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Dragon Age II |OT| The Revenge of Shit Mountain

K

kai3345

Banned
Lostconfused said:
In Dragon Age 2 you get dropped in the middle of the story, you don't know who Hawke is. Apparnetly there is family involved as well but you don't know who those people are or what your relationship to them really is or how you feel about them. Its overwhelming, you don't have a single reference point from which to view the world.
Click to expand...
This has been my biggest gripe with the story. You don't know who these people are, yet the game acts like you've known them for years.

And its not just Bethany and your Mother, I ran into an NPC earlier today who acted like she was best budz with Hawke, yet I had never seen her before. So how was I supposed to know how I wanted to treat her, because all the cutscene gave me was "You know this person. Talk"

Idk maybe im being too nitpicky, but that really bugged me


jackdoe said:
So, there is no such thing as persuade anymore? Cause 4 hours in, and I have yet to come across any such dialogue option.
Click to expand...
I've wondered this as well
 
Z

Zeal

Banned
i completely agree. for the first 10+ hours of playing, i was seriously just trying to figure out who the fuck this Hawke character was and how he was somehow connected to the characters in the DA:O universe. well, actually, i was trying to find out how ANYONE was connected to ANYTHING. there is no real story going on.

maximum spoiler about the ending below. do not read unless you are from Shit Mountain:

and you never find out who he is. isn't that awesome.

edit: as for the persuasion ability, it's gone. like the fun.
 
M

mjc

Member
I don't think the story is hard to follow at all, and in fact the game overall is a much better experience than DA:O. I know I'll get thrashed for saying that, but I honestly feel that way.
 
J

jackdoe

Member
kai3345 said:
I've wondered this as well
Click to expand...
It's ridiculous if there isn't such an option. Also, I find myself being more sarcastic of a character than I'd like since that is the most neutral choice most of the time. Otherwise, Hawke would have a slavish personality or a complete asshole personality.
 
F

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
Can you have two weapon sets set up? I'd like to switch between dual wield and bows on my Rogue easily instead of equipping each set manually. Or, am I supposed to specialize in one or the other?
 
P

Patryn

Member
I think the problem is that Bioware expected everybody to be invested in Hawke because he's the "champion."

But you know what, Bioware? I don't know what the fuck that means. I remember when the Whedonverse had Angel run around calling himself and Connor champions, and that meant fuck-all.

I know who the Hero of Fereldon is, and the most damning thing about the game thus far is that the two mentions of him generated more excitement from me than anything Hawke has done. I almost feel like I'm Milhouse watching Poochie: The Game, but instead of constantly asking "When are they going to get to the fireworks factory?" I'm sitting going "When are they going to talk about The Warden? When am I going to hear what people think of the Warden?"

But, then again, I'm only a couple hours in, so maybe things will change. I just don't have much faith, given that (early spoilers)
just as I was getting a handle on my Hawke, and I make what seems to be a HUGE decision as to who I want to work for, and I get ready for a set of missions based on that choice, the game just skips ahead to after all that nonsense. Now I'm sure that choice will come back to have some importance, but right now I'm just wondering why I sat and thought about the choice, since it didn't seem to matter. Would it have been that hard to just make like 3 to 4 missions so you feel some connection to this year of servitude? Because, as it is, it makes the amount paid to enter the city seem like nothing, because I did nothing.

It's a pretty damning fact that I'm feeling almost zero connection to the main character. And based on some of these comments and some reviews, I don't think I'm the only one.
 
F

Fimbulvetr

Member
mjc said:
I don't think the story is hard to follow at all, and in fact the game overall is a much better experience than DA:O. I know I'll get thrashed for saying that, but I honestly feel that way.
Click to expand...

The complaint isn't that anything is hard to follow, but rather that it's hard to feel connected to anything.
 
