153447 réponses à ce sujet

[LliiraAnna]

It's really something, how quickly this thread goes from "Yay, we have hope!" to "No, we're all doomed..." and back again.

 

All this uncertainty, nngh. At this point I'd probably welcome pretty much any conclusion, as long as it provides closure.

[Mims]

I too am most intrigued by the forgotten ones. Wish we had more information on them.

Too many "gods" in this world. Old gods, Elven gods, forgotten one gods, the maker, andraste, blah blah blah. Hard to keep them all straight.

Lore is not my strong point even though I wish it was.

 

Most confusing thing is that the forbidden ones and the forgotten ones are two different entities. They really should have changed the names on them. Unless somehow they will turn out to be one in the same someday. 

[k_drake]

Wait, what? How is it an "inside joke"? You mean you feel like they tricked us by making him romanceable when they knew it was going to end badly? I think that's a risk you take in these games, and that should have been clear from Morrigan and Anders. Nobody's promised a happy ending.

I think we're all just in different stages of grief, and this colors our perception of events.  Our reactions run the gamut from Anger to Denial to Bargaining...

[TanithAeyrs]

Does anyone have a link to the recent Weekes interview?  I missed it in all holiday activity.  Just so I can hear Weekes rub salt in my poor Lavellan's broken heart myself.

 

Currently forcing myself to romance Cullen with Lavellan #2 - it is sweet but nothing like the Solas romance.  Fan fiction for Solas currently fermenting in my brain.  Will release it into the wild when it is written.

[Dyanna]

One more person here who never planned on romancing him, and now is deeper into that character than into any romance before xD Personally I blame it on the lack of closure - to get my (halfway) happy ending with Alistair I did need to replay the game, but at least I knew there was a way to get it and what I had to do for it. I'd be very surprised though if we don't meet Solas again in a DLC, probably one that sets up the next game.

 

I think we need a term for Solas ninjamancing people
He's almost as good as Leliana and Liara at it

I must be the only person who actually wanted to romance Liara, but couldn't because of Kaidan ninjamance. I was only nice to you, dammit, why does Liara claim we'd have something special?

Solas really caught me by surprise though- I hadn't been interested in him at all - and then came that chuckle right at the start. Still took until my third playthrough to do the romance, though. In my first game I wasn't ready to commit right after getting Skyhold, and I didn't know you'd get no other chance. In my second game I played as human and was constantly torn between wanting to kiss him and wanting to punch him. It's probably better that way though, at least this way I wasn't completely emotionally destroyed when he disappeared... (Alistair making his first independent decision in the whole game by sacrificing himself really ruined my day back then. ...wait, actually dumping me was the first one. His decision-making skills aren't really great  )

[Tielis]

Wait, what? How is it an "inside joke"? You mean you feel like they tricked us by making him romanceable when they knew it was going to end badly? I think that's a risk you take in these games, and that should have been clear from Morrigan and Anders. Nobody's promised a happy ending.

 

LOL  So we're back to the "not every romance needs a happy ending" thing, then?

 

I find that hard to believe when there are so many in this thread still hoping for one.

 

Me, I'm just disgusted that it was thrown in at the end just for haha's for only one gender.  I really don't believe that it was intended for anything more than a throwaway romance since it is so heavily railroaded.  Because it was so incredibly done and captured our emotions so well does not change that.

[jawsisinmywc]

I'd argue ALL romances are to make the characters more sympathetic. The point of writing these interactions with characters is so you get to know them, like them, and sympathise with them. I'd be worried if they were writing romances and were trying NOT to make the character sympathetic. Certainly nothing they have said made it sound like the romance was a "joke". Weekes cried whilst writing it, and obviously a lot of money and effort went into developing this. There were a billion other things they could have used that time/effort for, instead they decided to develop this romance, which they probably only expected to be seen by a very small percentage of their audience. To me, that says they cared deeply about making this storyline.

 

Personally, I don't think Solas is going to be a big villain/antagonist. That would imply the next game would be stopping him. I think he's going to achieve his goals very quickly, and the next game will be about stopping the effects. The villains will probably be the other Gods. This is all speculation though.

