Can't interact with certain objects

Unfortunately it's not a guaranteed fix, it didn't fix after chapter 8 for me or chapter 9. Crossing my fingers for chapter 10...

I see. Dang. Then hopefully the devs find a resolution to patch since the lingering fear of having to do everything now before the end is anxiety causing specially if the cause is something that can trigger again later. 😭 And i really wanna go on for now since its reaching its climax. 😬

This worked for me as well. As soon as I progressed past this mission and finished talking to everyone at the lighthouse I Fast Traveled to an area where I had alters and Timelost Hoards to do and I was able to interact with all them. Hopefully nothing else breaks it again after this. 

Update: still not fixed after chapter 10... at this point I'm just going to finish this playthrough and hope my next playthrough doesn't get the bug because I really want to 100% this game

Unfortunately this workaround did not last for me. After the mission I was able to interact with everything again as I mentioned previously but, after completing the Formless One quest I was not able to interact with the Timeless Hoard chest in that area and I checked some of the alters I hadn't gotten to and they were un-interactable as well. Hopefully EA issues a patch sooner than later to address this issue permanently. 

New update:

Following up. Havent progressed since the last time, story-wise, but a few hours in side quests later i cleaned up and stumbled through the crossroads blight quest into the revenant dragon boss. Was able to get everything in order of my location. BUT after defeating said boss, its chest wont let me open again. So it might be gate related after all since this was the last gate OR big ho bar boss related. 🤷‍♂️ Might save this gate last. Will reload right before.

POSSIBLY big hp bar boss related. Reloaded autosave where gates are opened but boss was not beaten yet. Left to check an altar (i keep one around now for checking this bug) in a different map and it still works. 🤷‍♂️

..or maybe not. I just came from the formless one before revenant. So cross that off. 🤔🙋‍♂️

Update 1:…maybe rapidly spamming an ability button causes an input issue..? 🤔🤔 i do get mashy with the high tension sometimes. 😵‍💫🤣🤔 on a controller i spam the face buttons for any spell available during high tension panic moments. 🤔🤔

Update 2: welp. I tried the boss again being extra mindful not to spam too much stuff and same thing. Chest wont open. Altars froze. Same stuff as before. So i leave this boss last with the gates open since it doesn’t trigger the bug this way (and quest list remains clean). 🤷‍♂️

its me Kielg413, unfortunately its back. i literally have 2 chests remaining in the game and im right near the point of not return. everything is upgraded to Legendary so those two timelost chests are the LAST things in the entire game i need to grab. here is praying going to my final chapter fixes it

Same. I updated OP in a comment thread above with my experiments for my case. Mine triggered after the crossroads boss behind the three-revenant seal without major story progress (took the mandatory companion quests from Lucanis and Davrin and the rest of the optional companion quests) and i cleaned up all side quests and possible collectibles in case the bug came back. I reloaded a save right before the encounter but AFTER the gates opening and im keeping that boss for very last so as to not block off collectibles in case the last two acts dont update the world again. 

though understanding the 3 main acts’ transition points from quest lists online seems to be that “world state update” i was theorizing. Since our “fix” happened after act 2 started (after weisshaupt). Im extra vigilant now. I leave a couple easily accessible altars to verify if i got bugged again. Thankfully i found out right away after the boss since the chest wouldnt open and thankfully the reloaded save after all the gates work unless id backtrack a few side quests before that from a manual save.

i speculated initially that it could be the gates or some ability interactions. Now im also adding the potential for certain enemies or enemy types which was still debunked in my experience since i also just beat a similar big hp boss in necropolis without issues. So if its specific bosses or certain conditions for them im uncertain at this point. Im also adding my thoughts that it could be an input issue when battles get tense and i mash buttons too much with panic mode on 🤣, but i tried to beat the boss a second time doing my best not to mash or spam abilities and still the interactables locked out in either case potentially debunking the input error stuff. 🤔 so as for the cause, i still have no definitive evidence, but all i know is i know what triggered it the second time for me. It was the boss in the Crossroads called….

