21 réponses à ce sujet

[mrjack]

I DAI, there is SO MUCH to do and if you hate feeling like you're missing out (like me), you want to do it all. So I do... but the longer I stay away from the main story, I start to feel really disconnected with my character and I start to care less about his fate. I thought some of the (more) major side quests in the open areas were really interesting but I wasn't enjoying them and I couldn't put my finger on it until I realised that I hadn't seen my character's face close up in 5 hours.

 

I understand that directing these small dialogue/cut sequences is resource intensive but my suggestion would be to at least include regular cut sequences for the major missions in each area. Like taking the keep, draining the lake and closing the rift in Crestwood; Finding the keys to the Temple of Fairiel(Sp?) and clearing out the Venatori in the Hissing Wastes; or all parts of the "Taking back the Lion" mission.

 

If this means cutting other things then so be it. It's hard for me to care about what's going on somewhere when the problem is mumbled to me by an NPC, I mumble something back and then I go off to fight mobs. All the while, watching the game is like watching CCTV footage. I don't like it. Is this a major issue for anyone else?

[Frenrihr]

Fir me it is too.

[Vidas Secas]

I totally agree, those talkings where you can move your camera freely feel really distant and emotionless

[tmp7704]

In the scenes the camera is free to move I just nudge it so the conversation is framed like in one of these "cinematic" shots. It can be pretty entertaining, give it a try.

[mrjack]

It would make me feel a lot better staying away from the main questline if I could get some face time with someone other than the few seconds you get with Scout Harding when you first arrive somewhere. I would have liked to have seen the mayor of Crestwood's face to see if he was acting suspicious or not before I ended up judging him at Skyhold.

[mrjack]

In the scenes the camera is free to move I just nudge it so the conversation is framed like in one of these "cinematic" shots. It can be pretty entertaining, give it a try.

 

I do try that as best I can but it's not the same. I don't want to sound like a whiner and tbh I've read so many threads complaining about this or that in the game as if it's the worst thing since the ME3 ending. On the whole I like this game but I want to love it.. all of it... sidequests included.

[Aravasia]

I'm inclined to agree. I much prefer the DA2 style sidequests, which were cinematic, and overall much more evolved into the main arch. 

[In Exile]

I don't mind the lack of cinematics at all for side quests. The bigger issue is the lack of dialogue in a lot of them. They're not very interactive. And we no longer have side quests where we're making choices at the end. Minor flavour ones. The companion interaction is the best we've had but side quests have fallen by the wayside.

[L. Han]

^Nothing much happens in them either. At least in the past games you get to know the quest giver a bit. Now they just say a few lines and tell you to get off on your way.

[Shades of Night]

This is precisely why they end up seeming like chores and I just got plain bored of them by the time I'd finished going through the Exalted Plains. I ended up saying to hell with it and going through just the main quests instead, finished and still don't have any real desire to go back and do all those sidequests.

 

I think the lack of cinematics and dialogue choices both create this effect. I mean look, Biowares very own MMO TOR for all its faults manages to have cutscenes with plenty of dialogue choices for almost every sidequest. It's obviously not an impossible thing to achieve.

[mrjack]

This is precisely why they end up seeming like chores and I just got plain bored of them by the time I'd finished going through the Exalted Plains. I ended up saying to hell with it and going through just the main quests instead, finished and still don't have any real desire to go back and do all those sidequests.

 

I think the lack of cinematics and dialogue choices both create this effect. I mean look, Biowares very own MMO TOR for all its faults manages to have cutscenes with plenty of dialogue choices for almost every sidequest. It's obviously not an impossible thing to achieve.

 

I hate to make a comparison to ME3 as I realise they're not the same game but in ME3 you can play for 60 hours and do everything in a fairly linear but not completely rigid fashion. And every mission had cut sequences even if it was just at the beginning and end. You never felt like it wasn't part of the whole story and it was like an interactive movie for 50-60 hours long. In DAI I feel like I could complete the cinematic/dialogue heavy missions in about 25 hours including companion personal quests. We're only talking about Prologue > recruit everyone minus Cole/Dorian > side with mages or templars > close the breach > Adamant > Winter Palace > Arbor Wilds > Ending + plus Cass's and Varric personal quests which are pretty short dungeons in themselves. The rest of the cinematics are non combat companion related talk or super short combat like Sera's side quest. That's not so much really.

