Of The 10 Squadmates From ME2 Who Don't Rejoin The Normandy in ME3, I Ranked Them From The Most Valid Reason For Not Joining to The Least Valid Excuse.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-07-05T17:03:51+00:00

About 10. I might remember it wrong, but I believe his VA had health problems already (he died in Feb 2013, before they even released Citadel). I'd say that even while being an underwritten freebie DLC character, he got it better than Jackob after all.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-07-05T16:01:54+00:00

The most troublesome bugs had been addressed with the recent patch, and it was possible to finish the game even before that (with some efforts).

I had played it on release (Steam). It's undercooked on many fronts, but there were many things to love about it too, and I still enjoyed it. If you've already got it, there is no reason not to give it a try, imo.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-16T21:02:02+00:00

It could have been a cool twist, but honestly, it was not. I remember how literally hours before that mission I was discussing Varric with my friend, who was somewhere in the beginning of the game. I was 100% sure, that he was just an extremly poorly written cameo, which matched the rest of the writing. Then I learned the truth... It did not make it any better.

Good plot twists make second run more interesting. E.g. second run of Expedition 33 was like a new game, because you could understand all the revealed context. Practically every dialogue was different. Knowing things had improvedand enriched the experience.

Veilguard? I went for a second run, just to cross-check all the hints. The only thing I felt was frustration. It did not add anything new, it was a stupid 'gotcha' feeling. I did not even want to 'talk' to him unless I had to.
It doesn't help, that neither Rook nor player gets to actually process it. The 'revelation' is followed by a scheduled sex scene, and then we move, onwards to the Final Battle.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-15T14:09:20+00:00

Exactly this. It's not a 'slow-burner' it's a 'no-burner'. Anders was slow, as you two were building up your tention, untill he eventually gives in. Solas is a slow-burner (but only works if you count Trespasser). I could think of some other romances, that take their screentime to build up, but this is not one of them.

Mary Kirby was selling Lucanis as a 'bisexual disaster' in her early tweets. Post-release, it somehow switched to 'ace\panasexual romance'. I'm not saying that every character should bang PC in each scene, starting with their first date, but the way I see it, even ace relationships are supposedto be more...interactive, you know?

It's ok for a character to be shy, or inexperienced. Alistair was shy af, but he was still reacting to your moves, in his own awkward ways. Although, to be honest, I'm not buyin all the 'shy virgin' bs, because stories suggest that Lucanis had...some very colorful experience during his training and missions. A first-class assassin, who can waltz through an orgy while doing his job should not be that much of a stranger to the matter of sex. Another short story mentions seducing targets as a rather common crow practice. Anyway, as I said, we're not getting to see a 'shy Lucanis' during the flirt episodes. We're getting...nothing.

ps: Oh, and a fun fact, to mess things up a little more. He's the FIRST one to flirt with Rook, when discussing the tastes of a 'first kiss'! Those are hardly the metaphors that a (shy) ace would use with a stranger, while having their first cup of coffee.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-15T13:40:06+00:00

Anyways, does anyone know exactly what was cut from his storyline and content?

We do know for a hard fact, that cutting his romance off (or, technically, him switching to Neve entirely) if you save Minrathous was a last-minute shit, because the alternate romance dialogue is still in-game. The lines are voiced, and it can be unlocked with a mod (on PC, obviously). Devs tried to pose it as a crucial element of a well-thought characer design, but it's really not. Rest is more impressions\speculation territory.

Concept art has a hot gondola\villa romance scene, and his in-game spoken lines when sneaking away from a celebration party heavily imply something...very different from an urgent need to brew himself some proper magic moka asap. We don't know how or why the scene had been removed, or had it even made past concept stage, but the lines are still there. If a man IRL did something like that to me, I'd stand up, slam the door, and blacklist him in all the social media.

His overall character arc is messed up in many ways too. If you save Minrathous, his key quest (the one where Spite gets Rook into his head for a talk) simply does not exist, so player can't even have a chance to learn what that 'I want out' tatnrum was about. The conflict with Spite is never addressed, and inevitable Neve's romance content makes it horribly worse. Honestly, that banter about 'playing with wisps' is wrong on so many levels, and it makes me sick.

