Dragon Age

If you didn't realize Morrigan was Queen of the Assholes until that point in the game, I dunno what to tell you. I kicked her out of my party way earlier because I immediately recognized how awful she was.

Well, the problem with homosexuality is not one of morals, but one of practicality. Tevinter is not against gays because a book supposedly condemns it, they are against it because two people of the same sex cannot make a baby. This problem doesn't really exist ina poly relationship with at least one man and one woman.

It's definitely an interesting idea. I fully support Poly relationships IRL and would be glad to see them represented in a game like this.

edited 5th Feb '16 3:35:41 PM by Nikkolas

Honestly the only reason neither the Qunari nor the Imperium haven't invaded the rest of Southern Thedas is because they're both too busy murder-stabbing each other. It's also why the only Imperium I'm willing to support is one that Dorian, Maevaris and Calpernia are involved in. If 4 ends up not letting you Take a Third Option and the Lucerni somehow don't exist, that's gonna make choosing a really difficult decision.

Speaking simply from an out-of-universe critical perspective, I would support the Qunari simply because they are a much, much more interesting faction. I might agree with them most of the time but even if you do not, they have a culture that is so much more richly detailed and intriguing than the Imperium. The Imperium are just "those magic slaver assholes over there."

The Qunari have so many mysteries to their origins, their philosophy is fascinating and they have the greatest chance of mounting a real change to the setting. Well, of the "normal" people. Solas and other god dudes have the bigger chance but of the nations/groups, qunari have a real..."presence" I guess you could say. I think wasting their first real invasion on a DLC was probably a mistake. I guess it was mostly just the actions of a single group, though.

I like the Qunari more, but if we're going for a Thedas that's at least kind of politically stable and you can only have them or Tevinter, it's probably best to go for Tevinter. Tevinter is at least open to reform and while they want to reconquer their southern neighbors they can't really do it, so they might not even try. Peace and progressions are at least possible.

I would love to see the Qunari go through a schism. I never sacrifice the Chargers, mostly it was due to that elf Qunari's behavior towards Bull.

That elf was kind of a jerk, yeah.

Inquisition really didn't do much with the Qunari. It was kind of disappointing.

It's sort of ironic that the one DA thus far without a qunari companion was the one where we dealt most with them and learned the most about them.

If there was a Qunari faction that was sincerely willing to have peace, I'd probably side with them.

As for the Tevinter slaver, accepting his offer would be severely out of character for my City Elf Warden. In any case, I'm not the type of person to sacrifice innocent bystanders on the possibility that something might be of use to me.

Nikkolas, didn't you once say that you try to avoid violence, and prefer to talk things out? Because I'd definitely define sacrificing the slaves for a blood magic ritual as "violence".

In Dragon Age 4 and any future games, I want more Dwarf companions who can be romancable for any protagonist. If it has that I'll be happy romance wise since a friend of mine and I hated how there was no romancable dwarves when we play dwarves in Origins or Inquisition.

I noted that was on my SECOND run, which I generally do everything different. My first DAO run, my first WRPG playthrough ever, was pretty haphazard since it was my first experience with any game like this. But as I said, I attacked Caladrius, freed the slaves and even let him leave with his life. Because I'm a nice guy.

It was my second run, where I played a sociopathic City Elf who had, due to her upbringing, come to equate power with life and felt contempt for everyone who was too weak to defend themselves, that I traded the alienage elves for the powerup. Hardly worth it but hey, she was evil. Also was Al's mistress because power. First run I had Anora rule alone because she's good at it and Al vehemently protested he did not want the position.

But yes, for my first runs, the "canon" runes if you will, I will usually try to talk things out. Sole exception is Inquisition where I purposefully made my Inquisitor different because my Warden and Hawke were too similar. I mean, what are the odds three great human male mage heroes emerge? Very slim. So I played a Female Dalish Elf Warrior and she was not one for discussion. Normally I would have heard Ishmael out but my Elfquisitor was having none of that. Same for dealing with Calpernia. Anything in her path dies.

I suppose it depends? Like, people often base their discrimination of gay people based off of lack of parental lineage, even though gay people can still have kids in this day and age. While it makes sense that it stems from a matter of practicality, that doesn't mean it will operate the same way in practice.

