f13.net

And I bought Civ 5 and Elemental at release so I'm never wrong about that kind of thing.

These two purchases are what made me realize I just have to stop buying new games.  DA2 gets to sit unpurchased until I can get it for $10 like I did Oblivion, which I only just started playing.

These two purchases are what made me realize I just have to stop buying new games.  DA2 gets to sit unpurchased until I can get it for $10 like I did Oblivion, which I only just started playing.

If I'd actually ever finished DA:O, I would probably buy this at release. I always get bored when I get to the final battle.

I'm definintely going to wait and see. Considering how long DA:O took I don't know how they can release this game so quickly.

You should power through it at least once, the after-the-fight stuff is pretty swell.

Aw, my city elf endings felt satisfying to me, especially the one where I done killed myself rather than making THE DEAL. I mean, yes, I was dead, and I didn't magically make everyone love elves, but expecting that would've been ... unreasonable. Being a city elf just sucks, period.

You didn't have to romance anyone!

Wait, you needed a mod to romance Morrigan?

I didn't get to kill all the humans off.  Alistair left because I didn't chew him out over his sister.  I had to romance crazy lady (because the Morrigan mod wasn't out yet).  I forget what else went wrong, but despite 'winning' she was thoroughly unhappy.

Not a real pleasant way to end the game that already felt like a long slog.

Why would Alistair leave, unless you decided to recruit Loghain? In which case, why on earth would you want to do that as a city elf? The shit in the alienage is his fault. He gets stabbed right in the face in my city elf playthroughs. If Anora is LUCKY, I will marry her to Alistair, but since the bad shit PRIOR to Loghain happened under her and Cailin, her talk about how she was an awesome queen the last five years actually counts against her in my city elf's book.  :grin:

You didn't have to romance anyone!

Unless you're a city elf.  Then it still kind of sucks.

Nothing really carries over, does it?  You're not playing your DA1 char in DA2 (who may or may not have died) so what is there to import that couldn't be handled with a few toggles set by questions like, "Is Alistair king?"

I didn't know Alistair would leave.  I managed to play DA without any spoilers at all.

This game is going to be very interesting on multiple levels that have nothing to do with the game.

I for one am really curious to see what happens to quality and length.

I don't think EA's that much of an influence. Bioware's games have been kinda crappy as far as I'm concerned, since ME1. I really think they need to break away from a lot of RPG cliches and tropes if they want to convey this idea that you're a real hero and part of an epic story.

The constant looting of people's safeboxes in ME2 really got to me. Also, while ME2 was way better than ME1, Bioware still have problems with making balanced or mechanically sound games.

Oddly enough, I loved Jade Empire (played on the XBox), and I know that's gotten a bunch of bad rap, so treat my opinions as esoteric.

What do you mean by it doesn't appeal to anyone? I think the ME & ME2 threads show that people can enjoy good 3rd-person shooting mechanics within a RPG.

There's a chance to back out of it after his bitchfit. I found his FUCK YOU I WILL LEAVE convincing enough not to press him on it, but I suppose one's mileage may vary on that. Alistair in particular did not give a shit who was holding the mouse, he was doing shit his way, story-wise.

Unfortunately for Alistair, he picked the wrong elf to pitch a fit to.  Now instead of a king, he's a drunk and a selfish twit who fled prior to the final battle to stop a Blight.  Not that my elf had much respect for any humans, but he went well into negative territory right there.  Loghain was at least willing to admit he was wrong and die to make recompense.  Sure I wanted to watch him to suffer, but I can respect that while I use it against him.

As long as they don't release the game with DLC already in it, I'll be happy.

Not sure if that's what you mean but there's going to be "day 0 DLC", yes. Similar to DAO, it adds one more companion and some new locations/quests. Except this time it seems instead of storage chest it adds option to access character creator and redo your character's appearance while playing.

Apparently I'm in the minority when it comes to having limited funds, though.

Unfortunately for Alistair, he picked the wrong elf to pitch a fit to.  Now instead of a king, he's a drunk and a selfish twit who fled prior to the final battle to stop a Blight.  Not that my elf had much respect for any humans, but he went well into negative territory right there.  Loghain was at least willing to admit he was wrong and die to make recompense.  Sure I wanted to watch him to suffer, but I can respect that while I use it against him.

Hi everyone

Recently there has been some concern over the DRM (Digital Rights Management) included with Dragon Age 2. Hopefully this post will help clarify what the DRM is for all versions of Dragon Age 2.

Steam versions use Steam DRM, no other DRM is added.

Non-Steam versions (digital or retail disc) are as follows:
- No disc check, you do not need the disc in drive to play.
- No limit on the total number of PCs you can install and play the game on.
- There is a limit to the number of unique/different PCs that can start/play the game within a time window [5 PCs in 24hrs].
- Each install requires logging in to your EA account to verify game ownership and if you are a member of these forums, you have an EA account.
- You can play offline but the game will require a login check after a select period of days.

Release Control (does not use securom)
      . It does not install anything to the PC.
      . Sole purpose is to check with a server to validate whether the game release date has passed or not. 
      . It completely removes itself after the game release date has passed. 
      . You will not be able to play until that date has passed.
      . Dates & times are set to the retail street date per country.

Hopefully this explains the DRM included in Dragon Age 2.

If you still have questions, please ask them here. However, this thread is NOT for the general discussion of DRM, the pros and cons of other DRM systems or any talk about circumventing DRM (which is against the rules of conduct and will be diciplined as such). Thanks.

I might remember wrong here, but didn't you have to log into the EA account on the Steam version of Dragon Age 1 as well? That is gone now?

I haven't connected to their servers in ages, partly because there is a weird bug where it thinks my DLC is not my DLC. So I can merrily play offline with no problems, but if I log in it gets all confused and whines I have DLC installed I didn't pay for. Which I did, of course, pay for. And can use while offline. It's very odd.

Yeah, that DRM doesn't sound particularly bad.

I have the same problem.  Downloaded Shadow Broker and it won't recognize it.  So no DLC for me I guess.  I will try it in offline mode, didn't think of that.

You're going to save probably a whole $10 for 4 months of waiting.

edit: Ahh, poor Rift, it releases a week before this.  Bioware games take over my gaming upon release.

I'm looking forward to DA2 for steam sale July or xmas 2012.

Yeah, maybe. Really what I've learned over the past few years is Bioware's marketing department sucks ass.

The entire world stands on the brink of war, and you are the one person at the center of it all. On February 22, 2011, BioWare™ will release a demo for Dragon Age™ 2, allowing gamers on all platforms to experience a portion of this epic action RPG. Featuring enhanced graphics, faster, more responsive combat and a gripping storyline, the Dragon Age 2 demo is your chance to find out firsthand why IGN, Game Informer, MTV and The New York Times' Seth Schiesel have endorsed Dragon Age 2 as one of the most anticipated games of 2011.

