# Dragon Age Inquisition



## Vintage Paw (Jun 10, 2013)

The next game in BioWare's Dragon Age series is due to be released in Autumn 2014.

http://www.dragonage.com/

It just premiered its first trailer at E3, and I'm already excited. Seemingly learning from many of the criticisms people made of DA2, they have said they are taking their time to make this, to ensure it's deep, complex and polished. It will be a "vast open world" experience, where your "choices are reflected" in the world.

Trailer @ Kotaku.

Even though she was speaking throughout, I totally didn't realise who it was at the end until I saw her..... ermahgerd.


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## Vintage Paw (Jun 10, 2013)

http://www.destructoid.com/morrigan-returns-in-dragon-age-inquisition-255894.phtml

















Varric <3










Edit: How the chuffing hell do you resize the pictures? Sorry they are so big.


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## Stigmata (Jun 12, 2013)

I played the first one, which was ok rather than great. I heard part 2 was a bit limited. They need to make the setting a bit more interesting.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jun 12, 2013)

I really liked 1 even if i didn't finish it. 

2 didn't feel anywhere near as good as 1.  the controls weren't as good with no proper top down style stuff.  the setting was limited   and the plot  kinda disjointed.

I'm hopeful for number 3


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## Cid (Jun 12, 2013)

Bioware, EA, hope.


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## Epona (Jun 13, 2013)

Loved part one, part two was ok but not great (I didn't have the same hate for it that some people did and I did get some enjoyment out of it), part 3 can get fucked if it's only going to be on Origin.

I like Steam, release stuff on Steam or fuck off. I'm not installing another client onto my PC and remembering another set of passwords for the sake of one game when everything else I have bought is on Steam. 

ETA: At least it looks a bit prettier than the last installment.


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## Vintage Paw (Jun 13, 2013)

Epona said:


> Loved part one, part two was ok but not great (I didn't have the same hate for it that some people did and I did get some enjoyment out of it), part 3 can get fucked if it's only going to be on Origin.
> 
> I like Steam, release stuff on Steam or fuck off. I'm not installing another client onto my PC and remembering another set of passwords for the sake of one game when everything else I have bought is on Steam.
> 
> ETA: At least it looks a bit prettier than the last installment.


 
This is why my ME3 copy is an evaluation copy.


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## Epona (Jun 13, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> This is why my ME3 copy is an evaluation copy.


 
What do you think about EA saying that they will only concentrate on a couple of big money games aimed at the mass market in the next cycle of development, rather than 12 or so games for different audiences?

I read that and just massively facepalmed on their behalf.  And on our behalf too


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## Stigmata (Jun 13, 2013)

I have the feeling i'll end up saving my gold coins for Project:Eternity and Tides of Numenera instead.


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## Vintage Paw (Jun 13, 2013)

Epona said:


> What do you think about EA saying that they will only concentrate on a couple of big money games aimed at the mass market in the next cycle of development, rather than 12 or so games for different audiences?
> 
> I read that and just massively facepalmed on their behalf. And on our behalf too


 
I'm not surprised, honestly. They stated a while ago (or someone in their employ did) that they just don't commission or green light new titles or take a risk anymore, because they have more of a guaranteed profit from sequels, dlc, the top handful of games that have already done well, amassed a following and will continue to sell well if you just throw a sequential number after the title. It's deeply depressing, because while there is a lot of talent and some great things coming out of indie gaming, there's also a great deal of talent and possibility under the umbrella of the big publishers, and all that talent and know-how is pretty much going to waste on churning out another same-old same-old. That's not to say fps #342 can't be a great game, just that it cannot be healthy for the industry to have more of the exact thing time and time again. The innovation seems to be completely restricted to how far they can push and improve the things they already do with new technology, as opposed to what new things they can do with creativity and storytelling and types of gameplay. I'd argue it needs both approaches, but the first guarantees that profit, the second is risky. They are spending more and more on game development now that they need to ensure they sell a certain amount. But pushing that technology further and further to the exclusion of all else in the hope of selling more games because there's more shiny makes production more expensive, so they are building their own prison. They've lost all idea of balance, their idea of expanding the market is having CoD players buying console games and having everyone else buy phone and tablet games. Even plants and freaking zombies is a shooter now. Shooters can be great fun, but when it's your entire business model (well, that or sports) it isn't healthy.


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## golightly (Jun 14, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> But pushing that technology further and further to the exclusion of all else in the hope of selling more games because there's more shiny makes production more expensive, so they are building their own prison.


 
There seems to be a parallel to this thread in Film and TV.  Also, it seems that the big game companies are tied in with the hardware developers, so you can't get a shiney new game without shiney new hardware.


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## Epona (Jun 15, 2013)

This isn't in any way related to Dragon Age or Bioware or EA. But just on the subject of developer fails, has anyone seen that Planetary Annihilation is being sold in a pre-Alpha state on Steam for nearly £70? Yeah seriously, pay £30 more than the retail price and essentially pay them whilst you test an early alpha version of their game. It's not even in Beta yet! Apparently they have based their pricing on the fact that lots of people pledged money on kickstarter for early access, therefore they should 'offer' the same on Steam.

No. Just No. Kickstarter is a funding site, Steam is a retail site. If a few people pledge £10k to help get your game developed on Kickstarter, it does not mean that the appropriate retail price for buying the game ought to be £10k.

Steam forums have erupted over this, and it just goes to show that indie developers can be just as downright fucking stupid as big publishers. This doesn't let EA off the hook mind you, but it does make me worry even more about the future of gaming if kickstarter projects are forcing the retail price up!

Fucking pillocks.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jun 15, 2013)

i purchased kerbal space program as an early access game  because i love the idea

i don't really play it  but i love the idea and want to see the game do well

it cost about £12


you know i can kinda see why they have this price.  it would annoy  the fuck out of KS backers  if  they  allowed   new peeps  to get what is essentially a KS reward  tier for  cheap. 
seeing that the KS period is now over they don't want to deny a possible audience.  each new steam buyer is more money in the pot to improve. 

they are kinda stuck between  a  rock and a hard place.


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## Epona (Jun 15, 2013)

Shippou-Sensei said:


> i purchased kerbal space program as an early access game because i love the idea
> 
> i don't really play it but i love the idea and want to see the game do well
> 
> ...


 
No, now the Kickstarter is over, they don't want to deny anyone the opportunity of giving them that much money.  But they are making a shit sales pitch for it by doing it on Steam, which is a retail site - it's garnering hate for the game and the developer.

A different way of doing it is with games in development like Dead State where they got money on Kickstarter (it only went on Kickstarter when it had already been in development for 3 or so years!), now they have a Paypal account for people who want to provide funding for the game.  I doubt it will be 'offered' on Steam at 3 times the retail price for the dubious honour of beta-testing it.  Or Age of Decadence, which also has Kickstarter funding, but which I have already beta-tested as part of public beta-testing without having to pay for that dubious privilege (I have no money to fund anything).

Since when did it become OK to charge people to test a game for you?


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jun 15, 2013)

yeah i get it.   i can see this as something they advertise on their site at  actually slightly above KS prices.

The thing is  KS made alpha access  a money spinner.  i do have mixed feelings about that.    geting an alpha copy  is  a double edged sword.  you don't want people bitching  about an unfinished product  so you  want only  team members or die hard fans  talking about it.

giving backers alpha access is one thing.  selling alpha access is another.


with things liks kerbal space program  they  have a niche gam   which is constantly updated and  this new steam thing  makes sense for them

i think this new thiung by steam  only works  for a tiny number of games


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## Epona (Jun 15, 2013)

You know what, I'm dubious about pre-ordering a finished game, let alone an unfinished one. If I had loads of cash, I would rather donate on kickstarter for a game in development than buy an unfinished game on Steam.

I will happily test games, and I'm good at trying to break things and then reporting exactly how I broke it. That was my job working with Oracle databases, back in the day. But fuck me I'm not going to pay extra for the privilege. If I were to pay £60/100/1000/10000 on Kickstarter, that is to help them develop the game, not because I think that is how the game should be priced!  And I recognise it a donation, if anyone doesn't understand kickstarter and donates £100 and then is pissed off that the game retails at £30, that is their fucking problem.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jun 15, 2013)

yeah

it kinda works with KBS    because it's more of a sim.  each itteration just adds more depth and fetures  but  the   first  version  was a full game.


the price point is another matter,


with a game under £15   you can buy low  and  appreciate  the upgrades.   for a £40 game the expectation is diffrent


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## Epona (Jun 15, 2013)

I have to really think hard before spending £40 on a game - that's a weeks worth of food budget for the two of us, so I find myself far more inclined to look at Steam sales and cheaper indie games these days.  I do buy the occasional game at top whack when they are released but they have to be something I am really interested in.

No way am I paying that much for a game still in alpha, because the devs thought that was the right price to charge people to test a game for them!  It's just a bad way of running business.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jun 15, 2013)

there has been a revolution


i would never pay a publisher for an unfinished game

howerer


i think the relationship between developer and gamer is different

in the case of some peeops like double fine  this  is an intresting   symbitic relationship

but the diffrence between symbiote and   parasite is  fine


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## Epona (Jun 15, 2013)

I have to think very hard about any relationship that involves money going from my pocket into someone else's.

Deciding that I have some cash to fund a kickstarter project is one thing, seeing an unfinished alpha-build on a retail site like Steam at 3x the cost of most games I buy there is massively taking the piss.

Didn't they already double their Kickstarter target?  They are just being moneygrabbing gits at this point, no better than any of the major publishers we hoped this process might circumvent.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jun 15, 2013)

it's difficult.  my judgement does err on the    money grubbing side in this case  but i do feel enought sympathy to understand why they got to this point.




 the diffrence between alpha beta and  basic release with expiations becomes blurred


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## Epona (Jun 15, 2013)

Shippou-Sensei said:


> it's difficult. my judgement does err on the money grubbing side in this case but i do feel enought sympathy to understand why they got to this point.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
It's fairly simple for me - *there is no fucking way on this earth that I am paying £70 for a game still in alpha* and the chances of me buying even a finished game at that price is pretty much zero- do you know how much food I can buy with that money? What they want is ridiculous. I do occasionally buy a game for £30 or £40, but that's the exception (usually a birthday present or similar) rather than the norm.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jun 15, 2013)

have you seen the star trek online legacy pack?


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## Epona (Jun 15, 2013)

I dunno Shippy - Some bundle of games came up on Steam the other day that was £120 on special offer and it didn't take me more than a couple of seconds to decide that it was more important for me to make my mortgage payment this month. I tend to look out for games that are a tenner or less.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jun 15, 2013)

it's a flash back to their life time subscribers pack wgen they wwere a subscription mmo


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## Chick Webb (Jun 17, 2013)

I'm very excited for DA3.  I really liked 2, despite being able to see exactly why people would have a problem with it (annoying Hawke, limited locations).  I enjoyed all the characters, and the magey stuff, and the Qunari (phwoah).  1 is certainly a more immersive sort of game, with better replay value.  I've been replaying it all morning as a really rude female elf.  Telling priests where they can shove their "human nonsense" never gets old.  The Dragon Age games are the only games I've really loved in years.  I wish 3 was coming out sooner, but I suppose if they make a good job of it, the wait will be worth it.


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## Vintage Paw (Jun 18, 2013)

Chick Webb said:


> I'm very excited for DA3. I really liked 2, despite being able to see exactly why people would have a problem with it (annoying Hawke, limited locations). I enjoyed all the characters, and the magey stuff, and the Qunari (phwoah). 1 is certainly a more immersive sort of game, with better replay value. I've been replaying it all morning as a really rude female elf. Telling priests where they can shove their "human nonsense" never gets old. The Dragon Age games are the only games I've really loved in years. I wish 3 was coming out sooner, but I suppose if they make a good job of it, the wait will be worth it.


 
Agree with you on all of that, really. Origins wasn't the most polished game ever, and it had its annoying moments as well (*hugs the 'skip the fade' mod* *spits at the deep roads*), but the story was really great. The part leading up to and including the Landsmeet was some of the best video game writing I'd experienced at that point. I love the lore of the DA universe, and have my own utterly convoluted ideas about what's going on, where I'd like to see it go, how I'd like to see certain characters developed, etc. And the theories about Flemeth, of course. And Sandal!

I enjoyed 2 as well, again like you despite acknowledging the flaws, because it certainly had them. I still loved playing it though, and still do.

I really do trust them to do their very best to make Inquisition the greatest game it can be. Their passion is certainly there. I used to spend far too much time on their forums, and the DA team always engaged with the fans to a far, far greater degree than the ME team ever did. They just kind of... get it. But then, that's sort of true about all of them at BioWare, a few notable exceptions of course.

I'd love to have the game right now this minute, but I'm actually really happy they are leaving it that long - all the more time to get it right.


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## Epona (Jun 21, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> I'd love to have the game right now this minute, but I'm actually really happy they are leaving it that long - all the more time to get it right.


 
It is encouraging that they have not released it in haste and are taking more time over it - honestly I feel the main flaws with DA2 (I didn't hate it either, it just wasn't as good as I hoped it would be after Origins, 6/10 from me is a solid score - enjoyable but not exceptional) were that in a lot of ways it felt rushed with the reused maps and kind of bland environments with little attention to detailing, unimportant filler NPCs having shockingly lo-res faces, and the fact that it ended more or less the exact same way regardless of which side you took - that sort of thing.  All things that I am sure would not have been an issue had EA given Bioware more time to produce a polished game, rather than having them push out a sequel asap.


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## 8ball (Jun 21, 2013)

So VP - as out resident RPGer-in-chief - are those Dragon Origin games on the PS3 worth a pop, speaking from a 'really liked Skyrim' angle?


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## FridgeMagnet (Jun 21, 2013)

Epona said:


> It's fairly simple for me - *there is no fucking way on this earth that I am paying £70 for a game still in alpha* and the chances of me buying even a finished game at that price is pretty much zero- do you know how much food I can buy with that money? What they want is ridiculous. I do occasionally buy a game for £30 or £40, but that's the exception (usually a birthday present or similar) rather than the norm.


I've completely given up on paying for games in alpha now. I've done it a few times and all I've ended up with is an endlessly and irregularly updated app, of which I thought originally "this is a good idea I'll put some money in to fund that". Project Zomboid, UTO, all the ones that have been in Humble Bundles... no. No more. Not doing that shit any more. If I pay money for something it needs to fucking work right there and then.


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## Epona (Jun 21, 2013)

8ball said:


> So VP - as out resident RPGer-in-chief - are those Dragon Origin games on the PS3 worth a pop, speaking from a 'really liked Skyrim' angle?


 
I am not VP (and I like to think of myself as a joint-chief RPGer along with VP and tommers and stigmata and a few others thangyouverymuch, there are several RPG nuts here you know  ) but I can give you my perspective. Dragon Age: Origins is nothing like Skyrim, it's more like a modern day Baldur's Gate - top down isometric view, pause during combat to issue commands to your party members (not true turn-based combat, but you can simulate it fairly well by using the pause button). I can't say that if you liked Skyrim you'll like DA:O, because they are completely different games with completely different gameplay mechanics, despite being in the same genre.


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## 8ball (Jun 21, 2013)

Epona said:


> I am not VP but I can give you my perspective. Dragon Age: Origins is nothing like Skyrim, it's more like a modern day Baldur's Gate - top down isometric view, pause during combat to issue commands to your party members (not true turn-based combat, but you can simulate it fairly well by using the pause button). I can't say that if you liked Skyrim you'll like DA:O, because they are completely different games with completely different gameplay mechanics, despite being in the same genre.


 
Thanks.  I did like V.A.T.S. in the Fallout games and I do like the idea of the players' attributes being the determinant at least as much as the user's reflexes, if that means anything.


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## Epona (Jun 21, 2013)

8ball said:


> Thanks. I did like V.A.T.S. in the Fallout games and I do like the idea of the players' attributes being the determinant at least as much as the user's reflexes, if that means anything.


 
Thing is DA:O isn't like Fallout 3 either - although you design a character at the start, it's party-based, you control a number of characters - your own and whichever NPCs you have with you at any particular stage of the game. You don't run around as 'you' (your character), you look down on your character and the other party members from above and combat is strategic rather than doing stuff yourself - in the style of classic isometric party RPGs, rather than modern action-RPGs.

Have a look at some 'lets play' type stuff on youtube to decide whether you would like to play it, but don't go too far into any videos to ruin any story for you, because it is a story-heavy game.


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## 8ball (Jun 21, 2013)

Cool - will take a look - cheers.


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## Vintage Paw (Jun 22, 2013)

DA:O is only isometric if you scroll the camera out and want it to be. You do run around with the camera behind your character (or whichever from your party you're controlling - you can control any of them and switch when you want) in a fairly typical third person view, but can get that strategic isometric top-down view of the battlefield whenever you want. There's quite a bit of freedom with the camera as opposed to DA2, which tied it lower down, although you could still pull back a fair bit - which means that you can move it around to get the best angles that work for you.

It can look like this:






or this:





and various things in between.

This is what it looks like when you're just running around:





Like Epona said, it's not really comparable to Skyrim. There isn't really any of that open world exploration, although it feels freer and more open than DA2. There are a series of separate areas you can go to, and you have a small amount of freedom within them but it's still fairly linear about what you have to achieve while you're there. You can visit the main areas in the order you want, though, and approach many of the quests in a couple of different ways, sometimes requiring you to leave the area for a while, do something else, and return later if that's what you decide.

It's a decently long game, but part of that is down to things like the blasted Deep Roads section which takes forever and is the bane of every DA:O player's life. And the Fade. *cries*

There's plenty of humour in the game, and all the characters are interesting in their own right. The lore is where it shines, along with the storytelling, which really is excellent. The origin stories are a great mechanic - and playing through all of them before getting started on the game proper can be quite a good idea if you think you're not likely to ever slog through the game 8 times (or whatever it is). The city elf and the dwarven origins are really good. The human noble origin is probably what you'd expect. The dalish elf origin is certainly worth doing if you are ever going to play DA2 because it gives quite a bit of background to one of the characters and quests in it. The mage origins are so-so - interesting enough to understand how the circle works but no great shakes, tbh. Loghain is a fascinating character.

All in all it's a very solid rpg, good fun, interesting, and a decent bridge of 'old school' and some slightly newer ideas ('newer' is relative, because it's very definitely dated now, but that's no bad thing).

You can set up tactics so that your party will execute certain commands and use certain spells/actions when various criteria are met. That can be useful when wanting to chain spell effects, or make sure a party member drinks a health potion when they fall below X health, or they use X attack when facing 3 enemies at a time, and Y attack when facing one really big bastard, etc. That allows you to focus on just one or two characters if you want, so you can let combat feel a little bit more fast paced ('fast' again being relative, since it suffers from the old 'click mouse, shuffle shuffle shuffle shuffle stab' syndrome) by not pausing to issue commands to every single character for every single attack, the others will just auto-attack using the tactics you've set up (or their own auto-attack if you haven't). So depending on your approach and what you want out of the game, you can create a relatively strategic combat game from it (it does certainly have its limitations), or just breeze through simply controlling your character while the others get on with their thing if all you're interested in is seeing the story.

The ultimate edition, which includes all the DLC (some of which is standalone and not necessarily that good) plus the Awakening expansion (which is a fascinating addition in terms of lore if nothing else), is about £15 on Steam right now. I reckon it's worth it (in fact I just bought it a couple of weeks ago, despite having bought the game twice before on different platforms).

There are also mods. It has its own nexus. It's not anywhere near as sophisticated as Skyrim in that regard, but you can get some useful stuff. Like 'Lock Bash'. God yes.


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## Epona (Jun 22, 2013)

Oh yes, the tactics system is really quite good and removes some of the micromanagement during combat - you can set an archer NPC to always target the strongest enemy spellcaster first in combat with a particular type of attack to interrupt casting, if there is none then to focus on picking off enemies with low health, or release a barrage of arrows over a large area when facing a large mob of weak enemies - so they get down to the sort of thing you want them to do as soon as you enter combat, rather than you having to worry that they are going to immediately try to go toe to toe with the nearest tank!


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## Vintage Paw (Jun 23, 2013)

Interestingly, I've found that with both DA games I played through the first couple of times pretty much just for story and was half-heartedly into the combat, but when playing it subsequently that's when I really start to enjoy the strategy and tactics involved in good party-based combat. They both have quite large limitations with what you can do, both in terms of builds available and the tactics menus, but when you come to terms with that it's possible to build some really nice teams. I do prefer DA2 in that regard, probably because I don't have the long history of older rpgs that some do so I'm a bit more receptive to flashbangwallop than I am shuffleshuffleshufflestab, but the concept remains roughly the same between them (despite the protestations of those who are convinced DA2 is worse than Hitler). You can't pull your camera right out for an isometric view, the faster more actiony combat can throw you because it is far more easy to forget to pause and just clickclickclick at the enemies, the bizarrely appearing-from-nowhere second wave of enemies is always jarring, but at their heart there isn't as massive a difference as some might try to make you think.

Regardless, whenever I play it now I have the most fun planning how I'm going to build my team, who I'm going to have with me, how we're going to obliterate everything in sight, and now it's all about the combat and I don't really pay attention to the story as much. Even though all I've been doing the past few weeks is speculate around the lore with friends XD


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## Epona (Jun 23, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> I do prefer DA2 in that regard, probably because I don't have the long history of older rpgs that some do so I'm a bit more receptive to flashbangwallop than I am shuffleshuffleshufflestab, but the concept remains roughly the same between them (despite the protestations of those who are convinced DA2 is worse than Hitler).


 
Ah now you know I don't think that about DA2, it was a fun game, a better than average game, just not anything exceptional - but that exactly sums up one of my problems with it that knocked a point off my personal score for it - the bloody abseiling second wave of foes which completely wrecked all my carefully laid plans and thoughtfully positioned party members.  It would have been more enjoyable if I'd been able to set up such an ambush myself with my party members streaming down from the roof, but there is never the opportunity for that.  It renders tactical placement of party members completely redundant once the second wave abseils in, and that's a bit annoying when you are more used to RPGs with a strong tactical element wrt to party positioning!

Personally I'll take shuffle-shuffle-stab over whoosh-bang any day.  DA2 is still a good game in my book, just not a _great_ one.


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## Vintage Paw (Jun 23, 2013)

Epona said:


> Ah now you know I don't think that about DA2, it was a fun game, a better than average game, just not anything exceptional - but that exactly sums up one of my problems with it that knocked a point off my personal score for it - the bloody abseiling second wave of foes which completely wrecked all my carefully laid plans and thoughtfully positioned party members. It would have been more enjoyable if I'd been able to set up such an ambush myself with my party members streaming down from the roof, but there is never the opportunity for that. It renders tactical placement of party members completely redundant once the second wave abseils in, and that's a bit annoying when you are more used to RPGs with a strong tactical element wrt to party positioning!
> 
> Personally I'll take shuffle-shuffle-stab over whoosh-bang any day. DA2 is still a good game in my book, just not a _great_ one.


 
I understand that completely, it's a valid point. I didn't like the 2nd wave enemies either. That said, I don't believe that it renders all strategy useless; in my opinion it simply means that you have to be receptive to changing your strategy mid-way through a fight. Setting up your team at particular points on the battlefield and then not having to think too much on the fly about where to move them next because all the enemies are static and where they are going to be right from the beginning is one way of doing things, but I see nothing inherently wrong _in theory_ of having a more dynamic battlefield, so that you have to think quickly about strategy, alter your set up and positioning as the fight progresses because of new circumstances (such as the arrival of new enemies). It wasn't handled well in DA2 because of the way they chose to introduce them, but in and of itself I don't believe it's a bad idea, and can add another layer of complexity to the idea of strategising ahead of time. At the other end of the scale we have things like MMOs, where, if you're playing in a group, tactical positioning can be very important, but there it has to be handled on the fly and altered as time progresses, depending on the make up of your party or the foes you're fighting (whether AI or other players). There's no pausing, issuing commands, stopping to assess the lie of the land. Both are solid and valid examples of RPG combat, and I see no problems with games experimenting with versions of both, and mixing them to different degrees, nor with introducing faster-paced combat that can feel a bit more actiony. Not every game can cater to every person, not every RPG should be expected to be 'traditional' (what counts as traditional varies by person of course, since everyone places different emphasis on what they deem to be essential and important). I know you don't believe they should be! I'm just making my case for why I don't think that the way DA2 went about combat has to necessarily be a bad thing.

I believe, in any regard, that they are looking to appease the 'traditionalists' to some extent at least in DA3. I'm certain we won't see a complete return to the shuffleshuffleshufflestab, but I expect isometric to make a return and abseiling waves to bite the dust.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jun 23, 2013)

My major problem with the second wave thing  was  it  just felt  like bullshit. 

it stuck out like a giant sore thumb  as a computer game mechanic.  and not  even an interesting one. 

they don't even bother to try to contextualise it.    these guys   are given no reason  for turning up when they  do  but they always  do.

if they really wanted waves of enemies they could have at least tried contextualising it a bit more.

have it  so  at the beginning of a fight  the boss of the group shouts at someone to fetch the others  and they run off.  

the next time  maybe  have a choke point  at a door  and  a group  run off in the building 

perhaps  some city guard are holding off  the rest  but then get overwhelmed.


if  you don't have the time and money to do that at  least  hang a hat on it.    make  a reason why people attack in waves.      have  one of the refugees   who  turn up at the same time as hawke   be a soldier  then  have  him get into a vocal argument with  a local soldier  about whether  you need to attack as a group  or   split into teams.   have  the  local  end the argument  by saying  that   everyone round here always keeps  some people in reserve  and if we don't stop thinking like a bunch of  wierdo foriners were going to end up with a knife in our   backs.


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## Stigmata (Jun 24, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> There's plenty of humour in the game, and all the characters are interesting in their own right. The lore is where it shines, along with the storytelling, which really is excellent.


 
The characters are pretty good, but the story was really disappointing, by-the-numbers stuff- the Darkspawn are the most boring villains ever- and the setting was hampered by that annoying trope of things being very obviously based on real world analogues (Ferelden is early medieval Britain, Orlais is France etc).

Having said that i've reinstalled the game since reading this thread and it's better than I remembered.


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## Vintage Paw (Jun 24, 2013)

It's loosely based on Song of Ice and Fire *ahem*


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## Chick Webb (Jun 25, 2013)

I


Stigmata said:


> The characters are pretty good, but the story was really disappointing, by-the-numbers stuff- the Darkspawn are the most boring villains ever- and the setting was hampered by that annoying trope of things being very obviously based on real world analogues (Ferelden is early medieval Britain, Orlais is France etc).
> 
> Having said that i've reinstalled the game since reading this thread and it's better than I remembered.


I found Orlais = (an insulting caricature of) France thing pretty annoying too. However, I think the only way you'd think of Ferelden as Britain is if the first thing that Britain brings to mind is "plucky underdog", which it doesn't for me. Even if that was what was likely intended by Gaider and gang. I'm pretty good at ignoring whatever bits of game canon I don't like in any case.

Have you played the expansion for Origins (the title of which escapes me just now)? They tried to give a bit more depth and hints at the motivation of the Darkspawn in that, and one of the novels (the Calling) goes even further with a very similar story (and young Duncan - squee!). They are pretty 2d though I guess. It looks like they might be putting more thoughtful sort of conflicts into the third one, maybe.


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## Stigmata (Jun 25, 2013)

Chick Webb said:


> I
> 
> I found Orlais = (an insulting caricature of) France thing pretty annoying too. However, I think the only way you'd think of Ferelden as Britain is if the first thing that Britain brings to mind is "plucky underdog", which it doesn't for me. Even if that was what was likely intended by Gaider and gang. I'm pretty good at ignoring whatever bits of game canon I don't like in any case.


 
It was the pseudo-Celtic names for all the characters, and the idea of the place as being some muddy, semi-wild land on the edge of the civilised world. And the love of dogs, of course.

I haven't played the expansion but I might give it a go.


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## Vintage Paw (Jun 25, 2013)

Awakenings is very good. I don't find the darkspawn boring at all.

Their origin is steeped in lore.

As the Chantry tell it, the old Tevinter Magisters decided that they wanted to see The Golden City, where the maker resides. The Old Gods (the main dragons) helped them learn the magic needed to be able to go into the Fade using their corporeal bodies, but when they got there the maker had turned the city into The Black City as punishment, and banished them back to the mortal plane infected with the taint, they were the first darkspawn. Part of the taint's curse is that they are drawn to the Old Gods (this is the stuff you learn more about in Awakenings and in the novels), and when the darkspawn reach an Old God they corrupt it with the taint, it turns into an Archdemon, and a blight begins.

Since the end of the 5th Blight (in Origins) there are only 2 Old Gods left. The Grey Wardens' task is to attempt to find them before the darkspawn do, so they can kill them before they turn and create a new blight. And obviously to kill darkspawn while they're at it. When an Archdemon dies, its soul is moves into the body of the nearest darkspawn. I think it's unknown whether this is because it is automatically drawn to the taint, or just because darkspawn have no souls. This is part of the reason why the Grey Wardens drink darkspawn blood. It mimics the biological signature of the darkspawn, so that when they slay the Archdemon, its soul will move into them instead, but because they still have a soul, both souls are destroyed inside the Grey Warden, and the Archdemon/Old God dies. Of course, the other reason they drink the blood is so that they can begin to sense the darkspawn themselves, and get drawn to the Old Gods as well.

The stuff that happens in Awakenings has huge ramifications for the future of the darkspawn, and for potential solutions to the taint.

The things I find most interesting is speculating on how true to life the Chantry's teachings are. I like sifting through the various historical and mythological creation accounts the various cultures have, their ideas of who the maker is, what he did, what happened to various key cities in history (The Golden/Black City; Arlathan; the thaig in DA2; etc.), and thinking about where the truth lies, what is total fabrication, and what is myth born of a truth that has been twisted.

I'm also interested to think about what Flemeth is. I have my suspicions. One of them fits quite nicely with everything, but there are still lots of questions to be answered. I don't think they'd go with what I think, because it's too grand, and they tend to go small with that sort of stuff. With Morrigan's return we might get closer to some of that truth this time around though.

I'm also interested about the significance of Sandal being the first dwarven mage. Not just because dwarves can't be mages, but also because mages can't be enchanters - in the circle only the tranquil do the enchanting, and this was also why the dwarves have so many good enchanters, because they don't know magic. Fascinating.

All of that is the interesting stuff for me. The games are the small chapters in modern history that are helping to make sense of it, as far as I'm concerned.

I'm aware not everyone has the capacity to give a shit about lore.


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## Stigmata (Jun 26, 2013)

I could talk your ears off about the lore in Morrowind. The Tribunal, the Disappearance of the Dwarves, the Sermons of Vivec... but the Darkspawn are just orcs and goblins by another name. Playing it again i'm liking the stuff in the Chantry religion about the world being abandoned by God. If the game was about that i'd be all over it.

I can see they made an effort with the background stuff but it feels like window dressing, not really relevant to a fairly straightforward heroes vs evil monsters story (with a couple of twists here and there)


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## Epona (Jun 29, 2013)

^ Liking that, because the lore in Morrowind is absolutely fucking brilliant - the Sermons of Vivec are just... oh I miss the Tribunal... most of my MW characters join the Temple, and one of the things I miss in subsequent installments of TES is that sort of cult of weirdness.


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## Remus Harbank (Jul 4, 2013)

There are spin off books that allow one to delve even more into DA lore, some written by Steven Gaider, Lead Writer of DA. He basically spent a couple of years before coding began thinking and writing up the backstory of the game, these books are kind of his prep work.


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## Vintage Paw (Jul 4, 2013)

David Gaider 

He's a really awesome person. He engages with the fans all the time on the official forums, and is just seemingly a really nice guy. Apart from one unfortunate misstep on his part in an article he once wrote, I like him lots.


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## Remus Harbank (Jul 4, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> David Gaider





Vintage Paw said:


> He's a really awesome person. He engages with the fans all the time on the official forums, and is just seemingly a really nice guy. Apart from one unfortunate misstep on his part in an article he once wrote, I like him lots.


Of course – why I made a Steven out of him I don't know 
What was his misstep?


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## Vintage Paw (Jul 4, 2013)

He was writing a piece about writing, and used the metaphor of a woman who's possibly been raped after getting drunk the night before, and when called out on it and told that he perhaps should have chosen something a little less, well... stupid, he didn't bow down gracefully but attacked those who were taking him to task on it. Rather unpleasant.


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## Chick Webb (Jul 4, 2013)

Remus Harbank said:


> There are spin off books that allow one to delve even more into DA lore, some written by Steven Gaider, Lead Writer of DA. He basically spent a couple of years before coding began thinking and writing up the backstory of the game, these books are kind of his prep work.


I've read two of them. The first one was alright, and the second one was pretty good 



Spoiler



apart from a really dumb bit where they said the child of a human and an elf is a human. Not looks like, IS!


 Gaider can write really nice characters, and even can make me like elves, who I don't generally like.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 18, 2013)

So so so...

Lots more info coming out now. Found this nice summary of things to expect (from a demo, I believe):



> *Wants to make the action less frantic and more deliberate, returning to more tactics-oriented approach to encounters. Big return to party-based tactics*
> 
> *Part of that is slowing down speed of attacks, more important is designing enemies that force you to examine the battlefield and choose actions carefully*
> 
> ...


 
Sounds good, right?


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 18, 2013)

And a video of some pre-alpha combat:

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/08/16/combat-of-dragon-age-inquisition.aspx


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## Chick Webb (Aug 21, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> Sounds good, right?


I guess it does. I hope they keep it very centered on story, and don't make it too open though. I don't have heaps of time for games (in fact, I probably won't buy one until this comes out) and I don't like rambling around aimlessly (I'm looking at you, Skyrim). I'm more interested in the story than in them making the combat super-challenging, although I don't mind if they want to make me "work for it" a bit harder. I actually like the unexpected bits of dialogue the character used to come out with based on your choices of what they were to say. I just really, really like both Dragon Age games, and am way less picky than a lot of the people who had big problems with 2.

