CulturalGeekGirl wrote...
For DA:O, the chief reason for all those things seemed to be "there isn't enough time/the blight is more important!" This is something I discussed more in my WallOText. Hawke is made of time, and has no concerns that are anywhere as pressing as the end of the world. She isn't a Warden, and isn't infertile and going to die in 30 years. None of the things you suggested seem like they would have had a remote chance of succeeding.
More pressing
to you. My Cousland wanted to hand over the reins to Alistair and say, "You wanted to do this. I don't. I'm finding my family and getting the hell out of Dodge."
That's what mattered to
him. And to me, really. I find personal narratives more compelling than epics.
Hawke's concerns (at least my Hawke) are his family and friends. Meredith is that same type of looming evil. ANd why is it Hawke's problem to deal with her anyway? He's not a ruler. No one elected him. He didn't inherit anything. He's just a guy who's done some good and has a vaguely defined title with no actual responsibilities. Why should it fall to him to take care of everyone else's problems? My Hawke would rather deal with the things he cares about, and that's what he did, largely.
"Why can't I have a conversation with my friend about a subject they just mentioned?" and "Why can't I do anything at all to help my friend/companion with their personal problem that is directly affecting us all right now?" seem much harder to explain. I could come up with a solid reason why every single one of your scenarios are impossible, but I can't understand why having a conversation about a thing with my friends isn't possible.
DAO also restricted conversations. Ask anyone who's ever run out of things to say. Or wanted to talk to their LI about big events (for Cousland, killing Howe or missing their family).
Or, to look at it another way, see how the inability to do those certain things reflects upon the characters, if you assume they are unable to do them because of fundamental character traits. I looked at things the respective characters cannot attempt, and divined the most obvious explanation as to why:
Q: Why doesn't the Warden decide to give up fighting the Blight and send her friends on suicide missions
A: Because the Warden is focused on the blight and doesn't want to send people to their deaths.
Q: Why doesn't Hawke ever try to understand more about the nature of JAnders' situation?
A: Because Hawke isn't that curious or interested about it, or doesn't care, or doesn't think it warrants investigation.
I think we're arguing the same thing. You can come up for justifications for any amount of railroading. You just have to want to. You seem more willing to do so for DAO than for DA2. That's all I'm trying to tell you.
The big moments that we don't get enough varied reactions to are, for me, Anders asking to move in and the Chantry blowing up (there are probably more, but this is the Anders thread so I have Anders on the brain.) Even in your wonderful story you have Hawke have a completely non-cannon reaction during [last chapter]... one that is far beyond the emotional range that I think Hawke shows in most situations in the game.
Well, I wrote in my fic what would be most dramatic for that medium. A game is a whole 'nother can of worms, and it'd be difficult to do something like that in an RPG where everything has to be up to the player. I didn't find the game lacking in its way of handling that moment, though. I just didn't feel the need to rehash it in fiction when everyone already played and thus knows it.
As for the rest of the conversations, I'd like more ability to distinguish my character from other characters during her day-to-day interactions with others. In both ME and DA:O I felt like the different options in most of the day-to-day conversations allowed you to express wildly different priorities and philosophies. In DA2 they often just express differences in temperament. It's hard to explain.
A lot of this fits in with the FOR SCIENCE! Thing that people here are talking about. There is so much to learn in DA2 that goes unlearned, so many rich sources of knowledge that go completely untapped. The Warden was about thinking, while Hawke is about feeling. So when I try to see a future where someone tries to help Anders figure out his problem rather than just being sad about it, I hear the voice of a Warden rather than the voice of a Hawke.
I think it's more that with Hawke, I personally
felt first and
thought later. DA2 gave me plenty to mull over (I think it gave all of us here the same thing, or else why have we spent 1800+ pages talking about Anders as a terrorist, the concept of freedom versus security, etc.). But in any art, I want experiencing it to make me feel something. That's a gut reaction versus an analytical brain one. And DA2 was all about that for me.
These are just my personal opinions. I'd rather not continue to derail the thread with them, though. If you want to keep going, I'd be happy to keep talking through PM. I just feel like there are more relevant things we could discuss on the Anders thread.
Guest_Queen-Of-Stuff_*
Retour en haut
Not in the "you-need-to-do-better" way, but in the way that you should go ahead and explore the theme. That's what fanfic is for!
