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[Aulis Vaara]

Dragon Age IV: Tevinter
-----------------------

The game begins in Minrathous, capital of the Tevinter Imperium, or at least of what's left of it. The mood in the city is grim, the conflict with the Qunari has heated back up and every Magister in the Empire is focused on war. Well, all Magisters except for Dorian's faction. They have been trying to track down the Dread Wolf, believing him to be a far bigger threat than the Qunari.

Needing unfamiliar faces to be their eyes, they hire you and your party to try to find him. Soon in your quest, you find the Veil is starting to behave strangely. It's thickening and thinning in places that make no sense, much to the annoyance of your party's mages. Time is clearly running out, the Dread Wolf needs to be found and stopped.

During the first part, you'll search and fight your way through Viddathari infiltrants and followers of the Dread Wolf ultimately to Fen'Harel himself, who stops you in your tracks with a single look. You cannot possibly take him on, but he is willing to talk and you find out that the Dread Wolf has not finished preparing to take down the Veil and that whatever fluctuations you felt were not his doing.

He sends one of his followers with your to determine the truth of your words, and if there are indeed fluctuations in the Veil, to find out where they are coming from. The mage Solas sent with you is invaluable in tracking the changes and you ultimately track it back to the qunari who have successfully transformed at least one Saarebas into a large-scale templar who strengthens the Veil wherever he/she goes, preventing mages from accessing the Fade and thus crippling Tevinter's ability to fight back.

You return to Fen'Harel to basically beg for help. He needs time to complete his ritual and he still needs several magical devices set up. So duringthe second part, that's what you'll be doing, along with trying to capture one of those Saarebas that strengthen the Veil and reinforcing Tevinter troops that are in danger of being overrun. Fen'Harel will give you an item or a mark that allows you to use magic even through the Veil, should you need it (i.e. if you're a mage).

Your employers ultimately catch up with you and you'll have to convince them that letting Fen'Harel drop the Veil is the right thing to do, because otherwise the Qunari are going to make magic completely impossible. If you cannot convince them, you'll have to fight them.

However you make it happen, eventually the Veil drops. And when it does, you stand ready among the Tevinter forces, waiting for what was certainly going to be a bloody and unfavorable battle for the Vints. As a whole wave of magic erupts across the battlefield, the world turns into chaos. Spirits and demons appear among all ranks, except near the Saarebas where the Veil, though not as impermeable as before still holds strong. The battle is pretty much off as both the Qunari and the Vints retreat to consider the new state of reality.

At that point, the immediate threat changes from the Qunari to two Evanuris that arrive on the scene. I find it hard to guess at which two it will be, but it will be the two that could potentially correspond to the two remaining Old Gods, leaving in the middle whether the Old Gods are the Evanuris or not until the next game. And yet, at the same time we'll start hearing rumors of blights occurring in Orlais and wherever the other Old God is buried.

You'll have to take on one of the Evanuris with the help of Morrigan and Fen'Harel, and for the other you'll have to go to the Qunari to ask for their help and their anti-magic Saarebas.

Once you win, you win. Somewhere in that whole mess you'll also find out why the dragons are so important to Thedas and that will tie in with the Old Gods, the Fade, the Taint, and why the Qunari are the way they are. It will likely also strongly tie in with the new anti-magic Saarebas.

------------------------
Dragon Age V: Kal'Sharok
------------------------

The next game begins with the Hero Of Ferelden (or the Orlesian Warden Commander) descending below the Deep Roads to one of the now empty Old God prisons. With the last of the Old Gods now awakened, the first signs that the thing they had imprisoned was starting to break loose. The Old Gods were merely seals on a greater evil's prison, this evil being the source of the taint.

The Hero Of Ferelden has gone mute due to a wound on their throat and is permanently accompanied by a band of Silent Sisters and their interpreters. Alas, having a band of dwarven warriors at your back is not enough when your adversary can simply abuse the taint in your blood. The Warden is sucked dry, much like the Darkspawn at Heidrun Turning were, and his/her dwarven allies are forced to flee to report his demise.

