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Dragon Age How to Enjoy Dragon Age: Origins

Mexi

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One benefit of (good) multiplayer campaign design/writing is that there is no "chosen one" bullshit. Each playable character is written to be equally as prominent in the story as the others rather than being delegated to second class "companion"
WTF, I'm sure that doesn't exist.
Some of the class stories in SWTOR are decent (Sith Agent in particular for the greater illusion of C&C, Jedi Knight for its KotOR-esque feel).
Uh, I remember how hyped SWTOR was. The Dragon Age boards just kind of died when that game came out since the mods were banning and warning people that were freaking out over how terrible that MMO was. By the way, I hated KotOR. Not that I'm trying to be edgy because I really wanted to like it. I really liked the graphics, gameplay, and atmosphere, but it bored me. I stopped playing at the sewer level, IIRC, the first time, and I tried to give it another shot and stopped playing at the level with all the Chewbaccas. Star Wars doesn't do anything for me. Absolute good versus absolute evil just bores me. There seemed to have been hints where they could've gone grey with the Jedi versus the Sith thing when Bastila talks about how the training is really bad or something.

I did hear KotOR: 2 does some experimental shit, though, but at this point, I'm completely averse to anything Star Wars.
 

ScrotumBroth

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Messages
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Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here Strap Yourselves In
I remember hunting easter eggs and playing some shitty games before launch for unique items, rings etc. Totes not worth it, but that's how bad it was. Claudia Black's VA is the only positive in the whole game.
 
Vatnik Wumao
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大同
I don't regret playing it years back, but nowadays I can't be bothered to do a full playthrough of it again. The areas seem too linear, the combat is meh and the narrative C&C isn't that great.
 

Absinthe

Arcane
Joined
Jan 6, 2012
Messages
4,062
I'm playing this game for the first time and it's boring as fuck. It feels like a single player MMO with the most boilerplate dark fantasy setting and absolute garbage combat.
Yeah, DAO is underwhelming. And the World of Warcraft design is fucking stupid.

Am I supposed to be using mods?
Qwinn's Ultimate Fixpack, Dain's Fixes, More Detailed Tooltips, Advanced Tactics. With those mods it gets slightly better. You may as well also install Make Console Commands Visible, just in case.

There is also Slinks S3 Ravage if you want a difficulty mod to make combat more interesting. And there is Even More Advanced Tactics (replace Advanced Tactics with this) if Advanced Tactics isn't enough and you want to basically program your own party member AI.

If you want a better campaign, try sea's custom campaign mod Thirst.

Is there a specific class that lets me blast through the hordes of trash mobs as fast as possible?
Mage. Pour every stat point into Magic (all you need) for massive spellpower while you're at it. Adding Spell Wisp and Spell Might on top does ridiculous things. Wynne is basically a super-Mage thanks to her stupidly OP special ability (especially if you finish her personal quest), Vessel of the Spirit, which will give her over 50 spellpower easily. If you really want to murder everything with a vengeance, get the Storm of the Century spell combo (Spell Might + Blizzard + Tempest), but with enough spellpower really any AoE will obliterate enemies. Other than that there is putting 1 rank of Poison-Making on every party member and getting all the grenades you can. There's a vendor in the Deep Roads, Ruck, who sells an unlimited amount of Lifestones which combined with the party camp vendor means you can make unlimited Acid Flasks for your party to throw. If you have rank 4 Herbalism there is an infinite gold loop where you buy the rank 4 lyrium potion ingredients and sell the potions, btw.
 
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Testownia

Guest
Playing the game without Qwinn's restoration mod is a sin. There's just so much cut/non-working dialogue it's shocking. My personal experience of the Mandela Effect was related to Dragon Age: Origins, where once, just once, I managed to trigger a broken (without the mod) dialogue path with Sweeney in the Circle Tower, and then thought, for years, that I've either imagined it or dreamed about it, since neither I nor other people who played the game could recreate it.
 

Nano

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Messages
4,647
Grab the Codex by the pussy Strap Yourselves In
People on the Codex complaining about the removal of multiplayer to better focus on the single player campaign? Are you actually kidding me?

Playing the game without Qwinn's restoration mod is a sin.
No, it isn't. It's not compatible with a lot of other mods.
 

Mexi

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Messages
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People on the Codex complaining about the removal of multiplayer to better focus on the single player campaign? Are you actually kidding me?

Playing the game without Qwinn's restoration mod is a sin.
No, it isn't. It's not compatible with a lot of other mods.
I stopped taking the faggots on here seriously. They're so fucking contrarian. If something is mainstream dogshit, the Cuckdex laps it up, but if everyone likes it, the Cuckdex automatically hates it. There is no fucking consistency on this site. Just a bunch of utter faggots looking for a "bro-fisting" (to their ass).
 

