Dragon age discussion

[alanschu]

As someone who enjoys macromanaging a battle I can say the amount of tactic slots you get are not nearly enough even with the skill maxed.

...

To just control your pc and EFFECTIVLY have the other PCs manage themselves without a lot fo hand holding you need more then 6 slots by the time your 1/3 though the game as your abilities outnumber your tactic slots.

 

I disagree. We may have differing expectations of what it means to be "effective" but my 2H warrior build that I am playing through has largely been me sticking to my 2H warrior the entire time. That doesn't excuse they way they implemented it though.

 

 

And there is NO way to beat the game on normal without one PC having herbal skill to make pots. There just are NOT enough pre-made ones for sale.

 

I guarantee this is not the case. I've done it.

Edited November 30, 2009 by alanschu

[alanschu]

I thought this was a well done video:

 

[Pidesco]

The camerawork isn't too shabby, but that song is cringe-worthy. Is that the awful tune from the credits?

[Volourn]

"we thinks it is kinda a no-brainer to give all non-mages at least 1 level o' posion. etc"

 

Huh? Why? Not needed, and only wussies, cowards, and evil scumbags use poison. TO HONOUR AND BEYOND!

 

 

Alos, as Alanshu mentioned, while herbalism is very useful, it's definitely not *needed*. You cna end up with hundreds of healing poultices, and lyrium potions without it.

 

 

So.. are those who cried that the rogue was 'gimped' and utterly garbagey and useless tehn claimed I was being a 'BIO apolofist' gonna actually apologize now that multiple people are now confirming an already known fact that rogues are darn awesome? I doubt it. People don't admit theya re wroing and most certainly don't apologize on the net. It makes them 'less cool', I guess.

 

 

DA is awesome. No game gives you such awesome evil twisted, and sick options. SICK, SICK, SICK.

[Monte Carlo]

^ There's a guy who loves the Sacred Ashes trailer and wanted to make the in-game characters more like the way they're depicted in it. He's modded the characters armour and facial features etc. using the toolset, he's done a good job IMO. Actually the African looking Sten in the trailer is much cooler than the in-game one.

 

As for the 30 Seconds to Mars track, I like it.

[Meshugger]

Been playing as a human noble going rogue for 8-9 hours or so. Some impressions:

 

The good:

 

- Partymembers. Fantasy is a pretty juvenile setting in itself, but the characters do not behave like they are written by a 14-year old. There's actually some mature behaviour going on. Me likey.

- The combat (Finally a game with interesting and tactical combat, i don't even know when i enjoyed the combat of an RPG the last time. Bravo, Bioware).

- Story so far.

- The sense of scope the engine can create by generating wast landscapes.

- Sleek menu

 

The bad:

 

- The silly british accents that only exist in Dickens novels.

- The colorpalette. It is like it is run through a brown filter.

- Even at the highest setting, it seems like all the textures are still blurry. I do not know if it is the game itself or a driver issue with my graphics-card.

 

The Ugly:

 

- The Blood. Argh! It seems like it was put there in a rush. It is not the amount of blood that i am talking about, rather it being badly designed and esthetically very displeasing.

Edited November 30, 2009 by Meshugger

[Volourn]

Not gonna toa rgue about the how the blood looks but I'm gonna use this as a chance to priause the use of blood in the game. I was one of many who thought the bloood was over the top and frivilous during the hype of DA; but after playing the game, it is logical, fitting, and enhances the game, imo.

 

The entire DA setting/world is largely about blood. It's like it bleeds blood. Blood mages, blood rituals, drinking blood, tainted blood, cursed blood, and on, and on. The DA lore backs up blood's importance in the world fantatsically.

[TheHarlequin]

As someone who enjoys macromanaging a battle I can say the amount of tactic slots you get are not nearly enough even with the skill maxed.

...

To just control your pc and EFFECTIVLY have the other PCs manage themselves without a lot fo hand holding you need more then 6 slots by the time your 1/3 though the game as your abilities outnumber your tactic slots.

 

I disagree. We may have differing expectations of what it means to be "effective" but my 2H warrior build that I am playing through has largely been me sticking to my 2H warrior the entire time. That doesn't excuse they way they implemented it though.

