Eurogamer compares Dragon Age: Origins and Baldur's Gate 3:

Returning to Dragon Age: Origins made me realise Baldur's Gate 3 was really the sequel I always wanted

It's Wynne-Wynne.

Going back to Dragon Age: Origins today for what was far from my first playthrough, I realised it's never really had a true sequel (or if maybe that's a little harsh for some: it's never had a sequel that followed it's classic RPG spirit in quite the same way). Yes, the world of Thedas has been further explored by Hawke and The Inquisitor - with Rook soon to be added to the list of overworked protagonists with a mate called Varric - but it's never felt like the spirit of Origin's Dungeons and Dragons-inspired design has ever truly been iterated on within the franchise. While lore has been fleshed out and new stories have irrevocably changed Thedas' future (and everybody's opinion on Anders and explosives), the core gameplay of Dragon Age has moved on from intricate tactical positioning and D&D-lite roleplaying to a sense of more 'current' combat and exploration - or at least what seemed like it was current, in the games of its time.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

Fextralife looks back at Dragon Age: Origins:

Dragon Age Origins is the Best Game Ever Made

Thanks Couchpotato!

Game Rant explains what was originally planned for Dragon Age: Origins:

Dragon Age: Origins' Cut Content Explained

Key Takeaways

• Dragon Age: Origins originally planned more character origins, like a Human Commoner similar to Luke Skywalker's story.
• Numerous companion features, like Jowan as a full-time companion and other companion features, were cut from the final Dragon Age: Origins release.
• Story beats and quests were also removed, such as a quest involving defaming the player character by an NPC hired by Loghain.

Video games go through a lot during the development stage, from additions to subtractions and divisions to multiplications. At the end of it all, there is generally plenty of content left on the cutting room floor, and that includes BioWare's classic RPG, Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age: Origins is considered one of the best role-playing games ever made, but it didn't reach that point without first having plenty of content cut from its final form.

With the release of the highly anticipated Dragon Age: The Veilguard just around the corner, it's worth looking at everything that was cut from the Dragon Age game that started it all, Dragon Age: Origins. Cuts from Dragon Age: Origins included numerous character origins, companion features — both narrative and visual — and several story beats and quests. Fortunately, it still came out on the other side a critically acclaimed experience that is still recognized to this day as a bedrock for BioWare and role-playing games.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

Ye Old Entertainment looks back at Dragon Age Origins:

Dragon Age Origins: Review. And aaaall the things it did before Baldur's Gate 3 and The Witcher 3

02:11 - Character Creation & Character Progression
13:35 - Gameplay
26:42 - Story & Lore
47:35 - Companions Lorewise
53:20 - Companions Gameplaywise
57:05 - Secondary Mechanics & UX
1:00:28 - Sound Effects & Mix
1:03:11 - Voice Acting
1:06:17 - Music
1:09:04 - Graphics
1:13:16 - Performance & Stability
1:14:16 - Other Considerations & Final Thoughts

Thanks Couchpotato!

@GameRant A mod for Dragon Age: Origins restores hidden content.

The mod, called Qwinn’s Ultimate DAO Fixpack, attempts to fix over 790 bugs that affected the game’s overall performance. Unlike previous mods for Dragon Age: Origins, this particular one does not intend to add any additional content aside from those that are already present in the game. The mod creator also made it clear that they did not alter the game’s combat mechanics, which is widely seen as clunky and unbalanced.

The fun part about this fan-created mod is that it also unraveled some hidden content that BioWare was didn’t put in Dragon Age: Origins. It is currently unknown why the developer decided to omit these elements in the final build, but it is assumed that time and budget constraints were the primary reason.

[...]

TechQuila compares Dragon Age: Origins to Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Weak Side-Quests

Dragon Age Origins had superbly well written side-quests and activities that encouraged exploration but also had fat chunks of story-content associated with them. Dragon Age II had fewer of these and Inquisition has almost none. All the side-quests in the latest game are there just to promote exploration, regardless of whether the vast areas of the map have anything worthwhile to experience.

This is another one of the faults most open-world games such as Assassins’ Creed and Far Cry suffer from. The developers design massive worlds but comparatively spend very less time coming up with interesting content that is essential to motivate the player towards exploration.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

PCGamesN believes that the hiring of Sunless Seas' lead writer Alexis Kennedy indicates a new Dragon Age game is in the works.

Kennedy will be working with Dragon Age creator Mike Laidlaw and lead writer Patrick Weekes. This is also not the first time Kennedy would be tied to the franchise, what with him being responsible for Dragon Age spin-off The Last Court.

As Eurogamer notes, Mass Effect: Andromeda is wrapping up and Laidlaw and Weekes are not tied to the new IP BioWare have been teasing. Speaking to Eurogamer, Kennedy explained that work was already underway, though he was tight-lipped about the game's identity.

"I'll be starting in January for a six-month-plus engagement," he said. "Writers are treated well at BioWare, but they're working within a clear structure - that they're samurai, not daimyo. I've been saying I'm a writing ronin, so I guess I'll get to sleep in their castle and eat their rice and fight their battles for a bit before I disappear into the howling fog once more.

EA have released Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition to GOG DRM free along with Dead Space and Sim City 3000. There is a launch discount for all titles.

Description

Included goodies: manual+ 10 wallpapers+ soundtrack (MP3)
About: Dragon Age^TM: Origins - Ultimate Edition includes:
- Dragon Age^TM: Origins
- Awakening Expansion Pack
- All Nine Content Packs
Dragon Age^TM: Origins
You are a Grey Warden, one of the last of this legendary order of guardians. With the return of mankind's ancient foe and the kingdom engulfed in civil war, you have been chosen by fate to unite the shattered lands and slay the archdemon once and for all. Explore a stunning world, make complex moral choices, and engage in bone-crushing combat against massive and terrifying creatures.
Determine your legacy and fight for Thedas as a noble dwarf, an elf far from home, a mage apprentice, or a customized hero of your own design. Experience many unique origin stories on your quest to unite the kingdoms and defeat an ancient evil.
Awakening Expansion Pack
Become the commander of the Grey Wardens and embark on a new campaign in the world of Amaranthine. You'll fight new enemies, learn new spells, and fend off the advancing Darkspawn forces.
Nine Content Packs
The Stone Prisoner, Warden's Keep, Return to Ostagar, Feastday Gifts, Lailana's Song, The Darkspawn Chronicles, The Golems of Amgarrak, Witch Hunt, and the Blood Dragon Armor.

Video Game Sophistry interviewed Bioware's Patrick Weekes about how to effectively convey sexuality in gaming in the Dragon Age games (at 23:53 in the video).

Eurogamer takes a look back at Dragon Age: Origins.

Dragon Age: Origins marked the point at which western RPGs properly moved into the spotlight. Knights Of The Old Republic laid the groundwork, combining a surprisingly geeky implementation of Dungeons and Dragons rules with its direct player control and swishy lightsabers. Jade Empire then tried to take it somewhere new, only to stumble right out of the gate. It modernised the genre, offering something fresh, but it never really got its due.

With Dragon Age: Origins, we saw a game torn between an old audience and the new, designed as a spiritual return to the hardcore charms of Baldur's Gate but at a scale where only a mega-hit would do. It was a strange combination. BioWare talked about the detail of its lore, and of taking inspiration from the likes of A Song Of Ice And Fire, long before Game of Thrones had become so popular. And at the same time we had trailers fast cut to Marilyn Manson and a cleavage-baring Morrigan.

Dragon Age: Origins was so often torn between its inspirations - dark, gritty and with a relatively realistic brand of low fantasy - and the needs of a big budget game. Magic is canonically rare, with mages locked up in Circles for everyone's own safety and every spell putting the user at risk of demonic possession. The idea was that most people would never even have seen magic performed in public, at least, nothing more dramatic than the pulling of a rabbit out of a hat. In practice, mages are everywhere, and nobody blinks an eye at spells like Walking Bomb that turn the screen into a swimming pool of gore. Why? Because people like throwing fireballs, and mages make for better opponents than endless enemies wielding the old sword-and-board.

More.

Couch spotted this interesting video about the past, present and future of the Dragon Age franchise:

Dragon Age: Past, Present, and Future - PAX Prime Mainstage Panel and Trespasser Reveal

Dragon Age Creative Director Mike Laidlaw, Art Director Matthew Goldman, Localization Project Manager Melanie Fleming, and Lead Concept Artist Matthew Rhodes give a look into the history of Dragon Age and where the franchise is headed next. It’s a candid look into game development and all the fun (and hard work) that goes into making a game as expansive as Inquisition. Towards the end of the panel, fans get a first look at Trespasser.

Andy Borkowski news anchor and host of tech show VGS across Corus Entertainment in Toronto, had a 3 hour talk with former lead writer of the Dragon Age franchise, David Gaider about the history of the game series. In Part 1, David discusses how the idea of Dragon Age first began, what characters he believes failed and what HUGE section of the game ended up on the cutting room floor.

Dragon Age is being offered for free by EA until October 14th. You will need an origin account to download, and play. Also this does not include the Expansion & DLC.

Thanks go to the multiple posters for the links on various threads.

Discover the true path of a hero and download Dragon Age: Origins to your PC. In this third-person heroic fantasy, you return to the days of character sheets and attribute plans that shaped the paths of your favorite roleplaying games. Build a last-of-his-kind crusader destined to save the world from the terrible blight of the Darkspawn.

Thedas lies weakened, ripe for the Darkspawn to creep into its lands virtually unnoticed. The sinister Arch-demon is assembling minions to draw the world to the brink of destruction. The legendary Grey Wardens have served as the last line of defense for Ferelden, but after centuries with no trace of the Darkspawn, their numbers have grown dangerously sparse. The Arch-demon has slipped from the minds of the kingdom, and the conscripts of the Grey Wardens have all but disappeared. The kings of the land, distracted by the realities of civil war and internal power struggles, remain oblivious to the signs of the Blight’s return.

Choose from three races — human, elf and dwarf — and three fighting classes — warrior, rogue and mage. Your initial choices determine your outward appearance, which changes the way others perceive you. Travel from town to town, searching for traveling companions to aid in your struggle to save the countryside from the forces of evil. Your actions ultimately shape the hero you will become, as you venture through the world. You are the master of your destiny; the fate of Thedas hinges on the choices you make.

Challseus the maker of some of the best mods for NWN has announced on our forums his latest Mod called Keeper of the Rose for Dragon Age. Here is the video intro.

Since the beginning of time, the Rose Of Eternity has been in the mystical Garden Of Roses, tended to by the Keeper Of The Rose. It is said that the Keeper Of The Rose has the most beautiful singing voice, rivaled by none. However, she does not sing for joy, but rather out of pain, for she is a prisoner in these gardens, forbidden to ever leave. Humanity is to blame for her misfortune, for as long as there is war and strife, she will be doomed to stay in the Garden Of Roses, and sing.

As she grows older, as petals fall off of the Rose Of Eternity, she continues to sing, in the hopes that mankind will change, but they do not. As she begins to become an old woman, people pure of heart are born into the world. These people have the opportunity to change things, but alas, they make the wrong decisions, and the Keeper Of The Rose is left to her prison. And her singing.

As the age ends, she is born anew into the world again, hoping that mankind will change their ways. She has been going through this cycle for 4000 years. Will she ever be freed from her prison? In this life cycle, 6 unknowing people will have the opportunity to make her wish come true...

If any of you are still playing NWN check out his other two mods.

Continue Play has a new retrospective/review for Bioware's RPG Dragon Age: Origins.

Dragon Age: Origins can be summed up as a culmination of Bioware’s long-standing strengths. It’s a story that is engaging, exciting, and enthralling, but doesn’t care about needing to be thought-provoking or philosophizing. While its gameplay and design isn’t the best, it hides its weaker components through a beautiful, haunting score and a zealous fixation with detail. It’s a solid story meant to grab gamers and keep them ensorcelled in the world of Thedas. It’s not laconic; it doesn’t make use of quietness and solemnity in the same vein as The Last of Us does, and it isn’t as cowboyishly confident as Mass Effect. It’s flowery and frilly, and…well, I kind of like that.

Steam is selling Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition for 75% off. Now is the time to buy it if you never played it, or give it as a gift fo the holidays. Thanks go to Joxer for pointing out the sale.

Dragon Age: Origins

You are a Grey Warden, one of the last of this legendary order of guardians. With the return of mankind's ancient foe and the kingdom engulfed in civil war, you have been chosen by fate to unite the shattered lands and slay the archdemon once and for all. Explore a stunning world, make complex moral choices, and engage in bone-crushing combat against massive and terrifying creatures.

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Expansion Pack

The story of the Grey Wardens continues as you are named their commander. Fight new enemies, learn new skills and spells, and explore an all-new area of the world, Amaranthine.

All Nine Content Packs

Extend your adventure with The Stone Prisoner, Warden's Keep, Return to Ostagar, Feastday Gifts, The Darkspawn Chronicles, Feastday Pranks, Leliana's Song, The Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt. Collect new rewards, gain new party members, and more as you delve deeper into the Dragon Age storyline.

Key Features:

- Includes the 2009 'RPG of the Year' Dragon Age: Origins, the Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening expansion pack, plus all nine additional content packs.

- Critically acclaimed winner of more than 50 awards including over 30 'Best of 2009' awards.

- A tremendous $114 value at one low price.

BioWare has a holiday offer, giving away all the DLC promo items for Dragon Age, Awakening and DA2, such as The Wicked Oath, Staff of Parthalan and so on. There's probably two dozen trinkets you can overpower on.

As promised, BioWare's social media app Dragon Age Legends is available as a standalone executable because the online servers are being shut down. I'd suggest this is a win for most gamers, who now play without the social media  trappings:

Enjoy this epic, free RPG adventure game from BioWare. Battle demons and darkspawn with your friends, earn loot and build the ultimate castle. 

1. This game requires Adobe Air to run.  Please download and install Air from http://get.adobe.com/air/ if you do not already have it installed.

2. Download the game to your computer.

3. Double-click the file to install Dragon Age Legends.  It will install into your program folder under BioWare.

Online Characters

If you have played the online version of Dragon Age Legends on either Facebook or Google+, you will soon be able to download your character as a Saved Game and continue playing in the single-player game. We are gathering all the data now and it will be available within a few days. Check back soon for instructions on how to download your character from the online game! 

I've had this in my inbox for a few days but I'm only just getting to it. I doubt many will shed a tear but the social game Dragon Age Legends will be shut down in June. On the other hand, a free downloadable version will be released after the servers have been closed, which seems like a win to me:

Sad news to report today: On June 18, 2012 we’ll be turning off the Dragon Age Legends servers. This is by no means a reflection on the quality of the game; the awesome team who created it; or the incredible, passionate community who has supported it. The unfortunate reality is that DAL doesn’t make enough revenue to sustain itself.

While it’s never fun to say goodbye, consider it only temporary. We’re also hard at work on our next core social projects, and we promise you they will be even more epic than anything we’ve done before. We hope you’ll join us again when they launch.

Head over for the exact details. Originally spotted at GameBanshee but a new post at RPS reminded me.

Baldur's Gate 2 Redux is a Dragon Age mod aiming to recreate BioWare's epic classic in a 3D environment. The first part has already been released and, apparently, 100 levels of Athkatla have been developed. Gamers Nexus has an interview on the project with Lorne "Cuv" Ledger, current organizer of the team's production:

Gamers Nexus: How's progress on module 2? How are things looking?

Cuv: Things are looking great! The progress we are making is incredible, considering the actual time everyone has to contribute. We have roughly 30 times the content of the first module so far.

GN: Wow! What kind of content? Levels, items, characters? The whole shebangabang?

Cuv: We have currently over 100 brand new levels completed and final. Some items have been made, but there is more work to do on that front with quest items as the quests begin to take shape. All joinable NPCs are made and working. Some need minor tweaking, but their individual quests are beginning to take shape. Anomen, for example, has his knighthood and sister's death quests mostly in place. Creature models are at a standstill at the moment, with Ablaine [the modeler] pursuing a 'real' gaming job.

You may want to skip the latest patch for Dragon Age: Origins. The v1.05 patch barely addresses anything and from reports at the forums and GameBanshee it seems to cause more problems than it fixes. Here are the patch notes:

Dragon Age: Origins 1.05

General Fixes

DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT

Downloadable content will properly authenticate once installed.

PERFORMANCE

Fixed an issue where some users with DirectX10-era video cards were experiencing significant lag within menus and interfaces as well as sudden spikes in area load times.

Dragon Age: Ultimate Edition Fixes

INSTALLATION

The Ultimate Edition installer for the EA Download Manager (EADM) version of the game was placing the CD-Key in the wrong location in the Windows registry. EADM has been replaced with EA's Origin system and this error has been corrected in the new Origin installer. For those who purchased and installed the Ultimate Edition via EADM, the Patch 1.05 installer will copy that CD-Key into the correct Windows registry location.

BioWare San Franciso's social media game Dragon Age: Legends has been reviewed over at GameBanshee, in a fairly positive article:

Like most free-to-play Facebook games, DAL faces a couple of issues, namely how to make the game fun enough to play for those people who don't spend money on it, while simultaneously preventing it from being too easy for those people who do spend money.  So far I think BioWare has walked the tightrope pretty well, and I've enjoyed the time I've spent with DAL.  Just be aware that the game is all about fighting battles, and there is very little in the way of dialogue or story.  This isn't a typical BioWare game, although BioWare seems to be working their way towards this direction.

The first episode of Dragon Age: Redemption, Felicia Day's live-action web drama, has been released...

I'm not much into the social media stuff but Dr. Ray announces on the Bioblog that their Facebook game Legends is now on Google+ :

I’m very pleased to announce that Dragon Age Legends is available today on Google+! At BioWare, we’re always looking for opportunities to bring our franchises to a wider audience, whether it’s through movies, comics, novels or through extending our games to different platforms.  Our teams continue to innovate in the social gaming space with Dragon Age Legends – providing our existing fans a new way to enjoy the universe of Dragon Age, while also introducing the franchise to millions of new players on Google+ and Facebook. Legends can be played cooperatively as you explore the Free Marches and progress your hero, or competitively against your friends in the Guild PVP arenas; I can attest that however you choose to play it, it’s a fun and highly addictive game.

Remember Dragon Age: Legends, the Flash game? Apparently it's been "remixed" and is available to play at IGN:

Have you played Dragon Age Legends on Facebook yet? Were you aware there is a new spin off game where you can unlock items for your Dragon Age Legends character for completing adventures? The new Remix of Dragon Age Legends takes combat in a new direction and allows players to adventure through 5 levels of fun, killing darkspawn and dragons alike.

IGN continues their strange run of articles recently with a comparison of events in Dragon Age versus Mass Effect 2. A number of themed comparison videos are pitted against each other - "Acts of Evil" and "Sandals and Sports Drinks" (?), for example.

Huh.  USA Today writes that Felicia Day will star in a six-part web series called Dragon Age: Redemption.

Day's six-episode run, due to hit the Web this year, is set in Ferelden, the same fantasy land in which 2009's Dragon Age: Origins and the upcoming sequel Dragon Age II play out. In the Tolkienesque sword-and-sorcery adventure game, several races join forces to combat a scourge called the Darkspawn (think of them as cousins to the orcs in The Lord of the Rings).

So the much anticipated announcement from BioWare turned out not to be a demo but the launch of the Legends facebook game beta:

BioWare and the Dragon Age Legends team are very pleased today to announce the closed beta test for our upcoming Facebook game Dragon Age Legends.

Before the launch of Dragon Age II, return to Thedas in Dragon Age Legends on Facebook. Take down demons and darkspawn with your friends in this action-packed, strategy RPG. Unlock 5 items that you will be able to use as you play Dragon Age 2!  Be Legendary!

APPLY HERE TO BE PART OF THE DRAGON AGE LEGENDS BETA TEST

You can learn more about Dragon Age Legends on either the Dragon Age Legends Facebook Page or the Dragon Age Legends Website.

Rumours about a demo continue, so time will tel what happens on that front.

IGN has previewed Dragon Age Legends - the Facebook promo game:

According to developer EA2D, the studio's mission is to make social games for gamers, and Dragon Age Legends aims to bring role-playing and turn-based combat to the Facebook space. You play as a trusted advisor to Viscount Ravi, who asks you to help rescue his son from danger, which of course sends you on quests where you'll end up combating enemies.

