I get what you're saying, BlackSun. A big part of the problem with some of the character arcs is the arguments are fairly childish and the more liberal arguments always lead to the happier endings. In Scarlett's story arc, you're a horrible oppressor if you view marriage as an economic pact and a magnanimous leader if you agree that "love" should be defined by the state. They definitely get up on their high horse in Scarlett's story arc with all their prattle about "Nature over nurture" and go out of their way to make agreeing with her the good choice. For example, the fact that they have the elves offer a bribe to you before investigating the "witch hunting" duke.
Then there's the truly terrible character arc for Catherine. I've checked out her story tree in the Imperial Edition and the way she comes to respect you is if you do what she says all the time. Because that's how people earn respect- by immediately submitting to someone else. Now this could have been an interesting "shoe on the other foot" arc if they had focused more on Catherine's hypocrisy and getting her to stop with her sexist rants about males being the lesser sex. But instead, they went with the ham-handed, liberal belief that feminism can do no wrong. For example, during the bit about the Long Goodbye, her entire outrage is sparked by anonymous and unsubstantiated rumors. You could have had an interesting story if it turned out that those "rumors" were in fact lies designed to get more alimony in divorce hearings through some trick of Dwarven Law or something to make Catherine question her "women uber alles" approach to life. This is especially noteworthy if you oppose her on the issue of Officer Quotas. How is it better or respectable to ignore merit? More to the point, they also botched the issue of pay inequality between genders. The appropriate response isn't "Ask Nicely" but to point at that Edmund is considered one of the finest generals in Rivellon and Henry is the most experienced general you have. In labor economics, once you account for differences in pay between industries, education level, and years of experience, the gender pay gap shrinks to about 6% instead of 30%. But pointing that out would suggest that feminism isn't always the answer to everything.
How do you earn Catherine's respect by doing what she says all the time? Wouldn't obeying her every whim just prove that men are the weaker sex, like she's always said? Wouldn't you gain her respect by standing up for your beliefs?
One last thing that bugged me, the Libertarian Lizard Lady, Prospera, favored enchanted sword control on the ground that all lizards would want every type of enchanted weapon banned by the government. How in the world is that consistent with Libertarian thought? Don't they oppose strong, centralized governments? Why would she and the other lizards support a total government ban on anything?
It's the little things like this that keep Dragon Commander from being a truly great game.
