Pet peeves: The return (Part 9)

[Telaryn-argent-dawn (Telaryn)]

@Vixí-argent-dawn

Sera is amazing, I will not stand for this slander about my DAI wife.

Lack of taste is a common symptom of Covid.

[Vixí-argent-dawn (Vixí)]

@Elenthas-argent-dawn

amazing at sucking lmao gottem!!!

@Telaryn-argent-dawn

Lack of taste is a common symptom of Covid.

Bold words for people in ankle stab height.

[Brunala-argent-dawn]

@Telaryn-argent-dawn

Sera is never in any of my playthroughs quite simply

Let the houses of Telaryn and Akamito be united.

[Koralash-argent-dawn]

none of you are invited to the lesbian party

[Telaryn-argent-dawn (Telaryn)]

Reasons why I don’t like Sera:

• She’s emotionally (and potentially physically) abusive if you romance her as Lavellan, prioritising her emotions and lashes out at you for calling her out on her abusive behaviour — up to, and including, forcing you to make an ultimatum between your culture and her after she throws a tantrum over Well of Sorrows.
• Annoying. She spends her time being an edgy zany Lion’s Rest RPer.
• Doesn’t contribute to the story in any way. Most companions have some link and reason to be there — Sera just is. She has no arc, no growth, no conflict of any kind, and often times takes up a slot in the party that could have been used by a companion with more interesting party dialogue who also does everything she does gameplay wise — like Varric.

That Sera has the option to be kicked from the party and nothing changes is very telling. She doesn’t even have any resolution with the Friends of Red Jenny arc that could have had interesting repercussions later. You get one cutscene of her killing a noble and she spends rest of the game acting like a Hazbin Hotel OC screaming about bees. Bo-ring.

[Blythan-argent-dawn (Blythan)]

Did anyone see Dorian in any of the promotional/spoiler material yet? I didn’t bother to keep up.

@Koralash-argent-dawn

Deeply funny that the dangerous part of doing a solo Delve isn’t when they’re doing their mechanics but when they stop doing mechanics and melee me

ah, you kill me in 3-5 hits you say? and I cannot kite or interrupt you? i see

[casts Web Bolt]

@Vixí-argent-dawn

Regardless of their current aggro or target (Be it Brann, or something like a warlock voidwalker), they will actively ignore all taunts or threat to cast their bolt spells directly at the player. I’ve tested it multiple times, and yeah it seems like they are hard coded to only cast their damage spells on the player.

They also don’t seem to be happy to cast anything when mind controlled but I need to test that out more still

[Vixí-argent-dawn (Vixí)]

@Koralash-argent-dawn

none of you are invited to the lesbian party

Am I?

[Brunala-argent-dawn]

@Telaryn-argent-dawn

Annoying. She spends her time being an edgy zany Lion’s Rest RPer.

this is the main thing that got me. i just couldn’t invest myself in their character because they grated on me so heavily

[Vixí-argent-dawn (Vixí)]

@Blythan-argent-dawn

They also don’t seem to be happy to cast anything when mind controlled but I need to test that out more still

Overall they just seem to not work like any other mob in WoW, and it makes the difficulty they sometimes provide feel cheap rather than earned and challenging.

[Koralash-argent-dawn]

I don’t even have to put you through test 2 (minthara) to know the answer is yes

[Telaryn-argent-dawn (Telaryn)]

And there’s nothing to invest into. She has the depth of a puddle and the only pay off is an abusive relationship.

[Vixí-argent-dawn (Vixí)]

@Telaryn-argent-dawn

She has the depth of a puddle and the only pay off is an abusive relationship.

I think that is being a bit unfair to her. She does have a lot of depth and character, but it only really comes through if you romance her.

She has a lot of real fears and doubts, and even self doubts. You can get a lot from her by reading her diary in between visits.

I also quite like her character reflection and the story she shares about the baker and her nan when you sit on the roof with her.

(There was a baker in Denerim who used to make cookies she liked. Her nan told her the baker hated elves and she wasn’t allows to go to get the cookies. She grew up resenting and hating the baker for it. )

(She later learned her nan just lied for whatever reason, so she spent half her youth hating a person for something he never did)

[Brunala-argent-dawn]

@Vixí-argent-dawn

She does have a lot of depth and character, but it only really comes through if you romance her.

I would never romance her because of her character, thereby locking me out of seeing her actually develop.

Contrast this with Jack from Mass Effect 2/3 and her development being outside of the romance but also improved by it.

I am horrifically biased though because I love Jack.

[Vixí-argent-dawn (Vixí)]

@Brunala-argent-dawn

I am horrifically biased though because I love Jack.

I still quite like that you get locked out of a romance with Jack if you decide to sleep with her first time it’s offered.

It’s a big part of her story and also a neat twist on the typical RPG romance.

[Elenthas-argent-dawn (Elenthas)]

@Telaryn-argent-dawn

She has no arc, no growth

Not every character needs growth (Vivienne also doesn’t really grow or change at all), but for a character as youth-coded as Sera is it really feels weird that she’s basically locked into her views and attitudes with zero change possible.

If you want to encourage her as she is, you can do so, but you can’t befriend her and show her a better, more productive way to do what she’s doing. It’s her way or she throws a tantrum.

@Blythan-argent-dawn

Did anyone see Dorian in any of the promotional/spoiler material yet? I didn’t bother to keep up.

Not from what I can find.

[Brunala-argent-dawn]

@Elenthas-argent-dawn

It’s her way or she throws a tantrum.

I get enough of that with my kids, I don’t need it in my world saving companions.

[Blythan-argent-dawn (Blythan)]

@Elenthas-argent-dawn

Not from what I can find.

[sad tevinter noises]

[Telaryn-argent-dawn (Telaryn)]

@Elenthas-argent-dawn

Not every character needs growth (Vivienne also doesn’t really grow or change at all), but for a character as youth-coded as Sera is it really feels weird that she’s basically locked into her views and attitudes with zero change possible.

If you want to encourage her as she is, you can do so, but you can’t befriend her and show her a better, more productive way to do what she’s doing. It’s her way or she throws a tantrum.

Not every character needs growth, though unlike Sera, Vivienne is an interesting well-rounded character, and her beliefs can be challenged to produce interesting dialogue, even if she ultimately doesn’t change her views that much in the end. And unlike Vivienne, Sera is at an age where she needs growth.

The greatest crime a character can make in fiction is be annoying.

[Brunala-argent-dawn]

@Telaryn-argent-dawn

Vivienne is an interesting well-rounded character

finally someone else who likes vivienne as a character

[Elenthas-argent-dawn (Elenthas)]

While we’re on Dragon Age, there’s apparently a series of short audio-plays that are being released weekly in the run up to DAVe’s release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1rXj_Lg0dw&list=PL38xVi19e7CKw97GC6DGYPNuOxVzh52PU&index=1

Currently four episodes out, with a new episode every Thursday. ~40-45 minutes each. Taash and Bellara both have episodes, and since they’re entirely(?) new characters they might be worth a listen more than others.

The description notes that you can just read a transcript too but that site is blocked on my work PC so idk what that looks like.

@Brunala-argent-dawn

finally someone else who likes vivienne as a character

I like her as a character, even if she is completely wrong.