Leaning more towards rolling qunari every day, I think.
I just kind of shrug when I see the elven inquisitor referred to as dalish. Really messes with the ideal image in my head of my DA elf protagonists as opressed city elves rather than nature snobs.
Yeah, the lack of a City Elf PC option is the one thing I have as a negative on DA:I pre-release.
Leaning more towards rolling qunari every day, I think.
I just kind of shrug when I see the elven inquisitor referred to as dalish. Really messes with the ideal image in my head of my DA elf protagonists as opressed city elves rather than nature snobs.
I'm the same. Had it been a City Elf it wouldn't even be a question, but the Dalish don't interest me as much. I'm pretty sure I'm going Qunari.
I haven't watched any character creation videos or gameplay or anything because I want to go in blind, but I do have two important questions.
Are female Qunari as tall as male Qunari, and how fancy is the horn selection?
No, they're slightly shorter. Taller than human males though.
The selection is FABULOUS! Sadly you can't pick your hairstyle too since they come in sets.
Hm... I hope not too much shorter. Something that always annoys me in fantasy settings is a huge disparity between male and female builds for humanoid species. Heck, in some games even humans fall under that category.
I want my giant demon lady to be a giant demon lady, not just a tall human with horns standing next to her giant demon male counterparts. Once I get into the game i'm sure all my concerns will vanish into the enjoyment of it all though.
Mostly because that's how much of nature works especially when it comes to mammals.
Not all mind you. And I get that it's fantasy so sure that could switcheroo that but I'm not sure how following nature can be seen as an issue.
It's lazy, and doing it shoehorns each gender into stereotypical roles. The males are big and strong and hit things with metal, the females are small and sneaky and clever. Yawn.
Mostly because that's how much of nature works especially when it comes to mammals.
Not all mind you. And I get that it's fantasy so sure that could switcheroo that but I'm not sure how following nature can be seen as an issue.
I don't think he's complaining about sexual dimorphism as a concept (and there'd be no need to rely on fantasy to have a switcheroo, because which sex is larger or whichever other trait already varies based on the species here on Earth), but that it's often been played the same way, with the females looking like svelte spacebabes and dudes looking like dragons or whatever. Not much of an issue with the qunari, I think.
But what does City Elf/Dalish distinction really mean in Inquisition? In Origins, it could matter because City Elves had a very distinctive story that showed how fucked up their lives were, but otherwise they were treated the same as Dalish.
In Inquisition, you're starting off in the same position whether you were City Elf or Dalish. People are going to treat you like crap either way, and even if you were a City Elf, you wouldn't have a murdered spouse or anything to set you apart from the Dalish Inquisitor anyway.
Origin for Dragon Age: Inquisition Shenanigans: Inksplat776
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
But what does City Elf/Dalish distinction really mean in Inquisition? In Origins, it could matter because City Elves had a very distinctive story that showed how fucked up their lives were, but otherwise they were treated the same as Dalish.
In Inquisition, you're starting off in the same position whether you were City Elf or Dalish. People are going to treat you like crap either way, and even if you were a City Elf, you wouldn't have a murdered spouse or anything to set you apart from the Dalish Inquisitor anyway.
Cultural background mostly.
Dalish Elves are kind of snobby and obsessed with the old ways.
City Elves are the struggle.
I mean yeah you can say "F*ck the humans" in both instances. But its just more satisfying coming from a City Elf.
The biggest negative, for me, with being forced into Dalish Elf-ness is that there's no Welsh voice. Unless they specifically say you're one of the City Elves that ran to join the Dalish it'll be weird when you interact with other Dalish and they don't have the same accent as you.
I'm just a stickler for technical stuff and I guess some things that bother me don't bother other people.
See, that's exactly how I feel about DA2. It's like I'm the only one who cares about things like the tactics menu in general, and the UI in particular
I was looking through an old blog of mine and found that I had at one point written a review for DA2, it's quite interesting:
the tactics menu, though offering more variety, is more difficult to navigate.Talent tooltips are great, but there’s a lot of wasted space in the UI where some pages could have been consolidated. Loot is less ubiquitous than DA:O and easy to collect with the R button, but still annoying to manage, especially with accessories that share the same icon. The names allocated to loot seems rather arbitrary; a Demonic band might increase Attack or raise stamina regen, or both.
