# Dragon Age: Inquisition... ownd, pwnd, and bwnd by XBone.



## Boaz (Dec 9, 2014)

Pack it up,
Pack it in,
Where do I begin,
If you buy DA:I... that's a sin.

So... I've played Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II (and the Mass Effect trilogy).  And I sat down over the weekend to watch a friend start playing Dragon Age: Inquisition on his XBone.

He spent forty minutes tweaking his character to look like Kurt Russell's character, Jack Burton in _Big Trouble in Little China_.  And then he played for three and a half hours with me making all the correct observations while observing the gorgeously rendered CG world invaded by demons arriving through green fire.

"It exploded in a ball of green flame.  Green flame!!!"

"With light coming out of his hand?!?!"

"First time you ever plug somebody?" "Course not."

"Look, I'm not saying I've been everywhere and done everything, but you've got to be some kind of fool to think we're all alone in this universe."

"I never hack'n slash faster than I can see and besides... it's all in the reflexes."

<chugging health potion> "What does this do exactly?" "Huge buzz!" "I'm not scared at all. I feel kind of invincible."

<after getting knocked down> "Son of a b!@#& must pay."

<being confronted over first weapon> "Trade ya!"

"Demon standoff. Don't make a sound."

The story starts with a demon invasion during a civil/religious war between the Templars and the Mages.  Sounds like great fun... right?  I watched him play two hours on Saturday and two more hours on Sunday.

Well, three and a half hours into the game, my friend became unable to switch between his character and his party members.  After running around for a while, this became problematic.  He needed to use his rogue to open doors and was unable to do so.  So he saved and the real problem started.... When he tried to just continue, the screen told him the save file was corrupted. 

His save file was corrupted immediately after saving?!?!

Luckily he had an auto save from just two minutes before.  It was also corrupted and unable to load.  As was the save from half an hour before... as was the save from an hour before... as were ALL the saves from Saturday.  His character was gone... because he saved?!?!

So, he made a new character... and was unable to save after creation and the obvious tutorial. 

He was also unable to delete all of the corrupted saves. 

Hmmmmmm.....

So he uninstalled DA:I and reinstalled... we'll see what happens today.

Anyway.... after looking online to see if he ran into a glitch or if there is a solution... we learned that EVERYONE has this problem.  The game is bugged.  It was released in North America on Nov. 18 and the first reports of the save game bug were reported on the 19th!  My friend did not buy the game until December.  There has been one patch... which has not fixed the problem...

...and they're still selling the game!  It's unplayable!  It is unconscionable of Bioware and Microsoft and Best Buy to continue to actively market and sell a completely broken product.

Owned became ownd which begat pwnd which begat bwnd.  XBone will bwn you.

The second patch is due today for all platforms except for XBone.  But this patch will not affect the save game issue...  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?!

Oh, and patches three and four are in the works...

Microsoft has his money and all the suckers who preordered it... so what incentive do they have to make it right now?  If this were an automobile, there would be a worldwide recall...

This is the first time I've had a negative experience with a serious glitch from Bioware.  Sure, ME has a few spots where Shepard will walk into the ceiling... and then there is the abysmal ending of ME3, but that's it. Microsoft is Microsoft... what are you going to do?

But this is exactly the kind of behavior I expect from Best Buy.  They have zero concept of standing behind their products.  Once you've bought it, you're stuck.  Even if the product is defective or obviously broken.  I will never buy from them ever.... and that's a decision I made thirteen years ago. I wish my friend listened to me.


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## Brian G Turner (Dec 9, 2014)

Hmm...hope the save issue doesn't affect the PS3 version, as I got my wife that for Xmas!


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 9, 2014)

Brian, it didn't affect mine. Er, you might want to steer her away from a bearded character though (facial hair looks poor. Or abysmal, depending what you go for).

Also, it's very worthwhile doing the Dragon Age Keep (might be tricky if you're trying to keep DAI secret from your lady wife). 

I posted this (an early review of DAI for PS3) a couple of weeks ago: http://thaddeusthesixth.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/early-thoughts-dragon-age-inquisition.html

Boaz, that's a massive problem that needs fixing pronto (reminds me of how Skyrim froze very often before it was patched). I do miss the olden days when you not only got an instruction manual but the game would actually work.


