Monte Carlo

Too early to call - as long as evil doesn't equal stupid like in a lot of RPGs I might take the dark path... Am downloading my free content - again it's very slick and intuitive. I like the way Bioware has clearly put a lot of pre-release effort into this part of the game.

This is my thread about Dragon Age. I will update it as I go. Initial thoughts: * As I posted in Alan's thread, the UK CE feels crappy and not very collectible. * It installs smoother than a smooth thing covered in olive oil - very nice. * I like the music. Now I'm going to make a character and download my bonus stuff, which I will share with you all later. Cheers MC

Bonus stuff - * Shale NPC * 3 Twinky magic items * Disc with stuff about how they made Dragon Age on it The cheapo UK version just has a normal plastic case, which is annoying. The manual is poorly bound and will break, luckily only wimps read manuals.

Mine just arrived, a day early so I'll give it a whirl this evening. The European CE, BTW, blows chunks. Plastic CD case, no map, normal manual. Cheers MC

A quickie, but what a rogues for in this game? Are they an alternative ligh fighter / archer option or do they have the full raft of thief skills a la D&D (i.e. traps / dialogue / high level skills)? Someone mentioned you really need one - which seems to me being doomed to have Imoen chick in the party for a time (NOOOOOOOOOOOOO). Am thinking do I play one to spare myself the indignity?

^ Sadly not, Bastogne would be awesome. CoH turns on the campaign in NW Europe, broadly speaking D-Day until the capture of Antwerp (including Arnhem). CoH2 should be the Ardennes or an Eastern Front game, although rumour has it that it will be Korea (an indication of where the next big gaming market is seen by Relic). Korea is sorta neglected by mainstream military history buffs, shame because it's extremely interesting and chock full of legendary battles. I wonder how the CoH engine will cope with the resource implications of Chinese human wave infantry assaults but we shall see, historical accuracy isn't really what CoH is about. It's about blowing up tiny models of all the WW2 vehicles you used to make models of when you were a kid.

I think the problem with modern-day games reviewers is that they think they're too cool to actually, uh, like games. Although the comment about not being able to escape the orbit of the games design resonates with me in a big way and is my biggest beef with Bioware. They used to be able to mask that orbit, now it's shot into your face like you're **** Cheney's hunting partner. We'll see when I game it at the weekend. The best review so far has been the Game Banshee one, y'know written by a regular guy who likes games. He spoke to me like he was a gamer and interested in the stuff I'm interested in. Cheers MC

The other night a had a three hour slug-out with a 'noob' (my arse, he was a seasoned prop with an alt.account trying to get a few easy wins), I was Wehrmacht he was American (utilizing the mandatory Ranger Blob AT tactic). It was a great game, on one of the waterlogged Netherlands battle maps and we fought to-and-fro, neither side delivering the decisive blow. Eventually, after arty duels, melee assaults and tank battles my Kampfgruppe of a Tiger, three panthers, a StuG and a Mark IV rumbled down the road accompanied by Knight's Cross infantry... Gottadammerung awaited... ... and the MoFo dropped, Relic arbitrated and I lost. Like I say, love and hate bundled up in a perfect gem. Cheers MC

How is discussion of combat styles and character building a spolier? Because it isn't. I'm liking the stuff in the thread, but highlighting fiddly and not-very-easy-to-read text is slightly annoying. A spoiler is "NPC X is in fact a giant man-eating vegetable in disguise who tries to eat you after you capture the Orb of Destiny*" Conversely, "The two-handed weapon tree is optimal for a tank and there's a couple of groovy two-handers you can get before the halfway point" isn't. Cheers MC * I've said it before, but honestly, I should write this stuff for a living.

^ Hmmm, not really, it was a bit of an anti-climax but it does give you a good idea about aesthetics and gameplay.

Hmmm, demo of Dragon Age? I'm not so sure. Firstly, Bioware has put more info on the game out there than you could shake a stick at, secondly there's the character generator which gives you a flavour of the game plus acts as a sort of ersatz tech test to see if you puter will run it. Thirdly, there are gameplay videos ad nauseum and a website chock full of spoilers, screenies and so on. Lastly, it's a Bio RPG with elements of all the Bio games you've either loved or hated about Bio. So I'd say a demo was, in this instance, pretty much surplus to requirement for most customers. People like free, illegal stuff off the internet. Period.

