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Haven't played Dragon Age, but Mass Effect was one of my favorite series of last gen. I think a big element of how much you like it by the end has to do with how well it caters to your personal choices (easy example: Mass Effect 3's romance subplot feels a lot more substantial if your love interest is, say, Liara, than if it's someone like Jack). I played through the series twice, and I can say that one of my playthroughs was decidedly more satisfying than the other, just based on the way certain relationships went and the way certain characters' arcs ended. Though I would suspect that Dragon Age is similar in this way. As a third-person action game, I'd say it's solid. As a space opera, I'd say it's great, even if the execution of the ending is a little clumsy. And of course it suffers from what is frequently the case with trilogies—it neither begins nor ends on its best note (ME2 5ever).
Any particular reasons you would give for how Dragon Age is better? Genuinely curious, being very unfamiliar with the franchise.
In the case of Dragon Age: Origins, I particularly enjoy the fact that the character you make is very much your own. There's no voice acting for your character, and you don't really have a pre-established identity unless you choose a Noble origin. It's all created in your own mind. It's a pretty small thing, but it's significant to replayability, imo. The big thing is really just how much I love the characters. I like the characters in Mass Effect a lot, but I really love the characters in Dragon Age: Origins. You can spend hours without leaving camp, just talking to your companions. The voice acting for all these characters is truly phenomenal, particularly in the case of Allistair and Morrigan. I can't stress how much I love these 2 characters enough. I think it's jaded me a bit tho, because the voice acting in Mass Effect is also quite top notch, and I honestly haven't thought about it much until this very moment.
Gameplay wise, I feel like there is a TON more options for how to build your character. There's fewer classes, but there's an enormous amount of potential skills, especially with the Mage (easily my favorite class to play). There's also subclasses within each class, and you get to choose 2 of them as you level up, which is just more customizability. It's more of making your character your own, which I love.
I found Thedas to be a much more memorable, in-depth world than that of Mass Effect. You just spend so much time in ME1... driving around barren planets with no landscape whatsoever... diving through dungeons that are copy-pasted versions of other ones. 2 and 3 were A LOT better about this, but even still. I still felt like the universe felt really padded, because there's still too many planets that you can hover over, and analyze, but not visit.
Should you try Origins and not completely love it, you can still try DA2, and it'll be a lot closer to the Mass Effect experience you love. They're all still great games, but I felt like my experiences with Origins were a lot more rewarding.
Dragon Age 2 is Mass Effect 2 with a Dragon Age skin slapped onto it. And different combat.
Like, you can seriously tell how much the devs were influenced by that series being ongoing at the time. The dialogue system is basically ripped clean out of ME2.
Joker hit most of the gameplay bits already, but I will note that Dragon Age 2 has this big problem where the story has 20 ****ing hours of wind-up time.
Like, they introduce you to the basic premise of the plot, and then as soon as you get to the major city, they literally (and I mean literally) tell you to go do side-quests until you have 50 gold. It's the least graceful way the game could have possibly said 'please, go get to know the side-characters', because they refuse to let you do anything interesting until you do.
Dragon Age 2 also has the problem of the world being super gray and not memorable at all. All the locations look exactly the same. Origins had a much more immersive world in that respect.
If you can put the wind-up time aside, though, Dragon Age 2 is pretty great once it gets going. The story is excellent, and heavily focused on the characters. The Ally/Rival system is also really well done. Instead of just a flat, one-way 'relationship bar', they have it set up on a scaling slider towards either Ally (aligned opinions) or Rival (dissenting opinions). The reason that matters is that it lets you play a character with consistent motivations without having to feel like you need to lie about what your character believes in order to please a party member.
Case in point: Fenris.
Dude is a tortured (figuratively and literally) Elf warrior with Lyrium tattoos etched into his skin that give him crazy powers like the ability to go ethereal and walk inside of a guy and then kill him by re-materializing inside his body. HOW CRAZY IS THAT?! Totally would play as him if I could. As it turns out, he's also a Warrior, so he and Anders (delightfully amusing Mage companion) were my party for most of the game, since I was a Rogue. Problem is, Fenris hates mages to the core, because they're the ones who tortured him. (This is not spoilers) So there's a lot of friction-filled banter between he and Anders.
