What it has to do with fear and lulz, I wonder? And I'm not sure if you're in position to tell me what I should or shouldn't do.
My point was that you're looking for problems where none exist. Every relationship issue we've discussed can be solved easily with good writing.
Making the inquisitor the protagonist in DA4 doesn't ruin anything, relationship-wise, unless the writers screw up royally.
For me it would give a chance to wrap up the story between the inquisitor and Solas and free up DA4 to be about a war between Tevinter and the Qunari. Maybe then each game afterwards can be separate (no continued plotlines with new protagonists, no returning companions) and have smaller stakes than "the world is going to be destroyed by evil people/monsters/dragons." This is my new wish.
I'm hoping there's more to it than just the tevinter and qun conflict. Because I got that in Da2... and could always just replay that. Maybe if they did it differently. Like your character is a ben-hassrath and your undercover the entire time? It'd be nice to see it in that perspective. And somewhere in there you get the choice to stay true to the qun or betray them? I mean I guess it's kind of like Ironbull's story, but we never really got to see what it actually was like to be ben-hassrath so in that aspect it'd be different.
I'm hoping there's more to it than just the tevinter and qun conflict. Because I got that in Da2... and could always just replay that. Maybe if they did it differently. Like your character is a ben-hassrath and your undercover the entire time? It'd be nice to see it in that perspective. And somewhere in there you get the choice to stay true to the qun or betray them? I mean I guess it's kind of like Ironbull's story, but we never really got to see what it actually was like to be ben-hassrath so in that aspect it'd be different.
But would the game be any better with a Tevinter/Qunari conflict + Solas somewhere? How about a slave uprising instead, I'd really like to be a part of that 
But...that's exactly the kind of thing they did with Inquisition itself. New players don't know what the fade is, what the temple of sacred ashes is, what the Divine is, who or what the mages and templars are and what their history is, what a mage circle is, what the Chantry is, what Tevinter's reputation is, what the Qunari are, what role elves have in society, what the Dalish are, who Varric, Cassandra, Cullen, Leliana, etc...are, what the relationship between Ferelden and Orlais is, and so on. The game didn't do a very good job of introducing new players to that stuff and explaining it to them yet there were still new people playing DA:I as their first in the series. Plus I think most people who start a series on the 4th installment expect to be somewhat lost. I think if they take more time and care on the writing than they did in DA:I then a continued protagonist will be just fine for new players. If they don't, then it will be even more confusing than DA:I even with a new protagonist.
But as you say, DAI did not do a good job in introducing the new player to the world. IMO. And right now I am operating under the assumption that DA4 will follow DAI's format rather than DAO or DA2, so backgrounds will be relegated to text rather than the introductory levels of the game. Maybe if we had another Origins-style prologue where we interact with people from our "former" life before we get into the action, DA4 can take the time to introduce new players to the Inquisitor and the baggage of DAI. But I find that unlikely to happen.
I am not advocating that Bioware dumb everything down for new players, and ideally new players should be willing to be at a disadvantage for coming into a series in the fourth game. But realistically, Bioware is going to want to expand their audience base rather than keep static with fans of the previous games. So it is in their best interests to make sure a new player is roughly on the same level as veterans, at least in the beginning of the game. And I've mentioned in other threads that after the title of DA2 falsely lead fans to believe the game would be a carbon copy of DAO, Bioware isn't going to market DA4 as "DA4" but as "Dragon Age: Buzzword" and make it seem accessible to someone unfamiliar with the series.
I hope that they do manage the writing better this time around, and this should almost certainly be the case. They don't need to incorporate story elements from a canceled expansion into the game. They will be using the same game engine which they are now familiar with. They have done their first experiment with an "open world" style game and have received feedback on what worked and what didn't. They will only be working on three game systems instead of five.
So hopefully all of this frees their resources to concentrate on the story and less on damage control.
