i disagree about swapping alfira for quill (tho admittedly i am someone who tried the quill exploit once and never will again.)
a couple of reasons. the first is that the reactivity to quill dying is far less than alfira's death - i didn't have any opportunity to say to my companions that i didn't mean to kill quill etc, like you do with alfira. the second is that for story purposes it is more meaningful to be alfira, someone you likely have already met and whose death DOES impact your run, even if some of the consequences aren't obvious until you do a non-durge run. quill is a character invented to be killed; alfira has a whole arc that is cut short when you play as durge. the stakes are different.
I see what you mean. I get it. I do not think you are wrong, although I do still disagree with it.
The part about not being able to tell companions about not meaning to kill Q. like you get the chance to do with A. is a bummer. You should be given that option as well. On that note I agree with you.
As for the story purposes, that attachment to A. comes from having had a previous playthrough and therefore already knowing who A. is and a lot of her story, thus making it hit harder because you know you are cutting her story short. But for a first time playthrough, Q. and A. are virtually the same. You've had no real time to make meaningful connections with A., meaning you don't know how short you are cutting either of their stories. From a first playthrough perspective, you'll either have to live with the thought that you cut a person's life short and are thus potentially missing out on a lot of story, or you'll think the characters only existed for that scene, and will be none the wiser that Q. and A. could have had so much more to live for and show in the story.
Things only change upon a subsequent playthrough, when you already know A. and what you stand to lose from her demise. And that's where the overwhelming amount of A. saving attempts comes from. Because from a narrative, in character perspective, there's virtually no difference between the two. Our Dark Urge doesn't know any of them, so they have no real attachment to any of the two. It being A. ends up weakening the story overall, with no real difference in emotional impact. I get what Larian was trying to go for and love the intention, it just didn't quite go as intended. It would've been more impactful if the Urge scene with A. took place later on, after you and A. have had those bonding moments. Then it really would have made more of an impact. But as it stands, most players seem to go for Q., because she has nothing to offer later on, and the impact of both of their death's on your character is currently not too different when it comes to the in-character narrative.
Also, while technically you are right, a part of me doesn't like referring to knocking out A. as an exploit, given the amount of people who seem do so. If so many of your players go out of their way for it, then the team should look into rethinking how to go about his particular interaction. I am curious though, what percentage of players go out of their way to save A. and what percentage do not
[quote=robbstark]i think it's fine for larian to keep the exploit in game for players to save alfira if they really want to, but it will weaken the dark urge story to change it to make it even easier for players to avoid consequences.[/quote
In the end, I disagree with the idea that saving A. weakens the story and am of the opposite opinion, as A. no longer being there weakens the narrative overall moving forward. It's not about avoiding consequences, it's about those consequences being sensical and meaningful, regardless of whether they are Tragic or Joyous.
i played the dark urge on my very first run and thought the small interaction they give you with alfira in the grove beforehand was enough to raise the stakes for her murder (and imo indicated to me she was more than just a throwaway npc).