[Crunchy in milk]

Originally Posted by D.C.

It will be interesting to have Flemeth in the party. I liked her character a whole lot in the first game.

This just seems like a giant spoiler to me. I literally WTF'ed after I read it (elsewhere). Do they know its flemeth? If she shows up as an old Crone, again, wtf? If she's got a young, new host does she just up and admit she's an ageless demon possessing her latest find during dinner at camp?

Terrible reveal.

Moving forward (damn you Julia), can you say 'Kreia clone' 5 times fast. Bioware writers at their cribbing best.

[aries323]

On the Bioware forums there is this nice summary of what is presented in the article in Game Informer.

Hawke's adventures occurred in the past, are being retold in the present where Hawke is already Kirkwall's champion.
* Story is essentially a conversation between a male dwarf named Varric and a female Chantry Seeker. At the time, the world is on the brink of war; the Seeker believes that by understanding Hawke's actions, she can prevent the war. Varric is a reluctant narrator of Hawke's story.

source:
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/to.../index/3153485

[maladroid]

I agree with Crunchy - the flow of information regarding the goings-on in the game is getting quite spoilerish much quicker than I expected. Seeing as how keeping my distance from Awakening previews really boosted the experience for me (while consuming everything Dragon Age that came my way ruined any possible surprises), I think I will try to stay clear of any sequel news for some time.

On a more related note, I am starting to get a bit more optimistic as more story details get known - namely the change of focus from the Darkspawn menace which might give room to more believable and intriguing stories within Thedas. I am still concerned about the generic "rise to power" tag line though - it has a "sandbox" ring to it that I wouldn't want from a Bioware game (although I am open to being pleasantly surprised).

[aries323]

More info from the developers:

Mary Kirby says this in answering a question about party approval:

There's still approval. But now instead of only getting content and combat bonuses based on positive approval, you can either build a rapport or an antagonistic relationship with your companions. Negative approval means they want to show you up, or see you fall on your sorry behind, but they still stick around.

There are way fewer gifts, and the gifts are follower-specific. (No more giving dog bones to everyone to boost approval.)

And followers can still turn on you or abandon you, regardless of how much they like you, based on your actions. (Like Leliana and Wynne at the Urn.)

And then later she says this ansswering yet another question:

Lord Gremlin wrote...

Awww, but everybody likes good bones with a handful of meat attached to them!

Actually, I think there will be a DLC which will allow you to buy infinite universal gifts. Am I wrong?

Mary's answer is this:

Probably not? Gifts trigger specific dialogues now. So you give your companion that "I'm with stupid" T-shirt and they ask you what in the Maker's name you were thinking when you bought it.

I'm beginning to look cautiosly forward to this game now...

[aries323]

Sorry for the double post, this just to say that patch 1.04 (for PC) is now available.

It can be downloaded here.


http://social.bioware.com/page/da-patches

The patch for Xbox is avaible later today

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/to.../index/3185557
(Morning North America time)

Please note that applying the patch will lead to these steps if you have any dlc (or mods) installed.

You'll need to logout, then log-in again, then click downloadable content. Then uncheck it all. Then go back to the main menu, then click on downloadable content again. Then you will get a screen saying 'enable downloadable content' Click 'yes (or ok). This will enable your content again. (did it myself last night )


On another, yet related note, RPGwatch brings word there's a new podcast for Dragon Age 2 on the Bioblog. Mike Laidlaw talks to one of the other Bioware devs. about this

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/to.../index/3182271


And Return for Ostagar is now out for the Mac:

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/to.../index/3182061

[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by aries323

On another, yet related note, RPGwatch brings word there's a new podcast for Dragon Age 2 on the Bioblog. Mike Laidlaw talks to one of the other Bioware devs. about this

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/to.../index/3182271

The podcast, once you get rid of the obvious marketing jargon, is actually quite informative and interesting. I recommend it.

[rayvio]

don't suppose you have a link to a transcript of the podcast? I prefer reading these things than listening to them, don't ask why as I'm not entirely sure

[maladroid]

Originally Posted by rayvio

don't suppose you have a link to a transcript of the podcast? I prefer reading these things than listening to them, don't ask why as I'm not entirely sure

Podcast transcript

Maybe there is a more detailed/ polished one out there but that's the one I read to get an idea of what was discussed. Most of the stuff mentioned is really interesting, although there are certain overdoses of enthusiasm that are to be expected, I guess.

The combat description, in particular, sounded like they are honestly trying to improve the overall experience of it, which is extremely welcome, as far as I am concerned. Their narrative technique sounds well-thought out as well.

[aries323]

Interesting info, but Mike Laidlaw keeps saying he about Hawke. Not once did he say 'she' and not once asked Victor about if the game's main character could be female....

[rayvio]

they already confirmed on BioWares forums that Hawke can be male or female and that Hawke is only referred to as a "he" as it's annoying to have to keep typing/saying "he or she" every time
would have been sensible for them to clarify that during the podcast though

[aries323]

Yes, I know, but only a fraction of those who'd buy the game stops by the forums...

[imisssunwell]

Just a quick update on some things that have been posted here and there, on Bio's social forums.

- The game is likely have a no toolset on release, but Bio staff said they may release a patch to upgrade DAO's toolset in order to make it work for DA2. No clear response on this though.

- Camera won't have exactly DAO's top down view, they said you can still use it, but it won't go as far up, a French journalist says the view is gone altogether. Tbh it's not clear how top down view is implemented, if implemented at all.

- Some sources say combat is still turn based but melee fighters don't need command issuing, a la Baldur's Gate, some sources (e.g. 1UP) say it's hack and slash. No clear response from developers on this one as well.

I can't say we have enough information about DA2 at the moment, devs naturally don't want to say too much at this point and previews are not always in agreement with each other.

[maladroid]

A CGI trailer has arrived today, as promised.

Destiny: DA 2 Debut trailer

Admitedly, it's quite epic and gets the blood boiling (literally, one might say) but I would prefer something with less punch and more narrative to give us a better hold on the storyline. Oh well.

[aries323]

There's a preview of the game at IGN and 1UP, and also I think, at Games Radar.

[Crunchy in milk]

Concept artist reveals (slightly old, see bob-cut-blonde Bethany) most of your team mates concept art

Very nice work. I kind of like the direction Merrill was going in before she went pre-teen. Anders is looking much better since Awakening (and yes, I know why, but saying is too much of a spoiler). I think they gave Isabella a boob job between this and the Demo but she was still looking for her pants even back then.

Kind of drives home how sad it is though, that the second potential archer (Sebastian) is only available for as a store bought extra now.