626 réponses à ce sujet

[Medhia Nox]

@TheRepVipress: and you cannot state empirically that living in caves is inferior.

Any statement you make will be based utterly on bias.

In fact - many claims can be made to the physical superiority of our ancestors (life expectancy in particular is grossly misquoted by myopic modernists - not to mention quality of "extra years" vs. quantity).

Disregarding climate change - the quality of life for millions of other plant and animal species was also better when we were not so power-hungry.

So - if you ask me if blood magic is evil? Dunno. Is it corrupting to the self and the world around you? Yes. Is it more corrupting than any other human ambition driven by the weakness of human fear? I would say yes.

[Laughing_Man]

Medhia Nox wrote...

@TheRepVipress: and you cannot state empirically that living in caves is inferior.

Any statement you make will be based utterly on bias.

In fact - many claims can be made to the physical superiority of our ancestors (life expectancy in particular is grossly misquoted by myopic modernists - not to mention quality of "extra years" vs. quantity).

Disregarding climate change - the quality of life for millions of other plant and animal species was also better when we were not so power-hungry.

So - if you ask me if blood magic is evil? Dunno. Is it corrupting to the self and the world around you? Yes. Is it more corrupting than any other human ambition driven by the weakness of human fear? I would say yes.

Well, you can go and live in a cave for all I care.

Also, claiming bias is a double-edged sword, it seems to me that for some reson you are full with self-rightous anger because the world is not working the way you would have done it. That's a bias if I ever saw one.

I don't claim that our world is perfect, but advancment have given us many more opportunities than we had before.
I hope that this theme will continue.
Who knows, maybe I'll still be alive when humanity will start colonizing space.
For me, such an idea is very exciting.

The quantity over quality thing is an idiotic claim. You only have vague impressions at best about how life were "before", you certainly don't have enough data to convince anyone that life in which your children were in constant danger of being eaten alive by wildlife, are a life of better quality than what we have today.

Should we be more careful not to damage our eco-system? Certainly.
Should we strive to preserve nature? Most definitly.
Should we be aware of possible moral issues that are related to science? Of course.

Should we abandon the will to advance forward in science technology and knowledge out of misguided fears 
and archaic notions of what man is "supposed" or "not supposed" to do?
I don't think so.

[Azaron Nightblade]

TheRedVipress wrote...

Temptations exist with any kind of power, and unless you are a sociopath or a psychopath you would not sacrifice hundreds of slaves for use as fuel.

That's true, and the hundreds of slaves is also one of the extreme examples - no one would instantly go from good person to mass murderer, and even good people sometimes wind up doing terrible things, the whole "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" saying.

A more reasonable situation would be that you are a blood mage, and a skilled healer - one day you find yourself with a child, afflicted with a new disease that you can't seem to purge from him even with drawing on your blood magic.
Conveniently there is an old man nearby.
He's old and likely to die within the next ten years or so anyway, and with his life energy added to your ritual it's very likely you'd be able to save the child.

You get the option to exchange a life that's about to lose its light for one that has just begun to shine - all it would take is one quick thrust of your dagger, quick and painless.

Mind you, I'm not argueing it can't be done - clearly our paragons of virtue from Dragon Age Origins and DA2 laugh in the face of such silly temptations because they are bonafied big damn heroes - but there is a reason so many blood mages go bad.

(To an extend you get that choice in DAO with Conor, but you are offered an easy way out by going to the Circle for assistance and a large amount of Lyrium - something not everyone would have the luxury to do.)

Modifié par Azaron Nightblade, 27 septembre 2013 - 12:09 .

[leaguer of one]

 Inhearitly dangerous, Need's regulation.

[Laughing_Man]

Azaron Nightblade wrote...

That's true, and the hundreds of slaves is also one of the extreme examples - no one would instantly go from good person to mass murderer, and even good people sometimes wind up doing terrible things, the whole "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" saying.

A more reasonable situation would be that you are a blood mage, and a skilled healer - one day you find yourself with a child, afflicted with a new disease that you can't seem to purge from him even with drawing on your blood magic.
Conveniently there is an old man nearby.
He's old and likely to die within the next ten years or so anyway, and with his life energy added to your ritual it's very likely you'd be able to save the child.

You get the option to exchange a life that's about to lose its light for one that has just begun to shine - all it would take is one quick thrust of your dagger, quick and painless.

