Dragon Age: Origins - Dalish, Mages & Locations

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Shir'le E. Illios
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Dragon Age: Origins - Dalish, Mages & Locations

Post by Shir'le E. Illios »

I’ve got a bunch of Dragon Age: Origins updates for you.

We’ll start off with an interview that Dr. Greg Zeschuk gave Gamasutra, titled “[url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4 ... p:3adybi6m]Building Experiences The BioWare Way[/url:3adybi6m]”. It’s a bit more of a general BioWare interview, talking about a bunch of stuff, but with both Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins fairly heavily featured. Here’s an excerpt:

[quote:3adybi6m][b:3adybi6m]BioWare RPGs have existed from the point when you could have a big hit with a few hundred thousand units, to now where if you're making a big triple-A game, budgets demand you sell a few million over a few platforms. When you need an audience that big, is it harder to sell a game where you say, "This is something you need to sit down and invest yourself in, and think about, and dedicate yourself to"?[/b:3adybi6m]

[Greg Zeschuk]: That's a good observation. You do need to really engage with the games that we make. To be fair, I think [i:3adybi6m]Mass Effect[/i:3adybi6m] is the kind of game you can play pretty quick. And the interesting thing about [i:3adybi6m]Dragon Age[/i:3adybi6m] is it's actually very bite-sized -- even though it's a giant buffet. You can still play it in bits and pieces.

A couple nights ago, I took a break for [i:3adybi6m]Dragon Age[/i:3adybi6m], and literally all I did was sort through my inventory, do a couple quests to get a couple armor sets, play for an hour or so, and then say, "Okay, I'm done for the day. I'm not going to embark on a quest." But it's neat to once again have that experience of spending time in the world and not even feel like you have to progress in a major way.

It's not exactly an offline MMO, but it's certainly got some of those features -- things like armor sets, and the connectivity we have with people who share their experience of having played through it by throwing stuff up on the community site and having all the downloadable content. We think it's going to be a very rewarding long-term experience for folks.[/quote:3adybi6m]
Next up is an update on IGN titled “[url=http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/102/1029 ... l:3adybi6m]Dragon Age: The Origins of the Dalish[/url:3adybi6m]”. The article itself is very brief (three paragraphs with only the third paragraph actually talking about the Dalish), but the main point of it is to highlight the videos they have up showing the start of the Dalish Elf origin (and thus clearly quite spoilerish for the first 5 minutes of the game if you pick that origin).

Here’s that third paragraph:

[quote:3adybi6m]Wild and untamed, the Dalish Elves are proud hunters and warriors that roam the forests of Ferelden. Unlike their city dwelling cousins, the Dalish are nomads, refusing to bow to human rule and living in loosely knit clans in the wilderness. Believing themselves to be true elves living in harmony with their ancient gods and nature, they fiercely repel intruders into their lands by taking no prisoners within battle. As a young Dalish on patrol, you and a friend suddenly come upon a mysterious cave in the woods that holds Elven treasure. However, the discovery of one particular relic potentially threatens to rip apart everything you've ever known.[/quote:3adybi6m]
They’ve got a full 5-minute video for IGN insiders and two shorter cuts from that video for those who don’t subscribe, but instead of embedding any of those I’ll just embed the YouTube version of the full video someone put up:

[center:3adybi6m][youtube:3adybi6m]2JU3KiOB8g8[/youtube:3adybi6m][/center:3adybi6m]
But the Dalish Elf Origin isn’t the only one getting attention. IGN also put up some videos from the start of the Mage origin, the full version of which has found its way onto YouTube as well. Again, this spoils the first five minutes or so of the Mage Origin:

[center:3adybi6m][youtube:3adybi6m]95EILudG0ZI[/youtube:3adybi6m][/center:3adybi6m]
BioWare has an update on their website as well, namely for the [url=http://dragonage.bioware.com/world/korc ... t:3adybi6m]Korcari Wilds[/url:3adybi6m]. The page includes concept art, screenshots, a new wallpaper, a video and the following text description:

[quote:3adybi6m]The Korcari Wilds are a cold southern expanse of forests whose extent is not truly known. The Chasind "wilders" who live within say that a wasteland of snow and ice waits further to the south, filled only with desolate tundra and nomadic barbarians, but the northerners believe little of what the Chasind tell them. By Fereldan standards, the Chasind are a primitive people, mired in superstition and still clinging to the ways of their shamans. They live in houses built on stilts, travelers tell, and fear the mythic Witches of the Wilds who threaten to pounce on their children. The secrets and dangers hidden in the mists of the Korcari Wilds represent the last true untamed wilderness in Thedas.[/quote:3adybi6m]
Speaking of places in the Dragon Age world, curse also has a look at one, namely Ferelden’s capital city of [url=http://www.curse.com/articles/dragon-ag ... x:3adybi6m]Denerim[/url:3adybi6m]. They’ve got a video (which I can’t embed it seems), some screenshots and a brief description:

[quote:3adybi6m][url=http://dragonage.bioware.com/:3adybi6m]BioWare[/url:3adybi6m] has released the latest [url=http://dragonage.bioware.com/:3adybi6m]Dragon Age: Origins[/url:3adybi6m] trailer and screenshots exclusively for [url=http://www.curse.com/:3adybi6m]Curse.com[/url:3adybi6m]! The new video focuses on Denerim, the largest city and capitol of Ferelden. Like any large city Denerim has a fair share of problems, and the video gives us a glimpse of the corruption and greed that has dug it's claws into the heart of the city. There appears to be crime, open fighting in the streets, and the morals and actions of the "Earl's" men is in question. If the lawlessness and corruption weren't enough - the world is also on the brink of a total civil war as the blight closes in on the people of Ferelden![/quote:3adybi6m]
Additionally Curse also has a [url=http://www.curse.com/articles/bioware-c ... x:3adybi6m]hands-on impressions article[/url:3adybi6m]. Though be warned that there is a fairly big spoiler for the early (post-Origins) game in there. Here’s a (spoiler-free) excerpt:

[quote:3adybi6m]In Dragon Age you're able to gather a party, play each member of the party during combat situations, and use their skills. Each character that will react in a different way to the environment around them, and will assist you in battle or give you their opinions when you're faced with a choice. Characters are unique in Dragon Age in the fact that they each have their own moral compass. Choosing to abandon a helpless child might earn you points with some of the members of your party, but severely diminish other members' feelings towards you as a leader. During the gameplay and demo it became apparent that if you made a decision that was so out of the norm for the moral compass of one of your party members they might even attempt to KILL YOU.[/quote:3adybi6m]
And that’s it for the moment, though I’m sure that there’ll be more in the next couple of days.


[[url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4 ... p:3adybi6m]link[/url:3adybi6m]] to “Building Experiences The BioWare Way” interview at Gamasutra.
[[url=http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/102/1029 ... l:3adybi6m]link[/url:3adybi6m]] to the “Dragon Age: Origins of the Dalish” article at IGN.
[[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JU3KiOB8g8:3adybi6m]link[/url:3adybi6m]] to the Dalish Elf Origin Beginning video at YouTube.
[[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95EILudG0ZI:3adybi6m]link[/url:3adybi6m]] to the Mage Origin Beginning video at YouTube.
[[url=http://dragonage.bioware.com/world/korc ... t:3adybi6m]link[/url:3adybi6m]] to Korcari Wilds page at BioWare.
[[url=http://www.curse.com/articles/dragon-ag ... x:3adybi6m]link[/url:3adybi6m]] to Denerim page at Curse.
[[url=http://www.curse.com/articles/bioware-c ... x:3adybi6m]link[/url:3adybi6m]] to hands-on impressions article at Curse.


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Shir'le
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-= Shir'le E. Illios =-
Chosen of Eilistraee
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