Yes, I know I keep re-using this shot. I’ll get some more screen grabs soon. For now, you’re stuck with Flemeth the Dominatrix.
On the off chance you didn’t already know this, although Dragon Age 2 does not continue the story of The Greywarden, Origins’ protagonist, it does let you import the state of the world you left behind from the first game. I’ve just gone through the process and thought some of you would like to know exactly what choices you made in that game are imported. I don’t necessarily know all the variations on these choices, as the list I got only shows what I specifically did, but you ought to be able to extrapolate from the following list, which does include heavy Dragon Age: Origins spoilers…
Italics refer to direct quotes from the in-game list:
– Connor was freed from the demon. This refers to the little boy in Redcliffe possessed by a demon. You could also have killed the boy to save the mother’s life or gotten a mage to help you save both.
– Mages were recruited to the army.
– Dalish Elves were recruited into the army.
– Harrowmont rules Orzammar. There was some other dwarf dude you could have crowned. I forget who was who.
– The Anvil of the Void was destroyed. This was the golemn-making device; you could have elected to preserve the forge. Of course, that would make your character a dick.
– Loghain was killed. Sure, you could have spared him, but then Alistair pouts.
– Anora is queen of Ferelden. You could have crowned Alistair or yourself. Possibly some other options?
– The Warden performed the dark ritual with Morrigan. I was already sleeping with her, so what’s the big deal, amiright? You could also have had Alistair do it, or rejected Morrigan outright.
– The Warden killed the Archdemon. I have the power! You could have had Alistair do this (or he could step in, if it’s to save your life; not a total douche, that guy).
– Amaranthine was saved from the darkspawn assault. This is from the Awakenings expansion and refers to a big outpost thingie that your decisions could have lead to ruin. I saved the day because, well, I am just that good. (You heard it here first.)
– The Architech is alive. More Awakening content. Dude wasn’t all bad, but you could elect to kill him.
– Warden’s Keep was reclaimed. I’m assuming this refers to the Warden’s Keep DLC (and having completed it), but I’m not entirely sure.
– Shale was discovered. Shale is an NPC from the Stone Prisoner. You know, the “DLC” (it’s totally core content to the game) that you got for free so long as you didn’t buy used. Who knew we’d so soon be referring to this as the good old days. F$$$ing EA/Bioware and their pre-order DLC extortion tax. Sigh.
– King Cailan’s corpse was burned. This comes from the Return to Ostagar DLC. I assume the options are to burn his corpse or ignore it.
That’s the list. It’s possible there are options from some of the DLC I did not purchase (the Leiliana one, for example), but probably not. (I did play Witch Hunt and imported that save, but no items from that carried over.) I’m good with this list as it does reflect the big decisions I made throughout the game. I have to admit I’m curious if they’re all reflected in some way in this game and how that might be. Most likely, it’s just quick hints in dialog rather than anything substantive, and I’m good with that.
Update: I should also have noted there are three “pre-built” histories from which you can choose. They are as follows:
– Hero of Ferelden: A young man from a noble family rose to become a Grey Warden, then ended the Fifth Blight by killing the Archdemon himself–and surviving. He always strove for the greater good, and placed his friend Alistair on the throne of Ferelden.
– The Martyr: Ferelden will forever remember the young Dalish elf who died to kill the fifth Archdemon. Even though she had reason to be cynical, her actions always benefited others. She left a kingdom ruled jointly by Alistair and Anora.
– No Compromise: A ruthless dwarven noble took command of Ferelden’s Grey Wardens, then let nothing stand between him and victory. He exiled Alistair, sent Loghain to his death against the Archdemon, and left Anora as Ferelden’s ruler.
Not much love for dwarves in the Bioware offices, I’m guessing.
“Shale was discovered. Shale is an NPC from the Stone Prisoner. You know, the “DLC” (it’s totally core content to the game) that you got for free so long as you didn’t buy used”
As I understand it, Shale was in, was cut, and then was restored in the downtime between the game being finished and retail release. There’s certainly a lot of Shale bits in the toolset, but I don’t have access to her quest area the way I do the game’s base areas.
There’s a Bioware guy who posts to rpg.net that insists the Day One DLC stuff really is a way to deliver content via the post-completion pre-release window, usually stuff that was cut before. I believe him – a couple of extra iterations of dev time seems like just the thing to save some stuff from the cutting room floor.
I’d certainly be happier if Sebastian was a pack-in to the retail box rather than a $7 extra (seems like a reasonable precedent from Shale), but it’s probably the sort of thing we need to get used to. If Bioware’s committed to providing long AAA games with a lot of choice, they probably need those higher-margin DLC $$$ to keep up with the costs of producing the damn things.
Maybe if they went an Alpha Protocol length they could deliver more choice at a better margin, but I can hear the “15 hours OMG ripoff” trolls from here
Sebastian was a pack-in with the free upgrade, if you pre-ordered soon enough.
Yeah, I tend to just pick games up from my FLGS on release day rather than pre-ordering (they never get collector’s editions so there’s no point even reserving a copy), so I tend to forget the pre-order dimension.
I guess it demonstrates the value EA places on pre-orders though, if they’re more interested in drumming them up than in bulking up the value proposition of the new game for the longer term.
Right and that’s where I draw the line. Shale was a way to incentivize people to buy new instead of used. I’m not anti-used games, though I don’t buy them myself, but I can see a certain logic in that. It’s fair. Shifting this same concept to 3-month early pre-orders is a bridge too far from me.
I really don’t have any grudge with how they sold Stone Prisoner (noted in another comment response) as that was about buying new vs. used. It was fair. That said, whatever the actual internal journey of Shale (at Bioware), it was clearly content meant to be a part of the game. Shale has a huge role in the end of the Orzammar sequence a sequence that would not have been nearly as significant without her there. Bioware can call that what they like, but I call that core content.
Well, that’s fair. She’s certainly more core than Zaeed or Kasumi.
– Harrowmont rules Orzammar. There was some other dwarf dude you could have crowned. I forget who was who.
Bhelen was the guy who tried to kill off his elder sister, the Dwarf Noble, by framing her for murdering their elder brother. Harrowmont is the old guy who’s buddy-buddy with the old king.
– King Cailan’s corpse was burned. This comes from the Return to Ostagar DLC. I assume the options are to burn his corpse or ignore it.
Or desecrate it. Cailan turned out to be a bit of a dick.
– Anora is queen of Ferelden. You could have crowned Alistair or yourself. Possibly some other options?
Or both. You know, if your Warden is a girl.
“Not much love for dwarves in the Bioware offices, I’m guessing.”
I had a variety of good/neutral characters, but my (mega) evil character was a Dwarf noble…
I avoid pre-orders in general, unless you absolutely know this game is gonna be hard to find on release day (and there are very few of those).
you gotta remember that when you put money down, you’re actually loaning it out to the store/digital distribution center for absolutely 0% interest.
sometimes i pre-order on steam because their pre-orders are 10% cheaper than they are on release day… i see that as kinda reasonable seeing as i’m giving them an advance on their cash.