I'm realizing since jumping into the thread about an hour ago that I know nothing about this game, all the way down to the premise. But I'm in. And I still feel unspoiled on anything. So I'll see everyone in [whenever this comes out]. All I know is the gaming allowing me to be a Qunari equals a 90% chance I will be.
I was initially going to roll a female qunari mage, but then Cass was revealed to be straight. So then I was thinking a male qunari mage would be more interesting. Now, I've seen how rad the female dwarves look in this engine, so I'm thinking maybe a female dwarf rogue. Decisions, decisions...
My warden was a kind and strong dwarf noble leader type warrior. My Hawke was a sarcastic rogue (and human, obviously). I think my inquisitor will be a hardball mage, probably elf.
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited November 2014
One of the more satisfying moments I've had with a bioware game was actually in SWTOR where you encounter a pampered noble snob on Alderaan and you can proceed to beat the shit out of him as he cowers and his fragile little world shatters.
If there is atleast one moment where I can slap the taste out of an Orlesian noble's mouth for talking down to me as a non-human, I am going to have a lot of fun.
Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
Cassandra's bad cop routine is really starting to grow on me. It's doing it for me.
She seems surprisingly willing to threaten chantry members and even more oddly seek help from the mage rebellion which is pretty much the exact opposite of what I pictured her as.
Cassandra's bad cop routine is really starting to grow on me. It's doing it for me.
She seems surprisingly willing to threaten chantry members and even more oddly seek help from the mage rebellion which is pretty much the exact opposite of what I pictured her as.
From what I remember of them talking about her earlier, her allegiance and extreme devotion to the Chantry cause stems more from her personal beliefs and ethics as opposed to blind faith in the rhetoric of the clerics, which as far as religion goes is the best case scenario
"Why do you like Dragon Age more than Dragon Age 2?" because that's how a lot of people seem to intrepret it.
Rather I'm asking about Origins on its own merits.
Because a lot of people talk about it like its a 9/10 or a 10/10 game. And I've shifted it and moved it and looked at it from every angle possible and I just don't see it.
A long ramble in which I try to discuss Origins on its own merits:
I love fantasy. I started playing games with Dungeons and Dragons, and much of my time was spent thinking of adventures and worlds to run my friends through. So while most people see the world of DA as nothing more than generic fantasy, I'm just impressed. They took the core aspects of that genre, and while they didn't reinvent them, they did unique stuff with them. It was a return to something I love, but completely new, if that makes sense. It was fresh but familiar.
Its important to note just how much they committed to making this universe. Even the darkspawn, or "boring generic orcs", whatever you want to call them, had this really interesting backstory and stuff revealed about them over the course of the game. And then you had the people who fought them, both the Legion and the Wardens being super fun and interesting. I could go on and on about the lore stuff I love about this series, and it all started with origins.
It was also R rated fantasy. Obviously its not the first to do it, but for me Origins was one of the first I saw to really go to the bone with it. It wasn't just blood and swearing occasionally. The mage/templar stuff being the entire focus of their second game should be proof that this stuff resonated with people. People with super powers being essentially imprisoned is not a new concept, but to see it so thoroughly examined was cool.
As for the combat, I liked it. Alot. If I didn't like the combat I wouldn't have played it as much as I have. I've seen people in this thread say that the combat was not actually tactical, but rather the obtuse nature of the game just made it seem like it was. To this, all I can say is that if the game wasn't tactical then I must be stupider than a sack of bricks, because that is all I see in this games combat.
Its slow, and most of the animations are not great. There are no twitch reactions to be made and the rush to be had when you make them. The only thing the combat has going for it is the thrill when you've butted against an encounter 3 times prior, only to figure it out on the fourth. You've figured out how you should be positioning your dudes, who should focus who, when to use what abilities. Its a tactical game. These are tactics.
The most fun I had with DA:O was in my 3 warrior + dog, shale or 4th warrior, Hard difficulty run. With limited AoE options, the combat was super fun. Lots of managing when I should be using shield bash/pommel strike, and threat management with taunt and disengage. It was in this run when I figured out how ridiculously good Two Handed warriors were in the toughest fights in the game. They hit super hard, they sundered armor, and they were immune to knock back and stun (which in dragon fights meant that you would have otherwise been not fighting for half of it).
The most common complaint I see about the combat is the shuffling move speed and the slow swings. I don't really know what to say about this other than it didn't bother me. I was pausing between every other hit anyway. I'm sure any one of you watching me play this game would have been excruciating. Not to pull an old man "back in my day..." but it really might have something to do with starting with D&D, where I would get to roll my attack d20 once every 20 minutes.
