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brain_stew · Oct 8, 2009

iratA said:
The day one dlc doesn't upset me tbh. DLC is all about value to me at the end of the day. If there is enough content in this DLC and the main game doesn't feel like its been left short, i.e they pulled this content from the main game to sell it as DLC, I don't really see the problem.

At this point in time with the delay to the PS3 version and lack of footage available, I'm more concerned about how well it might hold up against the other versions. It would be my platform of choice. Put our minds at ease Bioware please.

And you think showing PS3 footage is going to achieve that? A developer with a proud heritage of games that are a complete technical clusterfuck, a game primarily targeted at the PC, a late and low priority PS3 port and a developer with no previous PS3 experience aren't exactly a recipe for a top quality port.

Fear the worst, and then set your expectations below that, and you might have a slim chance of not being disappointed, I wouldn't count on it though. There's always a very good reason why developers try their best to hide a particular version of their game and you know precisely what it is (hint: its not what you want to hear).

iratA · Oct 8, 2009

I'm in the same boat as the Count of Monte in that my PC is really not cut out for gaming (not anymore anyway) and I prefer to enjoy my HD 5.1 set up in my lounge room.

Oh and is this the first Bioware game to come to the PS3? excuse my ignorance, M.E. was 360/PC only right.

EDIT: ^^ ahhh, no previous experience. Great

thechristoph · Oct 8, 2009

Lot of hate at BioWare for the DLC... How do we know this isn't the doing of their fine, upstanding corporate masters at EA?

BananaBomb · Oct 8, 2009

thechristoph said:
Lot of hate at BioWare for the DLC... How do we know this isn't the doing of their fine, upstanding corporate masters at EA?

Doesn't excuse anything.

mujun · Oct 8, 2009

I'm gonna play it and when I've gone through it once decide if the DLC is rude or not.

If there is an ample amount of content I'll probably feel like the day 1 DLC is fine.

Aaron · Oct 8, 2009

thechristoph said:
Lot of hate at BioWare for the DLC... How do we know this isn't the doing of their fine, upstanding corporate masters at EA?

The DLC shouldn't be an issue. Games are finished months before release, leaving the development crew essentially nothing to do but bug fixes. Having them work on new content just makes sense when you don't want to shift them to a new game until Dragon Age is out the door. Packing this content on the disc would just further delay the release. They could release it as free bonus content, even as a pre-order perk, but yeah... not going to happen in this DLC era.

Deleted member 17706 · Oct 8, 2009

Count of Monte Sawed-Off said:
Some people (like me) don't care about that stuff. My computer (which actually couldn't play dragon age anyway) is mostly for looking up stuff for papers, internet surfing and masturbating. I prefer games on consoles and on my TV. I do think that Dragon Age will more than likely play better on the PC, but it doesn't bother me.

And it looks like the graphics are sucking either way, although I guess some mods could make it better, but by the time they come out I wouldn't care about Dragon Age anymore anyway.

I really don't understand some people's crapping on the graphics. Do they really look that bad? I think the graphics are pretty impressive especially for a game of this scale. I can totally understand the complaints about facial animation, hair and some battle animations, but everything else looks great.

I'm sure you don't care, but if you had a decent computer (which really isn't that expensive) you could easily hook it up to your television to play PC games. Console games do not have exclusive rights to the TV.

Asmodai · Oct 8, 2009

It's irrelevant who made the call at EA/Bioware for the DLC. Buying DLC on day one sets a precedent and encourages future paid DLC on day one. Not a trend I'd like to support.

Hell, Dragon Age seems to be the embodiment of a whole lot of trends I wouldn't like to support.

Aaron said:
Funny that you didn't bold the key word 'disappointed.' I'm not saying people won't enjoy the game, but how can you not be disappointed to not get user made mods, have a worse control scheme, and lesser graphics?

gloriousPCgamingmasterrace.gif

Myr · Oct 8, 2009

The DLC thing is no doubt an EA choice, so give Bioware a break.

Besides, do you really need to get new content for your 100 hour game the first day? It will probably be half price by the time you even finish it.

GhaleonEB · Oct 8, 2009

Myr said:
The DLC thing is no doubt an EA choice, so give Bioware a break.

Besides, do you really need to get new content for your 100 hour game the first day? It will probably be half price by the time you even finish it.

