Vivienne’s the best
she was the romance option i truly desired and yet was so cruelly refused
i didn’t side with her in the end, but still enjoyed the discussions between her and my mage inquisitor
She’s a very interesting character who is dead flat wrong
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is she though
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The thing is that her defense of the Mage Circles isn’t inherently wrong.
Thedas by and large fears Mages, that’s the norm for how they’re treated. With the outbreak of the Mage-Templar War, all Mages have been declared Apostates and many of them end up becoming Maleficarum or worse, Abominations from powersliding into Blood Magic against all warning.
With the outbreak of the rebellion, they’ve painted every mage — even those not affiliated — as targets of mob violence as Vivienne talks about the violent crimes and lynchings non-rebel mages have been subjected to in the last couple years. The Circles protected mages as much as they oppressed them, and Vivienne’s sole concern is the protection of mage lives. That’s why she’s against the rebellion, which she views as ultimately getting more mages killed than it will ever save.
And Circles like Kirkwall are a travesty and shouldn’t exist, but Kirkwall isn’t the norm either; Vivienne wants to reform the Circles to be uniformly more like Montsimmard across the board, where they’re more private schools of higher learning with lax and humane treatment of mages. Montsimmard also isn’t the sole exception — Mage Trevelyan gets to describe what the Circle in Ostwick was like, and one of the available options is Montsimmard 2.0.
Vivienne acknowledges that the Circles are flawed, but she sees total anarchy not working out either, so she’d rather reform the Circles so that they can’t be abused while still protecting mages from the fear and violence that mages are treated with in this setting by normies as the standard.
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mage rhymes with cage and that can’t be a coincidence
I get a massive mental whiplash when i look at any promotional content of Veilguard, and I see Warriors, Rogue both performing seemingly massive magical feats, teleporting around in their killin spree-esque ultimate animation, or summoning down flames or etc.
Feels to destructive to the setting that otherwise has shown us how terrible magic and mages are to now just be, what to me seems like substanceless flash for the sake of it.
Sure Origins had some buffs that caused you to glitter, similarly out of place, but I found that much more subtle.
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the only thing i agree on with skepticism towards veilguard at the moment
How do you feel about the bobbleheaded characters?
I mean, she says that, but the Ferelden circle wasn’t that much better. We got to experience two Circles first-hand, and they both sucked. Rivain’s circle was annulled because “female mages were being trained in the traditions of the seers” as well.
Her statements also kind fail to live up to reality if she’s made Divine: the mages of the Inquisition tried to establish their own order, and Divine Vivienne goes to war with them herself.
Lax and humane treatment for mages only exist so long as she controls them. That she gilds their cages slightly more than before doesn’t change that she’s still shoving them in cages by threat of death.
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I am a mage player in every setting so that concern does not extend to me
I do see what you mean, because that’s a part of what kinda made Dragon Age distinct. Magic and magical feats were limited to things that were supernatural or mages.
Warriors and Rogues were quite grounded in their deeds and abilities for the most part. (Templars and Reavers being a big exception), but even there it was very specific and different.
It’s certainly a choice, and one that I am already mostly used to from watching trailers. The artstyle this time around has definitely taken longer for me to adjust to because it’s so jarring different from what they’ve done before, but it doesn’t bother me.
Going 4 for 4 in Mage characters in Dragon Age games. The streak must not be broken.
they get it. as long as Josie exists i can see no other woman anyway
Vivienne is a perfect example of a character who embodies the “screw you, got mine” mentality some people have.
It doesn’t matter much to her if other people like her are suffering if she herself isn’t. She doesn’t have any big feelings of kinship or connection with people like herself.
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I really don’t like the new look of the Qunari.
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I think what Telaryn said is basically the opposite of that. Vivienne has experienced the upper level of circle experience, and through the inquisitor sharing their own and seeing what has happened at other circles she wants to uplift them to the same level.
Which I think she actually manages to some extent if she becomes Divine but at great cost and turmoil.
Despite its flaws, Dragon Age 2 was the best Qunari design in the setting.
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i feel its oft forgotten by some mages that not every circle was the same. orlesian ones were paradise compared to ferelden or ptooey kirkwall andersdidnothingwrong
Aesthetics have been my make it or break it in oh so many games, and I think Veilguard is strongly leaning to the break it side for me.
Bobbleheads, silly ahh looking darkspawn (though that’s been the case in DA2 too) Magical non-magic classes,
The Qunari…
And spellblade class is not a worthy successor to Arcane Warrior and not even Knight Enchanter.
Daggers, disgusten
And that’s not to speak of the seeming disregard to the buildup. Seemingly* 5 questions, of which 2 are race and class of your Inky,. It just feels rough and the whole marketting spiel so far reminds me of Suicide Squad where everyone who tested it preached and praised it, but […]