Utotri

I too think it is a beautiful language. It does not make sense to be proud of ones mother language, but I can't say I'm not. I take it you are German or at least German speaking? Your signature has a German line and you say 'in de wereld' when almost everyone I know would say 'van de wereld', except for Germans who are used to saying 'in der Welt' or something like that.

I am a guy and Morrigan does not attract me at all. She employs an intelligent facade hiding nothing but a very immature mind, which is unfortunate. One would think that even in nature it would be easy to discover the myriad merits of empathy. As a shapeshifter, empathy should be a given for Morrigan but alas, it is her major flaw, because she is nothing but a heinous bimbo. This does not make any sense. Given the potential, I regard Morrigan as a major screw-up by BioWare. Luckily she is voiced very well and her role in the story is interesting.

I loaded my post-coronation from the game where I sacrificed Loghain to the dragon. I transcribed the passages in the epilogue where it describes the fate of Morrigan. There are two slides. 1: "True to her word, Morrigan vanished the same night she made her offer at Redcliffe Castle. Someone of Morrigan's description was later seen travelling alone, heading west through the Frostback Mountains." 2: "Several years later, tales out of Orlais said that a strange, dark-haired mage had implied herself within the empress's court." As you can see, there is no mention of a child. Instead, it mentions that she is travelling alone. You can probably understand then why I think your words describe a state of affairs that is demonstrably false.

I will not fight the notion that there is selfishness in such a decision. Survival however is highly instinctive and it is a priority for any individual. But selfishness alone is not what prompts the decision and it would be wrong to look at the decision like it is overly selfish. The Ashes are not necessarily wasted when they are used. It is unknown exactly how large a quantity you can take, so one could probably take enough to administer two doses I would suspect. Even if it would be wasted, it would still be wrong to think if it as a selfish act. There are several reasons. One is that my elf at the time was pretty much unaware of Eamon's status. The second is that Eamon is a shemlen lord. He is, when it comes down to it, an enslaver of elves. The third reason is somewhat speculative, but it has some validity. It can be expected that Eamon is not as necessary as he is made out to be, since he has a son who would likely let Teagan rule in his stead until he reaches adulthood or is stripped of rank. This has been discussed in this thread and it was met by scepticism which I understand, but the scenario, when looked at for roleplay purposes, is not without its merits and it would certainly be an argument for my Dalish. Then all is well. English is not my mother tongue. I apologize if I have offended you by thinking you were mocking me, but these nuances are difficult for me to pick up on and I merely tried to be honest with you by telling you of my suspicions. Your statement applied hyperbole which is a common rhetorical style for mockeries, so this prompted these suspicions.

This is not a logical conclusion at all. Are you on this forum because in a parallel universe you are not on this forum? It makes no sense. No, you are on this forum as a result of actions in the past in this universe. In the same way the sequel should keep in mind the different choices that may have been made in the past to give the player a personalized world that reflects these choices and not the choices that were *not* made. Turn this argument around and it is just as true, so it is a meaningless argument. It would be vastly superior if BioWare accomodated both choices so no one has their enjoyment doomed.

No, you are mistaken. First, my elf is unaware at that point that the taint is necessary to defeat the archdemon. Secondly there is no reason to expect Alistair to die. I am not attempting to roleplay the world's most selfish Dalish, far from it. I do not know why you would think that, because it is quite absurd. I suspect that you are attempting to mock me then, which I do not appreciate.

I would guess that they expect us to justify it the same way we justify a resurrected warden in awakenings. Not a problem for me as one more night in the sack with Morri is not objectionable. Even if I haven't romanced her, my character does the ritual because like all living things, he doesn't want to die. Hmmm... sex or certain death... I choose sex! :biggrin: There is a huge difference between Morrigan's child and the resurrected Warden. In the latter case the player chooses to resurrect the Warden and play the game with a broken storyline. It is not a forced decision. If you sacrifice your Warden you should accept the fact that its storyline ends there. With Morrigan's child the player has chosen not to do the ritual. It is in many ways the best choice because you will avoid future trouble with the Old God at a relatively small cost. Alistair or Loghain has been sacrificed to kill the archdemon and the player should not have to suffer a broken storyline because he made these choices if it is at all avoidable and it is easily avoidable. For many players the choice will not be between sex or certain death. I had to choose once between letting Morrigan have a tainted baby with Loghain who had just told me that he was more than willing to sacrifice himself to destroy the dragon. It would have been ridiculous on all accounts for that Warden to accept Morrigan's offer in those circumstances. If BioWare does not allow continuity regarding Morrigan's baby it would be a huge let down for many many players.

