Dragon Age: Origins

The tactics screen is made for simple random battles you don't really care about. I don't want stuff being managed for me, I'd rather play the game.

I believe that's the point.
 
taviow said:
The tactics screen is made for simple random battles you don't really care about. I don't want stuff being managed for me, I'd rather play the game.
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Agreed. In old school, turn based games I used to micromanage every movement, every action and every single piece of equipment. I am so old school... ;)
 
Well, I played it. It's pretty much classic BioWare. Some great individual pieces of writing and some fun characters. But ... I don't love it.

The combat is boring. No question about it, combat is simply not fun. The spells available to me as a mage aren't varied enough or useful enough to offer enough tactical variety to make them interesting, and combat basically just boils down to 'throw some area effect spells, then frantically heal my tanks until they've chopped people down'.

Does anyone remember what the combat was like in Baldur's Gate? Some enemies would slice right through you because your tactics weren't working, then you thought "Hm, what if I equipped weapons of fire?" or "Hm, what if I ward my party against this before going into the battle?" And the feeling of satisfaction you got from getting through that battle was fantastic. That's just ... gone. Now my tactics hardly vary, I just repeat the battle until I heal and use poultices (poultices ... what's wrong with calling them potions, again?) until I survive long enough.

The only time I've used this kind of tactics through DA:O was when I was chopping down Flemeth. And even then my tactic was "equip ranged weapons and just keep hammering her from a long way away so she can't grab anybody in her mouth". Not exactly satisfying.

I don't know what's wrong with BioWare lately, but their combat is just not stimulating. Dragon Age, Mass Effect, KOTOR ... all great games in a narrative sense, but I think most people will agree that the combat was not the most interesting and/or balanced.

Worse than that ... I don't even want to play it for the story anymore.

I was ok with the beginning, but I've reached the meeting with Loghain in Denerim, after assembling the army ... and I just don't want to play anymore. I'm not finding anything to drive my desire to play forward. I'm sure there's something big coming up plotwise, but I'm not sure I'm going to pick the game up again.

I'm disappointed. Very much so. And I can't help but feel that pleasing the console generation is partly to blame for most of the (frankly awful) features.
 
taviow said:
The tactics screen is made for simple random battles you don't really care about. I don't want stuff being managed for me, I'd rather play the game.

I believe that's the point.
Click to expand...

I don't either, but in big battles that take place in real-time, especially with the poor controls/UI of the console versions, it becomes a must.

FYI, I'll probably get a lot of hate for saying this, combat-wise my fav DnD games were the old Gold Box ones, that were completely turn-based, not real-time pausable.
 
Gargantou said:
FYI, I'll probably get a lot of hate for saying this, combat-wise my fav DnD games were the old Gold Box ones, that were completely turn-based, not real-time pausable.
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No hate from me. Those are some of the best games around in general. They were much more true to the DnD feel as well since the combat in a real-life DnD game is turn-based in the extreme (and super great times). I am myself partial to the Baldur's Gate style of combat, but in DA:O it seems very different and a lot less fun.
 
Ok well I started playing Dragon Age and I think it's a great time. I had imagined something more along the action-rpg of Mass Effect... you know... with more chopping and less shooting... but I'm pleased with what I've found. I haven't played for that long and I do forsee the battle system getting a little boring, but I do like the tactical aspects. I think going in with the mindset kind of screwed up the way the game is supposed to be played, but so far it hasn't taken away from the good aspects.

On that note,I wish there was a way to re-do some of my skills, but I haven't found anything like that. I'm not motivated to restart the game with a new character just to change a few skills because of the wall of dialogue you face near the beginning. Bioware has always had a knack for making the beginnings of their game a talk-a-thon only to shift over completely as the game progresses.

I am excited to really get in to it this weekend and blight fight.
 
VictimOfScience said:
No hate from me. Those are some of the best games around in general. They were much more true to the DnD feel as well since the combat in a real-life DnD game is turn-based in the extreme (and super great times). I am myself partial to the Baldur's Gate style of combat, but in DA:O it seems very different and a lot less fun.
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Baldur's Gate style combat was definitely superior, heck even NWN2-style combat was.

