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[Wiggum2007]

Argh, I've put about 6 hours each into both a Dwarf Noble and Mage playthrough. I can't decide which to stick with for the whole game . What's everybody having the most fun with?

 

[hie]

Really, by far the worst gaming experience I've had this generation. I don't buy bad games but unfortunately this was my first, pity, all the hype and all

Terrible VA. Good god I can't stand anyone except uh, the dwarfs I guess.
Identical story with all the classes except for the first 20 minutes, wow!
Unbalanced gameplay.
Absolutely terrifyingly bad graphics, good god I knew Bioware sucked at graphics but even come on, Mass Effect came before this?
The most clichéd and overused soundtrack of the year, can it get more obvious?

They failed on this one, good job Bioware. This is down there with Alone in the Dark, IMO.

you must have really shitty taste in games. :lol

 

[water_wendi]

Argh, I've put about 6 hours each into both a Dwarf Noble and Mage playthrough. I can't decide which to stick with for the whole game . What's everybody having the most fun with?

ive grown really attached to my Dwarf Noble Rogue.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Really, by far the worst gaming experience I've had this generation. I don't buy bad games but unfortunately this was my first, pity, all the hype and all

Terrible VA. Good god I can't stand anyone except uh, the dwarfs I guess.
Identical story with all the classes except for the first 20 minutes, wow!
Unbalanced gameplay.
Absolutely terrifyingly bad graphics, good god I knew Bioware sucked at graphics but even come on, Mass Effect came before this?
The most clichéd and overused soundtrack of the year, can it get more obvious?

They failed on this one, good job Bioware. This is down there with Alone in the Dark, IMO.

Youre still having trouble on easy? On the Console?

 

[Xamdou]

Sometimes you unlock it by purchasing a Tome from a vendor. Other times you can get it by convincing different characters to teach you.

Any specific way to unlock reaver Or champion class?

 

[Snuggles]

you must have really shitty taste in games. :lol

I've seen enough of his posts to know that he doesn't have "shitty taste in games", he's a Demon's Souls pro which is definitely worth something. I'm loving DA but I guess it's just not for everyone, especially if you're playing the console versions, I don't take it personally.

 

[water_wendi]

Any specific way to unlock reaver Or champion class?

From what i can tell both are unlocked by quests. Be sure to check any vendors for class books though just in case.

Got my info from http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Reaver

 

[lorddarkflare]

you must have really shitty taste in games. :lol

No kidding (though truth be told, he actually has good taste).

I myself do not like this game very much, but i have had so much exposure to fantasy that any story with elves and dwarves is bound to turn me off. Combine that with the fact that i do not like the combat...

But even so, this game is certainly in line for one of the best games of the year. Maybe i will like it more when i can get a rig that makes it look less embarrassing.

 

[Zeliard]

I don't think Seiken has fully recovered from his Demon's Souls marathon yet.

 

[kyo_daikun]

I've seen enough of his posts to know that he doesn't have "shitty taste in games", he's a Demon's Souls pro which is definitely worth something. I'm loving DA but I guess it's just not for everyone, especially if you're playing the console versions, I don't take it personally.

If he's been playing demon souls im surprised he mentions the difficulty of DA a few times, after DS the word difficult takes on a whole new meaning :lol

 

[wayward archer]

Any specific way to unlock reaver Or champion class?

I got champion unlocked after I completely finished Redcliff (saved

Spoiler

the boy, Isolde, and Arl Eamon

).

 

[hie]

I've seen enough of his posts to know that he doesn't have "shitty taste in games", he's a Demon's Souls pro which is definitely worth something. I'm loving DA but I guess it's just not for everyone, especially if you're playing the console versions, I don't take it personal.

Fair enough. Demon's Soul is excellent. I was just answering hyperbole with hyperbole. This a great hardcore RPG. I found it amusing he went from seemingly not even knowing how to play the game...to damning it so soundly. To each their own.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Someone is seriously trying to say this game is ugly?

 

[Lostconfused]

Any specific way to unlock reaver Or champion class?

You can unlock the champion class by

Big Spoiler here

Spoiler

By finding the sacred ashes of Andraste and curing Arl Eamon

 

[Snuggles]

If he's been playing demon souls im surprised he mentions the difficulty of DA a few times, after DS the word difficult takes on a whole new meaning :lol

Yeah, but having played both of these games they're definitely different kinds of difficult. Demon's Souls requires a lot of strategy to defeat foes, but it also requires a lot of quick reflexes since it has real time combat.