I think they should get rid of open world. That right there saves a lot of resources. They don't need the areas to be as big as they had them. That much was clear in inquisition as the areas were useless and empty for the most part. Get rid of open world and you can still have new areas just not big and empty and useless. The areas can be story concentrated and there you have all the resources you need
Another thing I LOVED about trespasser is it was leading you somewhere, it had a goal, a story to follow. The rest of the game was basically, 'here run around and check out our amazing art!' ...Which I did love the graphics and creativity but it was wasted effort because there was no reason for it and it took up a lot of the resources.
For the life of me I don't understand why games go to open world. If I want that I'll just go get some MMO and play that instead. I get an RPG for the story. Not to run around some gigantic place that's ultimately empty
Honestly I hated the open world so much I think if they do it again I won't bother buying it. It takes up WAY to much time. And I get you didn't have to do all the quests, but I'm one of those people who just doesn't feel complete unless they do. Not to mention I wanted to level up my character and try out new skills and to unlock perks. How else do you do that without going through their fetch quests?
But would the game be any better with a Tevinter/Qunari conflict + Solas somewhere? How about a slave uprising instead, I'd really like to be a part of that
But see, this is the problem? The Inquisitor has nothing personal to do with Tevinter/Qunari or slave uprising. They're just strangers in a foreign land on their own agenda. Their involvement wouldn't have half as much emotional impact as it will be if we'd get to play an e.g. Qunari/Elven slave living that oppression, a lowborn Soporati scraping to stay out of slavery or whatever native background they will come up with.
But see, this is the problem? The Inquisitor has nothing personal to do with Tevinter/Qunari or slave uprising. They're just strangers in a foreign land on their own agenda. Their involvement wouldn't have half as much emotional impact as it will be if we'd get to play an e.g. Qunari/Elven slave living that oppression, a lowborn Soporati scraping to stay out of slavery or whatever native background they will come up with.
Same goes for a new protag as well depending on their background. And its literally so easy for the inquisitor to get dragged into all that conflict. It'd be so easy for ANYONE to get dragged into that conflict. When you visit a place you don't just ignore what's happening there especially if it gets in the way of your greater goals. If your in the middle of a war-zone your not just going to sit there and be like, 'oh don't mind me! Just need to pass on by!" You're going to be attacked, have to defend yourself, seek help and also help others. And the inquisitor could be captured at any point and forced into slavery. there's a number of ways to get the inquisitor involved.
Honestly it makes more sense to have the inquisitor. As someone who doesn't know that much about tevinter I don't see myself going into it with a character whose from there and knows everything. This way, with the inquisitor, I can go in and ask questions and not feel like my characters an idiot and also a bit out of character for not knowing what their culture is.
Same goes for a new protag as well depending on their background. And its literally so easy for the inquisitor to get dragged into all that conflict. It'd be so easy for ANYONE to get dragged into that conflict. When you visit a place you don't just ignore what's happening there especially if it gets in the way of your greater goals. If your in the middle of a war-zone your not just going to sit there and be like, 'oh don't mind me! Just need to pass on by!" You're going to be attacked, have to defend yourself, seek help and also help others. And the inquisitor could be captured at any point and forced into slavery. there's a number of ways to get the inquisitor involved.
That's what origins are for. We knew nothing starting DA:O. The Inquisitor with their baggage are just passersby in the North regardless of their desire to get involved. And I don't think many would take kindly to their experienced head of once mighty organization getting enslaved by some slave traders. You'd hear screams "What the heck, my Knight-Enchanter soloed dragons!"
But as you say, DAI did not do a good job in introducing the new player to the world. IMO. And right now I am operating under the assumption that DA4 will follow DAI's format rather than DAO or DA2, so backgrounds will be relegated to text rather than the introductory levels of the game. Maybe if we had another Origins-style prologue where we interact with people from our "former" life before we get into the action, DA4 can take the time to introduce new players to the Inquisitor and the baggage of DAI. But I find that unlikely to happen.
I am not advocating that Bioware dumb everything down for new players, and ideally new players should be willing to be at a disadvantage for coming into a series in the fourth game. But realistically, Bioware is going to want to expand their audience base rather than keep static with fans of the previous games. So it is in their best interests to make sure a new player is roughly on the same level as veterans, at least in the beginning of the game. And I've mentioned in other threads that after the title of DA2 falsely lead fans to believe the game would be a carbon copy of DAO, Bioware isn't going to market DA4 as "DA4" but as "Dragon Age: Buzzword" and make it seem accessible to someone unfamiliar with the series.
