658 replies to this topic

[vilkacis]

Hey, there's a new DLC item!

I'm just going to let this one speak for itself.

[Zander]

looks like your inventory will be full before you get out of Lothering........

[KIrving]

Last thing I heard, Bioware asked giZm to stop putting up demo vids, but it seems he uploaded parts four and five anyway.

Spoiler

Near the end of the part 4 demo, during the bar scene, it looks like Isabela manages to breastbutt a guy. On closer inspection I think she actually whacks his head into her raised thigh but it is possible that the guy is stunned first by the approach of the twin mountains of doom.
I'm going to take this as confirmation of unique talents for the companions.

[Archmage Silver]

At least we're still grumpy and think about how good things were in the days of PS:T, SoA and so forth... and get off my lawn!

Besides, I have to drop by there for official business, as I'm the resident newsman. I try not to read the non-dev posts though.

Heh, yeah. It's only gotten more silly as time has gone on, still waiting for the day when the current mainstream end up in our position... and history repeats with the younger mainstream crowd. 'Tis good fun though.

Yeah, it's pretty clear that our time has passed when it comes to CRPGs, not counting indies. And I don't even want to know how bad RPGs need to be for the current mainstream audience to complain... but as a generational/sociological question it's interesting, sure.

At least we're still grumpy and think about how good things were in the days of PS:T, SoA and so forth... and get off my lawn!
Besides, I have to drop by there for official business, as I'm the resident newsman. I try not to read the non-dev posts though.

*giggles* That is sooooo true. And we thank you for braving the forums and posting the infos here. I avoid the forums whenever possible, myself, and I'll be steering clear of the demo too.

I'll be downloading the demo, so feel free to post any specific questions you can't find an answer to.

Well, if they manage that, EA will use that number in advertising, and uninformed game magazines etc. will definitely use it as a figure to measure the game's popularity. And in the end some fanboys will download the demo 2000+ times with changing IPs.

Either that, or they've changed their server infrastructure but didn't feel like hiring a consultant team to stress-test the thing.

I bet that it's both now that we've posted these publicly.

It's not like some of the 'progress report' threads for some NPCs in our happy family aren't filled with similarly stupid/creepy/... posts.

The social forums still have quantity on their side. And to think that they make their own employees do part time moderator work. I guess they have a good health insurance plan for mental issues.

Also, they are controlling Hawke too much. Sometimes Hawke says things I never chose to say(I don't get to choose a reply), and when we meet a templar(slight spoiler here), Hawke does something I'd never do - she moves to defend Bethany. An apostate. And there's no "okay, you're a templar, she's an apostate, take her" reply, even. Grrr.

Less dialog, more savings. I certainly hope that it's not all like that though.

Edited by Archmage Silver, 01 March 2011 - 02:45 PM.

[Choo Choo]

And I don't even want to know how bad RPGs need to be for the current mainstream audience to complain...

Maybe it'll go back to our beloved old-school RPGs and they'll complain over lack of action and too much dialogue? One can hope!

[Archmage Silver]

And I don't even want to know how bad RPGs need to be for the current mainstream audience to complain...

Maybe it'll go back to our beloved old-school RPGs and they'll complain over lack of action and too much dialogue? One can hope!

I think it's going to be more like interactive movies where you can change the protagonist's appearance. That and touchscreen romance scenes that are rated PEGI 18. The horror.

[Darziak]

Since there are so many DLC items becoming available, I thought I'd compile a list (name, type, obtained from). Total DLC packs at launch: 22, but the actual number of game items will be higher.

Sure is good to know that the Hawke's never thought about selling all those items to become rich folks.

[the bigg]

The Grey Warden "suffered" from the same fate if you "acquired" the various DLC items and played all content DLC (lol Reaper's Cudgel lol).

[Kulyok]

I don't know: my Noble Dwarf Warden had enough space for all her origin items, bonus items and most of Ostagar/Wilds items(she just had to sell everything below 5 silver to make room for Tower of Ishal items to be able to sell it all to Gorim later). But she was an idiot, so she sold Reaper's Cudgel IN THE ORIGIN ITSELF(instead of selling it to Gorim for double price, aha).

[the bigg]

You should definitively keep the Cudgel for Gorim, but it is advantageous to have 44 Gold by the time you leave Lothering so that you can get one extra Tome of Arcane Technique and Physical Technique (if you buy them off Bodahn the first time you visit Camp, they'll have them again the next time you go there). Of course, Dwarf Nobles are half-way there by by supporting Lord Dace and selling the credit letter before talking to Trian.

Besides, you can get infinite gold as soon as you have Morrigan at level 12 (and infinite XP once you finish the Dalish quest by recruiting the Elves), so it's just a matter of farming if you want to make up for the difference.

Edited by the bigg, 21 February 2011 - 06:00 AM.

[vilkacis]

We chose to set the game [demo] at the default, or normal, difficulty. This prevents people from accidentally setting the difficulty too easy or too hard. We do not want to give people the wrong impression about combat by having them accidentally setting it to nightmare and then choosing not to buy as the demo was too hard to play.

We trust that our fans are smart enough to know that if the demo seems good but a tad easy, they can always choose to increase the difficulty in the real game.

OUR CUSTOMERS ARE ALL RETARDS. ALL! RETARDS!

edit: he just closed the thread.