And I was totally pro-Mage (which is a major divisive issue in the DA universe), so naturally Fenris didn't like that. But that was okay, because it just meant I maxed out his loyalty on the rivalry side instead of Ally, and he stood by me until the end of the game regardless.
I think that system is something that gets glazed over a lot that is absurdly well done.
Could probably ramble more later if there are other questions, but I must ready for work.
Despite my gripes with its wind-up time and everything blending together, DA2 is otherwise a really amazing game. Pretty much every other aspect of things is more polished than DAO.
DA2 even has Renegade and Paragon dialogue options. They don't have the "neutral" options, and have replaced them all with "Silly" options, where you respond as a sarcastic smart mouth. Honestly, if you're not basically always choosing the silly options, you're doing it wrong. Silly Hawke is a very lovable character, and Paragon Hawke is quite boring by comparison. I didn't do a Renegade Hawke playthrough tho.
I really hope with Ninty stepping up into the world of E-Sports that their VGC circuit actually improves and they put more effort into it. That includes better casters.
Thinking I'm going to go on another hiatus since school is starting Monday, which I'm REALLY excited about.
I wont actually be going anywhere, just to Über lurk mode. So I basically just wont be responding to any posts or messages.
Some things you guys should do:
1. Dgames Ladder (Points awarded for wins/amount of games. Don't make a point system that directly affects game play (such as points awarded for being on a correct lynch))
2. Dgames group #HBC Sigs (looking at you Nabe)
3. More Hardbody
4. If the mini takes over the queue as I predict it will, destroy it with a nuclear bomb.
god these greens are so good
5. TCG needs more cards because there's not enough cards for the rare cards to be considered rare. I'd also recommend getting Marshy and/or Nabe in w.r.t adding more flavor to the cards, particularly the commons. I'd further recommend making a game out of them. Xonar and Raz come to mind for heading something like that. Oh plus Circus man that would be such a good team wow.
Heyyyoo. I'm planning on running an adventure game soon, I'll need a co-mod, so if anyone is interested lemme know.
Also, polling to see what you guys would be most interested in. I have a few idea I've been spinning around, and trying to decide which to go with fully to bring to completion...
EBS: Emergency Broadcast System -
Essentially, this would be ran in an a small city with set limits, places to explore, and varying places to stumble across. The EBS is in place due to the infiltration of the CDC, players must set out against and protect themselves against these forces while trying to oust the insurgents from the ranks of the CDC. Different broadcasts will display weather warnings, outbreaks, and the like. Your mod and co-mod are actively-inactive players in the game, and control the EBS. Audio messages will be released as events occur, and the time table of IRL days to day ratio is still being decided. Ultimately, there will be a set time until the outbreak of _______ is considered a direct threat to all survivors, and the civilization crumbles. This will be based off a set number of Days, which will be made up of however many irl days add up to the # of day decided. I think 4 irl days to each day in game, and 2 days per night time seems about what I'm thinking of currently. The games design will take place in a future setting, where the CDC is no longer located in Atlanta, and is located on an island off the coast of the US. The island does not only hold the CDC though, it also holds many other things to explore (still deciding on what, but I have some good ideas )
Further ideas to be revealed after deciding if EBS is a go or not, but as of right now, I like what all I can do with it, and have expanded on it much, much more.
Lemme know whose all interested, and if it picks up momentum, I'll start writing the story out, create the map fully, and get the sign-ups started. As a goal, I'd like to get the game up and running, after sign ups occur, no later than the beginning weeks of September. This will be a commitment, so know that before posting interest.
I also plan to incorporate voice call parts of the game, so skype is necessary.
This is a very quick, not even elaborate view of what the game will look like, if it gets interest i'll post a thread with opening flavor leading to the disaster, and release the map as well with the sign-ups.
