I cleared the keep out of Darkspawn. I collected a vast number of quests from the courtyard, but didn't go anywhere until I 'rescued' the imprisoned rogue.
Then I get a cut scene and I'm back in the throne room. Then everyone has more quests for me. Then the room's full of Nobles and they seem to want me dead apparently.
The boss man has an arrow above his head but I'm affraid to speak to him incase I advance the plot.
What's going on, am I ahead of myself, should I being doing quests or is it safe to continue this bizzare sidetrack without throwing me into more cutscenes and too far into the plot?
Also, did the big bad guy on the battlements drop anything, I got cut-scene'd away before I was able to check.
a) Do all the quests I got before the cut scene to help the nobles before talking to them.
b) Talk to them then do the quests I got before the cut scene.
c) Do the quests I got before the cut scene then talk to the boss then talk to the nobles
d) Do the quests I got before the cut scene then talk to the nobles then to the boss
e) Talk to the boss then the nobles then do all the quests I got before the cut scene.
Because will:
a) Talking to the boss take me into another cat scene where I wont be able to do earlier quests
or
b) Talking to the nobles before I've helped them produce inaccuate dialogue options and a screwed quest
c) Doing the quests first mean I'll miss encounters that the boss and nobles were about to make me encounter while I quested on the original batch of quests.
Damn, and this is only the introduction stuff (?!?)
Once you're on the party, only talking to the "boss" ends it. So he should be the last person to talk to.
The party is your only chance to talk to nobles, and will change a thing or two, but nothing significant / important / noticable / at all. Really, talking to nobles will only allow you to slightly alter one of side quests and change the amount of unwashed, pathetically easy enemies that will attack you at some point.
This is why Awakenings is such a waste.
As for side quests in general, you can do them all at any time, after you receive fortress and before you finish (minor spoiler) Spoiler
3
(end of spoiler) big quests
Yes, the spoiler is a number.
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn-9/guide-to-tactical-mods-spoilers-116063.html#post1068546"]BG2 tactical mods guide[/url]
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talk to the nobles to make some decisions about who your soldiers will protect
talk to your companions to uncover an optional quest about a conspiracy
when you're done, talk to Varrel and tell him to send the nobles away
then you can return to the main or side quests. once you complete all three branches of the main quest then you will no longer be able to do some of the side quests, but until then you're fine to do things in any order
and Awakening is good, it's just nowhere near as great as Origins. much like DA2 it was rushed too much and as a result is not the masterpiece it could and should have been
I don't care, I'm still free. You can't take the sky from me
An expansion worse than Awakenings? Hmm, without actually playing it yet, I 'd probably still say Heart of Winter for Icewind Dale.
I can't believe how many people rave about this expansion, but all I remember is tedious killing and walking through bland and unchanging scenery. *shrugs*
Dragon Age origins is not a great game. It's a bad game with some great elements. It's not a coherent package, it's a mixed bag of this and thats that only just scrapes into the 'ok I'm really into finishing this today' category.
But thanks for the info, I can now continue Awakening to find out if I like it or not!
Some other first 'hate' impressions from awakenings:
It has over-ridden my saves from Origins, I cannot find any saves for Origins. If I press 'import' then it finds them, but I cannot access them from any menus.
It's given me 3 allies really quickly, but then killed one almost as quick, then given me another. Of the three that are left I seem to be saddled with 2 complete *******s... and Oghren.
In Origins I put the Juggernaut Armour on Oghren and the Legion Armour on Alister, but Oghren has been uploaded wearing the Legion Armour which is far inferior to the Juggernaut Armour which appears to be lost now.
We've gone from a whole game of no decent items to a game where almost evey item I'm finding is loaded with special abilities - but at least we have a storage chest in Awakenings, so that's good.
When Buttercup (my character) first sees the apostage mage ally she says "oh, you again", but I've never seen him before in my life, and he acts like Alister in drag.
Where's my faithful dog [removed] gone? Surely s/he'd have stuck with Buttercup?
What's with all the new skills and runes that are just stat enhancements? Am I going to have magic, constitution and mana of 100 by the end of this game? And if so, why has my mage ally only been given 46 to start with, he couldn't even paralise a yellow Darkspawn alpha the useless cu..
You'll have truckloads of hp and mana, and 100+ in main stat even without any runes. Yes. The items are simply crazy, and easily allow to wipe out entire armies.
And the NPC's will only get worse.
But i hope that you'll enjoy the ride.
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn-9/guide-to-tactical-mods-spoilers-116063.html#post1068546"]BG2 tactical mods guide[/url]
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Stworca wrote:Name one RPG or RPG expansion that is worse than Awakenings. No, you cannot use NWN2.
Gothic 3, ''Gothic'' 4, The Soulbringer, Summoner, Lionheart. I could probably name a few others if I could remember the names of ''small'' rpgs that I played years ago.
"I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.''-Johannes Kepler.
your save games should still be there, but if they don't show up try returning to the main menu and launching Origins. I don't remember ever having to do that but my memory isn't perfect, besides it may be different if you're on console or the steam version
as for whether Awakening and/or Origins are good, great or a complete pile of ****, everyone has different tastes. personally I loved Origins and found Awakening to be decent, just disappointing. some people love peanut butter, some people hate it and some people are allergic. same is true for games (except I don't know anyone whose allergic to games)
I don't care, I'm still free. You can't take the sky from me
You are very correct Vio, each to their own and most games have their detractors and supporters. You only have to look at the 'top rated RPG' list on this site to see that even terrible games (by comparison) can out-popular the more rounded masterpieces.
