Dragon Age 2 - Here be spoilers.

[Lantyssa]

Hah.  A friend did that on the CoH boards the day the book came out...  That was a quick ban.

[Sjofn]

So cruel! I would actually feel bad if I really spoiled something big for someone, I think. I'm usually OK with being spoiled, but at the same time I get all OH GOD I DON'T WANT TO RUIN SOMEONE'S EXPERIENCE. I blame sickrubik, he's a huge baby about spoilers.

Although to be fair, if Anders' little episode at the end of DA2 had been spoiled for me, it wouldn't have been neeeeearly the "oh fuck, what the hell did my fake boyfriend just do, you ASSHOLE" gutpunch it was.

[Tannhauser]

Since I hadn't spent ANY time with Anders other than mandatory, my first thought was that maybe I should have. 

But my biggest gripe, the biggest, was having to fight Orsino when I was on his side.  Still rankles.

I've stalled on my second playthru, probably won't pick it back up for a long time.  Rift and new DLC for Fallout:  New Vegas beckons.

[tmp]

Also, Witcher 2 coming out in something like 10 days?

[Venkman]

Hah.  A friend did that on the CoH boards the day the book came out...  That was a quick ban.

Guy I knew did that coming out of Presumed Innocent telling the crowd in line "the wife did it".

That was evil.

[UnSub]

He could have just done that if he'd read the book though.

[Venkman]

He could have just done that if he'd read the book though.

Well yea, but how many people read the book before seeing the movie? You could also say people won't be shocked by the number of deaths in Game of Thrones too :)

[Raguel]

Finally finished the game. Not sure if it's better than the original, but I enjoyed it.

In terms of spoilers (and trophies): how does one earn the respect of the Arishok (sp)?

Anything interesting about the Band of 3? I guess I missed some messages along the way :(

[Sjofn]

The Band of Three stuff basically tells you what you probably figured out: That Kirkwall is a deeply fucked up place. The Veil was apparently thinned there on purpose by Tevinter mages (because Tevinter mages always do shit like that and it ALWAYS TURNS OUT FINE RITE).

As for earning the respect of the Arishok, you know you've done it if he doesn't make you beat up anyone to prove you're pretty cool and he should chat with you one last time, I believe. I'm still not 100% certain how I did it, but it ticked over for me on a playthrough where I actually went back to keep him informed about shit (like I am pretty sure I went and spoke to him after Petrice's buddy murdered those qunari, for example) and I generally tried my best to not be all YOUR QUN IS REALLY WEIRD DUDE.

[Mazakiel]

In a nutshell, don't lie to him, don't try to be evasive, and don't come across as mercenary.  

Some of the big decisions I took leading up to getting his respect where not bringing up that I was owed money when the dwarf wanting the gunpowder was told to buzz off, not trying to hide the condition the bodies of the slain Qunari were in, and letting him know that the delegation had gone missing before looking into it.  

And from what I recall of the Band of 3 stuff, and this may include some guessing on my part since it's been awhile, they discovered that the Tevinter had secretly designed the city to focus magic, were sacrificing a good number of the slaves that came in to power that magic, and were performing secret experiments in the catacombs below the city.  Basically using the city to focus blood magic and weaken the veil.  Which would also explain why there were so many demons and abominations running around the place.  

[Fordel]

More or less a Hellmouth.

[Tebonas]

Which explains why everybody goes Blood Mage at the drop of a hat.

I should really replay this and try to get that Band of 3 quest chain. Don't know how I missed that the first time.

[Koyasha]

It's not a quest chain.  It's a series of codex entries.  3 in each chapter, if I remember right.

[Sjofn]

Yeah, three in each chapter, and yes, it does sort of explain why it's apparently REALLY EASY to become a blood mage and summon legions of hellspawn in Kirkwall.

[CmdrSlack]

Apparently, if a Kirkwall mage gets a papercut, he becomes a blood mage.

[Raguel]

I was hoping it was a quest chain.   Oh well. (eta: that is to say, I thought it would lead to a quest or another Big Bad to kill)

Like most people, I'm really ticked off with the reuse of maps. I thought I was playing DAoC again :p.