Unlike the majority of Facebook games, you've got to make strategic decisions, or you can screw up in Dragon Age Legends. You need to pick an appropriate balance of companions for combat. If you don't develop enough supplies in your castle, you can go in underequipped. You can attack enemies in the wrong sequence. Any of these missteps can leave you dead and having to start the quest from the beginning. In other words, there's actually some game in this game.

Thanks to Saberger and Archmage Silver for sending this in.

Roy Burnet posts a list of the best mods he's found for Dragon Age: Origins over at RPGamer. The first part is for weapons and armor:

Grey Warden Runic Armor

 

This is the creme-de-la-creme of all Dragon Age armor mods, it has been voted by players as the best many time over. It is a set of massive armor with a sword and shield to match, and a greatsword if you're into two-handed weapons. While it was made for warriors originally, it also has a version for arcane warriors for the mages out there.

 

Dragon Blood Mage

 

Have you ever played Dragon Age, and realized that there are no good robes for your awesome new blood mage, well fear no longer, because the modding community has an answer to your plight. Featuring the Dragon Blood Mage robe, this set just exudes class and begs you to do something evil in it.

Impulse is offering Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition for $24.97. This offer is only good for North American residents. The Ultimate Edition includes the following:

Dragon Age™: Origins

You are a Grey Warden, one of the last of this legendary order of guardians. With the return of mankind's ancient foe and the kingdom engulfed in civil war, you have been chosen by fate to unite the shattered lands and slay the archdemon once and for all. Explore a stunning world, make complex moral choices, and engage in bone-crushing combat against massive and terrifying creatures.

 

Dragon Age™: Origins – Awakening Expansion Pack

The story of the Grey Wardens continues as you are named their commander. Fight new enemies, learn new skills and spells, and explore an all-new area of the world, Amaranthine.

 

All Nine Content Packs

Extend your adventure with The Stone Prisoner, Warden’s Keep, Return to Ostagar, Feastday Gifts, The Darkspawn Chronicles, Feastday Pranks, Leliana’s Song, The Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt. Collect new rewards, gain new party members, and more as you delve deeper into the Dragon Age™ storyline.

For those hanging out to get Dragon Age with all the DLC, VG247 reports the Ultimate Edition has now been released:

As previously announced and outed by multiple retail sites, this edition contains all of the game’s post-release downloadable content, meaning: the core game, Awakening, Warden’s Keep, The Stone Prisoner, Return to Ostagar, Darkspawn Chronicles, Leliana’s Song, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt.

Sorcerer's Place let us know that they have a walkthrough of Dragon Age: Origins and all DLC online.

BioWare has kicked off an "ongoing" contest to encourage the use of the Dragon Age toolset.  Here's a partial snip from the BioBlog and the full details are linked below:

Members of the Dragon Age Toolset community have taken the initiative to promote the use of the toolset and encourage new modders to learn the craft by holding the Community Contest. This is an ongoing contest open to all modders, experienced and new alike, consisting of various categories to allow participants to focus on their own areas of interest. You can win prizes, including DLC releases from BioWare, gift cards from the BioWare Store, gift cards for Amazon.com and more.

For more information on the Community Contest, visit the Community Contest Wiki Page. The winners of the first contest categories focusing on Settlements and Prop Models have been announced, and you can download all of the entries from Dragon Age Nexus. But there is still time to enter the Head Morph, Character, and Mini-Game/Puzzle categories.

Well, it's no surprise but BioWare has officially unveiled the Dragon Age Ultimate Edition, which offers DA, Awakening and the seven other DLC pieces all in one retail package.  According to GameSpot, the release is October 26th.

BioWare has released a patch for Witch Hunt, apparently fixing the issue with Morrigan not recognising certain previous choices:

Witch Hunt version 1.1 is now available for the PC. This updated version contains the following changes:

• When importing from a post-game save, your conversation with Morrigan in the Witch Hunt module will properly reflect the choices you made in Dragon Age Origin's "Dark Ritual" plot.
• The game will automatically save after Witch Hunt's final cutscene.

There's a "micro review" of Witch Hunt at Kotaku and they aren't impressed:

Witch Hunt would be bad enough if it presented us with an hour of new gameplay, but having players wandering through areas they already explored for 60 minutes to deliver an ending that could just as easily have been released as a free teaser trailer bridging the gap between Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II is an insult to players who've invested so much time and energy to playing through this epic tale.

GameShark has slammed Witch Hunt, handing down a rating of 'D' in their review:

The truth is it felt like BioWare provided this pack as something they felt like they had to do rather than something they wanted to do. Given that there are no tangible character benefits for your character, no cool items, no new spells or powers, nothing at all to give you other than more experience if you need it and the promise of a resolution that never comes, one has to wonder why this was even developed. Yes, using a group of high level characters is always good for a little entertainment, but you can only kill so many Darkspawn before you start getting tired of the same enemies in every encounter and honesly, that time came about three content packs ago.

Maybe if Morrigan's ending had been a satisfying one I would have been fine with paying for a 45 minute side quest through places I've already been but it wasn't—so I'm not. What's even more oddly infuriating is that this is how Dragon Age: Origins ends, with a glimpse of your character blankly standing alone as companions walk away before the player is kicked to the menu. This is the ending we're supposed to accept? Perhaps more of Morrigan's story will be told in Dragon Age 2 but rest assured, I no longer care. The only trick this witch pulled off is making my interest in the franchise disappear.

GameBanshee writes they have a walkthrough and database updates for Dragon Age: Witch Hunt.

Eurogamer has a review roundup of all the Dragon Age DLC released, with a short wrap and a score for each.  Obviously Witch Hunt is topical, so the score for that one is 6/10 and here's the conclusion:

Witch Hunt mimics the structure of a decent Dragon Age quest, and is at least fully voiced, but it fails to make the emotional connections that would make it work. Once again, you're stuck with a party of anonymous new characters rather than the colourful companions you grew to love over 30-plus hours of gaming, and Witch Hunt doesn't even have the good grace to offer a compelling reason why you're suddenly on Morrigan's trail. You just are, because that's what the DLC is about.

As an excuse to spend another mildly diverting evening in Ferelden, Witch Hunt does its job, but it's a functional offering rather than an inspiring one. Hamstrung by the piecemeal nature of Dragon Age DLC, and squandering a lot of the brilliantly constructed narrative from the full game, it's for completists only.

A lot of players of this DLC has been bugged during the game. Bioware is aware of this and is working on a fix. Mark Darrah from Bioware, started this thread at the Bioware Social Network. Here's his post in full:

Hi everyone,
Thank you to everyone who has downloaded the Witch Hunt DLC pack.  As everyone here knows, Dragon Age: Origins is a huge game with a lot of choices for each individual player. Unfortunately, there is a continuity bug that is causing issues with a subset of our player base.  While this issue is not affecting the majority of people, it is still a significant issue that we will address. We apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing anyone.

Clearly, it was our responsibility to catch this sort of issue in the interaction of Witch Hunt with Dragon Age: Origins.
Our team is doing everything we can to fix this in a timely manner so those who are affected can go back to enjoying Witch Hunt as soon as possible. 

Stay tuned here for an update soon and thank you for your continued support.
Thanks,
Mark Darrah
Executive Producer

On a related, there's a couple of new reviews out for this DLC. One is at Spawnkill with a score of 1/10. As usual, an excerpt:

The trailers and announcement of Witch Hunt gave me the very strong impression that this DLC would be the one to rule them all.  This DLC would tell the tale of Morrigan, and possibly even put to rest the many questions we were left with so many months ago.

It does not.  In fact, it only adds more questions, and not the kind we want or expect.  And quite frankly, it’s a bigger let down than even I, with my raging cynical streak, could have ever imagined.

The other is from MMO Gamer Chick with no score, so here's a snippet:

Regardless of how I feel, I’m not sorry I purchased Witch Hunt. Like it or not, it did bring closure — Bioware’s own brand of strange and messed up closure, maybe, but it’s still closure. I hate to be cryptic about it myself, but in the end, whether or not Witch Hunt delivered all that it promised really depends on who you ask.

[Update] Rather than create a new post, here's another Witch Hunt review.  GameSpot's score is 5/10 and and their headline alone uses words like "disappointment" and "vapid":

Morrigan's sharp tongue and vain indifference made her one of Dragon Age: Origins' most intriguing characters, so you might have been excited to learn of her return in that role-playing game's newest downloadable content, Witch Hunt. Sadly, you should temper your expectations: Witch Hunt is a lifeless escapade without wit, soul, or character, with Morrigan herself appearing in a cameo so brief that she might as well have not appeared at all. The contemptuous apostate mage is simply a MacGuffin--an abstract plot device that provides a reason for you and your party members to embark on a simple fetch quest that's explained with as little dialogue as possible. The story, such as it is, fizzles long before it reaches its limp climax, and its blandness is barely veiled by easy and predictable combat. A few odd moments jump out to remind you what made Dragon Age: Origins so wonderful, such as an enjoyable battle versus a creepy, multilegged beast and its minions. But these are small delights in a short, disappointing adventure that isn't worth the $7 asking price.

IGN has a review of this DLC for Dragon Age: Origins. The score is 6.5/10 and here's a snip:

 Considering Dragon Age 2 is following along with a different main character, it's difficult to say what how what happens in Witch Hunt connects with anything else in the future. As you'll see at the ending, there's a choice that needs to be made that potentially has serious consequences, though something tells me it'll all be smoothed over should you ever encounter Morrigan again.

Apparently the Witch Hunt DLC has a "continuity bug", which means Morrigan doesn't respond to some players properly with their choices from DA:O.  As you can imagine, a DLC specifically about your relationship with Morrigan is rather broken if it doesn't even recognise that relationship.  From the official forums:

Hi everyone,
Thank you to everyone who has downloaded the Witch Hunt DLC pack.  As everyone here knows, Dragon Age: Origins is a huge game with a lot of choices for each individual player. Unfortunately, there is a continuity bug that is causing issues with a subset of our player base.  While this issue is not affecting the majority of people, it is still a significant issue that we will address. We apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing anyone.

Clearly, it was our responsibility to catch this sort of issue in the interaction of Witch Hunt with Dragon Age: Origins.
Our team is doing everything we can to fix this in a timely manner so those who are affected can go back to enjoying Witch Hunt as soon as possible. 

Stay tuned here for an update soon and thank you for your continued support.
Thanks,
Mark Darrah
Executive Producer

...and they're taking applications to test the patch here.

Meanwhile, Joystiq has a pretty negative review:

If you're importing your Grey Warden into Witch Hunt (the game will import a level 20 replacement from Orlais, otherwise), you'll be eager to see the consequences of decisions you made in the Origins campaign. Witch Hunt acknowledges these and even some from the Awakening expansion, but addresses the big questions so vaguely that it feels like the game's just trying to dodge the conversation. If you were hunting Morrigan for answers, you'll find she's about as enlightening as the fan discussion on the official BioWare forums.

It wouldn't feel like such a trick if there was more effort evident throughout the add-on. In your quest to locate Morrigan and a mysterious mirror, you'll battle through several locations, each and every one recycled from the main game or earlier DLC. An encounter with a frightening new creature was blunted by the reminder that I had fought a boss in the exact same spot before, in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening. Somebody should put up a warning sign or something -- Caution: Boss Fight Zone.

Witch Hunt is the last DLC for Dragon Age, with one of the most interesting premises - finding some answers to the Morrigan enigma.  If you're thinking of pulling the trigger on this DLC, read on for my impressions.  A sample:

Even with my enthusiasm for Dragon Age, I haven't played any of the DLC packages beyond those packaged with my version of the game (Wardens Keep and The Stone Prisoner) and the expansion-sized Awakening.  I'm quite open to the idea of DLC but firing up a game I spent over 100 hours with to play some little two-hour segment in isolation just doesn't seem that enticing.

Until this one.  Morrigan was a central part of my game - a mainstay of both my standard party and the focus of the most interesting decision in the game.  Completing that story sounded like a good way to close the book on Dragon Age.

Disappointment ensued.

Read it all here.

Witch Hunt has also been released, according to BioWare.  This is the last Dragon Age: Origins DLC and continues the Morrigan story.

A preview of Witch Hunt is up at GameSpot - this one's full of spoilers, so be careful:

In any case, Witch Hunt will let you revisit several locales from the original game, such as Flemeth's old home in the swamp and the Circle of Mages (from the original game's mage origin story), while meeting up to three new companions who can join your party. We began the adventure outside of Flemeth's home, searching for clues as to Morrigan's whereabouts and were greeted by the first companion, a Mabari hound (who, if you've imported a character who played through the original game, will be your original dog character, or will be an all-new companion if you're using a new character to play the DLC). After being joined by the faithful hound, we entered the hovel to find the female elf warrior Ariane who also hunted Morrigan, since the sorceress had apparently stolen away an ancient elven tome from her tribe. After striking a quick truce with the elf (who became our second companion), we then made our way to the mage's circle--both to research "eluvian," the topic of the mysterious elven book and also to meet the DLC's third companion, the mageling Finn.

IGN takes a look at the last Dragon Age DLC, Witch Hunt.  It's a short piece but a couple of details are revealed. On dialogue:

Although I wish I was playing Dragon Age 2 because the combat feels so much better, the dialogue was a real treat in Witch Hunt. There were numerous occasions where I chuckled at some bit of conversation. My favorite was the friendly jab at Harry Potter: "What sort of mages would use owls for pets?" a student at the Circle library mused.

For those wondering, you will come face-to-face with Morrigan during your time with Witch Hunt, though how you handle the situation is entirely up to you. Your dialogue options are dependent on your previous relationship with her, so the experience is customized for your particular Warden.

In semi-related news VG247 notes the BBFC has just rated the Ultimate Edition, so that confirms the unsurprising rumours of a complete package.

BioWare has kicked up a character profile for Finn (and Ariane, which we may have previously missed) for Witch Hunt, the concluding DLC for Dragon Age.  There's a small render and a paragraph description for each.

A review for this DLC can be found at Platform Nation. They do warn that the DLC is mostly combat heavy.  As usual, an excerpt:

Your goal is to travel from the dwarven city of Orzammar into the Deep Roads to find the fate of an expedition sent to the city of Amgarrak, once a source of golems and research. Something went horribly wrong, and a concerned relative has begged for the aid of a Gray Warden.

GameBanshee has made an in-depth look at the new DLC for DA: Origins, Golems of Amgarrak. They've made a walkthrough, an updated equipment database, and much much more.

GamingNexus has a review of Leliana's Song for Dragon Age.  The rating is C+ with the author disappointed with the length, story and characters:

If you explored conversation with Leliana in Origins long enough, she most likely revealed some of her history to you. I remember being interested in her tales because they involved deception, betrayal, and more of the blood and gore Origins is known for (including the Dragon Age trademark of blood splattered across characters’ armor and face). It came with a positive outlook, then, that I came to play and review Leliana’s Song. But then why, after completing the missions the DLC had to offer, did I come away feeling that the add-on was empty?

Reflecting on it, I realized there was too much disparity between what was meant to enhance your experience of the original game and the original game itself. First, there is the fact that the DLC took only 2 hours to complete. The content felt rushed, and ultimately unfulfilled. Whereas Origins is about discovering your story and going on to save Ferelden, Leliana’s Song is small story of betrayal laden with a few political qualms.

Thanks, Omega!

Bioware, via Victor Wachter, announced this new DLC for Dragon Age: Origins. It will be released on Sept 7th 2010 - and will have you Warden search for a certain witch.  Here's a hopefully not to spoilerish snip from the announcement on the DLC's official website:

She has been sighted in the southern wilderness where she was first encountered. Is it truly her? If it is, then why has is she here and what secret does she carry with her? The Warden heads into the forest to find out and tie up this last loose end once and for all.

Who 'she' is, you can learn by clicking one of the links above, but be warned, spoilers abound.

A site called SmashPad has a review of Golems of Amgarrak.  The score is 6.2/10 and they didn't enjoy the difficulty:

Golems of Amgarrak has you trekking through the underground city searching for Brogan and defeating the mysterious presence that is lurking down there.  Most of the time will find you battling insanely powerful enemies who spam magic attacks like they have nothing to lose.  We found ourselves dying constantly throughout this campaign, and even at level 36, with maxed weapons, armor and stats, our Grey Warden hero was falling to a group of four enemies.

It seems that Bioware felt that the challenge needed to be racketed up a notch, and even the description of the DLC clearly warns players of the difficulty.  But was there really a need to do this?  We played through Origins and Awakening on hard difficulty, and sure there were occasional problems and deaths, but that’s why it is called HARD.  We don’t want to have to struggle and die constantly on normal or casual mode, and it is a bad design flaw that really makes this DLC not worth trying out at all.

Joystiq has unconfirmed rumours of an "Ultimate Edition" of Dragon Age due for October, via a removed GameStop entry.  No details on exactly what it would contain but it's easy to speculate on a bundle that includes all the DLC.

Two rather unenthousiastic reviews Of the latest Dragon Age DLC, Golems of Amgarrak can be found at Examiner and The Torch Online.

Amgarrak was fairly short, even for DLC, as it is roughly one hour long. The addition of the puzzle to advance to each section of the ruins did make the game a little bit longer, but it still feels too short and it really had nothing to do with the main story or serve as a backstory, like Return to Ostagar and Leliana’s Song which serve as closure for certain back story from the game.

For 400 Microsoft points for the Xbox 360, 400 BioWare points for the PC and $4.99 for the PlayStation 3 the content is cheaper than previous add-ons and is not too bad of a deal for a fan of Dragon Age, but for those that are new to the series and its add-ons this may not be the first one I would recommend picking up.

Thanks Omega.

GreyWardens have reviewed the recently released Golems of Amgarrak DLC for Dragon Age Origins, stating it will give you two hours of gameplay and being very action oriented.

If I had to classify this DLC, I would rank it more toward a combat-oriented package than a story-based product. While it's not purely stripped down to the level of Darkspawn Chronicles, there's not much meat you're getting with the plotline here. You're in Amgarrak, you need to rescue Jerrik's brother, and while you're there, if you can discover the secrets of the golems and make it out alive, more the better. That's the plot in a nutshell and there's not a whole lot more to it than that.

Character development is also very light. If you read some of the preview material here about Jerrik and/or Brogan Dace, you got a lot more information about who they are and what their roles are than you do by actually playing the DLC. The characters in Golems at least feel like they are tied to the story though, unlike one of the downers of Leliana's Song, where it felt like your companions were just there to fill mechanical archetypes of tank/mage etc. The companions are tied more to the story than a need to round out a party and that's a plus compared to BioWare's last DLC offering.

This Golems of Amgarrak wiki update on House Dolvish is fairly short, so here's the whole thing:

Talk to a dwarf about golems, and you’ll get an earful about Caridin, the legendary Anvil of the Void, and Amgarrak. Amgarrak is the dwarven word for "victory," but the halls of Amgarrak are considered a mere fairy tale.

Before Queen Getha was deposed, it is said that she delivered the only remaining fragments of Caridin’s research to House Dolvish. Legends say that House Dolvish bankrupted itself by establishing a secret research laboratory in the Deep Roads. With the help of a Tevinter magister, they sought to recreate Caridin’s work. Fedrik, the last scion of House Dolvish, promised the Assembly a new golem fresh from Amgarrak, knowing it would raise the Dolvish clan again to prominence. But when no golem materialized, Fedrik was ruined. He died years later, and with his death, House Dolvish was no more.

Over the centuries, golems with strange abilities have been found in the Deep Roads. Some say that this is either proof that Amgarrak is real or that Dolvish descendants still work to this day recreating golems. Others say that something went horribly wrong. The truth may never be known.

Caridin and Golems is the subject of today's Dragon Age: Golems of Amgarrak wiki update.  A sample:

When Caridin unveiled his first golem to the Assembly, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was a living Paragon. His timing couldn’t have been better. Caridin's golems slowly appeared on the front lines just as relentless waves of darkspawn threatened to break though into Orzammar herself. The golem's devastating power turned the tide. At King Valtor’s urging, Caridin started to produce golems more quickly. For the first time in ten generations, the dwarves had hopes beyond mere survival—they started to believe they could reclaim their former empire.

Brogan Dace is the next update in this week's Golems of Amgarrak wiki articles:

Few realize that the magnanimous Jerrik Dace has a brother. Brogan Dace, a faithful member of the warrior caste for decades, has fought alongside his brother in many critical campaigns, but never seeks or receives the same glory heaped upon his older sibling. His soft-spoken manner has meant relative obscurity.

BioWare has an update to the Dragon Age wiki with the addition of the character Jerrik Dace from the upcoming Golems of Amgarrak DLC.  They also promise updates all this week, so more to follow.

