Catilina
The Beastmaster
Wanted Apostate
Posts: 827 
Likes: 3,282
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Post by Catilina on Jun 16, 2017 12:21:26 GMT
I wouldn't mind focusing on these characters..... if they remain relevant. Thought it was disappointing that Asunder and The Masked Empire introduced so many interesting characters and then just sort of..... glossed over them in the games or dropped them entirely? Like, my instinct is to use this comic to Get Hype™ for DA4, but I'm not sure what or who I'm supposed to be getting excited about. I feel like they'll drop Vaea and I dunno wtf Charter is doing everywhere. P.S. what's happening in Orzammar friends let's go back there, check out some mad dwarven politics, anytime would be great.  I like the comics and books when they can expand the lore in ways that the games most likely never will. So I liked that we saw an Antivan prison and swamps and a naval battle against the Qunari in the Alistair comics. And that we wrapped up the mystery behind Maric's disappearance. Those kinds of things would most likely never be covered in future games, or if they were they might feel shoe horned in. But Magekiller was disappointing because apart from the beginning scenes of Minrathous, everything felt like a rehash of DAI with worse graphics. There was nothing new there and no interesting new characters. I'm hoping that Knight Errant will be able to provide more lore with Starkhaven, perhaps resolve Sebastian's story arc, otherwise it might go the same way as Magekiller. I don't think it's necessary to pick up the threads left hanging by ancillary materials. Let's take Asunder. If Cole wasn't a follower in DAI, I would be fine with that novel serving as the backdrop for the furtherance of the mage/templar conflict and that's all, without coming back to those characters again. I think it's possible to have the ancillary materials act as support for the games without also referring directly to those same characters and events. These things should be a bonus for the interested player, not a requirement. ( I am of the opinion that The Masked Empire is NOT required reading, because I don't think that, in that particular case, the Inquisitor needs to know everything to make a decision relevant to their roleplay.) As for Charter, she is essentially Leliana's second-in-command, along with Harding. Magekiller had Leliana initially approach our duo in those comics, but then Charter took over later on as, I assume, Leliana had larger issues to deal with. I assume the case is the same for this comic. My problem with WEWH, though, is that I felt that the writers of that quest had read TME and were designing the quest with the book as background information. The characterizations for all three of the Orlesians felt underdeveloped in the game because they were relying on the characterization from the book. From a role playing perspective, I would think that the Inquisitor, as an unofficial ambassador, would have been briefed about all three leaders before showing up at the Winter Palace and so would have a much deeper understanding of the necessary politics. But the game presents it as if speaking with the politicians is the first time the PC has ever heard anything about them, and then the advisers hastily present their out of character support for their respective candidates. It's a larger problem I have with DAI where it doesn't feel like we're actually in charge of a new global power but are rather a puppet for the advisers and we follow their directions from point to point without any initiative of our own.So: I'm not alone with this feeling. I always felt, that the Inquisitor just a fancy symbol, the Herald of Andraste. Just a "blessed" and very useful hand of Cassandra and Leliana (and Cullen also their hand, without "blessing".) |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2017 12:57:30 GMT
I like the comics and books when they can expand the lore in ways that the games most likely never will. So I liked that we saw an Antivan prison and swamps and a naval battle against the Qunari in the Alistair comics. And that we wrapped up the mystery behind Maric's disappearance. Those kinds of things would most likely never be covered in future games, or if they were they might feel shoe horned in. But Magekiller was disappointing because apart from the beginning scenes of Minrathous, everything felt like a rehash of DAI with worse graphics. There was nothing new there and no interesting new characters. I'm hoping that Knight Errant will be able to provide more lore with Starkhaven, perhaps resolve Sebastian's story arc, otherwise it might go the same way as Magekiller. My problem with WEWH, though, is that I felt that the writers of that quest had read TME and were designing the quest with the book as background information. The characterizations for all three of the Orlesians felt underdeveloped in the game because they were relying on the characterization from the book. From a role playing perspective, I would think that the Inquisitor, as an unofficial ambassador, would have been briefed about all three leaders before showing up at