# Awaiting Dragon Age



## Saeltari (Feb 28, 2009)

Anybody else looking forward to this? Second half of 2009, supposedly.

Bioware's spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate? That is the claim, anyway. 

I seriously hope it is. 

It is a single player RPG set in their own world, and it is looking good!

-> http://dragonage.bioware.com/agegate.html?ref=/


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## devilsgrin (Mar 4, 2009)

it definitely is looking Very Good. 
Looks like a successor to KotOR and Baldur's Gate mixed with a Neverwinter Nights style of play. 
A little concerned by the limitations that player Origins may place on your character. especially during character creation. 
though the character customization tools should be awesome considering how good Mass Effects were and this is meant to use Bioware's best character creation and customisation tools ever.


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## Saeltari (Mar 4, 2009)

Looks better every day. I don't mind the origins, looks like it may add a bit more flavor to the game, plus a bit of replayability.

They even have a prequel novel out now
->Amazon.com: Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne: David Gaider: Books

Don't know anything about the author though.


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## Rahl Windsong (Mar 5, 2009)

Yes I have been following the game for years now so having it this close to release is exciting to say the least! 

My favorite games are always from Bioware and I can not see any way they will dissappoint me with this one. Though the latest expansion for NWN2, Storm of Zehir I have to say I did not like it at all. So I hope none of what they did there makes it into Dragon Age.

David Gaider is the lead writer for the game/story of Dragon Age Origins as well


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## devilsgrin (Mar 5, 2009)

have to agree Rahl... Bioware (and by extension Obsidian- since most of the people there are ex-Bioware - KotOR 2 is my favourite game of all time, alongside Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall and Baldur's Gate 2) always make great games. I can't think of one that i've not loved. 
I found Storm of Zehir very interesting. It was certainly VERY different to the rest of the neverwinter nights installments. I enjoyed the story, though i found it lacked that compelling desire to win through that other NWNs stories presented - particularly Mask of the Betrayer and the NWN2 main storyline.


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## Saeltari (Mar 5, 2009)

Supposedly on this one they don't have the strictures they had on the others, so it will be very interesting and hopefully very enjoyable to see what they come up with.


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## devilsgrin (Mar 5, 2009)

me too. 
definitely approving of the whole inter-party politics thing, that i have always enjoyed, which Bioware is promising. this would have to be one of the strengths of Bioware's RPGs - very few other RPGs have any inter-party interactions... and most that do are scripted a'la final fantasy.


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## Saeltari (Mar 5, 2009)

Party interaction is a great part of their games, brings things alive. While Oblivion was pretty and fun to explore I didn't stay long, because it felt empty. 

Bioware's games hardly ever feel empty, the party interaction and character interactions from romance to hatred bring their worlds alive, even without being able to explore like you can in the Elder scrolls games.


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## Saeltari (Apr 5, 2009)

A little more info.

-> GameSpy: Dragon Age: Origins: Coming Into Focus


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## the smiling weirwood (Apr 5, 2009)

I'm really interested in the "origins" aspects of it. I think it will make a better and more enjoyable game. You have to admit that shoehorning any old character in the role they've laid out for your rise to heroism would be weak, so I'm glad they've provided a good and plausible path for several character archetypes rather than just place you in a single role at the start like BG did.


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## devilsgrin (Apr 10, 2009)

definitely a plus tsw. warrior, rogue, mage... human, elf, dwarf... peasant, noble (or forest, city for elves)... certainly gives a fairly wide variety of options for replay value alone... not to mention immersion into the role...
though i do enjoy taking on a psecific role at times. things like BG and NWN 2 where your role is there, but you get to tailor it to your style and class is great. The Witcher style where you are a specific Character can get boring (much as the witcher is an incredible game, it suffers from having to be Geralt of Rivia alone), whilst the story may be engaging, i often find myself plodding through to get to the next revelation rather than enjoying the character.


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## Saeltari (Apr 10, 2009)

I agree, I much prefer creating my own character instead of playing a set one. I can get into the game more that way.

The origins stories are looking much more interesting and it looks like they are probably releasing a builders kit so that we can again have player made modules like NWN and others.


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## Saeltari (Jun 3, 2009)

Current release date of Oct 22 according to their site.


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## devilsgrin (Jun 7, 2009)

cool. this game is top of my must have list...even beating out Star Wars The Old Republic


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## thaddeus6th (Jun 7, 2009)

Not seen this thread before but learnt about this game a few weeks ago.

It looks absolutely fantastic. I really hope it lives up to expectations.


