Quests are the foundation of any excellent RPG, and they frequently add deeper layers to the lore, characters, and overall story.
The Dragon Age franchise is no exception, awarding the Warden, Hawke, and The Inquisitor a lot to do in their spare time. Of course, not every quest would be as thrilling as saving the world of Thedas, but we can all agree that there are more than a few quests and areas that were totally unnecessary.
So here are the top 5 Quests and Moments We Hate in the Dragon Age franchise.
The Fade in Origins
Without a doubt, many fans will agree that being in the Fade in Origins was confusing and draining at times.
And, while it was fun to transform into different creatures, it was also fun to break away from your character's combat vices for a while and try to make do with only what you had on hand, tackling the sections in different orders each time you went in, and so on. Some of the companion dreams are also excellent character moments.
However, it drags on far too long, the sections are designed as twisting labyrinths that can make players disoriented and anxious to leave, and after a while, the enemies become extremely static and predictable.
Furthermore, halfway through Arl of Redcliffe, doing Broken Circle feels like you're playing a game of Inception - a huge quest inside another huge quest inside another huge quest, and every time you finish one step, you remember you still have all the rest to complete before you can move forward in that one quest that started this whole chain. It's a spiraling narrative, and it's not the most elegant quest design ever.
And, of course, the map; when I realized I wasn't even halfway through the Fade, I almost gave up on Dragon Age: Origins.
Thankfully, I pulled through and finished it. But when I do my newer playthroughs, I usually use a mod…
The Hinterlands
Inquisition introduced many new gameplay mechanics and features, most notably the open-world experience. It was a welcome change from the "area" format of both Origins and Dragon Age II, allowing players to get a sense of Thedas' entire world. It also helped to emphasize The Inquisition's reach and influence among Ferelden too.
But nevertheless, there were some aspects of the open world that were less enjoyable. There were fewer quests in some areas than others, and players could easily become overwhelmed and confused by their journals and the quests themselves. The Hinterlands is the first area that players can explore, and it is also the most difficult. Time and again, one could find themselves back in the vast area, the amount of material appearing to be infinite. Many quests in The Hinterlands could have been relocated to other areas of Thedas.
Of course the joke for those "friends" or "gamers" who did not finish Inquisition is asking them "Did you get stuck in the Hinterlands?". And the funny part of it, a lot of those people I know do, that place is super big and very overwhelming for new Dragon Age players, and old.
The Hinterlands is quite funny if you get in the mood to grind a whole day on it, but isn't really a good moment, just because it is the first place the Herald sets out to.
The Deep Roads in Origins
When you thought getting stuck in the Fade was bad, wait until you see the Deep Roads from Origins.
The Orzammar Quest is a lengthy one that cannot be completed in a single night unless you know what you're doing. The Deep Roads are larger and longer than expected from Origins.
The Deep Roads are both claustrophobic and massive. You must face hordes of enemies, and the combination of increasing dread and
You are never immune to the massive amounts of darkspawn and the occasional Ogre. However, it is difficult to separate the story quests and combat portions of Origins, and the Deep Roads simply explains that discrepancy. If you aren't good with the combat in Origins at all, you might be struggling to pass through the Deep Roads which showed a lot of fans' frustrations and even rage quits.
But of course, there is plenty of great lore and codex entries along the way, and of course some creepy moments too. It's just a shame that the Deep Roads is a pretty hard feat for a lot of fans, and I sometimes wish there was a less challenging version of it.
But we all know that's just not how BioWare games work…
The Bone Pit Quests
Though not outwardly annoying, the sheer logic behind this questline is both utterly ridiculous and amusing to consider. Many complaints could have been avoided if a certain selfish capitalist named Hubert had simply picked up his business and moved on.
In Dragon Age II, Hawke can be hired to investigate and later invest a mine called "The Bone Pit" beginning in Act I. As if the name wasn't unsettling and foreshadowing enough, the mine is not simple. Expecting pickaxes or maybe repairing some equipment, that is not the task at all. There are only dragons and murderous bandits. Dragons are reason enough to leave the mine, but Hubert was adamant that things could be handled with Hawke's assistance.
