CLAWFEST over Dragon Age: Origins

The staff at The Claw (Stuart [FUMANSTU], Christi [BEARDYBRAVE], Dan [DRDAMN] and Ian [SPELK]) decided it was about time to sit around a virtual table (Google Wave), get our claws out and tear through a recent game title we’ve all played. Throwing in questions, and responding individually, hopefully highlighting several perspectives about the game all at once. We come up with the term ‘Clawfest’, so here it is, make of it what you will…

Which version?

Stuart: Rather than repeating it constantly throughout – I’m playing the PC version of the game and I’ve not seen or experienced the console version.

Christi:360 version for me. Took a while but I’m now quite satisfied with the way it’s playing on the console.

Dan: 360 version here too.

Ian: I’ve got both the PC version and the 360 version, and my favour has shifted between the two quite erratically. I enjoy the engrossing tactical play on the PC, where most conflict requires party management and paused actions to survive. However, I sometimes become weary of that intense level of involvement EVERY TIME, so then I veer towards the 360 version, which plays a lot more ‘off the cuff’ and like an action game.

Any emotional highs or lows whilst playing DA:O?

Stuart: At time of writing nothing to really speak of – I’m finding Morrigan a bit irritating though with her persistant smugness. Planning on playing through Warden’s Keep in my next session on the game and will replace Morrigan with Shale in my party, I think.

Personally, I think that the game mechanics behind gaining approval from characters is a little too exposed, making the system a little to easy to min-max and that leads to the characters feeling more like video game characters than characters in a book or a film.

One section I have played where a minor character makes a sacifice (and I’m trying desperately to avoid spoilers here) didn’t really move me at all. Partly because she had an annoying voice and partly because there was no real time devoted to establishing her as a character. I kinda felt like the game wanted it to be a big deal but it kinda came across a bit flat to me. Nice idea, badly executed IMO.

Christi: Just to add to this – I’m not sure I agree with the ease of min-maxing being a low point. I think in BioWare games it can be quite easy to pick the wrong option and end up on a path you didn’t intend to be on when talking to party members. This way you can make sure that mistakes aren’t permanent. So to me it’s a good thing.

Ian: There is something inherently rewarding about pouring gifts onto the characters you’ve become attached to, and if a bad choice in the dialogue trees has tipped you the wrong way, you can find and purchase gifts to make amends. So I like the gift system as such, the aspect of it that niggled me at first, was knowing what gifts to give to whom.. it seems like its trial and error at first, there aren’t any blatant clues, perhaps subtle ones, but I was still fumbling around in the dark giving items to different character just to see the approval points – find a big shift – then figure out the relationship between gift and character.

Christi: Actually there are some important gifts which do say ( at least in one case I’ve come across ) that a particular character would be interested in this. In that case it has actually opened a whole quest line as a result of giving the right gift.

Stuart: There’s better ways to accomplish this than sticking a message with a number at the bottom of the screen everytime something changes. Even a simple, ‘Alistair seemed to approve of your decision.’ or something similar is better than exposing the numbers. Its meant to be a role-playing game and yet one of the chief areas of character interaction is represented by a number. By all means have numbers behind the scenes but keep them there and present something more appropriate to the player

Christi: but that’s a staple of most RPGs I’ve ever played ( admittedly in combat mostly ). Exposing those numbers is aimed squarely at the tabletop players of old. It’s not something I particularly like but it’s certainly not something I’d expect to see removed or hidden by a stalwart RPG developer like BioWare… much as the dice throwing geekery behind it scares the bejesus out of me

Stuart: I have no problem with it being used in combat but in tabletop RPGs the character interaction was the one bit not governed by numbers, it was entirely in the minds of the players – it was the role-playing rather than the game. Here it is reduced to a very obvious game that is easy to manipulate. If any developer wants to become a developer of masterful story and characterisation, then that kind of obvious game-barrier needs to be removed. Its hard to believe a character is angry with you when you’ve seen a number flash up on the screen to notify you of that fact.

Christi: Actually I can see your point here. It does form a barrier to the suspension of disbelief.

Dan: The characterisation in the game is a bit patchy for me, but there is some nice interplay between characters. Morrigan and Alistair have obvious needs to get a room for example.

The most interesting character so far has been in the Warden’s Keep DLC – “This one” I thought was very well voiced and realised. The whole section had some interesting moral connotations to it as well.

