Hints of Beyond Thedas in DA4?

Personally, not at all. This is our first trip into northern Thedas - we’ve never gotten, game wise, farther than the Free Marches. I’d like to see what Tevinter and Antiva have to offer before I worry about lands beyond Thedas.

In short, let’s save Northrend and Pandaria for when Azeroth has been thoroughly explored.

There is the possibility they could link the Executors to one of these previously mentioned lands beyond Thedas. My money would be on the Par Ladi if that was the case. We have been discussing elsewhere, though, the fact that the humans were always said to have arrived by ship from somewhere else, as did the Qunari. So dealing with the origins of both these races wouldn't be out of the question, bearing in mind they have already expanded on elven and dwarven lore in DAI and its DLC. To be honest, that would be a good way of introducing the idea of exploration beyond Thedas in DA5 (assuming there is one). Clearly there are other civilisations out there and I would love to visit them.

Piecing together stuff various devs have said over the years, DA:I and DA4 were originally supposed to be one game, plot-wise, and DA2 was conceived essentially as an extended prologue to that game, being first thought of as a DA:O expansion before being developed into its own game. The DA series at large was meant to be a series of standalone stories in the same universe, more like Discworld than, say, The Wheel of Time. Moreover, we know that the devs already have at least a general idea of what DA5 and possibly DA6 would be about, and that the intention is (or at least was) for DA4 to wrap up the Solas plot.

I bring this all up because if we think of this "Solas plot" as the basis for the DA2-DA4 arc—which was originally supposed to be a single sequel to DA:O, remember—and that's ending in DA4, one has to wonder what the next "arc" will be about. The darkspawn seem old hat now, the Qunari invasion and Tevinter revolution plots look like they'll be dealt with next game, the Mage/Templar conflict has grown thoroughly exhausting... My point is, this Executor stuff, as well as the other hints about lands beyond Thedas, could be setup for what comes after Solas, similar to how we see tentative hints for the "Solas plot" in DA:O and DA2.

Maybe focusing more on characters and story and less on "the setting" might be a way to go?

Sure.

Redefine words less.

The Avvar had always been described as being rather insular, only venturing out into the lowlands to do the odd bit of trading or raiding. They have never been conquered by anyone so their culture had remained pretty much unchanged from ancient times. Their power structure was different to the lowlanders, as were their customs, such as the climbing wall test of strength and the tradition of the skalds keeping alive their history through an oral singing tradition. Their clothing for the most part was also different from the lowlanders.

Their religion was unique to them. Whilst it was possible to draw parallels with some of the elven gods with regard to the identities of the major deities, the idea that the spirits of the Fade are their gods was original to them and for me gave some insight into what the barbarian beliefs were prior to Andraste. I also saw some parallels with what we know about Rivain when it comes to their attitude to the possibility of spirits working with mortals in a benign way. Their belief about reincarnation was something we had only encountered once previously, in the Cult of Andraste at Haven, but the Neromenians were also said to have believed their heroes were reborn as dragons, so reincarnation in one form or another would seem to be an ancient human belief.

So I found the whole experience fascinating and what I would expect when encountering a totally new culture.

I assume you feel Nevarra is Egypt because of their burial practices, although other nations in our world have practiced mummification. The religion which underpins it though is very different from that of Egypt and seems a peculiar hybrid of Andrastrianism with a custom originating in Tevinter. What I find puzzling about Nevarra is where their tradition sprang from? Apparently, despite the presence of the Orlesian Chantry across the south and despite the long history of Tevinter treachery in the region, a Tevinter mage was able to start a whole new burial custom in the City State of Nevarra before it became a larger nation. Why did the Nevarrans become so enthusiastic about a religious practice that involves interaction with the spirit world when elsewhere the Circles were so wary of possession and had Templars policing such activity? To be honest, I thought it more likely that they had revived an earlier tradition of the natives to the area that had never entirely died out in rural areas (like the Seers in Rivain) but no one has ever said as much. The size of the Grand Necropolis is also odd for a religious practice that has only been around for some 700 years, particularly when you consider that it started within a city state not an empire. Once again, I wonder if they utilised a structure that was already there as the foundation for their edifice.

So to my mind the only unique thing about Nevarra is the Grand Necropolis and it would be interesting to visit it, although having read Tevinter Nights there is less to discover now than might have been the case if there had been no introduction in that anthology.

As for me associating bright, vibrant colours with Tevinter, that is based on the fact it is a warm, sunny climate, with the major cities situated in coastal locations. As the ruling class are mages and they would set the tone for fashion, I imagined loose flowing robes, suitable for the heat or something more like these images from the Ottoman Empire (the bottom ones are modern day costumes based off a traditional design), which after all bordered Europe in much the same way as Tevinter borders the south. Instead WoT gave us fashion for Tevinter that looks more like they are a bunch of modern Goths. Evil mage empire = black/dark colours - very original. (heavy sarcasm)

Of course, the Imperium is such a large area that it is perfectly possible for different regions to have their own particular style of clothing. So may be WoT was just referencing what was currently popular in Minrathous but it was just a fashion fad rather than traditional wear. I suppose the other thing to remember is that WoT was meant to have been written by an in-world scholar from the south. From this perspective, naturally they would want to create the impression that the evil wizards in the north all dressed in dark colours, so there is plenty of wriggle room there for the Devs to do something different when we actually go there. There is also this concept art which, whilst having Antivan Crows in the image, seems more likely to be set in Tevinter.

I understand you want more creativity.
I don't see magicians dressed in the Ottoman Empire robes.
I will Looking for pictures that show my opinion and then i show you.