152 réponses à ce sujet

[Moogliepie]

geertmans wrote...

poopville wrote...

I wonder if Awakening was never intended as a tie-in to the Origins story and trying to make it so was a last-minute decision. That would explain why the connections between the two are so light. Maybe the real continuation is down the road in a full-blown sequel (2.1.2011)?

Yes, as I mentioned before it seems like this was a decision that was put in after the release of Origins. Perhaps ME2 put some pressure on it or so. Either way, I think the game has a pretty decent story when you think about it as a spin-off.

I don't understand how people expected the next chapter when the original game ended so neatly, but I guess making the game and its expansion intertwine resulted in a too much of a jack of all trades add-on.

The devs have stated that Awakenings was in development for a year.

[geertmans]

Moogliepie wrote...

geertmans wrote...

poopville wrote...

I wonder if Awakening was never intended as a tie-in to the Origins story and trying to make it so was a last-minute decision. That would explain why the connections between the two are so light. Maybe the real continuation is down the road in a full-blown sequel (2.1.2011)?

Yes, as I mentioned before it seems like this was a decision that was put in after the release of Origins. Perhaps ME2 put some pressure on it or so. Either way, I think the game has a pretty decent story when you think about it as a spin-off.

I don't understand how people expected the next chapter when the original game ended so neatly, but I guess making the game and its expansion intertwine resulted in a too much of a jack of all trades add-on.

The devs have stated that Awakenings was in development for a year.

And plot/game changing decisions can't be made within that year? What I'm saying is that the importing feature seems like a "last-minute", or so to speak, decision.

[wildamishrose]

Not even close to worth the 40$ payout required. Complete waste of money. Short, lacking content, very sad compared to TOB. From the reviews I was expecting an actual 20 hours, not the ~12 I got out of it, even after wasting time scrounging for mediocre crafted items and building paragon runes. Bioware you have proven your DLC/Expansion scheme is minimal content for maximum cost yet again.



I never thought I'd see the day that RtO, wardens keep, and the stone prisoner seemed appropriately priced.

[wikkedjoker]

DAOA seems superficial at best, a lot of it seems forced, like an idea that was going to be in DAO but cut. I'm talking about the Architect mind you. And the character interactions seem dry. I miss being able to at any-point in time turn to someone and hit (A) and get to talk to them. Sure it could be annoying when you were picking stuff up, but at camp it seems a waste not to have it.



I would like to see what they could do if they put DAO in the ME game engine, seems more stable, than the one they are working in now graphically its better as well, i wouldn't mind multiple disk if the game looked and played good.



DAO wants to be a good game, but its buggy as hell, if its not one thing breaking its another the level of game almost seems late beta or delta, and not a finished game with regard to bugs.

[Tuleron]

My dissapointments

I think that i was expecting that the story was as good as Origins, but not misunderstood, it's really great.

But there are little things that i don't like it, like the reset for characters, or the paint for the shield (this last it's a toy, but it take realism). The reset of characters it's bad for me, if you maked a character like one way, it's not good that you can change him when ever you want.

Another things is that you can't speak with the others companions when ever you want, that sucks .

That's my opinion.

[JaegerBane]

geertmans wrote...

I recently bought Awakening and started it and I have to say that I love it so far. I can understand the grudge towards the bugs (I started it in my underwair too , fix for this is here: http://filesmelt.com...-In-One-874.zip ). But why is everyone complaining about the story/characters? I started this game with an open mind and so far I'm really liking it and am not dissapointed. Did most people really expect the story to be as good as Origins? I get the feeling I should look out for some big dissapointment coming up in my playthrough. So tell me, what are your dissapointments with the game?

I haven't got it yet.

That said, I have noticed that people regularly compare it to ME2, which doesn't really make any sense. Awakening may be set chronologically after DA:O but to compare it to a full-blown sequel game is a little unfair.

And then we keep hearing about how it's really terrible that you can't play your dead warden in the expansion. Is it just me, or is that a touch.... obvious?

[StonerMkII]

Got to say i pretty much agree with the angry customers out there that have, like me, paid 40 bucks for this "spin off". I was hugely disappointed with Awakenings and i will certainly be waiting and reading reviews before i buy the next product they put out for Dragon Age. Honestly i dont believe its just BioWare doing it, its EA and their deadlines and not giving a rats arse about anything but that dollar. EA has once again tricked me out of my money and can 100% bet you it wont happen again. (Yeah C&C 4 is boycotted by just about everyone i know.)





