Ravens Forums
General => General Chat => Topic started by: xann on November 21, 2009, 06:26:20 pm
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Whos got DA:O, how you finding it, what class/race are you playing(if you've settled on one yet...i haven't :P)?
So far i've tried a Human mage and Human Rogue properly, but played the background of a few more. Barely started rly, 7th lvl.
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Just dinged 20 with my city elf warrior/berserker/reaver (chose reaver to get rid of the level up icon).
I simply love the game and will surely play through it again, problem is that while I want to see what effect different choices have, I don't really want to make those choices :-\. Still haven't finished the game yet though I must be close now (I'm off to fight the Blight ... again). The game is very long (Can't someone just give me what I want for once instead of giving me yet another bloody long quest to finish first!) and the character interaction is brilliant. I mostly ran with the same party, but it would be interesting to see how a different party would react.
The DLC content while not bad at all wouldn't be worth the full price imo (got it included with the steam version for only 5? more) and I kinda fear they'll release plenty more DLC with little content, though I hope they'll prove me wrong.
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I'm playing as a Dalish Elf Blood Mage, i wanted to tick all the boxes to make people like me ;) not sure how far through I am, but only about 10 hours in or so, then I'm guessing I have quite a bit more to go. Enjoying it allot still, finding some of the fights quite fun and challenging.
I'll prolly try a warrior or rogue like eko's if i play through again, sword and board tank doesn't seem to work so well in this game so might as well go for deeeppeeeessss! I'm finding on challenigng fights though I have to really mico manage the group, the tactics seem ok for usual/random encouters but as soon as it gets a little tough the AI seems to do some really stupid things :)
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Its deffinetly not the usual hack' slash rpg game, charged head long into the 1st bunch of "orcs" i met and promptly got shot to pieces by archers on a ridge :P Think i'm gonna play it thru as a rogue, get some good dps from flanking+dual wielding... we'll see
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So what group did you mainly run with? I prolly haven't met all the avalibe allies yet, but just done the redcliffe/urn of ashes with Sten, Alistair and Leliana. I'm playing a human mage, buffing type, got healing, crowd control and stuff. Thought i'd preffer dmg dealer but this is pretty fun, plus gives a good view to manage the rest of the group.
ps. I'm a good guy ;D
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good guys suck, stop hunting down those poor ol' blood mages !
I change my party about a bit, but mostly i ran with a tank (was alistair but now I'm using shale from the free DLC thingie i got with my pack), sten (once he has some consitiution and can take a few hits, before then he sawks) or morrigan or war dog (who I named 'dogface') for dps, then wynne as healbot (though sometimes as per above i have to take over when the fights get intense). And yes, that means i sometimes run with 3 mages, which can be pretty cool but also can die v fast :-)
Everybody hates me though as I keep making the nasty choices, Wynne especially seems to have a bit of a problem with me...
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Evul Las!
Whats all this free dcl stuff?
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i got some codes for the downloadable content with the game, dunno if it always comes with them or if it was something special i did tbh. The only one i don't have is wardens keep, will have to pay for that (anyone got it? any good?)
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Yeah, got Warden's Keep with the deluxe edition from Steam and it's pretty good. The quest related to it is reasonably long and the keep adds a storage box + blacksmith. It's good, but dunno if it's really worth the full price tbh.
I kinda always ran with the 'standard' party: Alistair, Leliana & Morrigan. Alistair as tank and since he swallowed so many potions I had to set up Morrigan as healer and Leliana got killed all the time in melee so switched her to ranged. Works out fine for the most part, the one who dies most is my own character :P. Morrigan & Leliana + Alistair are opposites though, so it's not an ideal comination, but their banter is great. Should have gotten Wynne earlier to have a 'good' party, but yeah, might try to go with Shale, Shen/Zhevwhatever & Morrigan if I ever replay it (probably as mage, maybe rogue).
Wow, 3 mages could do some serious AoE damage, just gotta keep your melee from running into it then :).
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I love shales banter the best, he reminds me of the mad psycho robot in KOTR - think the same guy must have wrote his dialogue. His dislike of birds/pigeons is also hilarious
Stuff like - "I watch all the party at night, counting your breaths and resisting the urge to slaughter you all", or ""Let's go find something squishy to throw off a cliff before it thinks I've gone soft.", or ": "We squished their heads. It was fun."..... (you get the idea! :) )
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Hehe yeah, his "bird thing" is indeed hilarious, like when you leave the village you found him in :).
