StarMars Online » Dragon Age

I won an exclusive G9 Logitech Dragon Age Mouse… NOT!!!

StarMars — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:46:54 +0000

Last March 30, GreyWardens.com held a contest for its readers. The mechanics was simple:

Explain in 100 words or less why you should win the mouse. You can tell us through Twitter, Facebook, or the comments section below but make sure you keep it to 100 words or less!

The top 2 winners were to receive exclusive Dragon Age items, in cooperation with EA, the game’s publisher. The winning entry was supposed to receive an exclusive G9 Logitech Dragon Age Laser Mouse; the second, a rare Dragon Age: Origins t-shirt unavailable in stores and whose copies were given out only in a special BioWare event.

The contest sounded simple enough so I decided to join. My contest entry, which I wrote and thought of very carefully read:

Dear GreyWardens,

I desperately need your help with my plight(not the blight). When I’m not slaying darkspawn, I play mostly RTS (Warcraft III) and oh boy, I’m very competitive at that. Just imagine all the keyboard mashing and mouse clicking (high apm, actions per minute) and you’ll picture the state of my mouse and keyboard. Their age do not help either — my keyboard is turning three and my mouse about two. The left click button of my mouse has started to deteriorate recently, requiring me to click harder before it responds. I need a new mouse.

StarMars,
desperate gamer

Several days after I posted that on the comments section of the contest page, I received an e-mail from the post author. Guess what! I won the first prize. So I sent them my postal address and additional details and what-not.

Two weeks had passed and I still had not received my prize. I was beginning to think that the contest was one big April Fool’s joke since the contest was posted on March 29. I contacted GreyWardens.com on Twitter but all they said was “finalizing everything…”.

I haven’t received anything up to now. The contest post still reads: “Finished! Win An Exclusive G9 Logitech Dragon Age Laser Mouse. Update: The contest is over. Thanks everybody for participating. We will announce the winner very soon.” Where the prizes went and whether there was a real contest or not — I have no idea.

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Dragon Age Forums

StarMars — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:34:37 +0000

I love Dragon Age Origins and I am active member of its official forums. I will list here the interesting threads I find there. Posts get buried and forgotten quite easily so it’s good to have them all in one place for everyone to see.

Some of them are useful sources of information. The posts with good discussions on specific topics are a good read too. And there are those topics that are entirely funny. I will add more as I find them.

Gameplay/Plot-related

Resources

Discussions

Funny

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Download Free Dragon Age DLC items

StarMars — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:54:54 +0000

While some of the Dragon Age: Origins downloadable content (DLC) items require authorization, many of them are available for free. Some require you to do some tasks to get them in-game but following the instructions below will save you the trouble of doing so. They exist as files which can be downloaded directly from Bioware and added to your game via an update tool provided with the release of Dragon Age.

Download the DAZIP files below.
Find and run DAUpdater.exe in your game installation under the bin_ship folder.
Load the DAZIP files by pressing Select DAZIP.
Install them by pressing Install Selected.
Run Dragon Age: Origins and check your DLC.

The files below were provided by Bioware to help in the manual installation of registered items for those who have issues downloading them in-game. The fact that some of them were not encrypted means they’re available for free to everyone. Source

The DLC items and how to get them officially:

Free Dragon Age DLC items

The first 3 free items can be obtained by playing and completing quests and achievements in Dragon Age: Journeys.

Embri’s Many Pockets – DAO_PRC_PROMO_EMB.dazip: To earn Embri’s Many Pockets in Dragon Age: Origins, save the Grey Warden Martine by completing The Missing Warden quest in Dragon Age Journeys.
Helm of the Deep – DAO_PRC_PROMO_HOD.dazip: To earn the Helm of the Deep in Dragon Age: Origins, you must earn all five achievements in Dragon Age Journeys: The Deep Roads.
Amulet of the War Mage – DAO_PRC_PROMO_WAR.dazip: To earn the Amulet of the War Mage in Dragon Age: Origins, simply sign in to your EA account in Dragon Age Journeys.
The Edge – DAO_PRC_PROMO_EDG.dazip: Available to players who bought and registered the game on the Bioware Social Site on or before Nov 30, 2009.
The Lucky Stone – DAO_PRC_PROMO_LKS.dazip: Upload a character made with the Character Creator to your Bioware social account to get this item.
The Lion’s Paw – DAO_PRC_PROMO_LNP.dazip: Pre-order bonus from Amazon
Mark of Vigilance – DAO_PRC_PROMO_VGL.dazip: Free if you buy a Dragon Age t-shirt from Hot Topic.
The Wicked Oath – DAO_PRC_PROMO_WKD.dazip: Pre-order bonus from Steam.

UPDATE: 6/8/10

Bulwark of the True King (Origins) – DAO_PRC_PROMO_BTK_1.0.dazip: Give-away from Alienware. For those who have the Origins game only.
Bulwark of the True King (Awakening) – DAO_EP1_PROMO_BTK_1.0.dazip: Give-away from Alienware. For those who have the Awakening expansion.
Pearl of the Anointed (Origins) – DAO_PRC_PROMO_PAN_1.0.dazip: Pre-order bonus for Awakening from amazon.de and play.com. For those who have the Origins game only.
Pearl of the Anointed (Awakening) – DAO_EP1_PROMO_PAN_1.0.dazip: Pre-order bonus for Awakening from amazon.de and play.com. For those who have the Awakening expansion.
Bregan’s Bow (Origins) – DAO_PRC_PROMO_GBK_1.0.dazip: Pre-order bonus for Awakening from gamestop.de and game.co.uk. For those who have the Origins game only.
Bregan’s Bow (Awakening) – DAO_EP1_PROMO_GBK_1.0.dazip: Pre-order bonus for Awakening from gamestop.de and game.co.uk. For those who have the Awakening expansion.

