The one really noticeable blip I've ran into was visiting Haven for the first time, where there's at least 3 groups of attackers waiting for you at various points around the village - one standing in the village square that engages you just as you approach the guard. Unlike the cultists that spawn after you figure out the village's secret, these enemies are already waiting and hostile towards you.
The man, the myth, the LEGEND? Oghren the mighty? Oghren who makes me laugh with every word, who destroys darkspawn like fat kids eat candy? The dwarf who can look at a broodmother and get turned on?
You guys make me sad
Mild Confusion on
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
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TIFunkaliciousKicking back inNebraskaRegistered Userregular
edited September 2010
just powered through the rest of the game on normal. TBH I'm pretty happy with all my decisions and I don't do replays often so this may be the end of the road for me and this fine game...good thing I'm playing on my brothers steam accout eh?
I went through the finale picking golems every time (dwarves at the very end to soak up hits) and it seemed to be laughably imbalanced towards the darkspawn
It is, naturally, horribly biased, but there's some really cool bits of info in there. Notable...
Mike explains how these mid-chat abilities extend further than spellcasting: “if you had a staminabased skill like Shield Bash, we might have an option with a specific icon where you can smash faces with your shield. We want you to be making choices to determine your actions, and how you do things that cause you to take a stance, or to take an actual, physical action.”
But, as with Origins, there’s no morality system to pigeonhole your choices. “For me,” says Mike Darreth, “by us not applying our moral stance to you, the choices become more meaningful. We’re not telling you this is good or evil – ultimately in the real world, no one thinks they’re evil, no one thinks they’re good. Everyone thinks they’re doing things for a justifiable reason.”
Unlike Origins, where unused party members presumably sat around the campfire, twiddling their thumbs until you returned with tales of adventure, Dragon Age 2’s brood of followers will get on with their own lives. Darreth again: “they have jobs beyond adventurer – which doesn’t pay very well obviously. You’ll meet them in their day-to-day lives.”
A bunch of really cool shit. I like the sound of this, if anyone can pull off a ridiculously far-reaching RPG, it is Bioware, after all.
I don't know, Bioware has always seemed like the kind of company who would go for a the safe, polished option rather than trying to reach for something with the potential of failing. At least to me.
Spoit on
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-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
edited September 2010
I don't see Dragon Age Origins being a safe, polished option. Considering, for one, it wasn't really polished at all, and secondly, it was hardly safe. The gaming community had moved past this type of RPG. It was a throwback to the old days in every way, and that's not really safe way to do a game. People expect certain conventions to stay with games development, and don't like it when it's thrown away.
The man, the myth, the LEGEND? Oghren the mighty? Oghren who makes me laugh with every word, who destroys darkspawn like fat kids eat candy? The dwarf who can look at a broodmother and get turned on?
You guys make me sad
Not a fan of two handed swords, to be honest. So I don't use him.
I don't see Dragon Age Origins being a safe, polished option. Considering, for one, it wasn't really polished at all, and secondly, it was hardly safe. The gaming community had moved past this type of RPG. It was a throwback to the old days in every way, and that's not really safe way to do a game. People expect certain conventions to stay with games development, and don't like it when it's thrown away.
Double post!
Relying on nostalgia is a pretty safe bet in the gaming world. There is a reason Nintendo can get away with it's shenanigans. Besides, it wasn't that far gone. Neverwinter Nights 2 was released in 2006, for example. And the popularity of KOTOR or Mass Effect pretty much guaranteed it wouldn't tank.
I'd also say that making such large changes in the mechanics between ME1 and ME2 was pretty risky.
Except that it was the RPG options in it that people didn't like, so moving away from them towards a more shootery style of gameplay, especially one carbon copied from a certain other game, isn't that huge a risk
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Alfred J. Kwakis it because you were insultedwhen I insulted your hair?Registered Userregular
edited September 2010
The gameplay is very much the same in both ME games, it's just that the first one had loot and the second one not so much. I wouldn't say this removed the "RPG options" of the game, or well at least when I think of RPG, I associate it with branching dialogue and skill trees first.
However, I'm all for changing the DA gameplay to something else because I still don't like it and think that D&D does it better.
The man, the myth, the LEGEND? Oghren the mighty? Oghren who makes me laugh with every word, who destroys darkspawn like fat kids eat candy? The dwarf who can look at a broodmother and get turned on?