As much as I am heartbroken, they did do a lovely job with his romance. And they achieved their goal which was to make his character tragic. They want him to be a very sympathetic character. They really want him to be in-depth and grey. I am glad they did it, but it still makes me cry and I will still always scream and complain. To paraphrase Solas in a banter with Cole "Sometimes you have to give people what they need and not what they want". I agree that he won't be the next big villain. He might be an antagonist of sorts, but I'm not so sure he will be put in the role of the villains in the previous games like the Archdemon or Corypheus where everyone is agreed that he must be killed.

I really want to be on Team Optimism, but somehow I am stuck on Team Pessimism.

[DraconisWolf]

The spot where Solas takes Lavellan is the same spot where you go and kill a wyvern in Crestwood (it's nighttime though). It's a small side quest, and I had this revelation while hunting for the beast ....and it was with Solas and Cole...after the break up. Needless to say I felt really awkward.

At this point I can't say wether Solas would be a villian or not. All I know is that there was a huge powershift at the end. Given the amount of knowledge Solas holds over the veil and the Fade , I think it's safe to assume that his plans involve the Fade. What I belive is that he created the Veil with his orb, given that fact the orb can cause such massive breaches and tears. The amount of power he holds over the Fade and the way he could manifest and control it is extraordinary. I imagine only dreamers (somniari?) , can accomplish something similar. The way he manifested the whole village of Heaven is amazing. I think he separated the Fade and "reality" to hold the elven gods, or what I think it's more likely , he meant it to be a place where his people could live, thrive , away from the fickle gods. 

[Mims]

LOL  So we're back to the "not every romance needs a happy ending" thing, then?

 

I find that hard to believe when there are so many in this thread still hoping for one.

 

Me, I'm just disgusted that it was thrown in at the end just for haha's for only one gender.  I really don't believe that it was intended for anything more than a throwaway romance since it is so heavily railroaded.  Because it was so incredibly done and captured our emotions so well does not change that.

 

I don't know where you possibly get that it was thrown in for laughs. But you are not obligated to like the romance. 

 

Many of us like the romance for what it is, and have a hope to someday see more. I'd love a happy ending. I have more than a few scenarios in mind. I can also see a tragic ending. I'm fine with that too. But I certainly don't feel for a moment that any of this was intended to be some sort of joke. You don't waste time, effort, and money on a subplot for the lolz. You don't make a character sympathetic on accident. 

 

I know people can be a bit bitter towards bioware- but lets give them a little credit. If they never got anything right we wouldn't be here. 

[k_drake]

Texts from the Inquisitor: 

 

Hey Solas what's up

I just wanted to say hi

we're all hanging out at the inn

me and Bull and the Chargers

if you wanted to stop in

 

btw I still have some of your stuff

like books and stuff

if you want to pick them up later

or something you can just let me know

or if you want me to bring them to you

I can do that.

 

now wer singing dawn will come

and i was like wheres solass

haha i mean solas

but has anyone called you solass ever 

like when you were kids

i dunno

 

but ferreal if you wanna talk about anything

you can tell me i wont judge

i wont like sit on my knife chair and be all like YOU

[Tielis]

As much as I am heartbroken, they did do a lovely job with his romance. And they achieved their goal which was to make his character tragic. They want him to be a very sympathetic character. They really want him to be in-depth and grey. I am glad they did it, but it still makes me cry and I will still always scream and complain. To paraphrase Solas in a banter with Cole "Sometimes you have to give people what they need and not what they want". I agree that he won't be the next big villain. He might be an antagonist of sorts, but I'm not so sure he will be put in the role of the villains in the previous games like the Archdemon or Corypheus where everyone is agreed that he must be killed.

I really want to be on Team Optimism, but somehow I am stuck on Team Pessimism.

 

I agree with you there.  When I say that I think he'll be the next villain or antagonist (take your pick), I mean that he will be the driving force behind whatever is going wrong, probably indirectly, just like with Corypheus.

 

Because he's sorry, that doesn't change the fact that he's to blame!  Especially when he makes the choice to flatleave Lavellan and go for his plan!