I hope that they do manage the writing better this time around, and this should almost certainly be the case. They don't need to incorporate story elements from a canceled expansion into the game. They will be using the same game engine which they are now familiar with. They have done their first experiment with an "open world" style game and have received feedback on what worked and what didn't. They will only be working on three game systems instead of five.
So hopefully all of this frees their resources to concentrate on the story and less on damage control.
My hope is that we DA4 will fall somewhere in between DA2 and DAI in terms of game style. The prior was too structured, the latter was not structured enough, but they both brought some potential big positives to the Franchise. DA2 brought a focus on the story, but removed too much of the exploration in its pursuit of it (or maybe a lack of budget/time attributed to that, I dunno) and as many flaws as the story had it did successfully connect the Protagonist with the Narrative. DA:I, best part was the exploration. Absolutely superb! It's a shame that almost of none of it actually had anything to do with Story and in general the Story was lacking all around: I blame this on its' shortness and shoehorning a new PC into a story where they only dealt with other character's problems, none of their own (Poor Quizzy, never got a true chance to shine ... but I don't blame them for it).
Honestly with a new setting being so far removed from past game events, regardless of the PC (or I'm hoping for PCs) this is the perfect time for Bioware to take a look at these last two game and find the right balance between them. If they do manage to do this, we're in for a heck of a game! In fact, while it is a long way off with how much experience and potential DA4 seems to have (which is why these arguments are probably so heated and interesting 
) we might finally get to see a game that is on par with DA:O. Don't know about you all, but I'm excited at the prospect!
Aaand they'll spend the whole game without either developing their existing romances or having a chance for a new relationship (since technically they're not single). How many players would be satisfied with that, do you think?
As I said, what you want is Awakening 2.0, but it was called expansion for a reason.
That...would enrage a good number of fans. Not worth the backlash Bio would receive for this.
Okay, but being realistic about how Bioware is going to approach the idea of their audience, they are not going to go this route and pi$$ off a vocal percentage of their fans. Take a look through the character threads to see how passionately people discuss their romances and favorite characters. If we have Inky as PC again, following this idea, Bio would have to:
write dialogue and make cameos for DAI LI's who are in the game but not returning as companions
write dialogue and a romance path for new companions who are romance-eligible
write dialogue for an Inquisitor who did not romance anyone in DAI but is now romancing someone in DA4
write dialogue for an Inquisitor who did romance someone but is now pursuing someone new
write dialogue for breaking up with former LI or cheating with a new LI
hire voice actors to record all of these dialogue permutation, including hiring the returning LI dialogue, which is extra if they otherwise would not have shown up in DA4
and most importantly...deal with the fallout from fans for being able to break up with the love of their life from the previous game just for a fling! or be mad that in order to experience a new romance option, the fans' PC must break up with their current partner.
This really isn't feasible from a fiscal perspective or from a consumer-relationship perspective.
Holy crap. They've done. All that. Before.
Of course it's feasible... This is like banging my head against a brick wall.
That's what origins are for. We knew nothing starting DA:O. The Inquisitor with their baggage are just passersby in the North regardless of their desire to get involved. And I don't think many would take kindly to their experienced head of once mighty organization getting enslaved by some slave traders. You'd hear screams "What the heck, my Knight-Enchanter soloed dragons!"
Well apparently BW has said they aren't doing origin stories. So if they won't budge on the issue of a returning protag you really think they'll do so with the origin stories considering the cost time and resources that takes?
The carryover elements from DA2 were explicitly because they were cut from the canceled expansion. The devs have repeatedly said that a lot of DAI contains what would have been Exalted Marches. And for Morrigan, you do realize that anthologies do not have to have completely new characters in each installment, characters are allowed to be in multiple games, books, whatever? Yes there have been returning characters every game, and they have all been cameos or NPCs with a reduced role from their original game, except for the bridging companions and advisors. This is an argument showing that returning characters (Inquisitor) would have a less prominent role in the next game.
