Dragon Age II

[AndreaDraco]

I know Maia and I won't be playing it until this is fixed with a patch. That's a shame because we were looking forward to playing it, especially Maia.

I have contrasted feeling about this. I read the posts you mentioned and, fortunately, they seem to be the minority. I like the idea to wait for a patch, but I'm not sure I'll be able to resist once I have the game in my hands

[Tawmis]

I know Maia and I won't be playing it until this is fixed with a patch. That's a shame because we were looking forward to playing it, especially Maia.

I have contrasted feeling about this. I read the posts you mentioned and, fortunately, they seem to be the minority. I like the idea to wait for a patch, but I'm not sure I'll be able to resist once I have the game in my hands

Meh, it's not like it's YOUR character from Origins you will be playing. It's supposed to be happening side by side (after/around when Lothering gets invaded by Darkspawn, from what it seems?) - so I am not even sure how any choice you WOULD make would impact the game, since pretty much Origins REALLY begins after Lothering.

I, unfortunately, have to wait until tonight. It's supposed to be delivered today, but I work until late tonight.

[AndreaDraco]

True, but I don't want to meet a character from the original game and have he/she screwing up the continuity, nor I want to have the choices I made, and that are supposed to impact the world, mean nothing at all. Moreover, this news about DA2 not even recognizing its own choices is really perplexing.

[Maiandra]

I know Maia and I won't be playing it until this is fixed with a patch. That's a shame because we were looking forward to playing it, especially Maia.

I have contrasted feeling about this. I read the posts you mentioned and, fortunately, they seem to be the minority. I like the idea to wait for a patch, but I'm not sure I'll be able to resist once I have the game in my hands

Meh, it's not like it's YOUR character from Origins you will be playing. It's supposed to be happening side by side (after/around when Lothering gets invaded by Darkspawn, from what it seems?) - so I am not even sure how any choice you WOULD make would impact the game, since pretty much Origins REALLY begins after Lothering.

From what I understand, it's only the prologue that happens right after the darkspawn invasion of Lothering. The game itself takes place over a 10 year span, most of which occurs after the events in Origins and Awakening.

I find it ironic that you would say that about it not being "your" character. You seemed to have the opposite viewpoint about importation from Origins to Awakening and said it did matter that it wasn't importing your choices, even if you weren't using your Origins character.

Regarding the apparent issues with DA2, I'd rather just wait until they're resolved, especially if it will affect continuity. In DAO, the ending dialogue with Alistair wasn't recognizing the choices I'd made and it was very annoying (until I used a dialogue fix mod). So I'd prefer to wait to play the game than get frustrated during play once I'm already in it.

I wish they'd just prolong the release date and do it right, instead of releasing a buggy game. BioWare's problem is that they commit to a specific release date too soon.

[Tawmis]

From what I understand, it's only the prologue that happens right after the darkspawn invasion of Lothering. The game itself takes place over a 10 year span, most of which occurs after the events in Origins and Awakening.

Ah.

I find it ironic that you would say that about it not being "your" character. You seemed to have the opposite viewpoint about importation from Origins to Awakening and said it did matter that it wasn't importing your choices, even if you weren't using your Origins character.

Well, with Awakenings, it's YOUR character from Origins being imported over. So when I made the Ultimate Sacrifice with my Warrior in Origins, and suddenly "He Got Better" (as they say in Monty Python) - that was a bit of a disappointment. (Would have been better to have some ceremony and begin a new character). But apparently Bioware said that'd be too hard (Why, has always been beyond me as a simple UltimateSacrifice=1, then Begin UltimateSacrificeIntro.AVI command would be all that'd it take, then move you into creating a new character, as if you were starting a new game, rather than importing a new game - but meh, whatever!)

With DAII, it's not your character from Origins. Granted, yes, I am bummed that certain choices are apparently not working/importing properly - but in the end, it's not a game breaker for me, since I will be playing a new character - so it's not like my old character is importing, or any of his armor, inventory, etc). And since it's a new character, it's not like this character's personality will have any effect with the previous relationships you had with the NPCs you traveled around with. So, despite that - I am bummed - but not disappointed. It's not a game breaker for me. Now if Dragon Age II was importing your character from Origins/Awakenings, I'd probably be a little more upset - because then it's going to impact my relationships with these characters, and the choices this character made along the way.

New character, new day, really, is how I see it.

Mind you, for those who ARE upset, I am not saying "Don't be!" Not at all. I can completely understand why anyone WOULD be upset. I am merely speaking for myself.

