(Because Giantbomb needs more threads/blogs about DA 2) 
 
I had to do it, I had some money laying around, so boom I gots DA 2. Anyway, to the reason why I put up that title.  
 
So far I'm close to getting 50 sovereigns for the deep roads expedition and I have a sizable crew of dudes rounded up. The recent additions are Anders, that pirate chick, and the warrior elf. Ya I'm great with names. So I'm about a bit more than 7 hours into the game and well, is this basically it? Just round up a bunch of seemingly pointless quests to get cash and occasionally gain an ally? I'm just not seeing any real point to what I'm doing. Some of the new characters are cool and have some interesting qualities but I don't find myself caring about them like I did with the guys in DA:O (Might be why I barely know any of their names).  
 
As for the combat, it's fine, I kinda like the faster style......I'm about 50/50 on the gore, guys blowing up for no reason is silly. Only downer to the combat is that I still miss the tactical view from DA:O. I think it's just these things that are keeping me into the game, but I'm still just really disappointed with what's going on so far. I'm not finding myself caring at all about Hawke's situation. Oh, and only traveling to that one mountain place and Kirkwall is really lame. 
  
I had to get my quick thoughts about the game out of the way first but back to my main point, does the game get better or will I basically still be doing the same stuff till the end?

The quest structure is largely the same for the rest of the game but the plot does get moderately better as you go. First off, get used to all the environments you are seeing because they only introduce like... one or two more per year jump. You are gonna be going through the same warehouses, same caverns, same thaigs through the rest of the game. The story does pick up, it's not all just gathering cash from side quests, but it all feels rather disjointed jumping around several years at a time. They let you know that three years have passed, but don't do a very good job of actually conveying that stuff has changed or making the world different than it was a few minutes of gameplay ago. Anyways, once you finish your deep roads expedition, it gets into the Qunari presence and the Mage vs Templar struggle a bit more so hopefully it'll be more enjoyable for you. Still plenty of side quests to do though.
 
You finish gathering party members in the first year, the rest of the game doesn't focus on that, it tries to develop them better from there. Most of the characters get more interesting, it just takes time since they only have one major storyline quest per year jump and those generally don't conclude until near the end of the game. I ended up liking most of my crew more as the game went on. I enjoyed the combat more as the game progressed as well. I was playing a rogue (xbox version, if that matters) and did feel like quite a badass by the end with a good mix of abilities that were mostly fun to use and extremely powerful weapons and armor. The gore is certainly silly though, for sure.
 
I don't mean to sound too harsh on the game, I had fun with it, but it just feels like an unfinished product in a lot of ways.

Basically.

Pretty much. The 2nd act does at least become more centred, with an actual Main Plot quest line to follow, though those quests are pretty much identical to most side missions you've already completed. Also once you head into the Deeproads, that then has you hitting the mark of exploring everywhere there is to explore about DA2, so repetition is sure to kick in. 
 
Should still keep going, though maybe after laying the game down for a little while after you return from the Deeproads; that's the only way I was able to carry it on. The 2nd Act story is probably the most intriguing of the lot and it's worth pushing through for.

The prologue and the first act are just terrible! It does get better, especially in the second act which I feel should've been the real focus of this game as it is by far the best.

The more I hear about this game, the less I want to play it.

I found out that it is possible not to get the pirate chick, never really had a reason to return to the Hanging Man after the Tranquility quest

The side quests are as minor as you make them out to be.  If you want to play it like an MMO you'll feel like the game is a bunch of fetch or escort quests.  If you want to play it like an RPG it'll feel like an RPG.

Yes.

"The quests in DA:O felt like I was building up to something important, so they felt important. In DA 2, I don't really know what the fuck is going on and what I'm supposed to be building up to besides making myself rich or whatever. I wouldn't know that the some of quests are actually main plot quests if they weren't placed in the main plot category."

What was much different about the quest style of DA 2 than that of Origins?  Point and click here to initiate "quest"...Piece of story...Point and click over there to go turn it in.

I found the first "act", where you find cash for the Deep Roads Expedition, to be very repetitive. The majority of the quests lack sufficient motivation (other than the XP of course), but some of the quests set up some plot threads for later on in the game. Don't fret, the story gets more interesting and personal after the Deep Roads.

There are more sidequests in Act 1 than in Act 2 and 3 combined. But in generally, it's the same quest stricture: Talk to dude with exclamation point over head > Go somewhere and kill something > Talk to dude again

I finished it but the companions stories was the motivation that kept me going. 
 
I was pro Mages so I was curious how long it'd take before Fenris would inevitably stab me.  
 
Story wise, Act 2 is probably the most interesting near the end while Act 3 is interesting in the middle.

The game felt like a very long episode of Seinfeld to me by the end. All these insignificant and unrelated things you're doing over the course of the game somehow coming back to bite you in the ass later on. Killed random dude in the first act? Oh no! Here's his merc friends six years later for revenge in an equally meaningless fight as you question "I did what to who?" when the guy tells you why he's after you! I don't want to get into the ending but... yea. Difference is, Seinfeld promises it's going to be about 'nothing' up front, whereas Dragon Age 2 promises an 'epic.'    

Kirkwall just isn't an interesting place, i honestly didn't give a **** about Kirkwall. 
If you're gonna make a game about a dude becoming the champion of one city, choose a good location.
Minrathous, Tevinter Imperium just begs to be a location of a Dragon Age game.
I don't know, maybe an exalted march on the imperium would work? Or the never ending war with the Qunari.
Fingers crossed for Dragon Age 3.