Your favourite Dragon Age Origin?

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they did have plans for a human commonor/barbarian. but it got scrapped do to lack of time/resources. I wouldn't put it past them to have scrapped an apostage origin, since that origin at least would have made sense for dalish-elven mages (and humans to a lesser degree)

I prefer the dwarf commoner origin, followed by the city elf. both are probably the most brutal origins, with city elf being a bit more brutal. but I find the dwarven one more interesting, since it feels like it have a bigger impact, especially when you return to Ozzimar (sp?)

 

I would have loved a Human Commoner origin. As it is now humans are really not that diversified. It's a pity really.

Both are my favourite origins for those very reasons. I think that being a City Elf does make the Alienage part of the game more personnal (not to mention the fact that the Dwarf Commoner has a much easier time when going back to Orzammar compared to the City Elf in the Alienage near the end of the game).

 

I have to say I did enjoy what I played of the Dwarf common origin. I'm still waiting for RtO to be released on the PS3 before I play the Elf common origin that is if it is out before DA: Awakening.

To date I have played the following origins.

Mage Human and Elf: Completed the game as a human male and female elf. My first time through as a female elf as a Shifter / Healer
Human Noble: Completed the game as a male rogue Duelist / Assassian
Dwarf Noble: Completed the game as a Male Warrior Berserker and right now playing as a female rogue only at Ostagar - I have to say playing the dwarf noble as a female is quite interesting and different enough than the male that it makes it worth playing the game again as a dwarf noble female.
Dwarf Commoner: I started the origin as a male and stop 1/2 through it as I first wanted to complete the my dwarf warrior noble game. I have yet to go back to my dwarf commoner game as the female dwarf noble is quite interesting.

I do have say that it didn't really matter how I played my female elven mage as most would just treat my PC as a mage and not as an elf or female. In my current dwarf noble female game they tend to treat me similar to a male dwarf unless I'm around other male dwarves, than it gets interesting and the PC is treated with less respect. I may have to replay my human noble origin as a female to see if the game does something different male human I played.

As for the dwarf origins, I honestly don't think either origin is designed for a female PC. I believe the game mechanics were designed for both dwarf origins to be males and here is why... On my three playthrough prior to playing a dwarf the king of Ozzamar died because his eldest son was killed by his favorite son (hmm... this means that the noble origin PC should be male). In the dwarf common origin your sister is trying to find a noble and as her brother you are working for the gang leader; however, if the PC was female wouldn't she also being trying to find a noble just like Rica. Based on this information I believe both dwarf origins are designed for male PCs.

I have yet to play either elf origin as I still want to finish the game with my dwarf female noble and dwarf male commoner.

I did enjoy my dwarf male warrior. He went with the two weapon style and a few other abilities. I placed all stat points into STR with just enough into Dex to get a few bow abilities. My PC would start off with the bow, maybe get 1-2 shots out before he swapped over to his 2 handed axe and start shredding the baddies. The average damage from the dwarf was 75-100 without any abilities. Once I turn on some of the abilities he would easily hit for over 150. The most damage my dwarf did was when the game throws a bunch of common/weak Darkspawn right at the end of the game. My dwarf warrior was hitting those darkspawns for over 200 and when he had a critical it was well over 350. Never seen any other character in the game dishout the game like my dwarf berseker warrior.

 

It's a matter of preference but I can't relate to the Dalish elf's friend because he is such an idiot. I mean, come on, the mirror thing was beyond obvious. Being forced to take that direction was contrived to say the least. Seriously, I was so annoyed I felt like beating the crap out of him.

The city elf origin may look more mundane but you'll probably enjoy the return to the Alienage.

 

It's not entirely out of character but it was a bit of a letdown to me. I mean at times you have to accept things that get thrown your way by the game. Like for instance the rescue by Flemeth that is a really convenient deus ex machina but there are some things that annoy me as much as the mirror in the Dalish Origin. It's a bit off topic but it requires a very benign nature to accept that an elf or a dwarf can pose as a guard in Fort Drakon...

 

Definitely. I hate when that happens. I mean I love this game but it has some serious flaws. Once you get used to that cutscene absurdity and learn to live with it it's ok but nevertheless playing a stealthy Rogue can be pretty nonsensical at times.

 

Creepy. This is very similar to the mage origins, especially if the PC is female.

 

Cut-scene mugging FTL

Ah yes. I call it "cut-scene mugging". BioWare have had a fetish for it since BGII (ToB in particular), KotOR continued the trend - it's just that no-one used stealth* in that game - and DA:O didn't surprise me at all when it continued the trend. It's almost as though the only "strategy" Bioware will permit to be used in their games is rote memorisation of the spell lists. The programmers seem to genuinely have an issue with you attacking without a long-winded conversation happening first. That puts your archer or mage right on the front line of the coming battle. We don't all play goody two-shoes greatsword-wielding meat heads, y'know.