Regarding the apparent issues with DA2, I'd rather just wait until they're resolved, especially if it will affect continuity. In DAO, the ending dialogue with Alistair wasn't recognizing the choices I'd made and it was very annoying (until I used a dialogue fix mod). So I'd prefer to wait to play the game than get frustrated during play once I'm already in it.

Did you guys already purchase it? Would you consider running through it with a brand new character, until those bugs are fixed? Or just going to hold out for the import to be fixed (if ever?)

I wish they'd just prolong the release date and do it right, instead of releasing a buggy game. BioWare's problem is that they commit to a specific release date too soon.

Better than Blizzard and "Whenever Diablo III is done is the due date."

[DeadPoolX]

With DAII, it's not your character from Origins. Granted, yes, I am bummed that certain choices are apparently not working/importing properly - but in the end, it's not a game breaker for me, since I will be playing a new character - so it's not like my old character is importing, or any of his armor, inventory, etc). And since it's a new character, it's not like this character's personality will have any effect with the previous relationships you had with the NPCs you traveled around with. So, despite that - I am bummed - but not disappointed. It's not a game breaker for me. Now if Dragon Age II was importing your character from Origins/Awakenings, I'd probably be a little more upset - because then it's going to impact my relationships with these characters, and the choices this character made along the way.

I could possibly play without importing my character's info; however, there's a known bug in the game that causes flags to be incorrectly triggered within DA2 itself. So might find your actions earlier in the game are different from what the NPCs think happened or reference, with or without any imported data.

That is inexcusable. If nothing else, I expect the game to remember and correctly reference what I did during the SAME playthrough.

Did you guys already purchase it? Would you consider running through it with a brand new character, until those bugs are fixed? Or just going to hold out for the import to be fixed (if ever?)

I don't play games through more than once, especially BioWare RPGs. The games are just too long and too repetitive to replay.

Then there's also the issue I mentioned before -- how the game doesn't "remember" what you did or chose from earlier on the game. That's a bug that needs to be fixed immediately as it can destroy someone's game, import or not.

If it's never fixed, we'll demand a refund. We're not opening the game until a patch has been released and it's been confirmed that it works.

Better than Blizzard and "Whenever Diablo III is done is the due date."

I don't think so at all. I'd much prefer a "it'll be done when it's done" answer. Without a definite date specified, the developers have far more leeway to fine-tune the game, so it can be released without the problems DA2 current has.

[Tawmis]

Well, without going into spoilers - I imported the game from my original Dragon Age: Origins Warrior.

And thus far... I can't tell AT ALL, how any of my choices have impacted the game? Like nothing. Zilch. Nada. There's been literally no mention of anything that happened in Origins, other than, "I heard that a Grey Warden was there with the fall of the Archdemon."

And, uh, ADUh. No matter what you did at the end - you're there to fight the Archdemon.

I have been playing DAII, a good two and half hours... and like I said, not sure how my choices in DA:O or DA:A have absolutely ANY effect in this game.

Oh, and if you have played the DEMO of DAII - the opening prologue thing may be the same - or appear to be - but do NOT SKIP ANY OF IT. There ARE some MAJOR differences between the promo intro for the demo and the promo intro for the actual game.

That said - I wouldn't read the below unless you're playing...

I am finding the quests to be pretty easy. Nowhere near as complicated as Dragon Age: Origins. But I am also finding the quests, thus far, to be pretty lack luster. And because the fights are so easy - I don't even really get to see what my enemy looks like before he splatted into blood.

It doesn't have the same feel as Dragon Age Origins or Awakenings.

I also dislike just being stuck in a city, which thus far, seems to be the entire thing. There's mention about going to the Deep Roads, but the entire game seems to be centered on getting enough to get out and actually do that. I hate being stuck in the city because it's very easy to lose your sense of direction in there. I also hate how the vendors are set up. I also hate, even from the demo, how the skill tree is set up. It seems FAR less diverse than Origins and Awakenings. Seems that there would be less uniqueness between the characters.

And what the FRACK is with the World of Warcraft Elf Ears? WHY GAWD WHY did they move away from the traditional attractive looking elves that everyone knows and loves?!? WHY?! WHY?!?? I fracking HATE when something becomes popular and someone has to throw away their own uniqueness to try and capture the feel of that popular thing. That irritated me so much. Bad enough that Flemth is now this actually strangely attractive woman. Now they have the frack with the Elves? And speaking of copying the popular thing - if you play a warrior - especially two handed warrior - they CLEARLY ripped off Final Fantasy - with those OVERSIZED swords. There's two handed swords and there's it'd-take-ten-men-to-swing-this-sword swords! I have a two handed sword! A real one. I know what a two handed sword is. These two handed swords you get in the game - especially if you get the signature edition are absolutely ridiculous in size. Should have named my character Cloud and just played Final Fantasy.