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## Saeltari (Jun 7, 2009)

If you haven't checked out their site recently give it a look again. They have completely redone it! I like it. They are also on twitter and they seem to be setting up a tabletop counterpart to their pc rpg. 

Anybody read the prequel novel?

I am currently waiting impatiently for the system reqs, but they have not listed those on their site yet. They do have a lot of trailers and new info. I am seriously thinking of pre-ordering so I can get the in game items, I don't normally do that and I am not really sure if I will do that with this one, although the chances are getting better everytime they release new info about it!


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## thaddeus6th (Jun 7, 2009)

I'd be getting it for the PS3 rather than PC, but I'm also considering pre-ordering. Had a browse of the prequel novel but it was £9 for a paperback which is pretty steep.

Not sure if the pre-ordering in-game items can be acquired in the UK.


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## devilsgrin (Jun 8, 2009)

i've learned my lesson regarding RPGs on PS3 vs PC... PS3 does them well (mostly - Fallout 3's worst version was the PS3 one) but the downloadable content for PC games just gives them so much more versatility - especially re: customisation and mods.


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## thaddeus6th (Jun 8, 2009)

I've got a terrible history with PCs deciding to break or so on, and it's not in my bedroom so it's less convenient. The versatility would be nice but not a deal-breaker for me. I just hope Dragon Age isn't delayed, its release date is quite close to my birthday


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## Overread (Jun 8, 2009)

Systme requirements keep going up for games - it a pain that with more 3D and graphics we get the more we have to upgade whilst often game content is not much beyond, or often less than it was for older games. (has any RPG managed to challenge Baldur's Gate 2 yet?)

I will wait and see for this game - sadly EA are in charge in part and they are renound for having not only poor beta testing of games but also for having poor to no post release support for the game. Even Spore - which was to be the big change in things and one of the fewer EA games to be released late - was a total flop once you started playing and now the latest expansion is looking like a 3rd person runaround game...

I will wait and see for this game - I have been spiked too many times in the past by EA released games.


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## ManTimeForgot (Jun 8, 2009)

Same here Overread: Battlefield 1942 bugged the crap out of me with its bugs.  You really didn't have to use cheat codes to cheat... who needs a noclip cheat when a way to do it is built into every map.  EA's console games are all well-polished but their history with computer games is shoddy at best...


I love the production staff behind this game, but EA as a publisher scares the H out of me.

MTF


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## thaddeus6th (Jul 17, 2009)

By the way, not sure if anyone's into pre-orders and Collector's Editions but this seems to be part of the CE (be aware that there's also a Bioware Edition possible, which would be like a CE with even more extras, no details on that yet):

The Dragon Age Origins Collector's Edition comes with:     

Tin Case
Bonus DVD including:
A making of documentary
Soundtrack
Trailers
Wallpaper
Concept art video
Strategy tips.
 
Cloth Map
3 pieces of exclusive in-game content:
Bergen’s Honor: A massive helmet made out of dragonbone (+2 to armor, +25 physical resistance, +6 to attack)
Grimoire of the Frozen Wates: A special book that adds +3 to all attributes when read
Final Reason:  A magical staff of immense power (adds to damage, spell power, and fire damage)
 
Additional In Game Content
"The Stone Prisoner" unlockable bonus quest and unlockable character, Shale

An unlockable item for Mass Effect 2
Get an exclusive in-game item for use in the upcoming title Mass Effect 2

From Gamestop.com - Buy Dragon Age Origins Collector's Edition - PC


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## Saeltari (Jul 20, 2009)

Another update.

Here is an article on the toolset for Dragon Age. Which means more mods!!! 

Also looks like they may be changing their forums and stuff.

-> GameSpy: Build Your Own Adventure: An Exclusive Look at the Dragon Age Toolset - Page 1


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## thaddeus6th (Jul 20, 2009)

I'll be getting it for the PS3, but the toolset stuff does look cool. 

I have high hopes for this game, but I do worry it won't live up to expectations. I'll be very interested to see how character generation works.


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## Rahl Windsong (Nov 3, 2009)

I got the digital deluxe version from Steam. It was expensive at 64.99 but its already preloaded for the release at 2pm eastern tomorrow! Can't wait to check it out 

While I have been waiting for it I also bought a new game from Runic games called Torchlight. It is a diablo clone and tons of fun there is also a free demo of it on steam. The game has three classes the Warrior, the Vanquisher, and the Alchemist and they all come with a pet that helps you in the fights, plus the pet can carry as much as your character and you can send the pet to town to sell things while you carry on through the dungeon.

There is also fishing in the game and the fish transform your pet into other monsters/animals/etc all with varrying strengths and weaknesses. Anyway its a brand new game and its on Steam for $19.99. If you download the demo its the full game so if you like it you can just pay and continue on with the character you started in the demo after the full game is unlocked.


