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Dragon Age: Origins |OT| Letting The Fade fade out of memory

ethelred said:
If you take the double-dealing letters to the Shaperate, there's no question they're forged. The only question is if Bhelen directly ordered it or whether Gavorn did it on his own. Given how hands on Bhelen tends to be and given that Gavorn is his trusted second-in-command, I think it's much more believable that he directly ordered it (I mean, the documents relating to his father's death directly implicated him and if you're okay with fratricide and regicide I doubt you're going to get qualms over forgery), but even if he didn't, the whole incident is still rather damning. Either he did it himself or his right hand did it on his own knowing it's the sort of thing Bhelen endorses. It doesn't make a big difference.

I agree that Harrowmont, regardless of what happens in the rest of the game, doesn't turn out to be a good or effective (or even particularly long-lasting) king. But that doesn't mean that elevating Bhelen to the throne is morally ambiguous. It isn't.

Good man, you have articulated some of my issues very well. The Witcher this game is not.

Anyone wonder why a third way was not given for dwarf nobles? If you think about it, we could have forced our way to the throne after assassinating both douche bags
 

Doytch

Member
lorddarkflare said:
Good man, you have articulated some of my issues very well. The Witcher this game is not.

Anyone wonder why a third way was not given for dwarf nobles? If you think about it, we could have forced our way to the throne after assassinating both douche bags
Probably because the entire Assembly kicked your ass out and stripped you of name and caste? If they all of a sudden did a 180, I'd find that more jarring.
 
Doytch said:
Probably because the entire Assembly kicked your ass out and stripped you of name and caste? If they all of a sudden did a 180, I'd find that more jarring.

Oh i certainly understand, but i was implying that the takeover would be hostile. It is not difficult to believe that if you sided with your brother, you could have worked on the inside to get what you want.

Other than something like that, there is 0 reason why a Dwarf Noble would side with him.
 

Mindlog

Member
lorddarkflare said:
Good man, you have articulated some of my issues very well. The Witcher this game is not.

Anyone wonder why a third way was not given for dwarf nobles? If you think about it, we could have forced our way to the throne after assassinating both douche bags

ehh

The best comparison would be McNulty in season 5 of, The Wire. He just had to get his (positive) changes completed one way or another.

I just saw another ending. It's going to be a while before I can beat the game again. Is the game generating an end-game state file? There were some strong Mass Effect, "We're gonna roll with your choices" vibes.
 
lorddarkflare said:
Oh i certainly understand, but i was implying that the takeover would be hostile. It is not difficult to believe that if you sided with your brother, you could have worked on the inside to get what you want.

Other than something like that, there is 0 reason why a Dwarf Noble would side with him.

My dwarf noble supported Bhelen because he had a son from those wanna be noble whores in the Origin. Sure, I could get him adopted by Harrowmont, but I wanted an Aeducan son to be an Aeducan. So, gritted my teeth and went on with it. Got my son and myself restored to the family--kind of a big deal for a dwarf.
 
Zod the Bear said:
My dwarf noble supported Bhelen because he had a son from those wanna be noble whores in the Origin. Sure, I could get him adopted by Harrowmont, but I wanted an Aeducan son to be an Aeducan. So, gritted my teeth and went on with it. Got my son and myself restored to the family--kind of a big deal for a dwarf.

Shit, i did not know that was possible, i take it back.

My noble was female, do you know of anything like that for them?
 

ethelred

Member
Zod the Bear said:
Ah, thanks much. I'll have to try that on the next Orzammar trip.

It's pretty interesting.
Especially if you go back to talk to Gavorn again and tell him, "hey, I know these are forgeries." His response is basically "So what? Help us anyway."

lorddarkflare said:
Good man, you have articulated some of my issues very well. The Witcher this game is not.

I actually think it's a bit weaker in the moral ambiguity stuff in a lot of ways even compared to Mass Effect -- which I'm sure some might disagree with, but it's how I felt after going through both games, and I found that a bit amusing just because Mass Effect's dialogue system is structured to provide Good Shepard Choice and Bad Shepard Choice, but the actual plot stuff has a lot more grey in it.

For one, Saren's motivations and actions as a villain are a lot more morally defensible than Loghain's. Yes, Saren eventually did really heinous stuff once he became a total thrall of Sovereign, but his actions prior to that point were pretty interesting -- the lengths he went to convince himself that he was doing what had to be done, firstly to stop Sovereign, and secondly to protect as much of the civilized world as possible. The decision on whether or not to kill the rachni queen was a wonderful one. So was the decision at the end on whether to save the Council's ship. They're often frustrating and short-sighted, but the society definitely needs leaders... but at the same time, is that significant enough that you should waste your firepower defending the Ascendant over holding back the entire fleet until Sovereign can be attacked? Stuff like that, I thought, didn't feature as prominently in Dragon Age.

