Dragon Age

[caladein]

Not sure what weapon it might be used by, but in The Winter Forge the Tevinter 1H sword model is pretty badass looking.  I'll grab a screenshot of Alistair with a Tevinter sword with +Spirit damage that I whipped up later.

Honestly though the models aren't there for the most part, especially in Light/Medium armor.

[stray]

Almost all of the light armor seemed the same, except for color. Even Felon's Coat looks like everything else. And it's supposed to be a coat?

[Lantyssa]

I'd rather have a completely stylized look, period. Not necessarily exaggerated, but.. I don't know. Every "new gen" game that has stood out to me has been cel shaded. Wouldn't mind an RPG that looked like Prince of Persia or something (actually Tales of Vesparia is cel shaded.. Pretty game).

I hate cel shading.  Almost no game uses it to decent effect.  Rather, it makes what could be nice looking games look like utter shit.

Borderlands is the only one with a similar processing effect that makes me appreciate the style.  Nothing else, ever.

[stray]

I would say Prince of Persia would look like Assassin's Creed if it's was realistic. They both use the same engine. Both have good art teams (and AC is in a way very stylized in it's own right), but I don't think PoP fails or something. It's surreal looking. Very storybook, I guess. It fits the themes perfectly.

Valkyria Chronicles is another. I mean, it looks even better than the Valkyria anime series. As long as one liked anime at all, there should be nothing to complain about.

[edit] Just to add though, the real bottom line is just getting some fucking artists, period.   It need not be cel shaded. Having some light armor that's different than "Studded Armor" would be a nice step. Not making black people's noses look like something out of the Dark Crystal would be a good idea too.

[Koyasha]

[Riggswolfe]

So, according to IGN there was briefly a listing for an expansion called the Awakening on some retailer sites that mentioned a new origin story.

[Sky]

I thought the heavy armor was too fantasy and dislike most of it. Juggernaut isn't too bad. I like real-world armor alot, though. Games get too silly with pauldrons and whatnot.

[Velorath]

Looks like the Ostagar DLC has been delayed.

[Hawkbit]

Go figure.  DLC was delayed with no release date, yet they're announcing a $40 expansion pack for the spring. 

Anybody got a milking cow emoticon?

[Ironwood]

Signe.

Plus an avatar.

[AutomaticZen]

Yep.

Today, BioWare and Electronic Arts put rumors to rest and announced Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, the first official expansion pack which is slated to be released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on March 16, 2010. The expansion will require Dragon Age: Origins and will cost $39.99.

Set after the events of Dragon Age: Origins in the land of Amaranthine, players will take on the role of a Grey Warden trying to rebuild the order of legendary warriors. Along with this monumental task, players will have to discover new secrets of the Darkspawn menace as well as face off against deadly new threats such as the Inferno Golem, Spectral Dragon and a mysterious foe that calls itself the "Architect." Fortunately, Awakening raises the level cap of the game, and provides new abilities, spells, specializations and items for players to acquire.

Players will also have the option to import and revise their characters from Dragon Age: Origins, expanding on the customization of their heroes. Players can also choose to create a brand new Grey Warden from the land of Orlais. Five new party members will also be available for players to recruit and add to their band of adventurers.

Judging from the name of the villain, it looks like this springs from the plot of the second novel, 'The Calling'.

The Architect is  The novel also had some interesting secrets about Grey Wardens.

[Riggswolfe]

Hmmm...I could make a Warden from Orlais with the expansion according to IGN. I wonder if it will also tie up

[stray]

$40 "expansion"? Jesus..

It better be long.

[edit] On second thought, "expansion" prices are usually expensive I guess.

[Reg]

Yeah, 40 dollars is the standard expansion price.  I'd rather buy that than a half dozen shitty little 10 dollar DLCs any day.

[stray]

Yeah, I had to rethink that. I wouldn't mind another playthrough with a different region and origin.. Like playing a new game. And I imagine if they raised the level cap, then content will be pretty extensive.

[CmdrSlack]

March 2010 is a perfect release date, IMO. That'll give me time to finish my first playthrough, start a second and possibly get to all the other games I got for Xmas and from the Steam megasale.

[Surlyboi]

Judging from the name of the villain, it looks like this springs from the plot of the second novel, 'The Calling'.

The Architect is  The novel also had some interesting secrets about Grey Wardens.

Shenanigans, everybody knows that the architect is an intelligent machine and a fair bit of wankery that created the Matrix. 

[stray]

I still have no clue what the fuck the Architect in the Matrix was saying. Fair bit of wankery indeed.

[01101010]

Yep.

Today, BioWare and Electronic Arts put rumors to rest and announced Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, the first official expansion pack which is slated to be released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on March 16, 2010. The expansion will require Dragon Age: Origins and will cost $39.99.

Set after the events of Dragon Age: Origins in the land of Amaranthine, players will take on the role of a Grey Warden trying to rebuild the order of legendary warriors. Along with this monumental task, players will have to discover new secrets of the Darkspawn menace as well as face off against deadly new threats such as the Inferno Golem, Spectral Dragon and a mysterious foe that calls itself the "Architect." Fortunately, Awakening raises the level cap of the game, and provides new abilities, spells, specializations and items for players to acquire.

Players will also have the option to import and revise their characters from Dragon Age: Origins, expanding on the customization of their heroes. Players can also choose to create a brand new Grey Warden from the land of Orlais. Five new party members will also be available for players to recruit and add to their band of adventurers.