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## Overread (Dec 9, 2014)

Thing is games didn't always work in the past; but you couldn't much vent or do anything till the magazine came out next month with the patches to fix it all up. 

Consoles though really shouldn't get these game breaking issues - its a fixed software and hardware environment. At least on PC you can accept that you will always get a degree of errors because of the mind boggling number of different setups of hardware and software; consoles though really should not have any game-breaking bugs unless its a result of players doing very odd things themselves. Still least the developers will get it fixed up - my view is so long as they keep talking and keep fixing then there isn't a problem. It's only if you really have a disaster at launch (like Sword of the Stars 2) or when the developers just up and run off or close down (Disciples 3 had that problem ) when you have to worry.


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## Boaz (Dec 9, 2014)

thad, yeah.  Big ole manuals.  And it's good to know you've not run into the problem.  It seems that some combinations of quests will wonk the save files... and especially selling large amounts of items to a vendor will very likely ruin the game as well.

Brian, it affects all platforms... since they've gotten two patches out in in twenty days... they might resolve it before Christmas.  I wish you a blessed Christmas with your bride.


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## Boaz (Dec 10, 2014)

I also know that my anger and disappointment in Bioware are because they've released some of the most enjoyable video RPGs I've played.  

I've played _Knights of the Old Republic_ on my PC, on my PC through Steam, on the XBox and I'm still playing on iPad.  Jolee Bindo is my favorite Jedi... period.  Malak is the original meatbag.  

DA was a ton of fun.  I got to name my Mabari, Alistair.  I got to make fun of the real Alistair.  Shale was a woman!  Elves or Werewolves?  Templars or Mages? Dwarves or Golems? Enchantment!!!!

DA2 was fun, even if the story lacked the epic feel of DA.  Merrill fixed everything with blood magic. Is that wrong?  Varric is humorous.  And Isabela positively, absolutely, definintely, and immediately... needs that bath.  (She probably needs a spanking as well.)

_Mass Effect_ and it's successors were even better... and I'm a fantasy guy, not a sci-fi guy.  Mordin. Wrex. Miranda. Garrus.  Probing planets in our own system.  

I am the very model of a scientist Salarian, 
I've studied species Turian, Asari, and Batarian.
I'm quite good at genetics (as a subset of biology) 
Because I am an expert (which I know is a tautology). 
My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian, 
I am the very model of a scientist Salarian. 

I was excited to see the characters, the witty comments, the comedy, and the epic story.... I was not expecting to run into a dead end.  

Hopefully it will be fixed.  I just think it's ridiculous that this has become the standard of the industry.


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## Boaz (Dec 10, 2014)

*Update*: 

After re-installing the game... my friend's character came back (he made his Cloud save roll) and he can switch between characters.

And the best news is that he can now save again...

So it looks like this bug can be fixed by re-installing the game. (Do it before you go to work.)

I'll let you know if the bug comes back.


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 10, 2014)

Cheers, Boaz. Although it doesn't affect me (I did, just the other day, have the switching character bug, but got killed shortly thereafter and everything worked again) it is useful to have this sort of info out there.


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## Boaz (Dec 13, 2014)

*Update*:

So... the XBone still has a save issue...  My friend made a new character and saved it during the tutorial (full party, but not yet closed the main rift) and after finishing the tutorial the game will not save.

The saved games are not on the console.  It's some issue regarding the cloud save.  Bioware may not be a culprit at all.  My friend says the issue is between EA Games and Microsoft.  Somewhere in the ether, they're having cloud connection or permission problems.


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## Chris Guillory (Dec 13, 2014)

I wonder if a six demon bag would have helped this bug. Was it programmed by six-foot tall giant, or a basket-case on wheels?


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 13, 2014)

Always online is [MODERATED]. I know Xbone doesn't have to be online (even though Microsoft said it had been designed that way...) but I do dislike the necessity for a connection because of things like this.

Could he just turn the net connection off, and play offline? That's what I do most of the time (apparently it makes the game run a little smoother as well).


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## Boaz (Dec 13, 2014)

China is here, Mr. Guillory.  

thad, I dunno. I'll ask him.


