So almost everybody here went out and got this game. As I'm playing it I have several questions running through my head that maybe some of you all can help me answer.

So in this thread ask away any question you might have playing this game.

Just no spoilers

I'll go first.

1.) Is there any good way to avoid traps? My guys kind of have a mind of their own and aren't smart enough to avoid them (well so far at least).

2.) I heard that most of the decisions you make in this game lead to neutral or bad results. So far my noble human has been trying to get along nice with every other character of importance. However, when I see a way to make a quick buck/item I sometimes choose the least diplomatic route regarding npcs that seem relatively unimportant (kennel master and quarter master for instance). In the case of these 2 characters does being a jackass have the better pay off or should I have gone more diplomatic? Does your choices with these seemingly unimportant npcs effect how your partner's think of you? (every single decision you made in mass effect contributed to Paragon or Renegade points for instance). I was wondering if the choices you make in Origins, even to relatively unimportant npcs, add up like in the whole good or evil, paragon or renegade sort of thing like Mass Effect.

Well my first question would be why is the PC version so buggy.  I expect more from Bioware, but looks like this 1st major release under the EA banner wasn't ready.

I have load times anywhere from 3-15 minutes.  Framerate is terrible even on the lowest settings.  The official forums have numerous posts about this issue, with no official word on any fix or resolution.  I can play Mass Effect, which came out only last year, on max settings with no framerate issues and load times measured in seconds.

Difficult to say about any gameplay becuase, I have haven't been able to get that far into the game yet.   Clicking on an npc to talk to only to have to wait 10-20 seconds for the dialogue to start really dampens my desire to continue playing.  The several minutes of loading pretty much kills it.

This is why you wait before buying.    To see how the game is before buying it.    Seems I made the right choice.    I'll wait a couple of months then buy the game.  It ain't going anywhere - plus I'm having way to much fun in a certain games beta right now!  Woohoo!!!!

Teala, I do normally wait to buy games until "word of mouth" gets around.  It was Bioware so I had hoped that EA hadn't "tainted" them just yet.

Seems I was wrong.....

If they don't get this issue fixed, it will definately affect my decision about getting Mass Effect 2.  I already cancelled my ME2 preorder.  If they can't get DA working by January, I would have doubts about how playable ME2 would be.

Originally posted by DrowNoble

Well my first question would be why is the PC version so buggy.  I expect more from Bioware, but looks like this 1st major release under the EA banner wasn't ready.

I have load times anywhere from 3-15 minutes.  Framerate is terrible even on the lowest settings.  The official forums have numerous posts about this issue, with no official word on any fix or resolution.  I can play Mass Effect, which came out only last year, on max settings with no framerate issues and load times measured in seconds.

Difficult to say about any gameplay becuase, I have haven't been able to get that far into the game yet.   Clicking on an npc to talk to only to have to wait 10-20 seconds for the dialogue to start really dampens my desire to continue playing.  The several minutes of loading pretty much kills it.

No problems here and my comp is below min reqs.

Learn2config and maintain your system imo.

The only problem i have so far is my stupid teammates always attack the enemies i force field lol.....otherwise this game is awesome, 1st single player rpg i've gotten into since well...mass effect. 

Originally posted by Thrakk

I'll go first.

1.) Is there any good way to avoid traps? My guys kind of have a mind of their own and aren't smart enough to avoid them (well so far at least).

Liliana has lockpicking, each rank highers your ability to detect traps, if you do not have a trap detecting character most you can do is keep an eye out. Most of the traps are pretty week and are rarely a major obstacle.

2.) I heard that most of the decisions you make in this game lead to neutral or bad results. So far my noble human has been trying to get along nice with every other character of importance. However, when I see a way to make a quick buck/item I sometimes choose the least diplomatic route regarding npcs that seem relatively unimportant (kennel master and quarter master for instance). In the case of these 2 characters does being a jackass have the better pay off or should I have gone more diplomatic? Does your choices with these seemingly unimportant npcs effect how your partner's think of you? (every single decision you made in mass effect contributed to Paragon or Renegade points for instance). I was wondering if the choices you make in Origins, even to relatively unimportant npcs, add up like in the whole good or evil, paragon or renegade sort of thing like Mass Effect.

The game doesn't use a karma system actually, it's more so your actions at the time having the effect. But yes, your choices with just about any NPC can affect your group members in some way. The risk you take with companions as I said does not affect karma, it actually affects there standing in a different way then other BioWare games I have played. Pissing a companion off to far could actually end in him/her departing and never returning.

