History FranchiseOriginalSin / BioWare

** One area that ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' received criticism for was its StoryBranchFavoritism in regards to races, where an Elf player character had the most options available to them and the story could only be truly experienced as one. ''Origins'' always had this problem too as a Human Warden could have the most diverse set of options for them in terms of the ending and outcomes. However, ''Origins'' had the player origin mechanic to make this less impactful, allowing each race and/or class combo to have their own unique story line. For example, a Dwarf would have a lot of involvement in the Orzamar plotline then they would as an Elf or Human, while an Elf Warden would have unique lines and reactions depending on what background they came from. By contrast, ''Inquisition'' has no mechanic like this, meaning that an Elf Inquistor gets more lore and room to be shaped, while Dwarves and Quinari have practically little involvement from a story or resolution angle.

** One area that ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquistion'' received criticism for was its StoryBranchFavoritism in regards to races, where an Elf player character had the most options available to them and the story could only be truly experienced as one. ''Origins'' always had this problem too as a Human Warden could have the most diverse set of options for them in terms of the ending and outcomes. However, ''Origins'' had the player origin mechanic to make this less impactful, allowing each race and/or class combo to have their own unique story line. For example, a Dwarf would have a lot of involvement in the Orzamar plotline then they would as an Elf or Human, while an Elf Warden would have unique lines and reactions depending on what background they came from. By contrast, ''Inquisition'' has no mechanic like this, meaning that an Elf Inquistor gets more lore and room to be shaped, while Dwarves and Quinari have practically little involvement from a story or resolution angle.

** In a way similar to ''Mass Effect'', [[https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Bioware#Dragon_Age 1d4chan also point out that this applies to]] ''Franchise/DragonAge'', as well, only to a much sharper degree; every [[BrokenBase base breaking]] aspect of the second game was present in ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Origins]]''. There was pointless DLC, divisive or unlikable characters, and the first expansion pack ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]]'' was visibly rushed and had loads of {{Game Breaking Bug}}s. Thing is, it was all kept in check there, and plenty of work was put into ''Origins'' to ensure it came out good. ''Dragon Age II'' was every problem with ''Origins'' made blatant due to EA forcing Bioware to bum-rush the game out the door. As good as Bioware is, a game of the same quality level of ''Dragon Age: Origins'' being completed in '''less than a year''' just ''wasn't'' going to happen.