Why? Because they both had fairly easy scripting capabilities for the AI which made it quite easy for even newbs to improve/customize the AI to their liking.

The 'Tactics' system in DAO basically feels like a dumbed-down copy of the same system from the Japanese Final Fantasy XII.
 
Gargantou said:
FYI, I'll probably get a lot of hate for saying this, combat-wise my fav DnD games were the old Gold Box ones, that were completely turn-based, not real-time pausable.
Click to expand...

Totally agreed. That combat system gave me the most fun that I've ever had out of a computer RPG. But we all know that pure turn-based combat will not appear anymore in mainstream games.
 
Gargantou said:
The 'Tactics' system in DAO basically feels like a dumbed-down copy of the same system from the Japanese Final Fantasy XII.
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That is EXACTLY what I was thinking. I'm not a fan of the Tactics. I'm one of the guys that thinks "If I don't have to control the units, I'm OK with that." I don't like micromanaging them on EVERY battle I have, because they fail so hard.

For the most part, I enjoy the game, but I feel like I'm getting bored with the combat system already. Only now at the blight part.
 
I have to confess, I got so annoyed with the crappy UI on the console vers and crappy controls I switched to the easiest setting about 1/3rd through, generally I play most games on at least Medium and often Hard settings, because it extends the life of the gameplay, but when it reaches a point that you just feel frustration, no pleasure at all from the game, then you have to sacrifice some of your self-respect and turn down the difficulty imo.
 
I can't say anything about the console version, but I understand where you are coming from. There are so many console games that are like that. Drives me CRAAZYYY
 
They said several times, and its been repeated all over the internet, the console version is a lot harder. Due simply to the fact that the controls are more limited due to the nature of the gamepad. They did what they could to offset it (like making normal difficulty not have friendly fire, whereas the PC's normal difficulty has it), but gimped controls is a huge hurdle to jump when it comes to balancing.

Also, the tactics thing didnt annoy me at all, since I never used it for anything but ensuring that they took potions when they were low on health. The rest of the time I pretty much just did everything. Melee guys don't need much looking after anyways, so its not like its that much harder or longer to manage the party.
 
Just bought this game, and I'm having fun. However I'm having problems with the tactics system. You can set tactics for the main character and party members, the party members will carry out your requests, but the main character just stands there unless you tell him/her to do otherwise.

For instance if you tell your character to be Aggressive > Enemy: Any > Attack, the main character won't follow your orders, but the same order will be carried out by the rest of your party. Is this a glitch or is there a way to make him do what you asked him to do?
 
DEATH eVADER said:
Just bought this game, and I'm having fun. However I'm having problems with the tactics system. You can set tactics for the main character and party members, the party members will carry out your requests, but the main character just stands there unless you tell him/her to do otherwise.

For instance if you tell your character to be Aggressive > Enemy: Any > Attack, the main character won't follow your orders, but the same order will be carried out by the rest of your party. Is this a glitch or is there a way to make him do what you asked him to do?
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This is probably because you're selecting the main character during battle. Characters who are selected don't follow their tactics.

Not having the option to select NOBODY is quite annoying, in fact. I'd like the chance to just sit there and let my tactics do the work on crappy encounters.
 
AHA-Lambda said:
http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/05/ea-announces-dragon-age-awakening-releases-in-march/

Damn i'm not even close to finishing the main game yet!
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While I'm not convinced that Dragon Age:Origins is quite as good as the hype led us to believe, it is without a doubt a fun, long & well made game. Well worth the investment. The more so with a few of the many mods available installed to help flesh things out a bit & add a few features that frankly should have come with the game.

However, $40 for an expansion that provided only 15 hrs of extra content, on top of the original price, is I feel, much, much too steep. Now if it was priced around $15, I feel it would be worth it, but @ $40? No.

-MRG
 
I for one welcome content rich expansion packs.

