Dragon Age - Return to Ostagar - New DLC Planned
 

Bioware has announced a new DLC, Return to Ostagar for Dragon Age: Origins. The DLC will let players go back to Ostagar to seek revenge on the darkspawn as well as letting them get a second chance to to get Dog.
The DLC will be released this holiday season. On the PC, the price will be 5 US Dollars which you can check out at Bioware's Dragon Age site along with some additional info.
For good measure, here's the full press release:
Spotted @Kotaku, Shacknews, Blues News, Gamebanshee, Voodoo Extreme and thanks to Dave for writing in with a similar submission.

Update: Some quick comments from BioWare's Rob Bartel on the official forums:
More information.

Wow - I'm all for more DA goodness, but … dang! Let us clamor for it a little!

March might be a better time frame, though I speak as someone who doesn't burn through an 80-hour game in 6 hours.

Can't see anything with the dark background.

This might be the game I might consider buying DLC for.

I can't access the editor from work to fix it. You'll have to highlight it, or switch to the white background for now.

I'll get on it, don't think I have the rights to edit the forum copy though.

Sounds interesting enough, and it's definitely cheap. The only problem is that I will have no doubt moved on to another game by then, and I don't know if I'd go back to DA just to play a DLC.

DA = DLC Age ;)

I'm so sorry for the inconvience to visitors who use the dark style :(

I've tried to fix the problem for 2 about 2 hours now; it seems I can't?
At least not on the forums. Woges fixed it on the front page. Thank you Woges :)

I'm working on doing this better in the future. Hope you can forgive me…

As for the DLC itself, a 1 hour DLC for around 5 US dollars is not something I'd would be interested in buying anytime soon, at least not as a stand-alone DLC.

And why would we want to back to Ostagar to get the King's armour?

I know that many fans would like to go back to Ostagar, at least to get a (second) chance to get Dog, but imo, they could have just paid attention the first time around. Sorry to be so harsh, but this is how I feel…

Also, the DLC sounds like it will be pure or mostly combat…

When they were talking about DLC I had NWN premium modules in mind. Maybe with some time they'll start releasing some DLC with some meat on their bones. Until then I'm not so sure I'll be getting this. I'd rather spend 10 dollars on some indie games that I've had my eye on rather than an adding a quest that is only an hour long.

Once I finish the game I doubt Ill come back to finish one small dlc every few month
or so. Especially if they are as bad as the mass effect dlcs.

More likely Im totally bored with the game once Ive spent the hundred hours or so into it.

Of course I could just shelve the game and come back in two years once its "completely" finished.

I think they are going to lose out on this one since 1 hour doesn't equal $5 worth of gameplay. By the time this comes out there will be free mods that far surpass the length of this. From the sounds of this DLC it would be easy for a person to make a mod of this and release it before Bioware does and still be longer then 1 hour.

Not interested in this at all. And it doesn't bode well for future dlc. If they put out dlc that has several hours of play like a new huge dungeon or lengthy questline then I'm interested. This just seems like a quick and easy way to make a buck for EA, no thanks.

I would really be sad if I hadn't taken Dog with me. The silly beast is great comic relief and makes for some entertaining conversation with party members. Good that people who missed it can come back for it.

If it's as good as Stone Prisoner/Watcher's Keep, I'm certainly coughing up 5$ for it. If it's Oblivion-horse-armor quality, I won't even consider it. Waiting for reviews.

Much though I love the game, unless it comes out early enough that I'm still playing it I won't be buying it if it's only an hour long.

I could well see myself picking up some DLC bundles and community content in a year's time though to add a bit of variety to a second playthrough.

They should give this away for free if it is really just an hour in an area that they don't even need to create.

I was quite amused to find out that they can't even have really had to create Shale from scratch, very sneaky.

Half-life2 episodes are like 2 hours only but still extremely successful. If these dlc were atleast the same quality I might buy them.

The last HL2 episode was 7-8 hours.

Why is everyone saying Return to Ostagar is 1 hour? Where does it state that?

If you read the original newsbit on the front page, that's the estimate for a new player from Rob Bartel. He says he can do an optimised speed run in 15-20 mins.

I get the feeling that this isn't going to do much for their reputation.