Aah yeah, he does sound a lot like the assassin droid from Kotor, with Shale insisting on calling you "it" while the robot called you "meatbag" (iirc). Having 2 negative inclined people while making mostly positive choices didn't do so well, so ditched Shale eventually (got Wynne way too far in the game, so grew to like Morrigan and kept using her).
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I'm DLing that shale content now, had a code thing too.
As for banter, Lelina vs sten is pretty funny, she catches him picking flowers in Haven and calls him a "big softie" for the rest of the game, he insists they were for medicinal purposes :) Also he can't grasp the idea of a female warrior, thinks children need to be "put back" until they are finished, and loves cookies.
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Can I dl this stuff form origninal web site? You already said it is hardly worth it, any other opinions? Is some dlable content better than others? If so what should I go for and what should I leave?
Sax.
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You get it from within the game on the main menu, if you don't have a code you have to purchase bioware points from the link it sends you to. The two modules worth downloading are The Stone Prisoner and Warden's Keep, don't bother with any of the others as they aren't items I used much.
Debate ranges on if they are worth it or not. Both modules are 1-2 hours play of good quality and add quite a bit to the backstory, plus give you some stuff you wouldn't otherwise get. The problem is it's quite expensive given the overall cost of the game, ?4 or so for only 1-2 hours play extra is not sitting kindly with many peeps, and they have more DLC like this planned in the future so i guess it could get quite expensive. I did pay for warden's keep though and personally don't regret it, only you can really make the decision if the price is justified though.
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When I pull myself away from DAoC and try DA I'll let you know my opinion :)
Cheers,
Sax.
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So i finally completed it last night, 50 hours played in total which I'm pretty impressed with (and that didn't include farting around trying to pick a character/class to play), didn't drag at all and well worth the money. Probably the best game I've played this year I think, Batman and Uncharted II are also up there though :)
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Probably the best game I've played this year I think, Batman and Uncharted II are also up there though :)
Deffinetly, Arkham is great, and CoD:2 v. good game. But DA:O is the best rpg game i've ever played.
Its on a par with my fav games of all time, the Legacy of Kain series.
50 hours played in total which I'm pretty impressed with (and that didn't include farting around trying to pick a character/class to play), didn't drag at all
Yeah, its pretty amazing how a game that long doesn't drag at any stage... the dwarf bit was a hack fest, coulda been boring if it was a different game, but it wasn't :) i had 50-ish hours played too, tho i did absolutly none of the side quests, and only just played the DL content.
Just wondering what i'm gonna play going thru it again :) evil guy i guess ;D
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I got Mass Effect over xmas with some amazon voucher, just like DA:O its well and truely sucked me in, damn you Bioware... Now i've gotta do this b4 Mass Effect 2 comes out :P
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hehe :) Yep am looking forward to ME2 as well !
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I got DAO as an Xmas present, been really enjoying it so far. Great gameplay and loving the visuals. The plot is great and for once the voice acting isn't completely cringe inducing (though it sails close to the rocks a few times). I'm on normal difficulty playing as a human dual wield warrior (sidenote: Alastair couldn't taunt a paper bag). Just defeated the Ishal tower section, that was one tough fight!
Only gripe I have is the camera angle switches awkwardly from top down to follow cam, I wish there were more intermediate views that worked (like a zoomed out follow cam). Are there any mods which fix the camera issues?
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I'm on normal difficulty playing as a human dual wield warrior (sidenote: Alastair couldn't taunt a paper bag)
pfft, did you let him sunder 3 times? ;)
(I agree actually, one thing i couldn't make work very well was a sword and board tank in DA:O, Shale was a much better tank imo as he had more agro grabbing ability and a massive consitution which mean't he didn't fall over instantly once you have about 5+ mobs on him (like Alistair!))
I haven't really checked out any mods so I'm not sure Cern, i played most of the game in the over the shouler view and only using the top down on really hectic situations. I've played allot more console games this year on the ps3 so i suppose I've got more used to the over the shouler cam.
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I have started playing it also. What kind of differences are there if you choose evil/nasty/petty conversation responses? I tend to stick with the good/noble type actions and responses tbh. I have my character as a sword and board type as well as Alistair, I tend to get a kicking anyway though. Not 100% with using the tactics system, I prefer to micro-manage, but often the toons won't do what I tell them, such as go there and they don't and when I tell them to go there if they go, they don't stay, so I can't adopt a formation (2 x 2). Still I like the game so far and will keep going but I don't have the WOW you all seem to, it seems entertaining but not awesome. Though I am a fan of turn based and this is like a more intimate version of a RTS with a pause function.
