Dragon Age has started fresh three different times already, I want them to go the Mass Effect route, using the same character for a trilogy, though I don't think the Inquisitor is the right choice, as others have pointed out he/she is too boring. Could have been done with Hawke imo, but his status is up in the air.
It's not about starting fresh, it's a story about the World of Thedas without dragging a single character along every time
While I think the Inquisition has a lot of untapped potential, and that it has yet to meet a threat equal to its mettle, I don't think DA4 should focus either on it or the Inquisitor. I want each game to have its own new protagonist and companions.
I think DAI just needs an endgame DLC where the might of the Inquisition is tested.
Maybe that supposed invasion will do that
For me its no question... new protagonist. I actually like the Inquisitor a lot, but I so much prefer the new story and protagonist in every game over their ME formula of keeping a 'messiah godlike' protagonist who ends up saving the day for every single event in the universe. The DA universe is so much richer and alive than the ME universe where everything is centered around Shepard.
In the case of the Inquisitor I would personally prefer to play a new character next game. I very much understand the OP's position, though, as I would love to check in on my Warden again 
I believe that Bioware's stance from what I understand is a new game and new hero.
With talk of the putative final DLC above re: testing the Inquisition, it might be interesting if the final piece either ended the Inquisition or else if we learned that the Inquisition folded soon after the events of the game/DLC, or else was taken over/reorganized by Josephine, Cassandra, etc., in the Inquisitor's absence. It will be intriguing to see how it all turns out. I hope you'll enjoy whatever comes next either way, OP
I am utterly and completely against a time jump for the next game. A jump of more than four years from DA:I to DA4 would involve skipping important events happening in Thedas right now, particularly with the Grey Wardens. Remember how DA:I completely skipped over the actual Mage-Templar/Celene-Gaspard conflicts and let the Inquisition solve the aftermath? I don't want that to happen again, I want to be involved in the actual fight not come in after the fact.
Part of the beauty and ingenuity of the new protagonist model, and in contrast to space god Shepard, is that we via the eyes of various protagonist get to see and experience the many stories this world has to offer. There have been hints of something big going on in the Anderfels since the Origins epilogue and Hawke/Alistair/Stroud/Logain and Varric are all headed in that direction, I don't want to hear it summarized years later I want to be there while it is happening.
When the Qunari eventually invade I want to be there when it happens, during the conflict and the aftermath. I want to experience Tevinter and other places before the invasion, a small taste of what Tevinter and the Anderfels are like in more or less normal times. If we skip forward five of ten years then immediate story and context are relegated to banter. We obviously can't be present for every event in Thedas.
There will of course be things going on in the background lore and story but I think that by inching forward in a practical manner we can cover more ground and story content than by leaping decades. There is a lot of content and story to be offered and I for one would have it be explored so that the Dragon Age can last as long as possible.
New protagonist and a bigger jump in time and place. That would avoid the huge amount of cameos. Assuming the Qunari invasion in Tevinter is the "new epic adventure" ® a time skip of 10-15 years for the new story could be very likely.
On top of that I hope the Inquisition gets destroyed in the final DLC and our Inquisitior either dies or becomes permanently unavaiable in another way. DA has become too much of an annual Thedas veteran meeting. Old faces everywhere.
I like my Inquisitor a lot, and I think he should get plenty of DLCs and a good expansion game, or even two.
However, a new game should have a new protagonist.
I also think they should make a new class for the fourth game. This way, players like me who have had one of each class as their main character in each game will have the new class as the new protagonist in the fourth game. And then in the fifth game, all four of them can unite as one party. Epic!
Be careful what you ask for. I couldn't stand Hawke, and couldn't wait for a new protagonist fast enough... until we got the safe, mega-vanilla, paragon of all things uninteresting Inquisitor... I'd take snarky Hawke over that poor excuse for a DAI protagonist any day of the week and 3 times on Sunday. Anyone but the inquisitor for DA4.
Be careful what you ask for. I couldn't stand Hawke, and couldn't wait for a new protagonist fast enough... until we got the safe, mega-vanilla, paragon of all things uninteresting Inquisitor... I'd take snarky Hawke over that poor excuse for a DAI protagonist any day of the week and 3 times on Sunday. Anyone but the inquisitor for DA4.
I'm tired of the changing protag every game , but I got used to it.
Besides I want to play a pirate in the next DA game .
I'd kill to get Hawke back. In fact, I kind of wish Hawke was the IQ. That would have been interesting.
I agree, having Hawke as Inquisitor would be much more interesting. Inky too boring.
I would prefer staying as the Inquisitor. While I have no doubt that Bioware could make great stories involving a new protagonist, there just seems too much potential with the Inquisitor and the Inquisition that could be utilized.