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## Chris Guillory (Dec 14, 2014)

I'm finishing DA2 for the first time, and was literally just playing it. I sided with the mages, so I guess I'm going to fight Meredith at some point. I'm playing as a duel wielding rouge specializing in the assassination branch. Aveline is my tank, Anders my healer, and Varric as an additional DPS. Now I'm glad to say all these folks appear to be joining me in the final fight since I was really at risk of losing Aveline.


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## Boaz (Dec 14, 2014)

Ah... my story was quite different.  I won't spoil your next play through, but suffice to say that Mered.... uh, sorry, I was about to spoil it... anyway, Anders wanted to... whoa, almost spoiled it again... so after the Deep Roads, Aveline decided... oops... and then Isabe.... forget it... I'll just, ah, stop posting now.


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## Boaz (Dec 22, 2014)

Update:

No patches yet for XBone.


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## Chris Guillory (Dec 22, 2014)

Hey Boaz,

I was going to fire this one up tonight. You mention a cloud save that may be giving an issue. Is there an option to avoid this entirely and just save on the HD?


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## Boaz (Dec 22, 2014)

Chris, That's exactly what thaddeus6th mentioned in an above post.  He says it works, but my friend has yet to try it.  The game itself looks fantastic... and the story seems very promising (which is exactly what I expect from Bioware).  I may not talk to my friend for a few days... if you have luck with a patch or just saving locally, please post.


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## Chris Guillory (Dec 22, 2014)

Oh, yeah man, my bad. I was too caught up in Big Trouble Little China quotes at that point in the conversation.


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## Boaz (Dec 22, 2014)

I just submitted a report to Microsoft that began... "I'm gonna tell you about an accident, and I don't wanna hear "act of God".


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 23, 2014)

After a short hiatus (I've finished it twice) I had another go, but think I may leave it for a bit now. (PS3 version, for those wondering). The freezing irks me more than it did for Origins or Skyrim [well, except pre-patch Skyrim which was almost unplayable] because of the little 'your system *might* be corrupted' message afterwards. It never is, but I am Captain Caution, whose superpowers include patience and waiting. Freezes seem to be circa once every 8-15 hours (NB I have downloaded the 1.02 patch which does not appear to have rectified or worsened the issue). Not sure whether this is a common problem or limited according to PS3 type [mine's a fat 40GB].

Edited extra bit: was checking Twitter to see if there was an update on the next patch, and happened to see patch 2 is reportedly out for the Xbox One.


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## Boaz (Dec 23, 2014)

Thanks, thad. I'll tell my friend.

Edit:

I just looked up the patch notes for XBone Patch 2.  They were back from December 9, 2014.  The notes say nothing regarding cloud save function.  I know my friend has had problems since then.

On the plus side, it appears the PS versions are good to go for Brian on Christmas Morn... sorry, for Brian's wife on Christmas Morning!


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## Chris Guillory (Dec 23, 2014)

I'm kind of bummed that I won't be able to port my data over to Xbox, since I played part 2 on PS3. They should have like a questionnaire, asking stuff like: Male or Female Hawke, did Bethany (or that other guy I don't know because he died at the beginning) make it out of the Deeproads, sided with mages or templars, etc.


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 24, 2014)

You can, if you use the Dragon Age Keep. You can fill it out online (doesn't have to be via your Xbox), then import your saved world state [NB after clicking the option to export it] to your console. 

I strongly advise doing this if you have the option. Some of the decisions can have fairly significant ramifications for the story (I don't think areas are opened up or closed off based on decisions made, but the changes are still substantial).


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## Chris Guillory (Dec 24, 2014)

Ah, thanks Thad! I actually saw this last night when I fired up the game.


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## Chris Guillory (Dec 27, 2014)

Hey Boaz and Thad. I'm getting the sense that the war room objectives are similar to Mass Effect 2 ship upgrades. In that, if you don't upgrade your ship before going through that final relay, you get jacked up. Is that true? Also, is there any rhyme or reason as to who you send on these missions? And if you should focus on the Fereldan side or the other side?


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 27, 2014)

Who you send can get you different rewards (as well as taking more or less time). 

I wouldn't worry about focusing on one side or the other. Certain missions can get you throne accessories (basically, a slightly swankier version of a given throne). Thrones can only be upgraded twice, incidentally.

The war table, beyond critical missions, is basically optional. However, some of the stuff you get can be pretty good (schematics or amulets that give certain characters an extra skill point to spend). The missions can also garner approval from companions.