However, just saying something is great and then using the 'different strokes' opinion in justification doesn't really 'cut the mustard' as it were.
What is it that makes it great? When the subject comes up in conversation, what's the games primary defence/selling point? I, for one, after playing for just a few hours, was impelled to vent at my friend about some of it's major flaws rather than gush about how into it I was.
'Great' games all have an easy and obvious element that makes discussion about them easy and obvious should you need to gush about them:
Bladers Gate 2 - Massive game, immersive plot.
Icewind Dale - Hugely atmospheric, team tactics battling bar none.
Divine Divinity - One single hugely explorable map.
Morrowind - The very definition of a customisable open explorer.
Planescape Tormet - Better than most novels you've ever read.
Diablo - Hack, slash, kill!
What is the 'thing' that makes Dragon Age Origins 'great'. I personally can't think of any really defining attributes. But I might be biased and need my mind opening!
LastDanceSaloon wrote:
'Great' games all have an easy and obvious element that makes discussion about them easy and obvious should you need to gush about them:
Bladers Gate 2 - Massive game, immersive plot.
Icewind Dale - Hugely atmospheric, team tactics battling bar none.
Divine Divinity - One single hugely explorable map.
Morrowind - The very definition of a customisable open explorer.
Planescape Tormet - Better than most novels you've ever read.
Diablo - Hack, slash, kill!
We're going to get our wrists slapped for going OT, but I can't simply let that past. Icewind Dale, Divine Divinity and Morrowind definitley shouldn't be referred to in a sentence containing the word 'great', unless you're talking about disappointments! I've never played Diablo so can't comment on that, and even BG2 was deeply flawed IMO.
The bottom line, which I believe we do agree on, is that how good or bad a game is largely in the "Eye of the Beholder"; now there was a game that was great in it's day!
[QUOTE=Darth Gavinius;1096098]Distrbution of games, is becoming a little like Democracy (all about money and control) - in the end choice is an illusion and you have to choose your lesser evil.
And everything is hidden in the fine print.[/QUOTE]
galraen wrote:
The bottom line, which I believe we do agree on, is that how good or bad a game is largely in the "Eye of the Beholder"; now there was a game that was great in it's day!
Well, you have an "Back in 1864" pov, that makes you prejudice to every game released after some point, which i cannot agree with at all.
I have a "compare" pov. A is better than B and C, but worse than D. B and C are about on pair and have the same mechanics, but C was released seven years earlier, so it deserves a better note.
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn-9/guide-to-tactical-mods-spoilers-116063.html#post1068546"]BG2 tactical mods guide[/url]
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Stworca wrote:Well, you have an "Back in 1864" pov, that makes you prejudice to every game released after some point, which i cannot agree with at all.
.
I have the POV that games should be judged in respect to their contemporaries, on that basis EOB was a darned good game. No point in trying to compare it to a game brougth out in the last few years. The very fact that we can directly compare DA: Origins to say, Baldur's Gate, and it comes off worse, underlines just what a bad game it is!
[QUOTE=Darth Gavinius;1096098]Distrbution of games, is becoming a little like Democracy (all about money and control) - in the end choice is an illusion and you have to choose your lesser evil.
And everything is hidden in the fine print.[/QUOTE]
Uh-oh, looks like a mod has noticed movement on the site and stepped in to curtail this unheard of process.
Guys, just make reference to the Opening Post when you start your narrative and then continue the discussion in a vaguely related way. It's a bit of a cheesy way to proceed, but then what game is ever without it's fair share of cheese cheats
For example:
Oh, I couldn't agree with you more, the confusion at the start of Awakenings is very difficult to grapple with. Now, with Eye of the Beholder you never had this kind of problem - proceed to gush about Eye of the Beholder while disparaging DAO and the difficulty the big sellers are having at multi-formating RPGs for both PC and Console audiences.
Then reply:
Awekings is ok after you fathom the unfathomable beginning, but seriously, what has Eye of the Beholder got that something like Balder's Gate hasn't?
Good sir, some of us are doing so ever since they registered. It's a game of hide and seek, except for the fact that d.wench can ban us and send into nine hells
With this beign said i was disappointed when it turned out that the first "boss" drops absolutely nothing.
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn-9/guide-to-tactical-mods-spoilers-116063.html#post1068546"]BG2 tactical mods guide[/url]
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like everything else, great is in the eye of the beholder. the game of the same name may indeed be great, I wouldn't know having never played it, I didn't really get into RPGs until I tried games like Morrowind because the adventure game genre (of which I have always been a huge fan) wasn't particularly active and there was some crossover appeal in some of the RPGs I'd seen reviews and demos of. I did of course go back and play games like Baldurs Gate (and yes it is great despite how dated it is now) as well as more recent games like Dragon Age and despite BioWares claims of DA being a spiritual sucessor and there being some similarities I don't feel it's fair to compare the two. BG is an old school style RPG while DA is really an action/RPG hybrid, naturally some people will prefer one over the other and both have their strengths and weaknesses
but to get back on topic, Awakening is in no way great, but had it had the time and resources spent on it that Origins had then it could well have been. as to what makes Origins great, well in my opinion the fact that it has an entertaining and interesting story (despite a few clichés), well written and likeable characters, fun gameplay and probably most importantly of all huge replay value all contribute to its greatness. if I'm still enjoying a game over a year after having bought it then that's a pretty good sign. all too many games can be completed in one weekend and then never played again and those just feel like a waste of money when compared to games that last so much longer whether due to longer gametime or replayability (ideally both)
I don't care, I'm still free. You can't take the sky from me