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## Overread (Nov 3, 2009)

I#ll be interested to see how Dragon Age plays out - sadly my current machin would keel over and die if I tried to play it so no demos to try for me. But it will be interesting to see if Bioware are going to deliver now that that evil company is in charge of things 

edit - curse (and bless) you Rahl Torchlight looks interesting! GoG recently put Divine Divinity up for sale so I've been toying with the demo for that recently, but its just not up to hack and slash like Diablo was. now Torchlight looks to be a far more healthy return! I might just have to get steam to get it..


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## thaddeus6th (Nov 3, 2009)

I just wish the UK PS3 version wasn't coming out a fortnight later than everything else


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## devilsgrin (Nov 3, 2009)

woot! i have my collectors edition in my -not-so- grubby hands right now! looks awesome, even from just the packaging. The standard packaging didn't thrill me, got to admit - could hurt PC sales ... but perhaps not for the 360 and PS3 - since so many console games have similarly non-descriptive front covers... 
Have the character generator that was downloadable from the dragon age website... that was fun, and it's definitely more detailed than the Mass Effect character creator (being Bioware's last CGer to compare with... the creator for ME2 must be something special since they're touting it as the best character generator they've ever produced)... and generally more attractive faces are easier to create than in ME as well - the problem with the larger eyes for females remains... they looked eternally stunned or shocked... unless you make them smaller, but that defeats the point of large eyes... again, you could be going for that Anime look...


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## JDP (Nov 20, 2009)

My copy was apparently dispatched yesterday! w00t!! (Damn UK PS3 lag)

Hoping it will be waiting on my doormat when I get in from work - glowing faintly and letting of a mysterious (yet angelic) hum.

Anyone know about the Lion's Paw and Memory Band DLC that comes free with preordering (with amazon anyway)?

I promised myself that I would only play one game at a time at the moment... but I don't think I'm gonna be able to wait


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## thaddeus6th (Nov 21, 2009)

D'you mean how they're downloaded, or the stats?

Not sure about the former. For the latter I think the boots improve evasion and the memory band increase experience.

Got it myself yesterday. First game like it I've played so it's taking me a little time to get into it. Heard of framerate and difficulty issues, but not noticed either myself. Difficulty (at normal) is nicely pitched. I've had a few 'deaths' (characters dying, rather than game overs) and a few close calls but it's well-balanced.


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## devilsgrin (Nov 23, 2009)

i'm almost finished on my first playthrough. This has got to be BioWare's best game EVER. it tops Baldur's Gate II in terms of epic scope, and talk about immersion... there are points where i almost forget to breathe. Party NPCs... its like they've taken the best traits from the more fleshed out NPCs and made them into even better ones for this game. 
Beware... the Dog will steal your heart... its soooo cute...


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## thaddeus6th (Nov 23, 2009)

Don't think I'm as far done as you, though I'm maybe halfway into the game now.

Got to say that I love the difficulty level (on normal), it's just right. I dislike games that are ridiculously easy, but when you do die, quite often there's a cunning change of plan you can adopt to win.

I'm also a dog fan (named, Kai-dog after my own pet, but on the now removed Bioware forum someone had the great suggestion of Barkspawn). Just wish I had wireless to download Shale. 

Never played a Bioware game before so can't compare to Baldur's Gate, but it is a very nice game.


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## thepaladin (Nov 23, 2009)

Baldur's Gate II is probably my favorite game over all. I've held off on this as I need to be sure my video caard will handle it...Still haven't checked. I noted that the ram requirment s etc. aren't that bad and looks like most machines even a few years old might run it.


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## JDP (Nov 25, 2009)

Managed to hold off for about 2 days once I got it 

Good, fun RPG; well balanced, as Thaddeus says (like him, I've only tried it on Normal yet). I must say I haven't really got the hang of the pause-and-play battles (I'm playing on PS3); I tend to just play through in real time. I tend to just have general tactics that I let my party use rather than changing them up that much from fight to fight.

I've done a lot of dawdling around, and think I'm something like 20% in to the main story.

For me, the game's really fun; solid RPG action. But TBH, it hasn't totally rocked my world. Not sure why; perhaps I'm yet to get the best bits. I'd give it about 8/10.


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## thaddeus6th (Nov 25, 2009)

I'm about 67% in.

I also generally just play in real time, but sometimes micromanagement can be a real help.

In places I did have to lower the difficulty level. Some fights I replayed repeatedly on Normal (and won), a few I got a little impatient with and lowered to Casual.


