Dragon Age 2 Preview

By Tom Bramwell Published 25 August, 2010

Dark respawn.

We strongly advise against reading the things people write about you on the internet. It is, as Peter Mannion once said on The Thick of It, "like opening the door to a room where everybody tells you how s*** you are." Nevertheless, emboldened by the hugely positive response to Dragon Age: Origins, BioWare has been on forums seeking inspiration for the sequel.

Apparently this has resulted in a single, core principle that sits at the heart of Dragon Age 2. The idea is to improve the things that worked, fix the things that were broken, and use your comments on the game over the past year as a starting point. In other words, if you don't like the results, you've only got yourself to blame.

Dragon Age 2 is much more than a patch for the first game. It's a whole new story, following the ascent of protagonist Hawke from the days of his escape from Lothering right up to his victory at Kirkwall in the Free Marshes - actions that make him the most important individual in the Dragon Age universe, according to the developers.

In a way it's two whole new stories, because the game uses a framed narrative. "It's this notion of a story that's being told by another story," says the producer. "For example, Assassin's Creed is not about Altair in the Middle Ages - it's about this guy Desmond in the future trying to find out more about his past."

In Dragon Age 2, the tales of Hawke's exploits are really being told by a hairy man sitting in a throne taunting a woman called Cassandra. She's a chantry seeker on Hawke's trail for reasons we'll find out later. "What you're playing is an exaggeration of the real story," we're told. "It's your myth. You're quintessential in Dragon Age lore and Hawke's rise to power changes the whole Dragon Age history."

Scale of greatness.

Unlike Assassin's Creed though, the game sometimes revisits things it's already done to clarify details. In our demo, for example, the narrator exaggerates tales of Hawke and his sister Bethany's flight from Lothering to make it sound like they single-handedly defeated a horde of Hurlocks - only for Cassandra to literally call "bulls***" on it and demand the real version, which we then see as well.

BioWare says another advantage of the framed narrative is that the game can span more time - 10 years in this case compared to Origins' one. "You're not going to play all the boring bits in the middle of the fun things," apparently. The condensed timeline will also mean that decisions you make early in the game appear to bear fruit sooner, so you're less likely to do something meaningful then forget about it by the time it pays off.

The visuals and interface are a terrific improvement over the slightly lacklustre ports of Origins. We didn't even realise we were watching the Xbox 360 version for a few minutes until we were told. Upon switching to PC it's another boost. Both versions also benefit from BioWare's decision to change the art direction.

"Origins had an issue where you'd see a screenshot and weren't sure where it was from," says the game's producer. "We made it a point from the beginning of Dragon Age 2 to give it its own style."

Combat has also been refined. Many of us loved the ability to pause the first game and plot your next move using the tactics menus, but this resulted in some players queuing up actions then wandering off and not really connecting with the battles themselves. "With Dragon Age 2 we're keeping the ability to think like a General, but we're adding the ability to fight like a Spartan," says the producer.

On-screen, Hawke - a male warrior for this demo - and Bethany, a mage - are taking on a stream of Hurlocks. Hawke's brutal attacks carve off legs and split enemies in half. It's almost hilariously violent. "If I never want to go into think-like-a-General mode, I don't have to," says the producer. "You don't have to use the pause-and-play mechanic. But they are there if you love that kind of thing."

We see examples of this too. On the Xbox 360 you can bring up the command wheel, switch characters, select Bethany's spells and sweep a circular cursor around the battlefield to work out where to target a spell - in this case a mighty fireball. There's more good news for mages, too, because now you have scripted death animations similar to the ones you get with other character classes. "Now you can literally rip an ogre in half." What's not to like?

On the PC, there's Tactical Camera 2.0, which allows you to roam your viewpoint freely around the battlefield issuing orders without the game's camera being tied to your characters or a confined space. Other PC interface improvements include stamina and mana potions on the far right of the quickbar so they don't use up number-key slots.

In one case we select Aveline, one of Hawke's companions, and put her in a defensive posture where she uses her shield more and attacks less. "We do it to show that not only can you customise how your main character behaves," says the producer, "but you can also do it with your followers as well."

Then we level up. Points still go into attributes like strength and dexterity as you cross thresholds, but Dragon Age 2 introduces ability trees, where you unlock a main ability - for example Stun - but then get to upgrade it specifically once you reach higher levels.

How you interact with your comrades and the world around you has also changed, and one of the biggest additions is a voice for the protagonist, which feels so much more natural than the silence of Origins.