Mind you, I'm not argueing it can't be done - clearly our paragons of virtue from Dragon Age Origins and DA2 laugh in the face of such silly temptations because they are bonafied big damn heroes - but there is a reason so many blood mages go bad.

(To an extend you get that choice in DAO with Conor, but you are offered an easy way out by going to the Circle for assistance and a large amount of Lyrium - something not everyone would have the luxury to do.)

I can't speak for anyone else, but if I was in such a situation I would not have considered using the old man.
I don't think that even if he freely chose to offer himself I would have taken his offer.

True, the old man is about to die relatively soon, but what if in the next day the child fell from a roof and died?
You took ten years from the old man and wasted them on one day for the child.

The only situation in which I would have considered trading one life for the other, is in the kind of situation in which those decisions are made anyway. Like a general who has to choose between saving a few lives, to saving many lives.
And even then, I'm not sure. Because there is a difference between choosing to save the many, to *taking* the lives of the few. 

As for Connor, first play through I used the blood-magic option, because I believed that going to the circle will just allow the demon to re-establish his control on everyone, leading to many more dead innocents.
And let's face it, his mother was at fault here, at least partialy (it's one thing to hide your mage child and hire an apostate to teach him, but it's quite another to continue to cooperate with "him" even after he his no longer "him".).

I was very surprised when I tried bringing help from the circle and saw that for some reason the demon remained quiet. That was not the logical thing to expect.
A child with no training could not have regained control if he didn't have it to begin with.

Modifié par TheRedVipress, 27 septembre 2013 - 12:39 .

[Azaron Nightblade]

TheRedVipress wrote...

As for Connor, first play through I used the blood-magic option, because I believed that going to the circle will just allow the demon to re-establish his control on everyone, leading to many more dead innocents.
And let's face it, his mother was at fault here, at least partialy (it's one thing to hide your mage child and hire an apostate to teach him, but it's quite another to continue to cooperate with "him" even after he his no longer "him".).

I was very surprised when I tried bringing help from the circle and saw that for some reason the demon remained quiet. That was not the logical thing to expect.
A child with no training could not have regained control if he didn't have it to begin with.

Oh yeah, I took the chance of going to the Circle on my first playthrough - but I was fully expecting to walk right into a disaster on my return.
Sacrificing Isolde isn't necessarily an "evil" choice, it's the Warden doing what he thinks has to be done to contain a dangerous situation the best he can - especially given the bodycount the demon has already racked up.
And I see blood magic as being dangerous even in none life threatening situations, the whole mind control "option" is a constant temptation for all sorts of crimes.

A blood mage can walk into a store and kindly tell the owner to give him all the money and then forgot he was there to begin with.
Get rejected by someone you fancy? No problem, mind control can fix that for you.
Argueably the people who would do those actions aren't good people in the first place - but many of them wouldn't actually act on their impulses if they didn't have an easy method at hand to do it, and more importantly get away with it afterwards.
They are all things a knife can accomplish too, but not nearly as easily.

Modifié par Azaron Nightblade, 27 septembre 2013 - 12:52 .

[Medhia Nox]

@TheRedVipress: So, you didn't want opinions.

You should change your title to: I'd like everyone to agree with my well thought out and lucid statements. Chime in!

[Laughing_Man]

Azaron Nightblade wrote...

Oh yeah, I took the chance of going to the Circle on my first playthrough - but I was fully expecting to walk right into a disaster on my return.
Sacrificing Isolde isn't necessarily an "evil" choice, it's the Warden doing what he thinks has to be done to contain a dangerous situation the best he can - especially given the bodycount the demon has already racked up.
And I see blood magic as being dangerous even in none life threatening situations, the whole mind control "option" is a constant temptation for all sorts of crimes.

A blood mage can walk into a store and kindly tell the owner to give him all the money and then forgot he was there to begin with.
Get rejected by someone you fancy? No problem, mind control can fix that for you.
Argueably the people who would do those actions aren't good people in the first place - but many of them wouldn't actually act on their impulses if they didn't have an easy method at hand to do it, and more importantly get away with it afterwards.
They are all things a knife can accomplish too, but not nearly as easily.

I don't think that the mind-control thing is as easy and as inconspicuous as waving your hand and saying: "these are not the droids your'e looking for."

There is the act of blood-letting and the whole glowy-red aura thing, and even then not every mage is strong and capable enough to do that, as that blood mage discovered to her misfortune when she tried to control Hawke in the brothel scene.

