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Merrill has a good amount of fans, but I think Isabella ate up most of the guy fans. Never could stand her, personally.
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Jun 17, 2020 05:10
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Wow there's so much wacky stuff in DAO I forgot about. There's a crashed meteor where a couple talks about how they found a baby boy in the crater. There's a side quest where you go around to places of power throughout ferelden and carve some dude's glyph on each. I'm sure that won't come back to bite us 
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Jun 17, 2020 05:30
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBCcbdGvFa0 I love all DA2 romances, including the unrequited Aveline romance. But Merrill is absolutely my favorite, I won't lie. There are many obvious "BioWare Types" and she fits into the Little Sister type. There was that girl in Balur's Gate 1 and 2. I hear she gets a personality in BG2 but I was unimpressed with her in BG1. Mission in KOTOR 1 is obviously a non-romantic pure little sister Right up until you can murder her via mind controlling her best friend.... Dawn Star in Jade Empire Tali in Mass Effect Leliana in Drago nAge Origins Merrill in Dragon Age 2 Sera in Dragon Age Inquisition. Now there are huge differences between all of these characters. For example, I hate Sera and I have absolutely zero feelings for Tali. I often forget she exists,,in fact. Somebody like Leliana and Merrill are deceptively pure and innocent and aren't really played straight like poor Dawn Star. But the general appeal is the same: you want to protect and shelter these girls. And that's why only monsters Harden Leliana. I'll sell a hundred Connor souls to Desire Demons before I revert my sweet Chantry girl back to a heartless killer. Closed Fist Dawn Star is interesting, though. The "I don't wanna be a victim anymore" character arc is always fascinating to me because it's always a villainous route. Somebody was abused and mistreated a lot and they're like "I'm not gonna take it anymore!" and it results in them becoming callous and even evil. This is what Dawn Star being converted to Way of the Closed Fist is all about. She's been so nice all her life and let people walk over her and she doesn't accept it anymore; she doesn't accept that she deserves to be hated for how she was born. But that results in a "you either get stepped on or get to steppin'" mentality and an unhappy epilogue for her, especially if you find out who her dad was. But Merrill is by far my favorite of all time because she just perfectly captures that instinct I mentioned earlier to lavish affection upon her and do all in my power to keep her from harm. Plus she of course has a cool character arc with multiple possibilities. I actually totally brushed her off in my first DA2 run because face tattoos are a big no-no for me. But once I got passed that and actually listened to her and engaged with her character, she quickly became my favorite.
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Jun 17, 2020 06:05
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VostokProgram posted:So,I'm replaying DAO. Guess what Sandal's first spoken word is? He says more then one word through out in both DA:O and DA2, just not too often.
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Jun 17, 2020 06:37
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NikkolasKing posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBCcbdGvFa0 What was it like to write for Bioware?
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Jun 17, 2020 06:45
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most of your companions in DA2 aren't great. Besides Varric, who is extremely cool, and my boy Anders, who did nothing wrong. - Merril is dumb and does blood magic and gets her tribe killed. In my case the hero of ferelden's tribe, which hurt like a motherfucker - Isabel basically stole the original copy of the Quran or some poo poo? Kinda stupid - Fenris is just edgy and boring and I think he doesn't wear shoes - Aveline is ok I guess? But she's also a cop I think DAI has the most interesting companion stuff out of the whole series.
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Jun 17, 2020 06:56
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Varric, Aveline, and Isabella is the perfect party for how they play off each other with sarcastic Hawke and you can't change my mind. 
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Jun 17, 2020 08:54
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Leliana should always be hardened. She is a fantastic murderer and should revel in her talent, not squander it away in some cloistered hall of losers.
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Jun 17, 2020 09:02
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Admiral Ray posted:Leliana should always be hardened. She is a fantastic murderer and should revel in her talent, not squander it away in some cloistered hall of losers.  Also she's just more interesting as a worldy bard.
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Jun 17, 2020 09:04
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Eimi posted:Varric, Aveline, and Isabella is the perfect party for how they play off each other with sarcastic Hawke and you can't change my mind. I'd like to play mage Hawke so I can run with those three all the time and not have to put up with Anders' whiny butt, but I like Rogue Hawke so much more, it's a real dilemma.