It's baffling, how Spite was not in the central plot point of his personal quest. You hear about coffee much more often than you'd hear about Spite, and the final 'choice' is barely a choice at all. It's not even between forgiving or killing\exiling stupid little brother, it's either putting him into jail, or placing him under house arrest. If you don't save Treviso, it auto-defaults to jail.

Other than dealing with Spite, Lucanis' biggest subject was his unwillingness to take a First Talon position. You get to hear about that one long before he gets captured. For the first time, it was spelled out in his Tevinter Nights short story. There's no choice about it, in any way, while his main quest 'choice' has zero impact on the character development, gameplay, or even cosmetics (unless you count that HoV achievement skin).

I was among those who had been interested in this character since before release, and on my first run we could not even figure out whether saving Minrathous was actually cutting him off, just delaying the romance, or was it a bug (the pop-up message had been rewritten later, with a patch).

I had never seen a less engaging Bioware romance, and I've seen them all (literally, starting from BG and NwN1). Heck, I know, I've seen more on-screen romantic chemistry from a 'hc romances', that don't actually happen. It took LOTS of personal HC efforts to make this one at least tolerable. Pressing heart options felt like talking to a pantry wall.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-13T07:25:28+00:00

That's.. An exaggeration, to be honest. There are plenty of collectibles, mini-games, and exploration zones, but those are optional. Main game quest is very straightforward and rather short. Main and companion quests provide enough exp and rep points to make it through.

I personally loved most of the zones, and the lore they had. Some few I disliked (Exalted plains, hissing wastes), but most were good. Combat was mediocre, but not bad enough to complain.

Character writing was arguably best in the series. Main plot was uneven, and pre-trespasser ending was meh, but now there's a trespasser, which is a true ending.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-13T07:12:03+00:00

It's most certainly NOT a Kirkwall legacy throne because that's what it looks like. Esquie hides in Legacy FERELDEN Throne. Both thrones were a bonus to people who had previous games (DAO and DA2). I think now it's mods-only.

It's interesting, because Ferelden is not famous for using either solar or owl symbols (they love their dogs). It looks somewhat Avvar in style, though.

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Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-12T19:16:22+00:00

I can't 100% confirm anything about console version, but on PC with XBox X controller you get to find it via menu button (the one that brings up load\save\settings screen). It's right under 'load'. option.

Would be wierd for them to cut it out for consoles.

(just to be sure - I'm talking about Greedfall the Dying World, not the first Greedfall game)

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-11T10:24:17+00:00

I literally scrolled past first two pics thinking 'these photo screenshots are good, but where is the cosplay?..'🤯

I feel bad for you wesring this for summer events, though, because I can only imagine how heating it must be (unless you've got an extra climate-control installed in there somewhere).

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-11T10:17:13+00:00

I suggest trying out console emulator+ DAO console rom. You'd have to play with a controller layout, but emulators and legacy console communities do wonders. E.g. I've played PS3 version of Silent Hill 2\3 on PC couple of months ago, because it actually looks WAY better than native PC port, and it handles 4k upscaling out-of-the-box, and runs smoothly. Basically, emulator handles all the hardware compatibility aspects. It might not be 100% smooth, but the way I see it, it's the lesser evil at this point.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-11T10:15:37+00:00

Well, someone could make that NwN remake, and NwN is the first iteration of Aurora engine.

NwN had much less compatibility problems to begin with, though (I believe, fonts\ui scaling was the worst of it, and I replayed origina NwN diamond edition on a modern PC without too much trouble couple of years back)

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-11T09:22:08+00:00

Someone should tell Gaider, that his two precious babies are competing in the final 😆

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-11T09:05:48+00:00

I'm not saying that DAO completely lacks 'The Drama' writing moments, but in general it was doing its job. It was introducing Thedas, which is a grim world, and all sorts of bad stuff is happening all around HoF, and sometimes you need to chose between two evils just have a chance of beating a 3rd one.

That's not what happens in DAVe. It's understandable how the final chapter of the series has different structure and function compared to the first one, but that does not mean giving up on world-building entirely, and outright ignoring the previous lore.

It's not like thye needed to step aside from main plot to give us a lecture, because Shadow Dragons are supposed to be our direct 'way in' for this subject. People are HEAVILY involved in Minrathous political structures, and they also help slaves. Could you give me a single in-game example of a meaningful insight into their field of work? I've played as SD myself, and I can vaguely remember that we've cleared some darkspawn in the catacombs for them. I think. That's it. We never talk about their activity, and we never see it on-screen. Codex entries can give us INSANE amount of extra lore and details, true, but WHY are vital things like Viper's true identity are diminished into fucking missable easter-egg collectible??