** In a way similar to ''Mass Effect'', [[https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Bioware#Dragon_Age 1d4chan also point out that this applies to]] ''Franchise/DragonAge'', as well, only to a much sharper degree; every [[BrokenBase base breaking]] aspect of the second game was present in ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Origins]]''. There was pointless DLC, divisive or unlikable characters, and the first expansion pack ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]]'' was visibly rushed and had loads of {{Game Breaking Bug}}s. Thing is, it was all kept in check there, and plenty of work was put into ''Origins'' to ensure it came out good. ''Dragon Age II'' was every problem with ''Origins'' made blatant due to EA forcing Bioware to bum-rush the game out the door. As good as Bioware is, a game of the same quality level of ''Dragon Age: Origins'' being completed in '''less than a year''' just ''wasn't'' going to happen.
** Elven lore taking much of ''Inquisition'', and thus favoring an Elf player character has been heavily criticized, but existed earlier in the series. ''Origins'' had a heavy leaning towards a Human Noble origin being favored by the game, thanks to the many options you had for dealing with the Landsmeet, who became the ruler of Fereldan, and TheDragon to Loghain being the one who killed your family. However, the other race/class combinations still were factored in and provided unique experiences that made it worth playing the game over a few times, such as a Dwarf Noble being closer to the succession issue in Orzammar, or the Circle Mage origin having a direct investment in the recruitment of the Mages, and the fate of the people within the Circle of Mages. Notable your race only affected certain parts of the games story, and you could still romance characters regardless of race. In ''2'', you played as the solely Human Hawke, but the game was more down-to-earth in stakes and story, so there was less "favoritism" since the game focused more on exploring your party members, and still accounted for the lore of the other races. ''Inquistion'' however went well into exploring the lore of the Elves, and made race a major factor in romances as well, to the point where a Female Elf could romance more characters than any other race[[note]]A Female elf could romance: Solas, Sera, Iron Bull, Cullen, Blackwall, Josephine. A male Elf could romance Cassandra, Iron Bull, Dorian, and Josephine.[[/note]]. In addition, other races lore and backgrounds were completely ignore in favor of using the Elven Pantheon later on in the narrative, and the game ends with the GreaterScopeVillain directly being related to the Elven lore. Meanwhile Dwarfs and Qunari are pushed to the side, while Humans only have their lore and history explored in passing. Even if your character is not an Elf the game still forces the player to accept much of it, but only can Elves truly gain a full experience of the game. Fans of the series are concerned that the next game will focus so heavily on the Elven lore at the cost of others.
*** Conversely, despite the focus on Elf lore in ''Inquisition'', the game assumes that you're playing as a Human with little to no knowledge on Elven lore. This leads to Dalish Inquisitors having to be told things they should know about their own lore by Solas and the ''Human'' Morrigan. Female Dalish Inquisitors also, despite having more romance options, have what's seen as the ''worst'' romances in two cases. First, there's Solas, who is fine normally, but Trespasser has him [[spoiler:end the relationship for story reasons, and you can't do anything about it]]. Second, there's Sera, who forces her anti-Elf views on the player if they're Dalish and breaks up with the player if they refuse to accept her views (as opposing to agree to disagree with other races).
** Although, one could argue that ''Franchise/DragonAge'' always had a problem with one race being a SpotlightStealingSquad with StoryBranchFavoritism - it was just mostly given to human playthroughs before the second half of [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition DAI]]. As explained above, the Human Noble Origin got far and away the best story content in [=DAO=][[note]]To the point that only the Human Noble could become King/Queen, and only the Female Human Nobles could crown and marry [[LoveInterest Alistair]] without having to harden him to become his mistress or get dumped[[/note]], is presented as THE Default Warden in CC, and [=DA2=] made the PlayerCharacter Hawke the Human Mage Warden's distant cousin. All of this ensured an estimated ''80%'' of [=DAO=] players only played human because there was little incentive to play other races. [=DA2=] was also human-only, and while one can explore other race's lore via companions it's cold comfort for players who want to play a non-human. (A Dragon Age Nexus "Elven Hawke Family" mod exists for this reason.) [=DAI=]'s marketing and entire first half also ''heavily'' focus on Andrastian human lore and politics - to the point that Non-Human Heralds have no choice but to accept the entire game treating them as a re-skinned human, with their own racial identity, beliefs, and culture being almost universally ignored by other characters. (Speaking of companions, pretty much ''all'' Inquisition companions and advisers are Andrastian humans, or spout very pro-Andrastian human worldviews[[note]]like the two elven companions Sera and Solas both badmouth all modern elves, Varric is still "non-dwarfy," Vivienne is a Pro-Circle loyalist mage, Dorian the Tevinter mage being sympathetic to Southern Andrastian values, etc. Only Iron Bull really speaks for his own culture, the Qunari, and he's been living among Andrastian humans so long he's pretty much acclimated to Andrastian human society[[/note]], unlike previous games where we had companions representing various races, cultures, and worldviews.) Non-human fans complained of Human StoryBranchFavoritism in fan forums and comments for years, but since only an estimated 20% of [=DAO=] players played non-humans[[note]](15% played elves (and mostly the Mage Elf to get the Mana and Magic racial bonus), 5% played dwarves (and mostly the Dwarf Noble to get Gorim's discount)[[/note]] they were a VocalMinority. It wasn't until the second half of [=DAI=] that devs switched the focus from Humans to Elves, and the same fandom that was fine with or resigned to Andrastian humans getting most of the spotlight suddenly resented Elves getting more focus. In short, Creator/BioWare has had a problem giving one playable race disproportionate focus and story favoritism since the beginning, but it wasn't until they switched from the fan-favorite human race to the relatively less popular elven race that the majority fandom started crying foul.
** Of course, that's not to say that it's all positive for the elves - Inquisition features a major reveal that the ancient elves of Arlathan held their own people in slavery, and saw elven characters like Sera and Solas actively express disdain for the modern elves. Not to mention that while Female Lavellan can romance more characters, she is also the ''only one'' whose romance is negatively impacted because of her race (since both Sera and Solas constantly badmouth the Dalish even after dating her, [[spoiler:Sera will dump Lavellan for being "too elfy," and while Solas is female elf-exclusive he also dumps you no matter what]] something NO OTHER LoveInterest in the franchise ever does), and straight male Lavellans can only date a devout Andrastian human woman (the culture oppressing elves), and cannot date an elf at all (since Solas and Sera exclusively like women). Meanwhile, Morrigan enters the plot as the "arcane adviser," with a particular focus on elven history. Many took issue with this combination, where it seems to be that the modern elves are being framed as, at best, naive in their attempts to rebuild their culture and restore their history, with Morrigan, a human, being seen as the "correct" option by [=BioWare=] and the writing to take a vast collection of ancient elven knowledge. In effect, there seemed to be a focus on tearing down the modern elves who are trying to find out anything of a heritage that has repeated been torn to pieces by the humans who barricade them off in slums in their cities and, at least before the reveal about Arlathan, are historically believed responsible for the destruction of the ancient elven cities and society. But this has been a recurring thread - in [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII DA2]], Merrill's attempts to repair the eluvian are helped or hindered by Hawke's choices. Merrill is an elf and Hawke is a human, meaning of the same race as those who've been suppressing elven culture, allowing a human the final say on if an elf can rebuild this piece of her own heritage. And in [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]], a gift for Velanna has her decide to create new stories for her people, as they'd lost their own. And in the ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Witch Hunt]]'' DLC, Finn the human Circle mage effortlessly deduces that "eluvian" means mirror, anticipates where Morrigan took it, and performs ancient elvhen rituals to find her--all while Ariane the Dalish companion stands there shocked and embarrassed that a ''human'' effortlessly deciphered ancient elvhen words and rituals that her people have tried and failed to decipher for centuries. On their own, maybe not so troubling, but when put together, many saw a lot of UnfortunateImplications, particularly given the [[{{Applicability}} parallels many draw]] between elves and minorities (and [[https://web.archive.org/web/20151218090209/http://the-gaider-archives.tumblr.com/post/109509566283/i-was-wondering-if-the-elves-in-dragon-age-were-at Word of Gaider]] even admitting they based the elves on some real minorities) come into focus in Inquisition that had slid past the radar before.
----