 

[-tetsuo-]

I've seen enough of his posts to know that he doesn't have "shitty taste in games", he's a Demon's Souls pro which is definitely worth something. I'm loving DA but I guess it's just not for everyone, especially if you're playing the console versions, I don't take it personally.

I wouldn't have trouble with it if it wasn't bullshit inspired by rage. Terrible voice acting is just wrong, as is the origin stories being the same. I don't even know what clichéd and overused means when coming to music. I guess it looks bad on the console, my game looks great and I've seen his other post about the difficulty.

But if he doesn't like it he doesn't like it *shrug*

If he's been playing demon souls im surprised he mentions the difficulty of DA a few times, after DS the word difficult takes on a whole new meaning :lol

IMO Dragon Age is much harder than Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls isn't hard so much as it is unforgiving.

 

[Zeliard]

Is finding out how to become a Blood Mage a big story spoiler, or is it more like learning Shapeshifter (which is basically not a spoiler at all)?

 

[water_wendi]

Is finding out how to become a Blood Mage a big story spoiler, or is it more like learning Shapeshifter (which is basically not a spoiler at all)?

Since im not playing a mage i checked for you.. it could be considered a spoiler. Its quest related.

 

[Lostconfused]

Is finding out how to become a Blood Mage a big story spoiler, or is it more like learning Shapeshifter (which is basically not a spoiler at all)?

It probably is, considering Blood Mages are criminals.

Edit: Really my biggest complaint with this game is that the combat system is not as refined as D&D or D20 rules.

 

[bengraven]

So far I just have the Dwarf noble and Mage origin left to play. I've just started my Dwarf Noble origin now ("make it look like an accident"). Awesome.

I have to say I've loved all the origins so far. I'm torn on which was my favorite.

 

[Revelations]

Ok guys, I have a question. I am about to update to windows 7 but I dont want to lose my game data. Will I be able to export the game saves and where are they located?

 

[water_wendi]

So far I just have the Dwarf noble and Mage origin left to play. I've just started my Dwarf Noble origin now ("make it look like an accident"). Awesome.

I have to say I've loved all the origins so far. I'm torn on which was my favorite.

Dwarf Noble is my favorite origin story. Have fun!

Ok guys, I have a question. I am about to update to windows 7 but I dont want to lose my game data. Will I be able to export the game saves and where are they located?

They should be in My Documents>Bioware>Dragon Age>Characters

 

[Erudite]

Ok guys, I have a question. I am about to update to windows 7 but I dont want to lose my game data. Will I be able to export the game saves and where are they located?

I was able to copy my saves from my friend's computer (retail) to mine (Steam), worked just fine.

They're located in \My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\Characters folder. For what it's worth, I copied the whole Dragon Age folder just in case.

 

[lorddarkflare]

Dwarf Noble is my favorite origin story. Have fun!

Am i the only one that say the ending of that come from a mile away?

After you spoke to

Spoiler

Balehn about a possible betrayal by Trian

, i was positive as to how it would end.

 

[water_wendi]

Am i the only one that say the ending of that come from a mile away?

After you spoke to

Spoiler

Balehn about a possible betrayal by Trian

, i was positive as to how it would end.

But did you know

Spoiler

the story can go where you DO kill Trian? Did you see that coming?

 

[lorddarkflare]

But did you know

Spoiler

the story can go where you DO kill Trian? Did you see that coming?

I saw it coming so much that i told

Spoiler

Balehn to shove off when we spoke

, so that was the ending i got.

So damn transparent.

 

[Zeliard]

IMO Dragon Age is much harder than Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls isn't hard so much as it is unforgiving.

The difficulties are just different. Demon's Souls is very action-oriented and mostly punishes you if you don't pay full attention and/or are still too inexperienced skill-wise (or just don't have them), since it's fully real-time with no pause. Someone who's skilled enough can get by a good chunk of the game without putting too much focus on gear and stats, relative to most other RPGs.

Since Dragon Age's combat system is heavily governed by the underlying numbers, it's a lot more tactical and a lot more strategic, putting more emphasis on character stats, decision-making during combat (including positioning) and pre-battle preparation.

