Dragon Age: Origins

[ZzZGuy]

perhaps a nitpick, perhaps not:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/11/6/

But i'm a P/A fan so I guess I'll just side with them

I have decided to hold off on the paid DLC until my second playthough, when there will be proper reviews of the DLC and probably more paid DLC (which I hope would be worth buying).

 

[smackababy]

Do the enemies level up in accordance with your character? I found the game just rought on Normal difficulty so I cheated a little bit with a trainer just to advance a couple levels and I have still died a couple times.

Damn this game is pretty rough. Need to get the patch for sure this weekend since its obvious they think the game is too hard as well. Most of the changes on the patch are to make the game a little easier

I don't know but I started the game on hard and have had to lower it to normal. It is a bit difficult. Hopefully there is a new game+ mode or something so I can go through on the hardest.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

I am mighty tempted to pick this game up tonight...I'm in a lull with WOW while waiting for 3.3...

:hmm:

 

[Dorkenstein]

Can anyone say whether a dwarf or elf makes a better dual-wielding warrior from the get-go?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

So I thought I'd try to roll a 2h warrior, but it seemed like every race/class combo only either had shield skills or dw skills : ( I know I could just ignore that point and go 2h with the rest, but it's buggering me that I'd have that wasted point.

 

[mwmorph]

Do the enemies level up in accordance with your character? I found the game just rought on Normal difficulty so I cheated a little bit with a trainer just to advance a couple levels and I have still died a couple times.

Damn this game is pretty rough. Need to get the patch for sure this weekend since its obvious they think the game is too hard as well. Most of the changes on the patch are to make the game a little easier

I'm pretty sure they do. I was midway through the game when I tried using a console command to level up and see what the Warrior dual weapon talents are like. Went into battle with lv 6-8 gear as a lv 16 and died extremely quickly. Then i reloaded my save and went back to being lvl 8.

Make sure you have the good gear if you want the game to be easier.

 

[smackababy]

So I thought I'd try to roll a 2h warrior, but it seemed like every race/class combo only either had shield skills or dw skills : ( I know I could just ignore that point and go 2h with the rest, but it's buggering me that I'd have that wasted point.

As soon as I made a warrior I was like "shield bash" that sure sounds familiar. Then once I started playing and got an AoE taunt and a proper taunt I decided to just go prot warrior type.

 

[Dorkenstein]

So I thought I'd try to roll a 2h warrior, but it seemed like every race/class combo only either had shield skills or dw skills : ( I know I could just ignore that point and go 2h with the rest, but it's buggering me that I'd have that wasted point.

I felt the same way with my 2h warrior, a human noble.

 

[Kalmah]

I am annoyed that every time I open up the journal it is automatically on the 'pay for additional online content' page. It wont stay on the damn quest page.

 

[jonks]

Just finished it

sleep much?

 

[mwmorph]

sleep much?

I'm shipping out for the Army Sunday so I have nothing to do until then and I figured why not finish the game before I go? Otherwise I wouldn't be able to continue it until at least something like end of August.

I did have to sort of rush through it though, game says 78% map explored and something like 41% of quests done, I'll have to come back to it later. Also didn't like how my ending panned out so I'm going to try new choices , after I of course finish Mass Effect 2 next year.

 

[QuantumPion]

Yes. I have Telekinetic Weapons and another mage in my group has Frost weapons. You just can't cast both with the same mage.

Does that mean you can only have one persistent spell cast at a time? Or is it just in particular for the weapon spells?

 

[mwmorph]

Does that mean you can only have one persistent spell cast at a time? Or is it just in particular for the weapon spells?

Activated abilities (auras, shapeshifts, etc) stack, but only 1 activated ability per mage at 1 time, so you cant stack frost weapons with death magic i believe with only 1 mage, but it is doable with 2 mages.

 

[Mem]

sleep much?

Hehe...I've the opposite problem , just got the game installed but need to redecorate my bedroom,anyway I managed to play for a little while on my Win7 x64 Ultimate and so far it all seems good,btw I have 5 download contents installed as well,my main character is a warrior.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

....cripes. Well, I'm not really one to get all worked up over DLC, especially free DLC....

But to get this game to play with all the free extras, I have had to create an account on their website, enter the CD key on the website to register as an owner, enter 4 friggin different DLC unlock codes, and had to enter the CD key again into the installer.

Jesus Harold Christ that's unlock overkill.

 

[coloumb]

Wow - this game is freakin awesome. I've just barely made my way out of the mages area and I'm already impressed. I definitely want to go back and choose the smart ass answers or different answers just to see what they'll say [I've been "nice" so far]. I do however get the feeling that no matter answers you choose - the ultimate result will continue you on the same path.

I really want to see if the other class choices have their own "starting" area as well...

Yes..this game will keep me busy for quite sometime...