BioWare has officially unveiled the latest Dragon Age DLC, Golems of Amgarrak, on the official site.  Here's the blurb:

MMORPG.com: Give us some background on the new DLC – Golems of Amgarrak.

Rob: Golems of Amgarrak is the next installment of downloadable content (DLC) for our hit dark fantasy title, Dragon Age: Origins. It will be releasing simultaneously for $5 on the Playstation Network and for 400 points on the PC and in the X360 Marketplace. Designed with our hardcore players in mind, it sends the player on an extremely challenging journey into the Deep Roads to uncover the lost secrets of the dwarves.

Ferret: Rob isn’t joking. Golems is seriously tough. If you played through Origins and thought it couldn’t keep up with your mad skills, then this is the DLC for you. You face a brand new boss who has more than a few tricks up his sleeve, and unless you bring your A-game you won’t last long. Getting the hardest achievement for this DLC is a real badge of honor. Only a handful of BioWarians managed that accomplishment.

Although combat is front and center, Golems of Amgarrak has a tricky puzzle to solve, new characters to talk with and get to know, and an engaging story. All the things you’d expect from Dragon Age. You also can import your character from Origins or Awakening, so you can have further adventures with your favorite hero.

By playing Golems of Amgarrak you can unlock several reward items that show up in Origins or Awakening. It’s a good time to be a Grey Warden!

This is the first time I've seen the name of the new "combat oriented" DLC for Dragon Age, with Joystiq previewing Golems of Amgarrak from Comic-Con.  The author describes his short gameplay experience but doesn't really reveal much:

So yes, alongside the public, I got a chance to see the upcoming DLC. And the first thing I heard about it is that it's hard. Really hard. Dragon Age: Origins  is already a game that requires some thinking, but BioWare has apparently turned up the difficulty on this one -- there's lots of big enemies, I was told, that will provide a challenge even on the easiest setting.

1Up seems to have the scoop on BioWare's Comic-Con revelations at the moment, with news of an upcoming, unnamed DLC for Dragon Age on display.  Apparently this one will be particularly action-oriented (the others weren't?):

The DLC is designed to be for high-tier characters to traverse a punishing dungeon against high level enemies. While the DLC was never named (nor was the name of the dungeon), the focus of this new content is entirely combat based encouraging players to use their tactics against hordes of enemies. This also means that you should not expect any story elements ala Awakening. Other details such as release date and price were not given either, but it is nice to see that the life of Dragon Age: Origins isn't over yet, even though it's sequel is less than a year away.

Not exactly speedy but it seems Return to Ostagar is now available on Mac for anyone waiting.

Greywardens sends word of two new articles.  The first examines the application of the "monomyth" to Dragon Age:

Joseph Campbell’s “A Hero With a Thousand Faces” set out a formula for analyzing myth throughout the ages. From the oldest epics through modern-day stories of heroes, the monomyth pattern isn’t perfect but its features can be seen in some capacity in many  stories. Dragon Age, which has been described as an epic, does exhibit many features of the monomyth tradition.

...and the second looks at locations known to be associated with Hawke in DA2:

A person’s home can shape the man or woman they become later in life. Although a few details about Dragon Age 2?s leading man Hawke have surfaced, taking a look at the places he calls home may give a bit of insight into not only how he might develop, but tell also of some of the challenges he may face. While most of the game seems like it may take place in a new locale across the Waking See in the Free Marches, even the little we know about that land can give some insight into the life  of the hailed “Champion of Kirkwall.”

There are three major locales in Hawke’s life that we have some knowledge of: Lothering, the Free Marches, and more specifically, Kirkwall.

GameBanshee sends word they have finished their walkthrough of Leliana's Song.

Victor Wachter, Bioware's Community Coordinator, has updated this thread where he announces that patch 1.04 for Dragon Age: Origins (and Awakenings) will be released some timer later today. It will, however, only be the PC version of the patch that will be released, since the patch needs to pass Xbox 360 and PS3 certifications.

There's a very long changelist, so I'll list what seems to be the most interesting info: 
the party/member approval quest issues:

Known Issues

While we have fixed the party member approval/personal quest issues, it is important to note that players may not experience the results of this fix until starting a new game.

Because of the nature of the bug and the fix implemented, while it is possible that it will still affect party members that are not yet in the player’s group, in general existing game saves may still not see proper approval results

Please note that this patch also fixes bugs in Awakenings as well as fixes the problem with daggers not adding the dexterity-bonuses correctly to damage. According to the notes, they have fixed the memory leak issue. And if you import a character that had equipment on them  from the DLCs into Awakening, you will now get default equipment.

And here's Victor Wachtor's advice to those os us who'd be installing the game again sometime:

In short, if you plan to re-install DAO and Awakening at some point in the future, we recommend installing DAO, then Awakening, then latest patch.  If you plan to add Awakening to your DAO install, we recommend installing Awakening, then always re-apply the latest patch.

Update: Now available.

An editorial at Game Critics examines the choice and consequence in Dragon Age: Origins; they also discuss which choices were among the best and which were among the least succesfull in the game:

Warning - spoilers abound.

Succes:

I'll discuss the game's choices by talking about the good ones first. My first major quest was at the camp of the Dalish. You are given three options, side with the werewolves and kill all the elves, side with Zaithran and kill all the werewolves, or break the curse by killing Zaithran (and by extension, the Lady of the Forest) and allow the elves to live and the werewolves to live on as humans. If you were playing as a "good" character, there are basically two less than ideal options, and one choice that allows life and freedom to flourish. On the surface, this seems like typical choice, but to bring about the scenario that allows you to kill Zaithran, you have to go through a rather specific set of dialogue options. Good-guy characters are initially confronted with choosing between two terribly unjust massacres, and are rewarded for taking the time to negotiate a new solution.

Failure:

The Mages' Tower contained the most polarized choice in the game. I could either take the risk of some mages being turned into abominations and fighting against me (an event which can be prevented by using an item during the boss fight), or I can slaughter dozens of innocent men and women. Since I was playing as a good-guy, the choice was so obvious that by the end of the game I had literally forgotten that I had another option. The situation is made even less compelling by the fact that the second most important character in the game, Alistair, constantly voices his dislike for the templars, and any mages you have encountered previously have done the same. A below average ending to an otherwise interesting quest.

For those of us that'll like to expand our Dragon Age experience to pen and paper, Green Ronin has just released a Game Master's Kit, both in booklet form as well as in PDF form.
The description:

 The Game Master's Kit is the perfect accessory for fans of the Dragon Age RPG. This handy product features a three-panel hardback screen that puts all the essential game info right in front you. It also includes a 32-page adventure by Jeff Tidball that can serve as an introduction to the game or as a follow-up to the adventure in the core game. With the Game Master's Kit and Set 1 of the Dragon Age RPG, you'll be ready to kickstart your dark fantasy campaign.

GameSpot has a review of Leliana's Song with a score of 7/10:

Dragon Age: Origins' Leliana may have seemed sweet enough, but her initially faithful and spiritual demeanor masked an unsavory past. In Leliana's Song, the most recent downloadable content released for last year's superb role-playing game, you explore the bard's dark side and glimpse the circumstances that led her to pledge to the Chantry in Lothering. Effective storytelling makes this add-on worth a look for dedicated Dragon Age fans, particularly those that experienced Leliana's personal quest in the original game. Unfortunately, you won't find many surprises lurking within this fun but unremarkable adventure. The combat remains enjoyable, but because your party is capped at three rather than the usual four members, battles aren't as exciting as they might have been with a larger party. Though some later encounters in an atmospheric alcove grant a little variety, you will fend off the usual foes in a number of well-worn environments. This isn't Dragon Age at its best, but Leliana's Song is an appealing slice of character-driven content.

Greywardens let us know they have posted a full walkthrough of Leliana's Song for Dragon Age.

The Big Download reviews the Dragon Age DLC, Leliana's Song, recommending players wait for a cheap DLC bundle.  In particular, they were disappointed that BioWare missed opportunies for some interesting scenarios rather than just combat:

We were hoping to make a lot of use out of Coercion, since we expected to do a lot of sweet talking as on Orlesian bard, but were very disappointed to find no speech opportunities at all. Many conversations are limited to two responses, few dialogue options significantly change the dynamic of the conversation, and practically none of them have any impact on how party members feel about you. There are one or two gifts to give, but approval exists only for the skill perks, not for any sort of side quest. Leliana's Song focuses solely on cutting through an army of soldiers instead of finding different solutions to problems.

Greywardens has finished their review of Leliana's Song, describing it as a "strong" DLC:

Leliana starts at level 10, fully equipped and ready to hit the ground running. She has friends on her side as well: Tug the dwarf warrior and Sketch the elf mage. Not only are these two sidekicks excellent compliments to Leliana’s own abilities in combat (Tug is adept with sword & shield while Sketch plays the party’s Spirit Healer), they have their own distinct personalities. Within the first 30 seconds of gameplay I already liked these guys, thanks to the well-written and fully-voiced character chat and clever cut-scene conversations.

For players who like to dive straight into combat, Leliana, Tug and Sketch come pre-scripted with useful tactical settings, which allow for quick and dirty play through the game’s first few missions. On harder difficulty levels, I had to make some adjustments to my team, but for the most part, they acted as a cohesive, well-practiced group – exactly what you’d expect from a trio of Orlesian bards.

IGN has reviewed Leliana's Song, with a score of 7/10:

As if Dragon Age: Origins didn't have enough content built into it when it released late last year, BioWare has been busy churning out more ever since. From the sizable Awakening expansion to an array of smaller chunks, there's plenty for Dragon Age fans to dig into, provided they're willing to pay. While some of the added content, like Awakening, is of particularly high quality, some of the smaller releases like the underdeveloped Darkspawn Chronicles have failed to impress. How does the latest release hold up? Well, if you're still interested in playing more Dragon Age, and specifically interested in the backstory of Leliana, then you'll find parts to like in Leliana's Song. For anyone who's lost the desire to play the game anymore, though, this content isn't enough to make it worth coming back.

It's obviously DLC day at BioWare with Leliana's Song released for Dragon Age.  Here's the blurb as a reminder:

• Explore Leliana's dangerous past and why she joined the Chantry
• A fully voiced cinematic experience brings the characters to life
• Unlock a unique reward that transfers into your Awakening and Origins campaign
• All-new musical compositions instensify the action and intrigue

Greywardens.com sends word of their article The Gilded Mirror, which is a detailed profile of Leliana in preparation for the next DLC:

Yet, a generation has passed since the days of King Maric and Loghain, the Hero of the River Dane. And as Denerim and the rest of Ferelden recovers from the bitter memories of war, the Orlesian image has changed. As Wardens, we’re given a very different picture of Orlais as the game begins than the one a war veteran like Loghain might paint for us. We see Orlais through the eyes of Leliana, an Orlesian bard, and what she tells us is far removed from the war stories of the past.

In similar news, the BioBlog has an interview with the voice talent for Leliana, Corinne Kempa.

Bioware has update the site for the Leliana's Song DLC with both character profiles as well as an audio sample. Since we're familar with Leliana here's something about a thug called Tug:

Brash, cunning, uncomplicated--an excellent frontline thug who doesn't ask questions and knows when he should leave the planning to someone else. Fiercely loyal to his friends, even as he gives them a hard time. A strange fit to follow a bard, although he'd claim there's no better view.

bit-tech.net's Joe Martin posts his impressions of and problems with how religion plays out in character choices and storyline in  DA:O in a slightly off-the-beaten-path blog post entitled Atheism in Dragon Age: Origins.   (NOTE:This article contains spoilers.)

Here's a short excerpt to set the stage:

Dragon Age’s fictional religion obviously plays a big part of the story, with the Chantry cast as alternately oppressive and supporting of society and constantly near the centre of attention. Whether you’re helping rogue mages resist what could be seen as religious persecution or collecting ancient texts for Chantry scholars, the religion of Andastre and the Maker is pretty much unavoidable – and when it’s like that, I don’t have a problem with it. Just as in real life, I’ll let people believe what they want as long as they don’t try to make me do the same. It’s on that last, italicised clause that Dragon Age and I start to have problems…

EA sent us a link to the new Leliana's Song trailer. Click on the vid to watch it in 720p.

BioWare is in the process of whipping up a new Dragon Age DLC titled Leliana's Song:

Assume the role of Leliana, a young bard involved in a criminal ring that deals in political secrets. Accompanying her mentor Marjolaine on a high-risk mission, Leliana soon finds herself entangled in a game of intrigue that she cannot escape with just her beauty, charm, or stealth. The only way out of this game is to kill or be killed.

Features:

• Explore Leliana's dangerous past and why she joined the Chantry
• Fully voiced cinematic experience brings the characters to life

Unlock a unique reward that transfers into your Awakening and Origins campaign

EA has announced an anime movie deal for Dragon Age:

Anime Leader to Create Home Video Adaptation of Award-Winning Video Game Franchise “Dragon Age”

BioWare, an EA studio and FUNimation Entertainment, the leading distributor of Japanese animation in North America, announced today an agreement to create an anime feature film adapted from BioWare’s critically-acclaimed fantasy Action RPG franchise Dragon Age. Production of the Dragon Age anime movie is slated to begin in May 2010, with a home video release in 2011. Executive producing the film are Bioware’s Executive Producer MarkDarrah and Creative Director Mike Laidlaw, as well as FUNimation’s Fukunaga and Director of Original Entertainment Chris Moujaes.

“Anime is a great medium for us to continue the robust Dragon Age story,” said Mark Darrah, Executive Producer for the Dragon Age franchise. “Partnering with FUNimation ensures that we are delivering the exceptional quality and entertainment value that our Dragon Age fans expect.”

Victor Wachter from Bioware has made a thread about this on the official Bioware forums. He says that Bioware will be making updates as to how the bug fixing is going, what the patch will fix as well as the issues people have reported will be adressed in the upcoming patch. Here's what he has to say about the bug fixes so far:

The following items are just a small set of fixes that will be included in the update. We know that these are some of the most discussed issues, so we wanted to make sure you knew that they would resolved.

•    Game saves on Xbox 360 were being corrupted if you sold too many items to the same merchant.  Saves will no longer be corrupted if you do this.
•    Daggers will now properly assign the dexterity-based damage bonus
•    Updated audio drivers to fix a number of audio related crashes.

Keep watching for additional details. We’re packing a lot in this update and have more to reveal!

We can't give you a timeframe just yet. Our goal is to release these fixes in the shortest time possible, but we also want to make sure that this update is high quality and doesn't create any new problems. That process will take time, but we will revisit this topic until then with updates to let you know new items that have been resolved or added to the list.

Greywardens.com has a review of Darkspawn Chronicles for Dragon Age.  There's no score but the reviewer clearly likes the game in the main.  A snip on storytelling:

A significant portion of Dragon Age fans became such as a direct result of BioWare’s story telling ability. Darkspawn Chronicles conjures up expectations of a new perspective, new understanding, and even if you know Chronicles is purely about battle, expectations can be formed based solely on BioWare’s history – such expectations will be, unfortunately, scuppered here. Battles are all fine and well, but it is the story that hooks most Dragon Age fans; it is the story that causes them to love the series and look past some of its flaws. The fighting is great, but it is the plot, story and characters that make the game wonderful, and Darkspawn Chronicles has nearly none of this.

Darkspawn cannot talk, most only have very basic functions which all revolve around killing. This forces the main interaction to be between the Archdemon and the character you play. I say interaction, but of course the Darkspawn cannot reply except to do what is commanded. Despite this, the bits where the Archdemon is talking to your character are interesting and fun. This reviewer particularly liked the blurred tunnel-vision that showed areas that needed to be dealt with. As a DLC focused on conflict Chronicles does well, but is shadowed by expectations bred by Dragon Age’s RPG nature and BioWare’s strong storytelling tradition.

Our old friends at Sorcerer's Place have a review of Darkspawn Chronicles for Dragon Age.  The re-use of scenes and unanswered questions are criticised but the author enjoyed the experience overall and scored it at 7.5/10:

Now that I’ve ripped the content to some decent shreds, let’s build it back up again. While there were things that I found wrong with the DLC, there were quite a few things I enjoyed. One - you learn how truly ‘mindless’ the darkspawn are in Origins before the changes occur in Awakening. While there isn’t really anything in the way of dialogue, there really is no reason for dialogue in this addition. Your only mission as the Vanguard is to do whatever is necessary to carry out your orders from the Archdemon who speaks to you via a type of telepathic link. I also enjoyed the ability to kill off those party members who weren’t doing the job. I know, bloodthirsty aren’t I? If you need something better, kill off an enthralled party member and enthrall a new one.

Greywardens writes they have completed a "comprehensive" walkthrough for the Dragon Age DLC Darkspawn Chronicles.

The first full review of Darkspawn Chronicles we've seen is up at IGN, with a pretty ordinary score of 6.5/10:

Because this is a small, self-contained adventure, much of the traditional mechanics that hook you in to Dragon Age have been removed. There's no experience gain or character leveling with any of the Darkspawn. You will get a few new abilities and some gear for your Darkspawn on the way through, but the only concrete sense of progression are damage, constitution and dexterity bonuses gained by companions as kills are made. Prodding the action forward are directions from the Archdemon, but there really isn't much character interaction to speak of, and the disposable nature of your Darkspawn companions means you never develop much of a sense of connection to any of them.

Archmage Silver writes in say Qwinn's Unofficial Fixpack for Dragon Age has reached v2.0, with 36 more fixes in this version.  The Fixpack doesn't support Awakenings but addresses a huge list for DA:O v1.03.  Details in this thread on the Bio forums.

From the Bio forums:

We are very pleased to announce that there will be a PS3 patch available later tonight for the Playstation 3 version of Dragon Age: Origins. The patch is expected at 12 Midnight tonight PST for North America. We do not have an exact time for Europe, but we hope the times will be as close together as possible.

This patch will fix the recent crashing that was caused by the upgrade to the 3.3 firmware update. It will also fix the in-game DLC store to show free DLC content redeemed with promo codes and it will also fix the bug with darkspawn trophies. So again this patch will fix:

• Crashing caused by the 3.3 firmware update


• Missing free DLC content in the in-game store


• Darkspawn trophies

Big thanks go out to the team and to the good folks at Sony for making this a priority to help us launch The Darkspawn Chronicles which will be available starting tomorrow.

Darkspawn Chronicles will be available for the PS3 in North America at approximately 4pm PST tomorrow May 18. It will be available for Europe on Wednesday May 19, when we know the time, we will let you know.


UPDATE - The PS3 patch is now available to fans in Europe AND in North America.

Greywardens has two pages of first impressions from the latest Dragon Age DLC, Darkspawn Chronicles:

Make no mistake – unlike previous DLCs which have fleshed out the lore of Dragon Age, or introduced new characters, Darkspawn Chronicles is a vivid glance into the brutal, dark world of the Archdemon and its minions. There’s no room for diplomacy here, and no time to take prisoners – as the hurlock vanguard of the Horde your task is simple: burn Denerim to the ground and destroy any resistance against the might of the Archdemon. But as gruesome as playing the Horde is, there’s no doubt about it that BioWare wants players to have fun in this DLC. With powerful darkspawn thralls, and a host of new abilities at your command, a main attraction here is in wreaking havoc and destruction upon the very world we as Grey Wardens are so often tasked with saving.

Emphasis from the original article.

Dragon Age: Origins - The Darkspawn Chronicles is now available for the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 for $5.

Here is a quick description:

Play as the darkspawn! The city of Denerim, jewel of Ferelden, girds itself for war. As a hurlock vanguard, you alone hold the power to make thralls of your fellow darkspawn and drive them into the heat of battle. Heed the archdemon's call--Denerim must burn!

Thanks to Thrasher for the reminder.

Beyond the Horde Mind: Darkspawn Disciples looks at the emergence of intelligent darkspawn in Dragon Age:

The further we travel in Ferelden, however, the more clever the darkspawn become. In fact, in Orzammar, we learn exactly how the darkspawn horde has gotten so large. In the Deep Roads, we see first-hand how the darkspawn propagate, and get our first hard evidence that the darkspawn are more than just mindless killers. They have plans and intentions, however grisly, for the unwitting dwarves, humans, or elves they encounter and abduct. Female Wardens should remember vividly the fate that awaits any civilian woman who is captured by the darkspawn: females of all races are transformed into the Broodmothers, mutating, through a process of dark ritual magic, into monstrous creatures who birth darkspawn by the hundreds to bolster the ranks of the horde.

