BioWare details Awakening char transition

By Tom Bramwell Published 7 January, 2010

Add-on is "massive", DLC delay explained.

BioWare has explained how you will be able to approach upcoming Dragon Age expansion Awakening either as a new character or using an existing one.

Online producer Fernando Melo told IGN that the game takes place in the new area of Amaranthine in the north of Ferelden, and if you begin from scratch you arrive as an Orlesian Grey Warden Commander.

"It's not the same depth of something like an origin story, but there is a brand new beginning to the campaign there, and then you're thrust into the tale," he said.

If you prefer to continue on with an existing character, you can do this at any time with a save-game, but if you haven't finished Origins you should be aware that any progress in Awakening cannot be reversed back into the main game.

"Once you make the jump to fast forward that amount of time, you effectively end that Origins campaign and you begin the Awakening campaign with that character," Melo explained.

"You can always go back to your Origins save and continue that separately, but once you go into Awakening, because of the level-up and the time passage, there is no coming back to Origins at that point.

Melo said to expect Awakening to be available at retail and via download, although he didn't clarify if the latter meant PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 or just PC.

Oh, and it probably goes without saying, but it's "fairly massive". "I don't think we know how to make games differently," he said. "It'll be bigger than most retail games."

Melo also explained the recent delay to the Return to Ostagar DLC. Apparently a problem was spotted "literally at the last minute" while the game was in final testing.

"We probably could have gone with it, but it's something that was serious enough that we felt it impacted the quality and we made the choice to delay it to give our fans the best experience with it," he said.

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About Tom Bramwell

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

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

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Comments (14) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • kingmong #1 2 years ago

    i heartily endorse this product or service

  • WinterSnowblind #2 2 years ago

    More expansions, less 20 minute DLC packs.

    After buying the first pack and playing through that I pretty much lost faith in the DLC system but the announcement of Awakening has definitely renewed my interest. This is the type of thing I want to see more of, and I really hope it's the route Mass Effect 2 takes as well.

  • djed #3 2 years ago

    I haven't bought the original game yet. I get this feeling of an insurmountable wall of DLC that makes my PURCHASING DECISION a lot more difficult (caps added for the marketing rascals out there). This statement based on a trend, not one game only (eg Assassin's Creed, Borderlands et al).

  • DaemonSpawn #4 2 years ago

    2 djed
    Dragon Age is of enormous length and quality without any DLCs - fear not and buy it!

  • matrim83 #5 2 years ago

    ^^+1

    Its about 40 hours, conservatively speaking. And there is no way (if you like RPGs) you will feel shortchanged or feel that something was missing or cut out for DLC.

    Unlike AC2.

  • sarcasmoidosis #6 2 years ago

    The original game is huge, about 40 hours without fiddling with all side quests. Full completion is 70 hours +, without DLC's. And if you buy it on PC, you get one free DLC and there are mods out there to make the game even more enjoyable (like a mod that allows you to respec your character and your group mates)

  • Rubarack #7 2 years ago

    Given the time since Dragon Age's release and the high cost and low length of the DLC I'd say it certainly does not go without saying that it will be massive. But if it is and maintains the quality of Dragon Age then this will be very exciting.

  • Kikizosan #8 2 years ago

    I think what djed is saying isn't about getting value for money without the DLC, more that knowing a game that is already huge has a ton more DLC to play is, perhaps, too much of a commitment (time and money) and may push some people towards NOT buying it. There's too much/the learning curve is too steep - something along those lines. I can certainly see where he's coming from, if that's what he meant, and if it's not what he meant then it's what I mean. :)

    I know: you can "never have enough of a good thing"...but I don't always necessarily agree with that.

  • Murton #9 2 years ago

    I honestly believe that Bioware are probably the last of the great RPG devs, the rest seem to have died or been swallowed by the others or in the case of the once great Bethesda, have become lazy and let their standards slip as they take less interest in both build and game quality (talking about Failout 3 there)

    I approve of Bioware's pledge to not only create a great RPG but to keep supporting for two years through DLC and all out expansions. In a market where many developers seem to be concentrating more on DLCs than they do the main game, it's great to see just one developer doing it the way it should be done. Great game with great support, that's where the ludicrously high profits are to be had in my opinion, not in cutting the main game short and then building on it at a premium rate.

  • UberFrog #10 2 years ago

    "More expansions, less 20 minute DLC packs."

    +1

  • Lamb #11 2 years ago

    Dragon Age Origins. I am impressed with certain parts of the game like the voice acting and the fighting system (on the PC). But they made the game to cover the span of Ferelden and thus it doesn't feel as well made as battling through the five warrens of Neverwinter.

    Its very thin and generic in areas like the Dwarven slums or the fast travel settings and locations. Plus it seems unfinished in the graphics department for lots of areas.

  • immateriaux #12 2 years ago

    @Murton - what's wrong with Fallout's build quality?

    You can hardly suggest that there are no flaws with DAO for a start (there's already been two patches and there remain outstanding issues) but I can't remember having any particular problems whatsoever playing Fallout 3. Excellent game overall and it did at least offer up an immersive, exploratory environment. In contrast, DAO "shows" us the world with movies after movie after movie. Great if you are a passive type gamer but very limiting if you enjoy creating your own story. I'd very sincerely hope that very linear, predictable style of RPG that Bioware gave us with DAO is not the standard for future "RPG"s at all.
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/10 @ 20:37

  • Gastrian #13 2 years ago

    @immateriaux

    I believe Murton is refering to Fallout 3's infamous DLC. Each piece of DLC was released with at least one huge bug, some game breaking, some funny (the exclamation marks) whereas Bioware are delaying Return to Ostagar because a bug was found that would affect quite a few players.

  • metalangel #14 2 years ago

    +2 for one big expansion over several tiny DLC.