stood for. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

    But on the brightside, my 2nd playthrough is rocking so far! It pays to be good at the game earlier on. :)

    DrunkMc on
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    DrunkMc wrote: »
    I'm 10hrs into my 2nd playthrough cause I can't beat the last battle on my first toon since 2 of my best and well equipped characters left right before it. :'-(

    Once I beat it once fairly, I will re-load on my first toon before they leave, pander to their bullshit and let the come with me and I'll beat it even though both the choices go against everything that character stood for. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

    But on the brightside, my 2nd playthrough is rocking so far! It pays to be good at the game earlier on. :)
    Um..
    If it's what I'm thinking of, you can't save one of them. She's just gone.

    OptimusZed on
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  • Delicious SteveDelicious Steve Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Endgame/Landsmeet spoilers:
    Oh God, Anora's "rile-em-up" inspirational speech to the troops before the battle for Denerim is so horrible.

    agreed, and this is just a little something for the 360 players out there
    I killed the fucking dragon, Anora did some stupid ceremony cutscene that made no sense... and then my 360 froze up

    best ending ever :D
    Fiaryn wrote: »
    KOTOR suffers from the same problem. Star Wars is a setting that really only permits for one thing: black and white fairy tales with caricatures of characters.

    Never played KOTOR 2?

    Delicious Steve on
  • FiarynFiaryn Omnicidal Madman Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    One could argue that KOTOR 2 is barely Star Wars, and that everything that makes it good entails diverging from and/or outright contradicting existing Star Wars tropes and lore. But it wouldn't matter since we're not discussing KOTOR 2 here as it's not a Bioware game.

    Fiaryn on
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  • Toxic PickleToxic Pickle Thash grape! Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Pancake wrote: »
    I hate you, BioWare. I just heard a banter between Leliana and Alistair about my relationship with her and they both kept referring to my character as he and him.

    BioWare ruins everything about everything.

    I'm glad someone else plays as their own gender in RPGs. I can't stand people who go all "Haha, I only ever play as the other sex, cause then I'll get to stare at their hot ass when I play the game for hours on end." I fucking hate those idiots. Hate em, hate em, just wanna gouge their eyes out. Seriously, who stares at their third person avatar when they actually play? What, you're just fixated on that polygonal body of yours and never look around at anything else? Shouldn't you actually be looking around at the environment and enemies ahead and where you're going and all that?

    To Pancake: Yeah, even the NPCs know that you're really packing down there.

    To Delta: I'll play as either gender, depending on the asthetics of the characters in a given game. For Dragon Age, I think that the female PC models tend to look far better than the males, particularly when it comes to humans. Goddamn it took me forever to make a human male that didn't look utterly terrible or that he was about to break down into tears or something. Making a Dwarf male look awesome was considerably easier, but for Elves, I have trouble making either gender look acceptable.

    But just because a hot ass is constructed of pixels or polygons, why does that somehow make it stupid to appreciate? Doesn't mean I want to hump my monitor or play the game with one hand.

    Toxic Pickle on
  • durandal4532durandal4532 Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I play RPGs the way I play real life: me, surrounded by ladies and also maybe a golem lady because I get a bit freaky.


    Also! I know they pretty much said they'd not do more NPCs, but I do wish Bioware had put in equal numbers of rogues, mages, and warriors. Yes, I know one is a lot less common, but it would be nice to have a wider party variety. If you're a rogue or a warrior, it really cuts down on possible party combination.

    durandal4532 on
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  • AMonkeyInPyjamasAMonkeyInPyjamas Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    How can they show a location on the in-game map called "Dragon's Peak" and not make it a playable area? Maybe if it was called Blight Age I could let it slide, but it's just cruel to make me think eventually I'll get to go there and then finish the whole game without so much as a Codex entry on the location.

    AMonkeyInPyjamas on
  • DrunkMcDrunkMc Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    OptimusZed wrote: »
    DrunkMc wrote: »
    I'm 10hrs into my 2nd playthrough cause I can't beat the last battle on my first toon since 2 of my best and well equipped characters left right before it. :'-(

    Once I beat it once fairly, I will re-load on my first toon before they leave, pander to their bullshit and let the come with me and I'll beat it even though both the choices go against everything that character stood for. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

    But on the brightside, my 2nd playthrough is rocking so far! It pays to be good at the game earlier on. :)
    Um..
    If it's what I'm thinking of, you can't save one of them. She's just gone.

    I don't think it's what ur thinking..........now I need to beat it to find out waht ur thinking!

    I was talking:
    Allistair and Morrigan.

    And I can't beat the first of the three Generals. He just rapes the shit out of Logain, who doesn't keep aggro worth a dick. And the dumb dwarves like to try to hit ogres in a Force Field. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

    DrunkMc on
  • FloofyFloofy Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Hahahaha oh man. Sacred Ashes end boss spoiler:
    When I summoned the dragon it glitched and got its foot stuck until the gong. Nuked it at range with Morrigan, whilst me (celf rogue), Sten, and Alistair chilled. My boyfriend, who had recently done the same fight minus glitch, and had a hard time with it, sat and watched me kill it with a look of horror, anger, and mild envy.