the Winter Palace and so would have a much deeper understanding of the necessary politics. But the game presents it as if speaking with the politicians is the first time the PC has ever heard anything about them, and then the advisers hastily present their out of character support for their respective candidates. It's a larger problem I have with DAI where it doesn't feel like we're actually in charge of a new global power but are rather a puppet for the advisers and we follow their directions from point to point without any initiative of our own.So: I'm not alone with this feeling. I always felt, that the Inquisitor just a fancy symbol, the Herald of Andraste. Just a "blessed" and very useful hand of Cassandra and Leliana (and Cullen also their hand, without "blessing".) It's the nature of Bioware games; we are directed toward goals by authority figures rather than act proactively. Which is fine, but that limits the ability to depict being a leader of an organization. I can't recall a time when we asked one of the advisers to do something, it was always the Inquisitor choosing between three suggestions. Judgments were the only time where the Inquisitor had completely agency; even after the mage or templar decision Cassandra berates us for making the choice without input. I would have liked an opportunity to go against the wishes of the advisers every so often. Maybe depending on our background or dialogue perks or previous actions we could take a fourth option on war table missions. Like in DAO where we can side neither with the werewolves or the Dalish but force Zathrian to end the curse if we choose the right decisions. |
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mrslothy
The Beastmaster
Elcor in the Fade
Posts: 639
Likes: 2,006
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Post by mrslothy on Jun 16, 2017 13:29:18 GMT
So: I'm not alone with this feeling. I always felt, that the Inquisitor just a fancy symbol, the Herald of Andraste. Just a "blessed" and very useful hand of Cassandra and Leliana (and Cullen also their hand, without "blessing".) It's the nature of Bioware games; we are directed toward goals by authority figures rather than act proactively. Which is fine, but that limits the ability to depict being a leader of an organization. I can't recall a time when we asked one of the advisers to do something, it was always the Inquisitor choosing between three suggestions. Judgments were the only time where the Inquisitor had completely agency; even after the mage or templar decision Cassandra berates us for making the choice without input. I would have liked an opportunity to go against the wishes of the advisers every so often. Maybe depending on our background or dialogue perks or previous actions we could take a fourth option on war table missions. Like in DAO where we can side neither with the werewolves or the Dalish but force Zathrian to end the curse if we choose the right decisions. adding occasional fourth card to wartable missions (with the race and/or class picture we take at the beginning of the game) would make so much sense. not all such results would need to be good or bad, maybe just different. but it would definitely make the wartable minigame more interesting AND sensible (anyone still remember the dalish clan wartable quest?) :/ |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2017 13:35:03 GMT
It's the nature of Bioware games; we are directed toward goals by authority figures rather than act proactively. Which is fine, but that limits the ability to depict being a leader of an organization. I can't recall a time when we asked one of the advisers to do something, it was always the Inquisitor choosing between three suggestions. Judgments were the only time where the Inquisitor had completely agency; even after the mage or templar decision Cassandra berates us for making the choice without input. I would have liked an opportunity to go against the wishes of the advisers every so often. Maybe depending on our background or dialogue perks or previous actions we could take a fourth option on war table missions. Like in DAO where we can side neither with the werewolves or the Dalish but force Zathrian to end the curse if we choose the right decisions. adding occasional fourth card to wartable missions (with the race and/or class picture we take at the beginning of the game) would make so much sense. not all such results would need to be good or bad, maybe just different. but it would definitely make the wartable minigame more interesting AND sensible (anyone still remember the dalish clan wartable quest?) :/ The entire war table concept was interesting but too flawed for me. There was not enough information in the description to get a good understanding of the situation and understand the advisers' planned strategies. And then for chain missions we couldn't refer to our previous actions so it was nearly impossible to keep up with the events without referencing an online guide. Especially when some of these missions took many real world hours. But yeah, it could have been fun if the Inquisitor sometimes had their own option. Sometimes it would end up better than what the advisers suggested, sometimes it would be worse. I think that could have added a sense of us being more active and less reactive. |
