Dragon age discussion

[Hurlshort]

There was one point where I was annoyed at the lack of inventory space, but then I ventured into the lair of the demonic pack rat that resides in my soul and bested the beast. I got rid of all the junk I never was going to use and never had a problem after that. I also found that money was little issue after the first half of the game.

[Gfted1]

And a storage device in the party's camp would've been nice.

 

 

I dont know where it is anymore since they moved websites but one of the devs created a chest for the party camp if you feel like googling it.

[Asol]

As far as the backbacks and so on go I hope that ME2 doesn't have quite such an MMO encroachment feel to it.

I really don't care to be gunning my way down an extra hallway between objectives for the promise of ??0 hours.

 

That said none of it really bothered me but there was an appreciable sense of a content stretch at points.

Edited November 24, 2009 by Asol

[Guest Slinky]

I just remembered that I read somewhere before DA was released, that there was going to be some "junk" system in inventory so you could set certain items automatically as junk and you could sell them all at once to merchants. I think it was in some preview. Was the information wrong or did it get the axe at some point?

 

I also think I saw some video where you could see that there was a video preview for all spells, so you could see the spells in action before spending points in them. That would have been handy, atleast to me.

[Majek]

Er, isn't there only one merchant in Ostagar? He's never had backpacks in stock when I've played that part of the game.

There's 3 afaik + 1 armorer.

[Monte Carlo]

^ Ostagar, not (I think) Orzammar.

 

Y'know, the place where you join the Wardens.

[Enoch]

Yeah, the names could've been more distinctive-- I got those names confused a bit at the beginning, too.

 

And, between all the "Arl" and "Teyrn" being bandied about, every discussion of Fereldan politics sounded like it was going to break into a chorus of Tuvan throat singing.

[Majek]

Oh, my bad. Yeah, just the quartermaster there.

[Gorth]

Yeah, the names could've been more distinctive-- I got those names confused a bit at the beginning, too.

 

And, between all the "Arl" and "Teyrn" being bandied about, every discussion of Fereldan politics sounded like it was going to break into a chorus of Tuvan throat singing.

A lot of the names and titles sounds like they were inspired by ancient celts.

[alanschu]

The setting in general seems inspired in part by Celts. I don't think it's much of a stretch to see where a lot of the inspiration comes from for the various regions of this game.

[Oner]

Yeah, the names could've been more distinctive-- I got those names confused a bit at the beginning, too.

 

And, between all the "Arl" and "Teyrn" being bandied about, every discussion of Fereldan politics sounded like it was going to break into a chorus of Tuvan throat singing.

A lot of the names and titles sounds like they were inspired by ancient celts.

The human party members have mostly Celtic names, but other languages crop up:

 

* Morr

Edited November 24, 2009 by Oner

[alanschu]

I just got Sten. Aside from me having more focus in the 2H weapon tree, we're actually quite the carbon copies of each other at the moment. I have a slight lead in strength, but he makes up for it with other abilities. Our constitution is the same.

 

His default tactics do set up to use Threaten (but not Taunt), which is probably an idea of having him solo whomever he is facing. Though I prefer to have Alistair be the meat shield once he gets taunt up, so I set Sten to Scrapper.

[Volourn]

I will never understand why people will whine about not having enough inventory slots. There is way more than enough. Way too much. If anything, the game should be bashed for allowing to carry way too many armours at a time.

 

And, serious? Can't tell Ostagar and Orzammar apart? Gah.

 

You saved Sten? I did too. Big mistake. Guy is scumbag on feet. Evil to core.

[TheHarlequin]

I will never understand why people will whine about not having enough inventory slots. There is way more than enough. Way too much. If anything, the game should be bashed for allowing to carry way too many armours at a time.

 

And, serious? Can't tell Ostagar and Orzammar apart? Gah.

 

You saved Sten? I did too. Big mistake. Guy is scumbag on feet. Evil to core.

 

Your entertaining.

 

95% of the time someone has a critisim of a bioware game you feel the need to defend bioware or/and shoot down the person expressing their opinion or observation. Look at yourself and your posting history. You retort folks with critism like clock work and then acts shocked ppl see you as a tool for bioware? People see you as the poster child for bioware because you ARE. You defend them to he bitter end with the excuse 'I made a negative comment on (insert minor complaint here) so I am not a fanboy...'. Its like everyone but you sees you for what you are. Sadly you are the only one oblivious (fact or feigned who knows) to what you are doing. When you are all alone vs. the world stating something as 'true' you might be the one wrong. *shrugs*

 

Not that expect you to open your eyes with this post, you have made your 'im right and the world is wrong' stance quite clear. But its what everyone else is thinking already at this point. But it IS entertaining so please do continue.

[entrerix]

ive grown to enjoy vol's tenacity and dedication. plus its nice to know what the counter argument is to whatever point a person may make. the counter argument doesnt always make sense, but it's nice to see what it would be.