** Of course, that's not to say that it's all positive for the elves - Inquisition features a major reveal that the ancient elves of Arlathan held their own people in slavery, and saw elven characters like Sera and Solas actively express disdain for the modern elves. Not to mention that while Female Lavellan can romance more characters, she is also the ''only one'' whose romance is negatively impacted because of her race (since both Sera and Solas constantly badmouth the Dalish even after dating her, [[spoiler:Sera will dump Lavellan for being "too elfy," and while Solas is female elf-exclusive he also dumps you no matter what]] something NO OTHER LoveInterest in the franchise ever does), and straight male Lavellans can only date a devout Andrastian human woman (the culture oppressing elves), and cannot date an elf at all (since Solas and Sera exclusively like women). Meanwhile, Morrigan enters the plot as the "arcane adviser," with a particular focus on elven history. Many took issue with this combination, where it seems to be that the modern elves are being framed as, at best, naive in their attempts to rebuild their culture and restore their history, with Morrigan, a human, being seen as the "correct" option by [=BioWare=] and the writing to take a vast collection of ancient elven knowledge. In effect, there seemed to be a focus on tearing down the modern elves who are trying to find out anything of a heritage that has repeated been torn to pieces by the humans who barricade them off in slums in their cities and, at least before the reveal about Arlathan, are historically believed responsible for the destruction of the ancient elven cities and society. But this has been a recurring thread - in [[VideoGame/DragonAge2 DA2]], Merrill's attempts to repair the eluvian are helped or hindered by Hawke's choices. Merrill is an elf and Hawke is a human, meaning of the same race as those who've been suppressing elven culture, allowing a human the final say on if an elf can rebuild this piece of her own heritage. And in [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]], a gift for Velanna has her decide to create new stories for her people, as they'd lost their own. And in the ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Witch Hunt]]'' DLC, Finn the human Circle mage effortlessly deduces that "eluvian" means mirror, anticipates where Morrigan took it, and performs ancient elvhen rituals to find her--all while Ariane the Dalish companion stands there shocked and embarrassed that a ''human'' effortlessly deciphered ancient elvhen words and rituals that her people have tried and failed to decipher for centuries. On their own, maybe not so troubling, but when put together, many saw a lot of UnfortunateImplications, particularly given the [[{{Applicability}} parallels many draw]] between elves and minorities (and [[https://web.archive.org/web/20151218090209/http://the-gaider-archives.tumblr.com/post/109509566283/i-was-wondering-if-the-elves-in-dragon-age-were-at Word of Gaider]] even admitting they based the elves on some real minorities) come into focus in Inquisition that had slid past the radar before.

** Although, one could argue that ''Franchise/DragonAge'' always had a problem with one race being a SpotlightStealingSquad with StoryBranchFavoritism - it was just mostly given to human playthroughs before the second half of [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition DAI]]. As explained above, the Human Noble Origin got far and away the best story content in [=DAO=][[note]]To the point that only the Human Noble could become King/Queen, and only the Female Human Nobles could crown and marry [[LoveInterest Alistair]] without having to harden him to become his mistress or get dumped[[/note]], is presented as THE Default Warden in CC, and [=DA2=] made the PlayerCharacter Hawke the Human Mage Warden's distant cousin. All of this ensured an estimated ''80%'' of [=DAO=] players only played human because there was little incentive to play other races. [=DA2=] was also human-only, and while one can explore other race's lore via companions it's cold comfort for players who want to play a non-human. (A Dragon Age Nexus "Elven Hawke Family" mod exists for this reason.) [=DAI=]'s marketing and entire first half also ''heavily'' focus on Andrastian human lore and politics - to the point that Non-Human Heralds have no choice but to accept the entire game treating them as a re-skinned human, with their own racial identity, beliefs, and culture being almost universally ignored by other characters. (Speaking of companions, pretty much ''all'' Inquisition companions and advisers are Andrastian humans, or spout very pro-Andrastian human worldviews[[note]]like the two elven companions Sera and Solas both badmouth all modern elves, Varric is still "non-dwarfy," Vivienne is a Pro-Circle loyalist mage, Dorian the Tevinter mage being sympathetic to Southern Andrastian values, etc. Only Iron Bull really speaks for his own culture, the Qunari, and he's been living among Andrastian humans so long he's pretty much acclimated to Andrastian human society[[/note]], unlike previous games where we had companions representing various races, cultures, and worldviews.) Non-human fans complained of Human StoryBranchFavoritism in fan forums and comments for years, but since only an estimated 20% of [=DAO=] players played non-humans[[note]](15% played elves (and mostly the Mage Elf to get the Mana and Magic racial bonus), 5% played dwarves (and mostly the Dwarf Noble to get Gorim's discount)[[/note]] they were a VocalMinority. It wasn't until the second half of [=DAI=] that devs switched the focus from Humans to Elves, and the same fandom that was fine with or resigned to Andrastian humans getting most of the spotlight suddenly resented Elves getting more focus. In short, Creator/BioWare has had a problem giving one playable race disproportionate focus and story favoritism since the beginning, but it wasn't until they switched from the fan-favorite human race to the relatively less popular elven race that the majority fandom started crying foul.

[=BioWare=], being a longrunning studio with a rich history of franchises, has accumulated a lot of Original Sins of its own over the years.

