MovieChat Forums > Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014) Discussion > Ok, is it me, or does this make no sense...

Ok, is it me, or does this make no sense? (spoiler obviously)

posted 9 years ago by MikeMonger
25 replies | jump to latest

Just finished the save the empress part.

Now...let me see if I understand this...

The Empress and the Gespard dude are fighting a brutal civil war for the throne...he's declared himself a usurper and has plunged the empire into bloody conflict which has decimated multiple areas.

But...

He's not a "traitor" or an "enemy of the Empire" until AFTER he tries to assassinate the Empress?

And WHEN will they explain to me just what the hell a Qunari was doing at the mage/Templar conference in the first place....

All in all...decent game....if you like single player MMOs blatantly based on Skyrim.

But next time, I won't be preordering the deluxe edition of the Bioware game. They really are not the same since EA bought them out.

...in fact blacks did better before affirmative action. Visf1 1/18/12

[–] GerFalcon 9 years ago

Get a grip, man...
Still I understand your frustration.
Skyrim has been on the top my list since it's release, like Fallout New Vegas.
Yeah it's hard to hold on and see your disires crumbled by this game that despite it's crappy user interface is so good...

[–] MikeMonger 9 years ago

It's just one of the many examples of the exceptionally weak writing in this thing...something Bioware never had a problem with until the last few titles.

...in fact blacks did better before affirmative action. Visf1 1/18/12

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MikeMonger 9 years ago

No, it wasn't. He fully planned to attack the Empress for his own benefit. His sister was in on the plan, but she was actually serving Corypheus and planned to take him down too when Corypheus came into full power.

Still not sure what role Briala was playing, though. She's the empress's spymaster and lover and she was...up to something too.

...in fact blacks did better before affirmative action. Visf1 1/18/12

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MikeMonger 9 years ago

The empress...for the sole reason that if Corypheus wanted her dead, I wanted her alive.

To be perfectly honest I despised that section of the game. I know Bioware loves its moral ambiguity, but in this case they made it so that there was literally no real difference whatsoever between the choices.

...in fact blacks did better before affirmative action. Visf1 1/18/12

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MikeMonger 9 years ago

So he really was smuggling mercenaries into the palace for self defense?

Hmph.

...in fact blacks did better before affirmative action. Visf1 1/18/12

[–] paramitch 8 years ago

Briala was seeking rights for the elven people and their freedom from enslavement. On a secondary level, she was also seeking revenge against the Empress, who had (in fairness) really treated her horribly and had betrayed her and her people numerous times.

The companion DAI novel "The Masked Empire" is terrific, and does a great job of making Briala and Celine's motivations clear, and even gives some great insight into Gaspard (who is a really complex and surprisingly likable character).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I keep thinking I'm a grownup, but I'm not.

[–] M_Exchange 9 years ago

That whole mission is stunningly dull and retarded.
I hated it for all of the reasons that you listed, plus when I tried to inform her creepy-@ss trio of ladies (whoever they were called) about the plots against her they just giggled and were IMPRESSED by the lengths to which people were scheming against them.
At that point I just couldn't have cared less about anyone who was vying for power in that thing. I just wanted it all to end.
Effing ridiculous.



[–] MikeMonger 9 years ago

Yeah, I despised that whole section of the game.

...in fact blacks did better before affirmative action. Visf1 1/18/12

[–] Prosecutor-Edgeworth 9 years ago

Considering the rationale under which you can have him executed, yeah, that doesn't really make sense. Celene could have had him killed any time she wanted and we'd get the same result. I did like the basic concept behind the Winter Palace and believe it could've been so much better, but yeah, the writing was pretty weak.

Speaking of weak writing, how about that ending? Honestly, that was even worse than the Mass Effect 3 ending for me. It just came out of nowhere.

Formerly: Trafalgar-Law

[–] MikeMonger 9 years ago

The ending was obviously rushed, but I didn't think it was as bad as the ME3 ending. The ME3 ending took every decision you made over the course of the entire series, and then threw them in the garbage in favor of choosing which color of Space Magic you wanted to fix everything. The ending in this game was at least the one you expected.

...in fact blacks did better before affirmative action. Visf1 1/18/12

[–] Dr_Dmitri-Yuriev 9 years ago

game feels more like "Dragon's Dogma", though I do agree that it does take some story elements from "Oblivion" like closing the rifts reminded me of closing the demon doors (is that what they were called, I don't remember well)

http://41.media.tumblr.com/2374e6873e646292b7c8cb9497720150/tumblr_ng0 mbwEHaF1t0j6j4o1_500.jpg

[–] TexasAngel83 9 years ago

Oblivion Gates (Gates of Oblivion maybe?) Demon Doors were in Fable.

You have a brain the size of a planet so don't give me "I dunno."

[–] electricfreddy 9 years ago

And WHEN will they explain to me just what the hell a Qunari was doing at the mage/Templar conference in the first place....

They explain this right after you choose your gender, class, and race, and right before you enter the character creator. There's a paragraph of text with your origin story and the reason why you were at the conclave. The qunari was part of a mercenary group and was hired by the Chantry to keep order at the conclave.

[–] MikeMonger 9 years ago

Yes, that's the reason given, except...

1. Why would the Chantry hire Qunari? They're all alien and don't believe in the Maker and such.
2. Apparently, they didn't hire the whole mercenary company...since you get war table missions from your company later on.