Developer or not, it's a pretty shitty decision. When I read PR like this about DLC on day 1:

dungeon-based quest
six new abilities
a variety of items
and a base

It reads like they just plucked some content out of the game to charge extra for. At the least they could pretend to hold it back a few weeks so people don't feel ripped off by buying the full game.

dLMN8R · Oct 8, 2009

There's a big-ol' bitchfest going on about this at Blue's News, and a producer from Bioware has been offering some defenses to this decision:

http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewthread&threadid=102952

But hey, that doesn't really mean anything since people on Blue's News are among the most jaded, whiney bitches on the internet. Anyway.....

Bioware said:
BioWare has a dedicated team working on DLC. Why wasn't it included in the main game? Because the content wasn't nearly complete by the time the main game was locked and into QA, certification and manufacturing. The main game and Warden's Keep are in different stages of development and there is no way that WK could be released with the main game at this stage.

There is a long held belief that main game content is being removed and sold separately. This is not the case. The content is being developed in parallel by a dedicated team.

None of our DLC is required to enjoy Dragon Age: Origins, but we hope you will give some of it a try or at least arm yourself with reviews from trusted sources (whether it's Gamespot or your Uncle Ray) and make your own decision.

Bioware said:
What happened to more expansion-type releases that were only $20 or so?

Those items, either by digital or retail are still in the works.

Instead, there is day one DLC which, just by itself, hold very little regard for the actual game. And by game, I mean 95% of the final product, that 5% intentionally being left out for an extra charge on day one.

This is not the case; please see my previous post.

If you don't want to pay for our content, that is fair. We still have a Toolset for Dragon Age and we hope you try out some of the thousands of free user created content items that will get made.

We have done this before with Neverwinter Nights, albeit with different timing. The experience with NWN and the Premium Modules was very positive for us and the community. It allowed us to keep supporting for NWN for another year or two and provided more new source content for the Toolset users.

Bioware said:
Still day 1 DLC always bugs me. As an old PC gamer I used to get this **** for FREE. Now I have to pay for it.

No you didn't. We certainly haven't had free downloadable content for our games in any recent memory, aside from BDtS for Mass Effect 1 PC. But I don't think that qualifies as something we have always done.

If it's the timing that bothers you, you could always pretend that it doesn't exists for month or so.

Sorry, we don't have any public announcements about Steam at this time.

Bioware said:
If you have had any experience with a BioWare game launch I can firmly state that all delays and target platforms rest solely at the discretion of BioWare. We chose to delay the game. We chose the platforms we want it to be on. EA acquired BioWare and Pandemic about 2 years ago and they have been supportive about our decisions, not the cause of them. We are doing exactly what we want to do on this project.

If Dragon Age wasn't already a massive game, it would make sense to complain about this, but the responses here seem pretty damned reasonable to me.

Also, a note from Desslock (former PC Gamer columnist):

"I can't even imagine how difficult this game was to QA, given all the choices and variations, etc. -- crashed zero times in 121 hours, no bugs, one incorrect journal entry (which had no affect on gameplay). It's actually amazing that there weren't evident scripting errors. Actually maybe one incident I can think of where characters acted like you had knowledge of something that I hadn't actually scene. but very clean technically."

iratA · Oct 8, 2009

Zefah said:
I really don't understand some people's crapping on the graphics. Do they really look that bad? I think the graphics are pretty impressive especially for a game of this scale. I can totally understand the complaints about facial animation, hair and some battle animations, but everything else looks great.

I'm sure you don't care, but if you had a decent computer (which really isn't that expensive) you could easily hook it up to your television to play PC games. Console games do not have exclusive rights to the TV.

Thats true. But not everyone likes to have a computer set up in their lounge room for various reasons. At this point in time consoles suit all my gaming needs these days and I don't care much for upgrading hardware anymore to keep up with PC gaming.

Regardless, Oblivion has sort of run its course with me now and DA looks like a nice RPG that could fill that void. I'm also looking forward to the more cinematic approach DA has over oblivion. Graphics don't mean the world to me but a smooth framerate etc. are nice things that we hope for.

KiNeSiS · Oct 8, 2009

It's a toss up between this or Demon Souls.
Which is better? They both are supposed to be gory, Which is is more disgustful? More importantly which is less like Oblivion?

Deleted member 17706 · Oct 8, 2009

I don't see the big deal about the DLC really. Like other have said, once the content creation side is finished they have a good bit of time before the game is actually released where a lot of people will end up with very little work to do. They might as well work on new content during that time and come up with some cool content based on ideas that didn't necessarily make the cut for the final product.