Cassandra as a party character is interesting news though.


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## Epona (Aug 23, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> Sounds good, right?


 
So... more like an oldschool Bioware RPG? Sounds promising, hopefully some lessons have been learned from the things fans reported they didn't like about DA2 (and some sensible posts did exist amongst the screaming!) I'd be glad to see a return to more tactical considerations in party combat (which doesn't mean it has to be shuffle-shuffle or boring - just consideration of party placement, use of traps, use of stealth, targeted attacks or AoE etc. rather than chop-chop blood balloons!)  Bioware usually tell a good story and have good character development of both the protagonist and NPCs, so I am not concerned on that front (but it would be nice if not every character had a tragic background with loads of baggage and went all emo and whiny - in DA2 Fenris basically turned me down because of personal issues and then came back 10 years later with an apology - dude, it's been a decade, I've moved on - the fact that you haven't is kind of disturbing. Liked Aveline, she went through shit but came out of it, but she wasn't a romance-able option)


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## Chick Webb (Aug 24, 2013)

Eppie, what are you talking about? Yes, Fenris was a pain (albeit with a sexy voice), and the romance with him was fairly crap (but I've seen loads of people online who thought it was amazesauce so each to their own), but you could certainly romance Aveline.  Remember that bit where you get to help her romance her subordinate?  There's a bit there where you get to tell her to forget about that guy because you love her.

I agree that there was way too much tragedy in the story.  I absolutely loved the Anders mega emo terrorist story, but not everyone needed to have such a bad ride.  



Spoiler



I wish I could have saved Leandra


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## Shippou-Sensei (Aug 24, 2013)

i want isometric biew back


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## Epona (Aug 24, 2013)

Shippou-Sensei said:


> i want isometric biew back


 
That exactly - for tactical party combat, you need to be able to zoom out to top-down mode, even if it's just so that you can see where everyone is.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 24, 2013)

Chick Webb said:


> Eppie, what are you talking about? Yes, Fenris was a pain (albeit with a sexy voice), and the romance with him was fairly crap (but I've seen loads of people online who thought it was amazesauce so each to their own), but you could certainly romance Aveline. Remember that bit where you get to help her romance her subordinate? There's a bit there where you get to tell her to forget about that guy because you love her.
> 
> I agree that there was way too much tragedy in the story. I absolutely loved the Anders mega emo terrorist story, but not everyone needed to have such a bad ride.
> 
> ...


 
You can tell her to forget him, but she rebuffs you. It's not an 'official' romance. The most you get is a friendly peck on the cheek. And she ends up with Donnic anyway. Which is where she should be


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 24, 2013)

I know a lot of people have very strong opinions about isometric. I can only say from my own experience, I had no problems on higher difficulties playing the game strategically, pulling out as far as I was able, I was able to see where everyone was, move them where I wanted them, and set up attacks without issue. Everyone prefers different things though, so it's no biggie.


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## Chick Webb (Aug 24, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> You can tell her to forget him, but she rebuffs you. It's not an 'official' romance. The most you get is a friendly peck on the cheek. And she ends up with Donnic anyway. Which is where she should be


Oh really?  I thought Hawke always got what s/he wanted! 

Agreed about Donnic.  Aveline was so cute and dorky when she was trying to woo him.  Marigolds, sheesh!


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 24, 2013)

There were many, many sad cries of anguish when it was revealed that you couldn't, in fact, romance Varric. The man is a legend. I'm so glad he's back for DAI. I quite like the redesign too.


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## Chick Webb (Aug 25, 2013)

A million times agreed! He's a hot babe, and I really like how he looks in the redesign.  He looks like he's been through a lot   I suppose he was un-romanaceable so that he'd come across as an unbiased narrator.  I consoled myself that "I" couldn't chat him up by shipping him with Merrill.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 31, 2013)

Dragon Age panel happening at the moment.

Confirmed: you can play as a Qunari.

So happy.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 31, 2013)

One medium sized level in DAI will be the size of all the levels in DA2 combined.

It is the largest game Bioware have made, apparently.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 31, 2013)

Epona: tactical camera is back in, on all platforms.

As far as I know, the PC version is being tailored specifically for PCs, with proper changes to controls etc., rather than just porting it over.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 31, 2013)

http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/31/46...tion-brings-playable-qunari-keeps-and-greater


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 31, 2013)

ermahgerd - nice lighting.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 31, 2013)

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/d...eveals-more-dragon-age-inquisition-intel.aspx

http://kotaku.com/the-next-dragon-a...m_source=Kotaku_Twitter&utm_medium=Socialflow


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## Chick Webb (Sep 2, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> Dragon Age panel happening at the moment.
> 
> Confirmed: you can play as a Qunari.
> 
> So happy.


YAY!  This means we'll finally get to see a female Qunari too.  I wonder if the character is a devout Qunari or a Tal-Vashoth, and how they come to be mixed up in human affairs.  Whoever/whatever they are, they have to have a sexy voice.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 3, 2013)

Chick Webb said:


> YAY!  This means we'll finally get to see a female Qunari too.  I wonder if the character is a devout Qunari or a Tal-Vashoth, and how they come to be mixed up in human affairs.  Whoever/whatever they are, they have to have a sexy voice.



I'm not certain that they will be having different VAs for each race... that's just too much work for them to do, I would have thought. With the amount of dialogue they'll be recording, to have to do that at least 8 times (humanx2, elfx2, dwarfx2, qunarix2) is expensive, and remember it'll take up so much space it pretty much rules it out for current gen release if they want it to be downloadable on console and not on 3 discs or something. It will be interesting to see how they handle it, seeing as though each race tends to have its own regional accent - perhaps the Inquisitor is from a specific region themselves that gives their accent justification. They gave the fully voiced PC as part of the reason they did away with multiple races last time. Since they aren't going back to silent protagonists, I'm interested to see how they make the voices seem natural to all the characters.

Perhaps they'll give you a couple of voices to choose from, to suit the character you make, but I really can't see them spending all that money and taking all that time to have 8 different voices. And remember, they have to animate the mouths to match the words spoken - they're not going to do that 8 times.


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## Citizen66 (Sep 3, 2013)

.


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## Citizen66 (Sep 3, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:
			
		

> Perhaps they'll give you a couple of voices to choose from, to suit the character you make, but I really can't see them spending all that money and taking all that time to have 8 different voices. And remember, they have to animate the mouths to match the words spoken - they're not going to do that 8 times.



But you don't tend to watch your own character speaking.


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## Chick Webb (Sep 3, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> It will be interesting to see how they handle it, seeing as though each race tends to have its own regional accent - perhaps the Inquisitor is from a specific region themselves that gives their accent justification. They gave the fully voiced PC as part of the reason they did away with multiple races last time. Since they aren't going back to silent protagonists, I'm interested to see how they make the voices seem natural to all the characters.


There's no reason why they can't do that I suppose.  Duncan didn't look ethnically from Ferelden, but that's the accent he was supposed to have since he was born there.   My mage Hawke was black too, which gave another interesting dimension to all the "refugee scum" shit you get when you rock up in Kirkwall.  They definitely will have to "tone down" the personality a bit if they are using one VA for all the races of the main character.  A wisecracking human, elf or dwarf are all plausible, but not a qunari (although I suppose Sten had his own version wisecracking).  I like fairly bland personalities for the main character though.  Makes me feel more in the game.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 3, 2013)

Citizen66 said:


> But you don't tend to watch your own character speaking.



Yeah you do. In Dragon Age 2 the dialogue is 'cinematic', meaning that the camera focuses on your character as you speak, and the other characters as they speak, in a more dynamic way than you'd expect perhaps in some other games. This isn't Skyrim 

Dragon Age 2 had some of the best lip syncing I'd seen in a game up until that point - in that kind of game, at least.



Chick Webb said:


> There's no reason why they can't do that I suppose.  Duncan didn't look ethnically from Ferelden, but that's the accent he was supposed to have since he was born there.   My mage Hawke was black too, which gave another interesting dimension to all the "refugee scum" shit you get when you rock up in Kirkwall.  They definitely will have to "tone down" the personality a bit if they are using one VA for all the races of the main character.  A wisecracking human, elf or dwarf are all plausible, but not a qunari (although I suppose Sten had his own version wisecracking).  I like fairly bland personalities for the main character though.  Makes me feel more in the game.



The more I think about it, the more I think they will possibly provide 2 voices to choose from per gender, because I really can't see how they will find one voice that can seamlessly fit both an elf and a qunari. Or perhaps they'll do what Saints Row does, and have a pitch slider. It's not very well implemented in IV, and anything more than a notch or two up or down from the default sounds robotic, but it was a lot better in The Third. But having 8 different voices to choose from (4 per gender) seems an unrealistic expectation considering the amount of animation and voice work involved, the amount it would cost, and the physical space the extra audio files would take up.

I'm going to brace myself and dead over to BSN to see if anyone is talking about this. I'm sure they are.


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## Quartz (Sep 3, 2013)

Given that these games cost millions to develop, I don't know why they don't use actors for the action too. As bases then digitised, I mean. It would also help in scenes where technology isn't yet quite up to the job, like someone standing in a pool - and yes, I'm thinking of _that_ scene in The Witcher.


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## Citizen66 (Sep 3, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> Yeah you do. In Dragon Age 2 the dialogue is 'cinematic', meaning that the camera focuses on your character as you speak, and the other characters as they speak, in a more dynamic way than you'd expect perhaps in some other games. This isn't Skyrim



 Fair enough, my ignorance is exposed. Although they wouldn't necessarily have to animate each character separately if they all say the same thing. Although it would have to be tweaked if accents differed. If the dialogue is different then yeah.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 3, 2013)

Quartz said:


> Given that these games cost millions to develop, I don't know why they don't use actors for the action too. As bases then digitised, I mean. It would also help in scenes where technology isn't yet quite up to the job, like someone standing in a pool - and yes, I'm thinking of _that_ scene in The Witcher.



They do for some games, like The Last of Us, for example. But that really depends on the type of game it is. For something like Dragon Age, a big old sprawling action rpg, you're controlling your characters movements for the majority of the game, and cinematic cut scenes are all about the dialogue, and not necessarily about playing out actions. As for budgets and spending millions, it's not an infinite pot, and just because they're spending X already doesn't mean they'll just shrug and say "eh, well we might as well spend Y too." They'll be aiming to provide the best experience they can, while managing their resources as efficiently as possible. Games are more and more expensive to make (something that's causing problems, now, as many publishers just aren't getting the sales they need to recoup that cost in line with their projections), and there's always going to be a limit to what they will put money into and what they won't.

In terms of technological limitations, it seems like they've made great strides in how they animate basic walking and running for DAI, it looks a lot better from what I've seen of the early demos.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 3, 2013)

Here you go: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/371/index/17253865

A thread discussing possibilities. Light on the old evidence though.


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## Chick Webb (Sep 9, 2013)

So, V-Paw (or anyone else for that matter), what does one buy to fill a Dragon Age shaped hole in ones life? I have a day off work tomorrow    I suppose the Mass Effects would be the obvious choice, but then again even though I like both genres equally well in novels, I much prefer fantasy to scifi in games.   Skyrim didn't do it for me.


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## Stigmata (Sep 9, 2013)

The Witcher?


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## Citizen66 (Sep 10, 2013)

Chick Webb said:
			
		

> but then again even though I like both genres equally well in novels, I much prefer fantasy to scifi in games.   Skyrim didn't do it for me.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 10, 2013)

Citizen66 said:


>



Why the ???

Chick Webb I'm afraid I don't know what to suggest. There aren't a lot of Dragon Age-type rpgs out there at all. You can go back in time to Bauldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights etc., or sideways to things like The Witcher (I haven't played it) as already suggested, but I'm hard pressed to think of something that's directly comparable. Which is a shame because I'd be playing it 

Tbh, if I wasn't into this screenshot art malarkey, I wouldn't have put in as many hours with Skyrim as I have. I'd have still played it to death, but not with quite as much dedication.


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## Citizen66 (Sep 10, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:
			
		

> Why the ???



It could just be my reading of the sentence but it seemed odd to state that they preferred fantasy games to scifi and back that up by saying 'skyrim didn't do it for me' although they could have been making that as a separate point I suppose.


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## Chick Webb (Sep 10, 2013)

Citizen66 said:


> It could just be my reading of the sentence but it seemed odd to state that they preferred fantasy games to scifi and back that up by saying 'skyrim didn't do it for me' although they could have been making that as a separate point I suppose.


I just didn't want people to go recc'ing me scifi games based on my mention of Mass Effect, because I really much prefer being armed with a sword than a gun in games.  

I couldn't find the Witcher in the shops.  I got Dishonoured.  It's ok so far in a Devil May Cry, linear sort of way.


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## Citizen66 (Sep 10, 2013)

Chick Webb said:


> I just didn't want people to go recc'ing me scifi games based on my mention of Mass Effect, because I really much prefer being armed with a sword than a gun in games.



Well yes. But skyrim isn't scifi hence the


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## Citizen66 (Sep 10, 2013)

In fact, it's one of the best fantasy games ever made.


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## Chick Webb (Sep 10, 2013)

Citizen66 said:


> Well yes. But skyrim isn't scifi hence the


Because I thought that would be the first thing people would tell me to get when I asked for something to replace my Dragon Age!

I'm afraid I didn't like it, Citizen.  I found it lacked focus and I didn't care for the characters or most of the factions.   The only thing it was good for in my opinion was nice scenery.


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## Citizen66 (Sep 10, 2013)

Chick Webb said:


> Because I thought that would be the first thing people would tell me to get when I asked for something to replace my Dragon Age!
> 
> I'm afraid I didn't like it, Citizen.  I found it lacked focus and I didn't care for the characters or most of the factions.   The only thing it was good for in my opinion was nice scenery.



Oh, fair enough. I assumed you were discounting it because you thought it was scifi.


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## tommers (Sep 10, 2013)

Chick Webb said:


> I'm afraid I didn't like it, Citizen.  I found it lacked focus and I didn't care for the characters or most of the factions.   The only thing it was good for in my opinion was nice scenery.



Fantastic hiking simulator.  Not much of a game.


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## Epona (Sep 11, 2013)

Chick Webb said:


> So, V-Paw (or anyone else for that matter), what does one buy to fill a Dragon Age shaped hole in ones life? I have a day off work tomorrow    I suppose the Mass Effects would be the obvious choice, but then again even though I like both genres equally well in novels, I much prefer fantasy to scifi in games.   Skyrim didn't do it for me.



I just got Divinity 2 as it was on sale over the weekend and I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would.  It got panned when it was first released, but since then a 'Directors Cut' edition has been released which restores a lot of content that didn't make it into the original release due to the publisher putting pressure on to release early.  The Directors Cut version was much better received.  It's no Dragon Age in terms of writing quality and there aren't any companions to build friendships with (Bioware can rarely be beaten on that score!), but it seems so far to be a decent enough chapter-style RPG with plenty of side quests and although I'm only on the second chapter I'd give it a solid 7/10 - it doesn't break any new ground and the main story is linear, but it's pretty decent and I'm certainly finding it fun to play.  It's in 3rd person with large areas to explore and action-style combat (with an optional 'tactical pause' function) involving plenty of weapons to choose from, enchanting and charm (like rune) slots for weapons and armour, active combat skills with cool-downs - and it does remind me a little of the DA series in terms of some of the gameplay even if the writing quality isn't in the same league.  Well worth the fiver I paid for that and the 2 earlier games (which are more Diablo-style top-down RPGs, the first one is good if looking a bit dated now).

Also The Witcher - both games are good, although #2 annoyed me a little with QTEs - still a good game though.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 12, 2013)

Oh yes, I've got that Director's Cut of Divinity (Divinity Arse Dragons, as I call it... I have a problem remembering titles). I've never got further than that first town you get to, I really should give it a go properly.

There's also Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning... sort of a cross between a normal Divinity/Dragon Age rpg and Fable, with a bit of Torchlight thrown in for good measure too I guess. I got quite far in that (although never finished it because something else came along to steal my attention... probably Skyrim) but it was enjoyable.


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## Epona (Sep 12, 2013)

Vintage Paw said:


> Oh yes, I've got that Director's Cut of Divinity (Divinity Arse Dragons, as I call it... I have a problem remembering titles). I've never got further than that first town you get to, I really should give it a go properly.



I think it's worth a shot - it's got some flaws such as very occasional 'wtf' moments where it switches from serious/dark into comical parody* as if the writers couldn't quite make up their minds which style to use, and one bit that is unnecessarily frustrating/confusing at first (I don't mind difficulty, but there's a difference between satisfying tactical difficulty that leaves you feeling a bit smug when you get through it, and something being difficult because of writing/plot vagueness that just leaves you frustrated and resorting to google for info iykwim) - but after that point it goes back to satisfying as in its favour it is well-balanced with some challenges whatever your level, and you can't coast through without using those skills/charms/enchantments/potions to best advantage - balance was one of the things they worked on for the DC edition and they seem to have done a good job - but the 2 flaws I mention are what lets the writing and design down and loses it a potential point from my score.  But it is still good fun, it's still 'good', just not 'outstanding'.



Vintage Paw said:


> There's also Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning... sort of a cross between a normal Divinity/Dragon Age rpg and Fable, with a bit of Torchlight thrown in for good measure too I guess. I got quite far in that (although never finished it because something else came along to steal my attention... probably Skyrim) but it was enjoyable.



That's one I keep meaning to try, I expect I'll get it if at any point I find myself at a gaming loose-end.  Or in a Steam sale, I suppose the holiday sale isn't that far off now!

*Edit to add: most RPGs seem to include elements of self-parody and humour of course, but good writing should make it a subtle chuckle, rather than a smack on the head with an inflated pig's bladder....


----------



## Epona (Sep 13, 2013)

It also gets really quite difficult in the latter stages  - I've been trying to storm a flying fortress and it's fucking mental.  But in a good way - I've died plenty of times but learned something in terms of 'what I should have done' each time.  It's a shame that but for a few small flaws it could have been a classic.

Editing more than 24 hours later (because I do not want to make a new post): I actually think I'm going to up my score by half a point, just on the basis that this game has the most fun combat at higher levels, and areas later on in the game are really well designed so that you can make best advantage of both human and dragon forms with a good mix of ground and aerial combat.  That's something I never thought I'd hear myself say!  But this game pulls it off and makes it fun.  I've never had THIS much fun with a melee build, EVER.

Fuck the writing (the devs are Belgian, so having been delighted with other aspects of the game, I'm prepared to put any deficits in that area down to 'lost in translation'), the combat late on in the game is so much fun - fast-paced but easy to control your character - ie. without being too 'twitchy' for an RPG - a good mix of passive and active skills.  Very well balanced - you might be swatting goblins like flies late in the game (early on you'll be running away from them), but try storming a flying fortress and you'll be sweating over how to best tackle it.  Some really good boss fights too.  You can look at your stats and skills and gloat over them and then a couple of minutes later be utterly wiped out by a battle that you went about badly.  Really really worth a go for those who haven't tried it.


----------



## Epona (Sep 15, 2013)

Final score for Divinity 2 - 8/10.  The first half of the game is a solid 7/10, but later parts are pretty much near perfect, and huge fun.  Time spent - something like 60-70 hours, finished at level 35. Massive fun, well worth playing.  Now onto the expansion....


----------



## DilenAs (Jan 24, 2014)

Chick Webb said:


> Eppie, what are you talking about? Yes, Fenris was a pain (albeit with a sexy voice), and the romance with him was fairly crap (but I've seen loads of people online who thought it was amazesauce so each to their own), but you could certainly romance Aveline.  Remember that bit where you get to help her romance her subordinate?  There's a bit there where you get to tell her to forget about that guy because you love her.
> 
> I agree that there was way too much tragedy in the story.  I absolutely loved the Anders mega emo terrorist story, but not everyone needed to have such a bad ride.
> 
> ...


----------



## Vintage Paw (Mar 7, 2014)

Best viewed fullscreen and in HD.

*makes noises all over her keyboard*

nnnngggghhhhh.


----------



## Quartz (Mar 7, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> Best viewed fullscreen and in HD.
> 
> *makes noises all over her keyboard*
> 
> nnnngggghhhhh.





That'll keep me busy on the long winter nights.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Mar 7, 2014)

I'm so excited I could pop.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 22, 2014)

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/new...rce=twitter&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=all

It's coming on October 7th.

*squeeeeeeeeeeees*



Box art:







*inappropriate noises*


----------



## Chick Webb (Aug 22, 2014)

I assumed this was going to be on the new console, and that I'd have the break the habit of a lifetime and buy a fairly recently-out console, but Amazon seems to be saying it's going to be the 360.  Is that correct?   The current release date they are showing is my birthday, so someone's going to be getting me a lazy present (unless it's a new console, in which case I'll have to buy it myself).


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 22, 2014)

It's cross-platform, old and new gen, and PC. 

I still haven't pre-ordered it. I should get around to that. I'm sosososososososososososososossosososososo excited for it


----------



## Cid (Aug 22, 2014)

BiowEAre aren't capable of making a good game anymore, stop living an illusion.


----------



## yield (Aug 22, 2014)

Cid said:


> BiowEAre aren't capable of making a good game anymore, stop living an illusion.


Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: The Old Republic were great.

They can do it again. Stop being so negative.


----------



## Chick Webb (Aug 22, 2014)

SHUT UP CID IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME! 

I'm going to buy the collected Those Who Speak comics and the remaining DA novels I haven't read yet in order to gear up for it.  There's no way it won't be great.


----------



## Cid (Aug 22, 2014)

yield said:


> Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: The Old Republic were great.
> 
> They can do it again. Stop being so negative.



They can't, not anymore... Woe! Woe and bad tidings!


----------



## yield (Aug 22, 2014)

Cid said:


> They can't, not anymore... Woe! Woe and bad tidings!


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 22, 2014)

Cid said:


> BiowEAre aren't capable of making a good game anymore, stop living an illusion.



lol you sound like the dark side of the gaming internet, the part populated by bitter trolls who can't help but stalk topics dedicated to the games they absolutely hate so very much and yet can't leave alone 

Sucks that you don't like what they make anymore. I fucking love what they make though, so yah boo sucks


----------



## Cid (Aug 22, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> lol you sound like the dark side of the gaming internet, the part populated by bitter trolls who can't help but stalk topics dedicated to the games they absolutely hate so very much and yet can't leave alone
> 
> Sucks that you don't like what they make anymore. I fucking love what they make though, so yah boo sucks



I speak not as a naysayer, but as follower left by the wayside. You, the faithful, may continue with them but you take a road that leads only to darkness.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 23, 2014)

I beg to differ, good sir. I take the road that leads to continued joy. Perhaps the road seems different to us, depending on our expectations of what lies at the end.


----------



## Quartz (Aug 23, 2014)

I've seen a sample clip and the combat behaviour of the dragons is dreadful. No tactics, no intelligence whatsoever. They just sit there waiting to be hit then spring to another location. There are no strafing runs, no snatching of characters, no diving attacks, nothing that displays any intelligence.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 27, 2014)

They've announced there will be multiplayer included. I wondered what was happening about that. They mentioned it in passing about 2 years ago, but then have said nothing since. It's going to be similar to Mass Effect 3's mp it seems, with expansions to maps and new enemies coming as free dlc, with the option to buy upgrades with in-game money or a super-special-wonder-duper pack with real cash. The difference is it won't be tied in any way to the single player game, unlike ME3. They've described it as a dungeon-crawler with friends.

I thought ME3's multiplayer was a lot of fun, and I'm intrigued to see what DAI's will be like, particularly since the combat will obviously be real-time 3rd person (removing the pausing and isometric view that's in the single player). I'm not sure it will be as popular as ME3's was - while there's an awful lot of overlap between the ME and DA audience, there's also a large contingent of non-bioware-fan gamers who are playing ME3 who are more used to modern multiplayer than your typical current bioware fan. I never played Baldur's Gate mp so I have no idea if it'll be similar in some respects to that, but I believe that was basically co-op in the main story, which this won't be. Anyway, I'm interested to see what it'll be like and how well it'll do.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 27, 2014)

I've just seen the promo vid for the multiplayer.

It's a 4 player co-op adventure thing, yeah, basically dungeon-crawling. It keeps the same combat and upgrade system as the main game - minus pausing and isometric obviously. Skills are pared down so you pick a character and upgrade the skills associated with it. The video didn't go into any detail about why we'd actually be fighting our way through these dungeons. It looks like the kind of thing you'd pick up for 30 minutes, have a laugh, get bored, put away. I might try it out. But I'll more than likely just stick with the 200 hour single player game.


----------



## Epona (Aug 28, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> I've just seen the promo vid for the multiplayer.
> 
> It's a 4 player co-op adventure thing, yeah, basically dungeon-crawling. It keeps the same combat and upgrade system as the main game - minus pausing and isometric obviously. Skills are pared down so you pick a character and upgrade the skills associated with it. The video didn't go into any detail about why we'd actually be fighting our way through these dungeons. It looks like the kind of thing you'd pick up for 30 minutes, have a laugh, get bored, put away. I might try it out. But I'll more than likely just stick with the 200 hour single player game.



200 hour single player game certainly sounds like an attractive feature to me.

Why they didn't stick with the successful MP format from the BG/IWD series (and the first NWN game) is beyond me though.  In that it was completely separate from the single player game, but you could just co-op with some friends through the same story instead of/as well as (up to the max party size) using NPC companions (eg. in BG2 the party size was 6 max, so that could be 2 players and 4 slots for recruiting NPCs, or 6 players.)*

Also the system of modding the game made it easy(ish) to design adventures/dungeons and host a server for multiplayer - in fact the gaming site I was on in that era did just that, some people got together and designed and hosted a massive MP adventure/dungeon crawl that was popular and successful.  I'd go as far as to say that the games themselves had a far longer shelf life as a result of such community-based initiatives, and continued to sell as a result.

*Edit to add: also I am not sure whether this is widely known, but in BG2 you could start a multiplayer game, create several characters, import them into the game, start the game and play through the opening scene, then quit and move a file from one directory to another to play single player with more than one player-created character.   I used to do this to have 2 good melee characters up front, because the potential melee NPC party members were just awful (as in bad stats) at combat.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 28, 2014)

I agree with you that being able to mod like that helps build a strong community that increases the longevity of a game. People wouldn't be playing Skyrim to the same extent were it not for the depth of modding available (or Oblivion, or Morrowind!). DAO was extensively moddable, DA2 less so, although armour recolours and character makeovers and so on were easy enough. DAI will not be moddable to my knowledge, due to the frostbite engine. I think that's a shame. I don't think this kind of game necessarily _has_ to be moddable, it can still be a great game, but there is an element of extra excitement and engagement when it is possible, simply because it adds in even more ways to customise your game and make it play how you want it to play.

Still, they have indeed said that they believe there is about 200 hours of content in a single playthrough, although if you're the kind who wants to power through the main story elements and do nothing that is optional you could get through it in 20-30. They've also said that in a single 200 hour playthrough you won't see everything the game has to offer, since many paths will be closed to you depending on your actions.

For someone who somehow inexplicably managed to have a DA2 playthrough that was verging on 200 hours I don't think I've got anything to worry about in terms of getting my money's worth


----------



## Chick Webb (Oct 25, 2014)

Think Geek have a Morrigan tshirt!
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/20ec/

I'm not sure about the design and don't think she particularly looks like herself, but still, a Dragon Age tshirt! Exciting!

P.S. I have some Think Geek tshirts, and some are good quality, and some are that nasty, stretchy low quality cotton.  Not sure what this one would be.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Oct 25, 2014)

Yeah, it doesn't massively look like her, but that's awesome 

I'm _really_ interested to see her in Inquisition. Last time we saw her she was going through the Eluvian (in varying circumstances) to who knows where. I have a hunch Eluvians will hold some insight into what's going on with the fade rifts.

But then, I have LOTS of theories about what's going to happen in Inquisition.

Guess who we get to see?

DAGNA.

Fucking Dagna.

Do you remember her? The dwarven girl from Orzammar in Origins. You can send her to the Circle Tower because she's fascinated by mages and wants to learn about magic (even though dwarves can't be mages because they lost their magic from so long underground... except... SANDAL). So oh my god, I want Dagna and Sandal to meet and Dagna will start helping/studying Sandal because he's blates the first dwarven mage in centuries. But I also have a theory that Bodahn's going to die, and he'll leave Sandal in Dagna's capable hands to look after him. And at some point Sandal will say, "I like Dagna."

But I digress.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Oct 25, 2014)

Did I mention I'm REALLY FUCKING EXCITED for Inquisition?



Less than a month. I still haven't pre-ordered. I should get on that.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Oct 25, 2014)

Have you been watching their twitch streams? The game looks beautiful and OMG THE CHARACTER CREATOR. 

It has... a... COLOUR WHEEL.

*wipes a tear*

Men can wear the full range of make-up available; women can have adam's apples (and all adam's apples are adjustable in size for men and women); lady dorfs can have stubble.... I MEAN COME ON BIOWARE STOP MAKING ME LOVE YOU!

My first Inquisitor is going to be a dark skinned lady dorf stabbity rogue who will romance that hunk of perfection that is Blackwall.

DID I MENTION I'M REALLY EXCITED??????????!!!!!!one!"!!!eleventy!!""1111!


----------



## Vintage Paw (Oct 25, 2014)

I've just bought the latest two novels, Last Flight and The Masked Empire. I expect the latter to be quite relevant to Inquisition. I really enjoyed the previous three novels.

I haven't read any of the comics. I'll see if I can read them online or download them from somewhere.


----------



## Chick Webb (Oct 25, 2014)

Dagna was cool, and her story never really went anywhere did it, so she would be cool character to get back.  I fear you're probably right about Bodhan.  He's always saying "I won't be around forever and who'll take care of my boy" type stuff.  

I don't know what I'm going to make my character like.  I nearly always play as a black (human) dude.  Although I do have a human hating elf who looks like me too, for the first game.  I might play a bit more of that tonight actually.  I never finished the game with her.  I only ever did the noble sacrifice to save the world in the first one.  Which made running off with my terrorist boyfriend at the end of 2 even funnier.  

Yeah, the novels are quite good, apart from human/elf hybrids are humans.  Not look like,_ are_.  But I've complained about that (possibly here) before...  I haven't gotten those two novels yet.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Oct 25, 2014)

Fucking hell.

The Collector's Edition is going for silly money. It's available over here, but it sold out quickly in the US. So out of interest, I thought I'd check US ebay. Looking at sold listings, people have been buying it for $300-$450.

I saw one listing that sold for $549.99

Fucking hell.


----------



## Chick Webb (Oct 25, 2014)

Bloomin' eck.  Well, plain old whatever edition will do me fine.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Oct 25, 2014)

I really, really like to have a physical edition of the games that mean a lot to me. I have the previous 2 DAs. They fucked up massively with UK supply this time though, and you can get the standard physical with no bells and whistles, or the over-priced £130 collector's edition with all the pointless tat (I would love the cloth map and the tarot cards though, and the sketch book ). But the Deluxe physical edition that was meant to be available - which is pretty much the same as the deluxe digital edition but, well, physical - but they fucked up and gamestop decided not to stock it, and they didn't agree supply to anyone else. So we can't get it. I'd get that in a heartbeat.

So I'm in that really annoying position where I'm 96% certain I'm getting the digital deluxe edition, but am really cheesed off that I won't have a physical copy, and a tiny part of me says "well, you hardly ever buy games these days... and you do love DA so much... and dat map and those tarot cards..."

BUT NO.


----------



## Chick Webb (Oct 25, 2014)

But yes! I can totally understand wanting to have the physical edition, and wanting to give Bioware money.


----------



## tiki (Oct 30, 2014)

Very excited about this. The game has gone gold now. Review copies have gone out to reviewers as well so they must be pretty confident about scores


----------



## Vintage Paw (Oct 30, 2014)

The Dragon Age Keep has gone live. It's still officially in beta, but you can link it up to your account and get started on creating your world states to import into Inquisition.

https://dragonagekeep.com/en_US/

It will pull information of previous characters in Origins and II from your BioWare/EA/Origin account (all of which should have the same login info), but you'll still have to go through and finesse your choices to create world states.

For those who don't know, the Keep is a tool that will allow you to bring a 'world state' into Inquisition that recognises all the important (and not so important) decisions you made in the previous 2 games, regardless of what platform you've played them on. You can save 10 world states at the moment, they're probably going to expand that as time goes on. Once you've saved a world state, you can then import it into Inquisition, and the next time you start the game it will sync to your account and recognise that imported world state and you start your game with that as your default. You can only have 1 world state imported to Inquisition at a time, and you can't change which one you're using half way through a playthrough (obviously), but you can go back and import a different one to start a new game with different outcomes.

It's a bit buggy and it's frustrating to navigate at the moment. I lost all the changes I made to mine yesterday because saving a world state and changing to set up a new one isn't very intuitive.  There's the narrative story part to it, where Varric narrates what happened to your Warden and Hawke in the previous 2 games, but I reckon you'll listen to that once and never do it again. Then there's the 'tapestry' which is where you'll choose all your decisions. You go through the major events of both games and tell it what your Warden or Hawke did, who they recruited, who died, who they romanced, how they resolved things like Morrigan's proposition, Arl Eamon's illness, the Landsmeet, and so on.  If you choose something that will cause a conflict with another choice, it will prompt you. This works okay to an extent, but around the choice of Morrigan/OGB/who kills the archdemon/who rules Ferelden there's a lot of awkwardness, and you'll likely find yourself having to back out and go into the companions section of the tapestry to change your Morrigan option before you can change the who killed the archdemon/who rules Ferelden bit to your satisfaction.