In the demo, players will venture through the game's prologue, choosing from three different character classes. They'll also learn more about Hawke and hone their skills and abilities that will make them the ultimate hero. After finishing the prologue, players will enter a key new location in the world of Dragon Age, Kirkwall, befriending Isabela, a romantic interest in the game who is also a deadly smuggler. Upon completion of the demo, players will unlock a special weapon, Hayder's Razor, an ancient dwarven blade which increases health, mana, and combat abilities, in the full release of Dragon Age 2.*

This demo represents just a small taste of what Dragon Age 2 has to offer. With a whole new realm to discover, and an all-new hero to become, players will go deeper into the world of Dragon Age unlike ever before in an adventure that shapes itself around every decision you make. The time has now come to engage in action-packed, dynamic combat that allows you to think like a general and fight like a Spartan! The legend of your rise to power, begins now!

Dragon Age 2 will be available on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and PC on March 8, 2011 in North America and March 11, 2011 in Europe.

*Offer expires May 31, 2011. Requires Internet connection, EA account, ownership of Dragon Age II ("Product") for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or PC and completion of Product Demo ("Demo") on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or PC. EA online Privacy Policy and Terms of Service are available at www.ea.com. Must be 13+ to create an EA account. Valid everywhere Dragon Age II is sold. To access the item in the Product, you must complete the Product demo using the same EA Account that you used to register your Product. Items are nontransferable. May not be combined with any other offer, gift card, rebate or discount coupon. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law.

Am I the last person left that still doesn't give a shit about these unlockables and preorder bonuses?

Am I the last person left that still doesn't give a shit about these unlockables and preorder bonuses?

Am I the last person left that still doesn't give a shit about these unlockables and preorder bonuses?

With all the cat people in the world, it still boggles that more games with mages don't use them as familiars.

I didn't play Awakenings, and I'm not letting any of you ruin this upcoming release. I actually rather liked the first DA.

I just hope they improve default AI.

I want to select "Ranged DPS" or "Healer" or "Tank" for my minions and then fucking forget about them.

I don't want my tank chasing down the furthest thing in the room while getting pounded into dust.

You can pretty much do that already? Set skill use to archer and behavior to ranged, done.

Won't be much of a tank then, will it?

His complaint was setting the character to tank and it chasing after far away mobs instead of the ones next to it. :-P

So I was the only one giving orders to every partymember by hand?

So I was the only one giving orders to every partymember by hand?

You ppl never really listen to me!  :cry2:

So I was the only one giving orders to every partymember by hand?

I want there to be a difficulty setting difficult enough that constant micromanagement is pretty much required.  Without having to resort to self-gimping like 'don't play a mage' considering if you take out mage-type tools, then constant micromanagement isn't fun anymore.

So I was the only one giving orders to every partymember by hand?

I wonder, did they take Friendly Fire out entirely or did he just have it turned off.  I noticed him tossing AoE spells and abilities down in the middle of his party without thought.

I wonder, did they take Friendly Fire out entirely or did he just have it turned off.  I noticed him tossing AoE spells and abilities down in the middle of his party without thought.

Just hit 'em with it!  :awesome_for_real:

I think it started with the friendly fire on normal, it just didn't hurt 100% until nightmare, although it might've been different on zee console versions. Didn't really matter, IF I brought a mage they were just healbitch anyway.

Romances revealed! (http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6046067) Pretty much who you'd expect. No Aveline romance means my MANHAWKES are all going to have serious cases of teh gay.

I think it started with the friendly fire on normal, it just didn't hurt 100% until nightmare, although it might've been different on zee console versions.

I wonder if any of them will be bisexual. Let's face it, there is certainly precedent for Isabella at least to not care what sex her partners are.

They've said there will be at least one partner for all orientations. Isabella is who everyone is assuming will be the lady for ladies, people are split on if the dude for dudes will be the stupid haired elf or the mage who spent the entirety of Awakenings talking about how much he loves the ladies. You cooooould argue Anders was overcompensating, but I am pretty sure it's going to be the elf. :P

Romances revealed! (http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6046067) Pretty much who you'd expect. No Aveline romance means my MANHAWKES are all going to have serious cases of teh gay.

So women get a demon.

I was trying to put myself in the shoes of the ladies who wouldn't be so lucky.

And almost certainly a sassy pirate lady, Lantyssa, don't forget her!

I have two codes if there's anyone left not in the facebook game that wants one!

NOOOOOOOO!!!  Missed it!

I'm such a dork, my favorite part is the castle fussing.

I'm too busy getting beaten-down to do much castle fussing.  They could make it a little less obvious that the only way to play is by RMTing items.   Then again, this is the end result or RMT that I was expecting.

Demo for 360 is already out.
Speaking of which...  what's the best format to play this on?  ps3, 360, or PC?
Being Bioware I'd expect the game to have some kind of couch appeal, so perhaps console.

Note:  I have not played DA

Bioware website is currently taking a dump.

I got to the download link working after couple of refreshes: http://na.llnet.bioware.cdn.ea.com/u/f/eagames/bioware/dragonage2/demo/DragonAge2Demo_F93M2qCj_EnEsItPlRu.exe

(not sure if that'll work for others, the middle of that file name looks rather funny)

Also, hueg tits.

Right, the huge tits have to be useful in battle for me to accept their presence.

Indeed, but you have to win fights to get cash to build the alchemy lab.  Failing that, it's RMT for bombs to the tune of $.64 per bomb.  Not to mention how very superior the purchased items are vs. the drops.   The best weapon drop I've seen so far was 3atk -1 endurance.  However, you can purchase a 4adk 2luck item with 25% evade for only $2.98.

 :awesome_for_real:

I'd said before that this was where RMT will head.  Obviously social games are hitting it first, but it's slowly creeping into other games and being accepted.  Looks like it's time for a new hobby.

Steam just unlocked the demo for DA2 about twenty minutes ago. I immediately dumped my 80 KB/s Bioware site download and grabbed it from Steam at 1.6 MB/s.

The Ladyhawke voice changing from Jennifer Hale to Very Obviously Not Jennifer Hale between the intro sequence and the gameplay was quite jarring too.

This is a single player game, balance is irrelevant.
[...]
Mages should be vastly more powerful than warriors and rogues

Which could then be the class for people who WANT to use passives to face-roll through all encounters, and thus valid. As long as there are other classes/builds for a more proactive playstyle available.

The game is harder for non-wizards, because of DA's combat design.

I did a full nightmare run with a no-magic party and I was even able to defeat Ser Cauthrien's little trap. 

I withhold comments on character creation until I see it in complete form together with inventory management. Right now I smell dumbed downness as well.

Did anybody else have a lot of loading right in the middle of the action?

Who decided to give Flemeth a make-over?

