The Blanketfort (crying and throwing up) - The Official Solas Thread [Spoilers]

Thanks.  When I get round to it I'm going to be tackling each of the major arcs of the game and looking at the way the build up to Solas could've been done.

It still covers all bases. Sorry guys. :/

I read it before I had no idea it was you haha, I remember finding it very interesting !

BioFan : I insist, we shouldn't make any assumption before we get anything confirmed at all. We've not even been told there's going to be a da4 YET lol

TRESPASSER DLC: GOALS:
Wrap up the Inquisitor's story; conclusively tie off this protagonist.

I'm sorry but this goal resulted in an epic fail. True they tied off the protagonist's story as Inquisitor, since they either disband or have a vastly different organisation to run in the future. So by all means give them a different title. However, perhaps they would like to explain these words:

"I will stop you".
"I will prove you wrong."

Not "we" but "I". Very personal that. Then they would have us believe that you just take a back seat or even get involved in other things when, particularly if you disband the organisation, you have nothing better to do in all the world than hunt for Solas. The frigging world is going to end if he succeeds. May be I am a bit OCD but that is how it would be for me.

Plot twist : leliana was actually a lyrium ghost right from the start in da:o, but only a specific worldstate will ever KNOW before the actual great reveal ™ in da4 or da5

Guyze I've finally managed to get back into my PT ! Better late than never lol, I wonder if I can end it before next week ends mmmhhh
Poor heart about to get crushed again :c self empathy

Thank you for providing the tweet. I'd seen the presentation slide before and I feel there is wiggle room there.

And that tweet *is* old and in response to the HoF returning, specifically.

But if that tweet is their position, then I guess its their position.  it might still allow for a dual-protagonist setup or *shudder* an NPC cameo like Hawke, though.

Assuming they don't reevaluate the idea in the first place. I mean, if DA4 is indeed the second half of the story arc of DAI, then its more akin to DAO and DAA than it is DAO and DA2, relationship-wise. I'll wait till official confirmation that there's going to be a new protag/no return of the Inquisitor before I get disappointed about it.


Also, add me to the people who think its stupid if they consider story fo the Inquisitor (the person, not just the title) wrapped up. lol That was, like, the opposite of what those revelations in Trespasser did. Maybe it is all part of Weekes' grand plan to change Mike's mind on the subject of a continuing protagonist? lol

vt.tumblr.com/tumblr_oask51FPNh1uh11z4.mp4#_=_

MY SIDES HURT.

If we're playing 3rd or 4th chapter in a game with an ongoing story, it's natural to expect that there will be baggage. It's the same with movie trilogies or TV series. I don't see how the same can't be expected from the game with an ongoing, epic story that spans over more than one installment that with other mediums.

Plus, no, I don't think they've been trying avoiding anything with DA - in fact, David Gaider in recent interview pretty much addresses the whole 'how do you incorporate all the backstory to new game' and states outright that, since in later in the series creating a balance between satisfying both old and new players gets tougher, they eventually create further chapters under the assumption that the player has at least some knowledge about the universe.

Another thing is that DAI on more than one occasion has been described by DA leads (Mike Laidlaw and Mark Darrah) as (paraphrasing, I can find articles if you want) "the game they always wanted to do", "the game they've found their footing and know what this series is about" and "pretty much new franchise", so it's pretty obvious that DAI in many respects was sort of a soft reboot for the series.

So whatever they've tried to avoid in DA earlier apparently didn't satisfy them OR... they want to try something new.

I don't think it is - either way we are getting to the point in DA story where overarching story is coming at the forefront and they'd have to deal with overwhelming amount of information the more they continue with it.

...Add to that the fact that one of the core ME writers is now the lead for DA writing team, and not the other way around. Naturally I don't think it's the only reason why PW is the lead now, but if you listen to his interviews, you can tell that he bases on a lot of experience he got in ME when he worked on DA and never really mentioned how working on DA franchise form now on is really that much different. I'd say it means that he's there to ensure that Dragon Age's story is tightened up, now that it is actually tightening up.

Actually, most uninspired sequels get slammed nowadays for being too shallow or repetitive, while majority of big franchises totally adapt to serial format that pretty much requires for people to know something about the universe in order to properly enjoy it. Look at the Avengers. Look at all the copycats. Most of big movie franchises are trilogies or more. Heck, TV series are now having their new golden age.

