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[I should be doing hw]

Nothing seems to work for me to force AF with an ATI card an 9.12 drivers. There is no difference in image quality.

Try what I did, open the game and start playing it then go to your desktop and run CCC with the AF setting on full (or whatever you want it at) and the ingame setting marked off. Once it is Applied then go back into the game. Don't press Ok, for some reason that closes the program. Anyway, with both running, thats how I eventually got it to work.

Strange, changing the .ini files on my laptop with a GeForce and my PC with an ATI, worked fine.

Windows 7? I dunno, doesn't seem to be working for me. Maybe its the OS or maybe its the HD5850 I'm running, maybe its too new to very compatible with stuff yet. I don't really know, it's working now that's all that matters.

 

[elostyle]

Try what I did, open the game and start playing it then go to your desktop and run CCC with the AF setting on full (or whatever you want it at) and the ingame setting marked off. Once it is Applied then go back into the game. Don't press Ok, for some reason that closes the program. Anyway, with both running, thats how I eventually got it to work.


Windows 7? I dunno, doesn't seem to be working for me. Maybe its the OS or maybe its the HD5850 I'm running, maybe its too new to very compatible with stuff yet. I don't really know, it's working now that's all that matters.

No luck, doesn't do it for me unfortunately

Tried all different Ini and Catalyst combinations while the game is running and while it isn't. Very strange.

 

[Xdrive05]

I'm kind of interested in this game... can you guys please give me your opinions on the following?

1.) How does DA:O compare to Oblivion in terms of number and quality of quests and loot?

2.) How does it compare to Oblivion in terms of being "open-world" in having a lot of areas to randomly explore and wander around (as opposed to merely questing from point A to point B, linear progression, etc.)?

3.) Do the side quests have a lot of big battles and/or boss encounters, or are they mostly "collect X number of Y then return to me" kind of questing?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT:

4) Are there any caves/dungeons/areas to explore that are OFF the quest tracks? IE: in Oblivion you could wander around the outdoors and stumble across forts, cemeteries and caves that had nothing to do with any quests.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

I'm kind of interested in this game... can you guys please give me your opinions on the following?

1.) How does DA:O compare to Oblivion in terms of number and quality of quests and loot?

2.) How does it compare to Oblivion in terms of being "open-world" in having a lot of areas to randomly explore and wander around (as opposed to merely questing from point A to point B, linear progression, etc.)?

3.) Do the side quests have a lot of big battles and/or boss encounters, or are they mostly "collect X number of Y then return to me" kind of questing?

Thanks in advance.

DA:O is smaller than Oblivion and the loot isn't as good. Most side quests are the MMO fetch quest type. There aren't any exploration at all since Dragon Age is modules and dungeon based. Areas are strung together to provide quest progression so you're not getting the Bethesda experience at all.

But in case you're wondering, Dragon Age is a superior game to Oblivion in every way. Writing, pacing (as bad as the pacing in Dragon Age can be at some points), character, atmosphere, lore, it's all there for you to see whereas Oblivion wiped everything from Morrowind and called it a day.

 

[darkpaladinmfc]

I'm kind of interested in this game... can you guys please give me your opinions on the following?

1.) How does DA:O compare to Oblivion in terms of number and quality of quests and loot?

2.) How does it compare to Oblivion in terms of being "open-world" in having a lot of areas to randomly explore and wander around (as opposed to merely questing from point A to point B, linear progression, etc.)?

3.) Do the side quests have a lot of big battles and/or boss encounters, or are they mostly "collect X number of Y then return to me" kind of questing?

Thanks in advance.

Firstly the two games are VERY different. Dragon Age plays much more like Baldur's Gate than Oblivion.

1) I like the side-quests much more in Dragon Age. The characters have much more personality and even a few small fetch-quests feel more engaging than those in Oblivion. In towns there are Charter Boards that hand out quests - I found these quests to be rather boring, but almost all the quests handed out by actual people were quite interesting.

2) There isn't a proper hub-world linking places together, there is a world map and you choose where to go and you usually get a random encounter on the way. There is a fair bit of freedom but not as much as in Oblivion, in Dragon Age you're normally on the main-quest (Though you can do the four major areas in any order you like).

