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thessalianWe're back on the NPC consistency train again. Because seriously.
8) More of a dialogue with Sten over the bewitched Templar just before the whole Fade mess. I get, okay, that Sten's very big on destiny and self-sufficiency and self-control, but to suggest that we leave a demon to kick around the mortal coil because of some idea of "What does he learn if we free him?" seems ... counterproductive. What he learns if we free him - ie, don't listen to the demons next time!!! - is a lot more than what he learns if we don't. Or, more to the point, he's alive to actually use the lesson. Now, unless the Qunari believe in reincarnation (possible, I suppose), that's not really helping anyone. And besides, there's a certain element of logic to, "Okay, he doesn't learn a lesson. But the demon needs to die because we don't want it blundering around doing this to other people, okay?" I tend to think that getting a three-point drop in approval rating for doing what we said we'd do in the first place (killing demons and abominations, and shame about the collateral damage) is stupid.
Also, for him to start bitching about how we're not the peerless warriors and master strategists of legend once we've returned to camp, after he's seen my rogue decapitate a well-trained Templar or eight, seems a bit much. Maybe there should be the option of collecting "Severed demon/darkspawn/bereskarn head" off a random corpse or five and giving that as a gift to Sten, along with the dialogue option, "I took that in a single blow, so want to shut up about my not being a peerless warrior?"
9) Approval of, or at least reaction to, certain changes in armour/weaponry. We get it from Shale, after all - (s)he comments on the augmentation crystals once you've changed them from the old chipped ones. And of course, Sten with the gift of Asala, but ... well, therein lies the issue. See, when Alastair gets Duncan's shield as a gift, you come away from the cutscene and Alastair already has it equipped. Same with Zevran and his Antivan leather boots and Dalish gloves. Sten, however, does not equip Asala straight away, leaving the player to do so if they choose. Which strikes me as wrong given that the damn thing represents his soul. Likewise, if Shale can comment about how MainCharacter found some augmentation crystals, might it be possible to at least not have Alastair talk about how he has nothing of Duncan's to carry with him when he has Duncan's sword equipped? I'm not saying don't have the quest for Duncan's shield and all - just wait until Alastair's carrying Maric's sword instead. Or something, I dunno. I suppose the DLC means that there was a lot they didn't think of patching. Which is probably just as well.
10) Do something about those bloody wolves in Lothering. Speaking of patching ... ever since I got the recent patch, I've been having issues with the wolves in Lothering. They just keep respawning, not as the pack but as one or two wolves just randomly turning up out of nowhere, spawning right next to characters in some cases. There was a thing in the last patch notes in which they discussed stopping creatures from spawning in locations that would break the plot? Well, I'd think that a wolf popping up from the ground (unless it was a blightwolf, which I suppose, given darkspawn taint, might be understandable) is a little jarring.
11) Recognition of MainCharacter, and by MainCharacter in places: get it right. So Ser Jory won the grand melee at a tourney in Highever a year or so before the events at Ostagar. One might assume that Elissa Cousland, who likely would have been there, probably asking why she doesn't get to fight, would stand at least half a chance of recognising the name and face of the knight who won the thing. Likewise if Jory has spent a lot of time in Highever with his wife, and won tourneys and so forth, he might recognise the teyrn's daughter? Maybe? At least by the same 'family resemblance' ticket that King Cailan and Bann Teagan manage, despite "I don't think we ever actually met". Also, if Random Duel-Seeking Knight in Denerim can recognise MainCharacter as a random Grey Warden recruit running around the army camp, why can't Wynne unless you've spoken to her directly? She's neither blind nor stupid.
12) The option of correcting Alastair's assumptions when telling him how you were recruited. Dalish Elf origin. No, you didn't necessarily want to be a Grey Warden but, while you weren't conscripted exactly, you didn't have much of a choice. So when you respond that "No, but it's not so bad" when asked "Did you want to be a Grey Warden?" ... maybe the answer shouldn't be "Oh, conscripted, huh?" Alastair should know better; he was conscripted only because there was no other way to get him out of the Chantry, not because he needed the incentive to join. Surely it might occur to him that there might be cases in which it's the other way around. It surely is for, say, Dalish Elf and Dwarf Noble, with an option on Human Noble or Mage depending on how you play them - if those classes don't take the Grey Warden job, the options left to them are potentially grim. But they're not conscripted, at least not in the way that Dwarf Commoner, City Elf and certain values of Mage origin might be. Then again, it might be more to do with the dialogue options given to MainCharacter. Perhaps "Not at first, but it beats the alternative"? "I always said I wanted to, but I think the price was too high"?