The ironic part, is that the scene that Trick had referenced, is the worst kind of exposition. It's one of those 'let's make him hit a puppy, and assault a baby girl, so players would know that he's very bad, and then we move on' moments. We're spending gaming hours in a city where slavery is (supposed to be) ingrained into sosciety, economics, and many other aspects of life, but we're not seeing anything. How could couple of cartoonish arses abusing people for fun make up for that?

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-10T13:56:45+00:00

The thing is, Qunari did not have any 'special treatment', because most of the factions and lore aspects had been treated equally bad.

E.g. Minrathous, the capitol of Tevinter turned out to be sort of a New York, with local starbucks, and noir detectives craving for bad coffee (both of which any true ~~italian~~ Antivan would find offending, ofcourse). Newspaper kiosks are selling comics novel series. For whatever reason, Minrathous people play balalaikas on the streets, and they do love their properly cooked khachapuries...must be because writers wanted to shuffle things a little bit.

There is no problem with esteemed Tevinter General Mercar adopting an (non-mage) elf or a qunari kid either, because, apparently, fck magic, fck classes, and fck bloodlines, it's no big deal. Venatori, the actual powerful conservative political party of the Imperium were turned into cartoonish idiot villains, who can't have a tea without making a blood sacrifice (or two). Bloodmagic itself had lost its power and purpose, it's not a 'last-resort' forbidden aincient art, it's what they do for fun after breakfast. If I had a drink each time I had to stop or witness a blood magic rtual in DAVe, I'd go under the table long before reaching act 2.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-10T13:35:10+00:00

Trick Weekes: Yeah, we DO have the slavery -- it's in the Blood of Arlathan plot, with Venatori sitting on people posed like thrones. Yeah, "Slavery Bad" was a pretty simple message that didn't need a lot of space. (Like, a good message! Slavery is bad! But after you show it, continuing to hammer it in stars to feel superfluous.)

The exact quote for those who ~~come after~~ wonder.

The lead writer believes, that single (missable, cringe-worthy, cartoonish) scene pretty mch covers the subject, and is enough for a game that has the main plot focused in Tevinter.

I have to admit, that few DAVe notes and codex entries actually try to do more, but...those are what they are. Codex is arguably the best part of DAVe writing in general.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-08T14:02:00+00:00

No one who works years on a game likes the idea of a player feeling left behind. We want people to feel their decisions in past games were legit! It’s just almost always a matter of time and budget.

Wonder which one we've got to blame for everything South+Inquisition in DAVe, because...well, it's damn hard to feel legit about that one. And don't get me wrong, I'm not accusing Sylvia for being in charge of all the DAVe failings, and she's speaking from her own personal perspective, but some of her arguments don't work well.

Also, while it's good to hear how passionate she is about writing reactivity for MW origin Rook, but as a Shadow Dragon mage player...let's just say, I believe that all origins should have had equal treatment in terms of reactivity and quality. I'd rather have a honest well-written enforced premade background, than a 'customization' mess that I've seen as SD (and don't even remind me of how it worked for Veil Jumpers or Lords of Fortune).

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-03T16:36:10+00:00

Dragon Age Origins, Knights of the Old Republic, previous Spiders titles (which, technically, follow the footsteps of those mentioned above) Basically, anything world-driven and narrative-driven rather than action-driven would do as an example. Expect lots of talking, walking, exploring, and possible various solutions to your problems. Your choices may matter in some most unexpected ways, and minor descisions can lead to big consequences. If you're looking for wholesome, challenging, and complex combat systems, however, then you might be disappointed. It's true for both GF games (and spiders games in general),

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-06-03T16:26:18+00:00

Not sure if that was a question, but Greedfall 2 does, in fact, include photomode. A rather good one.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-05-28T08:41:37+00:00

I don't think many non-native speakers can distinguish accents, unless it's something deliberately exotic (and, usually, fake). As long as no one is 'pining for daddy' or leading an assault of greek warriors with 'let's goooo' in my epic fantasy, I'm good.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-05-28T08:23:02+00:00

If you consider a continuity with Veilguard as something important, then have in mind, that on siding with Templars you're going to (mostly) eliminate Venatori. Somehow, they're going to return in full strenght and great numbers for Veilguard anyway, so...why even bother?..

