Dragon Age

[Name_Here]

Originally Posted by Dienekes

When I first saw the face bloodspatteryness my initial response was to think back to a scene in Rome, so I thought, hey cool we're badasses like that.

However when I rewatched I recognized how ridiculous it was, when it looks like they're having normal conversations blood soaked.

I mean there are times when the bloodsplatter is awesome and badass. Charging through the woods with Darkones at your heel and an army of them infront of you blood on your face is badass.

Talking about Alistar's childhood of his mother dieing not knowing his father and being raised by the arl covered in blood splatter? Ridiculous.

[warty goblin]

Originally Posted by Name_Here

I mean there are times when the bloodsplatter is awesome and badass. Charging through the woods with Darkones at your heel and an army of them infront of you blood on your face is badass.

Talking about Alistar's childhood of his mother dieing not knowing his father and being raised by the arl covered in blood splatter? Ridiculous.

This is a valid point. In battle the bloodspatter on character models is indeed awesome and badass. It makes it look (something) like an actual battle. During conversation, not so much. I mean sure the PC is almost certainly a sociopath, but there's no need to make it that obvious.

[Green Bean]

Is there an option to turn the blood splatter down or off in the game? A lot of games have them, but the gore's pretty prominent in Dragon Age, so I'm not sure.

[Avilan the Grey]

Swedish PC Gamer: 95.

And this is a magazine that I trust with my life, unlike say their British friends. They regulary gives games <60 or even <50, even hyped titles, if they deserve it.

6 hours until I can play!!

[Theodoric]

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

Swedish PC Gamer: 95.

And this is a magazine that I trust with my life, unlike say their British friends. They regulary gives games <60 or even <50, even hyped titles, if they deserve it.

6 hours until I can play!!

Yeah, wasn't the release date the 6th for Europe yesterday? Steams says 5th now. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

[Muz]

I can't commit to a character origin choice! AAAAH!! (Seriously, I really just need to pick one and go for it. I know I can always start over if I want. I'm just paralyzed...

...of course I haven't really had TIME to play since getting it yesterday.

[Faulty]

Read this interesting post on the homosexual relationships in the game. Note, minor spoilers.

[Avilan the Grey]

Originally Posted by Muz

I can't commit to a character origin choice! AAAAH!! (Seriously, I really just need to pick one and go for it. I know I can always start over if I want. I'm just paralyzed...

Personally I have decided to go with what I tend to ultimately play in asymmetric RPGs: A tank. I try all kinds of things but I always end up preferring to punch things hard.

A female human noble warrior coming up!

(In first person RPGs, like FO3 and Oblivion I prefer stealth and sniping).

[Ranis]

Spoiler

My Alistair is currently tank extraordinaire. I have him with three different sustainable abilities on constantly: Shield Wall, Shield Deflection(?), and the warrior ability that makes melee attacks cause ferocity, which I think makes enemies focus more on him. I have him set to run around hitting the enemy with the highest health, so he's running around getting as many enemies as possible to focus on him while Morrigan rains death from above. It's pretty freaking awesome.

I'm decently dug into the game so far, and I can answer questions about what I have seen if anyone has questions that I can answer.

[Jonesh]

Originally Posted by Ranis

Spoiler

My Alistair is currently tank extraordinaire. I have him with three different sustainable abilities on constantly: Shield Wall, Shield Deflection(?), and the warrior ability that makes melee attacks cause ferocity, which I think makes enemies focus more on him. I have him set to run around hitting the enemy with the highest health, so he's running around getting as many enemies as possible to focus on him while Morrigan rains death from above. It's pretty freaking awesome.

I'm decently dug into the game so far, and I can answer questions about what I have seen if anyone has questions that I can answer.

Speaking of that, have you been able to compare the uh, "tankyness" between Alistair, Dog and/or Shale (i.e. if you got him) since without playing the game (just one more day!) I can't know the difference

[DranWork]

Ranis, I'd like your personal oppinion on the game, aka good bad alright better then sex ext.

Also id like to know what the faults with it are so far and what the supprises are. Aka "I thought the magic system was going to be good but this thing is freeking amazing!!"

[Dienekes]

Originally Posted by Faulty

Read this interesting post on the homosexual relationships in the game. Note, minor spoilers.

Interesting in how he claims having the women being interested in monogamous relationships means they're "catty, smothering, and weak-willed' while the gay guy being not interested means he's "promiscuous."