Discrimination doesn't always make perfect scene in practice and its often contradictory. So, at the very least, it could be interesting exploration as to how Tevinter society would react to such a relationship.

I can picture it now; You can take both of them and they'll have flirty banter and the third party member will inevitably be groaning at all the sexual tension.

That'll be wonderful.

EDIT: I just tweeted Patrick Weekes because I'm curious about what the answer might be.

edited 5th Feb '16 7:53:33 PM by InkDagger

My only issue with a poly relationship is would it count as two LI slots or one? With the description you gave of separate scenes it sounds like it'd be two which means only two or four left for monogamous relationships which would divide even further you start getting into gender preference and sexuality. If the inclusion of poly L Is as you propose it means that say women only get two monogamous L Is (One man and one girl) then I'm not sure that would work. Same for if it put straight guys/gay guys/lesbians in a same position - Inquisition made a big deal about (trying to) give everyone at least two options no matter their gender/sexuality. That would have to be reduced if the poly L Is take up two slots.

I'd be happier if they only took up one but then that begs the question of which gender/sexuality combo takes the hit. I guess they could do their usual model and add the poly L Is as "extra" but that basically means eight L Is with two of the L Is not only a combined package (Want to romance one and not both? Shit out of luck.) but taking up a fourth of the entire LI... slate I guess?

And to be honest... I kinda wish Bioware would cut back on the LI thing. Sometimes I feel like it's all anyone cares about in the games.

edited 5th Feb '16 7:54:37 PM by Pyrogenic

I'd say it takes up One LI slot I guess? Like, you couldn't romance one without the other. That would kept the writing tighter over all. Just, it would be healthy to have scenes that don't always have the other.

I got a tweet back from Weekes.

"Poorly, as a general rule. They're all about bloodline purity and are more conservative overall, especially in noble families. (That said, that's a general rule and not a universal one.)"

But THAT would mean you get less interaction with each individual which would inevitably lead to "Bioware gave us less content!" and "They fall into bed with the hero after one conversation they're totally just sex-crazy!"

I dunno. It sounds complicated. If it happens, I think it'd be more practical to just have them have scenes together.

EDIT: They could still have regular character scenes apart though and maybe have some flirtatious banter in there if you're in a relationship.

edited 5th Feb '16 8:02:21 PM by Pyrogenic

I just wouldn't want ALL scenes to involve both characters; I feel like it'd be wierd to consider them as 'one character' in a way; i.e. Never one without the other.

Giving them both their own separate scenes independent of the other might be nice. They'd probably end up with more content than most, but due to the nature of their characters, I doubt there'd be much fuss over it fandom wise. Like, Iron Bull has 3 scenes where its pretty clear you guys fucked. Meanwhile, Solas and Josephine leave it entirely up to player interpretation. And I appreciate that; Each romance deserves a different structure and load of content to tell a good story so some will have a scene or two more or something than others.

I have ideas in mind of banter that can only occur when one of them is in the party and not the other and other such things.

edited 5th Feb '16 8:39:41 PM by InkDagger

Never underestimate the fandom's ability to kick up shit especially over things like romance options.

For instance I actually know several Solasmancers who were upset over the lack of a sex scene.

(and using the Solas romance as an example is actually funny. Seriously the lack of content compared to other the romances is actually a complaint I hear a lot of from Solasmancers.)

edited 5th Feb '16 8:44:35 PM by Pyrogenic

I don't think the Fandom kicked up much shit over Iron Bull having 3 sex scenes and Solas and Josephine having none. There didn't seem to be that much infighting except for the Solasmancers wanting to have more content; which they got in Trespasser.

I remember some mild upset feelings due to some romances in Trespasser getting more content (Solas, Cullen, and Sera) over others, but it was never that bad as far as I'm aware.

I don't think it was a lack of CONTENT and more of a lack of an explanation on some parts and they got a bit more than they bargained for with his romance. Which a lot of those issues got rectified in the Trespasser DLC.

edited 5th Feb '16 8:49:32 PM by InkDagger

There were definitely some bitter feelings about it. I don't think it ever really resulted in any drama though so I guess it was hard to pick up on unless you specifically went looking for Solas fans.

Trespasser did do a lot to alleviate the complaint though. And I can't really speak for Josephine or her fans.