What do you think will happen if people saw a mage trying to cast a blood spell on an unsuspecting noble or merchant? Will he be able to control a raging mob?...
My point is, the type of mind control you can do with blood magic does not make you invincible.
Yes, you may be able to do some crimes you wouldn't be able to do otherwise, but that's about it.
(funny thing, technology today is not far from reaching the ability to influence your decisions directly - like controlling if you will answer "yes" or "no" to a question)

And if the chantry was busy with trying to understand how to defend against blood-magic instead of doing.. what ever it is they do, you may have been able to issue enchanted artifacts for every noble or person of importance in order to protect them from mind invasion.

[Laughing_Man]

Medhia Nox wrote...

@TheRedVipress: So, you didn't want opinions.

You should change your title to: I'd like everyone to agree with my well thought out and lucid statements. Chime in!

Of course I did. It's called a discussion.
And if I think something you said was ilogical, I reserve my right to point it out.
You are free to do the same, you know.

[BlueMagitek]

You say that, but you're kind of overly antagonistic about it.

Most discussions don't contain "Go live in a cave then for all I care". ~_^

[Laughing_Man]

BlueMagitek wrote...

You say that, but you're kind of overly antagonistic about it.

Most discussions don't contain "Go live in a cave then for all I care". ~_^

You are right, that was uncalled for, I apologise.

That said, saying that life in caves should have been the peak of human potential was just abit too much for me...

[Medhia Nox]

Well, your comment about what a person would, or would not, do. I do not think that's at all true. I think that people justify "evil" actions every day so they can sleep better at night.

So sure, you kill "just one" person because you wanted to save a village. That's good right? Well, you sure do convince yourself with all sorts of sophistry and moral relativism.

Then, another problem presents itself. Well, an evil army is coming and if I sacrifice ten people I can stop them and save my nation a war! Truly good! What's that? They did not want to die? Well, they were prisoners - so it's "justified" if you kill men who break laws.

Well, you've killed 11 people now, and your perspective is getting skewed. Nothing bad happened. In fact, good things happened!

Crops are failing. Kill someone. Saved lives!

Plague. Kill 100. Save 1000.

I really want that red dress... and I've already killed thousands and nobody has ever told me it was wrong. So, so what if I kill that "really old man"/"evil horribad criminal"/Red Templar/Person Who I've Turned into a "Thing". I'll get the red dress. After all - what about all those good things I've done?

It's a gross oversimplification - but justifying taking other's lives is corrupting. And eventually - it will so permanently destroy the practictioner's perspective that one day they'll find "heroes" coming to kill them.

And, like any true villain, they'll have believed what they were doing was good all those times.

But what they didn't realize is that those lives they took came tethered to the rest of the world - and now the check is due.

Blood magic isn't the only thing that could make a man corrupted - as you stated, nearly anything that provides power can.

That doesn't change the fact that anything that provides power IS corrupting on some level (which was part of the point I was trying to make). Material luxury is corrupting to the physical body - moral relativism is corrupting to the mental state.

However - there's a threshhold - and it doesn't seem far down the power structure - where blood magic requires a truly audacious step into corruption.

More monetary power can be just "more money" - more political power can be just "a new position" (yes, I know getting more money or a new position "can" be corrupting)... but practicing blood magic starts with self-mutilation then REQUIRES murder.

[BlueMagitek]

And suddenly Utilitarianism is put on trial. ~_^

[Medhia Nox]

@BlueMagitek: I find Utilitarianism to be a total deception on the part of the "Us" against the "Them".

[BlueMagitek]

I'm a fan of virtue ethics myself. ~_^

[Azaron Nightblade]

TheRedVipress wrote...

I don't think that the mind-control thing is as easy and as inconspicuous as waving your hand and saying: "these are not the droids your'e looking for."

There is the act of blood-letting and the whole glowy-red aura thing, and even then not every mage is strong and capable enough to do that, as that blood mage discovered to her misfortune when she tried to control Hawke in the brothel scene.

What do you think will happen if people saw a mage trying to cast a blood spell on an unsuspecting noble or merchant? Will he be able to control a raging mob?...
My point is, the type of mind control you can do with blood magic does not make you invincible.
Yes, you may be able to do some crimes you wouldn't be able to do otherwise, but that's about it.
(funny thing, technology today is not far from reaching the ability to influence your decisions directly - like controlling if you will answer "yes" or "no" to a question)

And if the chantry was busy with trying to understand how to defend against blood-magic instead of doing.. what ever it is they do, you may have been able to issue enchanted artifacts for every noble or person of importance in order to protect them from mind invasion.

