Dragon Age is looking good!

[Autistic Angel]

Yeah, I had started a fresh new game with the 1.02 patch and never encountered the Shale Bug.  I did get caught by the Leiliana Romance Bug which was specifically addressed in the patch notes, though, so maybe I just got lucky.

-Autistic Angel

[Dan_Theman]

Yeah, I had started a fresh new game with the 1.02 patch and never encountered the Shale Bug.  I did get caught by the Leiliana Romance Bug which was specifically addressed in the patch notes, though, so maybe I just got lucky.

-Autistic Angel

Yeah, I've heard about the Leiliana issue still showing up for people - apparently the thing to do in order to avoid the problem is to not give her a bunch of gifts until after she's warmed up to you.  Again, I didn't run into it myself, but I think that one is still out there in the wild.  I'm guessing another patch will issue within the next month for Origins just considering they'll likely find something to patch up on Awakenings, and if they've already got the code opened up ...

[CeeKay]

well I patched my Impulse version up to 1.03 using the regular patch since Awakening is due out later today and they still haven't released anything patchwise via Impulse.  playing around with it everything seems to be fine, so hopefully I can download the expansion tonight when I get me from work and continue the tale.

[CeeKay]

well Awakening downloaded fairly quickly, it's only 2.15 gigs.  soon I shall be returning to Ferelden....

[Knightshade Dragon]

well Awakening downloaded fairly quickly, it's only 2.15 gigs.  soon I shall be returning to Ferelden....

It's worth it.  My review is going up tonight.  Just gotta finish writing...

[CeeKay]

played a bit of it tonight, it doesn't waste time getting you into action.  there are some new level 20+ talents, a few new skills and  new specializations.  they give you an additional specialization point so you won't have to worry about missing out on the new ones, and I'm going to have to go back to another character to see if the expansion patches this into the main game since it's possible to make it to level 25 in the original campaign.

as Autistic Angel pointed out in another thread, any DLC items will not carry over into the expansion.  I'm not sure if this includes the Dragon Armor but just to prepare you if your main character uses it and you import it over you might start the game a bit naked and/or weaponless.

[CeeKay]

regarding the NPC character classes you get access to pretty quickly (and I haven't even finished the keep yet):

Spoiler for Hiden:

they don't waste time getting you a healer this time around.  whether or not he stays is another question, but it's nice to have the Holy Trinity almost right out of the gate.  of course if you're not playing a thief character then that statement doesn't apply to you.

[Autistic Angel]

as Autistic Angel pointed out in another thread, any DLC items will not carry over into the expansion.  I'm not sure if this includes the Dragon Armor but just to prepare you if your main character uses it and you import it over you might start the game a bit naked and/or weaponless.

One curious note: my imported character had her non-DLC twin daggers unequipped and replaced with the longbow she had in her alternate slot.  The daggers were simply moved into the inventory so all I had to do was reequip them, but people might want to check everything over at the start to make sure things are they way they want.

-Autistic Angel

[Knightshade Dragon]

My review: http://www.gamingtrend.com/Reviews/review/review.php?ReviewID=1395

[CeeKay]

as Autistic Angel pointed out in another thread, any DLC items will not carry over into the expansion.  I'm not sure if this includes the Dragon Armor but just to prepare you if your main character uses it and you import it over you might start the game a bit naked and/or weaponless.

One curious note: my imported character had her non-DLC twin daggers unequipped and replaced with the longbow she had in her alternate slot.  The daggers were simply moved into the inventory so all I had to do was reequip them, but people might want to check everything over at the start to make sure things are they way they want.

-Autistic Angel

same thing happened to me. I had to reload the last save game from the OC to see what I had equipped.

[CeeKay]

My review: http://www.gamingtrend.com/Reviews/review/review.php?ReviewID=1395

you messed up the title for Return to Ostagar in the last paragraph.  Other than that great review!

[Knightshade Dragon]

My review: http://www.gamingtrend.com/Reviews/review/review.php?ReviewID=1395

you messed up the title for Return to Ostagar in the last paragraph.

Sure did.  Was writing while watching Ninja Assassin.  I was...distracted. 

[jersoc]

so this allows me to keep playing my first character, right? i haven't installed it yet, but just wanna make sure i dont need to plan a new guy.