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Jun 17, 2020 09:07
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Leliana is a woman who gradually learns to stop denying her true love of murder. You rarely see such a heartwarming tale of acceptance.
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Jun 17, 2020 10:06
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A hardened Pope Leliana brings much-needed reform to the chantry and ruthlessly stamps out any opposition, making it the the best choice
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Jun 17, 2020 15:24
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I appreciate murder reform but not at the expense of sanity or happiness. Leliana's entire character is escaping her past and then she's beaten and broken into re-embracing it in Inquisition. Leaving her as-is be like "sure, you're horribly traumatized, and that's okay." No thank you.
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Jun 17, 2020 15:38
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Nah she's clearly having a great time.
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Jun 17, 2020 15:39
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In my current playthrough of DA:O I'm noticing everybody keeps telling the Grey Warden that they can't deny their past and who they are even if they wish circumstances were otherwise. Following that logic "hardening" Leliana seems on message. The whole "hardening" mechanic is kinda goofy though. Why is it even called that?
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Jun 17, 2020 15:40
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Fruits of the sea posted:In my current playthrough of DA:O I'm noticing everybody keeps telling the Grey Warden that they can't deny their past and who they are even if they wish circumstances were otherwise. Following that logic "hardening" Leliana seems on message. Hiding in the Chantry saying she gets visions from the Maker is more what those characters are referring to. Confronting Marjolaine is Leliana facing up to her past, whether you harden her or not. And it's called hardening because both Leliana and Alistair are good, caring human beings at the start. Then, in a moment of vulnerability, you can exploit them and cynical and cruel by saying The world is full of takers and you either taker from others or they take from you (Alistair) and It's good you were a murderer and bad you tried to stop being a murderer so go back to murdering (Leliana)
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Jun 17, 2020 15:48
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NikkolasKing posted:Hiding in the Chantry saying she gets visions from the Maker is more what those characters are referring to. Confronting Marjolaine is Leliana facing up to her past, whether you harden her or not. yeah but you murder like thousands of people in each playthrough so
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Jun 17, 2020 15:50
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I mean yeah, I get that. However after everybody, even friggin Wynne told my pc to man up and embrace being a soldier I just kinda said "yah OK" and said the same to Leliana. I'll try and do a goody-goody run at some point, but there's no getting through these games without innocent blood on one's hands.
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Jun 17, 2020 15:55
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Unless you play a female City Elf. Only guilty blood. 
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Jun 17, 2020 16:34
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VostokProgram posted:- Merril is dumb and does blood magic and gets her tribe killed. In my case the hero of ferelden's tribe, which hurt like a motherfucker This keeps coming up but no, what happens is her keeper martyr's herself on Merril's behalf and her clan can commit suicide by Hawke in their attempt at revenge. If left to do her thing Merril was possibility going to get herself killed, but if the keeper stayed out of it none else would have been hurt.
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Jun 17, 2020 16:53
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Yeah, I agree that it's on the Keeper handling that situation badly. She didn't explain things well (or at all) to the tribe and interfered to no purpose but martyrdom for her beliefs--in that way, she was exactly like Merrill. If she'd stayed out of it, maybe Merrill would have died, but it would have been a consequence of her own actions and proof of the value of the taboo. To a certain extent I think the Keeper was afraid Merrill would succeed, and fanned flames of prejudice over the taboo before sabotaging Merrill to prove the taboo's purpose, which sent the clan into a fury (at least in most playthroughs--I think you can convince them to stand down, but I'm not sure). Granted, it's been a minute since I played DA2.
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Jun 17, 2020 17:13
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NikkolasKing posted:Hiding in the Chantry saying she gets visions from the Maker is more what those characters are referring to. Confronting Marjolaine is Leliana facing up to her past, whether you harden her or not. Chantry Leliana tries to murder people over a pot full of ash, she's just as bloodthirsty as before but for worse reasons. Hardening is less about exploiting them in a moment of vulnerability and more about encouraging them to fully investigate the different methods of conflict resolution available.