After that, the real game begins. You are in command of two parties of heroes. One fighting the ragings blights above ground, one actively searching for the Grey Warden below. Eventually both parties arrive at Kal-Sharok where they also meet up with the Silent Sisters and learn of the Warden's death. Realizing that the Old Gods were seals on the prison of something worse, the three parties decide that they cannot allow the Archdemons to be slain before they know what they are dealing with. So they send one party back to the surface, while the other party scavenges the Deep Roads for information.

The surface group finds out that despite all expectations, the two blights have not merged. Instead, the two archdemons are fighting each other as much as the remaining armies of Thedas. As no-one knows what will happen when one Archdemon kills another (permanent death or reincarnation?) they cannot take that chance either. So this group sets off to interfere in any attempt to kill the Archdemons to buy the group below time.

The Deep Roads group meanwhile, ravages first through the secrets of Kal-Sharok, whatever they are. Personal guess is that they drank Old God blood so that the Darkspawn began to worship them, rather than try to kill them. After Kal-Sharok, because their records don't go back far enough, they set off in search of a living titan that might be able to explain what is actually going on.

The surface group struggles with not being found out. If anyone realizes that they are trying to keep the Archdemons alive, they'll be lynched. So they find any help they can get, ultimately leading to Morrigan and Yavanna, who amongst themselves have worked out what is going on. They have come up with a plan: creating seven new seals to replace the Old Ones, but it'll be just as imparmenent a solution as the old one. This was what Mythal did once, long ago when she accidently unleashed the taint.

The Deep Roads group arrives at a living Titan, only to be greeted by Valta who appears to speak for it. She explains that before there was anything on Thedas, the Titans had imprisoned the taint within so that they could create living things without seeing them perish. She also explains that once, before the elves cut down the Titans, the deep roads were essentially a massive containment rune, designed to keep the source of the Taint imprisoned. Without a Thedas-sized dwarven empire, this solution is no longer a possibility, but if they can find the person who made the dragon seals, they can make a more permanent solution.

At this point, Valta's Titan climbs to the surface and bitchslaps one of the Archdemons. Each step of the titan creates a local paradise, erasing the Blight simply by walking across the land. Two dragons, Morrigan and Yavanna, approach the Titan and land on its shoulders, leading to a big party reunion.

From here on out you get multiple solutions to the problem, depending on World States and in game choices. What is certain, however, is that you need to kill those Archdemons before you can enact your new solution. One party goes after one with the help of Yavanna, while the other party goes after the other with the help of Morrigan.

If your solution works, you win, but Thedas will be forever changed. If your solution fails, you and the rest of Thedas die, sucks to be you.

-------------

Eh, that's sort of my idea. It needs some polish, obviously, because it doesn't even address the Sidereal Magisters, the rest of the Evanuris, or the significance of the Golden City. Those things would need to be addressed.

[vertigomez]

HoF going mute due to a throat wound is kind of awesome, but considering how people reacted to Inky losing an arm (hint: ****storm, even though it was awesome and also entirely plausible for a person who is, you know, constantly fighting for their life and also has a magic nuke in their palm), I don't imagine very many people are going to be on board with that idea. I'm good with that particular Warden sailing off into the sunset, never to be heard from again outside of the occasional vague codex entry. But dying I guess works too?

I would comment on the rest of your post because it's really well thought out and a fun read, but since we know approximately nothing about the next game I don't know how useful it is to speculate.

Interesting ideas, though I reeeeaaally don't want to grovel to Solas. At all. Ever. For anything.

[Aulis Vaara]

Whether or not it's useful is irrelevant. It's fun, and that's what matters

[Tidus]

Sounds interesting and fun.

[PapaCharlie9]

I have a hard enough time getting my head around a DA4, let alone a DA5. It's shocking that rebootitis hasn't already hit Bioware's major franchises, like it has every other major franchise. I think a "Dragon Age!" (e.g., reboot of Origins) is far more likely than a DA5 ... but, I digress.

Interesting ideas, though I reeeeaaally don't want to grovel to Solas. At all. Ever. For anything.

This. Very. Much. This. I rage quit the moment Solas is on screen and I don't have a kill-on-sight option.