Greywardens.com sent over two new Dragon Age editorials they've penned.  The first discusses Alistair and Cailan and the second, food and drink in Ferelden.

Upcoming Dragon Age DLC Darkspawn Chronicles has been previewed at GameSpot.  It seems roleplaying isn't high on the list of priorities:

You play a darkspawn general, a hurlock vanguard, described by Bartel as "a new type of darkspawn given a measure of free will by the archdemon." It's the archdemon--that is, the dragon that leads the darkspawn horde--that telepathically issues your orders to take the city. Your party comprises various disposable thralls: darkspawn units recruited on the battlefield with your vanguard's instant recruitment ability. Blight wolves, hurlocks, genlocks, and ogres are up for grabs, as well as stealthy shrieks and fireball-hurling emissaries. It's the same four-character party setup as previously, but rather than swapping out one member for a more useful unit, you execute the unfortunate conscript.

These are, explains Bartel, not the talking, fully sentient darkspawn introduced in Awakening, but the orc-like creatures of the game proper. Generally, role-playing elements are stripped down in favour of a brisk, combat-based experience. Dialogue menus, for instance, just "didn't make sense" given your grunting, brutish cohorts, says Bartel.

GameSpot has a Darkspawn Chronicles interview we missed last week.  Here's a snip:

GS: Perhaps the greatest strength Origins had going for it was a deeply involving story and well-developed characters. How do you do storytelling when your central cast of characters includes the likes of genlocks and ogres?

RB: We're definitely positioning Darkspawn Chronicles as a powerful visceral experience rather than as a moving coming-of-age story about an ogre and his pet blight wolf. The lives of the darkspawn are brutish, cruel, and short, but that's part of what makes them compelling. The archdemon has put you in charge of capturing the city of Denerim and eliminating the threat posed by the Grey Wardens. As a fan of the Dragon Age story, you can't help but feel powerful as your ogre tears through the defenders' barricades. When your emissary sets fire to the great tree in the elven alienage, you can't help but understand the emotional impact that that would have had on that community. When you come to the archdemon's aid in the final hour and drive your blade through the heart of the Warden King, you can't help but realize that you have turned history on its head. So, while there isn't a lot of dialogue and talking heads, the Darkspawn Chronicles is a story of loss and of absence--what would the world have become if your hero had died in the joining?

There's a trailer for BioWare's $5 Darkspawn Chronicles DLC over at VoodooExtreme.

From the BioWare forums, Fernando Melo comments on the PS3 patch for Dragon Age, after the last firmware update created some problems:

Thanks for your patience with all of this.

Since this happened, we've pulled additional programmers from the main game teams to help on this and have been running several parallel investigations non-stop to find potential solutions from our end, as well as continuing to work with Sony for both dev support and other options.

Thanks to the great feedback on here and from those folks we've been in contact with directly, the team now thinks we've been able to find a code-side workaround from our end to patch DA to play nicer with firmware 3.3, which was one of our investigation threads.

At this time I still don't have a date estimate for a DA patch with this fix however, and unfortunately we do not believe there is a manual workaround for this (one of the other threads we're investigating).

We are currently testing this proposed code change as I write this, and if successful the next step will be for it to go into EA's publisher side certification testing. They are aware of the importance of this and will give this priority in the queue of titles/patches across EA. And once that clears, it will go into Sony cert testing.

Sorry, wish I had better news to offer already - but progress is being made and I'll continue to update as we know more.

BioWare has kicked up a page for the Darkspawn Chronicles DLC that was revealed yesterday.  This $5 standalone adventure will see you playing as a darkspawn; from the official blurb:

You now fight as the Darkspawn! The city of Denerim, jewel of Ferelden, girds itself for war. As a hurlock vanguard, you alone hold the power to make thralls of your fellow darkspawn and drive them into the heat of battle. Heed the archdemon's call--Denerim must burn!

    *  A look at an alternate history: what if your character had died in the Joining ceremony, and the Grey Wardens marched under Alistair's command instead?
    * A standalone adventure in which you command genlocks, hurlocks, shrieks, and even the mighty ogres.
    * Complete the module and unlock an epic Darkspawn item in DA:O and Awakening.

Qwinn of PS: Torment tweak pack fame has made a tweak pack for Dragon Age: Origins. The aim is to correct some of the bugs that has crept into the game with the release of the 1.03 patch. You can view the full changelog here, but be aware that it'll be full of spoilers. Here's an excerpt:

A. General fixes:

1. The Stealing and Dog Fetching bugs introduced in patch 1.03 (where they could not generate random items) are fixed. As of v1.1 this is implemented as a "core" fix and should also fix stealing in Awakening. This is the *only* fix currently in the Fixpack that affects anything outside of the single player Origins game. Thanks to Nukenin for his advice on how to best implement this patch.


B. Origin related fixes:

1. "Human Noble": At the beginning of the main hall battle, it was briefly possible to initiate dialogue with Ser Gilmore and prematurely trigger his post-combat dialogue. Doing so would make the exit never open, forcing a game restart/reload. Now, if you talk to him during that brief interval, he just shouts one of several combat barks instead.

2. "Mage": During the Harrowing, if you have acquired your staff and you talk to Bear Mouse, he would prematurely shout, out of context, "And there is a spirit of rage". Then, when you actually got near the spirit of rage, he'd initiate a casual conversation, again quite out of context.

VG247 is pointing out an Xbox Live schedule for the month of May with a Dragon Age DLC, titled "Darkspawn Chronicles." 

Inon Zur's PR crew sent out this PR, announcing his Dragon Age score will be perfomed at the next Joystick concert.  I'd go, but Sweden is a bit out of my way:

MALMO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TO PERFORM INON ZUR'S AWARD-WINNING MUSIC FROM DRAGON AGE^TM: ORIGINS

On May 21st, the world of Ferelden will come to life in Sweden through the Malmö Symphony Orchestra at Joystick 3.0 Concert

Los Angeles, CA - April 29, 2010 - Inon Zur's award-winning music for the dark fantasy Role Playing Game Dragon Age™: Origins will be performed by the Malmö Symphony Orchestra at the "Joystick 3.0" symphonic video game music concert in Sweden on May 21st, 2010. The Joystick concert series currently holds the world record for a game music performance with an attendance of 17,000 at the first show in 2006. Tickets for the concert can be ordered from the Malmö Symphony Orchestra website www.mso.se.

"We are very pleased to invite the music from Dragon Age: Origins into our family of game music," said Joystick concert producer Orvar Safstrom. "Inon Zur's compositions transcend the genre, by not only enhancing the game's scenes but also by contributing unique and powerful elements to the overall atmosphere and storyline. Our audience is in for a real treat."

Greywardens.com has penned another article discussing Dragon Age lore, this time looking at the hard lives of Orzammar's dwarves:

Trapped on the lowest rung of the social ladder, the casteless have only two ways of escaping the fate that awaits them, lost among the crumbling tunnels of Orzammar. If casteless women are fortunate enough to bear a child of a higher caste, then they are automatically elevated to the rank of their child’s father. We see this in-game with Rica, the Warden’s sister.

The other option is of course to enlist in the Legion of the Dead, joining that fabled band of fearless warriors and seeking your death at the hands of the darkspawn, in exchange for clearing your family name. But when prostitution or death are your only options out of a miserable life, the only question that remains is why more casteless haven’t abandoned Orzammar entirely.

Another couple of editorials from Dragon Age fansite Greywardens.com.  The first is an in-depth look at mages and the associated lore and the second is about the "cultural and technological stasis" that sees Ferelden locked in the same medieval period for thousands of years.

Gamebanshee has completed their walkthrough and updated their Dragon Age: Origins guide.

The walkthrough spans 94 pages, and has info about maps, quests, companions, codex entries, and much more more.

Greywardens.com sends word of two new articles at their Dragon Age fansite.  The first is a video walkthrough of the interior of Vigil's Keep in Awakening and then an editorial on the role and background of the Grey Wardens themselves.

Greywardens catches up with Dragon Age mod author Mengtzu, who created Fragments of Ferelden.  By the way, is anyone playing story mods for DA?

Greywardens.com has the second part of their David Gaider interview, discussing writing in general and some specific aspects of Awakening and his recent books.  A snip:

As with Origins, Awakening has laid the claim for dynamic and interesting party members. Anybody who has played Origins certainly knows just how human many of the companions can come across. Which of the new party members in Awakening did you write and who is your favorite (not necessarily out of those you wrote).

I wrote Justice, Nathaniel Howe, and Anders. I’d say of all of them Justice was my favorite. I always got the sense while writing him that he had a larger story arc to explore. He’s your classic Pinnochio-type character–through his exploration of humanity we get to say something about the human condition, and in the case of Justice we also get to explore the spirits of the Fade as things other than faceless or cartoonish concepts.

Dragon Age fansite Greywardens.com has a boatload of content with a several new editorials and an interview with writer David Gaider.  The first part covers his job and background at BioWare, with a second part coming tomorrow.

On the editorial front, there's a piece on Narrative Disconnect, such as can happen when your ending to Origins isn't fully supported by Awakening. Then there's a commentary on Elves in Ferelden and romances with All's Fair in Love and Politics.

Yesterday was April's 1st. A day where you try to fool people. Bioware wanted to join in the fun and released the Feastday Prank and Feastday Pack DLC for Dragon Age:
Origins. Apparently, people in Ferelden like to play jokes on each other, too. As Victor Wactor writes:

Satinalia, a day of wild celebration and sumptuous holiday feasts celebrated across Thedas, has arrived! In Ferelden tradition, gifts and pranks are exchanged on Feastday among friends, family and lovers. Now you'll be able to join the festivities and surprise your companions with gifts that may touch their hearts or offend their sensibilities.

Feastday gifts and pranks offer the player a chance to explore the approval system in Dragon Age: Origins at greater depth by making your companions despise or adore you. These packs are available for purchase individually or as a combo back containing both the Gifts and Pranks.

Feastday Prank Pack
A collection of mostly humorous prank items that will significantly decrease your followers' affections for you. Some of these items have additional special uses once given to your followers. Bodahn stocks the pranks in his store at the party camp year-round.

Includes:

• Ten unique Feastday pranks that your party members will love to hate. Each prank is specific to one potential companion.
• Two types of gifts to let you apologize afterward.
  
  
  Example Prank:
  Protective Cone — Give to Dog to decrease his approval.
• Additional Functionality: After giving the gift, Dog can equip the item as a collar.
  
  Feastday Gift Pack
  A collection of mostly humorous gift items that will significantly increase your followers' affections for you. Many of these items have additional special uses once given to your followers. Bodahn stocks the gifts in his store at the party camp year-round.
  
  Includes:
• Ten unique Feastday gifts that your party members are sure to love. Each gift is specific to one potential companion.
• Two types of lousy gifts to let your companions know you weren't completely serious.
  
  
  Example Gift:
  Grey Warden Hand Puppet — Give to Alistair to increase his approval.
• Additional Functionality: After giving the gift, activate the item to make Alistair put on a puppet show.
  
  
  Feastday Combo Pack
  A combo pack that includes all the items from the Feastday gift and prank packs. You will also incur a savings when the feastday items are purchased as a combo pack.
  
  Feastday Gift and Prank DLC items are now available for purchase on the PlayStation Network Store for $1.99, XBox Live Marketplace for 160 points and for PC for 160 BioWare Points, except for PS3 owners in Europe, where an error occurred resulting in the items being released for free earlier this month – so these items will remain free in that region. A bundle with both packs is also available at a discount. For more details visit the Dragon Age Add-On page: http://www.dragonage.com/addon

The DLC itself is not a prank, it is very real. Buck at Gamebanshee has updated their database with both the Feastday Prank Pack items as well as the Feastday Gift Pack items. Now anyone want to watch Alistair's puppet show?

Greywardens.com is pumping out the content, with today's Dragon Age analysis looking at the Templars and the morality of their position.

Greywardens.com let us know they have a competition to win a Dragon Age branded laser mouse - and this one is open to any country.

Another article from Greywardens.com that examines the content of Dragon Age.  The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Anything But the Truth discusses the role of perception and history in the game.  Here's a snip from the intro:

If you look through the codex, you’ll see that most of the entries are from personal journals and letters, or one-sided accounts of historical events. Everything has a bias, and that makes decision-making all the more difficult for the player. This is no accident. As David Gaider has stated on the BioWare Social Network:

“Some people might prefer it if any info relayed regarding the history takes only one and clearly factual path — but as a style choice we freely change up any history we present in Dragon Age according to the one that is presenting it.”

Spoilers apply. 

Greywardens.com sends word of an article titled The Good, The Bad, The Grey Wardens, which discusses morality in Dragon Age:

DA:O makes being all good or all evil extremely difficult.  There is no system to reward good decisions (or evil ones), unlike the BioWare RPGs that have preceded it.  In the Mass Effect world, you have the Paragon/Renegade scale.  The closer to each extreme you fall, the greater number of options you’ll have in dialogue.  In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, there’s the Light Side/Dark Side of the force, and choosing one opens up new abilities. The decisions in DA:O themselves are not so clearly bad or good.  Often something that seems like a good decision at the time has unexpected, dark consequences.  One word:  Landsmeet.

Our own Michael 'txa1265' Anderson has written a review of the Mac port of Dragon Age at VGBlogger.  Since the content is the same, the article covers the performance and technical aspects and references his previous PC review for the gameplay aspects.

Chris Priestly has updated the Bioware blog  with info about the DA comic book series being published by IWD Publishing. He informs us that the first issue of the series is now available from Itunes. And there's a sneak peak of the first 6 pages  of the first book in the series.

Here's his explanation as to what direction this comic book series will go:

Dragon Age (the comic) is build directly from the story and lore created by BioWare, but is created by an amazing team of artists and writers from IDW. The comic is written by acclaimed author Orson Scott Card (author of the Ender Saga amongst much more) and Aaron Johnson with interior art by Mark Robinson and cover art by renowned artist Humberto Ramos. The comic will take video game fans into a whole new adventure in the Dragon Age world. In a time lost to history, a war ravaged the land. Mages, incredibly powerful wielders of magic, ruled the world through mastery of dark arts and forbidden spells. Their lust for power almost destroyed all existence, and unleashed an unholy pestilence, the Darkspawn, to plague mankind, trolls, faeries, and all the inhabitants of the realm. Now magic is carefully controlled, taught behind the sacred walls of the Circle of Magi, and monitored by the ever-vigilant Templars. It is in this arena that a new generation of Mages in training will arise, warriors of sorcery who will defy the rules of the Templars and change the course of the world forever.

VG247 (via 1Up) has an interesting discovery.  Apparently retail copies of Dragon Age: Awakening contain a teaser card with an image of the Dragon Age blood dragon - and a date of February 1st, 2011.  We already know a DA title is expected around that time, according to a recent EA financial conference call.  Is this the specific release date for a sequel?

Thanks, Lemonhead.

Bioware has released  patch 1.03  for Dragon Age: Origins. Here's the patch notes:

Various changes have been made to code and resources to support the Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening expansion pack. Most of these changes do not affect Origins itself.
Some players were experiencing increasingly long load times. A major cause of this problem has been fixed.
At higher levels, non-player characters now receive a bonus to armor penetration. This mitigates an unintentional imbalance with well-armored high-level characters, since armor penetration previously did not scale as aggressively as armor itself did.
Elite-rank enemies (lieutenants) can no longer be shattered. This preserves the intended tactical design of many combat encounters.
Portraits for summoned creatures (like a ranger's wolf) were displaying improperly while in the party camp. This no longer occurs.

As you can see many of these changes are identical to the changes occuring in the patch released for PS3 earlier.

Omega sends in this short review of Dragon Age at Mac Life.  The score is 4.5/5 and here's a snip, though I'm not sure everyone will agree:

BioWare has never made a casual RPG, and the robust Dragon Age is no exception. You’ll customize your character and their specialization, leading to variations like a berserker fighting style for your warrior, shape-shifting or healing abilities for your mage, and improved lock picking for your rogue. Since you can add more characters for your party and switch between them as needed, you end up with broad yet specific control over every encounter.

Managing your party effectively requires you to directly control one character and assign behaviors to the other members of your party. For example, if you want your archer and mage to provide covering fire while the others attack with swords, just open the Tactics menu and assign a behavior, and the character will follow it as needed.

If you have the PS3 version of DA: Origins and you want more gameplay, Bioware announced that the PS3 version of Return to Ostagar will be released on March 11th 2010.
Here's the word from Chris Priestly on the Bioware DA forums:

Return to Ostagar for the PlayStation 3 has passed certification and will be released on March 11, 2010.

We will also be releasing an update for the PlayStation 3 version of Dragon Age a week ahead of time on March 4, 2010. We'll release the contents of this update once we have the final list of changes.

If you have a Macintosh computer, and are in the US, you can now get Dragon Age: Origins at Direct 2 Drive for half the price. And apparently Steam is coming to Macintosh as well:

The sale lasts one week, until March 11, 2010, at 10AM Pacific. Looks like Direct2Drive wants to get one good sales push in before Steam allegedly comes to Mac.

A patch for the PS3 version of Dragon Age: Origins has been released by Bioware. Apparently, it contains some changes that have not yet made it into the Xbox 360 and
the PC versions of the game.

- Various changes have been made to code and resources to support the Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening expansion pack.

- At higher levels, non-player characters now receive a bonus to armor penetration. This mitigates an unintentional imbalance with well-armored high-level characters, since armor penetration previously did not scale as aggressively as armor itself did.

- Elite-rank enemies (lieutenants) can no longer be shattered. This preserves the intended tactical design of many combat encounters.

- Portraits for summoned creatures were displaying improperly while in the party camp. This no longer occurs.- All book-based specializations will now automatically unlock once the Warden reaches level 14. Books will still be available from vendors so you can unlock these specializations before level 14.

- Modified game-side achievement system to allow adding new ones.

- Fixed a streaming problem that made props disappear. This no longer occurs.

Game Revolution has reviewed Return to Ostagar, the DLC for DA: Origins. They don't think it's worthwhile, as the score of D reveals as does these words:

All told, there's not much to recommend in this DLC. The loot isn't game-changing, the plot is bare-bones, and the story-building basically nonexistent. Unless you absolutely need to possess Cailan's sweet golden shoulderpads, stop your plans to Return to Ostagar and turn straight back.

If you've finished - and enjoyed - Dragon Age, this is worth a look.  BioWare's David Gaider and a fan named Aimo have collaborated to create a comic called Revelations.  This provides more context to a major moment with Morrigan (you'll know what I mean if you completed the game) by expanding on a scene that was cut from the final game.  Spoilers, obviously.  Here's David's explanation:

David Gaider – “I’ve always been a big fan of Aimo’s art – she has an incredible ability to capture the emotions of her characters. So I started chatting with her a bit back in January, and the idea came up for us to maybe collaborate on something. I mentioned a cutscene we had considered doing prior to Morrigan’s offer in the climax (*spoiler alert* for anyone who hasn’t played that far in Origins) but which had been left on the cutting room floor along with so many other scenes. This one in particular was hard to cut, because it was supposed to give some context to the player who romances Morrigan or who had become really good friends with her that what she was about to do was causing her conflict. As is pretty typical for game development, however, you have to work with the resources at hand… but this comic will maybe allow some people a brief glimpse into the “might have been” that was. Naturally Aimo’s efforts here were ten times mine… all I had to do was write up the scene from memory and then she proceeded to sketch it out over the next few weeks. Pretty awesome, if you ask me. Hope you all enjoy it!”

GameBanshee has whipped up their opinion on Dragon Age.  The NPCs are praised but the "dull" plot and "boring" combat are clear negatives, with the author ultimately concluding he only "moderately" enjoyed it:

The plotting overall isn’t noteworthy. Not that I mind a series of clichés; most entertainment or art starts with that. It’s how you expand upon it that matters, and the development in DA:O is standard formula. I never came away with the feeling, as I did in BG2 or Ultima VII, of being a pawn successfully moved about in a much, much larger game, or disrupting a very carefully laid and complex plan, as in BG1, or discovering that everything I knew was wrong, as in Planescape: Torment. I gathered a party to punish a highly-placed, powerful traitor, then dealt with a still more powerful army of invaders. On the other hand, dialog between your party members and yourself is superlative for content, structure, immediate mannerisms, and the gradual unfolding of character traits you’d expect from successive pieces of dialog as your party comes to “know” you.

Eurogamer offer their opinion on RtO calling it a 'feeble half-baked offering', and with a final score of 4/10 you can guess the vibe here.