Theres tons of things wrong with Awakenings (PS3), includeing absolutely HORRID framerate issues, i mean just about EVERY battle looking like a damn slideshow for about 40 seconds of it. No party interaction, i mean seriously they shouldnt have included any party members at all and it would have felt like the same game. Unforgivingly short story for the 40 bucks i shelled out for a "expansion" to one of the best RPG's in years. Texture issues, audio issues, includeing the sound of my sword hitting the enemy being attached to a apparent on/off switch that the game felt the need to switch on/off every half hour or so, and balance....dont even get me started on balance...when i see a mage hit a creature with a STAFF attack and deal 330 damage, or the archer use a ablility and deal 1300 damage to that creature, both situations scream "We did no proper balance testing". The DLC not importing...i wont say anything, thats just flat out shafting your customers no matter what angle you look at it. (I can prove both damage outputs if needed. Both were experienced on the PS3 version)



Theres some things i loved about it, like the new specs, abilities and gear, but other then that, honestly this game should not have a 40 dollar price tag, should be about 20 even.

[NvVanity]

I've noticed many people comparing Awakening to Oblivion's Shivering Isles. Shivering Isles contained an entire new landmass, dozens of new armor, weapons, quests and an extremely over the top hilarious mad-god.



Awakening did feature a new land to explore (well it went in depth into a previously unexplored area) lots of new items, weapons and quests. I'm guessing since SI was open world and Awakening isn't people felt it was smaller.

[Uzzy]

Yeah, my expectations were in line with everything else I've expected from Bioware, which means I expect something close to perfection, given that Bioware have hit that mark consistently over the past several years since Baldur's Gate.



I'm far more annoyed at the little niggling things that don't seem to have been done. Importing DLC items is a trivial fix (and has been done via mods), importing the world state of US wardens can be done with a quick Q&A session the Orlesian has at the start of the game, ala KoTOR 2. The fact these things haven't really been done smacks of laziness really, which is really bizarre to see from the game designer I view as the best in the world.

[Gyroscopic_Trout]

I'm enjoying Awakenings so far. You can't keep judging a game developer, artist, filmmaker or writer by what you personally consider to be their best work, otherwise you're going to be rather consistently disappointed.



I loved BG2, heck it stayed on my PC for like 3 years, but if every game Bioware produced since then was supposed to be bigger and better than the last, their time and effort would be better spent curing all worldly diseases, ending world hunger, and parting the red sea. I mean if we're gonna make unreasonable expectations, why hog all that talent, right?



Grr, I only logged onto the forums to find a hint for a puzzle in Wending Wood. Now I'm all curmudgeon - y. When did BG2 become the System Shock 2 of story-driven RPGs? "Baldur's Gate 2 was the last good rpg! These modern rpgs are terrible and EA is the Antichrist! Food has lost all taste and I no longer see colors! Get those kids off my lawn!"

[ArcanistLibram]

Now that I've finished it, I think there was something very, very wrong about the pacing. There were too many action sequences that started with no lead-up and ended abruptly with no real closure.

[NvVanity]

ArcanistLibram wrote...

Now that I've finished it, I think there was something very, very wrong about the pacing. There were too many action sequences that started with no lead-up and ended abruptly with no real closure.

Really I found the choice around the end between saving two places to be fine. Not much build up but thats the point out of the blue you have to deal with the situation. The closure was in the epilogue but that could of been better.

[Rivehn]

Being able to skip the side quests and still being able to kill the End boss with the gear you started with. Big disappointment there. I think i switched my weapon once in the whole expansion.

Modifié par Rivehn, 19 mars 2010 - 04:25 .

[ransompendragon]

Haexpane wrote...

Addai67 wrote...

Why the high expectations:
 
Because of the price tag. $40 is a lot of money for a game. It's almost as much as other games cost in their original, let alone an expansion.
 .

DAO on consoles launched at $60 usd
this one is launching at  $40 usd

it's already 3x as long as 99% of single player games on 360/PS3

This is the thing that gets me - some people are willing to pay $40 for a 15 hour game on a regular basis. Not me. As I said in another post, and others in this thread have said, I would pay more for Origins than I did (over $70 with WK and RtO). The spinoff should be $25 tops. And I don't do it in dollar per hour either and I don't think that the "its no more than taking your girl to a movie" argument is any good either. (Besides, my girl plays video games--arggh--its her fault--she made me play BG all those years ago!)