Anyhoo, back on topic. The best origin: Dwarf Noble. Excellently executed Macchiavellian intrigue (try saying that after a few pints of Old Peculiar). The Worst: Human Noble. The whole thing is painfully cliched** (the giant rat joke is just tedious after you've seen it once, even as a BG reference) and that's exacerbated by the lack of an alternative human origin. And worse, it still would've been redeemed by a "Crack your mother over the head and drag the silly ***** out" option in the final segment.
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* Except me, inevitably.

** So painful, I can't bring myself to use an accent.

 

The major difference being that in the city elf instance I find the impulsiveness to be understandable even if it is foolish (it can only make matters worse in the long run but the threat is real and immediate). In fact I'd go as far as saying that what Shianni does is rather justified. If I had a choice during the cutscene my character would have done the same (or worse).

In the case of the dalish elf, it's pure recklessness (I get the point that investigating ancient ruins can be useful but it doesn't help if it means that the investigating party won't be able to report back to the elder because they stumble upon an enchanted mirror).

Ignoring danger and trying to defend oneself is not the same thing IMO. That's why the city elf origin plot works better for me.

You're not the only one playing (at least trying to play) stealthy characters.

I've played three times through the Dwarf Noble origin and there are quite a few things that can be different depending on your choices it's rather subtle. What I don't like is the fact that some lines later on don't necessarily take into account your origin (I'm thinking about Tapsters in Orzammar, a few conversations in there didn't feel 'right' for my dwarf, not dwarfish enough). Still they did a great job on making some lines generic enough so they work for everyone.

I don't get why people like the Human Noble origin (and judging from the poll they do). I totally agree with your assessment. I mean as a Dwarf Noble you feel like being one of the most important character in Orzammar, that's epic. As a Human Noble you feel like a whiny spoiled brat who is left behind to father a few bastards while big brother and daddy are going to war.

There should definitely be another Human origin. After all isn't Loghain supposed to be of humble origins? The interaction between a Human Commoner Grey Warden and Teyrn Loghain could have been very interesting.

Oh and the all mother thing is really, really awkward. Having mom kicking the bad guys while you watch is definitely not *heroic* to say the least.

 

It's a rather subjective notion. There are similarities that can be stressed (between all origins like Scythesong posted above) but there are also differences.

A more prosaic way to put it regarding the Dalish is to refer to the saying that curiosity killed the cat whereas the city elf is reenacting Braveheart. In a CRPG/RPG (the same logic would apply to movies) violence is often a means to an end and as such it's not extraordinary to resort to it when irl other options would have been examined. The same RPG logic would apply to the Dalish. In real life I doubt most of us would be so careless and engage in spelunking without taking at least some precautions (first of all telling someone where we're going).

 

With the Dalish origin story (one of my favorites honestly), if you take the time to talk to Tamlen once you're actually inside the cave, you find out that his reasoning for wanting to go in there is to prove himself to the Keeper because of something he had done (or that you both had done and he took the blame for depending on how you choose to respond) and wants to get back into her good graces - and finding something in the cave just might be that ticket to doing so. Also, if you choose the Dalish origins and continue on with it, there's an interesting twist regarding your lost friend later in the game when your camp gets attacked. For those who haven't played the Dalish origins or haven't gotten very far, that's all I'm going to say so I don't spoil it for you

 

A lot of essays in this thread . I liked dwarven noble the best because to me it seemed to have the longest, most well-thought-out story-line of all the origins.

Spoiler

The epic feel of this story from the arena trials, to my commander celebration was just the beginning. Fighting in the deep roads and fully understanding the full extent of dwarven treachery... It had everything you'd want in a movie , great plot, violence, sex, betrayal... epicness

 

Surely a large minus? No-one wants to be reminded of Mel Gibson's man-boobs. On the subject of the Dalish origin, I played it through again the other day, and it doesn't force you to be too much of a patsy. At the very least, you get to try and talk Tamlen out of being a knobhead. Similarly, the mage origin lets you "do the right thing" (sort of) and report Jowan to the First Enchanter.

 

I'm only partway through doing the mage origin so it'll be interesting to see how Jowan reacts when we meet again later on in the game. I betrayed him to the First Enchanter so he was pretty mad at my character when he ran. Eh well, such is life, right?

 

Remember you're talking about Mad Max!

Anyway as far as movie references go, it's hard to beat the Human Noble origin!

I haven't completed the game as a Mage yet. I'm pretty sure all this quest line is made more interesting by the choices made earlier.

Given the fact that there are only three classes and only a few builds to be made (mostly weapon based) it's the little things in the Origins that make a real difference.

 

That's what keeps me playing the game over and over. I like seeing how the little decisions affect the game play and party reactions. I'm already deciding that one of my next characters is going to side with the Templars in the Circle Tower so that will make the whole situation at Redcliffe much more interesting. Wouldn't it be ironic if I used my mage to make that choice?