Sure this would be complete bullshit if it really was a case of some higher up telling people to cut out a part of the game and release it as DLC, but I seriously doubt that is the case. If it really was like that, why would they stop at just one $7 expansion instead of putting out a whole bunch of stuff that end up just being unlock codes for content already on the disc or already installed on your hard drive? Also, why would they release a full-featured content creation tool where users can create their own awesome adventures? If they were really just trying to knickle and dime people they probably wouldn't offer such an open system.

syllogism · Oct 8, 2009

They've a pretty decent excuse for day 1 dlc. Furthermore it's not really all that different from special edition exclusive items à la BG2. Not that I'm ever interested in DLC, but if I was I would want it immediately rather than after beating the game.

The process of shipping a game is a gradual series of hardening and locking down. The world needs to be solidified so that the plot structure can be formed. The plot structure needs to be solid so that the plots can be written. The plots need to be written so that they can be scripted. The plots need to be scripted so that they can be tested. The plots need to be tested so that they can be voiced. The plots need to be voiced so that they can be staged and given cinematic polish. The cinematic polish needs to be finished so that it can be tested. Everything needs to be locked down so that performance testing and optimization and eventually disc layout and certification can be done.

Now, things dont always work perfectly, and changes often have to be made to things which were assumed to be locked, which causes a ripple effect and lots of work for everyone. You need to stop changing things at some point so everything that depends on them can be done. DLC is a separate product, so it doesnt have to be tested and verified as part of the final build, it doesnt have to be accounted for in the disc layout, and it doesnt have to be in the game when it goes through official certification. It has its own schedule and its own verification process. And lets not forget its own budget, because ultimately games are a business and manpower is limited by money.

To make the console ports possible, the content of Dragon Age was locked down in the spring. It wasnt possible to add new content past that point, and the VO lockdown was much earlier than that. The game was still tested and improved with bug fixes, stability and performance improvements etc, but adding whole new adventure like Wardens Keep? That would have pushed the release date back. The PC version had a very long time after content lockdown for testing and final polish, which could have been cut short to ship that version earlier, but it was decided to ship it simultaneously with the console versions for a variety of reasons. But thats a separate issue.

Could we have taken people from the DLC team and put them on the console version to speed the porting process up? Not really. Porting content requires a lot of programmers and not very many designers. We had a surplus of writers, tech designers and cinematic designers and even artists, so we put them to use. If anything, DLC is taking away from potential future projects, not from Dragon Age: Origins.

First, it's decided that a game has to ship on a certain date. Unless you're going to delay the game, that can't change. You then start working back from there.

The manufacturer needs the final build and disc layout with enough time to print and ship the game, so you need to be completely done the game by that earlier date.

Now to ship a game, you need to go through publisher certification and if youre on consoles you also need to go through the console manufacturers certification. These things take time, so that gives you an earlier deadline.

You have to prepare for that certification process, so you set a date where you can't make any changes except fixing things that would cause you to fail certification.

Before that there's a date when you can't fix any bugs except ones that have been approved by a triage group, so the game can be tested in a stable form and you don't introduce problems at the last minute.

Before that there's a date where you can't add anything new so you have enough to test and to fix bugs on what's there.

And it goes on, to earlier and earlier lockdown dates.

The process of shipping DLC is independent of all of this. DLC is much smaller than a game, and it's tested and certified independently and much more quickly, so it's not bound by the above dates. You can work on DLC right up to and past ship without effecting the release date.

If it's done, you could release the DLC for free, which would essentially make it a day 1 patch, but it absolutely could not be on the disk. That's pretty close to what we've done with Shale, as an incentive to get people to create an account and learn how to use the download service. To ship all DLC for free however ignores the fact that the DLC is made to be sold. The people working on it are paid by a budget that is only approved on the basis that there will be sales in return.

As for firing the designers and hiring more programmers, the workforce isn't that flexible. Finding good talent takes time, and firing skilled employees because they dont have enough work in the short term is folly.

e: this is pretty helpful http://ctolpin.googlepages.com/dragonage_contentlist.jpg

e2: that "dlc" item list already guarantees the itemization is going to be miles better than in Mass Effect

iratA · Oct 8, 2009

KiNeSiS said:
It's a toss up between this or Demon Souls.
Which is better? They both are supposed to be gory, Which is is more disgustful? More importantly which is less like Oblivion?

