17176 réponses à ce sujet

[Wissenschaft]

I agree whole heartedly with Sheryl, Merril is so ridiculously adorable. Are you guys sure shes an elf and not a kitten?



*someone needs to make a fan art "Merril the kitten"*

[Gavinthelocust]

Brockololly wrote...

steelfire_dragon wrote...

she looks like a poke'mon

It all makes sense now:



Merrill can shapeshift into Pikachu!

One would think Merrill would turn into Marill

[Harid]

Now we are progressing to furries. Fantastic.

[David Gaider]

The Lyons wrote...
It reeks of a lack of professionalism, and this is the main reason why people do not take video games seriously as an artful expression. Acting like that in front of your fanbase is just asking for the development of a very toxic relationship with them.

I think it's clear that some people could afford to take video games slightly less seriously as an artful expression.

I have no problems with their professionalism, and a harmless bit of joy is hardly toxic except when greeted by a response like your own. I suggest this particular conversation end here. If you have further issues, I suggest you take them to PM.

[kalassy]

David Gaider wrote...

Mary and Sheryl are just people, and are allowed to have fun like anyone else. Considering how admirably they both proved themselves on Origins -- which I assume you enjoyed -- I'd think they'd be above such insulting comments as this.

Insulting indeed. Not to mention ignorant, rude, sexist, condescending, etc. I'd hate it if the writers just sat there stone faced the whole time while perfecting their craft. It's freaking Dragon Age, not the Walstreet journal.

[mellifera]

The Lyons wrote...
It reeks of a lack of professionalism, and this is the main reason why people do not take video games seriously as an artful expression. Acting like that in front of your fanbase is just asking for the development of a very toxic relationship with them. 

And to address another point: Artists may be eccentric, but that is not eccentricity. It is behaving like you just found the internet and you are not yet out of high school. I realize they are grown and professional women, so I do not understand how they can be proud of the fact that their expression is directly transferable to that of someone much,  much more immature.

Also, no class needed for my douche-iness. I am willing to divulge my secrets for a modest sum. 

The quality of her work speaks for itself no matter how she acts. She's just having fun with the forum, I personally like that the devs seem like normal people and indulge the fandom in a bit of silliness (the hilarity of their responses in the Varric thread, for example). Her squees and noms do not take away from the fact that at the end of the day she and BW put out damn good characters and stories. That's what people are going to see and judge their games on, not "Sheryl Chee made a post on January 10, 2011 where she acted like xyz. BioWare is an unprofessional company and their products must therefore be crap!"

Modifié par yukidama, 11 janvier 2011 - 03:11 .

[Maria Caliban]

The Lyons wrote...

This isn't meant to be a slight or anything, but how does one who acts like this on the internet get taken seriously as a writer? I have not heard so many instances of "squee" and "nom" from women on the 'net since I was early teens. When someone basically says that they behave in a manner similar to a teenager in real life, my faith in their ability to actually write a good story or character diminishes greatly. I really wish the writing team would exhibit Obsidian's level of professionalism in this case, as it reflects better on a title that I -want- to like as I have enjoyed the developers' past work.

I really hope this is not indicative of a shift in the quality of BioWare's future games. 

This is not meant to be a slight or anything, but feel free to leave the forum if Sheryl's comments ruin your enjoyment of the game.

[Gavinthelocust]

Harid wrote...

Now we are progressing to furries. Fantastic.

You HAD to go there didn't you? One cannot talk about cute pokemon without being thought of as a freaky beastiality fetishist with serious mental problems? Damn internet

[Addai]

The Gentle Ben wrote...

Addai67 wrote...
I was hoping for Origins elves, only maybe fiercer and more tribal in keeping with the lore.

A fiercer, more tribal approach to the redesign would have been my preference as well. It appears they chose to go in a different direction. Such a size disparity does seem to raise some questions about comparative and competitive racial advantages. In Origins I was rather surprised/disappointed to discover that a human noble started with a higher dexterity than a dalish elf. It posed the question of what elves did well (The answer apparently was magic, but magic among elves and humans is the perogative of a select few). Then again, humans did enslave the elven race and effectively exterminate their culture, so mayhaps I've answered my own question and merely prefer denial.