Christi: I’m not sure it’s the characterisation per se that’s the problem. But to an extent I agree. For me it’s specifically the voice acting. Some of it is good but imo too much of it is god awful ( Leliana, particularly, gets on my wick ) and really makes it hard work to suspend disbelief ( I still manage though ).

High Point: So far, the Broken Circle quest ( I suspect it may be Mage specific ). It has some nice surprises and an inventive structure. It’s bloody huge too… took me 2 or 3 evenings to get through ( admittedly making sure I hadn’t missed a single thing). I had a real feeling of achievement after finishing it too.

Dan: I’m not sure it’s the characterisation per se that’s the problem. But to an extent I agree. For me it’s specifically the voice acting. Some of it is good but imo too much of it is god awful ( Leliana, particularly, gets on my wick ) and really makes it hard work to suspend disbelief ( I still manage though ).

High Point: So far, the Broken Circle quest ( I suspect it may be Mage specific ). It has some nice surprises and an inventive structure. It’s bloody huge too… took me 2 or 3 evenings to get through ( admittedly making sure I hadn’t missed a single thing). I had a real feeling of achievement after finishing it too.

Ian: On a purely emotional level there have been one or two stand out moments for me. In the cut scenes, the first time I saw a wave of Mabari attack dogs charge into battle I had a similar level of elation as when the Ents march onto Isengard, or the Centaurs ride into battle in Narnia. I think it has something to do with altruistic beast-like armies. I also have to confess to a ‘choking the puppy’ moment when keeping a tear from rolling down your cheeks is essential but very difficult, it arose when my human noble warrior was reaching the climax of his origin quest, and he had to leave his parents behind.

I think the thing Bioware do so well, is to key your character experience into the world they’ve created and let you sample it on an emotional level. This is in addition to the RPG mechanics and tactical battling, its more like investment in story and your part in it, but also having a cinematic point of view as well as a personal one, so the whole thing comes across as bigger than just your plight.

Have you experienced any technical difficulties whilst playing DA:O?

Stuart: Nope, the PC version is extremely solid. In fact, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the performance of the game on my aging PC. At points it looks absolutely gorgeous

Dan: 360 version here and no I found it pretty solid too. Occasional little glitches where corpses twinkle like they have loot but you can’t take it. I’m also warming to what has been seen as the technical inferiority of the console versions. Certain areas look very nice, the overall visual look is more than satisfactory, much better than something like Risen for example. Some choppiness in cut scenes can be jarring.

Christi: Initially I found the 360 version very disappointing – the opening scene showed some very poor textures in the ground for example. Graphically it doesn’t match up to BioWare’s own benchmark 360 game, Mass Effect which, to me, is very surprising. I’ve now grown accustomed to it and do think that it does have some sparkle. I wish that they hadn’t removed the top down view available in the PC game as aside from gameplay issues it would help improve the look of the game imho.

I’ve had the occasional glitch where I can’t click on a door because the game thinks I’m still in combat. In fact on one occasion I had to reload the save to be able to click on something because I couldn’t get far enough away from the ( now dead ) enemy for the game to realise I wasn’t in combat. If I hadn’t been using multiple, frequent saves that could have been a game-breaker.

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Ian: The aspect that irks me the most between the two versions is not the lack of a top down tactical view (because I prefer tasting the chaos of the combat at the unit level), its that the 360 version does not allow you to loot things during combat!! If I kill something and I’m low on health poultices, I’d like to think I could strip the corpse quickly enough to see if there is another life giving vial of paste to smear on my blood soaked lips. On the PC version you can. On the console version you can’t.

As for technical problems, the 360 version looks a lot less polished, there have been compromises in textures all over the shop, even the facial animation seems to be much more constrained (but I haven’t verified that). However, I think the main draw back is the draw distance and the number of units on the screen at any one time, the console version has significantly lower numbers of nasties coming at you, presumably to prevent slow down. I’m guessing this is the main reason why the 360 version feels a lot more ‘arcadey’?

What are your opinions on the DLC “Wardens Keep”, made available for purchase on the day of release of the game?

Stuart: Not played it yet but I hopefully will in the next few days and then I can revisit this topic.

Dan: I played it as soon as the game opens out in Lothering. Really enjoyed it and was impressed with the quality of the content. Compact and a little tough in places but some good rewards and a well worked storyline.