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## Rahl Windsong (Dec 12, 2009)

The characters you can collect to have in your party are really well written, so much so that if you do or say something that upsets them it generally has the same effect on you. There is a male named Alistar that stays with you for the entire game and I really think the ladies will absolutely be head over heels in love with this guy, everything he says is pure gold. He is a rommance option for the female PC, there are also several other rommance options with even some gay rommance options, Bioware caters to everyone...hehe

My favorite quest so far has to be the Deep Roads, the tunnels the dwarfs built underground to connect all their cites, which I might add have been taken over by the Darkspawn...all I will say is CREEPY! very very creepy indeed!


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## Pyar (Dec 16, 2009)

I just finished the game a couple days. What an amazing, fully developed story. There was nothing left out. And there was so many different directions you could go and pretty much everything you did affected the outcome at the end. I really enjoyed this game. By far the best RPG I've played. If you haven't gotten it GET IT! It took me 72 hours to finish though lol. I might go through another run later if I feel like it.


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## Rahl Windsong (Dec 23, 2009)

Pyar said:


> I just finished the game a couple days. What an amazing, fully developed story. There was nothing left out. And there was so many different directions you could go and pretty much everything you did affected the outcome at the end. I really enjoyed this game. By far the best RPG I've played. If you haven't gotten it GET IT! It took me 72 hours to finish though lol. I might go through another run later if I feel like it.


 

I have been through the game few times now and each time I have found lots of things I missed the first time through...

For instance at the end in the battle against the Archdemon you have the option of calling in the armies you gathered durring the course of the game, first time through I never even noticed this.


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## LukeW (Dec 28, 2009)

Played about 25 hours of this in the last 5 days (I'm usually lucky to play 1/2 hour a day). I'm absolutely loving DA. It's been years since I've been hooked on a computer game.


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## Winters_Sorrow (Dec 30, 2009)

I'm quite enjoying this as well. It can feel a bit linear at times but no more so than Fable 2 etc and the story is good enough to keep you interested in developments. I haven't got very far in the game yet (apart from completing all 6 origin stories) but it's pretty good so far. On a par with something like KOTOR or Mass Effect.


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## Lostie (Dec 31, 2009)

It's one of the best games I've ever played.

As an RPG fan I haven't been blown away by a game this much since the original Fallout in 1997.

I thought Bioware were at their very height with Baldurs Gate 2 but from then on I felt they moved progressively towards picking up popular IPs and watering down mechanics to boost their profile and sell more games.

Not to say Bioware made bad games after Baldurs Gate 2 but it felt like a de-evolution of RPG's rather than progress so even though I played and enjoyed KOTOR, Jade Empire and Mass Effect I felt they were leaving behind seasoned RPG players in favour of making more comercially flavoured games.

I have to admit after playing Dragon Age Origins I feel like a fool for ever doubting Bioware.

I think Bioware do an incredible job with this game and a few points stood out for me in particular:

1: The game is very lengthy in terms of the main story which is a great thing. It's also very absorbing and all your companions are extremely well fleshed out. The back story to each faction is incredible as well. You feel like your sitting in a deeply enriched universe with so many stories its pretty incredible they can create that feeling with the first game in the Dragon Age universe.

2: You actually feel like your choices mean something. I've had companions leave me. I had one companion challenge my authority and then try to kill me. I even had one companion who only joined me so he could set me up and kill me later on.

Also when your out in the big wide world the decisions you make are never easy. In Dragon Age Origins they create an atmosphere of desperation. People are in a constant power struggle at the dawn of a new age and you won't come across very many goody two shoes or outright evil people.

Every decision you make has consequences and you are never going to be right or wrong. I really struggled to make decisions and pick sides during the game when I came to realise just how bad some of the people I was working with were. I love how the game refuses to use black and white stereotypes though and every character has a grey area.

3: The diversity in the game also blew me away. When everything falls apart you have to recruit different races to help you fight the Blight.

It takes you to a variety of places like underground dungeons for dwarves, haunted forests for elves, a grand palace for the human soldiers and a tower for the mages.

They are all very different worlds and they are extremely well fleshed out.

4: Last but not least the presentation of the game is fantastic. It's like playing a movie. Some people want a big world to explore and that is understandable. With Dragon Age Origins being quite linear I know it won't appeal to everybody but regardless the cinematic quality this game possesses is something out of a motion picture.


Having said all of the above while I was first skeptical of the upcoming Star Wars MMO now I simply can't wait for it.

If Bioware can provide this kind of quality for 30 hours with a game that cost ten million dollars to produce I can't wait to see what they can do with the Star Wars MMO and ten times the budget.


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