I may have to follow your ideas because as it stands, this game has been one of the more disappointing games i have played this year. That they throw in these areas and toss a bunch of stuff for me to pick up to pad a few hours worth of story telling is surreal to me. I get that they want mass appeal but this was going to far.
There is truth to the "Leave the Hinterlands" meme. When I played my mage, getting to
(i.e., past Act I) was a trial. This was due, in part, to the shitty PC controls--I was playing M+K at the time, and frustrations from combat (stupid AI). But mainly it was the hours and hours spent grinding Hinterlands quests. I was approaching burnout faster than I ever had in a Bioware game. Just read my posts from a week ago to get a sense of my frustration.
I soldiered through, finished Act I, and positioned myself to blow through the rest of the game, thanks to time spent in the Hinterlands. Unfortunately, the mage proved boring; KE is its best specialty, and it largely involves holding down the right trigger--complete snooze-fest. I dug the Fire spec for a bit, but that didn't hold my interest for long. So, nearly one-hundred hours in, I decided to re-roll to my current spec. I'm having way, way more fun with the 2h Warrior than I did with the mage.