It's not perfect by any means, but a) they're actively still working on it and asking for feedback and seem open to making it the best they can; and b) it's a way of ensuring you'll get the world/choices you want into Inquisition regardless of how you played them in the past.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Oct 30, 2014)

tiki said:


> Very excited about this. The game has gone gold now. Review copies have gone out to reviewers as well so they must be pretty confident about scores



I've been reading the last 2 novels as I psych myself up for it. _The Masked Empire_ is really, really good. All about Orlais' politics, the origins of the civil war that's raging there at the beginning of Inquisition, etc. Also some mighty cryptic stuff about what the big bad will be. I have my theories. I've seen some theories knitting together _The Masked Empire_ and certain characters in Inquisition that are very compelling. Time will tell.

I'm so freakishly excited.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 8, 2014)

I finished _Last Flight_ as well -- a book about how the grey wardens' griffons died out. I wasn't expecting it to be a good book, but it really was. Probably the darkest so far. It was contracted out and not written by one of BioWare's game writers, which is part of why I wasn't expecting it to be any good. When the Mass Effect side of things did that it was an unmitigated disaster 

Anyway, I pre-ordered Inquisition the other night. My body is ready, but my heart is not! I expect tears, pain, my heart being ripped out of my chest as the writers sit and rub their hands together in glee as they collect bottles of fan tears to sustain them. 

I can't wait.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 8, 2014)

Oh, BioWare did this recently.



> When Jackie contacted our BioWare Montréal studio looking for help proposing to her partner, Amy, the question wasn’t whether we could help, but what we could do to make it happen. Both are fans of the _Mass Effect_universe, and Jackie was hoping that there was a way for her to propose in-game, bringing together their love of each other and their love of the series.
> 
> Upon receiving Jackie’s email, studio manager Marie-Renée Brisebois put out a call to see if any developers were interested. In no time at all, she had a team composed of writer Ann Lemay, lead level designer Colin Campbell, and QA analyst Barrett Rodych, all of whom were willing to put in the extra time in the name of love.



So they made a mission level specifically for them, and got them in saying they'd won a 'day with the devs', and to playtest an early level of ME4. And the level had all sorts of little clues, and Amy played through it and got to the end where she had to bring up a console that said Jackie had something to ask her. And Jackie proposed and omg I'm not ashamed to say I got a bit of grit in my eye 

(I know it's not a Mass Effect thread, but BioWare is BioWare.)


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 10, 2014)

http://www.twitch.tv/bioware is hosting a dev livestream of the first hour of gameplay in about 15 mins, if anyone's interested.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 10, 2014)

Right, so I've just watched them play through the prologue of the game and OMG I NEEDS IT NAO.

It's beautiful, the music is great, combat seems really good, the story is interesting, and and and and this is my life now.


----------



## tiki (Nov 10, 2014)

Going into hospital on the 20th and will be in there for a while. Dreading it but I'm taking my PS4 in so Dragon Age will have my undivided attention [emoji1]


----------



## Fez909 (Nov 10, 2014)

tiki said:


> Going into hospital on the 20th and will be in there for a while. Dreading it but I'm taking my PS4 in so Dragon Age will have my undivided attention [emoji1]


You can take proper games consoles to hospital now? 

I hope your hospital stay will be one of good memories of hardcore gaming rather than tedium and pain


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 10, 2014)

tiki said:


> Going into hospital on the 20th and will be in there for a while. Dreading it but I'm taking my PS4 in so Dragon Age will have my undivided attention [emoji1]



Bloody hell, good luck with whatever you're going in for. May the Inquisition be with you


----------



## moon (Nov 11, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> Right, so I've just watched them play through the prologue of the game and OMG I NEEDS IT NAO.
> 
> It's beautiful, the music is great, combat seems really good, the story is interesting, and and and and this is my life now.


Which game? And where?


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 11, 2014)

moon said:


> Which game? And where?



Dragon Age Inquisition! The game we're talking about in this thread, silly face. 

http://www.twitch.tv/bioware -- the prologue is here. Spoilery for the first hour of the game. Other streams there too that explain more about the game. The game releases here on 21st.

Same people who make Mass Effect. This is the third game in their Dragon Age series. It's not following the trilogy format like Mass Effect, but the events of each of the games follow on to the next to some degree or another. You do not play the same character in all 3 games.

*Dragon Age: Origins*: the first game in the franchise. You play the Grey Warden. The Grey Wardens are an ancient order set up to combat the blight. The blight is said to be a curse brought down by the Maker (Thedas' version of god, I suppose) when Tevinter (a country in Thedas) Magisters (powerful mages) sought power from the Old Gods (big dragons who are hidden in Thedas) to go into The Golden City (the seat of the Maker, it exists in the Fade, which is a spirit world separate from our corporeal world, we go there when we dream, but spirits and demons live there all the time) and take his power. When they got there, the Maker got mad, and cursed them, making them the first Darkspawn - twisted creatures infected with the blight. The Maker sent these Darkspawn back to Thedas. They are drawn by the call of the Old Gods. When they find an Old God, a blight starts, the Old God is turned into an archdemon, and they sweep across continents killing and turning land into a diseased wasteland. Origins begins with the start of the 5th blight. You are recruited into the Grey Wardens. You can be an elf, a human, or a dwarf. You have to gather help to stop the blight. You are named the Hero of Ferelden (the country where the game takes place).

*Dragon Age 2*: the second game (obv.) The game spans 10 years, from just as the blight is underway, to, well, 10 years after it has finished. You play Hawke, your choice is restricted to either male or female human from the Hawke family. It starts with you escaping Lothering, a small village we see in Origins that is destroyed by the blight very early on in the game. You go to Kirkwall, in the Free Marches. Over the course of 10 years you make a name for yourself and become the Champion of Kirkwall. The backdrop is a growing conflict between mages and Templars. Mages are feared by most people. The Chantry (the church that follows the teachings of the Maker and Andraste - Andraste was a warrior who was said to have married the Maker, and led a war and ended up being killed for her beliefs) teach that you should control mages. So, the law of Thedas (most human and elven parts, anyway) is that mages are to be kept in The Circle. There are Circle Towers across the land, and any mages have to go there to get proper instruction on how to use their magic, and to be monitored. Mages have a bond with the Fade, and can become possessed by demons from there if they are not strong enough (or if they willingly let them in). This turns them into abominations. There is also blood magic, that relies on making a pact with a demon. There are lots of factions within the mages who feel differently about this. Some think it's for the best since they can be dangerous. Some think it's against their rights, and want to break free from the Circle. There are various positions between those two points as well. Some Circles are known to be very strict and to abuse their power, as you can imagine. Kirkwalls Circle is one of those, it seems. The Templars work for the Chantry. They are soldiers who exist to keep mages in line. They learn a little magic themselves, despite not being mages. Their magic is aimed purely at dispelling mages' magic. The game ends with the conflict between mages and templars coming to a head in a rather explosive way. It sets up the stage for Inquisition. Some of the same characters who were in Origins showed up in 2. Some of the characters from both games will be in Inquisition.

*Dragon Age: Inquisition:* you play the Inquisitor. You can be elf, human, dwarf or qunari (a big, giant race with horns and awesomeness). You become the leader of the Inquisition without really setting out to be. Giant rifts are opening in the sky where the Fade is pouring through into Thedas. Presumably the point is to find out who has created these. There is a Big Bad, but we don't know who or what that is. The war between the mages and the templars provides the backdrop. There is also a civil war in Orlais (a country that in many ways resembles France), where the Empress Celene was challenged by a noble called Gaspard. This happened in one of the tie-in novels (_The Masked Empire_), and will presumably have some purpose in the game since much of it will be spent in Orlais (we also return to Ferelden for large parts of the game). I've been avoiding spoilers for the most part, so I can't give you much more information than that. The game uses a new engine, the whole mechanics have been redesigned, they've taken on board feedback from the last two games and created something that blends the best bits of both. It looks lovely. 

Reviews for the game went live today. It seems pretty spectacular across the board. I'm very, very excited.

Dragon Age is tied with Mass Effect for my favourite franchise ever. One or the other just about nudges ahead if I've been playing the latest game from either


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 11, 2014)

http://kotaku.com/11-things-you-should-know-about-dragon-age-inquisitio-1657127952

11 Things You Should Know About DAI

Good round-up.

moon - if you're interested in the game at all, I very, very much recommend playing the previous 2 at least once. They require a significant time investment, but there is so much lore involved in this game universe, you'll miss a great deal of context and have a poorer experience in Inquisition if you don't play them.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 11, 2014)

http://gamingtrend.com/reviews/dragon-age-inquisition-welcome-to-the-new-age-of-role-playing/



> Dragon Age Inquisition has raised the bar for storytelling. It’s the sort of game you think you have figured out after a few hours, but time and time again it’ll surprise you. With a rebuilt combat system, an open and inviting world, 150 hours of content, and a warm and familiar storytelling system, Dragon Age Inquisition is the best RPG I’ve played in a decade.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 11, 2014)

If you absolutely can't be bothered to play the previous 2, or if you just want to brush up on the games, http://www.pcgamer.com/dragon-age-keep-guide/ -- a guide to all the decisions in the Keep that you can make to create your save games to import into DAI.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 11, 2014)

http://www.joystiq.com/2014/11/11/dragon-age-inquisition-review-tipping-the-scales/



> The immensity of work that went into _Dragon Age: Inquisition_, however, is overwhelming. This is what we expect from a role-playing game by a major studio like BioWare and publisher Electronic Arts. You have access to more than enough game right from the start – no DLC subplot mishegas here – with plenty extra to explore if you veer off the main story path. My first playthrough was around 70-something hours, and I still had several multi-hour levels I didn't get around to unlocking - not to mention that I didn't even finish exploring every nook and cranny of the places I _had_ unlocked.
> 
> _Dragon Age: Inquisition _is BioWare's reaffirmation of what it's capable of delivering. It's a_gorgeous_ game on an epic scale. Rich in character and story, it creates a fantasy world with plausible social rules you can get lost in. It makes you feel that you aren't just exploring a new world, but helping shape it at various levels of society. _Inquisition_ sets the bar for what a blockbuster RPG should be.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 11, 2014)

http://www.polygon.com/2014/11/11/7...uisition-review-ps4-xbox-one-playstation-4-pc



> The previous two releases in the series — _Dragon Age: Origins_ and _Dragon Age 2_ — had choices that carried over from one to the next, but they presented relatively stand-alone stories. Their tales of heroism were roped off to single small corners of a fantasy world whose full size was only hinted at.
> 
> _Dragon Age: Inquisition_ is the first true realization of that world. The missions and consequences of them span the whole of the known lands of Dragon Age. Likewise, many plot points and characters return from previous games.
> 
> Though it was never sold this way, _Inquisition_ feels like part of a more tightly-connected story, like a finale that ties up many of the plot threads previously left hanging. It is at once the culmination of everything Dragon Age has been attempting to accomplish for the last five years and a guarantee that this universe is here to stay for the foreseeable future.


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## tiki (Nov 11, 2014)

Thanks for the best wishes everyone. Having more bowel removed [emoji20] and I usually recover very slowly. In the past 4 years I've been in hospital for nearly a year. 

This time I'm going prepared to take my mind off things so hd tv is coming with me along with the PS4.

I also preloaded assassins creed unity but looking at the reviews I should learn to wait until the reviews are out.


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## 8ball (Nov 11, 2014)

Good luck, and get well soon.


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## moon (Nov 12, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> If you absolutely can't be bothered to play the previous 2, or if you just want to brush up on the games, http://www.pcgamer.com/dragon-age-keep-guide/ -- a guide to all the decisions in the Keep that you can make to create your save games to import into DAI.


Ok, if I play I'll probably start at the beginning, but am on the Xbox.. is it gonna be nasty?


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 12, 2014)

I played the first 2 on Xbox. If that's all you know, it's absolutely fine. Compared to the PC version, the controls are atrocious, but I had no frame of reference for that when I first played and so played them both multiple times. 

The first one is longer than the second one, and looks a lot more old school. I'd take a look at a couple of gameplay videos or something first, perhaps, to see if you think it's the sort of thing you'd like. 

I'd recommend the Ultimate Edition with the Awakening expansion and all the DLC, since some of them seem to be important for the third game, particularly the expansion, but also maybe Witch Hunt DLC (although you can just read about that, it's pretty short). A couple of the DLCs are completely standalone, like Leliana's Song, which is all about one of your companions from the main game and how she got to be who she is. It's got some nice backstory, and worth it if you end up going with the City Elf origin in the main game perhaps. Darkspawn Chronicles DLC is a waste of time. You play the darkspawn, and you beat the Grey Wardens. Meh. The in-game DLCs are worth it. Stone Prisoner is the best because you get another companion to join you through the whole game, and she is one of the best and funnest companions there is. I'm really, really, really hoping we see her in Inquisition, but I have no idea whether we will. 

The second game works a lot better on console since they reworked the whole combat system. It has some similarities but feels a lot more actiony, and less old school rpg. I can't see you'd have any problems with it at all. It's a bit shorter than Origins. It looks more up to date as well.

Inquisition (which is only a week away omg) looks like it will play beautifully on consoles. They've thought long and hard about getting the control systems working to the best of their ability, and most of the footage they've shown so far has been either xbox or ps4, and they look great. I still expect the PC controls to edge out ahead - they just seem to work better for this type of game - but you'll have no problem.

You can still use the Keep to set up your world states to import into Inquisition, since it's browser based and syncs to your account rather than relying on local save information. That way you can play through both games just the once, read about the other choices and their outcomes that you didn't pick now you're familiar with the games, and set up lots of different world states for Inquisition depending on what you want to see the outcome of.

If you haven't played many or any fantasy RPGs it might seem a bit overwhelming at first, but take it slowly and you'll fall in love with the characters. The rest will follow. They both have really good stories, Origins more so than 2. There's a bit of plodding in Origins, but it's worth it.

I expect you'd love Inquisition -- it's had so much positive press so far it looks to be a corker. So if you're going to play that, then yes, it's worth getting through the first two.

And if you need any advice while playing, just ask.


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## 8ball (Nov 12, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> The second game works a lot better on console since they reworked the whole combat system. It has some similarities but feels a lot more actiony, and less old school rpg.



Bit like an ME2 compared to ME1 in terms of combat from what I hear.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 12, 2014)

8ball said:


> Bit like an ME2 compared to ME1 in terms of combat from what I hear.



It's a fair comparison. Slicker, more actiony, but stripped back in terms of complexity if you enjoyed the tactical side of it from Origins (likewise, ME2 was stripped back in complexity in terms of having far fewer powers to utilize, meaning there was no opportunity to build your character how you wanted).

Inquisition looks to be blending the two, and it looks like it has worked spectacularly well.


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## ruffneck23 (Nov 12, 2014)

I've enjoyed the last 2 outings, read a couple of reviews of inquisition that say, you need to get 15 hours or so into it before you really know whats going on and the game fleshes out.

Not sure I've got the patience for that considering its new game season and far cry 4 around the corner


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## bmd (Nov 12, 2014)

Do you know if DAO was better on the PS3 than the 360 VP? Your enthusiam on this thread has made me want to get the Ultimate DAO and DA2 but I remember DAO on the 360 and the camera was a bit rubbish.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 12, 2014)

Well, it looks like even on a speed run it's going to take you at least 60 hours to get through the main story, so if you like your gaming to be short and sweet perhaps it's not for you!! A completionist run could take you up to 200 hours.


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## ruffneck23 (Nov 12, 2014)

oh no i enjoy playing for a long time, its just this time of year when loads of stuff comes out, I may well wait until after xmas to play this


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 12, 2014)

bmd said:


> Do you know if DAO was better on the PS3 than the 360 VP? Your enthusiam on this thread has made me want to get the Ultimate DAO and DA2 but I remember DAO on the 360 and the camera was a bit rubbish.



I don't know, I'm afraid. I expect they were largely similar. Console versions removed the tactical isometric camera. You could still scroll out but not as far and not to the point of unlocking the camera from your controlled party member to issue commands and see the whole of the battlefield. I had no problems when I played it on the xbox, but as I say, that's all I knew at the time. I had another go on the xbox a week or two ago (couldn't be bothered to install it through Steam) and I found myself getting quite frustrated. So, yeah, installed it through Steam


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 12, 2014)

I've heard a couple of reviews now saying about Inquisition, "after about 30 hours the game opens up and you get your specialisation and..." and I'm like... 30 hours, that's bonkers


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## bmd (Nov 12, 2014)

Ah sod it. It's looking like I can pick the Ultimate edition and the 2nd one up for under a tenner for my PS3 so I'm going to get them. By the time I've finished them then Inquisition should be around a tenner too.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 12, 2014)

bmd said:


> Ah sod it. It's looking like I can pick the Ultimate edition and the 2nd one up for under a tenner for my PS3 so I'm going to get them. By the time I've finished them then Inquisition should be around a tenner too.





It might, just might, hold its price like Skyrim did for quite a while. It's got such great reviews across the board. We shall have to wait and see!


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## ruffneck23 (Nov 12, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> I've heard a couple of reviews now saying about Inquisition, "after about 30 hours the game opens up and you get your specialisation and..." and I'm like... 30 hours, that's bonkers


thats double the 15 hours i heard


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## moon (Nov 13, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> I played the first 2 on Xbox. If that's all you know, it's absolutely fine. Compared to the PC version, the controls are atrocious, but I had no frame of reference for that when I first played and so played them both multiple times.
> 
> The first one is longer than the second one, and looks a lot more old school. I'd take a look at a couple of gameplay videos or something first, perhaps, to see if you think it's the sort of thing you'd like.
> 
> ...


Ok I ordered DA:O Ultimate for xbox 360 2nd hand on amazon


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 13, 2014)

Awesome 

Now you just have to think about what origin you'll play.

They all have their plusses.

Human noble - can be rogue or warrior. Has a few bits that tie into the plot later on. Quite emotional.

Human  or elf mage - start in the circle tower, gives you some background for later since you'll be coming back there for a while.

Dalish elf - elves that stay close to nature, consider themselves the 'real' elves. I found this one a bit boring, but it has some relevance to DA2 (a character you meet in this origin story is one of your main companions in DA2). You can be rogue or warrior.

City elf - again, rogue or warrior. These elves get locked away in alienages - slum areas of human cities basically. They are treated like scum. Quite a powerful origin story, particularly if you play a female elf.

Dwarf commoner - rogue or warrior (dwarves have no connection to the fade and so can't be mages). You're casteless, treated like scum by dwarven society. Dwarves live underground (mostly) so you start in Orzammar, their main (only) city. You go back there later in the story, so just like a human/elf mage, it'll give you plenty of background. It's a good origin. I think rogue fits best here.

Dwarf noble - rogue or warrior again, warrior seems to fit best. Gives you a really good insight to dwarven politics. Massively interesting for a later major plotline when you come back to Orzammar. You're the brother/sister of one of the main protags of that story. 

The origin stories can take you a good couple of hours if you soak it all in. Each. You can play through each one to see how you like it before deciding which character to stick with. All of them end up in the same place - Ostagar. That's when the game begins proper, really. 

The only other thing I'll say is Duncan is a hero amongst men. Treasure him.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 13, 2014)

Oh, and Kate Mulgrew voices one of the most interesting characters in the whole series


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## moon (Nov 13, 2014)

The seller made a mistake, it was not the UE, so I got a refund and bought cheap 2nd hand DA:O instead..


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 14, 2014)

Did I post this one already?

http://www.polygon.com/2014/11/12/7...isition-s-greatest-achievement-is-its-writing



> _Dragon Age: Inquisition_ isn't merely about exploring a beautiful and vast world, or fighting through combat challenges, or managing power portfolios of character rigs and skills. It's about hanging out with the game's party members, the dozen or so men and women (human or otherwise) with whom you will be spending an awful lot of time.
> 
> In this game, BioWare has delivered characters who feel real. They feel real because the writing team, headed up by David Gaider, managed to write them that way. Writing is something BioWare has always done well, but here, the team has excelled, filling an expansive world with stories, ideas, words and people who, together, create an immense fictional entertainment.
> 
> ...


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 14, 2014)

I'm desperately trying to get all my work out of the way ready for midnight of the 21st.

I'm under contract until the end of the month, and I have another client who wants me to start some work. I'm hoping if I keep my head down (and stop reading Inquisition reviews) I can get my work done by release. I've told the other client I'll be able to take on her work at the end of the month - so that gives me 10 days of freedom for nothing but Inquisition and by the maker I can't wait.

In an interesting turn of events, Freddie Prinze Jr apparently steals the show as Iron Bull (your pansexual qunari mercenary companion) and is getting ridiculously into it all with the community on twitter and the like.

Freddie Prinze Jr. Whoda thunk it?


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 14, 2014)

Here's Freddie in action:


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 14, 2014)

Ain't he adorbs?

I'm still trying to work out which of my inquisitors will, er... _ride the Bull. 
_
I'm thinking I'll make a male qunari for that. For reasons.

My first inquisitor will be a female dorf rogue who is going to romance Blackwall, who is an older Grey Warden guy (with an amazing beard - he's basically Duncan mark II). I'm unsure if this will be my pro-templar character or not. (There can be only one - I'm pro-mage all the way.)

My next inquisitor will likely be a female qunari mage who will romance Sera, the plucky elven assassin who is fond of bad haircuts, butts, and killing people who hold any kind of power. Sera's voice actor grew up a few miles from me, and is apparently using her native accent. I find this exciting!

After that will likely come the Bull romance, so that inquisitor is yet to be decided upon.

There will be a male dalish elf (probably warrior but not sure) inquisitor who romances Dorian, the exiled Tevintan mage with the most amazing moustache Thedas has ever seen. Dorian is voiced by Ramon Tikaram 

After that, things get hazy. I expect at least one more Bull romance playthrough, because he's just so fucking amazing. I will of course romance all available characters at some point. I'll have to wait and see what they're all like before I decide who with who.

You thought I spent a lot of time in Skyrim?

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.


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## tiki (Nov 14, 2014)

So Vintage, it'll be the first time playing this so what character would you recommend rolling. I also struggle to decide whether to be ruthless or lovie dovie.

I also always play female, preferably tall as I try to reflect myself.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 14, 2014)

First time playing Inquisition? For you and me both, it's not out yet 

Tallest will be qunari. 












A qunari woman in the character creator ^

If I hadn't already decided I was going to play a dorf as my first character, I'd be playing as a qunari.

As for ruthless or nice... idk. I don't think it's going to be so easy to say one or the other in this game. The morality of it all seems more finely finessed than in previous games. Your companions can leave you if you upset them enough. That means not just saying things and being dickish to them, but through your actions, the choices you make as well. It will be pretty hard to balance, I think, unless you really do go down the micromanaging "do everything the perfect way" kind of path.

My first run will be my "I know I'll fuck up" run. I'll try not to sweat it too much. I'll miss loads of stuff, pick awful choices, and treat it as my dummy run, I suppose.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 14, 2014)




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## moon (Nov 14, 2014)

So VP, how does DA:O compare to ME1?
I consider you to be the oracle on this matter


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 14, 2014)

moon said:


> So VP, how does DA:O compare to ME1?
> I consider you to be the oracle on this matter



Well, it's fantasy instead of sci-fi, for a start.

They are different beasts. You have 4 people in your party, 3 plus you. You can swap and control any of them whenever you want, and keep controlling them, running around as them, etc. You can pause to issue commands, or just hit attack in real time, or hit quick keys (or buttons on a controller) to activate pre-mapped abilities. That stuff is more or less the same, although it feels different.

It's a lot more tactical. But it doesn't have to be if you don't want it to be, if playing on the lower difficulties (which I recommend; you can still get your arse handed to you on normal if you're new to the game and/or under-prepared for a fight).

The story is excellent. It doesn't flow together as well as ME1. The point of DAO is that there is a blight, you find yourself having to gather together an army of sorts to fight it, and so your main quests for the majority of the game involve going to 4 key areas to solve the various problems they have there, at the end of which you secure the relevant group's support. There are some choices you can make that determine just whose support you end up getting, because you can back X instead of Y in a particular issue, thus pissing off Y so they won't help you but X will instead. Or maybe Y is dead now thanks to you, so there's only X left to help you.

That all takes up a significant chunk of the game.

Then you rally your support against.... something, or someone, and the Landsmeet, which is a bit like a medieval sitting of court or parliament I guess. You make decisions. There is backstabbing, intrigue, betrayal, all sorts. Then the big battles against the darkspawn and the archdemon begin, and there are several outcomes to this as well.

It definitely feels different in tone to ME1. It has a good villain, who isn't the archdemon. They are, in good BioWare style, very morally grey and you can sort of side with them when it all comes to a head, which itself has interesting results.

The writing is exceptional. How it weaves in with the technical limitations of a game like that can leave it feeling a bit plodding at times. The Landsmeet is excellent writing, no doubt. Your companions are wonderful. They have glorious banter with each other. You can, of course, romance some of them. This is BioWare after all.

Go into it expecting old school. It's not Baldurs Gate old school, but it definitely feels rather dated now. That being said, it's still thoroughly enjoyable to play, and the writing is worth it. I adore Dragon Age lore. If you like lore, this (and TES) is the series for you.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 15, 2014)

No spoilers for DAI, but obviously spoilery for events leading up to that point, so moon if you don't want to be spoiled you might want to not take a look!

In fact, there are DAO and DA2 threads knocking around somewhere, for when you start playing. This one will likely dissolve into a pit of spoilers soon


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 15, 2014)

Actually, taking another look at it, it's not spoiling anything from the first two games, apart from I guess alluding to what happens at the end of 2, but it doesn't go into the hows, wheres, whats or whos. 

It covers some of the stuff from a couple of the novels, _Asunder_ and _The Masked Empire_, as well as a few other bits that set the stage for the very beginning of Inquisition.

It's narrated by Varric -- well, Brian Bloom, who voices Varric. Everyone loves Varric. He's one of your companions in 2, and he will be a companion in 3 as well. Oh Varric. <3

Anyway, worth watching to see the state of the world right now. And to get a bit of an understanding into the Chantry, and how it deals with mages etc.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 15, 2014)

I should say, moon - Dragon Age, not having guns and being more focused on traditional sword and magic combat, has a slower pace to Mass Effect in that regard. It's more actiony in 2, but in Origins it's what I describe as 'shuffleshuffleshufflestab'. I describe it as that with fondness, of course! 



This video has some gameplay (from the PC version, the UI looks different in the console version, but for the most part this player uses a mixture of real time and slower, paused play, so your experience will be largely similar). There's no story spoiling in this, and it's a very early part of the game. It would give you a good idea of what combat is like.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 17, 2014)

Origin pre-load begins today.

BioWare is doing a twitch marathon with lots of info all day: http://twitch.tv/bioware


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 17, 2014)

nghhhhhh

I've watched a few of the streams today. The most recent one was with Allegra Clark, voice of Josephine in the game, who is one of your advisors and a potential romance partner.

omg, she was fucking adorable. She's clearly a MASSIVE Dragon Age fan, and utterly bonkers, and lovely, and did I mention adorable?

*moves her Josephine romance playthrough higher in the list*


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## Chick Webb (Nov 17, 2014)

It's so exciting! I started reading the Masked Empire today on the tube.  I also was warned yesterday not to preorder the game which probably has something to do with the fact that it's my birthday on Friday .


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 17, 2014)

Chick Webb said:


> It's so exciting! I started reading the Masked Empire today on the tube.  I also was warned yesterday not to preorder the game which probably has something to do with the fact that it's my birthday on Friday .



Fun!!! Let's hope you find a copy of it as a present


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 17, 2014)

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/art...reviews/12620-Dragon-Age-Inquisition-Review.3



> I've heard people in the industry compare video games to medieval cathedrals. Those massive structures required coordination from so many different disciplines: architects, masons, painters, mosaicists, glass blowers, sculptors. Video games must also fuse the talents of many different craftsmen and artists: composers, sound designers, level designers, systems designers, visual artists, animators, programmers, voice actors, writers and storytellers. Just like the Notre Dame, you can tell when all of those disciplines are meshing together to form a video game that will be remembered for a long time. _Dragon Age: Inquisition_ is a masterwork.
> 
> *Bottom Line*: BioWare has created a role-playing game which feels like a massive monument to our culture._Inquisition_ is an absolute blast to experience for one hour or 150.



5/5


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 17, 2014)

Last stream of the day on twitch just starting. Lead writer, David Gaider <3


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## Sunray (Nov 18, 2014)

50 quid though.  Its been a long time since i paid 35 quid for a game.  This breaks a boundary but if the reviews are anything to go by, its on a truly epic scale so perhaps worth the 50 quid.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 18, 2014)

I buy very few games these days. And when I do, they're either deeply discounted on sale, or they belong to a franchise I care very deeply for. DA belongs to the latter category so I'm happy to support the studio and buy it at full price.


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## moon (Nov 18, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> I should say, moon - Dragon Age, not having guns and being more focused on traditional sword and magic combat, has a slower pace to Mass Effect in that regard. It's more actiony in 2, but in Origins it's what I describe as 'shuffleshuffleshufflestab'. I describe it as that with fondness, of course!
> 
> 
> 
> This video has some gameplay (from the PC version, the UI looks different in the console version, but for the most part this player uses a mixture of real time and slower, paused play, so your experience will be largely similar). There's no story spoiling in this, and it's a very early part of the game. It would give you a good idea of what combat is like.



DA:O arrived at the weekend, I've been playing it on casual whilst getting used to the controls etc. Will join the DA:O thread at some stage..


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## Pseudopsycho (Nov 18, 2014)

I got Origins free from Origin and then bought the Ultimate Pack for a fiver, am really enjoying it and finding it much better than DA2 so far.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 18, 2014)

For those who simply cannot wait, instructions on how to unlock the game now using a VPN.

I'm not doing that. At least not yet. Because I have work to complete. And I must get it done. If I start playing DAI now, I'll not stop and miss my deadline


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## Quartz (Nov 18, 2014)

The IGN review says that the plot is weak and the game itself is a bit buggy. It might be worth waiting for the inevitable patch.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 18, 2014)

Seems many people don't like the PC controls, and find that plugging in a controller makes it play beautifully.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 18, 2014)

New AMD drivers are out for it. It seems I may have no choice but to upgrade, I've seen one user saying the game wouldn't even let them play until they'd updated to 13.9+


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## moon (Nov 19, 2014)

Am looking forward to seeing your character VP, from what I've seen on youtube the customisation is incredible..
I'm particularly impressed with ChristopherOdd's elf mage


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 19, 2014)

Some of the Inquisitors I've seen are great.

Seems there are quite a few people having technical problems with the PC version. Freezes, crashes during cutscenes, not being able to get to the main menu, black screen of death, etc. Top culprit at the moment is the god awful DRM they've used, which seems to be why they've said you have to have quad core, it won't run on dual core. During loading screens people are reporting 100% CPU use. People with spectacular computers can't get the game to run at all. At the same time, there are a few on dual core machines who are playing it with no problem. There's something odd going on!

I'm really hoping at this point I can even get past the first cutscene 

Apparently last gen console textures are awful, and 360 owners are reporting a few freezes. Current gen seems more or less okay, it looks beautiful, although there is still some lagging.

I'm reading up on it all ahead of Friday!


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## golightly (Nov 19, 2014)

I managed to play this for about an hour last night presumably due to the system being confused about my location or some such, but I'm now locked out of the game until 21st.  Anyhow, it ran ok for me.  I have an i7 Quad Core processor.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 19, 2014)

golightly said:


> I managed to play this for about an hour last night presumably due to the system being confused about my location or some such, but I'm now locked out of the game until 21st.  Anyhow, it ran ok for me.  I have an i7 Quad Core processor.



Good good!!

Reports so far (from others) are:
* black screen at various times, most common before main menu - freezing at that point and unable to progress.
* unable to open
* closing 20 seconds after opening
* stuck on the opening screen where the mages and templars are walking to the conclave (start menu), music running, no way to progress
* crashing whenever meeting someone new
* crashing when entering and/or exiting cut scenes
* crashing during extended cut scenes
* directx errors

etc.

I have to update my drivers tomorrow. I'm still running 13.6, but apparently the game won't let you start it unless you have at least 13.9. AMD released beta drivers for DAI the other day. I guess I'll go the whole hog and update to them. I'm wary, because I'm on an Enduro machine, and last time I updated (to 13.6) I had a god awful time of it and it was a complete ball ache. I had to uninstall everything AMD, uninstall the Intel driver, safe boot, install the AMD driver, safe boot, install the Intel driver over the top. I hear conflicting reports on whether to use stuff like Driver Sweeper - some saying god yes you must, others saying it fucks you up even more.

I DON'T WANT TO DO IT, SOMEONE DO IT FOR ME.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 19, 2014)

I have an i7-3630QM, incidentally. 4 core, dxdiag confirms all 8 cpus are online. 2.4ghz, although it apparently has some 3.4ghz boosty thingy, which kicks in if it needs it, but I don't know what that's all about.

AMD 7970M 2GB looks like it'll be fine enough. The recommended card is 7870 which is more or less the desktop equivalent of my card, I think.


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## moon (Nov 20, 2014)

I'm trying really hard to not watch this on youtube, but it looks *BEAUTIFUL!! *I love the lighting, the cool colour of the snow in the warm but crisp sunlight, the sharp contrast and colour of the magical effects, so sparkly and glowy and lush and clear.
Makes me want it to snow for real, I love that light effect outside, where sunlight bounces off snow crystals, it makes the world look fresh and new and exciting!!.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 20, 2014)

moon said:


> I'm trying really hard to not watch this on youtube, but it looks *BEAUTIFUL!! *I love the lighting, the cool colour of the snow in the warm but crisp sunlight, the sharp contrast and colour of the magical effects, so sparkly and glowy and lush and clear.
> Makes me want it to snow for real, I love that light effect outside, where sunlight bounces off snow crystals, it makes the world look fresh and new and exciting!!.



