Sannom Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 I always saw the Darkspawn as just another name for the "evil horde of doom", a race with which you can't negotiate or barter with because they are driven by a lust for carnage and pure evil, basically the orcs in most others settings. The Ogre are just the typical "bigger & stupider" that always go along with the smaller, basic soldiers in that kind of horde. And they're the reason Dragon Age fails as a mature and "dark" setting as far as I'm concerned. Qunari are evil. Their so called honour is pathetic. Sten is supposed to eb some sort of 'ideal' yet fails at massive levels. HE SLAUGHTERED AN ENTIRE FAMILY BECAUSE HE WENT EMO OVER HSI LOST SWORD. How is that not evil? He went into an uncontrolled rage, out of panic because he lost something really important to him. It is evil, but he himself admits it and accepts the first chance at redemption that he gets, one that will permit him to regain his honor as a Qunari by getting his sword back, and the other by "clearing" the Qunaris' honor tainted by his action, and this he does by fighting the Blight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monte Carlo Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Sten is the best NPC in the game. He's done something very, very wrong. He wants to die. He asks for no mercy, and expects none either. He loathes you, partly, because you offer him redemption in an honorable death in battle --- which you delay. OK, the way it's written you don't get much choice but that's a design fault. Mary Kirby can, IMO, take credit for one of the best Bioware NPCs for some time. Distinctive, nuanced, occasionally amusing. You even take him along despite his sub-optimal characger build. Vol, if he offends your morality leave him in his cage --- the darkspawn will slay him when Lothering falls. No problem. Cheers MC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volourn Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 (edited) "Vol, if he offends your morality leave him in his cage --- the darkspawn will slay him when Lothering falls. No problem. " Next time, please read my post before responding to it. "Sten is the best NPC in the game." Nah. Not even close. Sten is an irredeemable character who no worthwhile characteristics, and very little entertainment value. Edited February 27, 2010 by Volourn DWARVES IN PROJECT ETERNITY = VOLOURN HAS PLEDGED $250. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Di Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Sten is the best NPC in the game. He's done something very, very wrong. He wants to die. He asks for no mercy, and expects none either. He loathes you, partly, because you offer him redemption in an honorable death in battle --- which you delay. OK, the way it's written you don't get much choice but that's a design fault. Mary Kirby can, IMO, take credit for one of the best Bioware NPCs for some time. Distinctive, nuanced, occasionally amusing. You even take him along despite his sub-optimal characger build. Vol, if he offends your morality leave him in his cage --- the darkspawn will slay him when Lothering falls. No problem. Cheers MC I love the part where Leilianna catches Sten using a string to play with a kitten, and he sputters that he was merely training it to hunt. "Softie!" Yeah, Sten was a great character. I enjoyed him a lot. Then again, I also enjoyed Shayle immensely, and Zevran was a hoot! Alistair had his moments, but mostly he just irritated me. And he wasn't that good in bed, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Di Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 (edited) Blech. I'm now reminded about some, but not all, of the reasons I really, really disliked MoTB. Thanks. "[R]eally, really disliked" is probably too strong a statement for me, but I wasn't particularly enchanted with it. I find it very difficult to take FR cosmology seriously, which made the moments that were supposed to be profound rather humdrum. ("Oh, look, a dead god-- don't they kill, like, three of them off every year?") Also, epic-level D&D is teh sukk. I was so bored with the combat that I stopped playing for months once I finally had that chat with Safiya's mum and resolved the central mystery of the plot. Had to force myself to keep on and play until the end. Yeah, I know most folks on this board were totally enthralled by it. It just wasn't my kind of game. I found the entire concept, spirit eater thing, repulsive and complicated to manage, especially since I wasn't about to play an evil spirit-sucker, so had to go to great lengths to deal with it "humanely". The story, the setting, the whole nine yards was just dismal to me. I recognized some well-crafted areas... my god, the crazy woman maze gave me chills... but at the end of the day I forced myself to finish the game once. Then I, who play every game on my shelf at least a half-dozen times, never wanted to touch MoTB again. I hated it so much, I didn't even purchase the second NWN2 expansion. I mean if they came out of left field for the first one, I couldn't imagine what they were going to do with the second. *shudder* It was just a perfect storm that took everything I enjoyed about NWN2, threw it out the window, and gave me an XPac that might as well have been yanked from another universe, replete with a story I loathed and an atmosphere that made me claustrophobic. Fortunately, that doesn't happen to me much since I'm pretty picky