Every time I talked to the Lady of the Forest, I wanted to ask her if she was cold just wearing those strategically placed twigs. I, too, was close to tears when she died.

Yap, which areas have you finished?

I played as an Elf dual-wield warrior and it was indeed a downer of an origin. I couldn't blame her for wanting to get the hell outta dodge. Although it was worth it just for the dialogue between my girl and Alistair when he found out she'd almost married. That conversation had me in stitches.

I ended up spec'g Wynette as both healer and damage dealer after I did the Flemeth quest and realized I sorely missed Maggot's fire & ice.

A word about Landsmeet (and you may already know this) - finish up all your uncompleted quests prior to Landsmeet. Once you begin the Landsmeet quest line, you'll be on somewhat of a fast-track to the climax.

Yapette said:

This game does not give me confidence that we'll all live happily ever after. 

As Al makes a cameo in DA 2 (or so I've read), at least he lives. King? Married to me? I am sorely conflicted. Damned the Darkspore, I want a house with a picket fence ([Image Can Not Be Found])…Al Jr. & Winnie (in honor of Wynette) playing in the yard. ([Image Can Not Be Found]).

I can foresee some tough choices ahead. [Image Can Not Be Found]

I will miss Alistair everso when this is over. I'm attached to this group so much more than Mass Effect -  love Zev's outlook (and accent), never tired of hearing Lelianna talk, feel protective of their welfare as leader of Sten & Shale,.

Yeah, there is a chance for happily ever after; however, it requires sacrifice of sorts and one pre-existing condition. (I won't comment on that condition as it will give away an ending)
 

I was in tears when my game finally ended. I adored those people and wanted them with me forever. Attempting to play Mass Effect after offered no "warm & fuzzies" with regards to my companions. They weren't real in any sense of the word. It's interesting that all the women I know who played as women (and some men who played female characters) got fully invested and wanted the house w/picket fence.

My copy of DA2 has shipped from Amazon and I'm torn between starting it and waiting until I get back from Italy. I know full well, if I start it before I go I won't finish packing.

Yapette, I started with the female dwarf warrior. Then something else I forget. Got impatient to play and ended up as a male elf warrior which turned out to be one of the worst characters I've ever come up with. I gave up half way through the game and punted, playing through the Morrigan NPC. Thus I ignored the romance angle until the very end when I tried a last minute move on the cute little thief. It was too little too late and she saw right through me. By then she just wanted to be friends.

I actively disliked Alistair (sorry, no fan I) and benched him pretty quickly so I don't think any female character I rolled would ever warm up to him.

Yep, my elf and Alistair had a hot n' heavy romance. Every one of my other companions commented on it. It was quite entertaining for them. [Image Can Not Be Found] Adorable Zev was interested, but she turned him down.

I've heard rumors of a couple of companions either making cameos or returning for DA2, but I've avoided the majority of the information given so that it doesn't spoil the experience. I went into DA pretty much blind, I'm going for the same with DA2.

I'm going the same road as Steerpike (I can see he took the Steam DA2 plunge): backwards in the series.

Every time I play DAO I just can't get fully enveloped in it. I don't know what it is. Maybe I'm becoming lazier and lazier and do not want to work at things like inventory management and crafting (in that case I'll never finish The Witcher). Ever since Jade Empire in twenty aught five I have leaned more towards an RPG experience that involves little to no inventory management.

Anyway, I've just barely started DA2 and am going to see if that hooks me (it damn well better for 59.99). Maybe working through it will raise my care to finish the first game. I still think it's moronic to be called "2" when the first game was ": Origins". Whose bloody idea was that?

You're right, Scout, "pots" are definitely quite useful in Origins. I use them in almost every battle, and yes, I'm sad to admit, that I've lowered the combat difficulty from Normal to Easy. I don't know if I just suck at building a rogue, suck at party management (probably this), or is Origins just a very challenging game?

There's really nothing wrong with Origins' inventory management, as it's quite lean, and the potion making is not unnecessarily complex at all...I'm just making excuses here for my increasing curmudgeonism. Oh my god, I can't believe WP accepts "curmudgeonism" as a word?!

Oddly, I've been thinking about making another run at BG2. I do prefer gritty, but have nothing against fantasy. I tried it a few years back and never got out of the starter dungeon but it felt like it was going to take off. Are you playing a "curated" total mod or just peicing individual mods together? I'm too impatient to fuss with a lot of moving parts but if there was a plug and play uber mod... Let's see where we are both at in a month.