I do like the idea of a moral dilemma: stopping Solas means something pretty bad happening, like no more magic.

I also like the idea that it takes the duration of the entire game for Solas to complete his ritual, or whatnot. It shouldn't just happen overnight. There should be signs and portents all along the way, worsening for each major main quest milestone.

I don't much care for the cameos. Morrigan in DA5? Give some other VA a shot.

I do like the idea of pitting the Titans against the Old Gods/Archdemons. That would be epic. I also think we are overdue for another Blight adventure with some next gen Wardens. Or none, if Weishaupt has imploded like some people think.

[VivainaDX]

I think I have a problem with the taint originating in the Deep Roads...if it started in the Deep Roads how did the magisters get tainted by it in the fade? Personally, I would've figured that without the natural flow of magic in the fade because of the veil, that the magic in the fade is starting to stagnate and dry up, causing whatever spirits are there to have to adapt or consume eachother. Kind of like what happens at a desert watering hole during a drought. There would be some areas that are still viable but many of the areas would more or less be polluted or diseased. It seems to me it would be more likely that the taint was caused when the magisters brought lyrium in from the mortal realm and the lyrium was corrupted by stale magics from the fade. The longer they remained in the fade, the more tainted their lyrium became and the more they consumed the more tainted they became. The extent of their taint wouldn't have been obvious until they left the fade and returned to the mortal realm where the taint sudden expanded and spread because it suddenly had fresh,untainted magics to consume. In an attempt to stem the spreading of the taint, I could see them bringing it to the Deep Roads but I can't see it starting there. 

[Andraste_Reborn]

I have a hard enough time getting my head around a DA4, let alone a DA5. It's shocking that rebootitis hasn't already hit Bioware's major franchises, like it has every other major franchise. I think a "Dragon Age!" (e.g., reboot of Origins) is far more likely than a DA5 ... but, I digress.

 

Actually, the developers have been vaguely talking about a planned DA4 and DA5 for years now. Mike Laidlaw even jokingly referred to a DA6 at one point. (Which seems more likely to happen now since Inquisition is actually only the first half of what was originally planned for DA3, which would bump whatever they wanted to do with DA5 to DA6 ...)

 

They've had at an outline for a five game series - with no particular plans to end after that - since at least the release of DA2. Now, whether they actually make DA5 and whether they go on to DA6 after that depends on how well DA4 does, so I'm not counting any chickens. But there was never a plan for the Dragon Age series to be a trilogy, and I'm not sure a reboot is necessarily going to draw in more new players when we already have a new protagonist every game.

[Heimdall]

I want DA5 to be a pirate game.

[Nocte ad Mortem]

I think six games would be good, because it would give them time to visit everywhere. Like, next time could be Tevinter/Par Vollen, five could be Antiva/Rivain, six could be Anderfels/Nevarra, or maybe some other mix of those. But the layout of locations left would be good for six games, not great for five. It would be disappointing to wrap up the series without being able to see major countries they've already set up so much culture and history for. 

 

I don't like the idea of having two protagonists, just generally. It seems like overall a bad idea, to me. You slim down the development either party gets and limit the choices for party composition or romances. To have two protagonists, it's basically impossible to give everyone romance choices and still do the "set sexualities" approach they seem to want. Even giving everyone two bisexual choices would mean eight options for all available races, which is more than they've ever done. It makes choices waaaay more complicated, since you could literally be contradicting yourself constantly. To me, it honestly seems like an overly complicated waste of resources to try to balance and I don't get the benefits other than just "it's different". I'd rather they just focus on developing one character, developing the companion friendships and romance options that one character has available to them, and offering a variety of choices without having to worry about how to balance every possible contradiction against each other. 

[PapaCharlie9]

I'm not sure a reboot is necessarily going to draw in more new players when we already have a new protagonist every game.

I've got it! It won't be DAO that is rebooted, it will be Neverwinter Nights. Who wouldn't buy an updated version of that game? Or even better, Jade Empire!

Okay, I know, wishful thinking.

Thanks for the Laidlaw and 5 game outline info, I hadn't heard that before.