The Grey Wardens are known for helping with out asking for reward, many of your companions know this, so completing a task, asking or accepting further reward is looked down upon, it's just not the Grey Warden way. Being the bad guy will almost always pay off in this game when it comes to money, but you will lose companions favor more often. There are about two companions that will almost always support you in less diplomatic choices. My advice if you want to keep high favor and lots of money, take persuasion. Eventually when you max it, you can practically talk most of your party members into believing world domination is the right way.

Originally posted by 4Renziks

The only problem i have so far is my stupid teammates always attack the enemies i force field lol.....otherwise this game is awesome, 1st single player rpg i've gotten into since well...mass effect. 

Change the formation to all and have the entire party attack one mob at a time to prevent that problem. Then micro-manage the fight as you need to. You can use the formation to move your group around traps or to move away from range attacks as well.

Originally posted by artemisentr4

Originally posted by 4Renziks

The only problem i have so far is my stupid teammates always attack the enemies i force field lol.....otherwise this game is awesome, 1st single player rpg i've gotten into since well...mass effect. 

 

Change the formation to all and have the entire party attack one mob at a time to prevent that problem. Then micro-manage the fight as you need to. You can use the formation to move your group around traps or to move away from range attacks as well.

you must be playing the pc version with lends itself more to micromanaging.

the 360 version is great because I haven't encountered and lag or long loading screens but the attacking is going into battle with your gambits set up and only pausing to change your gambit style. It would be annoying to pause and try to move characters around a trap one at a time since they are all gonna be moving at the same time anyways.. so really, even though I have been playing hard difficulty - I do not really do much micromanaging during battles (maybe I'll switch to a character to heal them but that's about it). Frankly that's working fine with me for now (I'm only a little more than 10% in). I have had to save and replay battles a good bit though.

When going through "redcliff" castle (think thats what it was called), I got through it by leaving 3 members in a small room then controlling the other to pull mobs to the door entrance where my group could taken em down with ease.. MMO style =D

Bosses are a kite feast, just get 1 of your guys with "taunt" to taunt the boss, the other 3 members put on range attacks and just kite the boss untill he dies.

Originally posted by Thrakk

I'll go first.

1.) Is there any good way to avoid traps? My guys kind of have a mind of their own and aren't smart enough to avoid them (well so far at least).

2.) I heard that most of the decisions you make in this game lead to neutral or bad results. So far my noble human has been trying to get along nice with every other character of importance. However, when I see a way to make a quick buck/item I sometimes choose the least diplomatic route regarding npcs that seem relatively unimportant (kennel master and quarter master for instance). In the case of these 2 characters does being a jackass have the better pay off or should I have gone more diplomatic? Does your choices with these seemingly unimportant npcs effect how your partner's think of you? (every single decision you made in mass effect contributed to Paragon or Renegade points for instance). I was wondering if the choices you make in Origins, even to relatively unimportant npcs, add up like in the whole good or evil, paragon or renegade sort of thing like Mass Effect.

buggy? I think its just your PC cuz im having a blast in the game, no bugs here.

Processor:
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory:
8190MB RAM
Hard Drive:
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
Monitor:
BenQ G2400W (Digital)
Sound Card:
Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
Speakers/Headphones:
Keyboard:
Logitech G15 v.2 USB Keyboard
Mouse:
Logitech USB G3 (MX518) Optical Mouse
Mouse Surface:
YOUR FACE
Operating System:
Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.lh_sp2rtm.090410-1830) - Win 7 now.
Motherboard:
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
Computer Case:
COOLER MASTER Stacker RC-832-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case

---------------------------

Loading times range from 15 seconds out of buildings to 45 seconds between zones. No crashes yet and I have all settings on max. (Only 2X AA because... with a 24 inch monitor I don't notice a difference from 8X/16X other than lower FPS.)

I upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate, and things are still running smoothly.

Micro-managing my group can be a slight pain... but at times I find it teaches me about better control.

I repeat: The party AI is almost terrible... but when I manage them things become absolutely amazing.

I'm using techniques I picked up in MMOs... pulling small groups and hiding around corners to seperate the melee and range... or  to pull range guys in close. Having the current party member who is being targeted stand in the appropriate locations so that the rest of the party can inflict the most damage.... etc.

It's not... perfect... particularly when it comes to combat... but i'm finding myself taking an active role in my party, the decisions I make (in dialogue and attack), and romance.

It's good, and if Bioware or another company says... "Hey we could do better!" then i'll be getting even more value for my money next time.

My question is... if every other NPC and minion can have facial expressions, why can't my PC, you know, at least make a few faces? Eyebrows drawn down, a smile, a laugh... hell, Link expresses more emotions than my character can, and he does it without talking too!

 Mass Effect sucked, is this game similar just with a different setting ?

