The Power of Words

This will be a completely self-indulgent post, so buckle up.

As this is unofficial Dragon Age Day (#Dragon4geDay on Twitter, yo) everyone's been putting all kinds of things on Twitter about Dragon Age and what it means to them. I can't quite do that, little introvert that I am, so I came here to the far smaller audience to spend a moment to talk about it.

But before I actually get to the boring part, I'd like to share some of my favorite screenshots from DAI first, because I Can (tm).

By the way, all these pictures have My Inquisitor in them. Can you spot him?


( Forbidden Oasis )

( Emprise de Lion )

( Redcliffe )

( Corypheus )

( Emerald Graves )

All right, self-indulgent screenshots now out of the way.

The year 2014 was the first year I seperated from my ex. I was alone (but not lonely, that had happened years before) for the first time in a long time, and I didn't really enjoy anything. I was low-key depressed in a perfectly standard way, so I just kept pressing forward figuring it would get better eventually. The one date I really was not looking forward to was our anniversary, because that was the one time of year we had always done something I truly enjoyed together, and now I would be alone.

And then they announced the release date for Dragon Age: Inquisition. The same date, exactly, of our anniversary.

And suddenly it wasn't about dreading the approach of the date and wondering about the best wine to stock. Suddenly I was looking forward to something. I planned for it: bought a new computer, arranged for days off, made sure that I had everything I needed. It really drove home that I was, indeed, happiest when I could do what I wanted, and honestly helped me accept that yes, I'm fine and dandy alone and thoroughly enjoy it.

So, yeah. I love Dragon Age. They took something that could have been a big ol' shadow for a few years and almost overnight turned it into an enduring enjoyment of a video game that I really, truly enjoy and can find endless things to write and think about.

So... thank you, Dragon Age. You really helped me out, then and after. Couldn't have done it without you.