Apr 13, 2011
Dragon Age 2 patch fixes Exiled Prince DLC and cures confused companions
PC Gamer

Dragon Age 2 has been patched with fixes for the Exiled Prince DLC and a number of quests in the game. The update also includes a few other technical improvements for those running the game with DirectX 11, and your companions will be generally less confused. Varric will be able to tell who you've been romancing, and Merril will stop referring to future plot events in conversation. Read on for the full patch notes.

Gamefront spotted the patch notes, which were posted in full on the Bioware forums.

General


The effects of various follower talents and item properties are now being
properly removed and re-applied when loading and saving.
Anders's default set of tactics will now activate Haste when appropriate.
Aveline's final armor upgrade is now available during "Favor and Fault."
Aveline's Retaliation talent no longer imposes a delay when activated.
The warrior's Rally talent now functions as described.
The rogue's Lacerate talent now functions as described.
Party members who are resurrected during a fight now rejoin combat properly.
Hawke no longer gains random spells or talents after using the Maker's Sigh
potion, then saving and reloading.
Potions, poisons, grenades, and runes can now still be ordered from the Hawke
estate after the main campaign is complete.

 
Technical updates

Varric's Embellishment talent no longer incorrectly refers to movement speed.
It is now easier to select party members by clicking on their portraits when
the level-up arrow is displayed.
The game now functions correctly if the Windows desktop is set to 150% size.
The video options menu now allows a wider full-screen gamma range.
Various issues specific to DirectX 11 no longer occur.
Various technical changes should improve performance and limit crashes.

 
Quests (SPOILER WARNING)

"Duty" will now appear on the Chanter's Board even if the player accepted
all of the board's quests before installing the Exiled Prince premium content.
The journal for "Duty" will now update if the player left the Docks (Night)
area immediately after killing the Flint Company mercenaries.
In "Finders Keepers," the door to Woodrow's Warehouse will now open if the
player steals the location to the warehouse from the harbormaster's office.
In "Finders Keepers," if the player leaves Woodrow's Warehouse before finding
the crate, it is now possible to return to the warehouse to complete the quest.
In "Herbalist's Tasks," the varterral's heart is now available even if
the player killed the varterral before receiving the quest.
Merrill no longer refers to the aftermath of "A New Path" before the plot
has been completed.
Varric is no longer confused about which character Hawke has been romancing.
Various minor story-scripting issues no longer occur.

 
Apr 12, 2011
Dragon Age II Is A Bit More Playable On PC Today
Kotaku

BioWare has released patch 1.02 for Dragon Age II, patching various bugs, quest glitches, and technical foul-ups and generally making the game a bit more tolerable on the Mac and PC. Check out the full patch notes here.


Apr 12, 2011
Dragon Age 2 Updated
Product Update - Valve
Dragon Age II - 1.02

AMD and NVIDIA have recently released new graphics-card drivers. Using old drivers may cause Dragon Age II to crash, run poorly, or display graphics incorrectly. Please visit your hardware vendor's website for further information on obtaining new drivers:
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/Catalyst114earlypreview.aspx

NOTE: Some plot fixes are retroactive, but not all. Players with plot-breaking bugs may need to revert to an earlier save, particularly a save prior to visiting the affected area during the current year in the game.

GAMEPLAY
- The effects of various follower talents and item properties are now being properly removed and re-applied when loading and saving.
- Anders's default set of tactics will now activate Haste when appropriate.
- Aveline's final armor upgrade is now available during "Favor and Fault."
- Aveline's Retaliation talent no longer imposes a delay when activated.
- The warrior's Rally talent now functions as described.
- The rogue's Lacerate talent now functions as described.
- Party members who are resurrected during a fight now rejoin combat properly.
- Hawke no longer gains random spells or talents after using the Maker's Sigh potion, then saving and reloading.
- Potions, poisons, grenades, and runes can now still be ordered from the Hawke estate after the main campaign is complete.
- Various minor gameplay issues no longer occur.

QUESTS (SPOILER WARNING)
- "Who Needs Rescuing" can now be completed.
- "Duty" will now appear on the Chanter's Board even if the player accepted all of the board's quests before installing the Exiled Prince premium content.
- The journal for "Duty" will now update if the player left the Docks (Night) area immediately after killing the Flint Company mercenaries.
- In "Finders Keepers," the door to Woodrow's Warehouse will now open if the player steals the location to the warehouse from the harbormaster's office.
- In "Finders Keepers," if the player leaves Woodrow's Warehouse before finding the crate, it is now possible to return to the warehouse to complete the quest.
- In "Herbalist's Tasks," the varterral's heart is now available even if the player killed the varterral before receiving the quest.
- Merrill no longer refers to the aftermath of "A New Path" before the plot has been completed.
- Varric is no longer confused about which character Hawke has been romancing.
- Various minor story-scripting issues no longer occur.