Doytch said:
Probably because the entire Assembly kicked your ass out and stripped you of name and caste? If they all of a sudden did a 180, I'd find that more jarring.

If you look at it in terms of their belief structure, they are doing a 180, regardless. When he is convicted of Trian's murder, the second son is made casteless and sent off to die. Going off dwarven beliefs, the casteless are those that have been rejected by the Ancestors, are considered to have been mistakes that never should have existed in the first place. But when he returns as a Grey Warden, he brings a Paragon's crown and is recognized as the person speaking for the Ancestors. It's a bit silly.

Zod the Bear said:
My dwarf noble supported Bhelen because he had a son from those wanna be noble whores in the Origin. Sure, I could get him adopted by Harrowmont, but I wanted an Aeducan son to be an Aeducan. So, gritted my teeth and went on with it. Got my son and myself restored to the family--kind of a big deal for a dwarf.

That's a really nice touch for that part of the scenario. I like that bit.
 
ethelred said:
It's pretty interesting.
Especially if you go back to talk to Gavorn again and tell him, "hey, I know these are forgeries." His response is basically "So what? Help us anyway."



I actually think it's a bit weaker in the moral ambiguity stuff in a lot of ways even compared to Mass Effect -- which I'm sure some might disagree with, but it's how I felt after going through both games, and I found that a bit amusing just because Mass Effect's dialogue system is structured to provide Good Shepard Choice and Bad Shepard Choice, but the actual plot stuff has a lot more grey in it.

For one, Saren's motivations and actions as a villain are a lot more morally defensible than Loghain's. Yes, Saren eventually did really heinous stuff once he became a total thrall of Sovereign, but his actions prior to that point were pretty interesting -- the lengths he went to convince himself that he was doing what had to be done, firstly to stop Sovereign, and secondly to protect as much of the civilized world as possible. The decision on whether or not to kill the rachni queen was a wonderful one. So was the decision at the end on whether to save the Council's ship. They're often frustrating and short-sighted, but the society definitely needs leaders... but at the same time, is that significant enough that you should waste your firepower defending the Ascendant over holding back the entire fleet until Sovereign can be attacked? Stuff like that, I thought, didn't feature as prominently in Dragon Age.



If you look at it in terms of their belief structure, they are doing a 180, regardless. When he is convicted of Trian's murder, the second son is made casteless and sent off to die. Going off dwarven beliefs, the casteless are those that have been rejected by the Ancestors, are considered to have been mistakes that never should have existed in the first place. But when he returns as a Grey Warden, he brings a Paragon's crown and is recognized as the person speaking for the Ancestors. It's a bit silly.



That's a really nice touch for that part of the scenario. I like that bit.

No i can agree with that. Had Bioware not structured the choices around Paragon/Renegade (a silly idea if you ask me) the game would have been a tighter example of moral ambiguity in video games.
 
RPGCrazied said:
so how do you get this edge dagger? I didn't get any email, ive registered my game through the social site.. an nothing.

I think the code will be emailed around the 30th as long as you have registered your game before then, I have it but can't use it as im not a rogue and its tier 6
 
lorddarkflare said:
My noble was female, do you know of anything like that for them?

I would guess not, as the male stuff all happens off screen while you're away. I might try a playthrough in the future and see if I can find anything for that, though.

Currently working on a Blood Mage/Arcane Warrior. An amusing combo so far.
 

Moonstone

Member
ethelred said:
It's something that's been bothering me a bit about the game. Honestly, I feel more of the choices in the game are black and white than not.

The only one that I thought was really really good was the choice of whether to use or save the Anvil. But that turned out to be a pointless decision since the ending makes it clear that the dwarves are going to fix and use the Anvil anyway.[/spoiler]


Well you can solve issues in a black or white way, but just look at the mainquests:
1. As Bhelen is against a systems which drives people to drop their child into a trashbin if they want to stay with their caste, it's not that easy. No matter how evil Bhelen is - there's no clear black and white. I agree with the anvil quest.

2. Elves - As it turns out, the werewolves are not so evil and the leader of the elves is the root of it. Actually it's his hate which caused this. There is no black and white side. Zathrian is bad, but the Daelish not. The wolves killed and attacked first, but they had no other choice as they are victims who tried to end it peacefully. You have to see through this to find a good solution.