[mrjack]

I think the lack of cinematics and dialogue choices both create this effect. I mean look, Biowares very own MMO TOR for all its faults manages to have cutscenes with plenty of dialogue choices for almost every sidequest. It's obviously not an impossible thing to achieve.

 

I think they wanted to do it but didn't have time or resources. It's such a shame. OT: I acutlly like TOR but couldn't play with a controller so gave up. I play PC as it's a superior machine but refuse to play a game with KB+M.

[In Exile]

^Nothing much happens in them either. At least in the past games you get to know the quest giver a bit. Now they just say a few lines and tell you to get off on your way.

I don't feel like I knew or cared about the random quest givers in DAI at all. It just needs a better balance of RP interaction IMO.

[mrjack]

I wish someone would make a guide to getting through all major story points with as little grinding as possible (just to get power and decent gear).

 

I know I said don't grind but my way so far is.

 

1) get out of the Hinterlands as soon as you've got 1 power,

2) go to Val Royeaux and recruit Viv and Sera

3) Wipe out mages and templars in Hinterlands (otherwise constant battle gets annoying)

4) Go to storm Coast and recruit Iron Bull.

5) Side with Mages or Templars (recruit Dorian or Cole)

6) Close Rift and get to Skyhold (recruit Dorian or Cole)

7) Go to Hissing Wastes to buy decent armor schematics avoiding all mobs. It can be done on horseback.

8) Should be able to fight your way through to the second camp in Emprise du Lion.

9) Gain access to Cradle of Sulevin and farm it 4 or 5 times for a few T3 weapon schematics

10) Play rest of game, use war table for resources.

[Nefla]

This thread...I have found my people! I completely agree with you guys. Two lines of dialogue from an NPC standing in the same place like a statue while the camera hovers far away is not going to get me engaged with a quest, especially when said quest has no other dialogue, choices, or even puzzles. "Hey there inquisitor I lost my family saw; please get it back" and then going to a spot a few minutes walk away, killing some nameless faceless goons that you can't even talk to or do anything with beyond kill it's just not engaging in the slightest and the game never gives me a reason to care.

[mrjack]

This thread...I have found my people! I completely agree with you guys. Two lines of dialogue from an NPC standing in the same place like a statue while the camera hovers far away is not going to get me engaged with a quest, especially when said quest has no other dialogue, choices, or even puzzles. "Hey there inquisitor I lost my family saw; please get it back" and then going to a spot a few minutes walk away, killing some nameless faceless goons that you can't even talk to or do anything with beyond kill it's just not engaging in the slightest and the game never gives me a reason to care.

 

I hate to rag on the open world because it is beautiful and expansive but these pointless little sidequests interfere with the great story telling  and real DRAMATIC moments. If they made some of the more important sidequests cinematic with dialogue, we could still experience most of the game without feeling like faceless tiny sprites in a big open world.

[Nefla]

I hate to rag on the open world because it is beautiful and expansive but these pointless little sidequests interfere with the great story telling  and real DRAMATIC moments. If they made some of the more important sidequests cinematic with dialogue, we could still experience most of the game without feeling like faceless tiny sprites in a big open world.

I agree. It's fine to have the meaningless grind quests but at least give us a number of bigger, interactive sidequests also.

[Hiemoth]

I agree with most of the main post, although I would argue that for the sake of consistency, all the dialogue needs to follow the same suit or it becomes somewhat of a highlighted point of "This is special", which would have, in part, ruined some of the story for the mayor. There were though many parts where I found myself missing some kind of a cut scene or something to signify what an awesome thing just happened or what a major achievement for the effort was just made instead of a floating text which tells me the quest is done and gives me some power and influence points.

 

My main example of this is the Crestwood mission. You battle through hordes of undead and bandits, take out a bandit fortress, make your way to the dam and lower the waters to reveal a submerged village, do battle with demons to make your way to old dwarven tunnels pushing through even more demons before finally reaching the great rift and managing to turn the tide of battle and seal it. And then kind of just stand there because it sure as hell didn't feel like anything major just happened.