3) There's a bit of both. If it's a Collect-o-thon then it's usually quite obvious from the text description.

 

[besada]

Well, I appear to be well fucked. Just got to the next to last battle. Don't have enough potions, and four times now I've gotten obliterated.

 

[Macmanus]

Most side quests are the MMO fetch quest type. .

Erm, not really. In fact I would say the minority of side quests are fetch quests, especially when you take the DLC into account. My two favorite bosses I've fought thus far have come from side quests.

 

[Sielys]

Most side quests are the MMO fetch quest type.

I respectfully disagree with this.
The sidequests are much more than "fetch X items" or "kill X enemies". All the side-quests have wonderful little side plots that are, in my opinion, very immersive and well crafted. I play WoW on the side, and I have to say, very few quests have interesting stories to get into. DAO sidequests are much more story centric and have much more meaningful objectives and motivations.

 

[kitzkozan]

I'm kind of interested in this game... can you guys please give me your opinions on the following?

1.) How does DA:O compare to Oblivion in terms of number and quality of quests and loot?

2.) How does it compare to Oblivion in terms of being "open-world" in having a lot of areas to randomly explore and wander around (as opposed to merely questing from point A to point B, linear progression, etc.)?

3.) Do the side quests have a lot of big battles and/or boss encounters, or are they mostly "collect X number of Y then return to me" kind of questing?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT:

4) Are there any caves/dungeons/areas to explore that are OFF the quest tracks? IE: in Oblivion you could wander around the outdoors and stumble across forts, cemeteries and caves that had nothing to do with any quests.

Dragon age is built in a way that's completely different from The elder scroll.

It's module and dungeon based,so there's not much in the way of exploration unlike Oblivion or Morrowind.

1) Dragon age is not a loot based rpg and the quests are in fewer numbers.However,there's more variety in terms of what you can do.

2) Dragon age is anything but an open world.There's a map of Ferelden and you can choose where you want to travel by clicking on icons,but the only way to see the roads and the landscape is with random encounters which are closed area.

3) Sidequests do offer big battle and bosses to defeat,which is already more interesting than what was offered in Oblivion. It's a mix of fetch quest,big battles and boss killing.

4) Since it's not an open world,there are no random caves or forts to discover.

 

[Sielys]

An open world DAO would be pretty cool. Maybe not completely open like oblivion, but something akin to the witcher perhaps.

 

[Brashnir]

Finished the game today, and the stupid game crashed during the Epilogue cinematic(s?). Not sure if I feel like doing the final boss fight again, it took forever.

I'll do it eventually because I want to see how all the plot threads resolved, but I'm a little too annoyed to play it again right now.

 

[Sielys]

Finished the game today, and the stupid game crashed during the Epilogue cinematic(s?). Not sure if I feel like doing the final boss fight again, it took forever.

I'll do it eventually because I want to see how all the plot threads resolved, but I'm a little too annoyed to play it again right now.

Lame. How exactly did it crash?

 

[Brashnir]

Lame. How exactly did it crash?

Crashed to desktop during the first short cinematic of

Spoiler

Alistair walking through a crowd of nobles - I'm guessing for his coronation

 

[pseudocaesar]

This can happen when you have an unused special attack on one of the hotkeys and it is queued to be unleashed next time you attack. You should notice that your stamina won't go all the way back up as well. You can left click the talent to unqueue it. or right click other to queue them up.

Oh man. That answers the other question I was going to ask aswell haha, How come my stamina never recharges fully? Thanks man! I hate it when I never realise such simple things.

 

[kaizoku]

In Oblivion it felt like most of the fun was of your own making, so in a sense a true role playing game. You could almost do anything you thought of, its probably still the most organic world I've ever played in. I have to confess I put 100 hours into Oblivion and did not even touch the main quest, so my second point might be irrelevant.