So yeah, I think what's annoying about this mine is the overuse of Dragonlings and constantly dying if you suck at combat like me… :( But apparently many fans for the game do complain about this part just cause the Dragon fight was a little too much, the wiki even has a whole guide on how to defeat the dragon after all…
And the amount of times I ignored that quest, just shows me that I wasn't fit to be a Dragon-slayer anyhow…
Fetch Quests (Shards)
While fetch quests are common in MMOs and RPGs, the amount of repetition in Dragon Age: Inquisition has left many fans annoyed and at times uninterested in these types of quests.
The problem isn't with these mechanics themselves, but in the fact that player's feel like their actions are reduced to these mechanics. A player won't even notice that their actions can be boiled down to a simple repetitive pattern if they are actually looking forward to what will happen when they complete these quests. But some fans agree that these types of quests present a lack of depth within the writing, or even the game itself.
There are a total of 126 shards in Dragon Age: Inquisition, including DLC. The shard collections are triggered independently whenever you interact with any of the oculara in each area you visit. While spotting them in the distance is entertaining, getting to them isn't always easy.
Some shards are placed in such an awkward level of the game that using abilities to reach the shard is sometimes your only hope. It honestly feels a little random and hasn't been thoroughly tested. The shards feel like filler in your hours of Inquisition, which is why many fans dislike the quest.
Inadequately, there is a literal location in Inquisition (Forbidden Oasis) that uses these shards to unlock vaults that reveal a variety of tombs with different elements for each chamber.
This gives us completionist nerds an exasperated sigh because we know we have to be committed to getting all those shards to see what's behind the main chamber.
But, unless you're into getting some good equipment for your party and love codex's like me, it's not really that rewarding - some players found the entire questline to be pointless, and I somewhat agree with them.
Of course, there are many other fetch quests in Inquisition, and most of the side quests do seem fetchy in some way (looking at you, Hinterlands), but if you are a completionist like me, you will probably enjoy it on days when you just want to explore the world of Thedas…
But with that, we are going to wrap up, 5 Quests and Moments We Hate in the Dragon Age franchise. Which on this list do you agree with?
please reblog if u can, and ty for reading/watching! <3
5 Creepy Secrets You May Have Missed in Dragon Age
Hello Thedosians and welcome back to my blog, the Dragon Age series is to this day one of my favorite games. Surprisingly, I never expected it to scare me. And You’d think that you’d expect some creepy moments when a game has enemies that look like this...
So here are 5 Creepy Secrets you May Have Missed in the Dragon Age series:
Well of Sorrows Backwards
Surprisingly, not many people in the Dragon Age fandom understand what the voices in the Well of Sorrows say backwards.
"She speaks...she's fallen...go to him (dirth)...the calling, the calling."
Of course, by themselves, the voices are extremely creepy, and it doesn't help when you can make out words from them.
Other players have sought to fill in the blanks claiming that the audio says "She is telling the truth. She's fallen, lost, Mythal, and Solas calling from behind, go to the altar "But it's indisputable that the audio is saying she's fallen, the calling, the calling.
Those words may still seem absurd until you consider some of the greater Dragon Age lore. I'm not sure who the audio is referring to when it says she speaks the truth—it could be Morrigan or Mythal/Flemeth, who, as we all know, is sort of the same person. What is evident is the part about the calling.
If Mythal was in charge of the calling, it would really shake up the Dragon Age series, including how the next game might play out. If an elvhen goddess is truly behind a horrific Blight that has infected all of Thedas, the Wardens and Darkspawn may have some explaining to do. Sadly, it is only a theory. But it's a cliffhanger in the story, so it's never been a stretch to assume Bioware would explore it further in the first place.
Desire Demon-Possessed Cat
It's almost always upsetting when children are involved in this series. Because they are so naive and innocent, they are continuously manipulated by demons. There is already Connor and the demon that possessed him (he did, after all, harm a whole village of people), and Feynriel with his nightmares about demons.
The worst, in my opinion, has been this little girl and her kitty. Of course, I'd be thrilled to hear a kitty speak to me! But, even in a fantasy game like Dragon Age, everyone who has played the game knows that cats don't talk.
Of course, this is from a quest in The Stone Prisoner DLC from Dragon Age: Origins, called the Golem in Honnleath.
As you progress deeper into the cellar, you will encounter a dilemma: a Desire Demon possessed a cat (named Kitty) who was sealed in the laboratory by a magical puzzle lock.