 

[Zenoth]

Something I thought was ridiculous however is how they went as far as advertising their DLC content in-game and including that in part of the character's dialog options. I want to be clear here, I am NOT "against" DLC content for gaming. But having dialog options such as: «[Download new content] Give me a moment, I'll come back to help you.» is nothing but a desperate move, and I am quite sure that it comes from EA, if not I would be very surprised.

I couldn't help myself but just picturing my character within that universe (hey, it's role-playing game, right?) talking to that merchant on the road in dire need of help: «Nice to meet you, I am [insert name] of the Gray Wardens. To help you about this requires me to download new content, please give me a moment while I stand here and my spirit goes elsewhere, a plane of existence that is far beyond your imagination, eventually this world we live in will be enriched by that which the Maker allows be added.»

I mean... c'mon, there's some limits. You guys want a DLC? Fine, no problems... but please don't go about adding stupid dialog options like that. Instead just do the usual, make the DLC, let us download it, and then have new mission log entries (similar to Fallout 3 for instance) appearing. I mean we've reached a point in video gaming when the NPCs themselves are on the verge of advertising new downloadable content. It's ridiculous in my opinion.

They really are afraid of us "forgetting" somehow about the existence of DLCs and that they HAVE to advertise that in-game. It's almost like Empire: Total War, for which you have a "Steam Store" mini-icon at the bottom right of the screen in the game's main menu, from which you have an inevitable pop-up remembering you of the availability of new downloadable content. But at least it remains in the game's main menu... I guess that's alright, but still. As if we gamers didn't have the faculty to remember things by ourselves.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Do the enemies level up in accordance with your character? I found the game just rought on Normal difficulty so I cheated a little bit with a trainer just to advance a couple levels and I have still died a couple times.

Damn this game is pretty rough. Need to get the patch for sure this weekend since its obvious they think the game is too hard as well. Most of the changes on the patch are to make the game a little easier

Awesome. That was the one thing holding me back from buying this game after getting burned by Borderlands' super-easiness.

 

[murphy55d]

So far this game is great. I am playing a Dalish rogue, just got killed.

On another note though, every time I try to log in to get my blood armor and stuff, it says I am not connected to the internet, even though I clearly am. I tried the ECN disable that some people mentioned on other boards, but it still doesnt work. Already made a firewall exception, and have run everything as admin. Still can't get it to connect. Any tips?

 

[smackababy]

Something I thought was ridiculous however is how they went as far as advertising their DLC content in-game and including that in part of the character's dialog options. I want to be clear here, I am NOT "against" DLC content for gaming. But having dialog options such as: «[Download new content] Give me a moment, I'll come back to help you.» is nothing but a desperate move, and I am quite sure that it comes from EA, if not I would be very surprised.

I couldn't help myself but just picturing my character within that universe (hey, it's role-playing game, right?) talking to that merchant on the road in dire need of help: «Nice to meet you, I am [insert name] of the Gray Wardens. To help you about this requires me to download new content, please give me a moment while I stand here and my spirit goes elsewhere, a plane of existence that is far beyond your imagination, eventually this world we live in will be enriched by that which the Maker allows be added.»

I mean... c'mon, there's some limits. You guys want a DLC? Fine, no problems... but please don't go about adding stupid dialog options like that. Instead just do the usual, make the DLC, let us download it, and then have new mission log entries (similar to Fallout 3 for instance) appearing. I mean we've reached a point in video gaming when the NPCs themselves are on the verge of advertising new downloadable content. It's ridiculous in my opinion.

They really are afraid of us "forgetting" somehow about the existence of DLCs and that they HAVE to advertise that in-game. It's almost like Empire: Total War, for which you have a "Steam Store" mini-icon at the bottom right of the screen in the game's main menu, from which you have an inevitable pop-up remembering you of the availability of new downloadable content. But at least it remains in the game's main menu... I guess that's alright, but still. As if we gamers didn't have the faculty to remember things by ourselves.

The thing is, I don't mind the way they did the DLC. I ran into it last night. But it was at my camp and it was a nonabrasive NPC. Having an option to turn that crap off would be nice, but the way it is implemented, you can completely avoid seeing / hearing anything about it more than once. Unless there is some implementation I haven't come across yet (only have like 4 hours logged so far) I doubt there will be more than a few times I am like "stupid annoying EA and their DLC garbage."

And if you decide to get the DLC, you know how to access it. At least it isn't forced in your face at every corner and when you do buy it you're not thrust in it. I remember going from Morrowind to expansion. I made a new character so I could reexperience it all. As soon as I slept the first time, a dark brotherhood assassin showed up and killed me. He was must stronger than me.

 

[Punter]

Enjoying this so far. After playing so much MMO it is fun to be the one giving orders to the whole party.

