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[Hixx]

If you're a fan of DA:O then sure. Agmarrak is a stand alone dungeon in the Deep Roads and is probably the hardest DLC. Witch Hunt kinda / sorta bring's Morrigan's story arc to a close, especially if

Spoiler

romanced her and accepted her bargain

. You'll get a few hours of gameplay from both. YMMV but I enjoyed them.

Agmarrak is just a dungeon? Might skip that and play Witch Hunt then, bring a bit of closure to that story line then. Thanks!

 

[Gvaz]

Not really, you tromp around in the deep roads.

 

[Lostconfused]

we are lucky to get anything at all in sequel form. But they should change as much as possible

Does not compute.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

The bald fact is, if only 10-20% of people played the game more than an hour, then we are lucky to get anything at all in sequel form. But they should change as much as possible if the average playtime per user is less than an hour. Its just not acceptable. The business model goes beyond the point of initial sale - obviously.

Who cares about those people? Obviously they didn't like the game for some reason or they were busy, either way it's safe to assume they are not the audience who is going to be interested in DA2

 

[Ysiadmihi]

Who cares about those people? Obviously they didn't like the game for some reason or they were busy, either way it's safe to assume they are not the audience who is going to be interested in DA2

It would be a funny backfire if all the changes do nothing to draw these people back in and chase everyone else away.

 

[Ledsen]

Who cares about those people? Obviously they didn't like the game for some reason or they were busy, either way it's safe to assume they are not the audience who is going to be interested in DA2

Obviously Bioware would care if only 10-20% of the people who played Origins played the sequel.

 

[Duane Cunningham]

Is it possible that default Hawke changes models during the game? Maybe that's a little far fetched, but when I first played the demo, I thought "oh, he looks scrawny, because he's still a teenager leaving Lothering and the game spans 10 years". I'm probably giving too much credit, I guess.

 

[REV 09]

i also really liked the demo (360). played through origins and awakening on 360 as well. I'm not sure every change is for the best, but the graphics are better...and i personally don't mind the art. this game is getting way too much hate. I think a lot of it will die down once the game is released.

 

[Lostconfused]

Is it possible that default Hawke changes models during the game?

Yes its possible, but only if you pre ordered the game. So better hurry up since you only have a few days left.

 

[kai3345]

Is it possible that default Hawke changes models during the game? Maybe that's a little far fetched, but when I first played the demo, I thought "oh, he looks scrawny, because he's still a teenager leaving Lothering and the game spans 10 years". I'm probably giving too much credit, I guess.

This would be cool. I also hope your party's hairstyle and stuff changes. Nobody keeps the same hair for 10 years

 

[Duane Cunningham]

Yes its possible, but only if you pre ordered the game. So better hurry up since you only have a few days left.

Are you sure, I'd heard it was unlocked by liking them on Facebook.

 

[jhawk6]

i also really liked the demo (360). played through origins and awakening on 360 as well. I'm not sure every change is for the best, but the graphics are better...and i personally don't mind the art. this game is getting way too much hate. I think a lot of it will die down once the game is released.

Once people get into the full game, I'm sure it will die down too.

 

[Lostconfused]

Are you sure, I'd heard it was unlocked by liking them on Facebook.

NVM I am wrong you just have to buy the game.

Original purchasers of Dragon Age 2 will receive:

* A fighting Mabari War Hound
* The Mirror of Transformation

 

[Duane Cunningham]

This would be cool. I also hope your party's hairstyle and stuff changes. Nobody keeps the same hair for 10 years

Yeah, but I guess that would be pretty tough to do on Custom Hawke. The companions could change, though.

 

[dalemurphy]

i also really liked the demo (360). played through origins and awakening on 360 as well. I'm not sure every change is for the best, but the graphics are better...and i personally don't mind the art. this game is getting way too much hate. I think a lot of it will die down once the game is released.

We need to have a separate thread for the PC and Console versions. In the PC thread everyone can bitch about every tiny change and discuss The Witcher ad nauseum. All of the discussion will be based on assumptions and speculation.

In the console thread, we'll actually talk about Dragon Age 2.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

Obviously Bioware would care if only 10-20% of the people who played Origins played the sequel.

