I've played comp games for a LONG TIME. Long enough, f'rinstance, to still remember Lindley (Alpha Centauri) and the break-in of the notion of NPCs that the player actually cared enough about to get (somewhat) emotional over.
I too created multiple Wardens. I completed the game w/ 2 of them, a considerable investment of time and effort, as I tend to try and complete all of the quests/miniquests. I also created several other starter Wardens, simply to briefly explore different possibilities of gameplay, and more importantly to me, characterizations.
I tend to like to explore personas. That's the point of a 'role-playing' game after all, NOT seeing how powerful/one shot, one kill you can make your character.
So, when playing as a Human Noble (Morcar), I tended to making him with aspirations of nobility, but an ever-present hard intent of vengeance on Howe (and laterally, on Loghain). This meant I was usually fairly 'nice' to people, but able to bring on the violence. Morcar (my character) was always in the front of a fight (Berserker/Champion), and by game's end, stacked up over 1100 kills personally. An interesting character, but fairly one-dimensional as his motivations were fairly straightforward, and his solutions involved either polite dialogue or ferocious hand-to-hand combat. One of the most significant 'plot' decisions made by Morcar was whether or not to destroy the Anvil. Leliana, a companion on that mission (and also a lover) convinced me to destroy it, which fit in with the characterization of a justice and fair-play minded character.
My next character was more multi-faceted, an Elf Mage. Eltanen, I decided, was a sort of rootless megalomaniac (power/magic hungry) with a streak of homicidal ruthlessness. Eltanen never had any problems betraying Jowan (the rogue Mage, seen at the Mage Origin, and later at Arl Eamon's Redcliff castle). Jowan, to this character, was a weasel who made a stupid decision, and got caught. Later, ironically, Eltanen himself became a Blood Mage and Arcane Warrior... hypocritical, of course, but playing as a sociopath, it somehow fit. Eltanen might have done 'the right thing' but only if it somehow benefitted him, or increased his power. Of course, a stronger, meaner character is more capable of fighting the Blight, so being a sociopath was not necessarily a bad thing, or entirely unpredictable.
Now, as an Elf, Eltanen didn't have any roots... to Human culture, to the Mages (the Tower was, after all, universally recognized as a gilded prison), to Human religion ('Maker? Bah!'), or even to Elven culture (as an Elf Warden, Eltanen killed Zathrian, the leader of the Dalish, AFTER killing all the werewolves).
As a ruthless, power-mad sociopath, it was STILL possible to be perceived as a 'good guy'. Here was the beauty of DAO's original story-line. After all, consider how many heroes of history and myth were considered heroes... but oftentimes were not so heroic in their approach. It brings up the obvious observation: to be a successful 'hero', sometimes one must NOT be so bloody heroic.
Apply this observation to DAO. Duncan goes around the countryside, recruiting for the Grey Wardens. He never bothers to mention that it is a death sentence, either earlier or later. The Maker itself is a very ambivalent God... as Morrigan wryly observes when she points out that the Maker abandoned humanity twice, and inflicted the Blight on Thedas in the first place. Leliana, the goody-goody, is revealed to be a sneak and a self-righteous hypocrite. Wynn, the grandmotherly, is not entirely 'good' either.
Heroes need fangs.... and a streak of ruthlessness, or they never become heroes.
How does this all apply to plotline? Well, it's a lot easier to come to certain psychological choices, if one has the background. The Human Noble has vengeance. An Elf Mage warden has liberty and power issues. Other origins add a different flavor to different characterizations, allowing a deeper immersion in the storyline.
If DA2 insists on forcing the player to be 'Hawke', a human, those psychological paths are narrowed down quite a bit.
My suspicion is that the development team wanted to concentrate more on flash and video clips, and less on storyline. In my opinion as a long-time player of video games, I consider this to be a pedictable mistake of sequel teams. I personally recommend that the storyline ALWAYS comes first, the graphics a distant second. If you look back on the games that were memorable, story-led games always win... flashy graphics games make a good initial sale, but the interest level inevitably wanes and along comes another game to capture the player's attention.
Consider the above postings by Saibh. S/he wants to explore possibilities already opened up in DA: Origins. And what possibilities there are. Sure, the 'ArchDemon' is gone, but now what?
Well, as a player character, if I am 'allowed' to revisit being an Elf Mage, I'd like to discover Arlathan, and possibly participate in a war against the Humans and the Chantry, to re-establish the Elves as a power. As a Human Noble, I have incentive to rebuild Ferelden, which inevitably brings up the question of what I would do with Orlais or the Dalish, long-term. What about a struggle between the White Chantry and the Black Chantry? What happens, now that Haven is a pilgrimage site? What happens with the implied threat of the Qunari? Am I going to meet Sten again, ACROSS a battlefield? Will the Qunari actually have those cannons they mentioned?
So, no ArchDemon? So what? The possibilities are open that DA3 could be a multi-player struggle, with the undertone that 'a new Old God' is on the way'. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? Depends on who is asking, I guess. We know what the Chantry would say... we know where Morrigan would throw her chips... but where does a newly politicized Grey Warden fall? (After all, considering the events of DAO, it's hard to justify the Wardens as any kind of 'neutral' force).
It's all about _possibilities_. Fixating on ONE character (Hawke) seems like a step backward as a plot-device. Sure, the development team gets to make more fancy video-clips... but the loss of player identification, and the narrowing of plot are not worth the limited gain.
-- John Harlow Byrne
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