EDIT: For the record I'm not saying this is an issue with the poly LI model you propsed since it sounds like they'd just get a scene or two more than most romances. I'm just pointing out that some people did feel some of the romances skimped on content.

edited 5th Feb '16 8:51:26 PM by Pyrogenic

From my understanding, the Fandom EMBRACED the fact that we had romance options where sex was completely optional or left to fandom interpretation.

Some of them. A frequent discussion in Solas groups is "How can they give us the option of a having a sex scene without forcing it on those who want a chaste romance?" Just because some people wanted and celebrated the the chastity doesn't mean nobody wanted the alternative or were upset that they couldn't get it.

Most of the people that I saw who were upset they didn't get the option for sex were people who were more upset that they didn't get to see Josephine's tits and that really bugged me.

I feel like it depends on the romance. Like, Iron Bull's romance is inherently sexual. There's no way around it. So having a chaste option for it would be near impossible to do. Dorian explicitly gives you the choice. And Josephine and Solas just don't have anything explicit (Though Solas explicitly states in Trespasser that you guys never had sex).

I see Inquisition as a 'test the waters' on the concept of doing a romance without the usual 'climax sex' that occurs in Bioware and now we have a better idea of what works and what doesn't.

If we end up seeing a transgender love interest in DA 4 (PLZ GIVE ME MAEVERIS BIOWARE <3), I'd imagine we'll see a similar testing grounds of what's the best way to do that.

edited 5th Feb '16 9:06:20 PM by InkDagger

Why would anyone want to have sex with Solas? I mean, sure, sex is a part of a normal relationship, but the Solas romance isn't exactly normal. Also some relationships just involve sex more than others, as noted. Someone like Zevran is bound to make people wanthim more than say Alistair. Alistair you like or love because he's just really cute and sweet and funny, while Zev you would like because he's very flirty and open. Well, about some things.

The point is, some relationships, especially with a character like Solas, would be founded on more...intellectual connections than physical connections. It's how I imagine a Thane romance, although I never did it.

edited 5th Feb '16 9:11:53 PM by Nikkolas

Ah see? that line in Trespasser's actually a good example of what I mean. A lot of people took it as confirmation that they never had sex until it was explained that it could mean both. "I would not lay with you under false pretenses" could mean "I had sincere feelings for you and wouldn't have had sex if I didn't" or "I refused to sleep with you because I've been lying to all along."

It was an attempt to please both sides and ending up coming off as some awkward situation where Lavellan insists they had sex even though Solas denies it.

And I agree that somethings just don't work for certain romances and that there doesn't have to be anything explicitly sexual. However it's on record that the Solas romance was a last minute addition made because they had some leftover budget (Weekes was even initially turned down when he first suggested the romance but ending up writing it in his free time and convincing Bioware to put it in when he showed them the script. It was so heavily race-gated because they didn't have time to do animation for more than one model.) so I'm pretty sure it just got less resources and attention then all the rest.

Josephine's might've been an attempt to test the waters though.

Why wouldn't people want to have sex with their imaginary boyfriend? Have you MET any Dragon Age fans? They are lusty creatures.

edited 5th Feb '16 9:20:10 PM by Pyrogenic

As a DA fan, I know all about being a lusty creature. A lusty creature for someone like Zevran or Isabela. Hell, I have a close friend who is totally into Bull because she wants him.

But Solas? That's like Merrill. I love Merrill to pieces. She's my favorite DA romance by far. But for the sex? Not even remotely. I love Merrill because I agree with her and because I find her the sweetest, nicest character ever. Even the similarly sweet Leliana was more about tha sex than Merrill.

I didn't romance Solas but I did like his character. I can see why others would romance him. But to get into his pants? Ehhhhh.

edited 5th Feb '16 9:24:54 PM by Nikkolas

There's about 400 explicit Solavellan fics on Archive of Our Own that beg to disagree with you on that. And a 6000 page thread on the BSN. And probably mountains of porn on Tumblr.

Seriously I have no idea where you're getting the impression that everyone who romanced Solas wanted a purely asexual romance. He's an intellectual character yeah but... some people find that hot I guess.

edited 5th Feb '16 9:31:17 PM by Pyrogenic

I can only offer my own perspective. I'm sure there's oodles of Merrill porn out there too but I just didn't see the relationship that way and same for Solas.

edited 5th Feb '16 9:33:40 PM by Nikkolas