117 réponses à ce sujet

[dfstone]

Why would you only do the main story line?  Thats not even half the game.

[taglag]

I like it so far, but I have not totally finished it yet, I am taking my time doing all the Side quests that so many seem to think were boring, and some of them are, but thats just RPG's for you. They do tend to put me to sleep a lot though LOL

 

My only Major dislike is not being able to keep enough items to do some real trial and error armor, and weapon building.  I seem to always be throwing everything away before I even get a chance to experiment with it.  But I guess that was done to force you or convince you to play again along with your choice making, and try something else next time.

 

So far I will say the dialogue options with you team mates, and there actions is far less sadisfying than Origins which I throughly enjoyed. But still a very fun game.

[ThunderboltSeven]

On the other hand... if you purchased this game for a console, and you've already finished it, take it in to trade for something else.  I know my local GameStop printed on my receipt that any turn-ins of DAI before December 12 were guaranteed $40 of in-store credit.  That's nearly the price of a brand new game.

 

According to their website, that promo runs until 12/17. Either way, thanks for pointing that out - I'll take advantage of that offer when I'm done with the game later this week.

 

$7.99 net cost to play 60+ hours of DAI? That's a much better deal than what I paid for the EA Access demo!

[steamcamel]

And I am grateful for that. It's very confusing and kinda dumb.

[Mark of the Dragon]

I think where they went wrong was that there don't seem to really be any quality (obviously matter of opinion) sidequests. As people have mentioned, DAO and DA2 had high quality enough sidequests that you wouldn't even notice much difference between their presenation and that of the main quests. DAI has FANTASTIC main quests; seriously, I cannot stress enough how incredibly good they all have been. However, nothing else in the game comes even remotely close to as good as previous games. I'm 65 hours in and I can't remember a single sidequest that 1) made any emotional impact 2) had a choice 3) had a character that was interesting. Even the companion quests weren't very involved sadly.

 

In contrast, I can list quite a few memorable characters from DAO and DAII that were irrelevant to the main plot and sidequests that actually felt like a side quest rather than content for leveling.

 

And on the note of choice, I'm not sure really what is even going to go into the Keep from DAI....there's a couple choice from the main plot (which were well done), but looking at the amount of stuff from DAO and DAII that could be carried over, there's nowhere near that amount.

 

Personally, I think the issue is that the main quests were done very cinematically but left without smaller pieces to tie it together. DAO and DAII had varying "sizes" of main quests. Some were much smaller in scope and kept the player involved with the story even though nothing major was happening. That's non existent in DAI; you're either exploring Thedas with no direct involvement to the plot or you're doing really cool main story quests. The two do not feel connected.

I was actually thinking about what DAI decisions will import into the keep earlier. There are some big story changing ones but not nearly as many smaller decisions like in the DAO or ever DA2.

 

I can think of one companion quest that had a decent decisions. I will not spoil what happens but I think you will recognize it when you see it. 

 

Overall I think DAI just felt so disconnected. I agree that the game might have flowed better if every quest was not epic, Epic, EPIC. I had to stop playing and laugh when I stopped the mage Templar conflict in one mission. Is Thedas even worth saving if people were unable to solve a problem that a baby Inquisition solved so quickly? They did not leave enough room for the small story moments. If you do not leave room in the story for down time or for moments where the character felt defeat then those EPIC moments lose there touch.

 

I also agree that there are some great story quests. There are also shoddy ones. Can we just take a moment and think about that last mission. What happened to thirty six endings when you count in major and minor variations? I was not expecting 36 hugely different endings but there is one boss fight and one ending. An EPILOGUE is not an ending. I am not even sure there are thirty six Epilogue states. The ending does not even acknowledge or have anything to do with decisions you made in the game. I loved the Arbor Wilds Quest overall. I hated the start of it. I should have got to lead my army into that fight. I spent the game building it and raising my influence so I should have got to, you know, lead it. I should have got to give an awesome speech and run into combat with my companions and army behind me. I would have settled for a small cinematic, like DAO's battle of Denerim, epic speech and epic music, then a small mission start that had me cutting through enemy forces and establishing a camp. Instead you literally see a cutscene of your advisors and then you magically appear at a camp stationed just outside an already started battle. That is what I built my army for?!? Then the final missions happens and it is just a boss fight. One giant anti-climactic boss fight. It is even funnier when you return to Skyhold with all you companions and everyone is cheering and I am like “da fuq? Half these guys were not even there fighting with me”.