On the first point, how do you know what the entire plot of DA4 is yet? It hasn't even been publicly greenlit. Yes, Solas will feature to some degree, but there is no guarantee he is the Big Bad, or his plot is the focus of the game. It seems more likely to me that he will be a subplot behind the Qunari invasion which Trespasser set up.
On the second point, there have now been multiple threads discussing origins for DA4, and how it seems likely that the DAI model will be used rather than the DAO model. Bioware has said that they will not do origins like DAO again, so that is not a budgetary concern.
This was said earlier in this thread but there you go.
Holy crap. They've done. All that. Before.
Of course it's feasible... This is like banging my head against a brick wall.
This is dragon age, not mass effect. Quit with the superior attitude and condescension. These are two different game series with different design teams. I get that there is precedent that LIs have been carried over before, but having a precedent does not mean it's logical or fiscally reasonable for them to do in this instance.
And whether it was done well is highly debatable.
Personally I think devoting so many resources to old romances in addition to any new ones seriously undercuts their ability to explore new things. More generally, this is a problem i have with carrying over the protagonist. It encourages carrying over more characters and places from previous games rather than less and focusing on new characters and plot. ME2 and ME3 both suffered from this to a degree, too much effort given to trying to get everyone their screentime.
This is dragon age, not mass effect. Quit with the superior attitude and condescension. These are two different game series with different design teams. I get that there is precedent that LIs have been carried over before, but having a precedent does not mean it's logical or fiscally reasonable for them to do in this instance.
Just because you don't find it logical or fiscally reasonable gives me no reason to believe that BW feels the same. And think about it for a moment. Everyone is saying that the new protag is the cheaper route, yet we have a whole series (mass effect) where what they did was have a returning protag. Dragon Age didn't do that but they certainly tried to do it with Da2. It failed. Hawke wasn't popular. Now we have an instance in DaI where it seems to be hinting at a returning protag. So why do that if its not the cheaper route? And just because you might not think it hinted at a returning protag does not mean it did or didn't. Many believe it did and that's how they see it. It's all perspective.
The love interest is easily remedied in my opinion, throw in some nice love letters, potentially a small scene and be done with it.
It is easy enough to edit in the keep if you want a single quizzy, I'm assuming married to Sera or Cullen is not going to be the default world state.
I think they should get rid of open world. That right there saves a lot of resources. They don't need the areas to be as big as they had them. That much was clear in inquisition as the areas were useless and empty for the most part. Get rid of open world and you can still have new areas just not big and empty and useless. The areas can be story concentrated and there you have all the resources you need
Y'know, I've said in numerous other posts that I'm in favour of keeping open-world environments -- and I am. They're beautiful, they provide some quite engaging exploration, and, if used more effectively, they could serve the story instead of distracting us from it.
Open worlds can work.
However ... if I'm truly honest with myself, I wouldn't really mind BioWare getting rid of the open worlds. That's why I "liked" your comment. Dragon Age: Origins didn't need them and it was -- nay, still is -- a fantastic game. Open worlds are, in most cases, like kryptonite to storytelling's Superman. (Did that metaphor work? Not quite sure. It's really late here, now, and my brain is getting fuzzy. lol)
Open worlds are great technological achievements and frequently a pleasure to behold, but rarely, in my personal experience, do they make a game more fun to play. And that tends to count triple for a story-based game.
I don't understand why people keep thinking the missing hand would be so off-putting to players? The assumption is starting to annoy me.
The hand is highly unlikely to be missing. Even if only for gameplay purposes alone, an Inquisitor that returns as protagonist is certainly going to have a artificial limb of some sort. And given that they personally know a genius artificier as well as several powerful mages, cooking up some sort of magitek arm is surely not out of the question.
Dual protagonists could work ala Ciri in Witcher 3; with the new protagonist taking up the lion's share of the normal gameplay, while the Inquisitor is also playable in specific sequences (but is still fully customisable, of course). I don't see a cost-efficient way for Bioware to implement two protagonists with equal focus and screentime to a satisfactory degree.
This also solves the romance issue, for instance, because the new protag would get some but not the Inquisitor.