Yeah, it was really annoying. Technically the pc demo is a bit of a mess.

For running on a high end machine, I wasn't really impressed by the fact the game would literally HALT as I'm fighting, I'd get "Loading..." in the bottom right of my shitty UI, and then it would go to some random cutscene.

I will not be purchasing at release. I fear with the loading, the UI, and the ridiculous over the top animations that they may not have focused enough on the gameplay of the actual game.

The loading stutter is supposedly not present in the final version. Don't know why they'd let it in the demo given it's first impressions et al, but welp.

I also appreciate the inclusion of the smart-ass dialog option.  Though it may be a bad thing if as I may have difficulty selecting anything else.

- Paelos, I didn't have that loading issue anyplace but the cut scenes.  Seems odd as my machine is almost 6 years old now and only a dual-core 2.56mhz machine w/ 2gb of RAM.

I read somewhere that friendly fire will be nightmare only. Because it made the game "too hard".  :uhrr: :uhrr:

In other news, Isabella's boobs make my back ache.

Does it matter? I mean if you want it to be hard, put it on nightmare, right?

I really don't understand the hardon for friendly fire.

Flemeth's redesign was pretty damn cool, and I hope if there's a DA3 they do it again, showing more depth as she chooses what form to use based on how she's manipulating people.

I really liked her new look.  She's a little old, but I wanted her for a romance option right then and there.

A lot of it comes down to leadership style I suppose. I like to believe that people can generally handle their shit unless they prove otherwise. They don't need to be hovered over, and in many cases they hate it. It sucks a lot of the personality out of a game for me if I have to tell everyone what to do every second of every fight.

At that point I'm playing 4 people instead of roleplaying one with some sidekicks. I want to be one guy surrounded by an interesting world.

I really don't get the "Carver is useless" and "waaaah I don't want Carver ever" stuff I've been reading (not just here). He didn't seem useless at all (2h warriors are mean and whirlwind was HILARIOUS). Is it because he doesn't have boobs? Because frankly, I'M annoyed I won't get him unless I play a stupid mage. I guess that's extra motivation for me to bother with one.

Does that mean you don't get Bethany if you play a mage?  I wanted to do a mage duo. :sad:

They're not people, they're game pieces.  Also, my approach goes back to playing gold box games where I  AM the whole party, so each piece is a little bit of me in the world.

Yeah, unfortunately, Carver's for the mage Hawkes, and Bethany for the melee Hawkes.  I wager changing that will be one of the first mods someone puts together once the game goes live. 

The devs have stressed several places that such a mod would utterly break the game story-wise, so I'm thinking Only One Mage Hawke is important for some reason.

Carver had what, two lines? Neither were whiny to me. One was a typical brotherly "wtf are you trying to blame ME for" when Bethany basically implied it was his fault they didn't leave earlier (I assume because it took him a while to get to Lothering from Ostagar) and ... I can't even remember what he said after Bethany died.

By the way did anyone else think the complete lack of reaction from anyone but MamaHawke to the sibling death was a little psycho? Poor Ser Redshirt's death was a lot sadder, because Aveline was allowed to sound upset. It showed me part of why I don't like the voiced protagonist. Here we have a voice that is supposed to keep us from the horror of the stone faced mute, but they deliver their lines so flatly (because God forbid there be too much emotion, because douchebags would wail that their character is a whiner) I really don't see any improvement at all. At least my mute Cousland had the decency to look sad about the situation her parents wound up in.

I see the potential in a voice protagonist, but it's probably always going to take me out of the game instead of draw me in, and I'm a little sad about it, I guess.

The ogre in particular just ... isn't intimidating in the least. I think it's the skin color that bugs me most.

Hmm.  I'll be curious to see how there only being one mage from the family works out to be important. 

As to the voice thing, it didn't strike me as too off.  Hawke's whole thing in that sequence is to keep the family moving so that they can try to escape.  That being said, I'm willing to overlook occasionally off lines.  I much prefer voiced protagonists to mute ones anymore. 

And one of the lines you can go with when you meet Ser Redshirt is basically a 'Touch my sister and die.'

When I'm playing a game I want the characters to be characters, not me. That was the point. I want to be entertained by some personalities and their own quirks and combat styles.

Different strokes I guess.

After spending god knows how many damn hours on DA1, I wouldn't want to play DA2 without all the blood, even if it's a bit stupid. Hopefully it means we get another mabari...

The demo hasn't sold this for me. The stupid animations, continued ridiculous presence of blood on everyone forever, constant brief but annoying pauses to load, requirement to spam 'R' and repeat the same (stupid) animations over and over again, and (most irritatingly) lack of a tactical zoom have destroyed any desire I had to purchase or play this game. Which is unfortunate for me, I guess. (Also the game is FAR too easy, Bioware suck at managing their difficulty scaling in a way that isn't annoying, and low cooldown potion and temporary buff spam annoys me).

After spending god knows how many damn hours on DA1, I wouldn't want to play DA2 without all the blood, even if it's a bit stupid. Hopefully it means we get another mabari...

3) This one is extremely shallow but the hottest woman in the whole game so far is my sister? Well...damn.

Maybe darkspawn evolved to explode in a shower of blood for just that reason.

I'm sure there's a mod that will fix that, too! :ye_gods:

Maybe darkspawn evolved to explode in a shower of blood for just that reason.

It'll be like the Imoen mod all over again.

2h warriors do it passively

Yes, my smiley is the clue as to my meaning.

That type of piercing isn't my favorite, and it doesn't normally bother me, but they made the ball way larger than it should be.  Also being gold makes it stand out for some reason.  I couldn't stop staring at it, in a bad way.  Isabella should be a perfect fit for me.  Pirate lass with piercings, a nice corset, tough as nails but with a soft spot, but... it's like they tried too hard.  Worst piercing choice, balloons for a chest, spectre level badass, and she saves puppies, too!

Isabella should be a perfect fit for me.  Pirate lass with piercings, a nice corset, tough as nails but with a soft spot,

You can turn the persistent blood off in the options. What does R even do? I certainly don't feel required to spam it. What do you mean by tactical zoom? Seems like I can zoom in or out far enough to manage things fine?

Someone put that on a T-Shirt, stat.

Options->Gameplay->Enable Persistent Gore is the setting. (You can also turn off the 'friendly/snarky/bitch' conversation icons there, for people who don't like those.)

I couldn't stop staring at it, in a bad way.

Varric is an unreliable narrator.

It'll be like the Imoen mod all over again.

DA2 is reported to be shorter (reviews so far indicate it's somewhere between 30-50 hours long and half that if you don't do the side stuff) so that may help with completing it.

Like porting in saves, or anything?

I'm not seeing the fun, please let me know if I'm missing something.  It's like playing a movie.  

I'm glad someone else said it...