We got into this in another thread, that the desire to distinguish DA elves from Tolkien elves leaves you wondering if there are any racial distinctives to elves at all.  I said that I thought the usual elven distinctives of strength in magic and crafting were there, but they really are equal or inferior to either humans or dwarves.  It does make you think that either some racial distinctives need to be clarified, or else why have elves at all?  I hope the Martian look is not the answer to that question.

All that said, I consider it a resonable possibility that the 2 second clip from which many of this thread's conclusions were drawn is perhaps being over-analyzed (which is hardly the forum's fault, as this was the presentation Bioware chose to release.)

True.

[TheDayWarden]

Merrill definately has her fans, I think she looks great and I hope my Hawke gets to be all suave and debonair around her.

[Morroian]

TJPags wrote...

Morroian wrote...

David Gaider has said the size disparity has been magnified in the footage in this video. 

He didn't actually say that.

Yeah he did: "As for her looking tiny, I assume that's also the angle. She's not much smaller than an average human, to be honest." 

[Wissenschaft]

I personally think its wonderful that the writers talk so frequently on the forum with us fans and can joke around with us. I can't think of another game company that does the same.



So thank you, all of you.

[tmp7704]

Eclipse_9990 wrote...

But she hardly represents the entire elven race. Just look at Fenris he's just as tall as Hawke. I don't think Merrills looks are the general appearance of elves.. 

I suspect she represents pretty well the body/silhouette of "new" female elves if nothing else, since these are shared across the board.



PC: "oh sure, let's see what tune you sing when it's your features that get... changed... around"

[nijnij]

The Lyons wrote...
This isn't meant to be a slight or anything, but how does one who acts like this on the internet get taken seriously as a writer? I have not heard so many instances of "squee" and "nom" from women on the 'net since I was early teens. When someone basically says that they behave in a manner similar to a teenager in real life, my faith in their ability to actually write a good story or character diminishes greatly.

First of all, forums are forums, and whether you're a writer for video games, Roger Ebert or the phantom of William Blake, you're in no way entitled to write on a forum like you would write in one of your endeavours. More generally speaking, I have much more potential respect in someone who doesn't take themself too seriously and acts cute and childish from time to time than for someone who acts serious in all circumstances -including on video game forums !- yet doesn't mind being an ass to people. Sorry for saying this but that particular post of yours wasn't too kind to Sheryl in the first place, especially if you consider all the time she spends answering our stupid questions. Humility doesn't hurt anyone...

Modifié par nijnij, 11 janvier 2011 - 03:18 .

[Blackout62]

NotoriousPSC wrote...

That smirk in the shot makes it seem like she may be a smartass, which is something that I, as a smartass, find irresistible.

This.

expwnit wrote...

Maybe it's the angle or her clothes but her neck looks freakishly long. And head size is not proportionate to the body.
In
regards to all the discussion on how she looks... Well that's pretty
much all that we are aware of so far, so that's what we're going to
speculate on.

It's the scarf, believe me if I had a picture of myself wearing a scarf like that my neck would seem long.

[tmp7704]

Gavinthelocust wrote...

One would think Merrill would turn into Marill

All this talk about the pokemons reminds me about yukielf.

[mellifera]

tmp7704 wrote...

Gavinthelocust wrote...

One would think Merrill would turn into Marill

All this talk about the pokemons reminds me about yukielf.

LOL let's not go there

[Catsith]

The Lyons wrote...

HolyAvenger wrote...

The Lyons wrote...

This isn't meant to be a slight or anything, but how does one who acts like this on the internet get taken seriously as a writer? I have not heard so many instances of "squee" and "nom" from women on the 'net since I was early teens. When someone basically says that they behave in a manner similar to a teenager in real life, my faith in their ability to actually write a good story or character diminishes greatly. I really wish the writing team would exhibit Obsidian's level of professionalism in this case, as it reflects better on a title that I -want- to like as I have enjoyed the developers' past work.





I really hope this is not indicative of a shift in the quality of BioWare's future games.