^ Yes, UK release 6th November, the people I pre-ordered from keep sending me emails about the status of my order. I'll get it Friday morning, will be busy all day at work and will probably get around to installing it Saturday. As for piracy, it's stealing and I've never done it. I'm feeling virtuous now.

Am still putting in the hours and getting my ass kicked, like all truly brilliant games CoH has the ability to delight and DRIVE YOU MAD with equal measure... the design loopholes are the stuff of munchkin fantasy (engineer spam, arty spam, AT infantry blobs, panzer rush...). Am getting slowly more adept at playing, c'mon there must be a few Obsidianites here who are up for a game? Cheers MC

Best review so far... The fighter skill tree includes "Biting People's Faces Off."

Maria and / or Alan, Just a quick question, but do either of you know why the party in all the ads was chosen? That is to say Imoen Chick, Sten, Morrigan and slighty Aussie-sounding PC warrior dude? Is it the 'iconic' DA party, inasmuch as the BG version would invariably involve Jaheira, Minsc etc? Just curious, apart from Imoen Chick it's quite a cool party. Cheers MC

As if to confirm my lingering suspicions of Bioware's thirst for power, the sort of ambition that makes Microsoft look like a small suburban computer store, I noticed that they have now declared themselves a supra-national entity, second only to Hungary. There are two teams left in the competition - Hungary (go Hungary, GO!) and this new nation, "The Bioware Community." Ah, The Bioware Community, a country dominated by aggressive marketing, annoying cutscenes and people desperate to become romantically involved with computer game characters. I say we nuke the site from orbit. Cheers MC

People get confused by the United Kingdom, Great Britain and all the rest of it. I won't bore you with the Act of Union (etc), Devolution (yawn) and so on... all you need to know is that London is capital of the UK and it's in England.

Watched the intro. Why do North Americans always say "London, England"? You see, I subscribe to the view that Americans aren't thick at Geography. To the contrary, most of them know exactly where London is (although they might get confused about the status of England apropos the constitutional arrangements within the United Kingdom, for which I do not blame them at all). And in this case there was a visual clue, to wit the Houses of fricking Parliament in the background. It was hardly London Ohio or London soemwhere else was it?

Do you think we are going to see the distinction between MMOs and SP games simply vanish? You buy the core product for World of Zorg* or you DL it for free. You then pay for the MMO module with MP functionality, or the SP quest pack or the add-on NPC pack (etc). Hell, the game even upgrades itself if you subscribe. Not saying I'm liking it, but Dragon Age is quickly becoming a DLC whorefest and I'm sure EA are seeing dollar signs. It sounds like the future, which, unsurprisingly, sucks. Lots of people here tell me I'm living in the past for wanting a physical product when I buy software, being suspicious of web-purchased content, not wanting to surrender to Steam and so on... can you see where I'm coming from now? Don't get me wrong, as a way of delivering content I'm happy with the internet, I just can't get away from the uneasy feeling that the games industry has looked at user-created content and modding and thought "we can charge for that." Cheers MC * Easy, this games design, isn't it?

^ Bears, sure, but the witches have a Baba Yaga feel to them and the Beserker Lodge guys need names like Boris and Yuri.

Here in Yoorup we get it 3 days after the World's Greatest Democracy which means that they'll have finished it several times before I even install it.

If you don't like the epic schtick, just make a single class high WIS / INT / CHA whatever monk. Monks get loads of passive abilities so you can concentrate on the story rather than the fighting. Naturally, I went with a complex, munchkin weaponmaster RDD build and concentrated on the fighting, but that's just me MotB gets the official MC thumbs up. It has everything, love the Rashemen setting which sort of reminds me of Russia for some reason.

What do you rate him? Whaddya mean, out of ten? I think he's got a good heart, he's creative and he's made stuff I like. :: shrugs :: I wish him well, but that doesn't mean that I have to like everything he does.

^ sorry to disappoint, but I actually rate Dave. And I guess you have to have a bit of an ego to write, which is what he does. It's just that I don't really like Bioware's take on 'story-driven,' I find it intrusive. So maybe I'm guilty of using 'Dave' as shorthand for the Bio design ethos when I shouldn't. Cheers MC

Most people will just switch friendly fire off, although there are detailed NPC behaviour settings. I'll keep it on, it ruins it for me if my party are immune to bloody great fireballs, it's like throwing hand grenades and not having them harm you 'cos you're not a 'baddy'.