Volourn

Exception that proves the rule.

"Hint; NO modern game is 'bug free'. Stating so is pure ignorance. " HINT: NO game EVER, modern or otherwise, is bug free. That said, stating this concept repaedtly mainly in your alme attempt to continue bashing BIO like bugs ar eunique to them is hilariously entertaining. Let's put it this way for ya, DA is relkatively bug free compared to most otehr games including other BIO ones. Happy now? Grom is right, though, as it's not exactly to tell DA rule systems stuff is bugged or working as is since nobody but BIO knows how they are supposed to work 100%.

"TW may not be horror enough to be seriously considered dark fantasy, but it's pretty much the most low fantasy crpg there is." It's not low fantasy. Not even close. As for order: I've gone Elf Forest, Mage Tower, Zombie Village, and now am in Denerim. The AI is not perfect; but the I is the best seen in any CRPG. Espicially since most CRPGs don't expect you to have your companions do everything. You are supposed to control the party. The AI is easily better than anything by BIO/OBS/INT/TRO/GBG. Case closed. But, it doesn't hold your hand. It isn't dumbed down. The problem above sounds like a bug. Plain, and simple.

TW is The Witcher. Seems to work fine on every internet site I've been to including Obsidian except in this thread, apparantly.

Nope. TW works perfectly for The Witcher. TW = The Witcher Just as DA = Dragon Age. This should be obvious for obvious reasons.

Dwarves are not rip offs of klingons. That's plainly hogwash. Alanshu is 100% right. Like pretty much everything, their a mish mash of a bunch of things. Klingons themselves are NOT original. DA dwarves have mnuch more in common with D&D dwarves (which is not surprising). With some drow thrown in. Tons D&D races and culttures are set up the same way. Not to mention a bunch of fantasy cultures. Heck, human politics cna work the same way. This who dwarves = klingons is simply a delusion as any similarities are merely coincidental due to the fact that klingons themselevs are rip offs ( in a good way as i like klingons) of other stuff.

Nope. TW sucked. There's pretty nothing good about it. Overrated to the extreme. Having it be raining, and storming would just be a lame cheessy cop out to show 'dark' a game is. Not that DA is above cheesiness 'cause it's not. That said, the game can be very dark. Just experience SPOILER, SPOILER, SPOILER, SPOILER, SPOILER, SPOILER, SPOILER. There is nothing darker about TW than there is in DA. Nothing.

"<=" This symbol is very key. Obvious strategy is that for the most part you should only focus on one weapon style epr character. No need to have a character skilled in both two weapon and two hander style. Only possible exception is a build for melee and archery though most warriors shouldn't need archery. If you are an archer don't be afraid to buy, and use special arrows. Healing a must. Either get Wynne as soon as posisble or don't be shy about having Morrigan learn a few heal spells. This isn't D&D, mages don't need to be pegion holed into offense vs defense. Heck, be sure to give Wynne at least 1 or 2 major damage spells. Try to target spellcasters first if at all possible. If possible, kiill lesser enemies first as even they cna use talents to stun, and do damage. Boss characters that come in groups ar emuch easier to deal with when they are alone. Do not be afraid to use lyrium, and heal poutices. If you ar egonna lean on the AI, take your time and learn how the tatics system works. For the most part, in major battles, don't eb shy to switch between characters. Melee characetrs are mostly fine by themselves, but don't be shy to pitch in for decision for mage spellcasting. Stunning attacks - both melee or spells - are a must. Duh.

"dwarves in da occasional mention Honor as some sorta cultural gestalt" Dwarves have always been into the whole honour shtick.

"If so, does he comment on various things like the normal NPCs do?" Yes.

You can also MURDER, DEATH, KILL HER, I think (I didn't go down that route personally, though).

Really? BG2? What was 'surprising' in BG2? The fact Imoen was your half sister? Let me guess, you were one of the ones who knew KOTOR's 'twist' the moment you read the manual, right? Sorry, BIO has gotten BETTER with the foreshadowing. "Still curious what it is about the Dwarves that are specifically similar to Klingon lore. What is it that is unique about the Klingon lore in particular? " There isn't anything. Anything the DA dwarves have in common with klingons are shared by other fantasy/sci-fi/human races anyways.

"People seem to be living happily their lives. I really didn't get any feeling of hopelesness anywhere" Wow. Wow. Wow. I do agree that DA is a BIo game through, and through. And, that's a good thing. Sure beats being a Bethesda game.

