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[D2M15]

I mean, how important is Lelianna to the plot of either game?(protip: she isn't)
They really couldn't have just cut her and her tiny cameo out of DA2 for people who never met/killed her?

As Gaider explained in that breathtakingly badly media-trained post on the other page, it's because they like her character, and that overrides any player bemusement at her coming back from the dead for a nonsensical cameo.

 

[Fredescu]

I can kill a golem, but a stone door is a complete impasse.

 

[jackdoe]

Welp, got another copy of ME2 thanks to that DA2 offer (it's retroactive for those who bought at launch). Don't know what I'll do with it though.

 

[Yurt]

Oh man what a missed opportunity I kinda wished Hawke would turn out to be the big main villain for DA3, And that DA2 was his story of descending into madness.

Spoiler

Especially with the death of his mother/brother or sister and all that.

I'm sorry about my negative posts, but I can't help it. DA:O was one of my favorite games

 

[nubbe]

I beat the game and think the last boss fight was pretty fun.

For party bantering I found FemHawk, Aveline and Isabela to be quite entertaining.

Hawke: Would you mind?
Isabela: I can whore on my own, thank you very much.

 

[Mar]

Yeah, further play hasn't increased my interest. In fact, I've lost even more interest. I can't even force myself to care about the characters, story or quests.

I don't think I'll go back.

In good news, I played DOOM II afterward and felt happy again. That game is still amazing to this day.

 

[hateradio]

Welp, got another copy of ME2 thanks to that DA2 offer (it's retroactive for those who bought at launch). Don't know what I'll do with it though.

Can we give it to someone?

 

[HadesGigas]

Can we give it to someone?

Yeah, you enter your DA2 online pass then it gives you an EA Store code for ME2.

 

[Yurt]

fuuuuuuuuuck this

they had really powerful stuff in Act II but writers RUINED the moment! It considers Hawke's mother, so who hasn't done her quest in Act II, don't read it.

Spoiler

Why, why, why they made her talk??? It could be such a powerful moment: Hawke sees what the mage made of her and he can't get relief by talking to her. It could be a perfect bizzare moment - he can't say farewell because she's not there, she's really gone and yet he sees her moving. She's alive but not. It could really scar his mind. They could use this as reason to reshape him, to change all his further dialogue options. Like they could give us a possibility to save the mother and not change Hawke or we could fail and this will be a different Hawke with different dialogue options and may be some bonus "rage" ability. But no... Also this should've been the last quest in this act or at least they should have done some cutscene like "2 weeks later". Because it's strange if Hawke continues killing bad guys, doing usual stuff and cracking jokes the next day his mother goes away.

Damn, Bioware makes me angry with this game. They really fail at some stuff. I'm getting ME3 for sure but I won't buy any future game from Bioware until impressions are glowing.

I totally agree with you, that was the best moment in the game and it was really ruined.

 

[witness]

I know its popular to hate this game but I'm probably having more fun playing this game than I did the first. Its not a popular opinion I know. The story is not as epic obviously, but I do enjoy personal stories and this game is just a lot of fun still in spite of the repetitive environments. Game play is king and Dragon Age 2 is just fucking fun.

I downloaded the Black Emporium and its great that the respec elixir basically costs nothing so you can do a lot of experimenting.

 

[Nirolak]

Just noting an update to the list of Dragon Age 3 features.

Thanks for the responses everyone! I suspect (and this is purely speculative) that the wave-type system will stay in the franchise going forward but we're certainly always looking for feedback and ways too improve.

What I'm currently writing as my personal report, given this feedback:
- enemies should not, under any circumstances, appear from thin air - I give exception to Spirits and other enemies which can come from the ground but perhaps some visual cue such as how skeletons are lying in bonepiles on the floor before the encounter starts.
- use a wave dynamic sparingly, it was almost clockwork that every encounter came in waves and this simply was not fun; in relation to that, more fights that consist of harder (and fewer) enemies

does that sound like an accurate assessment of what you would like to see?