[MidgetNemo]

I don´t know if I think he´ll be the next villain per se but then again they did introduce Cory via DLC so what if they take one step further and make a companion the next one? But honestly I just think he´ll be the cause of the "conflict" that the next protagonist will deal with, now whether that allows for a semi happy ending is left to be seen, I do think,however,that the inquisition will be able to react to whatever he´s going to do,provided that we get said DLC. Also remember how both Flemeth and Moriggan have been talking about change? I still think Sandals prophecy is about things Solas sets in motion, so maybe he does tear down the veil or release the elven gods and the forgotten ones or both Although I am sort of pessimistic about that happy ending, for some reason I think the inquisitor might die or that he will,quick somebody make me snap out of it!

[Tielis]

You don't waste time, effort, and money on a subplot for the lolz. You don't make a character sympathetic on accident. 

 

I know people can be a bit bitter towards bioware- but lets give them a little credit. If they never got anything right we wouldn't be here. 

 

You do if you don't feel your main story gives enough characterization to justify the cliffhanger.  Face it, BioWare's main goal is to get us invested to sell more games.

 

My gut feeling is that the Solas romance was done far too well for its intended purpose, and now they (and we) are left with the fallout from that.

[Abyss108]

LOL  So we're back to the "not every romance needs a happy ending" thing, then?

 

I find that hard to believe when there are so many in this thread still hoping for one.

 

Me, I'm just disgusted that it was thrown in at the end just for haha's for only one gender.  I really don't believe that it was intended for anything more than a throwaway romance since it is so heavily railroaded.  Because it was so incredibly done and captured our emotions so well does not change that.

 

Well... yes, not every story does need a happy ending. Tragedies have been a popular genre throughout time. We want one, because we care about the characters, but that doesn't mean it has to end that way. 

 

I actually don't think the romance was railroaded. You can't change has Solas acts, because he's his own character, but you are allowed a lot of ways to react to that. You can disagree with him, and argue, you can break it off at any time. I never felt like the game was forcing me to act in a certain way.

 

What I'd consider railroading, was the Alistair romance in Origins, at the end. When he kills himself. Your character just stands there, doing nothing, because the writers decided that having the guy make the heroic sacrifice for his girl was how the romance should end. I don't disagree with allowing Alistair to make that decision, but my character literally stood there for 30 seconds whilst he talked about what he was going to do. She was a mage, she should have had no problem stopping him, or at least TRYING to stop him. Taking control away from my characters choices like that is what I would consider railroading.

 

I'm curious - do you find the morrigan romance pre-Witch hunt to be disgusting? Because its the same plot, with her leaving at the end...

[jawsisinmywc]

What's wrong with allowing a character to become sympathetic? As it is, no one is forced to romance Solas and females have more options than most in this game. 

 

I think people might be reading too much gloom or underhandedness in the fact that the romance was added to 'make him sadder'. Of course it was. How could they answer with anything else but sad? Everyone is sad. It isn't like they're under some sort of illusion that the romance was intended to be happy. They could never have responded any other way. 

 

Making a character a romance option to let you understand more about who he is is not a waste of time. There are other romances you can pursue if all you want is a vicarious happy ending. That's not what Solas's romance is about. Making him sympathetic is not some cheap trick to play with your emotions. Your feeling sympathy for Solas because that is what they want you to feel. 

 

Why would they want you to feel sympathy for a character that does not deserve it, or will serve no purpose? We have a relationship with Solas that does not start as one of antagonism because they don't want you to just hate him. Or for him to be just a simple villain. The sympathy serves a narrative purpose. What will that purpose be? There's no way to tell. We're not there yet. But it isn't accidental or a trick. 

Very very well said! I sometimes ponder if his romance had been a happy one, would I/we be obsessing about him like we do? I did the Cullen romance first and it was in fact very good and sweet and personal, but at the end I was like "lalala, ok next romance"!

I totally understand why they put the Solas romance in there, even though I scream stuff like "Why would they do this?" in frustration. It still hurts.    All that means is that the storytellers (Weekes, Epp and whoever else was involved in Solas' story) did their job flawlessly.

