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 and getting stuck. There's nothing like watching Hawke's intellect be defeated by a table during a brawl at The Hanged Man to make my day complete.

Currently playing: DA:O / A / 2.

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

A Wish List for Dragon Age 3
''I'm a gamer, and not particularly interested in the DA universe apart from the video games. I neither support nor condemn Bioware / EA; as a consumer I simply want a quality product in exchange for my money.

11 Things to Keep

 * The cinematic feel & storytelling.


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


 * Com-E-dy. Some of my favorite moments have very little to do with the actual game, and a lot to do with humor, banter, pop culture references, playfulness, and personalities.


 * Strategic elements. I like emphasis on thought and strategy over speed and gore.


 * DA:O's environmental sounds and music were well done IMHO. During my first playthough (using 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 just awful.


 * Decisions that have consequences to storyline / companions / gameplay.


 * Being easily moddable brings extra value & life to a game, and some simple-yet-useful mod ideas are easy to adopt for DA3.


 * Playing with or without friendly fire makes a huge difference to gameplay, and both styles can be fun depending on what type of gaming experience the player would like to have. I'd like three difficulty settings with friendly fire, and three without.


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


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


 * DA2's interface improvements: Take all / sell all buttons, auto-locking quickbar, 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 & execute commands w/o 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. Some skills are more effective when used on an enemy with a specific status, but even after four DA2 patches not all of those statuses are included in the tactics list (ie. stunned): an epic fail.  Implementing some ideas from the DA:O advanced tactics mod into DA2 was great, but some more features (ie. logic statements OR / NOT) are still needed.


 * Junk loot is a waste of time & it breaks character. The sell all junk button in DA2 is convenient, but self-referencing item name gags aside, junk loot is utterly pointless.  Picking up garbage for 3 copper also makes Hawke an insane hobo like the DA:O scavenger.  S/he sees a moldy doll as something worth looting while ignoring everything else in the room - this leads me to suspect a serious mental disorder.


 * Precise & complete in-game information is a good thing. After multiple playthroughs I'm still scratching my head about a few things in the DA universe, especially vague item properties (ie. ).


 * Less unnecessary running. My time is valuable to me.  (If I wanted to waste it on needlessly repetitive and/or time-consuming in-game tasks with negligible entertainment value purposely designed to increase playtime, I'd play a monthly-fee mmorpg).  When the player needs to pass though a fully explored area (free of enemies & active event triggers) to get somewhere else, provide an option to bypass running by clicking on a map exit.


 * Add a little more social / environmental realism:
 * People normally object if you take their possessions.
 * Nobody chooses to set themselves aflame by deliberately walking into a fire (unless immune, panicked by chaos, utterly insane, perhaps the victim of an entropy spell, etc.).
 * Not everything is bolted to the ground.
 * If allying with an NPC & friendly fire is enabled, I have a little courtesy and restrict my spell use. It would be nice if NPCs could do the same.  When I'm trying to save your life, a fireball in the face is not "helping" me.
 * People usually have some sort of a reaction to violence nearby.
 * While not engaged in conversation, all NPCs should move around within a limited area while doing various things in relation to character / setting / nearby events / plotline events. Stationary NPCs ≠ immersion.

30 Names for Dog
Where "–" is a link it points to a source of inspiration for the name. * Loghain's wife. ** Reads PeeKingDog (as per its link), not a Peking Duck dog. :)

It could have been an amusing cutscene if the Warden were introduced to Anora or Goldanna with a similarly named dog in the party ... or imagine Loghain's reaction to finding out that the dog has the same name as his wife.

Recommended Dragon Age Mods
''The following mods are must-haves to me. Most are widely used to improve functionality or interface.'' This is a personal list on a personal page, and is not endorsed by Dragon Age Wiki or wikia.com. If a mod is listed here I use it regularly, but I am not associated with any mod in any way whatsoever. ''Use mods at your own risk. Don't blame me (or anyone else) if you try one and you / it breaks your game.'' Dragon Age: Origins AddItem - Add an item to your inventory. (duh!) Player needs to know the (DA:O) item ID code. Advanced Party - Can make rogues automatically move into backstab position & more. Advanced Quickbar - One quickbar not enough? Advanced Tactics - Major improvements to the tactics system. Auto Loot - Press a button and all party members loot nearby containers / corpses. Character Respecialization - Reassign a party member's specializations, skills, & attribute points. Make Console Commands Visible - A fix that allows users to see the console text. See trivia for more info. Dragon Age 2 More Tactics Slots - Allows up to 100 tactics slots. Visual AddItem (VADDI) - Add an item to your inventory. Doesn't require (DA2) item ID codes. Works with Both Games  (a.k.a. one "mod" to rule them all!) Tab Hightlight Toggle - An AutoHotKey file that changes "highlight usable objects" to an on/off toggle: my ticket to a less painful gaming wrist. On Windows 7 I needed to enable XP Compatibility Mode (SP2) for it to work.

