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[Peronthious]

Spoiler

The Dwarven questline really isn't that well done. With the way its set up you can't properly decide who would make a better leader as you don't hear both parties stories and political ideologies. I went with Harrowmont and it turns out he a Castless hating pro royalty douche.

If you listen to the criers in Orzammar,

Spoiler

you'll hear them mention that about him. I chose him as the lesser of two evils, and the fact that the progressive dwarf in the tavern seemed to like him.

But yea, I wasn't too fond of the Dwarf questline either.

Spoiler

Realistically, if I were really roleplaying it I probably wouldn't have sided with anyone and let them work it out since it's not my business, but as far as I can tell that wasn't a viable option. At least, it didn't seem like one at the time.

 

[Fredescu]

Spoiler

Oh, so that's who you take it to :lol Wade's shop was cracking me up too much to think about doing anything useful there

No, you don't You take it to

Spoiler

Warden's Keep

.

 

[Basileus777]

It's pretty obvious that the Dwarf questline was one of the first to reach its "completed" state. A lot of iffy textures in the Deep Roads.

Spoiler

The story makes much more sense if you're a Dwarf, especially a Dwarf Noble. For some reason Harrowmont was depicted as a good king when I did it, but this could be because of your relationship with the other candidate as a Dwarf Noble.

There are definitely several references in Orzammar to their respective ideologies. The town criers certainly talk about it.

Spoiler

It's mentioned how Belen wanted to change the caste system and Harrowmount was a strict traditionalist. The ending plays this out. Belen is a ruthless tyrant who forces change, while Harrowmount is the honorable guy supporting an oppressive system.

 

[TheHeretic]

There are definitely several references in Orzammar to their respective ideologies. The town criers certainly talk about it.

Spoiler

It's mentioned how Belen wanted to change the caste system and Harrowmount was a strict traditionalist. The ending plays this out. Belen is a ruthless tyrant who forces change, while Harrowmount is the honorable guy supporting an oppressive system.

I never heard that about Belen. What I would have liked was the opportunity to talk to both parties, but the way the questing is set up you can't. It strikes me as poor design and hence my choice was entirely arbitrary.

 

[Peronthious]

There are definitely several references in Orzammar to their respective ideologies. The town criers certainly talk about it.

Spoiler

It's mentioned how Belen wanted to change the caste system and Harrowmount was a strict traditionalist. The ending plays this out. Belen is a ruthless tyrant who forces change, while Harrowmount is the honorable guy supporting an oppressive system.

Spoiler

And I'd say that's bioware cheating at their own game. It's the typical representation of a situation that on the outside is clear cut good vs evil, but each side has a little thing underneath that you may not notice that makes it all different. Lazy design.

 

[Fredescu]

I never heard that about Belen. What I would have liked was the opportunity to talk to both parties, but the way the questing is set up you can't. It strikes me as poor design and hence my choice was entirely arbitrary.

One of the merchants says the same thing about him. I do agree that it would be good to get more information about the decision, even if they want to make that information vague to make your descision tough. I just wanted more of it.

 

[Krackatoa]

Spoiler

The Dwarven questline really isn't that well done. With the way its set up you can't properly decide who would make a better leader as you don't hear both parties stories and political ideologies. I went with Harrowmont and it turns out he a Castless hating pro royalty douche.

The jokes on you.

Spoiler

Harrowmont is a big, prejudiced pomp stuck in archaic Dwarven tradition while Bhelen is a murderer and a liar. Neither of them are great 100% choices, but if you root around you can pick up notes and things that point you towards Harrowmont being the "gooder" choice, while Bhelen and his ilk do nasty things to get their way (such as with the first task you can get from Vartag. Take the Promissaries to the Shaperate and you'll find that they're forgeries made to discredit Harrowmont).

 

[Sober]

No, you don't You take it to

Spoiler

Warden's Keep

.

Wow, they try really hard to force it down your throat huh? I wanna punch Levi Dryden in the face (i.e.

Spoiler

I don't have Warden's Keep. They should stop bothering me about it.

