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The story choices you *wish* you'd had


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#1
Monster A-Go Go

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Like the title says: what are the choices you wish you’d had available in the previous Dragon Age games?  The only rule I’d like to see in place is that we stick to different or more-nuanced options to existing choices. 
 

Also, I’d just like to note that this thread isn’t meant as a criticism of the games.  There are obvious practical and narrative considerations that mean every potential response to a situation can’t be included.  This is simple exploration of “what if”.
 

That said, here are some of mine:
 

Dragon Age: Origins
-I wish I had the option of not destroying the Anvil of the Void and just lying about having done so instead.  Neither Harrowmont nor Bhelen are trustworthy enough to be handed that power, but the day may come that the dwarves need it to stand against the Darkspawn and sacrificial volunteers would be in ready supply.

 

-I wish there were an option other than murder to stop Brother Genitivi from spilling the beans about Andraste’s ashes.  Either a very difficult persuasion test or even extorting him or holding him hostage.  As it is, in my games where he lived, I expect I’ll see the ashes depleted to cure everything from impotence to athlete’s foot by the time Inquisition rolls around.
 

-I wish I could talk Alistair out of leaving the party if Loghain is allowed to live.  I mean, I understand it’s an either/or situation and why Bioware did it, but come on man!  I took your virginity.  The least you can do is give me the benefit of the doubt.
 

-I wish I could force Morrigan to explain more about her plans for the OGB and what she expects it to be.  She wants to play coy and insist she’ll say no more about it, but it’s the Warden or Alistair that has the magical god-gametes.  We have all the cards and it’s obviously something she wants very much.  I bet she’d be a little more willing to talk than she lets on.


 

Dragon Age II

-I want to be able to kill Sebastian just as easily as I’m given the option to kill Anders.  Seriously, stand there in the middle of a crisis and threaten to come march an army down my throat?  Sorry, little Prince.  I’ll have enough people gunning for me after this; I’m not going to watch over my shoulder for an admitted threat the rest of my life.  Murder knife.


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#2
raging_monkey

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DA 2: side with the people and not be involved with orsino and merideth's maddeness
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#3
DiegoRaphael

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The first ones that comes to mind are in DA:2

 

To kill Sister/Mother Petrice, man i hate her!

 

To betray/be unhelpful to Tallis.

 

PS: i think you should alter the tittle to let people know this not just another romance thread...


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#4
Willowhugger

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I'm surprised at how unpopular Sebastian is.

He's one of my favorite characters.

And I understand his reaction completely.

 

Even if I don't think he'd do it.


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#5
Zu Long

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I wish there had been an option in DAII to go a little nuts when the Templars come to take Bethany away. Walk into my home after months of slaying rockwraths and darkspawn, and you think two random podunks and some pretty-boy knight-captain are going to take my sister away to be a prisoner? Hell no, son. It's time to throw down.

 

For the story, they have to take her, of course, but I like to imagine that it's only because Leandra and Bethany physically restrain Hawke that any Templar walks out of that house with his head still attached. So yeah- that would have been cool to see.


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#6
Monster A-Go Go

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I'm surprised at how unpopular Sebastian is.

He's one of my favorite characters.

And I understand his reaction completely.

 

Even if I don't think he'd do it.

 

Oh, I understand it and surely don't blame him for it as an outside observer.  I mean, hell, that was the death of everything he believed in and the woman who had become like a mother to him in wake of his family's murders.

 

Nevertheless, as a mage-sided-with-the-mages Hawke who knows s*** just got real, it's really frustrating just letting him huff off with promises of revenge (and the knowledge he has the resources to follow through).


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#7
Tarvesh

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DA:O - To name myself the new king/queen of Orzammar when addressing the assembly as a dwarven noble.

 

DA2 - To fight the Templars that were trying to take Bethany away, and to just light the head of the apostate on fire that was in charge of kidnapping your sibling/LI the moment they talk about killing them.


