Dragon Age 3 III: Where Is Your Maker Now?

[Morty]

By ability scores, do you mean attributes? They're in the game. You just don't assign them as you level up; they grow automatically as you level up, buy talents and equip gear.

Really? Excellent, this is the first good news I've heard about Inquisition in some time. Ability score assignment was a staggeringly pointless process.

[Psyren]

Ah, so that would be a major difference in play style, then. I prefer not to reload at all in any given playthrough, and I never reload to try different options unless the option I did try didn't work at all for the character.

The best part is I was willing to do that even when the combat blew chunks. Now that it's essentially a tactical/ARPG hybrid, it's going to be as much fun as replaying ME2/ME3 were.

Really? Excellent, this is the first good news I've heard about Inquisition in some time. Ability score assignment was a staggeringly pointless process.

+1000. I was so sick of the Dex/Cun Lethality debates or retraining stats once you found that one piece of gear that raised your {insert dump stat here} juuuuust high enough to equip {insert BiS item that depended on dump stat here.}

[Beowulf DW]

More Skyhold gameplay here.

I'd recommend skipping to 1:00 so that you don't have to put up with the guy with the incredibly annoying voice.

It would appear that you can change into civilian clothes while you're in Skyhold, so that's one of my predictions come true.

EDIT: Looks like Cole's been raiding the larder!

[Psyren]

You can change the bedsheets eh? That'll come in handy during my slutty elven mage playthrough.

[Morty]

+1000. I was so sick of the Dex/Cun Lethality debates or retraining stats once you found that one piece of gear that raised your {insert dump stat here} juuuuust high enough to equip {insert BiS item that depended on dump stat here.}

I just pumped whatever felt relevant, in both games.

[Psyren]

I just pumped whatever felt relevant, in both games.

I did too - only to find that awesome bow I picked up needed more Str, or that awesome shield I wanted needed more Dex, or that I should have maxed out Coercion sooner because there was a difficult conversation check around the corner etc. It was really annoying and inorganic design born out of a misguided devotion to tabletop tropes or older CRPGs like Wizardry.

[Dienekes]

I did too - only to find that awesome bow I picked up needed more Str, or that awesome shield I wanted needed more Dex, or that I should have maxed out Coercion sooner because there was a difficult conversation check around the corner etc. It was really annoying and inorganic design born out of a misguided devotion to tabletop tropes or older CRPGs like Wizardry.

One thing I learned from all cRPGs. Always maximize the persuasion skills first.

That said, yeah, I'm fine with the loss of attributes. But then, I'm the kind of guy who would say "My Warden is smart, therefore I must put points in Intelligence and Cunning. Despite the fact he's a warrior."

That said, I am not exactly opposed to certain things being ability gated. So long as the core game is completely completable without it. If you want to have a part of the game you can only access with a certain skill I'd have no problem with it.

[Zevox]

Really? Excellent, this is the first good news I've heard about Inquisition in some time. Ability score assignment was a staggeringly pointless process.

Agreed. It's not like there was even any interesting, different ways to go about it, it was all very straightforward.

Are you a Warrior? Strength > Constitution > Will. Ignore everything else.
Are you a Rogue? Dexterity > Cunning > Constitution & Will. Ignore everything else.
Are you a Mage? Magic > Will > Constitution. Ignore everything else.

In DA:O, get cunning to 18 regardless of your class, for the Coercion skills. If you're a Rogue, get strength to 20 before the late-game so you can wear the best light armor. If you're a Blood Mage, consider favoring Constitution over Will. And in DA2 only the Blood Mage exception applies, since skills and strength requirements for armor were ditched.

[Psyren]

Indeed, every spec had one and only one stat assignment, and if you deviated from it you ended up gimp. It's not interesting and it undermines the whole point of letting the player assign points.

The game also did a very bad job of showing you the impact of your assignments. No sheet DPS to compare when you assigned points one way vs. another etc.

[Zevox]

Indeed, every spec had one and only one stat assignment, and if you deviated from it you ended up gimp. It's not interesting and it undermines the whole point of letting the player assign points.

The game also did a very bad job of showing you the impact of your assignments. No sheet DPS to compare when you assigned points one way vs. another etc.