3. Urn. Freedom of Religon? A dialog in this quests hints at it. Has not everybody the right to believe in what he wants? Leliana holds monoloques about this, as she thinks she can hear the maker, although the church saying that the maker is gone. So Leliana is not better than the cult. Both are heretics. Or take Stens point who is an atheist. In most other rpgs, the cult would have been portrayed as pure evil, but that's not the case. They just believe that andraste is the dragon. Yes they kill people, to defend their sanctuary, but that's what people who have a strong believe do, at least in a fantasy setting.

4. Denerim. Well there weren't any major choices until the landthing. The slavers are evil, but they offer a letter that helps you with the landthing, if you let them go. You don't need it to win the landthing, but you can't know this for sure at this point. And Anora or Alistair or both is no easy choice.

5. Magetower. Mmh don't know which choices there would have been, I sided with the mages, who caused all this. But the templars are no better.

6. Redcliff. Seems like Jovan had no other choice. He's no hired murderer, if he'd refused he would have been killed. Isolde never would have hired him, if she wouldn't be so selfish and would have send her son to the circle.

And Loghain is a former hero who saved the land. I think when he started the shit, he had honorable plans. Duncan is portrayed as good guy and honorable man - until he kills that Grey Warden who just wants back to his wife. And why? Becuase he is to weak to become a warden. He easily could have send him away. Loghains murder of the king, is not more evil than duncans murder. Both do it for the same intention. But Duncan could have let the guy go, while Loghain had to kill the guy who was like a son to him to save Ferelden.

All parties involved have a skeleton in their closet. Compared to typical fantasy settings, with exaggerated black&white schemes Ferelden is pretty grey. I understand what you mean, not every choice is hard, but it depends on the point of view, how grey it is.

Mass effect is not a good comparion, I think. A scifi setting has naturally a lot more moral ambiguity.
 

Mindlog

Member
ethelred said:
For one, Saren's motivations and actions as a villain are a lot more morally defensible than Loghain's. Yes, Saren eventually did really heinous stuff once he became a total thrall of Sovereign, but his actions prior to that point were pretty interesting -- the lengths he went to convince himself that he was doing what had to be done, firstly to stop Sovereign, and secondly to protect as much of the civilized world as possible. The decision on whether or not to kill the rachni queen was a wonderful one. So was the decision at the end on whether to save the Council's ship. They're often frustrating and short-sighted, but the society definitely needs leaders... but at the same time, is that significant enough that you should waste your firepower defending the Ascendant over holding back the entire fleet until Sovereign can be attacked? Stuff like that, I thought, didn't feature as prominently in Dragon Age.


A little odd yes :]
I'm a bigger ME fan than DA (enjoy both.)

Just on that first one. After reading the books and everything Saren is basically
Zathrian the Elven Keeper
with even fewer redeeming qualities.
You can even say Bhelen is just doing what is best for his people. He introduces positive changes that had no chance of coming to pass any other way. He's also got the Dwarves united and they need to be with the Blight ending.

Moonstone said:
Duncan is portrayed as good guy and honorable man - until he kills that Grey Warden who just wants back to his wife. And why? Becuase he is to weak to become a warden. He easily could have send him away. Loghains murder of the king, is not more evil than duncans murder. Both do it for the same intention. But Duncan could have let the guy go, while Loghain had to kill the guy who was like a son to him to save Ferelden.

I thought it was because at the point someone knows the secret there is no turning back. Part of the reason the ritual is still a secret.
 

Doytch

Member
In general, I think the tie-ins to the origin stories are weak. Huge disclaimer: I only know the Dwarf Noble and Human Noble tie-ins, but I suspect I know the City Elf one also (dungeon).

Human Noble end:
The game elicited a good amount of "fuck this guy" from me when Howe backstabbed me in the Origin story, but then I barely get to do anything about it. I see the asshole in the Landsmeet (I think), and have the conversation with him and I wanted the ability to gut the fucker right there. Instead I get some shitty dialogue option and nothing happens.

Then when I finally get to kill him in the Denerim dungeons, it's in a lame fight in a small room with a shitty cutscene to finish it off. That's it? This dude backstabbed my dad, killed my family and sacked down our family's castle and I get a lame cutscene where he dies? Weak.

And yeah, don't even get me started on your brother, who just pops up in the epilogue and I completely forgot about and didn't even recognize at first.

So essentially, I think they put a lot of work into the actual Origins parts, but didn't do enough to tie it back together once the main game started.
 