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## Chris Guillory (Dec 27, 2014)

Thanks Thad! I'm also noticing that I'm not playing as tactfully as DA2. In the previous one, there were a lot of closed spaces, so I'd set my tank in a doorway while range guys stood on the opposite side, and me as a rogue would run around and DPS. Here, there's a lot more open space, so I usually just let my tank run on in and ranged attackers hang back. When closing a rift, I order my team to protect the main char. I don't find myself pausing too much.

With DA2 I was constantly pausing and ordering around. Not so much here. Also, tactics seem to have been simplified a lot.


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 27, 2014)

Yeah, tactics, sadly, have been simplified a lot. However, on Hard (playing on that now) and in certain situations (notably forts) the zoomed out tactical approach becomes more useful and sometimes necessary.

Oh, and you can only get the jar of bees via a war table mission.


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## Michael Colton (Dec 29, 2014)

I really want to play this but I just can't justify the expenditure. I just purchased the Skyrim legendary edition and that takes up my spending money.

This thread seems to mostly be about bugs. How are the characters and story?


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 29, 2014)

You will get huge bang for your buck with Skyrim. 

The story moves too slowly at the start. There's a key turning point and then it really kicks off (you'll know it when it happens). After that, it's much better. The Inquisition as an organisation feels real/important, you do make critical decisions and judging people feels like it has weight (and can be surprisingly tricky). 

With 9 companions some are, obviously, better than others. My current playthrough (and first male character, earmarked for frisky time with Cassandra) very nearly ended up sleeping with Dorian. Some very good voice-acting going on there. I also really like the 3 advisers. I played both prior games, and it's pretty cool having Cullen as commander of the military, after all the stuff he's been through. It's also interesting to see the substantial change Leliana has gone through, from Origins to Inquisition.

I'm not sure there's quite the dominant Alistair-Morrigan companion pairing there was in Origins, although I like the needle between Cassandra and Varric. For a time I had Sera and Iron Bull in the same party [for those after rather lustier banter, this may be a good combination]. Incidentally, having a certain companion can sometimes almost be like having a perk for certain quests (Blackwall with Grey Warden business being the most obvious).


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## Boaz (Jan 5, 2015)

Update:

My friend put DA:I back in yesterday... and there was an update/patch.... and the game seems to be running perfectly!  Six and a half weeks after release, the game is now playable.

It looks fantastic.  It sounds fantastic.  There are connections (overt and subtle) to the previous games and other media (books and video).

I'll update more... especially if I find time to start playing.


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## thaddeus6th (Jan 5, 2015)

Good to hear.

If you do, I'd reiterate that it's a very good idea to use the Keep first (there's nothing wrong with Default World but, especially if you played Origins, it probably won't be quite the one you remember).

You may also want to try playing on Hard. I don't think I altered the difficulty on either previous game, but found Normal a bit too easy. Hard seems a nice challenge (I may start a Nightmare playthrough, just to see what it's like).


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## Boaz (Jan 8, 2015)

My friend is completely immersed.  He's played between four to eight hours a day for the last four days.  I can't keep up with his progress.  He loves it.

Looks like I will have to clear some time this year to play.


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## thaddeus6th (Jan 8, 2015)

Who are his companions?


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## Boaz (Jan 9, 2015)

He has Cassandra, Varric, So Lost (as my friend calls him, because his pathfinding seems atrocious), a male warden, Iron Bull, a female elven rogue, and Vivienne.  His main is a female Qunari rogue archer... so he's still experimenting, but I think he's going to go with his archer (dps), Vivienne (dps, ice control), Iron Bull (dps and off tank), and Cassandra (main tank).


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## Boaz (Jan 9, 2015)

Update:

*Bwned! by Xbone!*

I watched my friend level up to 12 and found out what thaddeus6th meant when he posted...


thaddeus6th said:


> There's a key turning point and then it really kicks off (you'll know it when it happens).


 And the game refused to save... It read "Game Saved", but it lied.  He lost all saves prior to Sunday evening.  That's four days (about twenty hours of real time spent playing).

From what my friend has told me and from what I've seen, DA:I is epic in scope, deep in story, and rich in character details (both personality and animation).  Iron Bull took the Herald to get the common soldiers' opinions.  Cullen and others actually look up (physically, in the animation) to his Qunari Herald.  The ocean has big waves.  Leliana is still alive.

