It isn't possible to objectively compare characterisation!
However, it's fairly telling that I remember characters from a game I played 10 years ago but have forgotten characters from a game I played 3 years ago.
It's the same as novels and movies: good characters stay with you, not so good are quickly forgotten.
I'm with Fardragon; while i do remember all the DA:O characters, they just don't measure up to the BG2 NPCs in my opinion. While Leliana is cute and endearing, she's no Aerie. Morrigan was pretty badass but nowhere near Viconia levels. Even Haer'dalis outshines Zevran by miles. Alistair is whiny and annoying in all the wrong ways much like Anomen, but I'd take him over Alistair any day of the week.
And that's just the npcs that are semi-comparable, there's still Edwin, Minsc, Jaheira, Keldorn, Mazzy and Jan. Dragon age has nothing that comes even close to them. Of course it's all down to preference but to me, there's no contest. I've played and finished BG2 well over 10 times, and i still take bioware npcs with me through the game. I played DA:O 3 times and I feel done with the game and its characters.
Representation of women: BG (and D&D as a whole) may pay lip service to the notion that women of the Realms are as equal as men, but when you look at the lore and the NPCs, it doesn't always work out that way. There's a definite slant towards men as warriors and women as rogues or casters (especially with male romances in BG2 - Aerie, Jaheira, Neera and Viconia are all elven spellcasters). With DA, not only do you have characters like Aveline, Shale and Cauthrien, but even the lore places women at the highest levels - the most important religious figure in the world is Andraste, Alistair's grandmother was the Rebel Queen who started Ferelden on the road to independence, Flemeth is a figure of myth, etc.
This argument really doesn't hold any water either; BG2 has all kinds of women, some of them really strong, dominant even. Jaheira is as much a fighter as a caster, perhaps more. Viconia is a very strong female character, and while she's technically not a warrior. She fights among the best of them, she can be a great front-line tank wearing the heaviest armour in the game. Mazzy is a real warrior as well, despite the fact she's a halfling, she is easily a match for warriors more sizeable than she is.
Judging the "representation of women" on classes alone is a bit shorthand if you ask me.
Judging the "representation of women" on classes alone is a bit shorthand if you ask me.
Vanilla DA:O doesn't have a single female warrior (Shale was added in a DLC), nor a single male mage among the joinable NPCs, so even going by classes alone BG comes out ahead.
And as for romances... More options: +1 Horrible "sex scenes": -1000
Not to say DA:O was terrible or anything, I enjoyed it, but I still prefer BG.
Is there any way to remove her from the party for a while without her quitting for good? Either another sidequest to do or an exploit or a CLUA code that will calm her down will work. Any ideas?
The following method has been tested by me and works on the original BG2. I couldn't test it with BG2:EE, as I don't have it, but it should work as well. Just in case I recommend you to make a backup save, so you can go back to it, if necessary.
Use the CLUA console to enter the following commands, in this precise order:
The second command will trick the game into thinking that her Harper Plot has not been done yet, the first command will prevent the Harper Plot from restarting a second time.
Now you should be able to dismiss her and she will go to the Dock District (just outside the Harper Hold) where you can recruit her again at any time.
Edit: In case others have the same problem and want to try this, please consider that 1) if you are in a romance with Jaheira, dismissing her will kill the romance (unless you use the CLUA console to prevent it). 2) this method is only safe after her harper quests have been done and she has received the harper pin from Terminsel.
Just use petrify on her. Turing characters to stone is safe way how to 1. remove them from your party, 2. forces them to stay where you will leave them without disappearing from the game completely.
Comments
However, it's fairly telling that I remember characters from a game I played 10 years ago but have forgotten characters from a game I played 3 years ago.
It's the same as novels and movies: good characters stay with you, not so good are quickly forgotten.
And that's just the npcs that are semi-comparable, there's still Edwin, Minsc, Jaheira, Keldorn, Mazzy and Jan. Dragon age has nothing that comes even close to them. Of course it's all down to preference but to me, there's no contest. I've played and finished BG2 well over 10 times, and i still take bioware npcs with me through the game. I played DA:O 3 times and I feel done with the game and its characters. This argument really doesn't hold any water either; BG2 has all kinds of women, some of them really strong, dominant even. Jaheira is as much a fighter as a caster, perhaps more. Viconia is a very strong female character, and while she's technically not a warrior. She fights among the best of them, she can be a great front-line tank wearing the heaviest armour in the game. Mazzy is a real warrior as well, despite the fact she's a halfling, she is easily a match for warriors more sizeable than she is.
Judging the "representation of women" on classes alone is a bit shorthand if you ask me.
And as for romances...
More options: +1
Horrible "sex scenes": -1000
Not to say DA:O was terrible or anything, I enjoyed it, but I still prefer BG.
The following method has been tested by me and works on the original BG2. I couldn't test it with BG2:EE, as I don't have it, but it should work as well. Just in case I recommend you to make a backup save, so you can go back to it, if necessary.
Use the CLUA console to enter the following commands, in this precise order:
C:SetGlobal("LyrosJob","GLOBAL",4)
C:SetGlobal("JaheiraHarperPlot","GLOBAL",0)
The second command will trick the game into thinking that her Harper Plot has not been done yet, the first command will prevent the Harper Plot from restarting a second time.
Now you should be able to dismiss her and she will go to the Dock District (just outside the Harper Hold) where you can recruit her again at any time.
Edit: In case others have the same problem and want to try this, please consider that
1) if you are in a romance with Jaheira, dismissing her will kill the romance (unless you use the CLUA console to prevent it).
2) this method is only safe after her harper quests have been done and she has received the harper pin from Terminsel.