 

May be that is my biggest problem with the game. Every time I see this glimmer of the amazing game Bioware wanted to make something else comes along and ruins it. There is no consistency. The story seems broken and choppy. It does not always connect and times it just does not jive properly. Nothing I do matters so why do anything. 

[Mark of the Dragon]

I also find some irony in the ending in particular.

 

ME3's ending was a commercial s*** storm. People were angry but I feel like Bioware took the wrong message from that debacle. Most people did not hate the ending because Shepard died, they hated it because nothing you did in the games prior to that mattered at all.

                                                                                                                                                          

They hated it because Shepard’s fate is always the same no matter what you do.

They hated that the games characters alluded to this happy life once the war is ever but that no matter how well you play the game you can never have that life.

Most importantly they hate the lack of conclusion that the ending brought.

 

DAI makes all these same mistakes all over again. The only reason no one cares is because it’s a lot lower stakes then ME3.

DAI is one unsatisfying, static ending where nothing you do in the game previous to that matters, where characters spend the game alluding to a conflict that will probably kill them all, although none of them can die, and where there is no conclusion. The games ending felt more like a beginning then and ending where nothing feels resolved.

[Tsunami Chef]

I also find some irony in the ending in particular.

 

ME3's ending was a commercial s*** storm. People were angry but I feel like Bioware took the wrong message from that debacle. Most people did not hate the ending because Shepard died, they hated it because nothing you did in the games prior to that mattered at all.

                                                                                                                                                          

They hated it because Shepard’s fate is always the same no matter what you do.

They hated that the games characters alluded to this happy life once the war is ever but that no matter how well you play the game you can never have that life.

Most importantly they hate the lack of conclusion that the ending brought.

 

DAI makes all these same mistakes all over again. The only reason no one cares is because it’s a lot lower stakes then ME3.

DAI is one unsatisfying, static ending where nothing you do in the game previous to that matters, where characters spend the game alluding to a conflict that will probably kill them all, although none of them can die, and where there is no conclusion. The games ending felt more like a beginning then and ending where nothing feels resolved.

Except that's not why people hated it...people hated it because they gave you the illusion of choice when you didn't have it, and that all three endings gave 0 closure. People weren't nearly as mad at the ending after the ending DLC where you got exactly that...they didn't change the RBG ending.

 

Mass Effect is the same ****** ending...what matters at the end of Mass Effect? Your councilor you choose gets changed no matter what. It also feels like a beginning instead of an end..and it basically is.

 

I feel like you guys just now realized that bioware games have always had the illusion of choice with no REAL choice...that has been every bioware game in history.

 

The epilogue you get at the end of DA:I is as much of a change you see for your actions during a game as you do in any single game in the franchise. All other significant changes were put in the games afterwards.

[tommy_beast]

Every game is too short if you rush it. Try not to rush it next time, also play other games, read a book or take a walk in between game sessions.

[ashwind]

The main story is not "too short", tis actually longer than many games. The problem with the main story is the final chapter. Because nothing you do will affect the outcome of the final battle, some side quests loses its weight and appeal. If the final chapter actually reflected my effort it would be very nice.

 

For example: Did not do Samson's quest (which can be easily made compulsory), one companion will die paying the price fighting his Ironman armor. Did not complete the upgrades, someone will pay with their life when Cory attacks.

 

I will give Bioware a pass here because a lot of effort is clearly put into crafting this massive game. They probably havent mastered the pacing and story telling in a vast and open world-ish setting.

[scrutinizer]

I feel like you guys just now realized that bioware games have always had the illusion of choice with no REAL choice...that has been every bioware game in history.