PM me with any questions, would be more than happy to answer them. but keep in mind this is still in development, and I'm not for certain if I'll run this game or another. HOWEVER, I will be running an adventure game for SURE. I'm just not sure if I'll stick with the Dystopia-EBS based game. but so far, I like what I can do with it the most. Also, I feel it will offer players the greatest amount of freedom to explore, create alliances, rivalries, relationships and the like. Feel free to seduce your way into situations, ie Tom's skills of seduction in The Fog, and otherwise.
these ****s NEVER take off or last long in the rare occasions that they do. yure free to try but yu oughta know that. im interested at any rate assumin its in real time or in a thread (the last one i was in was played thru convos/qt which got borin after awhile tho thats prolly cuz i was by myself at a slower pace. sorry gheb!)
Oh it'll be ran in thread for sure, proabably looking at a pool of about 10-12 players, that why it doesn't stangante due to high numbers and inactivity. And no need to rain on my parade, I have no job currently and nothing holding me back from running anything.
I've always wanted to run one, and definitely have the ability to do so. Think of this game in a style similar to EE's AG The Fog. It'll be ran in real time in thread, except full days will associate to hours, and the like. That way each day has the time to actually accomplish something, and giver players time to react. Fundamentals are still being determined, as well as ruleset, and the like...
But I'm happy to surprise you, because IT WILL be run fo sho. So you can count on that.
My dominant game play so far has been to play Lux mid and push around 4-5 and to start seriously engaging around 6 when my ult kicks in with ridiculous range to finish them off from within their own tower defense. My rune page contains full sets of tier 2: magic penetration, armor, and static AP with my quintessence also being an AP booster.
I initially run a dorian ring/free ward setup with 1 health potion and 1 mana potion. I never ever use the potions though because when I die I'm too preoccupied with escaping from a stun at pre-6 and I'm usually done for because I had overextended. Usually I'm fairly dominant in lane with having a ridiculous range on my "e" resulting in the enemy getting harassed and constantly backing off. When I sense that I'm lane dominant I buy a second dorian and utilize my "q" and "e" for harassing and at level 6 I pursue for the kill.
I'm relatively aggressive (compared to the people I play against) around the end of laning phase and try to get my opponent's tower down by early mid-game so I can assist other lanes (if they are falling behind) by going through the jungle and snaring enemies from the bush (mostly moving to bot since the support is a squishy).
As a mid, what minimal conditions do you feel must be fulfilled in your lane before you assist other lanes i.e. top and bot assuming mostly neutral early game conditions? As a general thumb of thumb, should you at least destroy your enemy's primary tower before assisting other champions in helping to finish off their opponent's primary tower? How are health and mana pots best utilized and do you feel that I should still purchase them on a champ that has built-in stun/slow in their tool-kit to kill/run away from opposing champs?
As a Lux-mid am I right in pushing during mid-game to push objectives? I'm aware that many champs have scaling AP resistance and I've read/noticed that the effect of my gold dominance on the other team maximizes around level 14-15 and tapers off drastically afterwards so I want to end the game relatively early while I'm at my peak as a champion. However, who do you feel should control the pacing of the game? Is it purely situational i.e. the person with the greatest skill/ability in influencing champ crowd-fights or should champions pursue the optimal level of play they can accomplish according to their own champ's build?
Also just putting it out there, but I don't really see Lux as a 'support.' Her tool-kit is again incredibly versatile as she has SNARE and SLOW with the slow being an open-option initiation attack on bubble burst followed with ray of light. And also she provides a shield. However, her tools still feel incomplete as a support player with other supports performing the same functions but doing it much more effectively i.e. Morgana/Thresh is able to snare + pull in champions with Leona having a much more effective stun and tankier build.
In late game I feel like I have to play second support. If I try to push objectively independently I'm more often than not punished if I don't go in with a full tool-kit. I always journey with someone and start engaging teamfights by shielding my party from back lane and then moving forward to assist in killing with my "e" and then move to the front when retreating by snaring/slowing the advance of the enemy while trying to stay alive at the same time. At this point I'm mostly built primarily on stacks of AP and magic penetration with Zhonya's as a last ditch decoy/defense/time waster but mostly insufficient as a valid defense and get ripped to shreds within two attacks.