It's basically

1.  Cutscene
2.  Mob attacks, slaughter them
3.  Cutscene
4.  Mob attacks, slaughter them
5.  Cutscene
6.  Cutscene
7.  Mob attacks, slaughter them. 

I'm not seeing the fun, please let me know if I'm missing something.  It's like playing a movie. 

I felt pretty blah about it myself, and I'm not crazy about the new combat animations. Reminds me too much of the 'physics don't apply' Japanime style animation.

I'm glad someone else said it...

It's basically

1.  Cutscene
2.  Mob attacks, slaughter them
3.  Cutscene
4.  Mob attacks, slaughter them
5.  Cutscene
6.  Cutscene
7.  Mob attacks, slaughter them. 

I'm not seeing the fun, please let me know if I'm missing something.  It's like playing a movie. 

I didn't look too deep, but it looked like HoT healing rather than an instant?

Apparently the game will ship without high res textures. You will be able to download them at some point.

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6346703&lf=8

According to the first post from the Bioware guy there, it should be available Monday (the day before the game releases).

a depressing signal that these guys are not Bioware any longer.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN DISMISSIVE INTERNET QUIP:

 - You bought BioWare games for the graphics?

 - They haven't been 'that' BioWare since Jade Empire.

 - Hey, SWOR is PC exclusive, right? They'll optimise it for the PC for sure there.

 - Consoles and PCs work together for a greater gaming harmony. Graphics aren't as important for RPGs anyway

 - PC games are a dying platform. Consoles are the future.

wait, what?

Do you have to use windows live as well?

Yeah, I have no problems with waiting to update, but it surprises me if they really won't do this update through steam. It's just kind of what steam was made for.

The Whole EA/Bioware-Social registration and DLC downloads are an abomination.

OK: Here is the story.

Auto-attack option for consoles was added in to the games late in the development cycle after the initial certification build was sent. The auto-attack functionality was sent to be added to the game for testing and approval. This was why staff said it was in game.

Due to an error during mastering, the auto-attack file was omitted during manufacture.

We apologize for this. It was meant to be in game, but it is not currently in the console versions. We are working on how best to distribute this to console users. When we have information, we will let everyone know.

Hi-Res texture patch available here. (http://social.bioware.com/page/da2-patches)

Requirements:
Using high-resolution textures requires a graphics card with at least 1024MB video memory.

:uhrr:

watched a stream of this game.
Witnessed the following:

1. Tank builds auto attack = invincible.
2. Combat regen is possible = 2 seconds retreat, health refill.
3. EXP glitch levelled a guy to 20. Suddenly mobs hit harder, two shotting him in some instance due to poor equipment.

(http://i55.tinypic.com/10hov2d.gif)

Also Chris Priestly:

:uhrr:

Also, I apparently shouldn't even bother with downloading the texture pack as I have half the required VRAM.  Awesome.

Why the face?  If it's mostly for DX11 cards, those are nearly all sitting on 1GB+ of VRAM anyway from a quick look over Nvidia's range.

Just to clarify that you do NOT need to have a DX11 capable GPU to use the high resolution textures. To get the full benefit you need to run the game using the DirectX 11 renderer, which is backwards compatible with DX10. So even if you have a DX10 GPU (and Windows Vista SP2 or Windows 7) you'll still be able to run the game using the DirectX 11 renderer.

If you can only play using the DirectX 9 renderer you'll still get a small benefit out of the texture pack. In particular certain character textures will look nicer, but most of the benefits on the environments don't apply to DX9. The reason for this is technical, and it has to do with the maximum texture sizes allowed by the DX9 vs DX11 APIs.

Even if you have less than 1 gig of vram, by all means go ahead and experiment with the download. At worst case the game will run very slowly when hi-res textures are enabled, but if that happens it's easy to turn the hi-res textures off from the video options menu. The amount of the slowdown could vary depending on where you are in the game and how much memory exactly you have.

We've added the 1GB as a guideline so people know what kind of hardware will support this glitch free, but if you're willing to get some performance impact you should still download the texture pack and experiment with it.

So in the console version your character charges and then stands there until you hit another ability?

 :awesome_for_real:

Really, the only thing that doesn't work is DAO's updater/downloader.  I recently reinstalled DAO and just downloading the DLC directly (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Downloadable_content_(Origins)#Location_of_downloadable_content_packages) and feeding it to DAupdater.exe myself was smooth.

Now, looking at the bin_ship folder for DA2, I'm not seeing an updater program and User Entitlements (http://social.bioware.com/user_entitlements.php) just mentions things are unlocked.  Hopefully that's just an artifact of the preloading and there will still be some way to treat DA2 like ME2 with regards to DLC.

Also, I apparently shouldn't even bother with downloading the texture pack as I have half the required VRAM.  Awesome.

How did you get Signature Edition codes with the Steam Version? Did I miss something?

Game is unlocked.  Also got an email with my codes for the signature edition and pre-order bonuses which have to be redeemed on the Bioware social site.  Similar to Mass Effect 2, in order to download and install the DLC (on the PC) you have to go to Profile ----> Your registered game content, and then click where it says more info and then click where it says download near the bottom of the window that pops up.  They're all really small files (the extra character one is only 33MB).

Found my first bug, hi-res texture pack install doesn't seem to recognize a Steam install.

EDIT: And neither will the DLC.  :awesome_for_real:

For any console bums like me (echo...echo...), there's no auto-attack option because it was accidentally left out during mastering. Glad this was cleared up the day before release. :uhrr:  8th post down (http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6395493/2).

Continually jamming on the attack button for weightless combat ≠ awesome. I'm skipping it.

Has anyone imported their DA save into the game yet an how is that working out for those of us who have to work instead of playing.  I know btw that our characters didn't transfer but our choices I thought were supposed to.

For some reason it seems like the combat changed from the demo. I wound up with no mana, no stamina, and no apparent in combat natural regen during the ogre fight, which I do not recall from the button spam happy demo version of the same fight. I feel like I need to sit down and read the skills and stats again to find the regen ones.

- In rare cases, character statistics can become corrupted in a manner that does not block progress but might make combat easier or more difficult than intended. For example, Hawke might not sustain injuries after falling in combat or might develop a negative damage resistance score.

I'm glad that Bioware didn't suffer any negative long term quality effects after being bought by EA. I was worried there for a moment.  :rimshot:

This has been awesome to read in the secure knowledge that I haven't bought the game. I look forward to getting it six months from now, when it's fixed.

I kinda wondered about the lack of auto-attack in the 360 demo. Guess that explains it--and here I just thought it was them channelling Diablo.

:mob:

Has anyone imported their DA save into the game yet an how is that working out for those of us who have to work instead of playing.  I know btw that our characters didn't transfer but our choices I thought were supposed to.

