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[DietRob]

The most important thing console owners will miss, is the MOD community. I think it will be huge, it will add dozen of hours of gameplay and features that are still missing. Maybe they will even try to make a BG2 MOD.

Yep I too think the mod community will be huge for this game. With the tools that Bioware released it will be possible to make some really unique stuff.

 

[Zeliard]

Yep I too think the mod community will be huge for this game. With the tools that Bioware released it will be possible to make some really unique stuff.

It also looks to be substantially expandable via official DLC, but I hope EA and Bioware use that to increase content and add life to the game, and don't start nickel-and-diming. Moreso than they already have, at least.

 

[FrankT]

Just got the call from Ashley. Tomorrow is definitely a go.

 

[sendu]

Anyone know how the character creator saves your character, exactly? I noticed that you can both save it as well as upload it (I did both). When you start the full game, does it pull the created character from your EA account, or from a save folder in your hard drive (or both)? I didn't bother to check it out so I'm not sure.

From the save folder only. The website version of your character can not be used in any version of the game - it's a different file format.

 

[RPGCrazied]

I hope so, don't want to wait for their UPS man to get there.

So im assuming they have them already, just not selling earlier.. or midnight launch

 

[Tadale]

Does anyone know when reviews are going up?

 

[garath]

Does anyone know when reviews are going up?

Tomorrow. Embargo lifts Nov 3rd

 

[Naeblish]

Can't wait for the eurogamer pc review, even though they gave Risen a 6, bastards .

 

[RPGCrazied]

What are the odds of finding a new copy tomorrow w/o preordering?

I mean its EA, I shouldn't have a problem.. right?

 

[FrankT]

What are the odds of finding a new copy tomorrow w/o preordering?

I mean its EA, I shouldn't have a problem.. right?

Regular edition should be no problem.

 

[Tadale]

Tomorrow. Embargo lifts Nov 3rd

I hate when that happens; it always seems like the publisher is trying to protect the game. Strange in this case, since everything I hear has been overwhelmingly positive.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Yea, thats all I want. The gamestop dude said i could still preorder today to guarantee a copy. I thought that might be to late, a day before release. Best Buy usually don't get games until like the following friday.

so its either gamestop or nothing, I do have like 4 of them around tho

 

[syllogism]

IGN UK gave it 9.2

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/104/1040976p2.html

Bioware’s achievements in all this are incredible. It cannot be stressed enough at the depth of the universe they have conjured. Every corner you look, there is a sense of age, of something old. Entire mythologies for multiple cultures have been brewed up, entire religions mapped out in their own belief systems, history that stretches back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Cities look lived in, worn – majestic and squalid places that spill with times gone by and a sense of place. The castles look like they have been there for centuries, and truly, there is an uncertain sense that they have been. That Ferelden and its inhabitants were waiting patiently in the wings for all this time, waiting for their chance to shine. Well, like the Grey Wardens, their time has come. Let us unite then, and in the words of an old friend: We shall show those cursed Darkspawn our hearts – and then show them theirs.

Simply expect one of the best RPGs you have yet played.

 

[Cheech]

The most important thing console owners will miss, is the MOD community.

I find "mods" about as big of a selling point as what kind of paper the manual is printed on.
Bioware already dropped an 80+ hour game here. With all the other stuff out there to play, why do I care about this?

I don't know why we have to go through this pissing contest every time a PC/console game drops. It's like the PC-only guys are trolling in an attempt to increase sales of the PC version of the game, thereby staving off the death of big-budget gaming on the platform. I don't really care enough to get into this debate, but your efforts would be better spent getting your friends to buy these games instead of pirating them.

 

[Kintaro]

Yea, thats all I want. The gamestop dude said i could still preorder today to guarantee a copy. I thought that might be to late, a day before release. Best Buy usually don't get games until like the following friday.

so its either gamestop or nothing, I do have like 4 of them around tho

All Gamestops have their copies of the game already. A pre-order at this point just means you're reserving one of those copies in the back.

 

[Kintaro]

I find "mods" about as big of a selling point as what kind of paper the manual is printed on.
Bioware already dropped an 80+ hour game here. With all the other stuff out there to play, why do I care about this?