Exchanges that regulate the involvement of your other party members immediately feel more natural. "We can't keep this up forever," Bethany says during a break in the action. Your options - "I'm right beside you", "Neither can they" and "Then we fight" - really pump you up when they're spoken out loud.

Dialogue options now have little icons too - an olive branch indicates diplomacy, a drama mask means sarcasm, a fist means aggression and there are others - so it should be easier to make sure your character is treating people as you intend. Interestingly, your behaviour also starts to stick.

"If I always chose the sarcastic options, my Hawke would be changed and start doing sarcastic battle cries, or sarcastic lines when you first meet people, even before you get to choose anything," says the producer.

More on Dragon Age II

Of course, Dragon Age 2 is about more than just killing and kidding around, and we see an example of this at the climax of our demo. With your brother Carver already dead - his head smashed repeatedly and crushingly into the ground by an ogre, splattering blood everywhere - we have to marshal grief among the group, which also includes Hawke's sister and his mother.

"One of the key themes is family, which is really important to Hawke," says the producer. "This isn't a game about a main character who wakes up on a beach with amnesia and finds out he's destined for greatness. We really wanted it to feel like a real story where you're fleeing your homeland with your family. Sometimes you have loss."

Sometimes you have insult on top of injury too. After a familiar face pitches up to help the survivors of the Hurlock attack, Hawke is put in a position where he has to decide the fate of Aveline's husband, Wesley, who has become corrupted. When Aveline seeks Hawke's help, he can respond three ways: "It's up to you." "I'll do it." "Put him out of his misery."

"This is one of those choices that you'll definitely see come back to haunt you one way or the other," says the producer, as Aveline follows Hawke's lead, and with Wesley's help positions a knife above his own chest plate. She pauses, and then jerks it down violently, killing him. It's unsettling to watch. At first glance, then, Dragon Age 2 hasn't lost any of the original game's intrigue, courage or ambition. Perhaps reading about yourself on the internet is a good thing after all.

Dragon Age 2 is due out for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on 11th March 2011 in Europe.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (59) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Stickman #1 2 years ago

    Well, at least the dramtic family deaths won't come as a nasty surprise now.

  • Shikasama #2 2 years ago

    In other words, if you don't like the results, you've only got yourself to blame.

    Because deveoper implementation of player requested features is ALWAYS 100%

    I don't see how your description of the combat (especially the great lengths you go to to describe placing a fireball on the ground) are any different from the first game? Maybe I'm not understanding something but you didn't have to use the radial in the original either and could 'think like a general' (which is absolute tosh considering trying to actually place your companions anywhere delibrately on the 360 version was an excercise in futility) if you wanted too.

    What I really care about is the godawful AI tactics. have they been improved? What's the interface for scripting your companions actions?

    Also, when the story broke that these little icons were there, didn't they refute it saying it was for testing purposes only or something?

    A tenner on the old man being Hawke.

  • SilverInfinity #3 2 years ago

    Please EA don't ruin this sequel for me ... what you did to ME2 ruined the enjoyable experience I had with the original ME :(

  • Kanjin #4 2 years ago

    I'm actually liking the sound of what they're doing so far.

  • Daeltaja #5 2 years ago

    When are we gonna see from friggin gameplay footage?

  • BritishBlue1 #6 2 years ago

    "Well, at least the dramtic family deaths won't come as a nasty surprise now."

    I see you're already making use of the sarcastic dialogue choice.

  • crustyjuggleruk #7 2 years ago

    After a familiar face pitches up to help the survivors of the Hurlock attack...

    If that was your previous character from Origins , or whoever is left alive, by accessing the model off your DA:o save file, that would be sweet. imagin if the press are under NDA from that... Squeee
    Edited by crustyjuggleruk at 25/08/10 @ 15:21

  • arcam #8 2 years ago

    On the PC, there's Tactical Camera 2.0, which allows you to roam your viewpoint freely around the battlefield issuing orders without the game's camera being tied to your characters or a confined space. Other PC interface improvements include stamina and mana potions on the far right of the quickbar so they don't use up number-key slots.

    I didn't really understand this paragraph - the camera wasn't locked to your character in the original was it? And stamina (presumably you meant health here) and mana potions didn't take up a number slot, you could put them anywhere you wanted.

  • Rorsch #9 2 years ago

    Am I the only one who's not reassured when they say "BioWare has been on forums seeking inspiration for the sequel"?

    Game fan != game designer

  • lavalant #10 2 years ago

    So he's saying we can still use pause and play tactics during fights if we want, or switch to an action combat??

