22176 réponses à ce sujet

[Fredward]

^ SAME HERE. I've always had an abysmal restarting problem, so when I first got DAI I thought, "No more restarting! Only three playthroughs! One for each non-human race and class, and that's it!" I had it all planned out: female elven mage to romance either Solas or Sera, dwarven archer to romance the Iron Bull, and Qunari warrior to romance Josephine. Locked, loaded, and good to go.

 

I had everything planned out too. A female dwarf for Blackwall (or Sera), a qunari mage for Dorian (or Cass) and a female elf for Solas. Somehow though the one playthrough I've managed to complete was as male elf mage romancing Dorian. To put this into perspective I have finished this game only once. Once. Yet I have over 400 hours clocked in.

 

In the spoiler follows my traitorous brain's circuitous reasoning. Or lack thereof.

 

Spoiler

 

Brain 1: ~chill elevator music plays as I cruise along on the qunmage playthrough, brain automatically constructs nice extra scenes and characterization to make me more committed to this playthrough because this is what I actually want to do~

Brain 1: Lets go check that forum thread with like-minded Dorian worshipers!

Brain 1: Oooooh fanart. ~clicks~ Awww. That's cute.

Brain 2: Isn't it though? A shorter, lither hero is so refreshing.

Brain 1: Don't go there man, we already played an elf romancing Dorian.

Brain 2: Yes. But. That was a MAGE. We could be a rogue this time. A roooguuueeee, totally different.

Brain 1: Not... really? The game does race first and then class, we wouldn't hear all that much extra dialogue.

Brain 2: Who cares about dialogue bro? This is about US how we think, how we feeeeel about it.

Brain 1: I feel as if I don't want to start another game. We already had to clear out the save folder which has a capacity of THREE HUNDRED once. We are not going down that road again.

Brain 2: I feel as if you're not considering all the possibilities. ~furiously starts scribbling down scenes to make a rogue elf playthrough more appealing~

Brain 1: Keith! Do not do this! We have a problem!

Brain 2: ~takes out the projector and starts playing scenes of rogue elf's background and potential development, also adorable scenes highlighting height difference between him and Dorian~

Brain 1: Nope. Not entertaining this.

Brain 2: But-

Brain 1: No.

Brain 2: But!

Brain 1: NO.

Brain 2: ~holds up adorable fanart and gives puppy eyes~

Brain 1: UGH FINE. God I hate you Keith.

Brain 2: Yay! I love me!

 

~later~

 

Brain 1: ~halfway through the prologue~ Wait. Why are we doing this? I THOUGHT we were reserving a rogue playthrough for the eventual female dwarf. We've already done an elf dammit!

Brain 2: ~cartwheels in circles, oblivious to the world in general~

Brain 1: ~seethes, reloads Adaar save~

Brain 3: You know, if the primary aim was just to be shorter than Dorian we could always be a dwarf.

Brain 1: We WILL be a dwarf. Later. On a different playthrough.

Brain 3: But that won't be a Dorian playthrough, will it Wilfred?

Brain 4: Dwarves are squat.

Brain 3: Point?

Brain 4: I do not like squat. And imagine the cinematics! No, no it just will not do. At all. 

Brain 3: No one really cares. 

Brain 4: I care John. I care so much it hurts me seeing you be so flippant. Cinematics matter, aesthetics matter, I matter.

Brain 2: They DO have very compelling lore, and unlike elves theirs seem to be building rather than coming to a close.

Brain 1: You need to not talk to me.

Brain 2: That is hurtful. You are being hurtful.

Brain 3: You know we could reach a happy compromise by just being taking a human.

Brain 4: Nooooo, they're too BUFF in their pajamas and you KNOW we can't get their faces right.

Brain 1: We've been through this. We liked the qunari backstory better.

Brain 2: No, no! This could work! As long as it's a mage we could contrast his and Dorian's experiences oooooh and he could have a SCAR which he would be sensitive about and he could have had an elven love interest who got made tranquil so that we could have sufficient justification to go with the elves at the ball, I know how much you like that one Wilfred, and... (Brain 2 continues to construct a increasingly attractive background while Brain 3 rubs his chin and wonders if a qunari female warrior wouldn't be a better choice and brain 4 is crying in a corner)

Brain 1: ~twitch~

 

[Gervaise]

Do you suppose Dorian's father would settle for adopted children?    Not blood relatives it's true but if Tevinter is anything like ancient Rome then adoption is a legitimate way of setting up a successor.   Think Julius Caesar and Octavian. 

