I just don't think it's going to happen.
It might, and I'd like it to, if only because I like the Dorian concept(I'm becoming a broken record at this point).
But I just don't think a full mage party is likely. Bioware just seems to not want it to be possible.
Its is hard to even discuss that guy without an inch of new information
I just don't think it's going to happen.
It might, and I'd like it to, if only because I like the Dorian concept(I'm becoming a broken record at this point).
But I just don't think a full mage party is likely. Bioware just seems to not want it to be possible.
Agreed, not to mention that we have a history (DA:O) of getting more than three warriors. He could just be an atypical warrior with a unique move-set to accommodate his trident/spear and sword. Then again, the possibility of an arcane warrior is so appealing.
Either way, I think this guy is pretty intriguing.
Something else to consider (and this is a bit convoluted and CSI; BSN) are the time frames that it would take to add and cut companions.
Dorian and the trident/moustache guy, whether or not they're the same character, were in the survey as a companion biography and a piece of concept art in August 2012.
I've kinda been thinking for a while that if the game was meant to come out in late 2013 - which it was - there's no way they'd be cutting companions in the last year, it'd just be way too much bother and work. Given the lead times for things like art, cinematics, voiceover scheduling and even the writers, I just can't see them changing the roster that "late" into development.
David Gaider also said just today that the reason Maevaris Tilani, a Tevinter magister from the comics, won't be in Inquisition is because when the comics were written it was too late for her character concept to make it into the game.
I know the timeline is odd for fans, as Inquisition is not a “real” thing to them, and thus—from their point of view—we could potentially change anything right up until release, but that’s simply not how it works.
I adore Maevaris, but as I said previously she was concepted too late to take part in Inquisition.
The first comic in which Maevaris appeared was Those Who Speak, which was published in August 2012 - but of course, her character concept would've been done way before that, probably many months. I'd interpret that as meaning the rough cut-off date for characters making it into Inquisition was significantly before August 2012. If they couldn't add Maevaris then as a significant character, what evidence is there to support the idea that a companion was changed some time between then and now?
August 2012 is also when the survey was circulated, so you could assume - and I know it's a big assumption - that it was also too late to significantly change things, or at least things as big as companions and major NPCs. The last we heard Dorian ~was~ a companion, and from my understanding of the timeline stuff, by the time that survey came out it was already too late to add extra significant characters.
The last bit of David's post, moreover, is interesting too - about Maevaris' absence, and whether they'll have other trans characters in the future:
That doesn’t stop us, however, from using her in the future, if we care to, or from having other Tevinter (or, yes, even transgender) characters you simply don’t know anything about yet.
Seems the chillest of the companions in that he's along for the ride. All the while commenting and looking down on his comrades with one liners and criticisms. Probably like him the most, but that could be entirely due to the fact that we don't know much about him yet, which speaks volumes of how they've presented the individuals we have so far.
I really hope Bioware will let him have the epic beard and mustache from the concept art!
That's a different character. The Grey Warden. The really beardy Grey Warden.
The really beardy Grey Warden who has his own concept art that is completely different to dramatic hands moustache guy.
Regardless of if he is Dorian or not, I want him in the game purely for the fact that he looks so much like Littlefinger from Game of Thrones, and if he is Dorian all the better as he is the character I find to be the most interesting out of all the concepts.
Something else to consider (and this is a bit convoluted and CSI; BSN) are the time frames that it would take to add and cut companions.
Dorian and the trident/moustache guy, whether or not they're the same character, were in the survey as a companion biography and a piece of concept art in August 2012.
I've kinda been thinking for a while that if the game was meant to come out in late 2013 - which it was - there's no way they'd be cutting companions in the last year, it'd just be way too much bother and work. Given the lead times for things like art, cinematics, voiceover scheduling and even the writers, I just can't see them changing the roster that "late" into development.
David Gaider also said just today that the reason Maevaris Tilani, a Tevinter magister from the comics, won't be in Inquisition is because when the comics were written it was too late for her character concept to make it into the game.
The first comic in which Maevaris appeared was Those Who Speak, which was published in August 2012 - but of course, her character concept would've been done way before that, probably many months. I'd interpret that as meaning the rough cut-off date for characters making it into Inquisition was significantly before August 2012. If they couldn't add Maevaris then as a significant character, what evidence is there to support the idea that a companion was changed some time between then and now?