Since im not playing a mage i checked for you.. it could be considered a spoiler. Its quest related.

It probably is, considering Blood Mages are criminals.

True, it's the Dark Side.

 

[water_wendi]

I saw it coming so much that i told

Spoiler

Balehn to shove off when we spoke

, so that was the ending i got.

So damn transparent.

It was predictable.. i just love how things can change. i love stuff like that. My current playthrough i am having a forbidden affair with

Spoiler

Gorin (i think thats his name lol). We finally showed our love publicly when i was in my cell.

My first time through was completely different. i really wish i would have confronted a certain Lord this time through. Was hoping for something equally neat by doing a little power play but was let down :lol

 

[Arhal_Katarn]

Can someone tell me without spoilers, if you get a dedicated healer or should i train Morri up to heal.

This game is fucking ace btw, the combat reminds me of wow(never played bg) but much better. Hell even the party ai is pretty good i rarely have to switch between members once i have set them a strategy.

 

[Fragamemnon]

Edit: Really my biggest complaint with this game is that the combat system is not as refined as D&D or D20 rules.

I really wish the combat system was less abstracted. The thing about die rolls (and seeing them in the BG2 or IWD games) is that you had an idea what kind of die roll modifiers you needed to be sporting to accomplish a specific task. Now it's all black box voodoo.

The actual mechanics seem very similar, but without more detail and interface feedback it's hard for me to judge which one is objectively better.

 

[BeeDog]

Fuck me, this game rocks. Been glued to it for like 10 hours, and done a lot of quests. The only real negative so far is the extremely uneven difficulty; for the most part I can plow through the majority of the battles, but then some über-strong boss fight kicks in or whatever (the prime examples so far have been

Spoiler

the Redcliffe Zombie siege

and the

Spoiler

Ogre boss battle in the tower early on

).

 

[Lostconfused]

Can someone tell me without spoilers, if you get a dedicated healer or should i train Morri up to heal.

Yes you can get a dedicated healer when you do the mages quest.

 

[water_wendi]

Can someone tell me without spoilers, if you get a dedicated healer or should i train Morri up to heal.

This game is fucking ace btw, the combat reminds me of wow(never played bg) but much better. Hell even the party ai is pretty good i rarely have to switch between members once i have set them a strategy.

There is another mage that is more focused on healing later in the game. i would still put one point into Heal with Morrigan though. That is if you decide to keep her. i ran that bitch out of camp :lol

 

[lorddarkflare]

It was predictable.. i just love how things can change. i love stuff like that. My current playthrough i am having a forbidden affair with

Spoiler

Gorin (i think thats his name lol). We finally showed our love publicly when i was in my cell.

My first time through was completely different. i really wish i would have confronted a certain Lord this time through. Was hoping for something equally neat by doing a little power play but was let down :lol

Oh him.

I actually felt bad for challenging him, but my dwarf does not like being manipulated.

I thought the woman was trying to play me, so it just confronted instead.

 

[Arhal_Katarn]

Thanks ^^^^

 

[water_wendi]

Oh him.

I actually felt bad for challenging him, but my dwarf does not like being manipulated.

The one i was talking about is the first guy you run into. Your number two guy.

edit:

Here is me beating the first boss fight on Nightmare difficulty. Rewatching it i noticed a hidden message i did because i thought i was going to lose again (i had failed like 5 times in a row prior to this attempt :lol). If you can spot it its meant for the boss lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbpl4EAU5JM

Its not fully uploaded in HD yet but should be soon.

Thinking back on this fight.. its exactly why i play games at the hardest difficulty almost always. The rush that you get when you finally succeed feels so good. Especially when its not a cheap win or you lose because the computer is cheating.

 

[-tetsuo-]

I really wish the combat system was less abstracted. The thing about die rolls (and seeing them in the BG2 or IWD games) is that you had an idea what kind of die roll modifiers you needed to be sporting to accomplish a specific task. Now it's all black box voodoo.

The actual mechanics seem very similar, but without more detail and interface feedback it's hard for me to judge which one is objectively better.

I agree with this. Maybe a patch can add a combat log so I can have a better understanding of what's going on.

