If I produced this game
-I would tie the all the areas into the main quest.
-I would change the war table into a status and mini war game table.
-I would add a Troop/Siege Mechanic. (risk if you will)
-Make those keep sieges we saw.
-I would make all the quest arcs mission givers available through dialog with Cullen, Lelianna, and Josephine. Each would have a quest journal. This ultimately would dictate your path thru all of the areas.
-I would add troop support thru camps and requistions.
-I would have so many sidequests, that OCD people would need to go to rehab. These sidequests wouldn't necessary give you experience but would give your troops pluses and minus.
-I would also completely change the game mechanic for Magic from both DAI and DAO. But simultaneously return to lore of Origins, and resurrect the magic schools. I've detailed it here.
http://forum.bioware.../#entry18355046
I like to play these games like I'm stumbling thru life, whether I'm a SJW(I just learned what that meant), an A$$, a pretty boy, a zealot, a conquistador. Therefore you pick the sidequests based on those parameters. To me that's a more fun way to play. But some people are OCD. I'm afraid if I were producing this game, some people would need therapy.
I would take all the major area intro sidequests in this game, (StormCoast, Emprise du Lion(support the emprise), Hissing Wastes(stop the venatori), Fallow Mire(refugees), Emerald Graves(Civil war), Exalted Plains (Civil war)) and integrate them into the main plot. You could create several different paths thru those areas based on how you interact with Cullen, Lelianna, and Josephine. You would have to add some more content and cutscenes to make it work. You would also have to make it so there were a couple different intros to each area based on the path in which you got there.
This would give us some more Lelianna for one thing. But mostly, I feel like it would help give them game more direction, and lead to better pacing. Because this way you can do better with enemy scaling. It would still be open but you would only have access to say Fallow Mire, Crestwood and Storm Coast at first. Depending how you get thru those will change how you get introduced to Exalted Plains or Emerald Graves. It will also change your status in the western approach. One path dictates how Emprise goes, and one path leads to how Hissing Wastes goes (it can be scaled tougher now). And you could always go back and hit the areas that weren't on your path, but they will behave in 2 maybe 3 different manners. I dunno something like that.
Where it gets OCD. I would do things like have every camp give you troops. every ally you create give you troops. But also have a ridiculous bunch of the silly quests like find blankets, and help the healer. Pick some herbs for random strangers. But those things would then in turn give pluses and minuses to your troops in those areas. But not character experience to keep the scaling down, and prevent OP some. Puttling some flowers on a grave gives some morale to your troops but no PC experience.
These armies would become relevant in keep siege battles that would be added, and some of the milestone events like adamant, haven, and the final battle(which I would completely change). I would also have a major troop vs troop forest battle in the Arbor Wilds. Which would give more meaning to the direction you've taken and which allies you've chosen. And most important your choices at halamshiral This would then necessitate new ending cutscenes. Sure you took out Cory, but what was the cost? Did you win the battle at the arbor wilds? Is the inquistion dead or alive? Are you an Iron Fist, A champion of the people, or a cutthroat.
I don't really get the arguments about filler content and too many side quests. Some side quests are better than others. Some side quests aren't even side quest, they are just things to do. Overall I felt the DAI sidequests were decent in the regard that a majority of them support the story. You don't have to do them, but if you do they add to the lore of the story that you are writing. And any good RPG or epic game is deserving of Frivolious things like the Shard quest, Occularums, and talking goat. Stupid little funny things can be multiplied as much as you want. Because some of things just won't be there based on your direction of getting there in the first place. Maybe all the cute quest givers are dead, because you supported the elves.
This is where I think DAI actually shined, the way the side character progression changes based on what side quests you do, and it what order. I think the problem there are so many completionist out there who insist on doing every area and filling out the map, they forget to role play the game. That said, its not hard to fill out the maps to 90% or so and do it quickly, which is also a problem.
I just think the way the major SQ's are currently implemented is quite directionless in regard to the main story. I do think they did better with tying them to the main story, but I feel like they should be part of the story, then a whole bunch more sidequests added to the game.
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