PC Gamer reviews Dragon Age

[Warden]

You can infer he comes from Crete

He's not from Crete. He's from Germany.

 

[Trithne]

But you're calling him a cretin. Which is an insult devolved from the Greeks considering people from Crete to be inferior to them.

With that out of the way, back to the important things: level scaling or fixed encounters - which is better and why?

 

[Warden]

But you're calling him a cretin. Which is an insult devolved from the Greeks considering people from Crete to be inferior to them.

With that out of the way, back to the important things: level scaling or fixed encounters - which is better and why?

No, your nitpicking will be a bit more on the way because it was stupid and pointless.

a) He has his location under his avatar so only someone stupid could assume he's from Crete.

b) If I wanted to imply he's from Crete I'd use a capital letter.

c) It doesn't matter what Greeks considered bla bla; the modern usage of this word in the English language is what matters.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

trolls trolling trolls trolling trolls

 

[Raghar]

b) If I wanted to imply he's from Crete I'd use a capital letter.

You used a capital letter.

 

[Silellak]

trolls trolling trolls trolling trolls

 

[ravenshrike]

No, he phrased it incorrectly. Armor offers damage reduction and I can see the complete fiasco with light weapons already. Combat balance and bioware are not the best of friends.

The higher your Cunning, the better your armor penetration. Combine this with weapons that get bonuses to AP and the fact that rogues almost ignore it entirely while backstabbing/attacking incapacitated enemies, and balance is restored.

 

[Warden]

The higher your Cunning, the better your armor penetration.

I know. The problem is biowhore didn't offer any numbers. It's all.. endlessly vague. It's just a description saying nothing useful. How much bonus AP is 5 points of cunning?

rogues almost ignore it entirely while backstabbing/attacking incapacitated enemies, and balance is restored.

Where did you read that?

 

[A user named cat]

You guys got ripped on by a Gamefaqs member, ohhhh snap.

Someone linked this topic over there.

hustlin_pimpste
I can never take RPG Codex seriously anymore. ... most of the posters over there come across as flaming little teens nowadays ... they rip apart the PC Gamer review, fair enough, but they do it in such a childish and elitist manner it just makes them look bad.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=952152&topic=51847519

 

[WDeranged]

How about someone gets around to finally scanning this fucking review so everyone can argue over what it actually says

 

[GarfunkeL]

How can you be childish and elitist at the same time? :shock:

 

[Volourn]

Easy. The Codex is proof of how it's done.

Elitist = thinking you are better than everyone else or thinking your tastes are superior to all others

Childish = acting like a child

These both define the Codex to a core.

Of course, Codex is far from the only message baord inflicted with this disease.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

R00fles!

 

[Livonya]

Easy. The Codex is proof of how it's done.

Elitist = thinking you are better than everyone else or thinking your tastes are superior to all others

Childish = acting like a child

These both define the Codex to a core.

Of course, Codex is far from the only message baord inflicted with this disease.

At the risk of becoming a Volourn groupie, I have to say this may be the only post I have ever seen on the Codex that I agree with 100%.

Concise and accurate.

 

[aries202]

Over at Quarter to Three, in the forums about aguy called Woolen Horde has played the game, and have this to say about what he likes in DA: Origins.

"I don't to get into spoilers, but there are some brilliant quests and level design. I especially loved the mage tower. You'll find out why. And a lot of the side quests you can fail, and that's all right. In fact, getting the quests complete will often seriously piss off a party NPC because they view it as a totally unnecessary detour.... and they're right! You can feel like a dick either way by letting some plot character down or hacking off half of your team. That's something I've never seen before." Source: http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk ... 74&page=74

He also likes the origin stories while Desslock points that "the war dog will also start whining almost immediately if stop to have an extended conversation with an NPC." Source:
http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk ... 74&page=75

Desslock goes on to say this:
"Yes, many sidequests arise through the main plot - you have a specific objective in that area, and in the course of exploring, you pick up a few ancillary goals -- i.e., you go to visit the Mages to enlist some help, and realize that you need to help them with a few problems of their own first." Source:
http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk ... 74&page=75

Desslock also mentions that there's lots of dialogue i.e. banter with companions in this game.