Known Issues
=====================================================================

Non-North American Keyboards
----------------------------
If you are playing in English, the keyboard labels referred to in the
game apply to North American keyboards. If you have a non-North
American keyboard, the game may refer to some keys differently than
they are labeled. Notably, on a standard UK keyboard, the default
shortcut for the tactics screen (the "\" key in North America) is
actually the key labeled "#" near the Enter key.

Balance
-------
- The warrior's Rally talent does not correctly extend the benefits
  of sustained modes to other party members.
- The mage's Horror and Petrify spells say that they have a 100%
  chance of applying against "any enemy." Although these spells are
  indeed just as likely to apply to a boss-level enemy as a
  normal-level enemy, some enemies are immune to certain effects, no
  matter the enemy's rank. For example, ogres of any rank cannot be
  stunned by any ability and are thus innately immune to Horror.
- The mage's Arcane Wall upgrade indicates that it extends the
  benefits of Arcane Shield to other party members. Although this is
  true, the upgrade reduces the effectiveness of Arcane Shield in
  doing so and applies a reduced version of the effects to other
  party members.
- Varric's Embellishment talent refers to a movement speed increase.
  The ability does not affect movement speed but does affect attack
  speed.
- The secondary penalties applied by status effects like STAGGER,
  BRITTLE, and DISORIENT (reductions in enemy defense, for example)
  are smaller than described in the codex. However, the cross-class
  combo bonuses themselves (extra damage vs. STAGGERED enemies, for
  example) work as described.
- In rare cases, character statistics can become corrupted in a
  manner that does not block progress but might make combat easier or
  more difficult than intended. For example, Hawke might not sustain
  injuries after falling in combat or might develop a negative
  damage resistance score.
- Nightmare difficulty adds several effects that are not described
  in-game, including the following:
   1) Attacks from party members that hit more than a single target
      (including attacks from a two-handed warrior or a
      weapon-and-shield warrior) are capable of harming fellow party
      members as well as enemies.
   2) Enemy assassins have a chance to steal potions.
   3) When enemy assassins strike from stealth, they bypass the
      victim's armor.
   4) Enemy commanders are able to taunt their allies into attacking
      a single member of the player's party en masse.
   5) When party members fall below 10% health, they suffer bleeding
      damage that will further erode their health unless they are
      healed.
   6) Various enemies become completely immune to certain types of
      damage; for example, dragons become immune to fire damage.

Plots (Minor Spoilers)
----------------------
- Some side plots do not close properly if they are left uncompleted
  when the story jumps forward in time. They remain open in the
  journal but cannot be completed in the new timeline. They do not
  prevent the game from proceeding and can be ignored.
- In some cases, characters in conversation make inaccurate
  references to earlier events in Dragon Age II or to the events of
  Dragon Age: Origins, if you imported a saved game.
- In the plot Fools Rush In, it is occasionally possible to pick up a
  letter before Isabela tells you to do so. This prevents the plot
  from progressing. To complete the plot, restore from an earlier
  save and do not pick up the letter until Isabela says to search the
  bodies.
- The plot Finders Keepers cannot be completed if you leave the
  warehouse before finding the crate. This does not block progress in
  the game as a whole.
- After you acquire the plot Who Needs Rescuing, the plot's opening
  events sometimes fail to trigger. The plot cannot be completed if
  this occurs, but this does not block progress in the game's main
  plot.

Functionality
-------------
- Immediately after launching the game, the main menu may appear
  unresponsive for up to 30 seconds while connecting to the
  Dragon Age servers. The menu will respond after the 30 seconds
  have elapsed.

Functionality
-------------
- Immediately after launching the game, the main menu may appear
  unresponsive for up to 30 seconds while connecting to the
  Dragon Age servers. The menu will respond after the 30 seconds
  have elapsed.

EA ACCOUNT, REGISTRATION WITH ENCLOSED SINGLE-USE SERIAL CODE, INTERNET CONNECTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT REQUIRED TO PLAY

Oh, I see now, it's in dark grey and in legalese at the bottom of the steam store page. I used to just look under game details and system requirements.


Is this on every startup or just the first startup?

Nevermind. Wording indicates every time.

Is this on every startup or just the first startup?

Nevermind. Wording indicates every time.

We're also lucky that Bioware managed to ship a polished, complete product in such a short timeframe.

Trying to play getting "the application will not run on a Windows guest account or an account with insufficient privileges" message.  Of course, I am running currently as the administrator
Forums say I am not alone with this problem.

Clownshoes.

EA is like a quality virus.

Violence approaching levels of stupid  :awesome_for_real:

Found a post from someone that they fixed this problem by disabling their antivirus and reinstalling.

Gibbed's released a save generator (http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3393011&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=78#post389008302).  I also had to download .NET Framework 4 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=9cfb2d51-5ff4-4491-b0e5-b386f32c0992) which I swore I had already, but it was only a couple minutes.

Figured it was a good excuse as any to restart as a tank-ish Warrior so I can use my (now) intended party.

E: Fixed link.

Windows treats the Program Files directory as protected space.

Interestingly, the Amazon customer reviews are pretty damn harsh right now, mostly due to the "dumbing down" of the gameplay and linearity of the story.  There's quite a few reviews that said to the effect "if you liked DA:O for what it offered in the RPG genre, you will likely not like this", lots of bashing of Bioware. 

Grain of salt and all that, but at least there's 20 or so vocal folks that don't much care for the changes. 

The only thing I can really fault Bioware for so far is the Auto Attack fiasco in the console versions (which was pretty retarded), and the complaints I've heard about them copying and pasting a lot of the areas in the game.  All the other complaints about the game are either about the marketing, or people complaining about what the game isn't rather than judging it on its own merits.  If this game had been released under another name by another developer, it would probably be getting a lot of praise right now.  It's not an instant classic, but it's a solid RPG.  To a lot of people though Dragon Age was the closest they felt they were going to get to having new Baldur's Gate games, and they hate to see the series go in more of a Mass Effect direction.  You can see in the Gaf thread that a lot of people were determined to dislike the game (including the moderator who made the topic).

So there's no map anymore or even the illusion of picking places to go? Is it all just, go to this zone, then to that zone, then to that zone?

It also probably doesn't help that the voice talent involved isn't up to Bioware's usual standards, with a lot of the important roles, including the voices for the PC's, being VA's who just voiced background characters in DA1.  I don't know if everyone else was tied up doing ME3, SWTOR, or other projects, but the PC voices in particular are a bit disappointing (as is the change in Ander's voice actor).

I don't know if everyone else was tied up doing ME3, SWTOR, or other projects, but the PC voices in particular are a bit disappointing (as is the change in Ander's voice actor).

1.  I really like how family is playing into my initial game.  The interactions with your mother and Bethany really took me back to the BG days with the Bhaalspawn and Imoen.  Bethany reminds me of a less thiefy Imoen.