I like my Inquisitors, but I prefer a new protagonist for the next game. Continuing with an old one is too limiting in several ways, and even worse, they could end up like Shepard in the ME trilogy - forced into an ever narrower character type with each sequel. Also, should I not like one, there's always another one in the next game.
I've said it before: DA has sort of a "continuing protagonist" with the world of Thedas. It's the story of a world, not the story of one person, and I'd like it to stay that way. i think the DA team may have had a plan to continue with Hawke at some time, but I'm so very glad that didn't work out. I like my Hawkes, too, but they're my least favorite protagonists of the three games.
As for the debated time gap: I don't really care. Things can work out with a time gap or without one, as long as it isn't too long for continunity. What we need more than that is a change of location. As I see it, we really need to go north.
The very idea of а leader of such organization as inquisition, gathering flowers in the field and killing bears with his own hands is ... a bit ridiculous and unrealistic. So, no more grand leaders or kings as protagonist, please.
Assuming the Qunari invasion in Tevinter is the "new epic adventure" ® a time skip of 10-15 years for the new story could be very likely.
If there is a Qunari invasion, there will be people demanding that Sten, the HoF, Bull, Krem, Dorian, Isabella... al make a comeback... Which would kinda defeat your desire for no more cameos.
If anything, I hope the next Big Conflict™ won't be tackled until the fifth main entry, in order to give the series time to breath.
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they could end up like Shepard in the ME trilogy - forced into an ever narrower character type with each sequel
The blank-slate that Shepard was in ME1 was boring.
The invincible space-marine from ME2 was infuriating.
It's not until ME3 turned Shepard into a PTSD-riddled Pyrrhus that I started to like this character.
(Then again, I had sworn-off the series after the second episode had fallen into the land of juvenile power-fantasies and came back only after I learned that the third episode's conclusion had pissed hardcore fans beyond reason or belief, so I know I'm kinda an outlier when it comes to tastes here)
DA has sort of a "continuing protagonist" with the world of Thedas
I'd say that the series protagonists is the Age, not the whole World.
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The very idea of а leader of such organization as inquisition, gathering flowers in the field and killing bears with his own hands is ... a bit ridiculous and unrealistic.
At first the Inquisition is a fledging organization lacking both resources and manpower.
After Skyhold, well, hoarding habits are hard to get rid off. 
Even though I prefer to see same PC in a sequel, I'm pretty much sure that there will be a new one. Mostly due to the plot itself. Now when main threats are dealt with and development of Inquisition is over, Inqy just needs to maintain some order. That's far from typical rpg setup.
I would like to play as Hawke again but since i can't i will take the new guy. Another game with boringquis is not something i would want.
New Protagonist, another blight, but not any blight. This is the blight of the god of old gods, where the inquisitor and the warden are killed, thedas is wiped out resulting in a dark world with just few regions still safe. Protagonist barely survives the apocalipse and works out a way to save his little region from the blight, but does not defeat the blight itself. The character would not be a huge leader neither a fan club, he would just be a normal guy. That would leave room even for a sequel.
While I think the Inquisition has a lot of untapped potential, and that it has yet to meet a threat equal to its mettle, I don't think DA4 should focus either on it or the Inquisitor. I want each game to have its own new protagonist and companions.
I think DAI just needs an endgame DLC where the might of the Inquisition is tested.
well said
Personally, I would prefer that we again be allowed to experience opening origins for whatever main player character is featured next time at bat! And I appreciate racial variety in this franchise, so I hope to see that continue as well.
IMO, the Inquisitor doesn't even quite fit as the protagonist in this game...rather, I feel like that role is actually the Inquisition itself. I kind of like that approach, to be honest, since it's much easier to carry on references to an organization in later games than it is to a single person, particularly one who is as dryly portrayed as Quizzie.
To that end, I could see DA4 having a new leading perspective character with the Inquisition as the "protagonist" again...maybe a Sutherland type character, for example. But I think I'd prefer something completely new.
This is kind of what I have been thinking DA4 was going to be also. Therefore I'm also voting for new protag.I would like DA4 to be centred around a slave revolt in Tevinter, with the protagonist starting out as a slave, earning their freedom and then becoming a central figure in the rebellion. That basically necessitates having a new protagonist.
IMO, the Inquisitor doesn't even quite fit as the protagonist in this game...rather, I feel like that role is actually the Inquisition itself. I kind of like that approach, to be honest, since it's much easier to carry on references to an organization in later games than it is to a single person, particularly one who is as dryly portrayed as Quizzie.
To that end, I could see DA4 having a new leading perspective character with the Inquisition as the "protagonist" again...maybe a Sutherland type character, for example. But I think I'd prefer something completely new.
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