What did you do today in DA? [Spoilers]

it's amazing tbh that they do not have a dwarven LI, providing that the lovable characters are disproportionately biased towards dwarven in this game.

I finished up my SnS, "minimum" power, no-health pots, no-napping run. Was Level 16 fighting Corypheus, 17 at the party. Didn't unlock Hissing Wastes, Emerald Graves, or Emprise. Save at the party was @ 25:27.

This run ended up being pretty inefficient. Partly because it seemed like I was going back and forth between places too much, which was a bit of a side effect of the way I was dealing with power. Also party composition was a bit too warrior heavy for a lot of the game. The other thing was that without Hissing Wastes or Emprise, I got basically no tier 3 schematic drops. Bought a shield one from Black Emporium and that was about it, other than the Dragon schematics. Also pretty limited selection of tier 3 mats.

I did listen to a lot of dialogue this time, but really the whole thing seemed slow for the amount of side quests I skipped. The only companion quests I got to were Cassandra, Cole and Sera's. I didn't even end up unlocking the ones for Solas, Blackwall, or Vivienne. Did waste some time on Josephine's busy work... I had pretty much forgotten her whole romance.

Although I mentioned that I unlocked Exalted Plains to grab the agent, I never actually ended up getting him because I didn't do enough of the Well Stocked Camp to get him. Just needed more Canine Leathers, which I never picked up. Cleared the first ramparts but didn't end up doing much of anything else in that area.

My DW Tempest finished the game in about 20hr flat and he did a whole lot more content, although I think I was skipping through nearly all the conversations. I know I didn't unlock Emerald Graves in that run, but can't remember if I skipped Fallow Mire. Besides the fact DW is probably just a bit better than SnS, I did go to Hissing Wastes and Emprise nearly right after getting to Skyhold, which is a big advantage since I never use the Golden Nug.

It's a bit quiet on the DA boards today...

*squint* is it Andromeda? *googles release date* no, that says the 21st. Huh.

Oh well. Today I wrote 9 hours of Dragon Age RP fiction with some other folks on my day off. I then read it all out loud to my husband. I decided it sounded stupid when read out loud, and deleted all of it.---haha, no I didn't No way.

What? So weird, they restrict you to a race AND a face. I'd be so completely disappointed if DA went that route.

I had hoped they would keep same level of customization and just keep adding story difference to the races.

*Reminds self that the teams for each series are very different*

DA is safe, DA is safe

1. I thought they were sharing assets So this backward step is really weird

2. Maybe you get full CC on proper release date?

Here's hoping ME fan backlash means an even better DA4!

Especially considering Sara Ryder looked like she had this girl next door face. So much for fierce woman in space. I'll check out Andromeda when all the bugs and DLC are out in like a year. I still have 9 more DA Romances to bide my sweet gaming time with.

Oh I doubt it (fan backlash). I have confidence that the DA devs know what they want and what they will do, they have after all planned out DAI and had to cut it in half. Their cut off point was less than ideal as it gave us a half stuffed portion. The DLCs showed us what they had withheld which means the second half is likely to be good stuffings.

I think MEA is good for combat but bad in other departments. The turians look washed out, body language, emoticons are not there or just plain bad. I love the asari more in the MET than MEA, god, Aria will kick her sisters to the galactic core if she ever sees what they're like in MEA.

I don't know what the story will be like but I've a feeling it won't hold a candle to Horizon Zero Dawn; that game just hits you hard when you finally realises what's going on.

*

Oh the horrors. Blackwall revealed his true self. What to do...what to do?

Could the CC have been restricted by the family mechanic? Like, they restricted the level of customization to make it easier to generate the father's face from your PC and sibling?

Morning, good folks.

I am actually a winner where the Andromeda CC is concerned, so I am trying to keep my elation to myself. I know how much folks like the sliders, and I have no quarrel with them, but OMG, this is the first game since JE where I can play an uber-cool, dangerous looking and drop-dead gorgeous Asian girl or boy. Not a vaguely sort of Eurasian kind, a totally recognizably Asian! So, yeah, I am over the moon about the Andromeda’s cc, despite its limitations.

A fair warning – if you feel uncomfortable when someone expresses negative opinion about a game you love, and if that game happens to be Inquisition, I suggest you do not read my post. It is quite negative about the latest segment of the game I have played.