[vertigomez]

Even giving everyone two bisexual choices would mean eight options for all available races, which is more than they've ever done.

I think they said that if they'd done all bisexual LIs, we'd have four options again. Definitely not eight.

Unless I'm misunderstanding your post, which is entirely possible.

[nightscrawl]

HoF going mute due to a throat wound is kind of awesome, but considering how people reacted to Inky losing an arm (hint: ****storm, even though it was awesome and also entirely plausible for a person who is, you know, constantly fighting for their life and also has a magic nuke in their palm), I don't imagine very many people are going to be on board with that idea. I'm good with that particular Warden sailing off into the sunset, never to be heard from again outside of the occasional vague codex entry. But dying I guess works too?

I'm guessing that wasn't intentional, but I love it anyway.
 
 

I have a hard enough time getting my head around a DA4, let alone a DA5. It's shocking that rebootitis hasn't already hit Bioware's major franchises, like it has every other major franchise. I think a "Dragon Age!" (e.g., reboot of Origins) is far more likely than a DA5 ... but, I digress.

Heh one benefit of this would be that they could have a consistent naming scheme when it comes to the second DA game.
 

This. Very. Much. This. I rage quit the moment Solas is on screen and I don't have a kill-on-sight option.

I can understand this being a fantasy, but you don't really, truly expect this to be an option do you? There is no way that is going to happen. That is, unless you will be okay with a kill-on-sight option that is ineffective for whatever plot reason. They're not going to have Solas appear only to just be killed instantly. If anything, he'll want to blather on for a while first, perhaps explain some things so our mortal pea-brains can fully grasp the situation.

 

(I like how even in the non-friend path in Trespasser when the Inquisitor says they don't really care about specifics, he still goes on for a bit. "Wtf dude, I said I didn't care.")

[nightscrawl]

I think they said that if they'd done all bisexual LIs, we'd have four options again. Definitely not eight.

Unless I'm misunderstanding your post, which is entirely possible.

 
Here you go...
 

You mean before you knew there were 8 romances and everyone assumed 6?
 
If we did all bisexual romances, you'd have 4.  Let it be stated in no uncertain terms.

 
But... I believe Nocte ad Mortem is suggesting that a game with two main protagonists, where the action is divided, would have two groups of followers and thus two groups of romances. Since the followers are "split" in this way, it's actually fewer for each protagonist. They're certainly not going to have each protagonist have nine (three of each class, as we have had) followers, for a total of 18 followers and potential romance options; that would be insane. So if they reduce it, perhaps to six each (two of each class), that is fewer options for each protagonist.
 
I don't think they're likely to have ALL followers in either group be LIs (they haven't done thus far), so let's say we have four (of the six) in each group who are LIs. For fairness, as with DA2, they might make all of these bi, for a total of eight bisexual LIs. PC 1 gets four bi LIs, and PC 2 gets four bi LIs.


[edit]

I don't like the idea of having two protagonists, just generally.

I'm not entirely sure the OP was referring to two protagonists, though, even if it seems like the logical assumption from, "You are in command of two parties of heroes." The rest of the language of the piece doesn't refer to "PC 1 doing this" while "PC 2 does that," and so on. Instead, it's Deep Roads Group and Surface Group. It almost seems like the player switches between controlling the two groups, but perhaps it is a Denerim Gates situation, where we control a party member, and not necessarily a protagonist.

That whole idea for DA5 seems like one long gauntlet/dungeon crawl.

Modifié par nightscrawl, 02 juillet 2016 - 07:15 .

[PapaCharlie9]

I can understand this being a fantasy, but you don't really, truly expect this to be an option do you? There is no way that is going to happen. That is, unless you will be okay with a kill-on-sight option that is ineffective for whatever plot reason. They're not going to have Solas appear only to just be killed instantly. If anything, he'll want to blather on for a while first, perhaps explain some things so our mortal pea-brains can fully grasp the situation.

Exaggerated for effect. Of course I don't expect a "Just kill him, Sera," option, ala Verchiel March. But I do want the option to set my character in unrelenting opposition to what Solas wants to do, with as much enmity as possible. That's my canon, without a doubt.

