Question about equipment: I understand the star rating on equipment changes as you level. However, do the attributes of a particular belt, etc. remain the same if there are no stars? E.g., if I have a belt that adds 1+ to all attributes, will the belt's effect still exist if it loses its stars as I level through the game? If it does exist, the star system doesn't seem to make much sense - better to go by colors as to rarity and value of drops.
Also, I'm bummed that the codex takes longer to get to in this game, since the backstory to this universe is really well done and one of the primary reasons I love DA. While some codex entries are automatically flashed on screen when you trigger them, codex entries for equipment usually require you to hit Start-->Journal--> and then navigate to the log. DA:O just let you hit "back" (if you did it within a certain period of time after triggering the codex entry, you'd automatically go to that entry for easy reading). DA2 goes to the map when you hit "back", which is pointless, since most people have the map display in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
Finished the game last night on hard: while I enjoyed the writing, particularly the characterization and dialogue, the rest of the game is deeply flawed and obviously rushed. It's really too bad that Bioware felt the need to "Mass Effect" this game.