I know it's a lot of negative feedback, thus far - but right now, two and half hours into the game, I am nowhere near immersed into it as I was with Dragon Age: Origins.

But who knows. There's clearly more to unlock within the game. Perhaps my attitude will change.

[Tawmis]

From what I understand, it's only the prologue that happens right after the darkspawn invasion of Lothering. The game itself takes place over a 10 year span, most of which occurs after the events in Origins and Awakening.

Well thus far, it seems to be "One year later" after Lothering that the game takes place.

[DeadPoolX]

You're not listening.

Okay, let me try this again:

1. Your actions and choices, when imported to DA2, appears to have worked at the start. As the game progresses, however, the game begins to misinterpret the info you moved over. It might think, for instance, that you married Anora when you actually put Alistair on the throne instead.

Are these game breaking bugs? No, probably not. However, it ruins the feel of having had an effect as the Warden. You might as well not have imported and just chosen one of the pre-set options.

2. This is IMPORTANT. DA2 will, later on the game, incorrectly identify certain flags from earlier in the game. So if you allowed so-and-so to live (for instance), that may not register and everyone may act as if you killed that person. You won't know if this has happened right away, so if it does, you'll either have to accept the game's error or replay that part, hoping the same bug doesn't occur again.

This is a game breaking bug. BioWare's games have always been about your choices and actions and this bug effectively nullifies that import aspect.

So, just in case you decided to skip that, here's a recap: WHETHER OR NOT YOU IMPORT, DA2 HAS A BUG THAT WILL INCORRECTLY IDENTIFY SOME CHOICES AND DECISIONS LATER IN THE SAME GAME.

[AndreaDraco]

I am finding the quests to be pretty easy. Nowhere near as complicated as Dragon Age: Origins. But I am also finding the quests, thus far, to be pretty lack luster. And because the fights are so easy - I don't even really get to see what my enemy looks like before he splatted into blood.

What difficulty level you're playing at? I've heard that Normal is the old Casual and that if you want more of a challenge you should play at Hard or Nightmare. I, for once, am going to play at Hard : )

[AndreaDraco]

OK, let's just say that someone may have found a way to bypass the date check and thus allow us poor Europeans to play right away, at the same time as our American and Canadian friends. And let's just say I didn't wait a single moment and jumped right into the game

First of all, DPX, about the DX11... The game looks amazing, sharp, clean, neat, bright, wonderful... and utterly unplayable. The game is so unbelievably slow and clunky that I simply had to choose DX9, making the textures, yes, slightly less detailed, but at least I can play the game. And by the looks of it, many users are having the same problems. I think the engine wasn't really fine-tuned. So don't fret about the high-texture pack and everything: judging by the number of issues already reported on the official forums, it's better to stick with the DX9.

Anyway, about the game... I'm not sure I'm liking it very much.

I've met Anders, Fenris, Merrill, Aveline, Varric, Isabela and of course I've Carver with me. Well, amongst them, I like Anders very much, Merrill is sweet, Varric is fun, and the rest... just meh.

The dialogue wheel. I'm simply hating it. Sometimes Hawke responses are highly different from the paraphrasis shown by the writers, with the result that sometimes he says something that really makes me cringe. And the flirt lines... Oh gods, they are simply awful. You don't believe me? Try the first flirting possibility with Anders. It makes me want to cry, since it seems taken straight from a Twilight novel.

The story. What story? In the first act there is simply no story to speak of. I'm sure things will change later on, but having to do gazillions of side-quests just to build up some money seems to me like a very feeble attempt to a plot. And many of these quests are so easy, so straight-forward that there's almost no fun in them, also because they're simply filled with... uh... filler combat.

Filler combat? Yeah, right. Just walking around the city can spawn groups of ten-fifteen bandits that pop up out of nowhere and, even at Hard, the combat is incredibly simple. After three hours of playing I only found one challenging combat, against a Rage Demon, but that was easily surpassed with just a bit of strategy. Moreover, the lack of a tactical camera makes combat feel clunky, at least for me. Sometimes I can't see where the enemies are coming from, sometimes I can't target them properly and sometimes they sneak behind me without any opportunity to spot them.

The inventory. How lame is it that many objects, even thos bearing special magical abilities, are simply labelled "Ring," "Belt," "Gloves" and so on? Where are the fanciful names of DA:O and the interesting descriptions that accompanied each and every one of them?

Voice acting is good, for the most part, but I don't like the Dalish new Welsh accent. Maybe I'm just not used to it, but so far I'm unimpressed. And I liked Anders' previous voice - yes, the VA was changed - before. Hawke's voice is good, though, even if his tone when delivering the "Angry" lines is a bit preposterous.