I admit I am loving the fact that they put in the charming/snarky options. It always bugged me in Bioware games that the "middle" choice was basically just the non-comittal, wishy-washy choice.

Hard's prologue is essentially "pick mage or rogue. Run around until ogre does attack windup animation. Cast/backstab/shoot. Run more until he does it again"

Hard is basically Crazy mode until you get an actual selection of skills to use.

I admit I am loving the fact that they put in the charming/snarky options. It always bugged me in Bioware games that the "middle" choice was basically just the non-comittal, wishy-washy choice. Also liking that Bethany seems to be going along with my snarkiness - I was afraid they would make her high and mighty (appears that went to Aveline).

Is it shallow of me to really want to find a helmet soon so that I can drop it on Aveline to cover up her manly face? Is there even an option for another Tank companion? She really doesn't fit with the attitude I'm playing right now.

Main gripe I have so far is the absolutely ridiculous amounts of blood they soak you with.  It looks silly during the cut scenes after combat.  

Aveline can't seem to keep up aggro at all.  It's all based on DPS, and even with the best possible 1h sword (the Unlockable that levels up) she's only tagging shit for 9 a hit.  When Varric is hitting things for 60+ and Merrill does the same with her staff that's just not going to cut it at all.   I'm beginning to wonder if it's a bug of some sort.

I'm having some trouble with the game, in that I started as a male Warrior, and I'm (unintentionally) cheating.  Every time I unequip a shield, the Armor stat only decreases by 3, and when I re-equip it it's increasing by the full value of the shield.

The consequence to this is that I now have over 1,000 armor rating in my beginner armor.  Before you tell me Save/Quit/Retry, I've done everything I can do on my end.

And oh my God you guys I love LadyHawke and I love the "your tone changes based on your choices" thing and I am finally a convert to the voiced protagonist.

Yeah, my LADYHAWKE is a gigantic snarky bitch. I think my first MANHAWKE will try very hard to be Mr. Olive Branch, but we'll see how successful I am. I also should probably look up who the male-male love interest is to find out of he's super gay, like all my male Wardens (except one, and even he slept with Zevran, because who DOESN'T sleep with Zevran? Communists, that's who!).

Nope, I was already doing that before I tried the attack speed thing.  Aggro is apparently based off DPS and Armor from what I've read.  Well, 1h warrs do shitty, shitty dps, particularly when up against a rogue with the Blindside ability and 30% haste.  Hey look, WoW problem.  :awesome_for_real:

This is dragon #3 so there's apparently a ton of the fuckers.  I haven't even run into the Achieve dragon yet. ( :ye_gods:)  But yeah, like DA1 tanks she's got persistent abilities that suck down tons of stamina.  (Turn the Blade and Shield Defense) If she turns on Immovable she gets enough stam for 1 taunt.  Turn off the abilities and she loses 25% damage mitigation and a lot of defense.   I'm going to try stacking attack speed and phys attack gear on her this time and see how it goes.

I'm beginning to think that Varric's nice, but his level-up weapon is going to cause lots of problems going forward. It's at 66dps right now and the best dropped 2h weapon I've found is 40.  No way he can do anything BUT pull aggro.  Might just have to trip into town and try respeccing things.

Also no prick score is a big plus.

On the subject of love interests, I think every one of the romanceable NPCs may swing both ways.  That, or they've set it up to where you can try to go after any of them but get shot down.  My ManHawke has had the option to flirt with both of the male options. 

This game is so, so good. Writing team deserves many raises.

I even got a completely different (positive) reaction from Anders when I said I thought he was hot as MANHAWKE. Buuut, that might've been because I was a mage, not because I was a man. Who knows!  :awesome_for_real:

I want to know why my main character's mage has about 40% more mana than Merrill, though. It's not gear, since all I'm wearing is +regen.

Heh.
What does DA2 need admin access for, anyways? Or was it a disc version?

Also was a little suprised when it let me try flirting with Merril with LadyHawke.

amiable:


Kildorn:  The mines one had me laughing so hard my daughter thought I'd lost my mind.  She's well voiced and written, hands-down my favorite companion.

Don't know about you folks, but I can't wait till I get to read all 33 pages of this thread (and the spoilered stuff) in Christmas when I finally buy the game  :awesome_for_real:

Holy cow, Sjofn, I thought my SO was a DA fanatic. I had no idea.

I like the overall main plot as things keep getting worse no matter what you do.

"Our city was destroyed by the darkspawn, where shall we go?" "Let's go well out of our way to take a tiny slave ship looking thing to a city with crying statues of slaves at the front door, and the most depressing murals known to man on every wall!" "Oooh, I bet it's covered in random dead bodies and skeletal corpses, too!"

I think they animated the darkspawn after the putty patrol from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

And weapon swapping is gone. I tried to find it. There must an option inside somehow. But...no...I have to open inventory to swap daggers in just to activate backstab. WHY?

I can count on one hand the number of times I weapon swapped in DA:O, I suspect they left it out because almost nobody used it anyway.

I tried to used it in DA1, it fucking sucked.

As always take my posts with a certain amount of Bioware fanboy filter.

It worked for rogues in this game I feel, because you cannot do any backstabs and such without melee weapons equipped.
So the logical thing for a rogue before heading into the fray would be to plink away with a bow, then stealth away after drawing aggro, switch to melee and stab away.

It worked for rogues in this game I feel, because you cannot do any backstabs and such without melee weapons equipped.
So the logical thing for a rogue before heading into the fray would be to plink away with a bow, then stealth away after drawing aggro, switch to melee and stab away.

All of the stamina/mana regen and effects of stagger/brittle/disorient are detailed in the manual. 

Fordel: running and stabbing isn't fixed, no. It seems more annoying it anything. "BACKSTAB! I hit him so hard he went flying!" ... character, why are you standing there like an idiot, go run after him and stab him now.

Can be way more irritating if it's you that's getting stabbed -- couple of times now i've been caught into a ridiculous loop of "get hit by rouge, get pushed a step back, spend a second on animation of wriggling on a spot, automatically step back forward, get stabbed again before animation of anything you're trying to do youself plays, rinse, repeat" ... all way to death. For all the supposed instant responsiveness the game is supposed to have now, welp. Never experienced this amount of being out of control in DAO.

First thing I do when I load up a game off steam is download the manual pdf and keep it in a file.

Cause I'm a manual dork.  :heart:

Have you got a link to the manual? A .pdf didn't come with my digital edition and I can't see one on Google.

In the higher difficulties fortitude or immunity to knockback are key stats, it seems. Abominations are the worst about stunlocking.

a Bioware fan has been temporarily halted from playing his copy of Dragon Age II after copping a forum suspension. Which is weird since, you know, Dragon Age II is a singleplayer game.

According to a post on the Bioware forums, user v_ware had his account suspended for a period of 72 hours for allegedly saying "Have you sold your souls to the EA devil?".