)

 

[Shouta]

Spoiler

I used Morrigan's plan as a way out, but her plan was a total Dues Ex Machina. When you first get Morrigan she's surprised to be ordered to travel with you. When you talk about the ritual at the end Morrigan claims the ritual was the reason she was going with you all along, it doesn't add up. Unless of course Flemeth possessed her and plans to eventually inhabit the God baby, I don't know. That aspect of the story came out of nowhere and made no sense to me. Why would the Archdemon seek out the baby over the person Grey Warden standing on top of its corpse?

It also blows no matter what you do Morrigan winds up leaving. Even if she's 100% percent in love with you she's going to leave forever for a purpose I can only imagine will play into the sequel.

Well

Spoiler

Acting would be the reason why she went with you all along. Think about it, Morrigan is a lot like Flemeth and probably a schemer. She's also acted fairly well in the past so pretending to be surprised about having to go with you isn't so far out.

Also, as I recall, the reason why it would seek the infant out over the grey warden is because the infant wouldn't kill the Archdemon (or it thought it would have a higher chance of taking over). Remember, the archdemon traveling inside a grey warden is a death sentence. Both warden and demon are killed in the process but apparently that doens't apply to a child who can over come the taint.

Granted, I do think this is a deus ex machina and was totally out of left field. It's likely it was done to continue on into the next game.

 

[Paznos]

Oh man why did I go to the Fade first??? that took longer than expected and keep dying in one of the rooms with several mages in it ugh

 

[Basileus777]

Spoiler

And I'd say that's bioware cheating at their own game. It's the typical representation of a situation that on the outside is clear cut good vs evil, but each side has a little thing underneath that you may not notice that makes it all different. Lazy design.

Spoiler

It wasn't executed particularly perfectly, but I don't think there is anything wrong with the design. It's made clear from the beginning that neither candidate is ideal, and the information about Belen and Harrowmount's beliefs is there if you talk/listen to people. They could have made it clearer, but that would have just taken the ambiguity out of the situation.

 

[TheHeretic]

Well

Spoiler

Acting would be the reason why she went with you all along. Think about it, Morrigan is a lot like Flemeth and probably a schemer. She's also acted fairly well in the past so pretending to be surprised about having to go with you isn't so far out.

Also, as I recall, the reason why it would seek the infant out over the grey warden is because the infant wouldn't kill the Archdemon (or it thought it would have a higher chance of taking over). Remember, the archdemon traveling inside a grey warden is a death sentence. Both warden and demon are killed in the process but apparently that doens't apply to a child who can over come the taint.

Granted, I do think this is a deus ex machina and was totally out of left field. It's likely it was done to continue on into the next game.

Spoiler

Its easy to make a character do something out of left field if they refuse to explain their motivations. If part of the next game or content piece is about this then so be it, but as a standalone product and as a central character her leaving is pretty much ridiculous. If she's in love with you and leaves because she wants to raise a "God" why does she need to be alone to do this? On that note why does she even want to?

Part of any long journey is that characters go through changes and revelations. Alistar and Leliana both go through this, which makes them great characters. Just when you think you've turned Morrigan around it turns out she was just as same the first day you met her. I find that hard to believe considering she was in love with my character and we basically conquered armies and saved the region together.

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

Tch. I just finished my first playthrough as a male elf magi. I didn't get any companion epilogues, and I did all of their goddamn side quests!

Son, I am disappoint.

Time to roll female human rogue.

 

[Basileus777]

Tch. I just finished my first playthrough as a male elf magi. I didn't get any companion epilogues, and I did all of their goddamn side quests!

Son, I am disappoint.

Time to roll female human rogue.

Spoiler

You don't get epilogues unless you sacrifice yourself. Instead you learn about your companions by talking to them before the parade.

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

Spoiler

You don't get epilogues unless you sacrifice yourself. Instead you learn about your companions by talking to them before the parade.

*Loads Save*

 

[Justinian]

Oh man why did I go to the Fade first??? that took longer than expected and keep dying in one of the rooms with several mages in it ugh

I keep hearing people complaining about how they keep dying in the fade and I'm beginning to wonder if they understand

Spoiler

that the whole zone is set up like a puzzle in which you have to gain certain powers before you can get past certain areas... If done in the right way this is one of the easiest parts of the game combat wise. I didnt't even need to use a single potion even in the final confrontation.

