The problem is, he's such a bumbling idiot. Not to mention he's horrible in combat as well. And I had him in really good gear, too. I actually had rolled a tank, so Alistair's role was somewhat diminished, and I didn't bother to respec him as DPS. That part was on me. But in previous playthroughs where I played a DPS role and him as a tank, it was just awful. Not only could he not hold aggro (even when setting his tactics to generate as much threat as possible, and putting him in massive armor) but he couldn't take too many hits. He would just be a constant drain on poor Wynne's mana. And the DPS would have to blow all their CDs to burn targets down as fast as possible because our healer would be OOM and out of potions. It was really, really, stupid. Some people speak highly of Alistair's tanking ability, but I found Shale to be a much better choice, short of just rolling a tank yourself. Hell, the dog out tanks Alistair. I'm very serious.
Game mechanics aside, Alistair just fails as a character, too. He has no confidence, a low self esteem, and is just generally annoying. Everything he says just grates on my nerves. I was trying to be nice to him, I really was! But it was SO HARD. The icing on the cake for me and the tell tale sign of Alistair's serious immaturity is what happens at the Landsmeet when you confront Loghain.
I did everything in my power to come to a peaceful resolution. I talked both Anora and Alistair into marrying each other in an effort to unite Ferelden and come to a compromise that would leave Anora in power as the rightful queen, and also ensure that Theiren (sp) blood would be back on the throne with Alistair as king. Even Eamon was schocked at this development.
And then, after defeating Loghain, I thought it was pointless to have to kill such a great and famed general as he. Riordan was like, "No, we need all the Grey Wardens we can get. And this guy owns!" Plus, just from a practical point of view, how the hell could I possibly kill Anora's father right in front of her and then expect her to marry Alistair? This was one instance where I agreed with Anora. Let Loghaine go through the Joining, and if he survives, we have ourselves one HELL of a new Grey Warden (plus it's poetic justice - make Loghain what he despised the most, the irony of that...), and if he dies, we have our revenge. I was totally cool with that.
But what does Alistair do? He throws a complete tantrum. His personal emotions cloud his reason and I had to freaking choose between him or Loghain. So freaking retarded. And because I decided before this playthrough that this was going to be "Alistair's game", I chose to kill Loghain to keep him, thereby losing Anora's support and having the planned marriage completely fall apart. I was so angry.
I mean, he's just so immature. That one moment said all you need to know about what kind of man Alistair is. He's a child. A spoiled little brat that I hate with the burning passion of a thousand suns. So poorly designed and written as a character.
As for supporting Harrowmont over Bhelen in Orzammar, this completely, totally, and utterly dooms the dwarves to absolute ruin. When you choose Bhelen, he actually turns out to be a very progressive king. He dissolves the caste system. opens up trade with the surface, doesn't seem to mind the Chantry, and moves Orzammar into the future.
What happens when you support Harrowmont? The so-called "good guys" choice? Even more restrictions on the caste system are put in place. Orzammar becomes more isolated than any other time in history. Brother Burkel (sp) is killed and the Chantry considers a new Exalted March to force conversion, etc. It's just awful. Exasperating the situation is the fact that I chose to help Branka instead of Caradin, which actually causes a small war between Orzammar and Fereldan because Branka starts to abduct surfacers for new golems.
So, when compared to all the other options in the game, like supporting Anora as queen and putting Bhelen on the throne in Orzammar, this just confirms that article in Gamasutra about the moral compass in DAO pointing south. The comparisons aren't even close.
Modifié par ckriley, 02 janvier 2010 - 11:17 .
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