At least they're being absolutely up front about how short the DLC is, can't really see the problem so long as you know what you're buying.

So it is $5 for an hour of content and some loot and a continuity tie-in. No clue if I'll grab it or not, but again, that is a choice. It isn't like this is critical stuff for the story, just a little add-on.

this is why full voice over is not that good of a thing. Obviously user created content can be much better than this, for free probably, but they don't have to add all the features that a 'Official Bioware Product' would have to include. Voice acting costs money, and that goes into those $5 for the one hour gameplay it adds.
Me? I'd rather have no voiceovers and a more extensive gameplay for the same $5.

Would be nice to see some collaborations between Bioware and the community - e.g. if someone makes a "premium module" quality effort then they could approach Bioware and see if they want to pick it up for a fee paying release and bring in their voice actors & cut-scene animators.

I know that people think that 5 US dollars is a lot; in my currency it is around 25 Danish Crowns. (DKK) I've just spent 35 Danish Crowns on candy or 7 US dollars.

However, for ½-1 hour adventure in Ferelden, this isn't that great a price. On the other hand, people gladly pay 15 US dollars (90 Danish Crown) for a movie ticket.

It's all in the perspective…

I feel as you, aries. To me, $5-10 is really insignificant. I'm not rich, but I have a gaming budget and if no other game is soaking up the budget at that time, I'll buy the DLC and install it. That way, the next time I actually desire to play DAO, it'll be on my system. At my current interest level, I'll be replaying DAO the next time, as soon as I finish it this time. I'm purposely using Allister, Morrigan, and Leilana as my primary NPC's. I only use the other's if it seems like the area would call for them. I didn't have Zehrvan for Brecilian area, so in a replay I might take him. I'd like to have dog as a main ally, but his lack of non-combat skills always leaves him out in this game. I love making potions, setting traps, picking pockets, etc.-dog can't do any of that. Neither can Shale, so I never take him either. I'm sure that on a replay, I'll add them for variety.

crpgnut, there are some special things that dog can do if you talk to him. Try it out.

$5 for an hour? Compared to the base cost of an RPG that's not that great *BUT* compared to many other games it is. A lot of AAA non-RPGs that go for $50+ are lucky to have 8 hours of play time. I am willing to pay $5 for an hours entertainment but as with other DLC I'll wait to hear from some reviews about it first.

It's too insignificant. The price isn't really what I would have a problem with. It's that there is nothing really added to the game. If they released a half dozen of these and bundled them together then I would gladly pay more for it. I just don't like being fed tiny little portions.

A bundle would definitely be better than dribbling them out. But most companies eventually do bundle up their DLC.

OK, first, what $50 AAA games are you talking about that have under 8 hours of play time? RPGs, non-RPGs, I don't see it. Unless you're specifically looking at the SP portion of games that are primarily MP.

Second, obviously, if $5/hour is a good price, than we're OK with a 40-hour game costing $200? How much should the basic DA have cost at that rate?

Here's my thoughts, Yeesh. I would love to play a Might and Magic game again or Ultima or Wizardry. The problem is that games of this magnitude take 4-5 years to come out and many companies fail after x number of games. I'd rather see some of this nibbling, in the hopes that the company stays afloat between the 4 year mega-releases. Bioware has lots of dough, but if this will keep them interested in single-player crpgs, then I'm happy to shell out the small bills.

That's groovy. I just worry that ultimately capitalism fails to provide its dividend of superior value and quality if the consumer tells the game company, "Look, just so you know, I'll buy anything you put out. 40 hours, 10 hours, 2 hours, doesn't matter, you get my money."

If we don't push back when companies deliver products of dubious value, then we invite a future where a game like DAO itself will not get made. Why put all that work into an epic game for $50, if people will pay that price for a 10-hour RPG? Companies are supposed to try and get away with providing as little as they can for your money, and consumers are supposed to make sure they stop paying when the companies cross the line and provide too little value. I'm not saying I know exactly where the line is, but $5 for a sub-1-hour DLC seems to be on the wrong side of it.

Well, we'll see. I earnestly think that it's a shame that in the game industry, much or most of the "innovation" we've been seeing lately has been confined to the area of extracting more money from the customer.