Edited by vilkacis, 21 February 2011 - 02:53 PM.

[the bigg]

I doubt he made that decision - people higher up in the chain of command decided that the demo shouldn't feature a difficulty slider, and he had to invent a mildly credible explanation for the limitation.

Besides, a business that wishes to stay profitable should cater to the drooling masses rather than the 20% who can tell their head from their ass.

[Vicen]

I doubt he made that decision - people higher up in the chain of command decided that the demo shouldn't feature a difficulty slider, and he had to invent a mildly credible explanation for the limitation.

Besides, a business that wishes to stay profitable should cater to the drooling masses rather than the 20% who can tell their head from their ass.

That Shepard face is going to give me nightmares...Err anyways we all know that majority rules in just about everything...certainly not going to be any different for video games...I doubt normal will be that hard anyways or any of their other difficulties

[Solar's Harper]

Aw, c'mon! Its face wasn't that bad. Just a spent a little too much time staring... at the wall.

Although yes, for that thread there it was just a demo, and rarely does one ever get the full grasp of how difficult or innovative something is. Bioware's reputation certainly doesn't leave one thinking of either, although they have at least made (or tried to make) some improvements with each successive installment to a series, as opposed to some others I could mention *cough*SquareEnix*cough*.

And I don't even want to know how bad RPGs need to be for the current mainstream audience to complain...

Maybe it'll go back to our beloved old-school RPGs and they'll complain over lack of action and too much dialogue? One can hope!

I think it's going to be more like interactive movies where you can change the protagonist's appearance. That and touchscreen romance scenes that are rated PEGI 18. The horror.

Now you're both thinking too small a picture. People totally want full interactivity, of the mind and body - particularly the body though, how else would they feel like they're playing a role-playing game if they aren't nearly causing a tornado in their homes?

As for content it's... uh. Hmm, just what did we use that budget on I wonder? Certainly has nothing to do with this round thing before me.

[vilkacis]

I doubt he made that decision - people higher up in the chain of command decided that the demo shouldn't feature a difficulty slider, and he had to invent a mildly credible explanation for the limitation.

I'm not blaming him for the decision. I'm not blaming Bioware for it, either.

I am blaming him for being a prick, not just in this thread, but basically every time I see him post. Also, blaming Bioware for allowing him to continue.

This is at least the second time people working for them have answered "why isn't there an option to ____" questions with "because y'all are too dumb to live" and it looks fucking bad.

[Archmage Silver]

I doubt he made that decision - people higher up in the chain of command decided that the demo shouldn't feature a difficulty slider, and he had to invent a mildly credible explanation for the limitation.

Besides, a business that wishes to stay profitable should cater to the drooling masses rather than the 20% who can tell their head from their ass.

I've got to agree with that, some exec probably just send mr. Priestly a memo about it, and told him to figure it out. He must be headed for a nervous breakdown right about now.

But hey, look on the bright side of having increasingly dumbed down games - we can stop buying new games in a few years, and use the money we save to buy more alcoholic beverages.

[the bigg]

Vilkacis: You can't really defend decisions like that without insulting either the decision-makers or the readers. I guess Bioware prefers that their employees insult a dozen forum-goers (who will still buy the game) rather than the company.

Archmage Silver: I doubt that the dumbing down is as bad as most people say it is. And when I say that 80% of Bioware's public is composed of idiots, I refer to how only 20% of people play with fem-Shepard (rather than wooden-Shepard).

[Archmage Silver]

I exaggerated that comment for the sake of the punch line. I guess I should have included the smiley.

[berelinde]

Good news regarding the DRM

Chris Priestly said...

Below are the details of the final version of DRM that will be used with Dragon Age 2 for PC and Mac.

We appreciate your patience and feedback on this. DRM is always a topic of much debate, even internally. It requires a delicate balance between providing some level of IP protection while minimizing the inconvenience or intrusion to a player’s experience. These decisions are not made lightly - and a lot of time and effort was dedicated to ensuring that the system for DA2 is skewed to the player side of the experience. It is as follows:

Dragon Age 2 Physical & Digital PC/Mac DRM are as follows:

• No disc check, you do not need the disc in drive to play.
  
• No limit on the total number of PCs you can install the game on.
  
• There is a limit to the number of unique/different PCs that can play the game within a time window (if online) [5 PCs in 24hrs].
  
• After each new install there is a 1-time online check needed the next time you play, requiring a log in to your EA account to verify game ownership. If you are a member of these forums, you already have an EA account – just use the same email/password.
  
• You can play offline thereafter - the game will NOT require any subsequent login checks. If online, a game ownership check happens each time you play.

Steam versions use Steam DRM, no other DRM is added, which means:

• No disc check, it is used for digital game versions purchased from Steam only.
  
• No limit to the total number of PCs you can install the game on.
  
• There is a limit to the number of unique/different PCs that can play the game at any one time (if online) [1 PC].
  
• Each install requires logging into your Steam account to verify game ownership.
  
• You can play offline thereafter. If online, a game ownership check happens each time you play.

Edited by berelinde, 24 February 2011 - 01:39 PM.

[Solar's Harper]

Oh great, the return of the memory hogging online check. That so beats a disc check or other DRM.

At least it's a one-offer for an install, but man, I can't help but to have a bad feeling about it though, there's always something as they say.