It should also go without saying that I also want an ambivalent option, maybe for a city elf, and a jerk option for either pretending to go along with Solas but secretly planning to undermine, or, to really go along and let the world burn. That's how I role (pun intended). Give me every RP extreme and I'll do a PT dedicated to that extreme.

Yes, I love the "cut the BS" option in the final Solas interview. While I don't want that necessarily in DA4, I do want an option that portrays this old Evanuris adage: "How do you know when the Dread Wolf is lying? His lips are moving."

[Nocte ad Mortem]

I think they said that if they'd done all bisexual LIs, we'd have four options again. Definitely not eight.

Unless I'm misunderstanding your post, which is entirely possible.

I meant if there were two protagonists you'd need 4 for both, which is 8. Basically, two protagonists means you need twice as many as you would with one protagonist. 

[Andraste_Reborn]

If the Inquisitor were one of two protagonists, I wouldn't necessarily expect them to have any opportunity to start a new romantic relationship. It could be like Awakening for them - existing partners are mentioned, but they don't necessarily appear and you can't start anything or break up with anyone.

 

Of course, I'm basing this on the assumption that if there was a dual protagonist storyline in DA4 it would be very asymmetrical. If it happens at all, I'd expect to play a new character the vast majority of the time and the Inquisitor for a few key missions.

[nightscrawl]

If the Inquisitor were one of two protagonists, I wouldn't necessarily expect them to have any opportunity to start a new romantic relationship. It could be like Awakening for them - existing partners are mentioned, but they don't necessarily appear and you can't start anything or break up with anyone.
 
Of course, I'm basing this on the assumption that if there was a dual protagonist storyline in DA4 it would be very asymmetrical. If it happens at all, I'd expect to play a new character the vast majority of the time and the Inquisitor for a few key missions.

I agree, and people need to be realistic with their expectations, lest they set themselves up for disappointment.

 

If they do have dual protagonists for DA4, with the Inquisitor being one, I also don't expect there to be an option to start a romance. There are two possible marriages. They're not going to provide a break-up option for NPCs who aren't in the actual game; no Dear John or Jane letters from the Inquisitor. Solas is likely inaccessible. The only likely person to break up with is Dorian, and I doubt they would have that option for him alone. I also doubt they will allow the Inquisitor to "cheat." It seems like the go-to strategy with the romances is that, if the PC is in a romance at the end of the game, then they are in that romance going forward forevermore. But what about all of those forever alone Inquisitors? They will probably stay forever alone. Allowing the unattached Inquisitor to have a romance in a new game is adding to all of the writing and scripting for these new LIs, if they are also able to be romanced by the primary protagonist.

 

Neither do I expect there to be very much exclusive romance content with either Dorian or Solas, since it just wouldn't be fair to all of those other Inquisitors that didn't import that. I say this as a Dorian-mancer who has the highest chance of the most content, outside of some dramatic Solas denouement near the end of the game. I don't think it will be ignored, just that there won't be a great deal, and there will be alternate content for a friend (or not-friend).

 

The final cinematics of DAI Trespasser seemed to indicate a dramatic change in venue, and perhaps they will use that to wipe the slate clean, as it were, and have very limited carryovers and cameos, which includes all previous followers and LI. I don't mind these in general, but DAI went overboard with all of the various ones. The only people I truly expect to see are Dorian, Solas, Charter, and Harding. Iron Bull, due to traveling merc work, has a likelihood of popping in, but his cameo can be no more significant than that of Nathaniel Howe in DA2, as there is the possibility that he is dead.

 

The only NPC/potential LI I'm not sure about is Harding. She has the potential to be in the next game, along with Charter. As of the Magekiller comic, Charter seems to be involved. I don't know if they are going to incorporate that into the game, or ignore it. Harding has that optional flirtation/romance, which was even recognized by Trespasser dialogue. As of right now, there is no DA Keep tile for her. Of course, that doesn't mean that they can't add one later on, and they might do so once the further details of the next game are worked out. Many people have said they want her in DA4 as an LI (and our first dwarf!). If they do that, it will rather suck for those players that went with her in DAI. If they don't, I think it will be a missed opportunity, given the popularity of the character (assuming she is in the game at all).