Originally posted by skarwolf

 Mass Effect sucked, is this game similar just with a different setting ?

If you really thought that Mass Effect sucked, then you won't like this game.

Edit: Speaking of questions, am I the only one who thinks that the Blood Dragon armor looks hideous?

Originally posted by DrowNoble

Well my first question would be why is the PC version so buggy.  I expect more from Bioware, but looks like this 1st major release under the EA banner wasn't ready.

I have load times anywhere from 3-15 minutes.  Framerate is terrible even on the lowest settings.  The official forums have numerous posts about this issue, with no official word on any fix or resolution.  I can play Mass Effect, which came out only last year, on max settings with no framerate issues and load times measured in seconds.

Difficult to say about any gameplay becuase, I have haven't been able to get that far into the game yet.   Clicking on an npc to talk to only to have to wait 10-20 seconds for the dialogue to start really dampens my desire to continue playing.  The several minutes of loading pretty much kills it.

This game was ready. I would say if you are waiting so long for load times and poor performance, you might wanna check the settings. For me this game runs very smooth. Load times can go on for about a minute max for me. Perhaps your PC just isn't ready for this release...cause the game is.

Originally posted by heartless

Originally posted by skarwolf

 Mass Effect sucked, is this game similar just with a different setting ?

 

If you really thought that Mass Effect sucked, then you won't like this game.

Edit: Speaking of questions, am I the only one who thinks that the Blood Dragon armor looks hideous?

Don't get me wrong I played Mass Effect to completion.  Not 100% mind you I only rented the game and rushed through the main quest.  All the dialogue was tedious I basically skipped most of it and ran through missions to complete them.  As for Mass Effect 2 they very first teaser trailer they release shows one of those geth wearing the main characters armor and states he's dead yet recently in all the previews you see him walking around much alive  /shrug

Originally posted by DrowNoble

Well my first question would be why is the PC version so buggy.  I expect more from Bioware, but looks like this 1st major release under the EA banner wasn't ready.

I have load times anywhere from 3-15 minutes.  Framerate is terrible even on the lowest settings.  The official forums have numerous posts about this issue, with no official word on any fix or resolution.  I can play Mass Effect, which came out only last year, on max settings with no framerate issues and load times measured in seconds.

Difficult to say about any gameplay becuase, I have haven't been able to get that far into the game yet.   Clicking on an npc to talk to only to have to wait 10-20 seconds for the dialogue to start really dampens my desire to continue playing.  The several minutes of loading pretty much kills it.

ummm most likely your computer. I only had a problem with the DLC which I quickly fixed. Over all this has been a awesome game. Only thing I think is stupid is some dialogue in the dwarf orgins during the proving grounds "first one to fall loses" might not be exact words but that is the meaning. Felt like I was watching Hot Shots part Deux when I heard that lol.

Originally posted by DrowNoble

I have load times anywhere from 3-15 minutes.  Framerate is terrible even on the lowest settings.  The official forums have numerous posts about this issue, with no official word on any fix or resolution.  I can play Mass Effect, which came out only last year, on max settings with no framerate issues and load times measured in seconds.

I haven't had any such massive problems with load times. However I have a possible explanation for low framerates. I'm guessing the game is built using the same engine as Neverwinter Nights 2, and at least the version used by Neverwinter Nights 2 didn't support dual core processors. As a result the game may actually run worse on some dual core processors than older processors with a fast single core.

The game runs okayish for me on my 2.4 dual core at reasonably high settings, but as with NwN2 I can't get it running perfectly smooth.

I remember reading in a dev interview that the game runs best on Quad-core CPUs, so I guess that is not the issue.

I get a tiny bit of slowdown in crowded towns and cities, but otherwise the game plays flawlessly on max settings. Load times are usually anywhere between 10-30 seconds.

i7 920 @ 3.0ghz / Radeon 4890 Pro / 6 gig Ram / Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium

I understand that many people are / were having problems with ATI cards, but I honestly haven't had a single issue yet.

my rogue is currently level 10 and i haven't figured out how to use the specialization point. how do i specialize in a talent? i want to go put one point into duelist.

Anyway to que up multiple commands for your party members in the PC version?

You have to have someone teach you your specialization. You want to become a duelist? You better be good at card games.

If wish this game wasn't party-orientated, it's the only reason why I won't get it, I just simply cannot stand having other douches to bother with. I played Baldur's Gate completely solo, I'm not sure if I ever beat it, I think there was a point when I had to stop simply because it became too difficult to solo. It's the bothersome micro-management of characters I don't give a stuff about.

I guess there's my question, is it bothersome? Does the game 'flow' well or do you have pause every few bloody seconds and sort out your turdlings.