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mrs-gauche · 2 years

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You know, with the reveal of the official title now, don't you think that this line from the 2020 Behind the Scenes video just got a whole lot more interesting? 👀

"They call me the Dread Wolf, what will they call you when this is over?"

I've sadly seen people interpret this line as him proclaiming his title like some cliché villain going "Look at me. I am the mighty Dread Wolf. Who are YOU to oppose me?".

But what he's basically saying is "I tried to save my people, now look how I'm remembered as the greatest monster in their mythology". As far as we know, Solas was very much the hero of his own story, a mirror to the Inquisitor. So assuming that this line is a response to the new protagonist, now he's asking them "So if that's what happened to me, how will history remember you - the "hero" - when this is over?" (and what does that say for the actions of the new protagonist then? 👀).

The thing is, "Dread Wolf" is not just the game's title now, but a literal title that was "bestowed" on him by his enemies to spread lies and stop the people from joining him. And over the ages, it became a mistranslated one at that. (And btw, whether it's intentional or not, don't you kinda love the irony in that everyone is now making these jokes like "After eight years BioWare has boldly confirmed DA4 is about Solas" or how a lot of people are now concerned that the game will be all about him, when - in the lore - this title was literally false propaganda? 😂).

"I was Solas first. Fen'Harel came later. An insult I took as a badge of pride. The Dread Wolf inspired hope in my friends and fear in my enemies… Not unlike “Inquisitor”, I suppose. You also know the burden of a title that all but replaces your name.”

But that's precisely the point. Solas loathes this title, yet he still chose to use and embrace it and let it fuel his pride and his determination even *after* he, presumably, called himself Pride. The very counterpart of Wisdom in DA and a name that, we can assume, is likely not his first name, if the spirit origin theory turns out to be true.

What does the title "Dreadwolf" truly entail (besides the goddamn anagram thing lol), if the matter of getting Solas to remember his "true name" is actually going to play a big part in the next game?

"We will save our friend from himself... if we can."

If there's any way to stop him other than actually killing him, maybe it won't be Solas himself we have to fight, but figuratively destroy the title that stands for everything that has lead to his tragedy, his pride - his greatest flaw and "the burden of a title that all but replaces your name". And maybe this will be the way to have him remember his true name, his original purpose and in doing so, not only "save our friend from himself", but the world as a whole?

(.........Also, this “April Fools joke” tweet from Alix Wilton Regan (one of the Inquisitor’s VAs) won’t leave my friggin mind and I’m just - )

So what if this wasn’t actually a flippin joke and, with all of this in mind now, what could it meeean??? 😂 I mean, “Dread Wolf” IS just a title.. sooo technically, it can be passed on to anyone or even a whole group of people, right? So.. if Solas does get his true name back, why not just pass the title over then, so that he doesn’t have to bear it anymore. 😂

Whatever it is, it’s getting more and more obvious to me that there’s a deeper meaning and reason behind this title than just “Solas is the Big Bad” and I can’t wait to find out!

#dragon age dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #da4 #solas #tinfoil time #alix wilton regan #and now I go back to listen to ''Remember Who You Are'' from the Lion King soundtrack which made me write this post in the first place #lmaoo #*sob*#if the spirit theory is true.. I'd love the idea of giving Solas his true name back #after thousands of years #it would be so friggin emotional #and it just makes so much sense..#*heavy sigh*

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felassan · 2 years

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Some snippets of insight and guesses from Mark Darrah in his recent Old Game Dev Advice Summer Game Fest 2022 opening live event co-stream video:

[prior to the show beginning] "I think the chance of us getting Dragon Age: Dreadwolf news is basically zero because it doesn't make sense to me that you would announce the name so close to the event if you were gonna show something. I think there's probably a 5% chance that we get BioWare news, but it probably won't be Dreadwolf news if that happens. But, you know, 5% chance. And if it is something it would be, either, they finally managed to decide to do a Dragon Age remaster or something to do with SW:TOR or for some reason EA has decided they need to talk about Mass Effect. Hopefully not that third thing because it's a loooot early to be talking about Mass Effect. But if we get something that would be my guess. But I honestly think we're not gonna get BioWare news. So maybe we'll all be surprised." [nb this event has obviously now passed]

[answering various questions and comments from the sidechat] "I don't mind 'Dreadwolf' - question about what do I think, what would I have called Dragon Age [4]. I mean we were starting naming discussions before I left. I think Dreadwolf was on the list, it's, there's nothing wrong with it as a name. I think that the franchise should definitely put 'Dragon Age 2' in the past and stick to subtitles. At one point I was actually pushing for calling it 'Dragon Age' with no subtitle. I got talked out of that. I think probably that was the right call. But I think, yeah, Dreadwolf is fine. You want something that's short and say-able, so things like 'Minrathous Nights', it just gets too cumbersome and long, it becomes awkward. I do think there is something to be said for a made up word. ‘Skyrim’, or ‘Dreadwolf’, or that sort of thing, because it lets you dominate the search. Whereas if you are 'Inquisition' or 'Oblivion' or those sorts of things, you can kinda get lost in the Googles, at least at certain points in your campaign."

"My bet is that we'll see Dreadwolf at the The Game Awards [this is in December]. That was actually my assumption before they announced the name, now it's even, now I'm even more confident in that."

"Yeah I mean, you have a wolf and a dragon in the name, that's a bit confusing, that's fair".

"I don't have a problem with the font. I think that we'll probably see some refinement on the word form before it launches. Yeah, we'll see."

"I don't know if the Spider With Hands is gonna be in Dreadwolf or not. I mean, I would be, I would hope they wouldn't just toss away an asset they have.”

"I mean because there's more Tevinter stuff in Dreadwolf, I imagine that they're gonna be able to turn the magic level up quite a bit, which lets them do a lot more experimentation with creature design."

“Definitely I feel like the Dragon Age team has heard the, 'please stop making us kill wolves, it's making us sad', so I don't know/think there's gonna be a lot of just, animals, as enemy factions in Dreadwolf. Except spiders."

“I feel like the BioWare games have always been undermarketed. I remember when Mass 1 was coming out, that was around the first Assassin’s Creed. We were going out to dinner with Microsoft I think and I could see a television over someone’s shoulder and in the time we were at dinner I think I saw fifteen Assassin’s Creed TV ads and Mass Effect got zero. So I do think there's always been, BioWare's always been undermarketed, not just by EA but just in general, I think there has been a tendency to undermarket BioWare games. I think Cyberpunk put the money behind the game and it showed, from a marketing perspective."

"I mean the writing team tends to shy away from going back to followers, especially ones that have a lot of quantum. Anyone that was a romance option inherently has a fair bit of quantum. They do re-occur, you've got Varric twice and you’ve got Isabela twice, like, you get people coming back, but Dragon Age tends to shy away from that just because it just puts a lot of extra work that nobody sees, because you just see what matches your quantum state, and all the other work is basically a waste. Quantum just means that there are a lot of different potential states for the character."

"Everyone in Dragon Age 2 except for Varric and Aveline is very quantum."

"Dragon Age 4 was marketed in 2018 because EA needed something - well, two reasons. One, EA wanted something at the The Game Awards and didn't have anything else and two, by putting it there you also made it way less likely that the game was gonna get cancelled. So. There was some politics on both sides of that one."

"I don't think Obsidian would be the right partner for a Dragon Age remake even though, you know, they have a long track record. But I do think that, you know, someone that would be willing to spend the money, would probably do a better job than EA, who would [inaudible] remake".

"Yes the progression in Inquisition multiplayer was bad unfortunately. I've been fighting for co-op campaign, campaign co-op in Dragon Age for a while. In Inquisition it was a huge fight with EA because they just didn't understand why anyone would do it because they were all competitive sports game players and on Dragon Age 4, it was, one of the problems was getting the writers on board. But there was also the whole - we'll get to it when we talk about Anthem [in an upcoming vid] - but there was the whole 'everything should be a live service' stuff going on within EA at the same time as well. I do think campaign co-op, if you commit, could be amazing."

"I suspect that multiplayer will be purged completely from Dragon Age 4. That's my guess."

"The next Mass Effect is really early [in production] so."

"[quoting someone] ‘Mass 5 isn't releasing next year according to Jeff Grubb'. No. No it's not.”

"Yeah, I think he [Jeff] may be right about Dragon Age 4 next year. I think they're probably aiming for Christmas next year."

"There's a reasonable chance that Starfield doesn't come out in the same year as Dragon Age 4."

“I don’t think there’s an EA day. I don’t think so. I think EA’s plans is to spread their stuff across the year, I think they realized that too much stuff was being pushed out, they didn’t have enough to show, so they’re not doing, so EA Play isn’t happening this year and they’re just gonna show things as it comes out. So I expect to get BioWare at The Game Awards. Probably just Dragon Age. Probably nothing for Mass Effect this year. That would be my guess.”