    Other funny glitches: for ages Sten would stand humping the air. I don't know why, but he'd be there at the back of every conversation, humping away like there was no tomorrow with a fixed expression of wistful sorrow. Getting in/out of combat fixed it for a few, but then he started humping away again like 5 minutes later. I can only concluded it's been a long time for him.

    Also, Alistair looks stoned when happy.

    Floofy on
  • AntihippyAntihippy Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Were you supposed to summon the dragon at all?

    I tried it once after killing the cult leader, died, reload and then just buggered off without hitting the gong.

    Antihippy on
    10454_nujabes2.pngPSN: Antiwhippy
  • wavecutterwavecutter Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I understand that if you import a character from the stand alone creator, you get some sort of ring as a bonus? Trouble is, I have the steam version and it never shows my creations as available.

    wavecutter on
  • RamiRami Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Antihippy wrote: »
    Were you supposed to summon the dragon at all?

    I tried it once after killing the cult leader, died, reload and then just buggered off without hitting the gong.

    It's an optional boss, you can ignore it and complete the quest and come back when you're stronger for the loots.

    Rami on
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  • FerrusFerrus Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Rami wrote: »
    Antihippy wrote: »
    Were you supposed to summon the dragon at all?

    I tried it once after killing the cult leader, died, reload and then just buggered off without hitting the gong.

    It's an optional boss, you can ignore it and complete the quest and come back when you're stronger for the loots.

    Or you can ignore it completely for a different ending-text for the urn and the shrine. :mrgreen:
    After my first playthrough, the dragon stayed at the shrine, Genitivi made the location of the urn public and everyone tried to get there but due to a huge fucking dragon they couldn't do much. After a while the dragon flew of and the urn vanished. The end.
    It's basically the "cockblock religious people" ending

    Ferrus on
    I would like to pause for a moment, to talk about my penis.
    My penis is like a toddler. A toddler—who is a perfectly normal size for his age—on a long road trip to what he thinks is Disney World. My penis is excited because he hasn’t been to Disney World in a long, long time, but remembers a time when he used to go every day. So now the penis toddler is constantly fidgeting, whining “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? How about now? Now? How about... now?”
    And Disney World is nowhere in sight.
  • RanadielRanadiel Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Pancake wrote: »
    I hate you, BioWare. I just heard a banter between Leliana and Alistair about my relationship with her and they both kept referring to my character as he and him.

    BioWare ruins everything about everything.

    Ugh, yeah I remember getting this and it pissed me off. I mean sure, my City Elf was a warrior, and yes she could get in your face and be intimidating, but she was most certainly a lady. She even managed to convince Sten without having to expose herself!

    Come on BioWare, if you're going to go to the trouble of making same-sex relationships, at least record some party banter that refers to it properly. They did manage to throw a few cut-scene dialogues which referred to our relationship properly....although now that I think about it, these dialogues could just be generic, as they could easily be interpreted as referring to a heterosexual relationship. Blah. :(
    * Talking to Morrigan in the camp as my City Elf, who was involved with Leliana, she asked me if the sex was good, in her own unique way.

    * Alistair wants me to share gossip about the rest of the party members, and when he gets to Leliana, he brings up our relationship and hints that everyone talks about it behind our backs.

    * Bringing Oghren to the Pearl and initiating the three-way between Isabela, Leliana and the Warden will cause him to pass out from over excitement.

    Ranadiel on
  • Iron WeaselIron Weasel Dillon! You son of a bitch!Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Wandering through Arl Eamon's estate yesterday I happened upon a maid who was floating fifteen feet in the air, complaining about how no one warned her that there'd be guests.

    Iron Weasel on
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  • RanadielRanadiel Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Pancake wrote: »
    I hate you, BioWare. I just heard a banter between Leliana and Alistair about my relationship with her and they both kept referring to my character as he and him.

    BioWare ruins everything about everything.

    I'm glad someone else plays as their own gender in RPGs. I can't stand people who go all "Haha, I only ever play as the other sex, cause then I'll get to stare at their hot ass when I play the game for hours on end." I fucking hate those idiots. Hate em, hate em, just wanna gouge their eyes out. Seriously, who stares at their third person avatar when they actually play? What, you're just fixated on that polygonal body of yours and never look around at anything else? Shouldn't you actually be looking around at the environment and enemies ahead and where you're going and all that?

    It's funny, whenever I get the chance to play as female characters in most any game, I usually will, even in non-RPGs. Fighting games, for example, usually portray females as fast and lithe, which is a style I prefer.

    As far as Dragon Age goes, however, I will say that my most enjoyable play through thus far has been as a City Elf female. It's a much more engrossing experience when you see the world through the eyes of someone who is a double minority. As an elf, you're already treated like a second class citizen and people look down on you right off the bat. As a woman, people underestimate you, which is ironic because in Ferelden men and women are supposed to be of equal standing, even though there is a clear gender gap when it comes to the roles women are expected to perform. To a foreigner like Sten, it's even more interesting, since you have to basically convince him that you are indeed a woman, since he comes from a society where people accept their pre-defined roles in life without question.

