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Did You Know: Dragon Age - Symphony - 09-25-2012 10:27 PM
Hey guys. I know I haven't submitted a did you know and that's pretty much because I really think I suck at pointing them and in understanding references. But alas, my favorite RPG of all time has a pretty decent amount of easter eggs and random stuff. Hope you like them :3
Baldur Gates:
* On both installments, when exiting a map location, a window asks "Gather your party and venture forth?" This is a reference to Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and Icewind Dale: when the PC attempted to leave an area too far ahead of the NPC companions, a voiceover would state, "You must gather your party before venturing forth."
* An item your dog may dig up is a pair of pantaloons. You can read the following in the item's description "On closer inspection, it appears they were once either gold or silver in color." This is a reference to the golden, silver, and bronze pantaloons that could be collected in a trilogy-spanning Easter egg (in Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, respectively).
* One of the codex entries (#319 to be more specific) mentions a powerful enemy named Gaxkang. This is a reference to the Demilich Kangaxx, a hidden character who was one of the toughest fights in Baldur's Gate II.
* In the Witch Hunt DLC, there is a book in the Circle library called "Does This Book Have Griffons in it?"—a reference to the Baldur's Gate II character Jan Jansen and his obsession with griffons.
Neverwinter Nights:
* The Harvest Festival Ring in Honnleath (The Stone Prisoner DLC) could be a reference to the Harvest Festival Cloak from Neverwinter Nights 2.
* You can read on a haven Tombstone: "In memory of the Lohs, forever frozen in never-ending winter nights."
Superman:
* In the prelude to the random encounter 'The Crater', an old human couple and a smoldering crater can be seen. The male human says, "It's a boy, Marta! Ten fingers, ten toes! The Maker's answered our prayers!" This is a reference to Superman. The ore recovered from the crater can be crafted into Starfang with the Warden's Keep DLC. Starfang and the Crater can both be traced to the comic book Superman: Kal. In this "elseworld" setting, Superman crashes to earth in medieval England, and forges both a suit of armor and a sword from his crashed spacecraft. In the story this sword is the legendary Excalibur.
Sherlock Holmes:
* The Blackstone Irregulars are a possible reference to the Baker Street Irregulars employed by 'Sherlock Holmes'.
Lord of the Rings:
* A random encounter brings the party to a small abandoned camp with a Shade ambush and two dead bodies. A note on one of the corpses reads, "Why, oh why didn't we just take the flying eagles?" This is a reference to a popular YouTube spoof which suggests How Lord of the Rings Should Have Ended.
* The description for the item Ring of the Warrior says that it is "gold, covered in elven script. Whatever the writing says, it's awfully wordy." This is an obvious reference to the Ring of Sauron in the Lord of the Rings. Also possibly a joke about Tolkien's works being rather long winded and wordy.
* After a fight Varric (D.A II) will sometimes yell, "Another one for me, how many you got Hawke?" a reference from The Lord of the Rings when Gimli (also a dwarf) and Legolas were keeping score of how many foes they slew. A sarcastic Hawke will also make a comment about keeping score during battle.
Star Wars:
* Upon unlocking the door to free Anora (who is dressed in armor), you can comment: "Aren't you a little short for a guard?" This is a reference to Star Wars: A New Hope, when Leia sees Luke in a similar situation.
* One of the better pieces of rogue armor, which can be purchased for 20 sovereigns from Legnar in Orzammar Commons, is given the name "Shadow of the Empire". This references both the book and video game of the same name.
* In the Hanged Man (D.A II), if you speak with Aveline, she will say, "A hive of scum and villainy, every city needs the outlet." The phrase 'hive of scum and villainy' is used by Obi-Wan Kenobi to describe the Mos Eisley spaceport in the original 1977 Star Wars.
Miscellaneous:
* In the DLC Witch Hunt, when walking through the tower two mages can be heard talking about pets; one of them mentions an owl and the other responds "What kind of mage has an owl?" This may be a reference to Harry Potter.
* The name of the world in Dragon Age, Thedas, is an acronym originally used on the official forums to refer to the then-unnamed setting. It stands for The Dragon Age Setting ('The D.A.S.').
* A random encounter in the Denerim Market District has nine cats standing in a row. This is the infamous "Zombie Kitten Army" made famous by developers and regulars on the original BioWare forums.
Players may need to enter the Market at least 42 times for this to trigger.
* If you speak with Sten at the end-game celebration, he mentions he thought there would be cake, and that "[t]he cake is a lie", referencing to Portal.
* Every so often when Oghren is spoken to in Camp, rather than opening dialogue he will laugh and say "Asschabs!". This is an in-joke by David Gaider, who after the long hours of writing Dragon Age, created the 'ASSociation of CHAir Butt Sufferers'.