Z

Zeal

Banned
Patryn said:
I remember when the Whedonverse had Angel run around calling himself and Connor champions, and that meant fuck-all.
Click to expand...

sorry for off topic post, but high-five to a fellow Buffyverse fan. Keep the Hellmouth alive.

that being said, your post is entirely accurate. and it is not a spoiler for me to say that the role of the champion or what your purpose is...well, nothing in this game is every truly addressed. why is there another blight? wait, is there another blight? oh wait, so now they're all gone and i'm in a gigantic city. but what does this city have to do with anything? why am i still here 20+ hours into the game? the connection issue is precisely the problem. a few pages back i posted that by the end of the game, you could care less about your character, his companions, your 'adventure', or accomplishments. i swear, it's all a gigantic soap opera in a city that centers around menial and ultimately irrelevant tasks.

when it was all over, my mind was physically exhausted from trying to figure out Bioware's story for them.
 
Z

Zeliard

Member
After a number of quests in Kirkwall I'm really questioning the decision to set basically the entire game there. I feel I'm going to get tired of facing the same enemies in between stone walls and in cellars.

Kirkwall isn't visually interesting or diverse enough, at least so far, to rationalize spending so much time there - an important part of any RPG of this sort should be exploration. I'm never anxious to see what's around the next corner.
 
J

jackdoe

Member
Zeal said:
sorry for off topic post, but high-five to a fellow Buffyverse fan. Keep the Hellmouth alive.

that being said, your post is entirely accurate. and it is not a spoiler for me to say that the role of the champion or what your purpose is...well, nothing in this game is every truly addressed. why is there another blight? wait, is there another blight? oh wait, so now they're all gone and i'm in a gigantic city. but what does this city have to do with anything? why am i still here 20+ hours into the game?

by the end of the game, my mind was physically exhausted from trying to figure out Bioware's story for them.
Click to expand...
I'm still early on, but most of the game takes place AFTER Dragon Age Origins. Which is why it didn't make a hell of a lot of sense why
your family decides to stay in Kirkwall. Sure you have "family" there (a waste of a human being), but if you go back to Ferelden, you won't be treated like a second class citizen.

Oh, and to all those people complaining about how women got an "upgrade". Men get an upgrade too. Sticking out right there that it's hard to not notice (the seneschal).
 
W

witchedwiz

Member
did you meet bertrand and varric?
need some advice regarding a boss in the mine where you end up going with bertrand and varric.. avoid the spoiler if you're not there yet
ancient rock wratih @hard mode...
how in the god's name.....
party --> full tank sword&shield aveline
fenris --> 2h dps
varric --> hunter dps
me/hawke --> damage dealer //healer extraordinarie
now...
maybe it's just me but the output damage of this one is insane...
1) he shoots something-somesortsof ray thingie that hits torally randomly
2) he hits like a truck on the tank
3) he does an ultimate like thingie where i need to take cover
4) after step 3 he summons 8 wraiths that need to be killed asap to resume damaging him

issue is...
EVEN if i leave hawke in perma spirit healer mode, he simply can't pump out enough healing.. the other guys every now and then gets hit by a random attack pattern detailed in point 1, and i need to heal 'em.. If i don't, they get melted by the mobs detailed in point 4..
I simply can't keep up with the healing output required to make this one..
Haven't had any PARTICULAR problem so far (apart from a dragon, but then again i kited him all around the mine...)

Given that i'll somehow manage, either i've become a whiner, or @hard you need 2 healers (1 spirit healer and the other gonna be anders) else there's simply not enough possibility, time-wise, to heal high damage output fight...
help me plox Q_Q
 
G

gdt

Member
jackdoe said:
I'm still early on, but most of the game takes place AFTER Dragon Age Origins. Which is why it didn't make a hell of a lot of sense why
your family decides to stay in Kirkwall. Sure you have "family" there (a waste of a human being), but if you go back to Ferelden, you won't be treated like a second class citizen.

Oh, and to all those people complaining about how women got an "upgrade". Men get an upgrade too. Sticking out right there that it's hard to not notice (the seneschal).
Click to expand...

There's a scene where it's discussed whether to go home or not, and Hawke and Bethany decide to stop running (they've done that all their life because of Beth being a mage) and finally make Kirkwall their home.

Decent enough reasoning, I guess.
 