Some of the lighting looks stunning. I watched some gameplay in the zombie marsh area - the moon illuminating fog and mist - and was blown away.

You're on last gen console, yes? Apparently the game looks like arse on there, in particular characters but also many object textures. Perhaps not surprising - they needed to make sure the game ran the same as on current gen, in terms of gameplay etc. - they had to make sacrifices somewhere. But some of the screenshots I've seen have been... terrifying. While you're playing Origins and DA2 it might be time to start saving for an XBone/PS4 

I finished all my work last night (typed 60k words in a week ... all hail my ergonomic keyboard, my hands feel (mostly) fine). Today I attempt to update my drivers. I have a million tabs open with various fixes and suggestions from people who have been unable to get the PC version to work. I am prepared for midnight (and my possible disappointment).


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 20, 2014)

tiki said:


> Going into hospital on the 20th and will be in there for a while. Dreading it but I'm taking my PS4 in so Dragon Age will have my undivided attention [emoji1]



Good luck in hospital, tiki I hope everything goes smoothly and you're feeling like your old self soon


----------



## moon (Nov 20, 2014)

I think I'll upgrade when ME4 (or whatever it will be called) comes out.. will also have to hold off playing DAI until then too I guess, but as I have DAO, DAII and ME3 to play in the meantime it should be ok...


----------



## moon (Nov 20, 2014)

Cassandra is super cool..
I've decided that since I wont be able to play this for at least a year?? I'm gonna indulge in youtube


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 20, 2014)

I've been looking at some of the party banter. I can't wait to meet all of them. Sera sounds like a crazy hoot.

I updated my AMD drivers.

NEVER AGAIN.

*cries real tears*

Why do they make it so difficult?


----------



## moon (Nov 20, 2014)

I just remembered that I have a windows partition on my mac, so can play it there maybe..


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 20, 2014)

moon said:


> I just remembered that I have a windows partition on my mac, so can play it there maybe..



Here's hoping! The requirements are really quite steep even for minimum, so make sure you take note of them first.

Also, 1 hour to potential heartbreak (if the game doesn't run).

*flails*

I've imported my world state for my first inquisitor.


----------



## moon (Nov 20, 2014)

Fingers crossed 
I'll be up for a while so please share your character!!!


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 21, 2014)

I'm not just going to bed. Nope. Not me. 

The game runs! It lags something terrible during cut scenes. I really don't know if that's because I'm running on a mixture of ultra/high or because of the problems others (with super-mega-awesome computers) have reported as well. I don't want to turn anything down though!!!!!

I made a dorf. Not sure if I like her yet. I might remake her tomorrow. I got through the prologue, to the main "Ta-Da, Dragon Age: Inquisition, YAY!" screen. Took me far longer than it should. 

Searching for loot is really cumbersome. Combat is as well. I'm sure I'll get used to it. The horizontal fov seems too shallow. I'm using tactical camera for every bout of combat, even though I'm playing on normal (which is quite easy so far, even against the boss in the prologue), because not doing so is really awkward. I might just find myself using a controller yet. 

















Cassandra there, she's amazing.


----------



## moon (Nov 21, 2014)

Yay!
Cool, I like her eyes, lips and what looks like the cleft in her chin?? Maybe its a tattoo?? She has cool hair and the light blush gives her a fresh faced look. 
I really like how they have given an option for reflective lips and the ability to vary the iris inner and outer colours,
(I wonder if there is also an option for Graceling-like mismatched eye colours..  I would use it to model Po with one silver and one gold eye.. )


----------



## Chick Webb (Nov 21, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> You're on last gen console, yes? Apparently the game looks like arse on there, in particular characters but also many object textures.


Nooooo....
But it's supposed to be coming in the post today, which is super exciting.  I'll probably be too pleased to have new Dragon Age to notice the arse visuals.  I'll let ye know. 

Your dwarf looks ace.


----------



## Quartz (Nov 21, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> Cassandra there, she's amazing.




That sword looks far too massive to use one-handed.


----------



## moon (Nov 21, 2014)

Yes, but Cassandra is wielding it and she is badass..


----------



## MooChild (Nov 21, 2014)

I'm tempted to either

Buy a PS4 & this.
Buy a gaming PC and this.
However, both options include having to buy a new surround sound system, and while I'm at it, I might as well get a new TV too... and it's all just a massive faff.

Plus I'm still not sure about playing multiple characters in a game like this. I prefer single player games (like skyrim) rather than party games (this and Baldurs Gate etc for example).


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 21, 2014)

moon said:


> Yay!
> Cool, I like her eyes, lips and what looks like the cleft in her chin?? Maybe its a tattoo?? She has cool hair and the light blush gives her a fresh faced look.
> I really like how they have given an option for reflective lips and the ability to vary the iris inner and outer colours,
> (I wonder if there is also an option for Graceling-like mismatched eye colours..  I would use it to model Po with one silver and one gold eye.. )



Tattoo, I think. The CC could really be better. They said their art person spent ages getting the light just so in there, because shitty lighting in CCs is a complaint as old as time. And yet... 

There's loads of choice in there though. On the lip shine thing - it's best to turn it down to 0 or near enough 0 (Akima's is at 0) otherwise it's kind of OMG FOIL REFLECTIVE LIPS in cut scenes 

Sadly no heterochromia though. That would have been nice!


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 21, 2014)

Chick Webb said:


> Nooooo....
> But it's supposed to be coming in the post today, which is super exciting.  I'll probably be too pleased to have new Dragon Age to notice the arse visuals.  I'll let ye know.
> 
> Your dwarf looks ace.



I'm sure it'll be just fine. I think everyone's sat and watched the lovely gameplay videos and become accustomed to that level of detail. It'll likely be more or less what DAO and DA2 quality is like on last-gen, I expect. The worst thing, I think, is hair, and possibly face textures, but I've also heard complaints of textures and objects popping in at short distances and a few other glitches. I don't know if they plan to support last-gen with patches but I expect there would be at least 1 to fix the most egregious technical problems.

I hope it works out well for you!


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 21, 2014)

Quartz said:


> That sword looks far too massive to use one-handed.



Yeah, and those dragons aren't realistic either. Game gets 0/10 from me.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 21, 2014)

MooChild said:


> I'm tempted to either
> 
> Buy a PS4 & this.
> Buy a gaming PC and this.
> ...



After hearing all the problems PC players were getting, I was tempted to give in and get a PS4 (especially when I found out you can take screenshots with it ). But, about 4 days ago my telly started throwing a fit - keeps screwing up the resolution and opening and closing menus of its own accord (menus I can't even find myself!). It's not the remote acting up, so maybe the tuner is starting to get borky? I've had it probably about 7-8 years now. But quite apart from it fucking up, I'd need a new one if getting a PS4 - it's only 720p! *clutches pearls*

So I'm really glad it seems to run on PC for me (for the moment!). These tellyboxes are expensive these days!


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 21, 2014)

My dorf is yet to make it out of party camp (which is a little village settlement type thing)... too much to do. Too much elfroot to harvest. Too many people to talk to. Too many snowy slopes to climb up. To many nugs to chase.

















We haven't killed a single enemy today


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 21, 2014)




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## Vintage Paw (Nov 21, 2014)

I need to find out where to find a very specific character. He is going to be the person dorfy-dorf up there ^ romances. Probably. Maybe. If I don't get distracted too much by Sera. >_<


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## Chick Webb (Nov 22, 2014)

Mine hasn't arrived yet.  Hey, Mr Postman!!


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 22, 2014)

Chick Webb said:


> Mine hasn't arrived yet.  Hey, Mr Postman!!



I won't post any spoilery screenshots - I know I'd hate to be spoiled.

And if I talk about spoilery things they'll go in a spoiler tag. I worked out that your average dedicated gamer would need approx. 4 weeks to do a more or less completionist run of the game if they play for a solid 6 hours a day, every day 

I reckon spoiler tags need to be used for a while yet!


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 22, 2014)

Is it out for delivery, Chick Webb? I'd be going potty waiting for it!!!!!


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## Cid (Nov 22, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> I need to find out where to find a very specific character. He is going to be the person dorfy-dorf up there ^ romances. Probably. Maybe. If I don't get distracted too much by Sera. >_<



I think this is why BiowEAre products appeal to you. You set out a certain plot line, follow certain routes and expect certain outcomes. Planned RPing. Nothing of the chaos of life; I want things to turn out this way, there is x amount of money, x amount of enemies. My plot within this formulation.



Will be buying as soon as it dips below £50 

Or possibly sooner.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 23, 2014)

I think you're absolutely right, Cid - it's a common trend amongst DA and ME players, I think. At least, those of us who have spent too long on BW's forums, or too long reading fanfic, or too long looking at fan art


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 23, 2014)

I've spent HOURS today playing the game, and I've achieved very, very little. Origin says I've played about 12 hours in total now. I've only just found my first companion (outside of the 3 you start the game with). I've explored a fraction of The Hinterlands, closed some fade rifts, killed lots of templars and mages, picked more elfroot and mined more iron than I care to admit, and finally visited Val Royeaux, which is absolutely beautiful.

There's so much content. Random people you meet have interesting dialogue. They're utterly unimportant, maybe a merchant, but they're funny, they have an intriguing story, and... idk. It's unlike anything they've made before. The sheer scope of it. And I'm reading all the books and notes and lore I come across (although I'm skim-reading some of the stuff I'm already very familiar with), and it's written so well, often with amusing things here or there. 

There's just so much to do.

And ah, Sera. Today I met Sera, and recruited her. She's... perfect in every way. Batshit insane.


----------



## moon (Nov 23, 2014)

Am itching to play this game 
Still plodding through Origins, I realised I should have gone to Redcliffe before the Bressilian Forest.
So did that and am on my way to rescue some mages, but I left Jowan with Bann Teagan  I cant see this ending well...
I just told Morrigan to shut the f***k up, the nastiness that comes out of that woman's mouth is incredible, even worse than Jack from ME2...


----------



## jcsd (Nov 23, 2014)

I've played for 12 hours too, I've explored a good chunk of the Hinterlands and visted Val Royeaux and I've just got my first mount. I haven't fund any extra companions yet though. Verdict so far is that this is the best game to come out in a long time, mainly because it is such a big and alive game world.


----------



## moon (Nov 23, 2014)

There is a deal on Amazon atm Xbox1 and DAI for £339


----------



## golightly (Nov 24, 2014)

I'm struggling with the tactical combat system.  I just need to sit down and figure it out at some point.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 24, 2014)

someone done a very  accurate Danearys Targaryen for this game lol


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 24, 2014)

golightly said:


> I'm struggling with the tactical combat system.  I just need to sit down and figure it out at some point.



I'm doing combat almost exclusively in tac-cam. As a short-arse dual wield dagger rogue, and with no auto-attack in action mode, I find it really fiddly to keep up with the pace of combat otherwise and position myself correctly (using m&kb). I imagine with a ranged character it would be a lot easier. 

Otherwise though, I've got used to the controls now. I swapped Q&E with A&D, and it plays just like most MMOs I've played in terms of movement now. I'll be sticking with m&kb now. I'm sure general movement would be easier with a controller, but I'm more than happy.

The biggest complaint I have with the tac-cam is that it gets stuck on terrain your character wouldn't be able to climb over. So you have to guide it using pathways and so on. Once you realise that's what's happening, though, it's easy enough to adjust for.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 24, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> someone done a very  accurate Danearys Targaryen for this game lol



She's very purty, DotCom. 

Have you played much yet? Enjoying it?


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 24, 2014)

I've got all but 2 of my companions now, and have explored some of The Storm Coast (absolutely beautiful).

Tip: Don't get caught up trying to achieve everything in The Hinterlands. Once you can open up Val Royeaux and The Storm Coast and that other one in the south I keep forgetting the name of (The Fallow Mire or something, I'm going to go there today) go there! They're beautiful, and will help you avoid a case of Hinterland Fatigue. 

Also, don't shy away from the main story. The game doesn't really even start properly until you've followed the quest line through Redcliffe (I haven't done it yet).

Another tip: get familiar with the hold command. Party pathing is diabolical. If you're making your way along a really narrow cliff to grab a codex entry at the end, they WILL push you off to your death if you don't make them wait behind. Also, they can't deal with the stone steppe type terrain that is all over the place at The Storm Coast. You may find you have to make generous use of hold so you can guide them down individually 

And there's one particular cave in The Storm Coast. It has a ladder in it. Don't even bother. Just, save yourself the pain. They're going to get stuck over and over again in one particular little stone alcove. I _may_ have entered from the wrong direction, so if you come in from above, it might be easier. But if you come in from below, nope. Save yourself. Abandon all hope. And then good luck getting them to navigate the entrance as well.

Goddammit BioWare.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 24, 2014)

Another tip: if you are doing a quest that involves the little radar thing going beep in a particular direction, once you've found the loot/treasure/whatever, don't just leave. I completed one quest on The Storm Coast yesterday that relied on that directional beepy radar, and just as I was leaving the little hut, I pressed V again and it turns out there were two more completely unrelated directional beepy radar things there. I could have left that hut and never returned, and they would have been lost to the ages.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 24, 2014)

Which makes me terrified that there are things I WILL NEVER, EVER FIND.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 24, 2014)

Another tip: don't tarry when escorting Druffy.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 24, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> She's very purty, DotCom.
> 
> Have you played much yet? Enjoying it?




not got the machine or patience- been reading reviews on kotaku and came across the screenshot, from that I can only surmise the character building (visual) package must be at insanely high levels, like photoshop or something.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 24, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> not got the machine or patience- been reading reviews on kotaku and came across the screenshot, from that I can only surmise the character building (visual) package must be at insanely high levels, like photoshop or something.



Oh, I read it wrong in my excitement at having another lost soul to chat endlessly with about it 

The faces you can make are just lovely. The hair looks like arse. It's so off-putting in an otherwise visually stunning game. That and the shiny parts of armour and weapons. I don't know what they did with the rendering but it's all weird.

The lighting though, the skin textures, the sounds... all spot on.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 24, 2014)

In fact, why the fuck am I sat here reading Urban instead of playing it?

LATERS.


----------



## Chick Webb (Nov 24, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> Is it out for delivery, Chick Webb? I'd be going potty waiting for it!!!!!


I got it on Saturday and played a good few hours on Sunday.  I'm just wandering around the Hinterlands, trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing.  I'm not sure how the war table thingie works yet, and I feel like I'm probably missing things in the combat too, but I'm enjoying it so far. It's very different from the other two so far.  All the wandering around and not knowing what I'm supposed to be doing is slightly reminding me of Skyrim, which slightly worries me because I found that largely uninteresting.  But it's very early days for me yet.  I'm sure I'll get into it.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 25, 2014)

Try to follow the main story a bit. Don't let the enormous volume of side quests in The Hinterlands overwhelm you. You don't have to do them all. At the very least, you don't have to do them all right now. There are some, in fact, you _can't_ do right now (fade rifts with level 12 demons spewing out, for example).

It suggests you be level 4-7 when you go to Val Royeaux. I was level 5 or 6 I think. I'm glad I went when I did.

I'd also suggest being level 7 or 8 when you go to Redcliffe. There are some things to kill in the surrounding area that might pose a problem otherwise (unless you like a challenge - you could probably manage it at 6).

I've only just got to Redcliffe, am going through the story there now, but at level 9 I'd have probably preferred to come a little earlier (but I was killing things so didn't have time ).

It is _very_ easy to feel like you're wandering with no direction in The Hinterlands. If new areas open up, go there (except the Fallow Mire... ignore my earlier advice on that one... the first group of enemies I stumbled into were level 12... nopenopenope). Follow the main story. You won't run out of it, but you'll feel listless if you don't. None of my companions or advisors have anything new to say to me at Haven now, so I figure that's a good indication I should shape up _and_ ship out  Although I have two more companions to get. I know where I get one of them, and he'll be coming soon. No idea where I get the other.

I don't know if you're at all like me, but I'm always scared of moving the story forward in games like this. I want to put it off until I absolutely have to do it, in case I accidentally move too far forward and end up not being able to continue with side content I hadn't done yet. Also, I like to be able to do a lot of main story content quite close together so it makes more narrative sense. With this game though, as far as I'm aware you can even carry on with side quests _after_ you've finished the main story (no idea how or why), and you can go back to areas whenever you want. So I'm trying to force myself to get on with things a bit.

I remembered yesterday, you can take keeps in this game. Huge keeps. And I'm thinking... I've played 30 hours of this game now. I forgot you could do that. I haven't even seen a keep yet. No one's mentioned one. This game is fucking huge.


----------



## moon (Nov 25, 2014)

But have you managed to get Solas some new clothes yet? Can't be running with mans wearing a jumper with holes in it..


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 25, 2014)

Solas' clothing seems pretty well-padded and warm. I'm having the hardest time finding schematics for anything magey, so he's been having to rely on whatever I've found out and about so far. I think I've just picked up a few on my way to Redcliffe though, so I should be able to make something new soon.

I did have some apostate adventurer robes or something, and I was SO tempted to give it to Vivienne because it's basically mage hobo style. I'm sure she would have been delighted 

I'M ABOUT TO MEET DORIAN I'M SO EXCITED.

_This post was brought to you by our sponsors, Mages-R-Us._


----------



## Chick Webb (Nov 25, 2014)

Oh, I should have mentioned, one of the reasons I felt lost is that I can't read the text at all.  This is a known issue on 360 and PS3 and there is loads of moaning and not many solutions online about it.   It makes no difference what setting I change on my telly.  I've found a possible fix in xbox settings which I am going to try now. I hope it works.  Obviously it's going to at best, suck not being able to read the text in a DA game.  At worst, I actually won't be able to play it at all,  Arrrrgh.


----------



## Chick Webb (Nov 25, 2014)

It didn't work.


----------



## moon (Nov 25, 2014)

I had this problem when playing Skyrim on my CRT TV, had to get a monitor..


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 25, 2014)

Yes, I saw someone else saying that they plugged it into their monitor instead of their TV and DA:I's text became readable. 

I hope they provide a patch that lets you increase text size, because obviously for some it's not an option to change to a different monitor.

Chick Webb, I'm sorry this is happening. I hope you manage to find some kind of solution


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 26, 2014)

I found an amazing dagger schematic. Far better than anything I could make or buy or find at the time.


----------



## moon (Nov 26, 2014)

So... what's been happening???


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 26, 2014)

I just got to Skyhold.

I cried. A hell of a lot.

When you played Mass Effect, did the scene where Shep becomes a spectre move you? It moved me. More than anything else in a game ever had. It was my first real emotional experience with a game (we'll ignore FFVII). The whole game then was full of those kinds of moments, but still I remember how I felt, sitting watching the screen in complete awe as the camera panned across to see everyone watching in the council chamber, and the music was amazing. I have a very personal connection with that game, and with that scene (I know, I'm a daft sod).

Because of how dear to me ME is, I find myself in a difficult position, because it's hard to say that anything could surpass it. And I don't think anything will ever replace it as my most meaningful moment in gaming. 

However...

... the events leading up to, and then the cinematics once you get to, Skyhold... I have to put aside that personal connection to ME and try to be somewhat objective (about something that is undeniably very subjective) and say that it surpasses those moments in Mass Effect in more ways than I can say.

I'm still feeling really quite emotional about it.


----------



## moon (Nov 26, 2014)

(((VP))) I will have to hurry up and get an XO so I can see what this is..

I think I was still trying to figure out what was going on in that ME scene, I had only just played my first video game (Skyrim) and was a bit confused green..  But think I can understand the feeling from high points in real life.... epic dizzying moments..

I don't mind things surpassing ME1.. I want as much surpassing as possible in every new game I play..


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 26, 2014)

Man, when the credits rolled when I completed my first run of Mass Effect, I bawled like a baby all the way through 

And as soon as they finished, I started a new game


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 26, 2014)

Still haven't left Skyhold. Place is fucking big.

I have squeed several times. 

I have picked up a quest and I get to see someone from Origins because of it and OMG I'M SO EXCITED.

I have learned about an interesting singing group.

I have taken a quiz.

I have been inadvertently transported all over the bleeding place, and every time that happens a new area has opened up and I don't think I'll ever leave.

And I have so many options of places to go now, I don't know what to do first.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 27, 2014)

Crestwood is beautiful.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 28, 2014)

50 hours, apparently. I'm not sure what I've done in that time, but I recently reached level 11. 

I swear I'm not wandering aimlessly. I swear I'm trying to be productive.

I've done no main story stuff since I officially became Inquisitor. 

50 hours.


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Nov 28, 2014)

I like the time you posted ^

I think I'm only around 50 hrs into Origins - am level 17- currently doing every possible side quest in/around Denerim before I find this sacred urn and actually move the story along.

So the question is when I finsih DA:O (and all the DLC) do I wait for the money to buy a new GFX card and play DA:I or Skyrim which has dropped to a tenner for the legendary edition.


----------



## moon (Nov 28, 2014)

I think I'm about 20 hrs into DA:O have done the Sacred Urn quest and loved it! Now am in Orzammar trying to recruit a dwarf.. they seem pretty cool. I'm beginning to like this game a lot.. was a bit slow at the start but things are picking up now...
I'm hoping I can skip DA:2 as I read that its really bad..any thoughts? I could just watch it on Youtube..


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 28, 2014)

Pseudopsycho said:


> I like the time you posted ^
> 
> I think I'm only around 50 hrs into Origins - am level 17- currently doing every possible side quest in/around Denerim before I find this sacred urn and actually move the story along.
> 
> So the question is when I finsih DA:O (and all the DLC) do I wait for the money to buy a new GFX card and play DA:I or Skyrim which has dropped to a tenner for the legendary edition.



Have you played DA2? If not, it's definitely worth doing, for... reasons.

As for what to play next... if you don't need the new card to play Skyrim, I'd say do that while you wait. It's a great game. If you need the new card for either of them, then when you do get the card I'd get DAI because <3


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 28, 2014)

moon said:


> I think I'm about 20 hrs into DA:O have done the Sacred Urn quest and loved it! Now am in Orzammar trying to recruit a dwarf.. they seem pretty cool. I'm beginning to like this game a lot.. was a bit slow at the start but things are picking up mow...
> I'm hoping I can skip DA:2 as I read that its really bad..any thoughts? I could just watch it on Youtube..



I don't think it's bad at all. It's different. The outspoken voices you hear online are the whiny cry babies. Most people are able to talk about the pros and cons of the game without stamping their feet. 

It's shorter. It's more linear. It's pretty. The lip syncing is the best they've ever done (better than DAI), if that's your kind of thing. It certainly is important to the story of DAI (events of DA2 are directly what sets up the context for DAI - and you really, really, really, really, really want to do the Legacy DLC for Very Important Reasons).

Here are the 2 main reasons people call it the worst game ever made and the reason why BioWare clearly hates their fans and are betraying them 

* the combat comes in waves - you'll defeat one bunch of baddies, and another wave of them will miraculously abseil in from nowhere
* they reused a lot of dungeon environments rather than make unique ones for every quest - think the bunkers on unchartered worlds in Mass Effect (I mean... it's not like BioWare doesn't have form for this - it even fucking happens in Origins - but apparently it happening in DA2 meant they were literally Hitler)

I understand both of those complaints. 

The first one, coupled with the lack of tactical camera combat and the speedier pace of combat made it more difficult for some to play as tactically as they were used to. Does that make it a bad thing? No. It was being directly compared to DAO and other old school RPGs. If it had been a game in its own right and not been following on from DAO, it wouldn't have caused so much of a stir. It's not the perfect combat style, but I know I preferred it to Origins. I understand why some don't. I've played far more tactically and at higher levels in DA2 and had far more fun with combat in DA2 than I ever did in DAO.

The second one isn't the sort of thing that bothers me anyway. It didn't bother me in Mass Effect. It didn't bother me in Origins. I think the reason why it was so noticeable in DA2 was because the game is more linear than Origins, and there are less unique places to go to. It feels quite a bit smaller in scope. That isn't automatically a bad thing, imo. Again, it's being compared to DAO, which is why they are worse than Hitler.

I prefer the process of playing through DA2 to DAO. I enjoy the combat more. The characters are interesting. 

Another thing it gets blasted for is the story and the method of telling it. It takes place over the course of 10 years, and 3 acts (plus a prologue of sorts). Each act deals with a different issue, although they come together for the most part. Act 2 is the outlier, and seems to have the least to do with the overarching story (which is mages versus templars), but is still interesting, particularly if you like Qunari and/or Isabela (the same Isabela as the rogue you can talk to in The Pearl in Denerim in DAO). They took a risk with that method of storytelling. It's being relayed after the fact, in a setting that is important to DAI, involving people who are very important to DAI. I think they realised the method of storytelling - over 10 years - wasn't quite as successful. There's also something that happens at the end that makes NO SENSE at all, but if you'd been paying attention to earlier bits of story and to various notes you'd picked up you could make it fit in your head.

Basically, pronouncements of DA2's shittery are very much overstated. I love the game, and most of the time I'd prefer to play that than I would slog through DAO.

DAI brings the best of both games together in terms of mechanics and combat. But more importantly, DA2 gives you HEAPS of information to bring with you into DAI. I would hate to go into DAI not knowing what I know, not having met who I've met. Plus, one of your companions in DAI is also one of your companions in DA2 and it'd be a huge shame not to know who he is ahead of time.

Playing DA2, even just the once, will absolutely, definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, be beneficial to your knowledge going into DAI, and will enrich your experience as a result.

And definitely, whatever you do, get the Legacy DLC.


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## Cid (Nov 28, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> Have you played DA2? If not, it's definitely worth doing, for... reasons.



What, an informative tutorial on how not to design dungeons?

tbf I quite enjoyed it, bits just felt so lazy.

e2a: oops, missed your last post.

I agree about the combat though - that was the good point of DA:2. The bloody waves were an arse though - whole point in Neverwinter, DA:O etc was precise tactics, twas a slap in the face.


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## Pseudopsycho (Dec 1, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> Have you played DA2? If not, it's definitely worth doing, for... reasons.
> 
> As for what to play next... if you don't need the new card to play Skyrim, I'd say do that while you wait. It's a great game. If you need the new card for either of them, then when you do get the card I'd get DAI because <3


I played DA2, and with the HD texture download it was very pretty. The story was indeed more linear and the whole thing feels smaller in comparison to DA:O (I had also played 100hrs+ of Fallout New Vegas so that didn't help). I haven't got legacy yet, so looks like I'll have to buy some Bioware points unless there's another way to get it? Maybe I should replay it with my DA:O world state before Inquisition.

WRT the bad points of DA2 the reuse not if tile sets but whole maps supposedly in different locations was infuriating and coming into Dragon Age after NWN 1&2 and expansions the world felt too small. The combat was good, you could actually let you characters have a scrap (and the retreat to safe distance saved my arse a number of times) without having to pause every second. I still find my now level 20 dual weapon fighter with 40+str/dex and 20+const in Juggernaught armour dying far too easily in DAO unless fights are micromanaged.

RE: the card for DAI my system exceeds the recommended specs except on graphics (I have a gtx550ti direct CUII 1GB card) so it should run ok but not on full mind blowing pretty, and it does look pretty... I also could use more graphics power to run Crysis3 on stupid pretty (I haven't played much of it since getting it cheap, Deadspce 3 grabbed my attention more).


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 1, 2014)

The tac cam isn't that great in DAI, I have to say. There's something that feels off about it. In buildings you often can't scroll it back so you can see everyone (and it doesn't scroll out as far as Origins to begin with), because as far as I'm aware Frostbite can't remove ceilings on the fly. This was their argument about DA2 -- they said in Origins nothing had a ceiling that wasn't just a clip-throughable thing. In 2 they focused more on the environments being pretty, and gave everywhere proper ceilings, which meant a tac cam wouldn't work. In DAI it seems they've tried to do both, and it means you have to swing the camera into a horizontal position to use tac cam in indoor locations because you just can't see anything otherwise.


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## moon (Dec 2, 2014)

Have you experienced any of the audio bugs that seem to be occurring with companion banter, music and other sound effects?


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 3, 2014)

No, I don't think so. I've replayed through the prologue a millionty times now (remaking lots of characters because the CC sucks and you can't tell what they look like until they've been through a few cut scenes) and sometimes Cass' audio will overlap by half a second, but it's not a problem in the slightest. Is the companion banter bug the one where banter doesn't happen as often as it should? If so, I have no idea if that is happening, because I don't know how frequent it should be! It's not as frequent as it was in previous games, but they had set points where it would trigger, and since the areas were far smaller you'd get to them more quickly. 

The biggest technical problem I've had is my mouse becoming unresponsive in dialogue and on the war table. But you just need to right click somewhere to bring it back. It is apparently a problem for consoles too, who don't have the option of right clicking.

I got to level 14 with Akima before I started itching to play with someone else. I'd started using Sera and Dorian a lot in combat, because I prefer ranged in this game so much. The controls feel better for ranged, if you're using kb&m. I can't stay in action cam with a dw rogue because there's no auto-attack, and it's very fiddly to keep repositioning yourself in a fight while attacking. I like tac cam well enough, so I wasn't bothered, but I felt like I lost something in the process. Using Sera or Dorian though, it was just fantastic. I prefer archery of the two, but I spent more time with that. I expect magic is just as wonderful.

So I'm going to play with the dalish archer for a while, and then most likely with a qunari mage. Akima's sat not doing much in the Western Approach at the moment. I will go back to her because there's a particular storyline I'm really very interested to see from the perspective of a character who is romancing Blackwall - as Akima is.

Turns out the main story is very, very short compared to the massive scope of the rest of the game. I was very disappointed when I found this out (I haven't completed it yet). Also, the personal quests you have with companions are a lot shorter than I imagined, as is the romance you can pursue. It feels like they put so much effort in putting in the 439th Farmer Blargles quest for the 5 lost rotten tomatoes that they didn't put all they could into the main stuff. The pacing is screwed. Because there are so many large areas to explore, many of which have nothing at all to do with the main story, you can spend days doing side quests and exploring in between doing anything story related. Or you can do the main story in a timely fashion, as befits the urgency afforded to it, and find yourself with 5 areas not even unlocked.

I had quite a massive grump about this the other day. I've since realised that I just have to adjust my expectations. They bigged up the scope of the game, the sheer scale of it, and in the process I just naturally assumed that would mean there was a main story of equal scope. Now I know what to expect, though, I'm happier about it.

The game is a lore lover's dream. A lot of the side content relates to lore from previous games, or moves it forward to new areas. There is some really interesting stuff even in the side content, so that I think it really is worth doing. Everything is worth reading.

Also, your race changes the way people talk to you. Your class is noted, your _specialisation_ is noted. Your romance is noted. This is all good rpg stuff.

So my initial score of 25/10 has dropped somewhat, but I still love it.


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## moon (Dec 3, 2014)

Interesting.. I'm intending to play as an elf mage first of all.. because..well.. Solas 
But I want all the audio bugs to be fixed before I spend any money on a PS4, I also need new headphones as my Beyerdynamic DT770's aren't being powered enough by my monitor, will try pushing them though my amp to see if that works..

Have you anything to note about the scenery etc, I've been watching bits on youtube and have noticed that it looks a bit samey and colour limited ie lots of browns and greens, fields and woodlands etc.. But it could just be the area that the youtube player has been stuck in for a while.. and I guess these are the usual colours of fantasy rpgs..


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 3, 2014)

The first big area you get to, The Hinterlands, is a typical high fantasy forest and grasslands area. It can seem like you are there for weeks and weeks, because there is so much to do and you're still finding your feet. You can leave the area though. There are two other areas you can go to at the beginning (you have to unlock them using 'power', which is a resource you gather by completing quests, closing fade rifts, etc.), The Storm Coast and The Fallow Mire. The Fallow Mire has level 12 enemies, so I wouldn't recommend going there for a while. The Storm Coast can be gone to more or less right away though.

As the name suggests, it's very stormy, and by the coast. Very beautiful. The rolling waves on the sea are gorgeous. It's a very rocky place, the rocks have been hewn into steppes of sorts, very distinctive. Lots of old Dwarven architecture around. It has trees, of course, but the palette is more subdued. The ambient sounds are lovely there, they can be quite eerie.

The Fallow Mire is cast in moonlight and mist, again, very beautiful.

The other areas I've seen so far have varied a bit. The most different are Forbidden Oasis and The Western Approach, both of which are sandy, desert type areas. The architecture in The Western Approach is lovely. The palette is very warm, reds and oranges. When you go to Crestwood it's night and stormy. A little like a cross between The Storm Coast and The Fallow Mire. It's very pretty. It changes a bit as you do the story.

I haven't seen other areas yet. The Orlesian sounding one (Empris du Lyon I think, can't remember off hand) is snowy, I think. Then there are The Hissing Wastes, Emerald Graves, and Exalted Plains. 

Val Royeaux is very pretty, but just a small hub for merchants and a little bit of story. It has reds and blues and golds and whites, very regal, befitting the grand 17th century French vibe. The people (and their dress sense) are bonkers.


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## moon (Dec 3, 2014)

Ok thanks, one more question, I've also noticed that when talking to team members the conversation appears from a distance, no close ups or changes in camera angle.
Would I be right in thinking that this is unusual in a Bioware game? And does it take anything away from it?


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 3, 2014)

Some conversations do that, others have a proper cinematic. You can move the camera around yourself in those non-cinematic conversations.

The reason they put in those non-cinematic dialogues is so you can leave it whenever you want, without needing to say "goodbye" or whatever. It was in response to feedback - oftentimes in previous games you'll find yourself initiating dialogue only for them to not have anything new to say to you, and going through the rigmarole of "Hello" "Hello" "Goodbye" "Goodbye" was a bit ridiculous. This new system lets you just walk away (on PC you click 'leave conversation' in the bottom corner) and as you're walking away the person will say something like "maybe later, then" or whatever. It feels a lot more natural.

