Schmooples' Den! The DA News Discussion Thread

To me a lord (or lady) of fortune sounds terrible for the pc. A pc designed to do fetch quests? I was hoping they would get away from fetch quests for DA4.

A lot may have changed during development, but given what we already know, I'm really not sure how DA4 is supposed to be the title when we are NOT playing the chosen one?

And not necessarily the "chosen one" in a sense Inquisitor or Warden was, with them being badasses, but even in a sense Frodo in LOTR was, where certain important task(s) was appointed (by either fate or chance) to them - and even if they aren't the ones that are supposed to stop Solas or whatevs, they are still a very important connective tissue that will make crucial things happen?

Like... I am a little confused that, knowing what we already know from both Trespasser and comic books and TN (end of the world of some kind around the corner, an invasion of the Qunari, ancient horrors coming out of the woodwork to claim dominance over Thedas) NOW is the time to play adventurers that could allow themselves to take on contracts that are really quite unrelated to the main plot? (because even Inquisition's fetch quests have largely fed in somehow to the effort of building up Inquisition and spreading our influence/stopping Cory/investigating stuff)

couple quick things, spoilers for TN just in case:

Frost that's fair, but for me the regions in DAI did all tie into building the Inquisition in some way. They weren't just all fetch quests. You're capturing a keep, or expanding your influence in the world, which translates (for me) into building your power base. Behind the scenes more and more soldiers kept flocking to our banner wanting to fight with us to save Thedas - that was all linked to going to new maps and 'claiming' geographic regions for the Inquisition. There was no active benefit to it in the final battle like there was with the Warden gathering allies to help fight the Archdemon, but there was a passive benefit to all of it, in that it's clear throughout the game that your troops are fighting and keeping the peace all over southern Thedas, so that you and your inner circle can focus on the bigger issues like the Venatori and Corypheus.

What would be the point of playing LoF specifically then? All of what you say we could do can be effectively done by a person associated with any other faction, or not associated with anyone in particular at the start.

As for ETA - again, that could be done by a person associated with any other faction or no faction at all. Like I said before, I see little difference between 'agent from the start' and 'stumbling upon something bigger after happy-go lucky period' because I suspect that (IF we start with a new character), we will probably get some sort of prologue in which we'd go from largely clueless character to someone who eventually gets a whiff of the main plot and either be forced to participate in it or will decide to participate.

I fear, however, that my point has been largely missed. This isn't about being 'railroaded to the main plot', as in - just following the main story, with no stepping to the side. Same as you I love exploring the world too and doing all those seemingly irrelevant things or having options that would help me build different characters. But, depending on the story one tells, it's relevant even for fetch quests to somehow tie to the main story, be it even from the standpoint of lore reveals or - like in Inquisition - gaining power and influence to them spend it in places it matters. In Inquisition at least giving back the widow a ring was a super-quick way to get the 4th Power point to go to Val Royeaux and trigger the critical path quest, IF one wasn't role-playing that, say, their Inkies were too compassionate not to go out of their way and do something small, or wanted to impress a companion they liked or tried to garner the support of locals?

But you have said that being LoF would allow us to get unrelated contract, in a way Witcher did - it may not have been relevant to the larger plot, but it was relevant to who they were, as a profession. The way I see it, after they get the whiff of the main plot (because a lot of it is determined by the context and setting and what works for Witcher wouldn't necessarily work for DA4), there would be little place for taking such unrelated side contracts, even if there would be plot-relevant reason to to side-quests. Like... how would that feed into the larger story? What would LoF, specifically, get form it, aside from money (because that what Geralt got most of the time, unless the contract was a pretext of starting a bigger side quest)? Why would it be relevant for LoF to garner money or reputation as a LoF and not as, say, agent of Inquisition?

I see where you are coming from, but from my perspective the PC would have to be The Most Important Person In The Story, even if in a roundabout way. They may not face off against Solas, but they may be the person who would make the face off between Inquisitor and Solas possible.

I always bring TES: Oblivion as an example of it - this was the story in which Martin Septim was the most important character. However, Martin Septim would not fulfill his assigned role if not for the Champion Of Cyrodiil. They have made Martin's date with destiny possible, thus making them not just important but crucial to the story. I think that's an interesting type of storytelling in an on itself (“even the smallest person can change the course of the future” theme can still be spun around that) and I think even THAT type of less-obvious Chosen One may bring criticism on Bioware, given that Dragon Age is still a power fantasy where its important for players to play the Big/Relevant Hero.
...But that can be done by PC from any background or faction, not just LoF - that includes a person who may have been an fresh agent of, say, Shadow Inquisition. Or a person who is entirely unrelated to any faction we have learned of or read about recently (say, a hired detective, like Neva Gallus. Or a slave. Or a Tevinter mage that just stumbles on things).
This is why I say that I don't really see how LoF would be a more viable or interesting option to start with, or why I have said that I don't see much difference between dedicated agent and 'hired free agent'. Either way we'd end up around the same spot in the story - not as a member of any faction, but as someone who is Eventually Involved In Something Important, where even side quests will likely feed into the critical path in one way or another.

