It just struck me that doing this is kind of a "plot hole" in a way. I started my second playthrough today, and as I claimed Redcliffe village, I had a thought. What I did was basically "conquer a territory" in a way. A village belonging to the King of Ferelden. Doing things like this is basically an act of war, if you think about it.
Thoughts?
I don't think it really makes sense story/inquisition wise, but it makes sense gameplay wise. You can see which areas you have 'conquered' on the map, which helps you keep track of the areas you have explored. Also a lot of landmarks are filled with some enemies, and to claim the landmark you have to kill them, adding to the 'accomplishment' of claiming an area.
Claiming landmarks is pretty much another collection quest. It's not like the pole you ram into the ground has any significance or effect - if there were active hostile forces around, they could just kick it over and claim the area for themselves again. The Inquisition poles that show the tooltip "under the protection of the Inquisition" when you mouse over them are just words that are not backed up by any visible force.
In fact, the claim-poles reminded me of a scene from the comic "Sturmtruppen" by Franco Bonvicini. It shows a bunch of Wehrmacht soldiers in WW2, peering down an alleyway, looking rather insecure and nervous, and their leader is sending a radio message back to base. "Nein, Herr Hauptmann. A further advance is absolutely impossible." And behind him, pinned to a house next to that alleyway, you see a sign saying "NO ENTRY FOR ENEMIES".
It could certainly be viewed as an act of war or, at the very least, a provocation aimed at the rightful owners of the particular piece of land. Even so, I highly doubt we are supposed to see it as such, however.
In my game the rulers of Ferelden are Alistair and Anora, so I'm doing their incompetent a$$e$ a favor.
I agree, as if opening up the area as explored is not enough, someone felt another redundant item was necessary to mark progress, however in some areas a unique find clearly tied to the story. As to your plot holes, they defied logical placement quite often and seemed inconsistent - that likely indicates some missing plot. In one zone there are 5 or so in close proximity when 1 detailing the elves history in some detail would have been sufficient. Others have cited ineffective use of the Codex or equivalent and I have to agree, notes on history need to be consolidated for reference, not scattered about.
I guess it is less vandalistic than spraying a "Kilroy was here" graffiti on someone's house, and pretty much accomplishes the same thing.
I guess it is less vandalistic than spraying a "Kilroy was here" graffiti on someone's house, and pretty much accomplishes the same thing.
Its not just leaving a mark. You actually claim it for the inquisition. That means when you claim Redcliffe, you actually occupy a town in Ferelden, and call it your own.
Its not just leaving a mark. You actually claim it for the inquisition. That means when you claim Redcliffe, you actually occupy a town in Ferelden, and call it your own.
The landmark journal text says "Any navigator worth following will look out for distinctive landmarks that provide bearings and define regions.", which can be interpreted as a peaceful action.
As to locations being "under the protection of the Inquisition", the Inquisition forces are the only ones actually doing something to protect people and to fend off the demons - as many NPCs tell you. Which is presumably the main reason the Inquisition gets the constant influx of recruits.
Where are the Fereldan forces anyway? The only ones I recall seeing were with Anora/Alistair. And the Orlesian forces are apparently at the Exalted Plains busy fighting each other. Or they would be if they weren't so afraid of the corpses to actually leave their forts. "Come here, you foul corpse, and I shall taunt you a second time!"
And what about the Venatori - a bona fide hostile foreign power. They get to establish camps and strongholds and deploy troops pretty much all over the map. I am more surprised that no Fereldan/Orlesian action is being taken against them.
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