The difficulty level people keep talking about in Demon's Souls has me running in the opposite direction. At a bargain price I might bite but not now. Have a look around there's plenty of vids of DA that should give you a taste of what its going to be like, just not of the PS3 version.

Deleted member 17706 · Oct 8, 2009

KiNeSiS said:
It's a toss up between this or Demon Souls.
Which is better? They both are supposed to be gory, Which is is more disgustful? More importantly which is less like Oblivion?

Both are nothing like Oblivion, really. Dragon Age is probably even more dissimilar considering you will be playing with a party and can pause the game at any time to make decisions during combat.

Demon's Souls is an amazing game and definitely one of the best this year. It is much more like a skill based action game than an pure RPG, though. The game features a hub area where you go off into different worlds that are seamlessly connected but split up into stages. The game can be very difficult, but it is also very rewarding and extremely fun. I have poured over 100 hours into it and still go back to it occasionally after first completing the game in March / April.

I am very excited about Dragon Age, but I can't really attest to its quality as I have never played. Demon's Souls, however, is an amazing game that I think every PS3 owner should buy.

Aaron · Oct 8, 2009

Asmodai said:
gloriousPCgamingmasterrace.gif

I own a mere handful of PC games compared to what I have on the 360, including ones that I really should have gotten on PC like Red Alert 3. Sometimes games just don't port well, no matter the developer's intentions. Dragon Age was a PC game from the start. From my admittedly brief time with the 360 version, I found the controls rather awkward and clumsy. It's not something that can't be overcome, but it still makes it feel inferior to the PC version.

Gorgon · Oct 8, 2009

KiNeSiS said:
It's a toss up between this or Demon Souls.
Which is better? They both are supposed to be gory, Which is is more disgustful? More importantly which is less like Oblivion?

"Which is better" depends entirely on ones preferences. Impossible to answer that kind of question. But while Dragon Age is your standard fare RPG, Demon's Souls is quite different from anything else out there. It plays third person but that's as close as it gets to Oblivion. The closest thing would be Kings Field probably, even though those were first person. Oblivion (or Dragon Age) couldn't be more different from Demon's Souls, they are in completely opposite sides of the spectrum.

Ponn · Oct 8, 2009

No, thats not a good excuse from Bioware. It sounds like a BS PR excuse. You have to QA the DLC just like the main game and if they were running that concurrent then that means they were part of the development team regardless of what Bioware wants to call them on paper and in PR statements. Plus, as someone else mentioned all of this, abilities, base and such sound like "part of the game" that was removed.

And yes Bioware, you didn't do DLC before Mass Effect. In fact alot of companies didn't, see back then you couldn't really make money by holding parts of your game back and charging extra later (or day one). This bullshit started with the advent of 360 Marketplace.

Fredescu · Oct 8, 2009

Ponn01 said:
And yes Bioware, you didn't do DLC before Mass Effect. In fact alot of companies didn't, see back then you couldn't really make money by holding parts of your game back and charging extra later. This bullshit started with the advent of 360 Marketplace.

No, they're saying they didn't give DLC away for free before Mass Effect but they did have paid DLC before XBLA even existed in the form of NWN premium modules.

Ponn · Oct 8, 2009

Fredescu said:
No, they're saying they didn't give DLC away for free before Mass Effect but they did have paid DLC before XBLA even existed in the form of NWN premium modules.

I bought NWN day one. There were no premium modules to pay for day one. Thats main point.

Fredescu · Oct 8, 2009

Ponn01 said:
I bought NWN day one. There were no premium modules to pay for day one. Thats main part.

Fair enough. They claim not to be holding parts of the game back, and their reasoning makes sense. The timing just sucks though. The thing about the timing is that it doesn't make sense from a business perspective either. If you want the module to sell well, don't announce it until after people have had a chance to play and finish the game and are looking for more. Having it sit there from day one removes the release-day-hype induced impulse buys and people are more likely to let it slide and forget about it. I'm sure if EA were really pulling the strings they would have told them to delay the announcement and the release.

Deleted member 17706 · Oct 8, 2009

Ponn01 said:
I bought NWN day one. There were no premium modules to pay for day one. Thats main part.

