Here are today's Dragon Age forum highlights, collected by NWVault (http://nwvault.ign.com). Please take into account that these are only single parts of various threads and should not be taken out of context. Bear in mind also that the posts presented here are copied as-is, and that any bad spelling and grammar does not get corrected on our end.

<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">David Gaider, Designer</font>

Elven blacksmiths..... What?! (http://forums.bioware.com//viewpost.html?topic=378765&post=3128548&forum=84&highlight=)
<hr />Quote: Nobody siad it had to be your Bible.. but it IS the best fantasy world ever made, so I would suggest you learn from it..<hr />Learn from it? Certainly. It is a fine series, but no matter it's quality even its most ardent fan would have to admit that many of the fantasy elements that Tolkien created have become tired cliches through overuse by others.

To suggest that Tolkien created the elven and dwarven archetypes and that those should not be strayed from is a bit beside the point. Naturally if we're going to call them "elf" and "dwarf" there are going to have to be things about them that most would find elven and dwarven... but beyond that we'll change them as much as we feel the need to for our setting. I personally feel that someone who enjoys the Middle Earth setting will enjoy Dragon Age's... but if anyone who's expecting a clone or expecting all of Tolkien's established archetypes to be the norm is expecting a bit much.

<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Derek French, Technical Producer</font>

Release date (http://forums.bioware.com//viewpost.html?topic=379232&post=3127604&forum=84&highlight=)
uk.gamesdomain.yahoo.com is pulling dates out of thin air. The game does not have a publisher yet and it certainly isn't coming out next year. Believe no other source than BioWare when it comes to the release dates of our games. Thanks.

<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Brenon Holmes, Programmer</font>

Scary Areas (http://forums.bioware.com//viewpost.html?topic=378621&post=3127852&forum=84&highlight=)
Scary smells (http://www.edgereview.com/ataglance.cfm?category=edge&ID=136) too! http://forums.bioware.com/_global/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif *Note there are no current plans for iSmell technology in DA. http://forums.bioware.com/_global/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Hehe, imagine Charname meets a nasty ogre or a pack of trolls and here goes the smell! :shake: :lol:

Lol, the reservoir of your ismell thingy would be empty in not time (I assume it has some kind of reservoir)

Can't imagine how they would do that without placing another big machine next to your computer. The thingy would have to catalyse chemical reactions between a universe of components and I really don't see it all in one small box. Maybe in a couple of decades, but not now.

In a few decades they will have direct neural interface, and so no longer a need for something creating smell, they can directly implement the sensation of smelling it on your sensory nerves.

That could be nice. By the way, with neural interface, one could play as himself without any need for rolled or point-buy stats. One uses his own intelligence, wisdom and charisma to a great extent, anyway, so adding strength and dexterity could help greatly achieve total interaction. Constitution might be tricky. Doubt they would battle-test your real constitution even if they had the means. Nor would they make you feel the pain of having a fireball put down your throat, either, I guess. Definitely not if you were underaged as most players are. Still, I reckon they could find some kind of replacement.

I think it would be rather the opposite if they made it right. Integrate you so much into the char you can actually be something else. Your reaction speed would really depend on dex, but the difficult part would be int. If they really could be able to modify your rl int to the set int of your char, even if only concerning the game, that could get huge exploits. One solution could be to negate solutions comming from too complex thoughts or on the other hand, boost the capabilities of a lower IQ person, playing a high int char with the help of AI, giving hints or help.