** As [[https://kotaku.com/how-biowares-anthem-went-wrong-1833731964 this article]] describes, Creator/BioWare has always had very ambitious ideas for games with a [[TroubledProduction lack of practical strategies of how to implement them]], with upper management relying on the old "Creator/BioWare Magic" to see them through: a sort of "everything will come together at the last minute" attitude that had gotten them through the ''Franchise/MassEffect Trilogy'', ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition.'' But relying on "Creator/BioWare Magic" has caused [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA]] and Creator/BioWare upper management to ignore production issues Creator/BioWare has always had - poor leadership, communication, and time management, an inability to take criticism or feedback even during development, lack of a central vision for everyone to work toward till the very end, most recently the notorious Frostbite engine[[note]]a notoriously difficult game engine designed for [=FPS=] games that all [=EA=] titles are now encouraged to use, even though Creator/BioWare mostly creates [=RPG=]'s and online games[[/note]], and prolonged crunch times resulting in staff having breakdowns, doctor-mandated "stress leave," or leaving the studio entirely - have finally started negatively impacting the critical and fan reception of their latest titles. ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' and ''VideoGame/{{Anthem}}'' are considered SoOkayItsAverage at best, [[ToughActToFollow disappointing follow-ups]] to their beloved ''Franchise/MassEffect Trilogy'' and ''Franchise/DragonAge'' titles at worst.\\
It was forgiven at first because their games were of very high quality, and had a consistent leadership that was able to keep the development teams focused on their objective, but with Casey Hudson leaving early in ''Anthem'' 's development, there was no one left to do that job, meaning that "Bioware Magic" did not manifest.

* Franchise/MassEffect:

** As [[https://kotaku.com/how-biowares-anthem-went-wrong-1833731964 this article]] describes, Creator/BioWare has always had very ambitious ideas for games with a [[TroubledProduction lack of practical strategies of how to implement them]], with upper management relying on the old "Creator/BioWare Magic" to see them through: a sort of "everything will come together at the last minute" attitude that had gotten them through the ''Franchise/MassEffect Trilogy'', ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition.'' But relying on "Creator/BioWare Magic" has caused [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA]] and Creator/BioWare upper management to ignore production issues Creator/BioWare has always had - poor leadership, communication, and time management, an inability to take criticism or feedback even during development, lack of a central vision for everyone to work toward till the very end, most recently the notorious Frostbite engine[[note]]a notoriously difficult game engine designed for [=FPS=] games that all [=EA=] titles are now encouraged to use, even though Creator/BioWare mostly creates [=RPG=]'s and online games[[/note]], and prolonged crunch times resulting in staff having breakdowns, doctor-mandated "stress leave," or leaving the studio entirely - which have finally started negatively impacting the critical and fan reception of their latest titles. ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' and ''VideoGame/{{Anthem}}'' are considered SoOkayItsAverage at best, [[ToughActToFollow disappointing followups]] to their beloved ''Franchise/MassEffect Trilogy'' and ''Franchise/DragonAge'' titles at worst.

** As [[https://kotaku.com/how-biowares-anthem-went-wrong-1833731964 this article]] describes, Creator/BioWare has always had very ambitious ideas for games with a [[TroubledProduction lack of practical strategies of how to implement them]], with upper management relying on the old "Creator/BioWare Magic" to see them through: a sort of "everything will come together at the last minute" attitude that had gotten them through the ''Franchise/MassEffect Trilogy'', ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition.'' But relying on "Creator/BioWare Magic" has caused [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA]] and Creator/BioWare upper management to ignore production issues Creator/BioWare has always had - poor leadership, communication, and time management, an inability to take criticism or feedback even during development, lack of a central vision for everyone to work toward till the very end, most recently the notorious Frostbite engine[[note]]a notoriously difficult game engine designed for [=FPS=] games that all [=EA=] titles are now required to use, even though Creator/BioWare mostly creates [=RPG=]'s and online games[[/note]], and prolonged crunch times resulting in staff having breakdowns, doctor-mandated "stress leave," or leaving the studio entirely - which have finally started negatively impacting the critical and fan reception of their latest titles. ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' and ''VideoGame/{{Anthem}}'' are considered SoOkayItsAverage at best, [[ToughActToFollow disappointing followups]] to their beloved ''Franchise/MassEffect Trilogy'' and ''Franchise/DragonAge'' titles at worst.

** As [[https://kotaku.com/how-biowares-anthem-went-wrong-1833731964 this article]] describes, Creator/BioWare has always had very ambitious ideas for games with a [[TroubledProduction lack of practical strategies of how to implement them]], with upper management relying on the old "Creator/BioWare Magic" to see them through: A sort of "everything will come together at the last minute" attitude that had gotten them through the ''Franchise/MassEffect Trilogy'', ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition.'' But relying on "Creator/BioWare Magic" has caused [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA]] and Creator/BioWare upper management to ignore production issues Creator/BioWare has always had - poor leadership, communication, and time management, an inability to take criticism or feedback even during development, lack of a central vision for everyone to work toward till the very end, most recently the notorious Frostbite engine[[note]]a notoriously difficult game engine designed for [=FPS=] games that all [=EA=] titles are now required to use, even though Creator/BioWare mostly creates [=RPG=]'s and online games[[/note]], and prolonged crunch times resulting in staff having breakdowns, doctor-mandated "stress leave," or leaving the studio entirely - which have finally started negatively impacting the critical and fan reception of their latest titles. ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' and ''VideoGame/{{Anthem}}'' are considered SoOkayItsAverage at best, [[ToughActToFollow disappointing followups]] to their beloved ''Franchise/MassEffect Trilogy'' and ''Franchise/DragonAge'' titles at worst.