You guys make me sad
Not a fan of two handed swords, to be honest. So I don't use him.
Yeah, I still don't get the argument that a game has to have lots of numbers or slow combat to be an RPG.
I've always considered an RPG a game with a long story that the player can contribute to with choices.
Mild Confusion on
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
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Olivawgood name, isn't it?the foot of mt fujiRegistered Userregular
edited September 2010
Dragon Age was pretty risky, considering it was also released on the 360 and that sort of game is not something that the 360 has ever really done before
And now they're trying to cater to two different subsets of customers - the 360 gamers who want direct control, and the PC gamers who want strategic control
Trying to do both of those things at once for a single game is not something any other developer would be willing to do at this point
Unlike Origins, where unused party members presumably sat around the campfire, twiddling their thumbs until you returned with tales of adventure, Dragon Age 2’s brood of followers will get on with their own lives. Darreth again: “they have jobs beyond adventurer – which doesn’t pay very well obviously. You’ll meet them in their day-to-day lives.”
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
edited September 2010
Another icon occasionally pops up on the dialogue wheel, signifying specific actions open to your followers or your own character at that moment in the conversation. When a stream of Darkspawn is approaching, one of these pops up. Selecting it causes Bethany to launch a pre-emptive strike, squishing the forerunners with a fiery blast. Mike explains how these mid-chat abilities extend further than spellcasting: “if you had a staminabased skill like Shield Bash, we might have an option with a specific icon where you can smash faces with your shield. We want you to be making choices to determine your actions, and how you do things that cause you to take a stance, or to take an actual, physical action.
That sounds cool.
@Monger: So I can finally put my out of party allies on street corners to make me money while I'm out adventuring. That's cool.
Edit: I really didn't like the guy who did the write-up. A lot of his side comments were annoying.
Origins’ magic was a pleasure; weighty and powerful there, it’s been buffed further here, maelstroms of psychic energy tearing Darkspawn in half. Bethany fires off an attack at an onrushing ogre, and a seven-foot fist materialises in the mountain air. Opening quickly, it clutches the stricken creature, cradling him for a moment before clenching, squashing the lifeforce from his tubby form. There’s a sickening crack as his massive bones break, before his flesh flickers in the air and he disappears, removed from existence by mystical energies. Combat has got a crunch you didn’t feel in Dragon Age: Origins.
Unlike Origins, where unused party members presumably sat around the campfire, twiddling their thumbs until you returned with tales of adventure, Dragon Age 2’s brood of followers will get on with their own lives. Darreth again: “they have jobs beyond adventurer – which doesn’t pay very well obviously. You’ll meet them in their day-to-day lives.”
Finally! Finally!
I also approve this. It's always been kind of an annoyance that the other characters jus hang out while only a couple go about and kill stuff. Before this, I always liked the way Final Fantasy 10 did it. Only three characters fight, but the others are there as backup and can contribute to the story.
Mild Confusion on
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
Well, I assume they'll still hang out in camp: If one's off in a castle, ones in a swamp, ones in town, it makes it a pain in the ass to get to them if you change your team makeup. Even if you only need to get to one of them.
So their activities would need to be in a centralized location still. I would assume...
I'm in a wait and see mode on how this will turn out.
Xeddicus on
"For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men. Not women. Not beasts...this you can trust."
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-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
edited September 2010
I don't think you need to go get them each time. More that, if you don't pick them to go with you, they go do things themselves. When you go back to camp, they're back at camp too.
Honestly, I think it's kind of silly to limit parties. If I'm fighting this great evil, trying to save the world/universe, why are only two people helping me when I've got so many others at my back?
I understand they do it for gameplay reasons, but it seems like could make it a bit more realistic than 'oh Morrigan is back at camp brooding.'
The one really noticeable blip I've ran into was visiting Haven for the first time, where there's at least 3 groups of attackers waiting for you at various points around the village - one standing in the village square that engages you just as you approach the guard. Unlike the cultists that spawn after you figure out the village's secret, these enemies are already waiting and hostile towards you.
Been playing with this mod, and I really enjoy the loot. What I did not enjoy was that the third fight (and quite a few after that) of the human noble origin included two mages, one elite, who quite literally killed my party in about three seconds every time I opened the door. After trying out a dozen strategies I was finally forced to resort to running into the room and hoping the elite mage would cast inferno and kill everything in the room with friendly fire.