Z

Zeal

Banned
witchedwiz said:
did you meet bertrand and varric?
need some advice regarding a boss in the mine where you end up going with bertrand and varric.. avoid the spoiler if you're not there yet
ancient rock wratih @hard mode...
how in the god's name.....
party --> full tank sword&shield aveline
fenris --> 2h dps
varric --> hunter dps
me/hawke --> damage dealer //healer extraordinarie
now...
maybe it's just me but the output damage of this one is insane...
1) he shoots something-somesortsof ray thingie that hits torally randomly
2) he hits like a truck on the tank
3) he does an ultimate like thingie where i need to take cover
4) after step 3 he summons 8 wraiths that need to be killed asap to resume damaging him

issue is...
EVEN if i leave hawke in perma spirit healer mode, he simply can't pump out enough healing.. the other guys every now and then gets hit by a random attack pattern detailed in point 1, and i need to heal 'em.. If i don't, they get melted by the mobs detailed in point 4..
I simply can't keep up with the healing output required to make this one..
Haven't had any PARTICULAR problem so far (apart from a dragon, but then again i kited him all around the mine...)

Given that i'll somehow manage, either i've become a whiner, or @hard you need 2 healers (1 spirit healer and the other gonna be anders) else there's simply not enough possibility, time-wise, to heal high damage output fight...
help me plox Q_Q
Click to expand...

i'll give you my advice. no spoilers below, so no need for tags.

no, it's not you. this fight simply was not balanced correctly and i also found myself dying quite a few times. use ranged damage as much as possible and kite him as much as possible while DPSing away. he moves slowly for a reason. also, use pillars.

believe it or not, my setup the entire game was 3 mages and a tank. pretty much zerg rush nuke anything with fire and the fights over.
 
B

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
Zeal said:
sorry for off topic post, but high-five to a fellow Buffyverse fan. Keep the Hellmouth alive.

that being said, your post is entirely accurate. and it is not a spoiler for me to say that the role of the champion or what your purpose is...well, nothing in this game is every truly addressed. why is there another blight? wait, is there another blight? oh wait, so now they're all gone and i'm in a gigantic city. but what does this city have to do with anything? why am i still here 20+ hours into the game? the connection issue is precisely the problem. a few pages back i posted that by the end of the game, you could care less about your character, his companions, your 'adventure', or accomplishments. i swear, it's all a gigantic soap opera in a city that centers around menial and ultimately irrelevant tasks.

by the end of the game, my mind was physically exhausted from trying to figure out Bioware's story for them.
Click to expand...

A lot of those same questions were asked last year when Bioware gave us 'Awakenings'. Even then it was awkward trying to watch Bioware squirm to crap out something inventive for the Warden to do after saving the entire world.

I'm trying to keep an open mind, but everything about this game screams 'desperation'. I don't doubt this was a quickly produced story rather than an idea fostered with care and concern. And that pre-order campaign...good lord EA.
 
G

gdt

Member
One thing I'm missing from DA:O is the ability to compare loot with your equipment before I pick it up. You can only compare it when it's already in your inventory, I think. Have no idea why that would get axed.
 
B

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
gdt5016 said:
One thing I'm missing from DA:O is the ability to compare loot with your equipment before I pick it up. You can only compare it when it's already in your inventory, I think. Have no idea why that would get axed.
Click to expand...

I don't recall DA:O having that at all either. I certainly remember having to manually run the numbers in my head when looking at equipment in inventory.

On PC some mods allowed tooltips that compared loot for you, but on vanilla DA:O one of my complaints was it lacking that feature then too.
 
K

Kinspiracy

Banned
Zeal said:
i completely agree. for the first 10+ hours of playing, i was seriously just trying to figure out who the fuck this Hawke character was and how he was somehow connected to the characters in the DA:O universe. well, actually, i was trying to find out how ANYONE was connected to ANYTHING. there is no real story going on.

maximum spoiler about the ending below. do not read unless you are from Shit Mountain:

and you never find out who he is. isn't that awesome.

edit: as for the persuasion ability, it's gone. like the fun.
Click to expand...