Sax.
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Like all the bioware games I don't think your choices really affect the story much, only in the way its told (e.g. doing a quest to be noble and good or doing it for your own selfish reasons). The big difference in DA:O is really in how the other characters react to your choices, I upset my party quite allot :)
You should try to devlop the macros to your own liking as that will help you in most of the 'ordinary' fights and mean you won't have to micro manage quite so much. You can set characters to be aggressive and chase down mobs (for tanks etc) or to stay at range, use heal pots when they get low on heath, use particular abilities more often etc etc. I found i only needed to micro manage the really tough fights.
p.s. happy new year everyone :)
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Anybody planning on getting the xpac out soon? pretty sure i will be.
I never actuly planned thru the whole game again (yet) might try to b4 i play the xpac.
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Definitely. I really enjoyed Origins and I'm on my 2nd playthrough, this time on Hard. So by the time it is released I should have either a Human Warrior or a Human Mage to choose from to play the xpack with.
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I will get it no doubt, but maybe a little later on in the year as I'm still playing other games. I did fully complete it once and played all the different origins stories as well, I haven't checked back though if they added anymore DLC ? I'm kinda surprised they are doing an expac as i thought it was all about the DLC now? However i guess the expac will be considerably cheaper so prolly a good thing for us!
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Theres 3 DLC's iirc?
Shale
Wardens Keep
Return to Ostagar
tbh i wasn't that impressed with it, i mean it was decent but could've been better. I think an Xpac is a good move should do very well, just hope it lives up to (my) expectaions.
I have been itching for a game recently... Can't believe i've been contemplating a WoW return :-\ Slap me
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Both Shale and Wardens Keep were available at the start of the game, didn't get Return to Ostagar but you didn't think that was any good?
I think it's interesting the way the DLC is going, I don't mind it tbh but I think the price is too high for the content you get. Found it interesting that they are also trying to make more and more DLC available upon release and not part of the original game as they have with Mass Effect II, they then give free codes away with games sold for the DLC, meaning they are actually attacking the 2nd hand (mosty console) market. When a 2nd hand buyer gets the game they decide to go and get the DLC and they don't have a freebie code, they have to register for that Cerebus thing. Seems EA wants a cut of that 2nd hand market :)
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Shale was a freebie. Worth doing the content even if you don't want to use Shale in your party.
Wardens Keep was premium DLC. I purchased this one and enjoyed it, but felt there should have been a bit more content provided for the money.
As a result I haven't purchased Return To Ostagar.
Have pre-ordered the xpack as I really enjoyed the game and I'm looking forward to developing my characters further.
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I'll get it eventually, but between me raiding again in WoW and all the great games coming out this year I'm lacking time to play through them all.
I did finish ME2 & replayed ME after that as, except for the ending, I couldn't recall what happened in the first game. I imported my char into ME2 and the plan is play through it again this time with the choices I made during the first game, but that's for in the future.
Finished Heavy Rain too, turned out to be a really great game. Really neat how the choices you make influence the story, though the main story always remains the same of course. The different characters are believable (which makes it a shame that some of the npc's are so streotypical) and there are quite a few emotional moments which make you really care for the characters. I also found the ending totally unexpected and really well done. I wonder now how different choices would influence the game and I'll most likely play it again sometime.
Haven't played Bioshock 2 yet as I wanted to finish Bioshock again (am about halfway iirc) this time saving all the little girls.
Haven't finished Assassin's Creed 2 either and now got Final Fantasy XIII & Uncharted 2 to play through as well, think I'll have to quit my job so I can play them all :P. Final Fantasy is well, ... typical Final Fantasy: great graphics, rather stereotypical characters, a good vs evil story (so far as I can make out as it drops you in the middle of events without really understanding what the hell is going on) and a varied battle system. It's not something for everyone, but I like those kind of games. Uncharted 2 is really great so far, more shooting than I expected, but the difficulty isn't too high.
I'm not a fan of DLC either, most seem to have little added content for the price. Got Shale & Warden's Keep with the digital deluxe edition on steam which was only ?5 more than the regular version, so ?5 for Warden's Keep wasn't bad. Didn't get Return to Ostagar as it didn't seem worth it. Would like to finish DA:O again as a mage, but kinda doubt that will happen. Final Fantasy alone will probably keep me busy for 35-50 hours.
