mikeszekely

BioWare has a hit. BioWare always has a hit. While I confess to never having really gotten into Baldur's Gate, mostly because I don't seem to think it's aged as well as everyone else seems to think, I've played pretty much everything BioWare's done from Neverwinter Nights on, and I don't think they've ever made a game that wasn't excellent. You're a little behind, though. We've been chatting up Dragon Age for awhile in the All Things Videogames Thread. Judging from the discussion there, most of us are somewhere between halfway done and totally done.

Nope. The Legion set will be "XXXX of the Legion", where X is whatever piece it is (helmet, boots, etc).

Quests, yeah, I've been mostly trying to complete them. I've got two yet from Orzammar, but I expect they're things I'll get back to after I explore some of the areas. I've talked to most of the people I can find in most of the places I've been (I've ignored a lot of people in Denerim, but I think I'll get back to them later). The only quest I've actively avoided are the stuff like the Chanter's Board. Menial crap is the reason I never got into World of Warcraft; I'm sure as hell not spoiling my Dragon Age fun with it. I haven't bothered to read everything in the Codex. Some of the quest-related stuff, yeah, but that's about it. On my "Heroic Accomplishments" page of my Character sheet, it says I've completed 25% of the game, I've explored 54% of the world, and I've played for about 27 hours.

Thanks for the info. I think I'm going to continue to pass on it, then. Maybe EA will have a sale later or something, but it doesn't really sound like it's worth what they're asking for it. Out of curiosity, though, how good is the armor set? My hero's currently wearing all the pieces of the Blood Dragon Armor, which has been better than almost anything else I've found. The only stuff that might be better is the Legion set... but I'm missing the body armor from that set (if anyone knows where to find it, I'd be much obliged). EDIT:

Not exactly. In theory, when an application is optimized for 64-bit, it would perform better than a 32-bit version installed on a 32-bit OS. In reality, not a lot of apps take advantage of 64-bit optimization. That isn't to say that they won't run on a 64-bit OS, but they won't run any better. For now, if you already installed the 32-bit OS, just stick with it. I went with Windows 7 32-bit since I have three 1GB sticks... I'm amenable to adding more, but to fill empty slots, but I don't feel like replacing perfectly good sticks just to have more RAM. Unless you're using RAM-intensive apps like Photoshop, you'll be fine with what you have. I do expect that to change, though. Most computers sold at retail have Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit installed on them now, and Snow Leopard is likewise pushing 64-bit. I think developers are going to put more effort into optimizing for 64-bit, and I'm thinking Windows 7 will be the last 32-bit OS I run (of course, by the time another version of Windows comes out, I'd like to think I'll have built a new computer with more RAM from the get-go).

On another note, as anyone her bought the Warden's Keep DLC? I was sort of against it... I don't like the way you've got a guy basically hanging out at your camp saying, "Hey, I've got a quest for you, if you'll just deposit some money into EA's pocket there..." But when I was in Orzammar, I'd had Shale (from the Stone Prisoner DLC that's more or less free to people who buy new copies of the game from now until April) tagging along with me. The quest you undertake to get him in your party isn't particularly long, which also colored me against paying so much to add two hours onto a 50+ hour long game. But having Shale added some dimension to what I experienced in Orzammar, which has apparently lead to another quest that I likely wouldn't have had if I didn't have the Stone Prisoner DLC. Long story short, I'm rethinking the value of the DLC. If any of you guys have bought the Warden's Keep, is it worth it?

I'm my own tank (nice boosts from Blood Dragon Armor, and using Flurry with a pair of good weapons lets me tear into enemies nicely). Like David, I'm using Leiliana as an archer. She sucks in melee, and if she likes you enough you'll get a quest from her that will leave her with a good bow. Morrigan's my caster right now. I'm leveling her manually, and since she's probably the second to join me I've been able to manage her spells for maximum destructive force. I round out the party with... whoever seems to fit at the time. I was taking Alistair with me to Redcliffe, but he's not happy with how I handled events there. I took Shale with me to Orzammar. I've yet to seek out the Circle or the Elves.

Depends on what you use it for. Higher end laptops that can play games are still pretty expensive, but we've reached a point where you can buy a $400 laptop that can handle 1080p video without sneezing.

I wasn't going to do it... I know that Hasbro had increased prices across the board on TFs, but I'd only paid $50 for Starscream (and he ended up with a busted wing). And yet, when I saw Skywarp staring at me from his endcap... Bring on US MP Grimlock. Poor Prime's a little outnumbered, facing Megatron and two out of three Seekers alone. Even if one of them does have a busted wing...