Would it be better if the gay man was "catty, smothering, and weak-willed" and the women were promiscuous?

[thorgrim29]

So, as a fan of mass effect, the KOTOR games and Morrowind, but having never played Baldur's gate or NWN, what should I expect out of this game if I buy it? How bad is the loading on the xbox? Like more like Mass Effect, or more like the godawful GOTY edition of Morrowind?

[warty goblin]

Originally Posted by Dienekes

Interesting in how he claims having the women being interested in monogamous relationships means they're "catty, smothering, and weak-willed' while the gay guy being not interested means he's "promiscuous."

I think on the 'catty and weak willed' part you missed the evidence he put forwards, namely that the female characters are (apparently) forgiving of missteps, infidelity and so on despite wanting a monogamous relationship. Now whether that's weak willed or simply forgiving and determined is a matter of interpretation, but I don't think the author was arguing that wanting monogamy implies being weak willed.

Would it be better if the gay man was "catty, smothering, and weak-willed" and the women were promiscuous?

No, because that's still a behavioral cleavage based on sexual/gender lines. Now if one of the female love interests was catty, smothering and the rest, and the other kicked your ass out of the tent the instant you started playing the field after commiting to a relationship with her, the situation is different. Then a simple 'women act like X' analysis fails, and it's a lot harder to draw gender stereotypes.

Same goes for the man/man romance. Obviously since there's only one, you really can't avoid the logical construction 'gay men act like X,' where X is the way that the homosexual partner acts. If there was two however it would be perfectly possible to have one be interested in a committed monogamous relationship and the other not, or some other combination.

[Blaine.Bush]

Originally Posted by thorgrim29

So, as a fan of mass effect, the KOTOR games and Morrowind, but having never played Baldur's gate or NWN, what should I expect out of this game if I buy it? How bad is the loading on the xbox? Like more like Mass Effect, or more like the godawful GOTY edition of Morrowind?

I'd like to know as well. Also, how much gore and sexual content does the game contain? Awkward moments with the parent are best avoided.

[Tavar]

What I'm really interested in is how the game runs. I have the recommended system requirements for everything except the graphics card. The mimimium specs say a NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB or greater, while a have a NVIDIA Quadro NVS 135M with 256MB(yes, it's a laptop. I take what I can get....). Not sure how those match up, and I don't want to get the game and then have to play in screenshot mode(Like NWN 2). Anyone playing near minimum specs, how does it work/run?

[warty goblin]

Originally Posted by Blaine.Bush

I'd like to know as well. Also, how much gore and sexual content does the game contain? Awkward moments with the parent are best avoided.

I think the blood can be turned off, but someone with the game should confirm that. I know that the persistant blood spatter can be turned off though. As to sex, I'd assume it's optional*, and probably not that difficult to avoid. Honestly this might be the best course, since every review I've read has that talks about it basically says it looks creepy as hell.

*Although I can't guarentee this, even going from Bioware's track record. The Asari Consort after all would jump Shepard's bones without you really asking for such a turn of events.

edit: on the topic of permanent blood spatter, this is funny and worth reading.

[Tavar]

True. If you don't mind spoilers, you might want to look up one of the guides on gamefaqs. I'm sure that at least one of them will detail all the possible encounters in the game and how to get them. Just use that to avoid it.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

They don't have any guides up for the game yet. Just the Achievements in the Cheats section.

[warty goblin]

Alternatively you could spend a few early lines of dialog working out what each of the bangable NPCs want, and then doing exactly the opposite. Since every party member has their own approval bar, keeping them at safely low levels shouldn't be all that hard.

[Tavar]

Give it a few days. Those things spring up pretty quickly.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I am on TENTERHOOKS waiting for guides!

[Green Bean]

Originally Posted by Blaine.Bush

I'd like to know as well. Also, how much gore and sexual content does the game contain? Awkward moments with the parent are best avoided.

If Bioware's other romances are any indication, you won't need to worry about accidental sex scenes with your companions; generally you have a "let's just be friends" option right up until your pants are off. However, it does look like there'll be a bit of non-parental friendly content in the game itself, such as brothels, which you may or may not be able to avoid.

It all depends on what level of parental observation you're looking at. If they poke their head in every once in a while you're probably fine as long as they don't have a problem with characters looking like they've been painting firetrucks. If they're in the same room and seeing/hearing all the content, you're probably better off with a different game.

