Enoch

Piecemeal armor is an odd choice for a high-tech gameworld. I can see the argument from a gameplay perspective (Moar L00+!), but it's tough to come up with a reason why manufacturers would focus on smaller modules, yet retain universal compatability (e.g., why should Elanus sleeves work on a Devlon torso?).

Yeah, I started a ME game yesterday, and I couldn't spacebar through the dialogue fast enough. I went with a Vanguard, which everyone seems to love. I've played an Adept enough to unlock Singularity as the bonus talent. The only character I've finished the game with is an Infiltrator, but I did some things on that run that I'd rather not carry over to the sequel. (I.e., in a moment of weakness, I decided to see what teh alien seksayness was like. I certainly don't want the game thinking that I want more of that stuff.) I could also try to finish off the aforementioned Adept run, but at some point I feel like I should try using a weapon other than the pistol. I got as far as earning Spectre status (I was home sick from work), and so far I've been avoiding committing much one way or another on the alignment meter. Which I'm sure is a rather sub-optimal strategy, given how it ties into your persuasive skills. I suppose that I'll go with generally being kind (as I like the paragon options in the game's "big decisions" better), except when being kind is ridiculous. Anybody care to remind me which JNPCs have sidequests? I know Wrex and Garrus do, but I seem to recall Tali's being built into the main quest. Are there any others, or can I safely skip spacebarring through the other crewmembers' conversations?

Shale is effective as such, and is certainly more versatile (I love the ranged abilities). But the lack of a knockdown-avoidance ability hurts, as does the fact that many of Shale's abilities are only available after switching to a non-Tank-focused mode (which takes time and reduces the "threat" level). Al, on the other hand, can get Shield Wall to keep him upright, and can Shield Bash and Overpower whenever he likes. He also benefits from stat-boosting items, runes, etc. Really, I think the best setup is to keep Al (or a Sword 'n Board PC) and Shale in the party. Shale in "Pulverizing Blows" mode is an arguably better DPS-focused fighter than Sten, Oghren, or the Dog. high hitpoints increase survivability substantially over those guys (although the lack of "Indomitable" still hurts), and the ability to swap elemental damage and resistances out on the fly is very nice.

Ah. Branded '72, I presume.

Bioshock had an inventory??

What is known about how importing savegames will work? I understand that we'll be re-leveling Shepard to a great degree, and that ME2 offers several new abilities. But will stuff like unlocked 'bonus talents' matter on imported characters (e.g., if I make a Sentinel with the Assault Rifle as the bonus talent, will she keep it)? Or is this just about Class, Gender, Paragon/Renegade, and certain plot/quest/NPC decisions?

I agree with regard to the whiskey. However, there are some values to be found. For example, Jim Beam's Rye is pretty good, and usually only about $10 for 750 mL. And the Wild Turkey Rye (at about twice that price) is as good as any I've had. Straight Rye Whiskey is the only way to make a classic Manhattan. For sipping, I prefer the Old World stuff.

It's one of the standard methods for preparing baked goods. In recipes, "to cream" basically means to smack the crap out of something in your stand mixer for a while. The method is to "cream" your fat (usu. butter), then add sugar and cream that some more. Then you add the eggs, and eventually your dry stuff and any additional liquid to finish the batter. Explanatory link. Old-fashioned baking recipes would sometimes just be a list of ingredients, followed by "creaming method."

Wow, those ginger cookies I made yesterday are good. The plan was to ship them to my family (as the wife and I will be visiting the in-laws this x-mas), but that plan is in serious jeopardy. They're essentially a basic butter cookie (the "creaming" method). But with dark brown sugar (plus a tbs. of molasses) in place of the regular sugar, with 2 tbs. of dry ground ginger added to the flour, and with 1/4 cup of finely chopped candied ginger added after the batter is assembled. Soft, moist, sweet, but with a lovely spicy kick in the teeth from the assertive flavor of the ginger. Pairs well with a nice hoppy pale ale.

Just finished the batter for a batch of some very ginger-laden sugar cookies. It gets a night in the fridge before cutting and baking tomorrow. I'll also be making some chocolate-dipped coconut meringues. And then some beef stew.