True. Yet in previous installments, the choices had little impact, but an impact nonetheless; ie. in ME2 the loyalty quests and your immediate choices actually carried some weight in the final battle - your companions may die if you don't play your cards right. Wrex can be killed in the first ME never to appear again, which alters the situation in ME2 & ME3 a bit. Still, the overall impact on the conclusion is just not there, and players were not happy about it. It's simply promising, and then not delivering. Unacceptable.

In DA:I then went further and ignored what you did entirely. I, for one, kill Leilana (while defiling the urn) and Wynne (when telling her to get out of my way in the towar of magi) most of time, and what do I get here? Leilana lives? I beheaded her! But no sir, says Bioware, she LIVES, understand? I mean what is this? Are you for real? Do not give me a choice at all if you are going to ignore it anyway.

 

The main story is not "too short", tis actually longer than many games.

RPGs tend to have a longer main story than most games; your argument hardly stands. Among other RPGs, the main story (without the artificial power gating) is still short. 10 hours is short anyway you slice it. It even feels much shorter, thanks to the abundance of pointless sidequests. You play a story mission and it last for and hour, hour and a half. Seriously?

[ashwind]

RPGs tend to have a longer main story than most games; your argument hardly stands. Among other RPGs, the main story (without the artificial power gating) is still short. 10 hours is short anyway you slice it. It even feels much shorter, thanks to the abundance of pointless sidequests. You play a story mission and it last for and hour, hour and a half. Seriously?

 

So, what RPG are you comparing it to?

 

Let's not compare this to TES which can be beaten in under an hour. I completed ME2/3 (done every single quest btw) in about 20 hours and I tried very hard to drag and played on insanity. Bioshock series? Dead Space? None of them last 30 hours and I did everything that is doable in those games.

 

So how long do you expect story missions to be? 6 hours? In ME, story mission dont even last 20 min on insanity. 

[scrutinizer]

So, what RPG are you comparing it to?

Divinity Original Sin, The Witcher series, Deus Ex (even the new Human Revolution), NWN series, BG series, IWD series, Fallout 1 & 2, Planescape: Torment, Arcanum, Vampire Bloodlines and I can go on like that.

I realize that you can complete Fallout in 20 minutes (I did once just for the sake of it), but the main story there is just one quest (in both 1 & 2). The point was to roam around and the stuff around you was genuinely intriguing. The so-called filler quests were bursting with substance and story. In DA:I sidequests are cringe-worthy, and for me it additionally expose the lackluster length of the main story (probably because of the disproportion. Tons of filler, relatively short story). If you take a measured approach not to rush through the story accidentally, you play one story mission (1,5 hours) and then you spend like 10 hours doing pointless sidequests that are flat-out boring. Then you do another relatively short story mission and so forth.

Also, I'm not talking about rushing, skiping dialogues etc. These older games tend to take longer or shorter, depending on your reading speed. The point is, DA:I seems shorter (and is) since the fighting is fast-paced and action-packed, and the dialogues are rather simplified. Moreover, usually in RPGs you have to take your time while fighting, as they require tactical approach and are sometimes turn-based.

Ultimately, the action-oriented DA:I plays like an action game - it's quick, unless you roam around the vast, but somewhat empty areas, and I just see no point to do so. Sure, these areas are pretty, but useless.

 

So how long do you expect story missions to be? 6 hours? In ME, story mission dont even last 20 min on insanity. 

 

It doesn't necessarily mean the individual missions have to be longer. ME2 has a lot of story mission, but as you said, they are rather short. Such approach fares better - you have a 15-20 hour campaign chopped into a lot of smaller chunks. In the time between main missions you can do some sidequesting (interesting ones!) and then after a while go back and push the story forward a little bit. In DA:I I feel that anytime I'm completing a story mission I'm dramatically closer to the ending and I know that if I want to savor this game, I have to go for the sidequests, otherwise I'm gonna finish it abruptly.

 

Peace.

[amranthe]

I completely agree.

 

Now, many say the main story is just as long if not longer than DAO and DA2. That may be true in the most literal sense, but the difference between them is that in DAO and DA2, every sidequest still felt relevant to the main story. Since the story lines and areas in the first two games are streamlined, i.e., more linear, everything you do still feels like part of the main story, even when it's really not.