[Illyria]

I must be the only person who actually wanted to romance Liara, but couldn't because of Kaidan ninjamance. I was only nice to you, dammit, why does Liara claim we'd have something special?

 

 

 

What really gets me about the Liara or Kaidan problem is there is no way of telling Kaidan you're into Liara.  Apparently you can do this with Manshep and Ash.  It's like the writers didn't even think that some ladies would prefer the cute geek over the human (Liara's romance is the only romance in ME that's ever interested me, although I'm tempted by Garrus).  The only option with Kaidan is to either lead him on or be really nasty about breaking it off (breaking what off, game?  I never wanted to romance him!).  So, yeah.  I don't get why people complain about the Liara ninjamance.  I've been hit with Kaidan's surprise romance far more times.

 

That was off topic:

 

Ummm... it seems to be a bit doom-y in here.

 

*hangs a Team Optimism banner*
 

[Eivuwan]

LOL  So we're back to the "not every romance needs a happy ending" thing, then?

 

I find that hard to believe when there are so many in this thread still hoping for one.

 

Me, I'm just disgusted that it was thrown in at the end just for haha's for only one gender.  I really don't believe that it was intended for anything more than a throwaway romance since it is so heavily railroaded.  Because it was so incredibly done and captured our emotions so well does not change that.

 

I don't think it was thrown in for "hahas" and I'm pretty sure he didn't say that it was "just" or "only" to make Solas sadder. I think they had extra time so they wanted to spend more effort on Solas' character. It's not like Bioware never change their minds or become inspired from their initial plans. Perhaps they saw a new direction to take with Solas after spending time on his romance and characterization throughout their making of the game.

[Sah291]

Well, I agree with him.  He can't write villains well, as demonstrated by the fact that we're all pining over Solas, even though they've pretty much set him up to be the next one.  Is it the semantics that bother you?  Is "antagonist" a better word?

 

Sure, they may pull something out of their asses to change the entire story for we Solasmancers, but I sincerely doubt it.  Yes, I'm walking the hardline here, because I'm just so very very disappointed.  I don't think I'll ever be able to finish a playthrough romancing Solas now, knowing that it might as well have been just a big inside joke for them.  (And yes, I know that Mr. Weekes invested a lot of his emotions into it.  That doesn't change the fact that the Solas romance was added just to make Solas more sympathetic.)

 

That's really no different than any of the other romances, though, in my opinion. They are all written to 'hook' you in some way. I often feel like the writers are poking fun at their fans sometimes, or that the PC is supposed to be the butt of some joke or trick. For instance-- the way they hook you into the whole Herald of Andraste thing, only to pull the rug out from under you that it was all just an accident. The game is kind of a deconstruction of the "chosen one" trope. I think the writers want you to laugh at yourself, and to question. Like Cole at the cafe if you make him more human. I don't feel it's meant just to be mean.

[rubynorman]

*Randomly jumps out of the shadow*

Hey everyone, I just want to share a beautiful song that I heard and thought of Solas' romance

 

 

Now let the day just slip away
So the dark night may watch over you
Velvet blue, silent true
It embraces your heart and your soul
Nocturne

 

Never cry, never sigh
You don't have to wonder why
Always be, always see
Come and dream the night with me
Nocturne

 

Have no fear
When the night draws near
And fills you with dreams and desire
Like a child asleep so warm, so deep
You will find me there waiting for you
Nocturne

 

We will fly, claim the sky
We don't have to wonder why
Always be, always see
Come and dream the night with me
Nocturne

 

Though darkness fades it will give way
When the dark night delivers the day
Nocturne

[Mims]

You do if you don't feel your main story gives enough characterization to justify the cliffhanger.  Face it, BioWare's main goal is to get us invested to sell more games.

 

My gut feeling is that the Solas romance was done far too well for its intended purpose, and now they (and we) are left with the fallout from that.

 

Well, of course. How is that a crime though? They are in the business of selling games, and we are in the market to continue to want to play them. How many people bought a copy of Dragon Age, and thought to themselves: 'Man, I hope to god this is the last Dragon Age game I ever have to buy.' I mean, maybe someone thought that. But they probably shouldn't bother buying the games at that point. 