“Pretty sure they’ll be at The Game Awards. Pretty sure that Dreadwolf will be at The Game Awards because, that would fit, that would make sense with announce the name now in June, six months to get a trailer together, get some gameplay together and show. If they are on track for next Fall, like, November next year, that would also make sense. I mean, they could delay and wait for next summer, which would be more in line with the shorter marketing cycles that games have been moving towards. But I think because it got announced already in 2018, you kinda don’t get to play that game, you kind of have to show early because you’ve already started. Yeah, I mean, the devs care about DA Day. The problem with DA Day versus N7 day, you’ll get something on N7 Day but it probably won’t be anything related to Mass 5, because it’s just too early. You might get something else. The problem with DA Day is it’s too close to The Game Awards, they’re usually only a few days apart, so you either need two assets or it’s, it’s too bad, if The Game Awards were actually a little bit earlier, you’d be able to piggyback them a little bit better.”

“The Game Awards are usually early December, but usually the 8th or 9th as opposed to the 4th. Yeah, that sort’ve thing, the short stories, for DA Day, is more what I would expect to get just because it’s a more community-focused thing, maybe, I mean that would also be a place for something else if, you know, if they’re gonna have a TV show or a new novel or something that would be the place to announce it as well probably. There was a bunch of TV announcements at Summer Game Fest, so maybe do that at The Game Awards as well.”

[source link and full video to check out]

#dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #mass effect #next mass effect #anthem #video games #long post #longpost #sw:tor

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sonofbhaal · 8 months

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..so sayeth the wise Alaundo.

PRIVATE & SELECTIVE. LOW ACTIVITY/SLOW REPLIES. 30+. CROSSOVER FRIENDLY. DARK & MATURE THEMES. BASED ON BALDUR'S GATE 1 & 2. WRITTEN BY MIN. FEATURING:

Sarevok Anchev (NOT compliant with BG3 lore! Helena/Orin do not exist here.)

Anomen Delryn

Valygar Corthala

Please read the rules before interacting.

Welcome, stranger!

GENERAL INFO

This is an independent roleplaying blog for the characters Sarevok Anchev, Anomen Delryn and Valygar Corthala of Bioware’s Baldur’s Gate series. This blog is for entertainment purposes only; I am in no way affiliated to Bioware, the creators of Baldur’s Gate, or any of the actors I use as faceclaims.

NOTE: I started Baldur’s Gate 3 but I have not progressed far yet. My characters are based in BG 1 and 2. I am open to adapting them to the BG 3 timeline. However:

Particularly the character of Sarevok is VASTLY different in the old games - I do not take the events and story presented in BG 3 into account for his portrayal.

THE WRITER

I am over 30 years of age and I live in Central Europe. I work during the week and I’m a university student, which means the activity on this blog will be low. Also this is not my main blog, so it is not first priority.

INTERACTIONS

I will only write with blogs I follow. This includes threads, memes, and anything in between.

If we’re mutuals, feel free to continue a meme in a new thread if you see the situation going somewhere.

I tend to write longer replies (multipara) and I prefer them over one-liners.

I do not write with people under the age of 18. I prefer writing with partners who are over 25, regardless of content. NSFW content is not a priority for me on this blog so there won’t be much of it, but I am not opposed to it.

Especially since the old Baldur’s Gate RP fandom is basically non-existent, I am more than willing to roleplay with any other compatible fandom!

FORMATTING & ICONS

I use minor formatting and sometimes icons, sometimes no icons. I have no problem with RP partners not using any icons. However, I do ask you to cut your posts if we have an on-going thread.

SHIPPING

Please don’t force ships or shame ships.

I ship chemistry above all things, and so do my muses. However, Sarevok is a tough one when it comes to relationships, so if you’re looking for romance and eternal love you are probably going to be disappointed here. Sex is more likely to happen with him than actual love. Also, expect to be dropped or betrayed or murdered when you stand in his way.

While I, as a writer, am happy to write gay ships with Anomen, please note that he will be a little hesitant towards engaging in a romantic relationship with another man at first, due to his standing and upbringing.

As this has come up before: I will not write threads in which Sarevok rapes/has raped anyone. Don’t request that, the answer is no. If it’s part of your character’s backstory, please leave it out in our threads, I am not making it part of his story. Also Orin/Helena and anything about his story in BG3 is not canon for this blog. Please do not request/assume it.

WARNINGS

There will be dark and potentially triggering themes on this blog, both in my character’s backstory and in threads. With a character like Sarevok it would be hard to tag everything potentially triggering, but I will tag the most common ones (such as suicide, gore, torture, etc). To name a few themes that I can see coming up: murder, mass murder, alcoholism, violence, incest (between (half)siblings/bhaalspawn), self-harm, torture, … Smutty content is tagged as nsfw.

If you need anything tagged that I am not tagging yet, let me know and I’ll check if I can add it to my list.

Thank you for reading my rules! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask :)

#( pinned. )

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fulokis · 8 months

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Honest ahsoka thoughts warning it’s long and ranty and I may be using it as an excuse to not express some of the feelings that I have in personal life right not

I’m gonna be honest I never thought I would hate ahsoka as a character, like she was my favorite for the longest time. And yeah that started to change in high school because I related more to Ezra and Sabine while watching rebels as it came out and that makes sense because I was the same age. But she was still a cool character that I liked. But I can’t fucking stand her after rebels, even in the last season of rebels she’s iffy for me. And like yes I’m watching ahsoka but at this point it’s not for ahsoka it’s because I’m nostalgic for rebels (and imma be honest the actors they chose for Sabine and hera are not my favorite) and I’m a huge Thrawn fan. But like I’m terrified they’re gonna fuck up thrawns character more than they did in rebels (honestly heir to the empire with canon Thrawn seems not like something that would happen unless he was playing an angle like he was going to the empire in the first place (my opinion clearly most people aren’t necessarily going to agree with me.) ) at the very least they have Lars playing Thrawn which gives me a little hope it won’t be totally off the mark. But also a lot of the dialogue just isn’t well written, like I know the actors are just given it but it seems a lot like most of them just kinda stuck to the script and didn’t play around with it to make it work. (I say this having only been in a few productions in highschool but like we would play around with stuff and to me this feels like they’re at a table read) which honestly is a shame because the music? the loth cat? The droids? A good portions of the effects? Are all really well done to me and it hurts because this could be such a beautiful production but it’s falling short because the writing and the actors aren’t my favorite

And don’t get me wrong I am enjoying bits and pieces but if I truly enjoy a piece of media I will go back to it and re experience it again. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve rewatched the clone wars, rebels, the prequels, rouge one. Or replayed swtor and Kotor and the battlefront campaign. I know I’ve read the Thrawn 2017 series at least three times in full and the separate books at different points. I’ve read the ascendency trilogy twice as well. Death troopers I’ve read three times at least, same with annihilation (which tbh is absolute crap but the point is it’s entertaining and I enjoyed it)

And that’s the thing I love Star Wars, Star Wars genuinely probably saved my life because I had something to look forward to despite my mental health being dogshit. And I can recognize that not all Star Wars is for me. And yeah it makes me sad especially when it involves characters that I love. Like the Revan book couldn’t read that shit, a new dawn I can’t ever get past the first 90 pages (yes this kills me and I don’t know why I can’t) and I think that’s what makes me upset the most is that as much as I loved ahsoka as a character it has been ruined for me, and I’m not sure I’ll ever enjoy her as a character ever again. Cause the thing with the other two is Revan is different for everyone and that’s because BioWare let you choose who you wanted to play as back in 2003. With a new dawn I don’t know why but it isn’t vastly different than the characters I love, it’s still them and I know it’s still very much them even if I personally can’t get through it. But with ahsoka its hard to explain but I can’t stand her since after rebels and it hurts.

And I understand characters develop as they grow, but I don’t see how she made the jump from being rebels season two ahsoka to this ahsoka we have now. There’s such a disconnect to me, I don’t know how to word it other than she seems like such a bitch now and there’s nothing to me that would have made her develop that way. Yeah there’s a war and trauma and shit but that doesn’t connect to the way she’s bitchy. Like sure I can see how some of it could be a trauma response. But not all of it, like geuinely I don’t understand how she would just not wish to tell Sabine about the potential to find Ezra at all. Like I’m sorry your dealing with your personal issues cause it sounds like y’all got into a fight but you honestly expect me to believe a character who typically was mediating between people so much when she was a fucking teen that she’s going to be some bitch who holds grudges and refuses to solve her own goddamn issues? Like I’m sorry but that seems like some backward character development and as far as we know there’s been no major developments whatsoever.

Also can I just say the choice to make Sabine her padawan is fucking weird. Like they never interacted much, if they wanted to pull that they should’ve left kanan alive and had him do it.