(and yes, this is just summarized. My reports are much more long-winded and full of linguistic wizardy /images/forum/emoticons/wizard.png)

Source: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/315/index/6876932&lf=8

 

[Zeliard]

As you noted earlier Nirolak, seeing what comes about with Mass Effect 3 later this year could potentially go some way towards letting us know what DA3 will be like, since the two franchises seem to be veering closer together in design.

It first appeared and seemed intended that Mass Effect would be their more straightforward, action-oriented series, with Dragon Age harkening back to their CRPG roots. While I had plenty of issues with DA:O, after it and ME2 were released, it looked like Bioware was indeed making an effort to head in that direction. But now, with DA2, the two lines are beginning to converge.

 

[Psi]

Just noting an update to the list of Dragon Age 3 features.


Source: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/315/index/6876932&lf=8

Another Wave!

 

[hateradio]

Just noting an update to the list of Dragon Age 3 features.


Source: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/315/index/6876932&lf=8

This is so hard to read but hilarious too. It's starting to piss me off that a) they don't acknowledge their faults, and that b) they then try to downplay them. >:[

 

[Gvaz]

This is so hard to read but hilarious too. It's starting to piss me off that a) they don't acknowledge their faults, and that b) they then try to downplay them. >:[

Welcome to Bioware.

 

[hateradio]

Welcome to Bioware.

I guess I haven't been properly introduced until recently. Have they always been misguided fanboys?

 

[Mr_Zombie]

It still boggles my mind that no one during the production thought that enemies appearing from thin air (and thus ruining any sense of tactical thinking), was a bad idea. It's simply horrible game design. How could anyone view that as something "good"?

 

[Lime]

It still boggles my mind that no one during the production thought that enemies appearing from thin air (and thus ruining any sense of tactical thinking), was a bad idea. It's simply horrible game design. How could anyone view that as something "good"?

I've come to the conclusion that Bioware is run by idiots.

 

[desverger]

It still boggles my mind that no one during the production thought that enemies appearing from thin air (and thus ruining any sense of tactical thinking), was a bad idea. It's simply horrible game design. How could anyone view that as something "good"?

Enough reason to play on Casual for me. Especially since it seems like they realized their own mistake and removed all achievements related to the difficulty levels from the game

 

[Laughing Banana]

Hahaha reading David Gaider's response in the "Dead Characters Cameo-ing" thread in Bioware Social Forum is really entertaining.

GREAT example of excellent customer relation there, folks <sarcasm>

It seems like he just couldn't handle criticism whirled towards him---perfectly logical criticism. What a pathetic display from a supposedly professional "lead writer."

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Hahaha reading David Gaider's response in the "Dead Characters Cameo-ing" thread in Bioware Social Forum is really entertaining.

GREAT example of excellent customer relation there, folks <sarcasm>

It seems like he just couldn't handle criticism whirled towards him---perfectly logical criticism. What a pathetic display from a supposedly professional "lead writer."

gaider still thinks he's posting on the codex, we thought it was funny when he gave as much shit as he recieved over there. But he seems to have lost any semblance of tact since then.

 

[glaurung]

I finally finished the game a few nights back and overall, I am not happy.

Everyone, their mother, sister, brother and dog is a good damn blood mage in Kirkwall. In the end every minor and major quest ends with: oh, another blood mage. Pew pew, smack smack. Stupid and really took the power away from the damn blood mages. By the end I was expecting the entire crew to turn on me by saying that yes, we are all blood mages too. Retarded.

The pacing was off. First and second acts were fine, but the third act was like a car crash.

The combat. What a sad mess. Tried with Normal and Insanity and my thoughts were mostly like Tycho's. Most fights are monotonous and predictable. Other fights are either impossible or just broken. AI is wonky. Programming the tactics is unnecessarily complex. FFXII did it much better.

Side quests are pointless. Most of the time I managed to pick up some random trash and then I had to hand in that trash to some random NPC with no dialogue, no explanations. Just replace that crap with simple money.