I nit-pick. It is what I do.
8) More of a dialogue with Sten over the bewitched Templar just before the whole Fade mess. I get, okay, that Sten's very big on destiny and self-sufficiency and self-control, but to suggest that we leave a demon to kick around the mortal coil because of some idea of "What does he learn if we free him?" seems ... counterproductive. What he learns if we free him - ie, don't listen to the demons next time!!! - is a lot more than what he learns if we don't. Or, more to the point, he's alive to actually use the lesson. Now, unless the Qunari believe in reincarnation (possible, I suppose), that's not really helping anyone. And besides, there's a certain element of logic to, "Okay, he doesn't learn a lesson. But the demon needs to die because we don't want it blundering around doing this to other people, okay?" I tend to think that getting a three-point drop in approval rating for doing what we said we'd do in the first place (killing demons and abominations, and shame about the collateral damage) is stupid.
Also, for him to start bitching about how we're not the peerless warriors and master strategists of legend once we've returned to camp, after he's seen my rogue decapitate a well-trained Templar or eight, seems a bit much. Maybe there should be the option of collecting "Severed demon/darkspawn/bereskarn head" off a random corpse or five and giving that as a gift to Sten, along with the dialogue option, "I took that in a single blow, so want to shut up about my not being a peerless warrior?"
9) Approval of, or at least reaction to, certain changes in armour/weaponry. We get it from Shale, after all - (s)he comments on the augmentation crystals once you've changed them from the old chipped ones. And of course, Sten with the gift of Asala, but ... well, therein lies the issue. See, when Alastair gets Duncan's shield as a gift, you come away from the cutscene and Alastair already has it equipped. Same with Zevran and his Antivan leather boots and Dalish gloves. Sten, however, does not equip Asala straight away, leaving the player to do so if they choose. Which strikes me as wrong given that the damn thing represents his soul. Likewise, if Shale can comment about how MainCharacter found some augmentation crystals, might it be possible to at least not have Alastair talk about how he has nothing of Duncan's to carry with him when he has Duncan's sword equipped? I'm not saying don't have the quest for Duncan's shield and all - just wait until Alastair's carrying Maric's sword instead. Or something, I dunno. I suppose the DLC means that there was a lot they didn't think of patching. Which is probably just as well.
10) Do something about those bloody wolves in Lothering. Speaking of patching ... ever since I got the recent patch, I've been having issues with the wolves in Lothering. They just keep respawning, not as the pack but as one or two wolves just randomly turning up out of nowhere, spawning right next to characters in some cases. There was a thing in the last patch notes in which they discussed stopping creatures from spawning in locations that would break the plot? Well, I'd think that a wolf popping up from the ground (unless it was a blightwolf, which I suppose, given darkspawn taint, might be understandable) is a little jarring.
11) Recognition of MainCharacter, and by MainCharacter in places: get it right. So Ser Jory won the grand melee at a tourney in Highever a year or so before the events at Ostagar. One might assume that Elissa Cousland, who likely would have been there, probably asking why she doesn't get to fight, would stand at least half a chance of recognising the name and face of the knight who won the thing. Likewise if Jory has spent a lot of time in Highever with his wife, and won tourneys and so forth, he might recognise the teyrn's daughter? Maybe? At least by the same 'family resemblance' ticket that King Cailan and Bann Teagan manage, despite "I don't think we ever actually met". Also, if Random Duel-Seeking Knight in Denerim can recognise MainCharacter as a random Grey Warden recruit running around the army camp, why can't Wynne unless you've spoken to her directly? She's neither blind nor stupid.
12) The option of correcting Alastair's assumptions when telling him how you were recruited. Dalish Elf origin. No, you didn't necessarily want to be a Grey Warden but, while you weren't conscripted exactly, you didn't have much of a choice. So when you respond that "No, but it's not so bad" when asked "Did you want to be a Grey Warden?" ... maybe the answer shouldn't be "Oh, conscripted, huh?" Alastair should know better; he was conscripted only because there was no other way to get him out of the Chantry, not because he needed the incentive to join. Surely it might occur to him that there might be cases in which it's the other way around. It surely is for, say, Dalish Elf and Dwarf Noble, with an option on Human Noble or Mage depending on how you play them - if those classes don't take the Grey Warden job, the options left to them are potentially grim. But they're not conscripted, at least not in the way that Dwarf Commoner, City Elf and certain values of Mage origin might be. Then again, it might be more to do with the dialogue options given to MainCharacter. Perhaps "Not at first, but it beats the alternative"? "I always said I wanted to, but I think the price was too high"?
I nit-pick. It is what I do.