The cost and certain content of this DLC is a point of controversy. However after playing the game a little more I think the reasoning they gave for the storage rewards was correct – i.e. it was a result of late feedback into the game. The inventory system is somewhat restrictive without it, but there are ways in the main game to extend your inventory.

Christi: I enjoyed it but I’m a touch concerned about the way it’s presented to you in the game. My experience of it felt more like an ambush than anything else. I don’t mind being asked to pay for substantial DLC but I want to know it’s “paid for” DLC before I even click on the character to talk to him. Going through a full conversation then being asked to fork out the readies is not acceptable in my opinion. I certainly hope it won’t be the norm further down the line.

Ian: I’m all for extra content, especially for an expansive world such as that presented in Dragon Age, I’d rather give my hard earned coffers to a developer who was doing something I truly enjoy and believe in than throw it at one off action games, that rarely inspire a devotional following. However, releasing DLC on the day of the release of the game, really is pushing it, because it blurs the boundaries between release content, and additional content. If its ready and available at launch, surely it should have been included with the game? If they’d have waited a week or two later, they’d have had a large dose of praise bestowed upon them for getting extra content out quickly, but because it was stacked against the boxed product, it seems to convey a ‘milk the fans’ ethos.

Dan: When DLC is released shouldn’t matter. It’s still content someone had to work on to produce. So if the main game has sufficient content and the DLC is not something which makes the game then I am fine with it.

The contentious issue here is more whether the chest the Wardens Keep content provides should have been available in the main game.

Christi: The DLC unlock code that comes free with a new copy of the game is also contentious and imo an aggressive tactic.

This is effectively providing content on launch that can justifiably be classed as part of the main game. To my mind, it deliberately hobbles the secondhand buyer. I’m not sure I like the idea of being “nickle and dimed” for every paltry little feature or character they decide to remove from the disc and add to the marketplace.

Dan: I see where you are coming from but developers are shafted over quite a bit by the second hand market. Whilst I believe the cost of the game does take this into account somewhat there does need to be some redress in the market. The money is all going to the retailers and there is a lack of balance.

(Side note: I think this is a whole other discussion point which could be an article in itself)

Christi: Agreed re: article – it’s a big subject worth lookng at in depth.

I think that balance has to come from the retailers not the customers. What DA:O is doing is equivalent to witholding an important chapter of a book for those people who buy the book new. I’ve only ever seen this argument from the games industry. The film industry and the book industry seem to be quite capable of coping with a secondhand market. And let’s not forget that, as Ian says, BioWare are also expanding their revenue stream by entering the book market themselves. I dont believe this is to recoup costs at all. A game like Dragon Age, marketed as expertly as it has been is surely not in that bracket?

Dan: Is it really an important chapter? Can the game be played to completion and with full understanding without the DLC? Yes it can.

The core point for me is that the extra content needs people to work on it. If they work on it before release or after it matters not a jot – it just matters whether the full game is dependent on the DLC or not and whether the full game is value for money without the DLC. In Dragon Age I don’t think the game is dependent and it is a very good value proposition to begin with.

It’s not equivalent to the book industry, the book industry is not facing massively increased costs each generation whilst the amount the consumer pays has gone down in real terms year upon year. There is some resonance with the film industry but consider this – don’t you get one disc and two disc editions on day of release? Bonus content for those who are willing to pay more? Is everyone is entitled to the deleted scenes and commentary if they are paying for the film on DVD?

Stuart: I think Dan has the DLC arguement down to a tee. As long as what you buy is worth the money for you then it really doesn’t matter when the DLC is developed or released. You can then use the same value for money criteria to evaluate the DLC. If the DLC is released at the same time then all that does is give you more information to weigh up your decision. People need to remember that just because DLC is released 6 months down the line it doesn’t necessarily mean that it wasn’t developed at the same time as the rest of the game. As long as you’re happy with the content you received for the amount you paid for it, then there really is no arguement. If you’re not, then maybe you shouldn’t have bought it in the first place….

Christi: I can see a circular argument in that last statement

Ian: More DLC announced today!

http://www.vg247.com/2009/11/19/return-to-ostagar-announced-as-dlc-for-dragon-age-origins/

How are you finding the difficulty of the game? Any particular sections giving you any grief?

Dan: The 360 version I’m playing is more forgiving than the PC version and as such I’ve only had a couple of sticky moments. I’ve played it largely as the main character using the other people as a supporting cast controlled largely by the console. This seems to work well for me.