Same goes for picking up vendor trash - junk. For crying out loud, they even named it junk! What is the effing point of having it? Why not give me the coin straight away? What a retarded design choice.

Tracking companion armor upgrades is impossible, it makes no sense. Buying gear or waiting for something to drop off enemies is pointless. The amount of amulets and rings that the game floods you with is pointless. Some armor designs are good, but most are very limited and look boring.

There is no pleasing all party members, there is no pissing off all party members. The game sets you up to screw some and suck up to others, stray from the path and you lose the perks that are gained through either. So not very flexible at all.

*sigh*

However, even with all the shortcomings that I listed above, I enjoyed the ride. The game takes some pretty retarded opportunities to artificially lengthen the main campaign (what with the money gathering quest and later on with simply completing certain arcs before unlocking the next major arc), but if that's how they need to keep the hour count up, so be it. DA2 is a solid contender for the year's Most Stupid WRPG title.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I don't even understand the logic on sticking to the wave based battles. What benefit do they provide in normal, everyday encounters other than just artificially lengthening the time of the game and keeping the enemy count low for consoles?

 

[subversus]

I don't even understand the logic on sticking to the wave based battles. What benefit do they provide in normal, everyday encounters other than just artificially lengthening the time of the game and keeping the enemy count low for consoles?

I think that was crucial.

 

[Mr_Zombie]

I don't even understand the logic on sticking to the wave based battles. What benefit do they provide in normal, everyday encounters other than just artificially lengthening the time of the game and keeping the enemy count low for consoles?

Zing! You know the answer, so why ask the question?
Wasn't Origins on consoles the same - waves of enemies instead of many enemies appearing at once?

 

[Sir Garbageman]

I think the wave dynamic would've been ok if they used it sparingly. The biggest issue for me was that it happened in every single encounter.

 

[subversus]

Zing! You know the answer, so why ask the question?
Wasn't Origins on consoles the same - waves of enemies instead of many enemies appearing at once?

It wasn't as far as I know.

 

[Yopis]

It wasn't as far as I know.

Don't remember waves in PS3 version of DAO.

 

[Rodhull]

I remember there being a few wave type battles in Origins but certainly nowhere near as regularly as in 2. They did a better job of hiding it and having it make sense rather than half a gang attacks you then the other half drops down from the roof to attack next.

 

[truly101]

Don't remember waves in PS3 version of DAO.

I don't remember any either (360). I've played up to CH II and while I think DAII is a decent game, its painfully obvious to me that this game is a cash grab to fatten EA's bottom line. They didn't go the console route because of Mass Effect 2, or because of PC piracy, they went the console route because they could get the product to market before EA's fiscal year ended and boost their stock. Thats it, thats all there is. The reuse of the same map for 10 different locations? The anemic variety of enemies? Its a cash grab and it probably worked.

 

[Patryn]

They did do waves, but not nearly as often, and the enemies spawned from logical locations (and not directly in plain view). For instance, there'd be a closed door ahead of you that would open and out would spill enemies. Or if they did spawn out of nowhere, they were enemy types that naturally have stealth and make sense for their sudden appearance (Rogues, Shrieks, Shadow Werewolves, demons, shades, etc.)

For the most part, what they did in DA:O for the consoles was reduce the enemy count, but make the individual enemies a lot tougher to compensate for the lower number.

 

[subversus]

and since DA:O thread is dead I'm asking here:

is it possible to steal something useful in DA:O?

It's a shame that they decided to cut all skills in DA2 but whatever...

 

[Patryn]

and since DA:O thread is dead I'm asking here:

is it possible to steal something useful in DA:O?

It's a shame that they decided to cut all skills in DA2 but whatever...

Yes. One of the best shields in the game can only be pickpocketed, among other things.

Here's a table listing all the best people to steal from.

 

[Confidence Man]

I figured the waves were used due to the sped up combat. Battles would be over too quickly so they had to extend them somehow.

and since DA:O thread is dead I'm asking here:

is it possible to steal something useful in DA:O?

