Why I'm Restarting DAO

After many false starts, I've managed to make a pretty good progression into Dragon Age Origins (I completed Broken Circle and The Arl of Redcliffe and had just started The Urn of Sacred Ashes). However, I kept getting this nagging feeling I was playing the game wrong, so I'm restarting my progress yet again, this time with an approach I feel is a definitively better idea.

For starters, I know I'd still be sticking with the Human Noble Origin since a.) Arl Howe plays a large story role making the Origin feel more relevant, and b.) I've found that when you have humans as the primary character in a fantasy, you're already aware or could easily grasp of how humans act in the fantasy world and make learning about other races and cultures more natural. However, I feel that instead of playing as a Male Warden like I used to do, it would be better if I made a female Warden. This is more of a personal preference and I think the reason I'm thinking of a female Warden is because in a fantasy setting, a female protagonist slightly feels more fresh and different to me than a male protagonist (I know that's different in Young Adult literature nowadays).

I noticed during my previous gameplays that I was constantly getting potions, traps, poisons, and crafting resources that I just weren't using. While I realize that technically you can assign other party members to be primary crafters or trap users and stuff, I played on casual as a warrior and found that I never really found a real reason to utilize all the stuff I was carrying in any way since combat feels breezy. Not to mention, throughout the early game, you keep passing through a lot of chests you can't get into because they're locked. I'm honestly starting to feel like Dragon Age Origins feels more like it was designed with the Rogue in mind, so I'm thinking of switching to a rogue gameplay. However, I'm not entirely sure whether I should stick with archery or dual weapons. I know as an Archer I can just hang back while other characters go in and keep the enemy at bay, switching to melee if an enemy gets too close. Then again, dual weapon also adds an extra little challenge as I'd have to accurately get my tank characters to distract the enemy while I find a way to snake around and backstab enemies. What are some suggestions on this matter?

I do plan to do different classes per game, so I'll be playing a warrior in 2 and a mage in Inquisition. That's the plan.