[Hizoka003]

Bioware made it name on making long and very immersive games... but ME2 fell flat, and from what everyone is saying DA:A should of been a DLC



i hate to say it but if SW:TOR fails Bioware might be a dead company...

[geertmans]

Hizoka003 wrote...

Bioware made it name on making long and very immersive games... but ME2 fell flat, and from what everyone is saying DA:A should of been a DLC

i hate to say it but if SW:TOR fails Bioware might be a dead company...

In what way did ME2 fell flat? The only things I can think of is the lack of RPG elements (which I do kind of miss but were in no way annoying during my playthrough) and the incredibly cheesy endboss.

[Bryzon]

For the $25 I spent on Awakening (Had a $10 coupon with Amazon), I will get at least 50 hours of game play from a couple a playthroughs. Thats a really good deal. If that is too much for you, you shouldn't bother with expansions ever. The value of this expansion is extremely high. It has even got me playing through Origins again so I can remember some of the events and to make sure I didn't miss anything.



To expect DAA to be as long as DAO is silly. The story its self is almost as good as DAO's, and the companions in some cases are better. Sigrun and Anders are really great, especially with Oghren's banter. If you're a power gamer that comes from some MMO that is looking to hit max level, this is not the game for you. If you love the stories of DAO and want to see more, you will love the expansion.



If you compare Awakening to other expansions in similar games, its by far one of the best. I never cared much for the expansions in NWN2, and felt like i had wasted my money. In the Sims, you get a few new outfits and a new place to play at, but nothing on the level of this (I know its like comparing apples and grapefruits, but I am having a hard time thinking of popular non-MMO games that have expansions). And MMO expansions like Everquest 2 might give some more content, but you usually see a sharp decline in quality with each additional.



The new features like holding court (though I wish there was more of it) and seeing Vigil's Keep improve were really great. I want to see more of these things in the future. I like that we have all new companions along with Oghren and they were all really well done. The banter was possibly better though their side-quests did seem kind of short, but what can we expect in an expansion? The decisions that were to be made (like should you defend the city or the keep) made me think about the consequences and want to see the alternate outcome.



I have not felt that sharp decline in quality in Awakening. After playing it, I would've happily paid $60 for it. I only wish there were some nice DLC's like the Alienware give away, but for the 360. I am looking forward to anything else in the series that comes out, and in the meantime I'll be replaying Origins and Awakening and hopefully eventually get around to reading the novels.

[Wuxia]

 This probably sounds crazy but all the hate towards DA:A actually makes me want to get it more.

 I mean if people can only find things to complain about such as the option to import a dead Warden, an option to not do sidequests and the option to respec your character  the game must be amazing (by amazing I mean keeping up to par or close to Origins). I just don't understand how you can complain about an option when you are the one who decides the way you want to play the game.

 I'm also not sure if people are taking into account the 6 months between Origins and Awakening, story wise. Alot can happen in 6 months and it's not as if your forbidden from using your imagination to fill in the gaps of your character's story.

[Feraele]

geertmans wrote...

I recently bought Awakening and started it and I have to say that I love it so far. I can understand the grudge towards the bugs (I started it in my underwair too , fix for this is here: http://filesmelt.com...-In-One-874.zip ). But why is everyone complaining about the story/characters? I started this game with an open mind and so far I'm really liking it and am not dissapointed. Did most people really expect the story to be as good as Origins? I get the feeling I should look out for some big dissapointment coming up in my playthrough. So tell me, what are your dissapointments with the game?

I'm not disappointed with Awakening at all...I had a couple bugs,  a vendor with a quest sign over his head, that I couldn't talk to,  blood abilities on my first character bugged out, couldn't use them, but really the new skills, abilities are pretty good to the point,  who needs the blood abilities.

Last cutscene bugged out on me and went into auto-repeat, on about the 6th repeat I thought...hmm time for ctrl alt del.   Which left me with a finished game but from what I can see, no epilogue save file.    Easy enough I'll go back and play through the end again..see if it rights itself.

It took me 23 + hours to complete, and that was minus, rune-crafting (didn't do any at all)  about 2 puzzles that I didn't have the patience to figure out,  and 5 completed quests that I couldn't hand in due to making the mistake of heading to the last zone where the final battle was to take place.    So I ended up level 34 and a half instead of level 35.