Sure, they'd have to be smart about it - do it when there is no angry mob around, employ a bit of subtlety - otherwise there will be "mob justice", which may not have the effect that you think it might have.
The majority of blood mages are not just blood mages, they also have access to the skills they had before discovering their blood magic - and I doubt an angry mob of peasants/citizens is going to stick around once that mage has chucked a fireball in their direction.
My guess would be mass panic and running to the nearest Chantry for Templar help.
Granted the whole plan of doing it the easy way would be ruined at that point, and if the Templars show up on time or a guard manages to put a few bolts into the mage it can end very badly.

Hawke shrugging off the Blood mage's influence also falls under the aforementioned "bonafied big damn hero", in the DAO Mage Origin Jowan wipes the floor with a bunch of Templars in a matter of a seconds, and it was established that Jowan was a rather mediocre mage - not one of the really powerful ones.
Templars. Warriors especially trained to resist and counter magic.

The Chantry does have countermeasures to blood magic - namely the Litany of Adralla, but it requires a mage to perform the litany.
Enchanted artifacts that make someone completely immune to a certain type of magic also seem to be impossible in Thedas, so my guess would be that at best they could make some very expensive trinkets that offer a bit of resistance to the effects.
Something very different from your average DnD setting where you can find an "Immunity to Mind Control Necklace" to your left and a "Platemail of Fire Immunity" to your left - which would cheapen the whole of mages concept they've going for considerably.

[Laughing_Man]

@Medhia Nox:

First of all, I specifically stated that even if the situation was saving many for the death of the few, I *probably* wouldn't have done it, because there is a difference between deciding to save the many, and between *taking* the lives of the few.

Second:
If you remove the trappings of magic and fantasy, you will find that people in positions of power,
like heads of states, are required to decide in similar matters all the time.
Does it make them into villains? Depends on who you ask.
But *someone* has to make the call in most of these things.

Third:
You say that someone who starts "choosing" with good intentions, ends up killing hundreds for a few coins. I don't think that's right, you might become hardened with time, but that dose not mean that you will inevitably lose sight of good and evil.
The quote: "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
is a quote from a movie. And like many other things about movies, it matters more if something looks or sounds cool and fitting than if it's true.

Modifié par TheRedVipress, 27 septembre 2013 - 02:11 .

[BlueMagitek]

Your post was cut off, Vipress.

Modifié par BlueMagitek, 27 septembre 2013 - 02:06 .

[Medhia Nox]

Knowing that Blood Magic has a threshold wherein you are required to murder for your power.

I simply cannot trust someone else when they say: "Yes, but I know when to stop."

That a blood mage is willing to take on the act of murder as a possible solution to their problems is repugnant to me.

"Weapons are inauspicious instruments and not the tools of the enlightened. When there is no choice but to use them, it is best to be calm and free from greed, and not celebrate victory. Those who celebrate victory are bloodthirsty, and the bloodthirsty should not have their way with the world." Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

Those who take pride in violent magic, and violent magic that requires murder for power, are the worst form of mage.

That these games require violence as their only form of conflict resolution does not somehow lesson the severity of blood magics escalation from self-mutilation to murder.

[Hellion Rex]

Medhia Nox wrote...

Knowing that Blood Magic has a threshold wherein you are required to murder for your power.

I simply cannot trust someone else when they say: "Yes, but I know when to stop."

That a blood mage is willing to take on the act of murder as a possible solution to their problems is repugnant to me.

"Weapons are inauspicious instruments and not the tools of the enlightened. When there is no choice but to use them, it is best to be calm and free from greed, and not celebrate victory. Those who celebrate victory are bloodthirsty, and the bloodthirsty should not have their way with the world." Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

Those who take pride in violent magic, and violent magic that requires murder for power, are the worst form of mage.

That these games require violence as their only form of conflict resolution does not somehow lesson the severity of blood magics escalation from self-mutilation to murder.

I agree that blood mages who murder for their power are abhorrent. But people like Merrill demonstrate that blood magic can be used normally, without the need for murder. I wish we had more companions that use blood magic without murder like Merrill did.

[Laughing_Man]

Azaron Nightblade wrote...