Oberon

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People on the Codex complaining about the removal of multiplayer to better focus on the single player campaign? Are you actually kidding me?

Playing the game without Qwinn's restoration mod is a sin.
No, it isn't. It's not compatible with a lot of other mods.
I stopped taking the faggots on here seriously. They're so fucking contrarian. If something is mainstream dogshit, the Cuckdex laps it up, but if everyone likes it, the Cuckdex automatically hates it. There is no fucking consistency on this site. Just a bunch of utter faggots looking for a "bro-fisting" (to their ass).

It's almost like there are a multitude of people here with different tastes and opinions.
 

Mexi

Dumbfuck!
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Jan 6, 2015
Messages
6,811
People on the Codex complaining about the removal of multiplayer to better focus on the single player campaign? Are you actually kidding me?

Playing the game without Qwinn's restoration mod is a sin.
No, it isn't. It's not compatible with a lot of other mods.
I stopped taking the faggots on here seriously. They're so fucking contrarian. If something is mainstream dogshit, the Cuckdex laps it up, but if everyone likes it, the Cuckdex automatically hates it. There is no fucking consistency on this site. Just a bunch of utter faggots looking for a "bro-fisting" (to their ass).

It's almost like there are a multitude of people here with different tastes and opinions.
I wish. There are a multitude of group-think faggots on here that want a brofist to their ass.
 

sser

Arcane
Developer
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Also, i never bought the setting as a dark one. It look like your typical copy paste fantasy setting, with some dark element slapped at the last minute, that shatter my suspension of belief.
I would understand saying "Dragon Age is discounted Warhammer Dark Fantasy", but to say it's not dark is a bit much:

  • You have scheming, backstabbing Dwarves who are eager to kill each other and live in a caste-like, dystopian society. All this despite the fact that their supposed "empire" is in severe decline.
  • Humans in Dragon Age will do anything for power, gold or whatever else they want. Human noble player will be betrayed by a friend, losing his mother, father and land in the process.
  • City Elves will essentially be raped by human nobles (primae noctis) and are treated like second-class citizens/trash.
  • Magic is super dangerous for casters, because it's linked to a demon dimension and there is also blood magic involved. It's so dangerous, in fact, that there is a special knightly order dedicated solely to keeping mages in check.
  • The Darkspawn Horde is very similar to legions of Chaos attacking Empire/Kislev. You even get a scene at the end, where the father says goodbye to his wife and son to go fight the Darkspawns, only have his throat cut at the end of the cinematic, to underline to the player how hopeless and brutal this world is.

DA:O's writing is grossly underrated in general.

I repeat it constantly but Loghain is a very strong "villain" if you actually pay attention to his life story. He grew up under an occupation and ended up fighting horrific wars of independence. He goes from peasant to hero general. He has to oversee a dipshit moronic kid for a king while keeping one eye on his homeland's former occupiers. His entire basis for disregarding the Grey Wardens is because he sees them as a sort of Trojan horse sent by the foreigners. He thinks the blight is just overspoken hearsay and essentially disinfo for said foreigners to come over and "help" out. He's basically an ultra-paranoid patriot.
 
Joined
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Messages
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Codex Year of the Donut
Today, I shall remind them

at least dragonn age is a good game I've logged over 300+ hours on it going through the different origins quests, and I like oblivion too, the thing in oblivion is all you do is spam your sword or your spell, and most actions in game don't effect the out-come, in this game you have to have stratagy, be smart, and every thing major sometimes minor like a side quest, you do can create a different outcome in the game. Its a quality game and PS3 and Xbox are mroe action oriented anyways.
Fun game, most flaws you can expect from a bioware game.
From what I can gather the codex is pleasantly surprised and thinks its a better game than the witcher. Only flaw ppl have mentioned is the graphics.
DA is a good game. It has flaws. *yawn*
The game is pretty good and very polished
All in all, it's one of the better party-based RPGs of the age when TOEEs are no longer being made.
But the game is really good.
Flabbyjack's overall rating: B+.
I'm nearing completion and I have to say Dragon Age is a wonderful game. Reminds me why I still care about RPGs. Easily the best Bio game since BG2.
The game isn't revolutionary, it's just well done. It is loaded with the old and familiar (and done to death) concepts, but it does them very well, adding more depth and polish, and greatly improving them.