Doytch said:
Human Noble end:
And yeah, don't even get me started on your brother, who just pops up in the epilogue and I completely forgot about and didn't even recognize at first.

That's annoyed me too.
Hoping the new DLC allows for an actual search, at least.
 

ethelred

Member
Moonstone said:
1. As Bhelen is against a systems which drives people to drop their child into a trashbin if they want to stay with their caste, it's not that easy. No matter how evil Bhelen is - there's no clear black and white. I agree with the anvil quest.

Well, I've already said all that I can say on this. A tyrant that implements one positive social change for the benefit of better controlling the entire populace is not doing something morally laudable. I'm not sure how much clearer I can make my position on this beyond what I've already said. I don't feel it's sufficiently well developed as a grey moral choice.

Moonstone said:
2. Elves - As it turns out, the werewolves are not so evil and the leader of the elves is the root of it. Actually it's his hate which caused this. There is no black and white side. Zathrian is bad, but the Daelish not. The wolves killed and attacked first, but they had no other choice as they are victims who tried to end it peacefully. You have to see through this to find a good solution.

Right, you have, as I said, the option to force Zathrian to lift the curse, even though it kills him. This is good, as Zathrian is a blood mage and, even though he is ostensibly doing what is best for his people, he is guided by racial hatred from a long, long time ago. But that isn't the Side with the Werewolves option. To do that, you have to go in, listen to the Lady's very reasonable defense of the werewolves and her people's development of awareness and moral inhibitions and a desire to repress their animal urges... and then say, hey fuck that, guys, let's go slaughter the entire Dalish clan down to the last man, woman, and child. This is very clearly a black moral choice!
:lol

Moonstone said:
3. Urn. Freedom of Religon? A dialog in this quests hints at it. Has not everybody the right to believe in what he wants? Leliana holds monoloques about this, as she thinks she can hear the maker, although the church saying that the maker is gone. So Leliana is not better than the cult. Both are heretics. Or take Stens point who is an atheist. In most other rpgs, the cult would have been portrayed as pure evil, but that's not the case. They just believe that andraste is the dragon. Yes they kill people, to defend their sanctuary, but that's what people who have a strong believe do, at least in a fantasy setting.

The cult is pretty clear cut in its badness. They murder people, they lead people into ambushes (see: anyone going to meet with "Weylon" is directed to an inn where they're killed... and Kolgrim is quite clearly stark raving mad. He talks nuttier than Christopher Walken. As far as freedom of religion goes, I don't see how that factors in at all. They have the right to believe their nutty crap, but they don't get to murder knights all across Ferelden and they prrrrrobably shouldn't be the ones guarding a sacred object that actually does have the power to heal the sick. As far as Leliana goes, I think that dialogue stuff with her makes it clear that she doesn't really believe the Maker speaks directly to her, but she came up with that idea because after she left Orlais she was no longer special and she wanted people to focus their attention on her again even though it may be negative attention. Did you take her to meet with the Guardian?

Moonstone said:
4. Denerim. Well there weren't any major choices until the landthing. The slavers are evil, but they offer a letter that helps you with the landthing, if you let them go. You don't need it to win the landthing, but you can't know this for sure at this point. And Anora or Alistair or both is no easy choice.

You get evidence of the slave trade even if you do the morally just thing and send the slavers to the Maker. Which is good, because they're fomenting sickness in the Alienage and, you know, killing and enslaving people. If you confront Loghain about it in the Landsmeet, he admits to his actions. As I said, none of the actions Loghain is taking at this stage are morally defensible choices in the service of protecting the kingdom. There are ways to structure a decision around "I may do something morally grey but I need to in order to protect people." The stuff Loghain and Howe are doing doesn't qualify. As far as picking between Anora and Alistair, I agree it can be a tough choice, but it isn't a moral choice. It's a political choice.

Moonstone said:
6. Redcliff. Seems like Jovan had no other choice. He's no hired murderer, if he'd refused he would have been killed. Isolde never would have hired him, if she wouldn't be so selfish and would have send her son to the circle.

If you do the mage origin, I'd say this about Jowan: maybe he shouldn't have been practicing blood magic in the first place and then lying about it to his friends and lovers. :eek:

Moonstone said:
And Loghain is a former hero who saved the land. I think when he started the shit, he had honorable plans. Duncan is portrayed as good guy and honorable man - until he kills that Grey Warden who just wants back to his wife. And why? Becuase he is to weak to become a warden. He easily could have send him away. Loghains murder of the king, is not more evil than duncans murder. Both do it for the same intention. But Duncan could have let the guy go, while Loghain had to kill the guy who was like a son to him to save Ferelden.