I’ve only dabbled in the tactical set-up of the other characters – usually just adding an if health is less than 25% then take a health poultice combat tactic.

Christi: Difficulty-wise there are some obvious spikes in the 360 version but nothing insurmountable ( well… apart from one optional encounter so far … I’m so trying to avoid spoilers here … and I’m not sure I’m meant to be able to win that one yet ).

Ian: The main sticking point for me on the PC was the conflict at Redcliffe Village. With my rogue, and my usual party setup, I was just not able to cope with the amounts of enemies they threw at me. On the 360 my Warrior managed to handle it, by controlling the aggression better, and making sure my offensive ranged party members were better protected. However, there were clearly less enemy in the incursion on the console version.

Stuart: Whilst I’m rarely getting stuck its not at all uncommon for me have to repeat a fight a couple of times if I’m not paying full attention and making the most of the pause feature. I’m finding it quite refreshing though and certainly forces you to stop and think about the combat a lot more

What do you think of the differences between the PC and console versions of the game?

Dan: It’s difficult to say having not played both versions, however it seems a little overblown in some reviews. The console versions take a different approach, the difficulty is toned down due to interface restrictions but I think it should be seen as what it is – a different approach. At the same time as complaining that that the console version is worse the same reviewer will complain that the PC version is too difficult on “normal” settings. Where I’ve had no problems with difficulty – it seems the console versions may be better balanced because of the changes they made.

Christi: I’ve not experienced the PC version but overall I think they’ve been overplayed. I do wish there was a topdown view ( more for aesthetic purposes ) and I think the pause and strategise functionality could have been far better implemented on the 360. In fact I don’t really see why the system used in Mass Effect or indeed any other 360 Bioware RPG couldn’t have been used here. You do get used to it though.

Ian: The console version has a more action orientated leaning, you can play it continuously without little regard for pausing and planning. The PC version has more tactical finesse, and plays a lot more like a fantasy based tactical wargame in most conflicts. I don’t use the top down view of the PC version, so I can’t say I’ve missed that from the console game. It comes across as a much less intense experience, surrounded with the same amount of story. So the 360 is the easier ride, but sometimes, you’re in the mood for such a playstyle.

There are one or two things that stick out, like the inability to loot during combat on the 360 version, or the puzzles that have been “softened” for the console owners. But on the whole you’re still getting a solid Bioware RPG, with a fully fledged storyline behind it, and plenty of what-if combat and dialogue trees to explore.

For those utterly entranced with the world (a cross between Lord of the Rings, Warhammer and the Age of Chivalry depicted in George R.R. Martin’s books) there are meta-gaming diversions such as the prequel Novel “The Stolen Throne”, and the http://DragonAgeJourneys.com flash based game. These all enhance the experience of either versions of the game, by realising a Universe bigger than the game itself

What class have you gone with and how does it affect gameplay for you?

Dan: I went Rogue. I always tend toward the sneaky class in these sort of games – I like my stealth. Gameplay wise it’s meant I can happily avoid the most annoying character in the game as I have that covered already .

I have ended up dual wielding melee based in terms of combat too. So I chrage in a little then hang back and pick my spot to enter the fray. Works in most battles – though one I really needed to charge in and get stuck it but that got me well and truly mullered. Not really touched poisons properly yet, I end up making these things and never using them for fear of running out – I then finish the game with 56 of the things!

Ian: On the 360, I went with a Warrior, Sword and Board all the way. So initially things are easy, slashing and chopping, shield bashing my way through the conflicts. Later on my ability to damage is severely limited compared to my damage soaking power and my stunning through shield bash and pummel attacks. Mages and ranged attackers become very potent, so I have to gear my offensive backline (mages and ranger or wardog) to take out the magical threats first, or I won’t last long. It plays fairly smooth mostly, if my backline starts to take a lot of damage, I’m there laying on threaten or shield bashing them to a standstill.

On the PC, I initially went archer, which started out ok, but around level 4 or 5 started to become really underpowered, trying to maintain a pure bow only class without melee was a struggle. I couldn’t make any progress, and whilst my party was growing in strength I seemed to be languishing in a low damage, low impact trough. So I decided I’d start again and go with a dual wielding Rogue, and with the backstab and stunned bonuses I was beginning to make more progress. I don’t really enjoy stealthed characters, so I was going more for a slicing machine. The main stumbling block was again at the Redcliffe Village conflict, and after numerous attempts, I was forced to admit defeat and drop the difficulty for that one bout of combat.