MINI SPOILERS

The Revenant Dragon.

Img 1:
The loop of the Dagger is clearly visible.

So I went back and checked again and it is definitely something with the Dagger, because when I went and loaded the decision save right after retrieving it and returning to the Lighthouse, where your quest is to decorate your room, I actually had the Dagger, as can be seen in the image to the right. (Img 1)

Img 2:
The loop is gone.

Now the next save I have was already in the Ossuary and by that point I already lost the Dagger as can be seen here: (Img 2)

And yes the loop is supposed to be visible even in armor: (Img 3)

Img 3:
Dagger still present after completing the Memory of Solas in the Converged City.

Personally I suspect that the bug occured for me when I completed Solas Memory in the Converged City the first time, given that that was the only significant thing I did between the Lighthouse and encountering my first ever Fen'Harel Altar, which already stopped working.

I tried replicating the bug twice with slightly different setups, but this time around everything worked fine.

So I suspect that there is an element of randomness when it comes to this bug.

Regardless, I would assume that a fix for this on the Player side would be quite simple, if a Save Editor for DA:V was already available. Sadly it isn't, and so we have to pray that it'll get fixed with the Patch that is coming soon.

PS: Yes, I'm quite sure that the Companion Ability use of the Dagger is something very different from using it to interact with Altars and Chests. I would say that the ability use is essentially just a reskin of a companion using it, so functionally as long as you have recruited the companion whose ability you want to use, it will likely just check if the companion is with you and if yes, the companion is going to execute their animation and if no, then it's Rook's lyrium dagger animation and the game doesn't really care beyond that.

Now for the Altars and such, you could theoretically encounter them before going to the ritual site to get the dagger, so the Devs needed a way to prevent you from interacting with them while you still didn't have the dagger. And that is probably what is biting us in the **bleep** right now, as there appear to be multiple somethings that can disable whatever is supposed to be telling the game that we do in fact have the dagger and it seems like that the after retrieving the dagger, there possibly is only the switch after act 8 that has a condition to enable again.

Just to clarify, without the dagger loop is when the bug is active for you?

i usually have the loop with me playing bug free atm as expected (as far as i understand your report which is as expected?). But my entire time bugged the first time, it was also there for me. Used to wonder why it was just the loop actually. Thought it was supposed to be tucked behind based on the idle animation, so i wondered that if its just the random loop hanging on the hip it was a visual bug too. So we can add that to the odd randomness of it  🤔

my second occurrence happened during the crossroads boss behind the triple revenant gate again after the dinner table squabbling after weisshaupt. This was also the time the first one reset, moving into act 2. But since technically i hadnt progressed story and got my second occurrence of the bug I can see where some people could have the bug persist through world state updates. And like you said, randomness. Its maddening. Lol like when pawn dragon blight wasnt explained properly for dragons dogma 2 (if anyone can relate). 🤣

if i encounter it a third time (or kill the boss again to test) ill take note if the loop disappears for me. Cos that would be a better tell instead of keeping an altar accessible at all times to make sure all is well before tackling progress. 😵‍💫😭 thats what i do for now. Every milestone i swing by an altar im preserving to see if im bugged. 😵‍💫🤣 it’s inconvenient but a sure fire way to tell so far.

man. Just hope our reports can help this get fixed (not that it matters for me now that im almost through with my first playthrough as I dont usually do multiple playthroughs without ng+ etc). If not for perceptive players like us here, the rest could be oblivious to this problem like I did the (possibly) first time. I just figured when I first played that i just didnt know which altars actually had functions and rode the game through part of act 1 until i was more comfortable with the ui. And in hindsight im certain this had happened earlier too and i just didnt realize it til i was actively activating them as i went and understood the markers on the map.

interesting to note though. Ill notice the loop if it happens again. I dont think im going to attempt the boss for now since its not important until pre-ending. But ill notice it if another event triggers the bug again and report back. Thanks for noticing this detail. At least solves the other unrelated part of me wondering if the loop alone without the blade was a visual bug or not. 🙋‍♂️