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[DevelopmentArrested]

Got 360 and PC versions here in Toronto. As soon as baseball game ends, Ill try em out and post impressions of each if anybody cares. Also the PS3 versions was out, not delayed btw.

 

[TheFallen]

Think I may go Human Noble Warrior (Reaver) from the start. The two specializations idea sounds crazy. With the way it seems set up from the wiki, I am worried that I may end up with this retarded character who's only spread thin across his talents. Doesn't help that there's no respec. Guess I will have to wait and see.

 

[Zzoram]

If I pre-order a few hours before it unlocks on Steam will I get the pre-order bonus?

 

[Fredescu]

Just in case if anybody likes to read manuals: http://akamai.cdn.ea.com/eadownloads/u/f/manuals/GAME-DRAGONAGE/Manuals.zip

Thanks, I think that confirmed that I'll go with a rogue for the dialog options. It looks like there may be some conversation options for other attributes, but the coercion skill which is influenced by Strength and Cunning is better to use as a Rogue or Warrior.

Strength
Greater strength increases the base damage from all weapons except crossbows and mages’ staves, and,
along with dexterity, determines whether a melee attack is successful. Consequently, strength is particularly
important for warriors and rogues, although mages who use melee weapons also find it essential. Great
strength is required to wield two-handed weapons or wear heavy armor. Strength also contributes to a
character’s physical resistance and influences the intimidation side of the Coercion skill.

Dexterity
As the primary component of a character’s defense score, dexterity helps sidestep attacks entirely. Along with
strength, dexterity also contributes to the melee attack score, which determines whether a swing connects
with its target. For ranged weapons, dexterity is the only attribute that contributes to the attack score. Greater
dexterity also increases the damage inflicted by piercing weapons like daggers and arrows, since the character
is able to maneuver the weapon’s tip more deftly. Finally, dexterity contributes to physical resistance and is a
prerequisite for some weapon talents. This attribute is most important for warriors and rogues.

Willpower
Willpower affects the size of the pool of mana or stamina that a character can draw from to power spells
or talents. This makes it essential for mages, but also very helpful for warriors or rogues who use talents
frequently. Willpower also contributes to a character’s mental resistance.

Magic
Unsurprisingly, mages gain the most benefit from a high magic attribute; the magic attribute’s modifier
determines the mage’s spellpower, which in turn governs the magnitude of a spell’s effect, including damage.
For characters of all classes, the magic attribute also increases the effectiveness of healing poultices, potions,
and salves. A high magic score is required to wield high-level staves or learn certain spells. Magic also
contributes to mental resistance.

Cunning
Characters cannot learn advanced skills unless they possess great cunning, so this attribute is useful for
any character who wishes to use skills effectively. It is doubly important for rogues, since many of their
class-specific talents are greatly improved by high cunning. Cunning helps characters identify weaknesses in
opponents’ armor, increasing the armor penetration score, and also contributes to mental resistance and the
persuasion side of Coercion.

Constitution
Every point in constitution increases a character’s health score, allowing more damage before the character
falls on the battlefield. It is thus important for all characters on the front lines of combat. Constitution also
contributes to physical resistance.

Conversation
Some conversations start by themselves—like at the beginning of your background story—but most of the
time, you need to approach other characters for help or information. (Don’t forget to talk to your own party
members—they might know more than you think.) If a speech-bubble icon appears when you mouse over
a character, just right-click to begin conversation. Whenever it’s your character’s turn to speak, you’ll have
several options for what to say. Click on the line you prefer or press the corresponding number key. Choose
carefully: the vastly different outcomes of certain choices may not be evident until much later in the game.

Persuasion
Some player lines begin with “(Persuade)” or another prefix. If your skill is sufficient, the character you’re
talking to will bend to your logic, but if you fail, you might find yourself in a worse position than you were
before. Persuade lines depend on your character’s rank in Coercion and the cunning attribute.

Intimidation
Intimidation is the flip side of persuasion: it still depends on the Coercion skill, but is influenced by your
character’s strength attribute rather than cunning. There are fewer opportunities for intimidation than there
are for persuasion, but the results can be more dramatic. As with persuasion, the price for failing an intimidate
check can be steep.