So I get to play a zombie dwarf? Not sure how they can work me back into the story since I, ya know, died and stuff. They are also raising the level cap? So either I start fresh at lvl 1 or continue at lvl 20-something and a corpse? I guess it would work on my dalish imp warrior since she let douchbag Alistair finally make a god damn decision and die while I ran off with my french tart.

The more I think about it, a zombie dwarf slayer ... 

[Riggswolfe]

I still have no clue what the fuck the Architect in the Matrix was saying. Fair bit of wankery indeed.

Watch the DVDs with the philosopher commentary. It makes the architect make much more sense after they explain it. His main role is really just to offer Neo the choice and reveal that the prophecy of the One is all BS concocted by the machines. What he was saying makes perfect sense it's just long and drawn out in the way he says it.

[stray]

He just comes off as some dude who's trying to deflect everything.

Rememeber that scene in Total Recall with the psychologist, trying to pull the same condescending mindfuck on Quaid? Neo should have just responded the same way.

[edit] The Architect didn't break a sweat though, I'll give him that.

[tmp]

Expansion sounds nice, not sure about the level cap thing. Having everything run around in dragonbone armour or something even better because of the scaling and just so it doesn't get two-shotted is likely to feel rather silly...

[Lakov_Sanite]

Treating a single player game like an online one is...meh.  I paid $49 for DA so tell me...will I get nearly the same amount of playtime and game for $40? I hardly think so.  In online games it usually makes sense for the time you spend in those expansions and the content they provide but what is this going to add, another 10 hours of play?  If anyone thinks this isnt a blatant money grab they are deluded.

[stray]

I didn't really have mmo expansion comparisons in mind, but more like.. strategy and sims shit. I dunno, expansions in general are pricey. $40 is still high though. They seem to be around $30

[Riggswolfe]

He just comes off as some dude who's trying to deflect everything.

Rememeber that scene in Total Recall with the psychologist, trying to pull the same condescending mindfuck on Quaid? Neo should have just responded the same way.

[edit] The Architect didn't break a sweat though, I'll give him that.

Not to derail but everything the Architect is telling Neo is the truth. Neo just fucks up everything by making the "wrong" choice which is something the Architect doesn't understand and never anticipated. He's basically the most machine-like of all the programs which is also apparently why he talks in such an odd, monotone manner.

Edit: And the only reason the Architect bothers to tell Neo and the other Ones the truth is because the Oracle made it clear to him that humans need to have a choice for things to work.

[01101010]

He just comes off as some dude who's trying to deflect everything.

Rememeber that scene in Total Recall with the psychologist, trying to pull the same condescending mindfuck on Quaid? Neo should have just responded the same way.

[edit] The Architect didn't break a sweat though, I'll give him that.

Not to derail but everything the Architect is telling Neo is the truth. Neo just fucks up everything by making the "wrong" choice which is something the Architect doesn't understand and never anticipated. He's basically the most machine-like of all the programs which is also apparently why he talks in such an odd, monotone manner.

Edit: And the only reason the Architect bothers to tell Neo and the other Ones the truth is because the Oracle made it clear to him that humans need to have a choice for things to work.

Just for that, I am making a human arcane warrior tonight named Neo.

[eldaec]

a brand new Grey Warden from the land of Orlais.

Looking forward to more comedy accents already.

[Riggswolfe]

a brand new Grey Warden from the land of Orlais.

Looking forward to more comedy accents already.

Except that will be your PC so mostly silent. Now, if your origin is in Orlais you might have to listen to those accents. I'm actually quite tempted to make an Orlesian Warden.

[01101010]

I am curious as to their "additional specializations." Monk + fist weapons = Hell even polearms/halberds would make me swoon at this point. Knowing my luck there will be katanas and everyone will be ninjas. 

[stray]

Not sure why Orlesians would be monks. The only thing I remember about them is that they had "Chevaliers".

[Surlyboi]

Where do you think ah got thees outRAGEeous accent?

[Riggswolfe]

I am curious as to their "additional specializations." Monk + fist weapons = Hell even polearms/halberds would make me swoon at this point. Knowing my luck there will be katanas and everyone will be ninjas. 

Specializations in this case refers to class specializations. I'm guessing with Orlesian we'll see Chevalier as a specialization. I don't know much about the Amarathian(sp?) area but I'd guess at least one specialization will be related to it somehow. So, maybe regional themed specializations this time out?

I need to finish my human noble dual wield game before it comes out I guess. I like my first human noble but he went part sword/board and part 2 hander and sucked at both of them because I split his skill points. Hmmm...I guess I could download one of those level reset tools and reassign his points.

[Slyfeind]

Edit: And the only reason the Architect bothers to tell Neo and the other Ones the truth is because the Oracle made it clear to him that humans need to have a choice for things to work.

Oh man, I totally didn't catch that even after watching Matrix 2 a zillion times. Interesting.

More to topic, I'm skeptical the expansion will be worth $40, yet I'm still excited for it. If it turns out to be worth it, I'll bite, but otherwise I'll wait for some Game Of The Year edition.

[Reg]

I hear it only has about 15 hours of play.  That seems a touch short to me. I'm sure I got a lot more game time than that out of the NWN 2 sequels.

[sidereal]

a brand new Grey Warden from the land of Orlais.

Looking forward to more comedy accents already.

You mean more french accents perpetrated by. . native French speakers?

All of the message board warriors complaining about how 'fake' and 'bad' Leliana's French accent amuse me even more than all the dorfs who complained about Malkovich's accent as Teddy KGB in Rounders, which was about the most authentic Russian accent perpetrated by an English speaker in film.