PC/SPECIFIC FUNCTIONALITY
- Varric's Embellishment talent no longer incorrectly refers to movement speed.
- It is now easier to select party members by clicking on their portraits when the level-up arrow is displayed.
- The game now functions correctly if the Windows desktop is set to 150% size.
- The video options menu now allows a wider full-screen gamma range.
- Various issues specific to DirectX 11 no longer occur.
- Various technical changes should improve performance and limit crashes.
Apr 11, 2011
WIN Razer’s entire set of Dragon Age 2 gear! (US only)
PC Gamer

UPDATE: A champion has been chosen! Congrats to the insanely-fortunate winner, Adam Summers. If you see someone walking the streets decked out in chainmail and swinging a Dragon Age 2 DeathAdder mouse like a mace, you'll know that Summers has hit the scene. Thanks to everyone that entered!

Heroism demands heroic gear. The Champion of Kirkwall doesn't lunge into a line of mad-evil Darkspawn with his mom's Dell ergonomic keyboard; Hawke can't clean-cut Ogres on a laptop trackpad.

We've partnered with one of PC gaming's best blacksmiths, Razer, to secure their full set of Dragon Age 2 peripherals and equipment--a branded DeathAdder mouse, BlackWidow keyboard, gaming mat, controller and messenger bag. Using these items simultaneously confers bonuses to nerdery that we can't possibly quantify.

To have a crack at this cache of epic gear--a combined value of more than $385--all you need to do is "Like" PC Gamer on Facebook and, separately, comment on the respective contest post on Facebook here. We'll select one random, yet unbelievably lucky winner on Friday.

Apr 6, 2011
Dragon Age 2 in your games library? Download Mass Effect 2 for free
Mass Effect (2007)

Bioware are giving everyone who bought Dragon Age 2 a free copy of Mass Effect 2. Why? Because you're great, and they've sold a million copies in two weeks. There is no catch.

Read on for the details of how to download your free game.

Existing owners of Dragon Age 2 will qualify for the offer, along with anyone who buys the game before April 30. It doesn't even matter which platform you bought Bioware's superb RPG on - PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 players will all get a free PC download of Mass Effect 2.

Check out the FAQ to get things started.

We recently listed our favourite tweaks for Dragon Age 2. If you're still undecided about picking it up, read our Dragon Age 2 review.

Not bad eh? What's the best freebie you've downloaded recently?
Apr 6, 2011
Free Mass Effect 2 For Dragon Age II Owners
Mass Effect 2 (2010 Edition) - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (John Walker)

Coo – want Mass Effect 2 for free? If you’ve bought Dragon Age II, then it’s already yours for the taking. Indeed, even if you buy a copy of Dragon Age II now, before 30th April, you can get the superb space-RPG for zero dollarpounds as well. This is, BioWare say, how they’re celebrating their having sold one million copies of DA2 in two weeks.

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Apr 5, 2011
Buy Dragon Age II, Get Mass Effect 2 Free
Mass Effect 2 (2010 Edition)

BioWare celebrates the success of Dragon Age II by giving fans that purchase and register a copy of the game online before April 30 a free copy of the PC version of Mass Effect 2. How does the offer work?


It's simple! If you've already activated the Online Pass that came in your copy of Dragon Age II for the PC, Xbox 360, or PlayStation 3, you're halfway there. Once you've gained access to the Black Emporium, head over to the Mass Effect 2 offer page, enter your Online Pass code, and you'll be provided with a code that allows you to download Mass Effect 2 from EA's online store.


The offer is part of BioWare's sequel celebration, a way to say thank you to fans for purchasing more than one million copies of Dragon Age II within two weeks of the game's release.


What a lovely gift, provided you haven't already purchased Mass Effect 2 and have a PC that can run it well. If you partake, let us know how smoothly the transaction goes in comments!


Apr 3, 2011
The Sunday Video Pwn
Half-Life 2: Episode Two



The production values of fan films seem to have shot up in recent years, and this Left 4 Dead one is no exception. The second part in an on-going series, the film is well shot and not badly acted. It does seem to fail in capturing the tone of Valve's zombie shooter, feeling more like 'The Walking Dead' with it's sombre mood and snippets of profound dialogue, instead of L4D's all-out Hollywood action/horror blockbuster atmosphere. It's nonetheless a great homage to the games, with a terrific finale and a nice pipe-bomb throw for good measure. You can catch up on the series' first part, but expect to wait a few months for the third instalment.