#long #my opinion #sorry it’s one am and my brain once again won’t shut the fuck up #I also like idk it kinda sucks to litterally be saying bitch at every other line that comes out of her mouth and it’s not even like #when I say bitch for characters like Lana because it fits and it works well #it doesn’t work well for ahsoka especially because it feels like they’re just making her anakin mini rather than having her be her own chara

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veworofficial · 2 years

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How to customize hawke in dragon age 2 on pc

#HOW TO CUSTOMIZE HAWKE IN DRAGON AGE 2 ON PC MODS#

#HOW TO CUSTOMIZE HAWKE IN DRAGON AGE 2 ON PC PC#

#HOW TO CUSTOMIZE HAWKE IN DRAGON AGE 2 ON PC SERIES#

For everything we know about Dragon Age: Inquisition (or to share what you know), hit up IGN's wiki. You can join the beta for the Keep now, and it'll launch for everyone in 2014. Lady Hawke or make Hawke I know not everyone will choose the default models so I added that option. In tailoring the history of the world, they'll learn about the Mage/Chantry feud that's erupting into war, the Orlesian conflict with Ferelden, and what a qunari is. With dragon age 2 (Update) now released, I'm curious to know who players plan to play as first. "For players new to Dragon Age, the Keep will serve as an engaging way to understand the people, places, and events that shaped the world leading up to Dragon Age Inquisition," says Darrah. Living out what-if stories means discovering what might have been if you'd failed to succeed somewhere, and seeing that through in the next-gen RPG. It's not necessarily as elegant as moving your saves straight into a next-gen game, but BioWare wants to ensure you join the world as you last left it - or build one that's better suited to the sort of story you want to have in Inquisition. Once you start a new game, it will use the choices from the previous games from that moment." So if you want to tweak the outcome of the Landsmeet or whose side you took in an important debate, you can do so ahead of starting Inquisition. "You can change your choices to see all of the different opportunities in previous games. You don't have to commit to your first run through each of Dragon Age's weighty decisions, either. In the 'General' tab, select 'Set Launch Options', enter ' -enabledeveloperconsole ' in that field, and accept it. "Within the Keep, fans will be able to customize as much or as little about the world of Thedas as they wish," says Darrah. For the Steam version of the game, Right-click the 'Dragon Age 2' option, and select 'Properties' under the 'My Games' Steam tab. Right click on the shortcut link and then select Properties. Go to the binship directory (usually in c:Program FilesDragon Age 2binship), and make a shortcut to da2.exe. "It could be something huge, something like what happened with Morrigan and the Dark ritual at the end of : Did she have a child? Additionally, the game will also know and react to things like who is in charge of Ferelden." So does this mean Hawke and your Warden play an important role in Inquisition? Darrah says yes - but BioWare won't elaborate on that just yet. To do these cheats, you have to edit a shortcut to the game (da2.exe). "The consequences of your choices in the previous games will affect the state of your world in Inquisition," Darrah says. Through the online application, you'll craft your own version of Dragon Age's past, including which companions your Grey Warden conquered the Blight with, who Hawke romanced, and how you last left Thedas. "It will initially be accessed through the web and there are more platforms planned," executive producer Mark Darrah tells IGN.

#HOW TO CUSTOMIZE HAWKE IN DRAGON AGE 2 ON PC MODS#

This subreddit and its mods are in no way associated with BioWare or EA.BioWare has revealed Dragon Age Keep, an application that lets players recreate the choices made in Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, and apply their consequences to Dragon Age: Inquisition. Each paragraph must be spoiler tagged separately or these tags won't work.How to use spoiler tags: >!spoiler here!don't spoil any other, non-Dragon Age media released within the last year Please respect others users' wishes to not be spoiled, especially pertaining to leaked materials /r/InquisitionSliders character creation.They are subject to removal at moderator discretion. Please see what Content Restrictions apply. Read our spam and self promotion rules before posting.

#HOW TO CUSTOMIZE HAWKE IN DRAGON AGE 2 ON PC PC#

Unlock Black Emporium in Dragon Age II Step 2:If you are in a PC version, following this step below: Step 1: Register your game with bioware here and enter your online pass/black emporium code. No offtopic/political posts not directly related to Dragon Age. Unlock Black Emporium in Dragon Age II Step 1:If you are in a boxed version, you can try to insert with codes and instructions for this content. Bigotry, sexism, racism, homophobia, etc.

Screenshot/art share thread for Non-OC content.

fanart, fanfiction, gifs, non-character focused screenshots, cosplay, etc)

We only allow (Original Content) submissions that are self-made for Fanwork (e.g.

Abyssfull: I really could not make my character look good.

#HOW TO CUSTOMIZE HAWKE IN DRAGON AGE 2 ON PC SERIES#

BioWare has blessed the Dragon Age series with amazing facial hair. This allows BioWare a tighter grip on the story, although. It's no secret that the game allowed facial customisation, and I was able to make my Origin characters look pretty awesome in the past. All post titles must contain one of these tags or they will be removed. Dragon Age 2 has opted for a pre-created main character called Hawke, who will be either female or male depending on your preference.

#How to customize hawke in dragon age 2 on pc

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mass-effect-legendary-ediuu · 2 years

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Mass Effect Legendary Edition Best Mods Guide - SegmentNext

💾 ►►► DOWNLOAD FILE 🔥🔥🔥 The best Mass Effect mods were treated as a baseline for graphical improvements by BioWare when remastering the games to make the Legendary Edition. The studio also worked with several modders to ensure the new versions of the classic space opera trilogy about the dangers of dating a coworker would be just as tweakable, if not more so. It'll let you modify all three games in the Legendary Edition, and you can use it to mod the original versions as well, though all the links here will be to mods for the remasters. The mod manager also lets you back up each game's important files, and each mod you download can be imported into a library before being applied. That makes it easy to enable and disable most mods, but note that texture mods work differently—once they're installed to any of the Mass Effect games, you won't be able to mod it any further. If it's graphical enhancements you're after, make sure you're happy with your loadout before you add a mod like ALOT. Apart from that, load order doesn't have an impact on Mass Effect mods. That sound you just heard is Skyrim modders breathing a sigh of relief. Not everyone noticed it, but in the original Mass Effect games sprinting only made you move faster during combat. The rest of the time, holding down that button simply zoomed the camera out in a dramatic fashion to make it seem like you were going faster while you trundled across the Citadel one more time. Speedrunners used to drop grenades at their feet so Shepard would take damage, tricking the game into thinking they were in combat to enable the version of sprinting that actually let them actually move faster. The Legendary Edition fixes this, and sprinting really does make you go faster. However, it keeps the first two games' absurdly short limit on how far you can run before getting fatigued. The Unlimited Sprint mod extends this duration—it's not really unlimited, but it's such a huge increase to Shepard's stamina you'll rarely hit the end. It also removes the limit on the Mako's boost in ME1. After downloading gigabytes of enhancements for all three games, I can say with confidence that being able to run further is genuinely the most significant improvement an impatient player can make. Pinnacle Station was an expansion for the first game developed by an external studio, and thanks to corrupted source code it had to be left out of the Legendary Edition—restoring it would have delayed release by six months. Modders have no such concerns, and Pinnacle Station was rescued from the cutting-room floor by the ME3Tweaks team. Inside its simulator you fight virtual enemies in four different modes across several maps, working your way up a ranked ladder. There's a small sidequest involving a soldier accused of hacking the simulator, and an apartment for Shepard to hang out in. The modded version actually fixes some bugs present in the original, and enhances it with music and rebalanced fights to suit the Legendary Edition's altered combat. It's quite an achievement. In ME1, bouncing back and forth between your journal and the galaxy map to figure out where you're supposed to go for various sidequests is just a part of the game. A really tedious part of the game. Galaxy Map Trackers takes away that frustration, putting labels for all those UNC assignments on the map screen. Even ones you haven't triggered yet are on there, marked 'Anomaly'. The one downside is that if an assignment happens to be in the same cluster as a main mission, the label for the sidequest takes precedence. You'll have to click around to find out where, say, Feros is. Still, that's probably a lesser annoyance given there are only a handful of story missions in ME1, and they're easier to keep track of than the rest of the game, which is an explosion at the sidequest factory. During your final confrontation with Saren he boasts about how Sovereign upgraded him following your fight on Virmire, yet he looks exactly the same throughout the entire game. In retrospect, it's a little odd the Council were so trustful of him when he had a geth arm bolted on. Concept art makes it seem like the intent was for Saren to only look the way he does during the finale, becoming more inhuman each time he appears, and that's what Saren Stages does. It comes with an option to give Saren black robes and look more like the concept art in his first scenes, or an option to keep his armored, military look but tone down the mechanical elements. A major overhaul of the Normandy and the things you can do on it in ME3, Expanded Galaxy adds a firing range to the ship, lets you assign secondary officer positions as well as medics, marines, and engineers, gives squadmates extra casual outfits to wear, and more. The complimentary EGM Armors , as the name suggests, adds additional armors. EGM's quality-of-life improvements include one that lets you choose whether you have to slow down every time you pass through the scanner or not, and that alone makes it essential for me. The tweak that makes Shepard hold the right weapon in cutscenes is compatible with ME2 as well. If you're annoyed by having to play Circle Frogger in ME1 whenever you're examining an alien artifact or hacking a door, this mod removes it. When you open a locked container you'll get the option to play the game or bypass it with omni-gel as normal, except the omni-gel cost will be reduced to zero. You still get XP though, so you won't be under-leveled just because you're lazy. Minigames that are mission-related remain, so you'll still have to do the Towers of Hanoi puzzle on Noveria, and it'll cost omni-gel to bypass the minigames when activating the transmission tower and deactivating fusion torches in Bring Down the Sky. But most of the time, you'll be able to ignore them. There's Skip Minigames for LE2 opens in new tab as well, if ME2's hacking games are the ones you want to do away with. You can get rid of them entirely, or have the hacking screen pop up as normal but defeat it with a single click if you find that more satisfying. I once met a couple who played ME2 together, passing the controls back and forth because one of them enjoyed the combat while the other enjoyed the meditative planet-scanning. If it's not your thing though, this mod lets you deplete every resource on a planet as well as bring up any anomalies on its surface with a single probe. The heightened graphs showing every resource you'll receive all at once, peaking so high they kind of break the UI, are pretty great. Photo mode is neat, but it sure would be nice to be able to move the camera further away. With this mod for ME1, you can. All three disable collision, and let you speed up the camera with the number pad: pressing 2 sets it to double speed, 3 to triple, and 1 returns it to default. Being able to turn off Mass Effect's vignetting in the photo mode—that's the thing that darkens the corners of the screen to draw your eyes to the center—makes it plain how aggressively the effect is deployed in these games. If it bugs you the way lens flare, chromatic aberration, motion blur, depth of field, and all the other cinematic graphical effects seem to bug people, Vignette Remover does away with it. Spoilers for ME3 ahead. The Happy Ending mod is kind of misnamed, given that it reinstates cut dialogue to extend Admiral Anderson's dying words and make that scene even sadder than it already was—there's a standalone mod called Anderson's Final Conversation Restored opens in new tab if that's the only change you want. As well as that, this mod snips out the Catalyst, aka the Starchild, simply having Shepard press a button to initiate the ending where all the reapers are destroyed you know, the red one as it plays out if you have a high enough Effective Military Strength score to see the epilogue where Shepard survives. The mod also deletes the scenes of the Normandy crashing on a random garden world, and any suggestion that the mass relays were damaged. It gets rid of the more controversial elements of the ending, but if your beef was that so much went unexplained then The Unofficial Mass Effect 3 Epilogue Slides opens in new tab may be for you. It's not a mod, just a website that asks for some details on your playthrough and then presents page after page of fan-written follow-ups to fill in the blanks regarding the state of the galaxy and all your companions following the finale. The community patch compiles a huge number of bugfixes for ME1. Did you know the Legendary Edition got rid of the twinkIing on the galaxy map that guided you toward unmarked points of interest in the asteroid belts? With this mod, it's back. If the Legendary Edition's graphics aren't improved enough for you, these mods push them even further. It'll take a while to install both the textures and the upscaled static lighting, which are available as a separate file for each game. Thanks to the way these games work, once you're done that'll be it for mods—you won't be able to install any more for whichever games you've retextured unless you first delete the game folder and reinstall it from scratch. A Lot of Videos is an easier installation, working through ME3Tweaks like the other mods in this list. It swaps the pre-rendered cutscenes for 4K versions, which run at 60fps instead of Even if you don't have a 4K monitor, the increased framerate's a nice bonus. Commander Shepard as Green Lantern? It just makes sense. Captain Marvel too. I'm not so convinced about the Harley Quinn outfit, however. If you want to look like Samus from Metroid, here you go. While we're at the sillier end of the modding spectrum, here's one that replaces ME3's reapers with imposters from Among Us. If you'd prefer something more classic, here's a mod to swap them for Thomas the Tank Engine opens in new tab. While you're at it, why not replace the font for all ME2's text with comic sans opens in new tab , you absolute monster? OK, we're done here. Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. Jody Macgregor opens in new tab. See comments.