DA2 did show you those numbers, actually. They even included percentages next to the attack, defense, and armor numbers, so you had some idea how good those numbers were for your level.

[Rodin]

You can change the bedsheets eh? That'll come in handy during my slutty elven mage playthrough.

I just pumped whatever felt relevant, in both games.

Reading these two comments in succession made me spit out my drink.

You guys owe me a new keyboard.

[Hyena]

Reading these two comments in succession made me spit out my drink.

You don't really want to know what I've read instead of "drink" after reading those comments in rapid succession.

[Morty]

Yes, Origins had an annoying way of presenting players with fiddly attribute requirements for skills and talents. DA2 did away with that, but at that point, there was really no reason not to let it run on automatic. In either case it was an illusion of choice.

As far as persuasion skills in general go, I'm not sure if they even have a place in RPGs where you only control a single character. Players are going to want them anyway, otherwise they lose a part of the plot, so they become an obligatory 'skill tax'.

Reading these two comments in succession made me spit out my drink.

You guys owe me a new keyboard.

You don't really want to know what I've read instead of "drink" after reading those comments in rapid succession.

I regret nothing.

[Psyren]

Reading these two comments in succession made me spit out my drink.

You guys owe me a new keyboard.

Some coincidences are simply beautiful. And result in new keyboards.

[Aolbain]

They released the description of the ESRB rating . It ...contains some gems.

[Psyren]

They released the description of the ESRB rating . It ...contains some gems.

That was one of the most lulzy regulatory synopses I've ever read.

[Calemyr]

They released the description of the ESRB rating . It ...contains some gems.

As in promising? Funny? Stupid? "What were they smoking?"?

[Aolbain]

As in promising? Funny? Stupid? "What were they smoking?"?

A completely deadpan description of some pretty NSFW situations without any context.

[Calemyr]

A completely deadpan description of some pretty NSFW situations without any context.

So we're going for the immature definition of Mature, I take it.

[Aolbain]

So we're going for the immature definition of Mature, I take it.

Depends. As I said, we don't have any context to the (two) lines quoted so it could range from "OK, that makes sense" to "Oh god what is this".

[Psyren]

From the quotes, the dialogue (at least in parts) has gotten a bit more "Game Of Thrones-y." Certainly I can't recall the t-word in either of the previous installments, or the f-word for that matter. (Actually, I don't think those words were in Mass Effect either.)

And yes, it is immature. Amusingly, gloriously so.

[Calemyr]

From the quotes, the dialogue (at least in parts) has gotten a bit more "Game Of Thrones-y." Certainly I can't recall the t-word in either of the previous installments, or the f-word for that matter. (Actually, I don't think those words were in Mass Effect either.)

And yes, it is immature. Amusingly, gloriously so.

Well, if it's the traditional F-word, then it was used quite liberally by certain characters in Mass Effect 2, to the point that in ME3 Joker quips that Jack's swear jar would probably have enough to buy a new cruiser. ME3 was a lot less free with foul language, but I'm pretty sure it still popped up now and again.

[Psyren]

Ah right, Jack did use it in ME2. And Aria come to think of it. (And Aria did say t**s as well.)

Never mind then, spotty memory.

[Nerd-o-rama]

From the quotes, the dialogue (at least in parts) has gotten a bit more "Game Of Thrones-y." Certainly I can't recall the t-word in either of the previous installments, or the f-word for that matter. (Actually, I don't think those words were in Mass Effect either.)

And yes, it is immature. Amusingly, gloriously so.

DA:O mostly stuck to fictional swearing, but Isabela and a few other characters dropped some pretty impressive streaks of blue in 2, including mode F.

[Remmirath]

The ESRB rating description was sounding more or less par for the course until it got to the quoted snippets... I'll just hope context will make them a bit less off-seeming. And yeah, DA:O had mostly fictional swearing, but DA II didn't. It doesn't bother me.

Really? Excellent, this is the first good news I've heard about Inquisition in some time. Ability score assignment was a staggeringly pointless process.

It was in DA II because the rest of the numbers and bonuses associated with combat were so large that the stats had relatively little effect, or at least that's how it felt. I don't consider it pointless in DA:O, though. There were several reasonably effective ways to build just about any class, and I prefer being able to vary that up to suit the character. Yes, there was probably one way to build each class that was technically the best, but since there were many different ways to make a powerful character, I don't think that matters.