DA felt so much more epic, in the sense that I felt like I made genuine attachments to characters and it felt like they made real connections to me, whereas Oblivion is quite a lonely experience, which might explain why I didn't give a shit about saving the world.

imo DA:O outdid Final Fantasy in the epic adventure stakes, and story is often cited as the main reason for liking FF games. Big dramatic bosses, nifty looking combat, genuinely interesting banter, romantic interests and an awesome interwoven storyline with deep history.

oh and because the personalities were more fleshed out, the women were sexier and the guys more likeable.

 

[Metroidvania]

Oh man. That answers the other question I was going to ask aswell haha, How come my stamina never recharges fully? Thanks man! I hate it when I never realise such simple things.

Most likely you've got a mode active, such as indomitable, dual weapon striking, or an equivalent, that takes up an active portion of your stamina bar.

 

[Mindlog]

I'm not sure if version matters, but is anyone having trouble logging into 'Dragon Net' servers on the 360?

 

[Shrennin]

I'm not sure if version matters, but is anyone having trouble logging into 'Dragon Net' servers on the 360?

Yes, sometimes it won't let me (or fails to do it) and other times it does.

 

[Mar]

I'm not sure if version matters, but is anyone having trouble logging into 'Dragon Net' servers on the 360?

That reminds me. How DO you get your profile up on the Bioware site with the 360 version? I've had an EA account for a long time, I've registered on Biowares site. I have a username there. How do I actually link my character profile to it? My character is nowhere to be found other than in game.

 

[Killthee]

Looks Like Return to Ostagar PC has leaked..... : /

That reminds me. How DO you get your profile up on the Bioware site with the 360 version? I've had an EA account for a long time, I've registered on Biowares site. I have a username there. How do I actually link my character profile to it? My character is nowhere to be found other than in game.

The whole account thing is just a mess. You'll need an "EA/BioWare account" and a BioWare Social account linked to it.

First of all, is your EA/BioWare account working in game? If you were able to log in to check/redeem/download DLC , its working. Now secondly, when you say you have an account at the "BioWare site" do you mean the forums or the BioWare Social? If you mean the forums, then go here to create a BioWare Social account; use the I have an existing account buttons to link the account to your other accounts. It should work after that, but it might take a couple of hours for your character to be updated. If your accounts are properly linked, your authorized DLC's in game should match the one's on the Registered Game Promotions page.

 

[Brashnir]

The whole account thing is just a mess.

That's putting it kindly.

 

[Yottamole]

Finished the game today, and the stupid game crashed during the Epilogue cinematic(s?). Not sure if I feel like doing the final boss fight again, it took forever.

I'll do it eventually because I want to see how all the plot threads resolved, but I'm a little too annoyed to play it again right now.

Why don't you use the console to instant kill the final boss (# runscript killallhostiles - Kill all enemies; # runscript pc_immortal - Infinite health)?

 

[freddy]

Looks Like Return to Ostagar PC has leaked..... : /

Indeed it has.

 

[Mar]

Looks Like Return to Ostagar PC has leaked..... : /


The whole account thing is just a mess. You'll need an "EA/BioWare account" and a BioWare Social account linked to it.

First of all, is your EA/BioWare account working in game? If you were able to log in to check/redeem/download DLC , its working. Now secondly, when you say you have an account at the "BioWare site" do you mean the forums or the BioWare Social? If you mean the forums, then go here to create a BioWare Social account; use the I have an existing account buttons to link the account to your other accounts. It should work after that, but it might take a couple of hours for your character to be updated. If your accounts are properly linked, your authorized DLC's in game should match the one's on the Registered Game Promotions page.

Thanks for the info. Now... Where do I find this "I have an existing account" button. Keeping in mind I've already created an account there.

Edit: Oh, and yes, my DLC is showing up linked to my gamercard according to that registered game promotions page. Yet I still can't find my character.

 

[Brashnir]

Why don't you use the console to instant kill the final boss (# runscript killallhostiles - Kill all enemies; # runscript pc_immortal - Infinite health)?

thanks, I'll try that when I get home. In my frustration, I didn't even think to cheat.

 

[Killthee]

Thanks for the info. Now... Where do I find this "I have an existing account" button. Keeping in mind I've already created an account there.