Live and learn.    I think any bugs OF course should be reported so that the team can get a patch out for those.

Other than that, think I died once, the gold is plentiful..the new armor nice..and the new way of doing dialogue is pretty nice as well.  Leaves you more time for playing rather than spending time poking and prodding companions for their information.   "puts her big stick away for good* 

[Feraele]

Bryzon wrote...

For the $25 I spent on Awakening (Had a $10 coupon with Amazon), I will get at least 50 hours of game play from a couple a playthroughs. Thats a really good deal. If that is too much for you, you shouldn't bother with expansions ever. The value of this expansion is extremely high. It has even got me playing through Origins again so I can remember some of the events and to make sure I didn't miss anything.

To expect DAA to be as long as DAO is silly. The story its self is almost as good as DAO's, and the companions in some cases are better. Sigrun and Anders are really great, especially with Oghren's banter. If you're a power gamer that comes from some MMO that is looking to hit max level, this is not the game for you. If you love the stories of DAO and want to see more, you will love the expansion.

If you compare Awakening to other expansions in similar games, its by far one of the best. I never cared much for the expansions in NWN2, and felt like i had wasted my money. In the Sims, you get a few new outfits and a new place to play at, but nothing on the level of this (I know its like comparing apples and grapefruits, but I am having a hard time thinking of popular non-MMO games that have expansions). And MMO expansions like Everquest 2 might give some more content, but you usually see a sharp decline in quality with each additional.

The new features like holding court (though I wish there was more of it) and seeing Vigil's Keep improve were really great. I want to see more of these things in the future. I like that we have all new companions along with Oghren and they were all really well done. The banter was possibly better though their side-quests did seem kind of short, but what can we expect in an expansion? The decisions that were to be made (like should you defend the city or the keep) made me think about the consequences and want to see the alternate outcome.

I have not felt that sharp decline in quality in Awakening. After playing it, I would've happily paid $60 for it. I only wish there were some nice DLC's like the Alienware give away, but for the 360. I am looking forward to anything else in the series that comes out, and in the meantime I'll be replaying Origins and Awakening and hopefully eventually get around to reading the novels.

Pretty much how I think Bryzon.   I had my doubts before playing Awakening..but those are gone now...I think I'll be doing the same, creating new characters, running them through Origins and all the dlcs I have, then through Awakening.   I currently have 15 runthroughs to my name..had to delete 9 and my account..everything as a matter of fact to start over from scratch, clear all the bugginess and glitches ...

My start date was October 19 just like yours hehe.    At any rate, I can see myself still playing even a couple months from now.   Been playing Origins since day one of release.

[RobUnreal]

Feraele wrote...

Bryzon wrote...

For the $25 I spent on Awakening (Had a $10 coupon with Amazon), I will get at least 50 hours of game play from a couple a playthroughs. Thats a really good deal. If that is too much for you, you shouldn't bother with expansions ever. The value of this expansion is extremely high. It has even got me playing through Origins again so I can remember some of the events and to make sure I didn't miss anything.

To expect DAA to be as long as DAO is silly. The story its self is almost as good as DAO's, and the companions in some cases are better. Sigrun and Anders are really great, especially with Oghren's banter. If you're a power gamer that comes from some MMO that is looking to hit max level, this is not the game for you. If you love the stories of DAO and want to see more, you will love the expansion.

If you compare Awakening to other expansions in similar games, its by far one of the best. I never cared much for the expansions in NWN2, and felt like i had wasted my money. In the Sims, you get a few new outfits and a new place to play at, but nothing on the level of this (I know its like comparing apples and grapefruits, but I am having a hard time thinking of popular non-MMO games that have expansions). And MMO expansions like Everquest 2 might give some more content, but you usually see a sharp decline in quality with each additional.

The new features like holding court (though I wish there was more of it) and seeing Vigil's Keep improve were really great. I want to see more of these things in the future. I like that we have all new companions along with Oghren and they were all really well done. The banter was possibly better though their side-quests did seem kind of short, but what can we expect in an expansion? The decisions that were to be made (like should you defend the city or the keep) made me think about the consequences and want to see the alternate outcome.

I have not felt that sharp decline in quality in Awakening. After playing it, I would've happily paid $60 for it. I only wish there were some nice DLC's like the Alienware give away, but for the 360. I am looking forward to anything else in the series that comes out, and in the meantime I'll be replaying Origins and Awakening and hopefully eventually get around to reading the novels.