The demon has charmed Amalia, and she will not leave without her new kitty. Kitty is magically prevented from touching the puzzle, and Amalia is unable to solve it, so it is up to you to solve the problem. You have several options:
The agonizing part is that saving the little girl is nearly impossible unless you have strong coercion or are willing to solve Kitty's puzzle without making any mistakes. We are easily left with the option of letting the demon eventually corrupt and possess the little girl...
As if Connor's situation wasn't traumatizing enough!
Caridin's Research
The Golems of Amgarrak DLC from Dragon Age: Origins is a strange place. The entire area has been magically torn apart, which is extremely strange given that it is mostly inhabited by golems and dwarves. And of course, we know Dwarves are not able to use magic.
You start seeing these creepy creatures skitter past you every now and then as you explore this area. They are fast enough to startle you without allowing you to get a good look at them. Finally, you discover that these creatures are made from dwarven body parts and that they can combine to form a giant deformed flesh golem.
When you finally discover this, it's both disgusting and terrifying. Jerrik discovers Darion's remains as well as the final page of his diary with the Warden and his brother, at which point Brogan begs him to destroy the Forge in the deepest part of Amgarrak so that the experiments and subsequent mistakes within cannot be repeated.
Yeah, let's not hope that sort of experiment happens again in Dragon Age...
Armour Made out of Flesh
In the Trespasser DLC from Dragon Age: Inquisition, there's a unique special armor you can loot from a sealed chest in the Ancient Jail section of the Crossroads after defeating the enemies.
It includes a codex entry that describes an elvhen god who performed rituals and experiments when creating this specific armor.
According to the codex, after four attempts, "adjustments to the underlay were a great success, and will allow the recipe to be made with material taken from lesser animals, if the need arises."
Below the letters, possibly in lieu of a signature, is the stamp of a stylized halla head. In Dragon Age lore, we know that the halla is a representation of Ghilan'nan who created monsters and beasts during ancient times in Thedas.
The creepy part of the codex is that the armor is described as having "threads that look like hair" and "a liquid that flowers a sluggish red." It also says it feels "clammy" and compares it to "flesh."
With that aside, some people in the fandom refuse to wear this armor because it might have truly been made out of the skin and flesh of former elven slaves.
How terrifying...
Broodmother's Ritual
It's no secret that darkspawn are the creepiest made creatures in Thedas to exist. What terrifies me is the making of a true Broodmother.
“First day, they come and catch everyone.
Second day, they beat us and eat some for meat.
Third day, the men are all gnawed on again.
Fourth day, we wait and fear for our fate.
Fifth day, they return and it’s another girl’s turn.
Sixth day, her screams we hear in our dreams.
Seventh day, she grew as in her mouth they spew.
Eighth day, we hate it as she is violated.
Ninth day, she grins and devours her kin.
Now she does feast, as she’s become the beast.”
— Hespith's poem
According to Hespith's poem from Dragon Age: Origins, her haunting voice retails the events of what really happens to tainted women left in the Deep Roads.
The captured women become tainted after being force-fed darkspawn tissue, which the darkspawn "spew" into the prisoners' mouths.
At this point, Hespith describes the women who have survived as "violated," implying that they have been sexually assaulted by a swarm of darkspawn. They gradually develop cannibalistic urges and mutate heavily as a result, eventually becoming full-fledged broodmothers after devouring massive amounts of flesh.
Broodmothers have large litters of Darkspawn, ranging from twenty to fifty infants. They emerge from her womb as toddlers, often already walking, and grow quickly in their first few weeks. In her lifetime, a broodmother will give birth to thousands of darkspawn children.
Of course, what makes this creepier is that there really had to be a first Broodmother to truly create massive swarms of darkspawn. This leads the fandom to theorize that one of the original Darkspawn from the Magister's Sidereal is female and is the first Broodmother...
But with that, we are going to wrap up, 5 Creepy Secrets you May Have Missed in Dragon Age. Which on this list was your personal favorite, for, me to be honest, it's probably the demon-possessed cat, I just again found that to be pretty creepy...
I don't know where to begin except with a big facepalm. It's been nearly two years since this incident, and I'm surprised that none of the Dragon Age content creators have responded or recounted the events.
