Comments on: Dragon Age is not perfect!

By: Devonaire50

Devonaire50 — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:20:06 +0000

What i think would be absolutely awesome, is have some sort of PvP battlegrounds. Where you can only run your main character through. Have some type of reward at the end of each one. Maybe gear or some type of point system to buy gear/rewards. give rank. i think it would deffinantly bring this game to #1 if its not already. Maybe have different types of matches. Death Match, Team Death Match, Capture the flag, ect. (settings like no respawns to make quick battles.) Anyone else think this would be alot of fun?

By: IntrepidFool

IntrepidFool — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:28:14 +0000

I recommend that you purchase backpacks. Each one raises your inventory by 10. You can get two in Ostagar if you buy 1 before the Grey Warden quests and one after before you begin the siege quests. I picked up a 3rd somewhere else, so my inventory is at 100. I’ve never had a problem with storage.

*Minor spoiler* There is also an in-game storage solution via the Warden’s Keep DLC – but it is somewhat inconvenient.

Also, for those interested, I wrote a wall of text detailing some of the flaws in this mostly magnificent game here:
http://intrepidfool.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/early-thoughts-on-dragon-age-origins-pc/

By: Tesh

Tesh — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:12:56 +0000

You need a pet. Torchlight/Fate pets are *very* handy when it comes to loot.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:39:05 +0000

Yeah, loot sticks around on the 360 for awhile as well. Not sure if it’s permanent or not though. I did pick up the Warden’s Keep DLC which gives the party storage chest at the end. Same code the BioWare mod uses, only the mod places the chest in the camp rather than at the keep.

I think the key for inventory is prioritization. It doesn’t show prices in the inventory but I would tend to think a heavy kite shield would sell for more than a silver ring, so I try to keep items that I know (or highly suspect) will sell for the most, and cross my fingers that the cheap stuff I leave behind will be saved so I can come back later to get it.

So far I’m happy I got the 360 version, but that’s been the case with everything other than MMO’s, which I haven’t been playing lately. Only *real* advantage is that I think PC’s can scroll the camera in and out and the consoles have a fixed camera distance. There are times I’d like to scroll in closer to check out new gear etc. up close like I would in an MMO. But no biggie, since I can’t I don’t obsess about it every playing moment. Quite frankly, as Aaron can attest to, I’ve been playing Dragon Age so much that I would definitely be in pain after resurrecting my RSI again if I were on the PC.

I’m mainly happy that modern RPG’s like Dragon Age, Fallout 3, etc. are supporting mods and UGC since so many games are having the consoles as lead SKU and PC’s just get a console port with little or no attention to expectations on the PC. Personally, though, when it comes to RPG’s I just don’t think I’m as accepting of UGC anymore. It was one thing back in the days when I’d login to an FPS server using a custom map list and all the maps I didn’t have would auto-download. Some were fun, some were not. But 10+ years later, I seriously doubt I would in a million years touch some user-created mod for an RPG.

By: Wiqd

Wiqd — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:41:36 +0000

The PC camera was actually pretty handy for me as you can zoom out to see the whole battlefield and spin around a great deal. The only time I couldn’t tell why someone died was when they were around a corner or off somewhere else and surrounded by enemies.

As far as looting goes, one thing I got used to was the fact that you can leave a corpse on the ground for … practically forever, until you come back. The bodies don’t despawn (presumably until the area actually changes, but even then I’m not sure).

For example: There was one spot in the Circle of Magi where I had tons of bodies left to loot, but because of the way the story handles itself after you kill the last boss, I didn’t get to loot them OR the last boss. I had to go back to the Mage tower and run all the way up (looting stuff I’d missed along the way as well) and finally got to loot him.

Not sure if it works the same way on the Xbox360, but on the PC loot seems to stick around for a very long time, if not indefinitely.

I like the review cam idea though. It’d be great for building strategies if something just isn’t working for you. I’ve had quite a few fights that required rethinking of strategy to beat the boss.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:51:57 +0000

I was starting to wonder if I should pick this up soon for my 360. Thanks for reminding me that this is really a PC game, for modders to improve and toolset users to expand with new adventures.

Of course, that means I’ll have to wait til I buy my next PC (able to handle it). Oh well. Plenty of hold me over.

By: Victor Stillwater

Victor Stillwater — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:31:47 +0000

There’s a mod (or a Bioware patch, not sure) that sort of alleviates that inventory issue somewhat. Found it on Bio Break (http://biobreak.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/mondays-good-bad-and-ugly/), but linking to it directly here.

http://social.bioware.com/project/463/&v=discussions#details

It’s a storage chest that can be found at your party camp, near the tents. Just unload whatever stuff you don’t want to use before going on an adventure, and you should ideally have enough space for your needs. Also, I buy backpacks when I see them.