 

In DAI however, while if you read between the lines each zone is tangentially related to the main arc (i.e., making your inquisition stronger or disrupting your enemies activities) they don't feel impactful on the main story. 

 

I've played through twice and on my third, and I can't help myself from completing all the zones, but I do wonder if not doing the quests has any impact on the boss fight, or the final events? While I would love if it did (for example, maybe the red templars are stronger because you didn't disrupt their lyrium supply) based on what I've seen with the game so far, I really doubt it has any consequence. If me choosing mages over templars has no tactile impact on the end, then why would missing some side quests?

 

My biggest gripe with this however is how it affects your party and what I consider to be the true role-playing experience of it. Because each party member only gets a single quest (if that) or new dialog after each main story event, this means you can go many hours (10-20 at least) before getting new RP content. Each party member has basically ONE story quest (aside from Varric, Blackwall, and Vivienne), and they're all really short and just don't feel like they accomplish much other than a way to get favor with them. I think what this game really needed was a quest in each zone for a party member--at least one member if not more--to add some development. Preferably the quest would be started by finding an item in the zone either with them there or bringing it back, etc. 

 

The romancing also fell flat because of this. In my first game I romanced Cullen--after I got the heart option to "kiss" well it's basically the same scene. It never changed once through the end of the game. I kept expecting something... maybe something a little deeper, "getting to know him" kind of thing. But nope.

 

On top of that add that I usually have about 30-40 game hours left after the Wardens and the Empress that it just really killed the romance. It's like "yea we know each other okay but it never develops anymore". Then you complete the game and get a couple satisfying scenes, but you go SO LONG in between--it just makes the pacing feel terrible.

 

Whereas, again, in DAO and DA2, you get to spend all your time with your companions, everything done is working toward the main story line so they have dialog and events for it. There were also gifts and things to add to give it a little more depth. 

 

So yes, the main storyline itself may not be so short compared to the other games--it's the fact that the rest of the game is so much filler, with so little impact on the main story or your RP experience, that it throws the pacing off and makes replays a bit more of a grind than before. I can say I played through DA2 at least 4 times before finally just saying enough. This one I'm on my third but only because I really wanted to play each class, and I was already rather bored of it after my first play through. I don't like that. The best part about the DA games is their replay value, but DAI I'm just not feeling it as much.

[ashwind]

Moreover, usually in RPGs you have to take your time while fighting, as they require tactical approach and are sometimes turn-based.

 

Not usually. Tactical approach and slower pace combat is not a must for RPG.

 

NWN... how is it longer... it is linear as hell but longer? Also, TW2 is not particularly long, again my first attempt (taking my time to savor the game) on the highest difficulty completing everything is at most 30 hours. It's combat was never tactical for me, dodge and strike is easy.

 

Older games have confusing maze and tons of drag out combat that made them feel longer. AAA titles nowadays are different.

 

True, the pacing and orientation in DAI needs work but when comparing "main story" meaning the compulsory content that one must go through to complete a game, The ending chain of missions are underwhelming and short that I agree 100%. DAI 's main story is not "too short" compared to most. It feels short, it is not long but it is unfair to say that it is "too short". 

 

p/s: Haven said all that, if Bioware Devs are reading my post!!! I Absolutely Greatly Disapprove of the final chain of missions!!! It is short and underwhelming. If any "patches" to content is to be made, please concentrate on the final chain of missions!!   

[scrutinizer]

Not usually. Tactical approach and slower pace combat is not a must for RPG.

Usually, but not always. Isometric/top down RPGs tend to utilize slower and more deliberate combat, 1st person RPGs are about action and quickness mostly. Not surprising since 1st person RPGs usually add the elements from the action genre.

 

 

 

NWN... how is it longer... it is linear as hell but longer? Also, TW2 is not particularly long, again my first attempt (taking my time to savor the game) on the highest difficulty completing everything is at most 30 hours. It's combat was never tactical for me, dodge and strike is easy.