I was just comparing the price of the DLCs for DA:Origins with prices people pay for coffee or candy. The value (worth) of the DLCs are another story, totally and differently. I won't be buying any of the DLCs as I don't think I'll get my money's worth. And I a few know more people saying so at the Bioware site; they feel the same way I do about this.

Playing adventure/puzzle games, it seems that games in Chapters are becoming popular. The new Sam and Rabbbit games are being made into chapters. 2-4 hour games for around 7 US dollars. A typical adventure game will take around 10-12 hours to complete; theyare be sold for about 40-50 US dollars. [At least for Frogware's Sherlock Holmes games]. Some games are a bot short and is sold for about 15-25 dollars or in that price range.

I, for one, didn't buy Mass Effect, untill the price dropped tohalf the original retail price. For an hour of content in a DLC, I would probably bay around 2-3 US dollars.

Haha, too true.

As for this particular DLC, it just seems weak, though the armor will be overpowered, I´m sure.

We'll never get anywhere if we compare the value of DLCs to the value of anything other than games. People pay $12.50 to see a 90 minute movie here. ($16 if it's in 3D (god that makes my head hurt (the price AND the 3D))), but why stop there? People pay $100 for an hour's shiatsu massage, and some people drop $1000 or more on 4 hours at a strip club.

SO WHAT? This is not a movie or a massage, it's a game. No other pricing matters.

I think it's most instructive to compare the value of DLC to the value of the old non-DLC: the expansion pack. Multiply the price and hours until you get $20 or $30, and ask yourself if someone released a boxed expansion with this much gameplay per dollar, would I balk?

What's funny is that expansions, unlike DLC, are (were?) expected to provide not just new content but also new features. And what's funnier is that expansions needed to go through that whole publishing and distributing dealy before a penny was realized, expenses that DLC sweetly sidesteps. And yet even so, I think that in most cases, expansions provide way more bang for the consumer buck than DLC seems to want to.

So what the hell?

The game was a good experience, but I'm through with it for quite a while. Post-completion DLC is pointless unless they represent expansion-sized stuff.

For me, that is.

As for the DLC discussion, Rob Bartel also says this:

And Bioware is still working on a new patch…

Now, this is entirely new info - at least to me.

Games should be compared to games, yes. However, adventure/puzzle gamers gladly pay 6.99 US dollars for a casual game on BigFish, and 7 US dollars for 3-4 hour game for new Sam and Max game (and they're even done in chapters now).
Most adventure games today are about 10-12 hours long; people play 40-50 dollars for those (or a bit less).

Shooters like Halo, FEAR, Bioshock, MW2, will take you maybe 10-12 hours to complete max. And people still buy Call of Duty:MW2 at full price for an 8-10 hour gaming experience, then they move on (perhaps) to play a new shooter or Rock Band or Guitar Hero. The point is withthe OC in DA: Origins you'll get much much more content for your money than you'll get playing Uncharted 2 (which is like 8-10hours for full asking price=60 US dollars). You'll do this since DA: Origins is at least 40-60 hours, or more.

10 years ago when I started playing games, I've bought Baldur's Gate 1; the price was 349 DKK (about 50 US dollars). Today the price is still 349 DKK. And games have become much much expensive to make than they were 10-12 years ago.
The dev. team still needs to be paid, rent has to be paid as well etc. etc.

Hence, companies need finding ways to earn money, DLC and Micro-transactions are one way to do this. Sadly :( I do think that they days of the major expansions are over. It's too risky a business to make 20-40 hour expansion like Tales of the Sword Coast or Throne of Bhaal these days…

I can sympathize to a point, but 10 years ago the gaming industry and audience was also a whole lot smaller than it is today. Not to mention, a game like DA is (this is me assuming though) enjoying great success on 3 seperate platforms.

Still, I wonder if this will really become a huge problem in the industry if the costs of making a game will end up being too large in relation to the actual sales. I mean, the industry has expanded rather fast.

I know I for one wouldn't mind seeing more lower budget games where the developers can afford to take more risks in designing the game. The indie scene will and does provide that I suppose.

Hey, you quest for the King's armor; so think of it as the NEW Horse Armor DLC!! :)