But they're not all like that. Some companion dialogue is, if you're just asking basic stuff like "So tell me about the Chantry" etc. There are some conversations that will trigger cinematics with them though. For example, when you first reach Haven after the prologue, your first conversations with each of your companions will be cinematic, they'll walk around, you'll see the camera focus on you, on them, from different angles, etc. Most of the people you meet out in the wild will have the non-cinematic dialogue, unless it's story-related.


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 4, 2014)

Hark, the Pinkquisition is nigh...






I know nug skin is responsible for Solas' pink leather. I don't know what metal is responsible for Cass' lovely shiny pink bits 

That's my new dalish elf inquisitor, Aine Lavellan. Here she is again, rocking that sharp profile:






And here is Samiya Adaar, the qunari mage who is sat in Haven waiting for me to get around to taking her out:


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## moon (Dec 4, 2014)

Do you play as multiple characters at the same time?
I may try that with ME3 so I can also have a tech and biotic specialist, as I've only ever played as soldier and haven't yet re-played a game due to wanting to move onto something new etc etc..


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 4, 2014)

It depends. I prefer to stick with one, because I get confused as to what I've done with whom otherwise. But I'm struggling in DAI because I want to play ALL the characters. I'm sure I'll settle with one of them eventually, but at the moment I can't decide which of them it will be.

I have the opposite problem of you though - if I find a game I like, I can play it over and over before moving onto something else. But I guess I've played all the Mass Effects and Dragon Ages as they've come out, so I haven't had their sequels sitting there calling my name seductively 

I always play through Mass Effect as a soldier first. It's usually my "I know I'll fuck up and do something wrong and miss a mission or piss someone off, so I might as well do that with my boring soldier" run. Interestingly, I quite enjoyed soldier in ME3 - I think it was far stronger than in the previous games. That being said, my favourite in ME3 so far is infiltrator. I didn't like it in ME1 - the way you had to train in weapons in that game made no sense, and it made using a sniper rifle prohibitively difficult at first. Plus, there weren't really many situations where having a sniper would be beneficial. In 3 though it's brilliant. Have people with you who can stasis and/or freeze, and you can lock down the battlefield and take them out one by one with a headshot at your leisure. Plus you get tactical cloak, which on hard in a level with banshees and brutes is indispensable! My faves in ME1 were adept and engineer - they wiped the floor with everything. In 2 engineer wasn't as good, unfortunately. None of the classes were, really. I think I played adept more than anything else in 2, although I seem to remember sentinel was pretty great too (tech armour <3) - which is interesting because it sucked balls in 1.


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 9, 2014)

I always just create the computer game equivalent of me and give it my name. Needs to be personal or I don't engage, so I only ever play as me. 

Lack of imagination, perhaps.


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## moon (Dec 9, 2014)

There is a patch out today.. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...ig-dragon-age-inquisition-patch-due-out-today


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 9, 2014)

I read about that last night. I hope it makes things more stable. I've started having a few more crashes. At first it was one or two while I was refilling potions. Now I get them sometimes during cutscenes. I have to turn effects down, that seems to be the key. Not sure why it would start affecting me now, when I played through past this point with my previous character with effects on ultra and no problems.


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 9, 2014)

Thankfully I've long been a proponent of "save early, save often."


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 10, 2014)

*sigh*

Someone released cinematic tools. Which means flycam, fov controls, tonemapping, character lighting, colour control, dof...

I'll never finish this game.


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 10, 2014)

My current character, Aine Lavellan. Dalish archer, bonds with Sera over making enemies look like hedgehogs ^^


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## golightly (Dec 10, 2014)

Jeez Vintage Paw! Your sleep pattern must be all over the shop.


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 10, 2014)

Yeah, it is. I'm a night owl


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## Chick Webb (Dec 10, 2014)

moon said:


> There is a patch out today.. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...ig-dragon-age-inquisition-patch-due-out-today


That doesn't say anything about the tiny text problem.


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 10, 2014)

Chick Webb said:


> That doesn't say anything about the tiny text problem.



Indeed. I don't know if they're doing anything about that


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 11, 2014)

*makes inappropriate noises*


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## moon (Dec 11, 2014)

Chick Webb said:


> That doesn't say anything about the tiny text problem.


Can you get a refund? Or will you get a monitor?


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 12, 2014)

Who on earth thought it was a good idea to put the power of screenshot tools in my hands for this game?


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 12, 2014)

I've been level 12 for days. I'm never going to finish.


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## moon (Dec 12, 2014)

What is the thing that Solas wears around his neck? A bone? An amulet?
Why does he wear it?


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 12, 2014)

It looks like a jaw bone from an animal. I don't know what it is exactly. He hasn't explained it. I don't know if he does later. I'm avoiding spoilers like the plague.


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## Chick Webb (Dec 13, 2014)

moon said:


> Can you get a refund? Or will you get a monitor?


Ahh I don't know.  Neither?  It seems a bit mad to buy a monitor just to play one game.  Where would I even put it...

I think I'll just keep going with the game, even though I'm losing a lot of the detail in not being able to read the text.  Maybe it will be fixed at some point and I can restart it.  I'm not that comfortable playing as a rogue anyway.  I'm always a warrior on my first playthough these things.  

I'm going to play a bit as soon as Ice Age Giants is over.  I've just killed that caveful of mages near the start of the game.  Not sure what I need to do next. (I was in that marsh full of undead, but I think it's too soon for me to be there, so I've come back).  I haven't found the coastal part yet, or been let into Redcliff (did you guys check the windmill on the hill just in case there was a secret way in, haha?).


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 13, 2014)

Getting into it now. I'm at the early bit where you're establishing camps. Seems to be a fairly big discrepancy in baddie strength in seemingly similar areas, but I guess that forces you to explore. 'Tis good. Wish I'd got it on PS4 instead of PC so I can play it on the big telly.


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 13, 2014)

I killed my first dragon last night. I'm playing on hard, I was level 13, my party were level 12, the dragon was level 12.

I've got the perk that lets you carry 12 health potions and an extra slot unlocked for a third potion type.

I'd run out of potions completely by the time I killed it.

Fantastic.

Got some great lewtz.


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 13, 2014)

Take Iron Bull with you the first time you go and kill a dragon. He's squishy, so maybe leave it until you're a couple of levels above the dragon. Lowest level dragon is the one in the Hinterlands.

Go and talk to Iron Bull afterwards.

<3


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## ruffneck23 (Dec 13, 2014)

ooh its just come out to ' evaluate ' 

although i will be getting it on payday it will be nice to see how it runs on my rig


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## Epona (Dec 13, 2014)

ChrisFilter said:


> Getting into it now. I'm at the early bit where you're establishing camps. Seems to be a fairly big discrepancy in baddie strength in seemingly similar areas, but I guess that forces you to explore. 'Tis good. Wish I'd got it on PS4 instead of PC so I can play it on the big telly.



HDMI cable.

Sorry, I hate this myth that you cannot play PC games on a TV or from your sofa.
Not that you would necessarily want to if you have a good hi-res monitor and a graphics card to support it as you can get much better graphics that way, but if sofa gaming is your aim, then the resolution of a HDTV is good enough at that distance, and a cable is not expensive (do not be ripped off by thinking you need an expensive one, it would take some heavy plant or electromagnetic equipment in your front room to cause enough interference to change a 0 to a 1 or vice versa as it is traveling down a cable, a cheap HDMI cable from Tesco will do the job just as well).


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## ruffneck23 (Dec 13, 2014)

I've been using a 39 inch tv from tescos ( 209 quid iirc ) as my monitor for the last year with no problem whatso ever.

I did have a samsung telly i was using before that who picture was astounding, shame i had to sell it when i was skint


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 14, 2014)

Epona said:


> HDMI cable.
> 
> Sorry, I hate this myth that you cannot play PC games on a TV or from your sofa.
> Not that you would necessarily want to if you have a good hi-res monitor and a graphics card to support it as you can get much better graphics that way, but if sofa gaming is your aim, then the resolution of a HDTV is good enough at that distance, and a cable is not expensive (do not be ripped off by thinking you need an expensive one, it would take some heavy plant or electromagnetic equipment in your front room to cause enough interference to change a 0 to a 1 or vice versa as it is traveling down a cable, a cheap HDMI cable from Tesco will do the job just as well).


I'm well aware that I could plug the PC into a TV  I had it like that for a long time. But now the PC is in the spare room as a home office and not in the lounge with the big telly.


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## ruffneck23 (Dec 14, 2014)

ChrisFilter said:


> I'm well aware that I could plug the PC into a TV  I had it like that for a long time. But now the PC is in the spare room as a home office and not in the lounge with the big telly.



I did wonder, after all you got me an interview for an IT company some years ago that you worked at 

Anyway , only got to play for about 15 mins last night, but damn does it look or what ? I have a feeling i'm going to lose a long time to this which is pretty handy as its going to be a long skint January


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## Epona (Dec 14, 2014)

ChrisFilter said:


> I'm well aware that I could plug the PC into a TV  I had it like that for a long time. But now the PC is in the spare room as a home office and not in the lounge with the big telly.



I know you were well aware but it still astounds me in this day and age that people can have a games console in the front room, but their PC has to be hidden away somewhere like some 'abnormal' twin in a Victorian horror story.  If you're not living in a fucking show home, put any and all your computing gear where you can use it for optimum use and entertainment.  If it's too ugly, just splash out on a nicer case for it or something. 

I just don't hold with this 'console out front, PC out back' thing, we have 2 PCs (1 each) in our front room hooked up to TV and monitors and they are the centre of our entertainment world, I can't imagine a situation where we would think "oh I know, let's have the computers in a room where we can't easily use the big telly for gaming" - that would be like deciding not to have a cooker in the kitchen or something!


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 14, 2014)

Sometimes the spare room _is_ the place for optimal use. It depends on the person, their requirements, and how the rest of their house works.


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 14, 2014)

Yeah, different strokes for different folks. Epona, you're both into your computers. My wife isn't and even if she was, there's no room for a hulking great tower. 

I could invest in a small form-factor PC but it's simpler just to play on the ps4.


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 15, 2014)

Cassandra and Solas are life <3


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 16, 2014)

PLAY THE GODDAMN GAME, VP
















I can't. I just need to take this screenshot. And line up this shot. And dig into the frostbite engine to change the post-processing for this scene. And...

</forever level 13>


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## bouncer_the_dog (Dec 16, 2014)

ChrisFilter said:


> Wish I'd got it on PS4 instead of PC so I can play it on the big telly.



If you have a crappy old laptop you can use the magic of Steam Streaming!


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 16, 2014)

bouncer_the_dog said:


> If you have a crappy old laptop you can use the magic of Steam Streaming!


Yeah, considered that, but it's a faff. With a PS4 I can pick up the controller, the TV turns on automatically and it just works. 

Enjoying it so much I decided to get it on PS4 as well. Found a copy on eBay for £30. Bargain!


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 16, 2014)

There are some games I'm willing to spend more money on. I have 3 copies of Mass Effect 1, and 3 copies of Dragon Age: Origins. And I bought 2 copies of DA:I, one for me and one for someone else who couldn't afford it. BioWare can have all my monies.


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## Cid (Dec 17, 2014)

The interface for keyboard+mouse is a bit poorly implemented.

Also tactical view. It's great - just scroll out and switch to strategy. It would take this game back to the tactical combat of DA:O and Neverwinter. Except for its utterly shit implementation. Limited zoom out even in open spaces. Bloody awful indoors.


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 17, 2014)

Yeah, by all accounts it's unplayable with keyboard and mouse. Tactical view works great with a pad.


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## Cid (Dec 17, 2014)

I'd switch to xbox controller if I could remember where I put the sodding thing.


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 18, 2014)

ChrisFilter said:


> Yeah, by all accounts it's unplayable with keyboard and mouse. Tactical view works great with a pad.



Unplayable is taking it a bit far.

I've put in over 100 hours with kb&m, I'm playing on hard. There are improvements they could make. It's hardly unplayable.

The reason it doesn't work well indoors is because of the way frostbite deals with roofs, apparently. Can't remove them on the fly, or something. So you either get a limited height you can scroll to as you 'hit' the ceiling and have to stop, or they flag it as clippable and you get weird bits of the back of assets blocking your view as you hover above the ceiling. That's what I heard on the road anyhow. Take it for what it is.


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## Cid (Dec 18, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> Unplayable is taking it a bit far.
> 
> I've put in over 100 hours with kb&m, I'm playing on hard. There are improvements they could make. It's hardly unplayable.
> 
> The reason it doesn't work well indoors is because of the way frostbite deals with roofs, apparently. Can't remove them on the fly, or something. So you either get a limited height you can scroll to as you 'hit' the ceiling and have to stop, or they flag it as clippable and you get weird bits of the back of assets blocking your view as you hover above the ceiling. That's what I heard on the road anyhow. Take it for what it is.



What it is is lazy. Or rushed. Either way something that basic shouldn't happen in a AAA/£50 (ok £32 at G2A) game.


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## Epona (Dec 18, 2014)

ChrisFilter said:


> Yeah, different strokes for different folks. Epona, you're both into your computers. My wife isn't and even if she was, there's no room for a hulking great tower.
> 
> I could invest in a small form-factor PC but it's simpler just to play on the ps4.



I kind of see what you are saying, but I don't really get it if that makes any sense.  Maybe I just got lucky when I got together with someone who views having computing equipment in the front room as a necessity.  Or maybe I wouldn't be able to 'click' with someone who objected.  I should post up a photo of our desk with its mass of monitors and a TV screen mounted on the wall behind it.  If this setup were in another room, we would spend most of our time in that room instead of this one so it would be daft for us to put the PCs (2 of them) anywhere else.

The game looks great btw, maybe I will look into it when OH is out of hospital, I barely have time to play anything right now.


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 18, 2014)

Well, honestly, I don't want a lounge full of computer stuff either. Gaming is a small part of my life. I spend much more time not gaming and the aesthetics of my house are important to me.


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## Epona (Dec 19, 2014)

ChrisFilter said:


> Well, honestly, I don't want a lounge full of computer stuff either. Gaming is a small part of my life. I spend much more time not gaming and the aesthetics of my house are important to me.



Fair enough


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 20, 2014)

Prettier on PS4 than I expected. Very nice. Such a good game.


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 20, 2014)

It's super gorgeous. I can't run it at full ultra settings, but even so it's a sexy game.

Apart from the hair.

The hair can fuck right off.

They've cracked modding though. So give it time.

On the PC, obv. Soz.


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 20, 2014)

Not too fussed about mods. Whilst I love eye candy and installed a few on Skyrim, I barely get time for playing games, let alone tinkering with them.


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 20, 2014)

It's super pretty without mods anyway. I'd use a hair mod, as long as it wasn't stupid glamour £200 shampoo and conditioner-type hair. And of course, anything that gives more variety to armour as well (maybe a change of clothes for Skyhold).

The environment needs nothing doing to it though. It's lovely.


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## Quartz (Dec 20, 2014)

ChrisFilter said:


> Getting into it now. I'm at the early bit where you're establishing camps. Seems to be a fairly big discrepancy in baddie strength in seemingly similar areas, but I guess that forces you to explore. 'Tis good. Wish I'd got it on PS4 instead of PC so I can play it on the big telly.



You could always move the PC to the telly. You can get Xbox gamepads for the PC from Microsoft, too, and here's how to use the PS4 Dualshock 4 in Windows.


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 21, 2014)

Assume you missed the following exchange? Thanks, though.


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 22, 2014)

10 hours in. It's quite easy. I think that's why I like it so much. The gameplay isn't challenging - it's just a nice meander with a satisfying battle mechanic that you don't have to work too hard at.


----------



## snadge (Dec 24, 2014)

Hmm reading up on this game, I still have not found an answer, is there PvP in this game and even more so, open world PvP?


----------



## Vintage Paw (Dec 24, 2014)

snadge said:


> Hmm reading up on this game, I still have not found an answer, is there PvP in this game and even more so, open world PvP?



Nope. It's mostly a single player RPG. There is online coop multiplayer, where you form a group of 4 and fight against npc enemies through specific maps. Not open world.


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## snadge (Dec 24, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> Nope. It's mostly a single player RPG. There is online coop multiplayer, where you form a group of 4 and fight against npc enemies through specific maps. Not open world.



Shame, it looks very nice, I'm struggling to find a decent semi popular open world PvP game in the multitude of games out there, would go back to EvE but until the power projection nerfs are active it is pointless.

Also I don't play FPS games, I find no consequence, twitch based PvP awful.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Dec 24, 2014)

The only PvP I've ever taken part in is ESO's. Once you get to level 10 in the single player MMO bit, you can stay in PvP as much as you want. It's all one map though, with small dungeons and the like to explore. There are goals, like take enemy keeps and disrupt their supplies, etc., or there's just roaming around ganking or whatever. I haven't played it for a while, so I don't know how populated it is at the moment. Epona would be the one to ask, I think she still plays it.

It might start to feel pretty small after a while though, since it's just the one map.


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## Vintage Paw (Dec 31, 2014)

The Emerald Graves is the most beautiful area so far. Paused currently while killing the dragon there. Paused because taking screenshots


----------



## Chick Webb (Jan 3, 2015)

The unreadable text is causing me no end of issues.  Now I'm in Haven and


Spoiler: spoiler



there's an army of rebel mages attacking us.  I would not have buddied up with the templars if I had been able to read what I was doing properly.  Gah!

It feels kind of like this might be the big/final battle, but it can't be, because I haven't been playing long enough, and I've only just met two of the major characters.


  It's not the final battle is it?

I want to start the game again some point, and be a pro-mage warrior, instead of rogue who doesn't know what he's doing and has no plan.  At the moment I'm waiting (probably in vain) for a fix to the text before I do that.


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Jan 4, 2015)

Very nice looking game, my PS4 gaming mates are showing 'nuff love for this game! Very tempted as I need something to pull me away from Destiny...


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jan 4, 2015)

Chick Webb said:


> The unreadable text is causing me no end of issues.  Now I'm in Haven and
> 
> 
> Spoiler: spoiler
> ...



No, that's not the final battle by any means. Think of it as the end of Act 1 (or perhaps even the end of an extended prologue). Really, the game is just about to open out and begin. Me? I'm on hour 180 and I'm not at the end yet. 

I'm really sorry you're still having no luck with the text problem. They've been super quiet over Xmas (to be expected, they just released the game and need a break), I don't know if it's on their radar as something they're trying to address.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jan 6, 2015)

I still haven't finished, but I'm getting close-ish.

Still taking screenshots, of course. Trying to get better at it. These are a couple I took tonight that I'm pretty happy with:


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jan 8, 2015)

Finally doing some story stuff. It's good.


----------



## Scumbaggio (Jan 8, 2015)

I can't possibly buy this because I've seen the ad on zero punctuation about 2 dozen times and it fucks me off.


----------



## Cid (Jan 30, 2015)

I've played a fair bit more now and enjoying it. The combat can still be annoying and sometimes inexplicable (warriors charging bulling into the distance and the party reforming around them ), but overall it's certainly a better game than DA:2 and in some ways better than DA:O. I like the more open world feel - I've said before that I found it extremely frustrating having this lurking dread that I hadn't collected all that I could of a specific herb or fully mined an area for XP, this seems to have been fixed (to an extent anyway). I'm still not enamoured with the Bioware dialogue style and the occasional 'wtf? that is not what I wanted to say', but it's not so bad. Have learned my way around the fairly illogical menu system, but poor implementation of the mouse still pisses me off. Overall pretty good, buggy and sometimes outright annoying, but good. Oh, it would also be nice if Bioware could actually fix some of the bugs.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jan 30, 2015)

Go into the tactics menu (such as it is) and turn off charging bull. It's a useless skill for your party to use, it's only really useful if you're the one using it. They won't use it very well. Same goes for things like whirlwind. You can't really spec your party and your inquisitor in the same way, because many of the skills require intervention for correct placement etc, or being used in conjunction with one another, which the AI doesn't get right very often. So unless you're going to micromanage to the extreme, turn off things like that.

They're still working on the bugs. They've fixed some (allegedly, anyway - like various quests not triggering - I didn't even know one of them existed until I saw the patch notes ), and they're still looking at others. The game is so huge, some things aren't quite so simple to fix. This is going to be a problem more and more as games continue to grow in size and complexity. Should we be happy about it? Of course not. Should we expect no bugs? No. Should we pissed off with them for telling us the PC version was made specifically for PC? Damn right.


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## Vintage Paw (Jan 30, 2015)

I still haven't finished, btw. Close, though. 270 hours and counting. Granted, since about half way through the game I've been using better screenshot tools, so most of my gameplay time is spent shooting.

My DA:I flickr album.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Jan 30, 2015)

270 hours. My god.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jan 31, 2015)

I maybe play for a couple or so hours a day, about 5 times a week. Sometimes I play for longer. I haven't played at all today. And like I say, most of that time is spent hunting down screenshots, which is why it's taken me so long to get near the end of the game. Yesterday I walked around a bit, and closed one fade rift. That's it. Got some nice pictures though.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Jan 31, 2015)

I think I was being a bit of a dullard when I posted that. I was trying to work out how on earth you could fit that in post-launch. I'd mixed up 270 hours with 2,700 hours.


----------



## Chick Webb (Jan 31, 2015)

I


Vintage Paw said:


> I maybe play for a couple or so hours a day, about 5 times a week. Sometimes I play for longer. I haven't played at all today. And like I say, most of that time is spent hunting down screenshots, which is why it's taken me so long to get near the end of the game. Yesterday I walked around a bit, and closed one fade rift. That's it. Got some nice pictures though.


I'm envious of the beauteous graphics! Those hunched over demons are scary looking. 

I'm starting maternity leave in less than a week, so I'm going to restart the game, and rather than putting up with not being able to understand how to do things and just skipping them (like crafting and that) because I can't read the text, I'm going to look up how to do them on the laptop as I go.  It will be a complete pain, but it's the only way I will be able to play it properly until I can either afford a new console or a good pc, (or a fancy telly, although from what I've read, even that wouldn't necessarily fix the the problem) which won't be for a long time.   

A mate of mine who has been listening to me going on about Dragon Age for years finally downloaded the first one the other day, and is going to play through them all!   It's silly, but I wish I was back in that position.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jan 31, 2015)

A lot of the codex entries and notes will be on the various DA wiki sites, so you can look them up and read them when you come across them. In fact, I found a tumblr the other day that is uploading screenshots of the codex entries, inverted so it's black text on a white background, at a decent size, precisely for those of you who are having problems reading that stuff. It doesn't help with the quest text, but at least the lore is there to peruse. I don't know how much they've done yet, presumably it's an ongoing project, and they're working on it being searchable. 

I know what you mean about wishing you could go back and experience them for the first time. I feel like that too, and especially about Mass Effect 1.


----------



## Chick Webb (Feb 1, 2015)

Well, I still DO have the Mass Effects to play (although that's off topic around here).  I've played about 5 hours of 3, but then the disc crashed.


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Feb 2, 2015)

Gorgeous shots as ever. Is this the vanilla/modded PC version and what spec/settings are you using?


----------



## Vintage Paw (Feb 2, 2015)

Thank you 

I'm not using any mods (there are only a handful out atm, and they're all texture swaps of clothing and skin and a couple of other things).

I use SweetFX processing injector suite to brighten things up a bit, add some sharpening, and to use SMAA instead of the game's own FXAA. Then I use DAI Cinematic Tools, which hooks into the Frostbite engine, to gain control of the Frostbite visual and camera settings. That lets me use freecam, change fov, and also alter colours, bloom, fog, and add dof blur.

As for specs, I can't run everything on ultra. Meshes, textures, post-processing, and effects are on ultra (although I turn the last 2 down sometimes because they can give me crashes during cutscenes sometimes). Shadows on high, same for tessellation and terrain. Vegetation on medium, I think water is too, and I'm using HBAO.


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## Vintage Paw (Feb 6, 2015)

303 hours in and I'm finally going to start the end game.


----------



## Chick Webb (Feb 7, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> 303 hours in and I'm finally going to start the end game.


Cool. I started again last night. I'm a warrior now (human male) with a two handed weapon.  The sword is slow and unwieldy, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Feb 8, 2015)

Well, I finished.

The last fight is utterly underwhelming. I never thought I'd say that the main story is the weakest part of a BioWare game, but here we are.

BUT

A friendly reminder/insistence that you watch through the credits. DO NOT SKIP THE CREDITS. 308 hours and the best bit of the game was the 1 minute scene after the credits

While the main story and the storytelling was lacklustre, omfg the additions to lore were spectacular.

I guessed 3 big reveals right at the beginning of the game (because I'm amazing), and now I'm speculating about all sorts of other things. Not least being ancient dwarven history (I've got my own headcanon about their origins and why they are the way they are now... it makes a hell of a lot of sense).

I read a Kotaku article the week before release, and it said that to get the most out of this game you really have to know your Dragon Age lore. Having done a completionist run now I'd say that's 100% accurate.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Feb 8, 2015)

Chick Webb said:


> Cool. I started again last night. I'm a warrior now (human male) with a two handed weapon.  The sword is slow and unwieldy, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.



I've restarted with a qunari 2Her. It is slow, but it feels meaty. It's a lot more difficult than archery (which is god mode). I got past the first pride demon in the prologue with no potions left and all of us under half health (admittedly on hard difficulty). I haven't had such a challenging fight in a long time.

Also, after I finished the game the other night I finally updated from patch 1 to patch 4. I'd heard scare stories about broken performance, so even though I knew it was only a minority of players suffering I held off until I'd finished the game once, to make sure I _could_ finish. Well, anyway, performance is _better_ after updating.


----------



## captainmission (Feb 10, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> Well, I finished.
> 
> The last fight is utterly underwhelming. I never thought I'd say that the main story is the weakest part of a BioWare game, but here we are.



Yeah, the story's bad. It peaks with the trek from haven to your castle - 10-12 hours in. Nothing rivals that for the rest of the game and by the end it runs out of steam. I mean if the villain could do what he did in the final battle all along what were we doing for the past +200 hrs?

A lot of it seems a massive overreaction to criticism of dragon age 2 for being too small scale. You're the messiah, you get a castle, you choice the new pope, you choice the new emperor, you get a pet dragon.


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## Vintage Paw (Feb 10, 2015)

That move from Haven to Skyhold was spectacular. It felt like it needed another "Dragon Age Inquisition" splash screen after it - proper "and now the game begins" stuff.

I thought the Adamant/Fade stuff was pretty good. The Winter Palace was okay, it was nice to have a change of pace. It was very interesting going to the Temple in the Arbor Wilds. The problem is that all of these things were shorter than they should have been, and there simply weren't enough main quests. Add in another 3 or 4 main quests of that size and sort out the wonky pacing and the game might have deserved all the GOTY awards it got. Bonus points if some of the side quests were expanded to be more substantial and worthwhile.

I was honestly gobsmacked when I realised how few main quests there were. For a game that is so huge and clearly a wonderful technical achievement, there's really very little to it.


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## Cid (Feb 11, 2015)

The move from Haven to Skyhold was really, really fucking cheesy. At least the singing bit was. I was on something like 45 hours by then as well, on 80 now, still a long way to go. Bit of a completionist.


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## captainmission (Feb 13, 2015)

It wasn't just the lack of story content that was the problem, it's that it lacked any narrative structure. We get an first act, then it just becomes a series of things happening then it ends. 

The mmoification of the zones was pretty obvious too- but even my mmo standards the storytelling was weak. Most zones lacked a story running through them and it was merely a case of following markers on the map. Those that had some overarching story dried up pretty fast. WoW was doing story better 10 years ago and that was shit. I expceted better from bioware.


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## Vintage Paw (Feb 13, 2015)

Yeah that's what I mean when I say story and _storytelling_. They had a story (albeit a relatively weak and short one), and they fucked up in how they _told_ it. What would have helped a great deal is to have integrated the telling of the story into the regular flow of exploring the huge areas they clearly put so much time into creating. To have more natural segways into main story events, where you, for example, physically travel through the Exalted Plains and the Emerald Graves, doing smaller quests that tie into and build up to a main quest, and then in so doing you eventually find you've travelled to the area of the Winter Palace. The events leading you there set the stage, introduce you to Gaspard's soldiers and to Celene's soldiers (and to Briala's operatives) so you naturally find out who they are, what they stand for, why you should care, and eventually by the time you're taking part in a quest like the Winter Palace ball it's been planted firmly in context and feels like it's a natural continuation of what you've been doing while out and about exploring.

If they'd have approached all the main quests in that way, and added a handful more (along with tying in a lot of the side content to those quests to give them more meaning and import) they'd have made the game feel a lot more cohesive and less empty. Tying quests to regional exploration would also have helped with the pacing, but tbh with a game this large I wouldn't have been averse to proper scripted events. In the end I come away from all of this thinking that DA2 did _storytelling_ a hell of a lot better than DAI.


----------



## Voley (Feb 13, 2015)

My brother's really into this. I haven't seen him for a month.


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## Vintage Paw (Feb 13, 2015)

Yeah, for all my bitching I do like the game and have lost a considerable amount of my leisure time to it.


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## Chick Webb (Feb 13, 2015)

I loved how... soap operaish DA2 was.  I miss that.


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## Chick Webb (Feb 13, 2015)

Oh, are Celine and Gaspard and Briala all showing up? Cool.


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## Vintage Paw (Feb 13, 2015)

Chick Webb said:


> Oh, are Celine and Gaspard and Briala all showing up? Cool.



oops, sorry 

I won't talk about specifics. There are some doozies in the game.


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## Chick Webb (Feb 13, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> oops, sorry
> 
> I won't talk about specifics. There are some doozies in the game.


I read the book. I know about those 3 so it's not a big spoiler.


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## Vintage Paw (Feb 14, 2015)

*cries real tears*

http://blog.bioware.com/2015/02/13/...-5-beta-program-featuring-the-black-emporium/



> At BioWare, we’re always looking for new ways to empower our players. Whether in person or online, we firmly believe in collecting feedback and working with our community to ensure we’re addressing issues important to both new and experienced players.
> 
> For Dragon Age: Inquisition, we’ve developed a faster and more compressed patch schedule than any prior BioWare game. However, due to the nature of the certification process, it can often still take weeks after developing a fix to release it on different platforms. Because of this, we continue to explore new ways to foster better communication between our players and developers.
> 
> ...



Chick Webb _"We’re also including the option to adjust the size of subtitles" -_ I don't know whether this will cover more than subtitles, I hope it does.


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## captainmission (Feb 16, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> In the end I come away from all of this thinking that DA2 did _storytelling_ a hell of a lot better than DAI.



If it wasn't for the horrible characterisation of the mages DA2 would have a great example of rpg story telling. It also contains the one point in any bioware game where i've actually had to make a moral decision of any consequence, rather than choose between blue niceness point or red sociopath points.


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## Chick Webb (Feb 16, 2015)

captainmission said:


> If it wasn't for the horrible characterisation of the mages DA2 would have a great example of rpg story telling. It also contains the one point in any bioware game where i've actually had to make a moral decision of any consequence, rather than choose between blue niceness point or red sociopath points.


What did you think was wrong with the characterisation of mages in DA2?  I thought that one was very obviously pro-mage, despite there being a lot of physcho mages that show up on a regular basis (to paraphrase Hawke, will there ever be a week when I don't have to deal with a crazy mage?).  

I haven't played a whole heap of Inquisition yet, and so far haven't met many mages apart from Solas, but so far it looks like that game is making the mages look a lot more unreasonable/less justified than they were in their actions in 2.


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## Vintage Paw (Feb 16, 2015)

In 2 there were quite a few problems with how they represented mages (I love DA2, btw). First, you could be a blood mage, and templars could be standing in front of you telling you how awful it is that there are blood mages everywhere, and you could practically be severing a vein right there in front of them and they'd just be stood there, none the wiser.

Second, Orsino. Oh Orsino. If you sided with the templars and Meredith, what he did at the end made a lot more sense. You _could_ argue it made sense even if you sided with the mages, but you have to do a lot more mental gymnastics, and when it comes down to it you end up just staring at your screen shouting "you fucking nob, we'd fucking won "

Third, even though you can be pro-mage and you can encourage your companions to eventually be pro-mage (or at least get Fenris to chillax a bit), and even though you can completely agree with and justify Anders' actions at the end, the game has you standing facing one direction telling everyone that mages can be trusted, that a few bad apples shouldn't tar everyone, that mages need more freedom, while behind you there are 20 mages turning into abominations, sacrificing kids, splattering their own blood and the blood of innocents everywhere... you get the picture.

It was quite 2-dimensional in the way it presented the tension between magic undeniably having some danger to it, and the argument that mages can be trusted. I understand it wanted to present that tension, but it didn't do it very well.

Cut to DA:I, and I think it does it a lot, lot better, even though the mages at the beginning make you facepalm because of what you find out they're doing at Redcliffe (if you've got that far). You get a lot of different viewpoints by mages in this game, some that haven't actually been presented at all in the series. For example, Vivienne has some very interesting things to say about the benefits of having Circles. Now, I disagree with her on principle, and because she's coming at it from a hardline conservative point of view, and she's very privileged and doesn't see that not everyone has it as great as her. But at the same time she puts forward some very interesting ideas that simply haven't been shown in the past. Then there's Dorian, the mage from Tevinter. He tells us all about the Circle in Minrathous, and what it's like being a mage there. It gives yet another viewpoint, and another side to all the evil scare stories we've heard about Tevinter. While Tevinter is surely fucked up, at the same time it gives another possibility for how Circles could exist and actually be positive for mages, rather than oppressive. 

We also see other mages who are tired of the mage/templar war and just want to go back to the circle where they were safe. We read about the annulment of circles and how horrific they were. There's a lot of comment on the dangers of magic, and there are a lot of opportunities for mages to prove themselves and argue otherwise. There's also a decision late in the game that is VERY important for the future of mages, and I can't even begin to imagine what Thedas will look like in the next game as a result.

