This isn't the most useful update, but keeping my journal clear and proper world exiting seems to be keeping the music and combat soundsets flowing in my game at least. There still isn't a much banter, but at least there is consistently music. Out of desperation, I eventually thought I'd try a bit of a half-assed experimentation in the Storm Coast, and I made sure I wouldn't have any trigger problems (combat overriding banter, triggering quests, no item pinging, etc). For half-an-hour I did nothing but run up and down the beach closest to the main camp (around where you get Bull) to see what the 'natural' sound trigger states are. It probably takes a little less than a minute to get from one side of the beach another.
Riveting stuff.
I always assumed that walking into certain areas would trigger certain cues of music. While that seems to be the case for arriving in camp for the first time, I had about six different musical cues trigger while running up and down the beach. I never had the same one repeating after another, so I'm assuming there's an order, or semi-randomised. (I think I heard two cues I'd never heard before, actually.) Musical cues triggered about one/two minutes consistently. It may be coincidental, but think it may be a trigger point down the very right side of the beach (near a cave on the edge of the map), which seems to also trigger an autosave. If music trigger points don't actually exist, the only other thing I can think of is that the time it takes to run cross the beach and back correlates to the time it takes between musical cues. Seems to be about two minutes.
I think I went about eight minutes without banter, then had a Dorian/Varric, a few minutes later, Dorian/Solas. (I'm sorry to say it didn't sound like the first time they've talked, either, so I'm not sure if banter is firing that I haven't been hearing.) They wouldn't talk again, but a few minutes later I must have crossed the Let's Have Your Party Member Comment on the Scenery/Weather trigger point that seems to be mid-way across the beach, and Dorian made a comment about it over triggering any party banter. (He'd also made a different comment on the same spot when I'd first arrived to the Storm Coast, so he's pretty greedy.) I know some people were theorising that the environmental/situational comments of the party were still considered as banter by the game, and I wonder if they're right. It wasn't like it was the first time Dorian had crossed that trigger point - twenty times or so before that - and it prioritised him talking about the weather, rather than having the party members chat.
Heh, this isn't a particularly useful post, and people have probably done this, but I thought it might be an interesting gauge for people with music issues. As far as I could see, for that half-an-hour with no interacting with the world (just plain ol' jogging), my game was working entirely as intended. If you're having music problems and want to experiment, clear the nearest beach on the Storm Coast of enemies, and have a leisurely stroll with your BFFs. I'd be curious to try other areas as well, especially ones that seem to have more sound issues, ie. Western Approach, etc. Just have to find a decent stretch of area where you can't be interrupted by anything - ie. fights, shards, quests, new area triggers, whatever.
While I very much know the sound issue isn't game breaking, it's depressing to see how much character development we're all missing. With only two bits of banter, I learnt something about Dorian with I didn't know otherwise (even as an Inquisitor wine-ing and dining him), and Dorian/Solas conversation gave me an interesting plot point. I think it illustrates what while the banter/sound issues aren't game breaking, they do considerable narrative damage, especially to characters. The DAI gameplay structure relies more than ever about learning about your companions through their conversations - we're losing quite a bit of their story with them never saying a word.
(Viv still won't talk. To anyone. Please, Viv. Dorian won't stop. It feels almost in character for them both.)
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