** As [[https://kotaku.com/how-biowares-anthem-went-wrong-1833731964 this article]] describes, Creator/BioWare has always had very ambitious ideas for games with a [[TroubledProduction lack of practical strategies of how to implement them]], with upper management relying on the old "Creator/BioWare Magic" to see them through: A sort of "everything will come together at the last minute" attitude that had gotten them through the ''Franchise/MassEffect Trilogy'', ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition.'' But relying on "Creator/BioWare Magic" has caused [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA]] and Creator/BioWare upper management to allow game development issues Creator/BioWare has always had to grow out of control for their latest titles: Poor management and communication, an inability to take criticism or feedback, lack of a central vision for everyone to work toward till the end, poor time management (years of pre-production where barely anything gets done morphing into a rushed final 16 months where the bulk of game design is slapped together and rushed out the door), core game features as early selling points being cut due to technical limitations, the notorious Frostbite engine[[note]]a notoriously difficult game engine that all Creator/ElectronicArts games are now required to use, including Creator/BioWare games, even though Frostbite wasn't designed for the kind of [=RPG=]s and online games that Creator/BioWare is known for. Frostbite is so notoriously difficult to use, it makes small problems that normally take seconds to fix take hours or even ''days'' with Frostbite, slowing down production down that much more[[/note]], staff having breakdowns, doctor-mandated "stress leave," or leaving the studio entirely as the mandatory crunch time near the release date wears down their physical and mental health - have finally negatively impacted the critical and financial reception of their latest titles, ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' and ''VideoGame/{{Anthem}}'', which are considered SoOkayItsAverage at best, InternetBackdraft bait at worst.

** Although, one could argue that ''Franchise/DragonAge'' always had a problem with one race being a SpotlightStealingSquad with StoryBranchFavoritism from the beginning - it was just mostly given to human playthroughs. As stated above, the Human Noble Origin was given far and away the best story content in [=DAO=][[note]]To the point that only the Human Noble could marry a monarch and become King/Queen, and only the Female Human Nobles could crown and marry Alistair without having to harden him to become his mistress or get dumped[[/note]], is presented as THE Default Warden in CC, and [=DA2=] made the PlayerCharacter Hawke the Human Mage Warden's distant cousin, which ensured an estimated ''80%'' of [=DAO=] players only played humans because there was little to no incentive to play a non-human. [=DA2=] was also human-only, and while one can explore other race's lore via companions, it's cold comfort for players who want to play a non-human. (A Dragon Age Nexus "Elven Hawke Family" mod exists for this reason.) [=DAI=]'s marketing and entire first half also ''heavily'' focus on Andrastian human history, culture, religion, and politics - to the point that Non-Human Heralds have no choice but to accept the entire game naming them the prophet of a human god and leader of a human para-religious military organization to advance Andrastian human political interests, with their own identity, beliefs, and culture being almost universally ignored by other characters, and opportunities to interact with or help their own people being slim to none. (Speaking of companions, pretty much ''all'' Inquisition companions and advisers are Andrastian humans, or spout very pro-Andrastian human worldviews[[note]]like the two elven companions Sera and Solas both disdaining all modern elves, Varric still being "non-dwarfy," Vivienne being a Pro-Circle loyalist, Dorian the Tevinter mage being sympathetic to Southern Andrastian values, etc. Only Iron Bull really speaks for his own culture, the Qunari, and he's been living among Andrastian humans so long he's pretty much acclimated to Andrastian human society[[/note]], unlike in previous games where we tended to have a motley crew of companions representing various races, cultures, and backgrounds.) Non-human fan complaints of Human StoryBranchFavoritism have cropped up in fan forums and comments since the beginning, but since only an estimated 20% of [=DAO=] players played non-humans[[note]](15% played elves (and mostly the Mage Elf to get the Mana and Magic racial bonus), 5% played dwarves (and mostly the Dwarf Noble to get Gorim's discount)[[/note]] they were largely dismissed as a VocalMinority. It wasn't until the second half of [=DAI=] shifted its focus toward Elves, that the same fandom that was fine with or resigned to Andrastian humans getting most of the spotlight suddenly resented Elves getting more focus. (This is probably because 80% of [=DAO=] and 50% of [=DAI=] playthroughs were human, while only 15% of [=DAO=] and 35% of [=DAI=] playthroughs were Elves, and humans getting more focus was the norm before the second half of [=DAI=] switched to Elves.]]
** Of course, that's not to say that it's all positive for the elves - Inquisition features a major reveal that the ancient elves of Arlathan held their own people in slavery, and saw elven characters like Sera and Solas actively express disdain for the modern elves. (Not to mention Meanwhile, Morrigan enters the plot as the "arcane adviser," with a particular focus on elven history. Many took issue with this combination, where it seems to be that the modern elves are being framed as, at best, naive in their attempts to rebuild their culture and restore their history, with Morrigan, a human, being seen as the "correct" option by [=BioWare=] and the writing to take a vast collection of ancient elven knowledge. In effect, there seemed to be a focus on tearing down the modern elves who are trying to find out anything of a heritage that has repeated been torn to pieces by the humans who barricade them off in slums in their cities and, at least before the reveal about Arlathan, are historically believed responsible for the destruction of the ancient elven cities and society. But this has been a recurring thread - in [[VideoGame/DragonAge2 DA2]], Merrill's attempts to repair the eluvian are helped or hindered by Hawke's choices. Merrill is an elf and Hawke is a human, meaning of the same race as those who've been suppressing elven culture, allowing a human the final say on if an elf can rebuild this piece of her own heritage. And in [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]], a gift for Velanna has her decide to create new stories for her people, as they'd lost their own. And in the ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Witch Hunt]]'' DLC, Finn the human Circle mage effortlessly deduces that "eluvian" means mirror, anticipates where Morrigan took it, and performs ancient elvhen rituals to find her--all while Ariane the Dalish companion stands there shocked and embarrassed that a ''human'' effortlessly deciphered ancient elvhen words and rituals that her people have tried and failed to decipher for centuries. On their own, maybe not so troubling, but when put together, many saw a lot of UnfortunateImplications, particularly given the [[{{Applicability}} parallels many draw]] between elves and minorities (and [[https://web.archive.org/web/20151218090209/http://the-gaider-archives.tumblr.com/post/109509566283/i-was-wondering-if-the-elves-in-dragon-age-were-at Word of Gaider]] even admitting they based the elves on some real minorities) come into focus in Inquisition that had slid past the radar before.

