I wasn't sure where to put this, either in Feedback or in this Story section. But I decided to put it here due to potential spoilers and the fact that it directly has to do with the starting story of the game.
So I watched the Twitch stream where they played the intro to the game, and I have to say that it felt kind of disjointed and rushed. I understand that they wanted to get everyone "immediately in the action" and that since the Inquisitor doesn't know what's going on, they wanted the player to not know what's going on as well. But in doing so I think they went too far in the other direction. Because as it is, people who aren't as familiar with the lore or don't remember things are going to not only be confused and left out in regards to the Fade rift, but they're also going to be confused and left out with the context of the entire introduction of the game. For us who are involved and remember everything it's a non-issue, but everyone else? Will they even know that there was a war going on, and that's why the conclave was called? Will they know why everyone is mad at them, what the explosion means for Thedas and why it's a big deal that the conclave was destroyed?
Even if the Inquisitor doesn't know what happened in the Fade, they still know what the conclave is, why it was called, and why they were there. But the player doesn't know that at all; there's no real introduction to it except for the blurb of text during character creation. So there's a huge disconnect between the player themselves and their character. I think they should have had like a 10-second introductory narration that briefly said that the Divine called a conclave to discuss peace over the mage/templar war, and then explained why you were there. And then had the rift explosion and jumped into the game. That way they'd still get the player into the action right away, but at least with the context and understanding of why what's happening is a big deal and why everyone is angry at them.
DA 2's introduction worked because it allowed enough context for the player to understand why things were important. First it's the framing story via Varric, and then afterwards in the "real" intro you learn that Hawke's family is running away, trying to get to safety. It's a short conversation with Hawke's family and then you start playing right away. That brief introduction sets up enough story for the player to have context and know what's going on, and it's enough. They can still jump straight into the action and still start playing right away, after that first short conversation. DA:I though doesn't set the context at all, and instead assumes the player has the same knowledge their character does, which isn't always the case. Again, I do, and most people reading this will, but we're the few in comparison to the many that will be jumping in but haven't touched anything DA-related since they finished DA 2. And of course for new people coming in who've never played a DA game before, it's likely going to be even more confusing for them.
Obviously it's a bit late for them to change it for this game, but I hope that next time they find a way to provide some sort of greater context while still allowing for players to jump into the game. And I'm not saying the game looks bad or anything, I've already pre-ordered and I'm certainly very excited and I'm sure I'll love it. But I couldn't help but notice this in the Twitch stream, and I'm just hoping it gets noticed by the team for future installments.
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