That was actually answered by the devs about three weeks ago. Pretty sure it was even in the links on the first page.

Yes, the claim is that every character will have their own distinct 'theme,' and that there will, in essence, be a different appearance type 'attached' to each armor, and the armor will change to match each character who wears it. Generic steel plate armor (or whatever) will look different on Character X than it does on Character Y.

It's a fancy feature. . . if it doesn't get cut and they don't fuck it up.

 

All I'm really saying is, they shouldn't have told us mages couldn't teleport in the first game. They were just setting themselves up to fail. Really, how long would they endure the temptation? Just like ammoless guns in ME1. It was only a matter of time before they would be forced to say, "Um well, you know when we said that mages can't teleport...?"

It's not like I can't accept mages that teleport, it's just, it's dumb they tried to make us think they were better than that.

It's like saying your jRPG won't have Japaneseisms, or something. It's gauranteed to be violated once you say something like that. If a mage needs to be somewhere in a video game, they can't just traipse over there.

I'm all for authors improving or iterating on their works. DAO -> DA2 -> DA3 doesn't need to mean DA3 must abide by every rule DAO set-up; we genuinely make bad design decisions in lore and they need to be abdicated. I also get that if you aren't going to sit down and plot the story of your next two sequels, that you may have to retcon shit, or resurrect characters to make plotting the sequels easier, but don't lie to us by giving us choices that don't actually matter; don't let us import saves if they aren't going to actually impact anything. You're just getting our hopes up, or trying to pretend you're something that you're not. It's childish.

If a game is fun, I will like it. If DA3 is fun, I can maybe pretend DA2 and ME3 weren't created, but trying to bullshit me is just dumb. I'm not an idiot, or maybe I really am, but I know I have a pretty good bullshit detector; BioWare must think I have a potato for a brain if I'm just going to overlook some of the stuff they claim before and after development. Just come clean, I'll respect you more for it. Same goes for that DLC on the disk bullshit, I might support you if you don't lie to me about it being "not cut from the main game".

 

I think we have ourselves a new rant topic!

DLCs. Oh yes. BioWare did this shit in DA:O with Stone Prisoner, Return to Ostagar and Warden's Keep. It was insulting how obvious it was that DLCs were just content cut from the game because why else would the quest givers fucking stand there but their important dialogue options were replaced with ones that sent you to the store. In ME2 we have the dialogue option with Liara that sent you to the store to buy LotSB. In DA2 only people who bought a new copy of the game received the Black Emporium, which should have been available to everyone by default and you got the Exiled Prince only with the special edition of the game. But ME3 was a slap in the face when it turned out that the Prothean companion was unlockable without the DLC, by changing one line in a file.

I think I'd prefer to have no DLCs for DA:I if they try to pull that stunt again.

 

Return to Ostagar came out months after the game was released. And the only way you found it was by going to a unique starting location. Stone Prisoner and Warden's Keep came with every edition of the game as long as you didn't get it used and the people who start the quests don't show up unless you have them downloaded. Same thing with the DLC for DA2.

Yeah it was pretty fucked with the ME3 thing but DLC is ADDITIONAL content. It's not a necessary part of the game. Yeah DLC on disc is fucked. But DLC released at launch that's not on the disc? I'm not mad about that because they're trying to make money. And DLC isn't large. They figured they could make the extra stuff. Usually after they've already sent the game off to be put on disc. Which is why the extra stuff wasn't on the disc for DA: O but instead the game came with a slip of paper with the codes for them in the case.

 

It's still a bullshit move.

 

Except when it is. Try playing Arkham City without the Catwoman DLC and making sense of the plot. I fucking dare you.

And you actually had to buy additional episodes of Asura's Wrath, one at a time, to see the not-bullshit non-cliffhanger ending. And a full level of the game is like, three episodes. And they were sold as individual episodes, not as levels.

You can pretend that DLC in Dragon Age is unnecessary. But I never used any of it, and I had to look up what the hell was going on in II. Apparently you're just supposed to recognize some of these people, or something. They assume that you've seen all the DLC before going into II.

This is the same problem I have with releasing halfassed graphic novels as part of some kind of promotion or something. I'm not going to read your tie-in shit, because I have better things to do than buy sixteen packs of Doritos and turn in the barcodes or whatever the fuck you need to do for your copy. But then the next game just starts referencing that shit constantly, and that pisses me off.

I won't list examples, because they aren't on topic. But I could. I won't, but I could. And that's fucked up. In a sane world, I would be exaggerating. But I'm not.

