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Caution: Minor Dragon Age: Origins spoilers ahead for one of the many endings!
I've so rarely been enraged by a videogame as I was near the end of Dragon Age: Origins. I was a good girl! I didn't sleep with anyone else but Alistair (though Zev and Lelani were temptations). Hey, my boyfriend is probably going to be king so why blow it -- I could be Queen!
I went the safe route and stayed faithful. I was sooo nice to him. I managed to get him made King, and then he gives this little speech about how he has to break up with me now that he's going to be King. WHAT?! You bastard!
It's funny. I can be betrayed and shot in the face in Modern Warfare 2. I can be killed, stabbed and flame toasted in games but being dumped is what really gets me all worked up, emotional and angry! My game ending sucked ... it sucked big ... it sucked royally!
But therein lies the difference between a videogame and a book. With a book, you get a crappy ending and that's it, it's all over. With a game, my first thought is check the Internet, then reload an earlier game save and try for a "happy" ending. I'm playing as a human female noble so according to the Internet (which never lies) my happy ending is there somewhere. Dammit, there must be some way I can be Queen, or at least get to keep my studly boyfriend. If he loved me he could at least offer to keep me on as a mistress!
I was so pissed off after I finished the entire game (and he didn't change his mind about dumping me), that I've already gone back, betrayed him, had him killed, got Anora crowned Queen and replaced him with Loghain. Yes, it felt good! It's ironic but I probably spent about 35 or 40 hours with my virtual man much longer than I've spent with some boyfriends in the past (if you add up all the actual hours) so I guess I can't be surprised that after all the work I put in the relationship, I got mad when he dumped me.
This rarely happens in any other medium like books or movies. You rarely spend 35 or 40 hours on either, and it's removed from you because you aren't the one making choices. This is actually the true brilliance of Bioware -- that they do make you care what happens to yourself and your party members because you (the gamer) are the one making the choices. While there is still a finite number of endings, I'm still surprised by the vast number of variables that Bioware has created. Your choices right from the beginning in terms of picking your gender and race -- all the way through to your choices with your party members and plot events -- will create quite a number of very different game endings.
Meh ... maybe I'll just play the whole game again as a guy and sleep with everything, and do evil deeds and maybe try to become King! Oh... and Alistair gets to play the whole game in his undies and look silly! Yeah, gaming is so totally different from movies and books -- thank goodness!!
Revenge is sooo sweet!
Contest:
6:00 PM on 12.19.2009 | 
Great post!
Normally I’d act all sassy and say something like “Girl, you need to dump that zero and get yourself a hero!” but he’s the king......... can you do much better than a king?
Damn, talk about hell hathing no fury like a woman scorned. I'm not into Dragon Age, so hopefully BioWare will give the same depth of character relationships to the party members in Mass Effect 2.
I seriously need to play Dragon Age, but lack of funding hurts. And revenge is ultimately the best kind gameplay mechanic. *remembers the Tenpenny ghoul mission in Fallout 3*
Poor Elsa!
Also note to self: never betray Elsa.
You mean you robbed yourself of the personal satisfaction of doing the deed?
Tsk, Tsk.
Instead I'll just leave a comment about how I am still waiting for that sandwich you promised me. :-P
Have I ever mentioned I'm super happy you're part of the community? You, ma'am, Rock!
I hate you Kaidan. No I'm not sleeping with you pretty boy!
@Xzyliac - I could bear to have Alistair around and not feel too weirded out when he started to show interest. Kaidan, on the other hand, simply felt wrong to begin with. Maybe it didn't help he shared the same voice actor as Carth, his character pretty much felt like some random writer had procrastinated too long and wrote his entire dialogue and backstory five minutes before the meeting. I tried to give Kaidan the benefit of the doubt, but everytime I went to bug him at his space-age fuse box, the less I wanted to hear him talk. That's saying a lot since I'm a big fan of BioWare games. Kaidan felt like a wasted opportunity. And for goodness' sake, I hope they don't put the next Romantic Interest under an annoying yellow light in ME2. Urgh.
EXACTLY!!!
Everybody asked me why I prefered the xenophobic Ashley over Kaiden and it's because I still have the sour taste of Carth in my mouth and they're almost the same characters. Voice, animations, and all.
I'll also note there's an easy way to get rid of that yellow light: ditch Kaiden and impregnate Liara! Seriously Iove Liara. I was such a Paragon bitch (not without reason, it just turned out that way) and she was so sweet and innocent. We were the most kickass odd couple ever.
Plus telepathic sex. C'mon.
A Paragon bitch is just silly.
And then getting stomped on by Shale.
Also, what Tubatic said. I love reading your blogs and comments.
Great blog!
Sadly, I think you always remember your first... and my first ending was like an awkward virgin... a little unsatisfying. :(
Then again, he does kind of throw a hissy fit if you try to spare Loghain, so I guess he is entirely capable of being an asshole.
RAGE!
I do agree I'd have expected more maturity from Alistair, as he's the one who initiates you with the Grey Wardens from the beggining. And yeah, he really failed at maturity at Landsmeet... learning that he dumps female characters as he becomes King is quite shocking, I didn't expect that. I always viewed Alistair as the funny guy to have around, if somewhat unassertive. The perfect sidekick, in short. Not so much for women, it seems. :S Poor Elsa.
@SASUGA RIVAL:
I guess you're right, Zevran is about just like the image he projects, so you get exactly what you ask for. :P
Tell me about it! I like Morrigan and all, I don't agree with her methods often but she's so wise, but trying to please her is impossible. She's such a bitch. If I went her way it'd just be a half an hour of desserting people and end with us just giving up.
I like Leliana a lot. I'd hook up with her. I like Sten too but he's such a dick. His dryness is so awesome.
So far everybody in this game is either an ass or kind of an ass except for Leliana who is just plain adorable.
He deserved all the torment you gave him being naked and all. In sorry for your lots, but good job nonetheless.
*high5!*
[MASSIVE ENDING SPOILER AHEAD]
.
.
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Alistair chose to sacrifice his life for my character's because he didn't want to live without her.
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[END SPOILER]
I've been blown away hearing other people talk about their experiences in the game and how different they are from mine. It's given me a great incentive to play again with different NPCs (listening to Zevran and Oghren hit on Wynne is hilarious. She's just so dumbstruck). My husband was telling me how he had the option playing a male character to accept kisses for payment, something I, playing female characters, never had the choice of.
I haven't played DA:O, but when I do I'll be sure not to make the same mistake. What a douchebag.
Great blog, by the way.
***spoilers***
I am pretty sure you CAN become Alistair's princess-consort, but only if you play a female human noble, and probably need +100 approval. I know for sure I became a prince-consort to Anora in my male human noble playthrough after I made her queen.