about which games and which developers I buy from. But nobody can hit the ball out of the park 100% of the time for 100% of the customers. Edited February 27, 2010 by ~Di Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Amber Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 I hated it so much, I didn't even purchase the second NWN2 expansion. But the next one takes place in a bright sunny jungle. You get a Flintstones pet to boot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bos_hybrid Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Bos_hybrid, Okay, you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria Caliban Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 (edited) This "Qunari are evil" cheapens the whole idea. DA's universe, as pedestrian as it is does not have to devolve into the Forgotten Realms nonsense. The Forgotten Realms invented the idea of evil? Here I thought it was something that man has grappled with for millennia. Thanks for the insight, Boo. That's always the trouble.. "honor" is defined by the culture... How is that trouble? HE SLAUGHTERED AN ENTIRE FAMILY BECAUSE HE WENT EMO OVER HSI LOST SWORD. How is that not evil? But people like him, therefore he can't be evil. He's well written, so he can't be evil. It is evil, but he himself admits it and accepts the first chance at redemption that he gets, one that will permit him to regain his honor as a Qunari by getting his sword back, and the other by "clearing" the Qunaris' honor tainted by his action, and this he does by fighting the Blight. Killing the family is not what bothered Sten. What bothered Sten is losing control of his emotions. He's a lawful evil dude seeking repentance because he had a chaotic evil moment. Edited February 27, 2010 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orogun01 Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Nah. Not even close. Sten is an irredeemable character who no worthwhile characteristics, and very little entertainment value. And still he is better than Alistair. I'd say the answer to that question is kind of like the answer to "who's the sucker in this poker game?"* *If you can't tell, it's you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nepenthe Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 (edited) This "Qunari are evil" cheapens the whole idea. DA's universe, as pedestrian as it is does not have to devolve into the Forgotten Realms nonsense. The Forgotten Realms invented the idea of evil? Here I thought it was something that man has grappled with for millennia. Thanks for the insight, Boo. He's also the resident Prophet of Morality and Elminster the Second. Edited February 27, 2010 by Nepenthe You're a cheery wee bugger, Nep. Have I ever said that? Reapercussions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaguars4ever Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 "Sten is the best NPC in the game." Nah. Not even close. Sten is an irredeemable character who no worthwhile characteristics, and very little entertainment value. Not to mention, very little emotional value. Contrast that with Morrigan. I hated her with a vengeance. Not because she sucked, but because he was a heartless bitch that was true to form. Which actually ends up making her a good character. The same applies to Mordin even though a loved the Salarian to bits. Give me love, give me hate, just don't give me indifference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orogun01 Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 "Sten is the best NPC in the game." Nah. Not even close. Sten is an irredeemable character who no worthwhile characteristics, and very little entertainment value. Not to mention, very little emotional value. Contrast that with Morrigan. I hated her with a vengeance. Not because she sucked, but because he was a heartless bitch that was true to form. Which actually ends up making her a good character. The same applies to Mordin even though a loved the Salarian to bits. Give me love, give me hate, just don't give me indifference. Sten; coming from a warrior culture wouldn't be overtly emotional, so in that aspect he is well written. He is also the only character whose comments while exploring can unlock conversation. Maybe I'm just a sucker for laconic conversations but I still think that the character garners more than indifference. I'd say the answer to that question is kind of like the answer to "who's the sucker in this poker game?"* *If you can't tell, it's you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr insomniac Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Sten was awesome. The way he comes around from the viewpoint of "You are a grey warden??" when you first meet him, to saying something like, at the end of the game, that, out of respect he won't lead the qu'nari against you in battle... it was very cool. Part of that was getting his sword back for him, because the whole time, as you went from place to place tracking it down, he believed that since a qu'n wouldn't bother, you wouldn't either. You showed him different and he respected that. He was far from a cardboard cutout character. I took this job because I thought you were just a legend. Just a story. A story to scare little kids. But you're the real deal. The demon who dares to challenge God. So what the hell do you want? Don't seem to me like you're out to make this stinkin' world a better place. Why you gotta kill all my men? Why you gotta kill me? Nothing