During a blight people would; especially when they knew the one vital role they played.
Even if that were true, you have to keep the Grey Wardens going even when there aren't Blights, given how long it takes between each one. And far fewer people would be willing to die merely to keep the Wardens going like that.
Even if that were true, you have to keep the Grey Wardens going even when there aren't Blights, given how long it takes between each one. And far fewer people would be willing to die merely to keep the Wardens going like that.
You don't have to keep them going between blights.
Yes you do. Yes. They need to put down any darkspawn uprisings that occur (and the dwarves aint gonna get 'em all). Otherwise you'll have the same problem as the 5th blight in that no wardens vs a horde of darkspawn and arcchdemon.
No, you don't. They're not needed between blights. They're convenient. When the blight comes they'll have plenty of time to initiate Grey Wardens considering blights last for years.
No, you don't. They're not needed between blights. They're convenient. When the blight comes they'll have plenty of time to initiate Grey Wardens considering blights last for years.
That's like saying "We don't need to have ready resources to treat or contain bubonic plague. Sure, they might be convenient, but plague outbreaks can last for decades and when one happens, we'll have plenty of time to worry about it".
No, you don't. They're not needed between blights. They're convenient. When the blight comes they'll have plenty of time to initiate Grey Wardens considering blights last for years.
In that case, you'd need excellent record keeping and the record keepers knowing full well what it's for.
And you would need to keep the Chantry and the Templars from killing mages because they are needed to help prepare the Joining, with its use of lyrium, archdemon blood, darkspawn blood, and a few other unknown ingredients.
And you would also need to keep the dwarves from going extinct because they are the only ones who are capable of mining the raw lyrium ore.
That's like saying "We don't need to have ready resources to treat or contain bubonic plague. Sure, they might be convenient, but plague outbreaks can last for decades and when one happens, we'll have plenty of time to worry about it".
I was going to say much the same thing!
No, you don't. They're not needed between blights. They're convenient. When the blight comes they'll have plenty of time to initiate Grey Wardens considering blights last for years.
This is an extremely dangerous assumption that is not worth indulging. A simple rule to apply regarding the Grey Wardens is this: assume that as long as darkspawn exist, a Blight can occur at any time, even when accounting for the known number of Old Gods, of which there could possibly even be more. The Sixth Blight can occur within the course of a decade. There is no way to know for certain.,
That's like saying "We don't need to have ready resources to treat or contain bubonic plague. Sure, they might be convenient, but plague outbreaks can last for decades and when one happens, we'll have plenty of time to worry about it".
What? A Grey Warden isn't needed to perform Duncan's role once a blight comes around. Any person could recruit wardens once a blight comes with the ready resources. Grey Wardens aren't that resource. Darkspawn/archdemon blood and mages for the ritual are. You're trying to convince me that wardens continuing to kill others who die in the joining or die young from the taint is necessary between blights.
This is an extremely dangerous assumption that is not worth indulging. A simple rule to apply regarding the Grey Wardens is this: assume that as long as darkspawn exist, a Blight can occur at any time, even when accounting for the known number of Old Gods, of which there could possibly even be more. The Sixth Blight can occur within the course of a decade. There is no way to know for certain.,
And you fail to see the irony that the person who stopped the 5th blight wasn't a Grey Warden who already existed before the blight began? Origins proves my point. They can recruit wardens once the blight comes and still stop it. There's no reason for this joining business between blights.
What? A Grey Warden isn't needed to perform Duncan's role once a blight comes around. Any person could recruit wardens once a blight comes with the ready resources. Grey Wardens aren't that resource. Darkspawn/archdemon blood and mages for the ritual are. You're trying to convince me that wardens continuing to kill others who die in the joining or die young from the taint is necessary between blights.
And you fail to see the irony that the person who stopped the 5th blight wasn't a Grey Warden who already existed before the blight began? Origins proves my point. They can recruit wardens once the blight comes and still stop it. There's no reason for this joining business between blights.
Remember! The Warden is the player character, a virtue which basically means they are an unstoppable war god. This trait also means they don't even have to resist demons while actively engaging in forbidden blood magic, are almost completely unaffected by the Sloth Demon unless you deliberately choose idiotic dialogue (and even then you have to go "oh wait" eventually), romance to completion Alistair or Leliana while actively slaughtering every man, woman and child in their way, and also beat the Archdemon singlehandily with no clothes on. It's a bit unfair to expect people like them to pop up every time a Blight starts, and let's face it: without the Warden, things would've turned out much, much uglier.
In that scenario, where the Warden isn't there, do you imagine only new recruits, frantically inducted to deal with a sudden new Blight with all of Ferelden as its mating ground, would be enough?