[CeeKay]

so this allows me to keep playing my first character, right? i haven't installed it yet, but just wanna make sure i dont need to plan a new guy.

yeah, you can import your old character. Just remember any DLC items don't carry over, so if you use any of them you might want to load the end of game save from the OC and grab equipment that won't be gone.

[Knightshade Dragon]

so this allows me to keep playing my first character, right? i haven't installed it yet, but just wanna make sure i dont need to plan a new guy.

Yup, my Rogue was Level 33 when I finished the expansion.   The ability to buy a re-spec for 6 Sovereigns is nice too!

[CeeKay]

played some more last night and found the returning party member:

Spoiler for Hiden:

Oghren!

I went back to see if the new skills and talents showed up on a character outisde of Awakening, and they don't.  it would have been cool if they had made them available in the OC; sure, they're not unlocked until level 20 but with a level cap of 25 you could at least access some of them.

[Sarkus]

I started playing today and I'm a bit confused.  Yesterday, in anticipation and after reading that the Return to Ostagar stuff did carry over, I loaded up my post-ending save and requipped my guy with Ostagar stuff and made other changes.  So when I went to start Awakening, I choose that character (not in the advanced mode of choosing, just the regular) and it was the most recent save that it imported.  But I'm wondering if that will impact the world since it's not my actual "final" save.  I guess I'm confused about the whole thing in terms of whether post-ending saves all give you your ending or not.

As for Awakening, I'm far enough in to have three companions but haven't finished the opening location yet.  So far it doesn't seem to hard.  The way they handled the returning character when you first see them was funny, though.  

Edit: I've played along futher to the point where the monarch shows up and all signs indicate that this is the conclusion to the main story I completed with this character that is being used.  So that's good - the game does consider the post-completion saves, even though that theoretically is taking place earlier, to count in terms of character inventory.  So it's using the most recent save for gear while applying the results of the ending you got.

[CeeKay]

As for Awakening, I'm far enough in to have three companions but haven't finished the opening location yet.  So far it doesn't seem to hard. 

yeah, the beginning is pretty easy.  even the first boss fight, while taking awhile to whittle the guy down, wasn't a challenge.  still, this is Dragon Age, it'll lull you into a sense of complacency and then kick you in the jimmies.

[Fez]

I'm crashing fairly often after applying the 1.03 patch on my tripped out laptop.  Looking at the Bioware technical forums, it appears plenty of other people are experiencing the same issues. 

As everyone here seems to be having a good experience with the game, I'm curious about your computer systems, especially the graphics card and drivers you're using?

[Sarkus]

I haven't played the original game since 1.03 came out, but Awakening has crashed on me 3 times now where the first game never has.  Since I quicksave all the time it's not like I lose anything when it happens, but it is still annoying.  There also appears to be some bugs related to the import of DLC items.  Officially, only items from the Return to Ostagar DLC are supposed to import, but apparently some others do anyway and that can bug things up severely.  I've been lucky in that regard, but others haven't been.

As for difficulty, I'm pretty far into the game now (part way through the third of the three big "do these in any order" part of the expansion) and it's mostly been pretty easy.  One major boss fight was pretty hard the first several times I tried it on normal difficulty, but was easy when I came back to it the next day.  The next major boss fight I beat on my second try.  As the game progresses your party gets pretty ridiculous in terms of damage it can do which makes things rather easy.  My only complaint is that my main (2H warrior) is getting left behind because I haven't found a replacement 2H sword for what I started with while the other 2H warrior has a hammer and axe that do significantly more damage per hit then I can do.

[CeeKay]

Alienware is giving away free DLC codes for the PC version.

[Sarkus]

I finally finished Awakening today.  It's really a pretty uneven experience, which I'm pretty sure is related to it's likely being a cobbled together assortment of stuff that was originally intended to be released as seperate DLCs.  For example, in my previous post I mentioned the lack of a good 2H sword.  Well, it turns out that after not finding anything in the other mid-game areas, the last one I went two included not just a better 2H sword, but the ability to have an even better one made.  If I'd hit that area first, it would have made the other parts of the game even easier then they already were.  The whole thing is like that, with the feeling that they needed more time to polish and balance this thing.