When Loghain retreats at Ostagar, he doesn't just kill the king. He condemns an entire army of Fereldans to death. You don't think that's a black moral mark on his record? His intentions there are not the same as Duncan's, and they're not even morally sound -- Loghain is concerned with protecting Fereldan from Orlais above all cost, and he was angry at Cailan's plan to invite Orlais's Wardens and forces to help with the Blight. But as Cailan said at the strategy meeting, the best way to ensure that Orlais wouldn't be needed was to beat the Blight with the forces they had assembled then and there... but instead of going along with that plan, Loghain ensured the death of the king, the death of the Wardens, and the deaths of thousands of others which did nothing except weaken Fereldan and make it more likely, not less, that Orlais would be needed. It's definitely not on the same level as Duncan's actions which were guided by the rule that once you agree to become a Warden, there's no turning back.

I think that Loghain's aide, Ser Cauthrien, is depicted as a much more interesting moral actor, especially if you probe her motivations and beliefs before the Landsmeet instead of just killing her outright.
 
ethelred said:
Well, I've already said all that I can say on this. A tyrant that implements one positive social change for the benefit of better controlling the entire populace is not doing something morally laudable. I'm not sure how much clearer I can make my position on this beyond what I've already said. I don't feel it's sufficiently well developed as a grey moral choice.



Right, you have, as I said, the option to force Zathrian to lift the curse, even though it kills him. This is good, as Zathrian is a blood mage and, even though he is ostensibly doing what is best for his people, he is guided by racial hatred from a long, long time ago. But that isn't the Side with the Werewolves option. To do that, you have to go in, listen to the Lady's very reasonable defense of the werewolves and her people's development of awareness and moral inhibitions and a desire to repress their animal urges... and then say, hey fuck that, guys, let's go slaughter the entire Dalish clan down to the last man, woman, and child. This is very clearly a black moral choice!
:lol



The cult is pretty clear cut in its badness. Their murder people, they lead people into ambushes (see: anyone going to meet with "Weylon" is directed to an inn where they're killed... and Kolgrim is quite clearly stark raving mad. He talks nuttier than Christopher Walken. As far as freedom of religion goes, I don't see how that factors in at all. They have the right to believe their nutty crap, but they don't get to murder knights all across Ferelden and they prrrrrobably shouldn't be the ones guarding a sacred object that actually does have the power to heal the sick. As far as Leliana goes, I think that dialogue stuff with her makes it clear that she doesn't really believe the Maker speaks directly to her, but she came up with that idea because after she left Orlais she was no longer special and she wanted people to focus their attention on her again even though it may be negative attention. Did you take her to meet with the Guardian?



You get evidence of the slave trade even if you do the morally just thing and send the slavers to the Maker. Which is good, because they're fomenting sickness in the Alienage and, you know, killing and enslaving people. If you confront Loghain about it in the Landsmeet, he admits to his actions. As I said, none of the actions Loghain is taking at this stage are morally defensible choices in the service of protecting the kingdom. There are ways to structure a decision around "I may do something morally grey but I need to in order to protect people." The stuff Loghain and Howe are doing doesn't qualify. As far as picking between Anora and Alistair, I agree it can be a tough choice, but it isn't a moral choice. It's a political choice.



If you do the mage origin, I'd say this about Jowan: maybe he shouldn't have been practicing blood magic in the first place and then lying about it to his friends and lovers. :eek:



When Loghain retreats at Ostagar, he doesn't just kill the king. He condemns an entire army of Fereldans to death. You don't think that's a black moral mark on his record? His intentions there are not the same as Duncan's, and they're not even morally sound -- Loghain is concerned with protecting Fereldan from Orlais above all cost, and he was angry at Cailan's plan to invite Orlais's Wardens and forces to help with the Blight. But as Cailan said at the strategy meeting, the best way to ensure that Orlais wouldn't be needed was to beat the Blight with the forces they had assembled then and there... but instead of going along with that plan, Loghain ensured the death of the king, the death of the Wardens, and the deaths of thousands of others which did nothing except weaken Fereldan and make it more likely, not less, that Orlais would be needed. It's definitely not on the same level as Duncan's actions which were guided by the rule that once you agree to become a Warden, there's no turning back.

I think that Loghain's aide, Ser Cauthrien, is depicted as a much more interesting moral actor, especially if you probe her motivations and beliefs before the Landsmeet instead of just killing her outright.