Edit: Oh, and yes, my DLC is showing up linked to my gamercard according to that registered game promotions page. Yet I still can't find my character.

Then the accounts should already be linked properly and you don't need to worry about the existing account stuff.

You can view your characters by selecting the game off the My Games tab:

If the game isn't there, click on the Register Games link and select the Xbox version (you'll need the UPC code). Then click on the My Games Xbox link to view your character profile or click on Xbox player profile link on the register games link.

In my experience, the character profile stuff is very iffy. Sometimes it updates quickly, sometimes it takes forever (weeks), and sometimes it updates outdated info. If your character is still not popping up, make sure you have the correct firewall ports open.



If its still not updating, then its probably not on your end and something on BW's end.

 

[Mrbob]

Too bad the PC expansion is $39.99...I'm not paying the console fee tax on the PC.

I'll wait for it to be 20 or less now....Bioware DLC has been disappointing anyway (Paid DLC in both Mass Effect and Dragon Age has sucked quite frankly). I honestly don't have high hopes for this, especially with the quick turn around. I'm sure it will be decent, but probably much shorter than they say. Not worth nearly 80 percent retail price on.

 

[Pancakes]

Crashed to desktop during the first short cinematic of

Spoiler

Alistair walking through a crowd of nobles - I'm guessing for his coronation

The first time I beat the game I

Spoiler

Sacrificed myself and felt all badass but during my funeral, everyone was a floating head with no hair (Creepy as fuck). Needless to say that kinda killed the epic mood. Luckily it hasn't happened again and hopefully will be patched.

 

[Chris R]

Loading in the PC game just got insane for me. Trying a defrag now to get it back under control, as I never had to wait more than 10 seconds, but had multiple 45+ second load times playing today.

 

[freddy]

Loading in the PC game just got insane for me. Trying a defrag now to get it back under control, as I never had to wait more than 10 seconds, but had multiple 45+ second load times playing today.

Unfortunately its a memory leak that Bioware is too busy making shitty DLC to fix.

Particularly prevalent on AMD Quad cores it seems. Turning off persistent gore will help a lot. Until then the only real fix is to restart and reload every few hours.

 

[Mar]

Then the accounts should already be linked properly and you don't need to worry about the existing account stuff.

You can view your characters by selecting the game off the My Games tab:

If the game isn't there, click on the Register Games link and select the Xbox version (you'll need the UPC code). Then click on the My Games Xbox link to view your character profile or click on Xbox player profile link on the register games link.

In my experience, the character profile stuff is very iffy. Sometimes it updates quickly, sometimes it takes forever (weeks), and sometimes it updates outdated info. If your character is still not popping up, make sure you have the correct firewall ports open.



If its still not updating, then its probably not on your end and something on BW's end.

Wow, thanks dude. You put a bit of time into that response and I appreciate it.

So it seems the missing link was that I hadn't registered my game. I've popped that in there now and I guess I just wait for the character to update.

Thanks again.

 

[Chris R]

Unfortunately its a memory leak that Bioware is too busy making shitty DLC to fix.

Particularly prevalent on AMD Quad cores it seems. Turning off persistent gore will help a lot. Until then the only real fix is to restart and reload every few hours.

you know what... I JUST turned on the persistent gore today :lol Going to turn that off and see if it helps (after the defrag finishes) I have a Q9550 CPU, so not AMD, but quadcore.

 

[Sinatar]

you know what... I JUST turned on the persistent gore today :lol Going to turn that off and see if it helps (after the defrag finishes) I have a Q9550 CPU, so not AMD, but quadcore.

Happens on intels as well.

 

[I should be doing hw]

Fucking hell, I feel retarded. I bought the Shale DLC only to read on the back of the box almost immediately after that I have it for free already. Pays to read the box eh....in my defence I had no real reason to read the back and it is hard to see unless you actually read it, not glance like I normally do.... >.>

 

[MegaKungFuRadio]

just use greater warmth balm, don't engage in melee at all, and let flemeth focus on your mage (your high magic = effective, cheap lesser health poultices; hence, you heal much easier). i would use reduce resistance, death hex, cone of cold, blizzard (since she doesn't move at all), glyph of paralysis

Pff, you and your actual strategy and use of all the tools available to you!