You're putting the cart before the horse. You make a faithful successor to Dragon Age and the 10% who played the whole thing (which is not an insignificant number btw) will play the game for sure and may get a lot of their friends to play it too, also people who see Dragon Age 2 and remember people liking the first one will pick it up and give it a shot...but the people who played DA1 and didn't like it? I guarantee you will not buy this game even if Hawke had rainbows coming out of his ass while exploding darkspawn with his chainsaw gun

 

[Patryn]

We need to have a separate thread for the PC and Console versions. In the PC thread everyone can bitch about every tiny change and discuss The Witcher ad nauseum. All of the discussion will be based on assumptions and speculation.

In the console thread, we'll actually talk about Dragon Age 2.

So you're saying that the only real talk about Dragon Age 2 is positive talk? Interesting.

 

[AlimNassor]

You're putting the cart before the horse. You make a faithful successor to Dragon Age and the 10% who played the whole thing (which is not an insignificant number btw) will play the game for sure and may get a lot of their friends to play it too, also people who see Dragon Age 2 and remember people liking the first one will pick it up and give it a shot...but the people who played DA1 and didn't like it? I guarantee you will not buy this game even if Hawke had rainbows coming out of his ass while exploding darkspawn with his chainsaw gun

That would actually be kinda cool tbh. Someone should make a flash game like that.

 

[WanderingWind]

We need to have a separate thread for the PC and Console versions. In the PC thread everyone can bitch about every tiny change and discuss The Witcher ad nauseum. All of the discussion will be based on assumptions and speculation.

In the console thread, we'll actually talk about Dragon Age 2.

And which thread would the people like you post? You know, the ones whining about every negative comment made? Do they get their own thread too?

 

[Ysiadmihi]

We need to have a separate thread for the PC and Console versions. In the PC thread everyone can bitch about every tiny change and discuss The Witcher ad nauseum. All of the discussion will be based on assumptions and speculation.

In the console thread, we'll endlessly argue about minor differences in visual quality between two versions of a bad looking game.

Fixed that up a bit for ya.

 

[Mr_Zombie]

Yeah, but I guess that would be pretty tough to do on Custom Hawke.

Not really, they could allow you to edit your character after each time leap, but only allow you to change hair and add/remove scars, tatoos etc.

 

[Tokubetsu]

"tiny changes"

 

[kai3345]

So what exactly constitutes a change in your family's appearance? The only time ive gotten them to change is in the above screens where I changed my skin to black.

 

[dalemurphy]

So you're saying that the only real talk about Dragon Age 2 is positive talk? Interesting.

No, but it should at least be discussion about the actual game instead of assumptions, speculation, and a bit of The Witcher 2 thrown in.

I have plenty of complaints about the demo (the combat is in a weird middle ground where it's doing nothing particularly well, it's still not a pretty game, etc.) but this endless bitching is obnoxious, especially to console gamers like myself that aren't seeing as much of a change as the PC gamers.

Also, let's be real, core PC gamers are constantly getting the shaft and they've been marginalized to a certain extent, which makes them insufferable when they perceive that anything has been changed in an attempt to appeal to console gamers.

 

[Patryn]

No, but it should at least be discussion about the actual game instead of assumptions, speculation, and a bit of The Witcher 2 thrown in.

I have plenty of complaints about the demo (the combat is in a weird middle ground where it's doing nothing particularly well, it's still not a pretty game, etc.) but this endless bitching is obnoxious, especially to console gamers like myself that aren't seeing as much of a change as the PC gamers.

Also, let's be real, core PC gamers are constantly getting the shaft and they've been marginalized to a certain extent, which makes them insufferable when they perceive that anything has been changed in an attempt to appeal to console gamers.

You know, I keep hearing Witcher 2 thrown around, but it seems to me half the time I see the name, it's from defenders of DA2 ranting about how all critics talk about is Witcher 2.

Really, if you look at this thread, there's been a minimal amount of Witcher talk.

And you shouldn't assume that I'm not a core PC gamer.

 

[X-Frame]

We need to have a separate thread for the PC and Console versions. In the PC thread everyone can bitch about every tiny change and discuss The Witcher ad nauseum. All of the discussion will be based on assumptions and speculation.

In the console thread, we'll actually talk about Dragon Age 2.