It's a shame that they decided to cut all skills in DA2 but whatever...

I don't recall anything specifically useful, but there is a string of sidequests you get in Denerim if you have the stealing skill.

 

[Scott Chillgrim]

I don't remember any either (360). I've played up to CH II and while I think DAII is a decent game, its painfully obvious to me that this game is a cash grab to fatten EA's bottom line. They didn't go the console route because of Mass Effect 2, or because of PC piracy, they went the console route because they could get the product to market before EA's fiscal year ended and boost their stock. Thats it, thats all there is. The reuse of the same map for 10 different locations? The anemic variety of enemies? Its a cash grab and it probably worked.

Be that as it may, it's still a damn good game. The combat alone got me to max the game out and play it through 5 times.

 

[Amibguous Cad]

I don't even understand the logic on sticking to the wave based battles. What benefit do they provide in normal, everyday encounters other than just artificially lengthening the time of the game and keeping the enemy count low for consoles?

I enjoyed it because it required me to think on my feet. I really had to pay attention to the way the battles were progressing and make sure my melee charaters had picked up all the new enemies. Much more entertaining than DA1's, have Allister run in, taunt, build aggro for a few seconds, then nuke with AoEs.

 

[Patryn]

I enjoyed it because it required me to think on my feet. I really had to pay attention to the way the battles were progressing and make sure my melee charaters had picked up all the new enemies. Much more entertaining than DA1's, have Allister run in, taunt, build aggro for a few seconds, then nuke with AoEs.

Did you play DA:O with friendly fire on or off?

 

[PaddyOCanager]

I did not enjoy the wave system, but ultimately the repetition of dungeons/assets was my biggest gripe. If they're planning on rushing out DA3 I'd rather they focus on giving some actual variety rather than 30 hours of fetch quests through the same generic cave.

 

[branny]

I figured the waves were used due to the sped up combat. Battles would be over too quickly so they had to extend them somehow.

Wait, that's really similar to something like this: "I figured the pointless padding was added due to the scarceness of meaningful content. DA2 would be over too quickly so they had to extend it somehow." Does this excuse them, though? Ideally, you would address the problem at its source and not cover it up with something else.

The waves were fine to a certain extent but when they draw out nearly every single encounter it quickly grows tiresome. Waves were also annoying for managing skills with longer cooldowns, and there are other ways to keep players on their feet instead of making them the centers of sometimes improbable enemy spawning. I believe the combat in DA2 may be better than Origins' overall but a few design decisions are perplexing to say the least.

 

[Pkaz01]

My favorite part about the random wave spawns was that during the loading screen I would get a hint saying put warriors at choke points and mages in the back to have strategic battles. Do they not realize that their own spawns come up from anywhere and i totally does not matter where your mages are they are going to get backdoored?

 

[hateradio]

I figured the waves were used due to the sped up combat. Battles would be over too quickly so they had to extend them somehow.

They could have given each enemy type three times the health bar instead of having three waves of the same types. :|

My favorite part about the random wave spawns was that during the loading screen I would get a hint saying put warriors at choke points and mages in the back to have strategic battles. Do they not realize that their own spawns come up from anywhere and i totally does not matter where your mages are they are going to get backdoored?

The other problem is that each set piece/location was so tiny that mages would almost always be in a the front line anyway. Then, because of the high cool-down rate, mages simply attack with their futile magic attack, pew pew pew. They really screwed them up.

 

[Mindman]

Hey guys, I'm a little confused on the companion armor system... none of their armor shows anything more than 2 stars with some upgrades added on. Is that just how it is, or have I been missing some upgrades? I'm late in Chapter 2.

 

[DLaren]

I finaly beat the game after ~80 hours on a modified version of the 'Nightmare' difficulty. I quit the game on three seperate occassions because it took me ~70 hours to get over the fact that this wasn't Dragon Age:Origins 2...and to accept that this was Dragon Age:The Champion of Kirkwall.