 

 

And there is NO way to beat the game on normal without one PC having herbal skill to make pots. There just are NOT enough pre-made ones for sale.

 

I guarantee this is not the case. I've done it.

 

We will disagree then. I HAVE enountered more abilities then slots. Its not a fantasy situation. Why didnt you just make it so all party members have 25 slots like the mod does? Why hand out slots like a prize? Its a poor way to do it. At least we agree on that.

 

Well you must have found a magic vendor I never found that has unlimited heal pots. I found unlimited CRAFTING supplies, not pre-made pots. And the way the party goes though them you need A LOT over the course of the game if you are not going to craft your own.

Edited November 30, 2009 by TheHarlequin

[kirottu]

I agree with alan. After first 10 hours I stopped making healing potions. It really depens alot of what kind of party you have.

[TheHarlequin]

The good:

 

> - Partymembers. Fantasy is a pretty juvenile setting in itself, but the characters do not behave like they are written by a 14-year old. There's actually some mature behaviour going on. Me likey.

 

Agreed.

 

> - The silly british accents that only exist in Dickens novels.

 

ehh.. can take it or leave it.

 

> - The colorpalette. It is like it is run through a brown filter.

 

Funny I heard the EXACT same gripes with AoC. problem is they were trying to go for low fantasy... where bright colors were restricted to nobles and the like. And most commoners wore blacks, tans and browns. As they were all natural. How do you represent a early medieval low fantasy setting with everyone in eye popping colors? Again they were saying the same thing about AoC and 'not enough colors for clothing'. Well do you want a realistic representation or not? I think they hit the nail on the head art design wise for this game. Just as they did with AoC.

 

And if they did go crazy with the colors you'd same someone else here posting how 'unrealistic the color pallette is'. *shrugs* its really a no win situation for them.

 

 

> Even at the highest setting, it seems like all the textures are still blurry. I do not know if it is the game itself or a driver issue with my graphics-card.

 

Not you. Epic fail on whoever did the textures. They are low res, blurry.

 

> The Blood. Argh! It seems like it was put there in a rush. It is not the amount of blood that i am talking about, rather it being badly designed and esthetically very displeasing.

 

I turned it off. Its silly and takes away from the game IMO.

[HoonDing]

Anyway, what difficulty level are you playing at? 'Cause my Arcane Warrior is also kicking ass and chewing bubble gum (and is all out of gum). Compared to my first Templar character, the Arcane Warrior is leaps and heads above him in pwnagery.

I always play on Normal.

 

As for Arcane Warrior, in the end it is faster & cooler to simply "shake & bake" all enemies. Sure a frail Elven chick running around in Juggernaut armour with Spellweaver is fun at first, but it also turns the game into a round of whack-a-mole. You're invulnerable against anything that isn't orange marked, but without melee combat abilities just auto-attacking everything gets really boring.

Edited November 30, 2009 by virumor

[alanschu]

The camerawork isn't too shabby, but that song is cringe-worthy. Is that the awful tune from the credits?

 

As Monte Carlo mentioned, it was an in game depiction of the Sacred Ashes trailer.

 

I personally don't mind the music either.

[alanschu]

Not gonna toa rgue about the how the blood looks but I'm gonna use this as a chance to priause the use of blood in the game. I was one of many who thought the bloood was over the top and frivilous during the hype of DA; but after playing the game, it is logical, fitting, and enhances the game, imo.

 

The entire DA setting/world is largely about blood. It's like it bleeds blood. Blood mages, blood rituals, drinking blood, tainted blood, cursed blood, and on, and on. The DA lore backs up blood's importance in the world fantatsically.

 

 

I didn't mind the blood effects during combat (I hardly notice them), but after several conversations with people where I was all bloodied up from the splatter, I found myself turning off the blood on character models. Though I guess someone modded it so that it doesn't go onto the face (which was the distracting part for me), which would be

 

Well you must have found a magic vendor I never found that has unlimited heal pots.

 

No. In fact the bulk of my healing potions were simply looted. Even my first playthrough, the only potions I made in any quantity were the weakest ones. I think at best I learned the next level of healing potion, but couldn't be bothered to consistently buy the materials to make it. Most of my potion making came early game, but once I had two mages capable of casting a healing spell (and Wynne as a spirit healer) the game became easy enough that my need for healing potions was pretty much gone.

