That was well said, Talaran.

A stupid question here about preordering, but if I preorder through Amazon.com, does anyone know if they will take the money out immediately; or will the money be taken out of my account when the game is shipped in March? Thanks.

Usually Amazon doesn't charge your account until the item ships.

Thanks, Talaran.

EDIT: Well, I preordered today. I have drunk the Kool-Aid. I hope the game will be worth it.

then why did i see all those posts on the forums about the game playing the same no matter who you picked. unless they were complaining about the overarching them and not the little things. if i havent give my copy away i might try the dwarf story. i hate elves so there is no chance in hell of that happening. i wanted to really play as one of the qunari sp? they are like the klingons of the DnD world.

The major story plays the same; gather allies from the Mages, Dwarves, Dalish, and Humans to build your army and stop the Blight.

The rogue will be able to execute a move that will place them into a backstab position...I wish they would patch that into DA:O.

Does anyone know if BioWare will ever get around to patching the Silverite Mine bug in Awakening?

It's really bad when that bug bites you...you lose weapons, armor, and most of your inventory.

I've really grown to dislike the Dragon Age developers, which in turn causes me to dislike their forums. They always seem so condescending, and they're there ALL THE TIME which gives me the idea that they have nothing better to do most of the time. That's just me, though.

I just remember people like David Gaider defending the silent PC so vehemently, saying that if the PC was voiced, they would have cut 2/3 of the dialogue out. Well, this time around, the PC is voiced. Now what?

Clue: They cut two-thirds of the background options, so sounds about right.
Not that they had much choice with the amount of development time they have now been given by their new masters.

I'm trying to decide whether I should get DA2. I played through the first, and loved the story and characters. The gameplay? Not so much. In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch to say I hated the combat. Standing in front of someone and repeatedly pressing A wasn't my idea of a fun time, and while I get that there are a lot of RPG elements, I just didn't enjoy them all that much.

I'm definitely interested in seeing more of the story/characters/setting, but I'm not sure if its really worth buying a game when I don't enjoy playing 70%. Any advice on whether I should buy it or not?

This. Seriously though, it was called Dragon Age: Origins for a reason. That's what it was all about. No guarantees for the sequels.
Besides, Hawke will not be as defined as Shepard was before, so it's all right with me. Unless the voice actors turn out to be completely awful in delivering changes in tone and mood *cough*markmeer*cough*.

As far as I know, probably not. Thankfully, it's easy to see if you got the bug ahead of time: if your protagonist wakes up naked (not in mundane clothes, like everyone else), and/or you still have your entire inventory, you got bugged. It's usually caused by a specific item on the main character that the game can't quite identify (usually something from a DLC). Best thing to do is to create a save prior to entering the mine, and either keep reloading while unequipping different items from him/her to figure out what among them is causing it, or just strip him naked yourself, in which case, you'll get everything back at the end of the dungeon.


They just followed the money. :shrug: Mass Effect 1 and 2 sold well, people liked their features (especially the voiced protagonist), and complained about DAO's silent protagonist. So Bioware answered them. I hate it too.


If I hate how a game plays, I more often than not divorce myself from that game (and possibly its entire franchise) entirely. Story is nice, but a distant concern behind gameplay as far as I'm concerned. Sounds like you were played the console version though. Played a little bit of that and hated it myself, thought it was utterly unplayable, with a garbage interface and confusing controls. It was impossible to pull off the maneuvers the PC version allowed. So I guess your options for DA2 would be to either get it for PC (assuming your computer is up to snuff), or to see if combat for the console version has been dramatically improved, as Bioware claims.

Yeah, I was playing it on 360. If the PC version is better, I may just have to give it a try. It seems somewhat similar to an RTS in that way - it just simply can't be played the same on a console, if what you say is true.

My PC is definitely up to snuff - it has to be with all the mods I run for Fallout/TES. I figure I'll probably just download DA2 off Steam, and it'll probably be damn cheap compared to what I'm used to paying for games, seeing as how expensive our games are.

How are you Xetirox? Missing Werewolf too?

Yep, plays like an RTS on PC (with...pause).

And yes, I am missing Werewolf. Oh, how I pine planning for the deaths of a couple dozen of my peers, as they squabble among themselves. Ripping their throats out, smashing their skulls in, and eating their little puppies too. Or sinking into an increasingly more self-destructive pit of paranoia as my trust in everyone fades away (especially Ratwar and Webster). Or being murdered via my own plush tiger (named Hobbes). Sighs dreamily.

Hm, the only RTS I've ever played was Halo Wars on the 360, and I can't say it was my favourite game. However, I've heard again and again how an RTS on a console is but a shadow of what it it on a PC... Anyway, DA is simpler than an actual RTS, which I think I'll appreciate.

Yes, the homicidal tendencies are that much more difficult to control without an outlet, I agree. Web Sterre demands blood!

I found a gameplay video
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/11/from-russia-with-love-five-minutes-of-dragon-age-ii-gameplay/. But it was taken down so I guess all you can do is read the comments.

I liked meer... though that may be linked to not liking hale, her voice annoys me, not to mention when you even try to talk to jacob it sounds terrible.


Hmm, after the new direction of the story and new art style I doubted if I would get this, now I am reading it is like hack and slash... Yeah im done with dragon age. And I am starting to islike how ME2 is going, at this rate I will probabally stop playing BW games, after ME3 anyway, I have 1 and 2 may aswell find out how this ends, but BW seems to have gone downhill, while DAO wasnt my favorite game due to the combat it was fun and kept me entertained for a bit, but it just seems like its going to be "streamlined" like ME was. Im just going to save my money.

It seems like bioware is falling prey to the kids who don't like to think and want everything spoon fed.

I've decided to give DA:O another shot, but I have a question. What level should my party be when I attempt the Return to Ostagar DLC? I know the Warden's Keep and the Stone Prisoner DLCs can be done as soon as the map opens up, but I can't find anything in the wiki about how difficult the Return to Ostagar is.

As soon as possible if you like loot that will unbalance the game early on. The fights are a bit hard if you don't know what you're doing, so I would say after the first main quest (which for me is usually the Mages Tower as I like Wynne). Plus Wynne has awesome dialogue in Return, so you may well want her in the party.

Ok, thanks! I'm trying to plan out my play through to make it easier on me. The first time I tried to play the game got really difficult during the Redcliffe castle quests (mostly because I didn't know how to build effective characters) and I kind of gave up.

http://kotaku.com/5692653/

I noticed this:


Lolwut.

The camera will zoom out, not up, so it hopefully means little.

:facepalm: Epic Fail on my part, but the search didn't show up with anything...

I just got this for my PC and am pretty excited...

Should I go through the original or skip straight to Awakening? I played through most of the original on the 360 but :shrug:

All I can say is... Alistair + Morrigan always. Even if their skills don't perfectly fit with what you want from your party. The dialogue is worth it.

Couldn't agree more.

I ended up ditching Morrigan for Wynne, though. I myself am an offensive mage, so a healer is welcome in my party.

I really need to start playing again, though...