I’m very pleased to announce that Dragon Age Legends is available today on Google+! At BioWare, we’re always looking for opportunities to bring our franchises to a wider audience, whether it’s through movies, comics, novels or through extending our games to different platforms.  Our teams continue to innovate in the social gaming space with Dragon Age Legends – providing our existing fans a new way to enjoy the universe of Dragon Age, while also introducing the franchise to millions of new players on Google+ and Facebook. Legends can be played cooperatively as you explore the Free Marches and progress your hero, or competitively against your friends in the Guild PVP arenas; I can attest that however you choose to play it, it’s a fun and highly addictive game

Another reason we’re excited today is because the BioWare studio family is growing. EA2D, the team behind Dragon Age Legends, has recently joined BioWare and become BioWare San Francisco. We’ve worked with this talented team closely in the past on Dragon Age Journeys and Dragon Age Legends, and they are passionate about quality – smart, creative and highly innovative. I couldn’t be happier to bring them on board within the new BioWare Label. We’re working with the team at BioWare SF to explore new ways to bring high quality games to social networks, and we’ll be sharing more news on their cool new projects with you soon.

I look forward to seeing you online in Dragon Age Legends, and other great BioWare titles in the future!

Ray

Google+ FAQ

Are there any differences in content between the Google+ and Facebook versions of Dragon Age Legends?

No. The content of each version of the game is identical, and game updates will launch simultaneously.

Can I import my Dragon Age Legends hero from Facebook to Google+?

No. The Facebook and Google+ versions of Dragon Age Legends are completely independent of each other. If you’ve already played the game on Facebook, you’re able to create a brand-new hero on Google+. Try playing as another class for a very different DAL experience!

Can I summon my Facebook friends into battle using Google+ and vice versa?

No. If you’re playing Dragon Age Legends on both social networks, you will have two separate friends lists.

Can I share crowns between Google+ and Facebook?

No. You maintain a separate crown balance for each social network.

How do I purchase crowns on Google+?

Google+ uses Google Checkout, a service included with your Google account. Google Checkout accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover credit cards.

Note: PayPal cannot be used with Google+.

If I’ve already unlocked the Dragon Age 2 items on Facebook, do I have tounlock them again on Google+?

No. Both games are tied to your EA account, so once you unlock the Dragon Age 2 items on either network, you do not need to unlock them again.

Do in-game redeem promo packs work on Google+ — like the Mass Effect 2 and Dead Space 2 gear — even if I’ve already redeemed them on Facebook?

Yes. Any of the promo packs you can earn in Dragon Age Legends on Facebook can be redeemed on Google+ — even if you’ve already redeemed them on one social network. That means, for example, you’ll be able to wear the Mass Effect armor on both Facebook and Google+.

The only exceptions are items earned by playing Dragon Age Legends: Remix 01, which currently can only be redeemed on Facebook.

For more information on redeeming promo packs, please see this section of the FAQ.

Hey BioWare community, it’s me, Dragon Age Legends game producer Ethan Levy. First of all, I wanted to say thanks for all the questions. We’re glad so many fans are excited about getting their hands on the game we’ve been working so hard on. We’ve gotten a lot of questions asking how beta keys are being distributed, and I wanted to clear that up quickly before moving on to the Q&A.

We’re operating the Legends closed beta like any other online game. We’ll be sending out batches of beta keys each week until from now until launch to people who have registered for access at http://beta.dragonagelegends.com. We’re going to do our best to give beta keys to everyone who signs up, so just because you didn’t receive a key this week doesn’t mean you won’t be included in the next round of emails.

We’ll let you know when a fresh round of beta keys have been sent off over on our Facebook wall and on the Legends section of the BioWare social forums. If you haven’t already, make sure to Like the app on Facebook to get updates directly in your news feed.

1 ) Dev team, how are you envisioning Legends will contribute to the overall Dragon Age experience for players? Will this medium be used to tell a story of its own or will players be more likely to see it as simply a way to earn bonuses for the “real” game?

In terms of extending the Dragon Age experience, EA2D has two very specific goals in mind. The first goal is to bring new players to the Dragon Age franchise. We wanted to make Legends true to BioWare’s vision and also make it a highly accessible entry point into this beautifully crafted world. So, if you have friends or family who are into games, but believe that RPGs aren’t for them, we hope that Dragon Age Legends is an ideal introduction to the genre.