"but to me dark fantasy always associated with low fantasy, like Witcher, for example. " TW is not low fantasy. And, there is a lot of darkness in DA (as well as frivilous fluff). I'd share ehre but we're not allowed to post spoilers. "Wynne is mandatory there IIRC" Nope.

"Even Vol agrees that a spellcaster / non-spellcaster divide would be OK." Yup. I think a lot of the rogue complaints would be solved this way as people could mix and match the abilties as they see fit so they could flat out tank if they want or do a warrior/rogue hybrid. Also, believe me, when i finish the game and do a full review, you will see my list of complaints about the game. It's not perfect.

"I finished DA yesterday. I can

"For the love of god Vol, think about what your saying with this "some classes should be crap it's just the way things are" schtick." I never said rogues should be crap. And, DA rogues aren't crap. they aren't useful but they aren't and shouldn't be combat 'tanks' like mages and warriors. They are a support class. This is why they have specialty classes like the bard. I've sued the girl rogue, and she does pretty fine as a SUPPORT PLAYER. If your PC is a rogue don't try to play him as a tank... justy like you wouldn't bring your mage into straight up melee with a golem or ogre. Every class has their uses.

The class balance is fine. A rogue should NOT be an equal of a mage or a fighter in combat. Period. Any system that lets a rogue be the equal to a mage or rogue is a broken system. NO MATTER who makes it. If a rogue is the equal to a mage than it ruins the who concept of magic, imo. Espicially since DA lore goes out of its way to illustrate how special and unique mages are. Rogues are sueful. That's all that matters. A rogue should not be able to be equal to a fighter or mage in a straight up fight (unless the mage happened to focus on weaker combat spells). The argument of I'm just a fanboy is lame when I have my fair share of criticisms of BIO games. Heck, I am one of the ones who blasted the sue of mana in the game. And, there are other design decisions I disagree with. Mages being 'overpwoered' is not one of them. It's simple to me, if you play the game with 3 mages in your party (the max allowed); you SHOULD have an easier time than a party with 3 rogues (the max allowed) does. Not all parties should be created equal. P.S. Having a truly 'classless' system would kinda hurt the who mage lore, imo. That said, they could have been fine with 2 'classes' imo. Spellcaster and Non spellcaster P.S.S. I'm surprised there wasn't a PC only Grey Warden specialty class. Would ahve been cool to see what abilities they could have come up with for it. ...

What game exists where mages aren't super powerful? Mages should be more pwoerful than rogues, and warriors. That said, a warrior can kill a mage rather quick in DA. Rogues are only supposed to be supporters not front line. The balance is fine. Mages are (relatively) rare, and have so many things against them like the chantry trying to control them, the populace not being huge fans of them, the slippery slop to the dark side they can follow. All that fun stuff. Not all things are created equal. P.S. Just finished The Circle Tower, and Redcliffe. Fun times, fun times in deed. P.S.S. The map is DA awesome.

I wonder how much it sold on PC considering this is their first PC game that came out at the same time as a console version at minimum since NWN.

"BIS->Obsidian" No. "But it's (mostly) the same people under a different name..." Mostly? IIRC, Obsidian has 100+ employees, and maybe 20-25 of them AT MOST worked at BIS/INTERPLAY. Outside, of the top 3-4 Obsidian bigwigs (guys like Mr. U), the connection to BIS is not there. To me, it's a disservice to Obsidian to compare it to BIS. BIS was a failed division of a company barely hanging on for dear live while Obsidian has made mostly successful sequels to successful games. And, outside of the cancelation of one of their proposed games, they seem to be doing okay as a company. In essence... DEATH TO BIS LONG LIVE OBSIDIAN (not counting soz)!!!!! ON TOPIC: DA is good but it does have some annoyances...

Get over it.

You do realize I've been arguing the same things with basically the same people, right? I think I have some buddies in the whole insanity thing.

Nah. you can say anything you want about the game. And, we can agree or disagree with you all we want. That's why it is a DISCUSSION thread not an I AGREE WITH YOU thread. Differing opinions, and views is a good thing.

"NWN2 was better just for the fact that it had far superior party of companions compared to the henchmen of NWN1." Superior party, yes, superior companions? No. Except for a couple of NWN2 companions were pretty aweosme so yeah, I'd give NWN2 OC the edge there. But, 'sword up butt' ruins the good will. R00fles!