Dragon Age: Origins and Choice 2.0

[Vespire]

Good gods I can't wait for this. Only...PC, or console? Can my PC handle it?

If it can't, the only answer is to upgrade it. I daresay that for a game like this, there'll probably be a solid modding community. Maybe not the size of the Elder Scrolls/Fallout 3, but still sizeable nonetheless. Wouldn't want to miss out on all those delicious mods now, would you?

I was reading an article the other day, I believe if you buy the pc version the will give you like a level editor sort of thing. If you ever brought Warcraft 3, you will know what I mean. Where you create your own map and speech and so forth. Well they said they will do the same but even better. So mods and user made content. I knew this was coming out a few months ago, I believe this will be the top of my list to buy hehehehe

I don't know if we are allowed to use links (I'm new) but here goes
http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/dragon-age/1004709p1.html
They talk about a tool set where you can create your own level and so forth. Have a read, a little long but very intresting

 

[Amnestic]

Good gods I can't wait for this. Only...PC, or console? Can my PC handle it?

If it can't, the only answer is to upgrade it. I daresay that for a game like this, there'll probably be a solid modding community. Maybe not the size of the Elder Scrolls/Fallout 3, but still sizeable nonetheless. Wouldn't want to miss out on all those delicious mods now, would you?

I was reading an article the other day, I believe if you buy the pc version the will give you like a level editor sort of thing. If you ever brought Warcraft 3, you will know what I mean. Where you create your own map and speech and so forth. Well they said they will do the same but even better. So mods and user made content. I knew this was coming out a few months ago, I believe this will be the top of my list to buy hehehehe

I don't know if we are allowed to use links (I'm new) but here goes
http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/dragon-age/1004709p1.html
They talk about a tool set where you can create your own level and so forth. Have a read, a little long but very intresting

Being given a Map Editor/Level Creator/Construction Kit for any game can greatly enhance replayability and longevity simple due to the amount of player made content. From the looks of it, we might have a Neverwinter Nights-style editor on our hands with people making standalone adventure modules or, for the more daring, full campaigns.

And you'll probably be able to add buildings/NPCs/items into the main module as well, a la the Elder Scrolls/Fallout. Definitely looks like it has potential.

 

[eelel]

*crosses fingers* I hope this works. If it dose this may be one of the most epic games ever.

 

[deep_dish]

Except Steal also has save the dying king which could potentially rally more people to your aid, inspire your troops and give you all healing powers. Not steal leaves the Urn more vulnerable to it being stolen by the bad guys, which is decidedly bad.


It's blatantly not a black and white choice.

Edit: Double quoting=my fail.

No, steal means you take it and use it for your own good - heal yourself and your friends. And disregard a request of a dying king, AND steal a holy artifact, AND kill bunch of people for it. Not stealing means doing an honorable thing, healing a king, becoming a hero within that king's lands blah blah blah. But really all of that is semantics.

In essence it is still a basic "good or bad" binary choice. Yeah, there's some additional weight added, but in the end(and I'm blatantly theorizing) I'm sure there will be pretty clear "good or bad" consequences somewhat similar to what I described above.

 

[Monocle Man]

Where is the "Stuff you pockets with holy man's ashes - Just in case" option?

-Destroy the ashes and your buddies
-Keep the ashes there and risk losing it to the evil ones, but keep all your buddies
-Take all the ashes with you - no risk in losing it to the evil ones, infinite supply of healing stuff, and a few of your buddies might be able to settle with that idea.

But I suppose those choices are slightly better than most others. I'm looking forward for Dragon Age, anyway.

You don't think a few folks just might take issue with you shoving the singlemost important icon of their religion in your rucksack?

Compared to destroying their most important religious icon? I don't really think they would like it much less.

You're making yourself their enemy by knocking the urn on the floor, surely taking the spoils too wouldn't cause much more trouble.
Gamebreaking? Obviously, but nuclear bombs were also "gamebreaking" in WWII.

Of course the "destroy or praise" choice works fine, I just think they should have changed the setting a little bit so there isn't a "bottomless pool of health".

Hmm, I am having trouble figuring out this changed setting.
The only reason why you would smash it instead of taking it with you would be when it's huge and impossible to carry, but then you wouldn't be able take it to the ill king.
Perhaps you could take the king to the holy relic. But then you'd probably have to answer to the now-cured king and farewell moral choice.

 

[Pillypill]

This game is begining to bug me, because i can't make my mind up about it, this new choice system thing alone makes me want to get it. But a combat vid of this i saw (from a year ago so improvements are likely) turned me off it. Personaly- i'd take the damn goblet of whatever it's called, kill who ever was stupid enough to get in my way and use it in a fight for- not good, ermm......er....survival(?)

 

[pneuma08]

This is a great trend, and more has to do with making decisions where all the options regarding are compelling rather than cut-and-dry. I do hope it continues and other developers take it seriously.

No, steal means you take it and use it for your own good - heal yourself and your friends. And disregard a request of a dying king, AND steal a holy artifact, AND kill bunch of people for it. Not stealing means doing an honorable thing, healing a king, becoming a hero within that king's lands blah blah blah. But really all of that is semantics.