I was waiting for this. Always a pleasure to read your posts.
 

Pancakes

hot, steaming, as melted butter slips into the cracks, drizzled with sticky sweet syrup OH GOD
Doytch said:
In general, I think the tie-ins to the origin stories are weak. Huge disclaimer: I only know the Dwarf Noble and Human Noble tie-ins, but I suspect I know the City Elf one also (dungeon).

Human Noble end:
The game elicited a good amount of "fuck this guy" from me when Howe backstabbed me in the Origin story, but then I barely get to do anything about it. I see the asshole in the Landsmeet (I think), and have the conversation with him and I wanted the ability to gut the fucker right there. Instead I get some shitty dialogue option and nothing happens.

Then when I finally get to kill him in the Denerim dungeons, it's in a lame fight in a small room with a shitty cutscene to finish it off. That's it? This dude backstabbed my dad, killed my family and sacked down our family's castle and I get a lame cutscene where he dies? Weak.

And yeah, don't even get me started on your brother, who just pops up in the epilogue and I completely forgot about and didn't even recognize at first.

So essentially, I think they put a lot of work into the actual Origins parts, but didn't do enough to tie it back together once the main game started.

I agree, finally killing Howe didn't feel as satisfying as it should have.
 

DodgerSan

Member
kyo_daikun said:
I think the code will be emailed around the 30th as long as you have registered your game before then, I have it but can't use it as im not a rogue and its tier 6

You can get it manually, on PC. Sorry can't help the console users.

Go here: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/58/index/81613 and look for section 4.1. There it lists the dlc locations.

Download the Edge - DAO_PRC_PROMO_EDG (file should end in .dazip)

The run the daupdate (somewhere in your install directory, do a search) and point it at the download location.

Note - some of the items (like Stone Prisoner) require online authorisation, so you can't just grab everything for free like this! But for some promo items like The Edge it does work.
 

ethelred

Member
So we can't currently get the DLC dagger on consoles? This is all so confusing.

I kind of hate this stuff, especially since I got gypped out of the memory ring and wolf band even though I preordered from Gamestop months ago.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
I take it that the Casteless Dwarf and City Elf origins are probably the ones with the best endings at this point, simply because of an implied "rags to riches" type story?

Has anyone compiled all the endings somewhere? I know with Jade Empire, all the endings were just in a dialog tlk file that you could uncompile and read.
 

Moonstone

Member
Well, I've already said all that I can say on this. A tyrant that implements one positive social change for the benefit of better controlling the entire populace is not doing something morally laudable. I'm not sure how much clearer I can make my position on this beyond what I've already said. I don't feel it's sufficiently well developed as a grey moral choice.

Well Bhelen is clearly a tyrant, I fully agree, but Harrowmont is a reactionary tradionalist, who supports the caste system which is pure evil. He's no holy men. He's a racist, even if he's a nicve guy. No easy choice.

@werevoles. Never said that killing the elves would be a morally good decision, but the whole situation is more complicated than it looks initially. And you could kill the wolves without finding out about the situation I guess. Just choose the right dialogoptions, if you don't questino Zathran's motives and think of the wolves as pure evil. That's enouigh ambiguity for me to call it grey.

@ cult: Yes I had her with me, did both sides, reloaded and chose the "good" side to get the reaver class (silly system btw). But the game literally quotes Leliana when you come up with the line I mentioned. I know that she doesn't see it this way, but the it was obvious what bioware was referencing. This was clearly on intend by bioware. While she may not believe that she can talk to the maker, she clearly states that everybody should beleive in what their heart tells them, no matter what others say. This applies to the cult.

The cult killed the knights, but just to defend themselves and their believe. If the church or others would find out, they'd kill them and dragon-andraste too.

They do it to save themselves and bride of the maker, no matter how twisted their vision is. And they don't hunt these people down, they just needed to set up the trap as they knew that people would come and look after genitivi. They set up haven as disguise, in the hope that nobody finds out, so killing those knights wasn't a free choice. They had no other option. Korgrim is insane, but that doesn't make him bad per se. They are not good people, but no more bad than the church who claims for themselves to have the right believe.

@Loghain, no question that he's a bad guy. And you are right with his orlais hate, I forgot. But killing a guy just because of a rule doesn't justify murder. If this can be considered good, I'll give you that. But for me, there is clearly no meaningfull NPC in the game that's either good or bad.

@Jowan: Didn't play the mage origin yet and don#t know why Jowan became a blood mage. But people make mistakes, that doesn't necessarily make them pure evil or good. He seems to regret his decisions.