Had a weird editing error in that last post. Bolded portion fixed.

Yeah, but a player without metaknowledge isn't necessarily going to know to go get Wynne early. (If you stumble onto her later, you lose your shot at And people are using MMO terms because that's what Bio's ruleset most resembles. I agree that all the warriors would fit into the "Meatshield" category of the traditional D&D foursome (along with Healbot, Nuker, and Skill-monkey). But the 'threat management' system that Bio wrote screams for MMO-style specialization between damage-dealers and damage-sponges.

Shale can do it. But recall that Shale was supposed to have been cut from the game before it was delayed to this fall, and even now comes as 'premium content' that people who didn't buy the game new have to shell out $15 for. Without the golem, Bio gave us only one natural melee tank NPC and only one natural crowd-control-focused mage NPC-- the two roles that, in the rule system they devised, are most crucial to success. The PC, of course, can take one of these roles, but not both. So, yeah, they really wanted this game to be the Morrigan and Alistair show. Too bad that neither character is particularly likable.

So I did. Heh. If it had taken any effort at all to download, I'd never have gotten it (see: Blood Dragon Armor). But it just popped up in my inventory without asking, and I was planning on doing a high-dex dagger-wielding rogue, so I figured I'd give it a try.

Ice and Fire Arrows/Bolts are great to sell early in the game. It took me a while to realize that the value was per arrow, and not for the whole stack. I tend to underuse consumables, so I hardly notice when they're gone, and the payout is quite nice. Other thing I realized embarrassingly late: How to look up. My Dwarven rogue is just about to enter the Tower in Ostagar. That freebie DLC dagger is destabilizingly powerful if you pump your Dex to unlock it at level 4. (It requires 26.) I might have to forgo its use on principle for a little while. (Although I already sold the plain ol' grey iron dagger I was using before the level-up, so I guess I'm stuck with it for a little while longer.) Before I could use it, I was noticing how going from Normal to Hard and from Mage to Rogue had increased the difficulty (Jory came out of the Wilds with 3 injuries); now the fights breeze by in a haze of 20+ HP backstabs.

Very good idea, I should have thought about that. Would make the 'dramatic' ending cutscene of the origin comic gold too. I haven't played that one, but I doubt it would be as good as introducing some nudity into the Mage origin.

I considered letting

Maybe the dragon's behavior depends a bit on where you are when you summon it. My group happened to be standing in the narrow part of the path, close to the entrance to the Gauntlet. The rock walls on either side of the path there might be too close for swooping.

The epilogue I got for the guy said he grabbed a ship out of Denerim and sailed somewhere up north before the darkspawn siege. (No doubt paid for by the 50g worth of equipment of mine he walked out with.)

Descent? Did the dragon fly around when you guys were fighting it? That would've been pretty cool-- it stayed put for me.

Locks is a Talent, not a Skill.

So I've mostly worked out what I want in my rogue. But I'm still trying to decide on initial skills. Rogues start with Poison 1, get one Skill based on origin (Dwarf Nobles get Combat Training 1), and get to pick one more at each odd-numbered level (including 1st). I want Momentum ASAP, which means I need to get Combat 2 and 3 quickly. So, if C2&3 are to be my level 3&5 skills, what else do I take at level 1-- Stealing, Traps, or Coercion? I'm willing to wait on Traps until I have enough Stealth to make it useful. I do think it'd be fun to run around the Origin and Ostagar taking everything that isn't nailed down. But not having any Coercion before level 7 is probably going to be frustrating. If I do skip Stealing early on, I'm not going to take any of it with my main character at all. I'd welcome comments from anybody who remembers the early bits of the game better than I do-- what are the relative benefits of early Coercion and Stealing?

From what I understand, it's simply "THE Dragon Age Setting" abbreviated, which was originally done by posters in the old discussion boards, and was eventually adopted by Bioware after they found themselves calling it that. Wow. That's even dumber.

This is probably a dumb coincidence, but it occurred to me last night: Thedas. The Das. The The.

Yeah, I used some of the info in that post, but I wasn't about to duplicate some of those calculations. (The attack timing stuff in particular lost me.) And I didn't want to include specific equipment or the constant use of the DLC power (which I haven't bought).