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The very few gamestops that have a copy want 30 bucks. And that'll be for a highly scratched, manual-less, insert-less copy. Anyways, Gaijin kindly offered to lend me his for a bit, so there's no need for further discussion.

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I can't wait for L4D2 it looks so awesome and all those people who pre-ordered it are lucky bastards, they get the demo first!

Anyways been playing L4D and recently theres a new map called "Crash Course" supposedly a tie in between No Mercy and Death Toll. (The helicopter crashed) It's only a two level map, and it's confusing as hell when you first play it cause you aren't sure of which way to go. The finale is pretty fun though, even a little different from the others. I hope they release more mini levels to fill in the gaps between the other campaigns.

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I can't wait for L4D2 it looks so awesome and all those people who pre-ordered it are lucky bastards, they get the demo first!

Anyways been playing L4D and recently theres a new map called "Crash Course" supposedly a tie in between No Mercy and Death Toll. (The helicopter crashed) It's only a two level map, and it's confusing as hell when you first play it cause you aren't sure of which way to go. The finale is pretty fun though, even a little different from the others. I hope they release more mini levels to fill in the gaps between the other campaigns.

Crash Course is kinda amusing, but is also cheap. They block off a ton of the roofs, and there are only a few times that you can choose a different block to lap around. They have yet to fix that bug where if you have addon maps you can't hear poo for the first round. A whole lame way to try to fend off a boycott by saying they still support the 1st. I'm going to wait for a deal to buy it if at all.

Speaking of good addons, you have got to try Cold Case. It's one massive project that makes me have hopeful in other mods. Because it's 2.5 Gb I've had problems getting some partners to run it with me.

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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.

Edited by mikeszekely
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Crash Course is kinda amusing, but is also cheap. They block off a ton of the roofs, and there are only a few times that you can choose a different block to lap around. They have yet to fix that bug where if you have addon maps you can't hear poo for the first round. A whole lame way to try to fend off a boycott by saying they still support the 1st. I'm going to wait for a deal to buy it if at all.

Speaking of good addons, you have got to try Cold Case. It's one massive project that makes me have hopeful in other mods. Because it's 2.5 Gb I've had problems getting some partners to run it with me.

yeah crash course is a pain, it took me 53 minutes to get through it the second time because it's so confusing with figuring out which way you're supposed to go. Even gets to the point where you're going around in circles.

I played the demo for Left 4 Dead 2, and I have to say I am impressed, especially with the improvements and larger assortment of weapons. They have a lot of the same weapons from the first game, but for the most part they're all new. There's even a new way to revive dead teammates by using a defibrillator, only you have to choose between carrying that or a health pack lol. They've still got the pipe bombs and molotovs and a new weapon called a boomer vile (basically just a CEDA vile of boomer excrete) that you can throw on any infected (even the tank)

There's too much to explain so I'll just provide this information link here

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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.

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Played WAY too much Dragon Age today. Did the entire Tower of Magi.

Also, Bioware's social site is still WAY behind. Strangely, it records achievements almost immediately, but it's still showing inital equip for appearance, has stats from 15 hours ago, and equipment from 10 hours ago. (game-play hours, not real hours) I was hoping that today's update might show my current armor (which rocks) but it still shows "lost it 2 hours into the game" basic leather. ::edit:: Updated most stats, but still shows everything from the beginning.

::edit 2:: Oh, it seems the website only updates for those who get visits to their profile. Which is like counter-circular logic, as I don't "show" it to anyone because it hasn't updated ever and still just has the base level one equipment/appearance. Ah well, if anyone wants to help, go check out my character's page: http://social.bioware.com/playerprofile.ph...;nid=2298482811

(no, I don't go updating it or anything---it's automatically generated simply by playing when your 360's online---but I would like to show my character to a person or two, without trying to photograph an LCD TV)

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There is a lot of things I like about Dragon Age, especially the character interaction. But I can't help but feel it's the the abandoned child of ME and FF12. The tactics system is just...inferior in my opinion as is some of the AI behavior options. I also think combat control is lacking, especially in advanced tactics. Why cant I make my healer hold position out of range but have the tank be able to dynamically move back to a boss after knock back?

I did enjoy the game, but a lacking AI/tactics system and lack of being able to carry your character over to harder difficulties has pretty much killed it dead after a single play through. I started playing ME again though, for probably the 6-7th time.

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I have to say that I absolutely LOVE Dragon Age. I'm not that hardcore into RPG's so I don't mind the slightly-lacking AI system. My favorite part of the game has to be the characters, everyone is such a smartass. It's great.