 

With Harding, I think they're damned if they do, damned if they don't.

[MichaelN7]

I really like the Hero of Ferelden having a throat wound that renders them mute.  Not that I enjoy seeing people be injured, but rather that it would be a very clever workaround for having him/her be silent in this age of voiced protagonists.

 

Not to mention it would lead to some interesting dialogue.

You could have the Warden's "personality" be a bit like Hawke's, in that the Dragon Age Keep choices would carry a theme, i.e. "Saved Connor, made peace between Brecilian Elves and Werewolves = BENEVOLENT" or "Left Redcliffe to die, had Alistair executed = RUTHLESS"

 

A benevolent Warden would smile a bit more, and would be more likely to respond to questions with notes or some such, whereas a ruthless Warden would just glare at you if you so much as looked at them funny.

BioWare does good work with facial expressions (laughter is debatable, but whatever) so it wouldn't be that far of a stretch.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

As an aside, I think it would be great for DA4 to take place in Tevinter (primarily), and find out more about Solas/Fen'Harel's plan, with the Inquisitor putting in a cameo appearance as a guest-party-member, or at least as an advisor of sorts.  The big plot point would be stopping the destruction of Thedas as we know it, but it would have dire repercussions.*

 

DA5 would take place directly after DA4, with Tevinter forever changed, and now the primary area is Par Vollen, where you find out just how the Qunari came to be, and what the difference is between Qunari (species) and Kossith.*

 

*Yes, I'm likely just repeating the original poster

 

But for DA6, I would want it to take place in the Anderfels, with the story beginning and ending at Weisshaupt Fortress.  You explore the Anderfels, but you can't shake the feeling that something's up and you're not being told what it is.

 

 

 

Crazy idea for the ending of DA6, "spoilers" (so-called) ahead, and remember, this is just off the top of my head, so if it sounds scattered, you know why:

 

The notion of the Maker is widespread throughout Thedas, if you don't believe in him, you at least know the idea.

Inside Weisshaupt Fortress is a chamber, so deep, so hidden, that only the First Warden ever knows where it is.  The memory is so secret that a particular blood-magic technique is used to "lock" the memory inside, so that even if the First Warden was ever captured or interrogated (unlikely), the secret would never get out.

 

Inside this chamber is something you never thought you'd see.  The source of the Blights.

But it's not what you think.  It's the first mage, as in, the FIRST "mage" ever to exist in Thedas.

Similar to how a spirit can become corrupted when forced to go against it's nature or how it takes form based on what mortals perceive it to be, this "mage" (not a mage in the traditional sense, i.e. a person with magic abilities, but rather "magic" in it's purest form that has the shape of a human).

 

Some believe the Blights are brought on by man's folly, others believe the Maker has not abandoned us.

Just like a spirit of wisdom can become a pride demon, the Blights happen because the people BELIEVE it will happen.

Another case, sometimes miracles happen because people BELIEVE it will happen.

 

Basically, it's all one big self-fulfilling prophecy, and the "person" (the first mage) powering the whole thing is something that any nation would want to have for themselves.

The Grey Wardens are a front, and their true purpose is controlling the first mage for their own power.

The events of Inquisition and DA5 were unfortunate for them, what with this "Inquisitor" wielding otherworldy power and then Fen'Harel showing up to nuke the place into paradise.

 

TL:DR, the Maker is this first mage, and he is the reason the supernatural events of Thedas' history are what they are.

The Blights happened because his power enabled them to happen because that's what the the general public believes happened.

(I hope I'm making sense here)

So now you have to decide:

 

Keep up the facade and leave him there

OR
Reveal the truth and let him go

 

If you keep up the facade, you'll preserve the people's faith (while ensuring that the first mage's power remains more-or-less stable)

But if you reveal the truth, you'll likely destroy the concept of faith (but now the Blights cannot happen, because the first mage is no longer bound)

 

--- Overall, I was thinking along the conceptual lines of Cole's companion quest, where making him more spirit or more human isn't cut-n-dry.  There is no definitive "good" and "evil" option, there's a good and a bad to each choice.

