Dragon Age: Origins

[stonegod]

So, what did everyone name their dog?

When he showed up grinning, tail wagging, and covered in blood I couldn't think of a better name than Sanguine. And I still can't. I'm on my third character, and the dog's always been Sanguine.

Mine first two were themed (guess!):
- Dogmeat
- Worthless Mutt

I think Barkspawn is a perennial favorite.

 

[drothgery]

So, what did everyone name their dog?

Eh, I just left it as Dog, when I didn't skip him entirely. Not a big fan of pets in video games or RPGs.

 

[fba827]

Mine first two were themed (guess!):
- Dogmeat
- Worthless Mutt

Eh, I just left it as Dog, when I didn't skip him entirely.

Not that it makes much difference, but if you have Dog in your party, there are certain spots that he can "mark" (in the way that dogs do) to give your party some sort of bonus while fighting in that area (it's a clickable thing - I never figured out what to do at those spots and then someone pointed out it was for the dog). One was down by the docks to the tower, another was the big tree in the elven slums, and a couple more scattered around. Also (supposedly) you can have dog go and find stuff.. but every time i gave him that command, he came back empty handed so i don't know if there is a certain circumstance you're supposed to use it in ...

in any case, i found other companions more interesting so i used them in my party rather than dog. though, i have to say, dog was a terror when leveled up....

 

[Merkuri]

Also (supposedly) you can have dog go and find stuff.. but every time i gave him that command, he came back empty handed so i don't know if there is a certain circumstance you're supposed to use it in ...

I've seen this work. For my first playthrough I kept him in my party almost the entire time (the only exceptions were where I was needed to keep a particular person in my party that I normally did not have, like

Spoiler

Oghren in the Deep Roads

) and I used that trick a lot. I think there are specific maps where there's something specific for the dog to find, and I think they're mostly "RP" areas, like cities, not "combat" areas like dungeons. In Lothering he brought me a really old bottle of wine (which I'm saving for

Spoiler

Oghren

on this playthrough), and at one point (I think in Denerim) he brought me a ratty old pair of pants. There were other things, too, but those were the ones I remember most.

At one point in Denerim he brought me

Spoiler

a little boy. I told him he couldn't keep him unless the boy could fight darkspawn, and Sanguine reluctantly put the boy back where he found him.

I thought that was hilarious.

Surprisingly, the dog also has some pretty funny banter with other party members. You wouldn't think that a character who couldn't speak could have funny banter, but he does. He also has some really funny moments at camp if you go interact with him, like the time

Spoiler

he and Sten have a face off

.

He's far from my favorite character, and I probably won't bring him out often on this playthrough except to go fetch for random objects, but I found him a worthwhile addition to the game.

 

[John Crichton]

I use the always-in-the-party Dog mod. Just makes sense.

 

[Croesus]

I've seen DA: Ultimate Edition on sale this week and was tempted to get it, but some quick research led to a couple important questions about the game:

1. Ultimate Edition comes with the DLC's (downloadable content), but the content isn't on the disks, it still has to be downloaded. But based on the threads in the customer support forum, a lot of people have had trouble getting the new content to work. The issues encountered ran the gamut, so it's clearly not just one problem. But all seem related to problems with the Bioware server and the DRM used.

2. More importantly, there was quite a bit of discussion of patch 1.04 for DA:O. Apparently the fourth patch added a host of new bugs to the game, including a number of CTD (crash to desktop) bugs when using certain items, casting certain spells, and/or exiting certain areas. Apparently Bioware has publicly stated that they are not going to release a fifth patch, so anyone encountering such problems won't have recourse (other than to not use the patch).

Does anyone here have any useful info on these issues?
Any known issues running either game under Win7 Home Edition?
Any idea what version of DA:O is included in the Ultimate Edition? (If it's 1.04, then purchasers won't have the option to avoid that patch.)

Thanks.

 

[John Crichton]

I've seen DA: Ultimate Edition on sale this week and was tempted to get it, but some quick research led to a couple important questions about the game:

1. Ultimate Edition comes with the DLC's (downloadable content), but the content isn't on the disks, it still has to be downloaded. But based on the threads in the customer support forum, a lot of people have had trouble getting the new content to work. The issues encountered ran the gamut, so it's clearly not just one problem. But all seem related to problems with the Bioware server and the DRM used.

2. More importantly, there was quite a bit of discussion of patch 1.04 for DA:O. Apparently the fourth patch added a host of new bugs to the game, including a number of CTD (crash to desktop) bugs when using certain items, casting certain spells, and/or exiting certain areas. Apparently Bioware has publicly stated that they are not going to release a fifth patch, so anyone encountering such problems won't have recourse (other than to not use the patch).

Does anyone here have any useful info on these issues?
Any known issues running either game under Win7 Home Edition?
Any idea what version of DA:O is included in the Ultimate Edition? (If it's 1.04, then purchasers won't have the option to avoid that patch.)

Thanks.

There are problems with every game and those people get very vocal especially with a massively popular game like Dragon Age. There was some issues with the DLC in the original release of the game as well and Bioware did everything they could to fix the problems. Purchase without fear.

Also, I had no problems running the game using Windows 7.

 

[Merkuri]

One of the first things I do with any PC game is go find the latest patch, so I was running 1.04 from the start. Using Windows Vista.

I have been playing the game now for a few months and I had just one single crash. It was in the middle of dialog and happened after I had alt-tabbed to the desktop to look something up (I just suddenly realized why Morrigan sounded so familiar and went to confirm it - I hadn't heard that Claudia Black did a voice for this game). I've alt-tabbed in and out of this game many times since then, both in and out of dialog, and it hasn't crashed a second time.

If there's a spell you cast or a room you can enter that crashes the game every time, I haven't seen it. I finished the game with a mage, so I saw a good number of the rooms and spells it has to offer.

I don't have Ultimate (yet... waiting to see if it shows up in my stocking), but I did get one free download with DA:O. The only problem I had related to the downloaded content was one time when I tried to create a new character it told me I needed to log in with a user that has access to that content if I wanted to use it with this character, even though I was already logged in. I logged out and back in again and that seemed to fix it.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I have Ultimate, and while it has crashed a few times, so does every other game. It's not super buggy or anything.

Re: the DLC, I've never had any problems with it not being recognized. But if you do, there are some very detailed threads on the Bioware forums explaining various workarounds.

= = =

Re: Dog. He's definitely awesome for magekilling when leveled up. I, too, use the always-in-the-party mod.

However, each playthrough the dog has to have a new name. The funniest one was one of my early plays when I named him Zev, not knowing that I would later get an NPC companion also named Zev(ran).

 

[Welverin]

I use the always-in-the-party Dog mod. Just makes sense.

Didn't know about that one, installed now.