  • Daikon #11 2 years ago

    "It's this notion of a story that's being told by another story," says the producer. "For example, Assassin's Creed is not about Altair in the Middle Ages - it's about this guy Desmond in the future trying to find out more about his past."

    Great, thanks for the spoiler alert. ^_^
    Seriously though, he is so wrong about this. Assassin's Creed *IS* about Altair in the Middle Ages. The other narrative frame is just a gimmick.

    Looking forward to Dragon Age 2!

    Edit: PS: Can we have more Claudia Black? Please?
    Edited by Daikon at 25/08/10 @ 16:07

  • Zephro #12 2 years ago

    I agree with Arcam. Did the previewer play this on the PC? :-s You could do those things in the original.

    Also what the hell does fight like a Spartan mean? Anyone who references the 300 in a positive light should be strung up or at least given free entrance to a gay gym. Sweatbox in Soho is a good one I hear.

    While a framed narrative is interesting, is this going to restrict the ability to actually create your own character. story and style? Which ought to be the hallmark of these things.

  • Pike #13 2 years ago

    I didn't really understand this paragraph - the camera wasn't locked to your character in the original was it? And stamina (presumably you meant health here) and mana potions didn't take up a number slot, you could put them anywhere you wanted.

    The camera was locked to the character you were currently controlling in DA:o. I assume that what the potion thing means they will have a separate dedicated slot, outside of the quickbar.
    Edited by Pike at 25/08/10 @ 16:38

  • anomagnus #14 2 years ago

    Can't wait for this. I see people moaning already though.

    One thing i'd like to point out about bioware and listening to its fans on the forums.

    After ME1, people complained about the following:-

    1) The lifts
    2) Inventory
    3) Powers
    4) The ship and lack of life in it
    5) Crew interaction
    6)The RPG focus of the game (i.e. why does an N7 solider need to skill up his weapon skill?)

    Bioware went and changed all of these things, and if you go back over the forums, you'll see the common compliants, and the suggestions they made. Bioware implemented those changes, and ME2 is one of the best selling and critically accliamed games of 2010. It also got slated on the forums by the same people who asked for the changes.

    Go figure.

    I can't wait for DA2, and i think it sounds amazing.

  • sneetch #15 2 years ago

    I like the sound of it, I hope they work on the AI behaviour a bit better, I've only now got around to playing the first one (about half way through) and Leliana seems to race around like a blue-arsed fly at the moment: if I tell someone to attack any target she attacks it too, then you move on to the next character and tell them to attack a different enemy and Leliana runs over and attacks that target. She spends more time running about than fighting. :)

    It could be easy to fix that but it's a bit odd for the "default tactics" (I don't think I changed them).

  • Vyggo #16 2 years ago

    Gotta say, all the news I hear from the press seems to indicatie the game is much improved gameplay wise over Dragon Age. Hope it's not a step back story wise, like ME2 was compared to ME1.

  • Scimarad #17 2 years ago

    I might be in a minority but I'm rather looking forward to this. It does seem to be fixing a lot of the things that I disliked about the first one, mostly the fact that your character seemed to have bugger all to do with what was going on around them apart from in the excellent prologue sections.

    I do sympathise with the people who'd have rather had Baldur's Gate than something that seems to be following the lead of Mass Effect but I'm definitely not one of them.

  • RevanNL #18 2 years ago

    So Hawke is only a male character? No option to play a female version of Hawke?

  • Scimarad #19 2 years ago

    You can change class and gender, but not race.

  • soviet_ #20 2 years ago

    Seriously, what is this new art direction they are talking about? The screenshots look like they could've come from Origins and whilst that isn't a bad thing I don't get what the fuss is about.

    I was excited when I saw the concept art...

  • Dagdriver #21 2 years ago

    but,but, I WANT to customize how the main char looks & plays ....
    Edited by Dagdriver at 25/08/10 @ 17:44

  • Feanor #22 2 years ago

    Hawke's first name is Marcus, right?

  • Scimarad #23 2 years ago

    @Dagdriver

    You CAN. You just can't make him/her an Elf or a Dwarf.

  • anomagnus #24 2 years ago

    @Feanor

    Actually, his firstname is stringfellow. In a daring move, DA2 will be about a man stealing a new type of attack dragon, hiding in the desert, and using it to help people in need, along with a dwarf called earnst

  • coomber #25 2 years ago

    Surely someone on this website understands we DON'T like spoilers by now? Or do all of your writers confuse previews with a plot synopsis?

