OK, this time I'm determined to complete this danged game.

Sure it is. I've completed the game 11 times and I haven't played it much at all in the past 2-3 yrs. A full PT before DLC took a month, with all DLC took 6 wks. If this is the only game you play, it's quite possible to have 20-30 PTs by now. The game has been out almost 5 years. Heck, at 6 wks per run, that's enough time for over 40 PTs!

Oh it is possible trust me bu then I don' thave a job or anything so I have plenty of time for gaming and this game has been out nearly 5 years now and I have been doing average abou 4 or 5 playthroughs a year of it. Also it depends on how long it takes you to get through it when I'm on a roll like I think I am atm I can usually get through a playthrough in about a couple of weeks. Also with DAI being one of my favourite games I do tend to play it a lot.

Yeah those puzzles are nasty. Once you done it a couple of times though you start to see a pattern and after that I find I can get through them a bit quicker now but when you firs tdo them the ycan be a bit of a nightmare. Though I suspect m ycurrent quizzy will just jump down the hole as she's no tthe kind of prson who's patient enough to try solving a puzzle when she has an enemies ass to kick. But then she is a Qunari and Qunari aren't known for their patience as I'm suer her squadmates realise especially Varric and Cassandra.

Well, you do seem to have brain cancer.

Show on this doll where Inquisition touched you

It's quite possible considering what happened with Connor in DAO dmittedly h edidn' treally kno wwhat h ewas doing considering he had just came into his magic but still

I've almost finished the vanilla game and I have to say that this time I actually enjoyed the experience - and as a result my feelings toward the game are changing.

Sure there's annoyances, sure there's stuff I don't like and design decisions I strongly disagree with; but on the whole it's been fun, and immersive, and I've been looking forward to launching the game in the evenings.

For some reason some of the things I remembered caused me a major headache, frustration or burnout during my first playthrough seemed far easier this time. Possibly because I'm on a Mage now, instead of a DW Rogue, possibly due to my having a different mindset, or a combination of things.

I recall having a horrible time trying to navigate the Exalted Plains, but this time it wasn't even an issue. Even the dreaded Forbidden Oasis didn't seem anywhere near as bad as I remember - sheesh I recall almost throwing my monitor out the window on my first visit in 2016. Yesterday I opened every shard door within the Ancient Elven Temple, and received a bunch of loot and resistances I didn't really need, but I did it anyway.

I've realised that the best way by far to collect shards is to completely finish the zone first, get all the landmarks, do all the quests, kill anything that needs to be killed etc. but completely ignore the occulariums .... then go away, do something else, explore a different zone... then go back to the original zone later when you're in the right headspace and just want to do something relatively mindless for a while. Do one occularium at a time, and just focus on each shard in turn. With no other distractions, or other quests to think about it's actually quite relaxing at times. It's also a good idea to bring different party members, or combinations of party members you don't usually make, so that you get the additional reward of banter you don't usually get to hear.

In fact the only zone where I felt like I was no longer having fun, and not enjoying things a whole lot was Emprise Du Lion. Just far too much scrambling around and annoying navigation. Having said all that, I enjoyed Suldedin Keep and Ishmael. Cool character, and a good fight. Once I got the bridge repaired, and made my way over to the second half of the zone things were much better. Three dragons to fight and very interesting architecture to explore.

So, I'll finish off Coriffyshit this evening, and then it's on to the DLC, which will be a true new experience. Never played any of it before..

Hopefully I can have some discipline and overcome my completionist nature and follow ArcadiaGrey's advice.

I decided do my 4th playthrough of DAI, after playing RPGs with mediocre graphics for the past year.  My son is not using his 1080p 32" television, so that is my new monitor after my old smaller monitor died.

I just started playing a two-handed female qunari warrior, and have just reached Haven, and am greatly enjoying DAI again (so far ...).

I plan on playing a selfish low brow grunt who doesn't give two shits about shards, mosaics, or ocularums, and also avoids such altruistic fetch quests like herding druffalo and floral deliveries.  I also plan on avoiding (as much as possible) the Fallow Mire, Sword Coast, Exalted Plains, Forbidden Oasis, Hissing Wastes, Western Approach and the Descent Deep Roads.

I only supported the templars once in my previous three playthroughs, so I will go that route.  My primary companions will be Vivienne, Cole and Sera (my romance).  I will skip recruiting Iron Bull and Blackwall, and turn away that enemy Vint (Dorian).  I will also likely skip the Cassandra, Varric, Solas, and Josephine quests.

Hopefully my "Keep" choices will also add flavor to this playthrough.
 

Hey - I ain't no Qumbaya Qunari ... Vints suck and they're all the same.  LOL