I was simply pointing it out as another example of the very weak writing.

...in fact blacks did better before affirmative action. Visf1 1/18/12

[–] Prosecutor-Edgeworth 9 years ago

I have a hard time believing they'd ever accept a non-human as being the herald of andraste, regardless of their powers.

Formerly: Trafalgar-Law

[–] MikeMonger 9 years ago

Yeah, it didn't make sense. There were a few comments, but other than that nothing.

...in fact blacks did better before affirmative action. Visf1 1/18/12

[–] Baxteritis 9 years ago

1. Why would the Chantry hire Qunari? They're all alien and don't believe in the Maker and such.
2. Apparently, they didn't hire the whole mercenary company...since you get war table missions from your company later on.

1. Most likely precisely for those reasons. They would not be likely to take a side. They'd simply do the job they were hired to do, which was to provide security at a potentially volatile event. In short, they would be neutral.

2. If I recall correctly, they were one of several mercenary companies hired for the gathering.

Don't see that as weak writing at all. They had to find a reason to have a Tal-Vashoth present at the Conclave. That's as good a reason as any.

[–] GoodRed 9 years ago

And WHEN will they explain to me just what the hell a Qunari was doing at the mage/Templar conference in the first place....

Most of your points are valid, but this is quite clearly explained. As a Qunari you are simply a member of a mercenary company hired to stand guard during the conference. On top of that, you're Tal-Vashoth, with no ties to the Qun whatsoever. The chantry wouldn't have actively hired Qunari. They would have hired a company that happened to have a few Qunari mercenaries, one of which just happened to be you. Not weak writing at all, or even close to it. In fact it's very realistic.

[–] MikeMonger 9 years ago

It's not particularly realistic that the Chantry would bring in guards who don't believe in the Maker. Would the Vatican hire atheists to maintain order?

But even if you're partially right...there's NO WAY a Qunari guard would have been permitted to be that close to the head of the whole Church. They were seen as violent savages. Most didn't distinguish between Tal Vashoth and Qunari...which are actually the same people separated by their belief structure.

Hell...EVEN THE WRITERS didn't distinguish. The so-called "Qunari" character...isn't actually a Qunari at all.

...in fact blacks did better before affirmative action. Visf1 1/18/12

[–] GoodRed 9 years ago

It's not particularly realistic that the Chantry would bring in guards who don't believe in the Maker. Would the Vatican hire atheists to maintain order?

But even if you're partially right...there's NO WAY a Qunari guard would have been permitted to be that close to the head of the whole Church. They were seen as violent savages. Most didn't distinguish between Tal Vashoth and Qunari... which are actually the same people separated by their belief structure....

It doesn't matter. Hired guns are hired guns, and your company wasn't even headed by Qunari. Plus the Chantry cannot afford to be picky about their sellswords when their troops are being depleted by all the chaos of the rebellion. And of course the Chantry distinguishes. It's composed primarily of scholars. Just because they don't like the Qunari doesn't mean they don't know their ways. Not everybody is ignorant of the Qunari ways.

For a real life example: Russia helped the U.S. immediately after 9/11--Russia, of all entities--make of that what you will.

Hell...EVEN THE WRITERS didn't distinguish. The so-called "Qunari" character...isn't actually a Qunari at all.

Pure semantics. Nobody ever calls Qunari Kossith, and only Qunari themselves call Tal Vashoth by that term (Tal Vashoth themselves do not particularly embrace the "title")--not the fans, not most of the characters, and not the writers--purely because that's not the term most people know them by.

Fact is, the game explained this. You're just not happy with the explanation.

[–] MikeMonger 9 years ago

It doesn't matter.

Yeah, it does. Your ENTIRE ARGUMENT comepletly ignores the repeated racism shown to the Qunari character...by members of the Chantry.

Pure semantics.

No, it isn't. Iron Bull goes on AT LENGTH about it.

Nobody ever calls Qunari Kossith

Because not all Kossith are Qunari.

Like...the character you play.

and only Qunari themselves call Tal Vashoth by that term

That's because "Tal Vashoth" means someone who's rejected the Qun.

They REPEATEDLY STATE that embracing the Qun is the defining characteristic of being a Qunari.

Calling a Tal Vashoth a Qunari is like calling a Baptist a Catholic.

EVEN YOUR CHARACTER acknowledges he's NOT a Qunari.

(Tal Vashoth themselves do not particularly embrace the "title

Is that why Iron Bull calls himself that if he falls from the Qun? Because thy don't embrace it?

purely because that's not the term most people know them by.

Then why bother to include all the exposition, if they were just going to ignore it?

You're just not happy with the explanation.

Because it was very poorly done. Weak writing characterizes several aspects of the game.

...in fact blacks did better before affirmative action. Visf1 1/18/12

[–] geoffblawson 8 years ago

You all make legitimate points but you are thinking that the ENTIRE mercenary company of the Qunari was ONLY all Qunari. Somewhere I read that the mercenary company leader was human and he had no qualms about hiring Tal Vashoth. I played a female Qunari mage (damn they are big women lol) and she goes into great detail about this with Solas, Josephine and Iron Bull. She especially talked with Iron Bull about the differences between Qunari and Tal Vashoth (as do most of the player characters) but unless your character is Qunari you won't get the rest of the conversation they have that talk about the differences bw and how they were hired into their mercenary companies.

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