I would also appreciate it if you would reblog/share this for more BioWare fans to know about this situation.
Disclaimer -
Please do not attack or harass people involved in this video, I want to make it clear that I do not condone that type of behavior. A lot of this is in the past, meaning many fans in the community have already addressed this situation and there isn't any need to usher more harassment on the issue. This is solely to document the events of what happened to the voice actor of Cullen Rutherford and Anders in Dragon Age: Awakening.
Therefore, it is advisable to make your own decisions based on this information, keeping in mind your thoughts on Ellis' recent actions. People are capable to change within a decade, however if there is a person that has had recent problematic opinions and actions, then we are able to determine if an actual change has taken apart in their life or not...
So here we have it, a full-fledged documentary about Greg Ellis, the voice actor for Cullen Rutherford. What became of this actor? And why are Dragon Age fans so dissatisfied with the actor who played a prominent role in the Dragon Age series?
Why Cullen will NOT be in The Next Dragon Age-
Denial
Greg Ellis is not his real name, he actually goes by Jonathan Ashley Rees, he renamed himself to gain legal rights for his acting. When he reached the age of sixteen, he applied to become an adult member of the actors union equity and discovered that there was already an actor named Jonny Rees. Johnathan was born on March 21st, 1968, in Lancashire England.
Greg began his acting career in the 1990s, mostly in live-action roles, and even went on to be an extra for Titanic in 1997. And although his acting was mostly known in film in the beginning, he also worked in animation and video games.
Of course, many people knew him from his roles in Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Trek, which boosted his career and established him as a renowned British actor of his time.
Ellis was also known to be a producer - Greg founded the production company "Monkey Toes" in 2014. When Ellis’ first son was born he nicknamed him Monkey Toes which inspired the production company name. Greg's first project was the Sky television drama "Marked," which he produced, wrote, directed, and starred Kiefer Sutherland and Stephen Fry.
Aside from his professional accomplishments, his personal life and family problems were not excused. Ellis was keeping something from the public that finally came to light in 2015.
Although Greg Ellis’ ex-wife’s name hasn’t been revealed on the internet (unless you really look for it), the couple was said to have been married for nearly 20 years. Married somewhere in the 1990s, this, was the breaking point for Ellis' world.
On March 25th, 2015, Johnathan's wife filed for a divorce in the Los Angeles County Court. Media spurred on the moment of this case, while the wife was not made public with her statement on the separation, Ellis took the ground to show his disappointment with the decision.
Greg, according to reports, has spent the last five years fighting to clear his name after his ex-wife claimed he was violent, drug-stricken, and mentally ill.
Ellis was reported missing from his North Hollywood home on May 11, 2016. The Bioware forums had information about his disappearance and contact information for the LAPD missing person unit.
An article quotes -
"Ellis was last seen on May 12th in a severely manic episode. He has been suffering from Bipolar Disorder and has refused treatment which has led loved ones to believe that his disappearance may be related to a manic episode. Details that have emerged shown that he left his ID, keys, and phone at home with all of the doors open, no social media updates since the 12th, and was officially reported missing when he did not show up to meet his kids." - https://thenerdstash.com/voice-actor-greg-ellis-missing/
4 days later, there was an update from Ellis' friend Jeff Rosenthal who tweeted that the actor has been found safe and is currently at his own home.
There were reports that Ellis had been a cocaine addict for some time and went into rehab in 2016, however, I could not find any sources to back that claim of going into rehab... His use of cocaine was documented in his book called 'The Respondent', he admitted that he was afraid his sons would discover it one day.
Ellis quotes -
it continues on -
'I took the phone from Charlie, [his son] placed it in my pocket. In my other pocket was a wallet. A wallet that I'd used to store the tiny amounts of cocaine that I'd kept in a folded-up piece of white paper. There was no more cocaine in the wallet or the piece of paper, but being the drug novice that I was, I was paranoid about throwing it away anywhere for fear that the children would get hold of it.'
So again, it is undetermined to claim Johnathan got proper care for rehab for his use of drugs, and as much as his own words described he did, there is a bigger sense that he got his refuge in philosophy through the Tomkins Institute.