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#8
Icy Magebane

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DA2 - I would have liked the option to turn over both Merrill and Anders to the Templars in Act 1


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#9
Chernaya

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-I wish I could talk Alistair out of leaving the party if Loghain is allowed to live.  I mean, I understand it’s an either/or situation and why Bioware did it, but come on man!  I took your virginity.  The least you can do is give me the benefit of the doubt.

 

-I wish I could force Morrigan to explain more about her plans for the OGB and what she expects it to be.  She wants to play coy and insist she’ll say no more about it, but it’s the Warden or Alistair that has the magical god-gametes.  We have all the cards and it’s obviously something she wants very much.  I bet she’d be a little more willing to talk than she lets on.


 

Dragon Age II

-I want to be able to kill Sebastian just as easily as I’m given the option to kill Anders.  Seriously, stand there in the middle of a crisis and threaten to come march an army down my throat?  Sorry, little Prince.  I’ll have enough people gunning for me after this; I’m not going to watch over my shoulder for an admitted threat the rest of my life.  Murder knife.

 

I very much agree with these, especially the one about Sebastian. I rarely get the itch to murderknife someone, but right after threatening me and several others to my face I was disappointed we could kill Anders for blowing up a building but not him for threatening an entire army on us.

 

I would have liked a different choice other than Bhelen or Harrowmont for the Orzammar throne as both have their extremely bad points. Bhelen, no matter how progressive is a cruel and sadistic person and Harrowmont is stuck in old ways.

 

I would have also liked to be able to not support Merrill with her demon mirror (or just stay out of it) without her hating me, or at least not have to call her out if I didn't want to slaughter her clan.



#10
Tevinter Rose

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DA2- Having an option to fight Meredith one on one, like with the Arishok

        -Having an option to confront and fight Orsino after finding out he knew the serial killer in Kirkwall


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#11
Not a Cat Doll

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DA2- Having an option to fight Meredith one on one, like with the Arishok

        -Having an option to confront and fight Orsino after finding out he knew the serial killer in Kirkwall

I like the cut of your jib, Tevinter Rose. I would have loved these options.


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#12
Frogtoad51

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Its probably best there was no option to kill the Templars taking Bethany. Hawke is strong but he/she couldn't take on the entire Order in Kirkwall.



#13
Tevinter Rose

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I like the cut of your jib, Tevinter Rose. I would have loved these options.

 

Great minds think alike  ^_^


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#14
Icy Magebane

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DA2 - Duh... Saving Hawke's mom!  Dunno how I forgot that one...


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#15
Frogtoad51

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DA2: Beat the Arishok in the duel without killing him.


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#16
Demoiselle

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Dragon Age Origins

-A consistent 'flip the bird' dialogue option for the Dwarven Commoner on returning to Orzammar. Or whatever the Thedas equivalant is.

-'Eamon you took in a child, had him sleep with the dogs and kicked him out. That's not good.'

-Not cutting Loghains head off in front of his daughter if you execute him? Or imprisonment as a third alternative? I mean my Warden didn't want him dead but she wasn't sure if he'd make a good warden. But then maybe it's death or conscription because that's how Ferelden law works for what Loghain was convicted of blah I don't know.


Awakening

-Pointing out to Rylock as she attempts to kill you that you are potentially Prince Consort/Queen of Ferelden/Teryn of Gwaren etc. that - that isn't going to end well in any way for you Rylock.

-More ridiculously transparent dialogue choices about the Dark Wolf when speaking to anyone it is anyway relevant to 'THE DARK WOLF I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A PERSON WHAT A RIDDICULOUS NAME WHAT DID THEY DO STEALING I WOULD NEVER DO SUCH AN AWFUL THING IGNORE ALL THE SOLDIERS OUTSIDE THE KEEP WHO I HAVE MOST DEFINETLEY NOT PICKPOCKETED.'

