Discuss Dragon Age 2

[Maguscreed]

EA does this to all the great studios, they buy them the moment they have a promising game in the works.
Then force them to kick out ever increasing numbers of crappy sequels with ever decreasing quality. They don't understand how to run a game studio, they don't understand the creative process.

EA is paul sr.
and the development studios are paul jr
(if anyone watches that show)

You can't rush the creative process and demand good results at the same time. Some people are just not wired to understand how that works.

 

[Gornot]

Exactly. Great way to put it.

 

[vierasniper]

Holy Crap its American Choppers, but with Games. Well put

 

[sygnus21]

EA does this to all the great studios, they buy them the moment they have a promising game in the works.
Then force them to kick out ever increasing numbers of crappy sequels with ever decreasing quality. They don't understand how to run a game studio, they don't understand the creative process.

EA is paul sr.
and the development studios are paul jr
(if anyone watches that show)

You can't rush the creative process and demand good results at the same time. Some people are just not wired to understand how that works.

I've been hearing and seeing this for sometime now so i'll have to agree.

 

[sygnus21]

New patch out for Dragon Age 2.....

Dragon Age II 1.02

AMD and NVIDIA have recently released new graphics-card drivers. Using old drivers may cause Dragon Age II to crash, run poorly, or display graphics incorrectly. Please visit your hardware vendor's website for further information on obtaining new drivers:
NVIDIA Driver Downloads - Advanced Search
AMD Catalyst

NOTE: Some plot fixes are retroactive, but not all. Players with plot-breaking bugs may need to revert to an earlier save, particularly a save prior to visiting the affected area during the current year in the game.

Patch notes and download here - Choose Language | BioWare Social Network - 21MB

I've not yet tried the patch as I'm not currently playing the game so I can comment on it..... yet. Incidentally I never installed the first patch

 

[vierasniper]

I only installed the first patch, and even then i only ran into a bug or two. The first one i ran into was after the fight with orsino, after i defeated him nothing occurred. I loaded a previous save, fought him again, and was able to continue. I refuse to download anything else from bioware unless its new dlc.

 

[sygnus21]

Normally I wouldn't do this..... but.....

Courtesy of Rage3D Discussion Area - View Single Post - Dragon Age 2


On a lighter note here's a short story on Anders - that character we love to hate - BioWare | Dragon Age

 

[boogieboy]

Nice one sygnus i think we need a Expansion Pack something like Awakening to keep ourselves busy for a while. Also they should get rid of repeatative places like caves etc and make some new places.

 

[sygnus21]

Also they should get rid of repeatative places like caves etc and make some new places.

This is the biggest gripe most have about the game. Very lazy piss poor decision with the "one place fits all" game play.

Also the very childish adolescent obsession with sex and "extra" large boobs seemed like they had sex depraved personnel working on the game.

Then we had the "which way are we going story" with its three different acts.

With that said - there were moments that I enjoyed with the game - some of the combat and bosses were fun, and some of the characters were bad ass - loved Varric's fire power.

As for an expansion - any expansion they put out should be less than 30 bucks (more like 19.99) as an apology for the crappy overall game design.

My two cents.

 

[vierasniper]

Oh The Hubris!!
(i dont know if the above makes sense, but f**k it im on salary)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCsjyBBlDzU&feature=player_embedded

yes i tried embedding it, but managed to mess it up

 

[sygnus21]

Patch 1.03 out now

Hmmm..... Just realized they released a new patch with a bunch of fixes.....

------------------------
Dragon Age II 1.03
------------------------

NOTE: Some fixes are retroactive, but not all. Players with plot-breaking bugs may need to revert to an earlier save, particularly a save prior to visiting the affected area during the current year in the game.

GAMEPLAY
- In many fights, enemies now move less quickly at the start of combat. This slower initial pace makes tactical positioning more useful and important.
- If the force of an enemy attack interrupts a party member's current action, the party member now resumes the action once he or she has recovered. This means, for example, that party members who have been instructed to consume a health potion will now do so as soon as they are able, and do not need to be told to consume a health potion again if they are interrupted.
- Enemies are now much less likely to explode into body parts upon death.
- Attacks that hit a stealthed assassin are now more likely to disrupt stealth.
- Abilities that apply a silence effect now also cancel the target's current action in addition to preventing the target from using further abilities.
- When an enemy wakes from a sleep effect due to suffering damage, other status effects that were applied by the same ability that caused the sleep effect are no longer removed at the same time.
- Items that bear the property "100% of basic attack damage vs. enemies that attack in melee" no longer harm the user when equipped in conjunction with abilities like Blood Magic or Sacrificial Frenzy that reduce the user's health.
- The items known as Final Thought, Sataareth, Sundering, and Trepanner's Gift now have damage types that match their elemental damage bonuses.
- The items known as Allure's Crook, Corrupted Acolyte's Staff, Defender of the Wall, Void's Hammer, and Volcanic Shield can now only be equipped by the appropriate classes.
- The high dragon's fireballs no longer track moving targets.
- Pride demons can no longer be affected by their own Crushing Prison spells.
- The size of the area affected by an ability is now explicitly described as diameter or radius (usually diameter).
- When a party member's armor changes after consummating a romance, runes inscribed on his or her old armor now carry over to the new armor.
- Using the Maker's Sigh potion on an archer no longer alters inventory capacity.
- It is no longer possible to create more than one Elixir of Heroism.
- It is no longer possible to simultaneously enable sustained modes that are supposed to be mutually exclusive.
- In some cases, enemies would freeze while entering combat. This no longer occurs.
- In some cases, saw traps or spike traps would throw party members back even when the trap was not visible. This no longer occurs.
- The Special Deliveries chest can no longer get into a state where it contains items but cannot be opened.
- The storage chest is now present in the Hawke estate after completing the main campaign.
- If the Black Emporium premium content is installed, the mabari hound now follows his master more reliably.
- Various character-corruption issues now correct themselves automatically when you load your game.
- Various minor gameplay issues no longer occur.

