Nonek

Achievement unlocked: Eaten all the pies. Achievement unlocked: Big chief Obese. Achievement unlocked: Big, huge, gargantuan, not seen on the earth for sixty million years boned. Achievement unlocked: Tired of being fat and ugly? With the super wizard weight loss 2000 you don't need to worry about those unsightly pounds ever again. You'll still be ugly though.

I don't know about strength decreasing due to age, I can lift more now than i've ever lifted. Dexterity I can see however, can't match the pace of my youth on the rugger field.

Old Oliver Cromwell is a good advertisement for the protagonist being swept up by circumstance later in life, the Lord Protector was a simple farmer and gentleman for the first forty years of his life before experiencing a religious conversion and forging a career in politics. This led into his fighting for parliament, gaining great renown as old Ironsides and eventually freeing England of the decadent Stewarts, and arguably making the first steps away from the divine rights of the monarchy into the future of rule by the people for the people. Others who experienced their greatest hour outside of youth: Winston Churchill 65 at the dawn of World War Two. Caesar 48 at the battle of Alesia. Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington 46 at Waterloo. These three gentlemen had fairly successful careers before these dates but these were undoubtedly their greatest hours.

Does anybody think that the game they experienced immeditely prior to playing Dragon Age 2 influenced their perception of it, for me it was the Sith Lords so the female caricatures such as the incompetent guardswoman and porn star pirate seemed especially juvenile next to the nuanced, strong and philosophical Darth Traya. That and the subtle gradual introduction of the Exile's past rather than the tacked on nature of family Hawke, really served to alienate me from the game I think. I suppose my objectivity was compromised in that regard.

Kreia.

Wouldn't even pretend to know anything about earths climate, well beyond my sphere of intellect, but does anybody in the know know what effect the magnetic fields currently fluctuating state has on the climate? I know that it's essential to preventing the suns rays from frying us like a scottish mars bar, hence the aurora's australis and borealis, but i'm unsure of the other implications on our little planet.

Obsidian are quite good with this though aren't they? You have the Exile who seems to have had a much fuller and longer life than that befitting a youngster, Courier Six whose long wandering and career doesn't seem consistent with a youth and Michael Thornton who appears to be somewhere around thrirty or so to me (maybe more as a veteran.) Most tellingly though you have the Nameless One's response to Kossah Jai (I think it was) when she calls him lad in passing, where he leans forward and lets her see the long ages of Torment behind his eyes. That seemed to echo my own distaste with that appelation being used so prominently in almost every rpg, indeed in almost every myth following the pattern of the hero with a thousand faces.

At some point if they include romances, the protagonist should wake up in a pit, only to hear. "It puts the lotion on its skin, it does this whenever it's told."

Damn that's an inspiring interview, I must now play Cipher first, there's no other option.

Like a lot of the people above i'm a firm believer that the fantastic must sprout from a solid grounding of realism, and even the most fantastical aspects must abide by their own logic and laws, even if we do not know or are not told of them. Internal consistency as others have stated.

It's Torment, a blind archer who saw the hearts of his foes, impossibly cool.

Fixed with the exception of extraordinary events, one would assume we'll be playing adults at the height of our physical capabilities, so they shouldn't change dramatically with the aforementioned proviso of course.

Having a bit of a film noire urge, thought Dead Money might fit in with the oeuvre, as i'm playing all I can think is that i'd love to see Obsidian do a film noire game.

Or a living eye mounted upon the musket that sees the hearts of its enemies, Xachariah style?

SPOILERS for those still experiencing the story. I found the villain lady ultimately unsatisfying Nepenthe, mainly because she's just a slave for the mcguffin rather than having any kind of realistic human motivation, apart from the the massively overused and simplified, "mages are dangerous," backstory. The mcguffin invalidated any motivation or logical impetus. Obviuously there was was not much of a logical reason in the conflict anyway, with the mages fighting for freedom and equality in feudal kingdoms (so they can go back to the nobilities bondage rather than the templars.) Even so I expected far better from the makers of Master Li in Jade Empire, who was quite impressively well reasoned. I'd rather have an antagonist like him, Irenicus, Kreia or any of many others, who are shown interacting with the protagonist throughout the game rather than one introduced when it's mostly over. Whose motivations are human and logical rather than nothing more than mcguffin born madness. I did not feel I had accomplished anything when approaching the last battle, other than pity for the lady and a fair amount of disgust for the entire conflict and its staging ground, as well as having the patience of a saint for putting up with the waves. Still as I say, it passed the time for sixty hours or so which is I suppose its raison d'etre fulfilled, so i'm not as passionately derisive as others.

Torian Kel was all kinds of cool.

I wouldn't call him a bastard Volourn, but he just didn't seem to do much except complain at me and whine about his brother. I couldn't even kill him or tell him to do one, horses for courses I suppose. Still better than Oghren. Also he just stood around in his room, never sat or made any other action.

Every single one of them got on my wick, mostly played solo for that very reason halfway through chapter 2 onwards, and it improved the game immeasureably. Dwarf = boring, Abomination = whiny, Guardswoman = incompetent, Sister = super boring and whiny, can't remember the rest but all of them partook in absolutely cringeworthy supposed humour, that buffy like infantile stuff that's called "snarky" I think. Hardly Wilde. The Qunari stuff got me through the game, really wanted to join them and overthrow the feudal kingdoms of Thedas. Chapter 3 I just went through the motions until the McGuffin slave flew off into space. That's when I gave up and uninstalled, still sixty or so hours of entertainment made it more than value for money.

Be a viable source of both exposition and maybe even quest giving, always liked the old norse handle on this kind of thing.

It might be very interesting for a Cipher or Necromancer, to walk amongst the chattering souls of many households in a city long since swept away by war or happenstance.

One of the theories in archaeology for explaining the henges and standing stones scattered across the british isles is that they are visual statements of ownership, oftentimes remains are found buried underneath and the dead are also laid to rest in the foundations of homes, ostensibly to watch over their descendants. This got me thinking, with the importance of souls in the world of Eternity perhaps the more primitive societies (and perhaps even the civilised ones) might see it as pefectly reasonable to bind the willing soul of a family member to their home and hearth. Acting as a lorekeeper and a living reminder of their ancestry, such trapped souls could be enormously important to a community, or perhaps simply stand amid ruins wailing for their long lost children. Or such imprisonment might drive them mad, and they beg to be released from their duties.

I would like to see an item that once bound to you hinders you in no way shape or form, but rather tempts you with the boons it can offer. The grimoire in Torment springs to mind, but it should have offered something more integral to your character, such as memories and explanations of your past lives actions. I know Mr Avellone hates the very idea of swords but Elric's Stormbringer is another perfectly crafted temptation for the weakling albino, it offers so much via the simple expedient of being used just as any other weapon is used, and yet it slowly becomes a crutch for the character until he see's their fates merging into one. "We must be bound to one another then," Elric murmured despairingly. "Bound by hell-forged chains and fate-haunted circumstance. Well, then—let it be thus so—and men will have cause to tremble and flee when they hear the names of Elric of Melinbone and Stormbringer, his sword. We are two of a kind—produced by an age which has deserted us. Let us give this age cause to hate us!” A cursed item that subtly causes alienation and dependence, that echoes the mantra of Dead Money, in that the hardest part is in the letting go.

Wondered if anybody would spot that, reading Knight of Swords at the moment.

I would like to have a mechanical hand crafted for my character, rune bound silver or some such.

Critical hits smash straight through stamina and deal health damage, critical failures result in stamina damage perhaps?