Whilst not yet in full feature-length form, a fan film is on the way from a group of Dragon Age obsessives. The Dragon Age Malevolence trailer looks more true to BioWare's games than the official upcoming web-series Dragon Age Redemption, mainly due to the copious amounts of blood that is splattered over every cast member.

Moving from the world of reality impersonating games to one where games impersonate reality, there have been some awesome gameplay trailers this week. DICE continue to show off their incredible new Frostbite technology in the third entry in their Battlefield 3 'Fault Line' series, here demonstrating the new close combat mechanics, and an awful lot of very pretty shooting. Then Adhesive Games went and impressed us even more with some video ripped straight from a Hawken multiplayer map. It may be from a small indie team just a few men strong, but Hawken already looks to be one of the most exciting titles of the year (so long as it hits this year - we all have out fingers crossed). But with incredible mech combat, wouldn't incredible mech gear be awesome too? Who wouldn't want a bunch of expensive, pointless peripherals to use when playing Hawken? Razer or Logitech need to get building a mech cockpit controller like the one used for Steel Battalion NOW!



Just a few weeks ago we showed off the trailer for Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Now we have yet another trailer for a Lego game: Pirates of the Caribbean. With the Lego games coming out with far more frequency these days, you'd expect their charm to start to wear thin. But no; this latest trailer is full of Lego sweetness, and the inevitable little joke at the end of this one still brings a smile.

You may or may not know, but back when Half-Life 2: Episode 2 launched, our own Tom Francis set himself a little challenge. When Valve PR master Doug Lombardi told him about the gnome achievement, he became obsessed with it. Tom carried that gnome; carried it across the WHOLE of HL2:E2. Well, the gnome is back, with a great nasty looking chainsaw and the obligatory Invaders Must Die soundtrack.
Mar 31, 2011
Thoughts: What Went Wrong In Dragon Age II
Rock, Paper, Shotgun - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (John Walker)

You may have noticed the lack of a full Dragon Age II review on RPS. This has nothing to do with slacking. I’ve been playing the game almost every day since my WIT of the first few hours, now on my second play through, just trying to get my head around what it is they got wrong. That’s what I’ve tried to process here. As such, the below contains information that could spoil the story of the game.>

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Mar 31, 2011
Offended Gay Gamer Wants Dragon Age II Writer Fired
Kotaku

Offended Gay Gamer Wants Dragon Age II Writer Fired Last week we lauded BioWare writer David Gaider for his eloquent defense of the inclusion of love interests for players of any sexual orientation in Dragon Age II. Now one gamer has started an internet petition asking that Gaider be fired for his poor portrayal of gay men.


You can't please all of the Dragon Age II players sexually all of the time; eventually you'd get tired, but David Gaider and the rest of the writing team for BioWare's Dragon Age II tried their best, filling the game with enough men, women, and elves to please any sexual leaning they could imagine. There are men for women, women for men, men for men, and women for women.


Such was the variety that the developer was attacked last week in its forums by a player that felt the company had strayed too far from its core demographics: The straight male gamer.


David Gaider's well-written response to this ridiculous claim left a warm fuzzy feeling in the hearts of many a gamer.


So why are more than 250 players calling for him to be fired?


The internet petition in questions claims that David Gaider is guilty of stereotyping gay men by creating a dynamic through which the player loses good standing with male love interests by not responding to their advances.


From the petition:


It felt very odd that my male companions kept making passes at me, when I never found any interest or even flirted with them. This sort of thing shows that gays are unable to be normal people and think nothing about sex. This is the type of garbage that has people believe that gays shouldn't serve in the military. We are human beings that are the same as everyone else!


Of course gays are the same as everyone else. There are gay men that quietly keep their affections in check. There are gay men that approach relationships cautiously. And there are gay men that flirt. Some of them might even be offended if their flirting is taken poorly.


As GayGamer's VorpalBunny points out, only one of the male characters acts this way, and Anders had issues to begin with. He's pretty much got another man inside him all the time. He's insatiable.


Is this a serious petition, or just a joke? Well I suppose any internet-based petition is a joke, but I doubt Mr. Gaider is currently shaking in his books or speculatively packing his things into cardboard boxes.


At the rate things are going, however, I wouldn't be surprised if Dragon Age III was filled with featureless androgynous companions with nothing more than a passing interest in your characters' penis or lack thereof.


Fire David Gaider for Stereotyping Gays [Bureau of Petitions via Escapist]


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