And Desslock's review of DA: Origins will be in the next issue of PC US gamer, I think...

 

[Killzig]

Desslock also mentioned that you can just give the NPCs gifts to appease them after you've completed a quest that pissed them off, will be interesting to see how that mechanic plays out since Desslock also mentioned there is a ton of context specific dialog.

 

[Livonya]

I hope Desslock's view of the game will fit mine. What he describes sounds promising.

I haven't been following this game too much, but from reading Desslock's posts it appears that the NPC scripting can only be used if you spend level up resources on "tactics".

Not sure if I read that right.

Does anyone know more about that?

 

[Gragt]

Desslock, the one who covered Fallout 3? Colour me doubtful.

 

[aries202]

I hope Desslock's view of the game will fit mine. What he describes sounds promising.

I haven't been following this game too much, but from reading Desslock's posts it appears that the NPC scripting can only be used if you spend level up resources on "tactics".

Not sure if I read that right.

Does anyone know more about that?

I'm not sure about whether or not you only can use NPC scriptingm if you put points into
'tactics.' However, from reading dev. posts on the Bioware forum, this is my impression as well. We'll see when it releases on Nov 3rd....

 

[Livonya]

I'm not sure about whether or not you only can use NPC scriptingm if you put points into
'tactics.' However, from reading dev. posts on the Bioware forum, this is my impression as well. We'll see when it releases on Nov 3rd....

Interesting.

The scripting in BG and BG2 was pretty damn good. Actually, I spent the vast majority of my time with BG2 doing scripting. I hate the real time combat/pause system, but with scripting it wasn't nearly as bad.

I wrote massive scripts for each NPC and had them all tailored to their character builds.

I am positive that the scripting will be dumbed down for DA:O as there is no way in hell they are going to be able to allow players access to the internal scripting mechanisms that the designers used for the AI especially considering it isn't PC only. Maybe I will be surprised.

 

[Vibalist]

Easy. The Codex is proof of how it's done.

Elitist = thinking you are better than everyone else or thinking your tastes are superior to all others

Childish = acting like a child

These both define the Codex to a core.

Of course, Codex is far from the only message baord inflicted with this disease.

At the risk of becoming a Volourn groupie, I have to say this may be the only post I have ever seen on the Codex that I agree with 100%.

Concise and accurate.

Seconded. But I still think The Codex generally has a point when it says that games are awfully dumbed down these days.

Over at Quarter to Three, in the forums about aguy called Woolen Horde has played the game, and have this to say about what he likes in DA: Origins.

"I don't to get into spoilers, but there are some brilliant quests and level design. I especially loved the mage tower. You'll find out why. And a lot of the side quests you can fail, and that's all right. In fact, getting the quests complete will often seriously piss off a party NPC because they view it as a totally unnecessary detour.... and they're right! You can feel like a dick either way by letting some plot character down or hacking off half of your team. That's something I've never seen before." Source: http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk ... 74&page=74

He also likes the origin stories while Desslock points that "the war dog will also start whining almost immediately if stop to have an extended conversation with an NPC." Source:
http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk ... 74&page=75

Desslock goes on to say this:
"Yes, many sidequests arise through the main plot - you have a specific objective in that area, and in the course of exploring, you pick up a few ancillary goals -- i.e., you go to visit the Mages to enlist some help, and realize that you need to help them with a few problems of their own first." Source:
http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk ... 74&page=75

This sounds like very good quest design. I've always disliked side quests that are completely unrelated to the main plot. If it's actually true that most secondary quests tie in with the narrative, then it's definitely a step in the right direction for Bioware.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Yes yes, keep jerking Volly off. If you believe anything that Desslock says you are complete idiots. Or have you totally forgotten his Fallout3 "review"? The one which didn't drip Bethesda-cum, it poured out of the rotten text. He's not above outright lying or at least misleading.

