Magister Lajciak Posted April 13, 2009 Posted April 13, 2009 Did anyone get the full book by the way? A woman I know on the DA board bought 25 copies and sent one to me. Who did that? Imported Beer? Yes. Though I think she only ended up buying ten. Either way, instead of sending me a copy, she ordered one from amazon.com and sent it to me. Now I'm trying to figure out what to send her. You could always send her a copy of Dragon Age or perhaps some sort of Dragon Age module after they are released. A bouquet of flowers might be appreciated too, but then you might have her husband hunting you down!
Monte Carlo Posted April 13, 2009 Posted April 13, 2009 Wait, there's actually books about Dragon Age? Are they prequels of some sorts, or are they something of a kin of Silmarillion-wannabes? I think it's a tad hubristic to release your fan-fic before the game is a huge success.
Llyranor Posted April 13, 2009 Posted April 13, 2009 I think it's a tad hubristic to name yourself 'Monte Carlo'. (Approved by Fio, so feel free to use it)
Monte Carlo Posted April 13, 2009 Posted April 13, 2009 ^ Huh? I am a small principality noted for it's casinos. Ergo, I am fully entitled to style myself as such.
Seraphael Posted April 13, 2009 Posted April 13, 2009 Elves are everyone's b*tches in Dragon Age, so that's more like the Witcher. Dwarves give lip service to honor and duty, but most noble houses use assasination and trechery to get ahead while casteless dwarves are thought to have no soul. I do recall a fantasy story like that, but I don't know which one. The humans of Ferelden are barbarians compared to their neighbors, which is more Conan. The quanri are a race of giant militant Buddists, while the human religion IMHO is a very cynical take on real world Christianity. I do agree that Dragon Age borrows from other fantasy works, even LotR, but disgree that it *is* LotR. It may not be Lord of the Rings, but it is very much Wheel of Time and especially Song of Ice and Fire. Said as much once we got to learn a bit of the world of Dragon Age. David Gaider, the lead writer, mentioned both books in this joystiq interview. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
Maria Caliban Posted April 13, 2009 Author Posted April 13, 2009 I believe that BioWare attempted to match the tone and feel of A Song of Ice and Fire; I am not sure they succeeded, but I will reserve judgment for when I play. "When is this out. I can't wait to play it so I can talk at length about how bad it is." - Gorgon.
Moatilliatta Posted April 14, 2009 Posted April 14, 2009 I think we should be carefull in reading too much into such comments similarly to how we shouldn't read too much into the stuff about the game being a spiritual successor to BG. DA will be as much ASoIaF as it'll be 2d and set in the sword coast. It would be very hard to match the tone of ASoIaF in the kind of CRPGs that Bioware makes. It obviously also depends on what you think the tone of ASoIaF is.
Purkake Posted April 14, 2009 Posted April 14, 2009 I think we should be carefull in reading too much into such comments similarly to how we shouldn't read too much into the stuff about the game being a spiritual successor to BG. DA will be as much ASoIaF as it'll be 2d and set in the sword coast. It would be very hard to match the tone of ASoIaF in the kind of CRPGs that Bioware makes. It obviously also depends on what you think the tone of ASoIaF is. After going through all the GDC week podcasts "Dark heroic fantasy" still rings in my ears. Pretty much every other sentence the Bioware "doctors" said was something along the lines of "LotR sucks right, so we're going with dark heroic fantasy like ASoIaF"
Moatilliatta Posted April 14, 2009 Posted April 14, 2009 (edited) Only problem is that ASoIaF isn't dark heroic fantasy. They need to utter a few words that you know well in order to properly hype a game but that doesn't mean that the game will concentrate solely around those few well known words. ASoIaF does contain dark heroic fantasy elements just as I'm sure DA will. That doesn't make DA "A game of Ice and Gaider: The Bioware Song" or anything like that. Edited April 14, 2009 by Moatilliatta
Slowtrain Posted April 14, 2009 Posted April 14, 2009 It's for the good. I really disliked A GAme of Thrones. I'd rather play Bioshock. But not Oblivion. Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
Purkake Posted April 14, 2009 Posted April 14, 2009 It's for the good. I really disliked A GAme of Thrones. I'd rather play Bioshock. But not Oblivion. If I ever get through it, maybe I'll get into ASoIaF... I did like the Wheel of Time, though.