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mrslothy
The Beastmaster
Elcor in the Fade
Posts: 639
Likes: 2,006
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Post by mrslothy on Jun 16, 2017 14:16:07 GMT
adding occasional fourth card to wartable missions (with the race and/or class picture we take at the beginning of the game) would make so much sense. not all such results would need to be good or bad, maybe just different. but it would definitely make the wartable minigame more interesting AND sensible (anyone still remember the dalish clan wartable quest?) :/ The entire war table concept was interesting but too flawed for me. There was not enough information in the description to get a good understanding of the situation and understand the advisers' planned strategies. And then for chain missions we couldn't refer to our previous actions so it was nearly impossible to keep up with the events without referencing an online guide. Especially when some of these missions took many real world hours. But yeah, it could have been fun if the Inquisitor sometimes had their own option. Sometimes it would end up better than what the advisers suggested, sometimes it would be worse. I think that could have added a sense of us being more active and less reactive. agreed. with more thought and development, i think wartable could have been to dai what gwent was to witcher3. didn't play it but its supposed to be good. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2017 14:22:20 GMT
The entire war table concept was interesting but too flawed for me. There was not enough information in the description to get a good understanding of the situation and understand the advisers' planned strategies. And then for chain missions we couldn't refer to our previous actions so it was nearly impossible to keep up with the events without referencing an online guide. Especially when some of these missions took many real world hours. But yeah, it could have been fun if the Inquisitor sometimes had their own option. Sometimes it would end up better than what the advisers suggested, sometimes it would be worse. I think that could have added a sense of us being more active and less reactive. agreed. with more thought and development, i think wartable could have been to dai what gwent was to witcher3. didn't play it but its supposed to be good. Gwent was surprisingly addictive. And now there's a new Gwent game coming out; I tried to play the demo but my computer is too old to support it lol |
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mrslothy
The Beastmaster
Elcor in the Fade
Posts: 639
Likes: 2,006
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Post by mrslothy on Jun 16, 2017 14:34:02 GMT
agreed. with more thought and development, i think wartable could have been to dai what gwent was to witcher3. didn't play it but its supposed to be good. Gwent was surprisingly addictive. And now there's a new Gwent game coming out; I tried to play the demo but my computer is too old to support it lol i don't like witcher and im kind of not interested in timesinks for now, so ill stay away from gwent  but yeah i need a new computer also. MEA runs on all setting on low or off on my computer and it looks... not that good  btw, we still don't have any confirmations where in timeline is the comic set? do we know if other comic/books are planned? |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2017 14:38:52 GMT
Gwent was surprisingly addictive. And now there's a new Gwent game coming out; I tried to play the demo but my computer is too old to support it lol i don't like witcher and im kind of not interested in timesinks for now, so ill stay away from gwent but yeah i need a new computer also. MEA runs on all setting on low or off on my computer and it looks... not that good btw, we still don't have any confirmations where in timeline is the comic set? do we know if other comic/books are planned? We don't even have release dates for the remaining MEA books, I believe, so I'm not expecting to hear about DA4 ancillary materials much. Now that Anthem has been announced I wonder if DA4 will remain quiet until after fall 2018. I would be excited if there is a new DA novel coming out. I think Laidlaw or someone said the comics are after Trespasser but with all of the timeline inconsistencies I think we have to ignore conflicting lore. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2017 16:19:02 GMT
Eh I just have a different view of WEWH than many people, as I wasn't ever bothered by the goings on. I'll just have to leave it at that. (Not that the mission itself is fun in any way, but at least it's different.) agreed. with more thought and development, i think wartable could have been to dai what gwent was to witcher3. didn't play it but its supposed to be good. Gwent was surprisingly addictive. And now there's a new Gwent game coming out; I tried to play the demo but my computer is too old to support it lol I've read a bit about the upcoming gwent release, and watched a video. From my understanding, it's nothing like the gwent featured in W3, but rather just another Hearthstone clone. Nice if you like Hearthstone, but not if you're expecting the exact game from W3. |