I actually agree with this in this situation. No offense to PC-GAF, but regardless if I can relate to how you feel because the same type of thing has happened to me in other games, every DA2 thread has been the same. Graphics, combat, etc etc over and over.

Then whenever a person who played the console version posts it's usually positive. And while positive vs negative should warrant splitting threads but in this situation I think we need it because of just how DA2 changed between the PC and the console.

I find myself starting to skim posts only for console impressions anyway. Look at the Crysis 2 Demo thread, there's one for PC that has nothing to do with the console versions - the experience is cimportant different - it's like different worlds.

Just my .02

 

[kai3345]

A console DA2-er should make the PC thread and a PC DA2-er should make the console thread

lol

 

[Kinspiracy]

No, but it should at least be discussion about the actual game instead of assumptions, speculation, and a bit of The Witcher 2 thrown in.

I have plenty of complaints about the demo (the combat is in a weird middle ground where it's doing nothing particularly well, it's still not a pretty game, etc.) but this endless bitching is obnoxious, especially to console gamers like myself that aren't seeing as much of a change as the PC gamers.

Also, let's be real, core PC gamers are constantly getting the shaft and they've been marginalized to a certain extent, which makes them insufferable when they perceive that anything has been changed in an attempt to appeal to console gamers.

Meh, it's pre-release. So you would expect haters and lovers of the game to be discussing it. When it finally comes out if haters are still talking about it, they've got issues. Unless of course they bought it and genuinely still hate it. Not sure why stifling either side in this matter is beneficial to the conversation.

Someone saying DA2 sucks and Witcher 2 looks better doesnt change the fact that I watched footage of Witcher 2 and found the fighting animations to be laughable, but the surroundings beautiful. I have no intention of buying Witcher 2, so I'm not inclined to go in that thread and whine about the animations, but if I was interested I'd be there posting my "negative" comments. So I'm assuming the people in this thread complaining aren't trolls, but are folks that just wanted something they didn't get from DA2.

 

[Alucrid]

Meh, it's pre-release. So you would expect haters and lovers of the game to be discussing it. When it finally comes out if haters are still talking about it, they've got issues. Unless of course they bought it and genuinely still hate it. Not sure why stifling either side in this matter is beneficial to the conversation.

Someone saying DA2 sucks and Witcher 2 looks better doesnt change the fact that I watched footage of Witcher 2 and found the fighting animations to be laughable, but the surroundings beautiful. I have no intention of buying Witcher 2, so I'm not inclined to go in that thread and whine about the animations, but if I was interested I'd be there posting my "negative" comments. So I'm assuming the people in this thread complaining aren't trolls, but are folks that just wanted something they didn't get from DA2.

Yep. I really liked DA:O for all its flaws and was expecting something akin to it, but more polished and refined.

 

[EviLore]

Seems we have an endless supply of thread derailing backseat modding juniors.

 

[kai3345]

Seems we have an endless supply of thread derailing backseat modding juniors.

thank you

 

[koji]

Oh man, awesome OT.

This thing really is a stab to the heart of the PCRPG community. Certainly after all this SPIRITUAL SUCCESSOR OF BALDURS GATE bullshit.

 

[kai3345]

Oh man, awesome OT.

This thing really is a stab to the heart of the PCRPG community. Certainly after all this SPIRITUAL SUCCESSOR OF BALDURS GATE bullshit.

Well, it wasn't bullshit then. I guess no one thought they would drastically change the direction of the series after only one game

 

[kitzkozan]

I would amend that a little to say "trying to tailor a sequel toward people who didn't give a shit enough to play your first game, to the exclusion of the people who did is fucking ridiculous".

There are arguments to be made in favour of catering exclusively to an existing fanbase (and in principle I support the idea, even though in this case it would probably mean I wouldn't touch DA2 with a 20-foot pole taped onto the end of a 30-foot pole), but from a business standpoint, if you don't try to broaden the game's appeal you're almost definitely going to see stagnation in the game's sales.
The thing is though, that definitely doesn't require you to alienate that preexisting fanbase. There's always going to be a group of curmudgeonly old fans who will react violently and negatively to any change, whether it actually affects what they liked about the first game or not, but you can definitely keep the soul of your game intact and deliver to the majority of the fanbase while still branching out to new players - look at how Dead Rising 2 turned out, even with all the esoteric design decisions that were kept from the first game.