If there is one thing I will concede about the combat: The deep roads IS way too long. I've played it recently, and holy cow it is ridiculous how long that goes for. But also it had Rucks, "Broodmother!" (I can still hear her voice), the Legion, and the Anvil of the Void/Carradin. That place is cool as hell.
Moving on from combat: choice. The game did choice real good, most of the time. Even if our conscience often pulled us into a similar one, it almost never felt good. In retrospect, getting the mages to help Connor is the right choice. But in the moment, from a roleplay perspective, that choice is super hard. You don't know what is going to happen if you leave redcliffe for that long. It could be a fucking smoking ruin by the time you get back.
And then there are the characters. Just fucking ace. The mid mission interactions between party members was soooo well done. Even the non-essentials characters I think are expertly crafted. And there are tons of them!
And then there are the well written codex entry's, the well designed and non-inflating armor and weapons system, the goddamn origin each character got... I could talk about what I love about this game for a long time. But this post is really long already. So I'll just finish off by saying I'm not a reviewer, so I'm sure many of the points I tried to make didn't come across well. DA:O just did so much right for me. It felt like the game I had always wanted to see made both in the sense of story and combat. It is a strong contender for my favorite game atm
He can probably tank well enough dipping into the defensive trees, but if not you could always respec him to sword 'n' board.
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BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
edited November 2014
I really did enjoy the choices and consequences of Origins, but for me the combat had a fair few minor annoyances besides the speed. The ability for enemies to magically push party members aside solely because aggro > everything meant that even though positioning was somewhat important, attempting to maintain a chokepoint for any given time was a useless effort. (This was also something they actually fixed in DA2 as I have now recently rediscovered)
The pacing problem also existed for other arcs, including the Urn of Sacred Ashes part which required traipsing through a bazillion zones
Just watched a dev video where the specced Sera as dual dagger.
Considering I'll be playing a rogue archer this makes me happy. Anyone else thinking of changing an NPC's setup?
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Yeah, the lack of a City Elf PC option is the one thing I have as a negative on DA:I pre-release.
I'm the same. Had it been a City Elf it wouldn't even be a question, but the Dalish don't interest me as much. I'm pretty sure I'm going Qunari.
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Damn nature for not having less lazy designers.
I don't think he's complaining about sexual dimorphism as a concept (and there'd be no need to rely on fantasy to have a switcheroo, because which sex is larger or whichever other trait already varies based on the species here on Earth), but that it's often been played the same way, with the females looking like svelte spacebabes and dudes looking like dragons or whatever. Not much of an issue with the qunari, I think.
I feel like this is going to be me with DA:I since the inventory UI and some of the font keeps sticking out to me as ugly.
In Inquisition, you're starting off in the same position whether you were City Elf or Dalish. People are going to treat you like crap either way, and even if you were a City Elf, you wouldn't have a murdered spouse or anything to set you apart from the Dalish Inquisitor anyway.
Cultural background mostly.
Dalish Elves are kind of snobby and obsessed with the old ways.
City Elves are the struggle.
I mean yeah you can say "F*ck the humans" in both instances. But its just more satisfying coming from a City Elf.
Its called roleplaying for a reason, gawd.
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I was looking through an old blog of mine and found that I had at one point written a review for DA2, it's quite interesting:
So you're not alone in feeling that Spoit!
(All Thedas racism confirmed accurate).
And a City Elf could have started as the personal attendant of someone taking part in the peace process. But no... :P
Since City Elf is out, I'll probably play a human who is against peace and all for wiping out both the Mages and Templars.
Haters gonna hate.
They said that you're getting a free respec amulet near the beginning of the game and you can easily buy more soon after.
Also, it scales with the fucking resolution!
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
I was initially going to roll a female qunari mage, but then Cass was revealed to be straight. So then I was thinking a male qunari mage would be more interesting. Now, I've seen how rad the female dwarves look in this engine, so I'm thinking maybe a female dwarf rogue. Decisions, decisions...
If there is atleast one moment where I can slap the taste out of an Orlesian noble's mouth for talking down to me as a non-human, I am going to have a lot of fun.
Yeah...but you probably have to find it in your inventory and click on it or something. Gah Bioware...who do you think I am, Godly McTimeHaver???