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gayhawke
Grizzled Warrior
Posts: 210 
Likes: 640
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Post by gayhawke on Jun 18, 2017 8:18:07 GMT
i don't like witcher and im kind of not interested in timesinks for now, so ill stay away from gwent but yeah i need a new computer also. MEA runs on all setting on low or off on my computer and it looks... not that good btw, we still don't have any confirmations where in timeline is the comic set? do we know if other comic/books are planned? We don't even have release dates for the remaining MEA books, I believe, so I'm not expecting to hear about DA4 ancillary materials much. Now that Anthem has been announced I wonder if DA4 will remain quiet until after fall 2018. I would be excited if there is a new DA novel coming out. I think Laidlaw or someone said the comics are after Trespasser but with all of the timeline inconsistencies I think we have to ignore conflicting lore. There was supposed to be a Fenris novel coming out, but it was being written by Gaider and after he left Bioware it got cancelled |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2017 12:16:25 GMT
We don't even have release dates for the remaining MEA books, I believe, so I'm not expecting to hear about DA4 ancillary materials much. Now that Anthem has been announced I wonder if DA4 will remain quiet until after fall 2018. I would be excited if there is a new DA novel coming out. I think Laidlaw or someone said the comics are after Trespasser but with all of the timeline inconsistencies I think we have to ignore conflicting lore. There was supposed to be a Fenris novel coming out, but it was being written by Gaider and after he left Bioware it got cancelled It sounds like that novel never got past initial stages, considering Gaider had forgotten about it when fans asked him as to its status. Of course that might Gaider trying to gaslight fans  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2017 19:49:01 GMT
Bump as a reminder that issue 3 comes out tomorrow!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2017 16:07:02 GMT
Read the latest issue. Heh, cameo from Tessa and Marius. I knew that was coming when Charter wanted her to rescue a couple of people. Marius didn't do nearly enough scowling to be in character. >.>
Aside from that, the Indiana Jones references were kinda lame.
I was also surprised that they had Sebastian as single, since they typically don't comment on the PC's romance options in that way. Even with the first run of comics, it's not stated whether Alistair or Isabela is with someone, or not, and is ambiguous for some of the outcomes.
Ugh... I just can't bring myself to care about any of this. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2017 22:00:18 GMT
Read the latest issue. Heh, cameo from Tessa and Marius. I knew that was coming when Charter wanted her to rescue a couple of people. Marius didn't do nearly enough scowling to be in character. >.>
Aside from that, the Indiana Jones references were kinda lame.
I was also surprised that they had Sebastian as single, since they typically don't comment on the PC's romance options in that way. Even with the first run of comics, it's not stated whether Alistair or Isabela is with someone, or not, and is ambiguous for some of the outcomes.
Ugh... I just can't bring myself to care about any of this. Agreed on the surprise that they made Seb single. And yeah the crystal skull thing was not great, mostly for me because it messes with lore; it's close enough to the occulara that it just seems wrong. I know it's just for laughs and not meant to be serious but I think the intended audience (DA fans, not Indiana Jones fans) would have appreciated some small trinket from the games. Like a belt buckle, if they're going to reference Kenric.
I assumed it was Tessa and Marius but TBH they're both kind of bland and not distinctive so they didn't register to me visually. If they end up being in DA4 they had better have a graphic overhaul as they would blend right in with background NPCs right now. I'm actually kind of glad they've appeared, though, as it gives me hope that the pointlessness of Magekiller is actually leading to something relevant to the series. If they had been a one shot in Magekiller it would be a major disappointment so if the comics can justify their existence that would be swell.
I'm still enjoying Vaea and Aaron as characters more than Tessa and Marius as they seem less stereotypical from the snarky noble thief and grim warrior. I like the social and political view that Aaron brings with his role as wandering knight and story teller. It seems like something King Alistair would approve of.
And I didn't mind Varric still being a presence, although I really hope this is his last comic. He's overused at this point and needs to retire. But his presence was okay in this one as mediator.