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Jun 17, 2020 18:07
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Pope Leliana wants to end racism in the chantry, refocus on helping the poor, and be nicer to mages if A FEW EGGS gotta be broken to make that omelet, well
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Jun 17, 2020 18:14
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It's kind of a shame just letting the chantry burn down to the ground was not an option, in light of that Leliana pope is the second best thing.
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Jun 17, 2020 18:23
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NikkolasKing posted:Hiding in the Chantry saying she gets visions from the Maker is more what those characters are referring to. Confronting Marjolaine is Leliana facing up to her past, whether you harden her or not. You don't so much as make Alistair cynical as you make him less naive. It doesn't make him any less Alistair since he's still goofy and loves cheese and swooping, it just means he grows a bit of a spine and does more things for himself.
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Jun 17, 2020 18:37
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Fruits of the sea posted:I mean yeah, I get that. However after everybody, even friggin Wynne told my pc to man up and embrace being a soldier I just kinda said "yah OK" and said the same to Leliana. I'll try and do a goody-goody run at some point, but there's no getting through these games without innocent blood on one's hands. My original playthrough of DA:O on release, I picked a Dorf Noble because dorfs are cool and I loved the nest of scheming snakes I got dumped into - embraced it wholeheartedly. I played the whole game as a scheming, backstabbing rear end in a top hat because hey, that's what he was raised to be. Also I didn't resent brother dear in the slightest for his plot - "I say, well played old beans ! Good show !" - and supported him against Fucko Whatsisname because hey, he might be a bastard who tried to get me killed but he's FAMILY. First we gently caress with everyone trying to gently caress with us, *then* we can settle scores. Basically he went "OK so we need allies. How do we make allies ? Why, by bribing, blackmailing, murdering those who won't join pour encourager les autres... that's just how it's done, right ?" Kobal2 fucked around with this message at 18:50 on Jun 17, 2020 |
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Jun 17, 2020 18:47
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VostokProgram posted:Wow there's so much wacky stuff in DAO I forgot about. There's a crashed meteor where a couple talks about how they found a baby boy in the crater. There's a side quest where you go around to places of power throughout ferelden and carve some dude's glyph on each. I'm sure that won't come back to bite us Once you find that meteor you can make it into a good sword with the dlc it comes from Its nice
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Jun 17, 2020 18:55
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Kobal2 posted:My original playthrough of DA:O on release, I picked a Dorf Noble because dorfs are cool and I loved the nest of scheming snakes I got dumped into - embraced it wholeheartedly. I played the whole game as a scheming, backstabbing rear end in a top hat because hey, that's what he was raised to be. Also I didn't resent brother dear in the slightest for his plot - "I say, well played old beans ! Good show !" - and supported him against Fucko Whatsisname because hey, he might be a bastard who tried to get me killed but he's FAMILY. First we gently caress with everyone trying to gently caress with us, *then* we can settle scores. Dwarf origin best origin. I'm playing as a Dalish this time, and it's really the weakest origin since the Dalish barely have any stakes in what's taking place. So I've taken the course of rooting for the underdog in every situation* which, apart from helping a blood mage or two has been a remarkably "good" playthrough. I even managed to free Redcliffe without anybody dying, which I didn't even know was possible. *exception being that I didn't sic the werewolves on the Dalish because well, I'm Dalish. The origins are still really cool and it's an idea I wish other rpgs would use. The only other example I can think of is Tyranny, though it does it in a rather different way.
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Jun 17, 2020 19:19
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I started playing the Fade, realized that its actually bullshit, then loaded a slightly earlier save and installed the skip the fade mod.
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Jun 17, 2020 20:32
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VostokProgram posted:I started playing the Fade, realized that its actually bullshit, then loaded a slightly earlier save and installed the skip the fade mod. It's one of those things that's kinda spooky and cool the first time and then every other time you realize it's just running in circles a bunch and it blows
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Jun 17, 2020 23:55
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I honestly don’t get the DA:O fade-hate. If you couldn’t tolerate that particular dungeon, how did you all manage to get through any other section? I can understand the meme-like dislike for the Deep Roads since it such a long stretch of pure combat. But the fade doesn’t take that long and it at least has some gimmicks going on.
