Dragon Age Central

Quote: Posted 06/03/09 19:30 (GMT) by imported_beer

Quote: Posted 06/03/09 19:26 (GMT) by Jose Ilitzky
If you .... try to be Mr. or Ms. Nice then you'll get a beating in their approval score. ...

Now given that Jose is one of the two (2) resident "nice guy" Biowarians, this bit of information has serious cred. I am also in a mild panic.

I am also sensing my approval ratings getting a beating for the very same reason. I should run for congress.

Hehe, do note that I said *some* characters. The party is quite diverse and you'll find characters that love being nice.

I'd like to add a bit on the part about relationships in the game without spoiling too much stuff. I've played the game for about 30+ hours and I've really enjoyed this part.

Gifts do help a bit to boost your approval with party members although not as much as other elements. For example, just by playing the main quest, your type of leadership will be exposed with the answers you pick. Being too brash might alienate some of your party members including your love interest. Especially when you put his/her life on the line without having enough information to act. Other party members will hate you if you don't have guts. If you always go for the tangents, avoid conflicts at all cost and try to be Mr. or Ms. Nice then you'll get a beating in their approval score. Now, approval can eventually lead to romance as you guys already know but what I want to express is that it's very hard to fast track a party member into loving you. You at least need to get to know the basics of their character, otherwise the gifts you give might not even fit their taste. Also, some gifts have a back story to them so that can get very interesting too...

Quote: Posted 06/03/09 19:15 (GMT) by devSin

Like Chris says, the Origin stories seem more to be a background/biography than an actual part of character creation.

The way I understand it, you create your own character, and then you can pick from the listed Origins to define your character's societal status and starting point.

There are limits to what origin you could choose depending on the character you create (mages require the mage origin, and dwarf, elf, and human warriors and rogues can access only their two racial origins).

The posters and concept are are mostly chicks because guys really only want to draw boobs.

Kind of right, but also completely backwards.

You start off with a generic human male PC. You can now choose to be female if you prefer.

You then choose the race. If you choose dwarf or elf, the model changes accordingly. You can choose to remain human as well.

You then choose the class of the character you want to be (if you have chosen to be a dwarf, you cannot be a mage).

You then choose your background based on the preceding choices. So mages choose the mage origins. Dwarves choose noble or commoner. Elves choose Dalish or city. Humans who are not mages are nobles.

After you have made all those choices, you then customize your character so she/he looks like you want them to.

We'll have more details on customizing in the future, but that should give you a pretty good outline.

Do not confuse "customize" with "origins".

There are 6 origins stories. They can all be played as either a male or female PC. They do not "customize" except that you choose your gender and class (and possibly race).

You DO customize your characters face with the most customizable character creator we have ever made.

Quote: Posted 06/03/09 16:04 (GMT) by Sblade

The Maxoids of the BBS stated the same for Sims 3, and we are seeing what has happened.

A program designed by Sony. They are getting the same issues that Securom has in The sims 3 forum. Whatever Copy Protection the Sims 3 has, I hope it isn´t the same in DAO.

Then I will say it again:

Quote: Derek French:
"We are not using SecuROM for Dragon Age: Origins."

Quote: Posted 06/03/09 13:41 (GMT) by barbarianbarbie
OMG, OMG, OMG, that was Kate Mulgrew's voice as Flemeth! She's an awesome actress. I just loved her as Captain Janeway. Wow!

Good catch.

Quote: Posted 06/03/09 10:19 (GMT) by Dark Specie
They may have been made "immortal" for this demo, you know.

Probably. The way the demo was being played, I would normally expect the dragon to have chewed them up. They were just trying to show off some of the flashier elements as the presenter was talking.

Quote: Posted 05/29/09 16:32 (GMT) by Sylvius the Mad

Aside from avoiding the obviously absurd aspects of a group inventory (like being able to pass items between characters instantly regardless of distance or intervening obstacles), there's no aspect of realism I'm actually seeking from the inventory system.

You're right. There were design criteria like
* intuitive
* easy to use
* not timeconsuming
* provide good information to the player
* minimize tedious management tasks
* support a large number of different items

Realism, on the other hand, was not an objective to the system.

It has nothing to do with any real word pro or anti smoking anything. Tobacco or other smokeables are not a part of the Dragon Age: Origins world.

Since this has been asked and answered, it gets closed to avoid more silliness.



LOCKDOWN!

No. No smoking in Dragon Age: Origins.

Well.... corpses, buildings and so forth, yes, but not the sort you stupidly put in your face.

Quote: Posted 05/29/09 20:44 (GMT) by Dave of Canada


Would having no "kaddis" give a bonus as well, for those who hate the look?

No. Kaddis is one of the upgrade slots for the dog, similar to armor or weapons for the other party members. (Dog needs toys too, when you're passing out shiny new swords and stuff to everyone else.) Maybe you prefer to see your party members naked rather than armored, but we don't give you a bonus for that either.

Quote: Posted 05/29/09 16:03 (GMT) by Fnargle
Are there or not.

The product of a human and an elf is a human -- they would be called "elf-blooded" by some and perhaps have some minor elven features, though not always. They are not half-elves in the sense that they exist in D&D, however, by any means.

Quote: Will we get a half-elven origin in the future, maybe through a DLC

I don't know that we would be doing new origins in DLC -- that would be quite an undertaking, if we did, as the impact of an origin on the game is not insubstantial. That said, were we to do it I suppose an "elf-blooded" origin is a possibility?

Quote: and does anyone suspect that the DLC's promised will be nothing more than origins that have been cut-off due to time constrain and released as a DLC?

If anything was cut-off due to time constraints, it was incomplete and perhaps not even started. I don't know if I understand the tone of this question, but is the suggestion that completing that content later and offering it as DLC would somehow be bad? What's the assumption, here?

This has been answered before. Humans and elves can breed with each other, but you do not get "half-elves" (like you do in D&D). The same applies to humans and dwarves or elves and dwarves.

There are certainly stores and merchants to buy and sell goods with. There is also a crafting system that lets you create things like traps, poisons and potions.

There aren't things like farming or fishing as they don't fit in the game.

How about now?

Yes, October 20 2009 is the official release date for Dragon Age: Origins. So go reserve your copy at your local store.

The "paint" (which is called kaddis and helps distinguish teh dogs and their allies from opponents) is optional, but it does contain some bonuses.