I am still curious about the timeline, though, because if this is post Trespasser like Gaider has said, why are people still acting like the Inquisition is an official entity at this point? It's either a shadow organisation thought disbanded or absorbed into the Divine's retinue and would be named something else. So it seems strange that everyone is acting as if the Inquisition is still as active as it was during DAI and nothing has changed. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2017 1:43:53 GMT
Read the latest issue. Heh, cameo from Tessa and Marius. I knew that was coming when Charter wanted her to rescue a couple of people. Marius didn't do nearly enough scowling to be in character. >.>
Aside from that, the Indiana Jones references were kinda lame.
I was also surprised that they had Sebastian as single, since they typically don't comment on the PC's romance options in that way. Even with the first run of comics, it's not stated whether Alistair or Isabela is with someone, or not, and is ambiguous for some of the outcomes.
Ugh... I just can't bring myself to care about any of this. Agreed on the surprise that they made Seb single. And yeah the crystal skull thing was not great, mostly for me because it messes with lore; it's close enough to the occulara that it just seems wrong. I know it's just for laughs and not meant to be serious but I think the intended audience (DA fans, not Indiana Jones fans) would have appreciated some small trinket from the games. Like a belt buckle, if they're going to reference Kenric.
I assumed it was Tessa and Marius but TBH they're both kind of bland and not distinctive so they didn't register to me visually. If they end up being in DA4 they had better have a graphic overhaul as they would blend right in with background NPCs right now. I'm actually kind of glad they've appeared, though, as it gives me hope that the pointlessness of Magekiller is actually leading to something relevant to the series. If they had been a one shot in Magekiller it would be a major disappointment so if the comics can justify their existence that would be swell.
I'm still enjoying Vaea and Aaron as characters more than Tessa and Marius as they seem less stereotypical from the snarky noble thief and grim warrior. I like the social and political view that Aaron brings with his role as wandering knight and story teller. It seems like something King Alistair would approve of.
And I didn't mind Varric still being a presence, although I really hope this is his last comic. He's overused at this point and needs to retire. But his presence was okay in this one as mediator.
I am still curious about the timeline, though, because if this is post Trespasser like Gaider has said, why are people still acting like the Inquisition is an official entity at this point? It's either a shadow organisation thought disbanded or absorbed into the Divine's retinue and would be named something else. So it seems strange that everyone is acting as if the Inquisition is still as active as it was during DAI and nothing has changed. It seems to me that the lines about the Inquisition post-Trespasser could be taken for either outcome. I disbanded, so those lines feel natural to me as referring to the Shadow Inquisition. I guess I'm just reading them differently than you are. Also, they wouldn't necessarily name it something else. The Inquisition as a force has meaning and name recognition after four years, so the Divine might just keep it for that reason alone, even if it's being overseen by the Chantry. (It was Laidlaw, btw.) |
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Post by gaycaravaggio on Jul 13, 2017 1:55:29 GMT
The books and comics are usually based on the "default canon." In this case, I'm assuming the default canon is keeping the Inquisition together but smaller and working for the Divine? EDIT: By default canon, I just mean what's default (like how Alistair can be dead but he's not in the default canon so he's alive for the comics); not that anyone's canon is "wrong." Just thought I'd clarify. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2017 2:34:57 GMT
Agreed on the surprise that they made Seb single. And yeah the crystal skull thing was not great, mostly for me because it messes with lore; it's close enough to the occulara that it just seems wrong. I know it's just for laughs and not meant to be serious but I think the intended audience (DA fans, not Indiana Jones fans) would have appreciated some small trinket from the games. Like a belt buckle, if they're going to reference Kenric.
I assumed it was Tessa and Marius but TBH they're both kind of bland and not distinctive so they didn't register to me visually. If they end up being in DA4 they had better have a graphic overhaul as they would blend right in with background NPCs right now. I'm actually kind of glad they've appeared, though, as it gives me hope that the pointlessness of Magekiller is actually leading to something relevant to the series. If they had been a one shot in Magekiller it would be a major disappointment so if the comics can justify their existence that would be swell.