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mass-effect-andromeda-grang · 2 years

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10 Best Mass Effect Andromeda Mods, Ranked

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kobakova · 3 years

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i will never shut the fuck up about how i very much disagree with bioware ending the inquisitor’s story

#dragon age inquisition #da4 thoughts #bioware #y’all should’ve just killed him #now i’m stuck here knowing he could do so much more #but bioware won’t let it happen #please i need my inquisitor to confront solas it’s what he deserves

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askagamedev · 2 years

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Lightning Mailbag: Bag of Devouring

I’ve built up a number of questions with short answers, so I’ll answer them in a group today.

Your ask/answer about false advertising was actually pretty interesting because it made me think about other types of "content" promises. The big example I think (and STILL get angry) about is something like BioWare's promises to have LGBTQ romances in SWTOR at launch and never delivering (it took until the Makeb expansion before we had those, IIRC). Where does something like that fit?

You can look to Star Citizen’s refund process as the best example for this taken to the maximum extent. If enough people complain, they get refunds and a process is put into place.

What you would reply to the "I'll pay $10k for someone to add MP to BotW" tweet?

If you can find somebody to claim the prize, you're very fortunate indeed. $10,000 would pay for about one month of labor (including things like taxes, health care, benefits, etc.) from a single mid-level game dev here in the states, so getting a working and relatively bug-free multiplayer mode for $10,000 seems like a fantastic bargain by my estimates. If you wanted to add it to a AAA game like Breath of the Wild in an official capacity, the bill would easily be multiple millions of dollars to design, build, test, and validate it.

What does "we have mutually agreed to part ways" mean when it comes to a high profile departure from a game studio? Is it standard HR terminology or corporatespeak for example?

It doesn't really mean anything. "We have mutually agreed to part ways" means that one or both the employer and employee don't wish to continue working together. There's no indicator who wants who to go, nor is there any indication of wrongdoing.

You mentioned in a post on Smash Bros how licenses have to be renewed every number of years and how an expired license would cause the game to be pulled (which looks like it happened to Jump Force). So how can Fortnite have characters like Naruto brought in and not be concerned?

Letting players keep whatever they've acquired during the license is usually written into the contract. This is why players can keep playing games like Marvel vs Capcom even after the license expires. The loss of the license prohibits any further sales of the product that the licensed content is available in. This is why the games (or specific DLCs) get pulled from stores after the license expires. It won't stop players from playing the game if they already bought it, but it prevents new players from buying the content. With Fortnite, it is a similar situation - those players who have the Naruto skins will be able to continue using them but new players will be unable to obtain them once the license expires.

Would you say that a vocal minority may have no effect in the Activision Blizzard lawsuits? People keep saying stuff in disapproval, but then play their games.

Honestly, there isn't much that outsiders can do about the situation other than voice their disapproval. The issues with ATVI are internal and are almost entirely between the workers, the upper management, the ATVI shareholders, and the government regulatory agencies.

Do you sometime feel ashamed for having a paycheck on game that was released broken & with false promises?

I don’t feel bad about collecting a paycheck for work I have done, even if the game gets cancelled and never sees the light of day. I know that I did the best I could with the time and resources I had. I have no qualms taking money for the work I did to pay my bills and take care of my family.

[Join us on Discord] and/or [Support us on Patreon]

The FANTa Project is being rebooted. [What is the FANTa project?]

Got a burning question you want answered?

Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter

Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr

Frequent Questions: The FAQ

#lightning mailbag #quick replies

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a-shakespearean-in-paris · 3 years

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Why Cullen?

Today I bring you a post I’ve been in the process of mentally drafting for a while, a post that essentially analyzes the age old question in the Dragon Age fandom: Why is there always something with Cullen?

To do this, I am going to go through different “phases” of Cullen discourse. My thesis and answering the titular question: It’s complicated, and I don’t think I can answer “Why Cullen,” but “there’s sometimes recycled discourses made about his character through the years, maybe there’s a pattern.” When it comes to Cullen’s detractors, I understand the fact that it might be frustrating to see much content for someone so “boring” when there’s more “interesting” and “well done” characters (though interest is of course relevant) so it leads to a lot of vitriol from both new and old fans who think the man had too much screen time already. Furthermore, he is highly complicated man dressed as a Disney prince, and the “Disney-esque” feel of his romance creates a dissonance between coming to terms with his problematic past and reveling in the romanticism. We can have a happy medium everyone, but because of what I can only describe as “tik tok thought” it’s become looked down upon to have problematic favorites, which leads to guilt in liking something problematic, or outright revisionism.

But liking things with problematic elements doesn’t make you a bad person.

Alright, let’s begin:

The first phase truly began of course with DAO with Cullen’s crush on the female Circle Mage Warden. Some were endeared, others not so much. I cannot speak to this phase too much as I was around 15-16 and pretty preoccupied with my high school drama instead of fandom, though I played both DAO and DA2 upon it’s release and followed updates for DA2 before it came out. Despite not being an active fandom member I was what they would call, a lurker. I knew some people liked Cullen and thought he was cute, wishing for more screen time after the game and hoping he’d be in DAI through IMDB message boards (remember those?) and YoutTube comments. When news broke he’d be an advisor in DAI and a romance option, I remember seeing a lot of people in those same spaces rejoice. I’m sure there were also people who weren’t so pleased, but from what I saw, people were happy. When Inquisition did release, I actually did quite a bit more lurking on tumblr despite the fact I didn’t have a blog, because I played the romance route, really gravitated toward it, and wanted to see fanart and such. People liked the romance, liked his arc and how Bioware handled his struggles with lyrium; and found it realistic. Even in my lurking days I did see some blowback on Cullen from detractors, those who didn’t think he should have been the military advisor (which canonically it makes total sense to me why he’s where he’s at, but I won’t get into it here however.) But likely because I wasn’t fully “in fandom,” my surface level understanding of how tumblr felt about Cullen was relatively positive and there was only standard fare discourse.