I'm having a problem getting the social club thing to work, though. Apparently the CD key I got through Steam isn't valid. But if it only updates when people look at it like you said, that's kind of pointless. I have the PC version so I can always just take screenshots if I want to show someone my awesome metal pants.

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...has pretty much killed it dead after a single play through.

That's when you bust out one of the other orgin stories :) I'm playing a human noble for my first run-through, and a City Elf will be my next one.

As for the characters, Kate Mulgrew was the one that made me sit up and notice. Hearing Captain Janeway spout pithy one-liners and scathing sarcasm? I'm so down with that ^_^

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Yeah, but won't a double-sized screen make a lot of games look quite pixely?

It's about the same resolution as an SNES, and that looks decent blown up to 32".

I think the XL will manage.

More importantly, it's big enough that you can grip it easily.

I'm glad Nintendo botched the DSi launch now. This is the first compelling reason I've seen to get a DSi, so I don't have one of the smaller units.

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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.

But I can't help but feel it's the the abandoned child of ME and FF12.

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.

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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.

In a combat sense it's very much like an mmo, with the auto attack, hit powerful spells when they are available method. However the console version lacks the isometric view option, which makes it a pain in the ass to do things like rez a fallen hero. It also makes character positioning and analyzing the field a bit more clunky. On consoles it feels very much like FF12 especially with tactics and ally AI, FF12 just did it much much better. It also reminds me of ME with the character interactions, ally specific quests, choices and background influencing people's reaction to you.

I also feel like Dragon Age makes you work a bit more for some of the character tidbits. I felt strong connections to certain characters the first time I'd meet them in ME and it didn't hit me that way with many of the characters in this game. I'm not saying it was bad, even though it sorta looks that way, but in the end it just made me want ME2 more.

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I'm still not sure if EA counts views to a character page or the profile, so here's my profile page too: http://social.bioware.com/profile/6720

Anyways---combat in DA is a chore to me. EVERY fight is tough. Most encounters take multiple attempts. IMHO it's just flat-out due to enemy numbers. No matter how buff my tanks are, they cannot withstand 4-6 dudes pounding on them, while the mages are setting them on fire, without my personal help---and my PC is usually burning, frozen, AND stunned, since nearly every encounter is an ambush and you're surrounded by mages who will toss out EVERY status effect spell there is right at the beginning. I can't tell you how many times I have died before I could even do a single move, due to just being SWARMED by enemies/effects right at the beginning.

Apparently once you hit level 12 everything changes due to certain moves opening up, but right now, I'm struggling a lot. And I don't *think* I suck---having played KOTOR, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect multiple times each I think I know Bioware's ways. Plus having played console RPGs since FF1 and DW1 through FF12 and Oblivion. But most encounters go like this: Die very quickly the first 3 or 4 attempts, then win easily the 4th or 5th try-----doing basically the exact same thing every time. The winning battle usually involves me figuring out which way to run like hell at the very beginning to try to dodge SOME of the mega-mage-assault, so I'm only burned, instead of frozen and burning and stunned.

Healing is a major issue---healing spells are uncommon and I don't really want Wynne in my party. But if you give a character a tactic to drink potions at 25% health, they'll just guzzle a dozen in a battle. Plus, you can't drink potions when you're stunned and frozen and burning, and characters seem unable to use items on other characters. SO many times I've watched 3/4 of the party just sit there and die, because they're stunned and burning, and the mages/archers etc just keep stunning them.

PS---yes, reviving sucks due to view. There was one boss fight I never could revive someone, as I couldn't find their body to aim the spell!

In short---I love the story and world, but really don't like the battle system.

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As a warrior most of the encounters were easier, as you have an ability available which allows you to be immune to knockdown. The healing AI though makes me want to pull my hair out, especially on the final boss. I wont spoil anything, but throughout the game, no matter how I had configured the AI for her she would consistently stand in AoE or cone attacks and die in 1-2 hits, for most tough encounters, without fail.

The story was compelling, but what bioware story isn't? I even liked the combat for a time, but really it was the combat that made me say once was enough.

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Yeah, the combat is starting to get annoying. Especially when the Darkspawn start having a mage or two at every encounter. I just have Morrigan and Liliana take out the mage at range ASAP and have my tanks beat down on everyone else.

Also I got my page thing to work, finally. linky

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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?

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I dunno, other than the uber bosses and dragons, the encounters are fairly easy for me (normal mode)... usually I freeze them in the opening salvo, shatter one while the tank shatters the other one and then take out the mages. Or freeze and bum rush mages, petrify then shatter.

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