Will or should DA4 return to the darker roots that DAO had?

Neither is every character Weekes has written is gay.

Besides - how did we travel from "Patrick Weekes would tear strips of flesh from his chest if a single gay person said they were offended by his writing", some pointing out that he's written his share of characters that are both gay and controversial and suddenly an issue being that 'all his characters are gay'? 

No! Absolutely true. Some of them are straight. You can usually identify them when they express really bigoted or evil views.

Michel, for instance. And Gaspard.

So you consider Celene to be a completely morally upstanding person?

And now I want popcorn with chocolate. 

They could be, though. Maybe we should live in a world where if he wanted to, he could write a fully gay cast and no one would lose their shit about it. Or even all women! Who are also not straight! Shocking. I was writing lesbians into my stories before I even knew what sexuality was, so I'm not real sympathetic to the idea that they don't belong in the media.

... Are there really that many characters he's written that are completely morally upstanding people? His MO seems to be writing complex characters who are more in the grey rather than extreme sides of the moral spectrum.

In any case, I didn't intend an argument about the essence and visibility of gay people in media. My initial point was about whether Patrick had it in him to portray Tevinter as the snake pit we all know it to be.

Does he have the guts to depict slaves being purchased at market? To show them actually being used for sexual gratification as well as menial labour? What about their sacrifice in blood rituals?

Or will he, in all likelihood, bend to the will of people who are offended by even the negative depiction of rape, slavery and so forth? Will only the straightest and whitest (and therefore evilest) of magisters be opposed to reform in Tevinter? Will Maevaris own slaves, or will he chicken out and make her Saint Tilani, the purest and noblest soul in the Tevinter Imperium?

You are absolutely right, Patrick Weekes is on a hellbent mission to vilify the heterosexual race! But as long as you and I are there to guard the realms of "no homo" then the fiendish SJWLGBTQLOL menace can never win! Come my straight brother, let us whip out our dicks and stand fast against all our enemies!!!!!!!!!!

Because he's now the lead writer. That does not give him ultimate control over DA's fate, but it does give him some power.

I would point out that I don't think there is a single character in Masked Empire that comes off well in terms of morality. All are flawed individuals to the extent that I really didn't care about any of them achieving their goals, except perhaps Briala because she was actually fighting for the elves.

What I objected to in the book was the portrayal of the Dalish clan as extreme bigots and actually holding views contrary to every clan we had encountered in game and in the codices regarding how they viewed their relationship to city elves. This was, of course, necessary from his plot point of view in order that Briala could safely condemned them as a consequence and all her group could leave them to be ripped apart by Imshael without seeming the villains of the piece.

I was actually more concerned about the direction the writing took with regard to the Dalish than whether or not particular characters are gay or straight.

With regard to the next game I hope they do portray Tevinter accurately according to the lore that has been established. It was noticeable than when Dorian was defending the institution of slavery in Tevinter that you were not allowed to really challenge him on this and in particular the aspect of "favoured slaves" when it came to what Tevinter society considers appropriate homosexual behaviour. So we don't have to see things explicitly portrayed but equally the issues surrounding slavery in Tevinter should not be skirted round altogether. They certainly weren't averse to showing how Templars can abuse their position of power so that should be equally true of Tevinter society.

I also hope we get the focus back on blood magic since its use is meant to be so widespread in Tevinter society but not simply the abuse of power that seems associated with it in their culture but also whether there is an inherent danger in its use (as suggested in the Last Flight) that has nothing to do with demon possession or mistreatment of slaves.

Video games, like film, are a visual medium and so much of the impression we get, and so much of the information we get is visual and due to the framing. I don't want Bioware to go the route of modern shooters where the whole game is just a line we follow so the camera can look at the very impressive skyboxes that we can't go to, but it would behoove them to put some cutscenes outside of the main story so the whole world isn't shot at the same flat angle that doesn't convey or highlight any emotion and doesn't emphasize any specific tone.

Dragon Age 2 was possibly the darkest in the series, its not surprising that DAI became lighter as a result. I wouldn't be surprised if the next game is more darker due to Solas intentions.