 

You see my Lavellan has a cunning plan; he's going to put the word out to the clans that if they have any surplus mage children they don't want, instead of just abandoning them, they should let him know.    Now I realise these would be elves but Dorian could do the same with human mage children that are routinely dumped on the Chantry doorstep.    Dorian could ensure they got the right early education and then they could be sent north later to attend a Tevinter Circle.   In fact if Dorian was acknowledging them as his own, what could his father do?   Would he really want to lose face by refusing to receive them as his grandchildren?    It is a possible solution.

[(Disgusted noise.)]

I'm only sort of bad about abandoning play throughs. I did have a half finished Josephinemance and a half finished Cullenmance that I dropped to go romance Dorian again, but eventually I finished all three. So for I've finished:

 

Trevelyan/Dorian

Trevelyan/Dorian

Trevelyan/Cullen

(F)Trevelyan/Josephine

Cadash/Dorian

 

And then now I've got a Lavellan I guess I'll romance Solas with to see if the hype lives up (which I doubt since I don't like elves very much, especially Dalish ones and ones named Solas), another Trevelyan for Sera, and an Adaar I'm planning on romancing Cassandra with or maybe even Iron Bull... but he'll probably end up going to Dorian. All three of those are in the Hinterlands at the moment.

[TheRatPack55]

Lucky.

 

Believe it or not I used to be much worse, but I don't have as much self-control as you do. Mostly I just keep making Lavellan after Lavellan because I can't romance Solas, Dorian or Cullen with anyone else. (Well, I could technically with Dorian and Cullen, but it's not appealing.) My poor Cadash and Adaar keep getting pushed back onto the backburner. =(

 

(Aw, I like the elf body models.)

 

 

I did have to sorta force myself not to start another Inquisitor until I finished with the current one (the cullenmancer notwithstanding, she was experimental, she doesn't count) But I just knew myself well enough to know that if I did it would mess up my experience, too many games ruined by this before... 

 

And I wish I could feel immersed with any race other than human... I really need that elf, since they're so plot-relevant, it's not even so much the body but.. the proportionally giant, huge, massive head, argh... I acknowledge not everyone feels there's anything amiss, but I can't get over it, personally, it makes me cringe every time a cutscene comes up 

 

And, admittedly, I just never felt a connection with the Dalish at all, maybe a city elf would do, but Dalish.... nah.

 

It's amusing though, how people favor certain pc origins, makes for some nice gameplay diversity 

[Arlee]

I had everything planned out too. A female dwarf for Blackwall (or Sera), a qunari mage for Dorian (or Cass) and a female elf for Solas. Somehow though the one playthrough I've managed to complete was as male elf mage romancing Dorian. To put this into perspective I have finished this game only once. Once. Yet I have over 400 hours clocked in.

 

It's actually pretty funny to look back at my plans before the game came out and look at what actually ended up happening. Going into the game Blackwall was the only one I was certain I was going to romance. I wasn't interested in Cullen at all, I thought I'd just mostly like Dorian but I wouldn't have any strong feelings about him, and I didn't really know what to make of Solas.

 

In my first pt it only took two flirts with Cullen before I was totally sold there and forgot all about Blackwall. I really enjoyed talking to Solas and getting to know him, his perspective on things was really interesting and I decided during that pt I was also going to make a Elf for him. I think I've mentioned before my first pt was a Templar run so the first conversation I really had with Dorian (where he let his personality show because he was pretty guarded in Redcliff) was the "archdemons like to crush" conversation. I knew from that moment I had totally underestimated how much I was going to enjoy his personality. I fell for him pretty quickly after that.

 

Now I have three full PTs one for each of those guys, I am working on a second one for Cullen, and I am already making plans for my next two characters for both Solas and Dorian. The only thing I had right going into the game was I knew I would love Cass and Varric ><

[nightscrawl]

Do you suppose Dorian's father would settle for adopted children?

No.

 

I don't think so. To paraphrase Dorian, "Tevinter nobles don't 'have children,' they selectively breed. They weed out undesirable qualities, refine magical talent, and promote the rest." Dorian himself is a product of generations of selective breeding. In Tevinter, bloodlines are extremely important because they feel like magical talent is genetic. Some genetic stock is superior to others and so on. Most noble Tevinter families are from powerful mage lines that have selectively bred and fostered magical talent for centuries.
 
