I don't know anything about Origin. Is there something wrong with it? Besides being connected with EA that is.
In all seriousness, Origin is reasonably inoffensive. It functions OK, isn't loaded with malware as far as I can tell and it's not as if you have to have to run it when you're not playing games. The only thing wrong with it is that it's an EA product and because of it they pulled several of their games (including Dragon Age 2 incidentally) off of Steam. To be brutally honest, the way Steam has be going these last few years I *almost* prefer Origin at this point. It beats the hell out of GFWL, plus I don't remember the last time Steam gave out free games. I know I was. I'd never played a fantasy RPG before DAO, but I bought it in a Steam sale on the strength of it coming from the same studio as Mass Effect and some positive reviews. According to Steam I've put something like 280 off hours into it on and off over the course of four years...which is more than a little scary, but about right considering you can easily take 80-100 hours on one playthrough and I've done five with a sixth well on the way. Incidentally, there's a veyr good selection of mods for it over on the Nexus, though I'd recommend sticking to the vanilla game at least for the first time though.
Yup. Baulder's Gate and the Ultima series passed me by. I was always more of a sci-fi fan and the whole swords and magic thing just never really appealed to me. Well unless you count Gauntlet or the Dizzy games.
For fantasy RPGs, DAO was my first one too. I'd played a small part of KOTOR2 and all of Mass Effect (after a friend recommended it) and that was enough for me to pick up DAO on release day.
Found another freebie giveaway: For the next few days, GoG is giving away a free copy of 'Aliens Vs. Predator (2000)' to anyone that signs up to their new client beta.
^Even if you own a physical copy of the game, it's worth getting this since as is typical with GoG, they've made sure it runs on modern systems and apparently even added xBox 360 controller support.
Damn, looks like I missed it. Though frankly I probably was more interested in the Galaxy beta which it would appear I have also missed out on. Oh well.
Bundle Stars is offering the complete Batman Arkham collection for PC for only 9.99 (Steam account required). That's Arkham Asylum, Arkham City and Arkham Origins, plus the Season Pass DLC, Black Mask Challenge Pack DLC, and Online Supply Drops 1 and 2 DLCs for Origins. That's a heck of a bargain. Deal is only good through the 16th, up until midnight Pacific time. Link
There's a deal on EA games for XBONE (XBL Gold members only). http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=980102 Titanfall for only 7.50 quid is a pretty great deal.
There's a sale for Square Enix games on Steam over the weekend. Tomb Raider GOTY Edition is 80% off (EUR 5.99), highly recommend it if you haven't played it yet. There are also some pretty beefy collections (Thief, Tomb Raider, Just Cause, Deus Ex, Hit Man franchises) with 75 to 80% off.
Microsoft has knocked $20 of the price of their Xbox Live 12-Month Gold Membership, making it $39.99 now. Don't know how long it will last, though.