Kinda interested in God of War 3 as I keep hearing good things about it and they have remade the first 2 for the PS3. It's something totally different, but it sounds very cool, so might pick them all up eventually.
2010 will be a great year for gaming if it continues like this and it looks like it will (Starcraft 2 & Cataclysm will come out this year, so will Mafia 2 & Civ 5) :).
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Argh too many good games not enough time :)
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My DA:O expac arrived today from Amazon, even though I put it on a super saver delivery! Now to complate about 50 hours game play so I can put it to use :)
Sax.
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Bah, lucky fecker. Play.com have only just posted mine today the slackers. Probably have to come all the way from Jersey too. Ah well, I need to do Wardens Keep on my first toon, the DW warrior, anyway.
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Are you enjoying it more now then Sax?
I'm still playing Mass Effect II atm, which out of the two games i thought i'd prefer but so far I'm thinking the reverse, that DA:O was the better game overall. Whilst ME II is indeed great I'm finding for some reason it's a bit more disjointed, I don't feel as immersed as i did in DA:O.
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My DA:Awakening didn't arrive in the post today and I've just been reading that lots of players have already completed it!
Apparently there's only about 12-15 hours gameplay, half that if you skip the sidequests. That's rather lightweight for the money. Also reading that they've broken some plot issues in order to allow import of all DA:O characters (won't mention details as will be a spoiler for Sax). General feeling is it's a nice xpack but far too short, maybe even something that should have been released as DLC for a lower price.
Bioware have a good name in the industry, but it worries me that the money grabbers at EA are dragging them down.
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yeah it does sound a bit lightweight for the money but I'd keep in mind these people who have already completed it tend to be the 'rushers' :) I'd read people that completed the entire DA:O original campaign in 20 hours, dunno how that is possible if you actually listen to any dialogue and take the time to get immersed in the world (maybe they are just too used to ignoring the story and just completing the tasks?). After about 20 hours play I think i'd only just figured out which class i wanted to play and got to the first village :) (though admittedly took my time and did a fair few of the origins stories)
EA do indeed seem to want to destroy everything with additional charges and other ways to exploit us (e.g. advertising), hopefully bioware will retain some independance :(
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Yeah with DA:O I took my time too and explored dialogues thoroughly, did all the side quests etc. Both playthroughs that I've done were around 90 hours. Unusual for me, I can be a bit of a completionist if I like a game but I don't often get that immersed in the lore. In DA:O I've done both, so it's testament to the game's immersiveness.
Awakening arrived this morning, installing it now. Will post some thoughts (no spoilers) later.
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Yup am enjoying it, fiddled with the Tactics system and mainly turned off the useful stun abilities unless fighing yellow/orange and even then I tend to take heavy control of the fights. Just finished the Mages Tower, will prolly go back to the Dalish area now and put together a heavy dps party with Wyn healing to take down that Mad Hermit, if anyone deserves to die its him!!!
Sax.
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Well I finished DA:Awakening last night, hard mode, with about 25 hours on the clock. That was with all side quests completed and watching all cut scenes and dialogues without skipping anything. Overall it was really enjoyable, but there was too little of it to feel fully immersed in the new story or get to bond with the new companions, who mostly feel dispensable. I understand why they wanted to break a lot of the links with DA:O and enforce brand new companions (apart from Oghren who has some very entertaining moments) but I think there needed to be nearer 40 hours of gameplay to achieve better immersion.
The relative lack of immersion compared to DA:O isn't helped by the fact that the game ends abruptly after the final boss battle. Without giving anything away, let's just say there's no epilogue where you can debrief and chat to you companions, nor is an epilogue save created by the game (so dunno how they intend to bolt on any additional DLC). You just defeat the boss, watch a very short cut scene, get given the epilogue text screens (some of which makes no sense whatsoever given your decisions during the game) and then the credits roll. Leaves a sense of deflation where DA:O left a sense of satisfaction. Shame.
So, where DA:0 is a 9.5/10 game, DA:A is only really a 8/10 for me. Still very good, but not great. It's a bit like comparing one of Iain Banks' masterpiece novels with one of his lesser ones. In the big picture they're both good, but compared to each other one has an epic ending and the other feels like the ending was written in a rush on the back of a beermat.
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bah, you don't get to run with the original companions ? Givf Shale.....