Like several other people, I also simply do not see Solas's story being closed by a new protagonist alone. The character is entirely too tied up to the Inquisitor.
Here's a pro and con's list of a returning inquisitor. Got all the points trying to be made that I could remember
Con: The inquisitor isn't coming back they only have one arm.
Pro: Prosthetic.
Con: Not realistic.
Pro: Fantasy game.
Con: Starting at level 1
Pro: Prosthetic gives an excuse to go back to level 1. And you go back to level 1 as a new character anyways so why is it a big deal?
Con:Financially unrealistic (This gives a double con.)
Con: Spending money on a mediocre game that was limited by financial burdens. Because if they can't do something they've done with another series (Mass Effect) and tried to with this series, how can they be expected to make their next game any good?
Con: Inquisitor is boring
Pro: The game is about Thedas anyways so who cares?
Con: The game is about Thedas returning protag makes it about them. (...ah....what?)
Pro: Inquisitor is boring so its doubtful they'll take the spotlight
Con: But its about thedas!
Pro: What better way to express that than to have someone whose not native to tevinter go in and learn about their culture.
Con:Returning LI's
Pro: You got Solas and Dorian returning anyways. You had Alistair, Morrigan and Leliana all come back. And had Zeveran in Da2 and Alistair. And had Lelana in a DLC.
Con:Conflicts with new LI's
Pro:That's what the keep is for. Make it so your inquisitor didn't romance anyone. Replay-ability value right there.
Con: Want origin stories.
Pro: Yep. That would be cool. Probably not happening. But, who knows?
Con: Inquisitor only has the solas conflict
Pro: Inquisitor has that and the fact that they aren't well received in tevinter and probably have alot of them conspiring against them, thus dragging them into whatever issues Tevinter has.
Con: But they don't have any reason to be apart tevinters problems.
Pro: That's why its a story... you get to find out their reasons and how they get involved. Just like you would a new pc.
Con: I have no feelings toward Solas and could have him taken out by anyone.
Pro: Then what's the problem with the inquisitor doing it?
Con: but I don't want to play the inquisitor
Pro: Oh wait no... my bad that's con. Con: Why not?
Con: See reasons above.
Another thing I LOVED about trespasser is it was leading you somewhere, it had a goal, a story to follow.
I know, right! It felt so nice to have an actual purpose to progress through the gameplay areas and kill stuff.
That's how Origins felt from start to finish. It hardly ever got boring because you were always working towards a defined goal with a satisfying cinematic conclusion.
Inquisition's main campaign was like, "OK, you finished a story mission -- now kindly go and pick flowers and make dull, idle chit-chat for fifteen hours. You need to level up and prepare before the next fun part starts." lol
I know, right! It felt so nice have an actual purpose to progress through the gameplay areas and kill stuff.
That's how Origins felt from start to finish. It hardly ever got boring because you were always working towards a defined goal with a satisfying cinematic conclusion.
Inquisition's main campaign was like, "OK, you finished a story mission -- now kindly go and pick flowers and make dull, idle chit-chat for fifteen hours. You need to level up and prepare before the next fun part starts." lol
lmao that is EXACTLY what it was like!! The whole time I was thinking, ',,,don't I have people for this? Aren't I like... some kind of leader or something? Shouldn't my lackey's take care of this?' Then at the wartable you have them look for the materials and they give at the most 6 and your like 'uuuhhhh.... agh. Fine! I'll do it myself!'
But see, this is the problem? The Inquisitor has nothing personal to do with Tevinter/Qunari or slave uprising. They're just strangers in a foreign land on their own agenda. Their involvement wouldn't have half as much emotional impact as it will be if we'd get to play an e.g. Qunari/Elven slave living that oppression, a lowborn Soporati scraping to stay out of slavery or whatever native background they will come up with.
I wouldn't want the inquisitor for a slave uprising/etc...I would want ONE of these:
1)Play as the inquisitor, main plot is about stopping Solas.
OR
2)Play as new person (former Tevinter slave, or something) and the plot has nothing to do with Solas and is instead about a slave uprising or some other new story. No returning companions, no cameos.
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