David Gaider, author of Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne

The language used in the marketing for Dragon Age: Origins has made strides to popularize certain terms such as “low fantasy” and “dark heroic fantasy”, so I made a point of keeping these terms in mind during my reading of Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne. I don’t think they’re lying; many of the events in this story are messed up. Rebel Queen Moira, the mother of Prince Maric (the book’s main character), is violently murdered on the first page. Within the next eight pages, Maric is smashing the head of one of her attackers into a tree root repeatedly. From that point forward, Maric is on the run for a good portion of the story. He meets new companions along the way and eventually reunites with and takes charge of his mother’s rebel army; their purpose is to remove the Orlesian usurper, King Meghren, from Queen Moira’s former throne, so that Prince Maric may take his place.

Much of what occurs in Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne will likely be used referentially, for the most part, when it comes to the video game. I would surmise that Dragon Age: Origins’ story picks up at least twenty years after the events in The Stolen Throne, based on what’s known about some of the game’s characters. But I can say with confidence that David Gaider, with this prequel novel, has succeeded in crafting, introducing me to and familiarizing me with Ferelden and its history. If you are one of the many who is planning on playing Dragon Age: Origins, I would urge you to do yourself a favor and consider giving Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne a chance.

GameTap is going through some major changes, mostly for the better from what I’ve gleaned from these blog posts. The GameTap client can serve as something of a hurdle for people. The ability to use shortcuts or launch from a website will make things much more accessible.

As for the changes, the main link above will give you a high-level description of what will be happening. These supplementary links are to blog posts that give more specific information on how games will download and play, what will happen to your current save states, and new subscription plans. Pay special attention to the subscription post if you’re a current or potential subscriber. I recommend signing up, as I have, for the $60 annual billing so that you lock your account in before the deadline.

I’ve always been more of a Quake man, but I can definitely appreciate what Unreal Tournament has brought to the table. Partly due to its sub-par server browser and interface but mostly due to its lack of a playerbase, I haven’t been able to get into UT3. That all seems to be fixed with Patch 4 and the Titan Pack. They both fix, change, and add a ton of stuff — maybe even an ass-ton. Check the link and decide for yourself. Also check out the new Betrayal mode. It takes one of my favorite things in the world – Instagib – and puts a fun twist on it.

I’ve found that reading these novel tie-ins greatly enhances my experience with the video games. For example, reading Mass Effect: Revelation before playing Mass Effect made me very familiar with the races and key locations in the galaxy, as well as some backstory on the antagonist’s agenda. I also have a greater appreciation for the Halo universe since reading The Fall of Reach. For these reasons, and the reasons mentioned earlier this week, I’m excited to get this Dragon Age fiction into my hands and then into my brain.

It’s about time. For a while there it seemed like EA didn’t want my money, what with the way they didn’t put Burnout on Steam.