Anger
The Tomkins Institute, is a non-profit organization that applies the foundational work of an award-winning psychologist called Silvan S. Tomkins. Greg Ellis belonged to this group and was a student there for some years with Ph.D. Gary David, a professor at Bentley University & co-founder of The Tomkins Institute.
According to Ellis' website, '[he] is a student of the dialectical approach to the Phenomenology of Feelings and currently, studies affect theory'. The Tomkins Institute provides resources for those who seek to understand the biological system of innate human effect displayed on the face from infancy through adulthood, and its role in the motivation of feeling, cognition, and action.
You learn and teach others how these biological processes transform into patterns of emotion, perception, and actions that shape us, our relationships, and our world.
Silvan S. Tomkins does have writings about smoking and addictions that were published in the 1960s as articles. Giving answers to how and why addictions occur in the mind. So perhaps Ellis took a liking to his writings and consoled in them. However, that does not make one an expert to teach others in faith & philosophy...
Later that year in 2016, Ellis went off to India to teach at the Ashray Orphanage (a well-known orphanage that even Paris Hilton went to) including other slum-defined schools in Udaipur and Jaipur. Ellis taught phenomenology-based learning to these children and claims it was an unforgettable journey.
Magic City Con -
On June 30th, 2017, Magic City Con, located in Birmingham, Alabama, invited Greg Ellis, the voice actor of Cullen Rutherford to be a VIP guest.
Three Dragon Age fans purchased tickets for this con, eager to attend events that included Greg Ellis'. The two events were a Trivia night and Q&A session, as well as a poetry reading/hangout session.
This post was asked by an anonymous and finally answered which resurfaced the event on Sep 1st, 2020.
Quoted from the Tumblr post -
the fan continues on to say -
Surprising to the fans, many were intrigued, but it didn't stop there -
(the fan began to say they were a survivor of a cult, so it did not sit right with them physically)
In the podcast, he discusses how his parents desired a daughter and how this shaped a significant portion of his emotional life. He also discusses emotional baggage and how it can limit us in our lives, as well as how we must open up and allow ourselves to feel these emotions in order to move forward. He talked briefly about childhood trauma and teased the remainder of the podcast. This went on for at least 15 minutes, and most likely longer.
This was the philosophy of Silvan S. Tomkins pushing onto fans at Magic City Con.
and it did not work out as planned as he would like to think, because these views were not applicable to every individual, only to him personally -
The fan bullet-pointed the speech Ellis gave to the fans in the room,
The fan goes on to say that this was a mixed room, many people were going through their own mental issues and had an already negative weighing stigma behind taking medication at all.
Weeks passed, and BioWare fans from the Conference attempted to make sense of what had happened via an MCC Bioware Facebook Page. Eventually, some of the Cullenites in that group decided to contact (tweet) Ellis, showing him screencaps of the conversation, and had to express our concern for him, in the end, the only response he had was to vaguely blog about the experience.
This even included a trained counselor who was present at the conference and tagged him on Twitter, claiming that telling people not to take their medications is very dangerous and deadly advice.
Greg Ellis eventually had the counselor blocked on all of his social media accounts.
Bargaining
Let's begin to talk about a parasocial relationship. The definition of this term Parasocial relationship is a one-sided relationship in which one person expends emotional energy, interest, and time while the other party, the persona, is completely unaware of the existence of the other. Celebrities, sports teams, television stars, and content creators are the most common subjects of parasocial relationships, fans can get emotionally intact with these types of people, and even prop them up on a pedestal thinking they can do no wrong.
Of course, video game characters are not excluded, especially when fans can romance that specific character. The issue with this dynamic is that even actors and creators use this dynamic to gain sympathy and or relevance to any related issue.
It's pretty psychologically damaging for fandoms when they form a parasocial relationship because when any of these celebrities do something bad, it affects the fandom as well.
And the Dragon Age fandom is no different, Ellis was already disappointing fans throughout his past tweets on political issues and opinions about America.
Greg Ellis has shown support for Donald Trump, on Jan 5th, 2016 he tweeted about being 'very proud of the @POTUS'.
Again, many fans knew of the problems and opinions Ellis had, and brought it up to him, a lot of times he would not address it but really stand his ground. Fast forward in time, is where things continued to get heated between fans of Cullen and Ellis' tweets.