Sure, they'd have to be smart about it - do it when there is no angry mob around, employ a bit of subtlety - otherwise there will be "mob justice", which may not have the effect that you think it might have.
The majority of blood mages are not just blood mages, they also have access to the skills they had before discovering their blood magic - and I doubt an angry mob of peasants/citizens is going to stick around once that mage has chucked a fireball in their direction.
My guess would be mass panic and running to the nearest Chantry for Templar help.
Granted the whole plan of doing it the easy way would be ruined at that point, and if the Templars show up on time or a guard manages to put a few bolts into the mage it can end very badly.

Hawke shrugging off the Blood mage's influence also falls under the aforementioned "bonafied big damn hero", in the DAO Mage Origin Jowan wipes the floor with a bunch of Templars in a matter of a seconds, and it was established that Jowan was a rather mediocre mage - not one of the really powerful ones.
Templars. Warriors especially trained to resist and counter magic.

The Chantry does have countermeasures to blood magic - namely the Litany of Adralla, but it requires a mage to perform the litany.
Enchanted artifacts that make someone completely immune to a certain type of magic also seem to be impossible in Thedas, so my guess would be that at best they could make some very expensive trinkets that offer a bit of resistance to the effects.
Something very different from your average DnD setting where you can find an "Immunity to Mind Control Necklace" to your left and a "Platemail of Fire Immunity" to your left - which would cheapen the whole of mages concept they've going for considerably.

About the Litany and artifacts:
The Litany does not require a mage, it was used by a templar called Lambert(?) in that recent book that I didn't read. (templars use other magics from the spirit tree, things that are available to mages too under different names. They can't "cast miracles" or somesuch.)
Artifacts: Lyrium is very much magic in mineral form, if you can counter magic, albeit with difficulty, with other magic, you should be able to do it with Enchatment! too.
(If the chantry would actually go ahead with developing counter measures is another question, their interest in continuing the current state of fear and hatred toward magic is obvious)

As for the rest (we are kinda redoing the arguments from previous pages):
All I'm saying is that if said tool exist, you should think about ways to make it helpful rather than calling it evil and ignoring it, because that only means that the enevitable baddies will use your ignorance against you.

You also need some kind of especially armed and trained law-enforcment agency to keep eye on magical crimes.
However, giving the keys to your law-enforcment agency to a religious-church based in your rival country is...
not smart to say the least.

And as for the treatment of mages in general, I explained my reasoning a page or two ago as to why it's a foolish approach despite the clear and present danger.

[Hellion Rex]

TheRedVipress wrote...

Azaron Nightblade wrote...

Sure, they'd have to be smart about it - do it when there is no angry mob around, employ a bit of subtlety - otherwise there will be "mob justice", which may not have the effect that you think it might have.
The majority of blood mages are not just blood mages, they also have access to the skills they had before discovering their blood magic - and I doubt an angry mob of peasants/citizens is going to stick around once that mage has chucked a fireball in their direction.
My guess would be mass panic and running to the nearest Chantry for Templar help.
Granted the whole plan of doing it the easy way would be ruined at that point, and if the Templars show up on time or a guard manages to put a few bolts into the mage it can end very badly.

Hawke shrugging off the Blood mage's influence also falls under the aforementioned "bonafied big damn hero", in the DAO Mage Origin Jowan wipes the floor with a bunch of Templars in a matter of a seconds, and it was established that Jowan was a rather mediocre mage - not one of the really powerful ones.
Templars. Warriors especially trained to resist and counter magic.

The Chantry does have countermeasures to blood magic - namely the Litany of Adralla, but it requires a mage to perform the litany.
Enchanted artifacts that make someone completely immune to a certain type of magic also seem to be impossible in Thedas, so my guess would be that at best they could make some very expensive trinkets that offer a bit of resistance to the effects.
Something very different from your average DnD setting where you can find an "Immunity to Mind Control Necklace" to your left and a "Platemail of Fire Immunity" to your left - which would cheapen the whole of mages concept they've going for considerably.

About the Litany and artifacts:
The Litany does not require a mage, it was used by a templar called Lambert(?) in that recent book that I didn't read. (templars use other magics from the spirit tree, things that are available to mages too under different names. They can't "cast miracles" or somesuch.)
Artifacts: Lyrium is very much magic in mineral form, if you can counter magic, albeit with difficulty, with other magic, you should be able to do it with Enchatment! too.
(If the chantry would actually go ahead with developing counter measures is another question, their interest in continuing the current state of fear and hatred toward magic is obvious)

As for the rest (we are kinda redoing the arguments from previous pages):
All I'm saying is that if said tool exist, you should think about ways to make it helpful rather than calling it evil and ignoring it, because that only means that the enevitable baddies will use your ignorance against you.