Yeah, the potential for free, awesome content for the life of the game isn't a good selling point for fans at all. At all.

 

[FrankT]

IGN UK gave it 9.2

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/104/1040976p2.html

Impressive.

 

[wayward archer]

What are the odds of finding a new copy tomorrow w/o preordering?

I mean its EA, I shouldn't have a problem.. right?

I will be very surprised if this game is hard to find tommorow.

I also didn't pre-order so i guess we'll find out...

 

[Zeliard]

If ever a game supported repeated playthroughs, Origins is it. Your origin story colours the experience of the entire game – and no superlatives here, it really does. Whichever one you eventually choose, the world will shape and re-order itself around it, often with a subtlety that belies deeper choice. The kinds of interactions we had with the huge amount of powerfully realised NPCs felt so natural in response to our origin story it felt that the game could not possibly have played out in any other way.

A quick load of another character with a different background shows quickly how masterful Bioware has been in painting a world that reacts sublimely to your choices. These changes can be small, such as in the context of a minor side-quest that can still play out in one of a dozen ways, or it can be huge, impacting shocking twists and changing how events play out across all Ferelden and the varying fates of nigh on all the characters you meet.

The plot changes aren't as simple as "that guy dies", either. These interactions are governed by an interestingly-employed moral compass – or rather, a lack of one. A stark contrast against other RPGs, Origins features no such alignment indicator of good or evil actions, simply throwing you to the wind to work things out yourself. Often there are no such clearly-aligned decisions; just a moment of hand-wringing as you struggle to decide which option presented is the one that hopefully won't backfire too badly.

Very promising.

 

[Mindlog]

I just pre-ordered and nabbed a month of Amazon Prime.

Will arrive tomorrow. GJ Internet.

 

[GreekWolf]

IGN UK review

The bosses in Origins are terrifying - huge, twisted, straight-from-hell beasts that hate you completely and will kill you without a second's hesitation. While you're still trying to cover your mage and bash the enemy with your warriors while archers stand far away, the size of some of them, coupled with their raw power and potential to smite, turn the battles from angry chess to simply hanging onto the horns of a rampaging bull for dear life. They're panicked, glorious messes as you struggle to throw everything you have at them with vain hope before it takes you down. These are some titanic fights.

That one paragraph just sealed the deal for me.

 

[corpserot]

Damn, glad I had the PS3 version preordered. Amazon is listing the PS3 version as "Usually ships within 10 to 14 days."

 

[Steve Youngblood]

What are the odds of finding a new copy tomorrow w/o preordering?

I mean its EA, I shouldn't have a problem.. right?

I don't know your area specifically, but I find that any game that is widely available at all the big retailers (and the Sunday ads for places like Target, Best Buy, etc. all featured it in their game ads) will have an adequate supply of inventory. In fact, for places that aren't GameStop, I would be surprised if you couldn't waltz right in and buy the limited edition off the shelf provided you go in during the morning/at lunch.

 

[Zeliard]

That was an incredibly glowing review, to the extent that the 9.2 score actually seems low.

Far better-written than that AU one as well.

 

[FrankT]

That one paragraph just sealed the deal for me.

Superb.


New shit indeed.

 

[speedpop]

I find "mods" about as big of a selling point as what kind of paper the manual is printed on.
Bioware already dropped an 80+ hour game here. With all the other stuff out there to play, why do I care about this?

I don't know why we have to go through this pissing contest every time a PC/console game drops. It's like the PC-only guys are trolling in an attempt to increase sales of the PC version of the game, thereby staving off the death of big-budget gaming on the platform. I don't really care enough to get into this debate, but your efforts would be better spent getting your friends to buy these games instead of pirating them.

Way to take something completely out of context and beat it like the old dusty rug it is. Well done and congratulations on getting everything wrong.

 

[Enduin]

24 hours until Steam unlock...Christ what am I going to do for 24 hours!?

 

[HK-47]

I find "mods" about as big of a selling point as what kind of paper the manual is printed on.
Bioware already dropped an 80+ hour game here. With all the other stuff out there to play, why do I care about this?