DA:I is a lot more nuanced in the way it presents various tensions, if you listen to people and look deeper than what's just on the surface. DA2 was nuanced as well in its own way, but they weren't quite as sophisticated in their presentation in that game as they have become.


----------



## Chick Webb (Feb 16, 2015)

Haha, true about Orsino.  That was a bit out of the blue when you're playing pro-mage. 

I got what I thought was a strange bit of mage/elf information from that woman who hangs around in Josephine's office (I can't read her name with my tiny text - it sounds like Niamh) playing last night.  She said she was kicked out of her Dalish clan because they could only tolerate a certain amount of mages in their midst.  Now, I know not to romanticise the Dalish, but I did think that it would be more normal to have magic than not if you were Dalish, so I thought getting thrown out of your clan for that reason was odd.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Feb 16, 2015)

They do that so as to not attract the ire of nearby humans, as far as I'm aware. Plus to avoid too many opportunities for "mages gone wild" situations. I'm sure the _way_ they do it is different from clan to clan, but some Dalish clans are downright fucked up (and all are delusional, but that's for another time ).

There was only one mage in the clan you started with in DA:O, and that was Merrill (although, actually I can't remember if the keeper was a mage as well).

The woman in Josie's office is Minaeve.


----------



## Chick Webb (Feb 16, 2015)

I just got into Redcliffe for the first time, had a chat with Tevinter dude, and now my xbox has frozen on me


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## Vintage Paw (Feb 16, 2015)

If there's anything you want to ask about that might help you get through the game with the bad text, go ahead. I'll try and help as best I can. Whether it's asking about mechanics or lore or quests or characters you can't read about.


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## Vintage Paw (Feb 16, 2015)

For example, I'm not sure how much is explained in dialogue or through a text pop-up, but the table by Minaeve in Josie's office, if you click that it will deposit any of the gold/yellow items you pick up off enemies that sit in your valuables bit of the inventory (the tab that looks like a cut jewel) - depositing them gives you a bit of a damage bonus against that particular type of enemy.


----------



## Chick Webb (Feb 17, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> If there's anything you want to ask about that might help you get through the game with the bad text, go ahead. I'll try and help as best I can. Whether it's asking about mechanics or lore or quests or characters you can't read about.


Thank you!  It's actually going better this time around, because I'm playing it while alone and I can actually hear the characters (other people aren't around playing their records or watching vids on their phones - this is a 3 person/1 telly house).

It took me a long time the other day to figure out Minaeve's table.  My quest screen was telling me to go give her an item, but every time I tried to, she said "can I help you with anything" in that rude, aggressive way she has.   She sounds like an angry Kerry woman trying to throw you out of her shop.  Anyway, I figured out I was supposed to put the demon guts or whatever it was on the table in the end, but I didn't know what that did for me, so thanks!


----------



## Chick Webb (Feb 23, 2015)

I met 



Spoiler



Hawke last night!  He seems confused.  He thought he had a living brother and seemed to be talking about his beloved boyfriend in the past tense 


I'm in the Emerald Graves now. Is that where I'm supposed to be, or does it matter what order I do things in? I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing now apart from someone suggested making more of a presence for myself in Orlais.

I thought the 



Spoiler



Redcliffe timetravel


 was great.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Mar 5, 2015)

Patch 5 is now out. It brings armour tinting, a storage chest, auto-attack outside of tac-cam, a greater zoom distance in tac-cam, and various stability and bug fixes. It also decouples shader and mesh quality, so you can drop mesh quality without sacrificing scars, freckles, or gaining super-shiny hair, and so on.

The Black Emporium is still being beta tested, and there are more things planned in patch 6, which is also being beta tested. They are aware the changes to PC controls they've implemented so far aren't perfect, but are a work in progress and they plan to continue to iterate on them.

Chick Webb - patch 5 also includes the ability to change text size, but as far as I'm aware it only affects dialogue, so no codex entries, notes and the like. I don't know if that's planned down the line, or not, but it might make some things a bit easier for you.

I'm still playing and taking screenshots.


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## Vintage Paw (Mar 5, 2015)

Chick Webb said:


> I met
> 
> 
> 
> ...



It doesn't matter what order you do things in really, as long as you can handle the level of the enemies there. I think they want you to do Here Lies the Abyss (the Hawke/Warden quest line) before Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts (the Celene quest line), but I did it the other way round and thought it was fine. In fact, there is a little bit of dialogue you can get by doing WEWH before HLTA that you can't get the other way around (depending on your world state).


----------



## Vintage Paw (Mar 23, 2015)

Bizarre surprise announcement that the first DLC is dropping tomorrow for PC and XBone (other platforms have to wait). 

Jaws of Hakkon.

Seems it's about the Avvar (ERMAHGERD I REALLY WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THEM), and possibly more specifically about Hakkon Wintersbreath, who is one of the Avvar gods of legend.

Super excite.


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Mar 24, 2015)

My mate turned up with a nearly free copy for me yesterday...
...just got to wait til I can afford my new GFX card (and finish Skyrim!)

Twitchy gaming fingers!


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 5, 2015)

New DLC coming soon, The Descent.



The Deep Roads look pretty!! And the ogre looks more like the original ogres. Love the punching


----------



## golightly (Aug 22, 2015)

Just getting back into DA:I. I'm enjoying it much more than my first play. I think this tends to happen when I play Bioware games. It takes a couple of goes for me to get it.


----------



## moon (Aug 26, 2015)

Apparently this has arrived at home  I couldn't wait until winter to play it seeing as I have PS4 just sitting there, waiting for Bioware 
Will probably spend my evening making a female elf mage.. yayayaay!


----------



## moon (Aug 27, 2015)

I made my elf mage (mainly for Solas!) but she looks nothing like me so am feeling a disconnect. May make a human rogue tonight..
Also my loading screens seem to take ages and the dialogue wheel is sometimes unresponsive. I installed an update and will see how it performs tonight.


----------



## moon (Aug 28, 2015)

I got into this a bit more last night and am loving it!
Managed to complete a variety of quests in the Hinterlands and got enough power to go to val royeaux.
Chatted to Solas  one of his dialogue bits very much reminded me of the 'Tears in rain' monologue from Blade Runner.

My entire team was killed by the Druffalo on the farm.. I wasn't expecting that.
Getting into tactical camera a bit, I like it for checking the vulnerabilities of enemies and it also has a bit of a Skyrim stealth archery feel, will test it more over the weekend.

I made a human female but she was so ugly I'm going to delete her and make a male rogue dual wielding assassin  (for Dorian!)

Um that's it for now.. will post a few pics over the weekend no doubt.


----------



## moon (Aug 28, 2015)

Here is the Solas speech at time 0.27


And here is the 'tears in the rain' monologue from Blade Runner, they are surprisingly similar


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 30, 2015)

Inquisition's final DLC comes out in a couple of weeks, called Trespasser. I'm looking forward to it, although I haven't played the last one yet


----------



## moon (Sep 1, 2015)

Here is my male rogue.


Still trying to get a good photo of my female mage... her facial proportions are a bit off.

I've made it to Redcliffe and finally met Dorian! He is such a darling.. and the clothes he wears (or doesn't wear) whooo..
Its all getting really exciting now. I've spent a huge amount of time in the Hinterlands helping refugees, stopping the fighting between mages and templars etc etc. Visited the Storm Coast for a bit as well as a few other areas, but the Hinterlands seem a bit more populated.
Getting the hang of crafting etc Sera's bees have been a godsend when fighting bears. So far my fave companions are Iron Bull, Sera and Vivienne, I try to take them out with me as much as possible but I have a feeling that they tire if you take them out to much? loosing health more quickly? So I change up my team on occasion.
I cant find the place where I can see how much time I've spent in game but I'm sure its around 20hrs..

I saw the final DLC, I think it was the Spanish version... and the ending was erm.. interesting...Solas???

Edited to add that I now have the mages working alongside us and *FREE* at Haven, that caused a lot of ruffled feathers but I'm getting the feeling that this game is quite similar to Mass Effect in regards to the fear of artificial intelligence.

My take on it is that we have to at least trust in the mages to use their magic wisely if we are to move forwards in peace. Keeping them locked up in circles and hunted down just creates more of a threat, possibly tempting them to use blood magic in order to gain their more power and control over their lives etc etc.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 1, 2015)

I should have added, if you haven't finished the main game do NOT watch the Trespasser trailer 

I'm yet to side with the templars, but there are changes to the later story if you do, a character you don't meet otherwise shows up and is apparently a better character than the equivalent in the mages' storyline. That said, my natural inclination is to trust the mages first, templars absolute last. I'm about to start a qunari mage playthrough to romance Sera again (I absolutely love Sera) and of course I'll be siding with the mages. If I play a dorf, which I most assuredly will at some point, it would make a great deal of sense for her to side with the templars, since magic boo evil bad weird scary. But, I have to make my elf character at some point to romance Solas because reasons.

I'm modding the game this time around - not too many mods, a couple of hairstyles, a new complexion, a place to buy schematics, an altered xp-gain curve (so I don't have to be quite as completionist because seriously), and a few other bits and bobs. Making a qunari is quite difficult - there doesn't seem to be as much latitude with the face sliders as there are for other races. Still, in my testing last night I came up with this, which I'm semi-happy with but will be redoing today:


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 1, 2015)

Oh yes, if you're into screenshots, on the PC of course, you can now pause cutscenes with the latest download of DAI Cinematic Tools.


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## moon (Sep 5, 2015)

My female elf Mage inquisitor 
We have made it to Skyhold!!
That cut scene saw me wildly finger snapping on the sofa whilst shouting 'yes yes yes'  I did think the scene could gave been even more cinematic though, for example the crow that flys into view over the mountains could have given a squawk 
Has been interesting meeting Cole, I've read a bit about him and am looking forward to learning more about his back story. Also Krem, KREM! Such an amazing character, I hope s/he has a bigger part to play in the story, at the moment s/he seems to be a bit of an add on, to make Iron Bull more approachable?
I had a chat with Blackwall and although he is really really not my kind of person I hope he comes out of his shell a bit and forgives himself of his past (what ever that thing was)
Am still in the Hinterlands and have done a bit of the Storm Coast, found the Black Emporium (haha) and will probably now spend a bit of time in Skyhold.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 5, 2015)

Krem is wonderful. He has a little bit of awkward dialogue at one point that didn't need to be there, a bit too forced. But fair play to BioWare for taking on a trans character and really trying to do him justice. They've been good at listening to feedback from trans people about how he was handled, and they took a lot of advice beforehand too. I wonder if you'll experience Krem's fondness for standing on his chair or sitting on it oddly in the pub?

Yes, there's cosplay of it:







Watching that arrival at Skyhold, it felt like it needed another 'Dragon Age: Inquisition' splash screen like after when you get to Haven for the first time  That whole sequence gives me the shivers.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 5, 2015)

Finally happy with how Samiya Adaar looks:






I've barely done anything yet because I've been messing trying to make a ReShade config (pretty colours). Each map tends to need its own version because the lighting template is so different for them all. Haven in particular is a bugger to get right. I'm pretty happy with this now though:


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## moon (Sep 5, 2015)

Phew, I thought Krem may have died at Haven, as I can't seem to find him at Skyhold. I wasn't sure what gender he was initially but read up on him. I can't believe Jennifer Hale voiced his character, he sounds nothing like my femshep.


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## moon (Sep 6, 2015)

I found some new clothes in the wardrobe at Skyhold


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 6, 2015)

I haven't downloaded that patch yet. I'm waiting to see if the last couple of mods I use get updated to work with it. I have a pj replacement installed at the moment anyway, so I'm not too worried. The best thing about it is the golden nug - once you've completed the base end-game mission for the first time (regardless of whether you do any dlc or not) that character gets access to a golden nug statue and can upload all your found and bought schematics to the cloud. Then from that point any of your future characters can at any point in the game touch that statue and all the schematics will sync, and of course any additional ones those characters find are uploaded and synced too. It's sort of like new game plus-lite. Once I've got the patch I'll load up my one and only completed character and sync the ever-loving fuck out of it


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## moon (Sep 6, 2015)

This was on my Twitter feed


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 7, 2015)

I have updated to patch 10 - it didn't go terribly. All my mods work - I was waiting for the faster levelling mod to be updated, and now it is. It makes it so you don't have to be completionist to get to the levels required to take down the highest level dragons or do the harder content in the dlcs. Because seriously, I've done completionist once, and it was enough for me.

I've synced my golden nug from my one and only end-game character, so now all my inkies can use the schematics she found and bought. And I've discovered that trying to tint your armour at Skyhold is difficult because good god the lighting in that menu is drreadful.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 7, 2015)

Some more screenshots:


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 7, 2015)

And some more from The Hinterlands:


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## moon (Sep 7, 2015)

Where did you get those clothes?? 
My entire party was slaughtered on the Western Approach so I've retreated to the Hinterlands to lick my wounds.
For some reason Blackwall and I have become a thing... Not sure how that happened  but Solas has been creeping me out a bit..


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 7, 2015)

That's one of the Avaar armours from the dlc pack. I can't help myself, I have to buy all everything 

And yeah, Blackwall's romance is a weird one. It just suddenly happens, out of the blue. There is a design reason for that though. The writer of his romance explained it in a BioWare blog post a while ago. DO NOT READ IT YET. Wait until you've finished the romance


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 7, 2015)

In other news, the golden nug is wonderful. Tier 3 mage armour and I'm only level 5. Super!


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## golightly (Sep 7, 2015)

moon said:


> For some reason Blackwall and I have become a thing... Not sure how that happened  but Solas has been creeping me out a bit..


 
I thought I was on a promise with Scout Harding, but nothing ever came of it. 

Solas is a bit of a dark horse.


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## moon (Sep 8, 2015)

Playing chess with Cullen and Dorian, could life get any better? Watch in 720p for the full Dorian body experience  I think I'm going to flirt my way through this entire game..


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## moon (Sep 8, 2015)

I'm at work but my head wants to be in Dragon Age  I wish I had a war table missions app on my phone so I could send my advisors out to deal with shit remotely in my absence..


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## moon (Sep 9, 2015)

Spent quite a chilled time in the forests of the Emerald Graves last night, it is so beautiful and peaceful there, also spent a bit of time riding around the Hinterlands on my beautiful horse/stag.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 9, 2015)

Look at Blackwall, just standing there ignoring you


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 9, 2015)

I'm going to resurrect Aine, my first character, so I can do all the DLC. It sounds like the final one, Trespasser, is SO GOOD. Apparently it's a lore-gasm. This pleases me more than I can say. I love lore. I come for the lore. I AM the lore.


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## moon (Sep 9, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> Look at Blackwall, just standing there ignoring you


I was ignoring him! I nearly dumped him last night, he is sooooo boring and I can't stand all his angst etc he reminds me of a member of the SWP..
I am aware that he reveals something and I may be released from him after that.. I just hope I don't have to wait too long..


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## moon (Sep 10, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> I love lore. I come for the lore. I AM the lore.


Any bits in particular 
I'm quite interested in red lyrium, Corypheus' account of the black city and how it conflicts with historical teachings etc etc
And good old Brother Genitivi


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 10, 2015)

Well, you haven't finished yet have you? So I won't go into too many things. But little bits and pieces from all three games have me very interested in anything to do with Flemeth (and the various other people I think she may be linked with through history), ancient elven history, I'm very interested in avaar history (the lady of the skies in particular) and in dwarven history. I'm looking forward to playing through The Descent. I don't know how much dwarven history we get, but I think we do get a few things answered that I've been _very_ interested in. 

What interests me most is unpicking the stories people tell. One of the main themes, if not _the _main theme, of the franchise as far as I'm concerned is about the transmission of history and the construction of truths. It makes it clear that history very much does belong to the victor, and there are some wonderful moments where that's pointed out in DAI. I'm interested in tracing where the beginnings of current beliefs come from, how different figures and events in history changed and morphed and had their stories integrated into other ones and transformed to fit the current political and social narrative. DAI is rammed full of stuff about this, from the astrariums with their potted histories of different constellations, to Mother Giselle talking about how the Chant is basically just an interpretation of those who won battles in the past, and various things you learn about elves, etc. DAI is a dream for me in this regard because there are just so many things that deal with this, and as far as I know the Trespasser dlc has it in spades.

Of course, the 'big one' in terms of lore is who or what is the Maker, and I believe they've said they'll never reveal whether the Maker exists or not. That said, I'm sure they'll keep giving us plenty that we can use to speculate about in that regard, about what other forces or events might be responsible for the myth of the Maker, and how we might trace the path back to how these stories got twisted into what they are today. It's like Christian religion, in a way it's immaterial whether there is a god or not, but even if there is we can still look at the bible and organised religion and trace how it's changed and been shaped by different forces over history. That's the stuff I'm interested in. Why do we tell the stories we tell, and who controls them and to what ends?


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## moon (Sep 10, 2015)

I made it to the winter palace last night and couldn't really cope with the Orlesians and their bloody game..
I felt like brandishing my Lifetake staff and shouting 'I kill Dragon(ling)s!!'


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 11, 2015)

I started using a controller today. I don't like it. My game seems weirdly smoother, which is good (and also might just be in my imagination), but pausing is weird. I hit LB to bring up the radial wheel and pause the combat, so I can think about what ability to fire off next, and as soon as I select it it unpauses. It doesn't do that with m&kb. It stays paused, so I can switch to another party member if I want and issue a command to them... I can issue a full squad of commands, and _then_ unpause it myself. Ugh. Do. not. like. I will persevere though. It just feels dreadfully imprecise and just lacking in control all round. It is better for controlling the camera for screenshots though (although I have to still use the kb for some things).


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## moon (Sep 14, 2015)

I really liked the wicked hearts quest in the end, it had a bit of a James Bond feel to it 
Am now doing companions quests and visited the Exhalted Plains for the first time, I'm level 15 playing on normal and it all seems a bit too easy, I may up the difficulty.
Here is some combat which shows off some stunning graphics.
Edit: I take it all back, I just met my first Dragon ...


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## Shippou-Sensei (Sep 16, 2015)

Now it's only £20 i'm fucking tempted.  

Still need origin though. fucksticks.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 16, 2015)

I finished both Jaws of Hakkon and The Descent. Some good lore stuff in both.

Now onto Trespasser. I'm very, very, very much looking forward to this.


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## moon (Sep 16, 2015)

Hope its a good one for you


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 16, 2015)

I'm already planning my next inkies. I had started Samiya, qunari mage, but I'm planning Riley, dorf champion, and an as of yet unnamed human dude who is going to badoink with Dorian  Oh, and an elven knight enchanter who will romance Solas, and a human templar who will get all srs and dutiful with Cullen.


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## moon (Sep 16, 2015)

I'm wandering around the Emerald Graves, chasing nugs, picking flowers and listening to the birds.. It's so relaxing there.


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## moon (Sep 17, 2015)

Poor Iron Bull, I took him out to close a high level rift in the Emerald Graves and forgot to give him some armour, he fell several times and we had to retreat. 
I rubbed some elf root salve into his wounds and crafted him some shiny new threads with runes, plus made him a masterwork shield..
I hope he will forgive me..


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 18, 2015)

You have him with a shield? Heavens to Betsy! His reaver spec works so much better with 2H, and loading him up with crit. He's a squishy thing either way, for such a massive dude. Never, ever, EVER equip him with berserk items. Or do *evil grin* The Bull is not a tank, he's a damage dealer. Templar can go either way, s&s or 2H; Champion is a natural tank with s&s but you might be able to make 2h work; but gosh, reaver and Bull have to be 2H all the way!!!!!! You have to work hard to get him to work right. He dies _a lot_. Reaver relies on taking some damage, and if the AI isn't playing nicely that can go pear shaped.


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## moon (Sep 18, 2015)

Yes, my bad, I read up on him and have now given him a 2 handed sword..


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## DotCommunist (Sep 20, 2015)

Vintage Paw 

thought this might be of interest- I've only skimmed in case  of Origin spoilers

Strange Horizons Columns: Dragon Age and the Shape of Desire, by Andrea Phillips


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 20, 2015)

Thanks, DotCommunist - I'll take a look while I eat me tea


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 20, 2015)

That was very good. There's been quite a bit of criticism of the desire demons in the past, but that article handles it well (although I don't think it covers everything as deeply as it could).

The biggest problem by far is the way that it suggests the ultimate object of desire is a naked woman, regardless of who you are and what your predilections might be. It's lazy, frankly. "We need to represent desire." "Hot naked chick." "'Kay." You see this shit everywhere. I'm reminded of the anime, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood -- the enemies are the seven deadly sins and can you guess which of them is the only woman and what she might look and act like? It's just the same old tired idea that appears so "well d'uh" to some people, that 'object of desire = sexy woman' that lies at the heart of so much absolute shit.

The point about removing any overt sexiness altogether, and then insisting on the renaming to 'choice spirit' (which is done in a really odd way in the game - Imshael keeps getting annoyed when you call him a desire demon), compounds the original problem imo. I have sympathy for the argument that removing overt eye-candy altogether is important to achieve a level playing field from which we can start adding it back in on a more equal footing, but tbh it's never going to work that way. And they haven't removed the eye-candy anyway, it's just there in different ways.

It'd be easy to say "just hire some women to do design work" but tbh I think things are so fucked up it's going to be a while before women are able to design 'sexy men' in a way free from lots of baggage. Of course, that's all without the problem of different people finding different things sexy -- tbh that's a big part of the problem because we've been sold the idea of what hetero men find sexy, to the point where they unconsciously agree "this = sexy" whether they personally find it attractive or not. But straight women have never had that same treatment. There's a tentative idea of the typical Calvin Klein model, or a Chippendale, but it's not rooted in the same kind of tradition and with the same weight of practice and saturation as the hot chick. In geekier circles, there's recognition that straight women find different things attractive, with the 'twink' being quite a popular image (something I think they tried to do with Fenris in DA2 and failed miserably with because while his body was lithe and elfy his face was gruff as was his voice). The default knight in shining armour being the idea of 'what women want' is based on the sexist gaming/fantasy trope that women must be saved by men - even if you are a female player character with agency, you're still given the typical knight, and usually they're a bit dorky and not very threatening. DAI subverts this quite a bit, with a good range of different love interests, and ME3 did similar -- I hope it continues in this vein. But I hope it does a bit more sexy on the dude side. 

I mean, Dorian is sexy, and he shows a bit of skin, and you could argue he's written for straight women since we know that straight women lap up gay content (he's gay), if we're looking at the type of men available to women in a hetero romance (since we keep talking about 'what women want' from a very heterocentric pov) then there's nothing dripping the same kind of sex appeal in the same way as there have been with women. That said, the women in DAI don't do that either. The article talks about Vivienne's plunging neckline, but she's not a love interest. The other women available to romance are Cass (straight) - who has been criticised for looking 'like a man' (god), Josephine (bi) - who has been criticised as being too ugly and/or too Disney princess (skjdgnbskjgb), and Sera (gay) - who has been criticised as too ugly and/or annoying. None of them are flashing their tits at you (apart from Cass and Sera during sex scenes, when everyone's got a bit of everything on display - except no peen, at all... boo).

I can't really fault BW for the romances in DAI (I can in some of their other games), but certainly, coming back to that article, the desire demon/choice spirit thing pissed me off (as did the cries from some corners saying "omg BioWare, y u so PC, removing the desire demon - don't cater to those evil sjw harpies omg").

The great thing about the DA team is their willingness to try. They are always trying, always engaging. I have faith they'll continue in a positive direction, and I also know they'll fuck up, but doesn't everyone?


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## DotCommunist (Sep 20, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> we've been sold the idea of what hetero men find sexy, to the point where they unconsciously agree "this = sexy" whether they personally find it attractive or not


maybe theirs something in that. I like elfin characters with outsized weapons and a bad attitude, thats probably cos of all the fantasy/sf images I grew up with showing women in fantasy & sf just like that- even Tank Girl isn't free from a sort of geek inversion of the what-is-hot (Its still a bad attitude and a big gun, that goes for both genders of comp character for me.)


Vintage Paw said:


> There's a tentative idea of the typical Calvin Klein model, or a Chippendale, but it's not rooted in the same kind of tradition and with the same weight of practice and saturation as the hot chick


Daniel Craig coming out of the sea in his speedos, non threatening band boys for the younger audience, the diet coke advert from the 90s with the topless window cleaner. Yeah there but not rooted. A more modern thing than the long obsession with the male physique in art of the old school, y'know the greek sculptures and so on.


I must get back into DA:O. I got sidetracked by being a lone wolf with many guns and hard decisions in the Bioshock games.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 20, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> maybe theirs something in that. I like elfin characters with outsized weapons and a bad attitude, thats probably cos of all the fantasy/sf images I grew up with showing women in fantasy & sf just like that- even Tank Girl isn't free from a sort of geek inversion of the what-is-hot (Its still a bad attitude and a big gun, that goes for both genders of comp character for me.)



I think you will very much like Sera in DA:I.



> Daniel Craig coming out of the sea in his speedos, non threatening band boys for the younger audience, the diet coke advert from the 90s with the topless window cleaner. Yeah there but not rooted. A more modern thing than the long obsession with the male physique in art of the old school, y'know the greek sculptures and so on.



Interesting thinking about that. There was a lot of emphasis on the male form through art history, and the female one too of course. But who was it who basically couldn't paint/sculpt women and basically did men and then stuck god awful globes to their chests? I can't remember.

Edit: Michelangelo.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 20, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> I think you will very much like Sera in DA:I.
> 
> 
> 
> Interesting thinking about that. There was a lot of emphasis on the male form through art history, and the female one too of course. But who was it who basically couldn't paint/sculpt women and basically did men and then stuck god awful globes to their chests? I can't remember.


just googled to check and yeah it's Michalangelo. From the perfection of David:







 to:


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## moon (Sep 22, 2015)

I got out of the Fade, it seemed too easy? I do have a superb team with me though (Vivienne, Cassandra, Varric) who seem indestructible, I've been tooling them up with accessories and potions which has helped, plus PULL OF THE ABYSS!! 
I'll put the difficulty up to 'hard' and see how they fair.
I found that the notes in the Fade were some of the most emotionally engaging so far and gave me a new perspective on the history and politics of the DA world.
I feel as if I'm near the end of the game and there is still so much I want to do, I've cleared Crestwood, most of the Hinterlands and have almost finished the Exhalted Plains.. although I've been trying to find a way through the mountains for ages to get Vivienne what I think may be her face cream ingredients!!
The Western Approach seems to be as huge as a whole other game so I'm looking forward to exploring there.

I think I have a weird bug where I fill my requisitions and am then given the same one over and over again, getting more and more powers as I fill them immediately, but maybe they are all slightly different..

I've only met 1 dragon so far, I prepped the team with belts of electricity resistance, plus I brought along Dorian who has Spirit mage skills useful for the dragon's vulnerabilities. I've heard about dragon hunting so I'm looking forward to this.

Blackwall has finally told me what's been bugging him since he was a boy..was that all? Luckily I dumped him ages ago as I couldn't take it anymore.. However Cullen is more like a puppy than a man.. Hopefully he will improve.. 
I had drinks with Iron Bull and the Chargers, I do love Iron Bull! I had a chat with Krem who I hope will come on a mission with us at some point, and sweet Dagna who I'm unsure about leaving alone with Harritt in the undercroft


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 22, 2015)

It's lots of fun if you take Iron Bull along to kill the first dragon in The Hinterlands. You get a cut scene later on. Bull really fucking loves dragons. (AND THERE MAY BE LORE REASONS WHY BUT WE DON'T KNOW YET OMG)

The requisitions thing, it's meant to be an easily repeatable source of power should you spunk it all on something and still need some for a main mission. I just stopped accepting them in the end. By the end of the main game, not counting DLCs, I had over 300 power just sat there. You can spend some of it in The Descent, which is good.

Blackwall's thing is quite interesting. A lot of people are really angry with him, but frankly I like he's got this secret. Obviously, that's the reason why his romance starts so jarringly early -- so you can be locked into a relationship by the time all that stuff happens.


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## moon (Sep 22, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> Blackwall's thing is quite interesting. A lot of people are really angry with him, but frankly I like he's got this secret.





Spoiler



hmmm maybe he told me a different thing then, it involved a stray dog?


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 22, 2015)

I still haven't finished Trespasser. It really is full of lore bombs. I've speculated so much over the years with friends and have decided certain theories were canon as far as I was concerned anyway, seeing some of them come to light as actually correct now is weird because I'm like, "well I knew that already" and I can't keep clear in my head what I'm actually learning for the first time and what I've known from in-game canon previously


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 22, 2015)

moon said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> hmmm maybe he told me a different thing then, it involved a stray dog?



Oh god. A different thing.

DISREGARD MY COMMENT


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## moon (Sep 22, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> It's lots of fun if you take Iron Bull along to kill the first dragon in The Hinterlands. You get a cut scene later on. Bull really fucking loves dragons. (AND THERE MAY BE LORE REASONS WHY BUT WE DON'T KNOW YET OMG)
> .


I got a cut scene with Iron Bull after the Crestwood Dragon, he was talking about a whole other scenario with a different Dragon so maybe the script bugged out a bit there... hopefully I will still meet the Dragon on the Hinterlands... although I think I do remember one there but ran away screaming! lol I haven't seen it since, although I did kill some Dragonlings later on when I was at a higher level.
I'll try to look for it tonight with Iron Bull..


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 22, 2015)

Maybe that dialogue happens after any dragon as long as it's the first you kill with Bull there. It's just usually the one in The Hinterlands because it's the first area you're in and I think most people stumble across it early on (and die, lol).

The final one in Emprise du Leon is amazing.


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## moon (Sep 22, 2015)

No, he was talking about a specific dragon spiting fire.. mine was spitting electricity, Bull wasn't with me but he talked as if we fought the dragon together..
I'll see what happens if we manage to find the Hinterlands dragon..


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 23, 2015)

I finished Trespasser.

Hooooooooooooooo!!!!!

It was very good. Some great closure, a far better ending than the main game proper, and setting up a HELL of a lot of intrigue for the next game, with some not-so-subtle hints as to where it will be set, and obvious bloody neon flashing signs as to what it'll be about.

And ALL THE LORE.


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## moon (Sep 23, 2015)

Triple Like!
Soooo... would you recommend playing the DLC before finishing the main game, or specific ones before or and after??


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 23, 2015)

Well, you have to leave Trespasser until you've done absolutely everything else, because there's no going back, it ends and that's it. Hakkon and The Descent both have high level enemies and are quite tough in terms of combat. They scale with your level, but will only do so from a certain point onwards. I think you're expected to be around level 20 for one of them, I can't quite remember. It would be possible to go to the Hakkon location and leave and do other stuff and come back again, it's basically just an outdoor map like the other main areas. Probably possible for The Descent too but it would feel a bit weird to do so, since it's all based in the Deep Roads. I'm probably going to leave The Descent until just before Trespasser most of the time, not sure about Hakkon.


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## moon (Sep 25, 2015)

I forgot to post this video..
This was when I first met a Dragon at Crestwood, it scared the shit out of me! We all died but I returned later on in the game with Dorian etc and we killed it..

I still haven't found the Hinterlands Dragon..


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## poului (Sep 29, 2015)

Finally got round to starting this on the weekend.

Five hours in and I can already tell my relationship is going to be on the rocks.


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## moon (Sep 29, 2015)

It's an amazing game!
My evening sign out routine involves getting a kiss from Cullen then heading over to my apartment, changing clothes and looking out over the balcony at the mountains.
It's so nice to start again the next day all fresh etc rather than being stuck in a bog, dungeon or wherever you were questing the night before


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 29, 2015)

I gotta say, I feel a warm glow of happiness and pride that you've come this far, moon - from those tentative posts as you first started out with BioWare, to where you find yourself today.

*wipes a tear*


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## poului (Sep 30, 2015)

I was enjoying this game until I encountered my first despair demon.


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## Vintage Paw (Sep 30, 2015)

In Jaws of Haakon there are 4 level 30 despair demons you fight at the same time. Level cap for you and your companions is 27. THAT'S FUN.


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## moon (Oct 6, 2015)

I'm on my final push to defeat Corypheus, I need to clear all my outstanding war table missions first though, we have belts of focus, lots of bees (they seem to be the best thing against red templars etc), Some of us have seriously pimped well crafted formal attire armour which weirdly enough has a huge armour rating.
I managed to pick up something which makes be invisible periodically, and a weird resuscitation ability with shields that spin around me.
I have doped Cassandra up with loads of Mighty Offense Tonic.. she is unbeatable on that stuff.
Vivienne is mastering her Knight Enchanter skills, Varric... well I just look out for him as much as possible and feed him healing potions.
They are the best team ever..
Other team members such as Cole, Sera, Dorian, Iron Bull etc are great for chatter though.
I'm only level 19 and still have loads of secondary quests to do so it may be a while before I commit to what they are saying is the final push.. I have a feeling that it may not be..
The Venatori are falling like flies, I am empowering the Dalish Elves, recruiting agents, including Michel! Setting up outposts, including Caer Bronach in Crestwood with its handy crafting merchandise 
I fought side by side with Cullen  and defeated Samson...

I'm trying to string out the game for as long as possible as I cant see anything as good coming out until ME Andromeda..


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 6, 2015)

Michel! I was so glad to see him. I wish he'd had more of a role. 

And I really, really wish we'd seen Rhys and Evangeline, but I don't give up hope for future games.

Do you have the DLC? You really, really should get the DLC. I don't count the final battle against Coryphyspit as the actual ending. The real ending is at the end of the Trespasser DLC. You can't do anything after you finish Trespasser, but you can go and finish quests after you beat Corysplat, so don't worry too much about that. Do the 'final' quest when it feels right for you. 

And when you have beaten Coryphyshits and do your bits and bobs and get the credits, DO NOT SKIP THE CREDITS. There is a post-Avengers-style scene that is CRUCIAL. Seriously, to have that in a place where a lot of people might miss it is crazy  IT IS SUPER IMPORTANT and relates to Trespasser.

