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[Jedi Master of Orion]

So The Masked Empire was a really fun read for me, and it was also the first major piece of supplementary material that I've read for a Bioware game.

 

Gaspard was perhaps the most memorable surprise for me. I remember when story was starting out I was hoping that Celene's opponent in the war would get something of a reasonably sympathetic portrayal as well.

 

Initially I was a little disappointed considering he did appear to be mainly the racist warmongering usurper he appear to be on paper but as time went on I found couldn't help but respect him more and more despite myself. And by the very end, I actually found his scene in the epilogue to be the most sympathetic out of all Celene, Briala and himself because he seemed to be most self aware out of all 3 rivals, and the only one who seemed to best understand the cost of what was about to happen and that stopping it may take a degree of personal sacrifice. Being a guy who sees more than what's just in front of him seems like exactly what Thedas may need in the times of chaos and the Veil Tears.

 

Some of his other qualities may be hard to get past for me, but I think given the choice in DAI, I'd side with him at least once. And even on playthroughs where I wouldn't, he seems like he'd be one of the most engaging adversaries I would've experienced in a Bioware game.

 

However, this (and any other example) would all hinge on if he would be faithfully recreated in the game if he were to appear in it. Do you think that's likely?

 

In the past there have been times where it seems to me that the expanded universe content doesn't always match up with the game content.

 

My understanding is that the Mass Effect novels didn't always seem to jive well with the games, but I would imagine that whole franchise is a different beast anyway.

 

Keeping with Dragon Age, there were a number of people (myself included) who thought that Isabella's portrayal in the comic series (for one reason or other) made her different that she was in DA 2. And the short story that served as a prequel for Anders' role in DA 2 made him seem kind of out of character, even for a crazed abomination he was in DA2.

 

Perhaps someone who has read the Stolen Throne can chime in. Did you guys feel like the character of Loghain was the same one in the novel as he was in the game? Because my impression there was a whole lot of his backstory and context for his character that wasn't included in Dragon Age Origins.

 

I'd be disappointed if Gaspard translated into something simple like the treacherous and more brutal rival of Celene. His Chevalier code of honor meant there were certain lines he didn't cross gave him a kind of depth that even Loghain didn't seem to demonstrate much of in Origins (although he's given depth for a different reason).

 

But ultimately like Mass Effect, Dragon Age is a game series. My feeling is continuity errors are problems with the books and comics rather than the games . Even so the Gaspard from the novels (to use one example) is the type of character that is interesting enough to appear in the game too, I'd say. Do you think he will?

[Wolfen09]

The stolen throne and i think the calling were written during origins, but before the game was actually released... there are notable discrepancies in the novels and the game....  it is speculated in the calling that allistair's mother was fiona a elf mage grey warden, not some maid...  As for loghain's character, the game only got one thing right and that was his hatred of orlais...  Cailan was a lot like maric in his whimsical ways, but in the books loghain put up with all of maric's ideas even if he advised against it....  He was against maric going on the journey with the wardens in the calling and was even more against letting them come back to ferelden, but he still put up with it... the only thing i can see is that he finally snapped with it being the last straw in origins, but the game didnt mention or show that in anyway.  To me, even if you recruited him in the game, the creators only showed one to 2 sides of loghain in the game and those were a severe distrust of orlais and a certain reverence for maric.

[Mistress9Nine]

I disagree with you, Wolfen. There books and the game are many years apart (in Thedas terms), and the creators are very true to the events and characters IMO. If you look at it Loghain for example you can see how his hatred of Orlais drove him to this paranoid state and how it drove him to his actions (in my interpretation). As for this not being discussed in the game, I should think that is only for the sake of thoe who didn't read the books. They created the books to expands on the game not vica versa. You should alawys look at it with that in mind. If they included any other details, they might have confused some players (IMO).

 

As for Alistair, Maric could have had relations with a number of women. Fiona's child is actually one of the things I'm mostly looking forward to coming back in the series. I think it is a potential plot device that will be used further down the line to - pardon the phrase - render your choices invalid, since the creators will need to follow some sort of canon in the series, so if by making Fiona's bastard the king after Alistair and/or Anora are done with their reign (again jut my theory)

 

So to the original point, I don't think the character of Gaspard will be done injustice, but you should only expect characterization depending on how big a part the Orlesian civil war plays. Keep in mind that this is a book, where Gaspard, Celene, Briala are all leading characters. You are given access to their inner dialogue, their motivtions, all of their actions. In the game you will be the Inquisitor, you will only scratch the surface of these characters. You will make assumptions based on what others say, what these characters wear and how they act whn you are around, but you will never be able to study them is such detail as in the books.

[Wolfen09]

if you didnt read the first few books, you didnt know any other side of loghain...  its a good idea to develop the characters through the game and then give them the little bonus info in the books, they only developed half of loghain which is why i never liked to recruit him, cause he was half a character

[Mistress9Nine]

That i just the comment I made about Gaspard. Since Loghain wasn't a major POV character in the game, you only saw 4 cutscenes of him plus that last stretch beginning with the Landsmeet. There is no time in the game to make Loghain fully fledged, and it isn't the goal of the game. It's not his story. You can still see his Stolen Throne self if you recruit him (but not many do), such as his reluctance totake part in the Dark Ritual, cause he wants to redeem himself by striking the killing blow against the Archdaemon.

[Wolfen09]

you would think with him being the main villain for most of the game, that you would get better development out of them...  hell the illusive man had better character development and we knew almost nothing about him, but that is how it was supposed to be...  no additives from a book to move it along

[Mistress9Nine]

The main villain of DA were the darkspawn and the archdemon. The civil war was just a plot device to keep you from achieving your goal easily.

[JeffZero]

All four Dragon Age novels have been superior to the Mass Effect ones, although the second and third Mass Effect novels aren't terribly far off from The Stolen Throne and The Calling in quality. Those are all decent-ish, but The Stolen Throne had a bit too much boring relationship stuff for my taste. Yes, yes, I'm aware of how pertinent it was to the plot, which is why I still generally enjoyed every page.

The Masked Empire is a couple of steps above all that, but still not terrific or anything. Asunder remains the gold standard for BioWare novels, I think. Genuinely good book through and through, had me turning pages like crazy.

Anyway, they're all reasonably true to the source material. I'm a bit confused about the Dalish again now but other than that it clicks. And Loghain was nifty in the Origins prequels; it's only tragic he becomes something all the more venomous over the years, but I definitely see how it could occur.