It's unlikely that Return to Ostagar, the latest squirt from BioWare's busy digital udder, will offer any satisfying answers to these burning questions. It's a thin, forgettable little thing, cheap in price yet offering little more than 30 minutes of one-note gameplay for your virtual money. What you're really doing is forking out for another stat-boosting set of matching armour pieces and some rather tasty weaponry, dressed up in a rather half-baked narrative shell.

As the title prosaically suggests, you're headed back to Ostagar, the game-opening scene of King Cailan's grisly defeat, Loghain's betrayal and the fall of the Grey Wardens. A location loaded with importance for the world of Dragon Age, then, but its potential remains sadly untapped by the time you reach the end of this minor diversion.

GamePro takes a look at Return to Ostagar for Dragon Age in this review.  The score is 2.5/5 and here's a snip:

In Dragon Age's first DLC pack, unexciting battles against too-familiar foes replace the core game's engaging storytelling. Generic genlocks fling arrows at you while darkspawn lumber toward you in a laughable attempt to take your team down. The encounters are especially easy if, like me, you roll back into Ostagar with a high-level character. Hell, even on my second play-through, using my level 12 warrior, I blew through the kill-'em-all objective in just half an hour without so much as a scratch to remember it by. The loot, another crucial hook to Dragon Age, is particularly disappointing for high-end players. Pilfering pieces of King Cailan's badass armor from fallen foes is worthwhile for low-level characters, but the golden gear is scrap metal for experienced Wardens.

EA's 3rd quarter reporting has produced a couple of interesting tidbits regarding Dragon Age.  First, EA took this opportunity to announce 3.2M units have shipped:

BIOWARE’S DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS REACHES TRIPLE PLATINUM SALES

Legendary Studio’s Newest Title Wins over 30 Industry Awards, Ships Over 3 Million Units Becoming BioWare’s Sixth Consecutive Blockbuster Franchise

Edmonton, Alberta (February 8, 2010) – Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), announced today that Dragon Age™: Origins has sold-in over 3.2 million* units worldwide. The “RPG of the Year” as named by Game Informer, G4, SpikeTV, AOL.com, and PC Gamer, Dragon Age: Origins has been hailed by Seth Schiesel of The New York Times as, “…perhaps the best electronic game made yet.” Dragon Age: Origins has won over 30 “Best of 2009” awards and has an average review score of 91**. This staggering critical and commercial success makes Dragon Age: Origins the sixth consecutive blockbuster from BioWare, alongside Baldur's Gate™, Neverwinter Nights™, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, Jade Empire™ and Mass Effect™.

Since the release of Dragon Age: Origins in fall 2009, the studio has continued to enchant gamers with additional content packs including Warden’s Keep and Return to Ostagar. The upcoming expansion pack, Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening is set to launch on March 16, 2010.

“This is a tremendous start for the Dragon Age franchise and we are extremely pleased with the great reception the game has already received from critics and fans worldwide,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA. “Our team is dedicated to crafting high quality, engaging new adventures and stories in the world of Ferelden for our fans!”

Second, the summary of the 3rd quarter results has a business outlook section that lists an unannounced Dragon Age title for January - March 2011, on consoles, PC and handhelds.

Handhelds?

MTV looks at Return to Ostagar and says "you're better off staying at home":

Even if you've just picked up "Dragon Age: Origins," this DLC isn't worth your time. Another piece of DLC, "Warden's Keep," has decent armor in it, as well as presents fiction that is much more compelling than this. If you've already conquered the all that is offered in the game, well, you're definitely not missing anything here. "Return to Ostagar" adds almost nothing to the fiction, and doesn't even offer up worthwhile loot.

The Big Download has a short review of Return to Ostagar.  No score, but they seem pleased:

Despite its brevity, the Return to Ostagar quest is well worth having since Cailan's weapons and armor are very useful and powerful. It's also very good for fans that appreciate having closure, like finding out what happened to Cailan's body. However, we were a little disappointed that we were unable to find Duncan body anywhere. Also, this quest seems best geared toward melee characters, since we didn't find any loot that suited mages, even in the remains of the area where the Circle of Magi camped out. When all taken together, Return to Ostagar provides an excellent reason to play load up Dragon Age again, if only for a little while, or perhaps start a new character. If nothing else, it helps prepare for the full expansion that will release in March.

Gamerzines sends word they have the first of a multi-part interview with Ray Muzyka.  This first installment deals with Dragon Age DLC, with Ray intriguingly saying they have "some standalone games currently in development for the Dragon Age universe":

GZ: Awakening seems much bigger than anything else done digitally. How big is it exactly? How many hours?

RM: It's a full expansion for the Dragon Age Universe, it's rich and explores a lot about the back story, explaining the things that players are curious about. You learn a lot more about the darkspawn and their motivation, and more of the cool things going on underneath the world. I think it'll answer a lot of the questions players had in the original game. It's a meaty expansion, a lot of developers would release it as a full game but we're releasing it as a great, high quality, really rich expansion for Dragon Age.

GZ: Obviously due to it's size would you consider releasing it as a standalone product?

RM: We aren't planning to at the moment but we do have some standalone games currently in development for the Dragon Age universe. Along with a lot more DLC and expansion content, so it's a mix of both for Dragon Age.

The first official update for The Awakening is up at the Dragon Age site gallery with screens and a video of the Queen of the Blackmarsh - a "deadly spectral dragon".

Greywardens.com let us know they've published a walkthrough for Return to Ostagar.

Fansite Greywardens.com has reviewed DA: Return to Ostagar, awarding a score of 7/10:

Return to Ostagar is not about the deep emotional development of characters, nor is it about beautiful environments. It is about a tradition as old as roleplaying games themselves. It is about booting down the door, killing the monsters, and nicking their stuff. It is about loot, levels and being the biggest bad-ass you can be.

Combat is where this DLC’s excels. From the moment you enter Ostagar to the moment you leave, you are essentially in one big punch-up. Your foes are laid out in tactically advantageous positions and will often attack in waves to challenge not just your skills as a warrior, but also your resource management. While this is something so simple, it is executed in such a fashion as to avoid the constant melée becoming tedious. Be warned, however, go into some of RtO’s battles half-cocked and you may find yourself hanging with the King in a most literal sense.

You didn't know Dragon Age 2 was confirmed, did you?  It's not surprising, though, and even less surprising that the graphics would be improved.  Still, Greg Zeschuk wants to make that point.  From Joystiq:

Dragon Age: Origins presents strong evidence that great games can overcome gawd-awful graphics, but BioWare isn't about to test that theory -- and the limits of our forgiveness -- again in the sequel. "I think one of the key things we're working on in Dragon Age 2 is the technology," BioWare VP Greg Zeschuk recently told Joystiq. "I can confirm that we're doing a lot of work on the Dragon Age engine, and doing a lot of stuff to pump it -- to make it visually super hot."

...Hopefully for reals this time.  Victor Wachter announces Return to Ostagar is available for PC and the product page seems to indicate X360 as well, but not PS3:

Hi all,

We have some great news for PC players! Knowing that RtO has been so anticipated, we worked through the remaining steps in the testing and release process today, and Return to Ostagar will is now available for purchase and download on the PC today, January 29, 2010.

Thanks for playing and have a great weekend avenging the fallen Grey Wardens!

Head to the RtO page here.

GearDiary has another article from Mike Anderson reviewing the soundtrack for Bioware's Dragon Age in detail. You can read his take on what worked and what didn't here.

Vince D. Weller has penned a review of Dragon Age for RPG Codex.  While noting a number of flaws, the overall tone is positive - even going as far as to say the roleplaying opportunities are better than any RPG since Arcanum.  Here's an early snip:

However, the world within these constraints of generic fantasy is very well designed and polished, and if you let it, will surprise you with its depth and the quality of its "unique takes and variants on some old familiar standards". To be honest, I hate all that elves and dwarves crap with passion, but I've genuinely enjoyed visiting different hubs and learning about different cultures, races, and customs, which led me to the conclusion that what I hate isn't the races but the cardboard cutout implementations - "these are dwarves, they live underground and like to fight; awesome or what?" Bioware definitely did a superb job there and raised the bar quite a lot.

Steam is taking preorders for The Awakening if you have the Steam version of Dragon Age.

I don't know if this idea will take off but Grey Wardens let us know they have kicked off a series of recordings of live pen-and-paper sessions using Green Ronin's Dragon Age rules:

To celebrate the upcoming release of Green Ronin’s Dragon Age RPG, we’ve gotten together with RPGMP3.com. and the Pantsless Gamers, to bring you an exciting series of Actual Play recordings. This series will follow our group of rabid adventurers every week, from Character Creation to Victory–or party wipe, whichever comes first.

BioWare's Victor Wachter has communicated an update on the current confusion with the recent X360 title update and the effects on the Return to Ostagar DLC.  Apparently these days, even consoles have too many permutations to test:

To those 360 players affected by the Title Update issue this week, our sincere apologies.

The situation is something we are taking very seriously and the team is continuing to work around the clock to rectify.

DA:O is an incredibly large, very deep and complex game, making it virtually impossible to test every system and permutation possible for each update/DLC.

When testing any large endeavor like that, we depend on selectively targeting systems related to the changes being made, prioritized by order of perceived risk.

Unfortunately we did not foresee the changes being made to impact the systems it did, which is how something seemingly so visible still managed to avoid the dev team, and multiple test cycles of seasoned QA all through our internal teams, and EA & MS cert teams, and ultimately ended up out to the public.

To help us avoid similar problems in the future, we're updating all our test plans across all platforms to take additional edge cases into account, as well as committing to more detailed test passes that will also prevent something like this happening again.

Short term, this means another delay across all platforms for the immediate console patches and Return to Ostagar DLC releases as this is a substantial increase in test coverage, and that time is needed to do so and ensure there are no other knock on issues with either the main game, the updates or the DLC.

In the meantime, there is good news - a fix is already in test for the 360 issue and looking very good, we hope to have a new update out as soon as possible and will update you as best as we can. If successful through the updated test plans, it will still deliver the expected fixes as well as restore the game saves for anyone affected by this week's title update. For now, we do not have a timeframe for when the fix will pass approval and certification, but we will keep you updated.

In addition, while this creates a delay with the immediate content already expected to have released, the additional testing actually benefits some of the upcoming DLC and expansion pack, and as such is not expected to impact dates of the future content.

Thank you again for your patience.

Though posted by Victor, the text comes from Online Producer Fernando Melo.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has some commentary on the technical issues and communication surrounding Dragon Age DLC.  From initial issues getting the free addons to poor communication on the status of Return to Ostagar, John Walker feels something is amiss:

Having encountered some of these problems myself (a combination of two bugs: some DLC not appearing as available for purchase, and that which is getting stuck at 100% downloaded and never installing), it was only via that (now officially stickied) thread that I was able to (eventually) solve the problems. These solutions involve procedures as complex as delving through cmd.exe to type in long mysterious glyphs, to rooting around in Windows’ Services. Others have found that setting their non-US PC to think it’s in the US has fixed problems. Others still discovered that changing the administration settings on various aspects of the Updater software improved things. Basically, things someone wanting to play a game shouldn’t have to be worrying about.

But these problems all got a lot less technical with Return To Ostagar. Due on the 5th January for both PC and 360 it was announced that morning that something was wrong with the code and it was to be delayed. Well, “announced” is a strong term. There was a post on the forum. The game’s own site simply removed the release date, and made no further statement nor gave any explanation, and in doing so gave the impression it was released. It’s still in the same state thirteen days later, and that’s despite the further madness that’s ensued.

Grey Wardens has a look at Green Ronin's pen-and-paper version of Dragon Age:

DAGR was developed around Green Ronin’s in-house system, AGE (Adventure Gaming Engine). Yet, while DAGR fortunately holds true to the Dragon Age setting, it has avoided the obvious pit-trap of following Dragon Age the computer game too closely. There are similarities in some spells and abilities, but you cannot learn to play DAGR by playing DAO; or visa versa. More importantly, DAGR does not (as many like games have) force the players back through Origins storyline.

Pop Matters discusses the random encounters in Dragon Age, which aren't actually random, and thus serve more purpose than just another combat.  This is potentially spoiler-ish:

Many of these random battles aren’t actually random but quest related. A lot of the quests that we’re given involve meeting someone on the busy countryside roads: A swindler sold mages fake documents, so we have to watch for him on the road. Some soldiers are going to falsely accuse a mage of performing illegal magic, so we have to stop them on the road. After you snoop too close to something secret, you’re ambushed on the road. When the antagonist hires an assassin to kill us, we encounter the killer on the road and so on. All of these encounters serve to further their individual sub-plots. We’re still progressing through the game even when our travels are interrupted by a random battle. We never feel like our time has been wasted with a meaningless fight.

Despite being pulled yesterday, GameBanshee found a handful of sites who managed to grab Return to Ostagar from Live and whip up reviews.  They're all small sites but the comments are largely consistent.

EndSights awarded 3/5:

It’s unfortunate that collecting these items and then killing a boss is all there is to the DLC, but for $5 I guess that’s expected. Completing the content will take 45 minutes to an hour. The DLC isn’t too story-heavy as you’ll be fighting most of the way through it; in addition, the ending to the content doesn’t make it clear that it’s officially over, which left me to question whether or not I was done and/or if I had missed something. All in all, learning the fate of King Cailan is interesting and the loot is worth finding. It’s interesting while it lasts, but unfortunately it ends sooner than you might hope.

RPad.TV calls their article (Not a) Review - I'm not sure what that means but here's a snip:

For $5, Return to Ostagar is a pretty poor value. BioWare’s launch DLC offered important features that you could enjoy throughout the entire game. The Stone Prisoner gives you Shale, arguably the most entertaining companion in the game, as well as a versatile warrior. Warden’s Keep gives you an amazingly useful storage chest and access to the best sword in the game. Return to Ostagar has its share of goodies, but nothing nearly as useful or entertaining.

...and Addicted to Gaming is more positive but agrees with the length.  Score - 3.5/5:

Return to Ostagar pretty much does what it says on the tin. Word reaches your ears that a survivor of the great battle has escaped captivity and is seeking the aid of the Grey Wardens. The Darkspawn have dug in deep at Ostagar and it is up to the brave ones to return to the battlefield and take revenge on these demonic creatures for their fallen mentor and King. I managed to complete the DLC in just under 45 minutes with one achievement unlocked (“In War, Victory” – worth 25 gamerpoints) and while this may disappoint some, you need to remember the low cost of the pack itself and the nice shiny new gear you receive from it.

It seems this happened earlier than expected because we haven't seen the usual press releases and even Chris Priestly admits to being surprised.  Still, the Return to Ostagar DLC has been released on Live and the PC version should be up "later today".  This was posted 3 hours ago, as I type:

Hi folks

Return to Ostagar is now unexpectedly available for the Xbox 360. We will be making the PC version available later today and will have the PS3 version available later.

Update:  The X360 version has been pulled and now we're waiting for more information on all versions.  Here's the latest post:

Hello Dragon Age fans

This morning a title update on the Xbox 360 for Dragon Age: Origins was made available in preparation for the release of Return to Ostagar. This title update introduced a previously undetected issue that causes specialization classes to not work correctly in Dragon Age: Origins. We are removing Return to Ostagar from Xbox Live until the issue is resolved and are recommending that you do not download the title update.  If you have already performed the update, we apologize for this and are working hard to ensure a fix is available as soon as possible.

We will provide more information to you when it is available.

After some controversy of the pricing of The Awakening, Sir_Brennus writes the German price is 29.99 Euro according to GameStar.de, which converts to a similar amount as the US price but represents a departure from the previous USD$1 = 1 Euro strategy for Dragon Age DLC.

Italian website La Maschera Riposta posted a very detailed review on Dragon Age: Origins.

PC.IGN is the first site we're aware of to catch up with BioWare about Dragon Age: The Awakening, with Online Producer Fernando Melo answering their questions.  It covers some good general grounding and is worth a read but the subject of length has come up on our forums, so here's a quote on that:

IGN: How large is the expansion in terms of memory? Are you offering it as a download item for people that bought digital copies, or is it solely available as a retail disc version?

Fernando Melo: There will be both retail and download versions of it. It is by far the biggest expansion that we'll be releasing. I can't talk about the number of hours at this point, but in general, you can definitely expect a lot of gameplay. I don't think we know how to make games differently. Even without the replayability, I think it's safe to say that it's larger than pretty much any downloadable content out there. I think we need to treat it a lot more like a traditional retail expansion, which is really what it is -- it'll just have a downloadable version as well. But it'll be fairly massive. It'll be bigger than most retail games.

BioWare's new Dragon Age Community Facilitator Victor Wachter has requested feedback on the Tactics system as they look forward to new games.  No doubt the Bioboards will flood them with responses but head over if you want to add your thoughts.  A partial snip:

We have a lot of plans for the future and want to steer towards making future games and releases in the Dragon Age franchise the best they can possibly be. Over time, we'll be asking the community questions about their game experiences and feedback.

Today, we're interested in your party's tactical AI and the tactical interface. We'd like to gather your feedback about how your followers and the creatures of Dragon Age behave.

The first trailer for Dragon Age: The Awakening is available:

Sir Brennus and Danton write in to say that EA has officially confirmed The Awakening, an expansion pack for Dragon Age: Origins. It will be out in stores on March 16 2010 for both PC, Xbox 360 and the PS3. The suggested retail price will be 40 US dollars, the expansion will have 15 hours of gameplay, 5 recruitable companions and some new monsters - and you get to continue the story after the main game.

The expansion is mentioned on Rock Paper Shotgun  and in Gamestar.de  as well. In addition, Torias, a moderator on the Bioware forums has made this thread  announcing the expansion. A word of warning: Small spoiler for the end game in Dragon Age: Origins may be on these sites.

And Exorzist mentions in this thread  that the first screenshots for The Awakening can be found at the GreyWardens fansite. 

The full press release from EA  is below:

BioWare Announces First Official Expansion Pack to the Critically Acclaimed Dragon Age: Origins"Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening" to Take Fans to the Land of Amaranthine With New Party Members, Spells, Abilities and More in March 2010 EDMONTON, Alberta, Jan 05, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE)

Leading video game developer BioWare(TM), a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), announced today Dragon Age(TM): Origins - Awakening, the first official expansion pack to Dragon Age: Origins, the recent recipient of Spike TV's Best RPG and PC Game of 2009, IGN's Best RPG of 2009 and CNN.com's Best RPG of 2009. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening will be available for the Xbox 360(R) videogame and entertainment system, the PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system and PC on March 16, 2010.

Designed and written by the same team that brought you Dragon Age: Origins, the Awakening expansion pack offers a brand new area of the world to explore known as Amaranthine, featuring an epic story that will allow players to unravel the secrets of the darkspawn - and their true motivations! Players will face a range of horrific and terrifying creatures including an evolved, intelligent breed of darkspawn and other menacing creatures such as the Inferno Golem and Spectral Dragon. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening provides exciting new ways for players to customize their heroes and party, including the ability to re-spec their character attributes, allowing even greater customization and replayability. Featuring an increased level cap, new spells, abilities, specializations and items, plus five all-new party members, players can continue their adventures from Dragon Age: Origins, or begin with a brand new character.

"Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening shows BioWare's commitment to our fans by delivering new story-driven experiences which enrich the dark heroic fantasy universe our fans have come to know and love," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group, EA, and Co-Founder, BioWare. "The vibrant worldwide community of Dragon Age fans will relish uncovering the secret motivations of the darkspawn, revealing how the darkspawn continue to infest the world despite the defeat of the Archdemon."

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, BioWare's next thread in the Dragon Age: Originstapestry, occurs following the events of Dragon Age: Origins and puts players into the role of a Grey Warden Commander entrusted with rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens. In addition to rebuilding the ranks of the Grey Wardens, you will be tasked with uncovering the mystery of how the darkspawn survive after the slaying of the Archdemon. How players choose to rebuild their order, resolve the conflict with the mysterious "Architect," and determine the fate of the darkspawn are just some of the many intriguing moral choices that will shape each player's heroic journey. Players will be able to import their character from Dragon Age: Origins or start out as a new Grey Warden from the neighboring land of Orlais. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening will be released March 16, 2010 worldwide on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 console and PC.

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening will be available for $39.99 on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles in North America and will require Dragon Age: Origins to play. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening is rated M by the ESRB and 18+ by PEGI. For more information on Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, please visit www.dragonage.com/awakening.

BioWare's Chris Priestly makes the short, sharp and unexplained announcement that Return to Ostagar has been delayed:

Hello Dragon Age fans,

We’re sorry but the planned Return to Ostagar downloadable content scheduled to launch on January 5th has been delayed for all platforms. 

