What do I miss in Dragon Age Awakening if I don't import a character?
Solution 1:
You miss everyone treating you like the hero who killed the archdemon (or had it killed); in addition, if you're a human noble, you'll get extra dialogue since you inherited Howe's estate. Instead, you're an Orlesian who came here to clean up someone else's mess. Otherwise, everything's the same.
I tried it both ways. I prefer the carry-over immensely, but I can understand if you don't want to play the whole game over again just to play Awakening.