*facepalm*



Yes because BioWare writers have absolutely no track record at all of fantastic and believable writing, arguably the best in genre if not in gaming in general

BioWare's writing has generally been believable, but never the best in the genre. Black Isle/Obsidian and Troika have always been the better of the two in that regard. Bethesda during the Morrowind years also was a force in terms of writing ability.

It's meaningless. Troika and Black Isle are long dead, Obsidian is a completely different company now with varying degrees of writing quality, and Morrowind was 9 years ago. Good lord..



They're just writers, they can have some fun on the forums with the fans.

[Eclipse_9990]

tmp7704 wrote...

Eclipse_9990 wrote...

But she hardly represents the entire elven race. Just look at Fenris he's just as tall as Hawke. I don't think Merrills looks are the general appearance of elves.. 

I suspect she represents pretty well the body/silhouette of "new" female elves if nothing else, since these are shared across the board.



PC: "oh sure, let's see what tune you sing when it's your features that get... changed... around"

Unless Bioware decides to break into my apartment and perform plastic surgery on me I really don't care.. 
Besides I almost always play human.. This is a null issue for me.. 

[David Gaider]

tmp7704 wrote...
I suspect she represents pretty well the body/silhouette of "new" female elves if nothing else, since these are shared across the board.

That is correct -- the elves are now super-slender -- though I would suggest getting a better look at her body (and her height) before making extrapolations. Not that this will stop people anyhow, but I'm simply suggesting that you realize you're operating on limited info there. This was not, after all, the "come see how Merrill and elves look" video.

[Sandtigress]

Last time I ask it, I swear. >.> If I remember right, you wrote the Dalish origin, yes David? Would you say then that Merrill is still a recognizable character from that origin, with her character expanded thanks to her bigger role but in a way that is growth and not complete change? And might we hope that having a Dalish PC might make a difference in DA2, especially since a Dalish US ending is one you can select from in a non-import game?

[In Exile]

David Gaider wrote...

This is pretty normal, I'm afraid. Mary and Sheryl and I were talking about this just the other day, and predicted this response to a tee -- though I think we're also very pleased to see she has fans, as well. No character's ever without their detractors, and that doesn't change anything. We don't take it personally, and neither should any of you.

I really like the character concept, just to add to the small chorus of fans. I tend to be really ambivalent to characters before seeing them in-game, but Merrill just seems like an interesting character, particularly since we had such little time really looking at the Dalish in DA:O except as a contrast to the Alienage elves.

[Sabariel]

Eclipse_9990 wrote...
Unless Bioware decides to break into my apartment and perform plastic surgery on me I really don't care.. 
Besides I almost always play human.. This is a null issue for me.. 

They've been known to do that. Better watch out

[TJPags]

Morroian wrote...

TJPags wrote...

Morroian wrote...

David Gaider has said the size disparity has been magnified in the footage in this video. 

He didn't actually say that.

Yeah he did: "As for her looking tiny, I assume that's also the angle. She's not much smaller than an average human, to be honest." 

He "assumes".  Does not imply certainty.

[Addai]

yukidama wrote...
The quality of her work speaks for itself no matter how she acts. She's just having fun with the forum, I personally like that the devs seem like normal people and indulge the fandom in a bit of silliness (the hilarity of their responses in the Varric thread, for example). Her squees and noms do not take away from the fact that at the end of the day she and BW put out damn good characters and stories. That's what people are going to see and judge their games on, not "Sheryl Chee made a post on January 10, 2011 where she acted like xyz. BioWare is an unprofessional company and their products must therefore be crap!"

I admit, I cringed a little at the pile-on of look at the little elf, isn't she cute.

But, the fact that Mary wrote her is a bright spot on the horizon.  I'll just repeat the mantra to myself:  She's Sten-Loghain elf.. she's Sten-Loghain elf.. she's Sten-Loghain elf...

Not that I want to see that morph.  LOL

In fact, all the story stuff I heard in the dev diary sounds great.  Awesome, in fact.  It's really the visuals I'm struggling with.

Modifié par Addai67, 11 janvier 2011 - 03:16 .