But restricting access to a singleplayer, offline game, even in an incidental situation like this, is a problem. EA's consolidation of online accounts can be a good thing in some cases (I appreciate the convenience of EA Sports games knowing who I am because of my gamertag), but in cases like this, it's also a cause for concern.

Better be nice on their forums. (http://kotaku.com/#!5780876/how-saying-bad-things-can-keep-you-from-playing-a-video-game) (Warning Kotaku link.



I am not a fan of this. Really at all.

Because Target doesn't have the right to come to my house and take back my blinds, clothes or kid's toys when I bitch about them.  Software has managed to wedge itself into this nebulous place where they hold the rights to the goods you exchanged money for.  I'm also not a fan.

I'm curious what he actually posted. Because multiple people talk about selling their souls to EA without mods batting an eye, but the post that got him suspended was moderated.

Part of the issue is that's what he posted and what got him banned. Selective and uneven treatment is going to be norm when human factor is involved -- in this case a forum moderator who may just have a crabby day or read one too many bitter posts before running into one that breaks his/her back.

Which is also why tying that to your ability to play games for which you paid for is pretty bad idea.

Yeah I suppose there's no real reason to believe this guy about what the content of the modded-out post was. Has anyone ever NOT lied about why they were banned from something? http://whywasibanned.com/ comes to mind.

Does it make any actual difference what he said? Banning people from playing game (single player to boot) because they said something on intrawebs forums feels like clownshoes on the principle alone.

Again, it sounds like that's not exactly what happened. If he had already had the game installed, he could have played it (albeit without the DLC that you have to authenticate for). What he couldn't do was *download* the game through the EA Installer because it apparently uses the same account as the forums. I don't think it is an intended consequence, and I would sort of expect them to change it if there's enough of a brouhaha over this for someone important to notice it.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding it, but that's what it sounds like happened to me anyway. More reason to not use the EA Downloader POS thing anyway, as if anyone needed more reason.

I don't see why he wouldn't be able to use his saves with DLC.  Once it's been authorized it will still work even if you don't have any connection to the servers at all.

Goddamn, Sjofn.. you're right.  That was a series of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make in an RPG. No clear path there. I let Anders live this play-through but I'll be returning to the save right before it.

This was not true in DA:O, I'm not sure about DA2. In DA:O if you didn't log in, you couldn't load your DLC enabled saves.

fake-edit: just tried, if I log out of my account and restart DA2, I can play DLC enabled saves. It still says my game is linked to X EA account, which has it enabled.

Now, I don't know if a suspension stops that, but EA's prior statements (years ago) implied that you could still play your game if banned/suspended.

So apparently after Bioware explicitly claiming that DA2 will not install SecuROM... It will install SecuROM.


Source site is down: http://www.reclaimyourgame.com/content.php?769-Evaluation-Report-Dragon-Age-2

But this site sums it up well: http://vividgamer.com/2011/03/10/ea-fails-to-disclose-securom-in-dragon-age-ii/

I honestly don't understand the opposition to the EA account thing, but maybe I'm missing something. To me as long as it doesn't require you to always be logged into their shit to do anything, I'm cool with logging in occasionally to get updates and DLC.

I honestly don't understand the opposition to the EA account thing, but maybe I'm missing something.

Personally, my opposition to the ea account thing is that I already have an account for steam, why should I have yet another account, potentially pr damn game?

Apparently DA2 Requires an EA account when played on the PS3....................................................     DEMO.  :ye_gods:

DA:O I could play my DLC without being logged in. In fact, I got bugged in such a way that I had to play not logged in, as the servers wouldn't recognise my DLC as being mine.  :why_so_serious:

Not sure what the game did to make you hate it so much, rk47, but I hope ME3 is good too. :P


EDIT: Also, you know what sucks?

You unlock something in the main game for completing the demo if you sign in with your account.

They had the same thing with the Character Creator for the first DA.

Marketing info.

Edit: in short, the most common thoughts going through my mind while I play are "That's not what he would say," "that's not how he would say it" and "that's not what he could do."

They made my friend make an account for a DEMO, and he did not like the demo.

Demo.

Demo.  :oh_i_see:

And?

If you want me to check out your game, don't as me to fill out a form.

The lack of diplomacy is damning, especially some quests where I was intent on shedding as little blood as possible was ruined by the 3 dozen spawn rule. Mobs LITERALLY spawning OUT OF THIN AIR, right next to my backline continues to amaze me how depraved some executives are. Without the filler combat the game would've been 20% shorter. Fill it with fodder attempt is so obvious.

Is there really no way to bind "turn left" and "turn right" to keys (i.e. to have regular old WASD).  Or is this actually mousemove only?

Edit: and did the take out the ability to do the top-down view from DA1?

Must be missing it, when press A or D it spins the camera around, but the character doesn't turn.  Q and E make him run left or right, but don't move the camera.  Basically, A and D move the camera, not the character.  Q and E do the reverse.  I don't see the way to sync them.  Halp!

Too bad about the 3/4, was useful as hell in DA1.

Edit: FFS, what's the possible rationale for not having good, old-fashioned "turn"?  Consolitis, I assume. 

The lack of diplomacy is damning, especially some quests where I was intent on shedding as little blood as possible was ruined by the 3 dozen spawn rule. Mobs LITERALLY spawning OUT OF THIN AIR, right next to my backline continues to amaze me how depraved some executives are. Without the filler combat the game would've been 20% shorter. Fill it with fodder attempt is so obvious. Bits and pieces of it was quality, especially when the companions interaction clicked. I question why they even took out things that worked (Party Equips) and left things that I hated in the game (filler combat materials).

Dragon Age II is definitely a rushed product.

Hold right mouse button, turn.

Was WASD even in DA1?

What's wrong with mouselook anyway?

Was WASD even in DA1?

So apparently after Bioware explicitly claiming that DA2 will not install SecuROM... It will install SecuROM.


Source site is down: http://www.reclaimyourgame.com/content.php?769-Evaluation-Report-Dragon-Age-2

But this site sums it up well: http://vividgamer.com/2011/03/10/ea-fails-to-disclose-securom-in-dragon-age-ii/

Finally finished. Great game, you can see the shorter development time (~1 year for this vs. ~5 years for DA:O) in the limited number of area maps and such, but you sure as hell can't see it in the writing. Best work Gaider and Co. have ever done on that, IMO.

Edit: FFS, what's the possible rationale for not having good, old-fashioned "turn"?  Consolitis, I assume. 

Want to know who the good writer for Bioware is? This guy. (http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,6524/)
What's he done? He was lead writer for the (criminally under-rated) Jade Empire, and also created & wrote a few NPCs for most other Bioware games. Which NPCs? Well...Minsc. And Edwin. And Mordin. And Wrex. And Garrus.