The theological dilemmas that the Herald faces are extremely profound.  Can the Herald claim to be a prophet?  Would that help the people?  Is it true?  Does it matter if it's true?  Or should the player just take it on faith?  Why can't the Herald continue if it's all a lie?

But that's all gone.  Lost in the ether.

Some of you know I paint miniature soldiers. I don't care that it's not cool.  But I do care that the miniatures don't unpaint themselves overnight.

What if your bank said your last deposit did not get saved?

What if you went down on Christmas morning and all of the presents you bought for your family had disappeared?

Could your car be repossessed even if you'd made all of your payments?

Let me say that if the save function for an RTS (Total Annihilation, Starcraft) does not work.... who would care?  RTS games take less than an hour, I don't need to save them.

But the purpose of Dragon Rage: Imposition is that it's a story... something to reveal itself over time.  It's got to be at least twenty-eight hours even for a maniacally obsessive Korean gamer with acute insomnia... and more like fifty for the rest of us.  A story.  An epic story.  Nobody reads _The Lord of the Rings_ in one sitting... you have to have a bookmark.  A save point.

And a RPG of this day and age, played through a console or computer, has the ability to be different for each player and for each class, race, and gender of the player's character.  The PC interacts with many factions (races, guilds, political parties, nations, social groups, military organizations, party NPCs, etc.) and the worlds can be explored in different orders... so the story is never... I repeat, NEVER the same.  Losing save points or whole characters means losing the story... not just the place in the story, but the entire story.  Every time you have to revert to a save point, the story changes... I repeat, the story changes.

What Microsoft, EA Games, and Bioware are doing with Dragon Rage: Imposition is stealing money and wasting time.  It's now fifty-one days since the XBone release in the U.S.  Fifty-one days... and it's unplayable.  Since all other platforms have been fixed, I tend to think this problem lies exclusively with Microsoft.  There is no regard for product quality or customer satisfaction. I'd love to see EA and/or Bioware come out and say, "_We advise all prospective players to buy this game for any platform other than XBone.  Currently, there is an issue with the save feature that has not been ironed out. We are working tirelessly with Microsoft to provide a game of the highest quality... and until that time, we heartily encourage you to enjoy our game through other means_."  Actually, I'd love to see Microsoft pull the product voluntarily and offer refunds.

So my friend has over thirty hours invested in DR: Imposition.  To show for it, he has a level 7 character.  He's now installed the game four times.  Four! He's lost two characters completely and five levels of choices for foundational plot developments and intense character building for his current character... including the aforementioned "key turning point"... not to mention all of the side quests, gathering of resources, and crafting.

My friend confessed that even after uninstalling and reloading (the level 12 saves were gone and only level 7 remains), he does not now have the will to continue.  He's been a glutton for punishment... I guess he'll go back to Dark Souls II on the PS.


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## thaddeus6th (Jan 9, 2015)

That's really unacceptable, compounded by the fact that it was unworkable for weeks after release.

With a game of its size some bugs are going to happen, but ones that destroy saves are ones that should've delayed release. [Reminds me of Skyrim, without a patch. That froze all the damned time]. I hope the games industry improves, but the only way to help achieve that is to stop pre-ordering and, if necessary, buying certain games at all.

I've occasionally lost saves due to freezing during saving taking place, but I've always had an autosave or earlier manual save so have never lost a huge amount. I can see why your friend would simply stop playing if he's lost 30 odd hours.


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## Boaz (Jan 10, 2015)

thad, by the way, thanks for your info.  He was instinctively doing some of the things you mentioned... eg. taking certain characters on certain missions not for their benefit to the party, but because of their propensity to develop the story.

Also, my friend always plays on a difficult setting above normal.  But he played Dragon Rage: Imposition on easy... and his rationale was that he was not optimizing the party for dps, but for the story; he was not optimizing gear for pwning, but for the story (Vivienne wore a horned helm and some winged shoulder thingy, his main wore a white patent nug skin jerkin to look the part of the Herald)...


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## thaddeus6th (Jan 10, 2015)

Np. Just a shame his Xbox/game decided to eat his save data.