Well we can only speculate how much of their resources were spent on making this DLC and whether or not its creation detracted from the main game. We have no idea if this DLC was ever intended to be part of the base game and we just have to take Bioware's word for it or not buy their product.

I really don't have a problem with the timing of this at all. What if they chose to release it a couple of months later even though it was already finished at release? Everyone who liked the game would then be excited for the DLC and wouldn't be bitching like this.

Myr · Oct 8, 2009

You guys are hilarious. So much anger.

I could kinda see it if this was a smaller game, like a 10 hour experience. However, it's a big game. Huge, in fact. I get the principle behind it, the old 'content already on disc' sentiment. I think Bioware's reasoning behind this decision is sound.

Ponn · Oct 8, 2009

Zefah said:
Well we can only speculate how much of their resources were spent on making this DLC and whether or not its creation detracted from the main game. We have no idea if this DLC was ever intended to be part of the base game and we just have to take Bioware's word for it or not buy their product.

I really don't have a problem with the timing of this at all. What if they chose to release it a couple of months later even though it was already finished at release? Everyone who liked the game would then be excited for the DLC and wouldn't be bitching like this.

Unfortunately in this day and age of games already going up to $60 and NOW being artificially inflated to closer to $70 I will take the road of the skeptic.

I think some telling points will be how this DLC will be implemented. Are the base, new dungeon and abilites available early on? And the icing on the cake if this ends up being a 168k or something unlock key.

iratA · Oct 8, 2009

Ponn01 said:
No, thats not a good excuse from Bioware. It sounds like a BS PR excuse. You have to QA the DLC just like the main game and if they were running that concurrent then that means they were part of the development team regardless of what Bioware wants to call them on paper and in PR statements. Plus, as someone else mentioned all of this, abilities, base and such sound like "part of the game" that was removed.

And yes Bioware, you didn't do DLC before Mass Effect. In fact alot of companies didn't, see back then you couldn't really make money by holding parts of your game back and charging extra later. This bullshit started with the advent of 360 Marketplace.

How do you know conclusively Bioware are holding parts of their game back and charging extra for it? You mention abilities sound like "part of the game" was removed, how do you know that they haven't added them? An example I would give is the added skills/perks you unlock in the Fallout 3 expansions. How is that any different?

Does it not make sense that a game developer would be working on DLC prior to the games release? It takes time to create this sort of extra content, get it certified etc etc. Otherwise you wouldn't see DLC until long after the all the original hype for the game had died. Yes its a little odd anouncing paid DLC to be available at launch but there is no reason to doubt Bioware's honesty in their official response on the matter.

Now on the other hand if the game feels like its been cut to pieces and that in retrospec the game really should have been released with said DLC included. By all means there could and should be a backlash. At this point though we have no idea how exactly this extra content will impact the core experience.

As a side note, I think very few devs have abused the DLC trend this gen, yes there are some culprits but they are being exposed. Most have the right idea of simply giving their fans more of the same great experiences they have already bought into. As a big fan of any given game, I love to be given the option to purchase DLC.

CabbageRed · Oct 8, 2009

Day one DLC? That seems like an unfortunate way to sour a game's release and chase some consumers away from $50 purchase and into the $20-30 realm. Whether it's correct or not, the impression this gives is that your $50 gets you an incomplete game, and their previous comment about how the delay allowed them to add more content further confuses the issue.

I'm not sure how this will affect my purchase, but it definitely strikes me as being a tacky and risky move considering how uncertain EA's PR campaign has left me. Like someone else said in this thread, it's as though someone involved in DW cannot help but hurt anticipation for/trust in the final product.

Ponn · Oct 8, 2009

iratA said:
How do you know conclusively Bioware are holding parts of their game back and charging extra for it? You mention abilities sound like "part of the game" was removed, how do you know that they haven't added them? An example I would give is the added skills/perks you unlock in the Fallout 3 expansions. How is that any different?

How do you know they HAVEN'T held this stuff back? We can go round and round all day with this. It's just determined how trusting an individual you are. Having gone through several generations of video gaming now i'm just not that trusting after being continually lied to by companies. Let me put it this way, companies want to make money off of you, they are not your friends, they don't necessarily have your best interests at heart, they are a company like every other company out there and DLC is like a gold mine to these companies. Look no further than SCAMCO and SF IV costumes. On top of that, do you really think Bioware or any other PR person for EA would come out and tell you "Well yes, we are holding this back from consumers to make extra money" so honestly, what other response would you be looking from them.