[alanschu]

Please don't speak on behalf of me. Even Volourn and his rather unique way of discussing things has made points at times that I very much agree with. A lot of the stuff I don't think Volourn is alone in, especially when looking at discussion of various topics at other places (usually BioWare's social site) that has comments and assessments that are typically contrary to what many people are saying here. They also have comments that agree with what people say here, but it's hardly "Volo vs the World."

 

At least in this thread IMO.

[entrerix]

eh, i think vol might be somewhat alone in the depth of his love of nwn oc....

 

 

i actually agree with about 70% of what he says re dragon age though

Edited November 24, 2009 by entrerix

[Tigranes]

Get over it, people. *snip snip*

[Oner]

Get over it, people. *snip snip*

Why don't you delete the actual derailing posts, hm?

 

As for the backpack thing: I didn't mind it after the party had something you could actually call capital.

Edited November 25, 2009 by Oner

[Gorth]

More *snip snip*

 

What Tigranes said. Is that why it is called a "pair" of scissors I wonder?...

[Volourn]

Hey, at least delete the post that started the mess.

 

Anyways, sicne I finished the game, I'll be starting a new game with a human mage. Should be fun.

[Oner]

Everyone seems to start a mage at the second playthrough. Those who played mage the first time don't count.

 

So Gorth, why did the dragon cross the road?

[Gromnir]

if inventory management added to gameplay we would concede that there were a point. if, as were suggested by bio bosses at some point, there were technical limitations on inventory, we could also understand. however, with extra backpack space being purchasable the technical limitations argument goes out the window, and am not seeing a gameplay function neither. to avoid the sheer tedium of retracing steps through cleared maps and 1007ing corpses and chests, you can purchase extra backpack space? wow. great feature. heck, at least most games tie inventory to an ability score.

 

...

 

dragon age ain't as open-ended as some (many) games, but is still difficult to balance the money aspect. there gotta be enough money for people who does the critical path to feels like they is adequate rewarded, but those folks who does all the side-quests inevitably end up with a surplus o' funds. is a dilemma. bioware solution: expensive backpack space? the critical path players who runs through game probable don't need or care 'bout backpack space. on the other hand, the hardcore players will squeeze every copper out o' the game, and 1007 every chest... even if those chests got nothing worth noting in 'em. the folks who Need backpack space is thus the people most likely able to afford backpack space.

 

is hardly a clever solution to the gold surplus problem some games suffer from. is not even a genuine solution, save near start of game when gold surplus is rarely an issue in Most games. am not sure whose idea it were, but the bioware inventory solution (buy 10 slots o' inventory for 5 or 7 gold) is, whether you is bothered by it or not, a hamfisted solution that lacks... style. is maybe not a insanely stoopid as the combat tactics SKILL (of which wynne had all four tiers when we met her in tower), but it is a very clumsy solution.

 

and vol is not wrong 100% o' the time... it just seems that way at times.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited November 25, 2009 by Gromnir

[Tigranes]

I don't mind the backpack so much, because it's rare when I have to leave truly valuable things behind... but you wonder why there are only about 3 things of value in all the locked chests in the world, why stealing gets you nothing useful (and why nobody gets mad when you fail steal)...

 

As far as gold surpluses go, it might have been best to make the investments in your allied armies actually worth a damn. The endgame was a big flat fart for me, since after all that buildup about your 'allies' you don't really need them, you're just fighting normal-sized hordes of darkspawn same as the Deep Roads or somesuch. Having allies as a big moneysink where you progressively invest in them (and see the results of that investment, a la crossroads keep), and have them actually count in the end, would have been nice.

[Gromnir]

I don't mind the backpack so much, because it's rare when I have to leave truly valuable things behind... but you wonder why there are only about 3 things of value in all the locked chests in the world, why stealing gets you nothing useful (and why nobody gets mad when you fail steal)...

 

As far as gold surpluses go, it might have been best to make the investments in your allied armies actually worth a damn. The endgame was a big flat fart for me, since after all that buildup about your 'allies' you don't really need them, you're just fighting normal-sized hordes of darkspawn same as the Deep Roads or somesuch. Having allies as a big moneysink where you progressively invest in them (and see the results of that investment, a la crossroads keep), and have them actually count in the end, would have been nice.

 

the problem with such a solution is that it makes game easier. hardcore folks is the ones who most often complain 'bout ease of game... so you make purchasable stuff that leads to even further reduced difficulty. is maybe not the ideal solution to the problem, no?

 

developers is faced with problem of making money disappear, without significant altering game balance. is not as easy as it would appear to be at first blush. even so, ultra expensive (relative speaking) backpack space is an odd choice. am finding it hard to believe that it were bio's best solution, or even a solution.

 

HA! Good Fun!