I liked JE a lot more than most I think.  That said, I've soured on it over the years as its seemed more like a KotOR with Kung-Fu.  A sequel would hopefully not feel like it's stuck on one moral axis with the extremes being to save and to kick the puppy.

That said, I think DA2 is pretty fantastic so I wouldn't mind a sequel to either :heart:.

I can understand it if the story wasn't to someone's taste or if they absolutely hated the changes to the game mechanics but trying to pretend DA2 was a FFXIV caliber failure that will "crater the franchise" is pretty unrealistic. The reviews have been positive and most people here seem to like it. The game will sell lots of copies, make lots of money and the DA franchise will continue.

The theme of this week’s Amazon charts is Pokemon, Pokemon, and a lot of familiar faces. In North America, the two Pokemons top the charts, with returning favorites Just Dance 2, Black Ops, and Killzone 3 rounding out the top five. That would be unsurprising, except for one suspicious omission: Dragon Age 2 fell just outside of the top five despite being one of this week’s new releases. Perhaps the reported negative fan outcry on Metacritic is actually more than just a few vocal users

EA expected to sell 5 million copies across all formats, but DA2 didn't even make the top five in its week of release. That's a franchise-ending failure in EA-think.

http://www.gamezone.com/index.php/news/item/top_five_game_sales_according_to_amazon_3_11/

EA expected to sell 5 million copies across all formats, but DA2 didn't even make the top five in its week of release. That's a franchise-ending failure in EA-think.

Gaider is an overrated hack who thinks Twilight is a good series of books. There, I said it.

Want to know who the good writer for Bioware is? This guy. (http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,6524/)
What's he done? He was lead writer for the (criminally under-rated) Jade Empire, and also created & wrote a few NPCs for most other Bioware games. Which NPCs? Well...Minsc. And Edwin. And Mordin. And Wrex. And Garrus. And, well...if you liked a character in a Bioware game, there's a better-than even change that he created and wrote them.

On the other hand, given the crater that DA2 has made for the Dragon Age 'franchise', it seems more likely that we'll see Jade Empire 2 than DA3 at this point. :grin:

Wrex was amusing, but just not that interesting. Minsc was funny, but also not that interesting. Mordin is pure love though. There, I said it.

They must be aggregating them somehow, because the Amazon bestsellers list is weird.  You can find DA at #4 for the 360 and #14 for the PC, but it also shows up again at #35 and #44 for the same platforms.

Mordin is Cassandra Claire's "the very secret diary of..." style turned into a game character. And his interest in my Shepard's sex life when she didn't even plan to have one was creepy. Especially when he apparently has extensive collection of materials about the subject.

I can't see any list on the Amazon bestsellers section (http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/2011-02/videogames/ref=zg_bsar_nav) that has that order of games.  Maybe they have some kind of chart that lumps in all pre-orders into release week/month instead of when the order takes place?  (Which Amazon clearly doesn't as Pokemon White/Black charted a month before they were out.)  Here are the US numbers:

Week of March 7th is: Pokemon White, Pokemon Black, Bulletstorm (360), Just Dance 2, Homefront (360)

Month of March to-date is: Pokemon White, Pokemon Black, Dragon Age 2 (360), Just Dance 2, MLB 11: The Show.  On this one the PC (box) and PS3 versions are 8th and 9th when you take out peripherals/hardware.

Edit: I just realized after more time looking through Amazon's charts, the difference between the current week's charts for me and for Simond's link might just be the past two days (since we're still technically in the week of March 7th).  Black Ops (360) is down a few spots from where it was four days into the week.

Really, if they're just taking the top five software from a weekly page (http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/2011-03-07/videogames/ref=zg_bsar_cal_we) mid-week they also run into the issue of Amazon doing a lot of sales before a title comes out.  For example, last week's (http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/2011-02-28/videogames/ref=zg_bsar_cal_mo) "top five" would have only had one title that was even out at the time.

The man's a doctor, he has to be prepared!

But but but then how will they collect all that valuable marketing information?  You were interested enough to check it out, so clearly it appeals to your demo.  Getting you to buy might mean just a small tweak here and there.

Seriously though, that's why.  It's valuable information.  If you're arsed to download and check it out then it's another bit in the data.  Everything we do is collected and mined for better ways to get us to spend our money. The better the profile of the customer, the more valuable the information is.

I knew this from the beginning, I just do not approve.

The Canadian developer sees similarities between COD's progression and Dragon Age's foundations
With Dragon Age II’s release imminent, senior producer Fernando Melo feels the sequel has far more reach than Origins, even potentially attracting the same kind of crowd that flocks to gaming’s biggest franchise, Call Of Duty.


Speaking to NowGamer Melo said: “We have data that shows there are a lot of people that enjoy playing RPGs although they won’t necessarily call them RPGs. They’ll play Fallout, Assassin’s Creed and even Call Of Duty, which have these progression elements – you’re putting points into things – but they don’t necessarily associate that as an RPG. So we think that if we expand that out we’ll attract a much bigger audience.”

“They'll play Call Of Duty but they don't necessarily associate that as an RPG”

There’s certainly logic in his thinking, and with individuals who failed to be enticed by BioWare’s original epic actually being swayed by the sequel – not to mention the upcoming demo giving gamers a chance to sample its goods first – there’s every change Dragon Age II may succeed in this goal.

Did anyone here buy the retail box version for PC? It came with secret Securom (http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/03/11/ea-includes-securom-drm-in-dragon-age-ii-without-teling-anyone-bans-player-for-making-critical-remark/).

Gaider is an overrated hack

Sorry, but there is some confusion on this. We use Sony Release Control which shares some functionality with other Sony products (SecuROM), but once the Sony Release Control check is passed, Release Control self-destructs, removing the Release Control wrapper and it is never used again. Game updates will not use Release Control because obviously the release date is passed.

There's a perfectly good in-game explanation.

See, Varric is telling the story, right?

He may not even have been there for every single warehouse/cave/cellar jaunt the Champion made. So obviously he just skims over it with "generic warehouse map", not bothering to go into detail. Those houses you can't go into? Varric didn't go in there. He doesn't know what's in there.

It makes so much sense, and it's a very interesting piece of meta-fiction. It's realistic and it plays on your perceptions of the story!

amiable:


Kildorn:  The mines one had me laughing so hard my daughter thought I'd lost my mind.  She's well voiced and written, hands-down my favorite companion.

Just entering Act 2.  Playing nightmare forces me to slow down and actually enjoy the game as well (my wife completed it on normal yesterday, and has been dying to talk to me about the plot, but so far has avoided spoiling anything).

I've just started in on Act 3 a bit, and while I'm loving the game overall so far, I really think it could have used a few more weeks of polishing.  The game will occasionally slow to a crawl, and I'll have to alt tab out and back in to get it back to normal speed.