** Of course, that's not to say that it's all positive for the elves - Inquisition features a major reveal that the ancient elves of Arlathan held their own people in slavery, and saw elven characters like Sera and Solas actively express disdain for the modern elves. Meanwhile, Morrigan enters the plot as the "arcane adviser," with a particular focus on elven history. Many took issue with this combination, where it seems to be that the modern elves are being framed as, at best, naive in their attempts to rebuild their culture and restore their history, with Morrigan, a human, being seen as the "correct" option by [=BioWare=] and the writing to take a vast collection of ancient elven knowledge. In effect, there seemed to be a focus on tearing down the modern elves who are trying to find out anything of a heritage that has repeated been torn to pieces by the humans who barricade them off in slums in their cities and, at least before the reveal about Arlathan, are historically believed responsible for the destruction of the ancient elven cities and society. But this has been a recurring thread - in [[VideoGame/DragonAge2 DA2]], Merrill's attempts to repair the eluvian are helped or hindered by Hawke's choices. Merrill is an elf and Hawke is a human, meaning of the same race as those who've been suppressing elven culture, allowing a human the final say on if an elf can rebuild this piece of her own heritage. And in [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]], a gift for Velanna has her decide to create new stories for her people, as they'd lost their own. On their own, maybe not so troubling, but when put together, many saw a lot of UnfortunateImplications, particularly given the [[{{Applicability}} parallels many draw]] between elves and minorities (and [[https://web.archive.org/web/20151218090209/http://the-gaider-archives.tumblr.com/post/109509566283/i-was-wondering-if-the-elves-in-dragon-age-were-at Word of Gaider]] even admitting they based the elves on some real minorities) come into focus in Inquisition that had slid past the radar before.
** For that matter, Creator/BioWare 's increasingly pervasive portrayal of human characters being better suited to reclaim and wield ancient elvhen knowledge over the elves themselves (despite being the ones stealing and suppressing elven culture) appeared as early as the [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Witch Hunt]] DLC. Morrigan the human hedge witch stole a book from a Dalish Clan and uses it to reconstruct an eluvian. When the Warden and the Clan's warrior Ariane go to the Circle where the book originated (given to them by a runaway elven apostate) they encounter Finn, a human mage who effortlessly deduces that the word "eluvian" means mirror, anticipates where Morrigan took it, and concocts a plan to utilize ancient elvhen rituals to find her--all while Ariane stands there looking shocked and embarrassed that a ''human'' effortlessly deciphered ancient elvhen words and rituals that her people have tried and failed to decipher for centuries. Not great, but ultimately a minor plot point in a short [=DLC=]. Then in [[VideoGame/DragonAge2 DA2]], Merrill's entire character arc is her being universally derided by the narrative and other characters as a naive idiot for trying to construct an eluvian from scratch, supposedly messing with knowledge and powers beyond her understanding or control, despite a) Morrigan getting no such flak for doing the exact same thing in the previous game, b) it being Merrill's own heritage. Hawke, a human, is also treated as a greater authority over whether she could or even should restore her own heritage. By [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition DAI]], the entire second half of the game focuses on Morrigan presenting herself as the sole expert on eluvians and ancient elvhen history/lore (which many fans feel should have gone to Merrill, given her own eluvian and Keeper knowledge), as well as the better choice to drink from the Well of Sorrows over the Dalish Inquisitor. Finally, the Elvhen Goddess Mythal [[spoiler:is revealed to be Flemeth, the former Lady of Highever. Mythal is revealed to be a "wisp" who takes human hosts like Flemeth and human daughters like Morrigan. Why an Elven Goddess feels humans like Flemeth and Morrigan are suitable to pass on her godhood but not elves is never revealed, but...]] Some might also argue that while Elvhen lore is gaining more focus, it's still treated as a backdrop for human characters to increasingly [[ScrewYouElves ridicule and show up elven characters]] thanks to the games increasingly showing human characters [[WhiteMansBurden being better at recovering]] and [[MightyWhitey wielding the elves' own lost knowledge better than the elves can]].