  • Hunam #26 2 years ago

    I really don't like the sound of this. The story telling for one seems like they're just going away from subtle touches to each decision will have an impact right away, which actually reduces the impact because you can just go back 5 mins and change it up how you like. If decisions take a while to turn up and get back to you then you have to live with your mistakes which is a great part of games, it's clever and unexpected.

    The combat doesn't sound great though, Arcanum showed us why having a duel battle system just doesn't work. Also sounds like the game is turning into the marketing for the first one, a childish obsession with violence and boobies.

  • riceNpea #27 2 years ago

    can't wait. loved Origins. i have it on PS3 so if Sony block any expansion packs on disk again i will go mental.

    £40 quid to download when it's available on other formats for half the price?! you can kiss my arse

  • Seehuusen #28 2 years ago

    Will people ever learn that EA isn't developping their games ? they are just publishing them for crying out loud....if you're not satisfied, blame bioware. i for one thought ME 2 was a huge improvement over ME 1 actionwise, the story was horrible tho, all about picking up a few squad mates for ME 3....ME 1 had a much greater story.

  • CloisterBlack #29 2 years ago

    Blaah, why can't we choose a race?
    I call this racism! Elves , Dwarfs and Humans have equal rights!

    (I'll still pick this up however :p but seriously, why can't we choose our race?..)

  • Centrifugal #30 2 years ago

    Over at the Bioware forums, in response to a thread about this article mentioning the spoilers regarding who died, a developer said:

    "that's just the version that the previewer saw."

    So it's possible that different people can die in the opening sequence.

  • immateriaux #31 2 years ago

    Found the first game a massive disappointment, probably the most disappointing game I've come across in years.

    The lack of game play variety was one thing, no real exploration, just go here, then there, then over there. And when you got wherever you were going, places were unbelieveably two dimensional. The main twon - Derrinim, was it? - has a bar with the sound of people in it but no actual people. Always empty, bar for one "quest" when you get to throw a group out. The main bar. What a gyp. Everytime you enter the city there's the same woman standing on the same corner. And so on.

    I find that kind of thing utterly out-dated, it's a pre-Oblivion way of building rpgs. The Witcher, built on older technology was a million times better, with a genuine sense of playing out a role in a world that was alive, not just stage managed. Bioware just throw endless Cut scenes at you to cover the emptiness of the gameworld. These then often interfere with the gameplay; e.g. you see a possible ambush, spread your players out,prepare, suddenly some trite cut scene and now all your characters are bunched in the middle, weapons sheathed, getting hammered. Next you have to deal with the stupidity of using "hold" commands just to get your characters into proper fighting positions.

    Really sloppy, casual sort of game that has me now suspicious of the next effort. Biowares' "interactive movie" style of game making just leaves me totally non-plussed.

  • anomagnus #32 2 years ago

    @immateriaux

    I'm not really going to disagree with you on many points, i agree with some of what you say. However, i did love DA:0, especially on my second playthrough. You are right to say that the main city was a disappointment. The only part that really felt alive to me was the Alienage. However, in saying that, Lotherim, Recliff, the mages tower, i felt were very well handled, and felt, to me at least, very vibrant.

    Regarding the witcher, to be fair, that was a game set in a single city. Had Dragon Age Origins been set only in Dennerim then it would have probably felt far more city like, but i would have disliked a game of DA:0's scope to have been confined to a single city.

    Really, comparing the witcher to da:0 isnt fair. Yes, they're both sword and fantasy rpg's, but thats where the similarites. One is a tight, personal story, the other is a grand sweeping epic.

    They're top, top games, but i replayed the Witcher a few months ago, and i had felt it had aged. It suffered from very poor translation, and some glaring story breaking moments. But don't get me wrong, that game is still top, TOP notch.

    I look forward to the Witcher 2, as much as you, it will be one of the top games of 2011, but if i had to choose at this stage between DA:0 and the Witcher, DA has it.

  • Slabbathepave #33 2 years ago

    He returns!!!!

    [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8Ra6TsdEts
    ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8Ra6TsdEts
    [/link]

    Hok teh slayuz!!!

  • immateriaux #34 2 years ago

    True, but for sweeping story I read, sit watch movies. It doesn't do it for me at all. Things like, in Witcher, if you have to find a dwarf, you have to go out look for him. He could be in the bar, he could be with the banker guy, he could just be walking the streets. In DA, he's standing in the place where he stands. Always. I just can't stand that. It's unnecessary in the modern era to be so simplistic. Unless, I guess, that's all you have in your model - everything is on rails, driven by the need to get you to the next cut scene point. Which is essentially what Bioware are doing. But I much prefer having opportunities to get a bit lost, to go off and just explore, or to have to think a little - Bioware seem to be removing those aspects out of their games completely as each one comes out.