 

[adamsapple]

Just finished the final origin story, having seen them all I have to say the Dwarf noble, Human noble and Mage stories were considerably better than the other three, just seem more fleshed out.

The dalish elf does have the moments those gifs in the OP come from, but it's not that fun otherwise.

 

[adamsapple]

Spoiler

You don't get epilogues unless you sacrifice yourself. Instead you learn about your companions by talking to them before the parade.

I could swear I got them even though the first time I

Spoiler

chose to go through with the ritual and didn't sacrifice anyone. There were definitely things about Alister and Sten .. maybe i'm confusing with the second play through I recently finished.

 

[Huggers]

Finally this game is released here tomorrow on PS3, looking forward to it

 

[orion434]

So did I. It's actually quite funny if you do the Ashes first, since they're like, "WHAAAT?!?!?!".

I don't believe you can close off Morrigan early on though. But anyway, Leliana gives you one chance to lie to/two-time her, so you might just try maxing Morrigan out first. Worst case scenario, just save before and try it out.

Oh, one thing to note is that if you max out your relationship with Leliana and she is in "love" (not friendship), you don't have to initiate the "sex" scene. When you talk to her, she'll bring it up herself, bypassing any "it's me or her" dialog scene. That's one way to avoid troubles as well.
(It's similar to her bard sequence after you finish the Dalish elves quest).

I played last night advanced the story just a little... then gave Morrigan another present and she invited me back to her tent... I was close to 100% so I'm wondering about that "too much in love" with you bit.

Spoiler

Then I went to Leliana gave her a gift, then went to bed with her too... though I had to tell her that it was over with Morrigan

This was easier than I made it out to be...

 

[luxarific]

Wow, they try really hard to force it down your throat huh? I wanna punch Levi Dryden in the face (i.e.

Spoiler

I don't have Warden's Keep. They should stop bothering me about it.

)

Relax. You won't even see this special encounter UNLESS you get Warden's Keep. It only comes with that DLC.

 

[JudgeN]

How are people handling mass archer spam especially on hard and nightmare difficulty. I"m level 12-13ish (hard difficulty and have only done 1 part of the blight quest redcliff) and I'm noticing a lot of the fighting revolve around 4-5 melee enemy while your surrounded by 8-10 god damn archers/mages.

I find myself either getting raped or using taunt + force field on my tank. I don't have have the dex hotfix installed, so I imagine it would get much worse if I had installed it. Is there something I'm missing from the mechanics or do I just suck?

 

[Taurus]

Hoo boy, after getting this game on launch day I've been doing some serious backlogging and now I'm finally ready to start the adventure. After two somewhat disappointing games (Tekken 6 and Modern Warfare 2) I hope this game delivers.

 

[Philthy]

Oh man why did I go to the Fade first??? that took longer than expected and keep dying in one of the rooms with several mages in it ugh

Do these mages mostly shoot fire? How did you get through the fire doors?

Hmmmmmmm

 

[LosDaddie]

GAF, help me to decide if I should buy Dragon Age or not.

I'm not a huge RPG fan, but I do enjoy some WRPGs. I loved KOTOR, Mass Effect, Fable2and Marvel UA. I liked FO3 for the 15hrs or so I played it. And if you consider Zelda an RPG, I love that series too.


So would I enjoy Dragon Age? I've never played RPGs on the PC, so I don't have any history with Baldur's Gate.

 

[Toma]

The most important skills for me all the skills/spells which can be direct at many enemies. So definitely try to get as many of those as you can. I am using Shale with two different attacks right next to a blizzard being cast by Wynne. Plus the Shatter Stunning shot. This does a lot of damage and most of the time quite a few are going down in the first wave of your attack.

But this is definitely these are definitely the most difficult fights in the game. Oh and no matter what happens, kill the mages at first. By any means.

 

[Toma]

Essence:

I loved KOTOR & Mass Effect.

So would I enjoy Dragon Age?

Answer:
Yes.

