Dragon Age Dragon Age: Origins is ten years old today

[Gregz]

In my headcannon Styg is actually american. Sigh, who am I kidding that would just turn Underrail into shallow and weak crap.

It is already. Despite coming out 16 years subsequent, Underrail doesn't come close to matching the towering monolith that is Jagged Alliance 2.

It's too fun that Sir-Tech created awesome games like JA1&2 and the Wizardries, while their only cancelled game was Cleve's Stones of Arnhem (intended to be Wizardry 8), which was subsquently outshone by Brenda Brathwaite's Wizardry 8, whom Cleve reviles savagely on a regular basis. So much interesting history, and our very own Cleveland Mark Blakemore was right in the middle of it. At first we thought Cleve was just cracked, then the leaked internal memorandum, and 'Calvin Barkmore', etc. actually proved his case. Great stuff.

http://thebaneofqueequeg.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-grimoire-thing-just-gets-weirder.html

Spoiler

 

[Lilura]

Thing is, I really don't care. As I've said countless times before, devs, dev drama and dev-cycles don't interest me in the slightest. Only the games do.

But then, I guess I'm in the minority. As a rule, most people are interested in... people, more than things.

 

[gestalt11]

In my headcannon Styg is actually american. Sigh, who am I kidding that would just turn Underrail into shallow and weak crap.

It is already. Despite coming out 16 years subsequent, Underrail doesn't come close to matching the towering monolith that is Jagged Alliance 2.

That is a kind of ridiculous thing to say. Game sucks because its not a masterpiece? Uh riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

 

[Elzair]

Wow. This makes me feel old.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

NJClaw, since I can't reply to your post on Thac0's wall, just wanted to say that the true patrician choice is siring an heir with Mardy and ignoring h*man thots.

 

[Thac0]

NJClaw, since I can't reply to your post on Thac0's wall, just wanted to say that the true patrician choice is siring an heir with Mardy and ignoring h*man thots.

You should be able to do so now. Fucking nonhumans is incline, but you would have to play a dwarf for that which cuts you off from becoming a mage.

 

[NJClaw]

NJClaw, since I can't reply to your post on Thac0's wall, just wanted to say that the true patrician choice is siring an heir with Mardy and ignoring h*man thots.

I respect your factually wrong stance on the matter. Leliana is a cutie and Morrigan is super hot, while Mardy looks like a mole and is objectively unfuckable.

Still, I hear you and I think you are stunning and brave to come out as a mole-fucker.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

NJClaw, since I can't reply to your post on Thac0's wall, just wanted to say that the true patrician choice is siring an heir with Mardy and ignoring h*man thots.

You should be able to do so now. Fucking nonhumans is incline, but you would have to play a dwarf for that which cuts you off from becoming a mage.

I don't really like the way in which they've integrated the mage class into DA:O's story. Besides not giving you the choice for an apostate origin (or at the very least allowing for a Dalish origin elven mage), the game doesn't even properly acknowledge one's usage of blood magic. DA2, for all its faults, gave a better (role)playing experience for being a mage.

Spoiler

Though I am a fan of heavily armored melee fighters and thus don't really care about magic users in general.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

NJClaw, since I can't reply to your post on Thac0's wall, just wanted to say that the true patrician choice is siring an heir with Mardy and ignoring h*man thots.

I respect your factually wrong stance on the matter. Leliana is a cutie and Morrigan is super hot, while Mardy looks like a mole and is objectively unfuckable.

Still, I hear you and I think you are stunning and brave to come out as a mole-fucker.

Everything for House Aeducan, my low caste friend. The flesh is weak, but the good of the dynasty comes first.

 

[DalekFlay]

It really wouldn't have been incredibly hard for them to allow a Dalish elf mage origin. They offered 6 overall which is a good number, but mages being so limited stands out even more when rogue has 5 choices.

 

[Nano]

It really wouldn't have been incredibly hard for them to allow a Dalish elf mage origin. They offered 6 overall which is a good number, but mages being so limited stands out even more when rogue has 5 choices.

David Gaider talked about this, something about how he decided against including this origin because it wouldn't have been as good of an introduction to magical lore.

 

[Absinthe]

They could easily have made Dalish mage origin a thing by just inserting a mage class for Dalish origin. The only problem is that DAO had a lot of retarded scripting where it checked for Mage class instead of Mage origin when it came to Mage-origin dialogue, which tells you a lot about how good their coders are.

 

[NJClaw]

They could easily have made Dalish mage origin a thing by just inserting a mage class for Dalish origin. The only problem is that DAO had a lot of retarded scripting where it checked for Mage class instead of Mage origin when it came to Mage-origin dialogue, which tells you a lot about how good their coders are.

That can't be the reason, it could easily be solved by a single person with an intense activity of search and replace in a couple of hours.

 

[Nano]

They could easily have made Dalish mage origin a thing by just inserting a mage class for Dalish origin. The only problem is that DAO had a lot of retarded scripting where it checked for Mage class instead of Mage origin when it came to Mage-origin dialogue, which tells you a lot about how good their coders are.

Bitch, did you not read my post? Here's the source, if you don't believe me: https://fextralife.com/forums/p1193958/why-cant-a-mage-elf-be-a-dalish-elf/#p1193958

Part of the issue is that the origin needs to teach the player what it means to be a mage. In this setting, that comes with some very specific things the player needs to learn. The Dalish Elf origin, however, only teaches you what it means to be an elf.

Once you've already played through the game and are on your nth playthrough, you may think that such a role for the origin stories is unimportant -- and sure, at that point you don't need them for that. But we didn't create them for replay value. We created them to introduce a setting which nobody knew about when they started.

