Dragon Age: Origins - Anyone following this game?

The Game Room
1

I just started taking a serious look at this game. I’ve gone through the videos on the site and some of the other content they have on the game, but I haven’t participated on their forums or other community discussion groups and I know that’s usually where the juiciest info comes from.

So I’m asking the gaming dopers of the world: What do you know about Dragon Age? Are you excited about it? Do you think it will be a good/bad game?

I’ve enjoyed the Baldur’s Gate series from Bioware immensely, and when NWN came out (and later NWN 2) my RPG gaming needs were more than satisfied. NWN specially brought that PnP D&D table top experience to the PC at a time when I was doing less and less of that type of D&D gaming with my friends. It’s kept me happy creating adventures, and participating in them for what now, over 5 years?

When I first heard of Dragon Age years ago I was simultaenously disappointed and intrigued when Bio announced that it would not be using the D&D rules. I love the D&D system, even with it’s inherent shortcomings, and it’s issues when ported to a video game engine. But at the same time I saw a great opportunity for Bio to get a great new system off the ground. It would mean they would have complete control over it. No more having to ask Hasbro about every little thing they wanted to change. They could do with the world, with the characters and with the rules as they saw fit.

Ultimately I trust Bioware to provide a solid game, specially since it seems PC was priority number 1 in terms of design and targeting. But I have to wonder: how much of my NWN addiction can be ported over to this new series?

Anyone have any details on the Toolset? Will it be as rich as NWN’s? Will the poor console souls be able to take advantage of mods created on the PC? As a builder in the NWN series, I’d love to be able to tell stories to a new audience.

What about the setting? It’s tremendously important to have a rich, deep world to care about. The Forgotten Realms was such a place, with years and years of background stuff to delve into. Can a new IP be able to get us as involved in the world, will it get us to care about the world as much as Baldur’s Gate and the gold box games and NWN got us to care about Toril?

What do you guys think?

2

I tried to follow it, but for whatever reaosn, Bioware is playing this one very close to its chest. They just haven’t said too much about it, although the videos have a bit. But they tend not to really reveal a lot about their games, so…

3

Bioware already created a rich, deep world to care about in Mass effect. I have faith they can do it again.

4

I was pretty much sold on bioware when I played KOTOR. Jade Empire and Mass Effect only strengthened that. Even KOTOR II didn’t sway me from that because I knew they got screwed by lucasarts.

So, yeah, I’m looking forward to this(though Mass Effect 2 even more).