Phase 2: I can speak about this phase better because I established this blog in 2017. Two years after DAI was released, you still had a lot of fans who loved his romance and character, but you also saw a lot of those fans really dive into his flaws, insisting even that just focusing on the Disney Prince aspects of him reduced his character. There were also more internal debates. Would realistically Cullen be a good father was one. One thing however was for sure, there was a strange them and us line between detractors and fans, and to many fans, myself included, oftentimes the Cullen blowback would extend beyond the valid, “hey I don’t think his characterization was handled well” or “his redemption arc isn’t that great” to outright vitriolic hate that blatantly ignored his PTSD and lyrium addiction, and even sometimes “you just like Cullen because he’s white.” As a POC fan it was a fantastic thing to be accused of. I used to be more involved with discord during this period and I remember a few discussions about this as well. Even those indifferent to Cullen didn’t get it.

Overall, I have to say the air was one where people in Cullen fandom enjoyed all aspects of him, from delving into this troubled past to indulging in the Disney prince aspects of him. It was a happy medium I think, even if occasionally I would see a Cullen fan feel bad for liking him, and feel like they needed to justify it. Heck I even did and still do feel that way sometimes, like I need to justify what I like. But we all come into fandom for different reasons. I come into fandom some days for different things. Sometimes I want smut with my favorite character, other times I want more intense thought pieces and challenging fics. Great thing about fandom is that it’s a bakery that has cherry tarts, cinnamon rolls, or all kinds of pie depending on your mood. Craving a different sweet treat, you can make your own. Or you can commission an artist or writer for something you fancy.

*(sexual assault mentions here late in the paragraph****)And now I’ve been warped back into Cullen/DA fandom through what I am calling phase three, where the general air on Cullen reads as….very different. After having one foot outside DA fandom for a while coming back and reading the air has been different. There was the bizarre nuggetgate and other things with Cullen. Now, instead of accepting his flaws and exploring him there seems to be a lot of revisionism going on, as if his past never happened or we’re supposed to ignore he was a templar. A sexually active Cullen is looked down upon but in a different way from before. Instead of smut works with him “reducing his complicated character.” it’s distasteful to write smut with him where he’s sexually dominant or even just a lot of smut because he was sexually assaulted. (***Now, it is implied that he was, if you are a female Circle mage in DAO, with “sifting through my thoughts, tempting me with the one thing I always wanted but could never have” but this is an implication. I will be honest, it is what I have implied. However, it’s not there if you’re not a female Mage. He was however canonically sexually harassed in the Winter Palace, something I will always argue, even if canon treats it like a joke, even if Leliana tells him to “just look pretty.” Just because he is a man doesn’t make it funny that someone grabbed his bottom, and if you take Cole he flat out says “Cullen is afraid.”***)

So here I am, wondering what changed and what’s going on. Here’s what I believe: Cullen is a complicated character and his flaws and his past make him interesting to me, and they are interesting to explore. However there is nothing wrong with wanting to just explore a romantic, sexual Cullen. He’s a character with many facets. He’s romantic, determined, nostalgic, stubborn, unrelenting, loyal, driven, all things that made him seem so real. Here we get to my theory: in today’s media “criticisms” I see people—particularly younger people—beat themselves up for liking something problematic. It’s like every time you engage with media that’s potentially problematic you have to write essays to yourself why it is so and hold yourself accountable. I see this on tik-tok a lot and why I refer to it as “tik tok thought.” Look at the way some young Hamilton fans talk about the musical, or heck even here, and you may see what I mean. It’s like if you don’t acknowledge the problematic aspects of the historical figures behind their fictional portrayals in the show you’re a bad person. Same thing with nostalgic Disney fans my age in younger, if you don’t clown on Ariel for “choosing a man over anything” (SHE LIKED THE SURFACE WORLD BEFORE SHE MET ERIC) you don’t get your brownie points.

I want to make it clear: being critical of media is good. I am glad I see young people and people my age think about the messages we are given in media, but somehow this is turned into ANALYZE EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME. Ya’ll I’m a grad student. I’m critical most of the time, when I come to my tumblr blog’s lawn I’m here mostly to have some fun, and hey sometimes my fun is being critical. But sometimes it isn’t. You do not have to always be critical. You do not have to beat yourself up for liking something that’s problematic or write an essay about why it is as if that’s your due diligence in stanning a fictional character. I’m going to be honest I used to kind of think I had to justify my likes once, especially because of the Cullen vitriol on tumblr. I worked overtime in my early fanfic efforts to try to prove to the world I knew Cullen was problematic for fear I’d be perceived as just an idiot horny fangirl. Well, let me tell you: I largely don’t think that way anymore. If I want to just enjoy writing some smut or reading some smut with him, I am. But I think there is a second part of this in Cullen fandom currently, a revisionism of his problematic elements. Now, if you have to do mental gymnastics with a character in an effort to ignore problematic elements, perhaps you don’t like the character that much. That’s totally okay. DA has many awesome characters to write about and stan.

So, why Cullen? For so many reasons a bit of a shit show has always followed this character. There’s a divide between fans and his detractors and sometimes there’s a divide within the Cullen fandom. What I can extrapolate for now is the need to keep him squeaky clean and safe and away from anything “problematic” because his of past, his templar roots, or the fact that he’s white when there are POC characters with less content. It reads as a guilt associated with liking him. But please, do not be guilty. He’s not real. Templars aren’t real, mages aren’t real, Cullen isn’t real. Here’s my advice, something I learned while in my directing class in college. What my teacher always said was direct what turns you on, direct a story that gets you thinking, gets you excited. What gets you thinking and excited in a fictional world may be tons of conflict and dramatics, or it may be peace and love. Sometimes it can be both or more. Don’t shame others for coming to a bakery and wanting blueberry when you want cherry, and the baker has both, especially if the baker labels each pie, especially if the recipe for the pie has some salt in it and people like the salt. We can have it all and enjoy it all. What we want in our fiction doesn’t always align with something we may want real life. Lots of people write Modern girl in Thedas stories. Ya’ll if that actually happened to one of us it would probably suck. I’d probably get killed and not even get to meet Cullen and pose around the desk to get things going, so I’d rather it not happen. However, it is fun to read about.

Again, don’t be guilty for liking Cullen, please. But if you have to do a lot of mental gymnastics to like Cullen, maybe you don’t like him at all. To that I say, there are many other amazing characters, or perhaps you could write your own.

#fandom critical #I spent too long on this #deleted a lot #but now it's written and I can move on #Cullen rutherford

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mrs-gauche · 11 months

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So, let me get this straight…

- The latest EA earnings call indicated that DA4 won't be out before April 2024.

- EA seems to favor relatively short marketing campaigns these days, if we're looking at how Jedi Survivor or Dead Space started to be advertised around 6-8 months before release. (Also, BioWare has probably learned their lesson with Anthem, when they showed stuff way too early.)

- Jeff Grubb says that DA4 is currently targeting Summer 2024 and is not expecting it to be announced this summer, yet people are speculating that DA4 might release on DAI's 10th anniversary in November 2024.

- All this considered, I just can't see them showing something until maybe the Game Awards in December? :/

- HOWEVER, the date of the pre-sale for the vinyl is now (apparently) tomorrow June 8th, coinciding with Summer Game Fest. Which, oddly enough, marks now the second time this happened, when it was previously said to start at May 10th, the same date that the finale volume of The Missing came out (...yet nothing was released that day and no one knows what happened there? lol) Which is why people are now thinking this can't possibly be a coincidence and there will be something at Summer Game Fest. lol

- The Missing comic was marketed as a direct tie-in to DA4, but if the game is still more than one year away/marketing won’t begin any time soon, then I’m just wondering why they would even do such a build up *now*? In conclusion: I'm just so damn confused at this point and I have no flippin clue what/when/why something’s gonna happen anymore. 😂 ......Am I going to watch every single one of these live gaming showcases anyway?

Absolutely.

#anyway.. see you tomorrow at summer game fest 🤡💀#the most hilarious part to me in all of this is how this one playtester from those leaks said that..#..(quote) ''They could've told me that the game would release tomorrow and I would've believed them'' lmaooo #and that was a few *months* ago 😂#of course this is in no way indicative for what the rest of the game looked like..#when this person was probably only presented with a very small part/specific levels of the game #but it's still funny to me nonetheless lol #I like to imagine that the game is basically done and they're just adding cosmetics or something at this point lmao #or they're polishing hair animations #*siiiiigh*

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felassan · 3 years

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The rest of this post (quotes from the article) is under a cut due to length. [source]

(There are discussions of colonialism under the cut / in the article.)

After speaking to various devs who worked on MEA I’ve learned quite a bit about what happened here. First of all, there were several more species designed for this galaxy. One writer lists having proposed “five or six” new alien types, while another states that the ones BioWare opted for in the end were specifically chosen for being in “cosplay-safe” territory. Another dev mentions that an entire system was constructed just to facilitate communication between species who were indigenous to Andromeda and those who had arrived from the Milky Way. The “species who were indigenous to Andromeda” part is important, given that there were also different ideas for how to handle first contact - making the Pathfinder a violent colonist who shoots first and asks questions later wasn’t something that was set in stone from the get-go.

“I think it was a project that couldn't have possibly lived up to expectations,” Neil Pollner tells me. Pollner was a senior writer on Mass Effect 3 before going on to write parts of Andromeda. “Not just the high bar of the original trilogy, but the logical expectations anyone would have of Mass Effect going to a whole new galaxy. Because the scope of [the first] Mass Effect was so incredibly massive, there was an inherent promise that you'd be getting a massive new experience with a ton of new things in [what was supposed to be the first] Mass Effect Andromeda - new species, new lore, an entire new galaxy at your fingertips, etc.

