Dragon Age 2 Incoming. - Part 1

[spiderbob]

Nothing I wrote pertained in any way to what you do or do not like.

And oh boy, sarcastic Hawke wins again in this DLC. Bahaha. So do Carver and Anders.

"I have a good sense of dramatic timing. And great hair."
t:

 

[Drz]

cool! thanks.

what kind of weapons do we get? are they cool looking?

Yeah they look cool, you cna get a sword+shield, a 2-hander and a staff and i think a dagger, a bow too. They're nothing overly special however, but the belt/rings can be!

Yeah Sarcastic Hawke is the best.... If i want to die, i want the world to know i died at the Chateu party!

 

[El Bastardo]

"I have a good sense of dramatic timing. And great hair."
t:

Tallis: "You know this woman eats pipsqueaks like you for breakfast, I hope."
Hawke: "Only when we're out of pancakes."

 

[Drz]

I have to say the only real downside of the DLC is how ultimately linear it is and it has the same ending more or less, well the only major change you can have is how Hawke thinks and feels about Tallis, but thats it really.

 

[X Knight]

I'm loving those sarcastic Hawke lines!! t:

does Lady Hawke have the same lines?

 

[El Bastardo]

My dialogue came from a female Hawke.

 

[El Bastardo]

I have to say the only real downside of the DLC is how ultimately linear it is and it has the same ending more or less, well the only major change you can have is how Hawke thinks and feels about Tallis, but thats it really.

Legacy didn't play out much different.

 

[iamlegend]

Enjoyed the DLC. Thus far they've done a much better job with it then they did with the DA DLC... where I only really enjoyed Witch Hunt, and honestly only then because it provided some sort of "closure" to the story.

Between this and the Web Series, I'd say Tallis is almost a lock to be a party character in the next sequel. Very interesting character that's bound to be universally well-liked.

One of my favorite lines (I took Carver along):

"This is going to be a trap. And a trap set up by an adorable red head... which is the worst kind of trap."

 

[Drz]

Legacy didn't play out much different.

It depends, partly i agree with you, but then theres that little part where i disagree, considering supporting either Laneka or Larius should effect Grey Wardens as a whole, considering one's an old school veteran and other a maaaaaageee.

 

[X Knight]

My dialogue came from a female Hawke.

I really need to choose sarcastic Hawke more!

 

[El Bastardo]

Enjoyed the DLC. Thus far they've done a much better job with it then they did with the DA DLC... where I only really enjoyed Witch Hunt, and honestly only then because it provided some sort of "closure" to the story.

Between this and the Web Series, I'd say Tallis is almost a lock to be a party character in the next sequel. Very interesting character that's bound to be universally well-liked.

One of my favorite lines (I took Carver along):

"This is going to be a trap. And a trap set up by an adorable red head... which is the worst kind of trap."

Yeah, Carver's grown on me quite a bit. Having him and Anders results in some comical banter during the "rescue."

Carver: "Ohh, maybe we'll find our way if we entertain the plight of mages!"

It depends, partly i agree with you, but then theres that little part where i disagree, considering supporting either Laneka or Larius should effect Grey Wardens as a whole, considering one's an old school veteran and other a maaaaaageee.

Why should that affect the Grey Wardens as a whole? Neither of them are the First Warden, or Senior Warden, or whatever the overall leader is called up in the Anderfels. Neither of them are the leader of the Grey Wardens in the Free Marches. This isn't to say they have no sway, but they don't really top the list of important personages.

 

[iamlegend]

Yeah, Carver's grown on me quite a bit. Having him and Anders results in some comical banter during the "rescue."

Carver: "Ohh, maybe we'll find our way if we entertain the plight of mages!"

Post-Warden/Post-Templar Carver is actually pretty entertaining. I'm hoping they find a way to have he/Bethany (depending on Hawke's class, obviously) actually get more screen time in DA3. Just 'cause we don't have HAWKE doesn't mean we can't have A Hawke...

 

[Benstamania]

But... But I want Hawke back in DA3. He's the series Shepard now IMHO.

 

[Benstamania]

Or at least should be...

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Gaider has already said we're going to have a new protagonist for 3.

 

[Benstamania]

Gaider has already said we're going to have a new protagonist for 3.

 

[Benstamania]

If that is the case then I really do hope for some post ending DLC.

 

[El Bastardo]

It depends on how they want to do it. DA2 is Hawke's story, and how he/she came to be at the center of events that would change the world and the entirety of the latter half of the Dragon Age. So anything that happens during the events of the game is certainly Hawke's story, but whatever happens to Hawke after the finale might not be contained in that "definition."

And if Varric is honest about not knowing what's happened since then, there's no way within the given structure of narrative to make for post-game DLC.

There really doesn't need to be any, since any potential plot points can be touched upon in the next game. This trilogy is about 100 years worth of time, not any particular character, regardless of whether we become attached to characters or not.

 

[Benstamania]

It depends on how they want to do it. DA2 is Hawke's story, and how he/she came to be at the center of events that would change the world and the entirety of the latter half of the Dragon Age. So anything that happens during the events of the game is certainly Hawke's story, but whatever happens to Hawke after the finale might not be contained in that "definition."