Overall I thought DA2 was a good game that did a lot of things right (writing, class-balance, boss-encounters, story-twists), but was weighed down by a lot of the things that it did wrong (re-used maps, constant enemy waves, reduced companion customization, reduced companion interaction).

This was my first playthrough and I spent most of the game experimenting with mods to make the game more enjoyable for my play-style (I don't use items...AT ALL); I didn't find the appropriate mix until mid-way through ACT3. Since I've accepted this game for what it is, and I've found most of the mods I need to enjoy myself, I imagine when I begin my second playthrough (after the patch and the release of "official" mod-tools) it will be a more memorable experience on par with DA:O.

 

[vareon]

They could have given each enemy type three times the health bar instead of having three waves of the same types. :|

But then you don't get the feeling of being a badass who killed lots and lots of enemies. Still the waves are stupid.

 

[Fredescu]

This was my first playthrough and I spent most of the game experimenting with mods to make the game more enjoyable for my play-style (I don't use items...AT ALL); I didn't find the appropriate mix until mid-way through ACT3. Since I've accepted this game for what it is, and I've found most of the mods I need to enjoy myself, I imagine when I begin my second playthrough (after the patch and the release of "official" mod-tools) it will be a more memorable experience on par with DA:O.

Care to share the ones you used?

 

[hateradio]

But then you don't get the feeling of being a badass who killed lots and lots of enemies. Still the waves are stupid.

I never felt like a bad-ass killer. I was annoyed and insulted. ¬_¬

Hey guys, I'm a little confused on the companion armor system... none of their armor shows anything more than 2 stars with some upgrades added on. Is that just how it is, or have I been missing some upgrades? I'm late in Chapter 2.

The star system is pretty broken, I believe. Sometimes things with the exact same stats vary between one or four stars. Just go with what's best in your opinion.

 

[DLaren]

Care to share the ones you used?

-Enemy Assassin Rebalance (increases the timer on the enemy assassin backstab ability, so they can't spam it anymore)
-Heal Cooldown Reduction (20 seconds)
-DA2 Cheaper Sustainables (each sustainable only absorbs 10% of total mana/stamina)
-Nightmare Tweaked (a lot of options in the package to choose from, I chose to make DA2's nightmare difficulty more like DA:O's nightmare difficulty.)
-No Gibbing (bodies only explode when appropriate)
-Isabela Pants (I hate naked companions)
-Hurlocks are green (colors the darkspawn green with blood splatter similar to DA:O, instead of the default pale white)
-Enemy Potion Fix (If I'm not using potions, then neither are they)
-All Specs All Abilities For Everyone (all class appropriate specializations available to all party members)
-Removes Points in Tree Requirements (with this you don't have to spend a certain number of points in a tree to get the ability you want)


You should be able to find all of those mods by searching those names on Dragon Age Nexus (under the DA2 mods category), if you can't, let me know and I'll try to link them for you.

 

[Relix]

Last quests of Act 2 were pretty damn awesome. Was up there with Origin's best quests. Still, the game feels a bit like a step down from Origins after all is said and done. Not that I am not enjoying it... the opposite, I am having a blast, but its definitely lacking. I really hope for a "real" sequel.

 

[Gvaz]

Even "accepting the game for what it is" doesn't make up for the fact that this game is a disappointment on every level for me. I wouldn't harp so much if it wasn't by bioware, other than saying "hrm this sure is a bioware game".

It would only change my rating to "this is a mediocre game by a no-name company" from "this is a shitty game by a AAA company"

 

[nubbe]

Even "accepting the game for what it is" doesn't make up for the fact that this game is a disappointment on every level for me. I wouldn't harp so much if it wasn't by bioware, other than saying "hrm this sure is a bioware game".

It would only change my rating to "this is a mediocre game by a no-name company" from "this is a shitty game by a AAA company"

Bioware gave up their AAA rating when they sold their soul for BBB class mass production.