Maria Caliban

Veronica is the third companion in the main quest's path. She's at 188, which is on the way between Novac and Boulder. 188 isn't part of the main quest's path (At least, I'm to The House Always Wins, II and haven't been ordered there) . I've managed to explore... *loads game* *counts* 103 locations but no location 188. I'm not saying you get ordered there, just that it's between two locations that quest locations. Between Boulder and Novac. I'm actually very surprised that you missed it, unless the soldiers scared you so you snuck by. After Novac I went to Helios, which sent me to Camp Forlorn Hope, and after I'd done a few quests there, I went to Boulder. Not sure what soldiers you're talking about, but I only sneak if I'm going to steal something, though I crouch when snipering.

You could kill Wynne, Alister, Loghain, Shale, Zevran, and Leliana. You could also never pick-up Leliana, Shale, Sten, and the Dog. There's no indication she's going to be in the game. We know Flemeth is in it. It's possible Morrigan makes an appearance. Might depend on the save file from DA:O.

Yes, I think Shale was very well done. I wasn't including her as I got her 'for free' with the regular edition. DA 2 News: The Fade returns and Morrigan still has a part in the story. I know some disliked the Fade, but I thought it was fine.

Veronica is the third companion in the main quest's path. She's at 188, which is on the way between Novac and Boulder. 188 isn't part of the main quest's path (At least, I'm to The House Always Wins, II and haven't been ordered there) . I've managed to explore... *loads game* *counts* 103 locations but no location 188. ED-E doesn't break any quests.

The image is also darker as there are very strong, black shadows. Notice how the armor covering the back of Shep's neck is very detailed but his chest is just one black mass. It's the same for difference between Shepard's two arms. Alternatively, the ME 1 image has ambient lighting so there is far less shadowing.

The ME 1 shot isn't a dark environment. It's the set of open air gates you drive through on Virmire. That five shades of blue and grey environment is supposed to be illuminated by sunlight. Art direction was different in ME2? How so? It actually had art direction. ME was visually bland outside of Ilos and a few dramatic flying spaceship moments. ME 2 attempted to inject a bit of style into the environment. Compare Cora's Den to the part of Afterlife where Aria sits.

I haven't even *met* Veronica yet, and I'm level 25. I've met Cass, Boone, ED-E, and I met Rex for the first time last night. Oh, right, I met Arcade, but didn't realize he was a companion until I read about it. I was at the King's place and told ED-E to go to our home in the Lucky 38. As I headed back to the Strip with Rex, I found ED-E in a shoot out with the robots outside the gate. I guess if it's not in my party, ED-E is considered another intruder. I wandered off and then came back to find one of the gatekeepers dead. I suppose I should find out if the robot made it back safely. I'd be annoyed if companions you order to return to base can die on the way there. Yes, you can fill him full of bullets. That's a form of interaction.

The arguement that I should wait a year for DA 2 + EXP + DLC is based on the notion that DA 2 + EXP + DLC > DA 2, yet Awakenings was so unimpressive that I didn't bother to finish it. I am not trying to do the mental math for the worth of the two to me.

Five survivors Four skeletons *Will check again* Edit: Yep. They say there are five survivors, but then the recording only has four gunshots and there are only four remains. Someone survived.

Do you ever meet the Vault 11 survivor in the game?

I usually just switch from world map to local map at that point.

And I have to ask, is there a Dragon Age DLC that's worth waiting a year for? For me DA + Awakening + All DLC isn't that much better than DA:O alone. I hope that for DA2, all of the DLC will be as good as Liar of the Shadow Broker.

Yes, if you wait a year you get a better deal. However, I have no interest in waiting a year. Then it's a good thing you don't play through most instances twice.

You know that Obsidian didn't make Dragon Age or Mass Effect, right?

Are you talking about the PC? Because that's the normal price for console games. Yes, I'm talking about the PC. Several stores had the normal edition for $49.99. Now you can only buy the Signature Edition for $59.99 Thank you.

Right, so they created this thread, which is exactly the same thing as the thread that already existed, but with a different title.

Okay, I am not happy. Until Jan 1st, you should be able to order the regular version of Dragon Age 2 ($49.99) and get a free upgrade to the Signature Edition version. Retailers have responded by removing the regular version and only offering the $59.99 Signature Edition. I am now attempting to find a retailer who isn't doing this. Edit: EA Games isn't selling the normal PC edition either. Only the (59.99) regular XBox and PS3 versions, and the (59.99) Signature PC, XBox, and PS3 versions. It seems this entire thing is just a move to get PC gamers to pay the console price of 59.99 for the 'free upgrade.'

Silly rabbit, Steam is not porn.

Don't worry, you're in good company, the vast majority of video games writers don't get it either. Still, the difference between narrating a story and making the player interact with it should be pretty clear. It is to me, at least. The 'vast majority' of games do not have half a dozen full time writers who are involved in every step of the process. The majority of games don't appear to have any full time writers. For example, the 'writer' of Halo was the director of cinematics. I'd like to think that if the 'vast majority' of games had a full time writer, we wouldn't have so many variations on the brown haired space marine.

What are these 'other factors?' If writers, who are hired simply to create the plot and characters, can't be trusted with the plot and characters, who should be? Should it be the executive producer? Shareholders? Should they simply have all characters designed by market testing? You're acting as though Sheryl Chee burst into a writers' meeting swinging a shotgun around and forced the rest of the BioWare crew to accept Isabella. They liked her work on the first game. She's enthusiastic about a character and wants her to be a companion on the second game. If they think her characters are good, the smart thing would be to let her come up with characters. If they think her characters are bad, they should get rid of her and find a writer who can create and flesh out good characters. Yes, if every other writer hated the character, I could see your point, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Rather, the other writers also like her and forum members also like her. Amazingly, when you let skilled people who are enthusiastic about their work do their work, you get good work. Yes it is. An author says 'I love this character and want to tell a story about them.' They then write out a story about them. Who is it that decides they love that character 'too much?' Sure, an editor or agent can pass on a book, but once an agent takes in a client, they don't go 'Change this 60-year-old, hard-bitten war vet into a 16 moody but sexy teenage girl because I've decided that's what's hot.'

I am still waiting for an answer to my question. I wasn't aware only moderators were allowed to start popular threads now. If that's the case, perhaps it should be in the rules.

Good guess! It is based on a style of architecture popular in the 70s.

A game with characters. An NPC in a game can be treated the same as a character in a novel. And how does it being a collective effort making writing characters you think are neat as companions idiotic? I mentioned Twilight because the opposite of 'write characters you think are wonderful' would be 'write character you aren't interested in.' Presumably the only reason to write characters you're not interested in is a cynical view on how to get material gratification, but in that, writers who think the characters are wonderful still get the benefit.

Seriously? That's as idiotic as it gets. "I think she's wonderful" etc etc.\ A writer liking a character is the reason characters make it into books, movies, and games. It's quite obvious that Daivid Gaider adores Morrigan and Alistiar, Mary loved Sten and Wynne, and Sheryl thought Leliana would be a great BFF. Have you ever listened to Stephene Meyer's talk about Edward of Twilight fame? She gushes about how sexy she thinks he is, and that gushing made her a multi-millionare. 'This character is wonderful and I want to tell their story' is not idiotic. It's the best way to write a character.

I wonder how this tactic would work for other luxturies. If a resturant changed $60 for a meal that tasted like crap on purpose, would it become one of the most popular resturants ever?