PSA: If You're Playing Dragon Age, Leave The Hinterlands
 

Maybe i should have submitted this as a newsbit, but I'll throw it here and see if it gets traction. Essentially, the article states what I've been suspecting may be an issue for some: People are meandering far too long in what's essentially the starting zone of the game, taking it for more than it's supposed to be instead of moving on and experiencing what else the game has to offer.

Then, theoretically overpowered, they plow thru the rest of the game

http://kotaku.com/psa-if-youre-playi…nds-1661855879

Which may also explain some of the rift between professional reviews and the gaming community.

Professional reviewers, yes have been giving the game high scores. There's no doubt about that, but think about it - they are also racing each other to get the game done and get their review out, so they probably arent twaddling around in the "starting zone" til level 20. Theyre knocking it out and moving on to more interesting things

Meanwhile, the hardcores are doing the opposite and essentially powerleveling the entry-level……

So no level scaling? Darn. ;)

I… I know I should move on. But I just can't.

I still have quests I haven't finished. My obsessively completionist tendencies will not permit me to leave.

I mean, am I supposed to leave all those shards just lying there on the ground? That's crazy talk.

i know, it goes against everything we've ever known about RPGs. Explore everything, do every quest, talk to everyone, find every secret. He who overturns the most rocks is rewarded. I'm doing it myself, but thankfully I'm not too far gone.

Leaving Hinterlands tonight!

I couldn't care less for Kotaku articles.
That site encourages people to cheat in Sims 4. I will not dance to their music.

There is no powerleveling in Hinterlands, only exploration and endless respawns.
You won't be level 20 unless you'll really stick to the area that endlessly respawns bears…
If you'll concentrate only on solvable stuff, you won't reach even level 10 with just Hinterlands.

And if reviewers think endless bears respawn game is 10/10, that's their problem. It's more 1/10 for trying to please MMO audience.


Don't leave Hinterlands now!
Leave Hinterlands when some doors are sill locked since you can't unlock them, a few quests unsolved since you can't have appropriate items for them and dragon is alive as you can't kill it yet!

Here's how that looks on the map and you'll be level 9:
http://s24.postimg.org/l4s3kn64l/map.jpg

The zone doesn't get locked out if you leave it for a while, you can complete it at anything you want, including after you are done with the main quest.