I think the real offensive power in the game lies with the mages, and at some point in both characters play, I’ve ended up with two mages in my party. Perhaps its time to roll one of my own?

Christi: I’ve gone with mage. First time I play through an RPG like this I always roll a mage. Just seems to sit better with me. Possibly just a predilection for glowy effects.

I’m finding it very enjoyable and provides a much more tactical experience than I think I would have as a tank or rogue. I guess that’s why I’m finding the 360’s pause system frustrating. I want to play it less like an arcade action game and see no need for it to be hobbled simply because it’s a console.

It’s an interesting character to play and yes it is surprisingly good on the offensive but defence-wise bloody useless. I’m starting to arrange my party’s tactic slots to work around that though. I think probably I’ll start with 2 guys up front, taking out enemy mages and one right next to me, batting away the tanks.

Dan: It’s important to set your tank up with good aggro control. Make them well armoured and use a shield and set talents to encourage the bad guys to hit them.

Would you say Dragon Age is at all influenced by MMO style gameplay and in what respects?

Dan: Quite a lot of obvious influences. The attack unless I tell you to do something different, the skill cooldowns, the talent trees and the quest givers with exclamation marks over their heads for starters.

One of the less obvious elements to the MMO influence is the class/party dynamic in battle. The usual MMO staples of tank, dps and trying to control aggro are there in abundance.

I think a game really needs to rethink the interface design for this sort of game on a console though. Radial menus and hotkeys with a modifier don’t quite cut it.

Christi: I see a lot of MMO based “inspiration” in the crafting system and the combat. Especially the mage now has a huge amount of buffs and debuffs to play with. The party eventually consists of a lot more than the usual basic set of “builds” as well. With Wynne being an essential member of my team more often than not, with her ability to revive proving quite valuable . The healer build is not something I’ve ever seen so carefully put together in any other non-MMO RPG.

Sidenote: This is also a subject worth delving into in more detail. Increasingly SP games seem to be absorbing elements of traditional MMO gameplay. Borderlands, DA:O, Demon’s Souls are just the first 3 I can think of.

Stuart: I’ve got a different take on this to you guys. Firstly, and most pedantically, MMORPG – which is what you guys are talking about – does not equal MMO. In particular, there is absolutely nothing MMO about DA:O.

Moving on from that a lot of what you’ve picked out (particularly interface-wise) has been popularised by MMORPGs but I can find few examples of anything in DA that wasn’t done in past RPGs before MMORPGs became popular. The holy trinity of tank, dps and healer has existed since the early days of pen and paper RPGs, as has things like buffs and debuffs. I think its relevent to keep in mind that MMORPGs themselves really didn’t do a lot to innovate in the RPG space and just added lots and lots of simultaneous players. So coming back to DA, all its really done is further refine an already established RPG template whilst borrowing interface elements from numerous places.

The crafting in DA would be an embarrasment to any MMORPG – there’s no depth to it at all. In fact, I’ve played other RPGs that have had a much more in depth system than what is featured in DA. To be honest, its a bit of a disappointment and something I wish they’d put a bit more thought into.

Finally, there’s no direct comparison in terms of combat mechanics between something like DA and WoW. DA is about managing your entire party and there is a shallowness to the combat because you’re viewing the entire skirmish – too much detail would overwhelm. Contrast that with WoW where you’re focused on doing one job to the best of your ability – you’re worrying about timing, positioning, communication, juggling more than a couple of abilities. Its an entirely different perspective and challenge.

Christi: /MMO handbag…you’re right. That is pedantic

The point for me is that MMOs MMORPGs have brought these game mechanics and play styles to the fore more than any other genre before them. Yes, there’s nothing new under the sun but you have to pick a point at which you can infer influence. For me that point is the rise of the MMORPG.

Stuart: OK, play games like Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, any of the Final Fantasy games (12, especially), any of the Elder Scrolls games, either of the Diablo games etc. and then tell me that DA is influenced by MMORPGs. These games influenced the development of MMORPGs and have been astonishingly popular long before MMORPGs were even possible. So to answer the original question, yes – there are some minor interface influences that have been taken from MMORPGs but there is a far deeper and more established influence from traditional CRPGs and Pen and Paper RPGs. And in direct gameplay terms very little influence can be directly inferred from MMORPGs, as the experiences are very very different.