August 2012 is also when the survey was circulated, so you could assume - and I know it's a big assumption - that it was also too late to significantly change things, or at least things as big as companions and major NPCs. The last we heard Dorian ~was~ a companion, and from my understanding of the timeline stuff, by the time that survey came out it was already too late to add extra significant characters.
The last bit of David's post, moreover, is interesting too - about Maevaris' absence, and whether they'll have other trans characters in the future:
I believe it's been stated that even when the survey was released, the information was already rather dated; like you suggest, any companions or characters that were going to be cut already had been by that point.
Which leads me to question why the survey was even released to start with, but I suppose you gotta wet the customer's appetite with something, even if it is a plate full of lies.
That's a good point about the age of the survey even when it was circulated - and it does raise the issue of why a marketing department would *ever* ask for feedback about something that was confirmed to not be in the game.
I have an issue with developers saying that the information is old, though, because - not to sound too conspiratorial - but of course they'd say that. It's what Ray and Greg said about the leaked ME3 script, and that was 100% the same as in the final game. If the timelines for DA:I were as tight as David suggests above, then I think there's little that could have changed about those characters at that point. Even if dialogue wasn't written or their final concept nailed down, the processes for them being in the game - all the thinking and planning - seemed to be over. I just think the pipeline timeframes (for art and writing, especially) are way too long to change things on a whim.
And about the survey:
It wasn't released so much as leaked, by people who were supposed to be doing a confidential online marketing survey. They deliberately broke confidentiality agreements to take screenshots and post them on the old BSN. The survey site added users' IP addresses to the companion art images, for example, which is why all of those old pictures have a big black bar in the middle. I'm frankly astonished that people thought Bioware fans *wouldn't* leak that sort of information as soon as they saw it (though I strongly disapprove of breaking confidentiality agreements like that), and the survey clearly had no anti-copy measures built into it.
The information was never intended to be public, and if it hadn't been leaked like that we probably still wouldn't know who the Grey Warden, Sera, or the Iron Bull were. Inquisition's marketing, it has to be said, are still teasing characters like the Iron Bull as though we don't know who he is - and for the vast majority of Inquisition's future players, that's still true.
But it has to be emphasised that Bioware did not want that survey to be public, and for a long time the survey content had more information about Inquisition than any official source.
(Some might say it still does, given the hints about co-op/multiplayer modes, Cole/Dorian/Sera/the Warden and the general plot outline of the game.)
Well that raises a question; the survey was leaked in august '12, but was that when the leakers actually took the survey or had they taken it some time before and waited with the information until they thought the coast was clear to blow the whistle on it?
It was August 2012. There were actually two separate people who gave excerpts from the survey, one had done the English version and one had done a survey in German. They both posted information in a BSN thread, and then roughly two or three weeks later Bioware officially announced the game, partly in response to the information that was by then all over the BSN.
Of course, the survey itself might've been running before August 2012, but I don't think that's particularly likely. DA:I was by then into production, and they'd actually used the same concept art images of Cassandra and the Grey Warden companion way, way back in April 2012.
(The fact that they were doing surveys in multiple languages, for example, points me to the idea that this was done when they still thought DA:I had a 2013 release date, and the marketing team were trying to get a handle on what aspects of the game people wanted to see in advertising and other campaigns.)
I must now make an Inquisitor named Dramatic Hands Moustache Guy, provided long names are allowed.....
Super late to this, but after reading through all the posts I didn't see a particular piece of concept art being mentioned in this thread. War room art is there for comparison.
The asymmetry of the outfit is maintained in both images, it just looks like he picked up a hood during his travels. Though he looks a bit beefier in the Chains concept art, the overall appearance is the same and a few details in particular are spot on matches:
- length of the coat
- belt is heavily laden on his left side
- the straps under his arm and around his torso
As to what class he is... well, the gloves he's wearing in the War Room don't cover his palms. The only other people in the War Room without full gloves are Solas (mage) and the scribe girl, then Sera (rogue/archer) in the Tavern concept art, and Vivienne (mage). Weapons practice with bare palms is bound to give you awful blisters. I hope he's the "unnamed mage" that Vivienne doesn't get along with that was mentioned in the last bioware blog entry 
I'm pretty sure they're not talking about Solas since, as Allan Schumacher muses in the Solas thread, his name has been out there for a little while now.
I haven't read any other speculation about Dramatic Hands Mustache Guy, so I'm just going off of what's in this particular thread so far!