 

You can't do a characterization 'too well'. What we got was good. It was compelling. It wants you to find out more about what is going on with Solas. That sounds like a mission accomplished. The worst thing that can happen to a character is not that he is liked too much. Or even hated too much. Its that no one cares. If no one cared about Solas, then I would be worried. That's not the case.

[BoscoBread]

I don't think the romance was at all thrown in for laughs or simply as a way for people to feel pain just because.  What I took away from the interview yesterday is that it was a way for the player to not only see how lonely Solas truly is but how important his "mission"(whatever that is) is to his sense of self.  He loves Lavellan so much he's wiling not once but twice to say '**** it'.  I'm moving forward but then he cant.  He knows there are things more important than two people in love - or believes that and that belief is so core to who is.  I would say to anyone of any gender and any sexuality to play through this game and,romance Solas because of how crucial it was in undertanding his character and his beliefs.  

[nranola]

Hope New Years is treating you well, lovely people! 

 

 

I'm curious - do you find the morrigan romance pre-Witch hunt to be disgusting? Because its the same plot, with her leaving at the end...

 

Morrigan's romance at least had some bit of clarity. She explains what her plans are before the deed. What stings with Solas's romance is that, while we as players know what's going on to some extent, our Inquisitors don't. Lavellan is left with a broken heart and a lot of questions.

[k_drake]

I don't think the romance was at all thrown in for laughs or simply as a way for people to feel pain just because.  What I took away from the interview yesterday is that it was a way for the player to not only see how lonely Solas truly is but how important his "mission"(whatever that is) is to his sense of self.  He loves Lavellan so much he's wiling not once but twice to say '**** it'.  I'm moving forward but then he cant.  He knows there are things more important than two people in love - or believes that and that belief is so core to who is.  I would say to anyone of any gender and any sexuality to play through this game and,romance Solas because of how crucial it was in undertanding his character and his beliefs.  

Agreed--they should have made the romance more available.  I think that is at the crux of many of the complaints...if it's supposed to deepen the character THAT MUCH and is so crucial to understanding him, then why gate the romance to such an extent?  Doesn't that seem to be doing a disservice to other fans?  Another explanation is, then, that it in fact does not matter, and our emotions were toyed w/ for no reason other than to elicit a reaction.  

[BoscoBread]

You do if you don't feel your main story gives enough characterization to justify the cliffhanger.  Face it, BioWare's main goal is to get us invested to sell more games.

 

My gut feeling is that the Solas romance was done far too well for its intended purpose, and now they (and we) are left

That is how all serials are set up.  Look at any genre television show.  I'm personally really pleased with how they handled the romance - would I have loved a happy ending? Yes.  A simple, sweet happy ending would have been nice.  But what about a happy ending after a ridiculous amount of drama? So much better.  People would be talking about the overwrought, sweet and ridiculous romance from this game for years.  It wouldn't be just a joke-y -'oh look at the pixel husbando i can bang'.  It would mean something. 

[Addai]

LOL  So we're back to the "not every romance needs a happy ending" thing, then?

Were we ever "off" it? I didn't sign that memo, if so.
 

I find that hard to believe when there are so many in this thread still hoping for one.

I do hope for a happy ending option, as long as it's earned and not just handwave-sappy-cheap. What I think we really need is resolution one way or another. I think the writers know that and I have some trust that they'll try to respect what they started. Weekes cried, Gaider reblogged that art of Solavellan and said he really liked it. They're not totally indifferent. They've done a much better job in resolving the romances in DA than in ME. Not always with equal attention or success, but I think they get that people get invested and want something.

Gaider has written that he doesn't like gotcha setups, and so far I'm willing to believe that wasn't what this was. It's their job to hook you and make you care, or else why make and why play a story-driven game?
 

Me, I'm just disgusted that it was thrown in at the end just for haha's for only one gender.  I really don't believe that it was intended for anything more than a throwaway romance since it is so heavily railroaded.  Because it was so incredibly done and captured our emotions so well does not change that.

Why railroaded?