 

^ Raine speaks the truth.

 

Characters that show up in DA2 that were in DA: O: Zevran, Leliana, Alistair, Bann Teagan, characters from Dalish Elf origin, some elves from City elf origin, Bodahn, Sandal, Anders, Isabela, Cullen, Flemeth, Nathaniel Howe, and the only one from any of the Dragon Age: Origins DLC Sketch who's from Leliana's Song.

And you know what? He's a minor part of a completely optional quest. And is such a minor part of the game that I forgot he's there. And I doubt you're supposed to recognize him. Because I know I didn't. Because I remember none of the characters from Leliana's Song other than Leliana and Marjolaine. Since those are the only 2 that matter at all. What you're talking about is what's called an Easter Egg. People who pay extremely deep attention to everything they do and love that DLC might have noticed? Everyone else? Guy is just a random named NPC.

Get off your high horse both of you. Also you don't need to read any of the supplementary material because I trust Bioware to either not mention any of the things that happens or do it in character. Because hey Cassandra's story will probably be mentioned in DA:I and that happened in a book. But I can guarantee the game won't go "Oh you know Cassandra's story already." You both just seem to be determined to bitch and not be happy with anything.

 

Your trust is already broken.

 

Hah, I was going over DA2 to remember any references to DLC that would appear, even if you hadn't played them. Couldn't think of any, and when I refreshed the page, well, Poytin.

But yeah, I honestly expect them to explain it, at least in some kind of summary prologue. You just can't make a sequel/game like that and expect people to have read the proper books. (Exceptions for games based on books like the Various LOTR games)

 

ME3's starting point completely hinged on the DLC. If you hadn't played any of ME2's DLC, you had no idea what the fuck was going on or why. Space Jamaican was cut from the original game and pretty important to the story.

In DA2, the bonus companion what's-his-face plays a pretty big role in the game. He's also a major part to DA3's plot, if I understand correctly? Not sure on that, but I think he is important.

I wouldn't necessarily lay all the blame on BioWare for DLC, even if they didn't want DLC, EA would force them to. It's just how big publishers believe they can make games profitable. I would disagree, but hey, I don't have a business degree.

 

Javik wasn't "cut" from the game. He was pretty much in the game. Him and all of his DLC content was about 90% in the game. "His DLC" that you paid the money for was a few bits to make the rest of the missions work, and an unlocking code that made him able to be used.

If you went into the ME3 code, all you had to do was delete a single line of code in Vanilla, and you'd have him and nearly all of his shit. Voice, dialogue, his weapons, ect. You'd be missing a few key things for some missions, and he'd glitch a little, but you'd completely have him.

That's what threw the fuel on the shitstorm. It wasn't just day one DLC. It wasn't even day one DLC that was really, really important to the plot. It was day one DLC that was really important to the plot that you already owned and was in the game, but you were being charged 10$ for the one line of code to go away and a minor patch that fixes some bugs.

Seriously. If you remember downloading him, there's a reason the download only took five seconds even if it was on a shitty connection. It's because he was already in the game.

He better not be. I didn't get that DLC either, because after beating the game once, the idea of giving them more money was laughable.

 

I actually just replayed AC not too long ago. What exactly did the Catwoman DLC add that was so vital to the story? I mean I have it and played it, but all the relevant bits with Catwoman, namely when Batman rescues her and later when Catwoman rescues him, are in the game without the DLC.

Actually that last bit is wrong. I first played Dragon Age on the Xbox. I bought it new, but at the time we didn't have a high-speed internet connection (and it wouldn't become available here for another two years after the game came out -- yeah, when I was at home I had to deal with dial-up until 2011 :facepalm), so we couldn't hook it up to the internet to activate the DLC. The Sulcher's Pass area was available and the guy with the control rod is there, you just can't get the rod from him and progress in any way. Let me tell you, that was annoying. It's like "You bought the game new so here's your free DLC -- oh, but you live in a rural area? Haha, fuck you anyway."

 

Whoever mentioned Leliana in DA2 - she only shows up in DLC cutscenes, so yeah... From Exiled Prince and Mark of the Assassin, to be specific.

Spoiler

That's why I got Exiled Prince, Legacy and MotA for DA2 from Pirate Bay, because fuck that shit.

I'm with Raine on this.

 

No, she shows up at the very end of DA2 w/o any DLC installed. But yeah, only in a cutscene there.

