Dragon Age 2 : Confusion
So now I am slightly ...confused , my experience of buying recent Bioware and Bethesda RPGS tells me to hold off : There are too many iterations of Dragon Age 2 and some with time limited offers , there is no clue as to if the retail version will register on Steam . And the dread DLC purchase cycle has already started prematurely , before the main game has been released .
Now consider that Dragon Age Awakenings the prequel had all this DLC
- Dragon Age: Origins – The Stone Prisoner (Downloadable Content)
- Dragon Age: Origins – Warden's Keep (Downloadable Content)
- Dragon Age: Origins – Return to Ostagar (Downloadable Content)
- Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening (Expansion Pack)
- Dragon Age: Origins – Darkspawn Chronicles (Downloadable Content)
- Dragon Age: Origins – Leliana's Song (Downloadable Content)
- Dragon Age: Origins – The Golems of Amgarrak (Downloadable Content)
- Dragon Age: Origins – Witch Hunt (Downloadable Content)
- Dragon Age: Ultimate Edition
Purchasing that lot would have pushed your donation to Bioware's horde of gold , closer to £100 than you might at first have expected.And if you waited till this Steam Christmas sale you could have had all that for £11.99 ! All 22gbs of it!
Then consider that Dragon Age 2 will also have at the very least DLC costing the same,if not more ....
You know half of the otherwise excellent game experience , is going to be DLC,or deciding when to buy the DLC . And you would be better off waiting till the summer or winter sale of this game that you will never have time to play through anyway , especially after the Nintendo 3DS
has had its way with your wallet .
Frankly there should be a law against companies selling games like this as incomplete products , you would not expect to pay for half a Bluray film , and then pay for DLC to complete it . Avatar ends when the credits role , if a 500 million dollar movie can be released in completion to its audience , as a complete experience without fans having to purchase DLC and register and log on to company servers that are going to be shut down eventually any way , why can`t a million dollar video game be released in completion.Avatar took 10 years to make ,so the usual excuse by game companies claiming games take so long to develop is a moot point.
There are multiple choices of options
When are Bioware going to grow up and release a full game - make us wait a year and just release it in one package. When ? Never as the DLC model is too easily lapped up by fans ....for now
Another option would be to release a prestige edition that includes all future DLC free , but consider I got my Dragon Age Ultimate edition for £11.99 , less than a year after I purchased the original collectors edition . Waiting for a Bluray to drop in price may save you £10 , but waiting on a pc/console game can save you £100 ....
EA she loves to tease....
Most annoying thing about the sexy game with Dragons part 2 release is the time limited upgrade of the retail version to the Signature edition , timed to run out on 11/01/10. Like I care , people go to work without ties now,people , they don't want to be told you have to buy game x before date y or you will miss out on Z . The whole point of this digitally distributed gaming revolution is that I can buy what I want when I want ! and get the best deal!
oh really? like all that and all impending 12 DLC packs won't be in the Ultimate Edition come ......October?
So yes some questions has been answered , will Dragon Age 2 hit Steam , yes it will buy it now from here . However a new question has been awakened .There is no news on how or if the retail versions will register or if any of the so called signature edition nonsense will be included for pre purchasers of the Steam version . There are a few meagre bonuses at present .. we are talking real meagre .. here's hoping Gabe works some magic and every one gets upgraded to the Signature Edition .
At present Bioware , EA and Steam have dashed the hopes of many fans , maybe this is all part of the tease that sexy rpg game with dragons part 2 comes with.
Pre-Purchase now to receive two special in-game items! [ why so generous?] 2 whole items yaaaay!
FADESHEAR (sword)
The core of this blade is old. As old as the first smiths who sought a way to battle the nightmares from the land beyond. It has fought the demonic hosts in countless battles. Sometimes it has been held high in triumphant victory. Other times, it has lain broken besides its dying owner. But after every defeat it has always been reclaimed, reforged, and made stronger. Fadeshear has passed through many hands before yours. Now it is your turn to make the demons of the Fade pay for crossing the Veil into the waking world.
- Improves with each level-up
- additional damage vs. demons and undead
THE LION OF ORLAIS (shield)
At the height of the Summer War all of Orlais was embroiled in fierce battles. Over the course of the war dozens of contenders for the Imperial Throne emerged – most long forgotten except as footnotes in scholarly tomes. But everyone remembers the gallant young lord Emile Deveraux, “The Golden Prince”. Thought outnumbered at every turn, he racked victory upon victory culminating in the Seventh Battle of Roses. While wearing this shield he broke through his uncle’s vanguard to win the day. He never knew the taste of defeat, instead meeting his end at the hands of a jealous lover in the dead of night.
- 2 rune slots
- Adds to health
- Adds to % XP gain
Abysmal!
The preorders for Dragon Age 2 - Signature Edition UK 
and the retail pre order versions of Dragon Age 2 have up to now been the Signature Editions : in fact there does not seem to be a normal vanilla edition .. now I am even more confused .. I should begin that 22gb download of Dragon Age Ultimate Edition purchased for £11.99, to remind myself that patience is its own virtue...
A warning to Bioware and EA in recent years I have spent more time thinking about buying your games rather than playing them . Oh I own them all but I have definitely spent more time downloading the games than playing them , soon if Bioware keep bloating their games every fan will spend 100 hours downloading a 30 hour game! Then factor in all the annoying DLC purchase choices and you come to the golden truth about video games , how much of your life is actually being wasted on sexy RPG games with Dragons or Aliens , when you could have been up to far nicer things back in the real world with real people ...people!
After this gen of AAA titles up to Mass Effect 3 , Bioware will hit the same RPG development wall that Square Enix hit with its Final Fantasy series. So we have had sexy rpg game with Aliens,Dragons and later this year with Wookies..Where do they take rpg gaming from there?I hope they start making changes to their incomplete game release model , with the DLC hunger they create and the bloatware size of full game downloads which have many of their fans spending longer downloading Bioware games than actually playing them. And with less time and code devoted to simulating interspecies wooing and mating rituals ,who knows they might yet invigorate the rpg genre that over the years their talent has largely rejuvenated .
for £14.99 only 10 left!