Other Attribute Checks
Some other special lines check your character’s attribute scores. For example, you might see a line prefixed
“(Cunning)” where your character displays unique insight. If your attribute is high enough for the situation, other
characters will respond favorably; if not, they might think less of you.

 

[Zzoram]

Think I may go Human Noble Warrior (Reaver) from the start. The two specializations idea sounds crazy. With the way it seems set up from the wiki, I am worried that I may end up with this retarded character who's only spread thin across his talents. Doesn't help that there's no respec. Guess I will have to wait and see.

If it works anything like it did in Baldur's Gate 2, you have to be very careful when you do it if you do it.

Metacritic shows 93 with 6 reviews, but the Steam page hasn't been updated with a metacritic.

 

[bathala]

Dunno if this was posted, but Warden's keep and stone prisoner r available now on XBL.

 

[whalenapp81]

I think they may just be low on product. I ordered mine a while ago.

My amazon order says it shipped today for me as well, i got the 360 version. I didn't do release day shipping, got the 2 day shipping. Mine is showing a delivery date of nov 4th as well.

 

[Lostconfused]

Got 360 and PC versions here in Toronto. As soon as baseball game ends, Ill try em out and post impressions of each if anybody cares. Also the PS3 versions was out, not delayed btw.

I would be angry at you if I didn't have it on steam and had a busy day tomorrow.

 

[TheFallen]

Thanks, I think that confirmed that I'll go with a rogue for the dialog options. It looks like there may be some conversation options for other attributes, but the coercion skill which is influenced by Strength and Cunning is better to use as a Rogue or Warrior.

I suppose that does make sense too, Rogues should have the most options for conversations. They are sly bitches.

 

[DeadGzuz]

How is the 360 pad support on the PC? I cannot do K&M anymore

 

[Sanjuro]

I'm sure DA:O will run on your 4350 on medium-low as well. Some guy said his 4570 runs it on High at 1920x1200 (but not Very High), which sounds almost too good to be true.

Yeah I thought so too. Once I disabled that frame-buffer box the game went into awesome mode. I'm trying to get a screenshot but print screen isn't doing it for some reason.

 

[eznark]

Yeah I thought so too. Once I disabled that frame-buffer box the game went into awesome mode. I'm trying to get a screenshot but print screen isn't doing it for some reason.

fraps

 

[Zeliard]

Thanks, I think that confirmed that I'll go with a rogue for the dialog options. It looks like there may be some conversation options for other attributes, but the coercion skill which is influenced by Strength and Cunning is better to use as a Rogue or Warrior.

I want my Mage to have some melee abilities so I'll probably sink some points into Strength, which modifies intimidation. Guess I'll find out how much influence it has on a non-warrior class.

 

[Sanjuro]

http://i34.tinypic.com/315093l.jpg

Ah, it went into a BioWare folder in documents. Here is a shot I took at the beginning.

 

[bengraven]

How is the 360 pad support on the PC? I cannot do K&M anymore

While I find that completely blasphemous, I do admit to not looking forward to click moving. :/

I made it so I could control the Witcher with WASD, but it is still kind of hard to control. Only point/click ARPGs like Torchlight, TQ, and Diablo should have that system.

http://i34.tinypic.com/315093l.jpg

Ah, it went into a BioWare folder in documents. Here is a shot I took at the beginning.

Blood-covered dog = scary as shit.

 

[Zeliard]

http://i34.tinypic.com/315093l.jpg

Ah, it went into a BioWare folder in documents. Here is a shot I took at the beginning.

So you get

Spoiler

Dog

basically right off the bat?

 

[bengraven]

So you get

Spoiler

Dog

basically right off the bat?

I swore it was Mr. Hanky with four legs.

 

[Absoludacrous]

So off-topic slightly, but is there any place online to buy digital copies of BG1 or 2?

 

[Sanjuro]

So you get

Spoiler

Dog

basically right off the bat?

Pretty much. Standard opening to a RPG.