I don't think Dorian's parents would necessarily settle for "here's someone else's blood child who doesn't have centuries of pedigree mage bloodlines to prove s/he's of superior genetic stock." Or, if he did, it might turn into, "Why are we encouraging this other family's genetic stock instead of our own?!"
 
Then again, Dorian's father has been served a massive helping of humble pie since his attempt at turning his son straight led to almost losing his son forever (and possibly actually losing him if you encourage Dorian to cut him out of his life), so he might be willing to take what he can get at this point. But then, he could adopt his own child instead of Dorian's, so... that's kind of moot.

Yep, this exactly. In Tevinter it's less about a title and more about actual magical bloodlines.

 

I don't know how accurate it is to say that "they feel like magical talent is genetic." If there is any society I would expect to know their stuff when it comes to magic it's Tevinter, so it seems like their idea would be more accurate than not. They've had millennia to work all of this stuff out.

[Arlee]

Yep, this exactly. In Tevinter it's less about a title and more about actual magical bloodlines.

 

I don't know how accurate it is to say that "they feel like magical talent is genetic." If there is any society I would expect to know their stuff when it comes to magic it's Tevinter, so it seems like their idea would be more accurate than not. They've had millennia to work all of this stuff out.

 

Well there is a conversation where you can ask Dorian if there is any chance for the common folk to have a child who is a mage and he replies it tends to run in families so there isn't much chance of it. I'm pretty sure it's cannon magical ability is tied to bloodlines. But it's not just magical ability they are breeding for but also a variety of other traits which would make a good leader who people would want to follow.

[Gervaise]

To be honest I wasn't being entirely serious.    In any case I wasn't suggesting sending elf children north to Tevinter.  Heaven forbid!   Lavellan was just wanting to ensure the safety of the children and would allow him to have a family at the same time.   Skyhold is a pretty big place; I'm sure you could fit a few children in there.  

 

So far as Dorian's father is concern I mentioned the human children regularly dumped on the Chantry.    Actually if the Tevinter nobles have been so carefully breeding all these centuries, they are probably a bit inbred and so could do with a bit of hybrid vigour.    I'd be interested to know what his family would have done if Dorian had gone ahead with their plan and then his wife produced a non-mage.    Such things must happen from time to time. 

 

I have to admit, if the bloodline is so important, I'm surprised his family stopped at one child.  Most noble families at least attempt to have a spare.            

[Dr. Doctor]

I'd imagine that if Halward and Dorian's mother despised each other they kind of just stopped bothering with the whole marriage business after Dorian was found to have magical potential.

I'd imagine that mundane members of the upper classes are guided into the Templars or the Chantry. Tevinter has a few similarities with the Bondsmagi of Karthain in Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series.

[nightscrawl]

I'd imagine that if Halward and Dorian's mother despised each other they kind of just stopped bothering with the whole marriage business after Dorian was found to have magical potential.

The age range of magical development seems to vary, but I think the most common is 9-11 with anything older or younger than that being an aberration. Certainly enough time for a child to develop views on marriage based on watching their parents.

Nine appears to be quite common and seems in line with the onset of puberty. This also would be something interesting to consider in relation to Dorian as well if the development of his magical talent coincided with the discovery that he liked boys as more than just friends, and then the possible realization of what that might mean in Tevinter society as he grew older.

 

One thing to consider is that the upper class children are probably better prepared for the emergence of magic than their southern counterparts. If you are selectively breeding for the high possibility of magic you will want to treat every child as a potential mage, which would include basic training and knowledge of magical theory, even if the student can't actually do magic yet. And even those who don't go on to become mages can still learn to a certain degree, look at Dagna.

[Dr. Doctor]

Oddly enough what the nobility of the Imperium do isn't all that different from the Qunari's selective breeding program.

[CuriousArtemis]

Hi Dorian fans Do you guys know if the bug relating to his personal quest not firing has been fixed by the latest patch? I just recuited him after In Hushed Whispers. This is my second playthrough, and on my first playthrough, I had the bug. So I'm scared to even talk to him now.

[Lady Artifice]

Hi Dorian fans Do you guys know if the bug relating to his personal quest not firing has been fixed by the latest patch? I just recuited him after In Hushed Whispers. This is my second playthrough, and on my first playthrough, I had the bug. So I'm scared to even talk to him now.

 

Taking him there without any other companions present has worked for me every time, patch or no patch. 