The way I see it, anyone who has or had a "name" at the Codex is praising or enjoying the game, posting detailed impressions.
Fuck. The game's good no doubt
And Dragon Age is the best game of 2009. Seriously, it is the best rpg since Arcanum
 

Mexi

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck
Joined
Jan 6, 2015
Messages
6,811
Again, it's a great game. These utter faggots just want to be edgy fucks. I'm surprised anyone gives a fuck that it's so "cool on the Codex" to hate DA: O. Those are the faggots that are sad right there. It's already written in stone that this is a top 100 greatest RPG of all time. That's not something that can be changed.

Anyways, I really liked Loghain. It's very tough to choose him because his daughter is a total fucking bitch (unless you are a human noble).
 

Mexi

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck
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Jan 6, 2015
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If you make Loghain a grey warden he shows up again in Inquisition.
Yeah but that means that
Anora is queen
. I had to restart a playthrough when I went into Awakenings and was greeted by her leading a group of infantry. Women don't belong in charge, ever. I like Loghain but not that much.
I just go with letting Alistair duel him to wipe my hands free of that shit. Seeing that stuck-up bitch Anora cry over his dismembered body is too good.
 

Ulysa

Scholar
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Feb 26, 2020
Messages
191
Maybe be an emo and enjoy masochism? What I most remember is being an abused elf mage that is forced to save a world that mistreats her constantly with a party of transparent companions that won't shut up and demand gifts. Then at the end my character wanted to be queen but couldn't because she was an elf I think, so her lover, that annoying Alistair, goes sleep with the witch emo girl for some forced fucked up reason worthy of Game of thrones cheap writing. That's the only things I remember so... Ah yes and my eyes rolling at the mention that it was BG soul successor.
 

mondblut

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Aug 10, 2005
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Ingrija
Today, I shall remind them
All in all, it's one of the better party-based RPGs of the age when TOEEs are no longer being made.

What happened, did you travel back in time to bring incline to the years when no proper RPGs were being made at all?

As far as I am concerned, anything with a party, more than 3 stats and at least RTWP is by definition infinitely superior to any "ARPGs" (that is, clickfest games, glorified tomb raider clones and FPSes that require no skill to play), simply by the virtue of being more RPG-like.
 

Sarathiour

Cipher
Joined
Jun 7, 2020
Messages
3,262
DA:O's writing is grossly underrated in general.

I repeat it constantly but Loghain is a very strong "villain" if you actually pay attention to his life story. He grew up under an occupation and ended up fighting horrific wars of independence. He goes from peasant to hero general. He has to oversee a dipshit moronic kid for a king while keeping one eye on his homeland's former occupiers. His entire basis for disregarding the Grey Wardens is because he sees them as a sort of Trojan horse sent by the foreigners. He thinks the blight is just overspoken hearsay and essentially disinfo for said foreigners to come over and "help" out. He's basically an ultra-paranoid patriot.

Let's not confuse everything. I will divide the term "story" in 3 different thing :

-The characters. For an rpg, they are indeed quite good, Loghain is a very believable villain, and most of your follower are fleshed out, have good banter between them and coherent reaction regarding your decision. I have no quarrel with that.
-The setting and world-building. It has potential, lot of nice idea, but there is quite a few time it's badly handled (for reason already evoked two pages ago) and a sudden discrepancy appear. Was retconned into much worse in later installment, but who the fuck care about DA2 and 3.
-Quest and overarching plot line. The subplot line ( character origin, gathering ally in a zone ) tend to start decently but some end up with disappointing resolution,against due to dumbing down ( elves and dwarf origin being the blatant example). Overarching plot is extremely classical, one could argue is just NWN OC campaign reskinned.

I would not have finished the game ( well, not in a few months) if i thought it was utter trash. It's at very least a decent rpg. Is it good enough to warrant a replay ? I'm not so sure about that.
 

BarãodoDesterro

Educated
Joined
Feb 3, 2021
Messages
45
Maybe be an emo and enjoy masochism? What I most remember is being an abused elf mage that is forced to save a world that mistreats her constantly with a party of transparent companions that won't shut up and demand gifts. Then at the end my character wanted to be queen but couldn't because she was an elf I think, so her lover, that annoying Alistair, goes sleep with the witch emo girl for some forced fucked up reason worthy of Game of thrones cheap writing. That's the only things I remember so... Ah yes and my eyes rolling at the mention that it was BG soul successor.

Male avatars seem more important to "BioWare" — "Witch Hunt" and "Lair of the Shadow Broker'' (''Mass Effect 2") are downloadable content created mainly (someone could say only) to people who romanced Morrigan and Liara.
That said, even if you can romance Liara as a female avatar, she is a guy's fetish: naive; silly; hot (for a bunch of pixels); respects Shepard's masculinity; blue (even though the original "Star Trek" portraits the ideal girl as green, the effect is the same) — I must highlight, yet, that I don't know how girls like their girls; maybe Liara is a walking fetish to all who likes that expression of femininity.
 

