Dragon Age: Inquisition glitch kills NPC banter

One of the best things about BioWare RPGs, going all the way back to the original Baldur's Gate, is the interaction between NPCs in your party. They flirt, they fight, and they talk, talk, talk, which is why some Dragon Age: Inquisition players found it odd that their companions were so very quiet, sometimes going hours at a time without speaking. Turns out, it's a bug.

It would seem that one of the reasons it's taken so long for the issue to come to light is simply that players didn't realize it was a problem at all. It doesn't appear to affect the game in any other meaningful way—you can still play through from start to finish—but party members just don't talk, even though there should be some kind of interaction happening every 10-20 minutes. And if you're missing the party banter in a BioWare RPG, you're missing out on a lot.

At last report, BioWare said it's "getting somewhere" in correcting the problem, and asked anyone affected by it to post a report in this EA forum thread.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.