User:Eganogard

About
''Ok, so I'm not really omnipotent. I'm an enigma wrapped in a riddle and a slice of prosciutto.''

I've been gaming since the early 1980's on Intellivision, Atari 2600, & Commodore 64. I'm disappointed to see that after 30+ years of video games, developers still haven't figured out how to make a character run around an object instead of into it. There's nothing like watching Hawke's intellect be defeated by a table during a fight at the Hanged Man to make my day complete.

Currently playing: DA:O & DA2.

Also a fan of: The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Thief, Hitman, and No One Lives Forever.

8 Things to Keep

 * The cinematic feel & storytelling.


 * The strategic elements of DA:O. DA2 lessened that; I like emphasis on thought and strategy over speed and gore.


 * Remain a single player fancified dungeon crawl. If DA3 turns into an open world MMORPG I'll cry like a big baby, then go buy something else.


 * Being easily moddable brings extra value and life to a PC game, and some simple-yet-useful mod ideas such as an on/off toggle for highlight usable objects are easy to adopt for DA3.


 * DA:O's environmental sounds and music were very well done IMHO. My first playthough was as a human noble, and with quality headphones I thought that a distant barking mabari in the origin story was a real dog outside.  I was glad some of the DA:O music was recycled for DA2, the new music in Awakening was awful.


 * Decisions that have consequences to storyline / gameplay.


 * DA2's crafting system. Some may disagree, but no running around to multiple vendors for crafting supplies sure floats my boat.


 * DA2's home concept: the storage chest & ability to buy limited supplies such as potions / runes / etc.

7 Things to Change

 * More maps, larger maps. There's nothing like DA2's "been here before" feeling while doing the same maps six times in one playthrough to destroy my potential for immersion.


 * Make characters that can move and execute commands without getting stuck on stairs, doorways, tables, etc. "Hawke, I said attack that guy... not ram yourself into the pillar and forget what you're doing."  For a wealthy and respected champion, s/he sure is stupid sometimes.


 * Finish the tactics system. Making some skills more effective when used on an enemy with a status that is not included in the tactics list (ie. stunned) was an epic fail.  Implementing some ideas from the DA:O advanced tactics mod into DA2 helped, but other features such as logic statements (ie. OR / NOT) are needed.


 * Junk loot is a waste of time and breaks Hawke`s character. The sell all junk button was convenient, but removing junk from the game would be even better.  Hawke starts out with next to nothing, but by Act II picking up trash for 3 copper makes him/her an insane hobo like the scavenger.  Hawke sees garbage such as a moldy doll as something worth looting while ignoring everything else in the room - this leads me to believe that s/he has a serious mental disorder.


 * Precise & complete in-game information about items, skills, etc. is a good thing. After multiple playthroughs I'm still scratching my head about certain things in the DA universe, such as the vague item property . DA2 was somewhat improved in that regard.


 * Simplify running: After clearing an area of enemies, it's done.  If we need to run though a completed area again (to get somewhere else), provide an option to bypass the running by clicking on a known map exit.


 * Add a little more social / environmental realism:
 * Normally people object if you steal from them.
 * People often have a reaction to violence nearby.
 * Nobody chooses to set themselves aflame by deliberately walking into a fire (unless immune, completely insane, utterly panicked, or perhaps the victim of an entropy spell.)
 * Not everything is bolted to the ground.
 * All NPCs should move around within a limited area while doing various things in relation to character / setting / nearby events / plotline events. Stationary NPCs are detrimental to immersion.

Recommended Dragon Age Mods
The following mods are (mostly) must-haves to me. I am not associated with any of them in any way whatsoever. (a.k.a., Don't blame me if you try them and break your game.)