“But we were only given the budget for two new species, plus the Remnant. Not to mention that we couldn't even include all the Milky Way species. And we weren't going to be able to let you travel throughout the galaxy. This meant that we had to develop the story around some pretty glaring inorganic limitations. So, not only did you get something that felt (and was) much smaller than what you got before, almost everyone playing the game probably had something that they really liked about Mass Effect that just wasn't there.”

Pollner goes on to explain something I mentioned above - that there’s an inherent disconnect between making your character an explorer in a game where the vast majority of gameplay involves killing. “Ryder the explorer should have a challenging and dynamic first contact experience,” he explains. “Instead, you're almost immediately killing kett. So, some very basic pillars just weren't lining up.”

When I ask about the fact that several species had apparently been cut from the game - something I had already learned in previous interviews - Pollner assures me that I had “no idea” of what was dropped in the early days of Andromeda. He also lamented the iconic narrative and branching complexity of earlier BioWare games, stating that he wishes the team had been able to maintain the same level of variation, options, and consequences as the revered RPGs the studio was known for.

“The other BioWare Montreal writers and I were dreaming up and developing things for Andromeda months ahead of Edmonton officially starting the project - i.e. before the budget and scope had been decided/communicated,” Pollner says. “We just knew that we were going to Andromeda, with almost nothing else established, including even when in the timeline it would happen. And we set out to brainstorm and grow ideas that could organically serve that general premise. “That first contact expectation I mentioned? We'd developed ideas for how the player would navigate that. We were working on a process for the Milky Way species to learn how to even communicate with the new alien species. We were developing several additional species for the new galaxy, as well as several different storylines for why the expedition had been undertaken. Most of that pre-development work ended up not being used.”

“I proposed five or six new alien species when Andromeda was in its infancy, and I still think they had a ton of potential,” Hepler says. “[Ex-BioWare writer] Jo Berry came up with a few, too, they were awesome.

“However, I'm pretty sure those ideas are still property of BioWare, so even though I'm 100% certain they won't be used, I can't talk about them without getting some kind of permission.”

Given that Pollner had his own ideas for new species, and that Hepler had “five or six” on top of a “few” more from Berry, it’s reasonable to conclude that concepting was done for up to ten additional species that never made it into Andromeda.

“I remember some early concepts that were pretty out there,” Dorian Kieken tells me. Kieken was a design director at BioWare Montreal for Mass Effect 2 and 3 before being promoted to franchise design director at the beginning of Andromeda’s development. “One of the strengths of the original Mass Effect trilogy is that you can actually cosplay most of the alien characters - except the Hanar, although I wouldn't underestimate the creativity of some cosplayers. The intention in Mass Effect Andromeda was to introduce new races that would still be in the realm of cosplay, which is probably why more crazy concepts were abandoned.”

I was surprised that this was even a consideration, so I followed up. Kieken assures me that after Andromeda’s two new races had been decided on, their evolution of their design gradually went into more “cosplay-safe territory,” with the team consciously steering away from “jellyfish” types of aliens. “In the early development of the game, we explored a lot of new species. I'm not sure why we settled on the specific number that were in the final game, but my guess would be a mix of production reasons and having a reasonable amount of races to deal with knowing we were already bringing quite a few from the Milky Way as well.”

As Pollner mentioned earlier, the team only had the budget for two new species plus the Remnant. On top of that, they weren’t able to bring all of the Milky Way species, which corroborates Kieken’s recollection of why so many species were cut.

Given the context of these conversations - species being cut from Andromeda, first contact being muddled with militance, and even cosplay potential governing alien design - I also ask why, in the devs’ eyes, Andromeda was poorly received in relation to the original trilogy.

“I think it’s more story-related than setting-related,” Kieken says. “Andromeda has strong core gameplay that improved a lot over the trilogy, but the story didn't feel as strong. I didn't connect with the new character cast as much as I did with the original trilogy.

“It's also not a fair comparison as the trilogy is three games, so you have a lot more exposition and time to bond with the characters. That being said, I seem to recall a stronger rollercoaster of emotions in the original trilogy, which I think led to more memorable moments. From the tension of almost blowing up Wrex with your shotgun or gathering everyone on a suicide run, to the lightness of listening to Mordin sing ‘I'm the very model of a scientist Salarian’ or shooting cans with Garrus in the Presidium.”

Pollner also explains why Andromeda was perceived so differently from the original trilogy, citing differences in the amount of time the team were given to make the game, but also noting that the core issue was more systemic in nature.

“I think the thesis statement for why is that the Mass Effect trilogy was an incredibly demanding endeavor,” Pollner says. “The checks that were written for it, the complexity of the experience was insanely massive. The team worked their asses off non-stop for so many years, on back-to-back-to-back games. The prospect of doing the same thing again was not only exhausting to imagine, but totally impractical. Some of the ‘lessons’ learned from the original trilogy are ones that are important for game development but result in the player experience being less. When you're talking about triple-A development, the original trilogy is actually the anomaly, not Andromeda.

“Because I moved on from BioWare after my work on Andromeda was complete, I have no idea what, if any, future plans there might be. At the time of my departure, there were none.”

It’s worth noting that Pollner is clear about Andromeda being better than a lot of people give it credit for. While some of the concerns people had have now been verified by people who worked on the project - that there could have been more species and that the core premise of Ryder the explorer becoming Ryder the killer is inherently flawed - the team still worked hard on delivering an ambitious game within the constraints of what they were given.

“I find the game to actually be pretty darn fun, and once the technical flaws were ironed out, and the initial reactive disappointment faded, the game does stand on its own,” Pollner says. “There's some really good stuff in there.”

[source]

#bioware #mass effect #mass effect: andromeda #video games #colonialism cw #next mass effect #long post #longpost

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sinsbymanka · 3 years

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this may be obvious, but break down Varric!

How dare you play to my VERY obvious obsession 😂 sorry this took FOREVER.

Break the Character Down: Varric Tethras

How I feel about this character

This is my video game husband. In fact, I think he may be my favorite character in any piece of media ever. He is deliciously complicated and self-aware while also being a complete dumbass and I think that’s very sexy. He tries very hard to connect with people, he is the definition of chaotic good, his morality is very muddy, and he’s got this tragic romantic past that I adore.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

@hollyand-writes introduced me to the idea of a fandom bicycle. A fandom bicycle is a character you will let anyone ride.

Varric is my fandom bicycle.

There are REMARKABLY few people I won’t ship him with at all. Some things (such as Bianca and him) I only like if done in specific ways, but honestly I will pretty much devour any m/f Varric content (in general I prefer to stick to m/f and f/f personally but I absolutely support the m/m Varric shippers you guys go.)

I started off shipping Varric with fHawke and I think I’ve probably read just about every fic in that tag published before 2018. They’ve got the wonderful best friends to lovers vibes, complete with mutual pining, idiots in love, slow burn, the whole schtick. The DA2 crew really works amazingly in modern AUs too and I love modern AUs so I’ve read a lot of them.

I moved into Varric/fCadash because DAI let me make an absolutely beautiful Cadash and then wouldn’t let me touch the chest hair and I’m still mad about it. I think Varric/FCadash is probably my OTP now. There’s 90ish things in the tag and I’ve written 35 of them. I’ve heard when I get to 51% I’ve got a controlling interest and am queen of that ship. IMO, DAI is where Varric does a lot of “growing up” so to speak and it’s the perfect time to let go of his past and start something new.

My newest ship is Varric/Solas and I’m VERY into it because Varric is one the of the few people who appears to “win” his vague convoluted “I’m definitely not the dread wolf these are totally normal conversations to have” dialogue series with Solas. IMO this could mean that if ANYONE could talk Solas down, it may be Varric (and why NOT Varric?)

I also like Varric in polycules because I don’t think he’s a man who really minds sharing that much (I mean. Bianca is married and they’re canonically unfaithful to each other with other people).

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Cole - I’m sorry this is Varric’s son. he is SO good for him. I enjoy the way Varric watches out for him and takes care of him. Such big brother energy it is very sexy.

Hawke - I LOVE a good platonic Varric and Hawke. God it’s SO good. best friendship ever.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Varric is not a big cuddly teddy bear - he just wants you to think he is. Varric is ruthless and dangerous. There are MANY times where Varric shoots first, asks questions later, and it’s kind of merciless. He was raised in the Merchant’s Guild, which is very cutthroat, and has no qualms about illegal activity.

I think Varric is very devoted to his friends and doesn’t want to see innocent people hurt. However. I think Varric would sacrifice innocent people to save his friends, and that’s an integral part of his character people forget.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

YOU ALL KNOW THIS THAT’S WHY YOU’RE ON THIS BLOG IT IS VERY MUCH MY BRAND.

manka can have some chest hair pls bioware.

I’ll still take these break the characters down asks!