I hope he's the "unnamed mage" that Vivienne doesn't get along with that was mentioned in the last bioware blog entry
I think it could be him. Didn't his description tease that he is an outcast tevinter magister? I could see the Enchanter to the Imperial Court of Orlais and personal advisor to the Empress butting heads with that. Of course it also said he 'delights in being not what you expect'.
I'd love for them to have a similar relationship to Aveline and Isabela.
I think it could be him. Didn't his description tease that he is an outcast tevinter magister? I could see the Enchanter to the Imperial Court of Orlais and personal advisor to the Empress butting heads with that. Of course it also said he 'delights in being not what you expect'.
I'd love for them to have a similar relationship to Aveline and Isabela.
I was thinking mostly the same thing as you. I don't see Vivienne sending that scathing message to a mage who is described as a "renegade". Although maybe I just REALLY want a Tevinter magister companion, lol.
I'm going to be boring here. For the longest time, he's looked like Stroud only with a different weapon. As far as why he's not wearing traditional Grey Warden armor, there might be some good reasons. As David Gaider pointed out, not all the people we see in the concept art are companions. Besides, when it comes to the dramatic hands, Stroud is Orleasian after all.
A picture comparison:
The War Room and other concept art looks like this to me, only with the stubble cleaned up. That's just my two cents.
I'll keep reading the ideas you guys come up with. I'm done being dull. 
Stroud? Because...... Stroud's face is quite generic and he has a moustache, and black hair?
Nah-ah, going to have to do better than that to convince me.
Stroud? Because...... Stroud's face is quite generic and he has a moustache, and black hair?
Nah-ah, going to have to do better than that to convince me.
Starting with something simple, the dramatic hands, which fits well into an Orlesian theme. They tend to be larger than life in their actions, including something as basic as hand gestures. Most Wardens are good with far more than one weapon type, even though they have some they prefer over others. It would make sense for him to be at the War Room, especially if the Beared Warden is going with us. I always figured Stroud is going to be the BW's boss and sends the BW with us.
Starting with something simple, the dramatic hands, which fits well into an Orlesian theme. They tend to be larger than life in their actions, including something as basic as hand gestures. Most Wardens are good with far more than one weapon type, even though they have some they prefer over others. It would make sense for him to be at the War Room, especially if the Beared Warden is going with us. I always figured Stroud is going to be the BW's boss and sends the BW with us.
It's possible, certainly, but it just seems so far-fetched. The man in the war room just doesn't strike me as Stroud. I would think him to be Rhys sooner than a Warden.
Also, why couldn't the Bearded Warden be Stroud? He doesn't really look like him , sure, but he still could be.
The man in the war room just doesn't strike me as Stroud. I would think him to be Rhys sooner than a Warden.
Me either, other than the mustache I don't really see much similarity.
It's possible, certainly, but it just seems so far-fetched. The man in the war room just doesn't strike me as Stroud. I would think him to be Rhys sooner than a Warden.
Also, why couldn't the Bearded Warden be Stroud? He doesn't really look like him , sure, but he still could be.
Fair enough at the first statement. I will say that the wiki does say that Stroud looks like a high ranking Warden. If that's the case, then I have no idea why someone of high rank would dare leave his post at this point. It would make sense if he sent a Warden he trusted though. It just looks like him to me and it isn't just the 'stache. It's the hair style and the elongated face as well.
The second statement I think is pretty far out there. The Beared Warden looks nothing like Stroud, as you pointed out. I think of dramatic hands/dramatic expression, I think Orlais. Well agree to disagree though and see what the coming months has in store for us. 
Fair enough at the first statement. I will say that the wiki does say that Stroud looks like a high ranking Warden. If that's the case, then I have no idea why someone of high rank would dare leave his post at this point. It would make sense if he sent a Warden he trusted though. It isn't just the 'stache, it's the hair style and the elongated face as well.
The second statement I think is pretty far out there. The Beared Warden looks nothing like Stroud, as you pointed out. I think of dramatic hands/dramatic expression, I think Orlais. Well agree to disagree though and see what the coming months has in store for us.
Agree to disagree, I'm cool with that
I'm excited to see what's in store for us, at least.
Agree to disagree, I'm cool with that
I'm excited to see what's in store for us, at least.
Me too! Waiting is the hardest part, but in some ways, it's the best part too. 
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