I find myself wondering how much the presence of the origin system itself is causing this feeling in players, myself included. As in, I wonder how many people would feel different if nothing else about the writing changed but we just did not have the origin system in place. I have a feeling that part of the issue for people who feel the way I do is that through the origin system we're able to actually see how replacable Tav is. Same with Dark urge. We KNOW that if Tav didn't exist, then Wyll or Gale or Karlach etc could fill that role and nothing would be different, which just makes clear how secondary Tav really is.
As for what I would have done differently, I'd have tied Tav specifically to the story more by having them specifically encounter something early on that cements them as a central figure in the story. Maybe having them get the astral prism and making that a little more significant early on. Perhaps the prism is explicitly what allows us to keep our minds right from the beginning? So literally we are thralls until we somehow come cross the prism and that frees us and allows us to free our companions. So swe see immediatly see that the prism is important and that us having it and being able to wield it is important. So yes technically anyone could have gotten the prism and been in our position, but Tav was still in the right place at the right time, and so was effectively bound to the prism and it won't be separated from her. I think that would have been at least a good start, given that the prism doesn't really matter to Shadowheart's story. It literally could have been anything.
As an aside, I realize as I write this; was it ever really explained why our companions and Tav remained in total control when we first awakened? The assumption seems to be that we were going to moonrise in order to be fully "turned" but that doesn't actually make sense. We're already tadpoled. The tadpoles control and influence minds. If they've been changed and augmented, wouldn't it make sense that they would immediately bring their hosts under control? It doesn't really make sense that we get tadpoled, but have to be brought to moonrise for the control to "take" does it?
this is the empahsis, i also clamed the similar post before.
the original characters are meanless onces you put one of them to be the main character, and the one never be his/her "original" since you put your soul into the one and control him/her.
this is, wyll => tav-wyll, gale => tav-gale, karlach => tav=karlach.
larian thinks that "this is a kingmaker game -- anyone can replace tav", but this is acturally "tav is the savior specially designated by AO-- without tav, ragnarok will come".
