31 réponses à ce sujet

[AresKeith]

I don't think origin stories are really necessary, just a playable intro can work

[Sifr]

While I can get throwing us into the action straight away for a big opening and keeping what happened to us a mystery for so long, the rub was that it removed a lot of the context for who our respective Inquisitors were supposed to be?

 

In Origins, you got some basic info from Duncan in his narration before getting a unique prologue, while Hawke's backstory was given to us by Varric and over the course of the prologue by their family members? In Inquisition, it's basically just some flavour text and relegated to war table missions, making whoever the ACLT Inquisitors were before, not really matter much?

 

We didn't need to be bogged down with too much information, just something to let us know who this person is, compared to the other Inquisitors?

 

The only times we really got to talk about our past were with Josephine and during the card game, which were great because they actually gave each Inquisitor some unique characterisation and insight into their personality and background during those two brief shining moments?

[vertigomez]

While I don't think we need/ed playable origin stories, I think having a more fleshed-out background would've worked wonders. I'll just quote myself from another thread,

I've been trying to figure out why I have such trouble relating to my Quizzie, and I think this is it: they don't have a family.

Hawke protecting and providing for their family (particularly the relationship with their siblings) was a HUGE draw for me. It's also why the Dwarf Commoner and City Elf origins were my favorite in DAO - in both cases, there's a sense of responsibility there, whether you're playing a by-the-book Warden or a wildcard. DC is struggling to provide for their family and protect their sister from the worst of Beraht's shenanigans. They have a tumultuous relationship with their alcoholic mother and absentee father. The CE has got cousins they're obviously close to, as well as a father they (seem to) get along with for the most part, and their mother's legacy is very present in the way NPCs interact with them.

Cousland's family is obviously VERY tied to their character, as well as Aeducan's in a, uh, slightly different way.
I just don't dig the blank-slate thing when it comes to family and how you grew up, because where you come from is such a huge part of who you are today. And that can be negative or positive, but it's still there.

tl;dr family's a great motivator, I sure wish we had one

[TheDovah]

It would have been excellent if origins made a return but i think Bioware just ran out of time and underestimated the demand for playable races thus being implented during the later stages of development. But all Inquisitors need a fleshed out background and a chance to tell some stories about their past. I would love to have my Adaar tell tales about his time as a merc to the Chargers and Bull. Solas and Lavellen could discuss elven stuff and discuss his/her time with the clan along with their thoughts on humans. Cadash could get drunk with Varric and speak about smuggling, spying, being surface dwarves etc... And a Human Inquisitor should have been able to invite their family to the inquisitor as agents for Josephine followed by a series of regrets after getting many, many favours asked by their family or arguments or getting embarressed or told off etc..

 

Hopefully, DA4 will feature a huge origin/origins prior to the events of DA4. Origins would not have worked with the origins due to it being a new entry. We wouldn't have cared about the Warden if they were a blank slate with a codex origin story. DA4 should take Origin's implentation of origins and expand on them.

[Korva]

I must be among the few people who didn't care for the origins. Sure, at first they sounded like an interesting novel idea ... but frankly IMO they simply weren't very good (though that is a matter of personal taste of course), and most of all: they were completely meaningless. What's the point in wasting resources on these things if the game then prompty treats every character the same? The illusion of background and personality and connections that the origins created were just that, an illusion. It's one of Bioware's old and recurring problems that the protagonist exists to enable NPC characterization and growth, but is essentially never given the same in return by their companions because nobody ever truly gives a toss about who we are, where we came from, what we think and what we feel. Conversations are always about what the NPCs want and think and need -- even if they (very rarely) ask how we are doing, our replies are short and shallow because it's not really about us but about the NPC. Until the writers give us true mutual bonds and more nuanced and in-depth roleplay opportunities, no amount of faffing about with backstories is actually going to amount to anything.

 

Yes, I harp about this a lot, because IMO it is one of the biggest weaknesses with their games -- and in this series with its one-shot-and-then-you're-irrelevant protagonists, it's even more obvious.

 

Plus, I prefer the Inquisition approach of simply giving me a brief, basic framework because that allows me more freedom to build my character in my own head.

[KaiserShep]

The only one I really enjoy is the human noble one, but that's primarily because I have a soft spot for the revenge angle. The irony for me is that the one I really dislike the most is the one that makes the strongest case for forcing the PC to become a Warden, and that's the Dalish one. But, someone made a point in another thread that one of the advantages of the way Inquisition does it is that you have options as to how you want your PC to remember their past. You either got along with your family, or you're not really on good terms and distanced from them.

[Korva]

Exactly.

 

Sure, if I'm given more detail in a way that strikes the right chords, that can be fun too. But if the chords are all wrong, then I'm not even going to bother getting through the prologue. (The human noble origin is the only one I liked, too, though the reason I originally went for it was because it meant you got the mabari right from the start. )