Can I just say that I hate the Lighthouse in Veilguard?
It just doesn't make sense to me. DA:O had the camp which, to me, was a fantastic way to keep the pacing of the game quick. There wasn't much to do, it felt like it moved around with you as you traveled through Fereldan, and it wasn't safe from attack. The game never came to a halt because you made camp. DA:A and Inquisition had established headquarters, but in both games you are the head of one or two established organizations that require a physical political presence. They made sense. DA2 just had everyone in their own digs which definitely fit the vibe of the game.
But the Lighthouse? It feels like either they needed a convenient fast travel hub or else just brought over a modified Skyhold without a lot of thought as to why Rook would need it. Every time my Rook went to the Lighthouse, the game just stopped. All urgency was gone. I could have just been fighting Venatori and watching the Antaam take over Treviso, but once I got back to the Lighthouse Lucanis was baking desserts and Harding and Emmerich were planning a camping trip. Like, people are dying out there, folks, and you two are arguing about how many books to pack? Maybe the personal quests of the companions aren't the problem I though they were, maybe it's more that they seem to run at odds with the main quests in terms of Rooks attention and the break in pacing the Lighthouse effects only highlights that.
Regardless, I think two better options for headquarters might have been either Dorian's house or the Cantori Diamond. Yes, you might have had to move headquarters depending on which got combusted by the Big Bads, but that's okay. A big plus would have been more Maeve and Dorian. Or maybe even the possibility of Josephine helping out at the diamond. We could always use more Josephine!