  • mcmothercruncher #35 2 years ago

    Not interested unlees the PS3 version runs at greater than 15 fps this time.

  • Zephro #36 2 years ago

    Oblivion is a huge pile of steaming crap.

    Why can't someone just damn well make a Baldur's Gate 3 (or something to that effect as I realise the plot is rather final. Also it would basically be 4 as Throne of Bhaal is longer than most games these days.

  • darkmorgado #37 2 years ago

    If I always chose the sarcastic options, my Hawke would be changed and start doing sarcastic battle cries, or sarcastic lines when you first meet people, even before you get to choose anything," says the producer.

    This.

    It always annoys me in RPGs that no matter how much of a dick you are, 90% of the way through you can suddenly just randomly become a martyr and noone comments on this sudden change of personality. I think most people will overlook this part of the preview, but personally I think it's a very important part of making your choices as a player meaningful. How many RPGs have you played that have said "your choices will affect the outcome!", so you play a dick for most of it to get the best rewards, then revert to playing a saint at the end to get the best ending?

    Seems like a good way of removing inconsistent role playing.

    Funnily enough I've been working on a similar mechanic in the design brief that I'm working on. No clues what it is.

    Well ok, one small clue. Three letters that stand for a word each. X. M. H.

    Work that out, and you might work out what I'm working on.

  • Shikasama #38 2 years ago

    darkmorgado - I'm far more concerned when a game tells me my choices have far reaching implications and are meaningful and I still end u[p say...fighting the dragon. Doesn't matter I do, what order I dso it in or how I act on the way, the killer is always the same guy.

    That's a much greater betrayal than some character inconsistencies (which you could argue about anyway, considering that even a sarcastic prick might still make the decision to save the world).

  • Xensor #39 2 years ago

    @darkmorgado

    X-Men Heroes?
    Xavier, Magneto and Homies?
    Xtreme Mounted Horsemen?
    Xhibits's Mansion and Hunnies?
    Xylophones, Mouth-organs and Harpsichords?

    :)

  • darkmorgado #40 2 years ago

    @xensor

    You're in the right genre (sci fi) but beyond that, you're nowhere near close :-D

    @Shikasama

    Some simple binary choices could solve that. Chose this option on that mission? Well, your character is a prick and therefore would not necessarily slay the dragon unless it was of personal benefit. You didn't save this party member? Well ok, but their response to you might change as a result, as might their personality (torture does terrible things to a persons soul). Choose to save - this person rejoins your crew and is grateful for your intervention. Choose not to save, they might rejoin at a later date (after a mission that reflects your earlier choice), but their view to you and abilities may alter as a result.

    The witcher is a good example of this I think; the first RPG I played where there was no clear good or bad decision, and as the results were not made clear until hours later you could not simply revert to a quicksave.

    Chose to save this city instead of that one? Well, this city might benefit and as a result you may end up with increased intelligence. However, as a result you may have condemned this other city to slow corruption. As a result of this corruption, your subsequent visits might be met with increased hostility, NPCs may not be available to you, your standing with the overall police force might be affected, and noone likes a dick, right? So perhaps your personal corruption rating increases. This might mean that you gain options to increase your personal power, but at the same time it could affect your access to intelligence (people dont readily help out nasty bastards).
    Just some thoughts.

    Still working out the math, ordered some books today which might help me with how certain things are calculated or at least give me an idea as to how to proceed.


    Edited by darkmorgado at 26/08/10 @ 01:46

  • darkmorgado #41 2 years ago

    Nobody expects the spanish....

    Fill in the blanks.

    /second clue

  • Shikasama #42 2 years ago

    Oh I wasn't saying it couldn't be done or hasn't been done, but the majority of games with 'meaningful choices' still have a rail-roaded storyline and DAO was a primary offender.

    I'm gona say the X stands for Xenomorph.

  • metalangel #43 2 years ago

    @Shiksama: that's because there's only ever one choice that has any genuine effect, and it is always so glaringly obvious that its borderline insulting.

    This isn't sounding too great, if they're taking fan feedback on board why are they scrapping the very popular choice of origin story? I'm also not looking forward to having to play the same section twice because the developer thinks the whole "storyteller exaggerating" thing is cute.

  • thefinn #44 2 years ago

    "In other words, if you don't like the results, you've only got yourself to blame."