Edited November 30, 2009 by alanschu

[jaguars4ever]

Anyway, what difficulty level are you playing at? 'Cause my Arcane Warrior is also kicking ass and chewing bubble gum (and is all out of gum). Compared to my first Templar character, the Arcane Warrior is leaps and heads above him in pwnagery.

I always play on Normal.

 

As for Arcane Warrior, in the end it is faster & cooler to simply "shake & bake" all enemies. Sure a frail Elven chick running around in Juggernaut armour with Spellweaver is fun at first, but it also turns the game into a round of whack-a-mole. You're invulnerable against anything that isn't orange marked, but without melee combat abilities just auto-attacking everything gets really boring.

So what's your current balance between "Shake & Bake" bomb dropping vs Whack-a-mole sustainables?

[Matthew Rorie]

I found that I used a lot of healing pots early on, used almost none for the bulk of the game, and then increased my usage dramatically near the end, to the point where I had to make a bunch. But then I never used more than one mage in my party at a time.

 

Has anyone found a mod that greatly increases your carrying capacity? I have the camp storage chest mod, but I'd love to be able to hold 200 items or so.

[Oner]

I think someone posted it in the earlier thread.

[Gromnir]

I found that I used a lot of healing pots early on, used almost none for the bulk of the game, and then increased my usage dramatically near the end, to the point where I had to make a bunch. But then I never used more than one mage in my party at a time.

 

Has anyone found a mod that greatly increases your carrying capacity? I have the camp storage chest mod, but I'd love to be able to hold 200 items or so.

 

having 2 mages does not decrease potion usage as mages end up using lyrium potions... net reduction on potion usage is zero. conversely, you could have morrigane and wynne sit back going pew-pew with their staves until mana regenerates enough to cast... anything. is no doubt a very fun way to play da.

 

ask vol for inventory tips. apparently you is a serious yutz if you need more than 80 inventory slots. perhaps it is a kanadian thing as alan also claims that the base inventory allocation never felt limiting.

 

*snort*

 

with a useful rogue character in our party we even have more need for inventory slots... deathroot and frost rocks... plus the actual frost bombs and concentrated deathroot stuff. thank goodness we don't use traps.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[alanschu]

ask vol for inventory tips. apparently you is a serious yutz if you need more than 80 inventory slots. perhaps it is a kanadian thing as alan also claims that the base inventory allocation never felt limiting.

 

It's probably more because I sold what I didn't need. My first open world plot I did have issue with inventory, until I realized that the necessity for keeping everything "just in case" like I often do in RPGs isn't required.

 

Even during Redcliffe the only frustrating thing about it was that I had to destroy items to pick up stuff. But truth is the value of those items was a couple of silver, and I was never going to use them anyway.

 

I didn't craft outside of a few inventory potions, and don't really care for the crafting system in the game (I think it's pretty meh in this game, and not particularly fun). I suspect that will cause a bigger issue (I sold all my frost rock for example), but even then the big caveat with my inventory space was almost always equipment (which don't stack like the other items, and take up an inventory slot for each one).

 

Playing through the game the second time, inventory isn't much a problem (I still buy the backpacks), except this time I'm much richer earlier in the game because I liberally sell stuff.

[Tigranes]

I didn't have a problem with the inventory, especialy since you can buy the cheap packs and get 90 after Ostagar. I forgot to get those in the current game so just used a mod for 120 spaces, but its my third playthrough and I just want to make use of the traps and poisons and other crafting items. Contrary to alanschu, I really like crafting in DA, more so than the convoluted systems in, say, the NWN2 series (there's a reason they kept changing it). You have an integrated menu where you can immediately see what you need to make what; making stuff is instantaneous without stupid animations (e.g. Risen); ingredients mostly make sense so you don't need to keep looking to see what makes what; it's not particularly overpowered, though maybe ingredients could be costlier.

[Gromnir]

I didn't have a problem with the inventory, especialy since you can buy the cheap packs and get 90 after Ostagar. I forgot to get those in the current game so just used a mod for 120 spaces, but its my third playthrough and I just want to make use of the traps and poisons and other crafting items.