I liked the Ser Cauthrien part too.

A lot of those issues weren't caused by pure evil but not seldom by initially good intentions or situations which got out of control. Eventually the motives got twisted and forgotten motives and lead to the opposite. That's enough grey for a fantasy setting which usually knows just black &white. I don't disagree with you, I understand it. But that's for me enough to call it grey.
 

Dipper145

Member
It bugs me when people just spoiler a whole block of text with no reference to what is being discussed in it. It would be better to include a line that you're talking about the human noble origin, or what happens in Orzimmar, or the Landsmeet. This way people will be able to know what you're talking about and know if they have anything they could add without having to spoil it for themselves just to know.

It would even be helpful to leave that part in when you quote a post and answer questions or offer advice so that one doesn't have to look up the original to see what is going to be discussed.


On a better note, I've started playing nightmare with my Dwarven Rogue and it's going great. The game doesn't seem that much harder though, at least so far. I mean I'm only just finishing up Ostagar but still I expected it to be a nightmare.
 

Sielys

Member
Quick question...

I'm going to get this game later this week, wondering if I should get it for the Ps3 or computer? I do not have the best computer at the moment, it still has the integrated graphics card it came with and etc. I don't want to invest in a new computer at the moment, what with it being the holidays and all. On the other hand, I've got my Ps3 hooked up to a fantastic TV in a room with perfectly wired surround sound. It all comes down to the control scheme however. If it's anything like Oblivion, I'll probably get it for PC. The difference between console oblivion and PC oblivion is night and day.

Thanks for the help.
 
I was pretty disappointed with the Dwarven chapter in the end.

It was extremely long. They probably could have cut one of the areas without too many problems. Still, I could forgive that. Except for a couple of spots, the dungeon art was fairly uninspiring and repetitive. And yet I could forgive that too.

Making me drop my excellent tank for a shitty one at the EXACT moment I'm going to need him the most? That was unforgiveable. Seriously; what purpose did that serve?

Was it so his wife could dangle her sapphic exploits in his drunken face? If it was he didn't seem to give a toss. And you don't need him for proof of a paragon's favour because you get the crown.

Maybe I'm just annoyed at having to listen to a dwarf with an American accent saying "sodding" over and over - THAT'S NOT HOW YOU SAY IT.

Honestly, though, the most disappointing part of it was my choice.

I sided with Bhelen all the way. While I was talking to Branka and some other people it became clear that I was backing the obnoxious tyrant-to-be. When I returned to the Assembly with the crown, I was asked to choose Bhelen or Harrowmont.

And I chose Harrowmont.

"I am surprised Warden but grateful."

That's it? I killed a bunch of his guys and soured a business deal of his with forged documents and I can just flip-flop right at the end of the quest? It was really disappointing. I know that DA is particularly light on actions that have serious, game-changing consequences, but that was the worst example I've seen.

I'm still enjoying the game a lot, and it's one of my top 3 for the year, but things like that are really bumming me out.
 
The problem with spoilers is that you have no idea how far into the game the spoiler is until you highlight it and once you have done that it's too late. I'm not too bothered about being spoiled but maybe it would be an idea to mention how far in the game you are before spoiler tagging words or strings of text.

Like I said i'm not bothered, i've read every spoiler in this thread pretty much but I know how anal some people are about it.
 

Fredescu

Member
ethelred said:
For one, Saren's motivations and actions as a villain are a lot more morally defensible than Loghain's.
Good points all around. In the end
Loghain was a pretty disappointing villain.
 

John Harker

Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Can you sleep with multiple party members?
I want Morrigan, but she's proving more difficult than the red head is...
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
Sielys said:
So how's the control scheme though? Is it necessary to hot key a bunch of things?

You hot bar the skills on each character. At least, that's how I've seen people play it anyway.

John Harker said:
Can you sleep with multiple party members?
I want Morrigan, but she's proving more difficult than the red head is...

Yep, you can be a three-timing (man)slut.
 

Surreal

Member
This game looks really cool to play but all I have is a PC. I checked out the minimum/required specs but I have no idea what they mean, I've been out of PC gaming since the HL2 days.

Anyways, if a kind soul would tell me how well it would run I'd be thankful.

Windows 7 32 bit
Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.4 GHz
3 GB RAM
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450
My screen is 1600x900

I'm pretty sure if it did run if would run terribly, but maybe on all minimum settings it'd be tolerable?
 

laserbeam

Banned
Surreal said:
This game looks really cool to play but all I have is a PC. I checked out the minimum/required specs but I have no idea what they mean, I've been out of PC gaming since the HL2 days.