    The game felt more compelling playing as a City Elf female than any of the other origins thus far. If you played through that origin as a male simply due to the notion of, "I'm a guy, I don't play girls, playing as a girl is gay." then you missed out. Romancing Alistair and the awkward hilarity and classic party banter that comes with it should be reason enough to play as a woman at least once.

    Ranadiel on
  • zerg rushzerg rush Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    wavecutter wrote: »
    I understand that if you import a character from the stand alone creator, you get some sort of ring as a bonus? Trouble is, I have the steam version and it never shows my creations as available.

    It is the Lucky Stone. Ring, +1 to all attributes. You get it for uploading a character from the creator to your EA site.

    http://na.llnet.bioware.cdn.ea.com/u/p/eagames/bioware/dragonage/content/DAO_PRC_PROMO_LKS/DAO_PRC_PROMO_LKS_1.0.dazip

    zerg rush on
  • jefe414jefe414 "My Other Drill Hole is a Teleporter" Mechagodzilla is Best GodzillaRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Floofy wrote: »

    Other funny glitches: for ages Sten would stand humping the air. I don't know why, but he'd be there at the back of every conversation, humping away like there was no tomorrow with a fixed expression of wistful sorrow. Getting in/out of combat fixed it for a few, but then he started humping away again like 5 minutes later. I can only concluded it's been a long time for him.

    Also, Alistair looks stoned when happy.

    My main character apparently developed lower back problems and spends most of the time running around hunched over. It's REALLY weird to watch his lower back give out in the middle of dialog or a cut-scene.

    jefe414 on
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  • surrealitychecksurrealitycheck lonely, but not unloved dreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Ugh, yeah I remember getting this and it pissed me off. I mean sure, my City Elf was a warrior, and yes she could get in your face and be intimidating, but she was most certainly a lady. She even managed to convince Sten without having to expose herself!

    Is that an option?!

    surrealitycheck on
    obF2Wuw.png
  • RanadielRanadiel Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Ugh, yeah I remember getting this and it pissed me off. I mean sure, my City Elf was a warrior, and yes she could get in your face and be intimidating, but she was most certainly a lady. She even managed to convince Sten without having to expose herself!

    Is that an option?!

    Hah, sadly no. :p

    Ranadiel on
  • TTODewbackTTODewback Puts the drawl in ya'll I think I'm in HellRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I have..
    Completed the Circle, Defeated the demon in Redcliffe, and am on the Urn quest

    Would now be a good time to start the dlc sidequests?

    TTODewback on
    Bless your heart.
  • Iron WeaselIron Weasel Dillon! You son of a bitch!Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Any time is a good time for the DLC sidequests. I would personally do Stone Prisoner sooner, but that's because I think that Shale is pretty great.

    Iron Weasel on
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  • Toxic PickleToxic Pickle Thash grape! Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Ranadiel wrote: »
    Ugh, yeah I remember getting this and it pissed me off. I mean sure, my City Elf was a warrior, and yes she could get in your face and be intimidating, but she was most certainly a lady. She even managed to convince Sten without having to expose herself!

    Is that an option?!

    Hah, sadly no. :p

    It really should have been an option.

    Sten: You can't be a woman, because you fight.

    PC: Yes, I'm a woman, I assure you.

    Sten: I don't believe it.

    PC: <flashes tits>

    Oghren: <falls over in the background>

    Toxic Pickle on
  • surrealitychecksurrealitycheck lonely, but not unloved dreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I was going to boot up the game just to test that :<

    surrealitycheck on
    obF2Wuw.png
  • TTODewbackTTODewback Puts the drawl in ya'll I think I'm in HellRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009

    It really should have been an option.

    Sten: You can't be a woman, because you fight.

    PC: Yes, I'm a woman, I assure you.

    Sten: tits or gtfo

    PC: <flashes tits>

    Oghren: <falls over in the background>


    Fixed that for you.

    TTODewback on
    Bless your heart.
  • BlurblBlurbl -_- Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I feel like there should be been more conversations with the party chatting with each other rather than you.

    Like a couple of 'Sitting round the campfire' scenes with the whole group, with little input from the PC. It would be hard and time comsuming to do but it would have added a ton of character development with how they react to the other members.

    Blurbl on
  • RanadielRanadiel Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I don't think Sten would have been convinced simply by tits. Who knows, he may have even been hitting on you, in his own unique way, but just couldn't go through with it. :p

    Ranadiel on
  • durandal4532durandal4532 Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Blurbl wrote: »
    I feel like there should be been more conversations with the party chatting with each other rather than you.

    Like a couple of 'Sitting round the campfire' scenes with the whole group, with little input from the PC. It would be hard and time comsuming to do but it would have added a ton of character development with how they react to the other members.
    It would have been cool for there to be some interactions in the camp, the way they have them interact in the various dungeons.

    I really appreciated the extent of their writing, though. If you switch characters every once in a while, you can go most of the game hearing a new conversation every hour or two. Compared to every other RPG ever, it just blows my mind.

    durandal4532 on
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