 

[M°°nblade]

Question for the people playing this game on the PC. Do you guys play the game with third person or top-down view or do you guys constantly switch between modes? Top-down view has this nice relaxed nostalgic Baldur's gate feeling, but doesn't it lack a cinematic feeling?

 

[water_wendi]

Question for the people playing this game on the PC. Do you guys play the game with third person or top-down view or do you guys constantly switch between modes? Top-down view has this nice relaxed nostalgic Baldur's gate feeling, but doesn't it lack a cinematic feeling?

i switch back and forth constantly. i try to stay out of iso view if i can help it though. It doesnt tilt up enough for me and feels wrong. And there is nothing relaxed about the iso view imo.. im constantly trying to spin it around to make it work. It zooms in when it hits something overhead sometimes. The scrolling distance of it is also kinda bullshit. 3D iso view fails again.

 

[lorddarkflare]

The one i was talking about is the first guy you run into. Your number two guy.

Oh, i thought you were talking about both of them.

I only halfheartedly pursued him, did not go very far.

Anyways, nice vid. I almost feel bad for just giving up in the game.

 

[Swag]

Question for the people playing this game on the PC. Do you guys play the game with third person or top-down view or do you guys constantly switch between modes? Top-down view has this nice relaxed nostalgic Baldur's gate feeling, but doesn't it lack a cinematic feeling?

ISO view when I'm setting up tactics for a battle, and then once I have a grasp on the situation that I'm in I switch back to third person. Usually just use third person once I'm out of battle, I can't really have a comprehensive picture of what's going on in third person because so much stuff is off screen.

 

[Fragamemnon]

I really hope Bioware decides to make some sort of mega-dungeon DLC pack. I know a lot of people are basically playing the game for the story and characters, but the game's core combat model is simply terrific in rewarding things like proper threat assessment, frequent item usage (those acids bombs? handy!), positioning for area/cone attacks, and the effects of LOS and terrain features.

These sort of considerations don't get much play as they do here in DA outside of high-end MMO play. It's pretty awesome.

Speaking of awesome, did anyone find hard mode easier after the patch yesterday? I moved up to Nightmare, part of it was due to the ridiculous slanted party composition I was sporting, but the game really wasn't doing a great job of kicking my ass on hard. It seemed rougher-much rougher-before the patch, but that might have been just the difficultly of the lower-level areas not being even.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Question for the people playing this game on the PC. Do you guys play the game with third person or top-down view or do you guys constantly switch between modes? Top-down view has this nice relaxed nostalgic Baldur's gate feeling, but doesn't it lack a cinematic feeling?

I play almost entirely at the iso camera angle. I swoop in sometimes to see in fornt of me or when the iso cam is obstructed.

edit: Ya the combat in this game is fantastic. The acid grenades save lives, especially when done in tandem with other damaging or hold attacks. Feels great to pull some of those tactics out in a battle you are losing badly and completely turn the tides.

And that's why I haven't applied the patch yet. I find Hard to be perfect for me.

 

[Zeliard]

The way the environment is designed, being 3D, makes it a lot easier to explore using third-person view since it's pretty beneficial to see what's on the horizon in a 360 degree angle. In combat, though, I'm almost always in iso when giving out orders since it's far easier to see where everybody is and to make tactical decisions. And I also go to iso sometimes when exploring just to vary it up visually, or close-up third-person in combat during the animations.

I switch back and forth constantly throughout, basically. Other than a bit of geometry funkiness at times, it's quite seamless.

 

[water_wendi]

Oh, i thought you were talking about both of them.

I only halfheartedly pursued him, did not go very far.

Anyways, nice vid. I almost feel bad for just giving up in the game.

Thanks.

Well if you have the PC version it might be worth hanging on to in case any mods change whatever annoys you. If mods can salvage NWN and Oblivion, they can salvage anything :lol

I really hope Bioware decides to make some sort of mega-dungeon DLC pack. I know a lot of people are basically playing the game for the story and characters, but the game's core combat model is simply terrific in rewarding things like proper threat assessment, frequent item usage (those acids bombs? handy!), positioning for area/cone attacks, and the effects of LOS and terrain features.

These sort of considerations don't get much play as they do here in DA outside of high-end MMO play. It's pretty awesome.

Seriously. This is like single-player Wow with BG2 banter and Kotor 2 dialogue trees. Such a great combination.