See also: the adventures of Commander Shepard, the sole reason Mass Effect's cycle isn't immediately destroyed for being a super fragmented, relatively technologically-backwards thing compared to most of its easily-decimated predecessors.
Possible, but not probable. The DAO tale is about overcoming exceptional odds, and it seems to be a much better plan to have a larger number of Warden's available to complete the task. This way, one may not have to sacrifice the future King.
Sure, having more Grey Wardens beforehand makes fighting the blights easier when they finally come. That doesn't justify that ends-justify-the means mentality. But the way people like Duncan and posters on this forum throw around the word "necessary" to justify playing russian roulette with the joining for centuries between blights is absurd. Even worse that the survivors are plagued with nightmares and early death. And why? Because posters assume the people of Thedas would be too stupid to remember how to recruit Grey Wardens when the blight comes for that final blow if there weren't Grey Wardens already? Or because there apparently isn't enough time to recruit Grey Wardens during a blight before confronting the archdemon despite blights lasting for years? And yet there is enough time to build armies to get to that archdemon? I'm not biting.
In that scenario, where the Warden isn't there, do you imagine only new recruits, frantically inducted to deal with a sudden new Blight with all of Ferelden as its mating ground, would be enough?
Sure, having more Grey Wardens beforehand makes fighting the blights easier when they finally come. That doesn't justify that ends-justify-the means mentality. But the way people like Duncan and posters on this forum throw around the word "necessary" to justify playing russian roulette with the joining for centuries between blights is absurd. Even worse that the survivors are plagued with nightmares and early death. And why? Because posters assume the people of Thedas would be too stupid to remember how to recruit Grey Wardens when the blight comes for that final blow if there weren't Grey Wardens already? Or because there apparently isn't enough time to recruit Grey Wardens during a blight before confronting the archdemon despite blights lasting for years? And yet there is enough time to build armies to get to that archdemon? I'm not biting.
Most people of Thedas are stupid enough to unquestioningly allow the Chantry to dictate to them. In one nation, they are stupid enough to let some power crazed blood mages run things. And in another, they think it's a good idea to invest power in a bunch of back stabbing, mask-wearing fops who jockey for position by means of something aptly called "The Game".
Not very confidence inspiring in my estimation, and I doubt Mensa will be opening up a Thedan chapter any time soon.
Most people of Thedas are stupid enough to unquestioningly allow the Chantry to dictate to them. In one nation, they are stupid enough to let some power crazed blood mages run things. And in another, they think it's a good idea to invest power in a bunch of back stabbing, mask-wearing fops who jockey for position by means of something aptly called "The Game".
Not very confidence inspiring in my estimation, and I doubt Mensa will be opening up a Thedan chapter any time soon.
True - just look at my GW. Oooh there's a glass vial. I'm going to pick it up. Oooh now its broken and a revenant is loose. Let's do that several more times. Also with the gravestones! 
True - just look at my GW. Oooh there's a glass vial. I'm going to pick it up. Oooh now its broken and a revenant is loose. Let's do that several more times. Also with the gravestones!
Lol, I always RP'd that after the first encounter, my Warden wanted to hunt them down and destroy them all. Besides, some of them were in places where it would likely be picked up by some poor shmuck who didn't have a weapon at all. She was performing a public service! 
Lol, I always RP'd that after the first encounter, my Warden wanted to hunt them down and destroy them all. Besides, some of them were in places where it would likely be picked up by some poor shmuck who didn't have a weapon at all. She was performing a public service!
You good citizen, you 
Sure, having more Grey Wardens beforehand makes fighting the blights easier when they finally come. That doesn't justify that ends-justify-the means mentality. But the way people like Duncan and posters on this forum throw around the word "necessary" to justify playing russian roulette with the joining for centuries between blights is absurd. Even worse that the survivors are plagued with nightmares and early death. And why? Because posters assume the people of Thedas would be too stupid to remember how to recruit Grey Wardens when the blight comes for that final blow if there weren't Grey Wardens already? Or because there apparently isn't enough time to recruit Grey Wardens during a blight before confronting the archdemon despite blights lasting for years? And yet there is enough time to build armies to get to that archdemon? I'm not biting.
Not having Grey Wardens constantly would be a terrible idea. The skills, secrets, and traditions of the order need to be passed on so that someone remembers when the time comes and so that there is someone to sense the Archdaemon awakening and begin preparations to fight it. Remember that there was a period of 400 years during which everyone simply assumed there would be no more Blights. If that were the case and there were no Grey Wardens, who would bother to hold onto the knowledge of the Joining and all the Warden's Darkspawn lore? They would just become a footnote in history, their skills and lore lost in dusty libraries, or discarded as no longer relevant. Real history is filled with examples of vital skills or pieces of information being lost because they were no longer thought to be necessary, only for people to later discover that those old skills are needed again. At least until all seven Archdaemons have been destroyed, the Grey Wardens will remain necessary.