And after saying all that guess what, i'm still going to buy the game (because I got a sweet preorder deal through Amazon on this game and I need the Dragon Armor for Mass Effect2) and I will probably get the DLC on day one anyways. Mostly because I got 600pts sitting in my XBL account that I can't use on anything else because the 400pt arcade game price point no longer exists on new games.

sendu · Oct 8, 2009

sillymonkey321 said:
Probably wait for the inevitable " Dragon Age: Origins: Game of the Year Edition" with all the dlc bundled in.

You don't need to wait. The digital CE already comes with all the dlc bundled for free.

DenogginizerOS · Oct 8, 2009

If the standalone game is fun, and long, then I will play it and download the DLC later. I have no doubt that Dragon Age is shipping content complete and is already a massive game.

I do think, however, that advertising Day 1 DLC is bad PR and that is something that this game seems to have no shortage of for some strange reason. Dragon Age may be one of the best games released this year with some of the worst PR decisions ever.

Agyar · Oct 8, 2009

dLMN8R said:
There's a big-ol' bitchfest going on about this at Blue's News, and a producer from Bioware has been offering some defenses to this decision:

http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewthread&threadid=102952

But hey, that doesn't really mean anything since people on Blue's News are among the most jaded, whiney bitches on the internet. Anyway.....

This is the RE5 Versus thing all over again, and even though Bioware have explained the situation in much more depth than Capcom did, people insist on ignoring it and continuing to complain.

Welcome to the real world, where schedules, budgets and resource management mean you are wrong.

sendu · Oct 8, 2009

Ponn01 said:
No, thats not a good excuse from Bioware. It sounds like a BS PR excuse.

No, it's how games are made.

You have to QA the DLC just like the main game and if they were running that concurrent then that means they were part of the development team regardless of what Bioware wants to call them on paper and in PR statements.

Before DLC, games were made as Bioware described in their 'excuse'. Once lockdown hits for the planned release, no more new content is made. You can then task your devs not working on bug-fixing to either a) start work on a whole new different game, or b) take the risk that this game will be popular, and start working on an expansion pack or sequel. If you choose b), the content has to be of a significant size and scope, or else you won't be able to get away with selling it at retail. Therefore it takes a long time to make. Therefore it ends up getting released months/ years after the main game was released.

DLC allows smaller expansions to be released and still make money. So if you take option b) nowadays, you might actually complete the expansion content before the main game has finished with its QA (which takes much longer than the independent QA on a small bit of expansion content), especially if the main game was delayed many months to coincide with the release of its platform ports.

What's not to understand? Frankly, given the months of delay, it would be rather surprising if they didn't have day 1 DLC. It would mean they had no faith in the game and had chosen option a).

Plus, as someone else mentioned all of this, abilities, base and such sound like "part of the game" that was removed.

You never came across an RPG expansion pack (released months/years after the game release) that added abilities and low-level things before? In fact Bioware have done it frequently with their past games. The type of content tells you nothing. It certainly doesn't indicate anything sinister.

This bullshit started with the advent of 360 Marketplace.

The marketplace allowed companies to provide us more content to play sooner. This is a good thing. We like playing games, remember? Why cut off your nose to spite your face? "Oh no, they have produced more of something I like, but there's an unrealistic naive possibility I could have gotten it for free. I shall punish myself by playing none of this thing I like!"

iratA · Oct 8, 2009

Ponn01 said:
How do you know they HAVEN'T held this stuff back?

Exactly, we should wait to see what they have actually done with more complete details before we go jumping to any conclusions. At this point I have no reason to believe Bioware are going to short change me.

DenogginizerOS · Oct 8, 2009

Can someone clear this up for me: is the Stone Prisoner DLC going to be available for all preorders, at all retailers, or for only those who reserve the Collector's Edition?

Chairman Yang · Oct 8, 2009

Check out the "origins" trailers if you haven't already: http://dragonage.bioware.com/hero/human_noble

The cutscene direction, voice acting, and general writing quality are much better than the older trailers.

sendu · Oct 8, 2009

DenogginizerOS said:
Can someone clear this up for me: is the Stone Prisoner DLC going to be available for all preorders, at all retailers, or for only those who reserve the Collector's Edition?

Everyone gets it with a new purchase.