I have picked up where I left yesterday in Adamant Keep. Yay, we finally built up a touch of a story momentum. I was invested in the story at that point and feeling the burning desire to slay the idiot woman Clarel and the Slimy Lucious.

(an aside) I thought there were no old Wardens? Did you lie about that too, Alistair? Clarel looks like she is a senior citizen.

A dragon starts making slow circles around the keep... Alright! Let's slay it too! The tempo increases, the bows are notched, the swords shine, the mades gather the spell-powers… And… And… And…

Clarel knocks Lucious out. Dragon and Clarel (and Humpty –Dumpty) fall off the wall.

Not to be outdone, Sin Fell slips and falls off the wall. Ah, that’s how he got his nickname, Fell.

Into the Fade. That's a crescendo? Erm... as far as crescendos go... that's a fail. As far as epic go, it's an epic fail.

Figure 1. The closest Sin got to an epic battle in the Adamant keep. Yeah…


Okay, fine... there is apparently an EPIC demon in the Fade! Surely, I can take the demon down! Then the dragon….

As we go through the Fade, fighting the fears and terrors coming from the Nightmare Demon, Sin Fell…

Actually, look at Hawke! Now, that’s an epic character full of life, even though life was not kind to him. There is Hawke, front and center, stoic, snarky Hawke, who gives a finger to everything and who you can see narrow his eyes thinking "we'll see about that" when the demon tries to taunt him with Anders's death. Right next to practically alive Hawke, there is Sin Fell, with all the flavor of tofu oatmeal. Yeah...

Figure 2. So, when will the magnetic clamps or suction cups on Hawke’s boots give way? Waiting... waiting... waiting...


The game brings Anders up for Hawke! Dorian and Sin, they did not even speak to one another. Not a hint of a romance. Not even a tiniest sliver of fear for the fate of their respective beloved.

The Fade sequence is actually pretty cool, thanks to Hawke and many random strangers and dreamers. I’ve read all the letters I spotted, one made me think of Anders.

Then comes the demon, very reminiscent of Illythids from BG2 and the Terror from Beyond in SWTOR. Looks good enough to kill!

Ah… that’s a no. No slaying demons for Team Inquisition.

Instead we get a heart-wrenching choice who to leave behind....

Figure 3. Revel Hawke, the coolest guy who ever walked Thedas or... what was his name again? Warden Stroud? Is that a trick question? Maybe there are unforeseen consequences? Ah-ha-hah... Inquisitions... consequences... ah-ha-hah....


Except… not really.

It's Hawke, the coolest character in the whole frigging saga vs some guy we briefly met before. And he does not even get an epic cutscene like Kaiden/Ashley or even a bunch of minor NPCs that sacrifice themselves in MET that rips your heart out.

BioWARE should have taken the risk and added voice to THE Warden. Yes, there would have been the die-hards that would have cried to high heavens about their dearly beloved voiceless Warden, and how it violated their immersion. But for the rest of us, it might have actually provoke some emotional response.

SOME.

ANY.

EMOTIONS.

Stroud lunged, and off we went to close the 165th rift. That old shtick. It was awesome in the first 10 minutes of the game. Now it’s just… not again…

Figure 4. Tinker Bell... erm Divine Justine showed us the way!


Dragon just… flew away, btw, if you were wondering.

Oh, I get it. In DA:I, fighting dragons is a part of the vaunted exploration, not the story-line, gods forbid!

Figure 5. Aaaaand… we are back to closing rifts. yeah, it stopped being cool about twenty three of them ago.


I’ve chosen to add the Wardens to the Inquisition. That’s when after many hours of not giving two figs, Solas woke up and Greatly Disapproved. Well, that’s that for seeing Solas content. I guess, unless you side with Mages, his quests have a really low chance of triggering. Very few players would banish Wardens, really.

I had far, far more exciting days gaming. And weeding flower beds.

Snow Elf! I dunno if anyone remembers them from the Forgotten Realm Universe, but she looks like a snow elf!

Is it meant to be "read in your head" or "read aloud"?  If it's the former, it's not unusual that it might not sound right when read aloud.  If it's supposed to be read aloud, tweak accordingly.  For that matter, in the very first grad history class I ever took, the professor suggested reading your draft papers aloud.  Doing that would make you aware of overly long sentences, awkward language, etc.  It would seem the brain is more forgiving than the ear!