Spoiler

The first time I guess I was late enough in the game and had enough of the drake/dragon scale fire resist armor sets than I was able to just tank and spank.

On my second character, I got Morrigan's approval super high super quick and got destroyed a few times before I decided to just go a different route and fake her death. Probably better off that way just to get more variety out of my playthroughs rather than just doing the same thing over and over. Besides, this character's a girl and apparently Morrigan's not down with that, so I'm stuck with Leliana again. Knew I should have chosen Morrigan the first time.

 

[mileS]

Just got my new PC so I decided to trade in the 360 version at EBgames for $40. Since the PC version was only $54 it was a pretty fair trade. Even on 1280x1024 the game looks fantastic with all the settings maxed. Getting a new monitor soon so It's going to look even better.

 

[Mar]

My character is finally on the site, after all this time.

Mar

When I first created him I thought he looked kinda scary looking. But since then in every cut scene he just looks like a retard who had no idea what anyone is talking about... Oh well.

 

[web01]

So when running this on pc I am getting really bad preformance its struggling to stay at 20fps.

Windows Vista
Core 2 Duo E6700
8800 GTX
4GB ram

Anyone else having similar problems I should be able it fine with my system shouldnt I?

 

[WanderingWind]

So when running this on pc I am getting really bad preformance its struggling to stay at 20fps.

Windows Vista
Core 2 Duo E6700
8800 GTX
4GB ram

Anyone else having similar problems I should be able it fine with my system shouldnt I?

Found yer problem, mate.

Honestly, you should be running it fine. I've seen it played on lower end machines than that...

 

[mAcOdIn]

Concerning the performance of the game, WanderingWind, I have a Phenom 2.2Ghz, the very first Phenom ever, 4GB of DDR 2 800 Ram, and a 4870 and I did get it to run really well, but I had to jump through hoops to do it. First I had to disable Vista's automatic errata fix for the Phenom something you don't need to do, then I downloaded AMD Fusion and made a profile with nothing but HD Boost enabled(no idea what that actually does, probably just checks that one option in your hard drives properties that windows tells you not to do unless you have a backup power supply) and when I launch the game I open the task manager and set the processor affinity and set the game to only use Cores 2 and 3(probably the only thing you can do on your Intel).

After all of that it runs good. I can't say you should be able to run it good as the 4870's a different beast than the 8800 but I was pretty certain it was something game related with my CPU and not the video card as I could set things to medium with no frame buffer effects and get the exact same performance with everything maxed and the frame buffer effects enabled. I do still have the problem of degrading performance, sometimes after 1 hour or maybe longer the load times become just totally atrocious to the point I can smoke a whole cigarette before it loads from one area to another, I basically have to save and restart the game again to fix that.

 

[WanderingWind]

Concerning the performance of the game, WanderingWind, I have a Phenom 2.2Ghz, the very first Phenom ever, 4GB of DDR 2 800 Ram, and a 4870 and I did get it to run really well, but I had to jump through hoops to do it. First I had to disable Vista's automatic errata fix for the Phenom something you don't need to do, then I downloaded AMD Fusion and made a profile with nothing but HD Boost enabled(no idea what that actually does, probably just checks that one option in your hard drives properties that windows tells you not to do unless you have a backup power supply) and when I launch the game I open the task manager and set the processor affinity and set the game to only use Cores 2 and 3(probably the only thing you can do on your Intel).

After all of that it runs good. I can't say you should be able to run it good as the 4870's a different beast than the 8800 but I was pretty certain it was something game related with my CPU and not the video card as I could set things to medium with no frame buffer effects and get the exact same performance with everything maxed and the frame buffer effects enabled. I do still have the problem of degrading performance, sometimes after 1 hour or maybe longer the load times become just totally atrocious to the point I can smoke a whole cigarette before it loads from one area to another, I basically have to save and restart the game again to fix that.

The load time thing is across the board. I can run Crysis at Max settings at about 30-40fps and the load times on DA:O get longer as you play.