Well here is my SON!
Go speak to your mother!
etc.etc.

 

[Zzoram]

http://i34.tinypic.com/315093l.jpg

Ah, it went into a BioWare folder in documents. Here is a shot I took at the beginning.

That looks pretty good. How is your framerate?

 

[LCfiner]

At some point, the default Bioware character stance is going to have to change from “automaton with hands perfectly placed along sides of body”

I mean, even Sonic back in 1993 had a little lean action goin’ on, y’know?

 

[Sanjuro]

That looks pretty good. How is your framerate?

If someone could direct me to a command to view it that would be great. It isn't choppy at all, only thing I could say happens is I get a hiccup say I'm walking down a hallway and enters a cutscene. Nothing annoying though.

 

[Minsc]

You know what is even more awesome? Amazon's pre-order price guarantee is up to midnight of release day. If Amazon drops price temporarily to scoop up more sales, you will get lower price automatically.

And what's even less known, Amazon's 30-day price protection guarantee. If the said price drops any time within 30 days of your initial purchase, Amazon refunds the difference. Not automatically though. I've succeeded in getting $15 back on a $30 purchase that fell to $15 a week later with a simple phone call.

 

[Zzoram]

If someone could direct me to a command to view it that would be great. It isn't choppy at all, only thing I could say happens is I get a hiccup say I'm walking down a hallway and enters a cutscene. Nothing annoying though.

Use FRAPS. It's a program that runs in the background and tells you your framerate in games.

 

[bengraven]

Pretty much. Standard opening to a RPG.

Well here is my SON!
Go speak to your mother!
etc.etc.

HAHA

"Where's Fido? Oh there's Fido! Good old boy, never leave my side!"

DOG has joined your party.

 

[-Mikey-]

What gfx card do you have Sanjuro?

 

[hyduK]

Hm.

Running an E5200, 9800GT, 2GB. If I upgrade to 4GB of RAM do you guys think it will run decently (don't really care if it's on low-medium settings, I just can't see myself playing this on 360).

W7 btw.

 

[bathala]

eh u need 38 strength to wear the Dragon Armor

 

[Zzoram]

What gfx card do you have Sanjuro?

He said he has an HD4570.

 

[Minsc]

What gfx card do you have Sanjuro?

A 295 is overkill x1,000, don't worry about your framerate :lol

Edit: Unless you have a slow single core CPU, but that'd be weird.

 

[Zzoram]

Hm.

Running an E5200, 9800GT, 2GB. If I upgrade to 4GB of RAM do you guys think it will run decently (don't really care if it's on low-medium settings, I just can't see myself playing this on 360).

W7 btw.

It'll probably run well even with 2GB of RAM, but 4GB can't hurt. If you're too low on RAM, you'll suffer from stuttering, which isn't a drop in framerate but actually loading hitches as you traverse levels because the game will use your HDD to swap stuff into RAM and the HDD is slower than RAM. You're unlikely to get stuttering at 2GB of RAM but many games do it if you have 1GB.

 

[Zzoram]

eh u need 38 strength to wear the Dragon Armor

So this game increases stats rather liberally? In Baldur's Gate 1/2, your stat points were basically final, with maybe a few special events adding 1 to something.

 

[eznark]

If someone could direct me to a command to view it that would be great. It isn't choppy at all, only thing I could say happens is I get a hiccup say I'm walking down a hallway and enters a cutscene. Nothing annoying though.

fraps

 

[Anticitizen One]

Any differences between the ps3 and 360 versions? (graphics, framerate, features, etc.)

 

[hyduK]

It'll probably run well even with 2GB of RAM, but 4GB can't hurt. If you're too low on RAM, you'll suffer from stuttering, which isn't a drop in framerate but actually loading hitches as you traverse levels because the game will use your HDD to swap stuff into RAM and the HDD is slower than RAM. You're unlikely to get stuttering at 2GB of RAM but many games do it if you have 1GB.

Thanks, I'll pick this up for PC tomorrow then.

 

[Zzoram]

Any differences between the ps3 and 360 versions? (graphics, framerate, features, etc.)