-Romance all the Sigruns


Dragon Age 2

-Pointing out the I-am-a-mage/My-sister-who-I-am-totally-not-murdering-on-this-playthrough-is-a-mage-and-we-would-not-be-very-equal-under-the-Qun thing.

-'Can I please buy you people some extra clothes it's been six years.' 'I wear something diff-' 'YOU HAVE A HANKERCHIEF I GAVE YOU TIED TO YOUR ARM FENRIS THAT ISNT NEW CLOTHES.'

-More pro-mage dialogue options with Sister Nightingale?

-Flower picking with Merrill in the Viscounts garden. STEALTH MISSION

-An option to attempt to take the list from Tallis - not a successful one, it just seems strange that Hawke can tell her to give it to them and always accepts the no without trying.

-A repeat of the transparent and awful lies Dark Wolf dialogue with Cullen 'THE GLOWY HANDS AND LONG ROBES ARE ABSOLOUTLEY A FASHION STATEMENT DONT WORRY PLEASE CONTINUE INFORMING ALL THREE OF US TOTALLY NOT MAGES ABOUT THE DANGER OF MAGES.'

-Inviting Gamlen to the estate maybethattinyhouseofhisjustseemsnastyandtherestofourfamilykeepsdying.

-Option to join Anders in helping with mage underground during time skip?

-Daily options to pop in on Grand Cleric Elthina and 'ok but THE TIME IS NOW'

-'SEBASTIAN HE ISNT EVEN GOING TO BE HERE WHEN YOU GET BACK DO NOT ATTACK KIRKWALL'

And lastly and most importantly
Alistair: have you ever considered going back to Ferelden
Hawke: YES YES TAKE ME NOW TAKE ME ON YOUR SHIP THINGS KEEP GOING BAD FOR ME HERE.
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#17
riverbanks

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I wish there were less obvious "right" choices in DAO. When you have the option to recruit the Circle for the Arl of Redcliffe quest, it's obvious the game wants you to take that option, and the other two lose all meaning and gravitas. When you have the option to cure the Werewolves' curse and keep the Dalish clan alive, you know the choice between both factions was never a choice at all. Hard choices are supposed to be hard, not have a magical third way out where everything works out just peachy and the other choices get branded the "evil choices" because players don't have the guts to make tough calls.

 

Entirely contradicting myself, I wish there was a third way out of the DA2 ending where you could tell both factions to get bent, take your sibling and love interest, and just peace out. I hated both sides by the end and wanted nothing to do with either one, leave alone choose between them. What I wanted was a "I don't even care aymore, hope ya'll enjoy killing each other" option where you didn't have to side with anyone because you never meant anything to this conflict anyway.


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#18
The Real Lee

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With the Arishok when he says that he'll take Isabella and the book, I wanted to option to tell him to either leave Isabella alone or I was taking the book back by force over all of their dead bodies. Seriously, don't threaten my companions.


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#19
Marshal Moriarty

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Dragon Age Origins:

 

1) I wish there had been an option to confront Morrigan about what her real motivations were, and adopt a 'No more of this stepping around the issue - just tell me'. I feel like Alistair has a valid concern when he brings this up during the 'let's gossip about the party members' bit. She and Flemeth are obviously up to something, and not confronting either on the issue, is setting yourself up for a massive fall. Basically, it just makes you look like a total fool going along with it, because its Bioware exploiting the fact that nobody is really going to dismiss a party member over this, because they'd be risking content. But leaving her unchallenged and letting her stay, is such a massively foolish move that many player's character simply wouldn't do, if they were roleplaying them as they would in every other circumstance. But again, because its a party member, you feel obliged to go along with it.

 

2) I agree with Sten about the dubious action that the Dalish are taking (i.e they were going to run away and ignore their oath to help fight the darkspawn, and are only still there when you find them because they were attacked). Their solution is to send you on your own into a magical forest known for illusions that trap the unwary inside forever - without a guide. And this forest is teeming with (what are essentially) one hit kill enemies, and again will not send anyone to help you. Your party would have to be the stupiest people on the planet to agree to such terms, and you have to wonder at the trustworthiness of people who would make such an outrageous demand. So basically, I wanted the option to just tell them to screw off. I'm not saying the whole quest should be able to be voided, but I would like your character to be able to voice opposition to such ridiculously selfish and unreasonable terms, and maybe secure some help (i.e have a Dalish party member as a guest or full time party member).

