Upsettingshorts wrote...
Who says that in the Dragon Age universe dwarves either didn't at some point act like "dwarves" or might in the future? Same goes for elves. Like Sten says it's not really good to pidgeonhole entire cultures.
I certainly don't look or act anything remotely like Normans or Britons from a thousand years ago, yet I'm still a (descendent of) European white guy. Cultures aren't static. Expecting them to act a certain why based on some concept of consistency or continuity is prejudicial.
Anyway, it's kind of off topic so I won't follow up on it here.
Has anyone said that they
did act like dwarves? It's not dynamic unles you are presented with the dynamics. It's about presentation. In that way they did the elves a little bit better than the dwarves. The elves actually gave you a backstory for their whole evolution into... something that was mostly uninteresting and devoid of the charm that elves normally have, or that they would have had if we saw them in their distant past in Thedas. And Sten is the very last person that has any authority when complaining of pidgeonholing entire cultures.
And this is not off topic. This is about their presentation of a character that is a big focus of the trailer.
Schwadragon wrote...
But that's kind of how almost everything works in writing fiction. You mention the qunari as being original, but bronze-skinned giants have been done before, as have militant-religious societies. I don't see why changing the name is the key to making something original.
Calla S wrote...
Slapping a new name on something doesn't make it original, darling. Considering it was only a change of attitude and the addition of (actually interesting) lore, there were very few changes physically. They still look like dwarves, albeit more attractive ones. It'd be like taking a beat up old car, lobbing off a door, adding A/C and a spoiler, and calling it a luxury vehicle. It doesn't work like that.
That's exactly what it is. Labels are a huge part of presentation. And presentation is the essense of originality. There are no new ideas, there are only new presentations. Take anything about the dwarves at all and you can find somewhere that it's been used before. It's the name "dwarves" that creates the distinct connection and a change in the name would have stongly severed that connecting.
As for them still looking like dwarves: in what way at all? Seriously? Height. That is the only real visual similarity I see. The facial hair and the stocky build are the big features for dwarves and they have no special destinction in the facial hair at all. The stocky build is there but not nearly as much as it could be.
silentassassin264 wrote...
So you are against using stock fantasy characters(elves, gnomes, dwarves, trolls, pixies, sprites, etc.)? I am sorry but a fantasy game has the right to use a fantasy race as they see fit. You have clearly made your own opinion of how they should be off of Tolkien and have problems seeing them in a different light.
I'm not against them being used at all. But they didn't use dwarves. They used some strange new race that bears little resemblance to dwarves. I'm so confused as to why they also labled them dwarves! What are these strange dopplegangers!?
Modifié par the_one_54321, 26 octobre 2010 - 05:39 .
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