It is not about Alistair. He remains tainted.

How am I 'off target'? I merely noticed a certain lack of choice in the game that would have been quite logical given the story my character is given by the game itself. Am I not allowed to criticize the game and try to look for things that I feel could be improved? This is not at all comparable. In fact, this is exactly the difference. You have the choice to persuade Alistair, but the game makes you fail. I would have accepted it without any problem if my character was given the choice to try the Ashes and had made me fail at it. I do not have this choice even though it is a logical wish for certain characters.

What is fixed? The knights are loyal to Connor when Eamon is dead and if Teagan is regent in Connor's name the knights will be loyal to Teagan. This does not run contrary to the usual practice in feudal Europe. It was quite normal to have regents or placeholders. All of this is mere speculation and your guess is as good as mine. It does not serve us to discuss these things in detail because there is no way for us to fully understand phenomena as the Fade or the Ashes, because there are no reliable sources and it can't be tested. I do not see value in this line of reasoning. It is based on many fallacious assumptions and bad logic. The Chantry does not tell us anything we can be sure to trust. There is lyrium there but what does it mean? We don't know. The lyrium itself does not explain the powers, merely how it is transmitted I think. As long as the Joining is such a burden the taint is still something you would want to get rid of if possible given certain dispositions regarding the Wardens. Especially because the protagonist does not always know about Avernus' projects prior to Haven. Also, Avernus could be wrong. I also don't see how this relates to the Ashes. Perhaps the perfect Joining leaves no taint at all. We can't know these things. I can only focus on the roleplay experience and the way the story unfolds there. If the game limits my interactive options because of lore or the way the fantasy world is supposed to work it should still let me try or explain why I can't try. This is not the case with the Ashes.

We disagree. I do not find this compelling. The knights are bound by loyalty and Teagan is bound by bloodline I would say. But let's not dwell on this. I have already stated that it would be too much for BioWare to add. Earlier I spoke of a compromise which would be testing the Ashes on yourself and seeing that it doesn't work. That would have been doable. This makes sense to RustyBlade, to you and even to me, but this would make no sense whatsoever to my Dalish elf, I hope you can appreciate that, and hers is the mind I am emulating when playing. Even then, why would the Ashes not supply a sort of retrovirus? It's magic, no? The Dalish origin is something of an exception, but it is not implausible for characters from other origins to have a similar disposition regarding the Ashes if they are roleplayed a certain way. A mage would be likely to want to get rid of the taint one way or the other. Duncan is the lifeline at the Circle Tower and the taint is the consequence, but it is not necessarily a wanted consequence. Please refrain from using the 'sandbox' argument. It was used before and I did not say anything then, but it is downright silly because I am not proposing that at all.

The translative process in not hampered by limited knowledge so much but by intrinsic aspects of the Dutch language. Something like 'Grey Warden' sounds relatively cool in English. There is no way to translate that and make it sound cool in Dutch, it will always sound unnatural and contrived. Ask your friend, he will surely agree. Perhaps if I find the time and inspiration I will write something, but I don't expect it. That's a nice thing to do. I'm sure most of us swampdwellers appreciate being able to just 'be Dutch' on a forum while at the same time having a more international audience nearby. I always create a certain mental image of how my character's disposition should be calculated. What priorities and philosophies would make sense given the environment he or she grew up in. An RPG should be role-played of course. I always try to do so.

They are indeed classic redshirts. I love those. I like the one in the Cousland origin too. Deaths like that are both epic and mundane, a rare quality.

You'll never be able to use the ashes for yourself BUT if you want a storyline twist you can defile the ashes, piss everyone off and get the Reaver Specialization. ;) I have heard of that, but it would not make sense RP-wise for my Dalish elf. Sure enough, there will undoubtedly be a playthrough in the future where it will be a valid path to take. Although I rather like the suggestion, I think it would be inadvisable for me to write fanfiction. English is not my mother tongue and it would be very awkward for me to write conversations for instance. I am quite able to write proper English sentences, but many of the nuances are lost to me. It does not help that I am Dutch as well. Dutch is an extremely harsh language and I always have to be very careful how I put things in English because I have heard that it often comes across as very arrogant even when I really am trying to be humble. Of course, writing fanfiction in Dutch would be an option, but it would not be worth it. Most Dutch are able to read English quite well and fantasy simply doesn't translate well into Dutch. I would like to thank you and the people that have replied so far for their input.