The second goal we set is that for the BioWare faithful, we want Dragon Age Legends to keeps their Dragon Age itch scratched in between releases of the core game. We know that many fans will play through Dragon Age 2 multiple times, but when they’re done we want them to pick up Legends while waiting for the next piece of DLC. Legends is also good for a quick hit of Dragon Age when you’re away from your console or gaming rig. Whether you’re in the school library, stuck in a boring meeting, or taking a break from your desk job, Legends will be there to deliver a dose of Dragon Age goodness.

2) What do you guys have planned for the “Perks” part of the crown store? I guess this goes without saying, but what are perks?

The Perks section is where we plan on selling accelerants, such as a 2x XP boost for 24 hours, or +10 ATK for 24 hours. We wanted to design a mechanism for new players trying to catch up to friends who’ve been playing for weeks to be able to do so without feeling like they have to wake up in the middle of the night to maximize their energy use and crafting output.

3) How do you plan to make Dungeons work? I’ve seen them in NPC castles, but we can’t build them yet.

One of the wonderful things about the software as a service model is that as a developer, you can add to your game for months or even years after its original launch instead of having to put a disc in a box and immediately move on to a sequel. So, we have plenty of ideas waiting in the wings such as Dungeons.

We’re still hammering out all of the details for Dungeons, which won’t be available at launch, but one idea for Dungeons is that you would be able to visit a friends’ castle and sneak a worker into one of their crafting stations. That way, you can take advantage of a friend with a maxed out Apothecary. But, if the owner signs in and catches your worker using their room, they can throw him into the Dungeon for a period of time and get a boost to their castle’s happiness. Of course, once we nail it down, we’ll let you guys know.

4) Will the connectivity between Dragon Age Legends and Dragon Age II remain an important feature after the launch of Dragon Age II?

We want Dragon Age Legends to be around for a long time, and are excited about finding interesting ways to connect Legends to Dragon Age II like we have with the unlock items. We’re excited about designing meaningful ways for time invested in Dragon Age Legends to enhance your experience with the core Dragon Age game. Time will tell, but we hope so.

5) Ever since the Origins launch, BioWare has been committed to Dragon Age not only as a game, but as a franchise. How will Dragon Age Legends contribute to this franchise?

As I said before, our goals for Dragon Age Legends put strengthening the franchise at their core. We want to introduce new players to Dragon Age while also being the bridge that carries Dragon Age faithful between releases of core games and any future content.

6) With such a deep and rich universe to explore and expand upon, what is the scope of Dragon Age Legends and how do you see it evolve in the future?

For Legends’ launch, we’ve been focusing on three main gameplay components: Castle, Quest and Combat. We already have a backlog of major game features we can’t wait to bring to Legends. So long as the community is there to support us, we will expand Legends by adding more than just new quest updates and bug fixes each month. Our ambition is to bring major, game changing features like a PvP Arena, Castle vs Castle battles, Raids, Crafting, Guilds, etc.

If fans love the game and support what EA2D is trying to do, there’s no limit to what Legends will become.

7) Dragon Age Legends producer Ethan Levy has already voiced his commitment to complete the (also awesome!) Dragon Age Journeys saga. Any news to share on that front?

Thanks for the compliment! And thanks for reading my blog posts. Unfortunately, I have no news to share on that front. Our team (myself included) is 100% focused on the successful launch of Dragon Age Legends at the moment. In the meantime, I will treat you to a look at some never-released-before- art from Journeys:

Lord Graedit, the Dragon Cultist

Guarding the Lost, Ivo Family Vault

Also, as an added bonus, here’s a scan from the notebook of when I went to Melbourne to work with Dan Stradwick, the mastermind behind Dragon Age Journeys. We had been working together for some time, and this is my first attempt at fleshing out Dan’s story into the 12 main quests that make up the full Dragon Age Journeys arch. If you can’t read my handwriting, just feel comforted knowing that I can’t either.

Part 1 – Mystery, Part 2 – Royal Notice, Part 3 – Ass Kicking

8 ) Do the skills names/actions in Dragon Age: Legends correspond to skill names/action in Dragon Age 2?

As we were developing in parallel to DA2, we took great inspiration from Dragon Age: Origins as well as the design documentation BioWare provided on Dragon Age II. We also had license to do what was right for the unique gameplay we were crafting with Legends. I’m sure there is overlap, but if so, it is serendipitous. The skill trees in Legends should not be viewed as a sneak peak at the skill trees in Dragon Age II.

9) While it is free to play Dragon Age Legends on Facebook, it looks like you are going to charge for optional premium content. Will Legends still be fun if we don’t buy the premium items? What is the difference between the free and paid items?

Yes, Legends will still be fun if you do not buy premium items. Premium items are designed to accelerate and amplify the fun you have playing Dragon Age Legends. We’ve crafted Legends to be fun for a variety of play styles. You will be able to experience the full game whether you want to invest a lot of time into the game, be social and share your adventure with a lot of friends, or pay for premium items that accelerate and amplify the fun.

Hi everyone. Welcome to another BioWare Facebook Friday. This week, I have asked concept artist Nick Thornborrow to tell us what his life is like here at BioWare.

I have to say, I am doubly impressed with Nick when it comes to his skills. I have long thought that I can write (not as well as our writers, but not too badly either). I’d also like to think I am smart enough that if I went back to school, I could learn the basics of programming. However, I know that I absolutely cannot “art”. I wish I could. I grew up reading comic books and longed to be able to draw them myself. Sadly, I have no skill. I have so much “no skill” when I took introductory art in college, my professor suggested I transfer to Drama. So I am doubly impressed by Nick, not only because he can do “the art”, but because he illustrates comic books and graphic novels. Check out Nick’s blog below, and check out Term Life, in comic shops soon.

Name:

Nick Thornborrow

Where are you from?

I grew up in Waterdown, Ontario; a suburb of Hamilton.

Favorite movies:

The movie that affected me the most was almost certainly JURASSIC PARK. I was ten when I first saw it, and became obsessed. I started collecting any information and watching every making-of special that I could and learned about special effects wizardry and animation. My tastes have changed since then of course, but JURASSIC PARK remains in my influence cannon. Others are THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THE PROPOSITION, UNFORGIVEN, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and our family has a long standing tradition of watching MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL every holiday so I have to include it as well.

Favorite TV:

I actually don’t watch much TV. I tend to pick up the dvd’s of shows I’m interested in. But DEADWOOD (are we sensing a western theme here yet?) is my favorite series. I just started going through THE WIRE and it’s superb. No spoilers please. For lighter fare, I look no further than THE OFFICE.

Favorite books:

ASTERIOS POLYP by David Mazzucchelli, IF ON A WINTER’S NIGHT A TRAVELER by Italo Calvino, anything written by Kurt Vonnegut. I have a soft spot for Craig Thompson’s BLANKETS, and finally  Scott McCloud’s UNDERSTANDING COMICS is probably the most read and re-read book on my shelf.

Favorite pizza toppings:

A simple margheritta pizza does it. Flat crust, olive oil, sea salt, sliced tomato, fresh basil and mozzarella.

Job or title at BioWare:

Concept artist.

How long have you worked for BioWare?

3 ½ years now.

What does a concept artist actually do:

We design all of the characters, costumes, set pieces and anything you see in game as drawings and paintings. As for what I do specifically, I do the bulk of the 2D artwork that appears in Dragon Age, such as the fresco sequence seen in the prologues of Dragon Age: Origins, and Awakening.

What is your average day like at the office?

Coffee and check email. Pick the tunes for the day. Most of the time I’ve been assigned something specific to work on, such as designing a load screen. Usually it’s pretty open ended how we approach whatever it is we’re tackling, but sometimes the art director will have something very specific in mind. I get away from my desk at lunch with work mates. After lunch I’ll come back to my desk to find that I left my computer unlocked and someone has drawn something unsavory on whatever art asset I was working on. Control – Z.

Favorite BioWare moment Game related/thing you are most proud of at BioWare:

When I first started at BioWare, I was working on Sonic Chronicles. It’s probably not the most fondly remembered BioWare title, but the enormous world map paintings that we did for that game are still a lot of fun to look at.

Favorite BioWare moment not game related:

There are many. So here’s one: In mid-summer, late in the development for Dragon Age: Origins, the power suddenly went out. It was startling how quickly the ensuing nerf gun war escalated. Truly a massacre. The veil that divides us from barbarianism is thin indeed.

What do you do to relax/do you have any hobbies:

I write comics in my spare time. I camp and hike in the summer. I try to get to Crossfit twice a week. We play a lot of board games. CATAN is one of my favorites. Also my girlfriend and I like to cook, but she possesses far more skill than I do in that department.

What game are you losing sleep for right now (that you are not working on)?

Civ V. Although things are so busy I’ve only managed to play through one campaign.

What is the most “nerdy” thing about you?

My vocabulary.

If you didn’t work in video games, what would you be doing?

I’d be making comics. Right now I do both so it’s the best of both worlds.

What do you want people to know about you?

Well, if you’re into comics, that’s what I do with the lion’s share of my spare time. I’m one of the editors of a comic volume called THE ANTHOLOGY PROJECT. The second volume of that is coming out in the spring, and you can order the first volume here: http://www.theanthologyproject.com . If you’re familiar with FLIGHT you’ll find this to be a treat. On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve got a gritty, hard-edged crime noir graphic novel called TERM LIFE that is coming out in January. That one is written by COWBOY NINJA VIKING’s A.J. Lieberman and it’s available for pre-order right now.

Evil Chris note – Term Life received a very positive review from Ain’t It Cool News the other week. Check out the review.

Hello BioWare fans, and a Happy Halloween to you all. This week I wanted to do an interview with a Wolfman or some Creature from Beyond the Stars, but they aren’t on staff (yet). So instead, we have Fernando Melo. Fernando is the opposite of monstrous as he’s a great guy, but he does work as hard as 8 vampires and a Frankenstein. Fernando, among his many duties, is in charge of DLC plans for Dragon Age: Origins and is someone I enjoy going to conventions or events with (as seen below, he often takes the abuse in my stead). Anyways, that is enough from me, let’s hear from Fernando.

Name:
Fernando Melo

Where are you from?
I was born in Lisbon, Portugal. But my family moved to Canada when I was very young – I grew up in Toronto most of my life and consider that ‘home’.

Favorite movies:
Off the top of my head, if I knew I’d be stranded on an island (with a decent dvd player and big screen tv), I’d take with me… Star Wars V: Empire Strikes Back (all the cool stuff, without all the fuzzy furry stuff), Aliens (when you absolutely need to nuke something from orbit), Blade Runner (no other reason needed), The Matrix (skin tight vinyl & guns – lots of guns?! Yes please!), Airplane (not that I have a drinking problem), Peter Seller’s The Party (maybe not his most known, and possibly the most politically incorrect these days, but the waiter scene in that movie is probably still the most I’ve ever laughed watching a movie), Bruce Lee’s The Game of Death (where else will you find Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Kareem! It’s like a triumvirate of awesome), Monty Python’s The Meaning Of Life (just be sure to hang on to your liver).

Favorite TV:
Usually I’ll get hooked on shows like 24, Lost and The Event – only to wonder what the heck is going on after missing a show here and there and ultimately give up until the box set is out. Occasionally I’ll watch something like Hell’s Kitchen for inspirational leadership techniques (joke). And having lived in the UK for 5 years I have a soft spot for british wit and comedy including older shows like Rowan Atkinson in the Black Adder series (beware the Spanish Inquisition!).

Favorite books:
Douglas Adams – Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (42 is the answer, after all). William Gibson – Neuromancer, Mona Lisa Overdrive, and currently reading Spook Country (I noticed Jesse Houston already put Neuromancer out there – if you only read one of Gibson’s books, I’d start there). Donald Jack – Three Cheers for Me (second to Hitchhiker’s Guide, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder while reading a book).

Favorite pizza toppings:
Love Hawaiian pizza – ham & pineapple. If I’m making something custom, then roasted red peppers, feta cheese, black olives, and some type of meat will usually factor in there somewhere.

Job or title at BioWare:
I’m a Senior Producer at BioWare. And I work as the Online Producer for the Dragon Age franchise.

How long have you worked for BioWare?
Just over 3 ½ years now.

What does a Senior Producer actually do?
As the Online Producer, I help define the online features of the DA games and how these may interact out of game with the community, as well as generally most things that happen after launch: This includes the plan for DLC and other items (everything from pre-order items to expansion packs), post launch patch support, and in the case of DA:O – the public toolset. I also work closely with the web team on the social site features, the community team to support our fans, and a lot of different EA teams and external partners like Microsoft and Sony to make sure everything from legal, servers, bandwidth, content, etc all meshes in some sort of happy state for our players.

What is your average day like at the office?
Coffee. Check email, server traffic graphs, sales reports, social forums/PMs – usually undo whatever plan I had for today based off what new things may be on fire. Coffee. Daily DA2 play session with the senior leads – call out top issues for the day. Coffee. Then off to some stand-up meetings with some of the game teams. Coffee. Next deal with whatever needs attention – this can be a variety of things: meetings formal or impromptu, emails, phone calls, IM’s… try not to be too distracted by new incoming emails and calls (or adjust plan as needed). Coffee. Roll resistance check…fail…sneak a peek for any Steam deals today. Coffee. On a “light” day, actually do some proper work and catch up on documentation and feedback, non critical emails, review bugs, play the game and have lunch. On a “normal” day, usually I’m packed with meetings and conference calls – so scurry between these (with coffee runs in between), and gather up notes from all these throughout the day. Starting mid-afternoon, there is a similar daily ritual of meetings – a larger daily playthrough of DA2 open to anyone on the team where we pick up where we left off the character and call out issues as we go, followed by the daily bug triage with senior leads – a 1 hour fun-filled session of reviewing new change requests, new (and old) bugs, and breaking people’s dreams (sorry, no unicorns in DA). Coffee. Daily call with Victor Wachter on what’s happening on social & the community. It is now anywhere from 6-7pm – time to document all those notes from today’s meets, move calendar items around to make tomorrow pretend to be a reasonable day. Depending on the day – in the evening (after kids are in bed) pop by social and catch up on the PMs and forums, or play DA2, or play other games.

Favorite BioWare moment Game related/thing you are most proud of at BioWare:
Hard to narrow that down. Prior to joining BioWare I was a fanboy because of the quality storytelling, memorable characters, and plot twists – I can’t think of any other game company that has consistently delivered on that across their games.

Favorite BioWare moment not game related:
I think the one thing that consistently impresses me most about BioWare (apart from its story telling) is its appetite to continue to evolve and improve its art form. It would be easy to knock out quick sequels or to rest on the prior successes – but just as there is a kind of unofficial quality bar that everyone instinctively attunes to, there’s this drive for not simply taking the easy road but rather to do the right thing. Having worked in different industries, game publishers and developers, for me this is one of the things I’m most proud of the folks here for (even if many of them don’t even realize it to be such a special thing).
What do you do to relax/do you have any hobbies: Most of my free time these days goes towards raising wife faction points as well as my kids. However, I love flying – and one day will continue my pilot’s license training – in the meantime however, I would say my main hobby is to fly the virtual skies on MS Flight Simulator or a variety of air combat sims. Whether other folks consider that relaxing or not is another story.

What game are you losing sleep for right now (that you are not working on)?
As things are ramping up for DA2 I’m finding less time to play other games – so currently my stack of ‘to play’ boxes is increasing. But on weekends and some evenings I have been playing Civ V, Medal of Honor, whatever oddities I pick up on steam sales, and all sorts of game demos.

What is the most “nerdy” thing about you?
I suppose I fall into two distinct “nerdy” camps – I’m a game (and particularly rpg) nerd, but also a bit of a plane geek. On the gaming side – I keep an old PC complete with DOS to play all my retro games on as they were meant to be played (although I also use DosBox emu on newer PC). On the plane side – I have detailed plans for one day taking over a small portion of our basement and building a home cockpit.

If you didn’t work in video games, what would you be doing?
Well, my first love was flying actually – the first thing I wanted to be when I grew up (I think I was 5) was a fighter pilot, and I got pretty close. I only discovered my love for computer games in my teens and ultimately deciding that’s what I wanted to do. So if I wasn’t working in video games I’d probably have been pursuing some kind of flying career. Although these days I keep telling myself I should just quit all technology and go plant potatoes somewhere.

What do you want people to know about you?
Not sure what else people would find interesting actually – I’ve been told I’m a fairly stereotypical Capricorn whatever that means. For the rest of us, I’m usually on social answering random threads and helping folks over PM – feel free to say hi. I can’t promise how quickly I can respond as it varies but do try to keep up at least weekly (although that may get worse closer to DA2 launch).

Other than that, I’m really proud of the work we did on Origins, Awakening and the DLCs – we certainly did stumble here and there along the way but we also learned a lot and I firmly believe DA2 will be all the better for it. In the meantime, if you haven’t already tried the additional content – have a look at the DAO Ultimate Edition we just released. This was something a lot of players were asking for throughout DAO’s DLC releases so I’m very pleased we were able to deliver this and at such an awesome price.

Lastly, I’ve had a few players asking about what happens between now and DA2 – hopefully we’ll have lots of DA2 goodness coming at them, but one thing I’m trying to spend more time on along with Victor Wachter and Chris Priestly who are llooking at DAO mods. If you’re on the PC, there are some pretty impressive community mods out (and a lot more blooming) so we’re going to see what we can do to help raise awareness for those but I’d highly recommend checking some out – start with the DAO General forum on the social site where a great thread exists on released player mods, or select Projects from the tabs at the top of the site and sort by popularity or recent updates.

Members of the Dragon Age Toolset community have taken the initiative to promote the use of the toolset and encourage new modders to learn the craft by holding the Community Contest. This is an ongoing contest open to all modders, experienced and new alike, consisting of various categories to allow participants to focus on their own areas of interest. You can win prizes, including DLC releases from BioWare, gift cards from the BioWare Store, gift cards for Amazon.com and more.

For more information on the Community Contest, visit the Community Contest Wiki Page. The winners of the first contest categories focusing on Settlements and Prop Models have been announced, and you can download all of the entries from Dragon Age Nexus. But there is still time to enter the Head Morph, Character, and Mini-Game/Puzzle categories.

To learn more about the Community Contest, join the Community Contest Group on the BioWare Social Network. We’d like to thank mikemike37, TimelordDC and Dragon Age Nexus and the BioWare Social Network toolset community for their time and effort in holding the contest. We’re looking forward to checking out the creative works of all who enter!

Today was the World Premiere to the public of Dragon Age 2. I love that statement. I think people get used to the word “premiere” and don’t get what a big thing it can be. Until Thursday, outside of those of us from BioWare & EA, only 10 people in the world had seen Dragon Age 2 (the folks from Game Informer and some EU press). If you were the first person in line when we opened the doors just afternoon yesterday, you were the 11th person ever! I think that is pretty damned cool.

Yesterday was a darned fine day. We did have a technical problem that borked 4 of our 16 machines, so the wait in line was a bit longer than we had planned it to be. The great thing was, our fans were willing to wait and  think for the most part, enjoyed what they saw on getting in. For your patience, we thank you.

The demo is a combination of demonstration by us, where usually Mike Laidlaw the Lead Designer, or David Silvrman, the DA Brand Manager, explain a bit about how we have improved Dragon Age 2 and actual hands on time playing the game. While we think the game is better in many ways, we want fans to experience the combat for themselves.

Hopefully more of you fans will make it down to our booth today. We are giving away blood tattoos, free DA2 swords (better and cooler than last years model) and have  kick-asss room where we have fixed the tech problem so more people can play the game. Me, the other BioWare guys her, and teh fine folks from Viseral Studios who are showing Dead Space 2 in an ajoining room what you to come down and have some fun playing 2 great games.  Plus, you can ask youe Dragon Age questions to Lead Designer Mike Laidlaw. He’s actually a really nice guy and hardly killed anyone with his staff of might yesterday. Hardly.

Hello Dragon Age fans

Today I am really pleased to get to show off a preview of a new comic book by IDW Publishing and BioWare/EA Comics – Dragon Age. Issue #1 of Dragon Age is now available through iTunes HERE and is available on PSP HERE

As those of you who read this blog know, I am a huge comic book nerd. Basement full of back issues? I got them. Shelves full of statues and toys? Bookcases full. Superhero themed underwear badly in need of a wash? No comment, but I think you get the idea. I am a big fan of comic books and as you can guess from my job, I’m also a big fan of Dragon Age and BioWare’s games.

For those of you not yet big fans of IDW like I am, let me tell you a bit about them. IDW Publishing is well known in the comic world for working on some of the biggest titles and licenses around. Are you a fan of Transformers? How about Doctor Who? Star Trek, G.I.Joe, A-Team and many more famous TV and movie properties. They also have many of their own great titles like 30 Days of Night, Locke & Key, Wormwood (a personal favorite) and many more. You can read more about IDW Publishing and their comics or pay a visit to their store HERE.

Dragon Age (the comic) is build directly from the story and lore created by BioWare, but is created by an amazing team of artists and writers from IDW. The comic is written by acclaimed author Orson Scott Card (author of the Ender Saga amongst much more) and Aaron Johnson with interior art by Mark Robinson and cover art by renowned artist Humberto Ramos. The comic will take video game fans into a whole new adventure in the Dragon Age world. In a time lost to history, a war ravaged the land. Mages, incredibly powerful wielders of magic, ruled the world through mastery of dark arts and forbidden spells. Their lust for power almost destroyed all existence, and unleashed an unholy pestilence, the Darkspawn, to plague mankind, trolls, faeries, and all the inhabitants of the realm. Now magic is carefully controlled, taught behind the sacred walls of the Circle of Magi, and monitored by the ever-vigilant Templars. It is in this arena that a new generation of Mages in training will arise, warriors of sorcery who will defy the rules of the Templars and change the course of the world forever. To learn more about the comic, you can visit the Dragon Age comic page on IDW Publishing HERE.

IDW have been great to work with and want all of our BioWare fans to get a sneak peek at the cover (as you can see above along with page #1) and the first 6 pages of Issue Number 1. You can download a PDF file of the cover and first 6 pages HERE. If, like me, you love the art and the Dragon Age world, you need to get your hands on Issue #1 which is on store March 31. If you are not near a comic shop but, like all good Dragon Age fans, you still want to read the comic, the fine folks at IDW have made Dragon Age (and many others from their repertoire) available for download on iTunes. Check with your local comic shop for details or check out the IDW Publishing store and iTunes to make you sure don’t miss out on Dragon Age.

We are very pleased to bring you an awesome new Dragon Age: Origins comic strip jointly created by one of the members of our Community, Irma Ahmed who is better known by her artist name Aimo with assistance from Dragon Age: Origins Lead Writer David Gaider. If you have not yet had a chance to see Aimo’s art, you should check out her personal art website here: Aimo Studio Fortunately for us, not only is Aimo/Irma a very talented artist, she is also a huge Dragon Age fan. She and David were talking one day and… actually, I think it would be better if Mr Gaider explained in his own words.

David Gaider – “I’ve always been a big fan of Aimo’s art – she has an incredible ability to capture the emotions of her characters. So I started chatting with her a bit back in January, and the idea came up for us to maybe collaborate on something. I mentioned a cutscene we had considered doing prior to Morrigan’s offer in the climax (*spoiler alert* for anyone who hasn’t played that far in Origins) but which had been left on the cutting room floor along with so many other scenes. This one in particular was hard to cut, because it was supposed to give some context to the player who romances Morrigan or who had become really good friends with her that what she was about to do was causing her conflict. As is pretty typical for game development, however, you have to work with the resources at hand… but this comic will maybe allow some people a brief glimpse into the “might have been” that was. Naturally Aimo’s efforts here were ten times mine… all I had to do was write up the scene from memory and then she proceeded to sketch it out over the next few weeks. Pretty awesome, if you ask me. Hope you all enjoy it!”

Check out Page 1 below and then click the links to see the full 8 pages.

Dragon Age: The Revelation Page 1

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Aimo, real name Irma Ahmed, has been playing Bioware games since the days of Baldur’s Gate II. Dragon Age:Origins is her current gaming ambrosia, which has inspired many fan creations on her part such as artworks, comics, and even storyboard animatics of party banter. She credits the game for unearthing an affection for the Dwarves, as evidenced by pro-dwarf themes in her tributes.

When she’s not juggling game time between a Dwarf Princess, an Underdog Elf, and a Noble Whelp, she is a professional sketch card artist. Her work credits include traditional medium art for card companies as Topps, Upper Deck, and Rittenhouse Archives on properties of Lucasfilm, New Line Cinema, and Marvel. She intends to sit down and start working on that one great comic opus in the near future.

I recently stole a moment with the Lead Writer of Dragon Age: Origins Awakening, Ferret Baudoin, to ask him a few questions about the recently revealed Sigrun character. If you haven’t yet learned abotu Sigrun, you can check her out here: SIGRUN

Hey, Ferret — can you tell us a bit more about the background of the new character Sigrun?
Dust Town. The mean streets of Orzammar. That’s where Sigrun hails from. As was seen in Origins, Dust Town is an oppressive place where people do whatever they can to survive. Sigrun was no exception. She was an accomplished thief and unwitting killer who was eventually caught. She was given a choice: immediate execution or join the Legion of the Dead. She chose the Legion.

So Sigrun went to her own sparsely attended funeral and joined her new brothers and sisters in the Legion. Everyone in the Legion is considered dead already. And for many, the formality becomes actuality in rapid order. The Legion goes far into the Deep Roads, in places no sane dwarf would dare to venture, killing darkspawn by the score. Sigrun found redemption in the order, camaraderie, and time to be retrospective about her misspent life.

So she travels with her unit, knowing that one day death will claim them all. But deep inside, she struggles against the hard won street wisdom of Dust Town: “survive at any cost.” And that makes it hard for her to stoically embrace the honorable death that must great all members of the Legion.

What is her personality like?
People picture the Legion of the Dead as fatalistic warriors who are grimly eager to impale themselves upon a darkspawn spear. Sigrun defies that. She’s perky, upbeat, with a macabre sense of humor. As bleak as her life is in the Legion, it’s actually a step up from her threadbare existence in Dust Town. So she has that going for her. She also has a fascination with the world above, which she has never seen.

About the only thing she has a proper legionnaire attitude about are the darkspawn. She was initially afraid of them, but as new comrades and friends die one-by-one, it stokes her hatred. Now it burns very bright indeed.

Why would you want her in your party?
As a legionnaire scout, Sigrun has access to abilities which make her very durable in a fight. She’s a dual-wielding rogue who is adept at hiding and sneaking. With a few good runes on her weapons and some of the new epic rogue abilities, she can be a damage-dealing machine who strikes suitable terror in her foes — especially when she strikes from behind, where her quick backstabs add up to impressive numbers.

What inspired the team to make this character?
There are many things in Thedas we want to explore, but the Legion of the Dead is a very intriguing part of dwarven culture, a group of walking “dead” bent on redemption for their scandals, crimes, or atrocities. Grim heroes of the deep. We wanted to explore them more in depth and tie them into the story of Awakening. Having a legionnaire companion is a chance to humanize the Legion and delve into what they’re about. And as far as Sigrun’s charmingly off-beat personality, that’s all thanks to writer Sheryl Chee.

Ferret is the lead designer of the Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening expansion pack. He has been at BioWare since 2006, and throughout his career has worked on games like Dragon Age: Origins, Neverwinter Nights 2, and Knights of the Old Republic 2, among many others. His interests include travelling the world, playing games (duh), and plotting against the poor helpless denizens of Thedas (they had it coming). This is world-traveler Ferret at Karnak in Egypt

BioWare and the Dragon Age Team invites you to bid on our uber lot of Dragon Age goodies. You’ll receive a giant banner signed by the whole team, signed copies of each Collector’s Edition of Dragon Age: Origins, signed lithographs, a shield, a limited edition hardbound comic by the Penny Arcade Guys, novels, and much much more!

Become the owner of many one of a kind items from the top selling and award winning hit game, Dragon Age: Origins! All of the proceeds of this ONE TIME ONLY auction will go to the Child’s Play charity. A similar auction lot at the Child’s Play Charity event in early this month fetched thousands of dollars, so get your bid in early! This NO RESERVE auction for Charity will start at $0.99!

Check out the full list of items available and make your bids today over at the Dragon Age: Origins Ebay Child’s Play Auction page HERE