** For that matter, Creator/BioWare 's increasingly pervasive portrayal of human characters being better suited to reclaim and wield ancient elvhen knowledge over the elves themselves (despite being the ones stealing and suppressing elven culture) appeared as early as the [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Witch Hunt]] DLC. Morrigan the human hedge witch stole a book from a Dalish Clan and uses it to reconstruct an eluvian. When the Warden and the Clan's warrior Ariane go to the Circle where the book originated (given to them by a runaway elven apostate) they encounter Finn, a human mage who effortlessly deduces that the word "eluvian" means mirror, anticipates where Morrigan took it, and concocts a plan to utilize ancient elvhen rituals to find her--all while Ariane stands there looking shocked and embarrassed that a ''human'' effortlessly deciphered ancient elvhen words and rituals that her people have tried and failed to decipher for centuries. Not great, but ultimately a minor plot point in a short [=DLC=]. Then in [[VideoGame/DragonAge2 DA2]], Merrill's entire character arc is her being universally derided by the narrative and other characters as a naive idiot for trying to construct an eluvian from scratch, supposedly messing with knowledge and powers beyond her understanding or control, despite a) Morrigan getting no such flak for doing the exact same thing in the previous game, b) it being Merrill's own heritage. Hawke, a human, is treated as a greater authority over whether she could or even should restore her own heritage. By ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', the entire second half of the game focuses on Morrigan presenting herself as the sole expert on eluvians and ancient elvhen history/lore (which many fans feel should have gone to Merrill, given her own eluvian and Keeper knowledge), as well as the better choice to drink from the Well of Sorrows over the Dalish Inquisitor. Finally, the Elvhen Goddess Mythal [[spoiler:is revealed to be Flemeth, the former Lady of Highever. Mythal is revealed to be a "wisp" who takes human hosts like Flemeth and human daughters like Morrigan. Why an Elven Goddess feels humans like Flemeth and Morrigan are suitable to pass on her godhood but not elves is never revealed, but...]] Again, all of this was rather easy to overlook as a minor plot thread in a short [=DLC=], or single companion arc in [=DA2=], but taking up almost the entire second half of the very ambitious [=DAI=], brought the UnfortunateImplications (given the {{Applicability}} and [[https://web.archive.org/web/20151218090209/http://the-gaider-archives.tumblr.com/post/109509566283/i-was-wondering-if-the-elves-in-dragon-age-were-at Word of God) allegory of elves to real minorities]] front and center.

** Of course, that's not to say that it's all positive for the elves - Inquisition features a major reveal that the ancient elves of Arlathan held their own people in slavery, and saw elven characters like Sera and Solas actively express disdain for the modern elves. Meanwhile, Morrigan enters the plot as the "arcane adviser," with a particular focus on elven history. Many took issue with this combination, where it seems to be that the modern elves are being framed as, at best, naive in their attempts to rebuild their culture and restore their history, with Morrigan, a human, being seen as the "correct" option by [=BioWare=] and the writing to take a vast collection of ancient elven knowledge. In effect, there seemed to be a focus on tearing down the modern elves who are trying to find out anything of a heritage that has repeated been torn to pieces by the humans who barricade them off in slums in their cities and, at least before the reveal about Arlathan, are historically believed responsible for the destruction of the ancient elven cities and society. But this has been a recurring thread - in [[VideoGame/DragonAge2 DA2]], Merrill's attempts to repair the eluvian are helped or hindered by Hawke's choices. Merrill is an elf and Hawke is a human, meaning of the same race as those who've been suppressing elven culture, allowing a human the final say on if an elf can rebuild this piece of her own heritage. And in [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]], a gift for Velanna has her decide to create new stories for her people, as they'd lost their own. On their own, maybe not so troubling, but when put together, many saw a lot of UnfortunateImplications, particularly given the [[{{Applicability}} parallels many draw]] between elves and minorities come into focus in Inquisition that had slid past the radar before.

** Elf fans who weren't very happy about how Bioware handled the [[MightyWhitey "eluvian expert"]] in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' have retroactively looked back at how ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' treated Merrill's quest to restore her eluvian and found that the seeds were sewn earlier than they noticed. Many have noted that in-universe Merrill is treated like a naive idiot by pretty much ''everyone'' for supposedly messing with powers too great for her to control despite it being ''her own culture'' ([[BrokenBase fans are still divided on that]]), whereas [[spoiler:Morrigan]] in the ''Witch Hunt'' DLC and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' is ''never'' questioned or disrespected by any characters for restoring her own eluvian [[spoiler:despite ([[MightyWhitey or because]]) she's human]]. Narratively, many fans have also noted that this game depicting Hawke, a required human protagonist, as more credible in determining whether or not Merrill should or could even restore an artifact of her own culture only opened the door later for ''Inquisition'' to treat [[spoiler:Morrigan]] as a far greater expert on all elven lore over all other elves (even potentially to a Dalish Inquisitor and/or their ancient elven expert companion), and the game presenting her as ''the'' most suitable choice to [[spoiler:drink from the Well of Sorrows, a compilation of millennia of ancient elven memories, and inherit Mythal's godhood]] despite not being elven and having no personal connection to elven culture or people. The fact that ''Inquisition'' was written with a required human protagonist in mind, and [[spoiler:Morrigan]] is the default [[spoiler:drinker of the Well]] unless the player manually adjusts an elven protagonist to be one instead, just fans the flames.

