Always the last to know.
This is the sort of ramble which would usually end up on tumblr, but because I am both late to the party and not really saying anything of any interest, I'm dropping it here instead.
Continuing my latest Dragon Age kick, I've been catching up on the latest news for Inquisition, a lot of which went under my radar, which means that I only just saw this information:
"...our hero (a fully voice-acted avatar replaces DA: II's Hawke, and can be customised from human, dwarven, elven and qunari template..."
I only just saw this. I swear I saw it stated a few months ago that you could only be human, as in DAII.
I'm not complaining.
Well, I am, because now I have no idea what I want to be. I love playing dwarven characters, but I'll never be as attached to a dwarf character as I was Vardo. It feels wrong, somehow, to have two main characters of the same race. That technically rules out human as well, thanks to the forced choice for Hawke, and from what I've seen everybody plans on playing elves and qunari. Really, though, who cares? Customisation! I think it will help me get more attached to the character, as well. I loved Vardo because she was entirely mine. I only fell in love with Hawke when I went along with the default male mage, and that was because I realised who he reminded me of.
Anyway. After that delightful surprise, I went to the Wiki.
"...Mike Laidlaw has stated that playing as a different character 'does not mean your old character may never appear in future games,' which could indicate that the new protagonist will be able to meet Hawke and the Warden..."
Yes, I thought, that would be nice, but if I remember correctly, he said that before DAII was released so I doubt they'd actually--
"According to Mark Darrah, the Warden and Hawke will play important roles in Dragon Age: Inquisition, but they're not ready to talk about what that means just yet."
asflkhsdujbn rej fds
SDGJO UG H SDHBUQ39HEW
Since there's no cite, I'm going to assume that in context, this actually meant that the decisions made by the Warden/Hawke would be even more important, not that they will be directly involved (whether by appearing or influencing immediate events from afar). That way I won't be disappointed.
But secretly I will still hope.
Seriously. If there was just one reference to, say, a suspected sighting of the Champion-- my train of thought derailed. Do you know what would make a great quest and a happy Tozby? If the Inquisitor was sent to follow up on a lead from someone who had supposedly seen the Champion of Kirkwall. Throughout the quest Hawke is consistently one step ahead of you (infuriating you if they're a warrior, which seems predictable if they're a rogue, because they have experience in hiding if they're a mage). It could be a short side quest, but just like King Alistair, it would make me ridiculously happy.
That's what I was going to say. If I hadn't already read the wiki and known exactly what to expect, I would have assumed there would only be passing references to Alistair as king of Ferelden. I wouldn't have dared hope he would actually appear, have a lengthy conversation with you and mention the Warden according to what their relationship was (even though the dialogue trigger is broken for non-human mistresses). I'm trying not to get my hopes up thinking Bioware might manage it twice, but I would not give a single toss about the rest of the game as long as I got to see or hear from Vardo and Hawke again.
I'm running out of momentum on my new discoveries, so onto another subject. I was trying to entertain myself at work by working out if there was any reason any realistic mage character would ever support the Templars at the end of DAII. It got absurdly political. The only logical reason would be trying to curry favour with Meredith, maintaining your position and hopefully not being made tranquil, then stabbing her in the back once the other mages are out of the way and you would single-handedly be the entire Circle. That's almost a believable reason to turn on your own community, but it still isn't wise. Meredith is clearly insane, and even her own followers think so. Why would you trust an insane person not to betray you, when she hates everything about you, makes no secret of it and has just ordered the effective mass murder of innocent people because somebody you travel with committed an act of terrorism? Potentially, you have already been turned on in a similar situation once before, when the Arishok blames you for Isabela's crimes.
Of course, I now want to end a mage playthrough by siding with the Templars, to see how it's justified.
I had one more thing to witter about, but I can't remember what it was. Probably Inquisition. Let's go back to that.
This will be the first DA game I play completely blind. Maybe that will help me like my character, because I'll be going purely by which choices seem right to me rather than what the wiki says I need to do to keep X alive/get the most experience/romance Alistair.
Speaking of Alistair, it occurs to me that since Inquisition is said to be set a decade or two after the Blight, he should probably be dead, as a Grey Warden. Does it count as getting your hopes up if what you're expecting is to have your emotions crushed beneath the steel boots of the game devs? I'm making my prediction now that Alistair will have gone through his Calling, neatly closing off any awkward plotholes at the same time, and - if relevant to the previous games' saves - will be remembered positively by the people of Ferelden as a king who provided hope in a land torn apart by the Darkspawn. And I will probably cry, because I get too emotionally invested in these things.
Know something else that would be great? If some of II's companions made appearances - we already know Varric will - and remembered Hawke according to whether you befriended them or had a rivalry with them. And if Aveline appeared. And...