 

[Doc Evils]

GAF, help me to decide if I should buy Dragon Age or not.

I'm not a huge RPG fan, but I do enjoy some WRPGs. I loved KOTOR, Mass Effect, Fable2and Marvel UA. I liked FO3 for the 15hrs or so I played it. And if you consider Zelda an RPG, I love that series too.


So would I enjoy Dragon Age? I've never played RPGs on the PC, so I don't have any history with Baldur's Gate.

Mass Effect is so barren compared to Dragon Age. NIGHT AND DAY.

Yes get it NAO.

 

[CAVE343]

GAF, help me to decide if I should buy Dragon Age or not.

I'm not a huge RPG fan, but I do enjoy some WRPGs. I loved KOTOR, Mass Effect, Fable2and Marvel UA. I liked FO3 for the 15hrs or so I played it. And if you consider Zelda an RPG, I love that series too.


So would I enjoy Dragon Age? I've never played RPGs on the PC, so I don't have any history with Baldur's Gate.

If you don't buy this game you will miss out on the greatest game of the year

 

[BitchTits]

If I got this, it would be for 360, still worth getting the non-PC version?

 

[firehawk12]

I played last night advanced the story just a little... then gave Morrigan another present and she invited me back to her tent... I was close to 100% so I'm wondering about that "too much in love" with you bit.

Spoiler

Then I went to Leliana gave her a gift, then went to bed with her too... though I had to tell her that it was over with Morrigan

This was easier than I made it out to be...

Ah, neat. What I've read is that once she "loves" you, it becomes harder to convince her - like the other characters now that I think about it. But I guess there's some threshold that you can go above where she invites you... just like the other characters. :lol

 

[crowphoenix]

I've got a question. I've reached the point in the game where I'm first able to make camp and determine where I need to go. I've heard that from this point on I should be able to access Warden's Keep (And Shale?), but I can't find the quest.

I have the Digital Deluxe Edition, which I bought through Steam, and neither Steam nor the Downloadable Content menu at the start menu of the game have anything for me to download.

So, am I looking in the wrong place or have I messed something up?

 

[orion434]

Ah, neat. What I've read is that once she "loves" you, it becomes harder to convince her - like the other characters now that I think about it. But I guess there's some threshold that you can go above where she invites you... just like the other characters. :lol

I still have 2/4 of the Blight Quests left, I'd say I'm more than 1/2 way through the game. One other thing... the guy next to the stash in Warden's Keep sells the Spirit Healer Tome... I wish I knew this sooner! Now I'm just waiting to lv up to have Morrigan be able to do some decent healing.

 

[Danne-Danger]

I've got a question. I've reached the point in the game where I'm first able to make camp and determine where I need to go. I've heard that from this point on I should be able to access Warden's Keep (And Shale?), but I can't find the quest.

I have the Digital Deluxe Edition, which I bought through Steam, and neither Steam nor the Downloadable Content menu at the start menu of the game have anything for me to download.

So, am I looking in the wrong place or have I messed something up?

Have you activated your content through the bioware community site? You get two keys with the Digital Deluxe Edition, both needs to be verified before anything shows up in your game.

 

[Amneisac]

You should be able to talk to

Spoiler

Levi Dryden?

at the camp. He should have a "!".

 

[Doytch]

Relax. You won't even see this special encounter UNLESS you get Warden's Keep. It only comes with that DLC.

Not true. I got it and had the item in my quest inventory. I had no idea what to do with it until I saw it in this thread.

(Yeah, I don't have Warden's Keep, if that wasn't clear.)

 

[crowphoenix]

Have you activated your content through the bioware community site? You get two keys with the Digital Deluxe Edition, both needs to be verified before anything shows up in your game.

That would be it then. Thanks. I must have overlooked it earlier when I was clicking around.

Edit: I'm being told my first code is invalid. Looking at it, it seems to be missing the final cluster. The second one works just fine.

Edit: Nevermind, I think I found it.

 

[luxarific]

Not true. I got it and had the item in my quest inventory. I had no idea what to do with it until I saw it in this thread.

(Yeah, I don't have Warden's Keep, if that wasn't clear.)

