With the release of Dragon Age 2, Bioware has continued the trend of overrepresenting dogs at the expense of cats, despite cats outnumbering dogs in the United States. According to the Humane Society, there are 77.5 Million dogs vs 93.6 million cats. Yet despite there being almost twenty million more cats than dog, Bioware has seen fit to give dogs far more importance than cats. As a cat owner, I can tell you that my feline is quite offended by Bioware's clear bias towards canines.
To demonstrate Bioware's bias toward dogs and against cats, we just need to look at the amount of dog related content versus cat related content. For example, in DA:O, we get a dog as a fully integrated companion and character. We get to name the dog, equip him, and talk to him during the course of the game. Further, the dog gets to interact with other party members, such as stealing Ogrhen's pants, or giving Morrigan gifts, or debating the finer points of the Qun with Sten.
You know what cats get? Ser-Fracking-Pounce-a-lot, that's it! The closest thing we get to a feline companion is a glorified inventory item! And the cat is not even ours! It is a gift for Anders to gush over and annoy other party members with. The only interaction the player had with Ser Pounc-a-lot is his initial recruitment and clicking him in the inventory, eliciting the same pre-recorded meow over and over again. And this is from an expansion, not a even the main game! The only major feline encounter in the main DA:O game was from the Stone Prisoner DLC, with the character "Kitty". But "kitty" was not even real cat at all, but a desire demon seeking to posses a little girl! So not only are cats underrepresented, but one of the major feline encounters is as an antagonist. Bioware should be ashamed of their portrayal of such sweet, innocent creatures!
In Dragon Age 2, cats are even further pushed to the sidelines. Ser Pounce-a-lot had been cut out entirely, left back in Amaranthine, clearly the final straw that leads to Anders turning from lovable rogue to broody terrorist! No cats make any appearance in DA2, all we have Anders's lamentations over the loss of his bestest friend ever!
And yet Bioware sees fit to foist another dog on the players in DA2! This time, he's a summon, so now you don't even have to worry about sacrificing a two-legged companion to bring him along, you can just pop him out of his pokeball and *Bam!* instant dog. And like the dog in DA2, you can name him and interact with him. Heck, now companions will now even come to your house to visit the Dog and admire his dogginess. Again, i find this Biowares focus on dogs to be offensive and a little disturbing.
And it goes beyond just gameplay, if you dig into the lore of Dragon Age, they're is even more evidence of dog bias from Bioware. In Ferelden, dogs are portrayed as status symbols, viewed as a sign of nobility. Bioware even created a fictional breed of super dog, the Mabari, just for Dragon Age to show how awesome they are.
As for cat references in the lore, what do they get? Gryphons. Thats right, the only major cat reference are Gryphons, and they are only half cat to start with. Furthermore, they're all dead! The closest thing to a major feline reference in the lore, and they have been extinct for centuries by the start of the first game. For shame Bioware, for shame!
My cat and I are deeply disappointed by the terrible, terrible disservice Bioware does to cats in Dragon age. I insist Bioware should do more to include cat related content in future Dragon Age installments or risk their franchise being thrown to the litter-box of history, like all things that refuse to acknowledge the importance of cats in everything.
Modifié par TheJediSaint, 25 mars 2011 - 10:23 .
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