A cursory Google search shows that this is a fairly common problem. Just bad programming.

I feel bad for all the hoops you had to jump through to get it to play though...

 

[CAW]

Dragon fighting (will spoiler to be safe):

Spoiler

Easy fights to do with three mages and one tank. One healer, one DPS and one DPS with two healing abilities (my mage). One being self heal only though (drain life). Also with life bloom to keep back on the mages while keeping Alistair healed (with shielding talents that give him bonus resistances). It came down to just making sure I had enough mana pots. I fought both Flemeth and the other dragon (around the Urn of Ashes) at level 12 with ease.

So when it boils down to it, it's all about the team you have with you. I'm sure it would have been a lot hard with more melee seeing as the dragons have a nasty aoe but with ranged and one melee it was a cake walk.

Difficulty normal though so the next challenge will be on a higher difficultly level.

 

[mAcOdIn]

The load time thing is across the board. I can run Crysis at Max settings at about 30-40fps and the load times on DA:O get longer as you play.

A cursory Google search shows that this is a fairly common problem. Just bad programming.

I feel bad for all the hoops you had to jump through to get it to play though...

Ahaha, I quoted the wrong person. Yeah, I think it's shoddy programming myself. The game always ran, it's just all the shit I do first seems to extend how long the game runs well. Really funny because it'll run absolutely awesome for a while and before you know it you're making dinner and running errands in town during loading screens.

 

[Killthee]

Fucking hell, I feel retarded. I bought the Shale DLC only to read on the back of the box almost immediately after that I have it for free already. Pays to read the box eh....in my defence I had no real reason to read the back and it is hard to see unless you actually read it, not glance like I normally do.... >.>

You're not the first person, nor the last one this has happened to. Contact EA and see if you can get a refund.

 

[CoolTrick]

Can someone answer this for me with as absolutely little spoilage as possible?

In the caverns of Haven...

Spoiler

Kilgorn's quest. That seems like a pretty major crossroads. I feel like pouring the blood into Andraste's ashes would be certainly a "bad" decision, but if I don't do it and just kill him, am I missing anything?

In short, is there any upside to doing the "bad" option? Cause I otherwise don't want to.

 

[Pancakes]

Can someone answer this for me with as absolutely little spoilage as possible?

In the caverns of Haven...

Spoiler

Kilgorn's quest. That seems like a pretty major crossroads. I feel like pouring the blood into Andraste's ashes would be certainly a "bad" decision, but if I don't do it and just kill him, am I missing anything?

In short, is there any upside to doing the "bad" option? Cause I otherwise don't want to.

Well you do get a pretty big chunk of EXP (I think 1.5k or something like that) but besides that, no.

 

[CoolTrick]

Well you do get a pretty big chunk of EXP (I think 1.5k or something like that) but besides that, no.

Would I get a worse ending, though? I don't want that.

 

[I should be doing hw]

You're not the first person, nor the last one this has happened to. Contact EA and see if you can get a refund.

Hey thanks a lot man, you might have saved me some cash.
On another note, fuck this game. I've spent pretty much all my waking hours on it for 2 days straight. Too addictive.

 

[Sinatar]

Well you do get a pretty big chunk of EXP (I think 1.5k or something like that) but besides that, no.

You get a warrior specialization as well (Reaver) though you can do that, the just load your game and the spec is still unlocked.

As for the ending, yea it would change a bit, the text part anyways.

 

[Pyke Presco]

Can someone answer this for me with as absolutely little spoilage as possible?

In the caverns of Haven...

Spoiler

Kilgorn's quest. That seems like a pretty major crossroads. I feel like pouring the blood into Andraste's ashes would be certainly a "bad" decision, but if I don't do it and just kill him, am I missing anything?

In short, is there any upside to doing the "bad" option? Cause I otherwise don't want to.

Save prior to making the decision and do the bad first followed by the good. The bad quest will give you the Reaver Specialization for your warriors, and as far as I know is the only way to get it. Once you have unlocked it with one character it stays tied to your profile forever, including loading up an older save or starting a new character, so you can just go back and do things like you intended/wanted.