You also need some kind of especially armed and trained law-enforcment agency to keep eye on magical crimes.
However, giving the keys to your law-enforcment agency to a religious-church based in your rival country is...
not smart to say the least.

And as for the treatment of mages in general, I explained my reasoning a page or two ago as to why it's a foolish approach despite the clear and present danger.

Agreed. Blood Magic must be shown in a better light, as well as demonstrating that it can possess more positive effects than just demon summoning, mind control, and Veil tearing.

[Azaron Nightblade]

TheRedVipress wrote...

About the Litany and artifacts:
The Litany does not require a mage, it was used by a templar called Lambert(?) in that recent book that I didn't read. (templars use other magics from the spirit tree, things that are available to mages too under different names. They can't "cast miracles" or somesuch.)
Artifacts: Lyrium is very much magic in mineral form, if you can counter magic, albeit with difficulty, with other magic, you should be able to do it with Enchatment! too.
(If the chantry would actually go ahead with developing counter measures is another question, their interest in continuing the current state of fear and hatred toward magic is obvious)

As for the rest (we are kinda redoing the arguments from previous pages):
All I'm saying is that if said tool exist, you should think about ways to make it helpful rather than calling it evil and ignoring it, because that only means that the enevitable baddies will use your ignorance against you.

You also need some kind of especially armed and trained law-enforcment agency to keep eye on magical crimes.
However, giving the keys to your law-enforcment agency to a religious-church based in your rival country is...
not smart to say the least.

And as for the treatment of mages in general, I explained my reasoning a page or two ago as to why it's a foolish approach despite the clear and present danger.

I don't think creating enchanted artifacts is that easy, it takes a lot of skill to even fold Lyrium into the most simple enchantments.
You're right about Lambert in Asunder, I forgot about him - the Dragon Age Origins explanation of the Litany of Adralla is still fresh in mind, where they literally tell you that it takes a mage to perform it even though every partymember can clearly use it.

Fully embracing Blood magic is one way of dealing with it yes, whether to say it'll turn out any better than it did with the Tevinter Empirium I'll just leave out of it.
And clearly Thedas needs the White Council (from the Dresden Files). 

[Hellion Rex]

Azaron Nightblade wrote...

TheRedVipress wrote...

About the Litany and artifacts:
The Litany does not require a mage, it was used by a templar called Lambert(?) in that recent book that I didn't read. (templars use other magics from the spirit tree, things that are available to mages too under different names. They can't "cast miracles" or somesuch.)
Artifacts: Lyrium is very much magic in mineral form, if you can counter magic, albeit with difficulty, with other magic, you should be able to do it with Enchatment! too.
(If the chantry would actually go ahead with developing counter measures is another question, their interest in continuing the current state of fear and hatred toward magic is obvious)

As for the rest (we are kinda redoing the arguments from previous pages):
All I'm saying is that if said tool exist, you should think about ways to make it helpful rather than calling it evil and ignoring it, because that only means that the enevitable baddies will use your ignorance against you.

You also need some kind of especially armed and trained law-enforcment agency to keep eye on magical crimes.
However, giving the keys to your law-enforcment agency to a religious-church based in your rival country is...
not smart to say the least.

And as for the treatment of mages in general, I explained my reasoning a page or two ago as to why it's a foolish approach despite the clear and present danger.

I don't think creating enchanted artifacts is that easy, it takes a lot of skill to even fold Lyrium into the most simple enchantments.
You're right about Lambert in Asunder, I forgot about him - the Dragon Age Origins explanation of the Litany of Adralla is still fresh in mind, where they literally tell you that it takes a mage to perform it even though every partymember can clearly use it.

Fully embracing Blood magic is one way of dealing with it yes, whether to say it'll turn out any better than it did with the Tevinter Empirium I'll just leave out of it.
And clearly Thedas needs the White Council (from the Dresden Files). 

Speaking of, I heard on Twitter that he is on Chapter 33 out of 45 on Skin Game. He said that he would be done in 2 weeks with the whole thing.

[Laughing_Man]

Medhia Nox wrote...

Knowing that Blood Magic has a threshold wherein you are required to murder for your power.
...
 

That's exactly my point.
A sensible mage might want to learn how to use simple blood-magic if every fanatic templar can counter some or most of the magic he can cast.

The jump from utility and self-defense to murder and mass-murder is not automatic. Far from it.