I shall say no more.


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## moon (Oct 6, 2015)

I will be getting the DLC towards the very end of the game I think..
Do you have any idea how far reaching the sitting in judgement choices go? I keep expecting something to come back and bite me in the bum. They are really engaging side missions though..


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 6, 2015)

The judgement missions haven't come up again, other than potentially having a new war table mission if you send them off to do your work for you or something. It might mean the odd cameo in a future game, but I can't see it being important.

Interestingly, there are a couple of 'real' consequences late in the game and/or DLC that reflect your earlier choices, one of which you probably didn't have much of an idea was that important at the time, one of which was clearly important at the time. People have bitched and moaned about both, no doubt the same people who bitch and moan that there are no consequences to their actions 

People are silly.

I like the game to make me hurt when I do something. That's what it's all about!


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## moon (Oct 6, 2015)

I'm beginning to wonder what it is.. probably 'Bring Felandaris to a tree'.. I thought Felandaris was a woman..  or 'Bring the grandfather back' I still haven't managed to do this, no matter how many times I go round the tree..


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 6, 2015)

So who have you ended up romancing?


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## moon (Oct 6, 2015)

Cullen.. He is nice enough but just seems to do what ever I tell him..
I think our romance has peaked to be honest as I no longer get new cut scenes with him. But I'm not sure about the other options tbh. I can't bear Solas' heavy breathing during combat, he's obviously not as fit as he makes out.
Blackwall is just Blackwall and I can't stand the way he begrudgingly says 'you are after all in charge' whenever we have a conversation... 
I'm going to replay as a feminine male version of my current character and enjoy more of Dorian


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 6, 2015)

I'm finding it difficult to not just romance Sera everytime I speak to her, but no, this playthrough I have promised my dorf to Bull.


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## moon (Oct 6, 2015)

Sera is funny, we have had some good chats but I'm not sure if anything actually sinks in.
I think her campaign of anarchic civil disobedience is interesting though, it's just that she doesn't seem to have thought it through, or can't articulate her aims very well.

Cole is interesting in a similar way, although he is much more thoughtful.


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## moon (Oct 7, 2015)

I got a 4gig update for this game (I think) last night.. am wondering what it could be..


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 7, 2015)

Patch 11 (for PC, not sure what is in the PS4 patch) dropped yesterday, it includes fixes for everything the broke with Trespasser (well, most things). They were readying for the GOTY edition, which I believe went on sale yesterday. Not sure what was worth 4GB but if your patch schedule is different it might have included a few things all in one.


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## moon (Oct 7, 2015)

Thanks 
I just had the most amazing 4hr DA:I session ever, my head is full of fluffy clouds right now..
So much happend, so much I am curious about, so much to learn....

Aaahhhh, going to bed now with a big smile


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 8, 2015)

I am intrigued!!! Your first job when you get online is to tell me what happened!


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## moon (Oct 8, 2015)

I did one of the main quests 'What pride had wrought' am still feeling giddy about it 
It all started at the war table when my advisors committed their troops to the 'final' push.
The cut scene had me shouting 'yes yes yes' whilst bouncing on the sofa  and I wish we had a 'Dragon age' banner afterwards to help cement the momentous occasion, but I guess we know which game we are playing..
Here is the cut scene.. could contain spoilers... in fact don't watch this if you are going to play the game.. please..


I fought side by side with some of my advisors and then arrived at the Temple of Mythal!!! omg omg omg! I read several of the mosaic notes, which were fascinating, I will be going back to see if I missed any.

I spent ages trying to do the rituals then just jumped down the hole instead :/

I met some very very special people and really hope some at least survived, they were amazing.. and what does this mean for the Dalish and Thedas as a whole.. it sent tingles down my spine.. I loved those people

Then I did something that Morrigan wanted to do, I'm not sure if it was the best idea as I weirded out in the war room, Solas is really angry with me and Sera tried to kill me!! I shouted at her and she approved 

I thought I had killed Samson earlier in the game but used Dagna's rune on him in the temple. Dagna has also weirded out after researching the rifts, I hope she will be ok and think she may hold the key to solving Corypheus' power. Also what we learnt about his companion is really really interesting, I'm looking forward to learning more about that!!

Back at skyhold I've spoken to Cassandra who seems keen on being the next Divine, I think it would be a great choice for her as I feel she wishes to brush off her thug image and really looks up to Vivienne. Selfishly I want her to continue fighting by my side.. for ever!
Leliana is also enthusiastic about being the Divine but I think she is too ruthless..
I left Cole in a catatonic state on a wall having an identity crisis, Dorian seems incredibly empowered.

All in all it was a brilliant quest which I think may have even surpassed my love of Mass Effect..
I was absorbed into every moment of it, every fibre of my being was strained as we fought our way to the Temple and encountered it's occupants, my fear at doing that thing Morrigan wanted to do, my utter regret at not completing the rituals and having to do that other thing (please please please let some of them survive) Solas shouted at me then too and I even shouted back at the tv! LOL saying 'well if the ritual was meant to be easy it wouldn't have been much of a barrier would it!!' and learning about how far Corypheus' power extends is frightening.
and lastly I went to see Cullen and got this cut scene


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## moon (Oct 8, 2015)

I had to post this picture, I don't care if it's a spoiler
Abelas!!


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 8, 2015)

Dem thighs.

So, I'm spoilering my stuff so I can squee with you.



Spoiler



ksfgjbhdsougfhskjgbnskgjbkfsjgb That cutscene, watching it again made me well up. They do moments like that so well, I just wish there weren't such large swathes of busy work in between the good stuff in this game.

THE TEMPLE OF MYTHAL. God. I was SO excited to go there. Every single thing anyone says is dripping with hints and references to 'the big stuff'. And meeting the sentinels, I mean, that's amazing. You had Solas with you, yes? Did you look at all the statues of Mythal? DID YOU LOOK AT THEM??????

I also drank from the well - I was a dalish elf, so it made sense for me to do so. I was also romancing Sera, can you imagine how that went? Back at Skyhold we split up because she was just so angry and although I had the option to say the dalish stuff didn't matter to me, that would have been a lie for this character (even though she wasn't fanatical, it was after all the history of her people, and she believes that understanding history is important so you don't repeat the same mistakes again). So they split up and I was absolutely okay with that. It meant I didn't get all the sweet stuff at the end of the game or in Trespasser, but again, I'm more than okay with that. My canon Shepard in ME1 and 2 is single, romance isn't the important part of these games (although I do enjoy it).

About Leli being ruthless - you've been to the chantry where she confronts the chantry sister? What was the outcome of that? Did she kill her? That doesn't have to happen. That's one of the actual consequences I mentioned earlier. There are two moments earlier in the game where you are talking to Leli, and the way you respond helps shape her world view. If you haven't tried to convince her in the past that not killing is an option, then why would she listen to you at that important moment in the Chantry? Anyway, it has consequences for the type of Divine she would be. A lot of people got VERY angry about it, because the game in no way telegraphs that these early conversations are in any way important. BUT I LOVE THAT. I want my simple interactions to mean something. One of them was back in Haven, when you listen to a convo she's having with one of her scouts, about someone who betrayed her. She tells the scout to have them killed, and you can intervene either saying yes, no don't do that, or remain silent. If you do anything other than say don't do that she's already on the path to ruthlessness and nothing you do from then on will stop her from killing the chantry sister later and being a ruthless person. I can't remember what the second thing is, but you have to respond in the same kind of way.

I can't remember in what order you find lots of things out. I *think* some of what you find out isn't confirmed until the post-credits scene, so I don't want to say anything that might spoil you. So in spoilers if you want to save others, what were the things you found out, and what are you speculating about, what are your thoughts on what all this stuff at the temple means?

Honestly, I wish I could sit there and watch you play this


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## moon (Oct 8, 2015)

He has Geth thighs!! 


Spoiler



Will reply to the temple stuff when I've investigated further tonight as I'm sure I missed stuff..
But yes Solas was with me, that was interesting.. to be honest I haven't been able to trust Solas in any way after watching the Trespasser DLC, and also after a significant thing happened early in the game, we went somewhere, then I woke up in bed!!
Sera is funny, she reminds me of a character in a book series 'The Infernal Devices' called Jessamine who was born a demon slaying shadow hunter.. but she hates shadow hunters...

I have tried to tone Leliana down, but think I missed a big option to do that at the chantry.. I think I could have asked someone to join us?
I try to support my team in their decisions (within reason).. letting Leli do her thing seemed ok at the time but her words afterwards made me shudder. However from what you said above it may have made no difference as I think I remained silent at a crucial time.


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 8, 2015)

You've watched Trespasser online? Then you've spoiled yourself for some major reveals. Or do you just mean watching the trailer? Which, I guess would alert you to something, but not what it is I suppose.



Spoiler



Do you have theories about why you don't trust Solas?



I love Sera. I love the moral position she inhabits. She's very straightforward, at the same time as being confused about her own feelings. There's a crack theory about her, which I love but don't think is plausible but wish was, that I won't mention until you're done because it's really only given fuel by what you'll uncover later (not about her).


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## moon (Oct 8, 2015)

I only saw the Trespasser trailer, and no I have no theories about Solas, but the man has spent way too much time in the Fade not to have been touched by some of its darker forces...


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## moon (Oct 8, 2015)

I'm not going to talk about the game much for a while because of spoilers.. 
I will try anyway..


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## moon (Oct 9, 2015)

I just have a quick question 
I had a weird thing happen earlier in the game when I think I was looking for Solas' spirit friend.
There was a Pride Demon asleep near the coast, I couldn't attack it and it didn't attack me.
The mission All New, Faded For Her is still active in my journal but the diamond is filled in as if it has been completed.
Solas' third mission has also triggered.

Was the Pride Demon the spirit? Was it supposed to be asleep??

Also I bumped into Michel at Skyhold.. he is great.. I always remember that we stumbled across him fighting 3 demons on his own at Emprise du Lion, we tried to help him but he told us to go away and find Imshael! Super cool dude..


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 9, 2015)

The Pride Demon is indeed his spirit friend. That has been a bit of a buggy quest for some people, I think. If you've been able to continue with his other quests though, I wouldn't worry too much. It's a very short quest, only really interesting for it giving more background to Solas' thoughts on spirits.

Have you read any of the novels? I can't remember. Michel is quite a prominent character in _The Masked Empire. _If you haven't read that one, I absolutely recommend it. It gives a hell of a lot of context to the war in Orlais (Celene and Gaspard and Briala are the central characters), and Michel is there, as is Imshael. As is... _someone else_.


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## moon (Oct 9, 2015)

I don't know much about the books.. will they contain lots of spoilers?


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 9, 2015)

No spoilers, they're all set before Inquisition. Unless you haven't played the games before Inquisition, but I think you have, right? They're all great.

The first one is about Loghain and Cailan, and how they came to be friends. It's excellent and absolutely shaped my view of Loghain.

Then there's one about the calling, which is what Grey Wardens experience when they start getting older - they hear the taint calling them to the deep roads (the same thing darkspawn hear, that draws them to an archdemon), so they go to the deep roads to fight darkspawn until they die. It features the architect, from the Awakenings DAO dlc. During the events of Inquisition, our Warden from DAO, should they still be alive, is meant to be off looking for a cure for the taint. We know Fiona was cured of it, so it has to be possible, right?

There's one with Wynne and Shale and Cole (and Rhys and Evangeline), which has the events Cole talks about, with Lord Seeker Lambert in the aftermath of Anders blowing up the Chantry and as the mage rebellion is getting underway.

Then there's The Masked Empire, set right before the events of Inquisition, which would be absolutely excellent to give you more background, since they didn't do a very good job explaining the situation with Celene et al (especially Briala). And frankly it's just a really good book and has _someone_ in it. Although you don't realise it at the time. It has a lot to do with eluvians, and gives some background to that stuff.

And then there's The Last Flight, which is about the Wardens. We learn how and why the griffons became extinct (which is very hard hitting), and it sets us up for some of the things that might be happening at Weisshaupt now, and what we might expect to see if we go there at a later date. It's split across two timelines, one maybe a couple of years before Inquisition, and the other during the 4th blight, which is when the griffons became extinct. We meet the warden who killed the 4th blight's archdemon, and his sister.


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## moon (Oct 9, 2015)

Thanks 
I got book 1 on Kindle for 99p..shocking!! Not sure when I'll read it though.. I have a feeling I want to do at least one more play through of DA:I immediately after I finish my current game, as there are things I'm sure I missed at the beginning of the game whilst running around not really knowing what was going on 
And will probably replay Origins at some point.. actually paying attention to the storyline this time..
I still haven't finished DA:2 the voice acting etc was killing me..


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## moon (Oct 10, 2015)

So I'm at Doom Upon the World and was going to save it for a major sesh tonight but have read that it's only 15 mins long!! I was expecting another What Pride Had Wrought epic evenings entertainment..
I'm not sure about playing Hakkon or Decent just yet as it feels like stalling..
Do you know how long Tresspasser is? I'm level 21...


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 10, 2015)

Hakkon and Descent work just fine after the end of the game, before Trespasser of course. Neither of them particularly feel like they belong at a certain point in the flow of narrative, so go ahead and finish the game and then get stuck in with the DLC.

It's difficult for me to say how long any of them are because I extend my game time by at least double with all the screenshots I take. You're looking at a good solid few hours for each.

And yes, the end game bits with coryspit are very short and entirely anti-climactic and I am positive you'll feel it's a let-down. But Trespasser more than makes up for that.


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## moon (Oct 10, 2015)

I'm thinking to go straight from Doom to Trespasser.. I'm not sure how interesting Descent and Hakkon are..


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 10, 2015)

I think they are very interesting. Mostly because of all the lore you'll find in them. Up to you though, there's little directly relating to the main plot in terms of their stories. I'd have been very sad if I hadn't played them, because I inhale lore like air and like the bigger picture it gives me.


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## moon (Oct 11, 2015)

Spoiler



wtf happened to my hand!! Grrrrrrr


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## moon (Oct 11, 2015)

I'd just like to say a big thank you to BioWare, you have enriched my life


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 12, 2015)

WELL? 

TELL ME EVERYTHING!!!!!!!


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## moon (Oct 12, 2015)

I just finished trespasser, I'm still in sad mode because it has ended.. 
Am going to replay from just before wphw and do the other dlc.

I enjoy Elven history and wouldn't mind knowing more about those people a certain someone locked away in heaven and the abyss.

But am still in overwhelm mode, and my fucking hand!!


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## moon (Oct 12, 2015)

Spoiler



So Solas was just pretending to be a friend of the Inquisition in order to get the orb back and then use it in conjunction with the anchor?
What exactly is the relationship between the orb and anchor.
I guess he was helping to seal the breach as a show of loyalty knowing that once he had the orb it wouldn't matter anymore?

Who are the 'Agents of Fen'harel'? To be honest learning about them messed me up a bit, in the same way as the Mass Effect indoctrination theory did.  I like to get pretty deep into these games and hearing about such things feels like a real betrayal.

So.. could Sera have been one? She spreads chaos..I think Solas needs this, as a weakened Thedas full of in-fighting would help in his plan.
Why else would he have sacrificed the Divine Justinia and allowed the Qunari plot to progress?
In the end I vowed to bring him back to his senses, he said he hoped I would prove him wrong *again* what does he mean by that?
Did Flemeth pass on her power to Solas instead of Morrigan? What exactly is the relationship between Mythal and the Dread Wolf? BTW I always found those wolf statues super creepy.. And is her dragon form related to the old gods?

Who exactly resides in the Golden City? It could be any number of different people depending on whose story you follow.
And could the Darkspawn be related to the Forgotten Ones?

Soo many questions 

I am personally hoping that we see a return of Andraste's bloodline in DA4 as I think it could be very interesting seeing as it may be set in Tevinter..

I need to replay parts of the game.. its all so epic and weird and dealing with history is such an intriguing way.
Personally I think Solas should just forget it.. he made a mistake, whats done is done, empires rise and fall, knowledge is lost and new knowledge gained.
He hated the world before the veil, why would he want to bring that back??????


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## Cid (Oct 12, 2015)

moon said:


> <snip>



So many questions, so little use of SPOILER CODE!


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## moon (Oct 12, 2015)

Cid said:


> So many questions, so little use of SPOILER CODE!


sorry.. done


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 12, 2015)

My theories, some of which may address your questions, some of which are totally tinfoil - this post is LONG, in at least two posts because I wrote too much:



Spoiler



It's my understanding Corypheus was never meant to use the orb in that way. Fen'harel's agents gave it to him (Solas didn't) and the idea was he would unlock its power so Solas could use it to bring down the veil properly. But Corypheus is mad (maybe, that's up for discussion, considering we don't know what amount of what he says is correct, but we do know that the darkspawn magisters were a bit batshit in various degrees after they came back - the architect, who was one of the nine along with Cory, didn't even know he was one of the nine) so he was unpredictable, and he wanted to get back to the Black City to take up the Maker's throne - incidentally I don't necessarily think this was done entirely out of power hungry malice this time around, I think he genuinely is freaked out that there is (or appears to be) no Maker.

So, Cory used the orb, but it was never meant to be used by him in that way (I believe he was meant to reawaken its power and die in the process, unbeknownst to him, but as was Solas' plan), so it went tits up. That you happened to wander in as it happened meant that the power got somehow concentrated in you, causing the anchor. The anchor was never meant to be part of the equation. 

Solas joined the Inquisition for three reasons, as I understand it: 1) to be in the best place to search for his orb; 2) to keep an eye on you and your anchor, to suss out what the deal with it was and whether he could use it or needed to destroy it (and you); 3) while he wanted to tear down the veil, he didn't want the breach - that's a different thing entirely: the spirits/demons that are being pulled through the breach and the rifts are being done so violently and against their will, and Solas wants to stop that because it's harming the spirits as much as anything else - don't forget, he cares deeply about these spirits, and that, in part, is why I think we have that little quest in the Exalted Plains that you couldn't complete, with the Pride Demon, who was his friend.

I will just interject boastingly at this point and say I worked out Solas was Fen'harel when I was still in Haven, and I worked out Flemeth was Mythal not long after that. I also figured he created the veil, and it's a good guess that he created it at Skyhold - the clue's in the freaking name, plus it's clear something of unimaginable power happened there at some point. I'm very good at guessing stuff in these games.

With that bragging out of the way...

As for the Agents of Fen'harel, I think they're possibly a collection of elves he's already won around to his thinking (since we see hundreds of them following him at the end), maybe even some ancient elves a la the sentinels/Abelas-type people. I don't think Sera is one of them, remember she's been a Jenny for a long time but Solas has only been awake for a year, _however_ there is an absolutely delightful theory doing the rounds that Sera is Andruil. Utterly batshit theory, but I would love for it to be true. It hinges on her being preternaturally amaze with a bow and not realising how, along with one of her tarot cards having in it the same design as Andruil's vallaslin.







See, batshit. I love it.

I have another theory, that she could also be one of the Forgotten Ones reincarnated somehow, but I'm sketchy on that. Both of those theories could be fiddled with to explain why she's so anti-magic and anti-elf, btw. If you have hours and hours I can go into my theories in more detail 

I'm going through your post in order, so sorry if this is disjointed.

So, he didn't sacrifice Justinia, that was a mistake, it was never meant to happen. All he wanted at this stage was to reawaken the orb, bring it back to full power, so he could take it and use it to remove the veil properly. Solas wasn't very powerful when he awakened. So this is all just a big mistake, a hiccup in his plans.

I vowed the same, since I was an elf too, and while I disagreed with him I wanted to reason with him rather than just cut him down. I think when he says prove him wrong again, I think he's referring to how you have impressed him over the course of your time together, that you've proven there is some value in this world as it is in its current state. I don't think it's anything more shadowy than that. Solas doesn't want to cause widespread destruction and the death of everyone on the planet, he's not a cruel person, he's not a villain. But if you can imagine how different the world is, how much he must think has been lost. The fade and the physical world didn't used to be separate, spirits and people could mingle, magic was strong, magic was everything. It's very difficult to comprehend how different the world must seem to him now, but imagine waking up millennia after a nuclear holocaust, all technology is gone, all history is forgotten and replaced with lies, and there are a completely different set of physics to boot, that don't allow you to do half of the things you previously could. Imagine there was a way to make the world go back to how it was. Imagine you were the one responsible for the nuclear holocaust in the first place. That's kind of where Solas finds himself now. But he doesn't want to have to kill everyone, but for the moment the balance is in favour of bringing down the veil, which will sacrifice everyone (including the elves that are following him, interestingly enough).

I think two things happened when Flemeth died. She gave her power to Solas: he was still weak from being asleep for so long, and in Trespasser we see he's far more powerful now. Secondly, I believe she passed on Mythal's soul to Morrigan through the mirror. She said there's no way she would have been able to force Mythal on Morrigan had she not been willing, and I think by the end Morrigan is willing. It's the only thing that makes sense, considering Kieron doesn't always have the Old God soul in him so it won't be that (but in the event that she does have that soul from Kieron, she could be passing them both on to Morrigan, or she could have passed the Old God soul on to Solas, but I don't think we should automatically factor that into things just at the moment - although it _will_ become an issue at some point).

As I understand it, Mythal was all about justice. When fighting broke out amongst the Evanuris (Elven Gods), she didn't succumb to it. Fen'harel was all about fairness too - he led the slaves to freedom (much like Andraste), removing their vallaslin, their slave markings. He gave them a choice, rather than binding them to servitude. Fen'harel was good friends with Mythal, and when one of the Evanuris (or an agent of theirs) killed her, he was rightly incensed. What we don't know is whether another one of his legendary fuck-ups in some way contributed to her murder, and that's why he feels such a need to help her. It's clear he feels deference to her, but at the same time has his own matters (the veil) to attend to. Mythal wants revenge against those who killed her, but doesn't seem to care about the veil. So they work together, but not just cynically -- I do think they feel affection for one another.


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 12, 2015)

Spoiler



The Evanuris and the Old Gods, and Dragons and The Forgotten Ones... there's an entire week's worth of writing to be had here. 

I have a lot of theories, but at this point we have no concrete facts on any of it.

What we know:

The Evanuris could take on the forms of dragons - their dragon forms were considered sacred (there's a mosaic story about an ancient elf being punished because they tried to take on the dragon form).

There were 7 Evanuris (sans Mythal), and there are 7 Old Gods.

The Dalish legend of Fen'harel, although it is wrong in some respects, did get it right that he locked the Evanuris away in 'the heavens' - which is The Fade. The same legend says at the same time he locked The Forgotten Ones away in the abyss. 

We don't know for certain what the abyss is, but it comes up over and over in different ways, and is probably the same thing as 'the void' which also comes up time and time again. One important thing linking the abyss and the void is in The Descent dlc. You go down into an uncharted area _below_ the Deep Roads. It's called the Uncharted Abyss. You meet some people there, and it links in a way I won't talk about to Caridin's Anvil of the Void from DAO. The abyss and the void tend to be used interchangeably a lot of the time. Andruil used to hunt The Forgotten Ones in the void (now this is important, and this is why you REALLY REALLY should play The Descent because I can't really talk about it without spoiling you but it's so important to the lore), and The Descent throws up some uncertainty as to who they actually were, because maybe they were 'these things I can't talk about' and weren't actually elves... but of course they were elves, so it's just another layer of confusion added to the mix. 

So, void and abyss might simply be another way of saying "deep underground." 

If it is, then when (if?) Fen'harel imprisoned the Forgotten Ones in the abyss, are _they_ the Old Gods? This is a pretty popular theory. We don't know how many Forgotten Ones there were. (And another reason you should play Jaws of Hakkon, there's some lovely lore stuff about both Dumat AND Geldauran - Dumat being the lead Old God, of course, and Geldauran being one of the Forgotten Ones). It would seem strange if there were 7 Forgotten Ones to match the 7 banished Evanuris, but maybe there's a reason there were 7 of each, idk? But if there were, is there an 8th Forgotten One somewhere, to mirror Mythal?

Another theory is of course that the Old Gods are simply the Evanuris, but it doesn't quite work since we know now that Solas imprisoned them in The Fade (and possibly in the Golden/Black City - I'll come to that). However, since we know they could take on dragon form, my theory is that as the physical and fade worlds were sundered, so too were the Evanuris. I think the Old God dragons are their dragon aspects, and their magic, their elfy selves, are separated and locked in The Fade. This explains a couple of things: 1) why FleMythal wanted Urthemiel's soul; 2) part of the reason why Solas gets so grumpy with the Grey Wardens - they're killing his kind and ruining his chances of ever being able to fix his problem. I could be completely wrong, of course. This is a really difficult subject and there are lots of competing and conflicting bits of evidence. I build up my theories over years, refining them as the next game gives me more. I read the shit out of every single lore entry, and I build my ideas up from half a sentence here, a paragraph there. It's why it seemed absolutely blindingly obvious to me that Solas was Fen'harel and that he had created the veil as a means of stopping the warmongering Elven Gods, because I'd already got to that point reading and interpreting lore for years  No doubt there is a hunk of information we haven't been told yet, and we're missing a chunk of the puzzle.

Golden/Black City. This is where a lot of it comes together. It's Arlathan. Some people say it can't be, but frankly at this point I can't see that it _can't_ be. I'm not entirely certain we'll be given a firm answer on this, since it's so intricately linked to the Maker and they've said they'll never reveal whether the Maker is real or not - BUT the Maker is attributed with creating the veil, only we know he didn't now, and the Chant is as full of shit as the history the Dalish believe, so...

Arlathan was the shining jewel in the Ancient Elves' empire. It was the capital city, said to be 'the centre of their empire'. That image is important. The Golden/Black City is said to be equidistant no matter where you are in The Fade (unless you're there physically, in which case you can actually get to it). We learn from the Temple of Mythal that each of the Evanuris had their own temple, each surrounded by a glorious city. Elgar'nan was the head Evanuris, so it stands to reason Arlathan was the seat of his power. Elgar'nan was the sun god. Sun, golden, a city paved with gold, Arlathan's streets glittered. Arlathan was The Golden City. 

It's important to remember at this point that images in The Fade shape themselves to the will of dreamers. In other words, people see what they expect to see. A lot of people stumble on this point, but it's an important one. It's also important to remember that one of the main themes of the series is stories: why do we tell the stories we tell? Whose stories get told? Who controls history? How do histories change over time? Who appropriates history, and to what ends? The astrarium puzzles, as much as they appear to be frippery, are really important. They explain how the symbolism of the constellations has changed and been interpreted in different ways through different cultures, and shine a light on how the same thing can be interpreted in wildly different ways. This is so absolutely key to the whole game. As is my favourite codex entry, the very last entry in the 'Tales' section, codex #125, "What is Green?"

"What is green? Imagine I should present to you an object which, to my mind, is of indisputable greenness and ask, "Does this thing appear to you to be green?"

Naturally, you might say that it does, for you have come to recognize the appearance of the color of the object to be "green," associating the word with what your eyes see. But could it be my understanding of "green" differs entirely from yours? What if, perchance, you could see into my mind? You might realize that all things that I name "green" are actually "red" in your understanding.

Ah, without the moorings of objective truth, we are set adrift in oceans of solitary experience."​
God, that's good shit. That goes right to the heart of it. So the Chant says Andraste was X type of person, does it? Well the Chant was only put into place after Emperor Drakon was successful in crushing all of the other competing histories and legends about Andraste that were doing the rounds. His preferred version of Andrastianism was only one of many. He was powerful, and, as we all know, history belongs to the victor. The Tevinter hold that Andraste was a mage. Now, they have good reason to believe that, since it reaffirms their ideology. However, I think they are right, in this instance. We've seen exactly the same thing happen with the Avvar legend of Tyrdda Bright-Axe. Legend has it she wielded a great axe. We find it. It's a staff. Words get translated, interpreted to suit the narrative of the current age, and meaning changes. That's central to everything in the series.

[Total aside, do you remember, did you do the Dalish origin in DAO? If so, there were statues there that with hindsight were statues of Mythal <3 Also, we think of Flemeth as the Witch of the (Korcari) Wilds. But NO! She was the Witch of the _Arbor_ Wilds all along.]



Post three incoming...


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 12, 2015)

Spoiler



So, how does this relate to my wafflings about Arlathan? The Ancient Elven empire was basically all there was. When the fade and physical world were not separate, Arlathan would have been a very important cultural icon and landmark in the minds of everyone. It's possible it coexisted in the fade and physical parts of the world (the fade was still a 'thing' before the veil, it just wasn't hard separated). 

It's worth mentioning Yavana: Yavana is a character in the Dragon Age comics. She is Flemeth's daughter, Morrigan's sister. She is known as the Witch of the Antivan Wilds. She has some very interesting things to say in the comics:

"The blood of dragons is the blood of the _world_."
"A fool with power desires only _more_ power."
_(to Alistair)_ _Your_ heart beats with the old blood, as well. Where do you think it comes from? It sings of a time when dragons ruled the _skies_. A time before the Veil, before the mysteries were forgotten. Can you hear it?"
Surely, 'when dragons ruled the skies' is meant to mean when the Evanuris ruled the Elven empire. 'Your heart beats with the old blood' is a reference to him being a Grey Warden, having darkspawn blood in him, but then what does that mean? 

OK, IN THE COURSE OF WRITING THIS I HAVE REDEVELOPED MY THEORIES.

You'll have to work hard to keep up with my thoughts, since I haven't even fully explained my previous theories. But I was labouring under the impression the Black City was already Black when Cory et al went there. That Andruil brought the taint up from the void with her (it says as much in one of her mosaics in Mythal's temple), it helped fuel their wars, which in turn spurred Fen'harel on to stop them by any means necessary. Sundering the physical world and the fade also sundered Arlathan, but by this point Arlathan was mostly tainted, and it was locked in the fade all but a tiny part of it, which remained (for the Tevinters to sack many years later as they stole all of Elven culture and history). Because everyone expected to see a Golden City, because there had always been the golden city of Arlathan in the fade, that's what they continued to see, because no one knew it was now black, because it turned black around the time Solas locked it away in the Fade, or just before. Over the eras, the stories as to what this Golden City was changed as ideologies and religions and narratives and politics changed, but just because that was what people had always expected to see, they continued to see it as Golden. No one could walk physically in the Fade, so no one knew it was in fact Black. When Cory went there, he saw it was in fact Black, and from that point onwards, thanks to the Chantry as well, people saw it as Black, and attributed that to their various religions. That's also how Cory was tainted - he caught it from the already tainted Arlathan.

BUT

What if the Golden City WAS still Golden when they got there? Taking into consideration what Yavana says, and if the old god dragons _are_ the dragon aspects of the Evanuris, sundered from them, two halves of the same beings separated (on purpose, because Solas separated out the tainted bit and the non-tainted bit while he thought about a way to more thoroughly fix the problem) into the two realms, what if Cory breaching the fade and walking there physically - a thing that was never meant to happen - created a link between them again, and somehow passed the taint to the Fade? And so when Cory went there, it _did_ turn the Golden City black? And that, in turn, passed the taint onto him and his mates, who then brought it back down to the physical world. They become drawn to the Old Gods, who want freeing from their prisons, and the process create more darkspawn, who in turn are drawn to the Old Gods. So the blood of the Old Gods is the blood of the Evanuris, the taint is from the blood of the Evanuris, and that makes sense of what Yavana says, and it helps explain very simply the Golden-Black thing.

There's still a lot Solas wasn't telling us at the end of Trespasser. He explained some of his motivation, and he explained some of the history of what happened, but I don't for a second believe he told us everything. And there _has_ to be some link to the taint.

I like this theory! I mean, I still like the idea that the Golden City was already black, but this makes a lot of sense.

Your warden from DAO is meant to be out there searching for a cure to the taint. Before I just redeveloped this theory (right in front of your eyes, I do that a lot), I'd already figured what would happen in DA4 - it's all in the final scene where you stab the map, it's literally written on there:

* War between Tevinter and the Qunari will for the backdrop, a la the conflict between the mages and templars - we'll have to solve some stuff, we'll be fighting qunari as random mobs here and there
* Solas (also a town in Tevinter, which is why I say this stuff is literally written on there) will be our key plot, our main antagonist, the main danger, and we'll have to stop him
* We will go to Weisshaupt (also on the map), and we will find out why all the wardens have disappeared

Now, we know our warden is searching for a cure, maybe the reason they're disappearing is because they've found one? This would tie in perfectly with Solas' story, since a cure for the taint would give him options when deciding what to do about the veil and the Evanuris, if he could cure the remaining two old gods, and potentially all of the Evanuris in the Fade if they are indeed now also tainted, and cure Arlathan, etc... maybe that gives him choices, or maybe he'll want to take that cure forcibly for his own ends and continue with his plan as is? 

However, we also know that the Wardens have maps of where the remaining Old Gods are imprisoned, they've just never been able to reach them because of the sheer numbers of darkspawn in the way (since they're drawn to their 'song'). A very good reason for the wardens to be disappearing would be if they had indeed found a way to get to one of them. They wouldn't alert the world, they'd want to muster all their forces to assault the dragon and kill it before the darkspawn could get to it, and thus prevent a blight.

Both of those things could be true. They might have discovered the former in pursuit of the latter.

You need to read _The Last Flight_ in order to see why it'll be so AMAZING to go to Weisshaupt and I'm SO EXCITED.

So, during the course of DA4 I predict (and none of these predictions have changed, my ideas about the golden city I've developed while writing this don't alter anything): we will discover the true nature of the Old Gods and the taint; the taint might be cured and the dragons might be dealt with; we will discover what the qunari are (hint: they used to be elves, they were corrupted by dragon blood and blood magic in rituals and experiments gone bad by the Tevinter long ago); we _might_ find out more about dwarven stuff BUT I CAN'T TALK ABOUT THAT BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THE DESCENT OMG IT'S SO IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING. I'm unsure whether we'll see a complete resolution of the veil story, but it does feel like we're building to something world-altering. I think the end of DA4 will see the end of the Dragon Age, although hopefully not of _Dragon Age_. I think we'll have got to the bottom of a heck of a lot of stuff that's been building since DAO, including the Old Gods, the nature of the taint, etc. It will come full circle, and there will be no more threat of blights. That leaves us perfectly situated for something entirely new in DA5, which will be The Executors, and part of the game will be based in Antiva (YAY!).


