First Dragon Age: Origins DLC Details

Today BioWare confirmed the contents of the previously revealed Collector's Edition of Dragon Age: Origins. While doing so, they also offered up some details about the game's first downloadable content.

"The Stone Prisoner" downloadable content pack is said to contain hours of fresh gameplay. The DLC centers around a new playable character, a stone golem named Shale, and adds new quests, items, and environments to the game. It will cost $15 separately but anyone who buys a brand new copy of Dragon Age (collector's or standard edition) will get it for free.

The exclusive Mass Effect 2 content hinted at last month is also free for folks who buy a new copy of the game. It's a set of Blood Dragon armor that can be used in either DA:O or ME2.

The "three pieces of exclusive in-game content" mentioned in the Collector's Edition description are items. Bergen's Honor is a helmet made of dragonbone, the Grimoire of the Frozen Wastes is a book that boosts your attributes, and Final Reason is a magical staff.

All pre-order customers will get a Memory Ring which boosts your experience points gain and gives you a free skill point. Select retailers are offering additional items. Pre-ordering through Gamestop, for example, will net you a Feral Wolf Charm that boosts health regeneration and armor.

Point is, there's a lot of free crap you can accumulate by pre-ordering and/or buying a fresh copy of the game. Looks like EA's trying to curb used game sales, which is understandable because they don't make a dime off someone buying a pre-owned version of the game. We'll see if it works. Dragon Age: Origins will be released on November 3rd in North America and November 6th in Europe for the PC and Xbox 360. The PS3 version is expected later that month.