Who I’ve done:

Velanna

Bianca Davri

Maria Cadash

Varric Tethras

Sitting in my inbox:

Solas

#manka rambles #varric tethras #dragon age #dragon age 2 #dragon age inquisition #break a character down

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mistresstrevelyan · 3 years

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Why MELE means SO MUCH to me

Okay, before I explain this, I have seen tiny drops of negativity and people trying, once again, to destroy people’s excitement bc apparently we are all supposed to hate BioWare now for some reason. *Smh*

ANYWAY:

I often talk about how DAI got me out of a toxic/abusive relationship. It would have been so easy to blame BioWare bc their game “caused” this fallout but I somehow sensed that it would have happened anyway and clinging to a game that I truly loved and enjoyed actually made the detox so much easier in the long run.

But Mass Effect legit SAVED MY LIFE. When I was writhing in pain before and after the amputation, thoughts of Commander (Katja) Shepard would get me through days more painful than words can express. “What would Katja Shepard do?” was a mantra I clung to for dear life and it truly gave me so much strength and resilience.

If Katja can survive being spaced and all the pain and loss in Mass Effect 3, never mind her “What do you need me to do?” moment when the Crucible wouldn’t fire? She was so BRAVE, so LOYAL, so FIERCE in her dedication to her calling as humanity’s brightest star.

I won’t even point out that MELE is so much more than just the OT with a shiny new coat. MELE is a promise kept. MELE is a way for yet another generation to experience the probably most amazing gaming trilogy ever developed in the last thirty years.

MELE, the promise of it, made 2020/2021 less bleak and became a rallying cry in a time where humanity truly needs heroes like Shepard.

I am SO EXCITED for this and NOBODY gets to destroy that. Don’t let anyone EVER tell you that your excitement for this is not okay. It ABSOLUTELY is.

See ya on the Normandy tomorrow!

/Persephone Out

#Persephone chatters #MELE Musings #Mass Effect Remaster #BioWare #That team did GREAT work #I'm SO proud of them

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jellysharkbat · 4 years

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I’m going to preface this with: I’m not a fan of call-out posts. I’m going to post on one topic in this post, and another topic in a different post. I put up a read more so you don’t all get slammed by a all of text. Because I like to think I’m polite like that. ;)

Adding a second preface: I’m probably going to reblog or like stuff from people you may not personally agree with. I’m liking and reblogging because I like the work, not because I’m in love with the creator. People still like John Lennon’s music and he beat women.

Anyways, here goes for anyone who wants to read.

Okay, as much as I hate confrontation and do my best to avoid it, I can’t let this one lay. It’s just unfair all so many levels. I’m going to focus on Cullen, since he’s one of my favorites, and I don’t know the other characters mentioned (and those not mentioned) as well.

My, like many others, blog is nsfw. It’s 18+. I’m going to assume that anyone who follows me is an adult. And I’m going to pretend that anyone who isn’t, doesn’t. I am going to post things that are violent in nature and- here’s the one everyone’s super focused on- sex. Because I’m an adult. If I want to read about sex, I will. If I want to write about sex, I will. Because I’m an adult. And there is nothing wrong with sex.

There have been some names named and shamed for portraying characters as “hypersexualized”.

I have one answer to that: so what?

It’s no big deal if Cullen is portrayed as virginal or a sex god. He is not real. I’m going to repeat that: Cullen Rutherford is fake. He is fictional. He does not exist. He, like everyone else, is a character from a video game. We love him, but he is not real. He doesn’t have thoughts of his own, he doesn’t have feelings, he doesn’t have a life. He is a work of fiction created by Bioware.

I’m going to say this one more time: Characters from Dragon Age are not real. Stop acting like they are real people.

The great thing about fandoms is that we can take a character we like, and do whatever we want with them. If we want to fix inconsistencies that the creators didn’t, we can. If we want to fill in the gaps about their lives, we can do that. If we want to pluck them out of their canonical universe and put them in a new one, we can do that. If we want to rewrite stuff about them, we can do that. We own that creativity.

One of the biggest reasons for this “outcry” is that Cullen Rutherford was sexually assaulted and/or raped.

As far as I am aware, there is no canonical evidence to support this claim. Please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

His sexual trauma is something we assumed happened. We imagine that a character from a video game was treated horribly. Is it likely that this happened? Sure. I think we can all agree that it’s probable that the desire demon did more than mess with his mind. The implication is there. But we can’t confirm it. We can’t look at something and point to it as hard-based evidence. Because there is none.

We made it up.

Just like Scout Jim, we created that trauma. We want that trauma to exist.

We created it, and we can take it away.

I’m also going to say this: even if canon supported our theory, it wouldn’t matter. As fanfic writers and artists, we can change whatever we want. We can portray Cullen Rutherford’s personality, and other characters, however we want. Because he’s not real.

But the sexual assault! What about that?

You mean the sexual assault that never happened in real life? Because he’s not a real person? It doesn’t matter.

Should we approach the subject of sexual assault with respect to those who survived it? Yes. Because that is a real, traumatic experience a real individual went through. And their experience in such an attack should be handled according to that person’s wishes.

Does that mean the moment a work of fiction which may or may not involve it, it needs to be treated like glass? No. Because it didn’t happen in real life. And since it’s a work of fiction, we as creators don’t always need to pay attention to it or make it true for every single universe that includes Cullen Rutherford.

Some people might want to portray it as real as possible, others might want to eliminate it completely. There’s nothing wrong with either choice.

I’m going to assume that a most people have never experience sexual assault and/or rape. Have some people been harassed? Unfortunately, yes. But it is not true of the vast majority of us, and harassment (while a violation in its own right) is not the same as someone physically putting their hands on you. Most of us have no idea what it is like to be assaulted or raped. None. Nothing we imagine will ever compare to the real thing. We don’t know what it’s like, and therefore we will never portray it accurately. And quite frankly, I can’t imagine anyone who would want to know. I’m happy to keep the bad portrayals because it means no actual crime happened.

Even if we did know, real people react differently. Rape survivors do not all behave one way. They do not act one way, all the time. How they respond to anything will depend on their situation, their experience, their current circumstance, their comfort. You can stick two people in a room, have those people be raped in the same exact manner, and put them in a new situation which may or may not force them to think about what happened to them. And they’ll respond differently. Because they are different people. Sometimes they want no sex, sometimes they want all the sex. And that changes day to day, like it does for many people.

To tell them that they can never act any other way is an insult to them and what they survived. You should be ashamed of implying or outright stating that. How dare you slap them in the face.

That, however, is a real person. As I said, Cullen is not real. He is written and portrayed again and again by many different people. He is always going to be different from one portrayal to the next compared to his canonical, in-game self. Are there extremes? Sure. But I dare you to show me a fandom where there aren’t extremes. And in the end, it doesn’t matter if those extremes exist.

No one is actually being hurt (unless you’re a sick mofo and like writing your irl crimes…). It’s fiction. Fake. Not. Real.

If I want to write something about Cullen being violently raped, I can. If I want to pretend he was never abused in any way, I can. If I want to imagine him being sexually crazed, I can. If I want to rip off an arm and make him a eunuch, I can.

Because it’s all fake.

The beauty of fiction is that we created ways so people aren’t surprised by stuff they may not want to see. We created filters. We created blacklists. We created tags. Did we have to? No. You don’t go to a library or a bookstore and expect to see tags or filters, do you? Because those things don’t exist for books. You would just pick up a book and accept whatever is written inside. We didn’t have to do that. But we did. Because we want people to be comfortable, and have fun.

If you don’t like the way someone is portraying how you think- ah. That bit is important. I’m going to repeat myself again: If you don’t like the way someone is portraying how you think they should, that is on you. You have the expectation of something. It is no one’s responsibility but your own to cater to that expectation.

People aren’t creating works involving characters like Cullen solely for your, individual pleasure. How arrogant for you to think so.We are creating many versions of a fictional person in hopes that someone else might like that version and will share their own. We should not go around pretending that only one version is the True Correct Version.

That’s the kind of shit religions do. They love purity crusades.And that’s exactly what this seems to be to me. It’s not outrage because of how people portray a fictional character, it’s an outrage because some people don’t want to admit that they have a problem with other people freely enjoying sex.

You don’t own any of Bioware’s characters. You alone do not have the final say on what happens to a character outside of canonical information, or how that character should behave 100% of the time. And you have no right to harass people because they don’t have the same Vision you do.

If something like sexual assault was truly triggering for you, and not just something offensive to your delicate sensibilities, I’m going to say you probably wouldn’t search for it. You’d find ways to filter it out. And you would accept that if something does slip through, it’s no one’s fault. People can write or draw characters in whatever situation they want. You need to acknowledge that sometimes there will be something that you won’t like and if you still see it, because no one is obligated to do anything for you.

But we will, and we try. Because in general, the majority of us care. We want to have fun. We can adjust some things if asked. Nicely. Because a lot of us realize that not everyone is going to like the same thing. People are different and will have different tastes.

One more, final point: What someone writes or draws is not indicative of who they are as a person. I write and think about a lot of stuff. I’m a curious person. I want to be able to imagine what would happen in whatever scenario I create, good or bad. I have favorite characters. Because I like those characters, I like sticking them in the scenarios I create because I want to know how they would react. It doesn’t matter if it’s something soft and sweet or a rape roleplay. What that is has nothing to do with who I am. That goes for everyone else.