Speaking of awesome, did anyone find hard mode easier after the patch yesterday? I moved up to Nightmare, part of it was due to the ridiculous slanted party composition I was sporting, but the game really wasn't doing a great job of kicking my ass on hard. It seemed rougher-much rougher-before the patch, but that might have been just the difficultly of the lower-level areas not being even.

i dont know since i havent patched but i will say this: sometimes battles seem to vary in difficulty. i actually end up checking options to make sure its still on Nightmare :lol i think it has something to do with groups of enemies and how they randomly spawn. Also it seems that enemies might have wildly different stats even though they carry the same name. For example, sometimes Genlocks will have a ridiculously high number of hp even though they are still just called "Genlock."

 

[Fragamemnon]

i switch back and forth constantly. i try to stay out of iso view if i can help it though. It doesnt tilt up enough for me and feels wrong. And there is nothing relaxed about the iso view imo.. im constantly trying to spin it around to make it work. It zooms in when it hits something overhead sometimes. The scrolling distance of it is also kinda bullshit. 3D iso view fails again.

3D isometric view is somewhat janky but the other option is one where spatial visualization of distance is an order of magnitude more difficult. I generally play the whole game in the isometric view, panning down into third person when I can't get an ID on something in visual range by simply scrolling the isometric viewpoint.

 

[-tetsuo-]

It also seems, at least to me, that the game doesn't look as good in the 3D view. Especially when I look down a hall and the end is just hella overexposed, like fog kinda. Ughh

 

[Son of Godzilla]

Man, mages in this game are fucking fierce. Hell, everything is. Haven't found decent armor upgrades in hours and I don't bother with pussy ass Constitution. One fireball is enough to pretty much kill the entire party.

Oh and I made my main character an archer :/ *AND* I made Lilliam or w/e her name is a scrapper.

I love how insane the difficulty curve is. I was cruising along for the entire game up till the end of the first option plot quest, then the boss of that kicked my teeth in without me noticing. Then every fight since then has been tough as nails set pieces and I learned to save after every fight. It feels so rewarding to win fights flawlessly after dying over and over.

 

[Zeliard]

I really hope Bioware decides to make some sort of mega-dungeon DLC pack. I know a lot of people are basically playing the game for the story and characters, but the game's core combat model is simply terrific in rewarding things like proper threat assessment, frequent item usage (those acids bombs? handy!), positioning for area/cone attacks, and the effects of LOS and terrain features.

These sort of considerations don't get much play as they do here in DA outside of high-end MMO play. It's pretty awesome.

I agree, I actually feel like there should be more combat in the game. At times I have the urge to venture back and forth across the world map just to get in random fights.

Combat is fantastic in the game. I also agree that it could use with a little bit more transparency, though. Certainly not everything should be revealed, but I don't think quite enough is at this stage.

Speaking of awesome, did anyone find hard mode easier after the patch yesterday? I moved up to Nightmare, part of it was due to the ridiculous slanted party composition I was sporting, but the game really wasn't doing a great job of kicking my ass on hard. It seemed rougher-much rougher-before the patch, but that might have been just the difficultly of the lower-level areas not being even.

Normal felt significantly easier to me post-patch and so I switched to Hard, which offers a challenge but not nearly one as tough as I was honestly expecting. I'm still going to stick with it since it's solid enough, and I don't want to potentially hassle myself with Nightmare on my first playthrough.

 

[lorddarkflare]

Thanks.

Well if you have the PC version it might be worth hanging on to in case any mods change whatever annoys you. If mods can salvage NWN and Oblivion, they can salvage anything :lol


Seriously. This is like single-player Wow with BG2 banter and Kotor 2 dialogue trees. Such a great combination.


i dont know since i havent patched but i will say this: sometimes battles seem to vary in difficulty. i actually end up checking options to make sure its still on Nightmare :lol i think it has something to do with groups of enemies and how they randomly spawn. Also it seems that enemies might have wildly different stats even though they carry the same name. For example, sometimes Genlocks will have a ridiculously high number of hp even though they are still just called "Genlock."

That is solid advice and i think i may follow it.

I think part of my problem may be that the way this game handles Physical fights may not be my style (though since i have to play all four units, i might as well get used to it.).

So maybe i should switch to being a Mage to see how i like it.