** Elf fans who weren't very happy about how Bioware handled the [[MightyWhitey "eluvian expert"]] in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' have retroactively looked back at how ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' treated Merrill's quest to restore her eluvian and found that the seeds were sewn earlier than they noticed. Many have noted that in-universe Merrill is treated like a naive idiot by pretty much ''everyone'' for supposedly messing with powers too great for her to control despite it being ''her own culture'' ([[BrokenBase fans are still divided on that]]), whereas [[spoiler:Morrigan]] in the ''Witch Hunt'' DLC and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' is ''never'' questioned or disrespected by any characters for restoring her own eluvian [[spoiler:desipte ([[MightyWhitey or because]]) she's human]]. Narratively, many fans have also noted that this game depicting Hawke, a required human protagonist, as more credible in determining whether or not Merrill should or could even restore an artifact of her own culture only opened the door later for ''Inquisition'' to treat [[spoiler:Morrigan]] as a far greater expert on all elven lore over all other elves (even potentially to a Dalish Inquisitor and/or their ancient elven expert companion), and the game presenting her as ''the'' most suitable choice to [[spoiler:drink from the Well of Sorrows, a compilation of millennia of ancient elven memories, and inherit Mythal's godhood]] despite not being elven and having no personal connection to elven culture or people. The fact that ''Inquisition'' was written with a required human protagonist in mind, and [[spoiler:Morrigan]] is the default [[spoiler:drinker of the Well]] unless the player manually adjusts an elven protagonist to be one instead, just fans the flames.

** Elf fans who weren't very happy about how Bioware handled the [[MightyWhitey "eluvian expert"]] in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' have retroactively looked back at how ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' treated Merrill's quest to restore her eluvian and found that the seeds were sewn earlier than they noticed. Many have noted that in-universe Merrill is treated like a naive idiot by pretty much ''everyone'' for supposedly messing with powers too great for her to control despite it being ''her own culture'' ([[BrokenBase fans are still divided on that]]), whereas [[spoiler:Morrigan]] in the ''Witch Hunt'' DLC and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' is ''never'' questioned or disrespected by any characters for restoring her own eluvian [[spoiler:desipte ([[MightyWhitey or because]]) she's human]]. Narratively, many fans have also noted that this game depicting Hawke, a required human protagonist, as more credible in determining whether or not Merrill should or could even restore an artifact of her own culture only opened the door later for ''Inquisition'' to treat [[spoiler:Morrigan]] as a far greater expert on all elven lore over all other elves (even potentially to a Dalish Inquisitor and/or their ancient elvnen expert companion), and the game presenting her as ''the'' most suitable choice to [[spoiler:drink from the Well of Sorrows, a compilation of millennia of ancient elven memories, and inherit Mythal's godhood]] despite not being elven and having no personal connection to elven culture or people. The fact that ''Inquisition'' was written with a required human protagonist in mind, and [[spoiler:Morrigan]] is the default [[spoiler:drinker of the Well]] unless the player manually adjusts an elven protagonist to be one instead, just fans the flames.

** Elf fans who weren't very happy about how BioWare handled the [[MightyWhitey "eluvian expert"]] in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' have retroactively looked back at how ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' treated Merrill's quest to restore her eluvian and found that the seeds were sewn earlier than they noticed. Many have noted that in-universe Merrill is treated like a naive idiot by pretty much ''everyone'' for supposedly messing with powers too great for her to control despite it being ''her own culture'' ([[BrokenBase fans are still divided on that]]), whereas [[spoiler:Morrigan]] in the ''Witch Hunt'' DLC and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' is ''never'' questioned or disrespected by any characters for restoring her own eluvian [[spoiler:desipte ([[MightyWhitey or because]]) she's human]]. Narratively, many fans have also noted that this game depicting Hawke, a required human protagonist, as more credible in determining whether or not Merrill should or could even restore an artifact of her own culture only opened the door later for ''Inquisition'' to treat [[spoiler:Morrigan]] as a far greater expert on all elven lore over all other elves (even potentially to a Dalish Inquisitor and/or their ancient elvnen expert companion), and the game presenting her as ''the'' most suitable choice to [[spoiler:drink from the Well of Sorrows, a compilation of millennia of ancient elven memories, and inherit Mythal's godhood]] despite not being elven and having no personal connection to elven culture or people. The fact that ''Inquisition'' was written with a required human protagonist in mind, and [[spoiler:Morrigan]] is the default [[spoiler:drinker of the Well]] unless the player manually adjusts an elven protagonist to be one instead, just fans the flames.

** Young also discussed the increasingly all-consuming importance of Cerberus. In the second game, they were given a substantial jump in importance, both to the plot and in the setting, that felt incongruous with their apparent incompetence in the first game. But it at least made some sense; you were embroiled in a different sort of story from the last game, excusing the change in antagonist and tone, and it wasn't that out-there that Cerberus might have its own little corner of the galaxy. In the third game, though, despite the fact that the plot is supposed to be about the Reapers, Cerberus is still being a SpotlightStealingSquad and fighting you more often than them, the Illusive Man is still dragging you into unrelated speeches, and this random bunch of paramilitary racists that spent the whole first game trying experiments that didn't work and getting shot en masse by Shepard can apparently pull together a better army than nearly every other faction while in the throes of galactic war.

** The focus on epic storylines, intricate plotting, and ''massive'' worldbuilding started hitting a brick wall as early as ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'', where there were [[KudzuPlot far too many characters and background]] for such a short game. Spread out over three games in ''Franchise/MassEffect'', the plotlines became increasingly complex, but the realities (read: limitations) of CRPG technology led to having to {{railroad|ing}} a GainaxEnding to the series. It's also biting them hard with ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', where their ambitious writing (eight character classes, each with their own story arc) and production values (top-tier voice talent) has led to a very satisfying process of leveling from 1-50, but budget cutbacks from Creator/ElectronicArts means they've abandoned the individual class stories, leaving a generic, repetitive grind (the story arc only differs by faction) for anything past the initial story arc.