 

The only weaknesses I see with this idea are the fact that it's past one in the morning as I write this, so it likely sounds whack (I've already made that clear) and the fact that this would more-or-less END the Dragon Age series.

For a franchise, you never really want it to end, because then it's over, and you can't make anything new from it, which means you can't make money off of it.  (Sad but true)

On another level, it would mean that we wouldn't have any more stories to really look forward to.

 

But what do I know?

[clst]

if we follow the plot dragon age 4 > tevinter  >> dragon age 5 >>? Dragon age 6 >> anderfells with an enclin

 

 

tevinter will be great  because we will know more about the magisteria and blood magic ad more ( relation between the dwarf and tevinter ect ect )

 

dragon age inquisition was a really good game ( the only weakness i find that they sold us the ending in dlc <<<the real ending afer more and more franchise do it but... )

perhaps the post sidequest ( change them  more incorporate in the strory )

[Arvaarad]

I hope we'll get at least one game where our arc is "someone with a big secret." Our companions pull that all the time, shouldn't it be our turn now?

I can think of a couple possibilities in this vein:

A shade, like Cole, or an abomination. Similar to human!Cole, it would be perfectly ok for them to have "normal" emotions (even romantic interests) and to fight with daggers or swords instead of magic. In fact, due to Chantry scrutiny, they'd have to at least try to act normal most of the time. They could even choose to embrace their mortal background, much as Cole remembers real-Cole's memories as his own.

Such a hero could have limited spirit abilities, but might only be able to use them on people feeling one specific emotion, like fear or anger. That could lead to situations where the player has to decide "hm, do I try to be diplomatic, or do I try to make this person mad so I can read their mind?"

A double agent for various factions. The beauty of being a double agent is that, again, they'd have to act casual most of the time. So they could be a double agent for the Venatori, or Fen'Harel, or the Ben-Hassrath, and the quests would be mostly the same. 90% of the time, they're building up trust in the organization they're infiltrating. Rather than origin stories, the double agent could have a small amount of background-specific sabotage or espionage quests. Again, there could be interesting character moments about which of their identities they choose to embrace - the reality, or the mask?


Note that either of these would be distinct from a Revan-like character. The player would know the "big secret" from the start, and would have many opportunities to weave it in (or not) to their roleplaying.

[Heimdall]

I agree, and people need to be realistic with their expectations, lest they set themselves up for disappointment.

If they do have dual protagonists for DA4, with the Inquisitor being one, I also don't expect there to be an option to start a romance. There are two possible marriages. They're not going to provide a break-up option for NPCs who aren't in the actual game; no Dear John or Jane letters from the Inquisitor. Solas is likely inaccessible. The only likely person to break up with is Dorian, and I doubt they would have that option for him alone. I also doubt they will allow the Inquisitor to "cheat." It seems like the go-to strategy with the romances is that, if the PC is in a romance at the end of the game, then they are in that romance going forward forevermore. But what about all of those forever alone Inquisitors? They will probably stay forever alone. Allowing the unattached Inquisitor to have a romance in a new game is adding to all of the writing and scripting for these new LIs, if they are also able to be romanced by the primary protagonist.

Neither do I expect there to be very much exclusive romance content with either Dorian or Solas, since it just wouldn't be fair to all of those other Inquisitors that didn't import that. I say this as a Dorian-mancer who has the highest chance of the most content, outside of some dramatic Solas denouement near the end of the game. I don't think it will be ignored, just that there won't be a great deal, and there will be alternate content for a friend (or not-friend).

The final cinematics of DAI Trespasser seemed to indicate a dramatic change in venue, and perhaps they will use that to wipe the slate clean, as it were, and have very limited carryovers and cameos, which includes all previous followers and LI. I don't mind these in general, but DAI went overboard with all of the various ones. The only people I truly expect to see are Dorian, Solas, Charter, and Harding. Iron Bull, due to traveling merc work, has a likelihood of popping in, but his cameo can be no more significant than that of Nathaniel Howe in DA2, as there is the possibility that he is dead.