I don't even think Bioware necessarily failed at juggling those two goals with DA2, at least going off of what I've seen/played so far. It's more that they've made so many ridiculous blunders in speaking publicly about the game that its perception among the fanbase gets more tarnished every time they open their mouths. Going on about how much work has been put into improving the graphics only to come out with "Shit Mountain" as the first thing anyone sees is going to create a first impression that's hard to bounce back from. The "Fight like a Spartan" nonsense and trying to show off the game as an action RPG is one hell of a backfire - people who want tactical combat are going to go in expecting and looking for ways to see it as an action RPG (when for the most part the only differences are a zoomed in camera and defaulting the console versions to what is essentially just a gimped version of the normal auto-attack that requires maintenance), and people who are initially attracted by the idea of an action RPG are going to notice immediately that all they're controlling is a gimped version of a normal auto-attack that requires maintenance. "Press a button and something awesome happens" just sounds stupid and condescending, when all they really mean is "the combat animations should have more flair".

You can just go on and on, through goddamn near every single thing they've said. If you take the PR at face value, it sounds like the game's received a more drastic overhaul than from Mass Effect 1 to 2. In reality, I'm fairly sure there have been expansion packs that introduced more drastic mechanical changes than the ones made from DAO to DA2. Perception of the former is going to piss off old fans, and the reality of the latter is as likely to make the people who hated the first game feel duped and irritated as it is to draw them in to the franchise. I think once the PR is over, there's going to be a pretty big contingent of old fans who realize that it isn't really all that different, and I think there are actually some definite improvements that will bring newbies in and satisfy people who had certain issues with the first game, but that's all going to happen in spite of the PR, not because of it.

Completely agree.

The worst part of the Dragon age brand is easily the atrocious marketing all around.Each time,the awful marketing has made both game look far worse than they are in reality.It was correct for the first game and is probably true for the second as well (sure the reviews will be good). It make no sense for the Bioware doctors to say that DA2 will have super hot graphics and then we are exposed to atrocious artwork+the infamous shit mountain. After all the combat overhaul rumors,the PC version is more or less the same except for the attack animations being faster.

The biggest story is that it's so obvious that EA doesn't have a fucking clue about rpg in any shape or form that I wonder why they even bought Bioware (they can't promote them worth a shit).My guess is because of The old republic in a desperate attempt to have one successful mmorpg.Sadly for them,I don't think they properly understand why Bioware has always been a developer why can garner extremely high reviews which doesn't translate to huge amount of game sold.

 

[koji]

Well, it wasn't bullshit then. I guess no one thought they would drastically change the direction of the series after only one game

Yeah they've just trolled us all, first an attempt at making an oldschool ISO tactical CRPG and now they're all like PRESS A FOR AWESOME LOL.

Spoiler

Got the PC sig edition on pre-order though, I'm part of the problem.

 

[kai3345]

Spoiler

Got the PC sig edition on pre-order though, I'm part of the problem.

Spoiler

So do I

 

[red13th]

Best thread on DA2 so far.

 

[shinobi602]

Yeah they've just trolled us all, first an attempt at making an oldschool ISO tactical CRPG and now they're all like PRESS A FOR AWESOME LOL.

Spoiler

Got the PC sig edition on pre-order though, I'm part of the problem.

No, you're not. Enjoying a game isn't a problem.

 

[kai3345]

No, you're not. Enjoying a game isn't a problem.

But supporting the wrong direction is

 

[2San]

But supporting the wrong direction is

I did good and didn't pre-order the game. Feel kinda bad about it, but I'm going to see this through! Will probably get it after a good price drop.

 

[Malio]

Whatever happened to preferring game-play over graphics?

If it looks and plays like the first one, I'm on board for another adventure.

 

[Pooya]

So I finished Witch Hunt a few hours ago, is the ending supposed to be a hint of DAII plot? :\

Spoiler

"change is coming"

also, the DLC was very weak: ending spoilers:

Spoiler

Ariane asks you to ask her about their book, but I didn't see any option come up about that, and my Warden and Morrigan went into the portal, the end.

