Dragon Age starts to have ridiculous long loading screens at some points, I was amazed with how short D2 were (a lot like 2 worlds actually), thou it comes at a price of a lot of stuttering, and it does need to load quite often... but I prefer D2 loadings over Dragon Age ones by far.
Although I really loved dragon age, I enjoyed D2 much more, but that doesn't mean its not a very good game. Even story wise I liked D2 more then DA mostly cuz it didn't have stupid stories about harsh dwarf politics and elves who lives in forests and hates human and the likes, I got sick of those stupid uninteresting lore that so many games came up with lately and still think its original (it wasn't done badly, I just got tired of it). Also D2 delivers its background lore with short books (some with nice humor) while DA thou boring and very long and pointless codex's or something.
However, I really appreciate Dragon Age for making me enjoy and play a game of which genre I mostly hate (I can't stand neverwinter nights, I think all copies of it should be burned). To tell the truth thou, what I liked most about dragon age is how realistic the moving\ running feels, stupid as it may sound, I simply loved running there... (not that it isn't fun in D2 ofc, your jump is epic!)
I LOVE BOTH OF THEM, but I enjoy D2 more for many reasons. I also prefer Risen over Dragon Age, but I haven't finished Risen (which I really like so far) so I can't compare it to D2, and that will make my comment to long if ill write about it
RPG's (emphasis on the ROLE) vary from game to game on how deep the story and lore are a meaningful part of the game. Since DA:O is the "spritual successor" to Baldur's Gate, which is based primarily on Dungeons and Dragons P&P world, it is no surprise that the depth of the lore is somewhat more than a lot of games. The core audience of these games, especially pen and paper D&D, thrive on this aspect of the game. I mean, how can you expect a table top game like that to be played without truly getting absorbed in the story and acting out "roles" in the context of the story. Might as well play yahtzee if you are going to "roll the dice".
By extention, BG and all the follow-ons were designed as an alternative for folks to play...another platform to add a little more realism and immersion...with the hopes of bringing a whole new set of players to the genre.
I realize there have been other RPG's, just using this as an example. Some folks just don't get that aspect of these types of games, while others get it, but can do with/without it, while still others truly thrive and invest themselves in that type of experience. Personally, I'm too A.D.D. for the p&p version, but I appreciate the story in a really well written cRPG, and DA:O is truly one of those.
I hope I enjoy D2 as much, because I definitely enjoyed D1.