The shift towards involving, multi-chaptered stories that require at least a bit of digging in is pretty much undeniable. That's the influence of geek culture as well as accessibility of the media, available right under our fingers, 24/7.

Plus, judging from sales of both Witcher and ME3 people did indeed enjoy the story, even though both had a very heavy story baggage trailing behind (Witcher even more than ME, given that it's based on books that they readily reference). Therefore I don't see what's the problem here, aside from ensuring that they'd try and find a satisfying balance between old and new players.

Not really. It depends what are they going to do and how. A big chunk of Inquisition at the start was establishing setting, companions and budding Inquisition under the guise of finding solution to close the Breach - Corypheus revealed himself later. There's nothing stopping them from doing something similar or focusing first on Inquisition/Inquisitor and establishing its past and its new, undercover shape, as... say... our boss, for whom we work, either to unknown end, or perhaps to solve local (likely Tevene) problems, like decaying government or Qunari invasion. There is, after all, a strong hint at the end of Trespasser that Inquisition will find "people Solas doesn't know" and new PCs will very likely work as Inquisition's agents.

What's more I put my bet on that happening - that new PCs will likely find themselves building relationship with Solas through a proxy: the Inquisition/Inquisitor, the relationship with whom will likely be equally important to the plot.

Why? Because through whole of DAI Inquisitor is being built up as Solas's counterpart - it's evident in the base game and comes at the forefront on Trespasser. In many respect they're equals, standing on opposite sides. And who knows, depending on where they go with the story our Inkys may or may not turn in a wrong direction and eventually be the ones who'd end up being fought... or our new PCs may have an opportunity to betray them. After all, Mike Laidlaw did hint long ago in Kotaku that it's a thing they find intriguing - difficult, but not undoable.

"As to multiple protagonists? Absolutely fascinating and, yes, we have discussed it some. There are a lot of challenges in terms of helping the player identify with more than one created character, but it's a long way from impossible. I thought, for example, that the weaving stories of the GTA V protagonists created a really interesting flow in the story and the gameplay. I agree that betraying yourself would be super cool, so long as "the player" version of you didn't end up feeling like a chump."

Interestingly enough, later in interview with Biofan, PW says this (concerning feedback):

"What actually helps me is hearing it in the same way from fans - as a player I want to be able to play a bloodmage. As a player I want to be able to participate in transgender romance. As a player I want to be able to - you know - betray an organization I'm working for."

I don't really think two leads repeating the same thing on two separate occasions, despite actually not seeing much of an open demand for such possibility among fans, is much of a coincidence (esp. that both playing blood mage likely in a country that doesn't frown upon it so much OR romancing a transgender character after firmly establishing at least two in the setting is not far from being very probable). IMO it signifies a possibility that they're building story towards this - but for that to have an effect and impact on the player, it likely has to be something that is more than skin-deep.

... Which is why I said it's a clue, not a plot-point. And clues are scattered all around specific play-throughs and choices. It's been true since DAO.

Honestly? I can't call it a cop-out if I don't know where they're going with it. If they've risked such a noticeable retcon and some fans ire about this over just creating someone new or picking a character that didn't have a chance to die then it means that there is something going on here, though we don't know what yet in its entirety.

Because I'm not happy unless the waters are good and muddy, and nothing has been confirmed about the next game, not even that there will be a next game...

Here's an interesting poll from reddit, one of the places where the devs seem to still be interacting with fans for feedback.




It's unofficial, but if they're looking for feedback there, it's likely they're aware of what the fans want (at least reddit-going fans). Though as we all know, what fans want, is meaningless. Anyway, post-Trespasser, 73% of polled reddit DA fans want to see the Inquisitor return at minimum as a Hawke-style cameo, and 48% want to be able to play them in some fashion.

It's something I'd at least consider, if I were making a game for people my previous game sold well to.

And if I'm supposed to believe that the Inquisitor stabbing the map into Tevinter, means that the former Inquisitor will neither be involved, nor that Tevinter is where they are going to find allies, what exactly was the point of that last scene's dialogue?

AND WHY THE SAVE vs. KILL OPTION, IF YOU'RE NOT BRINGING THE CHARACTERS BACK? WHY?

None of this is meant to be an argument, rather a question. Why, when this information exists, is it unthinkable that Bioware might not have the former Inquisitor as an important figure in the game?

And so do your eyes...

IKR? And what about their hair? 10 shades of bald, or nah?