What did you do today in DA? [Spoilers]

They've always been that way haven't they, and its just been so long since I played origins I've forgotten.

I have been busy the last few gaming sessions: Doing Orzammar first to get Oghren, then followed by the Mage tower for Wynne, and followed up with trying to get the Dalish on board.

For my own personal record keeping:


- have never refused to help Dagna

- have never convinced Dagna to stay with her father
Thorn is going to this time ignore her, as that's new in a play through for me, and I couldn't bring myself to do the other two yet.

- have never killed ruck and lied about it

- have never killed ruck and said he died heroically
I had already left the deep roads and Ruck alive when I realised this, so I think I'll just be nice and tell his mother the news.

- have never let the halla die
- have never not brought back iron bark

- have never killed Deygan
And this time is no exception. Treating the Dalish badly is not something a Dalish warden would do after all.

I have done the mage tower every which way previously, so nothing new to report. These three main plots were finished with the mages rescued, Branka defeated and peace between the werewolves and elves.





Putting down Tamlen while he was begging Thorn to kill him and calling him Lethallin was Heart wrenching.



Having Lilliana's song trigger immediately after was unbelievably cringe, that's Tamlen's blood you're drenched in! I interpret Thorn's blank stare as: "Is she serious right now?"

After this I triggered Shale's personal quest, because I belive it cant be triggered after the landsmeet, and I want to leave as much as possible for when Loghain is in the party.
when I went to search for Sten's sword however: 




Have I never noticed this before? I remember a big night standing there, in previous games, but the name of said night never meant anything to me I'm sure. Have I really not played this game from before I watched Game of thrones? I'm stunned at myself.

Anyway, sten has his sword and now Oghren is wielding the butterfly sword. The only other companion quest I did was Morrigan's. Flemeth is dead, as Thorn believes it, and he gave Morrigan her grimoire. I also see that Wynne is also not just rude about a relationship with Zevran. Yeah she isn't my favourite.

After completing the sacred ashes (which remain undefiled) Thorn is now standing in Denerim, having just been personally greeted by Loghain. Still not sure why Loghain doesn't recognise Thorn after plastering fliers up all over the city, but they'll be best friends soon enough!

Well, yesterday I killed the Archdemon (my human mage Warden sacrificed herself and struck the killing blow), only to have the game crash during the epilogue, which I assume will screw up any import into Awakenings or DA2, so now I have to go back and do it again.

I hope this doesn't prove to be a chronic problem - I played DAO once before on this same computer without any trouble, though that was with the Warden surviving.

Gibbed Dragon Age 2 Save Editor lets you create a DAO Save for DA2. olnorton is that the one you recommended to me?

www.nexusmods.com/dragonage2/mods/2251

Thanks. I'll give it a try if I have any trouble with importing in DA2.

With the circle destroyed, we couldn't help the child in Redcliff...
i.imgur.com/ZWcjTq4.jpg

Knight Commander Greagoir wasn't interested in letting Dagna study at the Circle.
We had to go back and break the sad news.

I'm currently doing a Qunari playthrough.

Honestly, I find it unrealistic that everyone is so completely okay with having a Qunari mercenary as leader. Or that they're so unphased by her presence. Elves, dwarves, sure. They see those all the time. But Qunari, even if Tal-Vashoth, are more... alien.

I'm not sure why, but on my latest run through the DA games, I think I finally feel "invested" in Thedas and its myriad characters and factions, to the point that I enjoy spending time there even when I'm just dealing with sidequests in between the big turning points or making my way through a long map. Previously I'd felt this sort of investment in the Mass Effect universe and to some extent the Witcherverse, but not so much Thedas. Maybe it just takes a few playthroughs (this is only my third) to appreciate all the detail and background put into the stories, or maybe I've come to appreciate the ways in which it *isn't* just medieval Europe but with magic and traditional fantasy races (which was kind of my first impression).

I didn't really pay much attention to DA until 2014, so I missed the initial reaction to DA2. I have to say that, if it is in fact viewed negatively (which I'm still not clear about), then I think it's vastly underrated. The fact that you can't go far beyond Kirkwall actually doesn't bother me at all - not every game has to be about Saving The World - and the occasional recycled environments are mildly annoying but certainly not game-breaking, and no worse than those same two bases you encounter repeatedly in ME1.

The one thing I've always struggled with a little in DA2 is figuring out Hawke's character and moral orientation. Most of the time, you can play as someone with a pretty solid ethical compass (if not exactly "lawful," given the corruption in Kirkwall and the way the city's mages are treated), but then at a few points you're dabbling in the shadier criminal underworld to get the game to progress (the initial year after arriving, Fenris's recruitment quest, and Mark of the Assassin). I'd skipped Fenris on my two previous runs and still did skip MotA on this one - it just felt out of character for my apostate Hawke who was genuinely trying to do right for the people of Kirkwall to decide to steal something just because Tallis asks and apparently have no problem with killing random guards to get at it. DAO and DAI are a little more consistent in giving the Warden and the Inquisitor a range of reactions and compatible motives for all the more important quests.

(I also think Hawke is just generally pretty quick to start jumping into risky situations right off the bat for someone without any special training or abilities, though that's sort of an issue with a lot of video game protagonists.)

I do still think DAI is underwritten in places. For example, this time around I'm playing as a Dalish warrior who most definitely does *not* consider herself the Herald of Andraste and follows traditional elven religion rather than the Chantry. When the Avvars in the Fallow Mire kidnapped the soldiers because they consider Ellana Lavellan a threat to their own religious beliefs, it really felt like there should have been an option for to explain that she herself doesn't believe this and has no problem with them practicing their own religion as they see fit. Instead they all just attack on sight and that's that. But maybe it helps that I know to expect that going in, and I'm also playing with the combat difficulty set a little higher so I don't feel like I'm just mashing buttons.

Came back to DAI after many years. Decided to do a sort of re-play of my favorite Inquisitor (RP wise). Also do the Jaws of Hakkon and Descent for the first time. I never bought those two DLCs but seems like the EA app decided to give them to me. I don't even know when. Anyhow...

The original character back in the day was actually started as a "douchebag for the sake of being douchebag" whose purpose was to explore the dialogue/choices I hadn't dared to pick before. But then some unexpected things happened and the roleplaying took over. He ended up developing a lot during the story and in the end actually became my favorite. Some of the past choices became quite regrettable at that point though (e.g. managed to annoy Blackwall so bad he left).
This alternative universe version shares the looks (for the most part) and is still angry and blunt but his roleplay is also more redefined and consistent since his goal has never been to just piss off everyone lol. 

Still got the drunk Cassandra "rivalry" scene  The OG one got this as well but then, surprisingly, he ended up romancing her in the end. Was one of my favorite moments (besides accidentally befriending Sera) but this one's probably going for Bull or Josephine because I still haven't done their romances. 

Isn't it story gated, I have a vague memory of having to have a conversation with Cole and he is hard to find or is talking to Solas. Sorry it's been a while this probably does not help.

Yesterday I showed my wife that my Inquisitor is romancing the Iron Bull and she went "Ew, he is ugly".

And that got me thinking... if you zoom into his face, he is decent looking. But his proportions make him look grotesque, on top of the oversized horns and gray skin.

The Arishok was easier on the eye.

Tha ttensd t ohappen to me on DAO as well. I neve rfigured ou twhy.