Stealing someone else's summary of the situation:

Every version gets:
- the game
- Blood Dragon Armor download code
- Stone Prisoner download code
- Memory Band in-game item (pre-order only)

The physical Collector's Edition gets the above, and:
- steel case (not in the UK)
- cloth map (not in the UK)
- making of DVD
- soundtrack
- wallpapers etc

The digital Collector's Edition gets the "every version" stuff, and:
- Warden's Keep download code
- making of DVD (presumably digital)
- soundtrack
- wallpapers etc

In addition, different retailers might then have their own unique pre-order bonus items.

Draft · Oct 8, 2009

Like trained monkeys, spinning, spinning, spinning the days away. Why do developers even hire community managers when their forum bound supplicants will do the same job for free?

truly101 · Oct 8, 2009

Day one DLC is only bad PR for paranoid skeptics that frequent GAF and other sites, a pretty small minority. Depending on how the game is marketed, I bet most of the people who buy Dragon Age, will not give a shit if there is day one DLC or day 111 DLC, they'll buy it if they like the game, they'll skip it if they don't.

DenogginizerOS · Oct 8, 2009

truly101 said:
Day one DLC is only bad PR for paranoid skeptics that frequent GAF and other sites, a pretty small minority. Depending on how the game is marketed, I bet most of the people who buy Dragon Age, will not give a shit if there is day one DLC or day 111 DLC, they'll buy it if they like the game, they'll skip it if they don't.

Agreed, but I think some purchasers who do no frequent GAF will see Day One DLC on Live and not all will warm to it. Some will love it. Like Horse Armor....

CabbageRed · Oct 8, 2009

truly101 said:
Day one DLC is only bad PR for paranoid skeptics that frequent GAF and other sites, a pretty small minority. Depending on how the game is marketed, I bet most of the people who buy Dragon Age, will not give a shit if there is day one DLC or day 111 DLC, they'll buy it if they like the game, they'll skip it if they don't.

I think that the overlap of people that frequent forums/comments like NeoGAF, GameSpot, and BioWare.com, and those who would play a 50+ RPG and want more is fairly high.

fastford58 · Oct 8, 2009

Doytch said:
If you want to be witty Junior, at least try to do it when the poster doesn't explicitly state that he's going off the trailers.

Oh snap. pwnage right in my ass.

Seriously though, this game looks tits. I'm loving the fact that there is a unique story for each character. I am particularly interested in the Dwarf Commoner.

Danne-Danger · Oct 8, 2009

fastford58 said:
Seriously though, this game looks tits. I'm loving the fact that there is a unique story for each character. I am particularly interested in the Dwarf Commoner.

In that case you should listen to this (Idle Thumbs podcast) if you haven't already, there's some pretty in-depth discussion about the dwarf commoner in there.

Deleted member 17706 · Oct 8, 2009

Should I just give up on hoping for a Steam release and get it on Impulse or something? The game is out in less than a month and it still hasn't been announced for Steam. Then again EA did just put up more games on Steam...

Ponn · Oct 8, 2009

Draft said:
Like trained monkeys, spinning, spinning, spinning the days away. Why do developers even hire community managers when their forum bound supplicants will do the same job for free?

Seriously.

sendu · Oct 8, 2009

CabbageRed said:
I think that the overlap of people that frequent forums/comments like NeoGAF, GameSpot, and BioWare.com, and those who would play a 50+ RPG and want more is fairly high.

I doubt that very much. For example, the number of people that played Neverwinter Nights multiplayer or tried anything other than the main OC is some trivial single-digits or less percentage. Yet judging by Bioware's forums, you'd think the percentage might be in the high 90s.

sendu · Oct 8, 2009

Ponn01 said:
Seriously.

Sound argument > ad hom

Deleted member 17706 · Oct 8, 2009

Ponn01 said:
Seriously.

Yes, because there is no reason to believe Bioware about this. Of course they are just trying to steal our money and shit down our throats! That is the only possible answer.

It's funny that this wouldn't even be an issue if it was released a few months down the road regardless of when it was actually made.

sendu · Oct 8, 2009

Zefah said:
Should I just give up on hoping for a Steam release and get it on Impulse or something?

Does Steam offer you some benefit over Impulse?

sendu · Oct 8, 2009

Zefah said:
It's funny that this wouldn't even be an issue if it was released a few months down the road regardless of when it was actually made.

It's perhaps a shame they couldn't do that. But they wanted to be nice and include it for free with the digital CE. Damn those generous bastards!

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