In essence it is still a basic "good or bad" binary choice. Yeah, there's some additional weight added, but in the end(and I'm blatantly theorizing) I'm sure there will be pretty clear "good or bad" consequences somewhat similar to what I described above.

But you can steal it AND use it to revive the king. You can steal it, making sure that it never falls into the hands of your enemies, and go around healing peasants from debilitating diseases.

This is even disregarding the decision to go steal it in the first place (which I hope will be optional), which is kill a bunch of guys and steal their treasure to heal the king. I sure hope this king is worth it.

In any event, what is your idea of a morally gray choice, if this is not it?

 

[squid5580]

Can I take the Urn for myself? Screw the army, screw the cult, immortality for me alone woot.

 

[ErythorbicAcid]

It sounds like someone finally got the entire choice thing right. It's not about "good" and "evil", but action and consequence. I can't wait to see what they do with this through out the game

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I'm glad people have mentioned The Witcher already as that would have prompted me to launch into an indignant rant on the topic had it been neglected. The "first", ha! Dragon Age looks very cool, and while I've consistently enjoyed Bioware's games even if their moral choices boiled down to the 'save vs eat kitten' cliche, it is certainly nice to see them moving away from morality systems where it's instantly obvious what the correct choice is.

The Witcher definitely beat them to the punch when it comes to constructing moral choices that can make you hate yourself for making them though.

 

[Gennadios]

you may not see the final ripples of your decision until the final chapter of the game

This is exactly the kind of s*** that I'm afraid of. Bioware is not known for putting together very flexible stories. Whether you save the puppy or eat the baby the end result has always been exactly the same because too much variation will breed inconsistencies in the cutscenes and epic dialogues that they're so fond of.

What BW used to do is have you trample about the game doing what you please, then at the very end be given the only choice that really mattered. Eat baby Jesus for his godly powers or save him for the good of all. This was a good system, it allowed you to see all the possible endings without bothering /w the game a second time, just quicksave at the right moment.

What was described looks like the exact same system, except instead of being given a choice at the end, all your actions come together in some moral calculus to make the final choice for you.

I'll be impressed when your actions accomplish something in the intermediate chapters.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I do like the thought of defiling the holy grail.. hmm.

 

[Shadowtalon]

You don't think a few folks just might take issue with you shoving the single most important icon of their religion in your rucksack?

...or I guess we could just destroy it and no one gets it.

Their choice.

 

[MightyMouse]

Sounds much like the Witcher - giving me lots of options to do things I don't want to do but not letting me go through with the ingenious plan I just thought of.

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

Sounds awesome. I like the concept.

 

[Slycne]

What BW used to do is have you trample about the game doing what you please, then at the very end be given the only choice that really mattered. Eat baby Jesus for his godly powers or save him for the good of all. This was a good system, it allowed you to see all the possible endings without bothering /w the game a second time, just quicksave at the right moment.

What was described looks like the exact same system, except instead of being given a choice at the end, all your actions come together in some moral calculus to make the final choice for you.

Really? I mean to each his own, but I always thought this approach was a real let down. For example, in my first play through of Neverwinter Nights 2 I was attempting to play a self-centered and selfish assassin.

Spoiler

And despite all my choices up to the end I am only faced with the options - Save the world or destroy it. There was a character moment just before this where party members would leave based on your actions, but the ending itself was entirely black or white. Now my character wasn't decidedly evil, but he wasn't going to save the world out of the goodness of his own heart. However enslave/destroying the world wouldn't help him either, why should I be someone's underling.

Thanks, but if all you want is to be able to see all the different endings without having to play through the game again they have faqs and captured footage for that. I'll take a branching ending based on my actions any day.

 

[scarab7]

Hoping the actions are as good and storyline effecting as they say. I was disappointed in Fable 2. I'd like an ending based on my decisions, but I'd also like the world to change immediately or quickly, but not drastically, after a decision.
Anyone afraid of a situation where you have to fight your own companions, but you've made so of them too strong through your decisions, gear, and training?

For the decision, I'd see if I could cure the king, then destroy the ashes but not the urn. Then place the Urn somewhere safe and public and secure it from ever being used. People would hate me if they found out, but they can hate after the Darkspawn is dead.

 

[SomeUnregPunk]

a game that allows for choices with consequences to the game.? Do you mean that if hypothetically in Fallout3 after you save the zombie tree the entire FO3 world slowly turns green, flowers blossom and trees start growing everywhere. Then at the near the end of the game you learn the trees are really a zombie horde that is killing all the meat life for the plant life and you got a sudden epic battle on your hands. If only you didn't save the zombie tree.

Are we talking about that type of response?
Or are we talking about ....Kill the king and get a Happy Meal! Now all the item shops sell Happy Meals!

 

[wolfskin]

Ok, so um, I was insanely keen for this game before and this is just some delicious icing on an already mouth watering cake.

 

[hypothetical fact]

Save the king and get called a hero or use the ashes and become super powerful. Sounds pretty black and white to me.