The only NPC/potential LI I'm not sure about is Harding. She has the potential to be in the next game, along with Charter. As of the Magekiller comic, Charter seems to be involved. I don't know if they are going to incorporate that into the game, or ignore it. Harding has that optional flirtation/romance, which was even recognized by Trespasser dialogue. As of right now, there is no DA Keep tile for her. Of course, that doesn't mean that they can't add one later on, and they might do so once the further details of the next game are worked out. Many people have said they want her in DA4 as an LI (and our first dwarf!). If they do that, it will rather suck for those players that went with her in DAI. If they don't, I think it will be a missed opportunity, given the popularity of the character (assuming she is in the game at all).

With Harding, I think they're damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Harding is the one I think they could get away with.

I agree with pretty much everything you've said. If they go for a dual protagonist situation, people need to be prepared for the Inquisitor to have a much smaller on screen role than the new PC, possibly not even having combat. Returning characters will probably have minimalistic roles largely restricted to the Inquisitor missions (Dorian and Solas aside). The Inquisitor's missions might include cameos from LIs (If all the old campanions are in on fight against Solas, this would make sense) but that would be the full extent of their romantic possibilities. Even Dorian would only have a few additional lines of dialogue. Lavellan and Solas might get a bit more, but their encounter would probably come near the very end of the game.

That's how I envision a dual protagonist situation working anyway. The new PC's portion will play much like DAI and previous titles while the Inquisitor's content will be composed of special missions focus on infiltration, puzzles, and dialogue, possible with some form of wartable that affects the new PC's play. I've talked about this before, but it's worth mentioning again.

[Beerfish]

I want DA5 to be a pirate game.

We lead a force to find and spec out the Qun homeland.

[Arvaarad]

We lead a force to find and spec out the Qun homeland.

I'd be so excited to visit the northern continent. Well, excited and scared. The concept of the Qunari (and maybe humans?) leaving this place because of... something which is now forgotten. The fact that, of all the things forgotten, the one thing the Qunari remember is that they "had to leave." The Qunari still have ocean-faring vessels, and that's the extent of what they remember? They could have checked. It seems like they haven't, or that anyone who has checked has not shared that information.

We've met more than one somniari, and none of them have talked about the northern continent. Granted, most of them would have no interest in it. And it's probably hard to dream across that distance. But some of them probably know stuff about it, and they aren't sharing that information for one reason or another.

On the other hand, maybe we've been to the northern continent already, without realizing it. The Trespasser eluvians weren't found until recently. The northern continent would be an excellent hiding place for all those giant towers that no one found. The towers are at least in the north of Thedas, since Dorian recognizes the stripweed from Tevinter. Maybe stripweed is native to the other continent, and hitched a ride to northern Thedas when the Qunari left (fled?).

[Nixou]

I want DA5 to be a pirate game.

 

DA4 is the game most likely to be pirate themed: You've got Tevinter, once a large continent-spanning empire reduced to the costal lands which surround its capital fighting against the insular-based Qunari for the control of the Island of Seheron: add slave trafficking in the mix and that's the best backdrop for a pirate-themed game.

 

 

if we follow the plot dragon age 4 > tevinter  >> dragon age 5 >>? Dragon age 6 >> anderfells with an enclin

 

 

I suspect that the plot will be Dragon Age 4 -> Tevinter and Qunari lands, followed by Dragon Age 5 -> Anderfells, Blight and Grey Wardens internal affairs, and Dragon Age 6: the grand finale.

[Heimdall]

DA4 is the game most likely to be pirate themed: You've got Tevinter, once a large continent-spanning empire reduced to the costal lands which surround its capital fighting against the insular-based Qunari for the control of the Island of Seheron: add slave trafficking in the mix and that's the best backdrop for a pirate-themed game.



I suspect that the plot will be Dragon Age 4 -> Tevinter and Qunari lands, followed by Dragon Age 5 -> Anderfells, Blight and Grey Wardens internal affairs, and Dragon Age 6: the grand finale.

Well, DA5 may instead move east and focus on Antiva, Rivain and Llomeryn, perfect for a pirate game!