While I know Bioware has come out and said that their cannon is strictly for the comics and such, and has no bearing on gameplay, does anyone else feel slightly restricted when playing?
For example, when I play Origins, I really prefer Alistair as a Warden, even if hardened, but Bioware's cannon says he becomes king. I really like the comics, so such a major difference in my personal cannon and Bioware's is a bit disconcerting. Because of this, I feel obligated to make Alistair king, just because I feel like that's the "correct" choice. I know nothing is stopping me from ignoring Bioware's cannon altogether, but it still nags me in the back of my head when I'm making decisions in game.
Does anyone else feel obligated to keep things the way Bioware has previously written them, or does it not bother you at all? ----AGuestintheHouseofDragons
I feel no more obligated by Bioware's canon than I do by other people's choices which ran contrary to my own. -120.149.113.197 (talk) 03:46, September 28, 2014 (UTC)
As long as their version stays separate from player choice, no. But I don't see that as ever having been the case, nor will it change in the future. EzzyD (talk) 04:12, September 28, 2014 (UTC)
Not really, they need some sort of official canon for them to make subsequent games off of. Without a standard canon, sequels would be impossible. A central canon is pretty much standard practice for games with multiple outcomes- Soul Calibur, Tekken, Mass Effect, Disgaea, Persona, Suikoden, Saints Row, etc. You must have some hard plotline to follow if you want to have a coherent storyline. That said, I feel no obligation to use their canon. I have my own stories, if I can use them- I will. Friendlysociopath (talk) 05:09, September 28, 2014 (UTC)
It does nag at me, but with my particular turn of mind that means I consciously do something different rather than accept the status quo. CLuhrsen (talk) 16:37, September 28, 2014 (UTC)
The only reason to hold to BioWare's canon is that you get to see "your" storyline advanced every time. Each new addition to the story is literally an addition to the one you are playing. But so what, ask I. BioWare's canon is nothing compared to mine. Believe it!
Also, if you take the story in your own direction, it means any new stories that BioWare come up with can now be altered by yours via fanfiction. For instance, my main character Izen Cousland is King of Ferelden, and Alistair is Drunken Master. Which means in my playthrough, Yavana and Maric could still be alive. I could even head-canon Izen through that same quest and have him complete it in a number of different ways. Believe it! (talk) 22:04, September 28, 2014 (UTC)
Well, fortunately for me, my canon isn't too different, at least when it comes to the expanded universe -- as long they don't mention Alistair being the baby daddy, ruling alone, or the Warden's gender and sacrifice. But I can understand how it can generate a sense of cognitive dissonance for others. Even if I shifted heavily away from Bioware's canon, my choices would still override any of theirs.
If you're looking for advice, one can always "alter" the Bioware's stories to fit within your canon. Slight changes can be made to what Bioware has written. For example, if Alistair didn't sleep with Morrigan, and it's mentioned, then just kinda cut that part out of the scene. Primary Faction (talk) 22:10, September 28, 2014 (UTC)
Multiple saves. One of my saves is more "Bioware Oriented" the others are not. I believe 7 playthroughs is a fair number, one for each origin in DA:O/A, 3 Elven, 2 Human, 2 Dwarven. You could play a complete different game with each origin hundreds of times so why bther with canon in ALL your playthroughs? Play one or two "canon oriented" stories and let the other be free \o/ Raoniluna (talk) 16:41, September 30, 2014 (UTC)
In a word, no. I treat BW canon as a suggestion and disregard it wherever I feel appropriate- and they've done the same thing a few quite a few times by now. ----Isolationistmagi 17:37, September 30, 2014 (UTC)
I hardly feel obligated by it. That said, my playthroughs generally end up in such a way that the extended universe material can happen as shown with a minimum of fuss. Alistair is king; Leliana, Wynne, Sten, and Zevran all survived the Blight; and Hawke sided with the mages. Luper567 (talk)
Generally I do take my cues and try to base my own storyline on the Bioware canon, mostly because to me it makes sense in terms of advancing and adding additional elements to the story. If Alistair never became King for example we'd never find resolution to the Maric storyline, at least that's my thinking. And that would be a shame. I always go for the option that to me seems to offer the most in terms of possibility and options. Like trying to keep one of Hawke's sibilings alive for example. Heck, despite my disgust for Loghain and Anders I would have kept them alive had I not been forced to choose between them and Alistair and Sebastian, which I'm almost grateful Bioware put there. To the best story is the one that offers the most possibility, to do otherwise is to cut your nose to spite your face, which you're perfectly free to do like kill off and sell your companions down the river, but if we look at logically never made much sense. I like to do what's logical, which is generally where the Bioware canon lies for me. That being said while I appreciate Bioware setting a standard I do hope they never leave no room for maneuvering on the details like my Warden's gender, because Morrigan's baby will forever be mine :D--KrimzonStriker (talk) 20:18, September 30, 2014 (UTC)
You know am I still not sure what Bioware canon is. Users on here say it the the elf warden sacrificing themselves and all the stuff that happens on the pre select da2 choice but there are a few continuity issues with that choice and the books so I don't even know for sure what the canon choices are in Bioware canon, I sure everyone going to say it doesn't matter but it would be nice to know if you ever want to do some research on the matter or try and do a bioware canon playthrough for the heck of it.--Jdgjordan (talk) 12:13, October 1, 2014 (UTC)
- Although there is no real "Bioware canon" they base it of the books and such that they have written. The standard world state is simply one with as few loose ends as possible not to bother new players who will be wondering what the backstory is for all that. Caspoi (talk) 16:32, October 1, 2014 (UTC)
Nope. 67.61.238.119 (talk) 21:19, October 2, 2014 (UTC)
I'm about as obligated to their canon as they are to mine. So in other words, no. 174.19.226.92 (talk) 23:35, October 2, 2014 (UTC)
In fairness, I don't feel obligated to Biowares canon. It makes the whole world a little less personal since you make the choices. Despite that though, I do intend to create a world state which is Bioware's own canon, purely so I can try and interpret the story that they want to tell with their specific background. But I don't actually know what their canon is exactly.