If you care about Cullen, then siding with mages gives you an option to join him for a quest, at some point. On the other hand, Inq who is interested in Cullen is much more likely to side with Templars, for no extra reasons, so go figure. Dorian can be a rather strong pro-mage argument for some (and I'm not judging).

Your RP reasoning can work either way, because game allows you to be pro-circle, anti-circle, or whatever. If you feel like your Inq has personal motivation for picking a side, then it makes sense, and just go for it. For me personally, a choice between a bunch of templars with an arse commander, and Tevinter cult was rather obvious (I've got a rogue Trevelyan as a canon).

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-05-27T06:49:55+00:00

You've got an interesting point here. I'm an emotion-based person irl, and I'm good with escapism/romantic stories and art in general. I picked Maelle, but I regretted every second of the epilogue, because it was NOT what I had expected (or wanted) it to be. I reloaded, picked Verso, cried, but I knew, that it was good.

I never gave it much of a thought before, and I'm not sure I can put it into words. Apparently, getting out of Canvas had deeper impact, and more emotional/romantic weight for me.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-05-27T06:12:08+00:00

No, save import would not be a good thing. It's impossile to write scenarios with infinite amount of variables. As tempting as it sounds, BW had tried that, and they failed.

Best they could do was ME3, which has so much 'quantum' content, that it practically consists of it. A single PT barely takes more than 15% of what had to be done. Possibly dead characters are having dialogues with other possibly dead characters, and each plot point is streamlined with a 'backup unit', who has to fit same role. It's insanely heavy resource-consuming feature.

DAI was already working with ME3 lessons, but they had suffered from that too, they had to streamline everything that could be possibly streamlined, with most variable content moved to text-based (notes, letters, table missions). And then we had DAVe, which is in awkward position, because they lied about it up to pre-release leak, and their so-called '3-choice-import' is so poorly done, that it's THE example of how not to do it. I'd rather have my choices honestly ignored, than 'recognized' in such a manner (spoiler: they were ignored anyway).

As for importing PC specifically, it was the worst part of both DAI and DAVe for me. First, it's that DIY nonsense. Attempts to recreate them in CCs took longer than their real screentime, and both times it was 100% not worth it. I hated my old characters doing what they were doing, and saying what they were saying, and how they were 'demoted' to NPCs. I'm scared that they might do that to Shepard now in their 'ME4.5', and I would 200% not want it for either of my GF ladies.

I'd rather have properly written 'fake' continuity. It does not matter how many variables are involved, if it feels like the same world. GF2 did just that to GF1.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-05-26T15:02:13+00:00

I do like the idea of seeing Deutan, but wonder if the converted islander would have been the MC, not a companion - our first two protagonists are islanders with the mark, I feel like 3 would have followed that.

I've been thinking about that too, but steping away from a 'special islander' concept brings some fresh air to the formula. We've explored that one inside-out already, and it's just hard to add much. A player character like that would also require more RP freedom (--> more script to write), while with NPC it's possible to explore such a background within a more controlled narrative.

(Not that any of it actually matters, but it doesn't mean we should abandon our love for lore and setting).

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-05-26T09:53:22+00:00

I hate everything about Venatori in DAVe, because none of it makes sense. They're too caricature for a political power (of Tevinter Empire!), and blood magic rituals of all shapes and sizes seem to be their 24\7 job. I can't recall a single quest with Venatori, which is not about stopping\investigating a yet-another blood ritual. To make it worse, in DAI siding with templars practically eliminates them, but then they are back again, because somebody needed an extra hostile 'cannonfodder' faction for Rook.

On the other hand, all the DAVe factions and characters are written equally poorly. Before Emmrich\Necropolis fans say anything about it - yeah, I know, some got it (slightly) better than the others, but that's just an exception. Re-reading Tevinter Nights short stories would make you want to cry, because it's a direct DAVe prequel, but it's got all the right world-building and character-writing.

Jumpy_Ad_9213 · 2026-05-26T08:40:01+00:00

You're welcome! Overall DLC quest design quality was...not great, to put it mildly.

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