All in all, my initial impression is that DA2 is inferior to DA:O in almost every regard. I really hope to change my mind as I progress further.

Oh, and about the import, for those of you concerned: the import was perfect in my case - with every choice perfectly recognized. I still don't know if I'll stumble on the corrupting bug later on, but so far so good.

[DeadPoolX]

OK, let's just say that someone may have found a way to bypass the date check and thus allow us poor Europeans to play right away, at the same time as our American and Canadian friends. And let's just say I didn't wait a single moment and jumped right into the game

Good to hear! Although we're in no rush to get it (given the current bugs), we have it pre-ordered and will probably pick it up tomorrow.

Oh and it might be easier to simply use "North American" instead of writing out American and Canadian. If you want to do the latter, that's fine with me, but North American fits both.

First of all, DPX, about the DX11... The game looks amazing, sharp, clean, neat, bright, wonderful... and utterly unplayable. The game is so unbelievably slow and clunky that I simply had to choose DX9, making the textures, yes, slightly less detailed, but at least I can play the game. And by the looks of it, many users are having the same problems. I think the engine wasn't really fine-tuned. So don't fret about the high-texture pack and everything: judging by the number of issues already reported on the official forums, it's better to stick with the DX9.

That's... kind of sad. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that DX9 seems to be the most playable, but considering the game is supposed to run DX11 well, it seems BioWare messed something else up.

Anyway, about the game... I'm not sure I'm liking it very much.

I think that's the general consensus. Most review sites haven't liked it as much as the original. I realize sequels are rarely as good as the first game (although I think ME2 was much better than ME1), but even so, it seems like DA2 has been a disappointment.

[AndreaDraco]

I think that's the general consensus. Most review sites haven't liked it as much as the original. I realize sequels are rarely as good as the first game (although I think ME2 was much better than ME1), but even so, it seems like DA2 has been a disappointment.

See? I thought: if ME2, even more streamlined, was a far better game than ME1, maybe DA2, even if a bit dumbed-down, could be a better game than DA:O. Well, I still hope it will improve, but for now, I have little doubt: DA:O was better in almost every regard. I'll keep you spoilerlessly posted

[DeadPoolX]

I think that's the general consensus. Most review sites haven't liked it as much as the original. I realize sequels are rarely as good as the first game (although I think ME2 was much better than ME1), but even so, it seems like DA2 has been a disappointment.

See? I thought: if ME2, even more streamlined, was a far better game than ME1, maybe DA2, even if a bit dumbed-down, could be a better game than DA:O. Well, I still hope it will improve, but for now, I have little doubt: DA:O was better in almost every regard. I'll keep you spoilerlessly posted

Yeah, if they fix the bugs, I'm sure the game will be quite good. What really annoyed me was that on the DVD readme BioWare admitted knowing about the importation bug. That means they KNEW and said, "Let's release it anyway!"

[Tawmis]

So, just in case you decided to skip that, here's a recap: WHETHER OR NOT YOU IMPORT, DA2 HAS A BUG THAT WILL INCORRECTLY IDENTIFY SOME CHOICES AND DECISIONS LATER IN THE SAME GAME.

Uh, if this is directed at me...

I said:

Well, without going into spoilers - I imported the game from my original Dragon Age: Origins Warrior.

And thus far... I can't tell AT ALL, how any of my choices have impacted the game? Like nothing. Zilch. Nada. There's been literally no mention of anything that happened in Origins, other than, "I heard that a Grey Warden was there with the fall of the Archdemon."

And, uh, ADUh. No matter what you did at the end - you're there to fight the Archdemon.

I have been playing DAII, a good two and half hours... and like I said, not sure how my choices in DA:O or DA:A have absolutely ANY effect in this game.

So... nowhere am I saying that it doesn't do what you said - I am merely saying 2.5 hours into the game - and I have not seen ANY reference to Origins or Awakenings, other than the intro (with Lothering) - and then they mention, when a year goes by, "The Grey Warden was there to fight the Archdemon."

So whatever choices I made - may indeed come into play later in the game. But thus far, I haven't seen squat mentioned about anything I did in Origins. That's all I am saying.

So thank you for the LARGE LETTERS because I am getting older... but I don't need the large letters yet. And I don't think they were needed for emphasis, because I don't seem to have missed your point.

Hades I even said...

Mind you, for those who ARE upset, I am not saying "Don't be!" Not at all. I can completely understand why anyone WOULD be upset. I am merely speaking for myself.

So uh... remind me why you did the big letters?