About a year ago I replayed NWN and getting out of the city of Neverwinter took me +30 hours, after which I stopped playing.

TW2 isn't long indeed, but you get only one version of the third chapter. If you want to experience the other version of the third chapter (and you get an entirely different chapter based on your choices), you have to replay the game, choosing the other path. Moreover, the developers implemented the 2.0 patch after some time (for free), which enhances the last, underwhelming chapter and introduces another difficulty setting in which dodge and strike is no longer easy.

 

I would say that the main issue is with how disjointed the side content and the main content are. They have almost no relation at all, and in my opinion, it hurts the main campaign in a way it feels short (among other pejorative adjectives). I acknowledge your point about the story being 'too short'. It may not be indeed, but it definitely feels that way, because the meaningless side content eclipse the story missions.

 

I agree with your thoughts on the final sequence. It feels rushed and lacking in so many departments, they should overhaul it.

 

Peace.

[MaxQuartiroli]

I am not even half done and I have already 70 hours of gameplay registered, hence I think I will finish around 150-160. The problem is that I spent half of them by figuring out how to reach many of those **** shards because I am not really accustomed to such "action-y" elements. 

 

Should I exclude the time spent in:

 

- recovering shards

- doing various (and often useless) experiments with crafting resources

- figuring things out (I lost 4 hours in Exalted Fields in order to understand how to reach the NE camp)

- backtracking

 

I suppose my "effective" playthrough time will drop to 35-40 hours which is in line with DA:O where it took me about 50-60 hours to do a complete playthrough once I was skilled enough to "optimize" the time and far longer than DA2 which took me 50 hours the first time and 35-40 on following playthrougs when I already knew what I had to do and where to find everything.

[scrutinizer]

Should I exclude the time spent in:

 

- recovering shards

- doing various (and often effortless) experiments with crafting resources

- figuring things out (I lost 4 hours in Exalted Fields in order to understand how to reach the NE camp)

- backtracking

 

I suppose my "effective" playthrough time will drop to 35-40 hours...

Exactly. I believe that for some players this is extremely frustrating, since we basically waste time on pointless running, jumping, figuring out how to get from A to B and so forth. And when we finally get to where we struggled to get, the experience is crowned by a generic fetch quest. Too much time is simply lost in this game for no good reason at all.

[OriginalTibs]

There is also an element to good storytelling that is out of the control of the author(s), an element that depends on the quality of the audience/reader/player. If the player lacks the fire of imagination there is only so much a storyteller can do. The author can attempt to target his audience but there is considerable variance between individual capacities to imagine.

 

Just because one player finds non-linear environments uninteresting doesn't mean another will similarly fail to find it worthwhile and entertaining.

[scrutinizer]

There is also an element to good storytelling that is out of the control of the author(s), an element which depends on the quality of the audience/reader/player. If the player lacks the fire of imagination there is only so much a storyteller can do. The author can attempt to target his audience but there is considerable variance between individual capacities to imagine.

 

Just because one player finds non-linear environments uninteresting doesn't mean another will similarly fail to find it worthwhile and entertaining.

1) The key phrase in your reasoning is 'good storytelling'. If the author knows his craft, he provides a gripping tale that will captivate almost anyone - both sophisticated audience or the one of simple tastes. Do you really believe DA is a case of good storytelling? 

2) A person who hasn't yet developed the understanding and taste for art (in a wide sense of the word) will appreciate works that a refined person (who is on a different level both empirically and theoretically-wise) will discard as of poor quality. Few years later, after developing his/her taste, the same person will realize how mediocre is the story which he deemed extraordinary in the past.

3) The game in question has elaborate visuals which serve the purpose of presenting the developer's artistic vision of the world, leaving not much room for imagination. Example: If an Inquisitor is passing judgments in his pyjamas, and one can clearly see this, it may prove futile to attempt replacing said image by the means of imagination. Abovementioned example also fortifies the assumption that the authors' artistic vision lacks coherency and the qualities expected from a phenomenon known universally as 'good storytelling'.

 

Peace.

[MaxQuartiroli]

Just because one player finds non-linear environments uninteresting doesn't mean another will similarly fail to find it worthwhile and entertaining.

