10 réponses à ce sujet

[Abispa]

Again, I use hyperbole. I did not "hate" the sidequests in DA:O, I just kind of sighed as they presented themselves and accepted them as a standard RPG cliche.

"Hey! Warden! I know there's a blight on, and you're only one of a handful left and have been declared outlaws by the regent, but would you mind helping me send some letters? Collects some mushrooms? Etc.?"

To me all the Blackstone Irregular, Mages' Collective, Chantry Board, Antivan Crows, and shady bartender quests were just ways to add time to the game so the box could say "50000-plus hours of gameplay!" I found myself saying, "Dammit! I have to overthrow a usurper and stop the stereotypical army of mindless demonic creatures! I shouldn't have time for this crap!" Except for the money and experience points.

I admit that after a while, and TRYING to do multiple play throughs, I would simply go the the "middleman," check off all the quests, and if I saw a triangle on a map I was currently on, I'd walk to a location, watch something happen I didn't really care about or kill somebody, then, if I there was a middleman around the next time I was in town, I'd get my money and experience points.

Dragon Age 2 cut out the middle man to the quests, making them quicker, and, I guess IN THEORY, making them less painful. Instead I found myself insulted. Why even put these in the game in the first place if you're just going to make a joke of them. And I thought it was a (not very funny) joke at first, until I discovered they were all through the game. Instead of asking me to laugh with them, the creators seemed to be laughing AT me for being a computer RPG fan for so many years.

The thing is, while it was stupid of the Warden to have to deal with the Chanter's Board, Mages' Collective, and Blackstone Irregulars since s/he was supposed to be saving the world, Hawke was supposed to me a mercenary. These things should have been right up his/her alley. S/he needed money and experience to survive and thrive in Kirkwall, but there could be other advantages.

The Mages' Collective? A mage Hawke or Bethany should have been eager to do favors for and earn the gratitude of an organization that specialized in unregistered mage activities. Perhaps a relationship could have been developed with their contact, AND the organization could have provided Bethany another path to go on instead of the Circle or the Wardens as she discovered a world of mages thriving and perhaps even celebrating their heritage.

The Blackstone Irregulars? I got the feeling in DA:O that they had a somewhat respected reputation. Again, Hawke may have been eager to work with an organization that rivaled or surpassed Meeran's Red Iron and helped him/herself earn a reputation, and especially Carver. He may have found a world to gain a sense of independence and stop being so resentful. Or he could have become an even bigger pain in the ass. And there could have been another chance to foster a relationship with a contact.

The Chanter's Board could have been developed further, perhaps having Hawke deal with an actual sister or mother and perhaps even eventually the Grand Cleric herself. Hawke could have earned the respect and admiration of the Chantry and perhaps even have developed a true friendship with the Grand Cleric, making Anders' actions in Act 3 even more painful. Meredith may even have been introduced as a rival earlier in the game.

And the Antivan Crows, shady bartender, or Athenrial's group could have provided a similar opportunity for a rogue Hawke. Granted I selfishly want to develop a more meaningful relationship with the shady elf herself, but that's beside the point.

As for the quests already in DA2, I think they NEED a middleman to be introduced to make them more weighty and less insulting. Techically, Varric is the "middleman" on these quests (if you bother to read your log), but maybe having a quest arrow show up at the Hanged Man telling you to talk to Varric could've given the quests a chance to "sell" their importance to the player. Example:

VARRIC: Hawke, remember that toe we found? It's not junk! I did some research with one of my fences and we discovered that it's an important relic of one of the Chantry's saints! Could be worth something to return it to that brother with the arrow over his head next time we go to church!

Varric could also make the "junk" less stupid by actually organizing different items in the junk pile with a note saying certain items are worth more to certain merchants: "I **** you not, Hawke, there's this elven merchant that pays top coinage for torn trousers!"

[Abispa]

Hmm. I probably should add that when I say "relationship," I'm not saying "sex." Most of the time. So there.

[Agamo45]

The entire game is a bunch of sidequests, that's the problem.

[Abispa]

Technically, just about every RPG is a bunch of side quests. Raise an army to fight some darkspawn, but first you have to find some ashes, pick a king for the dwarves, make peace with a bunch of werewolves and elves, stop the usurper, kill your GF's ex-GF, etc. In many ways the build up in DA:O was a hell of a lot better than the (IMO) boring, stereotypical evil demonic army trying to destroy the world (Why? 'Cause they're evil.).

