This is a weekly column from freelancer Rowan Kaiser, which focuses on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity. With The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's first expansion being released on multiple platforms as well as Mass Effect 3's first single-player add-on announced, it's been a busy week for the biggest role-playing games in recent months. Yet, my reaction to each piece of news was quite different, despite my similar feelings about both games. Hearing that I could finally play "Dawnguard" on my PC got me excited that there'd be more Skyrim when I got to it, because that was a game about exploring and finding new things. Mass Effect 3's "Leviathan," on the other hand, held no appeal for me. The entire third game was an emotional ending (although not always inspiring good emotions). Maybe I'd get excited doing another quest built into the middle of the game if I ran a new Shepard through all three games, but there's no appeal for me now.

I spent last weekend playing the Dragon Age: Origins expansions, which I'd left on my hard drive for far too long following the completion of the initial game. As I worked on my "Awakening" and pressed through more of Dragon Age's add-ons, the difference in form crystallized in my head. Role-playing games have specific issues to deal with involving add-on content, and by trying a wide variety of different strategies, Dragon Age: Origins demonstrated the strengths and weaknesses of those plans.