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Dragon Age Thread - [Please post in new thread]
Dashui
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
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
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/
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!
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."
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
Dragon Age: Origins - Screenshots
Dragon Age 2 - PC System Requirements
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
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
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
* 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
Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
Dashui on
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Posts
Until then, I'll stand by DA:O had a better story but DA2 had much much better gameplay. Well, to me at least.
EDIT: I was amazed how easy it was to piss off Fenris. It only took me 3 quests. And being a mage. Go broody elf!
Rock Paper Shotgun sums up my thoughts almost exactly.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/31/analysis-dragon-age-ii/
-Z
(endgame spoiler)
Also, going back and playing the game a second time helps me admire a lot of the little things I didn't pay attention to the first time.
Also..."Do the words 'political maelstrom' mean anything to you!?" made me smile.
Future sequels seems more like it:
This just feels like setup for future Hawke games. Which is alright for me. I liked my snippy Lady Hawke.
The DA team has been pretty adamant in saying that the DA line is more about the world itself than any one individual.
I didn't like the waves of enemies or the camera being locked down, but otherwise DA2 had much better gameplay. I'd love for there to be some way to port DA: O into DA2's engine. Sort of like how Baldur's Gate was eventually ported by the community into the Baldur's Gate 2 version of the Infinity engine. That would pretty much make my year.
I'd prefer porting DA2 into the DAO engine. At least the UI is usable. [tiny]they're really the same engine anyway[/tiny]
Though I will say that it is a much better port job than ME2. Though not as good as ME1, much less DAO
EDIT: I think it's on interface. Consoles have it off by the default.
Blood mage though, that would've been bamf. Too late now though!
XBLGT:Banzeye SC2: Apollo.394
If I go mage I feel weird siding with the Templars and can't have a coherent mental roleplaying experience.
If I go sword and board then it makes Aveline redundant.
I went rogue first time around.
I kind of want me, Aveline, Isabella and Anders. But Anders is a douche. I wish
Go Bethany!
http://www.videogamessuck.com/review437.html
I suppose the final edit actually has some interesting information. Seriously though, this guy knows how to string some expletives together. When I got to the reviewers section I was in tears.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Always a good choice.
Actually I have a question about that. I'm about near the end of Act 2,
Any pointers?
Wud yoo laek to lern aboot meatz? Look here!
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Oh wait, now I remember. I think there was a hammer that I got from the dungeon with the nexus golem
There are a few decent ones like Brother's End and Persuasion I believe...
That being said you're better off just using a level-scaled generic until Act 3.
That's the one! Yeah brother's end! That's the one I finally upgraded to after using Sten for so long (there aren't many swords with two relic slots on em!)
Seriously my kingdom for better weapon itemization, not the 112th "Belt" with random sidegrade stat No 23.
Wud yoo laek to lern aboot meatz? Look here!
But it is really annoying on accessories...especially since they're rarely if ever good.
I mean, I'm not complaining about the extra silvers though.
Also, I was thinking Dragon Age need some kind of blacksmith that could upscale armor/weapons.
Kind of like how your teammates stuff autolevels, update the stats of the stuff you have to your level.
I'd really like that with some of my more favorite weapons/armor I got rid of because of their poor base damage/armor.
XBLGT:Banzeye SC2: Apollo.394
On one had I'm relived I don't have to shell out like $60 for it all. On the other hand I'm kinda bummed. I was hoping some of it might be on ME2's level. Bioware did a great job there.
There's a wealth of good two-handers in Act 3. The best are in the same place:
Hrm, that could also be the case, I guess I was looking for much larger jumps in equipment quality than the more incremental increases that most of the equipment that seems to come my way.
Wud yoo laek to lern aboot meatz? Look here!
Maybe I just want specializations to be more like 'kits' a la BG2. I want my class replays to be varied, not a combo of 2 out of 3 choices.
In DA2 there's just that slight logical disconnect where, if you stop and think about it, we're talking spontaneous knowledge. Who taught your mage to be a Blood Mage, if the information is so taboo and there aren't texts floating around left and right? Who gave your warrior Templar training?
Hell, tie it in with the story and actually require the player to choose a side in order to gain that knowledge. Maybe you MUST turn yourself over to the Circle Tower if you want the training to be a Force Mage or Spirit Healer. You MUST join a small group of apostates dabbling in Blood Magic if you want to learn to be a Blood Mage. You MUST strike a deal with the leader of the Blood Ragers in order to become a Reaver with your warrior.
Even the NPCs follow this (sibling spoiler)...
Actually, that'd be funny as all hell. Even years later, Carver's in his brother's shadow.
-Z
Oh, I'm not saying it should be a pain in the ass. It should be accessible, but should mean something.
For instance, I'd use that back alley entrance in High Town at night (the one they drag Varric down) as a hidden entrance to a meeting of apostates in the area. That'd be available in Act 1, starting as soon as you get "into" Kirkwall. Siding yourself with these mages would be the only way to become a Blood Mage. You'd also get some inside information and would learn more about Quentin before that issue rears its head. Don't want to ally with those apostates who are studying what they deem to be "safe" blood magic? Then you don't need to be a Blood Mage.
Warriors should be able to walk up to the Templar barracks and enlist at any point, starting in Act 1. Have some Templar-specific quests and actually witness things getting crazy from the inside. Even within the Templars, you have some that are sympathetic to the mages' plight, so you wouldn't have to be locked into playing a mage-hating SOB in order to go that route.
I guess I'd just like the specializations to be more involved without the "find a book somewhere in the world" or "get this NPC to just the right level of acceptance" systems from DAO.
-Z
I find the seductive power of blood magic in the lore to be sort of self-contradictory. I mean, we know the Warden, Hawke, and all their friends can keep that shit in check, what the hell is wrong with NPC's?
That being said, I guess they could have added game mechanics where you could farther abuse your blood mage powers outside of you know...killing people, taking over their bodies, and stealing blood from your allies to power your death engine.
But you have to deal with the disconnect that always exists between gameplay and lore.