I don't know why we have to go through this pissing contest every time a PC/console game drops. It's like the PC-only guys are trolling in an attempt to increase sales of the PC version of the game, thereby staving off the death of big-budget gaming on the platform. I don't really care enough to get into this debate, but your efforts would be better spent getting your friends to buy these games instead of pirating them.

Yeah its kinda lame getting community fixpacks that wont be hung up by XBL. Not a big deal at all. Who needs extra free content, really?

Also way to assume all my friends are pirates. Like what does that have to do with mods?

 

[tokkun]

It's a long game. Reviewers might not finish it if they're rushing to beat each other to the punch to get more clicks. They may simply want reviewers to go through all the main and side quest at least once before writing a review, instead of just playing the first 20 hours.

That would seem like a strange strategy since most of their games seem a lot more fun during the beginning part of the game when you have tons of quests and options available and tend to drop off in fun towards the endgame.

 

[Shake Appeal]

That was an incredibly glowing review, to the extent that the 9.2 score actually seems low.

Far better-written than that AU one as well.

IGN are probably still wary of giving high scores to Bioware RPGs, given their Jade Empire score is still a source of amusement to many.

 

[Lostconfused]

24 hours until Steam unlock...Christ what am I going to do for 24 hours!?

Id say meditate and become one with the force. But the old republic is not comming out any time soon.

 

[Minsc]

I find "mods" about as big of a selling point as what kind of paper the manual is printed on.
Bioware already dropped an 80+ hour game here. With all the other stuff out there to play, why do I care about this?

I don't know why we have to go through this pissing contest every time a PC/console game drops. It's like the PC-only guys are trolling in an attempt to increase sales of the PC version of the game, thereby staving off the death of big-budget gaming on the platform. I don't really care enough to get into this debate, but your efforts would be better spent getting your friends to buy these games instead of pirating them.

Spoken like someone who's never used a mod.

Go back to the shadow! The dark will not avail you!

 

[anddo0]

My Gamestop says tomorrow afternoon. I'm pretty sure they said that because they think I didn't pre-order. I'll be there in the morning to pick up my copy.:lol

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

http://i34.tinypic.com/a2grgz.jpg

AHAHAHAHA

Looks like a good time. Muahahahahahaha.

 

[LCfiner]

If ever a game supported repeated playthroughs, Origins is it. Your origin story colours the experience of the entire game – and no superlatives here, it really does. Whichever one you eventually choose, the world will shape and re-order itself around it, often with a subtlety that belies deeper choice. The kinds of interactions we had with the huge amount of powerfully realised NPCs felt so natural in response to our origin story it felt that the game could not possibly have played out in any other way.

A quick load of another character with a different background shows quickly how masterful Bioware has been in painting a world that reacts sublimely to your choices. These changes can be small, such as in the context of a minor side-quest that can still play out in one of a dozen ways, or it can be huge, impacting shocking twists and changing how events play out across all Ferelden and the varying fates of nigh on all the characters you meet.

The plot changes aren't as simple as "that guy dies", either. These interactions are governed by an interestingly-employed moral compass – or rather, a lack of one. A stark contrast against other RPGs, Origins features no such alignment indicator of good or evil actions, simply throwing you to the wind to work things out yourself. Often there are no such clearly-aligned decisions; just a moment of hand-wringing as you struggle to decide which option presented is the one that hopefully won't backfire too badly.

man, I need to read this bit again. It's both incredibly promising and more than a little intimidating. the scope and re-playability of this game looks to be larger than any RPG I've played.

All those varied origins stories seem to have a big impact on the experience. good job Bioware. i may have to play this one more than twice.

 

[MirageDwarf]

Retail PC version has only disc check which is very good. No frustrating DRM hell.

 

[Castor Krieg]

Game looks like the one you can really role-play instead of being focused on cracking and exploiting game system. Great info!

 

[Zeliard]

IGN are probably still wary of giving high scores to Bioware RPGs, given their Jade Empire score is still a source of amusement to many.

:lol

True. It's still a good score, obviously, but it's the text that seals it. Looks like the game nails some of the things I was most hoping it would. The IGN UK review perfectly explains why someone would love the game. Oppositely, the IGN AU review is very poorly written - it gives you no indication at all of why you'd either enjoy or dislike the game.

