Not sure if it's just me, but the new influence system is really bugging me. I feel like i'm missing out a lot on my companions back stories if I don't "game" them correctly. I like to roleplay my character, and just respond to situations as they come. For example, my current (2nd) playthrough is with a female rogue who supports the idea of the Circle of Mages and the Templars. That doesn't mean, however, that if a templar gets overzealous i'm going to back his crazy ass up. So in that situation, i've got Fenris rocking along with his +5s and +10s to friendship, but then he gets a +15 to rivarly. It's frustrating.
The IDEA that I can make my companions love or hate me, and still get to their backstories is a great improvement over DA1, where everyone had to like you or they'd be pissed and mopey. But the execution needs work. Unless I am a total jerk, or a total saint, my companions friendship/rivalry meters stay roughly in the middle.
How do others feel about this new system?
Issue with new influence system
Débuté par
chaosapiant
, avril 14 2011 04:55
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#2
Posté 14 avril 2011 - 05:07
Icy Magebane
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It gets annoying yeah, but most of the points will come from gifts and personal quests. So there's usually a fast way to max them out in one direction (thus, no more disagreements). Once they are maxed out, you can take whoever you want to on missions and make the choices you want to.
#3
Posté 14 avril 2011 - 05:18
nickan1022
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My experience has been that in-party friendship/rivalry changes don't deeply affect the end result. Usually what happens is that I nudge them one way or the other, and even if I take a hit or two in the other direction, the personal quests and gifts and such push me in that same nudged direction. With the exception of Sebastian (from my exp) all of the characters can be pushed from neutral to full friendship (or rivalry) just by doing the personal quests and such. This means if I break even on the in-party choices, I can still get to where I need through the other means.
The only case where I've had to micro manage it a bit is to lock out Merrill's friendship before destroying the evil tomes in the Forbidden Knowledge quest line. +10 rivalry for each of the 6 books destroyed is not too nice.
The only case where I've had to micro manage it a bit is to lock out Merrill's friendship before destroying the evil tomes in the Forbidden Knowledge quest line. +10 rivalry for each of the 6 books destroyed is not too nice.
#4
Posté 14 avril 2011 - 05:20
chaosapiant
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Maybe i'm wrong, but you need + or - 50 or so points on the meter to even begin the 2nd stage of companion quests?
#5
Posté 14 avril 2011 - 05:22
Icy Magebane
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Personal Quests happen based on what you've done during the Act (such as completing Blackpowder Courtesy unlocking new missions). "Questioning Beliefs" is unlocked at + or - 50.
#6
Posté 14 avril 2011 - 05:28
Waltzingbear
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The influence points are not cookies from a full jar; if you run with Fenris most of the time you can still get full friendship while making a few decisions he'll disagree with.
They tried to eliminate the cheesiness of loading your buddies with booze to make them like you. They did create another problem in the process and that is that you're sometimes inclined to make decisions based on the influence route you want with companions just like I had to make a second playthrough for ME2 with a lot of hugs and mags to get Dominate.
I don't think it's a problem this time however. Most of the times I can get Aveline and Varric friendly without even trying. You're not supposed to have Friendship or Rivalry status with each of your companions. It's just a perk, a bonus not something the gameplay or story relies heavily upon.
They tried to eliminate the cheesiness of loading your buddies with booze to make them like you. They did create another problem in the process and that is that you're sometimes inclined to make decisions based on the influence route you want with companions just like I had to make a second playthrough for ME2 with a lot of hugs and mags to get Dominate.
I don't think it's a problem this time however. Most of the times I can get Aveline and Varric friendly without even trying. You're not supposed to have Friendship or Rivalry status with each of your companions. It's just a perk, a bonus not something the gameplay or story relies heavily upon.
#7
Posté 14 avril 2011 - 05:29
Cutlass Jack
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nickan1022 wrote...
The only case where I've had to micro manage it a bit is to lock out Merrill's friendship before destroying the evil tomes in the Forbidden Knowledge quest line. +10 rivalry for each of the 6 books destroyed is not too nice.
Wouldn't it have been easier to just not have her in the party for that?
Anyway overall I love the system myself. Precisely because I don't have to game it. I can play my personality the way I want it and it won't affect them staying in my group or not. The two separate paths (friendship/rivalry) gives me two ways to get to know them.
In Origins I always found myself gaming every single conversation with my companions. Once you know exactly what they wanted to hear, there was no point in trying out any other options.
#8
Posté 14 avril 2011 - 05:48
Wulfram
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Cutlass Jack wrote...
Wouldn't it have been easier to just not have her in the party for that?
Anyway overall I love the system myself. Precisely because I don't have to game it. I can play my personality the way I want it and it won't affect them staying in my group or not. The two separate paths (friendship/rivalry) gives me two ways to get to know them.
In Origins I always found myself gaming every single conversation with my companions. Once you know exactly what they wanted to hear, there was no point in trying out any other options.
I find myself gaming DA2's system more. It's very easy to end up in the middle with some of the companions if you don't and they might end up trying to kill you if you max out the bar.
Whereas in Origins, there was plenty of slack in the system so you could afford not to pander to them too much once you know who likes what gift and even if you didn't max out their friendship it wasn't really a problem. Plus it's quite natural to be trying to find ways to make someone like you, whereas going out of your way to ****** someone off so that they'll somehow come to respect you for it is silly.
#9
Posté 14 avril 2011 - 07:32
nickan1022
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Cutlass Jack wrote...
nickan1022 wrote...
The only case where I've had to micro manage it a bit is to lock out Merrill's friendship before destroying the evil tomes in the Forbidden Knowledge quest line. +10 rivalry for each of the 6 books destroyed is not too nice.
Wouldn't it have been easier to just not have her in the party for that?
Anyway overall I love the system myself. Precisely because I don't have to game it. I can play my personality the way I want it and it won't affect them staying in my group or not. The two separate paths (friendship/rivalry) gives me two ways to get to know them.
In Origins I always found myself gaming every single conversation with my companions. Once you know exactly what they wanted to hear, there was no point in trying out any other options.
Yes, I could use a different character for all six of those encounters. But Merrill is a core member of my team and plays an important role. So either I lose a key element of my party makeup, or I suffer the whopping +60 rivalry, OR, I game it slightly to max her friendship out first. I opted for the latter. I think +60 rivalry change for one side quest is not reasonable. Ding me 10 rivalry for the first book. Fine. The other five? That's seems like overkill.
This is the one of the only real places I game the influence meter because it's so out of balance. I do like the system overall. This is just a minor irritant.
I will also add that I have locked most of my in-party characters into 100% after their personal quests in Act II. Varric is easy to please, and Merrill and Anders tend to agree on a lot of stuff, so I get a bump from the in-party choices that support mages. If I were to support the templars more, I'd have to rely on the Act III stuff to lock them in.