While I like Merril and Varric, the rest of the cast was pretty blah IMO. If it came down to it, I'd rather DA3 be about the warden or a brand new char.

I might be the only one, but I assumed "Rise to Power" implied they were going to build on Awakenings with some cool Civ like content. I was kind of disappointed that all the threats were really internal instead of external.

[Sjofn]

Apparently, if a Kirkwall mage gets a papercut, he becomes a blood mage.

And Anders will insist that they were clearly driven to it by the templars. Sure, blood magic is bad, but how dare that templar loan that mage a book?

[Mazakiel]

Apparently, if a Kirkwall mage gets a papercut, he becomes a blood mage.

And Anders will insist that they were clearly driven to it by the templars. Sure, blood magic is bad, but how dare that templar loan that mage a book?

The only way a Templar would give a book to a mage is if they were throwing it at them or beating them with it.  Mages are supposed to just sit in their cells nice and peaceful like and await their eventual Rite of Tranquility. 

[Sjofn]

It's funny, I have yet to side with the templars at the very end (I do have a Hawke right at the end who will, but I'm waiting to see if ANYONE AT ALL ever fixes the Anders rivalry path shit), but I am pretty much a templar sympathizer. They have a shitty job (extra shitty in Kirkwall!) but everyone is always all "oh boo hoo hoo, poor oppressed mages!" If Meredith wasn't such a crazy bitch at the end, the decision would be a lot more evenly represented in my playthroughs, I think. 

[Mazakiel]

Obviously, the first dozen copies of Anders' manifesto weren't enough.  He'll have to leave a few more around. 

All that aside, while I'm firmly in the mage camp, I can understand that they do need to be policed.  The Templars just aren't very good at it, in my mind.  While the Ferelden group was a bit smothering, they overall seemed okay.  The Kirkwall Templars are just batshit insane.  When Cullen is the voice of reason and moderation, you know shit's crazy. 

[Sjofn]

Yeah, I think we're baaasically at the same place really, just coming at it from different angles, as I definitely feel the Kirkwall templars were mostly Doing It Wrong and I could not possibly agree more that when Cullen is the voice of reason, shit is crazy. Mages don't need to be brutally oppressed, but leaving them to their own devices would probably end in tears as well.

But mages, the blood magic? You aren't helping.

[Tebonas]

I was on board with the Opression angle right up to the end (fuck you again for that, first Enchanter), seeing the niceties of some Templars as abberations.

But with what you know about Kirkwall after playing the game (plus Band of Three), the realization dawned on me that the Kirkwall Templars aren't unreasonable since I have to presume that shit was going on for some time. We are talking about each and every Mage going bloodmage if he has a bad day. We are talking about every leniency given to them being abused and innocents dying in the wake of that. Hell, the Templars of Kirkwall must have developed a siege mentality of epic proportions. No wonder they are trigger happy.

Not defending Meredith, but the rest of them? Trapped between a rock and a hard place for quite some time.

[rk47]

They're both shit factions to relate with. Which is why Hawke's ultimate solution was to kill both faction leaders, AND LEAVE.

[Azuredream]

Hawke should've gone one step further and obliterated the whole city ala BtVS S7.

[Sjofn]

They're both shit factions to relate with. Which is why Hawke's ultimate solution was to kill both faction leaders, AND LEAVE.

Seriously, after my first playthrough, when I met King Alistair the second time, I was seriously thinking "SERIOUSLY PLEASE TAKE ME BACK TO FERELDAN, IT'S CRAZY HERE."

[Surlyboi]

Fuck that shit.

Take off and nuke the city from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[Venkman]

They're both shit factions to relate with. Which is why Hawke's ultimate solution was to kill both faction leaders, AND LEAVE.

Seriously, after my first playthrough, when I met King Alistair the second time, I was seriously thinking "SERIOUSLY PLEASE TAKE ME BACK TO FERELDAN, IT'S CRAZY HERE."

