Small Town Geeks

After my first run through, here are some things I wish I had done or not done in the game, and will probably do in my next couple of run throughs:

• I wish I had “hardened” Alistair on his personal quest. When you go to Denerim to see his sister, you realize she resents Alistair and only wants his money. My first run through I thought there would be a way to make her happy, but I gave her 15 gold and she demanded more. Then I consoled Alistair after we left her house. This turns out is not what i was “supposed” to do, because it keeps Alistair a whiny little bitch. Instead you can tell him people are out for themselves, and he will begin to realize that he needs to man up, and not complain so much about becoming the king. I think this is a win for everyone.
• My first run through I tried to kill Morrigan’s mother Flemeth, and wiped within the first minute. She is really hard to kill, and so I decided that it would be best if I did not kill her but just pretend she was dead with Morrigan. Maybe I had even allowed for a future mother-daughter bonding time…one where Flemeth does not try to posses Morrigan’s body in order to remain immortal. Who knows? But then Morrigan ruins the whole good feeling by saying again and again how she never thought she could ever have a friend and how I was the first to show her this and how it must have been so hard to kill Flemeth and how she’s eternally grateful. Thanks a lot Morrigan. I feel like I should be able to warn her that she and her demon baby might receive a visit in the wilds. Oh well.
• Not doing the personal quests of Leliana and Wynne. Also not raising all the party member’s loyalties to friendly, though it turns out this really isn’t important except for Zevran, who will turn on you if his loyalty in neutral at some point. I really was expecting more of a mass-effect type thing where you had to make choices on who should lead what and your loyalty was important or members would die. Here the only risk is either you dying or Alistair dying, and it is easily avoided.
• Not doing all the side quests before the end, because when you finish the game, its done and thats that. You can’t travel anywhere, and are just stuck in camp. Make sure you do all you want to do before the last battle. Also the more you further the main plot line, the more battles against the darkspawn you have to face when you travel. So do stuff early.