Not Free Dragon Age DLC items

The Stone Prisoner – DAO_PRC_CP_2.dazip: Free with every new purchase of Dragon Age: Origins. My promo card expires on April 30, 2010.
Warden’s Keep – DAO_PRC_NRX_1.dazip: Comes free with the Collector’s Edition and several Digital Deluxe Editions.
3 Collector’s Edition items – DAO_PRC_PROMO_C2.dazip: Free items that came with the Collector’s Edition of the game. Grimoire of the Frozen Wastes is available at start. Bergen’s Honor and Final Reason must be purchased from Bodahn in the camp.
Blood Dragon Armor Set – DAO_PRC_PROMO_ME.dazip: Free with every new purchase of Dragon Age: Origins. My promo card expires on April 30, 2010. The plate armor is available at start, the rest must be purchased from Bodahn.
Blood Dragon Armor Set Version 1.1 – DAO_PRC_PROMO_ME_1.1.dazip: The 1.1 version of Blood Dragon Armor is heavily nerfed but it fixes the bug caused by Female Elf characters wearing the armor.
Memory Band, Formari Tome – DAO_PRC_PROMO_1.dazip: Pre-order bonus from any retailer.
Feral Wolf Charm – DAO_PRC_PROMO_2.dazip: Pre-order bonus from GameStop.
Guildmaster’s Belt – DAO_PRC_PROMO_3.dazip: Pre-order bonus from Gamecrazy or Mighty Ape.
Band of Fire – DAO_PRC_PROMO_4.dazip: Pre-order bonus from EA Store.
Dalish Promise Ring – DAO_PRC_PROMO_5.dazip: Pre-order bonus from Direct2Drive or GAME.

UPDATE: 6/8/10

Return to Ostagar – DAO_PRC_CP_1_1.1.dazip: Downloadable Content available for $5.
Feastday Gifts – DAO_PRC_CP_3_1.0.dazip: A collection of mostly humorous gift items that will significantly increase your followers’ affections for you. Buy them from Bodahn.
Feastday Pranks – DAO_PRC_CP_7_1.0.dazip: Ten unique feastday pranks that your party members will love to hate. Buy them from Bodahn.
Darkspawn Chronicles – DAO_PRC_DRK_1.0.dazip: Downloadable Content available for $5.
Leliana’s Song – DAO_PRC_LEL_1.0.dazip: Downloadable Content available for $7.
Blightblood (Origins) – DAO_PRC_DRK_DAO_1.0.dazip: Reward for completing the Darkspawn Chronicles DLC. For those who have the Origins game only.
Blightblood (Awakening) – DAO_PRC_DRK_EP1_1.0.dazip: Reward for completing the Darkspawn Chronicles DLC. For those who have the Awakening expansion.

UPDATE: 9/22/10

Golems of Amgarrak – DAO_PRC_GIB_1.0.dazip: Downloadable Content available for $5.
Witch Hunt – DAO_PRC_STR_1.1.dazip: Downloadable Content available for $7.
Battledress of the Provocateur (for Origins) – DAO_PRC_LEL_DAO_1.0.dazip: Quest-related item in Leliana’s Song.
Battledress of the Provocateur (for Awakening) – DAO_PRC_LEL_EP1_1.0.dazip: Quest-related item in Leliana’s Song.
Golem’s Might (for Origins) – DAO_PRC_GIB_DAO_1.0.dazip: Set of quest-related item in Golems of Amgarrak
Golem’s Might (for Awakening) – DAO_PRC_GIB_EP1_1.0.dazip: Set of quest-related item in Golems of Amgarrak.
Witchcraft (for Origins) – DAO_PRC_STR_DAO_1.0.dazip: Set of quest-related items in Witch Hunt.
Witchcraft (for Awakening) – DAO_PRC_STR_EP1_1.0.dazip: Set of quest-related items in Witch Hunt.

Keep in mind that you are supposed to have only one or a few of these items at the start of the game. Having all of them at once can significantly affect your gameplay.

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Dragon Age: Origins

StarMars — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:37:53 +0000

I’ve been following Dragon Age: Origins since its release on November 3. All the reviews, screenshots and gameplay videos, etc. point to an excellent game.

Opening theme: Dragon Age Origins

I bought Dragon Age: Origins for P1395(~$30) on Nov 30, 2009 in Datablitz, Shangri-la Mall. It’s cheaper than the retail price I usually see online (~50). Of course, it didn’t come with a box – just a gray-colored plastic DVD case. Inside are the DVD, a 41-page black-and-white game manual, a product catalogue for upcoming EA games and 2 promo cards for Warhammer Online and Dragon Age: Origins (Shale and Blood Dragon Armor). The cd-key is located at the back of the manual. I would have preferred the Collector’s Edition if they still had them.

Ending Theme: I am the One

Official Links: