The Dragon Age: Origins website has been updated with information on The Grey Wardens class. This band of consummate warriors can be stalwart guardians or tyrannical egomaniacs. Whatever their personality, they certainly look good in action as you can see in the new video of The Grey Wardens.

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Simutronics, which is a creator of online game development platforms has joined forces with BioWare, to bring you the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO using the HeroEngine. The HeroEngine, according to their website, is a developer kit which was specifically created for online games. This si not something built in house by the actual game developers, but is something anyone building an MMO can use and allows for development in real-time, enabling teams in different geographic locales to build the world and play the game live on the server simultaneously.

Most people who follow gaming are familiar with the HeroEngine, and have known for a while that BioWare would be using it on their MMO, but for the people that don’t– what the engine does is make instantaneous updates and changes to the game environment, which drops the need for nightly builds and code crunching, which supposedly cuts down on time spent on the development cycle.

Now that we got that little bit of “news” out of the way, how about EA’s CEO John Riccitiello saying during a conference call that Star Wars: The Old Republic will charge customers for micro-transactions rather than subscriptions?

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Electronic Arts is being targeted by another class-action law suit over the DRM included with Spore, SecuROM. This time, California resident Alex McQuown is hoping to use Spore to take down SecuROM once and for all.

The grievances listed in Alex McQuown’s class-action suit against EA are much the same as the other suits with three big differences. His lawyers at Finkelstein Thompson claim that SecuROM damages computers costing consumer time and money to repair the havoc caused by its installation. The suit also asserts that EA has needlessly caused its customers grief. The figures prove that piracy of games that carry SecuROM has risen dramatically. The biggest difference in McQuown’s suit is that he invites every U.S. citizen that has purchased an EA product with SecuROM to join the class.
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Bioware has released some new screenshots for their upcoming RPG for the PC, Dragon Age: Origins which is looking pretty darn good–and I am not just saying this because I am an RPG nut.

The developer is also promising to release a constant stream of media content from their game between now and the expected March 23, 2009 release date. The next set of screens are set to be revealed this month sometime, and will introduce players to “The Blight”:

The Chantry teaches that it is the hubris of men that brought the darkspawn into our world. Mages sought to usurp Heaven, but were cast out, twisted by their own corruption, only to return as monsters–the first of the darkspawn. They plague the underground caverns and tunnels once inhabited by the dwarven kingdoms. When they discover one of the Old Gods, ancient dragons slumbering in the depths of the earth, it rises as an archdemon to lead the darkspawn as they spread like locusts across the surface lands, destroying all in their path: a Blight. It has been four centuries since the last Blight, but the darkspawn are amassing once again.

Dragon Age: Origins will also be made available for the PS3 and Xbox 360, but console users will have to wait until November 3, 2009 to get their hands on a copy.

Obsidian is releasing a stop gap patch for Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir later this December. The patch should hopefully clear up some of the problems with the 1.21 patch and xp_bugfix for the SoZ expansion.

Patch 1.23 is still scheduled for a January 2009 release but may have an extended beta period because of the changes it covers. Fixes include Content autodownloader, Haks loading before character creation, Version checking of PWC files and Adjustments to WASD. Players hope 1.23 will be a cure-all for multiplayer.

Keep up with the latest news on the xp_bugfix and patch 1.21 for SoZ, watch the Bioware Community NWN2 Forum.

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There’s an interesting article on BioWare Blog that gives gamers pause to examine what they really want in a game. Part one of the Immersion vs. #’s article asks whether you prefer immersive descriptors in games or if you just want to know how powerful your shocking infernal reaver is on a scale of 1 to 10.

So I’m leading a troop of Grim-mages across the wastes of D’rann when we get dive bombed by the Nalmerre aliens in their swooping zagoid ships. They’re raining chain bombs down on us and my Grim-mages quickly begin an ancient and dread chant…

Or maybe I’m actually staring at an array of tiny lights that are either red, green or blue. And maybe those lights are controlled by a much vaster array of numbers that are either one, zero or in the process of changing from one to the other.

Which version of reality do you prefer?

Personally I think both have their place in games even when the number crunching does bring you out of your gaming trance. It’s reminds you to hit the head and order pizza. Check out the pros and cons of each approach in Immersion vs. #’s on BioWare Blog.

BioWare has updated the storyline and world information for their upcoming RPG, Dragon Age: Origins. Expected to land on the PC March 23, 2009 and the PS3 and Xbox 360 during September 2009, the folks over at BioWare have added some new content to the website, explaining the history and the inhabitants of Ferelden–a dark and foreboding place, where death and violence lurks in every shadow.

From the official website:

Civilization has fought for many centuries to hold the shadows at bay, but even now the mighty walls of Ostagar are beginning to crumble against the onslaught of an ancient threat. The darkspawn have returned again to bring their taint to the land, and this time, their ancient adversary, the Grey Wardens, have been left neglected by a complacent world that felt they no longer needed them. The fate of the world hangs in the balance, as these mighty warriors again take their place on the front lines against the Blight. But powerful as they are, their numbers have dwindled, and the time is near that a champion needs to step forward from their ranks and lead them to victory. But will the success of this Grey Warden ensure a new, brighter future for Ferelden, or be the first bloody step into a more perilous future?

BioWare also sent over three new screens from the game, which feature areas in Ferelden. You can also check out many more screens and other forms of media by visiting the Dragon Age: Origins page on FileFront.

BioWare has offered up part four of its demo series on Dragon Age: Origins. The gameplay video is accompanied by developer commentary, allowing players to enjoy the action while learning tactics.

This episode focuses on using strategy. Camera control, switching between party members and basic tactics are covered over a few different types of encounters. The most interesting part of this tutorial is the demonstrations of how spells interact with each other.

As a game that claims to be Baldur’s Gate’s successor I’m glad to see strategy and spell synergy put to good use in the game. The video is behind an age gate so step lively as you enter the Dragon Age: Origins website where you can view the entire series.

All modders and aspiring developers out there should pay close attention to a new article up on Blend Games. The author takes aim at RPGs calling them on their weaknesses and shortcomings while acknowledging the true greats in “Reasons Your Role-Playing Game Is Disappointing.” This of course translates to “Why your RPG sucks”.

Most of the games that come under fire are Western RPGs with only one JRPG in the mix. As you might expect, there are Bioware titles mentioned in abundance such as Neverwinter Nights 2, NwN2: Mask of the Betrayer, Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic and Baldur’s Gate. Arcanum, Final Fantasy VII and Fable get mentioned as well. the only Western RPG that wasn’t touched on was Planescape: Torment.

ERPG Cardinal sins including getting the story started to slowly. FF7 and Mass Effect are held out as sterling examples of what sucks players into a game right off the bat while the intro to Fable is used as an example of what not to do. NwN2 is slammed as well, but NwN2: Mask of the Betrayer is given Kudos for getting the player’s attention immediately. I’ve got to admit that waking up in a crypt hundreds of miles from home is much more interesting than going out for the prize at your local fair.

Also on the hit list is the over use of Fed Ex quests, slow travel between points of interest and unwieldy inventory systems like the one that plagues players in Mass Effect. Fable is once again sent to the corner for repetitive combat. Hopefully we won’t see these shortcomings in Fable 2. Catch the best and the worst of RPGs on Blend Games.