Lace Harding - Official Companion Thread [Spoilers]

Merrill and Isabela were also bland in Origins.
Cassandra may be an exception, but who have ever thought that Merrill will become a companion in Dragon Age 2?
Therefore i cannot unterstand this argument.
Of course Bioware have to expand Hardings characterisation.

Sigrun is most likely dead in 9:44.

In my opinion the DA 4 party needs a already known character that will represent the Inquisition or the Inquisitor.
Harding is the best candidate for this criterion and the easiest choice for Bioware.
Maybe Charter? But its very easy to overlook Charter.
Harding on the other hand you have to meet.

Therefore it would surprise me if get another Inquisition companion than Harding.

She was not a "companion" (aka follower). She was a non-follower NPC with hardly any content, certainly not of the same level as Josephine and Cullen. (I'm not saying that she should have had the same content as those two, simply pointing out the difference.)

Also, the devs (PW, at least) seem to consider that as just flirting, not a romance.

*shrug* I know about Vivienne's line. That's doesn't change what he said about it. Whether that is because he forgot about that line, or because there are current ideas floating about her in DA4, we can't know.

There is also the basic fact that there is no romance tile for her, which seems to suggest that there is/was a certain viewpoint about her flirtation/romance that has been present from the outset. Of course, given that we still have years to wait, that doesn't preclude them adding one for her, but it adds to that view that hers is not a real romance in the way that the devs consider them for these games.

You can have flings in MEA as well, and involved conversations with some of those NPCs, but those don't merit a romance tile.


I don't care either way. I'm just pointing out facts.

I'm not even into Lace Harding, but what are you implying here exactly? What kind of relationship do ou think Inky has been having with Harding for years that it doesn't qualify? If Viv is mentioning it, it is more than a flirt.

You may be arguing that the Devs don't see it that way (nonsensical belief on their part). But I don't see much of an alternative. Apparently Inky has been doing enough with her that to keep fudging around may warrant an arrow in his butt.

No, it is two years. DAI takes place from 9:41-9:42 and Trespasser takes place in 9:44.

Also,   at having to think about the Rainier/Josephine thing. So glad that nothing ever came of that. 

Ah, I see. It being separated to be a different line confused me. My apologies. 

I don't see anything in the Viv lines that ties Bio's hands. At most, they've established that the Inquisitor and Harding dated.

I've dated a few people in my life, and I'm pretty sure that several of them have gone on to be with other people.

I don´t get it. I believe most of the players are pleased with Cullen Romance in DAI and don´t regret that he and the Female Mage were original
in a kinda similar relationship.
If Harding would also be a full developed romance in DA 4 like Cullen in DAI then most people would be fine with that.
Bioware can´t make everybody happy. Its only natural that a few players are against this or another decision.

The DAO scene with Cullen is not at all the same. I've played a fem mage in DAO. The meaningful interaction consists of a single dialogue where the PC has the option of flirting. Later on in the tower, Cullen will make a reference during his rantings about being taunted [by demons] with something he could never have; the PC can choose to respond to that line or ignore it. That is the full extent of the interaction in DAO. In both DA2 and DAI Cullen will make a reference to having known the Warden and appears wistful. Cullen had a crush on the PC. That's all.

The DAI interaction with Harding is more involved. You learn more information about her if you engage in the flirting, there are several conversations, more general interaction, and of course there is the line by Vivienne.

Again, not the same as DAO Cullen.

Fine, you don't "get it." I like how people trot out the "Bioware can't make everyone happy" line when it's something they don't care about. Of course that's the case. That's the case with everything. But people are still going to be upset about this decision, regardless of what you say. Your thinking it doesn't or shouldn't matter does not change that. You're not going to change the minds of people who will be upset by the choice to make her a DA4 romance.

Of course it would. If this the case we would never get a full Harding romance.
I can unterstand if this sounds a bit selfish but Bioware Games don´t work that way.
Yes you can big decisions but most of time the difference between them is often dialogue or another character.
But that isn´t major for the Base Game.

If we really want Harding as full companion and romance in DA 4 with a lot of screentime especially in her romance scenes
it would be critical if Bioware have to respect this Keep tile.
When Bioware have to shorten Hardings content.
Hypothetical it would be possible but it is very unlikely because of resources and time concerns.

The reverse conclusion is that Bioware have never made a former romance to a new one. Even if you didn´t pick this option in the first time.
Or why is Leliana not romancable in Inquisition.

They'll have to add a Keep tile, then, since we aren't importing saved games.

This. Harding is obviously lacking on Content, people went after her because they found her charming. Harding wasn't present in Trespasser, but they realized they needed to throw a Nod towards the relationship happening, so Viv and Inky got four lines about it. Regardless of the line Inky chooses, Inky acknowledges they've been in some sort of relationship for 2 ish years at this point. You don't even get a line to say you broke it up over those two years out of the options given.

It's easily fixed though. in that they would just make Harding unavailable if a Tile-they-still-need-to-create was flipped. But then they would have invested a lot of the budget into making Harding a Full Romance that previous players are opting out of.

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Still, all the devs have admitted to are that if they could, they'd bring Harding back. No mention of a Full Romance was mentioned in connection with her. I just don't think they'll go that route.