Dragon Age 2 - Here be spoilers.

[Strazos]

Me too?

[Sjofn]

OK, all sent!

[AutomaticZen]

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

NOOOOOOOO!!!  Missed it!

[Paelos]

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

NOOOOOOOO!!!  Missed it!

Sign up under the beta link, you should get an email within a week.

[AutomaticZen]

Or today.  Today works too.  Interesting.

[Sjofn]

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

[tmp]

This is going to be a totally pointless remark but aww, Lantyssa's AV.

in slightly more useful news the PC demo is to be released around 9 am PST today.

_{(i did say slightly)}

[Merusk]

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.

[Paelos]

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.

Pot chugging and bombs seem to get me out of most troubles.

[Merusk]

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.

 

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.

[Ghambit]

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

[Rasix]

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

DA was widely regarded as universally better on the PC for a lot of reasons. Not sure this will hold true for DA2.  I believe they've already removed the tactical combat view that the PC had over the console versions.

[Merusk]

The two platforms have greatly diverged in the combat engine department.   PCs are keeping the tactical aspect, but consoles were getting rid of it somehow.  There's details farther back in this thread or the other DA one.

[Ghambit]

Bioware website is currently taking a dump.

[tmp]

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)

[Ingmar]

If you think you will ever have the slightest inclination to mod, PC. Even if you don't, probably PC.

[Gunzwei]

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)

There's a couple of torrents out that are much faster and also Fileplanet is hosting the eng/de/fr versions (fastest speed imo). The BW site d/l has a tendency to die about halfway through.

[jakonovski]

I was a bit conflicted on the demo. Character design is awesome, story elements were properly Bioware, but the combat is lackluster. I really don't like the focus on cartoony action with somersaulting rogues flip kicking vials and literally exploding Darkspawn with their backstabs. Also, hueg tits.

[Paelos]

Also, hueg tits.

I can't take you seriously if you opposed huge tits. Now, ridculous cleavage armor showing off said tits that would have absolutely no use at all even in a fictional fight? That's stupid.

[Khaldun]

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

[koro]

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.

[jakonovski]

Teetees!

[Paelos]

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

Distractions.

[Hawkbit]

lvl 12 wetnurse lfg

[Sjofn]

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.

 

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.

I didn't start getting my ass beat until I hit level 4 or so, and by then I had a potion lab, bomb lab and ... whatever it is that makes healing kits (the thing you can use on other people). My problem has more been that I'm level ... 6? now, and no one I can recruit is above level 3. :P

Amusingly, the hardest thing for me to beat is spiders, because I couldn't cure poison for a long time. But I can now! Cower before me, spiders!

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

[Merusk]

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.

You and every other damn user on the planet, it seems.  I keep getting "No steam servers are configured to deliver content, this will be corrected soon."   Soon, apparently, doesn't mean any time in the past 3 hours.

[tmp]

Ok so i played the demo. I'm a weak, weak man.

Whoever is responsible for the abomination that's the port of the console version tactics screen UI in the PC version (or the whole UI port in general) should be forced to spend a day doing nothing but setting up the tactics. I mean srsly, drop-down list buttons which are half screen wide but apparently only have some tiny hotspots in vague places on the sides, that are either off or function differently depending on which side of the button you click..? And all that without any sort of cue, tooltip, hint, whatever...

On second thought, make that a week of setting up tactics.

[Segoris]

I had that same problem TMP. Otherwise, I'm torn on the combat as there are a few tweaks I'd like to see (player character stays on the target, a target indicator so that when you use an ability you auto-advance to your target, things of that sort) but overall I'm alright with DA2.

As for that facebook app - what a piece of shit. Outside of the castle builder, which really isn't that great and I wish they went simtower on that part, I can't say one single positive thing about that app. I've tried thinking of just one good thing since yesterday and I cannot do it. I had some faith in EA/Bioware to not go completely overboard this early with RMT, and that was wrong of me.

[Paelos]

The UI is really annoying. I have no idea why they changed it.

[Sjofn]

I, too, think the tactics screen is a goddamn abomination. The skills screen is OK though, and I do prefer the "less abilities, but make those abilities more awesome" trimming of the mage's shit. The rogue visually is pretty ... spazzy, but play-wise, I do like that archery seems a lot better and that I won't have to keep moving my rogues behind people to do any damage to speak of. I liked the mage alright, but I think I will like it (and everything else) better with friendly fire because I am a broken individual that likes placing my AEs JUST SO. I haven't played a warrior yet.

I heart Aveline.  

[koro]

I found myself constantly wishing I could zoom out more. The UI shenanigans are annoying as well, but I'm so very, very disappointed that they went the Mass Effect method of "give a vague idea of what you're going to say, then say something completely fucking different" with the dialogue wheel. The Ladyhawke voice changing from Jennifer Hale to Very Obviously Not Jennifer Hale between the intro sequence and the gameplay was quite jarring too.

I'm also far from a graphics whore, but I was very annoyed to see Bioware's continuing tradition of high-quality character textures (for the main characters, naturally; all the other NPCs look like DA1 imports) clashed with super low-quality environment textures and simple environment geometry. Also the new female run animation? Shameful.

But aside from that I kind of like what I see so far. I'm not going to buy it on release day, but I'll be getting it sooner rather than later. Getting quite tired of pre-order horseshit though.

[Hawkbit]

I've played the first 20min or so on both PC and PS3.  While the console controller feels much more intuitive for this game due to the action heavy combat, my 4 year old PC takes a pretty serious edge with the graphics and stability.  On the PC (q6600, 880gtx, 4gig) it is nearly flawless at high rez, 2xAA.  The PS3 is nice because I can lay on the couch, but it seems to be cutting things off early, like combat sequences and cutscenes.  Textures are not nearly as nice and neither is the framerate.  

Sadly, I think I'm going to PC this one, though I'll have to play the demo a bit more to see.  Also, the combat angle and targeting made me feel like I was playing The Witcher... almost to the point where it felt like a ripoff.

[Sjofn]

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

She was never going to be the voice of Ladyhawke, partly because she's Shepard. I didn't think Ladyhawke sounded like her at any point, but maybe it's just me!

I'm not a big fan of the dialogue wheel thing, because I don't love the voice protagonist like a lot of people do, but once I figure out what the stupid symbols MEAN (some of them are obvious, some of them are more "wtf is that supposed to be?") I think I will like it better than Mass Effect because hopefully I will be ambushed by dialogue nowhere near what I wanted to say less often. No keeping track of an overall Prick Score will also help it along, I think.

I wish they hadn't gone SO over the top goofy-ass goofy with the combat animations. I'll get used to it but it's so annoyingly X-TREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEME.    The actual combat-combat, rather than the animations, I like pretty well though. I think I'm going to mostly hang out with the archer rogues instead of Isabella to keep the doofiness level down.

[Tebonas]

That was ...different.

I guess they don't want to hear the Console version is inferior anymore, sad part is they seemingly did it by dragging the PC version down to that level.

I still like the story, I love the presentation of the demo, I absolutely loathe the new UI and combat choices.

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.

[jakonovski]

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