"To you, Hawke. May I fight at your side for years to come."
I received a very unexpected gift this weekend and I am so thrilled that I want to talk about it here and everywhere. An old friend who had advised me back when I was still trying to get through Dragon Age Origins popped up last night and started asking questions about Dragon Age: 2. I told him that I'm still near the end of the base game. Not long ago I had mentioned online that I couldn't justify the cash for BioWare Points to get the DLC that's missing from my version of the game. I don't mind paying for games at all, but it is the season of giving and all that. I have other expenses to think about.
But another point is that DA:2 is older now and its DLC never goes on sale. BioWare Points are old/outdated and also never go on sale. Everything else related to the video games does. Believe me, I've kept track of it. If I could have snapped them up via the big summer sale or something like that, I might have been able to. I had resigned myself to just finish DA:2 and forego the DLC without too much heartache, since I did get Inquisition Game of the Year Edition at a great price this summer. It's just waiting for me to start it. I knew some missing DLC was truly a first world problem and I was ready to just suck it up.
That wasn't good enough for my friend, however. He sent me a cash infusion expressly for the purpose of rounding out my game and getting in on those adventures, and I can't wait to get started with them. What's more is that another not-so-secret Santa sent me a gift of music from the series, also out of the blue this week. I adore gaming music anyway, and I have loved the scores for the various DA games. I've had the albums I don't own yet on my Amazon wish list and hoped to receive them, since there's nothing like driving through Los Angeles with such songs in your car - or running a tabletop game with that music available.
I feel like the Grinch when his heart grew three sizes. It's been a tough time for everyone lately, it seems, and I have been dealing with my share of the pie. I haven't been able to do as much for folks as I'd like, and certainly not enough to deserve the hard-earned cash of distant friends. These unexpected, unasked for gifts have lifted my spirits greatly and reminded me of the power of giving when you don't care what you receive in return. One year, I did the same thing for a stranger on a Sims forum who was having a bad time and couldn't afford a new expansion for her lonesome holiday season. I didn't have much cash back then but I had just enough for that. I sent it before she told me her whole story, and then I listened to her tale, and it did something wonderful for both of us.
So what's the real point of this, besides praising my friends and letting the world know how grateful I am for their generosity? If you have friends who haven't played the Dragon Age video games and you think they would enjoy the setting, consider asking them about it this year. You can send gifts via Origin and Steam. You can benefit from sale prices, and it doesn't have to take much to expose them to something they might play the hell out of and come to love. If you have roleplaying friends who haven't tried the pen and paper game, you can offer to run it for them as a gift. You can also send PDFs of the tabletop materials for the Dragon Age game by Green Ronin, or you can splurge on print copies to have delivered to someone's door.
Games, which combine imagination and leisure (and can include friends), can be important for our morale and mental health. You never know how much someone is struggling or how much their heart will be lifted by such a gift. Make some inquiries to make sure they'll be interested, but if the chances look good, go for it. If you get to try it out, let me know how it goes. And if you've already gotten a Dragon Age-related gift from someone, who gave it to you and what was it? =)
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