 

Edit: Oh, wait. You were talking about the quest not initiating at all. Sorry. 

[CuriousArtemis]

Taking him there without any other companions present has worked for me every time, patch or no patch. 
 
Edit: Oh, wait. You were talking about the quest not initiating at all. Sorry.

Yeah Seems no me knows yet. I'm not sure what to do. I would like to romance him but I'm terrified I'll get the bug.

[Zarro-Morningstar]

Yeah Seems no me knows yet. I'm not sure what to do. I would like to romance him but I'm terrified I'll get the bug.

I got the patch and that was one of the few things that it seemed to fix. So it screwed my banter but got rid of the Dorian bug, at least for me.

[CuriousArtemis]

Thanks guys All signs seem to point to it being fixed so I'm hopeful.

[Gervaise]

So far as I am aware the bug is definitely fixed.   I had gone a fair way in after Skyhold without his personal quest firing but then along came the patch and bingo everything started to happen.   Before the approval rating seemed to work in reverse, so if it got too high the system was reading as too low (that's my theory anyway).   It now makes no difference if you talk about Alexius or whatever.   You just need to get his approval up high enough for it to trigger.   If you've done Hushed Whispers that should be no problem but if you did Champions of the Just you will need to do at least of couple of groups of Venatori, plus say the right things to him for it to happen.   That is my experience anyway.   I've done both routes since the patch.

[TheRatPack55]

Finally finished the game with Dorian's Inquisitor - the moment he smiled at you in Skyhold was really sweet...

 

 

...too bad then it was all 'nice knowing you, but I'll be off to Tevinter now, bye!'

[Gervaise]

I think either Dorian's father or mother must have low fertility.   Magical ability doesn't start to show itself normally until at least eight years old.    Even if you're pretty confident that your breeding program is going to lead to a mage, the child could suffer an accident.    Later on it life there is the possibility of assassination.    You'd want to stack the odds in your favour even if you couldn't stand your marriage partner.     That would seem the whole point of their culture; you don't have to love/like your spouse or enjoy having sex with them (that's what slaves are for); you just do your duty and preserve the valuable bloodline.

 

Which brings me onto the whole business of what Dorian actually loves about his society in particular; what is it he wants to save?    When he was talking about what he loved about the country, it was mostly the history and the buildings, which would be there no matter who was in charge (unless invaded by the Qunari).    Standing as the bulwark against the Qunari seems to me to be the only thing Tevinter has got in its favour.    If you take the scenario that the changes the Inquisition initiates in the south actually endure, then even the magical superiority and mage freedom of action are no longer the preserve of Tevinter.

 

From what Dorian, Fenris and Lambert say, blood magic excesses are the norm among the higher echelons of society, behind the scenes but there none the less.    It is the only way you can rise to the top.    Corruption is rife, slavery endemic.    In the past rulers have tried to wipe out both and ended up being killed.    Generations of selective breeding have simply maintained the status quo.     Tevinter assassins would appear to be among the most deadly in Thedas.      So if you try and change things from within you will have an uphill task in staying alive and in resisting the lure of suspect means to achieve your aims.   Yet if you succeed, what exactly is left of what we think of as Tevinter?   

 

Last question (for now), inspired by the Inquisitor, Dorian has the urge to return home and try and redeem it.   However, he also returns home if disillusioned by the Inquisitor, particularly if his heart has been broken.    In the latter scenario, do you suppose he simply drowns his sorrows in alcohol and submerges himself in a life of dissipation?    Or would he simply give up, resign himself to living a life "screaming on the inside" and submit to his parent's wishes?

[Gervaise]

You obviously took the wrong dialogue choices.   My Dorian isn't going anywhere.   He has to know you "need" him.   I think it has something to do with retaining his pride and self respect.   When a man with as much power and influence as the Inquisitor actually admits to needing you, that is pretty ego boosting.     Plus he finally realises that it is possible to find love as a man so why throw it all away?

[Fredward]

Plus he finally realises that it is possible to find love as a man so why throw it all away?

 

To come to the conclusion that you can have love AND still follow your convictions? Getting him to stay FEELS nice but it also feels, to me at least, as if I'm not giving him space to grow. I'm sort of just swapping one problem for another. Sure now he knows he can find love but at what price? What about his dreams of seeing Tevinter changed?

 

 

 

Anyway, Brain 2 saw this guy (male human 2) and now I have to restart. Send help.