 

I don't find everything entartaining as long that I don't find everything uninteresting. I like exploration and also a bit of fetchquests,

 

What I don't find amusing is spending an hour in order to find the right rocks where I have to jump on in order to get that piece of shard placed on a top of a cliff.. honestly I think that such a thing would suit better for a game like Tombraider than into a RPG.. my personal opinion of course.

 

A part from the shard quests, which is totally for completist players, I am finding another problem with this game

 

The fact is that, with some small exception, it's not really clear what is really skippable or not. As an example: I am trying to romance a "certain" character which requires a good amount of approval in order to achieve it, approval which can also be get by finding some specific loot that you can find in every corner of the map or by doing some fetchquest.. here is an example of how sometimes I have the feeling that you are "forced" to explore the whole world.

 

IMHO a good open world should allow you to get all the important story contents even if you don't explore every single inch of the map. Obviously this does not mean that you should be able to access everything even by skipping important sidequest. You want to get closer to a companion? It's obvious that you have to do his/her personal quest, if you don't do that you won't have the right top complain. RPG had always worked like that and this is how I like them. But there is a great difference between allowing you some extra-bonus if you do everything (like some powerful loot) and playing with the feeling that you could miss something important for the story if you don't find that cave or that reliq in a remote hidden corner of the map. It just makes me anxious O__O

[Z.Z]

Again, if you need fully voiced characters or a cut-scene for a quest to seem worthwhile then no, it won't have rocked your boat. We had a silent protagonist in DA:O, didn't undermine it for me. All the old school RPGs were text-based. I felt I was storming an Avaar fortress through a sea of undead. I felt my Inquisition strengthened by a mighty shaman. I felt powerful when I sent a horde of tribesmen to Tevinter, and chuckled at the response of the magisters. "That's all", and it was great.

Nothing WoW has ever done has the emotional impact of the scene with Cole, Solas and Varric. The most 'MMO' type I can think of is Vivienne's, where you go to collect the heart of a snowy wyvern. First, this is a fantastic reference, "Bring me the heart of Snow White"! Second, it's to point you to where the Dragon is in the zone. Third, it's to give you the option to betray her. You then get a heart-strings tugging pay off that utterly flips how we see her.

I get to determine my own ending for a good book based in a world I've massively enjoyed for the past 5 years? Yeah, I do think it's interesting. It would be less interesting if you haven't read the Stolen Throne, but if you don't read the canon then of course you won't get all the references.

I make the assumption that people haven't left the Hinterlands, because I can't understand how anyone with the imagination and love of the lore to stick with the series this long hasn't been sucked in. Clearly, YMMV.

More assumptions about what I enjoy and what I may not have done. I don't know if I should keep explaining to you - it seems rather pointless now.
Let's just agree to disagree. No need to question other people's tastes and make negative assumptions just because they disagree. And such assumptions, I must add, do not make others' point less valid, because they are ultimately unprovable.

[OriginalTibs]

I doubt anyone would normally choose chainmail or plate battledress for evening or even business attire.

 

Second, too many appear to be illiterate. Oozing that quality is all on the author excuses and flatters functional illiteracy.

 

Third, boredom is the product of the lazy.

[Angloassassin]

On Normal, my Elven Mage is at 70 hours, and Just completed "What Pride had Wrought", and is level 23.

 

On Hard, My Qunari Inquisitor is about 60 hours in, and Just completed "Into the Abyss". And is also level 23 (Magic number for making a new game I guess?)

 

Both are suffering from "I must do everything!" disease, and I must say, for every quest that's a simple text-adventure via the war table, there's another that's an interesting, Sectioned-off area that is unlocked from doing it. Things like Sutherland&Co.

 

 

Spoiler

And Calpurnia's side-quests. Or the Red Templar Lieutenants.

 

I guess the game is just *That* much different for every person. While the Main Quest could be blitzed through (Given you have enough Power), ME1 and DA:O, could be done in less than 20hrs if you just ran through the story missions. And if you really knew your stuff, you could knock out missions like The Fade or Orzammar in Fourty-five Minutes, to An Hour and a Half.