Connor's affinity for magic is known only by the incrowd. It could very well be hidden for a while for the purpose of retaining stability. Connor would only rule in name, the actual governing would be done by Teagan I would assume. Teagan then would be a powerful regent by virtue of the Warden's allies who support him, the Dalish, Orzammar and the Circle. I know. The Joining provides no cure though. The taint is still there and to someone who does not care much about the plight of the humans the taint would be more like a punishment and a disease. The taint is not necessary to defeat the blight. I can simply sacrifice Al or Loghain. It would make sense to try and remove the taint then, especially since as a Dalish the whole Warden thing is merely the result of an accident that wasn't your fault.

I does not have to be known to others when the protagonist would be stripped of the taint, so it does not have to influence the story too much except at certain points (Ruck, final battle). The party would still be the Warden's party as long as Alistair is there. The Ashes don't cure the taint you say. This could be, but I don't think it is ever mentioned so how could we know? It would have perhaps been prudent for BioWare to include the option to try and cure the taint with the Ashes and then show that it indeed does not. It would have been more satisfactory than the current state I would say. Perhaps it is the perfect compromise. I will disregard the argument about using the Ashes on the archdemon. The location of the Ashes is unknown in Thedas so it could never have been tested. A solid argument. However, I do feel a regent of Redcliffe should have the power to call the Landsmeet when the might of the Dalish, Orzammar and the Circle are at his disposal. It would probably have been too much for BioWare to accomodate though.

I understand these arguments you bring forth, but I feel they are too simple. The game is linear, yes, but it does offer choices. Here I feel the logical choice is being left out of the game, or at least it is logical to a Dalish elf. The ashes are needed for Eamon. If this is known, why not take a little bit extra for yourself? Or, if that can't happen, why not let Alistair take ash for Eamon so you can take some for your own illness? I would also argue that there could have been an alternative to Arl Eamon. In fact, one alternative is quite obvious. Let Eamon die. Connor is Eamon's heir, so his matter must still be settled, and after his demonic episode he would let Isolde rule as a regent until he is old enough. Isolde would probably rely on Teagan and he is already against Loghain, so saving Eamon seems unnecessary then. As far as the Wardens themselves are necessary, well there is still Alistair/Loghain, so the archdemon still dies as it should. And yes, I am caught up in the game. How could I not? It is an RPG, a game geared towards immersion, and it is simply the best game I have ever played except for Planescape: Torment.

I was playing a beautiful Dalish elven mage and unfortunately she became ill with this taint. Duncan promised me a cure but the curse is not gone, it's simply less deadly now. I still need a cure. So I come to Lothering and there is this dumb knight who is searching for some ashes of Andraste that would cure anything supposedly. I thought it would be quite the RP move to follow the trail. Some hours of play later I obtain the ashes and it would only be logical to apply the ashes to myself to rid myself of the taint. Why should I care about Arl Eamon? Loghain is already busy trying to fight the Blight and given his history there is no clear reason why I should doubt his ability. The game will not let me take this route. Although I understand why the game is set up like this, I think it is a huge mistake. It breaks the immersion when I, as a Dalish, have to use these ashes for some human lord I can't care about when I could really use them myself. And it's not as if I need those Redcliffe knights when I can have the power of dwarves, elves and mages. There are also other origins where using the ashes for curing the taint would be a plausible RP decision. I would like to hear what others think about this.

This doesn't sound good to me. Leliana is my favourite companion, and I love that they made her the focus of a DLC but this doesn't look like much fun. In Origins we learn how she comes to terms with her past, so I don't see why we should revisit this. Still, it will be interesting to see what exactly she has gone through. I am also interested if the traitor's punishment that Leli was on the receiving end of involved stuff as horrendous as rape and the like. I will probably await the reviews though. A huge problem that also arises with this DLC is that many people really like Leliana and wish to see the romance continued. I would reckon that that is what most people want if given the choice between that and this newly announced DLC. Why not go there instead, BioWare?

I don't know why people defend Duncan in this matter. It is murder, plain and simple. Some people speak of necessity. Why? It was not necessary for Duncan to kill Jory. He posed no real threat nor would it be a valid expectation that he would be a liability in the future. Making sure the Warden's secrets stay safe is pretty much a moot point. There is no reason for much secrecy at all anyway. So now pretty much every single Warden I RP ends up resenting Duncan and thinking Al is a mincehead for revering Duncan. I was really happy when Cailan and Duncan perished in the massacre of Ostagar.