Slowtrain Posted April 14, 2009 Posted April 14, 2009 I did like the Wheel of Time, though. The series started off well. The Eye of the World was quite good and The Great Hunt was pretty decent. AT some point though the forward progress seemed to stop. SOmewher around Book 4 or 5 I suddenly realized this was all a huge waste of my time. And that was that. How many books did it finish at? 9? Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
Purkake Posted April 14, 2009 Posted April 14, 2009 (edited) I did like the Wheel of Time, though. The series started off well. The Eye of the World was quite good and The Great Hunt was pretty decent. AT some point though the forward progress seemed to stop. SOmewher around Book 4 or 5 I suddenly realized this was all a huge waste of my time. And that was that. How many books did it finish at? 9? At the moment there are 11 books with the final 12th one "A Memory of Light" coming this fall from another author(Brandon Sanderson), because the original author(Robert Jordan) died a year ago. It did slow down in the middle, but it didn't bother me as much, because I listened to the audiobook(unabridged). It does kind of pick up again after a while. Poor Rand is barely alive at the end of the 11th book. What I really like about the series is that it shows the events from a lot of different perspectives including the bad guys and random people on the other side of the world. Edited April 14, 2009 by Purkake
Slowtrain Posted April 14, 2009 Posted April 14, 2009 lol 12 Books? Crazy. at, what, 700 pages a book that is 12*700 = 8400 pages. Seriously that has to be one of the longest continuous written narratives in the entire history of books. Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
Purkake Posted April 14, 2009 Posted April 14, 2009 lol 12 Books? Crazy. at, what, 700 pages a book that is 12*700 = 8400 pages. Seriously that has to be one of the longest continuous written narratives in the entire history of books. Probably, that's why the unabridged audiobooks were so handy.
Slowtrain Posted April 14, 2009 Posted April 14, 2009 lol 12 Books? Crazy. at, what, 700 pages a book that is 12*700 = 8400 pages. Seriously that has to be one of the longest continuous written narratives in the entire history of books. Probably, that's why the unabridged audiobooks were so handy. That was a pretty clever way to get around the insane word count. I might try that nyself. Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
Deadly_Nightshade Posted April 14, 2009 Posted April 14, 2009 Seriously that has to be one of the longest continuous written narratives in the entire history of books. Maybe, it is estimated to have 3,430,682 words and that is more than the next runner-up. "Geez. It's like we lost some sort of bet and ended up saddled with a bunch of terrible new posters on this forum." -Hurlshot
Purkake Posted April 14, 2009 Posted April 14, 2009 lol 12 Books? Crazy. at, what, 700 pages a book that is 12*700 = 8400 pages. Seriously that has to be one of the longest continuous written narratives in the entire history of books. Probably, that's why the unabridged audiobooks were so handy. That was a pretty clever way to get around the insane word count. I might try that nyself. The two narrators are really awesome too, one does all the male voices and the other does all the female ones. Also they pronounce all the crazy names correctly. You can listen to audio samples at audible
Maria Caliban Posted April 15, 2009 Author Posted April 15, 2009 (edited) A Song of Ice and Fire could be described as dark, heroic fantasy if fantasy readers used those terms. It's for the good. I really disliked A GAme of Thrones. I'd rather play Bioshock. But not Oblivion. Why did you dislike it? I found A Game of Thrones good, but the last novel (something Crows) was just bad. I mean, 'you couldn't get this published if it wasn't part of an ongoing series' bad. At the moment there are 11 books with the final 12th one "A Memory of Light" coming this fall from another author(Brandon Sanderson), because the original author(Robert Jordan) died a year ago. Brandon Sanderson is writing three books, not one. lol 12 Books? Crazy. at, what, 700 pages a book that is 12*700 = 8400 pages. Seriously that has to be one of the longest continuous written narratives in the entire history of books. That's pretty tame compared to mystery series. Miss Marple, 12 books. Hercule Poirot, 33 novels and 51 short stories. The ‘in Death’ series, 29 novels and going. Edited April 15, 2009 by Maria Caliban "When is this out. I can't wait to play it so I can talk at length about how bad it is." - Gorgon.
Wrath of Dagon Posted April 15, 2009 Posted April 15, 2009 [After going through all the GDC week podcasts "Dark heroic fantasy" still rings in my ears. Pretty much every other sentence the Bioware "doctors" said was something along the lines of "LotR sucks right, so we're going with dark heroic fantasy like ASoIaF" The doctors are so stuck in hype now I hardly pay attention to them anymore. Every game they make is "their best ever and awesome and fantastic!" I'm halfway through The Stolen Throne, and it doesn't seem very dark at all so far. "Moral indignation is a standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity." Marshall McLuhan
Purkake Posted April 15, 2009 Posted April 15, 2009 Brandon Sanderson is writing three books, not one. Hmm, interesting. It'll still be three parts of one book but released separately.
Dakar Posted April 15, 2009 Posted April 15, 2009 I loved ASOIAF. A Feast for Crows wasn't as great as previos novels, but as a series I find it one of the best fantasy series I've ever ready.
Syraxis Posted April 16, 2009 Posted April 16, 2009 I'm halfway through The Stolen Throne, and it doesn't seem very dark at all so far. I was planning on picking that up soon, is it any good?
Wrath of Dagon Posted April 16, 2009 Posted April 16, 2009 I'm really not sure what to say right now, I started to care a lot more about the characters but some events just don't make much sense to me, which really annoys me. "Moral indignation is a standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity." Marshall McLuhan
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