I'm still enjoying Vaea and Aaron as characters more than Tessa and Marius as they seem less stereotypical from the snarky noble thief and grim warrior. I like the social and political view that Aaron brings with his role as wandering knight and story teller. It seems like something King Alistair would approve of.
And I didn't mind Varric still being a presence, although I really hope this is his last comic. He's overused at this point and needs to retire. But his presence was okay in this one as mediator.
I am still curious about the timeline, though, because if this is post Trespasser like Gaider has said, why are people still acting like the Inquisition is an official entity at this point? It's either a shadow organisation thought disbanded or absorbed into the Divine's retinue and would be named something else. So it seems strange that everyone is acting as if the Inquisition is still as active as it was during DAI and nothing has changed. It seems to me that the lines about the Inquisition post-Trespasser could be taken for either outcome. I disbanded, so those lines feel natural to me as referring to the Shadow Inquisition. I guess I'm just reading them differently than you are. Also, they wouldn't necessarily name it something else. The Inquisition as a force has meaning and name recognition after four years, so the Divine might just keep it for that reason alone, even if it's being overseen by the Chantry. (It was Laidlaw, btw.) Well I can see how a Divine sanctioned Inquisition could still be called "the Inquisition" but I thought the entire point of disbanding was so that the general public thought that "the Inquisition" was defunct and everyone had dispersed. The fact that Knight Errant is setting up a post Trespasser Thedas as generally acknowledging that the Inquisition is still in existence indicates that this canon has the Divine option rather than the shadow inquisition. IMO. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2017 2:38:19 GMT
I think my issue, and I might have missed something, is that the comic assumes that the reader knows that the Inquisitor is working behind the scenes still. I think there needs to be some mention in the comics that while some of the characters know the Inquisition is active, most people shouldn't know. What's throwing me off is that everyone is using present tense to refer to the Inquisition (Sebastian is an ally of the Inquisition) rather than past tense or conditional (Sebastian had been an ally of the Inquisition or Sebastian secretly still keeps ties to the Inquisition).
I think the altered status of the Inquisition after Trespasser needs to be better addressed in the comics.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2017 3:30:00 GMT
I think my issue, and I might have missed something, is that the comic assumes that the reader knows that the Inquisitor is working behind the scenes still. I think there needs to be some mention in the comics that while some of the characters know the Inquisition is active, most people shouldn't know. What's throwing me off is that everyone is using present tense to refer to the Inquisition (Sebastian is an ally of the Inquisition) rather than past tense or conditional (Sebastian had been an ally of the Inquisition or Sebastian secretly still keeps ties to the Inquisition). I think the altered status of the Inquisition after Trespasser needs to be better addressed in the comics. Perhaps they're trying to keep it vague because of The Choice. |
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gayhawke
Grizzled Warrior
Posts: 210
Likes: 640
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Post by gayhawke on Jul 13, 2017 7:53:03 GMT
I think my issue, and I might have missed something, is that the comic assumes that the reader knows that the Inquisitor is working behind the scenes still. I think there needs to be some mention in the comics that while some of the characters know the Inquisition is active, most people shouldn't know. What's throwing me off is that everyone is using present tense to refer to the Inquisition (Sebastian is an ally of the Inquisition) rather than past tense or conditional (Sebastian had been an ally of the Inquisition or Sebastian secretly still keeps ties to the Inquisition). I think the altered status of the Inquisition after Trespasser needs to be better addressed in the comics. Perhaps they're trying to keep it vague because of The Choice. Well, they've been clear about Choices before in the comics - see King Alistair - and the events of Knight Errant are canon no matter whether the Inquisitor disbanded the Inquisition or not - see Warden Alistair mentioning the events from one of the comics in game even though in the comics he was King Alistair. |
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but yeah i need a new computer also. MEA runs on all setting on low or off on my computer and it looks... not that good 
Much love right back at ya!