 

3) I wanted to be able to drum up support from the Bannorn, and visit lands that were under Darkspawn attack. Think the opening section of Awakening, where the Vigil is under assault. You should have been able to do some of that, and get allies among the Banns. Having Redcliffe as your only allies, seems silly and Gallagher Wulff has a fair point when you meet him before the Landsmeet, as he asked if you're Grey Wardens and are supposed to be fighting Darkspawn, then where the hell were you when the south of Ferelden was being sacked? He doesn't expect you to destroy the whole horde yourself, but you could have helped evacuations, and done something at least.

 

4) An obvious one which has already been mentioned, but the resolution to the Landsmeet is very silly. The compromise that Riordan proposes is a fair one, and would satisfy the needs of justice. Its been established that regardless of Loghian's crimes, he was only doing it all for the good of the nation. That doesn't excuse his actions, and being made into a Warden is still a death sentence. Alistair's objections are understandable from an emotional standpoint, but clearly out of line. You, Anora and Eamon can have engaged in serious political wrangling to get a compromise that everyone can live with, you have just fought a battle of words in the Landsmeet to convince the Banns that the Wardens are not political opportunists, Orlesian puppers and tyrants in waiting. If Alistair's first action as King is to execute a man who has surrendered, how does that look?! Especially as he then goes on to seize lands and give them over to the administration of the Wardens, whose members typically frown on such things (Riordan expresses disdain for Wardens who do such things, and Duncan is clearly against such practices too). Nobody really wants to lose Alistair and the game doesn't really feel right if you lose him, but his stance here was so unreasonable. And the 'chop Loghain's head off in public, so his blood spalshes over his daughter's face' is so barbaric that it feels like you've stumbled into 'I, Claudius'.

 

Dragon Age 2:

 

5) The whole way that mage characters work in Dragon Age 2 should have been looked at. Considering Kirkwall is so anti-mage, its beyond silly that your Hawke and family members can stroll about in robes with huge staffs, slinging spells and with nobody batting an eyelash. You cast spells in the Gallows Courtyard as soon as you arrive - right in front of City Guardsmen, and they don't comment. You can cast spells in front of Cullen when you are aiding him against Willmod, and he somehow manages not to notice. Its extremely annoying, and undermines a core principle of the narrative.

 

But how does this fit into decision making? Well, I think that particularly a mage Hawke should have had access to (or even be forced to be) some kind of Spellsword/Arcane Warrior type. The game could have insisted that you adopt such a guise when around Templars etc, so as to arouse less suspicion, and let you be the more obviously 'Staff and Fireball' type when you are travelling normally. Basically, it would have been nice if the Mage Hawke could have been given a sort of 'Clark Kent' talent tree to disguise themselves. I just think that the game should have had some way to account for if and to what extent you were trying to be discreet around people who would have a problem with you being a mage, and factor that 'choice' into the narrative at various points. (I.e so if everyone knows you are a mage, then you have nobody to blame but yourself, because you've been fireballing your way around town, but potentially reward you for discretion by not having Bethany arrested or something like that).

 

6) Another obvious one, but the whole final Act of Dragon Age 2. I just feel that the final stage of Hawke's rise to power naturally should have led to becoming Viscount. You could get there by various means, but only allowing it to happen by siding with the Templars was a huge mistake. I don't really want to go over this again, as I've spoken a lot about it recently. Bascially the whole final Act is rushed and unfit for purpose. It would need a complete overhaul of all its missions, and its problems go beyond those that could be fixed with a simple 'If only you had this choice'.

 

 

 

And probably lots more, but they'll do for now.