 

Games like this use companion missions, and Story-related Side quests as their meat and potatoes. The story is the tasty, wholesome Broth that brings them all together.

[scrutinizer]

I doubt anyone would normally choose chainmail or plate battledress for evening or even business attire.

Passing judgment while sitting of the throne made of a dragon skull requires appearance that implies certain attributes and is appropriate for the situation. The judge - Inquisitor - has to be an imposing presence visually. The inquisitor represents the highest authority. Deciding one's fate, life or death, requires an adequate attire. Pyjamas do not qualify. Unless you think otherwise.

Regarding this mysterious 'good storytelling' you mentioned, let me ask you another question. One has to treat the Dragon Age trilogy as one entity - in the world I created, Leilana was decapitated, since she opposed my will of defiling the urn of sacred ashes. Nevertheless, she exists in DA:I as a prominent figure, without a proper explanation of how she survived. Tell me in all honesty and without the evasive maneuvers you seem to be fond of - how is that 'good storytelling'? If your answer will veer into the territory of 'use your imagination' I reply in advance - no, I'm not willing to excuse the writer's lack of ability to create a coherent story. I'm demanding.

 

Second, too many appear to be illiterate. 

Agreed.

 

Third, boredom is the product of the lazy.

Aphorisms do not always carry the truth. Think for yourself.

Instead of throwing homespun philosophy, try to actually relate to your interlocutor, it helps communication.

Out of curiosity: if I devote my full attention to the author's product (DA:I in this case) and instead of enjoying it, I'm bored; does that mean I'm lazy? Or maybe the author failed in his task to deliver an entertaining product?

[amranthe]

There were a couple good War Table storylines… but most of them were just there. They had no consequences. There was no war raging on the map, no power levels, nothing. Why don’t I lose troops in a way that actually affects something? Why don’t I lose resources? Why don’t I lose access to areas I don’t defend? Why aren’t keeps retaken? Why don’t I lose companions in the end fights if my armies aren’t strong enough? Why is there nothing that happens, regardless of what I do on the War Table?

 

I don’t need no-real-cost clickable things on a map if I have to imagine the entire war in my head anyway.

 

And no, it wasn’t that bad. But it could have been so much more.

 

This x100.

 

The war table was a neat mechanic... but I really hated how almost nothing on it affected anything (not counting the ones to access places or that have to be done to advance a quest).

 

Some examples:

 

There's one about Zevran and the crows - and while it was great to have the reference to him there, it would have been even better to have actually MET him and fought beside him a la DA2. Sorry, but Codex entries and reading text will never be as good as seeing it play out on screen.

 

There's one called "Alliances" and it's in Orlais about choosing some people who will rise to power there... and as far as I can tell, it doesn't matter who you chose other than different blurbs about those people.

 

You can unlock a dungeon area (sorry I forget the name) but you basically explore it and recover some info regarding the Red Crossing and how the elves were (wrongly) slaughtered there and a fight broke out. You have two options, to sell the info to the chantry (why sell??) or to give it to the Dalish. I always gave it to the Dalish, which opened a war table event where the Dalish wanted to give a Halla to the town as like a peace offering. First off, each option is terrible. Leliana wants to make it seem like the Halla is some kind of war prize, I don't even remember Cullen's because it was likely terrible, and Josephine says something like "it'll end at least 2 marriages but I'll make them take it". I've done Leliana's and Jose's and neither was satisfying, since it's not like the new information changed *anything* for human/elf relations.

 

And those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

 

My main gripe throughout this thread is that while there is a ton of content, so much of it feels completely disconnected from your main storyline and party members. It doesn't have impact. Nothing you do matters.

 

 

Also Solas left me no matter what I do so yes I am bitter.

 

Furthermore I ended one game with over 300 influence points... and absolutely nothing to do with them. Can't buy my keep new stuff, can't recruit better troops or get better gear, or hire more freaking agents so my WT events are shorter... there were so many missed opportunities here.

 

Other random aside: Can I complain that you only get 20 influence levels and there's more than 20 things to buy with it?