I also think Mythal is the Avvar god, The Lady of The Skies. I think Elgar'nan/Dumat has been trying to get people to break him out for eras. He nearly managed it with Cory but it backfired. I think he nearly managed it with Andraste. Mythal put a stop to it with Tyrdda Bright-Axe. This is some of my more tinfoil stuff, but we'll see.

OMG play the DLCs!!!


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## moon (Oct 12, 2015)

So interesting, thanks for this 
I particularly like your physically split aspects theory, in fact I love it!
It makes me want to search for similar stories in the real world, maybe in Chinese (yin yang) or Celtic belief systems.
I'm still feeling emotionally drained by it all as I put around 200 hrs into the game ( although there is no way of finding the exact figure on the ps4 ) so will be having a good rest before I go in again..


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 13, 2015)

Spoiler



I've just seen a video of some Solas dialogue at the end of Trespasser. I didn't get this bit, they got it by choosing a bit of a snarky reply to something he said. They picked something like, 'Thanks anyway' and the inky said:

"Well, thanks for the castle anyway, I suppose."

And he replies, "Enjoy it while you can, Inquisitor. It was mine, once."

So there we have it. Confirmed that Skyhold was his and it stands to reason he must have created the veil there.

Interesting, there must be a lot in the conversation with him that is lost if you don't pick certain replies. I love that.

Also, GOD PLEASE AT LEAST PLAY THE DESCENT.  It's really interesting in its own right, it adds something totally WTF to dwarven history and potentially to the history of all of Thedas, and it seemingly relates in some very important way to the Evanuris, and possibly to the taint/darkspawn, and possibly linking all of those things together. AND HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR SANDAL OMG (although he's not in it, boo hiss).


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## moon (Oct 13, 2015)

Spoiler



This thread is going to become a list of spoiler code buttons 
I'm not sure when I'll play Descent as October is busy.. But I went into DA:I last night (in an emotional state  ) and read some songs in the Exalted Plains 'The Silver Knight' it just made me more emotional lol

Anyway.. the taint! That is interesting, it could have turned the golden city black and corrupted the Evanuris.
Makes me wonder what exactly the taint is.. there seems to be something mycelial about it 'Taint also manifests as spidery tendrils of black rot, along with a dry shiny film covering underground passages used by darkspawn'
And even the name of the blight suggest something fungal see _Phytophthora infestans Phytophthora infestans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maybe it is spread by spores.. Do we ever actually use Deep Mushroom for anything? The hive mind and calling could also be explained in a similar way to how Ophiocordyceps unilateralis Ophiocordyceps unilateralis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia causes behavioural changes in it's host.
However I don't believe David Gaider would have reduced Dragon Age to a zombie infected survival horror game..

Its interesting what you say about the dragon blood and Qunari, I remember Iron Bull talking about this when he was discussing his love of fighting dragons, he said maybe he had dragon blood in him.
_


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 13, 2015)

Spoiler



Re qunari dragon blood, one of the mosaics (or maybe a couple of them) you can get Gatsi to interpret deal with what seems to be the qunari being used by Tevinter magisters for something. They're well worth reading about on the wiki, the mosaics - lots of stuff to interpret there. There's something elsewhere as well that mentions that if you drink too much dragon blood you change, you start to get dragon qualities.

And on the taint, sdjafnksjgnksdjgn I can't say much about my theories until you've played The Descent. But remember what we found out when we met Bianca? That red lyrium is normal lyrium that has been infected by the taint. That's very interesting, especially considering what we find out about normal lyrium during the course of The Descent. And it confuses - or makes more interesting - the statement by Yavana that I mentioned yesterday, that the blood of dragons is the blood of the world.

We do use deep mushroom - I think we use it for poisons, that sort of thing. It's not related to the taint, or at least there's nothing in any lore that would link them together. But then, as I've typed that sentence I'm reminded of this amazing bit of dialogue with Solas that makes me lol:






OKAY SOLAS IF YOU SAY SO.

(That's my current Dorf, Riley.)

Certainly, I've long liked the idea that the taint is entirely organic in nature, that it just naturally arose as a pathogen or whatever, but when exposed under the right circumstances, shit went bad and we got what we got, and people have been using religion and magic to make sense of it because they don't have the scientific knowledge to understand any better.

As an aside, a little moment that reflects that idea (that we make up stories to explain what we don't understand, and treat them as self-evident until something else happens to prove otherwise) is the surgeon at Skyhold. You ask her why not just have mages heal people? And she replies that we shouldn't rely on magic for everything, and that SCIENCE! is more reliable, and that good health is all about healthy food, exercise, and _a balance of the humours _ I love that.


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 13, 2015)

Some screenshots to break up the spoilerificness:



 




 




 




 




 

I could take pictures of Sera all day. In fact, I DO.


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## moon (Oct 13, 2015)

Some cosplay  Although he looks a bit too clean to be Solas.. apparently Solas didn't wash..P


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 13, 2015)

People's costume abilities always amaze me. They got the exact material of his shirt right. And the detailing on her tunic, the piping, lovely!


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## moon (Oct 13, 2015)

Spoiler



I have been pondering what the best sources of historical 'fact' are in Dragon Age, I doubt the books are, I would love to say the mosaics are but we all know how artworks are commissioned, so I thought maybe it's the songs. These can and do get corrupted over time but imo oral history can still be a reliable source of information.
Btw what are your thoughts on the horned beings in the mosaics at Par Vollen? 
Also why is qunari reproduction so controlled? 

Here is the Silver Knight Song

Bright silver were his helm and chain,
Bright silver on his horse's rein;
He rode upon the golden plain,
The brave and comely knight.

The elves stood fast, their banners high.
They would not flee, they would not fly,
Though knowing they would surely die,
The last of Dalish might.

He met them on the golden field,
The fate of elvenkind now sealed,
In mercy, urged them all to yield,
He sorrowed for their plight.

But prideful were the Dalish kin,
Their vengeful hearts could not give in,
With raging cry and dreadful grin,
They struck against the Light.

Beneath the red and fading sun,
The elven stand was swift undone,
'Til they were vanquished, all but one:
Defiant in her fight.

Her brothers on the field lay slain,
He would not see her die in vain,
In grief, cried "Yield!" to her again,
That good and gentle knight.

He could not strike; his shield dropped low,
She lifted sword against her foe,
They did not see the far-off bow,
Its arrow loosed in flight.

A sharpened thorn, a searing brand,
A shot the elf could not withstand;
The sword fell lifeless from her hand,
With drops of crimson bright.

He said no word, he made no sound,
But caught her, falling to the ground.
Her dark hair flowing, all unbound:
A veil as black as night.

And up around him came the call,
That celebrated Dalish fall,
The cry of vic'try came from all,
Except the silver knight.

The glimmer of his helm and chain,
Now dull with dark and bloody stain.
He looked and saw upon the plain,
The dying elven light.

Elf sword in hand, heart filled with woe,
No one would ever see him go,
But with a solemn prayer, spoke low,
He vanished into night.

They say he rode on easterly,
The sword he placed beneath a tree.
And there remained, on bended knee,
That grave and mournful knight.


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 14, 2015)

I haven't given much thought to that song, I don't remember noticing it at all actually! I'll have to have a think about it.



Spoiler



I did love finding out about the Battle of Red Crossing, just how wrong everybody was about what really happened, what really kicked off the battle between them.

On the subject of songs, knowing what we know now, I'm pretty convinced there's a sliver of truth in _Andraste's Mabari_, only it wasn't a mabari, _it was a wolf_.


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## ChrisFilter (Oct 20, 2015)

Just started playing this properly having never got out of the Hinterlands when it came out. Upgraded my PC and now have the perfect setup. PC is in another room so as not to ruin lounge aesthetics but near enough so that mouse, keyboard and wireless 360 controller still work. I've run a 5m HDMI cable through so it hooks up to my fancy 50" telly and is playing via the 5.1 home cinema system. The nice thing about a PC/telly combo is that you're limited to 1080p and so a GTX 970 (i5 4690k, 8GB, SSD) is all the card you'll ever need. It looks beautiful - and so much better than on my upstairs gaming PC even at the same res on a much smaller monitor. That's mostly because the monitor is shit, tbf. The PC is fine (i5 2500k, 8GB, GTX 770, SSD). Why do I need two PCs? One is for working from home and for escaping to when my wife is watching telly, the major limitation of a lounge gaming setup. 

Anyway, self-congratulatory waffle about my perfect setup aside, DA:I might just be the first game I truly get into since FFVII. I've clocked up the hours on Skyrim, Fallout, etc, and I've completed Tomb Raiders, Half-Lifes and Far Crys, but this is giving me a similar feeling to getting stuck into a new series of novels. I'm only 9 hours in but the game is just opening up and I'm seriously impressed. 

FWIW, I've tried mouse and keyboard upstairs and it's awful. Feels almost unplayable vs gamepad. I haven't used tactical cam once using gamepad - having too much fun hacking and slashing.


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## moon (Oct 20, 2015)

I'm nearly ready to play Descent, just trying to complete a few more war table missions, Josephine's companion quest never seems to end! I now have to go to a party with her..arrgghh. Lol
Am trying to trigger more of my focus abilities but they only seem to switch on at random times.. I'm guessing that freezing someone then using a detonator ability should work.. And drinking lyrium potion allows me to use combos more quickly.. But they still don't trigger very often..


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 20, 2015)

ChrisFilter said:


> Just started playing this properly having never got out of the Hinterlands when it came out. Upgraded my PC and now have the perfect setup. PC is in another room so as not to ruin lounge aesthetics but near enough so that mouse, keyboard and wireless 360 controller still work. I've run a 5m HDMI cable through so it hooks up to my fancy 50" telly and is playing via the 5.1 home cinema system. The nice thing about a PC/telly combo is that you're limited to 1080p and so a GTX 970 (i5 4690k, 8GB, SSD) is all the card you'll ever need. It looks beautiful - and so much better than on my upstairs gaming PC even at the same res on a much smaller monitor. That's mostly because the monitor is shit, tbf. The PC is fine (i5 2500k, 8GB, GTX 770, SSD). Why do I need two PCs? One is for working from home and for escaping to when my wife is watching telly, the major limitation of a lounge gaming setup.
> 
> Anyway, self-congratulatory waffle about my perfect setup aside, DA:I might just be the first game I truly get into since FFVII. I've clocked up the hours on Skyrim, Fallout, etc, and I've completed Tomb Raiders, Half-Lifes and Far Crys, but this is giving me a similar feeling to getting stuck into a new series of novels. I'm only 9 hours in but the game is just opening up and I'm seriously impressed.
> 
> FWIW, I've tried mouse and keyboard upstairs and it's awful. Feels almost unplayable vs gamepad. I haven't used tactical cam once using gamepad - having too much fun hacking and slashing.



I'm in the process of getting a new PC, and I was going to have a similar set-up to you, except my TV is shit so I was going to get a new monitor that I could move out of the way when it wasn't being used. But the tower case is quite deep and my living room is narrow and cramped, so there's little room to put it where it isn't in danger of being knocked. So I've decided to make the move upstairs, and am sorting out the back bedroom into more of an office set-up, but with a comfy chair so I don't derp my arms and hands more than they are already derped.

I was going to go 1080p for the monitor but I'm getting a _really_ nice gpu so I thought fuck it, and am getting a 25" 1440p display instead. 

I started playing DAI with m&kb but after a while decided to try a gamepad. I hate it. I pause a lot, I like to be able to click on enemies to target them, and the gamepad is really, really shit for that. I gave it a good go, I used it exclusively for a week, but it's just awful for the way I play. I loved using the gamepad just for running around, and the gamepad is absolutely excellent for the screenshot tools I use, but combat unpauses all the freaking time with a gamepad, it's really difficult to target people quickly, you can't target a specific enemy (and bring their info up on screen) while you're paused, giving a command to any of your companions while paused immediately brings you out of pause... it's just a hot mess. Fine if you do just want to hack and slash, but I don't. I'm playing on nightmare at the moment, and while it's easy enough I cherish the ability to pause, look around, click an enemy, change my mind, click another enemy to select it, cycle through my team assigning commands, then unpause and have them all do what I said at the same time. I tried to like it, I really did... I just can't. 

Still, the screenshot tools let you use either gamepad or keyboard for controlling the camera regardless of what you have selected in game, so I get the best of both worlds. The only problem I face using kb&m is that some menus seem a little more unstable. The equip potions menu, for example, is a completely different design and I can crash in it sometimes when using kb&m, but I didn't crash once in it when using the gamepad. Still, it's a minor niggle, and I make sure I save before I go into menus of any kind anyway. 

Glad you're enjoying the game. It's absolutely beautiful, the environments are gorgeous, the writing is for the most part good, the pacing is shot to hell and the end of the game is actually only good if you have the Trespasser dlc and treat that as the end of the game, but all in all it's a solid, fun game with a lot of positives. And my god, THE LORE. <3


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## Cid (Oct 20, 2015)

Yeah, for me DA is all about tactical view... Going back to the glory days of NWN etc. I tried gamepad and found it unplayable. KB+M was shit but usable. Got used to it after a while.


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 21, 2015)

I've not been using tac-cam that much. I did all the time with my first character, a dw rogue, but I hadn't got the hang of things at that point and tbh melee is a bit more fiddly with kb&m than ranged, particularly dw rogue. I only played as that character up to about level 14, then rerolled to archer, and haven't used tac-cam much at all since. I'm playing a s&s templar at the moment (was going to go for champion but was seduced by the charm of Cullen and Ser - *sigh* if only my dorf could boink Cullen) and I'm not finding it a problem at all.

I'm trying to be strict with myself about not using the very best gear in the game... the inclusion of the Golden Nug has made it easy to slice through everything  on nightmare. Fights finish before I get to them. Must remember to take the new upgrade for that chain ability - it pulls all the enemies to you then taunts them


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 21, 2015)

_Dragon Age: Inquisition_ as you've never seen it before...





I love taking bonkers screenshots. (All rendered in-game, btw.)


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## ChrisFilter (Oct 21, 2015)

Cid said:


> Yeah, for me DA is all about tactical view... Going back to the glory days of NWN etc. I tried gamepad and found it unplayable. KB+M was shit but usable. Got used to it after a while.



Tactical view feels too much like hard work, in all honesty. I find it fiddly. I like to bash the fuck out of everyone and get it over with. Although I'm currently having to fight off a few waves to aim a trebuchet and it's proving quite challenging so I might need to explore tac cam a bit more.


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 21, 2015)

ChrisFilter said:


> Tactical view feels too much like hard work, in all honesty. I find it fiddly. I like to bash the fuck out of everyone and get it over with. Although I'm currently having to fight off a few waves to aim a trebuchet and it's proving quite challenging so I might need to explore tac cam a bit more.



That's a pretty decent fight. The first time I did it it was down to the wire, especially when the boss turned up. Just try to remember where you've seen potion caches, and yeah, at the very least use pause a bit, you don't need to go into tac-cam if you don't want but pausing to take a breath and check what's coming and set up the right attack can make a big difference.

Of course, pausing and doing that is a heck of a lot more effective with kb&m


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 21, 2015)

Who are you fighting, the mages or the red templars? If it's the mages, make sure you use spell purge or dispel on the named mage who turns up, and on any spellbinders. Spellbinders are cunts, always get them out of the way first. I can't remember what works best with red templars (I'm fighting the mages this time around), probably just bashing the shit out of them. I think they have some mages too though, so same applies.


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## ChrisFilter (Oct 21, 2015)

I've sided with the mages, so it's templars I'm gunning for. They will feel my irreverent, self-deprecating rage! Especially as Sera just laughed at my love chat. Humiliation is an energy.


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## ChrisFilter (Oct 21, 2015)

FWIW, the sleazy look/tone my character got when I selected a heart option (I was trying to be friendly, alright?!) was really off-putting. Proper creep.


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 21, 2015)

Sera <3

My favourite companion, hands down.

I romanced her on my first run, but we broke up for _reasons_. I've promised my dorf to Bull on this run but... Sera keeps doing that nervous laughing and being all amazing and stuff...


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## ChrisFilter (Oct 21, 2015)

She is a bit Hannah from S Club 7. Sure, Rachel was the poster girl but every boy really fancied Hannah.


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 21, 2015)

Sera's the only true moral compass in the game. I reckon, anyway. But with a hefty helping of insecurity and larks thrown in for good measure.

And that nervous giggle...


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## ChrisFilter (Oct 21, 2015)

Actually, that trebuchet bit was easy having another go. Just managed my resources more carefully.


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## ChrisFilter (Oct 22, 2015)

Whooshing through it now. Got to Skyhold, finished the main stories in the Fallow Marshes and the Storm Coast, did the first keep in the desert.

I'm 18 hours in. The median 'main storyline plus extras' time is 84 hours, so I'm approaching 25% of the way through.


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## moon (Oct 22, 2015)

I'm doing lots of gathering etc missions at the war table.. I really like this aspect of the game, its like a whole other game (in game) and I wish I hade paid more attention to it early on as I think I missed a few of the mission chain triggers.
Am getting Descent at the weekend...whoooo..


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## ChrisFilter (Oct 22, 2015)

Yeah, I try and have all three of my advisers on missions at any one time.


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 22, 2015)

I have a tendency to pick Leliana for almost everything, which holds me up sometimes. Poor old Cullen rarely gets a look-in, and Josie is good for the ones Josie is good at.

You can, of course, cheat the system if you don't want to wait and change your system clock (easier on a PC) so you don't have to hang around for the really long ones if you've not much left to do.


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## Chick Webb (Oct 23, 2015)

moon said:


> I wish I hade paid more attention to it early on as I think I missed a few of the mission chain triggers.


It's always the way.


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## Chick Webb (Oct 23, 2015)

I haven't played any since my baby was born.  You'd think maternity leave would be a good time to play games.  I pictured it involving a lot of Dragon Age anyway.  How wrong I was.


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## moon (Oct 23, 2015)

I choose Cullen for the gather metals type missions and whenever he specifically mentions someone such as 'Cassandra will know more about this' or 'I think the Chargers will be best at this'
I choose Leli if she mentions that it will be easy for her people to do such and such
And Josephine if she says she has contacts blah blah and it isn't just some bullshit.. 

I try to avoid sending Leli on some of her more ruthless missions, but that bit me in the bum once when I wouldn't let her cut someones head off  and they ended up massacring some of my people...


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 23, 2015)

I got my entire clan killed, as a Dalish elf. That was... unexpected.


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## moon (Oct 23, 2015)

I can't stop thinking about Abelas 
He is immortal right?  DA:4 ....


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## moon (Oct 24, 2015)

Descending into the Deep Roads


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## moon (Oct 26, 2015)

Why do Bioware kill off all the coolest people in their games??? Thane, Abelas and now Renn..I can't cope...


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## moon (Oct 27, 2015)

I finished Descent last night, (the boss fight at least) I managed to find an invisible ledge under the platform where I could attack and take no damage .
I'm putting DA:I to bed for a while now, it has been a blast and I have lots of happy memories, I think the quest What Pride Had Wrought was the most impressive bit of gaming I've ever experienced.  Also the music was amazing, a proper live orchestra.. luv it!
I cant really fault it in any way, just that I like Bioware games for the characters and feel some could have had more depth etc
But all in all I would give it 10/10 
Let's take a moment to remember those opening scenes from 'What Pride Had Wrought' one last time, this was recorded from my PS4


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 8, 2015)

Fancy new computer, fancy new screenshots.



 




 




 

More over on flickr.

It's lovely to run around places like The Storm Coast and it actually be smooth rather than choppy as hell.


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## golightly (Nov 29, 2015)

Just finished Trespasser. Wow! Small but perfectly formed. Much better than the other dlc.


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## poului (Dec 2, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> In Jaws of Haakon there are 4 level 30 despair demons you fight at the same time. Level cap for you and your companions is 27. THAT'S FUN.



I came across this challenge just now on level 25. I'd even changed my gear and party for maximum fire and demon-slaying damage but I still had to put the difficulty down a notch. Absolute pisstake.


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## Pseudopsycho (Jan 13, 2016)

GOTY edition in the Origin Sale £15! 30+Gb Downloaded and now I'm just waiting waiting for playday payday to finally buy a new GFX card!


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## Pseudopsycho (Jan 27, 2016)

GTX970 Strix 4gb Card bought and installed...

So as usual about a year or so late to the party but started playing last night with a Qunari Mage lass, who my missus says looks like the woman who presents CBB so we named her Emillis. Would have have managed to leave Haven if I didn't have to spend a couple of hours trying to get Origin, Dragon Age Keep and the actual bloody game talking to each other. Had to do a re-install of Origin for it to work but it's worth it.
Had everything ramped to Ultra and it was gorgeous but quite laggy on my system so will have to have a play with settings later, any tips for boosting performance whilst keeping texture and lighting good?.

Sorry for some of the Noob questions but didn't want to read much of the thread for fear of spoilers...
Taking a bit of getting used to the KB&M controls but it's similar to Skyrim so will get there eventually. Also the levelling system is different which is a bit confusing, likewise armour doesn't tell you  penalties to fatigue etc - can I really have a mage running around happily in heavy armour? Can you set tactical cam as default so it plays more like DAO/2?

Haven't even scratched the surface but loving some of the little touches such as when I went into the Chantry basement I hit my head on a hanging censer and there was a nice satisfying clang from my horns! Also nice to meet some old friends right from the get go too.


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## moon (Jan 27, 2016)

I think some mages can't equip heavy armour?, rouges can equip medium armour and warriors heavy armour. (edited to add that : It seems that this is not universal across races)
You also need to upgrade them with legs and arms etc etc as and when you find them or craft them.. Keep a look out for 'heavy legs' as I think they are quite rare in the game, I seem to remember Cassandra having to wait ages before I could find some for her.
I'm not sure about tactical cam always on or KB&M as I play on the PS4
I can't wait to replay this game but have to forget most of it first, as generally I can't replay games due to repetition etc.


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## Pseudopsycho (Jan 27, 2016)

moon said:


> Mage's can't equip heavy armour, only light armour, rouges can equip medium armour and warriors heavy armour.
> You also need to upgrade them with legs and arms etc etc as and when you find them or craft them.. Keep a look out for 'heavy legs' as I think they are quite rare in the game, I seem to remember Cassandra having to wait ages before I could find some for her.
> I'm not sure about tactical cam always on or KB&M as I play on the PS4
> I can't wait to replay this game but have to forget most of it first, as generally I can't replay games due to repetition etc.


That's interesting as my mage appears to be able to equip all armour types - maybe because she's Qunari? I was quite annoyed that you can't have dual weapon warriors as my usual first run through would be a sarcastically named D-W Dwarf  - Stroppy was my Warden


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## Pickman's model (Jan 27, 2016)

Pseudopsycho said:


> Stroppy was my Warden


sounds like a stephen fry book, perhaps a sequel to 'moab was my washpot'


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## moon (Jan 27, 2016)

Pseudopsycho said:


> That's interesting as my mage appears to be able to equip all armour types - maybe because she's Qunari?


Really? ok ignore my post  my character was an elf.. maybe that's why..


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## Vintage Paw (Jan 27, 2016)

Pseudopsycho If you got the dlc armour packs (spoils of the avaar and spoils of the qunari) then you will have a bunch of light/medium/heavy armours dumped in your inventory as soon as you reach haven proper. You can equip any of those, but otherwise apart from that armours are class restricted unless you download a mod that unrestricts them. There are some armours that are also race restricted. Humans have more unique armours than others, qunari have the least (something that the spoils dlcs sought to make up for).

You can use a gamepad if you'd prefer. Menus and general running around are a lot, lot better with a gamepad, but I pause a heck of a lot to assign commands and gamepad is abysmal for that, so I stick with kb&m. Anecdotal evidence suggests the majority of people who tried switching to a gamepad never looked back (I'm the minority).

Quality settings: absolutely keep meshes and textures and shaders at ultra. Everything else is up to you. I recommend dropping the one that controls cut-scene blur (one of the places it can crash if your system is overtaxed is during some cutscenes). You can lower water without much difference, drop spell effects by one (any more you might start seeing a problem). Tessellation need be on no more than high unless you really care about your rocks being as round as possible, it's resource intensive. Vegetation reduces the density and I think the draw distance and can give you back quite a few frames, particularly when you go to the area you're going to next and others like it. Can't remember what it's called, but there's one that controls the level of terrain detail, mostly in terms of draw distance but also in terms of how many extra little bits of detail will be lying around I think. You can drop that one a bit.

SSAO and Shadows are huge performance-sinks. Set it to SSAO, not HBAO or HBAO Full. With your card you should have no problem with SSAO. Shadows can go down to high instead of ultra - they're a bit softer but I think that's more realistic anyway, and draw distance isn't quite as far but I doubt you'll notice.

Use post-process AA instead of MSAA. Image quality won't be as good but you'll gain frames. Best option is using ReShade or SweetFX so you can add SMAA, which is pp AA (and therefore very lightweight) but one of the best you can get. If you're happy with the in-game version though don't worry about it.

Cutscenes are locked to 30 fps and have been notoriously choppy and shit since release. Don't be alarmed if you get lags and stutters during them. It's quite normal, unfortunately. Optimisation is utter shit, loading and menu screens can take up to 100% of your CPU (rumoured to be because of Denuvo drm, which makes multiple calls for verification per second or something, idk).

I crash occasionally in some menus (potion equip being the main culprit), but only when using kb&m (the menu design is different for gamepad) - save a lot. You can only have 250 saves, so delete what you don't want once you're sure you don't need it (or be sensible like me and back them up). Try to do a fresh save each time rather than relying on quicksaves or saving over old ones.

Ask away with anything else, and enjoy - you're in for quite the ride (definitely get the DLC - in particular Trespasser is mandatory, and I'd never usually say that about any DLC but in this case it just is. And watch the credits.).


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## Pseudopsycho (Jan 28, 2016)

Massive thanks, VP. I had a play with the settings yesterday and got a it running in a playable way without (to my untrained eye) much discernible difference but I'm definitely going to try your advice. I did wonder about stutter in the cutscenes and the loading times seem ridiculous, almost back to wandering off to make a cup of tea on first time start up!

Emillis is now a Level 4 mage running around in circles in the hinterlands now generating influence and power(?), met some rage demons at twice my level and have started dying! Feels very Skyrim in so much as I'll probably clock 150+hrs before getting anywhere near the end! I got the GOTY edition which has all the DLC so in it for the long haul.


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## Vintage Paw (Jan 28, 2016)

Power opens up new things to do and places to go on the war table map, and is needed to access all of the main story beats. You'll get more than enough for them, but will likely have to do quite a few side quests to open all the extra map areas up. That said, by the end of the game I had over 200 power saved up and nothing to spend it on...

Influence fills up a meter that, when it reaches the next level, gives you a point to spend on a perk from one of your advisers or a general inquisition thing - which do little things like let you carry more potions, give you money off at merchants, increase your inventory, let you pick the hardest locks, give you more xp, etc. I recommend taking all the ones relating to various histories first, I think there's one in each of the lines: mage history, politics, orlesian history, and something else can't remember... it gives you more xp at certain points but it also opens up new options for dialogue. Then the ones to open locks and increase potions and inventory would be my next must-haves, since because you'll probably be crafting most of your gear you'll not need to worry about merchant prices or getting rare stocks of stuff. You'll eventually get the chance to buy influence (just like the real world lol), but don't go near 20... it caps out at that and when it does you get an annoying fucking influence level up sound every time you close your inventory or load an area.


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## Pseudopsycho (Feb 6, 2016)

So I'm now 10, still running around Ferelden and loving it. 

Thanks to Vintage Paw 's advice I'm running a playable average fps of 20-30 with "fade-touched" textures, ultra mesh & shaders and high for pretty much everything else and it seems fairly stable, some stuttery dips to sub 10fps but this appears to be random and without an obvious cause.

 However when I check the GFX tweak monitor it shows I'm only ever using half my VRAM and half the GPU processing power and it barely warms uip enough to get the fans running on the card. The clock speeds are at max though. Does anyone know what could be causing this and/or how to max the cards performance - I've got an overclocking feature but I would have thought that would be used if the card was at full capacity?


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## Vintage Paw (Feb 6, 2016)

Fade touched textures look no different to normal textures, they are the same ones but they are streamed differently and therefore take up a good deal more oomf to run them. You can quite happily go down to ultra textures, you won't notice a single difference other than probably having better performance.

I don't know what might be causing it to only use half your available power. This game has always tested my hardware to the max, certainly on my laptop the fans would be running like a jet engine (but then they often do that when I'm just browsing the internet lol). With everything on ultra/fade-touched at 1440p on my new PC I get 50-60fps with a 980Ti Classified, which is less than I was expecting tbh, but the game really seems quite badly optimised. I don't know if it's only using half my gpu capability, I've never looked at stuff like that (any recs for programs that could show me decent stats for that stuff?).


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## Pseudopsycho (Feb 8, 2016)

Right having had some time to play with my hardware (fnar) on the weekend it looks like the fancy pants cooler I bought when I built the system was never working and had finally borked. I dug out the stock cpu heatsink and fan and now my computer is quiet and the CPU is now longer hot enough to boil a kettle! As an immeadiate effect my frame rate has shot up to a stable 60fps (almost limited?) on ultra textures and it looks like I could happily nudge most, if not all settings to Ultra. This is going into game without turning on the tweaks and shutting windows processes off too. 

Vintage Paw Have you been into your BIOS and checked that your CPU is not too hot; my rig had "thermal throttling" and "over temp" protection - so whilst I had not been pushing the system on older games I  just thought it was a bit noisy . The difference in game is remarkable (Crysis 3 now runs smooth as silk on high spec) but not significantly different in Windows - again another reason I never really noticed I suppose. 

My rig is i5-3570, 16gb ram, GTX970Ti Strix which is lower than your spec by quite an amount so you should be getting superior performance I would have thought.

 It's lucky I wanted a shiny new graphics card when I did as my rig could have been damaged beyond repair and a new MB/processor/Ram combo would have cost a lot more than my GTX! 

Looking at the GPU tweak my GFX card is now using all it's processing power, the fans are kicking in and hitting 20-30% but the game is still using only 2gb VRam.  

But back to the important bits; about to hit level 12 and after 30 odd hours of faffing have done the mire and finishing off the storm coast


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## moon (Feb 9, 2016)

Has anyone played the multiplayer? Is it any good?


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## moon (Jul 23, 2017)

Dragon Age 4?


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## Vintage Paw (Jul 24, 2017)

It's being made currently, is my understanding. The writers have been giving hints that they were writing for quite some time. I believe there was something or another a week or two ago more concrete. I haven't looked into it, tbh. I wouldn't expect it until early/late 2019 personally, but I could be wrong.


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## moon (Nov 27, 2018)

I've fired up a few older games on my PS4 Pro to test graphics etc lol hence all the recent new posts.
Here is my new elf!


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## cybershot (Jan 4, 2019)

I whacked this on my Christmas list for a stocking filler as it was less than a tenner, and I got it, will look forward to another 90 hour game, but first, need to finish Shadow of Mordor!


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## cybershot (Jan 17, 2019)

I'll be starting playing this next week probably. Have followed a video from PC Gamer to do my Dragon Age Keep thingy. 

Don't want to read the existing pages because, no doubt spoilers due to the age of the game.

However, any guidance/tips on what races & classes to start the game as, taking into account I'm stuck with it once I make the choice.


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## Epona (Sep 3, 2022)

This is currently on sale £6.99 on Steam, GOTY edition with all the DLC.  I am assuming given the length of this thread that it is worth that?

I have £4.89 that has apparently been floating about forgotten in my Steam wallet for a couple of years, so technically I'd only be splashing out the princely sum of £1.10, which seems like a bargain for any game.


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## furluxor (Sep 17, 2022)

Epona said:


> This is currently on sale £6.99 on Steam, GOTY edition with all the DLC.  I am assuming given the length of this thread that it is worth that?
> 
> I have £4.89 that has apparently been floating about forgotten in my Steam wallet for a couple of years, so technically I'd only be splashing out the princely sum of £1.10, which seems like a bargain for any game.



Here's an opinion: it's better than Dragon Age 2 but not as good as Dragon Age 1. If you like RPGs with character development / interactions and well developed lore, you might love this. The gameplay is strategic and with pauses to think - works for anxious types like myself. The open world comes with the downsides of too many fetch quests and repetitive environments. The landscapes are beautiful and you can faff around decorating your castle, changing outfits and forging weapons. 
For that price it's a good bet, because if it pays off this will provide many hours of gameplay - it's a long game. My partner is now replaying it for the third time. It's also a good primer for when the next Dragon Age comes out in 2023 (hopefully). But if you can get the first game in the series, I'd get that instead.


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## Epona (Sep 17, 2022)

furluxor said:


> Here's an opinion: it's better than Dragon Age 2 but not as good as Dragon Age 1. If you like RPGs with character development / interactions and well developed lore, you might love this. The gameplay is strategic and with pauses to think - works for anxious types like myself. The open world comes with the downsides of too many fetch quests and repetitive environments. The landscapes are beautiful and you can faff around decorating your castle, changing outfits and forging weapons.
> For that price it's a good bet, because if it pays off this will provide many hours of gameplay - it's a long game. My partner is now replaying it for the third time. It's also a good primer for when the next Dragon Age comes out in 2023 (hopefully). But if you can get the first game in the series, I'd get that instead.



Thanks!  I did buy it in the end, thought it's bound to be worth it.  I preferred Origins over II.


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