Then I stand corrected then. I would be shocked if they force you to use a DLC-only smith for this, but with the state of DLC nowadays, who knows.

 

[Dizzy]

I got the PS3 collector's edition today. I used two bonus codes and it didn't give me an error message or anything but nothing happened after entering them either. Has it just unlocked something on disc or is it meant to actually download something?

 

[Minsc]

Not that it's a huge concern right now, but I was a bit amused when I briefly couldn't load my game last night due to an error message like this:

"We're sorry, your save uses the following premium modules and cannot be loaded until you have logged in to your profile." (I think I had clicked through to the loading too fast)



Guess that means if Bioware/EA's servers go down (or your internet) no one can play their game if they purchased any DLC (while the people playing without any DLC will have no problems). Way to reward your customers :lol

Edit: Actually that's going to include pretty much everyone, since you get the "free" $15 DLC in any new purchase of the game, thus requiring you to be logged in to their servers to load your games under basically any scenario.

 

[Danne-Danger]

Not that it's a huge concern right now, but I was a bit amused when I briefly couldn't load my game last night due to an error message like this:

"We're sorry, your save uses the following premium modules and cannot be loaded until you have logged in to your profile." (I think I had clicked through to the loading too fast)



Guess that means if Bioware/EA's servers go down (or your internet) no one can play their game if they purchased any DLC (while the people playing without any DLC will have no problems). Way to reward your customers :lol

Edit: Actually that's going to include pretty much everyone, since you get the "free" $15 DLC in any new purchase of the game, thus requiring you to be logged in to their servers to load your games under basically any scenario.

You can play it with DLC even if you're logged out. The authentication only comes into play when you're logged in/trying to log in to your account, at least that's how it is for me.

 

[luxarific]

Not that it's a huge concern right now, but I was a bit amused when I briefly couldn't load my game last night due to an error message like this:

"We're sorry, your save uses the following premium modules and cannot be loaded until you have logged in to your profile." (I think I had clicked through to the loading too fast)



Guess that means if Bioware/EA's servers go down (or your internet) no one can play their game if they purchased any DLC (while the people playing without any DLC will have no problems). Way to reward your customers :lol

Edit: Actually that's going to include pretty much everyone, since you get the "free" $15 DLC in any new purchase of the game, thus requiring you to be logged in to their servers to load your games under basically any scenario.

This error message is extremely annoying and other people have experienced it as well. For me, it only happened in connection with two listed items of DLC (the error message listed the items, both of which I received by playing the Dragon Age Journeys game). They are apparently reauthenticating these particular DLC items each time you start the game which is insane. As is the issue of not letting you use a saved game with the items if they can't be reauthenticated. If they're going to require reauthentication of DLC, they need to allow for the fact that EA's servers suck and let us either play saves that contain the DLC or remove these items from the save until they can be reauthenticated.

Either way, I hate the way Bioware/EA implemented DLC in Dragon Age and I'm dreading that they'll do something similar with Mass Effect 2.

I wish MS would crack down on this weird balkanization of DLC and insist that everything go through Live. At least then you could re-download the DLC if the authentication check failed at EA.

 

[Doytch]

Apparently some versions (Steam mostly) don't flip a couple of boolean switches in the authorization files for your DLC. They are supposed to and are currently not working as intended. You can manually edit those files and you won't be bothered with the unauthorized savegame messages. Unfortunately, I can't find the thread because they were on Bioware's forum and not the social forum.

 

[slayn]

There is a manifest.xml file somewhere in documents/bioware/settings I think. one of the xml properties is authentication. Just set them all to 0.

The not letting you play must be a steam or console thing? Because when I was mucking around with dlc and tried to load my save file, what it would do if it couldn't find them was warn me that certain content couldn't be found but I had a choice to force load my save file anyway to be able to keep playing, just without the dlc.

 

[Oni Link 666]

I just beat it last night. I'm kind of disappointed with the ending. It's like that Van Halen video or something. :lol I would have liked to see a little cutscene for each character much better. I'm thinking I'll play it again with a new character in a month or so. I'm looking forward to seeing what mods and DLC pop up. But the only saves I have outside the ending part are over 10 hours old. How would I be able to go back and play some DLC without going back to those old saves?

