I've played console RPGs, Mass Effect and Fallout are two of my favorite games, and I've played others like fable etc.. but all of them are more like action RPGs. I have never played a more tactics based RPG like Dragon Age before. The gameplay looks kind of like WoW to me, but I could be way off because I've never really played it. I want to try it on the PC because it seems to be the supperior version but I'm afraid to drop $50 on a game that is outside my comfort zone of controls.
 
How friendly is this game to RPG beginners? Are there tutorials on basic stuff like combat and party management or are you expected to know this stuff already?  Has anyone else played this as a first timer?

This game is friendly if you play on easy. There are tutorials when you encounter things for the first time. They tell you how to set tactics and all that. But the game can be difficult, so that may not be for everyone.

From what I've seen: no. It's an old school CRPG aimed at exsisting fans of the genre.
 
But if your going to pick it up; PC is by far the way to go. This style of game is custom made for PC controls and fidelity.

No.

i'm pretty much in your same situation and i got and i'm loving it so far

I'm kinda the same way as athe OP, but I've played more JRPGs, most notably the Final Fantasy series, especially FF XII. Which I suppose is the game most similar to Dragon Age: Origins. In terms of group mechanics.

 XD, the responses here are pretty mixed. I'm leaning towards getting it though. To the people who are saying no, what game do you recommend then to start with and maybe work my up to Dragon Age?
 
Also, I've actually never played WoW, but I've seen people play it and it's always seemed interesting to. I've just never felt like trying it. What I meant to say is that DAO looks like WoW to me and I've heard that WoW has a pretty easy learning curve, at least for just playing casually so I was hoping DAO was the same. 
 
@DrDemon said:

" i'm pretty much in your same situation and i got and i'm loving it so far "

the game is pretty hard and some aspects can get very complex such as the tactics system, but overall if you play it on easy i think u should be fine.

I've played a decent chunk of both the PC and 360 versions, and I would recommend that anyone that isn't very comfortable with old school RPGs should probably go with the console version. The difficulty seems to be toned down a lot. On the PC version, I started running into some difficult spots very early on just normal difficulty. On the console version, I had to bump things up to hard because I was cruising through pretty much everything on normal.
 
The console version seems to be geared more towards pseudo-real time combat similar to Mass Effect. The PC version on the other hand really pressures you into pausing combat, planning out all of your actions, and using the overhead tactical view (which isn't even present in the console version).
 
If you're willing to dive head first into an old-school RPG, the PC version is generally the best version of this game. However, the console version is still very good, and it streamlines things a bit to allow for people less familiar with the genre to enjoy the experience of Dragon Age.

If you've played any Bioware game, you've played this game. You said you've played Mass Effect. This is the same game, except in a fantasy world with blood and a bit more turn based. Basically, it's NWN or Baldur's Gate.
 
The plot, again, is just a rehash of every plot they've done so far.

Why is everyone so adamant about this game's difficulty and old-school appeal? I'm 2 hours into the game and I'm not feeling that vibe at all. Honestly, it feels like Final Fantasy XII in a dark fantasy setting with much more compelling characters. If you pause every now and then the combat isn't that difficult, you just have to make sure your characters aren't positioned with their backs facing enemies, because this game's positional modifiers are sort of unforgiving.

I saw a guy take the ogre down without a sweat on nightmare on the console.  A reviewer who played the PC version for 10 hour hands on said it took him about 6 hours to reach the same spot on the console version.  There is a huge difference.