Did anyone else try to subvert Bioware's "Daddy Issuses" trope?

I did too, actually. Alec was apparently kind of distant, but he obviously cared and loved his family. And he wasn't absent, either, by evidence of the memories. That's what I would have remembered, in that situation (especially after just losing him).

Yeah, it rubbed me the wrong way when I asked Scott who he'd bring back if he could pick anyone, and his reply was basically "Well, mom, obviously.", with Sara knowing that would be the response.

I know it makes some sense that he'd say that, but I wish they'd put the parents on equal pedestals. How about "How could I choose between mom and dad?"

Anyway, I generally took the supportive options about him.

Nope. I have my own father issues that are never getting resolved, I easily lean into them in the game. Hell, I wanted to play up the tension MORE between them, since I see an emotionally absent parent as bad as a physically absent one.

Like, there's a reason this is a well that's been tapped so much, these are issues that a lot of people walk out of their relationships with their parents with.

I didn't think Alec's portrayal was that bad.

As an Alliance Marine and N7, he would have been gone a lot when the twins were young and growing up. It's just the nature of that particular career choice. When he learned that Ellen's illness was terminal, he threw that career away in order to develop an AI to save her. He did seem to harbor a fair amount of guilt for not having been around more, and chided himself for it, but I think that's true of a lot of parents and spouses, etc. Ultimately, he pulled the twins back together, got them involved and trained for the Ai Pathfinder team, and with no hesitation whatsoever, gave his life to save his child.  He also left them with the possibility of being reunited with Ellen. Pretty heroic if you ask me.

"When your back is against the wall, use it."  I loved the way they used that Alec quote in the cutscene on approach.  Alec left one child with the skills to successfully fulfill the Pathfinder role, and the other with the strength to repel the Archon's attempts to use him to defeat his sibling.  I'd say he did pretty well.

keep in mind i was talking about the beginning and ignoring everything after habitat 7. I agree having played the game i like the guy but that first two hours or so hes a dick and dosent have the best first impression.

I think Kaidan did have issues with his father he just never talked about them.

I think in this game Bioware did a good job of keeping the daddy issues to a minimum. The only ones that kinda have daddy issues is Vetra to some extent and Ryder. But you can mitigate Ryder's a little bit with certain dialogs.

I can understand though why Sara and Scott would both want their mother back over their father. It was obvious to me that she spent more time with them, was there when they needed her and Alec wasn't. And even Alec knows it.

That, too.

The SSV Daddy Issues  will never sink!

We never get to know him in game so it wasn't hard for me to follow the writing. Probably doesn't help that I never cared for my own dad.

In 2 out of 3 of my PTs, Scott felt close to his father. In the third I tried to see what it was like when Scott was distant from his father. Some dialogue changes but nothing more.

I never got that impression with Kaidan.  His father was the exact opposite of Alec.  When his mother became pregnant, Kaidan's father retired from the Alliance so that he could help raise his son. I'm sure he had some kind of job but it was one that kept him coming home every night after work.  Also, his father was supportive after the events of Jump Zero.  The only point of tension I could see is that Kaidan was worried that his mother was alone when he father rejoined the Alliance after the Reaper invasion.

As for Scott and Sara, do they especially want their mother back over their father?  At this point, they believe themselves "orphans" in that both of their parents are dead.  So when they find out that one is still alive, they're ecstatic.  I'm not sure they wouldn't feel equally happy to learn that their father had somehow managed to survive.  Yes, they had issues, but that still went to another galaxy for him.  That meant something.

I honestly thought the game did this very well including with the conversations with Liam, Gill and Jaal.