 

[-Mikey-]

Their lowest setup is

A64 3200+ (is this a single core wtf?)
Ati 3850 256 MB
2 GB DDR2 800
Vista

My setup is exactly the same but with a X2 5000+ and Windows 7. How much difference in performance should I expect?

That's crazy. I have that exact setup, 8800 GTS instead, but there is a phenom 2 x4 plus other goodies en route. Should have it tomorrow or Wednesday.

 

[HK-47]

Not to start a fire or anything, but JRPG's to me are more adventure games with role playing elements, as compared to say a typical D&D based cRPG that allows you to be pretty much any type of character you want, and that has a world that reacts to what type of character you are. See Baldur's Gate 2.

Not really. WRPGs worlds tend not to be all that reactive either outside a few notable exceptions. Regardless, you are never gonna get a TTRPG experience from a video game. They are too different. I wish more D&D RPGs realized this and adapted ideas from D&D to better suit a video game, rather than cram mechanics that dont really work into a different medium.

 

[HK-47]

AHAHAHAHA

Look at me! I'm totally not menacing at all! I hope my purple skin matches the drapes in my lair.

 

[Tenks]

Boo'urns enemies level up with you :<

 

[Zeliard]

man, I need to read this bit again. It's both incredibly promising and more than a little intimidating. the scope and re-playability of this game looks to be larger than any RPG I've played.

All those varied origins stories seem to have a big impact on the experience. good job Bioware. i may have to play this one more than twice.

This might be my favorite and most telling sentence from that part:

The kinds of interactions we had with the huge amount of powerfully realised NPCs felt so natural in response to our origin story it felt that the game could not possibly have played out in any other way.

I think the boys at Bioware did their job.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

I find "mods" about as big of a selling point as what kind of paper the manual is printed on.
Bioware already dropped an 80+ hour game here. With all the other stuff out there to play, why do I care about this?

I don't know why we have to go through this pissing contest every time a PC/console game drops. It's like the PC-only guys are trolling in an attempt to increase sales of the PC version of the game, thereby staving off the death of big-budget gaming on the platform. I don't really care enough to get into this debate, but your efforts would be better spent getting your friends to buy these games instead of pirating them.

Another quality meltdown brought to you by pcgamers, i suggest you read hitmans post again...slowly.

 

[Kintaro]

Boo'urns enemies level up with you :<

This true? God, I hate that shit. =/ Oh well. Maybe there is a valid storyline reason.

 

[Minsc]

Boo'urns enemies level up with you :<

Only to a set range, not like in Oblivion where there was no limit, iirc.

Which is the proper way to do it in a open world game (static enemy levels are dumb).

This true? God, I hate that shit. =/ Oh well. Maybe there is a valid storyline reason.

Why should you and your party be the only thing in the whole world that can get more powerful? That's reason enough.

 

[-NeoTB1-]

I find "mods" about as big of a selling point as what kind of paper the manual is printed on.
Bioware already dropped an 80+ hour game here. With all the other stuff out there to play, why do I care about this?

:lol :lol :lol

Joke post?

 

[Caspel]

Yup, and your impressions have been superb. The point that I was replying to was that there's a lot of boasting/showing off/sneering going on with regard to systems. Impressions of each version are awesome. Sneering is not.

all righty I have some insight on review scores of a few sites that i won't mention names... they are in the range of 9

Spoiler

.4 to a 10

 

[Tenks]

Not sure, I can only go based on the review:

Origins remains tough because the challenge ups its ante as the campaign unfolds. Enemies level up alongside you, which can be a little absurd if one dwells on it – a mere Captain of the Guard towards the end turns out to be several magnitudes of order more powerful than the first giant Ogre fought at the beginning, but the trick is that the scale of the battles increase alongside you as well. What starts off as taking down uncoordinated roving bands of blaggards ends up with facing off against entire armies of beastly brethren. And all shall fall at your sword.

 

[Caspel]

Look at me! I'm totally not menacing at all! I hope my purple skin matches the drapes in my lair.

that's the standard end boss demon for a few dungeons and quests.