I don't like that it seems the only way to change the ability scores will be through crafting. Having some items that add ability score bonuses is all well and good, but this just seems to make items an oddly integral part of a character.

[Psyren]

DA:O mostly stuck to fictional swearing, but Isabela and a few other characters dropped some pretty impressive streaks of blue in 2, including mode F.

Really? I believe you, but I can only remember Isabela generally sticking with euphemisms and innuendo.

I don't like that it seems the only way to change the ability scores will be through crafting. Having some items that add ability score bonuses is all well and good, but this just seems to make items an oddly integral part of a character.

It's an ARPG, they're all like that. Loot is the core engagement because loot is the main reason to keep delving.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

It's an ARPG, they're all like that. Loot is the core engagement because loot is the main reason to keep delving.

Yeah, about that. It is, of course, absolutely the case, and indeed the one time when I indulge in consumerist behaviour (more is better! More! More! More!... It's quite therapeutic to get it out of the system), which is why I think I found DA2 so uninspiring even in its early stages. I had no chance of finding stuff for anyone but the main character, since everyone else had pre-defined, event-based armour and in some cases weapons. And anything I found for the main character had no choice to it. It was either better (larger DPS, which was given to me) or worse, or not applicable, so there was no joy in finding the new stuff and deciding if it was worth giving it a try.

[Disclaimer: I understand some prefer it that way - this is not a criticism of DA2, just something that irked me and subtracted from my personal enjoyment of it, like me not enjoying a sport minigame in a game because I don't like non-blood-bowl sports]

I understand this is not going to be the case in DA:I? Or is all the armour crafting and stuff going to be only for main character again?

Thanks,

Grey Wolf

[Psyren]

You can outfit your followers, so I imagine the crafting will play into that. And I'm sure there will be a few "found pieces" as well, e.g. a boss that drops a sword instead of just dropping some silverite and blueprints.

[Morty]

It was in DA II because the rest of the numbers and bonuses associated with combat were so large that the stats had relatively little effect, or at least that's how it felt. I don't consider it pointless in DA:O, though. There were several reasonably effective ways to build just about any class, and I prefer being able to vary that up to suit the character. Yes, there was probably one way to build each class that was technically the best, but since there were many different ways to make a powerful character, I don't think that matters.

The real way to customize your character was in spells/talents and specializations. The attributes are just a layer of pointless bean-counting on top of that. Like I said, an illusion of choice. You put points in what your class needed, and towards your talent requirements.

I understand this is not going to be the case in DA:I?

Unfortunately, yes. It looks like a truckload of mostly identical items is the order of the day once more.

[Calemyr]

Yeah, about that. It is, of course, absolutely the case, and indeed the one time when I indulge in consumerist behaviour (more is better! More! More! More!... It's quite therapeutic to get it out of the system), which is why I think I found DA2 so uninspiring even in its early stages. I had no chance of finding stuff for anyone but the main character, since everyone else had pre-defined, event-based armour and in some cases weapons. And anything I found for the main character had no choice to it. It was either better (larger DPS, which was given to me) or worse, or not applicable, so there was no joy in finding the new stuff and deciding if it was worth giving it a try.

[Disclaimer: I understand some prefer it that way - this is not a criticism of DA2, just something that irked me and subtracted from my personal enjoyment of it, like me not enjoying a sport minigame in a game because I don't like non-blood-bowl sports]

I understand this is not going to be the case in DA:I? Or is all the armour crafting and stuff going to be only for main character again?

Thanks,

Grey Wolf

To my understanding, you have full control over party gear once again, but the armor has customized variations based on who's wearing it. The same armor may be gold and black and showing a rather samurai theme on one person, but look like gold and silver knight's armor on someone else. A helmet may be a simple leather affair on one guy, but on Cole it might be a conical hat with a brim about a foot in diameter. So you get it both ways - the gear is your choice, but it always takes on a distinctive look for each character.

As for the ESRB thing, I have to say I have two reactions to it. First is to reconsider my preorder of the game, because that dialogue's a bit more direct than I find tasteful in a video game, though it's probably an outlier and I'm overreacting. Second is that I can certainly imagine Iron Bull saying either line based on what I've read about him.