Dragon Age: Origins
 * AddItem
 * Advanced Party / Advanced Quickbar / Advanced Tactics
 * Auto Loot
 * Character Respecialization
 * 4 New Potions
 * Make Console Commands Visible
 * No Helmet Hack

Dragon Age 2
 * More Tactics Slots
 * Prettier Aveline: The only appearance mod I install, makes her face more feminine without a radical change
 * Removes Points in Tree Requirements: cheater cheater pumpkin eater
 * Visual AddItem (VADDI)

Works for Both
 * Tab Hightlight Toggle - An AutoHotKey file, on Windows 7 I needed to use XP Compatibility Mode (SP2).

Trivia (& Other Nonsense)

 * Coincidence, Conspiracy, or Crap? In DA2, male Hawke's default name is Garrett, and there is a (very) minor antagonist named Karras.  Those are also the names of the main protagonist and main antagonist respectively in the well-received 2000 PC game Thief 2:The Metal Age.


 * Truth, Lies, or Videotape? I only have one testicle.  I lost the other one to an Orlesian Purse-Cutter.


 * There once was a man from Nantucket, he walked the Deep Roads donning nothing but a Dead Metal Bucket. Early one eve, Hawke came along and activated Cleave, then chopped the poor fool's head right off.


 * I'm totally cereal.

Contributions

 * comment Forum:Be nice to DA2 day
 * Hmmmmmm... Well, my DA2 disc contains very few scratches. And it did come in a very nice box.  DA2 is better than the Atari 2600 E.T. game, and you're right, it really is far superior to syphilis.


 * I can think of a some honest answers: I like the crafting resource system in DA2 (no time wasted travelling to multiple vendors for supplies).  I like the home & its conveniences.  There were some positive interface changes (ie. sell all junk / take all buttons), and the tooltips were more informative / item properties less vague.


 * comment Forum:Are mage's supposed to represent the middle east?
 * I think you have the right idea, it's an allegory, but specifying a real-world group of people to whom it pertains, if any, is impossible without confirmation from someone actually involved in the game. There's hundreds of examples in history that someone could make a similarity to. IMHO it doesn't need to be associated with anything real - just being a reflection upon ourselves is enough.


 * comment King Cousland/Dragon Age III to be Open World?
 * Are you implying that Reggie Fils-Aime doesn't know what "insatiable" means?


 * Sure, gamers are very severe in judging products - the games must be worth both our time and our money. I get angry after wasting an hour at a bad movie, and games are much more involved. As consumers we demand a LOT more entertainment value from a game in comparison to other mediums such as tv, film, or music. It's a tough industry.


 * Although arguing about what may or may not happen with DA3 is completely ridiculous, people are venting their frustrations after paying for a significant slap in the face with DA2: "rush-job" is an understatement. People are reacting to what we were sold, and predicting an outcome based on what has occurred in the past is not abnormal. One bad title can be enough to sway opinion, it happens all the time. Developers lose the public's confidence by releasing a mediocre product, and that decision was theirs to make - therefore they only have themselves to blame for skepticism.


 * comment King Cousland/Dragon Age III to be Open World?
 * This is an industry where original ideas are rare, and things constantly change. Of course they're looking at competing products that are a commercial success - who wouldn't? Although implementing major gameplay changes is risky, it can be done. Warcraft used to be an RTS, and Elder Scrolls Online is on the way. Our wallets voted in favor of a new Warcraft, but DA "on a larger scale" of some sort, whether open world or not, seems necessary. The limited number of areas and all the map repetition in DA2 really felt cheap and lazy IMHO.


 * comment Talk:Shockwave
 * The wiki's Shockwave & Spell combinations pages state: "Crushing Prison + Force Field." ...but the Codex: Spell Combinations & Codex entry: Shockwave pages state: "Force Field + Crushing Prison." So which is it? Or is the order in which the spells are cast inconsequential for this combo? Considering that the wiki has conflicting information, the casting order should be clarified and mentioned explicitly.


 * added Footpad Boots & image


 * edited Console (Origins)


 * edited Magus Tavarin Hall


 * edited Forbidden Knowledge

Photos Added