    Um no. It's not like there's anything like fan consensus about what did and didn't need changing in DAO. If I don't like the results, it's because I'm in the minority (assuming Bioware follows the fanbase slavishly, which I don't believe they will), not because I'm some kind of idiot who asks for stuff I won't like.

    (or did you mean "yourselves"?...)

  • UncleLou #45 2 years ago

    The camera was locked to the character you were currently controlling in DA:o

    You could still move the camera around quite a bit in the isometric perspective. Don't see a massive difference to what the article says.

  • Pike #46 2 years ago

    UL: It's hard to judge the changes without actually playing the new game, something I eagerly look forward to, however even if the camera can be moved a fair bit in DA:o it is still locked and can't be moved completely freely. Personally I never felt that it was to much of an issue. It almost never prevented me from taking a planned action, but I guess others found it to be more of an issue.

  • darkmorgado #47 2 years ago

    I'm gona say the X stands for Xenomorph

    Close, but no cigar.

    On topic, I have to say that I agree with the people who are annoyed at the removal of the origin stories. After all, Bioware spent so long showing them off and making them out to be an integral part of the first game (and, after all, they were even in the title of the game), so it seems a bit odd to suddenly have them removed.

  • SilverInfinity #48 2 years ago

    Ouch -26 at last count ...

    // Note to self //

    ... don't comment on ME2 ever lol

  • Munster #49 2 years ago

    @darkmorgado

    I'm gonna guess the words are Xenos Malleus and Hereticus and therefore it relates to the three orders of the Inquisition in Warhammer 40K.

  • Zeliard #50 2 years ago

    Dialogue options now have little icons too - an olive branch indicates diplomacy, a drama mask means sarcasm, a fist means aggression and there are others - so it should be easier to make sure your character is treating people as you intend.

    This is unfortunate. Is it really necessary to have icons to explain to people what certain pieces of dialog indicate? After a point, you'll just be looking at the icon to choose what you want to say, rather than the actual text. "I want to be diplomatic to this guy - oh look there's the olive tree branch icon, let me pick that one."

    A little bit of ambiguity goes a long way.

  • Gastrian #51 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 17:56:43 13-04-2012

  • Turrican #52 2 years ago

    So I'm on the fence about this one now, I generally love everything Bioware release compared to most other devs even if I feel mistakes are made at the design phase.

    The impression they give is that they are making sure this plays as well on the Consoles as it did on the PC last time, which of course could mean some compromises to the excellent Baldur's Gate style combat control offered in the latter. For me this was what made DA:o the better game than ME2 which most often boiled down to a decent Gears of War clone, and so I really hope the game doesn't lean too close to that.

    So fingers crossed from a PC player's point of view.

  • sneetch #53 2 years ago

    @Munster
    I'm gonna guess the words are Xenos Malleus and Hereticus and therefore it relates to the three orders of the Inquisition in Warhammer 40K.

    Oooooh! I hope so!

  • darkmorgado #54 2 years ago

    Well it's no secret that I love the Holy Ordos.

    I'm actually reading the Jaq Draco novels atm and a load of Dark Heresy stuff should be landing on my doormat soon.
    Edited by darkmorgado at 26/08/10 @ 17:14

  • sneetch #55 2 years ago

    Confirmed!

    Well, not quite. Or indeed at all.

  • darkmorgado #56 2 years ago

    I don't comment on rumour or speculation ;-)

  • immateriaux #57 2 years ago

    @Gastrian " All I can say to your post is, nice one. Now try and work out how I'm saying it... Ambiguity is not a good thing when it comes to making choices"

    Speaking as a writer, one of the primary goals of good writing is to make the sentence do the work. We're taught, for example, to avoid adverbs and adjectives as they are lazy, cheats; the words used should convey the meaning directly. A good piece of writing would hence not get into the scenario you describe. "Nice one" may be ambiguous, therefore, write it better.
    Edited by immateriaux at 29/08/10 @ 19:05

  • UncleLou #58 2 years ago

    @Gastrian:

    Elmare Leonard's rules of writing
    http://www.kabedford.com/archives/000013...

  • pevans34 #59 2 years ago

    I wont try to judge this before it comes out. However you have to hope (if your an old school CRPG fan anyway) that Bioware doesnt sell out too much to the action happy console crowd.

    But at the end of the day I just dont have much time to take in all the juicyness of an actual rpg anymore. I wish I did, but for now I guess it is more satisfying to hit one button and see your screen explode, regardless of how little you have to think about it.