Trivia (& other lighthearted nonsense)
Current score: Trivia(-ish) 3, Nonsensical Fun 3
 * DA:O's console doesn't display text because a file (fonts.ert) is missing from the install. The "mod" that fixes the problem isn't really a mod, it is a copy of the missing file.


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


 * My generic DA avatar actually looks like (a dwarven version of) me. No extra-wide nose, and no splattered blood (bor-ring!) irl, but the eyes and hair are right.


 * Despite the Nazi-eqsue hatred of trivia around here, it's one of my favorite things to read. The rules are very strict, but perhaps wiki users should be free to read trivia if they wish, and make their own judgments / draw their own conclusions based upon what is presented.  It seems that ruthless edit trolls believe that their dislike of trivia is what is best for everyone else, and that does not make for a very pleasant wiki community.  As the great comedian George Carlin said in response to a Mississippi Reverend who complained about foul language on the radio, "There are two knobs on the radio - one turns it off - and the other one changes the station."  Don't like trivia?  You don't have to read it.


 * Truth, Lies, or Videotape? I only have one testicle.  I lost the other one to an Orlesian Purse-Cutter.[1 ]


 * 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
''All words are mine. Any indented text is a follow-up / update, not a reply from another user. Date format: dd/mm/yy''
 * 02/08/12 edited Alistair: a small section of Romance.


 * 02/08/12 comment Talk:Shield of the Light re: Round vs Kite Shield:
 * I checked, it's an error in the game. The shield's in-game info says round, but the wiki pic is correct and it appears to actually be a kite shield.


 * 01/08/12 + 02/08/12 repaired a red link in Bodahn Feddic, and corrected some common companion name / other misspellings in: The Fade: Lost in Dreams - A Village Under Siege - Diamond Back - Denerim Market District - Companion strategies - Kirkwall Alienage  -  Shepherding Wolves - Blackpowder Promise - Alistair - The Long Road (Dragon Age II)


 * 31/07/12 comment Dragon Age Wiki talk: Manual of Style:
 * I understand the need for consistent wiki formatting, but perhaps a special variation could be used in rare instances when an article is both extraordinarily long and contains massive amounts of text. For example, The Urn of Sacred Ashes:  Articles such as these are, in my opinion, monotonous, and somewhat intimidating and/or unpleasant to the eye.  I suggest breaking up the text a little bit by including two blank lines between subsections rather than one. Even if the overall page length would appear longer, some blank space and/or relevant pics within a lengthy article is far more reader-friendly.


 * 01/08/12 I find it ironicaly unfortunate that the wiki articles with the most content & that have received the most hard work by community members also appear as condensed & unpleasant to read as they do. I'm not trying to troll or step on anyone's toes here; the standard formatting works well for 95%+ of the wiki articles, it's only the most rarely voluminous ones that are of concern and could use additional spacing (or other modification).


 * 26/07/12 added pic to Bregan's Bow. + 31/07/12 fixed error in appearances.


 * 25/07/12 comment Forum:Be nice to DA2 day:
 * A small detail, but I like the auto-locking quickbar in DA2. I'm always forgetting to lock it in DA:O and losing a button at inopportune moments.


 * 24/07/12 added pic to Blood Dragon Plate.


 * 24/07/12 added pic to The Urn of Sacred Ashes.


 * 23/07/12 added pic to Final Reason.


 * 22/07/12 comment Talk:Gorim's Shield:
 * Can anyone confirm or deny the information in the Note section? Contrary to what it says, in my (PC v1.04) game it is a tier 1 shield (with identical stats to those listed).


 * 22/07/12 comment File talk:Eganogard-avatar.jpg:
 * I uploaded this pic to be included as a small icon in my signature. I didn't realize that it would end up on the main wiki pics page, my apologies if it is an inconvenience.  I can't figure out how to use my wiki user avatar in my sig. instead, if that is even possible. If someone can point me in the right direction to do that, I will delete this.


 * 23/07/12 Resolved. Many thanks to Ser D-Day for helping me with my sig.


 * 22/07/12 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.


 * 21/07/12 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.


 * 21/07/12 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.


 * 20/07/12 added Flying Sten pic.


 * 20/07/12 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 felt really cheap and lazy IMHO.


 * 19/07/12 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.


 * ??/07/12 edited Console (Origins): Modified the runscript dbg_setattrib description to reflect the possibility of either a buff or a debuff, allowing the deletion of a needless double entry.


 * ??/06/12 edited Magus Tavarin Hall: Contributed to trivia.  Maybe I really am evil.


 * ??/06/12 edited Forbidden Knowledge: A major overhaul of the walkthrough + added a bug workaround.

Photos Added
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