From what I remember of them talking about her earlier, her allegiance and extreme devotion to the Chantry cause stems more from her personal beliefs and ethics as opposed to blind faith in the rhetoric of the clerics, which as far as religion goes is the best case scenario
A long ramble in which I try to discuss Origins on its own merits:
Its important to note just how much they committed to making this universe. Even the darkspawn, or "boring generic orcs", whatever you want to call them, had this really interesting backstory and stuff revealed about them over the course of the game. And then you had the people who fought them, both the Legion and the Wardens being super fun and interesting. I could go on and on about the lore stuff I love about this series, and it all started with origins.
It was also R rated fantasy. Obviously its not the first to do it, but for me Origins was one of the first I saw to really go to the bone with it. It wasn't just blood and swearing occasionally. The mage/templar stuff being the entire focus of their second game should be proof that this stuff resonated with people. People with super powers being essentially imprisoned is not a new concept, but to see it so thoroughly examined was cool.
As for the combat, I liked it. Alot. If I didn't like the combat I wouldn't have played it as much as I have. I've seen people in this thread say that the combat was not actually tactical, but rather the obtuse nature of the game just made it seem like it was. To this, all I can say is that if the game wasn't tactical then I must be stupider than a sack of bricks, because that is all I see in this games combat.
Its slow, and most of the animations are not great. There are no twitch reactions to be made and the rush to be had when you make them. The only thing the combat has going for it is the thrill when you've butted against an encounter 3 times prior, only to figure it out on the fourth. You've figured out how you should be positioning your dudes, who should focus who, when to use what abilities. Its a tactical game. These are tactics.
The most fun I had with DA:O was in my 3 warrior + dog, shale or 4th warrior, Hard difficulty run. With limited AoE options, the combat was super fun. Lots of managing when I should be using shield bash/pommel strike, and threat management with taunt and disengage. It was in this run when I figured out how ridiculously good Two Handed warriors were in the toughest fights in the game. They hit super hard, they sundered armor, and they were immune to knock back and stun (which in dragon fights meant that you would have otherwise been not fighting for half of it).
The most common complaint I see about the combat is the shuffling move speed and the slow swings. I don't really know what to say about this other than it didn't bother me. I was pausing between every other hit anyway. I'm sure any one of you watching me play this game would have been excruciating. Not to pull an old man "back in my day..." but it really might have something to do with starting with D&D, where I would get to roll my attack d20 once every 20 minutes.
If there is one thing I will concede about the combat: The deep roads IS way too long. I've played it recently, and holy cow it is ridiculous how long that goes for. But also it had Rucks, "Broodmother!" (I can still hear her voice), the Legion, and the Anvil of the Void/Carradin. That place is cool as hell.
Moving on from combat: choice. The game did choice real good, most of the time. Even if our conscience often pulled us into a similar one, it almost never felt good. In retrospect, getting the mages to help Connor is the right choice. But in the moment, from a roleplay perspective, that choice is super hard. You don't know what is going to happen if you leave redcliffe for that long. It could be a fucking smoking ruin by the time you get back.
And then there are the characters. Just fucking ace. The mid mission interactions between party members was soooo well done. Even the non-essentials characters I think are expertly crafted. And there are tons of them!
And then there are the well written codex entry's, the well designed and non-inflating armor and weapons system, the goddamn origin each character got... I could talk about what I love about this game for a long time. But this post is really long already. So I'll just finish off by saying I'm not a reviewer, so I'm sure many of the points I tried to make didn't come across well. DA:O just did so much right for me. It felt like the game I had always wanted to see made both in the sense of story and combat. It is a strong contender for my favorite game atm
I think I want to be a stabby rogue, and the most fun companions seem to be Bull, Varric and Dorian
The pacing problem also existed for other arcs, including the Urn of Sacred Ashes part which required traipsing through a bazillion zones
There are defensive abilities in twohanded tree. Shield has a direct friend-buff, though.
There are plenty of zones in the game where the party can hold a doorway. Almost an excessive amount, really.
Party members can now block paths and enemies no longer part party formations like Moses by sheer force of will.
Do we know if it is/there is a face stabbing spec instead of a back stabbing spec?
I want to slice and dice dudes up but I don't like sneaking.
I want to be up in their faces.
Its called "Warrior".
We know next to nothing about that spec, only that it's basically about elemental effects.
Sadly, I don't think we get this. It used to be the Duelist spec, but they seemed to have dropped that.
Daggers have perfect parry-shit or something.
Considering I'll be playing a rogue archer this makes me happy. Anyone else thinking of changing an NPC's setup?
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