We will update you as new information becomes available.

Via Blue's comes speculation of an as-yet unannounced expansion for Dragon Age, titled The Awakening.  According to Eurogamer.cz, a premature retail listing was noticed, with a release date of March 2010 - although this is obviously not authoritative.  Here's part of Blue's post:

Details of the expansion's contents are still only preliminary and may still change. Awareness will follow the story chronologically Dragon Age: Origins and promises a huge portion of the additional content. You play as a completely new main character, including his own prologue (separate Origin Story), the new campaign. Completion of the central storyline to take approximately 15 hours, as compared to the 100-hour original is not too much, and have consequences for the rest of the game.

VoodooExtreme has a trailer to accompany yesterday's news of the release date for Dragon Age: Return to Ostagar.

Jeff Vogel has kicked up some thoughts on Dragon Age at his blog.  Spoilers apply, if you haven't finished Redcliffe, including this quote:

Attempts at having role-playing in computer games are frequently and justifiably mocked for giving facile choices between "Angelically Good" and "Absolutely Evil". When you find a hungry puppy, you can either crush it with a cinderblock or buy it a house of its own. There is no middle ground. And yes, Dragon Age has some of that.

But what impressed me is the number of situations where there are a lot of options, none of them are very good, and you just have to muddle through. For example, in one part of Dragon Age, a young, magically skilled boy has been taken over by a demon. He's been merrily trashing the countryside. It's a crappy situation, and you have to help them out of it. You can off the boy. Or let the mother sacrifice herself to enable you to challenge the demon. Or travel to the wizards' tower to maybe get a way to expel the demon, losing valuable time. And, should you challenge the demon, you can kill it or, in return for one of several lavish rewards, let it stay in the kid, hidden.

BioWare has announced the next Dragon Age DLC, Return to Ostagar, will launch on January 5th.  You'll need to replay the first parts of the game to access the content, so it will be interesting to see how popular this is:

"Return to Ostagar" Downloadable Content for Dragon Age: Origins Coming January 5

“RETURN TO OSTAGAR” DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT FOR DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS COMING JANUARY 5

DLC Provides Players Opportunity to Return to Site of the Grey Wardens’ Darkest Hour in BioWare’s Award-Winning Epic RPG Fantasy

EDMONTON, ALBERTA – December 29, 2009 – Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), announced today that the Return to Ostagar downloadable content (DLC) for Dragon Age™: Origins will be released on January 5 in North America and Europe for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and PC versions of the game at a cost of 400 BioWare Points or Microsoft Points. The DLC will be available for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system later in January. Return to Ostagar allows players to exact their revenge and embark on a quest for the mighty arms and armor of the once great King Cailan when they revisit Ostagar, the site of the Grey Wardens’ darkest hour, to reclaim the honor and learn the secrets of Ferelden’s fallen king.

“We are thrilled at the way the fans have embraced Dragon Age: Origins and we’re excited to welcome them back into the game,” said Aaryn Flynn, General Manager and Vice President, BioWare Edmonton. “Return to Ostagar represents BioWare’s commitment to providing a steady stream of compelling post release content as we continue to expand the Dragon Age universe.”

Return to Ostagar summons players to a new quest in which they will return to the fateful battleground in Ostagar where the Grey Wardens were nearly wiped out. Players will discover King Cailan’s top-secret political agenda and go behind enemy lines to revisit a place that many feared had been lost to history.

Return to Ostagar will be available for 400 BioWare Points on the PC and 400 Microsoft Points on the Xbox 360 on January 5. It will be available for $4.99 on the PlayStation® Store later in the month. Dragon Age: Origins is rated M by the ESRB and 18+ by PEGI.

For more information on Dragon Age: Origins, please visit www.dragonage.com. 

 Full details on the official page for this DLC.

Grey Wardens let us know they have posted walkthroughs for the Dragon Age Human Noble and Mage Origin stories.

Not as generous as the other titles but it is a new, AAA game.  Nikus points out Dragon Age is currently $37.49 on Steam, or the Digital Deluxe version for $48.74.

Dragon Age fansite Grey Wardens writes in with a new piece titled A Game Within The Game - The Camp -- essentially, the presence of the camp in Dragon Age assists their suspension of belief:

I remember annoying my party members in Baldur’s Gate when I had forgotten to press the space bar to pause the game and actually just went away from the keyboard. Some of the comments were very funny. Back then, a brilliant way to create the illusion that the world you were playing in was actually alive. With Dragon Age Origins, BioWare took a radical step forward and made that illusion perfect.

Dragon Age takes top honours from Gamasutra's choice games of 2009.

BioWare once reinvigorated the Dungeon & Dragons-inspired line of PC fantasy RPGs with Baldur's Gate. After a decade of evolutions, the studio has attempted to bridge the gap between that early milestone and its modern refinements.

Dragon Age: Origins succeeds both in that goal and as a masterful, ambitious roleplaying game in its own right. On its surface, it seems full of the same dwarves-and-mages-and-elves dynamic that's been so thoroughly mined, with stock visuals to match. But as you explore the game's considerable volume of content, its fascinating subtleties begin to reveal themselves -- class, gender, and race roles form the underpinnings of a compelling world without becoming too heavy-handed.

On the personal scale, Dragon Age features some of the most affecting and entertaining character interactions in gaming, implemented dynamically and seamlessly. Party members idly chat amongst themselves -- affably, dourly, indifferently -- and comment on the player's own choices. The game's overarching story is nothing special; it's the context and the personal moments that count, and they count for a lot. Rarely are virtual characters so believable.

The game itself demonstrates an impressive RPG design fluency born of hard experience, particularly on the PC where it fluidly shifts between a modern third-person RPG and an old-school top-down dungeon crawler at the player's whim. It strikes a satisfying balance between intricacy and intuitiveness, rewarding player investment but not becoming overbearing.

The remarkably diverse origin stories that serve as the subtitle's namesake just add further personality and depth to one of the most surprisingly unique RPGs in recent memory. With Dragon Age: Origins, BioWare has succeeded in reprising its own revival.

A minor item and probably not surprising but Shack quotes Biodoc Greg Zeschuk as saying Dragon Age has twice the dialogue as Mass Effect 2:

Despite the cinematic nature of Mass Effect 2, in comparing the dialog systems of the two games BioWare co-founder Dr. Greg Zeschuk told me that Dragon Age: Origins packed over twice as many dialog options. Why so much? In Dragon Age a large proportion of the potential responses are based on the race and class you've chosen for your main character, their skills and demeanor, and the decisions made in developing the relationships. For every group of possible responses you see on any given play through of the game, there's probably an equal number hidden to handle all the other potential combinations as Zeschuk explained it.

Firing up Dragon Age yesterday, I got a quick little update through Steam.  v1.02a offers a couple of minor updates:

• fixed the "Rally bug" introduced in 1.02
  where going through area transitions caused the Rally bonus to keep stacking


• fixed errors in Russian 1.02 patch notes

• fixed GDF file for Windows 7

Chris Priestly, Bioware Community Coordinator, made a post at the official Dragon Age forums about The Dragon Age Team and Bioware  participating in the Child's Play Charity Auction at Ebay. Here's what Chris has to say about it:

BioWare and the Dragon Age Team invites you to bid on our uber lot of Dragon Age goodies. You'll receive a giant banner signed by the whole team, signed copies of each Collector's Edition of Dragon Age: Origins, signed lithographs, a shield, a limited edition hardbound comic by the Penny Arcade Guys, novels, and much much more! Become the owner of many one of a kind items from the top selling and award winning hit game, Dragon Age: Origins! All of the proceeds of this ONE TIME ONLY auction will go to the Child's Play charity. A similar auction lot at the Child's Play Charity event in early this month fetched thousands of dollars, so get your bid in early! This NO RESERVE auction for Charity will start at $0.99!

If you want to see the items available, pleae go here. And to bid - if you want to do so.

Koku Gamer has an editorial about Bioware's decision to add an option for gay romance in DA: Origins. Here's their conclusion:

Artists that dare to push the limits on what is considered acceptable are usually remembered far longer than those few pests who got in their way. The most recent example of this is clearly Brokeback Mountain which received such wide acclaim and recalling the names of those who wanted to boycott the film is impossible. In Bioware's case, they wanted to make the choice available to the player to have a momentary encounter with another male. Being that storytelling and choice are major parts of the RPG genre, the gay experience with Zevran adds to the story and the character's personal history and I have no problem with that. I suppose growing pains were inevitable for the gaming industry but when the slightest bit of sexual innuendo is met with such hostility, it makes me wonder which of us does not have a grasp on our own sexuality.

Do you agree with the statements made in this conclusion?

There is also an editorial on this subject at MMORPG.com.

A couple of small Dragon Age tidbits.  First, CVG has details of a Mac port:

BioWare and Transgaming have unveiled a Mac Edition of Dragon Age: Origins that'll ship just in time for Christmas.

The Mac version of Origins will be available as a digital download and you can choose between the Standard or Digital Deluxe version. Bet you're gutted if you're a Mac owner without an internet connection though.

...and Dragon Age has won RPG Game of the Year and PC Game of the Year at the Spike TV Video Game Awards.

A new version of the toolset for Dragon Age: Origins has been released by Bioware. The 1.01 version of the toolset fixes issues with the original version and adds more resources from the database to the toolset. 

Here's the info in full from the toolset forum at the Bioware Social Site:

A new version of the toolset has been posted for download. This is not a patch, it is a brand new installer. What this means is that YOU WILL LOSE YOUR EXISTING WORK IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THE STEPS LISTED AT: http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Database_migration

If you are upgrading from version 1.00 of this toolset and have database content that you wish to migrate into the new version, you will need to follow a special sequence of steps to preserve it. Builder-to-builder files (extension DADBDATA) are not compatible between the first released version of the toolset and subsequent versions.

See http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Database_migration for more details.Please read the information found at http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Installing_the_toolset

 for more details about how to install the toolset.

Oh, and by the way, this version contains the full single player database resources!

Evil Avatar has penned a very positive 5/5 review of Dragon Age: Origins - except for the NPCs offering DLCs. Here is their take on what you'll be doing:

Without getting too specific, a very large portion of the story revolves around your quest to unite different factions around the kingdom of Ferelden. As a Grey Warden, you are sworn to do what others before you have done: defend the world against the blight of the Darkspawn. Unification is paramount in repelling this evil force that has been dormant for over 400 years... and that time span is certainly part of a larger problem. While many around the kingdom understand what a Grey Warden is and what their job revolves around, they're not about to drop everything just to help you out. Each need their own brand of convincing, and it's all up to you about how you take care of things.

BioWare announces the P&P version of Dragon Age is now available - at least, in .pdf form.  Boxed versions are on the way but those who preorder will get a .pdf file in the meantime.  From the DA site:

Continue Your Journey and Play the Dragon Age Pen and Paper RPG!

It has been hundreds of years since the last Blight ravaged the world of Thedas. Many believed that it could never happen again, that the Dragon Age would pass without the rise of such evil. They were wrong. Beneath the earth the darkspawn stir. A new Archdemon has risen and with it a Blight that will scourge the lands and darken the skies. The nations of Thedas need a new generation of heroes, but who will answer the call?

Based on the hit Dragon Age: Origins computer and video game, the Dragon Age RPG brings the excitement of BioWare’s rich fantasy world to the tabletop. In the Dragon Age RPG, you and your friends take on the personas of warriors, mages, and rogues to overcome sinister foes, face deadly challenges, and defeat a new evil. The Dragon Age RPG is the perfect portal to tabletop roleplaying as the core system is easy to use and fun to play. The game features an innovative stunt system that keeps combat and spell casting tense and exciting. So gather your friends, grab some dice, and get ready to enter a world of heroes and villains, of knights and darkspawn, of gods and demons…the world of Dragon Age!

The Dragon Age RPG box set can now be pre-ordered from the Green Ronin online store. A PDF only version of the Dragon Age is also now available. Those who pre-order the box set will automatically receive the PDF version.

Gamexpex writes in with their review of Dragon Age, sporting a score of 90%.  An early quote:

From the surface, yes, Dragon Age looks like yet another western RPG. Yes, there are a few RPG cliches thrown into the mix as well. It's the execution of these cliches that sets the game apart. The story is gripping, deep, intellectual and mature. The developers had no qualms in throwing in aspects of political strife, the brutality of caste systems and well as prostitution into the story – the amazing part is none of these feel forced or juvenile. The other amazing thing is that the game doesn't force you to deal with these issues if you don't feel like it. You wanna be a jerk and tell everyone to piss off? Go ahead, the story will still progress.

BioWare has announced the Dragon Age soundtrack is now available to purchase.

Edit:  As Archmage Silver points out via email and others on our forum, these 35 tracks means the 18-track soundtrack included in the CE edition of Dragon Age isn't complete, which is no doubt disappointing to many.

A fairly hefty patch for Dragon Age.  Here are the Balance and Gameplay sections of the patch notes:

Balance

• Daggers now apply 0.5 points of damage per additional point in dexterity and 0.5 points of damage per additional point in strength, as originally intended. This increases dagger damage for high-dexterity characters.
• During combat, mana or stamina reserves now correctly regenerate more quickly when reserves are low. This allows players to occasionally use an talent or spell in the later stages of lengthy fights.
• When exploring, mana and stamina now regenerate more quickly at higher character levels. This reduces downtime between fights.
• The spells Force Field, Crushing Prison, Cone of Cold, and Blizzard now have shorter durations and/or longer cooldowns. This ensures that combatants can no longer stun-lock each other by repeatedly casting the same spell.
• The cooldowns for several low-level sustained abilities are now shorter. This ensures that players are not penalized for accidentally deactivating them.
• Certain battles were not scaling properly, resulting in excessively difficult fights. They now scale as intended.
• Enemy corpses now drop health poultices and money more appropriately, resulting in less clutter in the player's inventory.

Gameplay

• In rare cases, enemy corpses were selectable when they contained no loot. This no longer occurs.
• Party members whose combat tactics were set to defensive behavior no longer stop attacking after using a spell or talent.
• In rare cases, combat tactics conditions could fail to determine whether a character had enough mana or stamina to use an ability. This no longer occurs.
• The Rally talent no longer repeats its audio effect if it is active during certain conversations.
• The Rally talent no longer deactivates upon area transitions or conversations.
• The Shimmering Shield spell now deactivates when the character is out of mana.

The Steam version has already been updated.  Hit the link above for the file, otherwise (37Mb).

Dragon Age takes PC GotY at Gamasutra followed by: Dawn of War 2, Left 4 Dead  2, Empire: Total War and Torchlight taking fifth place. Risen gets an honourable mention. Here's what they had to say about Dragon Age...

Dragon Age is a game full of compelling contradictions. Its gameplay paradigm is a revival of the kind of systemic, arcane PC RPG that BioWare previously revived in the late 90s with Baldur's Gate -- but its finely-tuned modernization and playability deflect anachronistic impenetrability. At first glance, its setting seems like forgettable boilerplate fantasy -- but that surface level belies a slate of unexpectedly engaging and believable party members, and well-integrated undercurrents examining its world's class and race relations.

These days, not many multiplatform games feel so intrinsically native to the PC as Dragon Age. Some elements play equally well on any system -- characters, dialogue, situations, choices -- but the intended feel of the game is best conveyed with a mouse and keyboard, and the more complete UI. Using the mouse wheel to seamlessly scroll between the modern chase cam and the old-school remove-the-ceiling top-down view is oddly satisfying in its own right, and is endlessly practical as the game flows between exploration and tactical combat. Characters can be direct-controlled, clicked-and-dragged, given automated tactics; as with the narrative situations, player choice is the name of the game.

Shamus Young has decided to experiment with a new format for his Dragon Age review, Tweeting quick comments as he plays and then coming back to flesh it out.  It's not a format that works for me and I suspect it inherently favours a negative vibe but that's Shamus' schtick, anyway.  Here's a bit on difficulty from Part 3:

Feels like #DragonAge on Easy is still a little harder than #KOTOR on normal. I guess I need more micro-mgmt.

The difficulty in this game is a mess. Some people are saying it’s too easy even when playing on hard. Some say it’s too hard even when playing on easy. Some say it goes from boring to impossible on a whim. There are two broken things here.

One is that mage powers tend to dominate the game, and not all mage powers are created equal. When I was talking about how hard the game was, people responded with:

Just use [Forcefield, a power I didn't have] and then follow up with [another power that was way down a skill tree I'd never even looked at] and if you must, then have someone else follow up with [another power I hadn't acquired]. This game is TOO EASY.

It’s very easy to miss or overlook key game-breaking powers, and there’s no way to respec.

The other problem is that the system of auto-scaling enemies is broken. You’ll get wiped by a room full of common mooks. Then you work past that and end up steamrolling a boss. The difficulty is all over the place.

I’ve been through the bulk of the game twice now, both times as primal mages, both times using the same play styles. And the challenge level of the game feels more or less random. The first time I did the Deep Roads the game was insanely hard, to the point where even regular encounters required multiple attempts.

The second time through the game I did the Deep Roads and it was pretty average. A couple of hard boss fights, but nothing game-ruining.

This takes away all sense of accomplishment for me. When I win handily, I don’t feel like I out-maneuvered a tough opponent, I feel like the game under-estimated me and gave me foes that were too weak. When I lose, I don’t feel like I did something wrong, I feel like the game just murdered me with tough foes.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

A full wallpaper colour map of Thedas, the continent on which Ferelden lies, has been uploaded by Bioware to the Dragon Age site. Two new videos featuring the Warden's Quest competition in London have also been uploaded.

A second Dragon Age examination today with fansite Grey Wardens writing a piece called Of Elves, Archetypes and Derivative Fantasy.  As you'd guess, the article tackles the accusation that Dragon Age is too derivative:

One of the major criticisms of Dragon Age: Origins has been that the game draws on ‘derivative fantasy’ in its plot and storyline. Now, staying away from the debate over whether or not DA:O is ‘dark fantasy’ as marketed, or ‘Tolkien-esque epic fantasy’ , the whole discussion leads me to ask why is it that anything in the fantasy genre is immediately under fire for being self-referential.

What I want to know is when does something stop being cliché and become, instead, archetype?

Vince Dweller takes a look at the quest design in BioWare's Dragon Age, examining the motivation, integration and solutions.  It's a spoiler-y article by nature, so make sure you have finished the game.  The intro:

Dragon Age is definitely one of the best, if not the best, Bioware game to-date, and certainly one of the best role-playing games in years. Though the game follows the familiar Bioware structure, they have managed to improve and evolve that design significantly, keeping the strong story-focus they are known for, while loading in a wide range of player choices and paths. While a full review is currently in the works, I'd like to take a moment to discuss the quest design separately, since it is hard to analyze the quests without revealing how they play out. In other words, if you haven’t yet completed the game (but are planning to do so in the near future), stop reading now. For those who have, or are simply interested in analyzing Bioware's design more than playing the game itself, this article is for you.

A very positive review of Bioware's crpg Dragon Age posted over at GameVisions, giving the game that rare score, 100% :

...the question was: "...is this truly Baldur's Gate III?" The answer is a resounding yes! It has its caveats and unfulfilled wishes, but no game is perfect, and some (editor included) have found that BGII lost some of the open charm of the original BG, so the value of each title must stand on its own. But were this to bear the the actual title of BGIII (and feature Elminster somewhere within) no one would find it to be out of place. Despite a slow-going mandatory set-piece at Ostragar immediately following the origin story, the game rapidly opens up to a much larger and entangled world, and every element one would look for in a new Bioware fantasy RPG is accounted for. It's rare that a game gets an absolute perfect score, at best, a 99% is warranted for a few minor flaws, but in this very rare case I'm issuing a perfect 100%. There was so much that could have gone wrong that didn't. So many places for fans to feel let down where they weren't. There's no such thing as complete perfection in a game, so 100% must stand, not for true perfection, but for attaining as close to perfection as any human can make it. Much like the Star Trek franchise reboot in theaters, this pulls in a new audience, pleases, even enamors old fans, and makes no serious missteps in the process. It even creates a fair console port of an old PC-centric franchise from the days when PC-centric games existed, while providing a true PC game experience in an era where such things are rare indeed....

Greg Zeschuk sits down with Christopher Grant at Joystiq to discuss Dragon Age and a little about Mass Effect. Greg talks about the game, console ports, MMOs, and ther DLC. Here are a couple of snippets from the interview:

Christopher: The Mass Effect 1 DLC was a lot smaller, was a lot more bite-sized. It was a lot more affordable too.