Though then again total party kill within 5 seconds of the fight starting is pretty standard in this game. It still baffles me how people keep going on about how easy this game is (excluding when having 2 or more mages with the broken spells, which indeed does trivialise the game). You are constantly outnumbered by enemies who each is the equal to one of your characters in health and damage output, and a ridiculous number of fights require one or two attempts just to not get instantly killed by area of effect attacks when you open the door.
Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 don't have shit on Dragon Age in terms of difficulty, with the possible exception of the Sarevok fight.
Vic on
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-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
Honestly, I think it's kind of silly to limit parties. If I'm fighting this great evil, trying to save the world/universe, why are only two people helping me when I've got so many others at my back?
I understand they do it for gameplay reasons, but it seems like could make it a bit more realistic than 'oh Morrigan is back at camp brooding.'
Be happy then, that you aren't fighting a great evil, trying to save the world this time. DA 2 doesn't have that kind of story. That way, the limited party won't be so jarring :P
The Qunari have HORNS. If that doesn't make them evil I don't know what would. So they have to be wiped out for the good of the world. Or else it won't be saved! Can't have that.
Xeddicus on
"For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men. Not women. Not beasts...this you can trust."
I just realised I was going to ask for advice when I made a post rather than just bitch about the difficulty. I just picked up Leiana, and remembered that archery is fairly lackluster in this game. Would you guys recommend making her a dual wielding rogue rather than an archer, taking into account that I already have two melee fighters (me and hopefully soon Shale)? I seem to recall there being a respecc potion to buy somewhere.
Vic on
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-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
edited September 2010
I used her as an archer in DAO just fine.
it doesn't get good until you get Arrow of Slaying and Scattershot though. Arrow of Slaying will kill an enemy in 1 hit, but has a large recharge. Good for nailing a mage at the start of a fight. Scattershot will daze whoever it hits, and anyone near them, which is pretty good crowd control.
Honestly, I think it's kind of silly to limit parties. If I'm fighting this great evil, trying to save the world/universe, why are only two people helping me when I've got so many others at my back?
I understand they do it for gameplay reasons, but it seems like could make it a bit more realistic than 'oh Morrigan is back at camp brooding.'
That's why I liked FF10 in how they did it. Gameplay mechanics has only three fighting, but all the characters were present for the story. I like that, it means I don't have to constantly go out and change groups to see party banter or how certain characters react to a situation.
Mild Confusion on
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
I'm waiting for an RPG with like 30 possible party members, but very few of them get along with each other and a lot of them are flat out worthless characters that will either drag you down, steal from, flee from combat, or sell you out. Basically I want an RPG that's a lot like real life.
Plus it would be hilarious when you step into someone's house and you have like 15 dudes following you and it turns into a giant cluster fuck.
The Qunari have HORNS. If they doesn't make them evil I don't know what would. So they have to be wiped out for the good of the world. Or else it won't be saved! Can't have that.
Nonsense. The Qunari are doing what's best for Thedas:
Cracking down on the mage plague with an iron fist. Do you want to be nothing more than a non-rechargeable battery for whatever fuckery your local Mage is feeling like today?
The one really noticeable blip I've ran into was visiting Haven for the first time, where there's at least 3 groups of attackers waiting for you at various points around the village - one standing in the village square that engages you just as you approach the guard. Unlike the cultists that spawn after you figure out the village's secret, these enemies are already waiting and hostile towards you.
Been playing with this mod, and I really enjoy the loot. What I did not enjoy was that the third fight (and quite a few after that) of the human noble origin included two mages, one elite, who quite literally killed my party in about three seconds every time I opened the door. After trying out a dozen strategies I was finally forced to resort to running into the room and hoping the elite mage would cast inferno and kill everything in the room with friendly fire.
Though then again total party kill within 5 seconds of the fight starting is pretty standard in this game. It still baffles me how people keep going on about how easy this game is (excluding when having 2 or more mages with the broken spells, which indeed does trivialise the game). You are constantly outnumbered by enemies who each is the equal to one of your characters in health and damage output, and a ridiculous number of fights require one or two attempts just to not get instantly killed by area of effect attacks when you open the door.
Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 don't have shit on Dragon Age in terms of difficulty, with the possible exception of the Sarevok fight.
Playing on Hard with Random Age on max difficulty, it took me an hour just to get inside the Tower of Ishal. You heard me.
