Dragon Age....I hate to admit it, but derp roads killed it..

[Grifthin]

Or just setup tactics for the Single target damage spells etc, and just manage the spells that need to be applied slghtly tactically.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Does that work for Cone of Cold, in a maximum disabling/rooting -way?

 

[~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸-AIN'T]

Dragon Age combat seems to basically be the orc caves from NWN 2 or the sewers from Bloodlines. Sure, the combat system is better overall, but every single level has that same repetitive encounter design and is WAY TOO FUCKING LONG. The thing is, the orc caves and the sewers were just one part of their respective games, in Dragon Age almost every single part of the main quest is like that. At the beginning I really liked the game, but I too just got to the derp roads and I need a fucking break from doing the exact same combat over and over and over and over again.

It's a pity too. If the combat system (which is way too MMOey) and encounter design was as good as even BG2 (which definitely isn't the epitome of great combat, but it's decent) DA would've been a fantastic game. Or maybe if combat was less than 90% of the game it could overcome it, especially because then there would be less filler and the encounter design would seem better. As it is though, it's a good game with a very big flaw.

 

[Emotional Vampire]

Why you lie?

 

[hakuroshi]

I actually liked the combat itself. It's sure better then "click-'em-to-death" or "click-and-forget" we all too familiar with. And even some fights in Deep Roads are fun. But I concur that filler combat is a game-killer. When you've learnt the right moves in combat, all that rooms filled with critters become increasingly boring and tiresome. I almost gave up already in Mage Tower, which was a first part of Main Quest for me, but thankfully they drasctically changed the situation. Well, then there also was combat but in very different enviroment. If they implemented similar tactic in other parts or made some parts more diplomacy/investigation oriented game would be much better IMHO.

On the other hand, heavy fight after fight may be intentional decision on gamedesigners part. In pnp rpgs there is a point to attack party with weaker enemies for a while to make pcs to spend some valuable resourse and weaken them before more challenging fights. In DAO the only resourse which matters is players' (not pcs!) stamina. So all this mindless fights have the only meaning - to wear out the player.

Well, it's a silly idea of course, but it worked just fine

 

[forgotmypasswordagain]

there is a hardcore difficulty mod out now which nerfs healing/mana pots and magery. might help for those of you queer enough to see DA through to the end to find whether morrigan's mommy issues get sorted out.

 

[Norfleet]

forced dialog that teleports my party straight into the center of their mob

Dialogue fleshes out a storyline. A storyline enhances roleplaying, which in turn makes for an improved roleplaying game

I don't think you get what I'm saying. I'm not talking about dialogue being bad. I'm talking about the way a random, purposeless monster will start a FORCED dialogue with you, decloaking all of your partymembers and disrupting their formation to drop them all on some stupid spot on the map, when you previously had them positioned for combat, only to receive a pointless dialogue of "I KILLS YOU!".

 

[Data4]

I'm in my second playthrough, and I have to admit, I'm not looking forward to doing DR again, myself. The good thing is I've done quite a few quests that I didn't get on my first playthrough based on different choices. Now I find myself digging for what other quests I could possibly do before heading down again. I've got the maleficarum warehouse in Denerim and... well, that's really it. Nothing else opens up for me until after I go back to Arl Eamon and say "Okay, army raised. Let's go."

Because I'm an edgy motherfucker, I got myself a day of suspension from work tomorrow. Might take my pissed-offedness on the DR darkspawn...

 

[Zed]

Deep Roads isn't so bad. If you have mr DLC in your party it's quite rewarding.

 

[Freelance Henchman]

Because I'm an edgy motherfucker, I got myself a day of suspension from work tomorrow.

Did you grab someone's collar?

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

How could you even play to that point I cannot understand. Right from the start it was monotonous and repulsive, then it gets worse at orc forest and I have to use some serious alcohol to continue, hoping the shit-storm wouldn't escalate more, but no, there wouldn't be an end to it and somewhere at the fortress of million-zillion undead where it had already exceeded the maximum allowed shit game lenght, I ceased to see quitter as a negative thing to be.

Seriously, how didn't you find it boring after the first hundred fights, how did it require a hundred thousand to bore you?

 

[Lesifoere]

I don't know. I usually uninstall shit games after half an hour--I certainly uninstalled FO3 and Oblivious long before that time-mark--but DA's not as terrible and kept me leashed on the hope that it'll get better. I still regret playing it to completion.

How anyone can bear to replay it, now...

 

[Grunker]

I'm half-way through on my second playthrough, and it's definetely not near as good as BG2 or even BG1. Many have pointed out why; repetition of encounters, the same generic encounter-structure, and only a handful of different enemies.