personal. It's just revenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monte Carlo Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Next time, please read my post before responding to it. Why on earth would I do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPGmasterBoo Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 This "Qunari are evil" cheapens the whole idea. DA's universe, as pedestrian as it is does not have to devolve into the Forgotten Realms nonsense. The Forgotten Realms invented the idea of evil? Here I thought it was something that man has grappled with for millennia. Thanks for the insight, Boo. Don't be childish. You know exactly what I meant - the kind of nonsense in FR where the Red Wizards of Thay are all practically evil by default - just like you're trying to label the Qunari. Label an entire people evil, how can that not be stupid? That's like saying all Germans in Nazi germany were evil. Clear labeling of everything was something I detested in FR, and in the entire DnD-- DA doesn't have to be that way. It makes the setting shallower and dumber. Shove the entire world into 9 neat little alignment boxes... yeah, right.. Nepenthe, what's your problem? Imperium Thought for the Day: Even a man who has nothing can still offer his life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bos_hybrid Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 IGN Awakening Hands on Honestly, that sounds quite good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPGmasterBoo Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 IGN Awakening Hands on Honestly, that sounds quite good. Sounds like more of the same...I be skippin it. *sigh* high and dry till June Imperium Thought for the Day: Even a man who has nothing can still offer his life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monte Carlo Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 ^ I'm not sure that's entirely fair, Boo. It actually looks interesting, I'll be picking it up later on in the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bos_hybrid Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 IGN Awakening Hands on Honestly, that sounds quite good. Sounds like more of the same...I be skippin it. *sigh* high and dry till June Riiight. You and I played different games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPGmasterBoo Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 First of all my Warden is dead. Second I don't feel like playing another Warden (or resurrecting the first one) and following a plot that is about fighting the darkspawn - again. Third the new jNPC's don't draw my attention. I mean nothing bad by it, it just isn't a sufficient jump (in theme) from Dragon Age to make me consider it. Imperium Thought for the Day: Even a man who has nothing can still offer his life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria Caliban Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 The Obsidian Forum/BioWare Cycle (works somewhat for Fallout 3) Announcement "When is this out. I can't wait to play it so I can talk at length about how bad it is." - Gorgon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oner Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Uh-huh. Giveaway list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DgyQFpOJvyNASt8A12ipyV_iwpLXg_yltGG5mffvSwo/edit?usp=sharing What is glass but tortured sand?Never forget! '12.01.13. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPGmasterBoo Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 The people in this forum are mostly fans of story/character driven role playing games. That means no TES, Gothic clones or other random cRPGs a la Drakensang/Divinity II will get much conversation and dispute over them. That leaves Bioware, Obsidian and for some CDProjekt. The latter two aren't doing much. That leaves Bioware. *shrugs* I see that everyone except for Oner (IIRC), DeathDealer and me liked Dragon Age. As for the ME2 topic, everyone still talking there is praising the game. I hope they're not replaying it for the third time and disliking it at the same time, because that wouldn't make much sense. So I don't see how your scheme fits. Imperium Thought for the Day: Even a man who has nothing can still offer his life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigranes Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 You can play the expansion straight off the bat as an Orlesian Warden - that's what I'll be doing if I pick this up. The Obsidian Forum/BioWare Cycle (works somewhat for Fallout 3) You missed a crucial step, Mkreku Therapy. Let's Play: Icewind Dale Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Icewind Dale II Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Divinity II (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG1 (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG2 (In Progress) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sannom Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 What would be the reasons for taking the "Commander from Orlais" option? I see a lot : --- obviously, your character died --- your character has become consort for the King or Queen, and therefore shouldn't engage in the Grey Warden anymore --- your character went in search of Morrigan --- your character went travelling around or accompanied Sten to his homeland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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