Of course, this is all based on the previews, and someone who has the actual game will probably be able to set me straight.

[Blaine.Bush]

Originally Posted by h_v

If Bioware's other romances are any indication, you won't need to worry about accidental sex scenes with your companions; generally you have a "let's just be friends" option right up until your pants are off. However, it does look like there'll be a bit of non-parental friendly content in the game itself, such as brothels, which you may or may not be able to avoid.

It all depends on what level of parental observation you're looking at. If they poke their head in every once in a while you're probably fine as long as they don't have a problem with characters looking like they've been painting firetrucks. If they're in the same room and seeing/hearing all the content, you're probably better off with a different game.

Of course, this is all based on the previews, and someone who has the actual game will probably be able to set me straight.

Yeah, just a head-popping thing. Thanks for the replies, everyone.

I'm pretty sure I'll get this game. The only other one I have for my X-Box is Gears of War. It's getting kind of old...

Originally Posted by h_v

characters looking like they've been painting firetrucks.

Haha, nice.

[warty goblin]

Originally Posted by Blaine.Bush

Yeah, just a head-popping thing. Thanks for the replies, everyone.

I'm pretty sure I'll get this game. The only other one I have for my X-Box is Gears of War. It's getting kind of old...

If they don't object to chainsawing dudes in half, I suspect they won't mind Dragon Age all that much. They seem to be about on par in terms of bloodletting, with Gears possibly coming out slightly ahead due to the headsplosions of the sniper rifle and the torque bow.

[Blaine.Bush]

Originally Posted by warty goblin

If they don't object to chainsawing dudes in half, I suspect they won't mind Dragon Age all that much. They seem to be about on par in terms of bloodletting, with Gears possibly coming out slightly ahead due to the headsplosions of the sniper rifle and the torque bow.

I was more concerned with the sexual content. Awkward stuff!

[Muz]

You CAN turn the blood spattering off--kinda. THere will still be blood in the fights, but it won't get all over your characters' clothes and stay there for a long time. (It's a neat effect, but I turned it off after not too long. Kiiiinda gross.)

I just finished the Mage origin. A question for anyone else who's finished it:

Spoiler

Were those sentinels in the tower basement automatons or something? I mean really, you go in there, slaughter about a dozen men--who, let's face it, were just doing their jobs (if a bit violently)--in the name of helping your friend escape, and after you come out, no one really mentions it. Heck, they added my theft of a staff to my "list of misdemeanors."

Misdemeanors? Is it possible they just didn't know about all the dead guards?

[ondonaflash]

Okay, so I'm stumped and could use a hint: In the human Origin, after the major turning point in that part of the story occurs, you need to get through to the kitchen. Burning rubble is blocking off the northern and southern ways through to the Kitchen, and the door in the Great Hall is locked (Cannot be picked, not that it matters, because I'm a warrior.) Please Advise!

Also, as for a review for the 360: Many characters act in a distinctly George RR Martin-Esque manner, interpret that how you choose. The Gameplay is smooth, but trying to control battles one "round" at a time is extremely difficult and requires an itchy trigger finger. Inventory is much better than Mass Effect's, and equipment that improves on your own is rare enough that you feel good for getting new gear, and magic gear is extremely rare. Very well played Low-magic.

The party members are deep and well fleshed out, and you can be pretty well assured how they'll react to most situations. Also, there are not so many of them that you feel that some are less characterized than others. I strongly exuberantly recommend this game. Just... you know... for the PC.

[Ozymandias]

Originally Posted by ondonaflash

Okay, so I'm stumped and could use a hint: In the human Origin, after the major turning point in that part of the story occurs, you need to get through to the kitchen. Burning rubble is blocking off the northern and southern ways through to the Kitchen, and the door in the Great Hall is locked (Cannot be picked, not that it matters, because I'm a warrior.) Please Advise!

The same thing happened to me. The door is supposed to unlock after you talk to Gelmore, I think. You'll have to load an autosave and try again, unfortunately. You could try messing around with the console but it's not clean and probably not worth it.

Muz

Spoiler

It's pretty obvious that they were magically animated, non-sentient guards, considering that the doors re opened only very rarely and with a certain degree of pomp and circumstance.

[oyhr]

Originally Posted by Blaine.Bush

I was more concerned with the sexual content. Awkward stuff!

That's funny, I was sure Dragon Age was rated Mature and not Adults Only.