Ian: The stand out features for me in DA are the ones such as the storied involvement, the epic world changing stuff and the consequences that ripple on down through the storyline. These are very much single player CRPG mechanics at play. The beauty of it is that the game presents me with a lot of MMORPG like gameplay, but layered over these personal storied events that you don’t usually get in MMORPG’s. The game can almost be an MMORPG substitute, without a monthly fee, and without any griefing or negative interaction with others. The game satisfies a character building progression need deep inside of me, that I usually get from MMORPG’s, but it doesn’t leech money out of me in the same way, and it doesn’t frustrate me because I need to organise several friends to do a particular quest, or have to put up with rude, usually inconsiderate strangers to get on.

Christi: See? Ian knows what I mean…

Ian: Guild Wars is the nearest thing to the single player MMORPG (without the Massive bit). And in terms of storied content and involvement, DA wipes the floor with Guild Wars.

Understanding that we haven’t completed it yet due to it’s hugeness, how would you rate it now that you’re a good distance into the game ( all formats that you’ve played on )?

Christi: The 360 version just keeps growing on me. I’m nearly 40 hours in and not yet halfway through according to the stats thingy. From being horribly underwhelmed, even disappointed by its initial impressions, it has turned into a massively compelling experience with lots of depth and some surprisingly epic quests.

Certainly the Value For Money is off the scale, even with the DLC added on. One quest line which I have only now completed would equate to twice the length of some FPS games that I’ve played recently, i.e. it took me about 15 hours to complete and I only went there to quickly sort something out. And I’ve still got some sidequests to go back in and tidy up.

That said – the length of the main game does call into question the pricing of the paid for DLC so far.. It’s certainly not proportional value imo.

One thing I would say though. It actually does appear to have some horrible difficulty spikes. Having blitzed through most of the quest line on Normal I found myself after my tenth attempt at the final fight having to move down to *cough*Casual*/cough*. After 40 hours of play that was annoying. I’ve shifted back to Normal now but I’d advise anyone playing it to make regular saves and rotate at least 3 of them to make sure you can always roll back to a previous point.

Ian: For me its a step above and beyond what Mass Effect achieved, it intergrated a well defined story about a credible Universe, populated with interesting characters, that you can interact with, even at the most perfunctory level. The questing paths were quite similar to Mass Effect, in that you have three or four nodes to go to and then pursue quite lengthy involved quests, that all support the overall storyline, but show different aspects of the story coming together. Where they went that extra mile was in giving us a proper party based tactical approach to combat, each character can be controlled separately if you want that, on the PC version to a more precise degree. They also placed additional support armies at your command to help with the final battles in the game, and it was your choice throughout the game on the type of support you’d receive in the grand finale. This adds a level of replayability to the game, because you have clear choice branches that you can explore with other characters, plus each character class, has two or three possible builds you could also measure if you were that way inclined. On top of which you have a number of race specific starting stories to pursue, so in theory, whilst following the same overarching storyline, you can meander a little here and there and have a different path through the game. Much more so that you could with Mass Effect. They also plan on dishing out much more DLC on a regular basis, which is encouraging, because the DLC for Mass Effect was very much too little, too late (especially on what they promised surrounding the hype of the Uncharted Worlds mechanics).

In a similar way the meta-game prequel novel of Mass Effect fed into the game and really fleshed out the world moreso, Dragon Age goes one better with two prequel novels, and they certainly have your expectations of the characters in the game do an about turn on several ocassions. All adding to the overall appreciation and ultimately longevity of the game. With the amount of Lore I’ve soaked up now, still having finished the game properly (I’m currently struggling with melee orientated party in the final few battles), I can quite easily see myself coming back to the game with other characters, with new DLC chunks to explore, and hopefully with more novels on the way clearing the way for Dragon Age 2 possibly. Simply put I’ve fallen in love with the mythos in a similar way people fall in love with Lord of the Rings, the world itself is a heady concoction of George R.R.Martins A Game of Thrones Chivalry, coupled with the demonic darkside of Warhammer and the traditional fantasy cliches of Tolkiens best works. Its simply intoxicating, and if they roll out more content, and more books, and more comics, I’ll drink them down with wanton abandon for my finances.

With Mass Effect 2 on the horizon also, plus the promise of Star Wars The Old Republic, I can see Bioware in my future for a very long time indeed.