Continuing my latest Dragon Age kick, I've been catching up on the latest news for Inquisition, a lot of which went under my radar, which means that I only just saw this information:
"...our hero (a fully voice-acted avatar replaces DA: II's Hawke, and can be customised from human, dwarven, elven and qunari template..."
I only just saw this. I swear I saw it stated a few months ago that you could only be human, as in DAII.
I'm not complaining.
Well, I am, because now I have no idea what I want to be. I love playing dwarven characters, but I'll never be as attached to a dwarf character as I was Vardo. It feels wrong, somehow, to have two main characters of the same race. That technically rules out human as well, thanks to the forced choice for Hawke, and from what I've seen everybody plans on playing elves and qunari. Really, though, who cares? Customisation! I think it will help me get more attached to the character, as well. I loved Vardo because she was entirely mine. I only fell in love with Hawke when I went along with the default male mage, and that was because I realised who he reminded me of.
Anyway. After that delightful surprise, I went to the Wiki.
"...Mike Laidlaw has stated that playing as a different character 'does not mean your old character may never appear in future games,' which could indicate that the new protagonist will be able to meet Hawke and the Warden..."
Yes, I thought, that would be nice, but if I remember correctly, he said that before DAII was released so I doubt they'd actually--
"According to Mark Darrah, the Warden and Hawke will play important roles in Dragon Age: Inquisition, but they're not ready to talk about what that means just yet."
asflkhsdujbn rej fds
SDGJO UG H SDHBUQ39HEW
Since there's no cite, I'm going to assume that in context, this actually meant that the decisions made by the Warden/Hawke would be even more important, not that they will be directly involved (whether by appearing or influencing immediate events from afar). That way I won't be disappointed.
But secretly I will still hope.
Seriously. If there was just one reference to, say, a suspected sighting of the Champion-- my train of thought derailed. Do you know what would make a great quest and a happy Tozby? If the Inquisitor was sent to follow up on a lead from someone who had supposedly seen the Champion of Kirkwall. Throughout the quest Hawke is consistently one step ahead of you (infuriating you if they're a warrior, which seems predictable if they're a rogue, because they have experience in hiding if they're a mage). It could be a short side quest, but just like King Alistair, it would make me ridiculously happy.
That's what I was going to say. If I hadn't already read the wiki and known exactly what to expect, I would have assumed there would only be passing references to Alistair as king of Ferelden. I wouldn't have dared hope he would actually appear, have a lengthy conversation with you and mention the Warden according to what their relationship was (even though the dialogue trigger is broken for non-human mistresses). I'm trying not to get my hopes up thinking Bioware might manage it twice, but I would not give a single toss about the rest of the game as long as I got to see or hear from Vardo and Hawke again.
I'm running out of momentum on my new discoveries, so onto another subject. I was trying to entertain myself at work by working out if there was any reason any realistic mage character would ever support the Templars at the end of DAII. It got absurdly political. The only logical reason would be trying to curry favour with Meredith, maintaining your position and hopefully not being made tranquil, then stabbing her in the back once the other mages are out of the way and you would single-handedly be the entire Circle. That's almost a believable reason to turn on your own community, but it still isn't wise. Meredith is clearly insane, and even her own followers think so. Why would you trust an insane person not to betray you, when she hates everything about you, makes no secret of it and has just ordered the effective mass murder of innocent people because somebody you travel with committed an act of terrorism? Potentially, you have already been turned on in a similar situation once before, when the Arishok blames you for Isabela's crimes.
Of course, I now want to end a mage playthrough by siding with the Templars, to see how it's justified.
I had one more thing to witter about, but I can't remember what it was. Probably Inquisition. Let's go back to that.
This will be the first DA game I play completely blind. Maybe that will help me like my character, because I'll be going purely by which choices seem right to me rather than what the wiki says I need to do to keep X alive/get the most experience/romance Alistair.
Speaking of Alistair, it occurs to me that since Inquisition is said to be set a decade or two after the Blight, he should probably be dead, as a Grey Warden. Does it count as getting your hopes up if what you're expecting is to have your emotions crushed beneath the steel boots of the game devs? I'm making my prediction now that Alistair will have gone through his Calling, neatly closing off any awkward plotholes at the same time, and - if relevant to the previous games' saves - will be remembered positively by the people of Ferelden as a king who provided hope in a land torn apart by the Darkspawn. And I will probably cry, because I get too emotionally invested in these things.
Know something else that would be great? If some of II's companions made appearances - we already know Varric will - and remembered Hawke according to whether you befriended them or had a rivalry with them. And if Aveline appeared. And...