You really, really, really have to be cautious with this mod. Not only are there more enemies, but there are more types, and they use different tactics and often brutal talents that can destroy you early in game. It's not uncommon for groups to spawn with 2 or more mages and stealthed rogues you didn't notice before engaging. You have to scout ahead - Survival is actually a lifesaver using this mod because you can see the enemies on the minimap and what types you're dealing with before they get into attack range, letting you plan accordingly. I find myself hitting F5 after every fight because I don't know if I'm going to get buttraped by the next group that happened to be around the corner that I didn't notice.
The Qunari have HORNS. If they doesn't make them evil I don't know what would. So they have to be wiped out for the good of the world. Or else it won't be saved! Can't have that.
Nonsense. The Qunari are doing what's best for Thedas:
Cracking down on the mage plague with an iron fist. Do you want to be nothing more than a non-rechargeable battery for whatever fuckery your local Mage is feeling like today?
Suffer not the mage to live.
We saw how well they can "crack down" on Mages in that trailer. He should have grabbed it by the horns instead. I shall. It'll be like a piñata.
Xeddicus on
"For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men. Not women. Not beasts...this you can trust."
Oh man I had to drop the difficulty down to Easy to get through the "Dog Encounter." There must have been at least 15 Darkspawn of various types, including an Emissary with Mass Paralysis/Fireball and a healer type that healed and used various glyphs. They also decided to throw an Ogre in on top of that. Basically impossible to take on Hard with a 3 man party leaving Flemmeth's hut.
Alfred J. Kwakis it because you were insultedwhen I insulted your hair?Registered Userregular
edited September 2010
The mod was probably balanced with min/max players in mind. There may only be preciously few builds/party constellations that could deal with those situations, as this is always the case with mods that aim to be difficult. Well okay, you kinda ask for it when you set the difficulty to max.
The mod was probably balanced with min/max players in mind. There may only be preciously few builds/party constellations that could deal with those situations, as this is always the case with mods that aim to be difficult. Well okay, you kinda ask for it when you set the difficulty to max.
Mine was on normal though with the mod settings on default. Then again I did get through, but only abusing every game mechanic I know. I had to reduce the game to easy for the first fight inside the tower, because no matter what I did I would always lose at least one character right as I entered the room to the massive amount of incoming fireballs from the two mages inside.
Thing is, I tried to disable the mods increased difficulty by modifying the settings file but I am not sure it worked. It was quite a while since I played this game last, but I can't remember there being two elite mobs in pretty much every fight or the emissary apprentices.
I would just like to say that the comment on adventuring not paying well is just absurd, and it has been since the days of first edition D&D. I don't see any farmers with more money than most continents and armor made of solid gold laying unused in a chest somewhere because it hadn't been shiny enough for the last 10 levels.
Posts
The one really noticeable blip I've ran into was visiting Haven for the first time, where there's at least 3 groups of attackers waiting for you at various points around the village - one standing in the village square that engages you just as you approach the guard. Unlike the cultists that spawn after you figure out the village's secret, these enemies are already waiting and hostile towards you.
Are we disrespecting Oghren in this thread now?
The man, the myth, the LEGEND? Oghren the mighty? Oghren who makes me laugh with every word, who destroys darkspawn like fat kids eat candy? The dwarf who can look at a broodmother and get turned on?
You guys make me sad
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
I went through the finale picking golems every time (dwarves at the very end to soak up hits) and it seemed to be laughably imbalanced towards the darkspawn
http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/18/dragon-age-2-origins-through-mass-effect-specs/
It is, naturally, horribly biased, but there's some really cool bits of info in there. Notable...
A bunch of really cool shit. I like the sound of this, if anyone can pull off a ridiculously far-reaching RPG, it is Bioware, after all.
Not a fan of two handed swords, to be honest. So I don't use him.
Double post!
Relying on nostalgia is a pretty safe bet in the gaming world. There is a reason Nintendo can get away with it's shenanigans. Besides, it wasn't that far gone. Neverwinter Nights 2 was released in 2006, for example. And the popularity of KOTOR or Mass Effect pretty much guaranteed it wouldn't tank.
Except that it was the RPG options in it that people didn't like, so moving away from them towards a more shootery style of gameplay, especially one carbon copied from a certain other game, isn't that huge a risk
However, I'm all for changing the DA gameplay to something else because I still don't like it and think that D&D does it better.
Starfang and Haste says "hello".
