Next look at Dragon Age 4 at The Game Awards (Dec. 10)

I agree and that would be the case regardless of whether it was the same PC or not. After all, it was the same PC in DAA, yet we had a new cast of characters that are among my favourites. The only person I wasn't thrilled to see was the one returning character, Oghran. I would also preferred to have had a new character rather than Varric in DAI. I'm looking forward to meeting a new set of companions in the next game.

I am kind of getting tired of the Dragon Age franchise wanting it both ways.

"We want long running storylines from game to game and we want to set up villains like Solas by making him a companion in one game, but we also don't want to bring back previous heroes, we want a new one each time."

So what that means is each game becomes the new hero cleaning up the previous hero's messes and unfinished baggage. We also get weird contradictory stuff like "The Warden is searching for a cure for the calling, but we are not bringing them back, their story is over", "Hawke leaves Kirkwall and goes on the run a the end of DA2, only to come back as an NPC in the next game" and "Trespasser ties up The Inquisitor's story... by having them stab a knife on a map because they are going to look for Solas".

If BioWare really wants each Dragon Age game to have new protagonist each and every time (which they are fixated on sticking to, for whatever reason), they really should have these games be more self-contained instead of this weird long running gag where the new protagonist's primary arc is cleaning up the old baggage of the previous game's protagonist, thus ensuring that no protagonist really gets a really satisfying conclusion or their own story where they aren't just tying up someone else's loose ends.

So, I GM a lot of tabletop, and for my own customized setting I have a 'fixed timeline' where events that occur on and off-screen, so to speak, are part of the continuity for my players.

There is a core group of four people who have been in three separate campaigns in this world, all three different stories, territories, slightly different times (only about 6 years have passed in-game between the three groups) and each giving the world their own customized flavor. I got a cast of surviving player characters, organizations and NPCs that they interact with, some which love the references, like when I bring back a smuggling ring known as The White Rose Society or have a new group stumble upon a map leading to a Dragon Orb sought by three rival factions, and so on and so on. These are elements introduced in previous campaigns that become references or goals for the players, if they so choose, since I tend to give them some freedom to do whatever they wish.

The point I am bring up here, is that it is possible to have people invested in your world with their own characters and conflicts, and with returning characters, NPCs and PCs adding flavor, and even dramatic effect to the proceedings. The focus of it being organic is what really interests me, and honestly, Dragon Age has pretty much always been about that. Hawke has little to do with the Wardens story, just like the Inquisitor has little to do with theirs. The connections are maybe a few companions and characters, but never actual plot threads.

For whatever the next Dragon Age will be, I am sure they will continue this. I'll be honest, Trespasser never screamed to me as a continuation of the Inquisitor's story (hard to continue when you don't have an arm anymore) but rather a cliffhanger to the place where we are going next, and that really is the point in the end. The world is really the star of the show, and the characters that populate it are the actors for each play.

I like to think my Inqusiitor settled down to write his memoirs after Trespasser.

It's becoming more and more evident that this is the case It's a perfectly valid way to go, it's just not my cup of tea is all.

Anyway the Trespasser thing. I never played Trespasser but it sounds like a piece of content halfway between games to set up the next conflict. FF14 does this, they have 5 post expansion patches, the first 3 wrap up the current expansion and the last 2 set up the next expansion. I think the Origin expansion Awakenings would have been better if it set up DA:2 instead of dealing with the aftermath of Origins

Emotional investment is still an investment and emotional ones tend to be long term. Do you have the reserve to do it for every new title? Yes? Good for you. Some people get burnt out. DA has burnt me out emotionally. Not only was I not pleased with the DA2 and DA:I crew, but alongside Andromeda and Anthem, Bioware has made me not interested in any new crew. I was open to the idea of a new ME crew, with ME:A, although I didn't expect miracles, but that's put me off completely. If Bioware returns to ME, I would urge them not to underestimate the burnout. Either bring Ryder and co. back, or Shepard and co. For DA, do whatever you want. I don't really care at this point. I won't even be following its progress, as I already am not.

No, Solas was the one responsible.

And the Hawke/Corypheus comparison to Inquisitor/Solas falls apart for one simple reason: Hawke thought Corypheus was dealt with. They killed him and made sure he was dead. Corypheus didn’t show up later and tell Hawke what he planned to do and Hawke didn’t swear to stop him. Again, if DAI didn’t have Trespasser with only the player not the character knowing about Solas having a new PC would be fine. But Trespasser made that connection. That made Solas the Inquisitor’s antagonist. But no, BioWare decided to duck over that character and story just to follow some dumbass arbitrary rule they set for themselves, writing competence and potential be damned.

So they’ll become a completely bastardized version of themselves like are an, the Exile, or Hawke. Oh joy, so much better.

When's the pre show?

According to the YouTube trailers description