15 hours seems like plenty to me.
 
I"ll likely skip it unless it offers some significant changes to the basic gameplay. Trudging through the one campaign while putting up with the terrible (and CONSTANT) combat was quite enough, thank you.
 
I got this game for Christmas and had corrupted files in the .rars. Tried all the fixes; apparently this is a large issue for all PC retail. I went to Wal-Mart and exchanged it today for another copy. If it doesn't work, I'll have to spend $50 on the game again, resulting in $100 just to play it. 'Tis absolute bullshit.
 
Letters said:
I"ll likely skip it unless it offers some significant changes to the basic gameplay. Trudging through the one campaign while putting up with the terrible (and CONSTANT) combat was quite enough, thank you.
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I dunno about CONSTANT but really... what else would you rather do? Hopscotch minigame? I wouldn't call it terrible either, since it's by far better than a lot of RPG combat systems out there. I guess everyone's just hopped up on the super action combat RPG elements some games get these days. They're nice and all, but you can't beat a good tactical rpg system.
 
So by "got for Christmas" you mean "download for free", and by "went to Walmart" you mean "went back to the torrent site to redownload", and by "spend 50$ on the game again" you mean "spend $50 for the first time".

Well, at least I hope so since that's the only way that makes sense. Nobody would shell out $50 for a game they already have, and .rar corruption certainly doesn't sound like a problem one has with a game that comes on a DVD. :p


StarBob said:
I dunno about CONSTANT but really... what else would you rather do? Hopscotch minigame? I wouldn't call it terrible either, since it's by far better than a lot of RPG combat systems out there. I guess everyone's just hopped up on the super action combat RPG elements some games get these days. They're nice and all, but you can't beat a good tactical rpg system.
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I would rather have a higher ratio of atmosphere/story to the combat, and I would rather MORE tactics in the form of actually upgrading my gear more than once through the entire game and having something interesting to do on characters other than mages. Plus, spell effects should be much more impressive, the interface shouldn't be so cheap (and actually explain what the **** spells actually do and give some god damn numbers), and actions should be much more responsive! (Oh almost forgot, my characters shouldn't be able to die almost instantly without me babysitting them even on "trash" encounters.)

Like I've said all along... more like Baldur's Gate II, less like shit.
 
I got it for christmas and just started playing today. Definitely liking it so far :)
 
Letters said:
I would rather have a higher ratio of atmosphere/story to the combat, and I would rather MORE tactics in the form of actually upgrading my gear more than once through the entire game and having something interesting to do on characters other than mages. Plus, spell effects should be much more impressive, the interface shouldn't be so cheap (and actually explain what the **** spells actually do and give some god damn numbers), and actions should be much more responsive! (Oh almost forgot, my characters shouldn't be able to die almost instantly without me babysitting them even on "trash" encounters.)

Like I've said all along... more like Baldur's Gate II, less like shit.
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Rarely have I come across a game with more dialogue than DA. It has almost as much book-text as Oblivion or Morrowind. Getting story elements is almost entirely elective. I suppose making it mandatory would many some people happy but I think the "get as much as you want" approach is a much better route. Personally I think the rogue has some decent potential as a player-controlled character, though it still doesn't stack up to the almost wholly activated skill tree of the mage. I don't reallyw why you haven't upgraded your gear though... I've done it plenty on my characters. I mean I guess I am not fitting into the RPG world very well if I don't change into a new set of gear every fifteen minutes, but I kind of like not spending ten minutes every fifteen jostling gear around weighing benefits. As for spell effects, I can't say much because my computer has a hell of a time keeping up when thre's more than a handful of characters on the screen so any greater addition of spell effects would crush any hope of playing a larger battle.

I do agree that there needs to be more explanation for skills and abilities. I mean the ridiculous tweaking of stats and such is there, it's just nearly impossible to work with or truly visualize. I don't really understand why you'd want more tactical structure but not "babysit" your characters? Do you just want more... AI controlled options? I kind of saw that as part of the difficutly... since you gain tactic slots in leveling. I mean sure I don't want to pause the game everytime a weapon swing happens, but I have my tactics set in a way that I don't. Yeah I'll pause if someone is surrounded or needs a potion but tactics handle most of the skills in most of the situations I encounter.
 