I don't have such feeling - I think maybe a year or two may pass from Trespasser. What's more - even if MORE years pass, there's no guarantee that those years will pass in-game, making the timeline largely irrelevant to time we'll have to do things or climb ranks with new PC in game.

Anyway, the first comic book we get that serves as a bridge between the games starts not long after Trespasser and many stories in TN seem to happen parallel to one another around the time the Qunari invasion on Tevinter starts (which is also true to comic books). Also, we don't know how relevant or true it is, but "Genitivi Dies In The End" suggests that it'll take about a year for things to play out.

I somehow missed your response to me , so I'll respond to this one.
I think there could be several reasons for the protag to be LoF:

1. They are from Rivain, so...

• They are kinda neutral in everything that's going on
• They have a wide variety of races there
  dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Rivain
  Rivainis have a friendly relationship with elves and in Rivain there is a peaceful Qunari settlement (one of a kind in the continent).
• They are mage friendly
• Possible TN spoilers?
  
  SPOILER: Click to show
  In Three Trees To Midnight we learn that the Qunari plan to move into Rivain, so starting the game there makes sense. 

2. As written above in a previous post, I think it's an opportunity to introduce new game mechanics that might be important to your role as the protag.

3. Belonging to a faction (any faction) makes it more likely that you'll be recruited, it also gives you a better excuse to why the protag can fight.

4. They are not just any faction, they are treasure hunters. My hunch, based on the comics/book/Trespasser is that we're going to need these kind of people in order to defeat Solas.


I'm not saying they have to be LoF, just that it makes sense and it fits .

I think I might be misunderstanding you, so I'll answer this as best as I can.
Inquisitor says they need to find people that Solas doesn't know at the end of Trespasser, so the protag can't come from the Inquisition.
I can't read their mind, I'm just mentioning what was said in the story.

Yeah, and? Everything's a conjecture here . This idea is based on my own experience reading that story, as well as my boyfriend's, it just felt very intentional how luck was described in it.
We know nothing of DA4 so I don't know what will be relevant, it's all guesses ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Belonging to a faction just makes it more reasonable for the character to be able to fight, is all.

Yeah but up until now we didn't have a game where our goal is to find a relic to defeat someone who can't be defeated in other means (these are also guesses obviously, it just what makes most sense to me at the moment). It's not a matter of resources, but of skill. Inquisition provides the resources to the right person.

It's not like I'm insisting the protag will be a LoF. I'm just explaining why several people on this thread, including me, feel it's a possibility.

They can't come from the OLD Inquisition in a shape it was prior to Trespasser, not the Shadow one  - never mind that it is entirely irrelevant, if PCs prologue would eventually lead to them being recruited, which also means that any faction or background can come into play here, including someone who is factionless.
I didn't get such impression and I've read TN too. There were more than one LoF characters and only one mentions luck - and in a way that for me seemed like a personal quirk, rather than an established Thing.
Also - yes, it's all guesses, but you are trying to make a case for LoF and how it is a strong contender for PC faction...
That depends ona faction and individuals within that faction. And LoF doesn't strike me as a faction of fighters - adventurers and treasure seekers and thieves and pretty agile people who can get away quickly - yes, but not fighters. Bharv is definitely not one and his friend that has dies appears to not have been a fighter too.
Well, like you said - those are just guesses. We don't even know if this is how it will go. And all 3 past games had us going to different places and finding relics of varying relevance or level of power to accomplish objectives, with many of them requiring our best people and best equipment, or a tremendous amount of resources that seems unlikely to be available to a faction that appears to be a pretty loose collection of adventurers. LoF doesn't strike me as an organized force the way Wardens or Inquisition or even a group of adventurers like Sutherland's Company is, but like a guild of thrill and treasure seekers and mercenaries that have their rules and quirks and ways of life, but only occasionally work together in small groups.

Yeah, I'm not saying we're definitely going to be playing LOFs? None of us are saying that. We are just sharing our thoughts on how much of a contender the LOFs might be for a DA4 PC's background. And, although we all know the first version of DA4 was rebooted, we don't know to what extent the work that had been done already was scrapped. "Joplin" was going to have us be part of a group of spies involved in heists (see April 2019 Schreier article). It's possible that that might be something we still see in the "Morrison" iteration of DA4, and the LOFs seem to slide into such a role pretty easily.

omg I forgot about Mizzy and now I feel bad (sry mizzy). I felt like there'd be no reason why the Lords would be Rivaini nationality exclusive, and there's the proof in the example of the invite/comments to Tevene Mizzy

You jest, but honestly those things are helping you strategically? You can make all sorts of healing potions from elfroot. Both healing potions and upgraded grenades give you an edge in combat against the arch devil and his minions. It's not like war tech stops being developed and improved during a war IRL.