Greg: The DLC that we're doing is all kinds of shapes and sizes. That's the other thing, we want to give the players the opportunity to pick and choose some of the big things, some of the smaller things. You know, a couple things we have already are interesting for what they are, and then there is actually some very cool stuff that we have. I think the other thing too is that DLC is an area where you want to make sure you're getting the right value for the right money. So it can vary a lot in pricing compared to regular games where you always come out with this price. So all those things are stuff we're going to play with, you know how big it is, and pricing it accordingly. Yeah, we have some big thing we're planning for DLC, actually. It's a big part of the strategy just because the kind of world again, and the kind of player that plays those games loves to sort of continue experiencing new things and have it all packed up together.

Christopher: There's definitely a strange calculus that gamers do when they judge the value of DLC. I don't even know if I understand it.

Greg: No, it is actually sort of bizarre. The other thing that's interesting about DLC is there is not a lot of opacity about what the impact has actually been. Like, who knows how many of whatever has been sold? It's actually not like NPD - you can't look and go, "Hey!", right?

Christopher: You guys are doing these console games and you're also working on Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is this huge project. And you've recently also, maybe "inherited" is the term, Mythic, which was EA's other big MMO studio. So now BioWare is kind of cemented itself as "the" RPG studio at EA.

Greg: Now we're the RPG/MMO Group actually. It's on my card.

Christopher: The RPG/MMO Group?

Greg: Yeah, it's on my card. I'm the group creative officer. So effectively, you're absolutely right on that. One of the things we've been learning as well is that there's a lot of benefit in getting everyone together who makes similar stuff because you can not only share tools of technology, share know-how - I mean the Mythic guys have a tremendous amount of experience running MMOs. They've had them going for 10 years now, which is amazing. So for us to be able to draw on this example - and then what we can bring to them is we can bring a new perspective. We work with a team and have a really good time with the team at Mythic. I went to dinner with them last night, for example. And just, you know, looking at Warhammer sales, what can we do to keep this going, keep it vibrant, keep things happening.

It's interesting because I think there's a lot of positives. Because the way we run things, Ray and I - and Ray's the group general manager - so the way we kind of manage things is everyone's got a lot of autonomy. Everyone just shares a lot of information and we all have a lot of common opportunity to learn. I think that's actually the really big focus. Finally, everyone has different goals. We have goals that we have to try to achieve collectively and individually and those things allow us to actually have all these things going on at the same time and not have our heads exploding.

Because, again, you have Casey Hudson and his team running Mass Effect, Mark Darrah and his team running Dragon Age, Rich Gordon, James Ohlen running Star Wars Old Republic and then Rob Denton and Jeff Hickman and their team running Warhammer. So there's a lot of really great people dedicated to it. So our job is give power to all of them.

We need more thoughts on Dragon Age like we need a hole in the head, but this one had something more to offer than your typical review. This article gives some final conclusions to the game without spilling into the fanboy realm as we have seen in some of the other sites. Here are some of the final thoughts from it:

BioWare has a way of bringing everything together for a rousing finale, laying the fruits of my labor in full view. In Dragon Age's case (and Mass Effect's, and KOTOR's), that meant presenting the moments before the final battle in such a way that I got chills. It wasn't the necessarily the story itself so much as it felt like the culmination of 60 hours of questing, during which I had grown to be fairly attached to my characters.

So I'm willing to agree that BioWare is the master of moments, if only because they understand that without all the little moments the big moments are nearly worthless. Giving a player chills means more than just providing big setpieces and an epic soundtrack (though those certainly help). It's a slow buildup of getting players invested in the action and the characters. With all the pieces in place, even clichés can seem a little cheesy, and just a little more epic.

A bunch of games on Steam have had their prices reduced for a limited time period including Dragon Age: Origins which is 25% off at now 37.49€, but also the two MMORPGs Fallen Earth and Champions Online which is both 50% off their usual price.

Be quick though. The sale ends in 40 hours and 43 min from the posting of this newsbit, and then a new batch of games will be put on sale.

Exorzist at the Bioware forums  points to a short article  on the Grey Wardens blog talking about the narrative in Dragon Age: Origins. The author discusses how the hero usualy wins the day and how this game the hero may have options than the good or the happy ones.

Do you agree with the author's final comments:

Art, real art, has a place for human pain, for heartbreak. By very definition the interactivity of video game allows for a depth of connection to that emotion greater than words on a page, or even colourful images on a screen, because it's your character, your adventure, your heartbreak.

Can this ever be true in a videogame? Is this true in Dragon Age: Origins or in other videogames?

Alec Meer writes about "cheating" by using the mod tools to respec his Dragon Age character:

I do feel that Bioware might have been wise to build some official respec feature – say, for a frightening amount of gold, or the loss of a level – into the game, as it does expect you to make some fairly far-reaching choices long before you’ve become au fait with the combat and know what your party setup will be. But then again, there’s something proud and wonderful about making your own organic progress through the game, living with those bad decisions and surviving despite them. That’s how we used to do it, right? But I suppose I’ve become inured to respecification of my RPG characters after all these years of playing MMOs. Once you’ve flown first class, it’s doubly unpleasant to fly cattle class again, and all that. The net result is that I’m enjoying the game more, and so surely my cheating-or-was-it means the game is now better serving its intended purpose. Others will enjoy the struggle against adversity more. I don’t – I’m a hedonist in this regard, prizing my own enjoyment over Doing It Right No Matter What. That niggle, that strange, pointless guilt will likely never quite fade from me as I play, though. I know I’ve rewritten history. What would you do, gentle reader?

Here is one more review for your consumption. This time it's Strategy Informer who reviewed the PC version and compared the difference between the console and the PC version. They gave it a 9.4 and here is a little bit of what they had to say:

Still, there are differences to be had. Combat is much smoother than the console iteration, and coming back to graphics on a technical level they are much smoother as well, giving the larger scale battle a certain grandness to them that the console versions unfortunately lack. On a related not, the PC version lends itself to a more tactical playing style due to the fact that you can zoom out to a top-down view, and move to scout out ahead. The biggest change however comes with the interface. MMO veterans will instantly recognise the skill panel along the bottom edge, and the WASD controls, and all this combined makes for a decidedly different experience from the console version. Apart from a few other differences between inventory and menus, Dragon age is as epic on the PC as it is on the consoles. It might just look at little bit nicer, that's all.

But like all games there are flaws, however Dragon Age's flaws are more of a puzzle than anything else. As good as the story is, the opening section for the Human Noble was a little too rushed for my liking - not only does your character seem to get over the slaughter of his family a little too quickly to be healthy, but your brother seems to drop off the face of the earth entirely, only to be glimpsed at the end. It's possible that in an effort to create multiple beginnings, some details slipped through the cracks, but when compared to the rest of the game these can be quite easily over looked. Also, despite the afore-mentioned increased stability, there was the odd crash or two whilst Alt-tabbing, especially during conversations.

Here's a couple of miscellaneous Dragon Age tidbits that have been sent in.

First, Archmage Silver let us know that Dragon Age Nexus has launched and hosts around 50 mods.  You'll recall the Nexus sites have some of the biggest Fallout 3 and TES mod communities.

Second, fansite the Grey Wardens has a newbie guide with some basic advice to finding your footing.

Gamepressure has prepared a guide for Dragon Age - Origins here. A PDF is also in the making, announced for next week (which took 3 full weeks for the Risen PDF ;-)

Bioware has announced a new DLC, Return to Ostagar for Dragon Age: Origins. The DLC will let players go back to Ostagar to seek revenge on the darkspawn as well as letting them get a second chance to to get Dog.

The DLC will be released this holiday season. On the PC, the price will be 5 US Dollars which you can check out at Bioware's Dragon Age site along with some additional info.

For good measure, here's the full press release:

EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA – November 19, 2009 – Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), announced today that the Return to Ostagar downloadable content (DLC) for Dragon Age™: Origins will be available for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC versions this Holiday season in North America and Europe. The DLC pack, Return to Ostagar, allows players to exact their revenge and embark on a quest for the mighty arms and armor of the once great King Cailan when they revisit Ostagar, the site of the Grey Wardens’ darkest hour, to reclaim the honor and learn the secrets of Ferelden’s fallen king.

“We are very proud of the phenomenal launch of Dragon Age: Origins and we’re pleased to announce the next installment of downloadable content that will be available to fans of the game,” said Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager, RPG/MMO Group of EA, and Co-Founder, BioWare. “The Return to Ostagar DLC pack is a prime example of BioWare’s commitment to give fans a game that continuously offers new experiences and further enriches a storyline that has already received critical acclaim and positive feedback from the players.”

Return to Ostagar, BioWare’s next thread in the Dragon Age: Origins tapestry, summons players to a new quest in which they will return to the fateful battleground in Ostagar where the Grey Wardens were nearly wiped out. Players will discover King Cailan’s top-secret political agenda and go behind enemy lines to revisit a place that many feared had been lost to history.

Return to Ostagar will be available for $4.99 on the PlayStation® Store, for 400 BioWare Points on the PC and 400 Microsoft Points on the Xbox 360 in North America. Return to Ostagar will be released this Holiday season worldwide on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation®3 console and PC. Dragon Age: Origins is rated M by the ESRB and 18+ by PEGI.

Spotted @Kotaku, Shacknews, Blues News, Gamebanshee, Voodoo Extreme and thanks to Dave for writing in with a similar submission.

Update: Some quick comments from BioWare's Rob Bartel on the official forums:

Sorry, no waffles but there will be some voicework, including from the followers. We put a particular focus on the various followers who were also present at the battle. As for precisely when it will come out, we don't have a specific answer to that yet which is why we're being vague. We're still tackling one last optimization issue and then we need to make it through final testing and certification across all three platforms.
Average playtime is always tough to pin down because everyone's mileage will vary (and developers player the game in a very different manner than a typical first-time player). I can do a speed run (skipping through conversations and cutscenes, using a buff party, controlling Dog, avoiding some combats, ignoring loot drops, not looking at the scenery, etc) in about 15-20 minutes. I suspect it would take a typical first-time player about an hour to complete.

Nothing like a big statement to stir the pot.  GameZines has a piece that asks Is Dragon Age: Origins the best RPG ever?  A modern Baldur's Gate 2 is their response, so that's a "yes" for them:

The reviews are in, and almost everyone universally loves Dragon Age: Origins. As you might have guessed from the title, I agree. I was considering titling this piece "Is Dragon Age: Origins better than Baldur's Gate 2?" but I just decided to shoot for the whole prize.

Firstly, I'll lay my cards out - I am a huge Bioware fan. I've played every Bioware game (except last year's bizarre Sonic RPG that I couldn't take to) through to completion, in some cases, several times. For me, they were the ones who showed how RPGs should be done on console with the revolutionary KOTOR. There have been missteps - some disliked Jade Empire, though I still enjoyed it, and Mass Effect did feel limited and repetitive despite purporting to offer the whole galaxy to explore.

However, I've always loved that as developers, they seem to do what interested them - "KOTOR 2 - pass, we've other things to be doing".

So, it's not a surprise that I consider Baldur's Gate 2 to be the RPG crown holder until today. Possibly.

Georg Zoeller has released a hotfix that deals with Dexterity, bows and daggers. This is a much needed fix in the game if you would like your characters to use ranged weapons:

Experimental hot fix for the following issues:

*Daggers now get the shared damage bonus from Dexterity and Strength as intended, not just Strength alone.

*Ranged Weapon hit rate increased.

*Bow range has been increased by 10m on all ranged weapons (not staff), reducing the penalties for ranged shots in most most combat scenarios.

*All bows and crossbows now grant a +5 inherit Attack bonus. Note that this bonus is shown on the weapon, it does not factor into the characters Attack displayed score on the character sheet.

*Short bow being useless.

*Short bows now get full attribute bonus from Dexterity instead of shared from Strength. This makes them a natural choice for Dexterity focused character builds.

*Base Armor Penetration for Shortbows has been increased by 1.

*Ranged weapon damage has been increased:

*Damage range on all ranged weapons has been increase from 150% to 160%.

*Critical chance bonus on all ranged weapons has been increased by 4%.

*Damage bonus from attributes has been increased from 100% to 100/105% for bows and 110% for crossbows.

You can read more details about these issues in this Forum Post 1) on the BioWare forums.

Ray Muzyka has been interviewed at VideoGamer, in the light of the Dragon Age release, although nothing of major interest is revealed:

VideoGamer.com: One of the criticisms of Dragon Age concerns the graphics. Is that the result of the game being compared with Mass Effect, one of the most graphically stunning games of the last few years? Was it unrealistic to expect a similar quality level of graphics for a game so huge?

RM: It's a different style of graphics, I'd say. We don't want to make all of our games look like Mass Effect. Mass Effect's art style is beautiful. And even Mass Effect 2 pushes the envelope even more than Mass Effect 1. Players are in for a treat. With Dragon Age we were striving for a different art style. It's not a stylised art style, but it's not an ultra-realistic style either. It's somewhere just south of a realistic style, but with a little measure of stylised art thrown in. We're trying to find our own place and every game has to have a unifying theme in terms of the way the art works. I personally think Dragon Age is beautiful. Different players may have different perspectives on that, but Dragon Age and Mass Effect are both beautiful in different ways.

Lurking Grue let us know that a v1.01b patch has been released for Dragon Age.  The patch notes are the same as the first v1.01 patch - bar the addition of the last two items.  This is only designed for those that had trouble getting DA to start after applying the v1.01a patch:

• fixed potential corruption of character statistics
• fixed portrait appearance sliders when importing a character from the downloadable Character Creator
• fixed import for preset face settings from the downloadable Character Creator
• made Easy difficulty easier
• slightly increased attack, defense, and damage scores for all party members at Normal difficulty
• fixed video issues when running on a very wide screen display, including ATI Eyefinity displays
• fixed an issue with Dragon Age and Windows Game Explorer
• updated Visual C runtime libraries

According to Lurking Grue, some users are still reporting on the forums the game won't start after applying this update.

GameBanshee sends word they have finished their searchable equipment database for Dragon Age, with over 1100 items in it.

EA Germany released the next batch of promo videos for Dragon Age: Origins. All in English, the making of videos with German subtitles.

• Making of #8: DLC interview with online producer Fernando Melo
• Making of #9: Combat system interview with lead designer Mike Laidlaw (now with subtitles)
• A two part interview with the Bioware community managers Jay Watamaniuk and Chris Priestly, shot at the GC in Cologne. Very interesting stuff if you are interested in behind the scenes stuff.

Money talks... Electronic Arts executive vice president and CFO Eric Brown discloses sales figures for DA:O DLC.

Brown recapped the nearly instantaneous success of Dragon Age: Origins, the BioWare fantasy role-playing game that arrived in stores early last week. The executive said that sales of Dragon Age downloadable content are already "well past $1 million" collectively. Brown also reiterated the company's intent to support the game with new add-ons for an entire year after launch.

Dragon Age launched alongside a handful of add-ons, including the $15 (but free for preorders) Stone Prisoner expansion, and the $7 Warden's Keep. EA is also selling a handful of premium Dragon Age themes for 240 Microsoft points ($3) each on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Gamespot has compared the images from the PC version, the PS3 version and the Xbox 360 version. The conclusion is that the PC version looks the best while the 360 version looks not so great compared to both the PS3 version and the PC version.

If we leave it to the consoles, the PlayStation 3 version looks cleaner because of its higher resolution textures and the increased depth the textures get from bump mapping. The Xbox 360 version looks a little worse, but it was definitely tweaked to run smoother. Unsurprisingly, the PC version runs and looks much better if you have a decent machine.

BioWare has released a new video on designing the Dragon Age combat system, with 6 minutes of Lead Designer Mike Laidlaw and other devs describing both the combat and the their intentions.  Watch it at Gametrailers.

DA:O DLC is probed at Eurogamer, the outcome; it's a bit pricey really.

It's appropriate that each of the two downloadable adventures begins with a tip-off from a merchant. In the case of Warden's Keep, one Levi Dryden shows up in your camp before you buy the pack; accept his invitation to adventure, and you'll be taken straight to the game's (or console network's) marketplace to buy it for 560 points (of either the BioWare or Microsoft variety), $7, or a little under £5. You won't get to access Levi's own in-game wares until you've finished this short dungeon romp. It's a good joke, but is it at our expense?

Thanks to the Dragon Age forums for pointing out this Design Diary from Chris Pramas of Green Ronin on creating the upcoming pen-and-paper game.  Here's an excerpt:

We are getting ready to launch our new Dragon Age RPG, so to whet your appetite I'm doing some design diaries for the game here on greenronin.com. You may know me as the president of Green Ronin Publishing; I'm also the designer of Dragon Age. I hadn't had a chance to roll up my sleeves and do some serious design work since Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, 2nd edition, so I decided to take on this project myself. But I'm getting ahead of myself. [...]

So fairly early in the process I decided that the game would best be served by designing a new system. I also decided I wanted to do it myself, as I was up for a game design challenge and had a lot of ideas percolating in my head about how to approach a new class and level game. I would draw inspiration from the computer game, but ultimately the tabletop RPG would be its own animal. What works for a computer game and what works for a tabletop game are not necessarily the same and first and foremost I wanted to be sure we made a great tabletop RPG.

A review for Dragon Age: Origins has been published in The Guardian 4/5 .  
The reviewer likes the origin stories, and mentions how the dialogues opens up new plotlines:

The initial sections are nicely scripted – there are six unique ways to start the game – but it takes a good four or five hours before things settle down into a rhythm of get party, go fight and start chatting. Yes, being a Bioware game there is a ton of conversation and reams of text to read through. The incessant chatter often throws up new plotlines and there can easily be as much conversation as combat if you want.

Mike Laidlaw, the lead designer for Dragon Age: Origins, has talked to MMORPG, who penned an article-style interview, about how DA: Origins has used some of the gameplay from MMOs:

Mike explained that MMOs have the luxury of carrying a player through the game on different levels. The first being small solo content, simple quests and story lines that a player can do alone. The next is small group content, whether it is small dungeon raids or group quests. The third is large scale raids, giving players a huge area to work with and allowing for teamwork and guild development

He also talked about how and why Dragon Age: Origins was built, mentioning racism, power abuse etc. amongst the denizens of Ferelden:

To illustrate, Mike used the example of the first level Dungeons & Dragons spell Charm Person as a way to show that Mages can really trick people into doing anything they want very early on in their development. He said the team laughed about that asking, does anyone else find that a little creepy? As a result, they created the Templar class to keep the mages in check when building the world.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Alec Meer expresses some love for the golem Shale in Dragon Age.  Some minor character-related spoilers apply, but no main-quest biggies:

My first few hours with Bioware’s latest had more worried I wasn’t going to be entertained. Sure, I was having fun, but my party, the people I was travelling with, were pretty dry. Facetious holy warrior Alistair had a nice line in comic deflections, but arch sorceress Morrigan seemed a textbook line in sneery, sultry know-it-alls (though I’m sure there are many stings to be found in her self-confident tale) and, while the dog was sort of cute, it wasn’t exactly chatty. As for wide-eyed, pseudo-French bard Leilana – well, my cat could read those lines better than her. Sigh. Could I really make it through a couple of dozen hours with these ciphers, these stereotypes, these appalling cod-Euro accents? (Though, seriously, I like Alistair a lot). Then I met Shale, the golem – almost immediately the game’s bright, dazzling star.

BioWare Online Marketing Manager Derek Larke has posted to the Bioblog about the launch, touching on their critical success, release hiccups and the v1.01 patch.  There's nothing new for most of us, other than a call for feedback to help them speed additional patches if required.

Blues News mentions that Bioware has released the toolset for Dragon Age: Origins. 
It allows you to create your own stories or make your own quests in the world of Ferelden. 

Dragon Age Online Producer Fernando Melo has posted a lengthy letter on the official forums explaining the launch and apologising for the issues.  For the Social site issues, apparently they seriously underestimated the servers required.  After discussion with EA, they used Spore as a baseline for server load and then later doubled that capacity - only to be seriously under resourced in the end.  For DLC, there were issues with the installation of the Windows Service used to deliver the updates.  Here's a small snip:

Much closer to launch, we revised our figures coming out of the data we saw from the stand alone character creator app launch – just about doubling capacity yet again from our initial figures. For good measure, we then set in place a contingency plan – our plan B – to allow for further rapid deployment of additional capacity to yet again nearly double that amount, should things really get going.