Pretty much how I think Bryzon.   I had my doubts before playing Awakening..but those are gone now...I think I'll be doing the same, creating new characters, running them through Origins and all the dlcs I have, then through Awakening.   I currently have 15 runthroughs to my name..had to delete 9 and my account..everything as a matter of fact to start over from scratch, clear all the bugginess and glitches ...

My start date was October 19 just like yours hehe.    At any rate, I can see myself still playing even a couple months from now.   Been playing Origins since day one of release.

Agreed.  Considering how many playthroughs I got in Origins, I'm going to be stuck on Awakening for awhile.

[Feraele]

JaegerBane wrote...

geertmans wrote...

I recently bought Awakening and started it and I have to say that I love it so far. I can understand the grudge towards the bugs (I started it in my underwair too , fix for this is here: http://filesmelt.com...-In-One-874.zip ). But why is everyone complaining about the story/characters? I started this game with an open mind and so far I'm really liking it and am not dissapointed. Did most people really expect the story to be as good as Origins? I get the feeling I should look out for some big dissapointment coming up in my playthrough. So tell me, what are your dissapointments with the game?

I haven't got it yet.

That said, I have noticed that people regularly compare it to ME2, which doesn't really make any sense. Awakening may be set chronologically after DA:O but to compare it to a full-blown sequel game is a little unfair.

And then we keep hearing about how it's really terrible that you can't play your dead warden in the expansion. Is it just me, or is that a touch.... obvious?

You CAN play your dead warden...in Awakening.   That is not the problem, I wish people would actually read what the problem was.    The devs are hand-waiving that ending...they say if you died and don't care about it ..they don't care.   So your dead warden can be ported over by you.

What happens with that is ..that dead warden lives again, the ultimate sacrice never happened.  Instead you are given a default ending, which probably means you instead did the Ritual with Morrigan.

What the real issue is...other folks WANT to leave their warden dead..but have the NEWS of that particular warden ported over, so that when the new Orlesian warden takes over, he knows about the dead one's sacrifice.

THAT is or was the issue.    Bioware is saying..no can do.   Not possible to leave the character dead and port over the information that would "colour" the world of the new Orlesian warden who is taking over for your dead warden.   

Or maybe IT IS possible to have a legacy type port over..but Bioware doesn't have the time or the budget to do something like that.   I have seen legacy stuff before, but that was in the old SOE mmo format.  

Hopefully Bioware will consider something like this for the future, it would make them rather unique in the rpg field......

[Bryzon]

Feraele wrote...

Bryzon wrote...

For the $25 I spent on Awakening (Had a $10 coupon with Amazon), I will get at least 50 hours of game play from a couple a playthroughs. Thats a really good deal. If that is too much for you, you shouldn't bother with expansions ever. The value of this expansion is extremely high. It has even got me playing through Origins again so I can remember some of the events and to make sure I didn't miss anything.

To expect DAA to be as long as DAO is silly. The story its self is almost as good as DAO's, and the companions in some cases are better. Sigrun and Anders are really great, especially with Oghren's banter. If you're a power gamer that comes from some MMO that is looking to hit max level, this is not the game for you. If you love the stories of DAO and want to see more, you will love the expansion.

If you compare Awakening to other expansions in similar games, its by far one of the best. I never cared much for the expansions in NWN2, and felt like i had wasted my money. In the Sims, you get a few new outfits and a new place to play at, but nothing on the level of this (I know its like comparing apples and grapefruits, but I am having a hard time thinking of popular non-MMO games that have expansions). And MMO expansions like Everquest 2 might give some more content, but you usually see a sharp decline in quality with each additional.

The new features like holding court (though I wish there was more of it) and seeing Vigil's Keep improve were really great. I want to see more of these things in the future. I like that we have all new companions along with Oghren and they were all really well done. The banter was possibly better though their side-quests did seem kind of short, but what can we expect in an expansion? The decisions that were to be made (like should you defend the city or the keep) made me think about the consequences and want to see the alternate outcome.

I have not felt that sharp decline in quality in Awakening. After playing it, I would've happily paid $60 for it. I only wish there were some nice DLC's like the Alienware give away, but for the 360. I am looking forward to anything else in the series that comes out, and in the meantime I'll be replaying Origins and Awakening and hopefully eventually get around to reading the novels.