Wait, you met King Alistair? I sided with Meredith first and took out the Enchanter. Agonized over that one for a bit, even letting her change my mind, and was kinda disappointed that only after I sided with her he went batshit. Until then rather sane. But anyway, so I take him out, she in turn goes nuts so I kill her, her nights all bend the knee to me and then Varrick is talking to Inquisitor about what happened after. Beyond that I'm stuck in my house not even able to explore the city. Or at least, I wasn't when I checked that night.

Seems like I missed a cutscene or something?

[Merusk]

You get a letter about meeting Alistair at some point in act 3 if you made him king.   If he wasn't made king and you let Logain live he's a drunk in the Hanged Man with a cut scene.  If Anora is Queen and Alistair remained a Grey Warden, he's who you run into with the wardens in the final fight.

King Alistair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxo-ss-n8GA
Alistair the Drunk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjy0YtHUW94
Alistair the Grey Warden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMvh4u94ZFg&feature=related

[Sjofn]

You run into Warden Alistair during the qunari uprising for sure. I did not personally run into him during the final sequence, only my Grey Warden'd sibling (although I think I ran into Stroud during my Bethany-in-the-Circle run through, so I assume he would've been Alistair had Alistair been a GW in that save?).

But yeah, you get a letter during Act 3 from King Alistair saying "hey, let's chat." It's not really very important, it's basically just a chance for the people that crowned him king to see him again in a situaton that makes any sense at all.

[Koyasha]

It bugs me that I've never seen that - only some of my earliest playthroughs did I crown him king, I long since lost those saves, and I prefer not to make him king anymore, and indeed I tend to let Anora execute him most of the time - and there's no such scene for Anora, especially considering that Alistair apparently reveals some interesting information in that conversation.

[Sjofn]

It would've been nice to have something for Anora as well, yeah. I believe at least one of the default saves has him as king, though, if you are really that desperate to see it. It's his worst cameo in my opinion, though, it's kinda solidified my opinion he's best off staying a Grey Warden. 

[Azuredream]

I know the first one I imported was a female Human Noble who was crowned Queen and married Alistair. He gives a line about "the old ball and chain.." when you talk to him in Kirkwall, though I was secretly hoping for a cameo from myself 

[Venkman]

You get a letter about meeting Alistair at some point in act 3 if you made him king.   If he wasn't made king and you let Logain live he's a drunk in the Hanged Man with a cut scene.  If Anora is Queen and Alistair remained a Grey Warden, he's who you run into with the wardens in the final fight.

King Alistair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxo-ss-n8GA
Alistair the Drunk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjy0YtHUW94
Alistair the Grey Warden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMvh4u94ZFg&feature=related

Ah, thanks. Yea I can't remember who I made ruler, but think it was Anora. At I don't remember the Grey Warden I ran into during the uprising, but am pretty sure it was not Alistair (woulda remembered) but some dark haired guy. Might be Alistair the drunk I brought over. Will need to visit Hanged Man and see.

[Simond]

http://www.1up.com/news/dragon-age-iii-announced

As if there were any doubt, Dragon Age III has been announced by way of a tweet authored by BioWare's senior director of creative development, Alistair McNally.

"I'm looking for exceptional environment artists to join me at #BioWare Edmonton, Canada to work on #DragonAge3 #gamejobs #jobs #3D #artists," he wrote on Twitter yesterday. Somewhat surprisingly, the tweet hasn't been taken down as of yet, which is often the case when something is inadvertently revealed online.

Prediction: Given that way too many people liked DA:2 (despite it being a tedious, patchwork, rushed mess), DA:3 will be the same, but even more so.

[tmp]

I wonder about the "too many people" part actually. Leaving aside the whole user rating clusterfuck, even the average reviewer score for DA2 is trailing ~10 points behind the first game, including the console versions despite all the work and focus supposedly put into it. The lead designer went on record to admit the average scores the game was getting were "a little surprising" (which is amusing in itself, since it may make one wonder if it's only "a little" surprising because they actually expected that )