Ryder Confirmed to be Brother/Sister

Sept 9, 2016 14:31:33 GMT linksocarina said:

Sept 9, 2016 14:17:44 GMT bshep said:

Did Hawke's brother and sister had distinct personalities? I ask because i always played as a mage.

Yes.

And Carver was the better of the two, in my opinion. Bethany was kind but somewhat self-loathing. She lacked confidence. 

Made sense, though. Bethany was the only mage of the three (if Hawke's a non-mage) and felt like a burden on her family because they always had to move and hide because of her magic. I think she even outright says this at one point. It made sense that she would develop a sense of self-loathing: it's very easy to do when you feel you are a burden on your family.

Carver felt inadequate and left-out because he was the only non-mage of the three (if Hawke's a mage) and their father had to spend a lot of time with his siblings because of their magic. I think it is even said or implied at one point that he thought their father was disappointed or loved him less because he wasn't a mage.

It's interesting to think that they might have been different to an extent in the versions where they die since Bethany would have a mage sibling and Carver would have a non-mage sibling.

Sept 9, 2016 14:39:34 GMT linksocarina said:

Sept 9, 2016 14:38:23 GMT shechinah said:

Made sense, though. Bethany was the only mage of the three (if Hawke's a non-mage) and felt like a burden on her family because they always had to move and hide because of her magic. I think she even outright says this at one point. It made sense that she would develop a sense of self-loathing: it's very easy to do when you feel you are a burden on your family.

Carver felt inadequate and left-out because he was the only non-mage of the three (if Hawke's a mage) and their father had to spend a lot of time with his siblings because of their magic. I think it is even said or implied at thought point that he thought their father was disappointed or loved him less because he wasn't a mage.

Oh I understand, I loved the dynamics believe me.

I just found Carver to be more compelling. Perhaps because I have a younger brother myself who acted like him in some respects while we were growing up.

While I think they made mistakes with some things in regards to the family aspect of Dragon Age II, I genuinely like about it. I liked that Malcolm seemed like a character in his own right despite having been dead for a good while as oppose to simply being a trope: I felt they struck a good balance between him being a character and the player being allowed to shape their own image of him. I liked the family's past and that the family members were each flawed and that they made mistakes or weren't always doing what they should: they felt human in a lot of ways with all the flaws that would include.

An example is Leandra irrationally blaming Hawke for the death of their sibling in the beginning and later regretting doing so. That is something I liked.  I also liked that Leandra was still affected by the death of her child even a year later and her survivor's guilt. I don't think it was conveyed as well as it could have but I don't consider it bad either and there were some good scenes.  

I did, however, feel that Leandra got the short stick when it came to character moments but that was also because Leandra wasn't absent like the surviving sibling was. I feel she deserved more moments especially after moving back in her old house like reconciling that identity and life with the one she developed and had after leaving Kirkwall with Malcolm. I think that, however, might be down to the game being rushed.

I liked the siblings like because of the ways they were (as seen above) and behaved. An example is that while Carver might complain about his sibling, he does genuinely care about them as seen during Fenris' recruitment mission if he is present: When Fenris remarks on Hawke being a mage, Carver makes it clear that if Fenris has a problem with Hawke then he has a problem with Carver.

I feel that he and Bethany's respective issues deserved more but for what we got, I did think Carver's development was good and I could see what they were trying for with Bethany.

TL:DR: I liked that the Hawke family was dysfunctional to an extent and that the family members felt human courtesy of good characterization and good flaws with both of the aforementioned making sense given the family dynamics.  

Note: I prefer Carver as a templar since that is by his own choice.