Anyways, if a kind soul would tell me how well it would run I'd be thankful.

Windows 7 32 bit
Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.4 GHz
3 GB RAM
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450
My screen is 1600x900

I'm pretty sure if it did run if would run terribly, but maybe on all minimum settings it'd be tolerable?

head here http://cyri.systemrequirementslab.com/srtest/
select dragon age origins from the list and run the test will give you a quick rundown
 
Fought a
Revenant
in the Mage's Tower. Wow. Alistair, the only pc alive, managed to just get a final blow in.
Also, on asking a friend what a female friend on how to handle the 'loving' Desire Demon upstairs and going with her choice (kill the demon) Alistair too was the one who just survived.
Now for wandering the Fade. Just got crushed by a troll...
 
Zeouterlimits said:
Fought a
Revenant
in the Mage's Tower. Wow. Alistair, the only pc alive, managed to just get a final blow in.
Also, on asking a friend what a female friend on how to handle the 'loving' Desire Demon upstairs and going with her choice (kill the demon) Alistair too was the one who just survived.
Now for wandering the Fade. Just got crushed by a troll...

My favorite strategy against revenants is to spam Freezing spells with Morrigan on them until the others take care of the minions. Once the minions are taken care of, everyone takes the Revenant down.
 
So, I missed out to buy the backpack from the Quartermaster at Ostagar. Now I can't go back there, is there any other way I can get that one? I really need the high space. I do know that there are others you can them from but there are only 5 in total and I do not want to miss any.

Any suggestions about it?
 

Zzoram

Member
I found Morrigan is WAY easier than Leliana or Zevran. I am still courting Leliana with little success. Andraste's Flower or whatever is something she really likes but I can't find anything else that boosts her much.
 

Zzoram

Member
sweetvar26 said:
So, I missed out to buy the backpack from the Quartermaster at Ostagar. Now I can't go back there, is there any other way I can get that one? I really need the high space. I do know that there are others you can them from but there are only 5 in total and I do not want to miss any.

Any suggestions about it?

For some reason my 1st playthrough which I ended soon after Lothering could buy an upgrade in Lothering, but my 2nd playthrough couldn't buy a backpack upgrade in Ostagar or Lothering. I'm not sure if it's a bug or if they appear at different merchants depending on your playthrough.
 

fallout

Member
Uuuugh. I hate the fade.

So, I finally get a spirit mage for healing, only to lose her and the rest of my party. I am burning through so many pots on my rogue in these fights it's ridiculous. I think I may have completely screwed myself over in coming here.
.
 
fallout said:
Uuuugh. I hate the fade.

So, I finally get a spirit mage for healing, only to lose her and the rest of my party. I am burning through so many pots on my rogue in these fights it's ridiculous. I think I may have completely screwed myself over in coming here.
.

Stop fighting stuff ;) You're a rogue, between mouse form and stealth you should be able to skip almost everything. Just focus on rescuing the NPCs that give you the new forms and you should be out of there in no time.

I hated it too, but at least now that I know what to do it won't take long on subsequent attempts.
 
fallout said:
Uuuugh. I hate the fade.

So, I finally get a spirit mage for healing, only to lose her and the rest of my party. I am burning through so many pots on my rogue in these fights it's ridiculous. I think I may have completely screwed myself over in coming here.
.
Keep in mind, touching those Lyrium Veins insta-heals you.
 

knitoe

Member
Zzoram said:
I found Morrigan is WAY easier than Leliana or Zevran. I am still courting Leliana with little success. Andraste's Flower or whatever is something she really likes but I can't find anything else that boosts her much.
She likes "Chanty" items.
 

Dipper145

Member
sweetvar26 said:
So, I missed out to buy the backpack from the Quartermaster at Ostagar. Now I can't go back there, is there any other way I can get that one? I really need the high space. I do know that there are others you can them from but there are only 5 in total and I do not want to miss any.

Any suggestions about it?
You can actually buy 2 bags at ostagar. One during the daytime, just when you get there, and one in the evening after you get back from the wilds. Giving you an extra 20 spaces right off the bat.

If you miss it there is no way to go back and get it short of starting again or cheating to add inventory space.
 

AndyD

aka andydumi
So what is a good order to do the locations?

I did redcliffe first until
they wanted to kill the mother to save the brat
so I decided there to go
get help from the magi circle
instead and
now I am making my way up the magi tower.

Would that be a fine order, or am I taking the hard way through? It seems most people go Denerim or Ostagar firstish.
 
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