 

Again Raine points were excellent and again I can only say I agree with him/her.(The Lord female confuses me). And this time I agree with Chime. In Elder Scrolls that happens a lot, but doesn't take even a little of the joy of playing it.

 

The fact that you link the DLC Omega for Mass Effect 3 instead of Arrival for Mass Effect 2 shows me that you actually haven't played any of these games. You just like to complain and throw shit around without any knowledge whatsoever.

Notice almost every single post that I've made in this thread have been proving points of yours wrong? This is why.

 

"I'M PROVING YOUR POINTS WRONG." [citation needed]

That's a pretty cool story bro, but we should probably get back on topic soon.

Anyone want to start a betting pool on the odds of day one DLC? I'm sure EA and Bioware will try to screw us, but I'm not sure how.

Maybe if the DLC character is cool enough, I'll buy it. A talking rock and a pretty boy white knight didn't really do it for me, but if they throw a Tevinter Blood Mage or something out there, I might consider dropping some lunch money on it.

Hell, Demons are invading. Physically invading. We could potentially see spirits like Valor or something running around. It's possible, if a little out there, that one of them might be a potential companion, now that the boundaries between the material world and the Fate have been sundered.

 

I could just start multi-quoting here posts where you stated some generic rage bullshit and then me responding with truths but that'd take a good bit of effort.

I mean other than the fact that you ignored me informing you that you were completely wrong about needing to know a DLC character from DA: O in DA2 in order to respond to my fairly factual statement that Bioware probably won't do like they did with the DLC from ME2. Which you linked the wrong DLC anyway showing that you didn't know which DLC it was.

Overall you come across like someone who saw rage at Bioware during DA2 and ME3 and joined the bandwagon without ever playing either. Especially since you keep throwing out completely incorrect information in your bitchfits. But hey maybe during the course of this your google skills have gotten better. You knew who Javik was.

In the interest of getting this back on track I'm going to ask this question. What kind of new job specialization do people think are going to come out in this game? Because DA: O had it's specializations that were in that game only and DA2 did as well.

 

I don't know if BioWare will cut content from the main game to make DLC this time again, but it seems likely. I mean, I don't know BioWare's development cycle, but basically speaking, there's what, one month between disc production and when game development stops? Maybe two, if you think they stop developing the game two months early to get a month solid of QA testing. In two months, can they produce DLC? Logistically speaking, it's cheaper and easier to just hire an additional voice actor during the mas voice recording session time of production and have them come into the studio and work like everybody else, than it is to find somebody two months before launch. Secondly, designing of the DLC character/content pretty much has to happen after designers are no longer working on the main game, which is, pretty much never? Designers should be involved during QA testing to make sure stuff gets fixed properly. And then there are programmers, who are fixing bugs up until disc production time, so...

Basically day-one DLC I believe, is firmly "cut content" from the base game. EA is losing a lot of money too, so it's reasonable to say they will ask BioWare to make a lot of DLC. Nevermind pre-order bonus stuff that needs to be made, EA has been having entire levels made for GameStop DLC packages. Granted, BioWare hasn't gone that far yet, but they might. It's under new leadership now. There's a lot of potential for drastic change - good or bad.

DLC as a whole is pretty fundamentally flawed, because it's only 'fair' if they start developing it after the base game is finished. Not while it's being made. But, DLC usually comes so slowly after launch that it's definitely hard to market it to people who are only interested in playing a game once - by the time the DLC is out, the people who have already beat that game have no interest in it. BioWare games techniaclly shouldn't suffer that badly from this, since they're supposed to be replayable, but I generally believe it's that reasoning why there's always so much day-one DLC.

DLC also suffers from the fact it doesn't really invigorate new people to buy the base game, unless you make a GOTY Edition or whatever, but then that includes all the DLC for free anyway. In a way, DLC promotes people NOT BUYING the game at launch, I know a lot of people now explicitly wait for that 'complete edition' to come out, that might otherwise have bought the base game at launch day.

I'd really wish if EA gave up the DLC model. But I guess, what else is there? +$10 to the base price of the game? All games are now F2P with cosmetic transactions? They really don't know how to market these games to make a profit, it seems. It seems like there's just a core issue here that's making big budget games require too much money to be successful. It's unrealistic. I don't know if it's the marketing budget, too much corporate bloat, or what, but I fully expect EA to drown us in DLC come next fall. They're bound to be in worse straights then, after this whole Next Gen Debacle begins.