Scripting is wasted as well because you need the tactics skill to "unlock" option, which they compare to gambits in FF12. That is a completely inane system - "ooh, I can't drink a potion on my own, I need a GREAT TACTICIAN to teach me when to drink potions!" AFAIK, there is no other use for tactics. And since you can just pause and control your party, the whole feature is tailored for the consolekiddies. Actually, makes sense - bioware doesn't overwhelm them with lots of options in the beginning and getting them can be yet another achievement.

 

[aries202]

Let me also tell you that Wooden Horde mentioned that even on easy, the combat was really hard & difficult and required you to think, not just jump in and shoot things or cast spells. On easy difficulty, you still had to position your party (members) both strategically as well as tactically.

I did look at the scripting for npcs etc. in BG2; I never used it, though. However, in BG2, you could set your cleric up to heal self, I think, when he or she dropped below say 25% of his or hers max hitpoints.

And it is not drinking potions, tactics will help you with. It is being able to tell you mages tp heal the party if one of your party members gets below say 25% of their max hit points.

I, like, however, that you actually can fail quest, and that your party members might not be in agreement with your decision to just help that girl finding her cat or just stopping by helping a village to solve a murder - when faced with a damaging blight.

 

[Livonya]

Seconded. But I still think The Codex generally has a point when it says that games are awfully dumbed down these days.

True.

Once you learn to deal with the pure ugliness and the terminal negativity of the average Codex post then a lot of things can be learned from the Codex.

I can generally tell if I will like a game based on the vibe of the Codex, though a lot of that involved reading between the lines.

It does get old sifting through a lot of pre-conceived hatred for games people haven't even played. And far too many people are obsessed with telling other people what to do, what to like, etc, etc...

If you believe anything that Desslock says you are complete idiots. Or have you totally forgotten his Fallout3 "review"? The one which didn't drip Bethesda-cum, it poured out of the rotten text. He's not above outright lying or at least misleading.

I still haven't tried Fallout 3. I might pick it up once it hits $20 or so. It didn't seem like there was much there for me to like. At $20 I won't feel too bad about not actually finishing the damn game.

I only recently picked up Bioshock for $5, and well, I was disappointed. It was interesting for a bit, but at the core it is just another shooter. It was only $5. I am real glad I waited on that one.

I worry that I will feel the same about Fallout 3.

Scripting is wasted as well because you need the tactics skill to "unlock" option, which they compare to gambits in FF12. That is a completely inane system - "ooh, I can't drink a potion on my own, I need a GREAT TACTICIAN to teach me when to drink potions!" AFAIK, there is no other use for tactics. And since you can just pause and control your party, the whole feature is tailored for the consolekiddies. Actually, makes sense - bioware doesn't overwhelm them with lots of options in the beginning and getting them can be yet another achievement.

Probably true. I can't see how the scripting system can be that great due to the console version.

My enjoyment of NWN2 went way, way up once there was a mod to allow for auto-pause scripting... not quite turn based, but not a complete disaster like the vanilla version real time/pause.

I am hoping that DA:O will allow for some sort of auto-pause mode either through the scripting or via a player made mod. Time will tell.

Unfortunately, I would really like to play a party based/fantasy style RPG, and the choices are very limited.

I really hope that DA:O lives up to the hype.

I wish the new version of Dwarf Fortress would get released so I would have something to waste time on while waiting to see the verdict on DA:O. from the general community.

 

[draexem]

Well then, why is that? Oh because they changed armor into ladies hygienepads, ie soaking damage (like in WoW) instead of the 'traditional' way, where armor stopped the attack completely.

The traditional way is also retarded. The way armour is depicted in games traditionally is not any better than they are depicted now.