Supposedly the framerate is a bit worse on the PS3 version but they have identical graphics/features.

 

[Zzoram]

Thanks, I'll pick this up for PC tomorrow then.

Pre-order on Steam tonight and you get the bonus items and it'll pre-load and unlock at 3pm EST tomorrow (12pm PST).

 

[Sanjuro]

fraps

Damn, I just thought you wanted to take me out for some ice cream.

I downloaded the fraps, according to that I'm getting 28-30 fps with the BG2 view and from the third person view I get around 25-26fps.

I also have a bunch of programs running so not sure on the effects, but it is running smooth enough to make me happy.

 

[Snapshot King]

Yo Sanjuro, whats your CPU?

 

[Sanjuro]

Yo Sanjuro, whats your CPU?

2.4 Core 2 Duo.

 

[Zzoram]

Damn, I just thought you wanted to take me out for some ice cream.

I downloaded the fraps, according to that I'm getting 28-30 fps with the BG2 view and from the third person view I get around 25-26fps.

I also have a bunch of programs running so not sure on the effects, but it is running smooth enough to make me happy.

Ya hovering around 30fps will be smooth enough for a slow paced game like this, that's probably roughly the 360 framerate but you have 1080p, better draw distance, and better textures.

 

[Snapshot King]

Hate to bug you some more, but when you loaded the game up, what settings did the graphics default to?

 

[Dipper145]

Hm.

Running an E5200, 9800GT, 2GB. If I upgrade to 4GB of RAM do you guys think it will run decently (don't really care if it's on low-medium settings, I just can't see myself playing this on 360).

W7 btw.

Should run fine already. Higher than low-medium probably.


I think I'm going to be getting this for the PC since if the 4570 can run it good enough, my computer should be able to handle it just about as good.

 

[Zzoram]

Should run fine already. Higher than low-medium probably.

:lol

He'll probably max it if the other guy is getting 30fps on High with a 4570.

 

[Sanjuro]

Hate to bug you some more, but when you loaded the game up, what settings did the graphics default to?

Pretty much the same, with no AA, frame-buffering option, and a lower fullscreen resolution.

 

[Zzoram]

Should run fine already. Higher than low-medium probably.


I think I'm going to be getting this for the PC since if the 4570 can run it good enough, my computer should be able to handle it just about as good.

What does your PC have?

 

[Lostconfused]

I want my Mage to have some melee abilities so I'll probably sink some points into Strength, which modifies intimidation. Guess I'll find out how much influence it has on a non-warrior class.

If you are going for Warrior Mage then maybe its better to put points into cunning or dexterity or something like that. Because the only thing strength will give you is intimidation and a physical defense buff.

 

[Dipper145]

:lol

He'll probably max it if the other guy is getting 30fps on High with a 4570.

Yeah I agree, but I don't want to say that, and then he gets it and it doesn't run as good because this High on 4570 is some sort of weird miracle, and then he gets mad.

I'm going to bite the bullet and buy it right now actually off steam.

What does your PC have?

Well I checked the benchmarks for the 4570 mobility. And It's benchmarks on Crysis is comparable to what I get on my x1950 pro, except I play at a higher resolution. I know this doesn't translate to every game evenly, but it's a good enough for me. I'd rather play it on PC anyway. If I can somehow finagle medium at any resolution I'll be a happy camper.

 

[Zzoram]

Yeah I agree, but I don't want to say that, and then he gets it and it doesn't run as good because this High on 4570 is some sort of weird miracle, and then he gets mad.

I'm going to bite the bullet and buy it right now actually off steam.

The recommended specs are 8800, well above minimum, so there's no way his 9800 (slightly oc'd 8800 renamed) would run it poorly unless he didn't plug in it's power pin or didn't install any drivers at all.

 

[MirageDwarf]

And what's even less known, Amazon's 30-day price protection guarantee. If the said price drops any time within 30 days of your initial purchase, Amazon refunds the difference. Not automatically though. I've succeeded in getting $15 back on a $30 purchase that fell to $15 a week later with a simple phone call.

Was it recent? I know Amazon had that policy. Not anymore.