There were many problematic tweets Ellis had in 2018, for instance, in one tweet he tagged (most of whom were alt-right ppl, meninists, known trump-supporters, and anti-trans & anti-LGBTQIA+ people)
Many fans from Dragon Age replied to this tweet explaining the danger of these people he supports. While Ellis claims these are people who think 'outside' of the box, free-thinkers. Ellis begins to bully his fans calling them a 'trolling SJW who can't separate me from my work'.
One fan replied -
Ellis replied -
As expected, much discourse among Dragon Age fans began to grow against Ellis, but this was definitely not the end...
Depression
Ah yes, the traumatic year of 2020, a raging pestilence that kept us inside our homes, fearing for our lives what is next. And the horrific murder of George Floyd, on May 25th, 2020.
Greg Ellis started The Respondent podcast on February 27th, 2020, this was primarily to start up marketing for his new book, which has the same name. Ellis at times, even calls himself the Respondent; from his Twitter handle, his YT channel, and later on, his store.
Greg posted a video titled 'The States of America' on June 2nd, 2020. It's made up of footage from the summer 2020 protests, some of which he shot himself and some of which he got from news sources, and it starts with a photo of a platform spray-painted with the words 'I can't breathe,' which has since been doctored to read 'we can't breathe.'
In the video, Greg Ellis uses a photo of Devonte Heart hugging Portland Police Sergeant Brett Barnum in 2014. Devonte Hart and his five adopted siblings were murdered by their adoptive parents later in 2018 after the photo was a known fact to be staged. That is an extremely inappropriate photo to be circulating during the protests of 2020 to promote the idea of purported unity.
Greg Ellis then went on to tweet, which is now deleted, using the hashtag AllLivesMatter towards the event of George Floyd, he mentions the hashtag many times later on in the month of June.
The AllLivesMatter hashtag is, at best, an alt-right dog whistle that refuses to acknowledge that black lives and the lives of other people of color have been so marginalized and undervalued in society as a whole. Instead of accepting responsibility, that statement internalizes and flips the conflict to victimize white people as well.
Of course, many Dragon Age fans were telling Ellis to delete this video and the tweet, as it was very offensive to the black and POC community, and especially to the Black Lives Matter movement.
A fan posted on that same day -
Welp never "meet your heroes" they say. I was always a fan but holy sh*t. Tell someone to delete something because its offensive and get told to virtue signal else where. The boy in the image was murdered in a murder suicide along with his siblings.
The fan's thread continued on, saying -
after being pulled from family and put into an abusive adoptive home. They still haven't found his body but he's being used for cop-a-ganda. Also all lives matter tag, no. Anyway, for posterity, I tried to explain and got told off, so here you go.
Ellis then replied many times, saying -
Normally I take attacks like this on the chin. Not tonight... How DARE you lecture ME about a HASHTAG. I LOST BOTH MY SONS, 8 & 10 YRS OLD, WHEN THEIR MOTHER HAD A PANIC ATTACK & STOPPED TAKING HER PSYCHOTROPIC MEDICATION. I know more about LIVING GRIEF than you could imagine.
It seemed like Ellis was projecting many times, mentioning his sons, and tweeting about his political opinions, some seemed unfinished, and even random ramblings according to some.
And unfortunately, his tweets did get worse...
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Dutch-American activist, feminist, and former politician of Somali origin. She gained international attention as a critic of Islam and an advocate for Muslim women's rights and self-determination.
During this time, Rowling was saying a lot about the trans community, including a tweet about 'People who menstruate,' implying that only women menstruate as a joke in order to ignore the fact that trans people exist.
Ellis quote tweet says -
I praise @Ayaan for supporting @jk_rowling in standing her ground. They are heroes of our times.
Acceptance
At this point, Ellis' actions were gaining traction in the DA community; knowing that Cullen Rutherford had appeared in all three games, many assumed he would appear in the fourth. So many fans began to tag BioWare developers for their thoughts on this controversy.
Mark Darrah, Executive Producer for Dragon Age at that time bulked replied to many of these types of posts saying-
'Like you, it's important to us that the people we work with are aligned with our BioWare values. This will be apparent when we're ready to announce which actors will be lending their voices to the game.'