 

I mean even the High Dragon battles, which all end with the dragon just keeling over. The first fight felt awesome because of the reactions from the party, but the second battle just kind of ended and then again you are just standing there. I felt DAI really failed at giving those Hell Yeah moments, which was in large parts due to lack of cinematics as it is it's chosen storytelling method.

[Gileadan]

The worst are those side quests which don't have any interaction at all. You find a letter. Bing, new quest! You dump the letter into someone's mail box, or find a second letter somewhere else. Bing, quest completed! I don't even understand why that makes me gain power - no one in the populace knows that I did that!

 

What those side quests really lack is roleplaying through decisions. You get sent to find the lost ring, and if you do the quest, you hand it back. You can't decide whether you want no reward at all, or try to extort payment, or keep it for yourself and use or sell it. Well, you can keep it, but that means the quest remains open.

 

So no matter what kind of person your character is... side quests are the big, boring equalizer.

[mrjack]

I agree with most of the main post, although I would argue that for the sake of consistency, all the dialogue needs to follow the same suit or it becomes somewhat of a highlighted point of "This is special", which would have, in part, ruined some of the story for the mayor. There were though many parts where I found myself missing some kind of a cut scene or something to signify what an awesome thing just happened or what a major achievement for the effort was just made instead of a floating text which tells me the quest is done and gives me some power and influence points.

 

My main example of this is the Crestwood mission. You battle through hordes of undead and bandits, take out a bandit fortress, make your way to the dam and lower the waters to reveal a submerged village, do battle with demons to make your way to old dwarven tunnels pushing through even more demons before finally reaching the great rift and managing to turn the tide of battle and seal it. And then kind of just stand there because it sure as hell didn't feel like anything major just happened.

 

I mean even the High Dragon battles, which all end with the dragon just keeling over. The first fight felt awesome because of the reactions from the party, but the second battle just kind of ended and then again you are just standing there. I felt DAI really failed at giving those Hell Yeah moments, which was in large parts due to lack of cinematics as it is it's chosen storytelling method.

 

I would argue that it's the lack of consistency between side quests and main quests that makes the game feel disjointed and messes with pacing building up to the finale. If you want to keep up the pace of working to defeat the big bad, those smaller (but still important) quests on your way to the finish line should also feel dramatic and satisfying and emotionally involving (If to a lesser degree). The Crestwood mission is a perfect example. It's no small accomplishment, it should feel that way. You should have already seen his face when he was telling you about the blighted refugees. You shouldn't have to travel back to the town and find the mayor. You should be transported back there with the good news and see your character's reaction when he's missing. It should make you WANT to find him on the war table to mete out justice. I don't expect face time and dialogue options with every quest giver but definitely for the most important ones on the whole map you're playing the at the time.

[mrjack]

The worst are those side quests which don't have any interaction at all. You find a letter. Bing, new quest! You dump the letter into someone's mail box, or find a second letter somewhere else. Bing, quest completed! I don't even understand why that makes me gain power - no one in the populace knows that I did that!

 

What those side quests really lack is roleplaying through decisions. You get sent to find the lost ring, and if you do the quest, you hand it back. You can't decide whether you want no reward at all, or try to extort payment, or keep it for yourself and use or sell it. Well, you can keep it, but that means the quest remains open.

 

So no matter what kind of person your character is... side quests are the big, boring equalizer.

 

These are so pointless that they only get done if they are so on my way that they are literally IN my way and would be stupid not to do. them.

[mrjack]

Sorry another thing. You know when Josie says that you will now judge people blah blah blah and that you will at least know OF  the prisoners, well the first time I played I was like who? what? when? Even when she meticulously explains who they are I had to rack my brain to remember some random faceless NPC from 35 quests ago. I was like:

 

Crestwood? Was that the place it was raining and then wasn't?

Oh I remember something about a mayor and clicked on a war table mission.

Is this who he is?

Can't say I've ever seen him before in my life.

Voice sounds familiar though.

Why do I care about this again?

 

Now I've had a few PTs I know who will be judged and try to pay more attention but I usually just go with the most interesting "non-kill"option like: Give him to the Wardens/Make her pay for her crime with cashmoney/send them with supplies to Tevinter...