With the extended universe stuff, its not hard to stretch it to fit the various outcomes. Like Alistair, even if he becomes a drunk he still goes off with Teagan in Act 3, so the events of the comics could still happen. And I don't think we actually get to kill Isabela, so there's no problem there. With the books, I like to look at them in a similar way to Raiders of the lost ark (Even withou Indy, the faces would still be melted). I haven't read any of them so I don't know how important some ex-companions are, but are they integral to the story? Would anything drastically change because of their absence? I don't think so. The only major thing different would be the outcome of certain characters in Asunder. But I still believe the stories events would have occurred without Wynne and Shale being involved. 
00:01, October 3, 2014 (UTC)
No.32.211.44.14 (talk) 17:15, October 6, 2014 (UTC)
Honestly I love Bioware for their wonderful games, even the supposed failures are a step up from other RPG’s out on the market. But I feel no loyalty to their cannon, since it seems to change with each installment in the series. I believe originally in DA: O’s cannon it was a male warden with a noble background, or it could have been an arcane warrior, either way the sacred ashes trailer showed us a human male warden [link], but now it’s a female Dalish elf. --24.23.210.98 (talk) 19:11, October 6, 2014 (UTC)
"Does anyone else feel obligated to keep things the way Bioware has previously written them, or does it not bother you at all?"
Fuck no. BioWare's Hyperfeminist canon is garbage. It's bad enough that the only two nations that aren't ruled by women are considered 'evil empires' -- Soulofshezarr (talk) 03:32, October 20, 2014 (UTC)
- "Hyper feminist" ? What the hell are you talking about?
-209.95.36.61 (talk) 03:35, October 20, 2014 (UTC)
Divine is always female. Celene. Female Warden. Female Hawke. All men with exceptional power are depicted as either aggressively power lusting or ineffectual. I can go on. At least TME finally put all of a female ruler's personal faults on display. -- Soulofshezarr (talk) 03:41, October 20, 2014 (UTC)
Well the Divine is always female certainly because of the deliberate inversion of Eve taking the apple they have with Maferath's betrayal. But I am fairly certain at no point is either the Warden or Hawke stated to be female. Not to mention there are plenty of instances of men in positions of authority who are neither 'aggressively power lusting or ineffectual', Prosper, Gaspard, Irving, Teagan, Eamon, I could go on. -209.95.36.61 (talk)
BioWare's Canon Warden and Hawke are female Dalish and Mage respectively. When I said exceptional power I meant exceptional power. Another point is that the Rivaini Seers all but rule Rivain and only female mages are taken from the Circle to become Seers. And Eamon while not of the power tier I meant is most definitely about making power plays by insisting that Alistair be his puppet king. Note his displeasure when he's married off to Anora or Anora takes the crown alone. Teagan is more or less irrelevant on the political arena as is Irving. Gaspard and Prosper are debatable and even then we don't know enough about them or at least compared to Loghain to make an accurate judgment IMO. Either way I suspect we'll end up debating in circles so let's agree to disagree shall we. I say they've made it a point to say 'women rule this world'. You say that's not true and we'll leave it at that since it's probably more subjective than either of us are willing to admit. -- Soulofshezarr (talk) 04:05, October 20, 2014 (UTC)
- Well I'd have to say the thing about Alistair being Eamon's 'puppet' seems a bit of a leap. Not to mention if he was so disappointed by marrying Alistair off to Anora, it seems incongruous that he would do so little to attempt to stop it. Or indeed would allow the warden to be arbiter of the dispute in the landsmeet rather than speaking up and suggesting Alistair himself. Then there is Meredith in DA2 clearly being shown to be an unfit leader, although again that falls under what tier of power you're referring to.
But rather than go point by point, I am certain that that they never mention the warden or hawke's gender, class or origin in any of the comics or novels under bioware's canon. I know they said the female dalish warden was the default if you don't import anything but I don't remember seeing female mage hawke confirmed anywhere. Even then it seems a leap to conclude from two selectable characters amongst a cast of hundreds being female translating to 'hyperfeminism'. Not to mention all the male historical characters who've held exceptional power and are portrayed positively, or at least as equally ambiguously as their female counterparts. Emperor Drakon, Calenhad Theirin, Archon Hessarian.
But you're quite right, this doesn't seem likely to go anywhere useful. -209.95.36.61 (talk) 04:21, October 20, 2014 (UTC)