Greg Ellis then tweets -
'Don't the loyal #Cullenties [Cullenites- misspelled] & @dragonage fans have a right to know? Don't u have a responsibility to them?'
On BioWare's website, you can see BioWare's values clearly, it states -
Creating worlds
of adventure, conflict, and companionship
that inspire you to become the hero of your story.
Showing bullet points of
Humility & Integrity
Courageous Creativity
Passion for Excellence
Amazing Storytelling
Achieving as a Team
And for Ellis, his values were not aligning with BioWare.
While Mark Darrah was still currently working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf at that time, he did not reply to Ellis' remarks and bashes during the fall of 2020.
At this point, Ellis had another podcast called 'The Voices in My Head', talking to many people in the acting industry, political beliefs, and the society quote 'problems' we face.
He was also interviewed for an article titled 'Modern Male Experience', to which Ellis quoted
"Little Boys play with different toys than girls. They fight with clenched fists not sharp fingernails. When boys run to climb a tree and play, their mothers have a concern about the possible dangers involved. Whereas dad sees it as a necessary adventure of boyhood learning.
How the matriarch and patriarch negotiate these differences of opinion is vital."
Revenge
On December 3rd, 2020, Mark Darrah resigned his position as Executive Producer for the next upcoming game Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, of course, it was just assumed to be called Dragon Age 4 then.
Mark tweets about his leaving
Ellis replies by saying -
And a relief for many others.
I’ve worked with you for over 10 years as the voice of Cullen (and Anders) @dragonage & have never worked w a more DISLOYAL, duplicitous corporate fake
Your enforced resignation is a victory for @bioware, its employees & particularly the fans.
Of course, Ellis tweets about celebrating Mark's leaving of BioWare, telling people how Mark hid behind a corporate veil to support bigots who defame their employees.
Ellis continues to suspect that Mark was 'forced' out of BioWare, due to his behavior or whatever, Mark's post on the BioWare blog states:
This has been a very difficult decision for me. The team of amazing developers on Dragon Age, make my life fuller and better. They have taught me so much. But the strength of the team is also what makes this possible. I know that Dragon Age won’t just survive without me, it will thrive.
Of course, Ellis, assumes Mark's leaving had to do with Ellis' behavior with fans, and somehow 'pandering to bigots'...
Ellis also states that Darrah did not respond to his questions 3 months ago publicly and privately.
Naturally, December 4th is known to be #DragonAgeDay, so while the sad news of Mark and Casey leaving, Ellis' tweets did not help on such a day to celebrate Dragon Age.
That is when Mark decided to finally reply to Greg Ellis once and for all, by saying -
Many current BioWare developers retweeted and liked Mark's response, indicating that they, too, agreed with Mark's sentiment. To conclude on Mark's tweet -
Ellis will not be hired for the next Dragon Age game, and many others in the future...
The 'Video'
Let's talk about the video, Greg Ellis posts a live pre-recorded video about the Dragon Age fandom on Dragon Age Day, December 4th.
The video is 37 minutes and 55 seconds long. It consists of Ellis voice acting Cullen while speaking about Ellis in 3rd person. Using a character from a game he was hired to do. Manipulating the parasocial relationship, now Ellis' was contributing to it maliciously...
The beginning of the video states -
Dear Cullenites,
Recently, a small, vocal mob of social justice warriors attempted to have me, and my voice actor Greg Ellis tossed into the cancel culture wastelands. An ignorant few bigots made wild aspersions, outlandish misrepresentations, and slanderous, vulgar claims of transphobia and racism, and shared them loudly with a few impressionable more. This is my response to the mob's inquisition of me, and my voice actor, Greg Ellis, and how we attempted to understand the resultant blight it spread across the fandom.
Throughout the video, Ellis shamelessly promotes his Respondent's website. And explains 'how and why' he was canceled. He dubbed those who responded Corporate Wokeism. Ellis claims to have spent over a decade working on Dragon Age. Continuing to use Cullen's character to explain the situation, Ellis declares that this is a cancellation of Cullen Rutherford...
Greg and Cullen were summarily lumped together and generalized due in part to the coincidence of skin pigmentation. The racist trolls came out of the woodwork to cancel Cullen... once and for all.