 

[kitzkozan]

Bioware will have another piece of DLC before christmas. :lol

Think it's going to be 400ms points(5$).Seems like players will be able to return to Ostagar in a winter setting.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

This error message is extremely annoying and other people have experienced it as well. For me, it only happened in connection with two listed items of DLC (the error message listed the items, both of which I received by playing the Dragon Age Journeys game). They are apparently reauthenticating these particular DLC items each time you start the game which is insane. As is the issue of not letting you use a saved game with the items if they can't be reauthenticated. If they're going to require reauthentication of DLC, they need to allow for the fact that EA's servers suck and let us either play saves that contain the DLC or remove these items from the save until they can be reauthenticated.

Either way, I hate the way Bioware/EA implemented DLC in Dragon Age and I'm dreading that they'll do something similar with Mass Effect 2.

I wish MS would crack down on this weird balkanization of DLC and insist that everything go through Live. At least then you could re-download the DLC if the authentication check failed at EA.

So this is the first I've heard of this DA Journeys and I have some questions.

1. Are the transferable items worth it?

2. Can they be transferred into an active game (if you know) and

3. Is the game worth playing without the phat lewts?

 

[AndyD]

There is a manifest.xml file somewhere in documents/bioware/settings I think. one of the xml properties is authentication. Just set them all to 0.

The not letting you play must be a steam or console thing? Because when I was mucking around with dlc and tried to load my save file, what it would do if it couldn't find them was warn me that certain content couldn't be found but I had a choice to force load my save file anyway to be able to keep playing, just without the dlc.

It happens for many, theres a huge thread on the official forum. The DLC NPC is in camp, goes through dialogue then says "i will mark it on your map" but it never gets marked and his dialogue resets so you can do the whole discussion over and over.

 

[Mindlog]

This error message is extremely annoying and other people have experienced it as well. For me, it only happened in connection with two listed items of DLC (the error message listed the items, both of which I received by playing the Dragon Age Journeys game). They are apparently reauthenticating these particular DLC items each time you start the game which is insane. As is the issue of not letting you use a saved game with the items if they can't be reauthenticated. If they're going to require reauthentication of DLC, they need to allow for the fact that EA's servers suck and let us either play saves that contain the DLC or remove these items from the save until they can be reauthenticated.

Either way, I hate the way Bioware/EA implemented DLC in Dragon Age and I'm dreading that they'll do something similar with Mass Effect 2.

I wish MS would crack down on this weird balkanization of DLC and insist that everything go through Live. At least then you could re-download the DLC if the authentication check failed at EA.

I agree. Authenticating 3 items every time I play is a terrible way to go about it (the 3 DA:J prizes.) If this is the way Biowar/EA is going to handle that kind of integration from now on I don't plan on playing any of their flash games again. I'm probably going to destroy those three items the next chance I get.

So this is the first I've heard of this DA Journeys and I have some questions.

1. Are the transferable items worth it?

2. Can they be transferred into an active game (if you know) and

3. Is the game worth playing without the phat lewts?

They're not bad. If I had known the issues I'd get playing DA:O I might not have gone for all of the items.
Yes
Once maybe (DA: J). GotY (DA: O).

 

[Steve Youngblood]

So, I'm progressing through this game at breakneck speed! I'm finally reaching a point where I'm torn about whether or not I'll allow myself to set the difficulty down to easy temporarily, as I'm just getting nowhere. Even though it's early in the game, I guess I'll spolier-tag:

Spoiler

So, I'm at the Dalish Elven camp trying to hunt down the werewolves, and this leads me to the ruins. Everything's fine, save for the fact that there is a dragon at one point that I seem to need to fight. Despite my initial bewilderment that there were indeed dragons in Dragon Age, I pressed onward only to have my ass handed to me again and again and again. One time, I almost survived with one party member in tact, but alas fate sought to mock my (apparently) abysmal skills at this game.

But that aside, great game! Wish I had more time for it, having only played about 8 hours or so despite buying day one.