So let me tell you a little something about myself, since you have no other way of knowing if I don’t specifically tell you:

I am shy. I am quiet. I don’t like picking fights. I don’t speak eloquently. I am a pushover.

And sometimes- a lot of the time- I want my favorite fictional character Cullen Rutherford to act out a “hypersexualized” fantasy of mine.

#ngl #a little bit interested to see if I'll get a reasonable #actual adult answer to this #and not teenage hysteria #If you think differently #please tell me why #I like hearing other people's opinions #seriously #cullen rutherford #dragon age #you do realize that if you don't like something #you can ask for it to be tagged so you can blacklist it right?#this is very much a grow up and deal with it thing

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emerald-amidst-gold · 3 years

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Ohh maybe 1, 2, 3, and 28? 👀

*takes a sip from my can of soda* Ahhh~! Caffeine for the soul~ >:3

But you know what's better for the soul? Questions! Curiosity! RAMBLING ABOUT CHILDREN! >:D Let's GOOOO!

1. What would your Warden generally think of your Hawke and your inquisitor?

Rylen:

Now, I kind of see Elise eventually meeting or at least, reaching out to Rylen after the events in Kirkwall. After all, she’s an Amell, and so is Hawke. They’re literally the only family each other has (that’s not ‘found’ family, that is.). So, I think Elise would reach out through a letter or somehow manage a visit to her cousin and...connect. She would see him as inspiring; Rylen always manages a smile and a quip. However, if they were to spend more and more time interacting with each other, Elise would see that Hawke isn’t very well put together, especially after the Chantry explosion. She would question why Rylen chose the templars, why he executed Anders who was a like a brother to her, but eventually she would come to understand the whys. Elise would see it as no different as when she decided to spare Loghain at the Landsmeet; they did what they believed to be right and what would be best in that very moment. Both Rylen and Elise sacrificed their own happiness for the benefit of others, and were still blamed for future complications and there’s something comforting in a finding another who can relate. :3

Fane:

So, I actually have some later fic ideas for a confrontation between Elise and Fane (after Trespasser, kind of Pre-DA4 shenanas~), and suffice it to say, these two have similar ways of thinking, but their methods are entirely different. Fane is rash, prone to barreling head first into conflict without thinking about those around him. Elise is analytical, always assessing and placing the pieces in her head to make sure everyone comes out alive. This isn’t to say Fane doesn’t care about his comrades; he does. There’s countless, countless times he takes a blow for someone else without batting an eye or thinking that he could die. He just doesn’t plan; he acts. Fane can get lost in the moment of battle, in the heady scent of chaos and blood. Elise, at first meeting him, would see him as any typical warrior; eager for battle and a garden of death. But if they were to sit down and talk...I think she might find him endearing and fascinating. More or less she would think, ‘He’s so mature for someone so young. I mean, he’s twenty-four, but...he speaks as if he’s older. His speech is manicured, measured as if decided upon carefully. And his eyes...there’s pain, a deep, deep pain. Like some of the older Wardens, those just hearing the Calling. But also...hope? Conviction? Who are you, Inquisitor? What has the world done to you?’

2. What would your Hawke generally think of your warden and your Inquisitor?

Elise:

Rylen would probably have the same opinion of Elise as she does with him. They’re family, split apart due the misconceptions and fear, and my Hawke cherishes family. He lost everyone else he could rightly consider family. Fenris, Varric, Sebastian, Isabela, and Merrill are the only people he can call family now. (Anders and Aveline are complicated. I won’t go into that can of worms. For now~ >:3) He would definitely feel a level of guilt for what he had to do in Kirkwall with Anders, with the mages, with...everything, but Rylen just tries to make it through another day. If he and Elise started to interact I think it would be extremely beneficial to Rylen. Elise is patient, sometimes stern, and not afraid to lay all the facts out. Rylen would admire that since he’s had to go through life wearing a mask, a smile, a facade just to placate someone else. He would see Elise as another sister and his opinion of her would probably be along the lines of, ‘I won’t let another member of my family be torn from me. Father, Bethany, Carver...Mother.. I failed them. I won’t fail her. I won’t fail her. She’s bright and she keeps her head held high. Heh, now I see how she killed an Archdemon and lived to tell the tale. ...Bet the lightning has something to do with that, too.’

Fane:

Rylen and Fane, in my head, actually hit it off from the get go. They’ve both had to take mantles of power, even though they never, never wanted to. Though, for different reasons, of course. But Rylen would find Fane inspiring and wholly capable of doing what must be done. He’d be kind of put off that most of his well thought out jokes and pokes would fall flat on Fane, but eventually, Rylen would see why that is. (Draconic nature withstanding.) Also, once my Hawke found out Fane is dragon? OHHHH, BUDDY. There would be yelling and screeching and cries of, ‘WHY DO I KEEP MEETING DRAGONS, FENRIS?! FIRST THE WITCH, NOW THE INQUISITOR?! ..I’m done. I’m putting my daggers down and stealing away into the mountains. Varric, you wanna come with? I know you’re fed up with this shit, too! Don’t lie! DON’T. LIE.’

3. What would your Inquisitor generally think of your warden and your Hawke?

Elise:

Fane would probably think of Elise as...interesting. Not in a bad way. Just...interesting. Fane isn’t comfortable with Wardens after Adamant. He learns that he can hear the corruption inside of them and that terrifies him. And confuses him. And makes him go, ‘What the fuck am I? I don’t even know anymore. Why do I try?’ But, if he were to get over that and, like I said with Elise, talk? He would have another perspective of the men and women that had let fear take them by the throat. It wouldn’t change his feelings regarding the Wardens entirely, but one level mind, one open mind, is enough to make Fane tap into his nature and consider other sides of a very, very large cube.

‘She’s more...quiet than the others. Maybe because it’s just her? No...Loghain was still loud as fuck when it was just him, so why? Ugh, I’m so sick of these puzzles. At least she’s more stable, but I can see the pain in her eyes; green like mine, but missing the gold. Maybe the Taint is stronger than she thinks? Perhaps, but still she fights, still she claws her way towards something that may be impossible. ...Hmph. How typical. A similarity. This world continues to confound.’

Rylen:

Fane respects Rylen after spending some time to feel him out, know his cues, and piece together which is his actual face. Once that happens, Fane can move into respect with my Hawke. These two have a fairly similar moral compass; pragmatism regarding most decisions. Again, they both have been thrust into a position without asking for it, so that would be a stepping stone upon the bonding path. All in all, Fane’s general opinion of Rylen would be, ‘He’s worn that mask of smiles and bright, grey eyes for too long. It’s cracking at the edges, wearing down to mere mortar. Then again, I have my own mask. I’m in no position to judge and condemn, but...it’s worrying. Even the strongest wings can be torn and all that greets is the earth below. I hope your wings don’t falter, Champion. It would be disappointing for the world to lose someone who cares when those who should are content to point the finger towards anyone but themselves.’

28. What is their favourite location within their own game and what would be their favourite in each others?

Fane: The Emprise du Lion! Snowwwww! Coooold! Ice dragooooon! >:3 ...minus the red lyrium. *snorts*

Origins: Hmm, I think Fane would like the Brecilian Forest. He enjoys forests as much as he enjoys the cold, the ice, and the snow. He likes the animals, even though he tries not to interfere with them, and he likes the quiet. No chattering, no demands. Only trees, leaves, and the occasional whistle of wind. Also, Fane likes to investigate ancient ruins. He’s not interested in the history, really. He just wants to see if he can find any remnants about his kin that the elves may have left behind. :3

DA2: Probably Sundermount since again, wilderness. Fane doesn’t do too well in crowded areas and Kirkwall would make his heart rate sky rocket. Not just because of the people, but because of the size. Those cramped streets of Lowtown would just make him...eugh. *shivers*

Elise: She adores Orzammar! Especially the Shaperate! The dwarves fascinate Elise since not many tomes in the Circle went into depth about them! :D And if we want to with Awakening areas, I would saaaay...Amaranthine. She’s always like towns and cities due to not being able to experience them until the Blight! :3

Inquisition: Elise would adore the Frostback Basin. Like, really enjoy it! All that flora and Avaar culture and wilderness? MMMM!

DA2: Definitely the Wounded Coast. Hands down. My daughter enjoys the sea so much. The salt in the air, the feel of sand, and the pretty, pretty shells and rolling waves? Every Circle mages’ wet dream. *waggles eyebrows*

Rylen: So, if we’re not talking like open world areas in the game, I would definitely say Rylen’s favorite place is the Hanged Man. The man needs a drink to deal with Kirkwall. Just saying. It’s also where he can just...be himself with the people who know him.

Inquisition: Hinterlands. He’s a FERELDAN. He wants his MABARI to RUN in native land! He wants to...go home. ;3;

Origins: I like to think the Hawke family went all over Ferelden before settling in Lothering. I mean, they kind of do, but maybe for more than a few months at a time? So, Rylen would enjoy Denerim. He likes to go where people are, where life is. He likes crowds because he can blend into them and not be tracked down until he wants to be tracked down. ...My Hawke just wants to live in peace with his glowy elf husband and run a mabari ranch. Is that too much to ask, Bioware?! Let Hawke REST!

Woo! That was FUN! It really got me thinking, too! X3 Thank you so much, friend! <3

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