Pretty much how I think Bryzon.   I had my doubts before playing Awakening..but those are gone now...I think I'll be doing the same, creating new characters, running them through Origins and all the dlcs I have, then through Awakening.   I currently have 15 runthroughs to my name..had to delete 9 and my account..everything as a matter of fact to start over from scratch, clear all the bugginess and glitches ...

My start date was October 19 just like yours hehe.    At any rate, I can see myself still playing even a couple months from now.   Been playing Origins since day one of release.

I think you're just as hooked as I am. I played through it a few times on PC before I bought a 360 and then decided to get it for the Xbox as well.  Just yesterday I had to delete a character to start a new one. 15 is impressive.

My most recent playthrough is more of a roleplay and trying to do what my Dalish Ranger might do. I decided to get rid of Morrigan since I think they would have conflicting personalities, that kind of thing. The game is much harder without her early on though, wow I am surprise. I had to go straight for Wynn to balance it out.

I think a lot of the people who are complaining are very young and are more into the fighting and leveling or older people from MMO's that are also looking for a grind, or are just bored/trolling and feel like arguing on the internet. This is not the game for you if you are one of those people. This game is perfect for the person who loves a good story, who doesn't mind spending their freetime deep in a novel, or are really into roleplay games. This story reminds me a lot of LOTR meets DND and written by R.A. Salvatore and Robert Jordan (dream team?). I love everything about it. I can't wait to see Orlais and the rest of Thedas.

Modifié par Bryzon, 19 mars 2010 - 10:06 .

[Feraele]

Ahhh yes my explorer at heart theme..hehe I want to visit Orlais, Arlathan (ancient elven area) the Qunari Islands..(where did they come from before then?!?!) hehe Kal Shirok. Don't you hate when they dangle something in front of you and then refuse to let you go there? rofl..drives me crazy. But is possibly exactly the effect Bioware was aiming at.



One day I posted about this very thing, exploring the whole map, and someone provided me with a link to the current map of Thedas.



I wrote back that I ALREADY have that map as the wallpaper on my desktop. hehe

Yes I am a fangurl....and Canadian and damned proud of both.

[Bryzon]

Feraele wrote...

JaegerBane wrote...

geertmans wrote...

I recently bought Awakening and started it and I have to say that I love it so far. I can understand the grudge towards the bugs (I started it in my underwair too , fix for this is here: http://filesmelt.com...-In-One-874.zip ). But why is everyone complaining about the story/characters? I started this game with an open mind and so far I'm really liking it and am not dissapointed. Did most people really expect the story to be as good as Origins? I get the feeling I should look out for some big dissapointment coming up in my playthrough. So tell me, what are your dissapointments with the game?

I haven't got it yet.

That said, I have noticed that people regularly compare it to ME2, which doesn't really make any sense. Awakening may be set chronologically after DA:O but to compare it to a full-blown sequel game is a little unfair.

And then we keep hearing about how it's really terrible that you can't play your dead warden in the expansion. Is it just me, or is that a touch.... obvious?

You CAN play your dead warden...in Awakening.   That is not the problem, I wish people would actually read what the problem was.    The devs are hand-waiving that ending...they say if you died and don't care about it ..they don't care.   So your dead warden can be ported over by you.

What happens with that is ..that dead warden lives again, the ultimate sacrice never happened.  Instead you are given a default ending, which probably means you instead did the Ritual with Morrigan.

What the real issue is...other folks WANT to leave their warden dead..but have the NEWS of that particular warden ported over, so that when the new Orlesian warden takes over, he knows about the dead one's sacrifice.

THAT is or was the issue.    Bioware is saying..no can do.   Not possible to leave the character dead and port over the information that would "colour" the world of the new Orlesian warden who is taking over for your dead warden.   

Or maybe IT IS possible to have a legacy type port over..but Bioware doesn't have the time or the budget to do something like that.   I have seen legacy stuff before, but that was in the old SOE mmo format.  

Hopefully Bioware will consider something like this for the future, it would make them rather unique in the rpg field......

I don't see what the big deal is. If you want your warden to stay dead, don't transfer him/her. I think the only reason I killed one of mine was for the achievement and seeing another ending. I'm kind of hoping one of the future expansions will not allow you to transfer and have a unique story from scratch, but that kind of thing seems more like a spinoff or sequel. Maybe a sequel takes place in the next age being another blight and your hero could be a grandchild of the hero of Fereldan? I think that kind of thing would be neat.