While the graphics are not mind-blowing they do build a nice atmosphere and are enjoyable. It is not like Oblivion where you are looking at the same stuff over and over like a Flintstone cartoon.

Playing on 'hard' and it is not that difficult if one plans ahead by pausing the game. I like being a mage and having the meat-shields go ahead while I sit back and blast the enemy to bits. Incidental friendly damage makes it a challenge to keep the team alive.

 

[Skott]

A lot of people are having problems getting the game to start since patching to v1.01. Might want to hold off on getting the patch for a while till they get a fix for it in place.

If you have already patched and having trouble getting the game to start you can try uninstalling and then reinstalling and not patching and see if that works for you. That's the only work around I have heard of so far. I haven't tried it myself yet so unsure if it works. If you do this and have a saved game be sure to back it up somewhere first before uninstalling/reinstalling.



Edit: Here is something you can try. Some people are having luck with it but I didnt.


Z-stewart-Z wrote...

I also got it to work by going to ProgramFiles/DragonAge/bin_ship and then double clicking on either daorigins.exe or the shortcut labeled DAOriginsLauncher-MCE if this works for you a temporary fix could be to copy either one and paste a shortcut on your desktop or wherever you want to launch the game from


Edit 2: Those that are reinstalling without the patch are reporting game starting fine. Its definitly the patch that is causing the problem it seems.

 

[TheVrolok]

I'm probably ~15 hours in and I absolutely love this. My favorite RPG since BG, easily. It just seems like they thought everything out very well in advance.

 

[waggy]

Something I thought was ridiculous however is how they went as far as advertising their DLC content in-game and including that in part of the character's dialog options. I want to be clear here, I am NOT "against" DLC content for gaming. But having dialog options such as: «[Download new content] Give me a moment, I'll come back to help you.» is nothing but a desperate move, and I am quite sure that it comes from EA, if not I would be very surprised.

I couldn't help myself but just picturing my character within that universe (hey, it's role-playing game, right?) talking to that merchant on the road in dire need of help: «Nice to meet you, I am [insert name] of the Gray Wardens. To help you about this requires me to download new content, please give me a moment while I stand here and my spirit goes elsewhere, a plane of existence that is far beyond your imagination, eventually this world we live in will be enriched by that which the Maker allows be added.»

I mean... c'mon, there's some limits. You guys want a DLC? Fine, no problems... but please don't go about adding stupid dialog options like that. Instead just do the usual, make the DLC, let us download it, and then have new mission log entries (similar to Fallout 3 for instance) appearing. I mean we've reached a point in video gaming when the NPCs themselves are on the verge of advertising new downloadable content. It's ridiculous in my opinion.

They really are afraid of us "forgetting" somehow about the existence of DLCs and that they HAVE to advertise that in-game. It's almost like Empire: Total War, for which you have a "Steam Store" mini-icon at the bottom right of the screen in the game's main menu, from which you have an inevitable pop-up remembering you of the availability of new downloadable content. But at least it remains in the game's main menu... I guess that's alright, but still. As if we gamers didn't have the faculty to remember things by ourselves.

From what i am hearing this is the big issue with the game. that there is a DLC in a way that breaks the game.

but they say its minor and the game is well worht it. but they could have handled it better.

i hate to see games go into this type of thing. have lots of little quest to buy and keep the main game short.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

A lot of people are having problems getting the game to start since patching to v1.01. Might want to hold off on getting the patch for a while till they get a fix for it in place.

If you have already patched and having trouble getting the game to start you can try uninstalling and then reinstalling and not patching and see if that works for you. That's the only work around I have heard of so far. I haven't tried it myself yet so unsure if it works. If you do this and have a saved game be sure to back it up somewhere first before uninstalling/reinstalling.
Edit: Here is something you can try. Some people are having luck with it but I didnt.
Z-stewart-Z wrote...

I also got it to work by going to ProgramFiles/DragonAge/bin_ship and then double clicking on either daorigins.exe or the shortcut labeled DAOriginsLauncher-MCE if this works for you a temporary fix could be to copy either one and paste a shortcut on your desktop or wherever you want to launch the game from


Edit 2: Those that are reinstalling without the patch are reporting game starting fine. Its definitly the patch that is causing the problem it seems.

Yes, after patching, it would not start. If you double click the exe, you get a message about side by side configurations.

The patched exe was apparently built with an updated MS Visual C++ library. Go to Microsoft.com, download the latest MSCVPP library (use the x86 version even if you're running x64, since the game is a 32 bit app), install and the game will work again.




As for the game itself, I'm not thrilled so far - thinking I shouldn't have been a mage. It seems to have the AD&D later revision mage problems - where mages theoretically start out weak and become very powerful, but due to increased resistances, end up weak even at higher level. I probably shouldn't be too surprised, given how openly hostile the game's lore is to mages, but still.