And if Varric is honest about not knowing what's happened since then, there's no way within the given structure of narrative to make for post-game DLC.

There really doesn't need to be any, since any potential plot points can be touched upon in the next game. This trilogy is about 100 years worth of time, not any particular character, regardless of whether we become attached to characters or not.

...There's me.

 

[iamlegend]

It depends on how they want to do it. DA2 is Hawke's story, and how he/she came to be at the center of events that would change the world and the entirety of the latter half of the Dragon Age. So anything that happens during the events of the game is certainly Hawke's story, but whatever happens to Hawke after the finale might not be contained in that "definition."

And if Varric is honest about not knowing what's happened since then, there's no way within the given structure of narrative to make for post-game DLC.

There really doesn't need to be any, since any potential plot points can be touched upon in the next game. This trilogy is about 100 years worth of time, not any particular character, regardless of whether we become attached to characters or not.

Are they really going to be able to go the distance of the "Dragon Age" in just a trilogy? Depending on what DA media you go with they're only a handful of decades into the century.

And boy they did do a good job of painting themselves into a corner in regards to post-game DLC. Though I'm honestly not surprised - BioWare has never been particularly keen on revealing the ultimate fates of their characters... They just kind of fade away into the background.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Have they actually said DA is designed as a trilogy?

 

[Benstamania]

I just loved "The Arrival" in Mass Effect 2... Sure it can be done at any time but I feel that it's meant to be "post game" and RIGHT before ME3.

I'd love to see something like that in DA2.

 

[X Knight]

I'm actually fine with DA3 having a new protagonist and looking forward to it.

it's also the fairest thing to do, imo.

while I don't dislike Hawke, I still prefer my Cousland or Amell Wardens from DAO. Naturally, I would love it if the Warden was the central character that spanned the DA games, like Shepard in ME. and the many other DAO/Warden fans would agree.

Conversely, there are many fans who prefer DA2 and Hawke and would like Hawke to remain the central character in future games.

If you let Hawke return for DA3, that's going to make the Warden fans angry and they would feel that would be unfair. Likewise, if the Warden returned for DA3, then the Hawke fans wouldn't be happy.

so, the fairest thing to do is to make each game "self-contained" in terms of starring a different protagonist in each game.

personally, I'm hoping DA3 will take place in Orlais, and I would love if the protagonist is an Orlesian royalty/noble. although, I'd actually like if the multiple races/origins came back in DA3.

 

[El Bastardo]

Are they really going to be able to go the distance of the "Dragon Age" in just a trilogy? Depending on what DA media you go with they're only a handful of decades into the century.

And boy they did do a good job of painting themselves into a corner in regards to post-game DLC. Though I'm honestly not surprised - BioWare has never been particularly keen on revealing the ultimate fates of their characters... They just kind of fade away into the background.

My stance above pertained to the idea that a game does not need post-game DLC. Any DLC should add content to a game, right? I mean, that's the point. So if we look at this as we should look at any narrative, content should be meaningful and not superfluous. This was a problem with the ME DLC, and, say, The Darkspawn Chronicles and Leliana's Song in DAO.

If we look at ME2, while the content has been designed to be playable during the actual game, LotSB and Arrival both work better as post-game content, because their content is designed in a way so as to bridge the gap between ME2 and ME3 and make more sense being done in a post suicide mission worldstate. But ME2 isn't so much Shepard's story as the entire trilogy is Shepard's story, so DLC meant to go from point A to point B and progress his/her story in such a way fits.

DA2 itself is Hawke's story, but the game is nothing more than another episode in the life of the overall main character (let's say metacharacter), and that's the 100 years of time that makes up the Dragon Age. So the DLC should, ideally, contribute to both those stories, and so far it has. Whether the DLC should cover beyond the end of the game very much depends on how "Hawke's story" is defined, but I blabbed about that already. It's not like Hawke's ultimate fate can't be revealed come DA3, which from the end of DA2 one could at least expect to have happen.

But I don't see why they couldn't finish out the end of the Dragon Age with a third game. By the end of the Fifth Blight it was already 9:31. DAO encompassed only a year (9:30-9:31) and Awakening was set only six months later and consists of only a very small amount of time. Varric's telling of Hawke's story happens ten years later, so it's 9:40. All the next game has to do is be set during the most important portions of the remaining 60 years, where all the major pieces are on the boards, to finish the tale.

Have they actually said DA is designed as a trilogy?

I believe so, yes. Laidlaw or Gaider somewhere - probably Laidlaw - have stated the third game will be the last "Dragon Age" game, but not the last game set in Thedas.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Or at least should be...

Dragon Age is a whole generic world with a generic timeline in which anything generic is possible. I don't think they need to stick to one single generic character like Mass Effects. They can use loads. Personally, I always liked Warwick Davis in Willow. Rather than making a Cor Blimey British Commander Shepard, I think it would be more interesting to have the story centre on a dwarf who is pretty useless for the most part who has an imporant mission and only tags along with the super herioc handsom people who can sword fight and stuff. George Lucas couldn't get the Lord Of Rings rights, so I see no problem in Bioware also ripping it off.