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#20
BubbleDncr

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DA2 examples come most to mind (cos I'm currently playing it):

 

1) The ability to think Bethany should go to the circle - all of my anti-mage characters get so sad when she's taken away - I wanted so much to be able to resent her for being a mage, what she's put me through, and be happy she's in the circle.  

 

2) The ability to not do Petrice's quest in Act 1 - you can tell her no, but the game won't progress unless you do. 

 

3) Option to not let Tallis take the list from you/do something other than just stand there when she does. 



#21
Willowhugger

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-More pro-mage dialogue options with Sister Nightingale?

Yes.

My reaction was...

"Jesus, Leliana, are you and MageWarden having a fight?"


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#22
Kalyppso

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DA2 - Duh... Saving Hawke's mom!  Dunno how I forgot that one...


I want to save Tamlen from the Dalish Origin too.

I agree with many of these but mostly because I like choices, rather than having been disappointed with the alternatives BioWare provided.

#23
Willowhugger

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On Hawke and Bethany, I would have liked Cullen and Hawke to have said when you show magic:

"Are you going to take me in?"
"No, I know who you are. Knight Commander Meredith said to leave you alone."
"What? Why?"
"Something about killing large numbers of Blood Mages. I don't agree you shouldn't be taken in but we have orders not to."


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#24
Zjarcal

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- Not having to go after the ashes and leaving Eamon to die (kinda ironic considering the sacred ashes quest is probably my second favorite after Orzammar, but still).

 

- The Landsmeet actually being decided by the voting and not a damn duel.... why do I have to settle this in a duel when I already won (or lost)?

 

- Being able to save the sibling at the start of DA2 and only losing one at the end of act 1, thus being able to go the whole game with one.

 

- Staying out of it in the battle of the morons (aka harvestino vs lolidol)


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#25
Wolfen09

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Origins:

 

we had an option to be king or queen of ferelden, why couldn't our noble dwarf do so for orzammar....  never really played a dwarf, but that would have made me play one....  i choose behlen now, even though i dont like him, because he moves orzammar forward.

 

persuasion check for genitivi, sharing location of ashes wasnt a good idea, but i did it because i didnt want to kill him for its secrecy.

 

something a little harder than a persuasion check to convince allistair to marry anora.... i mean it was literally "hey wanna marry anora"  "i dunno..." "please" "ok"

 

would have liked to at least dragged my parents out of the castle in highever noble opening

 

 

Awakening:

 

Rylock should not attack the warden, its stupid, the wardens hold the right of conscription and any chantry law must bend to that.

 

Would have liked to see a resolution to velanna's sister, ie we fight her cause shes an enemy or we save her.

 

Would have liked to drag keegan the wedding ring dude out of the mines.

 

Would have liked to see seneschal survive

 

 

Da2:

 

ugh where do i start....  would have liked a compromise to most of the *side with templars or mages* quests.... act of mercy was a close example with what i wanted, a non violent escape or turn in....  and with that, if we made the good compromises through most missions, have a chance to stop meredith and orsino from starting the war (and just fight them instead, IE everyone realizes they are nuts and the mages and templars dont fight each other, just watch us beat up meredith and orsino) (it might still lead to a war, as people could see it as hey look at those mages standing up to idiocy, and hey look at the idiot they put in charge of the templars... and hey look at that first enchanter, he was hiding blood mages, ie quentin who killed leandra)

 

redo the hatred your sibling has for you for sending them to the wardens...  i can kind of understand carver, as he already hates you, but bethany who loves you frickin acts really b*tchy when you see her in acts 2 and 3... its only at the end that they say im sorry....  we saved your damn life, be happy you're not dead and have a chance.

 

some sort of dialogue choices to talk anders out of the chantry exploding thing

 

the ability to talk down grace when she kidnaps your sibling (i really liked thrask, didnt want to kill him)

 

thats about all i can think of.... im a common sense person, thats why i seek compromise in a lot of my choices


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