I have my copy waiting (I'll get around to it once I finish ME II), ?15 seems reasonable for 25 hours or so play though. Especially given games like COD MW II were only about 4-5 hours play and ?30+ :)
I think I kinda expected the expansion wouldn't quite top the original campaign, but yeah i see what you mean about feeling a slight sense of disappointment
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Yeah, it's pretty good for ?15. I think the problem is that whilst it's an xpack it feels more like a standalone game because there's not much continuity between DA:O and DA:A besides your main character. And with the lack of an epilogue save you have to wonder if it's the end of the road for the main character.
I just started ME 2. I suck so much at shooters I'm struggling on normal mode (ahem) but I'm getting through the team recruitment missions somehow :)
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Just got my copy today, will leave it for abit tho. Have just got too the Final Battle on my 2nd playthough of the main game as a City elf Rogue, enjoyed it more than my 1st playthough, still barely touched the side quests, but did alot of the types of ones you just stumble upon (Ser otto in the alienage, the summonings in the mage tower etc). Still got alot of replay-ability for me, i like playing out all the different options and dialogues, even tho ultimatly they produce the same result, most of the time. Also all the group quests you get at camp, still need to explore the different characters and party setups.
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Yeah xan, that's my only complaint about Bioware games, the dialogue is all very well thought out and really adds a nice feel to the game but utilmately changes nothing!
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Played Awakenings abit, 1st impression i'm getting game play wise is the unbalance. My toon just doesn't take damage and kills everything with Twin strike/Unrelenting Assult. Can pretty much solo the boss types, could even do that spectral dragon if it didn't heal its self. This is on Hard btw... Dual Wielding Rogue, what did you play as Cern?
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I played on Hard as Dual Wield warrior, until the endgame when I respecced as a full tank to make the last encounter a bit easier (you'll see why when you get there).
I found my character was overpowered too and walked through most of it with little need for strategy. I think part of the problem is that my imported character was level 24 but if you start a fresh Warden you begin at level 18. So I think the early content is geared for a lower level. This seems to be a design flaw because surely most people importing characters are going to be 20+ if they didn't bypass too much content. The other part of the problem is that all the new monbs and bosses use the same tactics as in DA:O, nothing really brings anything new to the table. So once you identify the type of mob/boss you're dealing with you know what you need to do to defeat it. Overfamiliarity makes things easier.
The game does get a bit tougher as it approaches the endgame, but very few of the encounters are anywhere near as tough as anything in DA:O.
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Thought i'd post this here instead of making a new thread.
I Downloaded a DA:O mod called Dragon Age Resdesigned awhile back from Dragonagenexus.com, it just changes a few npc looks. Virus scan a few days ago found it had a Trojan in it, Key loggers got my WoW details and resubbed a month on my card on April 18th, been using my 80ths to farm gold. Found this out yesterday and got control of the account, cleaned the trojan then changed everything, including my card details which i think they got too... Hopefully its all sorted...
Annoying
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Urgh. Thanks for the heads up. Only just the other day I was tempted to download some mods for Mass Effect which change some visuals and stuff and then thought better of it. Glad I did. I hope you're all sorted out now.
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Ouch, nasty Xan, sorry to hear that :/
Are the characters gear n stuff mostly intact or were they disappointed you had already pawned everything anyway in one of your previous attempts to scrape together 10g ? ;)
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lol, if i wanted some gold i just logged Carco ;)
No, my toons are all intact, not a things changed on them. Apart from the mats they farmed and left behind in my bags, bout 6k worth. They only got 3k gold off of the account b4 i took control, to my knowledge.
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So you made a 3k profit? Sounds like you should leak your details to gold farmers more often :)
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They had farmed 9k worth of stuff actuly, only sold 3k's worth and got that off b4 i closed up, so made 6k profit :)
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zomg 6k? :) Been a long time since i played wow, as that sounds like quite allot to me!
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Downloaded some more Premium Content, 400 points.
The Darkspawn Chronicles, you play as a Hurlock Vangaurd leading the darkspawn forces into Denerim, its prolly about 45min-1hr playimte on a reasonable difficulty of hacking and slashing with some cool Darkspawn types. Orges, Shrieks, Aplhas, Hurlock mages etc... Quite fun munching round as an Orge :)
Its nothing special, just lets you win with the Darkspawn basicly. You get to kill alll of the main companions (Ogrhen spawns by the Inn :P) as you work your way through the city, upto the castle where the Archdaemon is fighting Alistar, Morrigan and Leliana along with allies. You get to have the killing blow on Alistar! wooo!
It was quite fun, very short, and probably not worth it :)
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Probably worth it to kill Alastair :D