Maybe I should clarify... I'm not saying that the story sucks. The dialogue is good, and I think a lot of the characters have more personality than just about any other character from any other non-BioWare game. It's just that Jade Empire and Mass Effect felt so fresh and original, but the overarching plot behind Dragon Age feels a little cliche. Unite the elves, dwarves, and kingdoms of man against the Darkspawn? My question would be where's the hobbit with the ring while I'm doing all the work?

Sure, if they all (Autobots and Decepticons alike) transformed into a Mustang, a Scion xB, an Impreza, and RX8, or an S2000. They were great in concept. They just didn't have enough models.

Needless to say, also playing Dragon Age and loving it. Story's not quite as engaging as Mass Effect's, but the characters are engaging enough. Like David, you can view my DA profile here. The ally AI and the tactics system probably could use a little refinement. But ME and FF12? I dunno... maybe it's different on consoles than PC? On PC, it plays like most MMOs. Right-click baddie, and you're character will chop until someone's dead, and occasionally you click a power on your quick bar.

Given the love that KOTOR and Mass Effect get around here, I'm really surprised no one's talking about Dragon Age Origins here. Here's what you need to know about it: 1.) It's available for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, so most board members can play it. 2.) It's a BioWare RPG. If you guys still aren't sold, all I can say is that if I haven't been eating, sleeping, or at work, I've been playing Dragon Age. It's got all the little BioWare nuances that draw you in and make the game almost impossible to put down. It is easily the best game I've played in 2009.

I think he means Fit For Natalie. And no, I don't think FFN works for Hasbro, although I think he's been accused of it before.

Picked up Dragon Age Origins for the PC today. I'm supposed to get the Blood Dragon Armor and the Stone Prisoner for free... the codes are in the box. But to redeem them, you're directed to a website that wants you to create a profile. I can't get past that step. I tried giving it my EA profile (the same I used for Mass Effect), and I tried giving it my BioWare profile, but it keeps giving error messages. I don't really want to create a new profile, as I've already logged into the game itself with my EA profile. Don't know if this info will affect your purchasing decisions, but PC's been a pain so far. EDIT: DLC seems to be working now.

Crazy. How old is your Mac? I have one of the oldest MacBooks (one with a "Yonah" Core Duo) supported by Snow Leopard, and I haven't had any trouble with it. By it, I mean the Snow Leopard upgrade... the hardware itself has been back to the Apple store on three occasions. So Mac OS is buggy and problematic, while the new Windows "just works". What crazy times we live in...

I'll concede that.

Then you must not have played the original KOTOR.

I'm not really a fan of Halloween (although I do love me some "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!"), as it seems a silly retail layover on the way to better holidays (Thanksgiving in the US, Hanukah, Christmas, Boxing Day, etc). So I didn't do any parties or give out candy or anything, but we were supposed to dress up for work on Friday. So I wore a blue Star Trek (2009) uniform.

Yes. Because Macross Ultimate Frontier (the sequel) builds and improves on it in so many ways that you should go with it instead.

Jamming Birds, Gubaba. And as long as we're wondering whatever happened to pop idols, whatever became of the Milky Dolls? Agreed. It's a more natural, less commercial sound than Let's Fire!! or Second Fire!!, but not as raw as Humming Bird. Like they've hit their sweet spot.

I don't really see that episode as ripping on the Mighty Ducks specifically so much as underdog-sports-team-feel-good movies in general, and they crank out one or two of those every year. Not that I'm defending that episode, mind you. That's gotta be one of the worst South Parks ever.

I was cleaning out a closet and I found a box of Jpop CDs I'd collected in college. Mostly before Utada Hikaru came on the scene and Jpop was more dance and electronica than R&B or what passes for pop here in the States... back when half of what was on Japan's music charts could be traced in some form to Tetsuya Komuro. Some of it, like MAX, had me wondering what the heck I was thinking, but some of it was really good. So much so that I'm going to say that Globe is a guilty pleasure.

Relax, Keith. I'm not comparing vocals, I'm comparing the music they're singing to. Yes, both Sharon and Sheryl are better singers than Madonna, but they're both providing vocals that are overlaid on generic pop. The main difference in this particular scenario is that "Idol Talk" is catchy pop, but "Pink Monsoon" is just dull and rather lacking in the "soul" you're referring to.