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## WinterLight (Jan 29, 2015)

At my first experience at the war table, i decided that the priority was to embark to the Fallow Mire to rescue some of our kidnapped soldiers; one, to bolster the forces, but mainly to forge the loyalty of the rest of my forces in stone.

The scouts did not tell me that the undead are immune to cold damage, and that Solas' newly upgraded Ice staff would be akin to no more than a depth plodder in the gloopy swamp. It would also have been nice if, being at level 5, the scouts could have siad 'erm, sir- we think you are not yet ready for this expedition'.

Alas, we ventured forth, and forged ahead as far as we could muster. But in the middle of the marshes, set upon by two creepy tree-like demons at once, it was by the skin of our teeth that we escaped. With tails between legs, we retreated to the much friendlier Hitnerlands, to stick to mining metals and picking herbs until we are feeling a little more courageous.


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## Overread (Jan 30, 2015)

I rather liked that. Whilst I felt the game somewhat pushed you to open up way too many areas early on (esp if you got the collectors edition) when you were not of a strong enough level to really explore them I did like that the game wasn't totally walking you through linear with restrictions. Though its a failing of level based games that often you can't win by superior tactics if you're several levels below.


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## thaddeus6th (Jan 31, 2015)

Likewise, Overread.

Reminds me (writ small) of Dragon's Dogma, where you have no idea if an area will be super-easy or result in you getting instantly murdered by thirty Sulphur[sp] Saurians.


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## Overread (Jan 31, 2015)

Yep very true - whilst on the other hand you have games like Skyrim where you don't really have much of that effect; yes you go up levels but the game scales most things to suit your level. So you get stronger, but so do they; although a few things like Dragons, Giants and sabre cats are still super tough; although you can use some basic tactics to kill them (giants you just sit on a horse running around shooting them with arrows). 

What I'd really like to see is an RPG wave of games where the whole levelling system is lost. Character and skill advance still being part of it; but the game not requiring you to level


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## thaddeus6th (Jan 31, 2015)

That'd be interesting. 

Sometimes levelling can horrendous. Oblivion's a good game in many ways, even great, but the levelling system is atrocious. Any system whereby levelling up can make you relatively weaker is just wrong.


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## Boaz (Feb 9, 2015)

Update:  

Okay, no new patches... no fixes.  BUT... my friend now knows what to look for.  I've not watched him play, but he says there is a difference in the save icon and save slot when it is not saving.  He now saves often and knows immediately when the game lies about his save point.  

When he starts up, he has to make sure he logs out (yeah, I know, start up and log out... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot), but it allows him to successfully connect.  When the game lies about his save point and tries to bwn him, he also has to log out and reboot, then the XBone will run fine for an hour or five before it craps out.

Like I've said before, he loves the game itself.


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## thaddeus6th (Feb 9, 2015)

Whilst it's good he's got a work-around, it's ridiculous how much of a faff that is.


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## WinterLight (Feb 13, 2015)

Completing the main quest in the Fallow Mire.



Spoiler



After a period of sharpening blades, tightening bowstrings and augmenting staffs, we felt stronger, wiser and better equipped to venture back into the marshes.

We sent the undead back into their slushy graves by the masses, watching the action in glorious stop-start slo-mo is hugely satisfying, as my two handed warrior cut them down backed up by a handsome team.

Reaching the ruined castle at the end of the swamp, following the trail to our kidnapped soldiers, here we came across the Avaar, and their wiley ways. They could not stand against us though and feeling confident we pushed forward into the cathedral where the trail led.

Here, we were met by a behemoth of an Avaar, a brute swinging an axe as large as a man’s torso – announcing himself as The Hand of Korth. With the confidence of our progression behind us we charged in, The Hand of Korth’s guard was an intimidating and impenetrable band of steel protecting his health bar above us. When the strength that had got us here was brute force, and this giant's own force outmatched ours by ten to one, we were down to zero potions in no time at all and had barely but scratched him.

In a paused moment of clarity as we withdrew from the manic heat of the battle we remembered it was a tactical world in which we dwelled. We decided to switch things up. This brute was swinging wildly, each lunge offering a killing blow. But we just needed to keep out of range. Our rogue became a wasp, flying in, stinging with her wicked daggers and evading quickly before any damage was taken. Our warriors kept his attention, but kept out of his range, everyone dancing in circles around the open cathedral.