 

[Absinthe]

You only need an extra dialogue or two about templars and shit (which make sense for dalish to be talking about anyway, considering their history and the fact that they're led by mages) and you get the basic points across. Now just throw some demons into the ruins (technically speaking all undead are demon/spirit-possessed in Dragon Age anyway) and have the mage chick explain demons and the fade and wow. Problem solved.

Honestly DAO really underdelivered on the whole dreamworld and "danger of possession" thing.

 

[DalekFlay]

I don't think anyone would say it's super easy to add mage stuff to the Dalish origin, just that it could have been done relatively easily, in the grand scale of that game's development. I would have prioritized two mage options over 5 warrior/rogue options in a heartbeat, especially with two of them being dwarves.

 

[Roguey]

I don't think anyone would say it's super easy to add mage stuff to the Dalish origin, just that it could have been done relatively easily, in the grand scale of that game's development. I would have prioritized two mage options over 5 warrior/rogue options in a heartbeat, especially with two of them being dwarves.

Ha yeah, I vaguely recall that the most popular origins were human noble and mage and the dwarf origins were dead last (despite being well-received by dwarf players).

 

[Cael]

I don't think anyone would say it's super easy to add mage stuff to the Dalish origin, just that it could have been done relatively easily, in the grand scale of that game's development. I would have prioritized two mage options over 5 warrior/rogue options in a heartbeat, especially with two of them being dwarves.

Ha yeah, I vaguely recall that the most popular origins were human noble and mage and the dwarf origins were dead last (despite being well-received by dwarf players).

The problem with the dwarf origins is that they are pretty bland.

Human noble had you running around doing a few things, showed a pretty relatable family life as well as put upon teachers (should you go that way), and then tragedy and fighting your way through a betrayed castle and saying people along the way. It was funny, cheeky, innocent and warm. Of course, Howe's betrayal was pretty much telegraphed from the start, but the murder of every other family member was a gut-punch after the segment before the betrayal.
Dwarf noble is... well, anyone who didn't see Bhelen's betrayal coming wasn't really paying attention, and arena fights are boring. There isn't a lot of likeable characters in it, except maybe Gorim. It was about a family on the verge of disintegration because of ambition and greed, and that is less fun for people.

Dwarf commoner is ever worse. It is just plain depressing. There was nothing really redeeming about it, not a single likeable character.

Mage origin runs fairly similar to the human noble origin in that you run into a cast of likeable, sometimes bumbling characters who obviously has a history with the PC and has warm moments, funny moments and all that. Returning to the mage tower during the main questline was a gut-punch.

 

[Nano]

The problem with the dwarf origins is that they are pretty bland.

The problem with the dwarf origins is that the vast majority of players don't want a midget as the protagonist.

 

[alyvain]

The problem with the dwarf origins is that the vast majority of players don't want a midget as the protagonist.

Once I started as a dwarf, made it to the Korkari Wilds and then restarted the game as a human noble.

Mage origin runs fairly similar to the human noble origin in that you run into a cast of likeable, sometimes bumbling characters who obviously has a history with the PC and has warm moments, funny moments and all that. Returning to the mage tower during the main questline was a gut-punch.

I think you remember it wrong. The only interesting character was Irving who decided that the priest girl should go to the jail because politics.

The last time I played I installed some textures, and for some reason Jowan had no head. Really, he became a headless mage. Fitting. Also the first thing you can tell him after the Fade is "die, demon!", "am I still dreaming" or something like that.

Really added a new dimension to his character.

 

[Slaver1]

I remember physicallly getting a copy, it was great when it launched. It lost a bit of luster in hindsight, but was still overwhelming better than what followed from Bioware. Definitely the last game they made "For gamers, by gamers" before Electronic Art's development pipeline became a factor.

 

[Nevermore]

I played it only a few years ago (actually, this was my first Bioware title). The first part of the game was.. okay, even interesting sometimes. But endless trash mobs and overall brown palette were so tedious I almost dropped the game.

 

[eilef]

Game was amazing back in the day. Still very good now. Shame years down the line Bioware chose a different path, and now we have more Andromeda and Anthem, instead of solid games like DAO.

 

[alyvain]

I sense a conspiracy here. Brent Knowls, who decided to leave the studio during DA2 production, is it you?????

 

[Cael]

The problem with the dwarf origins is that the vast majority of players don't want a midget as the protagonist.

Once I started as a dwarf, made it to the Korkari Wilds and then restarted the game as a human noble.

Mage origin runs fairly similar to the human noble origin in that you run into a cast of likeable, sometimes bumbling characters who obviously has a history with the PC and has warm moments, funny moments and all that. Returning to the mage tower during the main questline was a gut-punch.

I think you remember it wrong. The only interesting character was Irving who decided that the priest girl should go to the jail because politics.

The last time I played I installed some textures, and for some reason Jowan had no head. Really, he became a headless mage. Fitting. Also the first thing you can tell him after the Fade is "die, demon!", "am I still dreaming" or something like that.

Really added a new dimension to his character.

The bumbling senior enchanter with the pocket plane storage area full of spiders that she is too scared to face? Owain's delightfully deadpan variations of "No, go away"? The older senior enchanter in the library who authorises your form because he believed you will use it to pull pranks on the Templars? The deadpan snarker Templar at the door ("No, you may not. I am surprised you even asked." and the one about escaping the tower via the windows and how that never ends well)? If you are female, that Templar who crushes on you has a pretty awkward and funny dialogue?

The tower was full of fun little things like that.