Letters said:
So by "got for Christmas" you mean "download for free", and by "went to Walmart" you mean "went back to the torrent site to redownload", and by "spend 50$ on the game again" you mean "spend $50 for the first time".

Well, at least I hope so since that's the only way that makes sense. Nobody would shell out $50 for a game they already have, and .rar corruption certainly doesn't sound like a problem one has with a game that comes on a DVD. :p
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, it did. Several people have already claimed to have this problem, and I haven't heard any word back on a good fix from EA. I was surprised when the files were corrupted too; I tried to delete them and install without them because someone else tried that and it seemed to work, but the CRC errors kept popping-up in other files in the .rars. I hope this copy works, because I couldn't stand to have to argue with Wal-Mart employees again.
 
Bought this game cheap a while ago but hadn't gotten around to it yet. After playing the ME2 demo tonight I was in the mood for more RPG so I started a mage. I expected myself to play for half an hour max, get bored with all the dialog and quit. Somehow though, four hours later I was still playing and actually enjoying myself. Odd. How long does it take again to finish this game? I kinda like sidequests so factor that in please.
 
So I've been playing this, I am a mage; I have a few questions.

What is the best specialization for a mage? I hear shapeshifter is useless. A lot of people seem to love Arcane Warrior, but I hear it drains your magic to the point you have none left for spells; that's kind of why I picked a mage, so that sounds quite boring. Blood Mage sounds about right to me; using health as magic when you run out. However, I hear there are consequences to being a blood mage. How severe are they? I assume you lose some sort of party member, but is it anything ridiculous like being "evil" for the rest of the game, or having an inevitable bad ending?

I'd just like to figure out now, because I assume whatever my skills are now will affect my specialization; my overall health will determine how good I am as a blood mage, or my willpower will determine how good I am as an arcane warrior etc?
 
I chose the arcane warrior route. Arcane warrior had the ability to exchange incoming damage to mana, if you have that on it'll drain mana quickly. When casting a spell the arcane warrior needs to unequip the weapon he's using and because of this casts spells with a delay.
 
Blood mage is fine, go for that. Changes some NPC reactions and the like but doesn't make everything irrevocably evil or whatever.
 
Simply HAVING the Arcane Warrior spec (does NOT have to be enabled!) will allow you to equip any armor you like as the strength requirement is checked against magic instead. Blood Mage / Arcane Warrior is the most powerful dual specialization in the game. The usual plan for Arcane Warrior / Blood mage is to have enough just enough of a mana pool to run every sustained ability you can (rock armor, spell shield, telekinetic weapons, fade shroud, haste, etc) and use the Blood Mage ability when you want to cast something else (blood wound, fireball, or cone of cold for example)

AW allows your mage to get out of those goofy robes and feathered hats. That alone is worth it.
 
Destructo-Bot said:
AW allows your mage to get out of those goofy robes and feathered hats. That alone is worth it.
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The mage clothing is surprisingly awful, I had actually expected it to be pretty cool looking after seeing Morrigan. Either way, I am pretty happy with wearing medium armor, so I don't much care specializing in AW for the stronger stuff.
I still can't believe how boring the robes are so far.
 
That's one complaint I remember hearing about mages, their robes look pretty much the same the whole way through, boring and repetitive.
 
The best armor in the game for mages is Evon the Great's maille, a dragonbone heavy armor, combined with Wade's Superior heavy dragonbone gloves and boots. You get mana and health regen and the set bonus pretty much eliminates the fatigue penalty that heavy armor imposes. Along with that you get the highest armor rating available for anything less than tier 5+ massive armor.
 
I am a bit disappointed in Bioware for the companions for this game. I can't say I find any of them particularly likable or all that interesting, many of them are very annoying.
 
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