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Jun 18, 2020 00:04
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Raygereio posted:at least has some gimmicks going on. That's probably a big part of it. It's basically a big gimmick and feels like filler. "Alright, I'm almost done with the tower, gonna fight the bad guy!" Game decides, nope, here's another dungeon inside the dungeon that you have to do now. And there are permanent stat boosts that you can miss. Have fun running around poop smear.
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Jun 18, 2020 00:08
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ApplesandOranges posted:You don't so much as make Alistair cynical as you make him less naive. It doesn't make him any less Alistair since he's still goofy and loves cheese and swooping, it just means he grows a bit of a spine and does more things for himself. You also get the delight of regular Alastair turning his back on his oaths and making GBS threads the bed entirely if you trying to say "We're making Loghain a warden obviously, its Simon Templeman" and just walking away like a whiny bitch after a massive attempt to pull the country together and save the world and making him the loving King of the Country suddenly forgiveness is the line in the sand. The deep dark reveal of "a warden has to die" was stupidly dumped into the post Loghain scene so they could make Alastair's tantrum seem somewhat plausible in the moment and then later completely moronic.
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Jun 18, 2020 00:26
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I recently returned to SA from a long hiatus and it makes me so happy that there's an active Dragon Age thread.  Seems like I'm not the only one doing a quarantine full trilogy playthrough, currently in Act III of DA2. I'm having a blast - I really did not appreciate how good this game was when I played it the first time (warts and rushed development and all I suppose) since I rushed through it my only other time playing it to get to DA:I. I've played DA:O and DA:I both bunches of times, but DA2 was my "one and done" until now. I played a Diplomatic rogue Hawke the first time and she was nice, but Sarcastic blood mage Hawke gives me life. 
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Jun 18, 2020 03:28
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Yeah, I'm really happy that the DA thread is still active, too. I think there are still a ton of Dragon Age fans, and EA/Bioware would be really dumb not to make a DA4. I really hope they haven't quietly canceled the game, especially not after teasing us with a trailer 
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Jun 18, 2020 04:02
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Just started Inquisition. Gotta say that the music makes this cinematic almost as good as the Normandy reveal in Mass Effect 2. https://youtu.be/VBH2UcsmxrA
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Jun 18, 2020 04:29
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Dragon Age 4's plot was entirely about how great police brutality and virulent pandemics were so now they have to completely start the development cycle over AGAIN.
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Jun 18, 2020 04:30
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VostokProgram posted:most of your companions in DA2 aren't great. Besides Varric, who is extremely cool, and my boy Anders, who did nothing wrong. Aveline is a good person who doesn't put up with any bad poo poo going down where she's aware of it. A lot of the other guards don't like her. Also she's the only tank companion so you need her if you're not one and why wouldn't you play Blood Mage Sarcastic Hawke? You forgot about Sebastian, who is also a good person if a bit worried about being a figurehead and responsible for his subjects. He's not a bad guy even if he is definitely kinda old fashioned. Otherwise, totally agree.
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Jun 18, 2020 04:37
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CAPT. Rainbowbeard posted:Aveline is a good person who doesn't put up with any bad poo poo going down where she's aware of it. A lot of the other guards don't like her. You play Force Mage because flinging your enemies around like ragdolls > whatever blood mages do.
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Jun 18, 2020 04:41
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Admiral Ray posted:Chantry Leliana tries to murder people over a pot full of ash, she's just as bloodthirsty as before but for worse reasons. Hardening is less about exploiting them in a moment of vulnerability and more about encouraging them to fully investigate the different methods of conflict resolution available. Wynne also attacks you if you do this, unless you're saying the nice old grandma was also super murderous. These are the ashes of their saint and, more practically, they are a miracle cure. You're destroying the cure for cancer. Most people I know treat tainting the Ashes as the most indefensibly and stupidly evil choices in the game. ApplesandOranges posted:You don't so much as make Alistair cynical as you make him less naive. It doesn't make him any less Alistair since he's still goofy and loves cheese and swooping, it just means he grows a bit of a spine and does more things for himself. Oh I agree. The result is fine but the dialogue to actually harden him is hosed up and sounds really evil.
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Jun 18, 2020 05:23
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