His rage was clear, and frustration too as he called to the heavens for the strength to rid his home of these troublesome critters. But we kept up the assault, guerrilla style bites and chops and wore him down to his knees, before finally extinguishing the heated flame of his life.

Our soldiers were grateful for their lives, the Inquisitions forces rebolstered and its reputation cast in stone. It was a good victory.



- Just an example of how the game asks you to use tactics, thoroughly enjoying this very big game. Don’t read if you haven’t done it yet.


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## Wo7f (Mar 8, 2015)

So they FINALLY give us a storage chest, but we can't put in any valuables? THAT is what I needed it for.


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## thaddeus6th (Mar 8, 2015)

What valuables? 

Whilst that doesn't bother me, it does seem like a strange omission, now you mention it.


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## Wo7f (Mar 9, 2015)

When you go to sell stuff, there is a diamond icon at the top with the weapons and armor etc. icons. The valuables are things like statues, spider ichor, spider eggs, malachite, onyx, figurines etc. some of these items are used for Requisitions, crafting, or most recently new to the game, tinting.


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## thaddeus6th (Mar 9, 2015)

I know that 

I meant what valuables did you want to save, but I'm guessing it's for requisitions.

Isn't tinting with crafting materials, which don't consume inventory space?


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## Wo7f (Mar 9, 2015)

Hmmm... I could have swore I used the onyx with the tinting, but I guess I could be wrong. I'll let you know next time I play. 

Yes, requisitions!


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## WinterLight (Mar 10, 2015)

Yes, def crafting materials for tinting. I didn't actually realise they sneaked in tinting, because I only just arrived at Skyhold - had been to Undercroft a couple of times and thought I just overlooked that part. Loving the tinting, it really allows you to extend the party's characters through their outfits (i just think that Cole would like velvet stuff, and Sera kooky fabrics) 

By the way, i'm pretty sure with your 'valuables' you can go to Minaeve (or the other lass if Minaeve is 'not around'  ) and deposit all the yellow highlighted stuff for research - and then everything else has no use! So can be sold freely - I just 'sell all' at a vendor. 
I even think the game might not let you sell the useful stuff if you use the 'sell all' button. 

But I am really happy with the storage that I don't have to sell some of the unique weapons you find that tell a story themselves but you have no other use for apart from sentiment.


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## thaddeus6th (Mar 11, 2015)

I quite like giving people horrendous colour clashes. Plaidweave is excellent for this.


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## Wo7f (Mar 15, 2015)

Hi WinterLight, actually they do allow you sell requisition items. Check out the requisition table in the building next to Cassandra. 

So I've solved the main story. Still have some mosaics to find, dragon to kill, and door that needs five peices that make a key? Hmmm... Debating on wether or not to start my elf character and cheat a little to find what I couldn't before.


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## Boaz (Dec 12, 2015)

Update: Neither Microsoft nor EA has fixed the save issues for Xbone, but still Dragon Age: Inquisition was a ton of fun!

So I figured out that the Xbone never actually shuts off.  The light goes off, but it tries to stay online.  DA:I was designed to take advantage of this, but when I power down DA:I loses connection... but still thinks it is connected.  So when I power up, the game immediately starts, but cannot save.

To actually play DA:I on the Xbone, I start each session by unplugging the Xbone.  This severs whatever pseudo or interrupted connection.  Then when I power up, the Xbone actually connects to the online/cloud/somwhereinthenetherworldsavefunction.  That's a technical term... I'm gonna trademark it.  Anyway, this ensures I can actually save... and thus make progress through the game.

So should I review the game? Nah... but I'll give you some info.  Graphics... good.  Combat... good.  World... very big.  Crafting... good.  Party members... great.  Story... very good.  Returning characters... great.

After the disappointing story aspects of DA2, DA:I gets your character back to saving the world... but you also get to do some political base building.  Decorating your castle with matching drapes and pillows may be fun to some... and it would be fun for me if my character was a king, but my character was the Inquisitor, the moral compass for continents, the defender of the weak, the renewer of hope.  Who cares about drapes when religions, nations, millions of people, heck, the whole planet depends upon the Inquisitor?  And that is where the game really shines... the decisions.  Mercy, punishment, death, life, liberation, slavery, genocide, colonization, war, judgement... are all part of the decisions that you must make for governments, organizations, communities, and individual people throughout the course of the game.