 

how many folks without meta-knowledge knew that you could get 2 cheap(er) backpacks in ostegar? in any event, your second sentence does seem to weaken the strength of your first sentence observation, no?

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Volourn]

"how many folks without meta-knowledge knew that you could get 2 cheap(er) backpacks in ostegar?"

 

The horror of not discovering everything on a first play through. Seriously, you expect to be babysat. Bottom line is that DA gives you TOO much inventory. That is a weakness. But, hey, gamers are notorious for wanting to be able to carry 100+ suits of armour just so they cry about the inventory not being 'realistic'. Then again, you believe rogues are sucky yet that's already been proven as an absolute lie. Rogues are darn good in this game. This is a fact.

[Tigranes]

how many folks without meta-knowledge knew that you could get 2 cheap(er) backpacks in ostegar? in any event, your second sentence does seem to weaken the strength of your first sentence observation, no?

 

I didn't know about any of them in my first playthrough and struggled with 70 until I could purchase a 7-sovereign backpack. The second playthrough, I only got one of the cheap backpacks. I don't see a problem with figuring things out in one playthrough then applying it in the next. But I gather that your main point is that most of us will begin our playing experience with a 'severe' (or not, for Volo and others) inventory limit, and that limit doesn't serve any positive purpose in the game.

 

To be honest I'm not sure how I feel about it, which might explain, as you say, somewhat hypocritical position I am in of modding the inventory this time round. I really saw it the same way as infinity engine inventory spaces - not that big a deal, never makes you miss out on a lot of stuff, but not great reason to be there, either. I expect I'll play with 120 spaces modded in from now on, just so I can freely make use of various traps and poisons and have fun.

[Gromnir]

"how many folks without meta-knowledge knew that you could get 2 cheap(er) backpacks in ostegar?"

 

The horror of not discovering everything on a first play through. Seriously, you expect to be babysat. Bottom line is that DA gives you TOO much inventory. That is a weakness. But, hey, gamers are notorious for wanting to be able to carry 100+ suits of armour just so they cry about the inventory not being 'realistic'. Then again, you believe rogues are sucky yet that's already been proven as an absolute lie. Rogues are darn good in this game. This is a fact.

 

1) where did we say you should be able to find everything the first time through?

 

heck, tig, who not think inventory were limited, had to use an inventory increase mod if he were wanting to take advantage of traps n' such. gosh, the biowarians put grenades and poisons and elemental coatings in game, but a player who wants to use 'em is sever hampered by the initial and early inventory limit. am also wondering how many people okie dokie with inventory has soldier's peak. soldier's peak is dlc, not core. that extra chest makes a big difference in inventory management.

 

in any event, our point were that to use a relative obscure backpack purchase to show that there is no backpack shortage is intellectually dishonest... we certainly were not criticizing the lack o' player omniscience. would think that were obvious, but you do tend to miss the obvious. speaking of which...

 

2) show where Gromnir said that rogues is sucky

 

we said that rogues is pointless... they is an example o' developer bloat. Gromnir specific noted that when we played through the dwarf noble origin, through ostagar, our rogue were effective. didn't change fact that we sees 'em as pointless. can't find your own arse and now you is misrepresenting Gromnir statements? stick to telling us how all spells in da and bg2 is non-sucky and how mages ain't disproportionate powerful in da.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited December 1, 2009 by Gromnir

[Killian Kalthorne]

Pointless? POINTLESS?!?!?

 

Only if you are playing female.

 

The rogue can pick locks, steal crap, and kick people in the jimmy. I hardly count that as being pointless. Kicking people in the jimmy is so much fun!

 

Darkspawn has nards!

Edited December 1, 2009 by Killian Kalthorne

[CoM_Solaufein]

I found that I used a lot of healing pots early on, used almost none for the bulk of the game, and then increased my usage dramatically near the end, to the point where I had to make a bunch. But then I never used more than one mage in my party at a time.

 

Has anyone found a mod that greatly increases your carrying capacity? I have the camp storage chest mod, but I'd love to be able to hold 200 items or so.

Here's a mod. But according to that you can only max out at 125 unless you hack your save game. Which is something you can use the tool set for.