That's just the Gameplay section, there are 4 more sections with a bunch of fixes listed. Here's the complete list - Choose Language | BioWare Social Network. Be aware that some of the fixes listed in the Quests section contain spoilers.

You can download the patch here - Patches and Fixes: Dragon Age 2 v1.03 Patch - Demo Movie Patch Download Section - GamersHell.com

Seems like this would be a good time to replay the game now

 

[vierasniper]

I never bothered patching it, i just beat the game and moved on. DA:O on the other hand, i beat like 5 different times, and the dlc with the expansion.

 

[sygnus21]

Yeah I never patched DA2 either, did the samething you did, finished it and put it away. However I've been wanting to replay it anyway so with the new patch I will.

Started to replay Origins but that game is too long for me. Loved it, but really don't feel like going through it again. Great game though

 

[vierasniper]

yeah really long, i was afraid i would never finish. the expansion was good too, pretty meaty. for whatever reason i could do DA:O 5 times, but i couldnt handle DA2 a second time. that really speaks about the quality of the game

 

[Maguscreed]

Yeah, that patch came a little late.
And that's not even the complete change log.

Would have been awesome if it was released before everyone had played the game all the way through several times.

I've moved on to the new red faction game.
I honestly think it's one of the best shooters I've ever played though.

 

[sygnus21]

Yeah, that patch came a little late.
And that's not even the complete change log.

If you're refering to what little I posted in my post, yeah, it's not the complete change log, which is what I said, and provided a linked to the full change log.

I've moved on to the new red faction game.
I honestly think it's one of the best shooters I've ever played though.

I nearly bought that game, but than got talked (reviewed) of of it. It really looks good but I'm kind of afraid I'd be missing a lot since I've not played the other games before it. Would I be missing out if I jumped in with that one?

Also how's performance? I know all games have issues upon release; are there any glaring issues there?

Thanks.

 

[Maguscreed]

I never finished the previous ones, thought they were horrible.
This one is just on an entirely different level though.
I loved the game play, in places it even had a bit of deadspace 2 feeling in it.
The graphics were incredible too, best use of tessellation I have seen in a game to date.
Ran smooth even on my single 5850 too.

The upgrade system works, and the benefits are meaningful.
Exploration is rewarded with additional salvage (used for upgrades)
Pretty much all the environment is destructible, and in a new twist you have the ability to use the nano forge to actually rebuild things you destroyed.
The weapons are varied and useful.
The bonus weapon you get for completing the campaign is also one of the most insane things ever.
It's called mr. toots, and it's actually a plush unicorn toy that farts rainbows that destroy everything in sight when you squeeze it... lol

There is some level of linearity to it, but it's only enough to keep you from wandering off needlessly for ridiculous amounts of time.

On top of the gameplay I can't stress enough how cool the alien/bug things look. I can only imagine it being even better on a higher end card, as mine is only a mid range dx11 card.

 

[sygnus21]

I'll probably pick it up at a later date. I had initially intended to pick it up on release day but than changed my mind as I've had to make some financial adjustments

The game looks incredible though from the videos I saw.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Wishmaster]

Yeah I never patched DA2 either, did the samething you did, finished it and put it away. However I've been wanting to replay it anyway so with the new patch I will.

Started to replay Origins but that game is too long for me. Loved it, but really don't feel like going through it again. Great game though

Yea. Its been a long time since Ive played through it but ..

I remember Awakening took around 16-17 hours.
Origins was much longer 80-85ish ... If I remember correctly.

Good 100hrs+ depending how thourough you want to be.



Pretty long game for sure, and worth the purchase.


Im a bit curious about the new Red Faction myself.
I actually picked up red Faction Guerilla last weeekend, Steam had it for $5.
Ive not yet played it, but curious if they are anything alike.

 

[vierasniper]

I nearly bought that game, but than got talked (reviewed) of of it.

I almost got talked (reviewed) out getting borderlands. im glad i got it, dont put too much thought into reviews. unless of course the negatives outweigh the positives.