That's BS. You just dismiss the possibility of holding onto the joining knowledge without actually doing it, and thus justify countless people dying or suffering for centuries as Grey Wardens. Obviously you'll assume whatever you wish to support your stance on this. In this case being that the people aren't "capable" of remembering something that saves a country. So long as it's conceivable for people to use the higher thought process of remembering something, the Grey Wardens aren't necessary between blights.
That's BS. You just dismiss the possibility of holding onto the joining knowledge without actually doing it, and thus justify countless people dying or suffering for centuries as Grey Wardens. Obviously you'll assume whatever you wish to support your stance on this. In this case being that the people aren't "capable" of remembering something that saves a country. So long as it's conceivable for people to use the higher thought process of remembering something, the Grey Wardens aren't necessary between blights.
That's BS. You just dismiss the possibility of holding onto the joining knowledge without actually doing it, and thus justify countless people dying or suffering for centuries as Grey Wardens. Obviously you'll assume whatever you wish to support your stance on this. In this case being that the people aren't "capable" of remembering something that saves a country. So long as it's conceivable for people to use the higher thought process of remembering something, the Grey Wardens aren't necessary between blights.
And letting someone like Loghain and Howe be the arbiters of the question of whether to utilize that knowledge or no would work out just great in your opinion, amiright? 
Yep I dislike the wardens as an organization but they are always needed.
That said in times of peace I'd rather their ranks stick with criminals and the willing.
That's BS. You just dismiss the possibility of holding onto the joining knowledge without actually doing it, and thus justify countless people dying or suffering for centuries as Grey Wardens. Obviously you'll assume whatever you wish to support your stance on this. In this case being that the people aren't "capable" of remembering something that saves a country. So long as it's conceivable for people to use the higher thought process of remembering something, the Grey Wardens aren't necessary between blights.
One may not know if it is a Blight unless they are a Warden; the problem illustrated in Ostagar. Waiting benefits the Darkspawn, and increases the infection and taint upon the lands; thus reducing the numbers of qualified candidates.
People won't believe it anyway until they see it; sometimes not even then. This is evident from Origins. A Grey Warden crying wolf that there is a blight cannot and isn't reliable enough for people to act accordingly.
I didn't dismiss the possibility of the knowledge being held onto, I simply pointed out that pre-modern societies have a tendency not to take very good care to pieces of information that are thought to be no longer relevant, and that the possibility of it being lost and that the consequences of that occurring would be catastrophic. If you want gamble the future of Thedas on the "conceivable" notion that the knowledge won't be lost, confused, misinterpreted, or intentionally stolen, vandalised, or altered, go right ahead, but I prefer to deal in absolute certainties and the continuation of the Grey Wardens is the most effective and reliable way of ensuring that. There will be another Blight (two actually), no-one knows when it will happen, and even a small chance that the only defence against it might not be there is too great a risk to take. I'm a firm believer in always preparing for the worst case scenario.
Besides which, its been the norm in nearly every society and culture throughout human history that few are sacrificed for needs of the many. In some cultures it's through warfare, in others it's through ritual sacrifice, or slavery, but every culture (even our modern one) willingly and knowingly places the lives of some it's members (military, police, fire fighters, etc.) at great risk to protect the rest of the community and the Grey Wardens are no different. When it comes to Darkspawn, Blights, and life in general, people are going to suffer and die anyway (that's just the way of things) so dying in Grey Wardens is probably a more useful and honourable death than most.
My core point remains the same as it has always been - taking the the high moral ground against an existential threat like the Darkspawn is a luxury that Thedas can ill afford, and the Grey Wardens remain a necessary safeguard against that threat.
You fail to see that the joining isn't a logical prerequisite for remembering how to end a blight. They're apples and oranges. Becoming a Grey Warden isn't the same as remembering why they are needed; especially when you are reminded that Alistair and the Warden weren't even informed for most of Origins about this vital detail despite being wardens themselves. Also, keeping such knowledge secret bit Ferelden in the ass (ex: Loghain); thus showing how these secrets are hindrances and unnecessary.
Your attitude seems to be that anything goes if it increases chances of victory now or in the future. That's dangerous as evident by the Loghain character. You even like to loosely use the word "necessary" like Loghain does for things that aren't truly necessary. I don't agree that a russian roulette joining with darkspawn blood being done for centuries and attempted to be kept secret is necessary by any means. I'm sure the writers would appreciate knowing they swayed people like you that it all makes sense, but it's a logical hole in the plot.
People won't believe it anyway until they see it; sometimes not even then. This is evident from Origins. A Grey Warden crying wolf that there is a blight cannot and isn't reliable enough for people to act accordingly....
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