Dragon Age: Origins

[olympian73]

Just curious if anyone has played the video game Dragon Age: Origins and what they thought about the world.  Aside from the actual game itself, I thought it was a good opportunity to see a world built and marketed on a company type level.  Naturally they had a small army of writers and artists to contribute but I wanted to know what any of you thought about that world...any comments? 

[avisarr]

I haven't played the game yet, but I'd be interested in hearing from someone who has.

[olympian73]

The game is pretty fun.  The story line allows the player to make choices that affect future events.  Pretty cool.  It also puts the player into some sticky situations where the best option is a lesser of two evils.  Someone is going to get upset no matter what you choose.  The world is typical elves, men, dwarves with an additional race called Quanari.  One of the aspects of the world that I find interesting is the elves.  In this world, they are second class citizens confined to ghettos and used mainly as servants in human towns.  Due to historical events, the elves have pretty much gotten the shaft.  The city elves long to escape and find their brethren who wander the forests/jungles avoiding humans whenever possible.  I think this concept is interesting because it allows the writers to examine race and stereotype issues that mirror our own world.  It reminds me of the plight of the Jews or civil rights issues that we all know from history class.

Additionally, it's interesting to watch how a company builds a world and markets it via a video game.  It's cool to read about why they chose certain races or story lines.  I guess I'm just fascinated with world building.... 

[tanis]

I have not yet played it, but it looks amazing. I know that it's built on a D&D variant framework, though the world is different from the typical ones. But unlike my friend, I don't feel like playing it on pc, so I'll have to wait until I can afford it. :/

[tanis]

This is long dead, but I just wanted to say that I have DA: Origins now, and it is awesome. I love the world and the lore they've built behind it, but it's funny that it's pretty heavily influenced by European history, cloaked in fantasy. For example, the nation from which the main Human religion is based is pretty much France, and there's even some reverse Hundred Years War stuff going on. Very cool.