- Ellis from video
Cullen Rutherford appears in a variety of roles throughout the Dragon Age franchise. Cullen appears in all three games, and while his character arc is heavily focused on Inquisition, there are mixed feelings about him in the fandom, which is understandable given that this is a choice and consequence game. Many fans will have different world-states for Cullen, just as they do for Solas or Vivienne.
Cullen's story, as we know throughout the games, is all about growing into a better person after an upbringing that taught him to despise mages, or what we call a centrist viewpoint. Most fans will agree that his arc in Trespasser was completed and full of redemption.
In the video, Ellis quotes Cullen Rutherford's bio from the Dragon Age wiki, which was still another example of how disconnected Ellis was from his fans, he barely remembers the character he acted on for 10 years...
One fan replied to Mark about Ellis' using Cullen for his benefit, stating -
Hey @BioMarkDarrah Serious question. Can GE get in trouble for using Cullen's voice and claim of using Cullen as a character to pass off his ideals to others on youtube? That's his so called DA announcement he has planned coming up.
Mark replied, saying -
yes. yes he can
The video then went private on Greg Ellis' channel...
Conclusion -
Presently, Greg Ellis has been interviewed many times with DarkHorse Podcast and Jordan b Peterson.
His YouTube and Twitter are mostly about the Amber Heard case, and even before this case got mainstream, he supported Johnny Depp from the start. But some still question Ellis only talks about Johnny's case to stay relevant in the acting industry.
I believe this is what the fandom wanted to say to Ellis, Ellis once you publish these types of views, you jeopardize your brand and, as a result, your job. Maybe he knew this was his way out and decided the risk was worth it, but it appears to be an unintelligent decision because it could jeopardize his future prospects in the video game industry.
Is it acceptable to hire someone based on their religious beliefs? No. But that is an idealistic point of view. The reality is frequently in sharp contrast. People hire those who follow their values, and Ellis definitely does not value the same ideals as Bioware.
I want to be transparent that the voice actor for Cullen is NOT Cullen; you can still romance him and be disappointed in a voice actor. But if we separate them from their roles, we can be in a better position, and I understand the struggle to separate the two.
But fans should never have the right to gatekeep who someone likes due to the voice actors' dangerous actions that took place in the fandom.
I want to add that there is an underlying issue that Ellis faces, and it stems from losing his family. I won't go into detail, but only use the sources provided:
According to 2020 studies, the family court favors fathers in contrast to mothers, which is due in part to the fact that very few fathers seek custody during divorce.
I will admit that Ellis appears to feel personally attacked by these movements of Metoo and feminism, that he feels unheard by them, and that he seems to desire an apology for that.
The MeToo movement was not intended to be limited to women; men need to feel heard and seen as well. However, as in many movements, there will be people who are the wrong voices in these organizations, and I wish those people whose voices were raised weren't always the loudest.
I agree that the legal system has it's flaws; my family personally dealt with the custody of my own sister for years. It is a system that likely relies on exploiting horrific situations, such as a father losing their child in divorce...
But the way Ellis goes about it does not have to require tearing down women while elevating men in any context. Pushing women down on issues such as sexual assault, divorce, and child support in order to elevate men does not benefit anyone, especially victims of any gender.
According to his book, Ellis seems to really not explain the family law thoroughly, but rather just quotes them drop blank, and moves on to the next. There's a lot of resentment pinning on women who speak out about men's abuse and mistreatment of them.
His reviews on Amazon for Ellis' book summarize it well -
The allegations in this book can be proven false by just looking at the author's old blog. He lost custody of his children after he became high in front of them, fired their nanny (despite court orders that she had to be there), and scared them enough that they called for help. Yet this book is just one person's own false and fantastical narrative. He paints the system that protected his children and many others as a vile villain and rants against women, lawyers, and anyone who does not fit his narrative as a victim. There is more realistic pieces of fiction out there and they are labeled correctly.
Thank you for taking the time to read, and again would appreciate it if you would reblog/share this for more BioWare fans to know about this situation.
Don’t ask me. It was one of those things where you’re bored so you pull out an old work for fun + work on some skills and then the imagination tells your hands to do things but your hands are like “No sir, no sir… I am staging a coup”…. and then before you know it all the tea is upside down and there’s a chicken in the bathtub.
I kind of turned him in to a shirtless dandy? …………….no comment. Fenris has no comment either. :P
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