Is the Inquisitor chosen by the Maker?  Is the Inquisitor a heretic?

The continuing problem of how society deals with mages once again is a focus.  Free them, kill them, enslave them, intern them, or protect them?

Templars are actually drug addicts? What?!?!  And the Chantry encourages this?

I played through first as a male human who openly doubted whether he was the Chosen of Andraste, but was focused on preserving order while fighting Corypheus. My second character was a female elf who claimed to be the Chosen of Andraste while championing Elven rights wherever and whenever possible.  Both were good characters, but seemed nothing alike due to their class, race, and gender differences.

I don't want to spoil the story by saying which NPCs from previous DA games show up, but there are at least five.  One was expected, a second one I should have anticipated, and another was not surprising... but the others were like punches to the gut.

If you go down the crafting route, you'll get better equipment than you'll loot from bosses.

I thought playing as an Archer made for a lot... I mean, a lot easier combat.  In my first game, as a two-handed-hacketizer, there were some hairy moments on Normal Mode.  As an Archer, I played mostly on Nightmare... and I stink at console games... well, I had to dial it down to Hard for some of the dragons.

Vary your party just to listen to what they say to each other.  Vi is cruel to Bl.  Ca loathes Va. Se hates Do, Va, Vi, and Ca on principle.  IB is pure joy.

The Inquisition obviously sets up the next game in this franchise.  And yet for my first character, he wanted nothing so much as to dismantle the Inquisition as soon as they stopped Corypheus.  Everyone is trying to use the power and the influence of the Inquisition for their own ends.  Two NPCs want you to back them as the next Divine.  Some encourage the Inquisitor to actually change the Inquisition into a nation.  

The reason Americans love George Washington is because when he had absolute power in his hands he walked away.  He did not need it.  He did not want to use it as leverage or for personal gain.  I'm not saying he was perfect, but he did know what absolute power does.  He set the precedent that leadership must have a time limit.  

In Inquisition, the masses (and the Inquisitor's companions and inner circle) all laud the Inquisitor and give him even more power and influence.  It is heady and it is scary at the same time.  Even in a video game there is a strong pull to justify my decisions.  

_"Killing that man probably saved lives. Probably."_

_"You once tweeted a racist joke.  I sentence you to twenty years hard labor cleaning my outhouse.  I love the smell of roses in the morning."

"So you drowned hundreds of plague victims and refugees decades ago in a far away place during a civil war and a demonic invasion in order to save your town from certain death?  I don't know any of the details of the case nor do I have jurisdiction over you.... hmmmm. I sentence you to death because everyone hates you and they'll love me for killing you."_

_"You want me to support you as Pope even though you lead a guild of assassins?  Okay, but you have to give the Inquisition tax exempt status forever and the right to torture people... oh, and the right to start a Jihad whenever we want."_

The lure to control people... to control the outcome... to play God is tangible.  It makes the game compelling.


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 12, 2015)

I was considering the GOTY version. But it's just download codes rather than on-disc, which is very disappointing.

On Templars, their drug addiction is mentioned in Origins and DA2. Do pay attention 

I also really like the judgements. Some are entertaining (the box), and others are quite difficult (the mayor). Not sure I completed it (I think a ranged protagonist makes sense for Nightmare, I had a dual-wielding rogue but got tired of being a glass dagger that shattered so easily), but I had a playthrough with Sera and Vivienne in my party, and that was quite entertaining.

I think Cassandra, Varric and Dorian might be my favourite party for banter.

Of course, the cruellest moment of humour was when I made Vivienne wear a plaidweave dress. Mwahahaha!


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## Boaz (Dec 13, 2015)

Being cruel to Cruella was fun!


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 13, 2015)

Aye, called the dress 'Beeswax Catastrophe'. 

Bit irked about the way DLC's been handled, though. I may well give Andromeda a wide berth until I see how it develops. 

Also, cheers for the like. I was previously on 666.


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## Boaz (Dec 14, 2015)

Well... Your avatar doesn't look amicable.


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 14, 2015)

What an outrageous slur!

My avatar's merely enjoying a bacon sandwich, with a good dollop of tomato sauce. What's wrong with that?


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## Boaz (Dec 26, 2015)

Uh huh.


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