I'd say it's better than IWD and definetely IWD2, since those two has got the same elements of repetition as DA, and DA beats them thrice over with story, characters and roleplaying elements (except for the system, which is shite compared to established ones).

I too got a strange urge for playing something old when I reached the deep roads. I'm now playing M&MVII - For Blood and Honor, and having tons of fun.

So some good came from it.

 

[Lesifoere]

I actually have replayed IWD. Trying out different party builds, finding things I missed the first time, and so on. At the very least, it offers way more atmosphere.

 

[Grunker]

I actually have replayed IWD. Trying out different party builds, finding things I missed the first time, and so on. At the very least, it offers way more atmosphere.

You should try out these. Kulyok is an okay writer, and for my part, it makes the endless encounters a little more bearable.

 

[Lesifoere]

Oh phew, for one second there I thought you had linked to Merililalalinda's IWD NPC mod. Thanks, I'll look into it.

 

[Grunker]

Oh phew, for one second there I thought you had linked to Merililalalinda's IWD NPC mod. Thanks, I'll look into it.

Didn't even know there was one. Oh, and by the way, there's one for IWD2 also. It offers a little more variety than the one for IWD1.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I'm half-way through on my second playthrough, and it's definetely not near as good as BG2 or even BG1. Many have pointed out why; repetition of encounters, the same generic encounter-structure, and only a handful of different enemies.

BG2's linearity, lack of multiple solutions, and painfully simplistic quest design* are a much bigger flaw than DA's combat filler.

*Thieves questline (that's the main quest, btw):

Q1. Help a guy at the docks: go there at night, wait for the vampires to kill a guy you were supposed to help, defeat the vampires, report back to get 30k experience per party member.

Q2. Prevent thieves from leaving: go to some inn, talk to two thieves, they turn hostile, kill them, kill the contact, report back to get 30k experience per party member.

Q3. Clear the nest - straight dungeon crawler without any options. Report back to get 50k experience per party member.

 

[JarlFrank]

Now that I've finished the Urn quest it became even more apparent that there are too fucking many trash mob fights. Cultists. Cultists again. More cultists. Finally, some dragonlings and a few drakes. The one in the big chamber with about 4 cultists, 1 cultist mage, 1 drake and 5 dragonlings was actually really awesome and fun. Large area, many different enemies with different strengths and weaknesses, and even on easy difficulty a good challenge. But then, when you continue, you get trash mobs again... and again.

The trash mobs are the only reason I turned difficulty down to easy just so the fights with them are over as quickly as possible. There are a few very good encounters like the one in the dragonling cave, but most are just samey mobs, and far FAR too many of them.

 

[Vault Dweller]

The Redcliffe-Urn questline is pretty fucking good though. The design is one of the best I've seen.

 

[Grifthin]

I liked the brecillian forest line - Drake, Different were wolves, blood mages, Tree ents, mad hermit (optional), Fucking huge ent dude (optional), elves, revenants, undead, spirits. Not to shabby at all.

 

[Lesifoere]

Yes, and all those different types of enemies behave completely differently and require you to cast different types of buffs to ward against their abili--

Never mind. Oh hey, the ents try to root you. How innovative, except not very. The revenant casts... something. What did that even do? I've no idea. I cannot possibly care. Disable, tear them new orifices, move on. Here comes another pack of wolves/werewolves/skeletons. Hooray.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Yes, and all those different types of enemies behave completely differently and require you to cast different types of buffs to ward against their abili--

Never mind. Oh hey, the ents try to root you. How innovative, except not very.

I too was disappointed. I expected some tentacle rape attack or at very least to see the ents merging into one giant transformer ent. *sigh* No imagination whatsoever.

The revenant casts... something.

Casting spells is so passé.

 

[Lesifoere]

The sound of the point whooshing over your head is fun, but not half as fun as you defending DA against all comers, at all times.

You forgot to tell me I'm trying too hard to gain Kodex Kool Points, by the way.

 

[Kingston]

I'm half-way through on my second playthrough, and it's definetely not near as good as BG2 or even BG1. Many have pointed out why; repetition of encounters, the same generic encounter-structure, and only a handful of different enemies.

BG2's linearity, lack of multiple solutions, and painfully simplistic quest design* are a much bigger flaw than DA's combat filler.

Then again, I found the story, characters and setting interesting in BG2. In DA I don't give two shits about anybody. When you don't give a shit about the gameworld, choices and consequences are basically meaningless. It doesn't matter to you what happens. They might tickle you at an academic level ("that quest design is quite clever!"), but that's about all the joy it gives you.

So, is DA a better RPG? It might indeed be. Is it a better game? Hell no. I'd rather play an interesting, good game with bad RPG mechanics than a bland and boring game with better RPG mechanics.