I've seen this topic pop up in various servers I'm in, but one thing that really bothers me is how much dialogue is locked behind tadpole usage. Especially after you have the dreams, and you can speak to each of the companions in turn and get some pretty unique dialogue (often about their backstories.) I was avoiding using the tadpoles until I realized how many interesting convos happened after each of the dream sequences.
Don't get me wrong, I have no issue with some conversations and scenes being specific to certain choices (such as the dreams themselves), but it would be great if there were other dialogue options for players who choose *not* to use the tadpole, as they shouldn't feel like they're missing out.
Agreed. I don't like to feel railroaded into using the tadpole powers. I am rather predictable in that I generally play characters that wouldn't risk the potential consequences of making use of such powers. It makes sense that players would be 'rewarded', so to speak, for using the powers but should there a tradeoff for doing so (perhaps there is, I haven't noticed one myself)? Likewise, should players that choose to ignore the tadpole powers receive some sort of boon for resisting it?
Personally I am not a fan of this whole tadpole story at all, it just hasn't grabbed me; it creates an impending sense of doom (which is fine in itself) and implies we have a limited amount of time to get it removed, but there is no means to mark the passing of time in the game...that just feels badly designed in my opinion.