XBL: GamingFreak5514
PSN: GamingFreak1234
I've always considered an RPG a game with a long story that the player can contribute to with choices.
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
And now they're trying to cater to two different subsets of customers - the 360 gamers who want direct control, and the PC gamers who want strategic control
Trying to do both of those things at once for a single game is not something any other developer would be willing to do at this point
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Sounding better and better all the time.
PSN: Threeve703
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
That sounds cool.
@Monger: So I can finally put my out of party allies on street corners to make me money while I'm out adventuring. That's cool.
Edit: I really didn't like the guy who did the write-up. A lot of his side comments were annoying.
This also sounds cool.
I also approve this. It's always been kind of an annoyance that the other characters jus hang out while only a couple go about and kill stuff. Before this, I always liked the way Final Fantasy 10 did it. Only three characters fight, but the others are there as backup and can contribute to the story.
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
So their activities would need to be in a centralized location still. I would assume...
I'm in a wait and see mode on how this will turn out.
I understand they do it for gameplay reasons, but it seems like could make it a bit more realistic than 'oh Morrigan is back at camp brooding.'
Been playing with this mod, and I really enjoy the loot. What I did not enjoy was that the third fight (and quite a few after that) of the human noble origin included two mages, one elite, who quite literally killed my party in about three seconds every time I opened the door. After trying out a dozen strategies I was finally forced to resort to running into the room and hoping the elite mage would cast inferno and kill everything in the room with friendly fire.
Though then again total party kill within 5 seconds of the fight starting is pretty standard in this game. It still baffles me how people keep going on about how easy this game is (excluding when having 2 or more mages with the broken spells, which indeed does trivialise the game). You are constantly outnumbered by enemies who each is the equal to one of your characters in health and damage output, and a ridiculous number of fights require one or two attempts just to not get instantly killed by area of effect attacks when you open the door.
Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 don't have shit on Dragon Age in terms of difficulty, with the possible exception of the Sarevok fight.
Be happy then, that you aren't fighting a great evil, trying to save the world this time. DA 2 doesn't have that kind of story. That way, the limited party won't be so jarring :P
it doesn't get good until you get Arrow of Slaying and Scattershot though. Arrow of Slaying will kill an enemy in 1 hit, but has a large recharge. Good for nailing a mage at the start of a fight. Scattershot will daze whoever it hits, and anyone near them, which is pretty good crowd control.
That's why I liked FF10 in how they did it. Gameplay mechanics has only three fighting, but all the characters were present for the story. I like that, it means I don't have to constantly go out and change groups to see party banter or how certain characters react to a situation.
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
Plus it would be hilarious when you step into someone's house and you have like 15 dudes following you and it turns into a giant cluster fuck.
Nonsense. The Qunari are doing what's best for Thedas:
Cracking down on the mage plague with an iron fist. Do you want to be nothing more than a non-rechargeable battery for whatever fuckery your local Mage is feeling like today?
Suffer not the mage to live.
White FC: 0819 3350 1787
Playing on Hard with Random Age on max difficulty, it took me an hour just to get inside the Tower of Ishal. You heard me.
You really, really, really have to be cautious with this mod. Not only are there more enemies, but there are more types, and they use different tactics and often brutal talents that can destroy you early in game. It's not uncommon for groups to spawn with 2 or more mages and stealthed rogues you didn't notice before engaging. You have to scout ahead - Survival is actually a lifesaver using this mod because you can see the enemies on the minimap and what types you're dealing with before they get into attack range, letting you plan accordingly. I find myself hitting F5 after every fight because I don't know if I'm going to get buttraped by the next group that happened to be around the corner that I didn't notice.
We saw how well they can "crack down" on Mages in that trailer. He should have grabbed it by the horns instead. I shall. It'll be like a piñata.
Mine was on normal though with the mod settings on default. Then again I did get through, but only abusing every game mechanic I know. I had to reduce the game to easy for the first fight inside the tower, because no matter what I did I would always lose at least one character right as I entered the room to the massive amount of incoming fireballs from the two mages inside.
Thing is, I tried to disable the mods increased difficulty by modifying the settings file but I am not sure it worked. It was quite a while since I played this game last, but I can't remember there being two elite mobs in pretty much every fight or the emissary apprentices.
More extreme, less namby pamby-ness.
(I'm only half serious by the way, I'm happy with both action and strategy paced games.)
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.