My copy of the game appears to be full of fun, because I'm having lots of it. Whine more. Please.
 
H

hamchan

Member
A 1 hour origin story with Hawke and his family in Lothering doing menial peasant things would have done wonders for the start of the story.
 
K

Kinspiracy

Banned
gdt5016 said:
One thing I'm missing from DA:O is the ability to compare loot with your equipment before I pick it up. You can only compare it when it's already in your inventory, I think. Have no idea why that would get axed.
Click to expand...

Are you sure we could do that? I remember having to loot it all first. I miss the ability to delete save games within the game. I believe DAO had that, or else I'm remembering Mass Effect.
 
D

daoster

Member
So....do DA:O saves do much other than passing references? I recently moved and didn't bring my PC (which I played DA:O on). I am considering buying it for the PS3, but if DA:O actually means something in DA:2, might just wait to bring my PC with me then.
 
J

jackdoe

Member
hamchan said:
A 1 hour origin story with Hawke and his family in Lothering doing menial peasant things would have done wonders for the start of the story.
Click to expand...
I completely agree. Or at least thirty minutes of a normal life. Sure, people might say it was just a repeat of the Noble origin from DAO, but it would work towards understanding why you're upset that one of your siblings dies. Cause I honestly felt nothing when Carver/Bethany died.
 
B

bigswords

Member
Like others said, I have no idea what the Hawke family has done and etc, but it's probably for the player to "fill it in" by themselves which is a good or bad idea which-ever way you want to look at it.

But I like the combat , more arcade and more console like , and damn I love pressing A over and over again for AAAAAaAAAwesome!

But honestly this could have been another IP and still be good.
 
K

Kinspiracy

Banned
As an Origins player, I feel connected to them simply because I know the history of what's happened to their city. I can't imagine that players new to the series are going to feel any real connection to them or have any meaningful understanding of the world they're running from. I agree with others that said a better origins story for the family would have helped. I believe that first hour is supposed to be it, but it's not all that good. As an archer I miss having the ability to switch to a second weapon set on the fly. I'm allowed to spec for two types of rogue, so why remove the ability to use them both in a fight without having to pause, swap weapons etc?

Having a lot of fun with it, but I shouldnt have played it so close to finishing ME2. I keep wanting to get into cover or to leap over obstacles.
 
G

Grisby

Member
hamchan said:
A 1 hour origin story with Hawke and his family in Lothering doing menial peasant things would have done wonders for the start of the story.
Click to expand...

Thats a great idea.

I'm still joying the game, about 6-7 hours in and meet
Flemeth
a second time. So far I've just been in the city questing. Bit boring, but I'm having some fun.

Question: When companions want to talk with you at their respective places will they flat out tell you? Or do I have to stop into each of there houses randomly from time to time.

:( Missing the DA:O Pow Wow tent city.
 
K

Kinspiracy

Banned
Grisby said:
Thats a great idea.

I'm still joying the game, about 6-7 hours in and meet
Flemeth
a second time. So far I've just been in the city questing. Bit boring, but I'm having some fun.

Question: When companions want to talk with you at their respective places will they flat out tell you? Or do I have to stop into each of there houses randomly from time to time.

:( Missing the DA:O Pow Wow tent city.
Click to expand...

Well I guess that illustrates the non-linearity of it all. I met her for a second time almost immediately after arriving in Kirkwall. I was out attempting a different quest though.
 
R

REV 09

Member
Really loving the game so far. 5 hours in (360). The combat is both fun and strategic. I think I'm the only person who prefers the art in this game to Origins, not just the visuals. I have a few minor complaints, but I dont see how console dragon age players can't find DA2 superior to the first. It isn't as grande or as epic, but the "game" is much improved.
 
L

luxarific

Nork unification denier
If anyone wants to play Dragon Age Legends for the DA2 unlocks and would like an invite, pm me the name of the Facebook account you would like to play the game with. (I can't send out codes, just invites to Facebook "friends", ugh.) I'm playing the game using my alt Facebook account which I use exclusively for Facebook games, so my account will not be spamming yours with "like" crap or other Facebook ads.