Still, as a DA fan I can't complain (except for the price, of course).  More content is always good and I'm hoping DLC is still the plan.

[Turtle]

Finished it as well, and wow, I encountered a lot of bugs.  There was one bug that caused my main character to lose all his gear.  Thankfully, except for a particular sword, I was wearing a lot of stuff from the old game and it replaced my current gear.

Twice I've had newly recruited party members jump up to +100 approval for no reason, and with one of them she started at +100, but still counted as being neutral, so I never got to do anything related to approval, like her personal quests.

There's also a lot of scripting oversights dealing with timing and more, clearly things that would have been fixed had they had more time to properly QA this.

However, overall it was a good experience, and in many ways better than the original.  I loved how you were actually making more tough decisions during the game.

For DA2 they're going to have to pull something like Mass Effect 2's overhaul though.  I love classic RPGs as much as the next guy, but there were a lot of aspects that were just plain backwards.  A lot of the inventory clutter was pointless, all those extra potion types to carry around, salves and balms that last for less than a single fight.  You can keep a lot of the classic RPG aspects, but streamline the stuff that doesn't really matter.

[CeeKay]

For DA2 they're going to have to pull something like Mass Effect 2's overhaul though.  I love classic RPGs as much as the next guy, but there were a lot of aspects that were just plain backwards.  A lot of the inventory clutter was pointless, all those extra potion types to carry around, salves and balms that last for less than a single fight.  You can keep a lot of the classic RPG aspects, but streamline the stuff that doesn't really matter.

but without all those useless balms, salves and potions I wouldn't have had enough gold to potentially buy half of Ferelden!

[CeeKay]

April Fool's Day DLC!

[Blackjack]

My mom wants me to pick out a game as my b-day present, so I'm thinking of maybe finally picking this up. I don't think it's my kind of game (maybe it was my kind of game circa 1995 or so but not now), but if it's not on my dime, it's finally my chance to know for sure. 

[CeeKay]

how about some sword replicas.  also, word is more DLC is on it's way in the form of The Darkspawn Chronicles.

[CeeKay]

info on the Darkspwan Chronicles.  it's a 'What If?' scenario, and I'm guessing it'll be combat heavy.

[Sarkus]

info on the Darkspwan Chronicles.  it's a 'What If?' scenario, and I'm guessing it'll be combat heavy.

My initial reaction is that I'm not very interested in this.

[CeeKay]

here's a trailer for the Darkspawn Chronicles.  definitely gives me a 'meh' feeling.

[Freezer-TPF-]

I wonder whether EA is responsible for this lame-DLC disease Bioware has contracted.  My gut says yes.

[Blackjack]

I wonder whether EA is responsible for this lame-DLC disease Bioware has contracted.  My gut says yes.

I think one can only blame the players in general cause if people weren't buying DLC and microtransactions in droves (in all sorts of games, by all sorts of publishers), the publishers wouldn't do it more and more. For better or worse. 

[Dunamis]

here's a trailer for the Darkspawn Chronicles.  definitely gives me a 'meh' feeling.

Agreed.  I'm definitely in the 'partly cloudy' camp on this one...

[CeeKay]

Darkspawn Chronicles reviews.

one word:

Ouch.

[PeterJacobson80]

Looks like too many people are talking about how buggy the game is. Wanted to try it, but now discouraged(((

[Razgon]

Other reviews mention its about one hour long, makes little sense, and is poorly executed...

Too bad, seems like a moneygrab to me.

[Blackadar]

Other reviews mention its about one hour long, makes little sense, and is poorly executed...

Too bad, seems like a moneygrab to me.

And this would be different than the other Bioware Dragon Age DLC how...?

[Razgon]

I only have the Wardens keep to compare with, which I didnt pay for, but I liked... What I meant was compared to the game itself, its a shame, since the game is goddamn-hickity-awesome, that the DLC is so poorly done

[CeeKay]

Other reviews mention its about one hour long, makes little sense, and is poorly executed...

Too bad, seems like a moneygrab to me.

yeah, I don't think I saw any players screaming 'Let us play Darkspawn!!!!!1!'.  this one will be a skip, I still haven't finished Awakening or even touched Return to Ostagar.

[CeeKay]

some machinima: Warden's Fall