Absinthe

Arcane
Joined
Jan 6, 2012
Messages
4,062
I don't see anyone asking for your opinion, newfag.
Stop taking your cues on forum culture from 4chan. You're not going to blend in acting like that.

Again, it's a great game. These utter faggots just want to be edgy fucks. I'm surprised anyone gives a fuck that it's so "cool on the Codex" to hate DA: O. Those are the faggots that are sad right there. It's already written in stone that this is a top 100 greatest RPG of all time. That's not something that can be changed.
:butthurt:

Seriously man, why do you give so much of a fuck? You sound like a man who feels threatened by the fact that there are other people who dislike the things you like.

Let's not confuse everything. I will divide the term "story" in 3 different thing :

-The characters. For an rpg, they are indeed quite good
I'll disagree. They're pretty one-dimensional with a token attempt at hidden depths or twists. Alistair is a naive pushover. Leliana's a fruity religious nut with a thing for killing people and somehow nowhere near as interesting as that brief description sounded. Morrigan is supposed to be an independent person who values personal gain over helping others, but in practice she's mostly a nagging shrew who complains every time you try to do something that helps other people, even if it obviously helps yourself to do so, to the point that "Morrigan disapproves" is an actual meme. Zevran doesn't feel like a person either. Oghren is basically a full-on irresponsible alcoholic who is just along for the ride because the only thing he's good at is hitting things.

None of these are very good characters. Maybe they had potential, but it certainly isn't realized well.

Loghain is a very believable villain, and most of your follower are fleshed out, have good banter between them and coherent reaction regarding your decision. I have no quarrel with that.
Loghain as originally conceptualized (when it was planned that Cailan was going to divorce Anora for Celene and merge Ferelden back into Orlais, with Eamon being the intermediary for Cailan and Celene's courtship because he is a sympathizer for Orlais and ultimately disapproves of Loghain and Anora as jumped-up peasants rather than true-blood nobles) was a fairly believable villain. Loghain as we actually got him was basically a mustache-twirling villain who decided that in the midst of a highly important battle between Ferelden and the darkspawn he was going to throw the battle, get his own king killed, screw over Ferelden by opening it up to darkspawn hordes, and start usurping power, just because.

-The setting and world-building. It has potential, lot of nice idea, but there is quite a few time it's badly handled (for reason already evoked two pages ago) and a sudden discrepancy appear. Was retconned into much worse in later installment, but who the fuck care about DA2 and 3.
Potential, sure, but for the most part it was what we call a "standard fantasy setting." Just plain old medieval fantasy with elves, dwarves, etc. and an over-arching good vs evil conflict (but being Bioware they didn't know how to handle an actual war vs evil mindless murder hordes as the basis for a plot, so they needed Loghain as a villain instead). Retcons are also dime-a-dozen in Dragon Age and started creeping up as early as Awakening and inconsistencies even existed in DAO proper. In addition, it's worth noting that while DAO tried to be more of a "dark" and "mature" fantasy, Bioware was extremely "good vs evil" in the way they handled things so their usual solution to make things gray is that shitty decisions can have some good consequences and good decisions can have shitty consequences. It's not a very deep approach to drawing moral dilemmas; it's someone basically putting spots of black onto white and spots of white onto black and expecting you to squint hard enough so it looks gray.

Frankly, Bioware was never good at handling moral grayness or doing dark, mature stories. It's simply not their style.

-Quest and overarching plot line. The subplot line ( character origin, gathering ally in a zone ) tend to start decently but some end up with disappointing resolution,against due to dumbing down ( elves and dwarf origin being the blatant example). Overarching plot is extremely classical, one could argue is just NWN OC campaign reskinned.
The bigger problem with the overarching plot vs the subplot (same one Inquisition has) is that it tries to establish narrative time pressure to race against doomsday but in reality you can just fuck around as long as you like doing all kinds of ludicrously menial and unnecessary sidequests. Other than that the main quest isn't really anything to sing home about and is mostly just a narrative device to funnel players through the four main points of the quest. Integration of narrative goals between the overarching story (you're in a race to stop the darkspawn) and subquests is weak and the integration of the overarching story with the actual game as the player experiences it (you never suffer for taking your time and you never really lead any efforts to check the darkspawn's advance) is much worse.

And then we deal with dumbing down like the gutting of the Dwarf Noble questline, the dumbing down of the Dalish Elf questline, the removal of the Celene subplot, removing consequences for being a Blood Mage, and so on.
 
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