I imagine that's never going to be explained, they just wanted to be done with it. party banter between Ariane and Finn was the only good thing about it :\

 

[kai3345]

Whatever happened to preferring game-play over graphics?

If it looks and plays like the first one, I'm on board for another adventure.

Except it doesnt look or play like DAO

So I finished Witch Hunt a few hours ago, is the ending supposed to be a hint of DAII plot? :\

Spoiler

"change is coming"

also, the DLC was very weak: ending spoilers:

Spoiler

Ariane asks you to ask her about their book, but I didn't see any option come up about that, and my Warden and Morrigan went into the portal, the end.

I imagine that's never going to be explained, they just wanted to be done with it. party banter between Ariane and Finn was the only good thing about it :\

I'm sure Morrigan will be back in DA2, I doubt they would center the final DLC around her, and end it at a cliffhanger if she didn't play some sort of role in DA2.

I'm hoping she'll return as a party member.

Her and Orghren are the only candidates if we're going by the Mass Effect 2, if they could be killed in the first game, they can't be party members in 2, rule.

And Oghren was already featured in Awakening.

 

[ScrabbleBanshee]

Maybe it won't be as bad as the demo suggests.

It probably will...

Sigh...

 

[Lostconfused]

So what exactly constitutes a change in your family's appearance? The only time ive gotten them to change is in the above screens where I changed my skin to black.

Clearly its not finished in the demo so you can't really use that as a reference for anything. I didn't really watch the stream from 1up yesterday but I thought I saw a few seconds of Bethany where she had a different haircut and skin color, who knows.

Edit: Also nightmare should have definitely been an option in the demo. At least people wouldn't be so liberal with AoE when Bethany kills half the party with a single fireball.

 

[kai3345]

Clearly its not finished in the demo so you can't really use that as a reference for anything. I didn't really watch the stream from 1up yesterday but I thought I saw a few seconds of Bethany where she had a different haircut and skin color, who knows.

Edit: Also nightmare should have definitely been an option in the demo. At least people wouldn't be so liberal with AoE when Bethany kills half the party with a single fireball.

On PC you can change difficulty

 

[Kinspiracy]

Maybe it won't be as bad as the demo suggests.

It probably will...

Sigh...

Conversely I'm hoping it's as good as the demo suggests. But as a point of reference I'm a console gamer, not a PC gamer, so for me Origins was a really good game in a really terrible coating. I was almost one of those statistics that Bioware mentioned in that I almost stopped after an hour. I'm so happy I stuck with it, because despite the myriad of problems it's still one of the better games I've played in many years.

 

[chris-013]

So I finished Witch Hunt a few hours ago, is the ending supposed to be a hint of DAII plot? :\

Spoiler

"change is coming"

also, the DLC was very weak: ending spoilers:

Spoiler

Ariane asks you to ask her about their book, but I didn't see any option come up about that, and my Warden and Morrigan went into the portal, the end.

I imagine that's never going to be explained, they just wanted to be done with it. party banter between Ariane and Finn was the only good thing about it :\

Spoiler

If you play a woman, morrigan leave and show you where is the book but you can't read it !

Except it doesnt look or play like DAO


I'm sure Morrigan will be back in DA2, I doubt they would center the final DLC around her, and end it at a cliffhanger if she didn't play some sort of role in DA2.

I'm hoping she'll return as a party member.

Her and Orghren are the only candidates if we're going by the Mass Effect 2, if they could be killed in the first game, they can't be party members in 2, rule.

And Oghren was already featured in Awakening.

Spoiler

Morrigan can be killed in witch hunt. ;P

 

[Stinkdog]

That happens if you play a guy who didn't romance her as well. I thought it was weird that it ended so abruptly.

 

[Micius]

Except it doesnt look or play like DAO


I'm sure Morrigan will be back in DA2, I doubt they would center the final DLC around her, and end it at a cliffhanger if she didn't play some sort of role in DA2.

I'm hoping she'll return as a party member.

Her and Orghren are the only candidates if we're going by the Mass Effect 2, if they could be killed in the first game, they can't be party members in 2, rule.

And Oghren was already featured in Awakening.

Isn't the full party roster already known at this point? Or are you speculating about possible appearances in future DLC? As far as I know

Spoiler

Anders possessed by Justice

are the only returning party members.