A listing of the DA2 unlocks that Legends gives you.

If I don't get back to you immediately, it's because I'm sleeping.
 
D

Data West

coaches in the WNBA
So these Varric's rumors 'quests'... Do they just happen randomly, at particular points, along other quests, or do I have to keep talking to him at the bar?

Also who has more cunning, him or Isabella? I'm trying to make a dedicated lockpick
 
K

kitzkozan

Member
Zeliard said:
After a number of quests in Kirkwall I'm really questioning the decision to set basically the entire game there. I feel I'm going to get tired of facing the same enemies in between stone walls and in cellars.

Kirkwall isn't visually interesting or diverse enough, at least so far, to rationalize spending so much time there - an important part of any RPG of this sort should be exploration. I'm never anxious to see what's around the next corner.
Click to expand...

I'll tell you why without even playing the game.It's because of the ludicrous development schedule from their virtuoso rpg experts EA. :p

Despite the flaws of origins,it had 5 years of development and you could travel around Ferelden and would visit plenty of places.Plus,the sidequests were part of dungeons or cities instead of taking place in the same cave.

Now you have the sequel with 1 year 6 months of development so what can you really expect? How do you release an rpg within such strict time limits? Limit the setpieces and shorten the length of the game which is exactly what they did.Just with that,there was no way for this game to be perceived as well as the original and just prove that EA are idiots as they are clueless to rpg (and I'm still wondering why they bought Bioware).

I am 100% sure that the independent Bioware wouldn't release an rpg without at least 2 or 3 years of work.
 
K

kai3345

Banned
so for those of us who didnt get the Signature Edition, where do I download the Exiled Prince? Im on the page on the BiWare site, but when I clikc "PC" nothing happens
 
S

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
kai3345 said:
so for those of us who didnt get the Signature Edition, where do I download the Exiled Prince? Im on the page on the BiWare site, but when I clikc "PC" nothing happens
Click to expand...
DA:O had you buy the DLC in-game. Is that not how it works here?
 
X

Xamdou

Member
So I imported a saved game from Witch Hunt (Lvl 31, beat DA: Origins and Awakening) but when I load it it says the file hasn't beating DA: Origins? wtf?
 
K

kai3345

Banned
Stallion Free said:
DA:O had you buy the DLC in-game. Is that not how it works here?
Click to expand...
Nope. It takes you to a page with the downloads on it. Buy I click buy now, and then Buy for PC and nothing happens
 
S

SenorDingDong

Member
kai3345 said:
so for those of us who didnt get the Signature Edition, where do I download the Exiled Prince? Im on the page on the BiWare site, but when I clikc "PC" nothing happens
Click to expand...

You can get the Dragon Age 2 DLC here. However they've adopted a points system similar to Xbox Live. So you need to buy the points first from here.
 
S

SumGamer

Member
One thing I dont get with DLC bonus in this game is why are they so warrior centric? I play as a mage and I cant use most of them judging by the attribute required to wear them. Even if I get to wear them later in the game, there would be a better equipment by then. But item codex is pretty badass, especially Evra's might. LOL.
 
D

Data West

coaches in the WNBA
SumGamer said:
One thing I dont get with DLC bonus in this game is why are they so warrior centric? I play as a mage and I cant use most of them judging by the attribute required to wear them. Even if I get to wear them later in the game, there would be a better equipment by then. But item codex is pretty badass, especially Evra's might. LOL.
Click to expand...
It was the same with the first. There's never a preorder robe. EVER.
Which is odd that the Hawke on the cover is the mage preset.
 
C

CecilRousso

Member
There more I read about this game, the more it sounds like every change they have done to it from Origins, makes it more like party based The Witcher, than Origins.

And I quite like The Witcher.

My main concern with it is:

1. That it will have the typical Bioware corridor feeling in all it´s locations, rather than the more fleshed out areas that The Witcher has.

2. That the quests will all be more or less the same - "run through that corridor there and kill all the enemies to get your cutscene".

Am I right?
 
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