As it turns out, before the end of the first day (Nov. 3rd - US & Asia launch) we had not only exceeded our initial capacity, but our plan B as well! For a single player game with online features, this was unprecendented and the levels we were seeing was completely unexpected.  Had this been an MMO, such as TOR, the initial setup and type of setup would have been very different indeed and we'd be laughing even with traffic in the orders of magnitude higher - but for a single player game no would predicted it would exceed this type of setup.

EA Germany sent out the usual release announcement and explained that a couple of defective Dragon Age DVDs made it into the German retail channel. The following editions do not contain a false pressing:

• every collector's edition
• the XBox 360 version
• the DL version
• the standard version if it has a white circular sticker on the back

So only the standard version without a white sticker is infected. Defective units will be handled by your retailer.

The "new" standard version should be available everywhere on Monday. A couple of shops / chains already have it.

The first patch is out for Dragon Age and if I read it correctly, among a small handful of fixes they appear to have made it easier on Easy and Normal settings.  Grab it here for retail (all languages - 13Mb):

• fixed potential corruption of character statistics
• fixed portrait appearance sliders when importing a character from the downloadable Character Creator
• fixed import for preset face settings from the downloadable Character Creator
• made Easy difficulty easier
• slightly increased attack, defense, and damage scores for all party members at Normal difficulty
• fixed video issues when running on a very wide screen display, including ATI Eyefinity displays

Steam has already released it for those users.

"Flood" is a bit of an overstatement but let's keep the nomenclature simple, shall we?  9/10 seems about the average for these, yet again  Here we go.

The Escapist - the opening sentences set a pretty high bar:

Dragon Age: Origins is the game you've been waiting for all of your life.

Allow me to qualify that: If you enjoy fantasy role-playing games and prefer gameplay over graphics and story over style, then Dragon Age: Origins is the game you've been waiting for all your life.

• GamePro - A "must-have masterpiece" from the "magic" of BioWare.  On the con side, difficulty spikes, camera and "slightly annoying" inventory. 4.5/5.

• GameInformer - 9/10, the battles are like "puzzles" with a "wealth of tactical options".

  PSXExtreme - May be "one of the sleeper hits of the year", although the graphics and issues like pop-in and framerate are criticised. 9/10.

• CheatCodeCentral - A "masterfully constructed strategy RPG".  4.6/5 and a "must buy".

Thanks to Metacritic and Gamerankings for some of these.

Update: I'll add this one here (hope you don't mind Dhruin), Eurogamer's Oli Welsh has bashed the 360 version of the game with a 6/10 score.

...and we'll add Rock, Paper, Shotgun's First Steps with Dragon Age, which is a group discussion on the early stages - mostly the Origin stories they each played.

We've missed a couple of Tom Chick's Dragon Age game diaries over the last couple of days.

First, and most interesting, Tom tackles the issue of player storage being offered through DLC.  He's not happy with the limited inventory and the $7 solution:

The bottom line is this: the lack of inventory space is a problem given the way the game was designed. The solution to this problem will cost you seven dollars above and beyond the money you paid when you bought the game. Dragon Age, as sold, is slightly crippled by design. Once again, Electronic Arts pushes the limit for how to bilk you for more money. Here's a wonderful single-player RPG and the publisher is doing their level best to make you keep paying for it even after you've already bought it.

Shame on you, EA.

BioWare's Georg Zoeller responds in this letter - here's a partial snip:

Hey Tom,

 

For what it's worth, 'EA' has nothing to do with this (apart from being the parent company of BioWare).

The game was designed with limited inventory for a number of reasons, the least of which being to limit savegame size and therefore loadtimes.

Originally there was a small storage chest in the party camp, until we realized that due to the fact that there are several versions of the camp area (for reasons evident in the story) and that people were losing their items (as they were stored in the area).

By the time this problem was discovered, we had not enough time to fix the problem, plus, we decided that it was not really necessary anyway since the item limitation was rather generous compared to the initial designs at least.

The game was finalized tested without a storage chest. The item limit was never questioned or brought up during the QA phase, after all, it was part of the design.

The 'storage chest' in Warden's Keep DLC was added by the DLC team as part of their 'hey, what would be a cool feature for your own keep' brainstorming. [...]

...although Tom observes that Derek French has a different explanation.

Moving on, the next two are Seven Things I Wish I'd Known Earlier and Do I Have Something in my Teeth?

Scott Meadows says that something unforseen has delayed the DA:O toolset, but is sure that toolset team are working hard to get it out.

The process of obtaining the DLC and bonus content for Dragon Age has lead to complaints all over the 'net.  While I didn't have any trouble with my Steam version, it was a round-about process - and it seems other users have found it even more so.  Ars Technica has written about the issues, saying that Impulse buyers have it the worst:

EA and Bioware's Dragon Age: Origins launched yesterday, and PC gamers rejoiced at having another tactical Bioware RPG to sink their teeth into. With digital distribution platforms like Steam and Impulse becoming more popular, it's no surprise that many gamers decided to buy their copy of the game online. The problem? EA and Bioware require you to sign into their own websites, with their own accounts and login information, to allow you to access the bonus content from your purchase. That process, it seems, is broken for many users.

...and a statement from Impulse:

"While we are aware of the folks having issues with the DLC, we are also experiencing thousands of people playing the game with no hiccups on Impulse. For those few who are indeed experiencing issues with authentication due to EA's process, we are working now on a fix and expect this problem to be remedied very shortly."

There are links in the article and in our Dragon Age forums that might help for those still having trouble.

Time to collect the deluge of Dragon Age reviews together.  Here are all the new links we've collected so far.  I'll highlight a couple and provide comments for some others.  Nearly every score is in the 9 range, although VideoGamer praises the game but still wants some sort of Mass Effect - Oblivion mashup despite the 8/10 score.

IGN - we've already seen articles from IGN AU and IGN UK but the US office now has their critique.  The PC version scores 9/10 and consoles 8.7/10 (X360 and PS3).  The plot, choices and character development are all praised, while noting the "wooden" romances and ordinary visuals:

Incredibly deep and expansive, Dragon Age: Origins is one of those titles that can easily swallow up dozens of hours of play and keep you coming back for more. The fact that BioWare chose to include downloadable content, including a new character and side quest, on launch day proves that they have an extensive plan for supporting the game. Couple that with the fact that each character can be developed in radically different ways, and you have an adventure that earns its own place among BioWare's expansive RPG collection. This is the kind of adventure that fantasy RPG fans have been hoping that BioWare would deliver – a game with a ton of re-playability and an incredibly vivid world that is the start of an impressive franchise.

GameSpy has one of their Concensus thingies, collecting comments from across IGNSpy.  Their official score is 4.5/5 and here's a comment on choices:

Again, it's the decisions that make Dragon Age: Origins such a thought-provoking experience. I've played through the game twice now, working on a third time, and I still have trouble choosing which companions to take with me on any given adventure. The story has a way of dropping situations in your lap where any of a handful of different options seem viable, with no clear-cut option standing out as the right one. This is due in part to Dragon Age: Origins' lack of a clearly defined moral alignment structure. Characters are generally complex, defying the unrealistically simplistic labels of "good" and "evil," and the game is the better for it.

• GameDaily - a "fantastic, involving role-playing experience" despite the visuals and "occasionally sloppy" dialogue.  No score.
• IncGamers - played for 55 hours and feels they saw 60% of the game.  "Stunning writing" and "bloody hard battles" are noted on the way to 9.4/10.
• GameZone - 9.9/10 tells everything about their view.  "Deep, rich and epic tale told in amazing fashion".
• OXM Online - Xbox, obviously, but they still loved it.  A "massive" and "fully-realised" world but they criticise re-used art and some awkward dialogue.  9/10.
• Games Radar - "High fantasy at its finest", although some battles are too hard and console owners don't get the best experience.  9/10.
• TeamXbox - Another X360 review, and again they loved it.  Choices, interaction, party members, combat and the story are all praised, allthough they note some "glitches" and ordinary graphics.  9.2/10.
• GamePlanet - Another 9/10 and called an "instant classic".  They don't like the spikes in difficulty and the "largely text-based epilogue".
• VideoGamer - the lowest score in this roundup at 8/10.  While they call it "superb" they clearly value modern approaches like Mass Effect, which is referenced several times, along with lines like "decades old mechanics".  This isn't "Mass Effect in Oblivion's clothes", they warn (Huh?).
• 1Up - Very positive but some comments on leaning "a little too much on its inspiration and tired fantasy tropes".  Oh, you'll want a rogue in your party, they say. Score - "A".

Shock, horror it's more DA news. Gametrailers have a 10min video review of Dragon Age, which gives a high quality HD look at the graphics. It's highly positive, stating the game is involved and some encounters can be punishing, with very few complaints other than presentation the game's final score is 9.1.

Edit: I just noticed that lumiapina, from our forums, spotted this one and has noted that this one spoils.

Three more reviews in what will obviously be the vanguard of a flood of Dragon Age reviews.

MTV says the dialogue has great depth but calls the game "vanilla":

"Dragon Age: Origins" is BioWare's best effort since "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic." It's not a great leap forward in the evolution of video game RPGs, but it is a compelling, well-crafted experience. The warts are there to be sure, but they are easily overlooked in light of the insane amount of game on offer. BioWare probably won't win many new fans with this one and they'll probably lose a few who enjoyed the more active entertainment offered by the likes of "Mass Effect," but old school RPG junkies will get a kick out of exploring the rich, if initially difficult to breach, new world that the developer has crafted.

CVG has reprinted John Walker's review from PC Gamer UK.  This is a lengthy piece and John is clearly impressed, awarding 9.4/10 and detailing a lot of history and atmosphere:

I've not only been to huge cities, but I've learned their past, their present, and been involved in shaping their future. This hasn't felt like passing through a series of checkpoints, but having experienced a world. I know enough about the religion of the Chantry to preach their own Chants. My connection to the Grey Wardens is palpable, and the part I played an honourable one.

This is the most enormously detailed game world I've experienced, its history stretching back thousands of years, its cultures vivid, beautiful and flawed, the battles enormous, the humour superb. Roleplaying games now have a great deal to live up to.

Worthplaying has an X360 review, with a score of 8/10.  This is one of those "step backwards from Mass Effect" articles and they accuse BioWare of being afraid to take risks (and really being a PC game).  Still, they say there is a "lot to like" if you want a traditional experience:

Dragon Age: Origins is going to feel extremely similar to Bioware's Knights of the Old Republic games. Lightsabers may be gone, but the basic combat mechanics are unchanged. You have a lot of the same abilities and moves, and most of them even share the same D20-inspired names. However, there are a few changes that make things a little more interesting. First and foremost is the greater emphasis on area-of-effect attacks. Spells and certain other abilities in Dragon Age will occasionally have friendly fire effects. On lower difficulty levels, this simply means that you risk freezing an ally when casting an ice spell at a crowd. On higher levels, you'll be able to do half damage, or even full damage, to allies, but fortunately, you have greater control over these attacks. You can direct exactly who and what is going to be caught inside your magic's attack radius, and that is crucial to keeping your party fighting during some of the tougher areas. 

Here are three last-minute Dragon Age interviews.  First, Ausir has yet another from the Warden's Quest competition with David Silverman stepping up to the plate to talk about a range of topics for Polygamia.  On being a more traditional RPG:

As BioWare, do you plan to go more towards action gaming, or do you plan to keep developing more traditional RPGs as well?

We're definitely making a game that the fans want. And I think that's why BioWare has a loyal and awesome community, it's really up to them. If the fans want to see more action-RPGs, we'll find a way to make that work. If they want to see more traditional, in-depth RPGs, we'll deliver that as well.

The great thing about Dragon Age is that the game can adapt to how you play, you can be as hands-on or hands-off as you want. You can play the game micromanaging everything, pausing every three seconds, but personally, I'm not the biggest fan of that style, I like to have more action, and I just go there with my team. I can go to each character and change their AI commands, e.g. "if enemy has this then use this." It's very impressive stuff. For the 10% of the people who are going to look at the tactics thing, it's going to be awesome.  For the 90% of the other players, they're going to have a great time to, they can hop in, they can play it as more of an action game.

Mark Darrah chats with GameZone.  On dialogue paths:

Choice is such a big facet of this game, it bolsters the dynamic of the game and that feeds into the concept that the AI has to evolve, and react to choices as well.

Mark: Absolutely. There are places in the game where there are 300-400 paths through a single conversation. And that’s just because everything you do has to have an impact because we want choice to matter. It’s not just about having the illusion of choice, it’s about the choice actually make a difference, it’s about knowing that what you are doing is actually making a difference in the way the universe is playing out, and that does make scripting a huge complicated event.  

...and MTV has a short bit with voice actor Kate Mulgrew, who doesn't really have much to say.

Another review for Dragon Age comes from Destructoid 7.5/10.

The reviewer felt that both the world and lore are intriguing and beautiful. He also thinks the choices in the game are superb as they are not just black and white. He is very critical about the tactics system used in the game, and has a few other complaints as well.

The conclusion sets the tone for the review:

Dragon Age: Origins is a game that once looked set to be the best RPG of the year. It has a great story, high production values, and one of the most immersive worlds ever created in a videogame. Tragically, Origins' considerable high points have been squandered on a frustrating, unbalanced combat system, and a customizable A.I that's just too broken to adequately customize.

Kotaku did a review for the PS3 version. Mike Fahey, the reviewer liked the game. He mentions the decisions you have to make:

I regularly found myself making the sort of decisions that had me realizing that I had just completely altered a major portion of the game. Kingdoms rose and fell and important people lived or died based solely on my whims. This is definitely the kind of game you'll want to play through multiple times, just to see how your actions affect the world.

   Mike Fahey did not like the bugs in the PS3 game.

My time with the PlayStation 3 version of Dragon Age was not without troubles. In fact, my 40 or so hours in the game were plagued with annoying little glitches that, while not breaking the game completely, did hamper the experience. Some special combat animations were way off, with my character performing finishing blows in the air next to the boss I had just downed.

The review flood has begun. Here are a few reviews for Dragon Age: Origins that have already surfaced.

The first is from Gamespot 9.5. You can read the review or watch their video review. The reviewer felt that this is the RPG we've been waiting for. To best sum up Gamespot's take on Dragon Age all you need to do is look at what they thought was good and bad:

The Good

* Intricate, involving storytelling
* Amazing dialogue and voice acting bring characters to life
* Rich fantasy world filled with interesting lore
* Enjoyable questing with plenty of twists and surprises
* Lots of spells and abilities make combat fun.

The Bad

* A few glitches.

In contrast we now have Eurogamer 8/10. This review is a little confusing. After reading it I thought the score would be much lower. The reviewer didn't like the standard cliché roles, the vast differences between easy and normal difficulty levels, the wooden scripts for the main characters, their lifeless animation and contrived storylines, and many more complaints. There were a few kind words for Dragon Age, but mostly I would of expected a much lower score after reading this review. Here is a snippet from the beginning that sums up the general theme of the review:

Somewhere in its journey back to its roots, BioWare has got lost in the dense tangle of what it was trying to accomplish. It hasn't been able to see the wood for the trees. It has summoned an entire world into existence in the most meticulous detail, but failed to give it an identity beyond the blandest cliché. It has created living characters that respond like humans, but speak like dictionaries and move like mannequins. It has engineered solidly absorbing RPG gameplay and character progression and stranded them in a succession of hackneyed and hide-bound scenarios.

The last review comes from Giant Bomb 5/5 stars. Giant Bomb also has a video review or a written one for you. It's a very positive review highlighting the story and gameplay. Here is a snippet from the review:

In the end, Dragon Age: Origins feels like a real throwback to the good old days of PC role-playing epics. It also feels like exactly what you expect the makers of Baldur's Gate to come up with as a follow-up to that classic. While that means you could rightfully fault the game for not being especially innovative, it's this adherence to a classic style of gameplay that will ensure that it's welcomed by the legions of nostalgic RPG players that make up this genre's core audience. That said, this is definitely not the game for those frightened of the idea of micromanaging a game to the point where a large portion of it will be spent in a pause screen. However, as the sort of guy that has lovingly played an Infinity Engine game at least once every year for the past decade, I can think of no higher praise for this throwback than to say that Dragon Age: Origins leaves me feeling fairly confident I won't need to dig out the classics for this ritual next year.

Thanks to a poster on our forums for a link to the Dragon Age manual, direct from EA.  This .zip (direct link) contains a .pdf for a bunch of different languages.

IGN UK has an effusive review of Dragon Age with a score of 9.2/10.  It's easier to list the criticisms than the positives, which are only load times and re-using animations - everything else gets the thumbs up.  An early quote:

And so the stage is set for Bioware's latest opus. It's a story of corruption on every level and the fight to regain some sense of balance to stem the tide, which at times seems all but overpowering. Much has been made of the supposed "maturity" in the run-up to the game, but all that Marilyn Manson nonsense can be forgotten as it is abundantly clear from the moment it begins that Bioware is telling a tale head and shoulders above the competition. Dragon Age: Origins is deep, complex, and mighty.

Thanks, Remus!

A handful of miscellaneous items I'll collect here.

• Kotaku has a live chat with Mike Laidlaw at 3PM EST, which I think is pretty soon.
• GameBanshee has added to their Dragon Age database, with full details of all the specialisation talents, all companions and an advancement table.
• PC Games Hardware offers benchmarks and graphics tuning advice.

From Kenny B at the Bioware forums comes word of a PS3 review from IGN Australia. Here's the reviewer's take on the setting:

The setting, and the care that went into building the back-story, are two of Dragon Age: Origins' strongest elements. Your codex, which tracks essential plot threads, stories and scrolls that you've recovered, noted that have been intercepted and so on, becomes an indispensable tool by midway through this massive adventure. Tracking characters, families and allegiances (or being open-minded enough to participate in the wide-reading) is essential to getting the most out of this tale.

This is Ausir's second interview from the Dragon Age Warden's Quest event.  Online Producer Fernando Melo faces the questions this time, which means the Social site is top of the agenda.  On how it might direct future content:

Can it also allow you to track how people play your game and react to that in future titles?

Absolutely. Even in the downloadable content, we have a plan to support the game for about two years afterwards. And a lot of that is not just us saying that we want people to play this, it's listening to our community in both what they're doing in the game and what they choose to let us now, but also traditionally through forum posts, now on the social site we also can take a look at their stories, we can also look at blog posts and wikis, how many people are following other players and characters through their game, and those are really good indicators of the type of content people enjoy in Dragon Age.  So it's going to be less about what we think people want and what they actually want to play. It's very important for us.

After a long period going back and forth, preloading has finally been confirmed for Steam users.  From Derek French:

Steam pre-load is a go.

Should start pre-loading world-wide sometime on November 1st.

Local regional unlock days are unchanged. You will be able to get the game on either of November 3rd, 5th, or 6th, depending on the region.

You're welcome.

/me scuttles back into my work-cave

From Bioware's Derek French comes word about updated system requirements for their upcoming rpg, Dragon Age: Origins. Note that the game no longer requires a quad core in the recommended specifications nor does it any longer require a dual core in the minimum specs.

Ausir writes in to say he had the chance to interview BioWare's Mike Laidlaw while representing Poland in the recent Wardens' Quest competition:

How does the design process look at BioWare? Do you write extensive design documents, or maybe just have a very basic outline and add stuff as you go along?

I think it's a hybrid between those two. You can't just shoot from the hip, you can't develop based on faith. The budgets are far too big to just create whatever and see if it works. You need to have a basic design, I think that more importantly what you need to have is a vision.  You need to have a goal and something you're trying to create, whether it's something like a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate 2, or an experience that makes you feel like Jack Bauer in space, commanding a team of badass commandos.  And one person cannot do it all so you have to convey that idea, that vision. But generally you have to be flexible, you can't get locked down with the design and go "Well, we wrote that four years ago, back when all kinds of new technology haven't come out yet". You don't want to get stalemated by that.

BioWare kicked up some Dragon Age Halloween desktop wallpapers a couple of days ago.   Grab them from their gallery.

The fourth diary entry from Tom Chick deals with health potion addiction.

And here's where I realized my party has a drinking problem. I can buy an unlimited supply of flasks from the merchant at my camp. And some merchants have a few pieces of elfroot in stock. I started making a point to buy these whenever I came across them. But even then, during a really long storyline dungeon, I ran out of health potions. I had no way to heal during battles. It was touch and go for a while. I had to play very defensively. I had to pull back my characters when they were hurt (also known as "fleeing"). There were - I'm not ashamed to admit this - a few reloads involved.