If it wasn't for Loghain, I would've considered DA:O to be a "fair" game at best.

Being a fan of world mythology, I don't mind the concept of the serendipitous hero, and I think a game set up like a series of television episodes instead of a huge bladder busting epic movie could be cool, so long as the episodes are well done.

If Bioware is going to make a game that is, essentially, a series of shorter adventures and sidequests, then there is an even greater demand that the sidequests seem more substantial and meaningful. And having a bunch of eye-rolling "incidental" quests consisting of lost body parts only exacerbated the problem.

DA:O had a lot of "junk," too, but at least it didn't have me jack up my lock picking skills to discover some torn trousers and frayed ropes, although I do appreciate the "sell all junk" button.

[DarkAmaranth1966]

One mod cures the junk trouble - Valuable Junk, now that stuff is 50 silver and up, some 1-3 sovereigns. Makes jacking the lock picking worth it.

As for side quests, I do wish DA2 had more of them. When i am on a good PC that I am attached to, I hate running out of quests before I am ready to end it for that PC. I'd love some DLC side quests that are part of the main game but optional to do.

Say a quest for Hawke to become a Warden in act 1, one for Anders to actually get justice a new body (would not complete until post chantry destruction) in act 3, one that taints then lets you cure Merill, maybe a mage needs for Bethany where you need to gather things and give them to her in the circle. Could also do one for the origins of Xenon.

Even some stand alone campaigns would be cool as long as they allowed import of your PC form the main game.

[Sidney]

Abispa wrote...

Again, I use hyperbole. I did not "hate" the sidequests in DA:O, I just kind of sighed as they presented themselves and accepted them as a standard RPG cliche.

"Hey! Warden! I know there's a blight on, and you're only one of a handful left and have been declared outlaws by the regent, but would you mind helping me send some letters? Collects some mushrooms? Etc.?"

To me all the Blackstone Irregular, Mages' Collective, Chantry Board, Antivan Crows, and shady bartender quests were just ways to add time to the game so the box could say "50000-plus hours of gameplay!" I found myself saying, "Dammit! I have to overthrow a usurper and stop the stereotypical army of mindless demonic creatures! I shouldn't have time for this crap!" Except for the money and experience points.

I agree overall. In DAO and ME1 the need to genuflect at the altar of sidequests and non-linearity creates a major problem with the supposed urgency of the primary task at hand that does slap you in the face over and over.

ME2 and DA2 for all their other flaws at least make those things fit better into the world because time/urgency operate differently in those games. I hope, if nothing else, Bioware walks away from those two games with that lesson learned and doesn't drop another "you need to beat the unholy monster now, now, NOW" type of plotline and then litter it with these sorts of sidequests.

[lionalio87]

Side quests of DA2, overall, are good. But those I prefer in order:
1 - Companion quests
2 - Secondary quests

I don't like the side quests in DA2, just collecting the junk and then, find the appropriate people to give. Those are almost nonsense, after all.

[whykikyouwhy]

The side quests were always nice ways to boost XP. If I wanted to get my character to a new level (and therefore acquire some new abilities or attributes), I'd be scrambling all over the map to find lost articles to return. I didn't mind running back to town, so to speak, to hand over recently acquired goods.

So too, I though most of them were amusing, especially in DA2. The Redblossom Special? The One True Pantaloons? How exactly were those misplaced? I found myself imagining the untold backstories to those. (And Hawke's snarky tone when returning the items was priceless.)

I agree that the companion quests were the most intriguing and engaging, but that hearkens from the personal involvement and immersion.

[Abispa]

I think that in a game like DA2, ALL the sidequests should have a more in depth backstory and companion commentary since that is essentially all Hawke is doing. I don't mind him/her not having to save the world, but Bioware shouldn't make the work s/he does seem like a waste of time.

I hear that Mass Effect 3 will NOT be the final Mass Effect game, but will only be the last Shepard game (and perhaps the last ME game in this generation of consoles). I wouldn't be surprised if Bioware tries once again to have a hero do smaller scale acts of heroism and not put the entire galaxy on the verge of destruction again. If so, I hope they take note on the things they did wrong in DA2 using that philosophy.

[jaybee93]

Huh. You make a good point, OP. I admit I've always done side quests like that: just collecting them and doing them when I get to the place they happen, not paying much attention. But the Chanter's Board etc are pretty well suited for Hawke.

[Abispa]

Maybe some sidequest DLCs from the various organizations could be introduced, though I can see a lot of players resentful that they aren't already in the game.