I want to understand though if this is 'appropriate' for my champion and that I'm utilizing her optimally.
Ok so first advice, don't worry about runes til lvl 20-30, those runes are the best ones and most relevant. Riot wants to clean that up a bit but yeah you don't need tier 2 ones. If you are worried about magic damage though, consider blue MR runes.
Second, your starting items are good. I'd recommend cloth armor with 5 pots if there is an AD kill lane in mid.
First if you want to roam make sure you are pushing your opponent in, lux is good at this from a distance if she can keep her mana up. Then look at other lanes, ask where the wards are if they are warded so you can plan a route and avoid them, then see if they are gankable, aka you can make a play.
That is what I would say to look for. You don't need to blow up the event mid tower just try and push the wave first before you roam so your tower is safe.
Mana pots can be five at lvl 1, but past that not really, health pots though yes, they help you stay on lane longer so you can get more exp and gold.
Around mid game, yeah look for objectives or places you can push in. Not so much fir the MR per level some people might have, but because that is probably what most teams want to do if your Lux. Poke down and try to force objectives. She can be fine in team fights, utility mages usually are good in them. Your damage is just the best here when you can abuse your utility with damage, she doesn't fall off with damage, it's just other champions can scale better with damage.
How champions build and work in teams of game flow depends, Lux I would say a poke/push comp with some comps that want to team fight.
I agree that Lux isn't really a "support", can she do it? Yes. Is it bad? Not really. Is it optimal or a best choice for her? No.
She can do it I just don't recommend it, even more so for lux compared to other utility mages like Karma and Lissandra. They are all utility mages so they have more utility for their team in exchange fir less damage and other things.
Lux would feel like a second support late game, all utility mages do. Lux in her case though has more damage than the others if she procs her passive in a full combo. They recently buffed her passive so it scales a little with AP now. If you take a risk to get in and land an Auto attack, or her ultimate which can also proc it, her damage is a lot higher late game, just not other mages in the game high because Lux has a lot of utility.
Late game you want to stay grouped with people utility isn't as good without teammates, this is where Lux can shine.
Carries mid and bot lane, tend to die really fast without invested defense. If late game bring destroyed fast is an issue I would invest in a little additional defense like a Guardian Angel or a Banshee's veil.
Dorian/free ward >
Dorian/Dorian + (Faerie Earings OR Movement Boots) [depending how often the jungler is trying to gank me] >
Morello/boots/dorian/dorian/pre-athena chalice (forgot exact name) >
Morello/Athena's Grail/blasting wand/(sorc boots if defensive laning / speed oriented boots if building) >
Morello/Athena's Grail/Void Staff/Large Rod/Speed Boots >
Morello/Athena's Grail/Void Staff/Rabadon's Deathcap/Movement Boots (Might upgrade to Captain's Boots to speed up super minions in earlier camps to meet up with later camps)/Zhonya's Hour glass.
Getting Morello and Athene's has helped my presence in end game considerably with my R having max CD reduction. When I'm able to use my other hand again, I'm going to practice jungling (getting good with clearance pattern/times), ADC, and pink warding as support.
Getting Morello and Athene's has helped my presence in end game considerably with my R having max CD reduction. When I'm able to use my other hand again, I'm going to practice jungling (getting good with clearance pattern/times), ADC, and pink warding as support.
Getting Morello and Athene's has helped my presence in end game considerably with my R having max CD reduction. When I'm able to use my other hand again, I'm going to practice jungling (getting good with clearance pattern/times), ADC, and pink warding as support.
I'm still waiting for Riot to respond to my idea for :
The Lux Experience Skin
Directed by Micheal Bay
Her binding explodes on contact, her shield is a big ring of fire, her slow fires off little explosions as it travels and when it blows up makes a explosion sound effect. Her ult is a giant line of explosions going off , and if it consumes a mark, that sets off another explosion
Bad characters, cliche/predictable storyline, **** animation, good theme.
edit: +forced drama, suspension of disbelief is pushed way past the limit, decent but non-memorable music, **** character relations too, deus ex machina every other episode
) 
