434 réponses à ce sujet

[Sharn01]

For all intents and purposes the elves in the Dragon Age universe are humans with different traits that are recessive when breeding with what dragon age refers to as humans.

I will give bioware a pass on not understanding that recessive traits can never be removed between a pairing, they may be rare, but they are not gone and have a tendency to show up in later generations, sometimes in the first children.

Modifié par Sharn01, 21 octobre 2011 - 04:10 .

[SkittlesKat96]

I'm used to the change of the elves in DA 2 (not that I ever really complained much about it in the first place but still.)

I'm also happy with the Qunari change.

The only change I'm not too happy with is the Darkspawn. I think it isn't too late to change them back. Maybe they can say that the pale skinny white Darkspawn are what the Darkspawn look like without an Archdemon or something? Just weak straggler Darkspawn...

Modifié par SkittlesKat96, 21 octobre 2011 - 07:18 .

[Darkov]

Nothing wrong with the visual changes that DA2 brings, I'm all for evolving the art style from one game to the next as technology and time allows.

But they really need to consider what they are trying to do. The people playing this game are human and therefore human characteristics will remain the standard they judge everything by, so they should try not to make Elves look ugly by default.

[Noviere]

I like the intentions behind the change -- to make elves look like a distinct species -- but it was taken a bit too far, IMO. As several people have pointed out, there are plenty of examples in DA2 of elves that look good... Merrill, Orsino, Fenris, Marethari, etc... but the ones that look bad, look REALLY bad, and seem to overshadow them to some extent.

Going forward, I hope Bioware tones down the freak on the elves, and brings the design more in line with the elves that aren't so off-putting.

[David Gaider]

Sharn01 wrote...
I will give bioware a pass on not understanding that recessive traits can never be removed between a pairing, they may be rare, but they are not gone and have a tendency to show up in later generations, sometimes in the first children.

That's appreciated-- though you might also want to include in that understanding the fact that this has much more to do with magic and almost nothing to do with genetics.

[WhiteKnyght]

David Gaider wrote...

Sharn01 wrote...
I will give bioware a pass on not understanding that recessive traits can never be removed between a pairing, they may be rare, but they are not gone and have a tendency to show up in later generations, sometimes in the first children.

That's appreciated-- though you might also want to include in that understanding the fact that this has much more to do with magic and almost nothing to do with genetics.

Wait, are you saying the reason that all Human/Elf half-breeds are always born human is because of magic?

If so, something tells me there's a story behind that.

[David Gaider]

The Grey Nayr wrote...
If so, something tells me there's a story behind that.

That seems likely.

[WhiteKnyght]

David Gaider wrote...

The Grey Nayr wrote...
If so, something tells me there's a story behind that.

That seems likely.

And I'd love to hear it. lol

[TheCreeper]

But the redesign of the elves was one of my favorite parts of DA2, turning them back into small humans with pointy ears would be a horrible idea.

Modifié par TheCreeper, 21 octobre 2011 - 04:54 .

[LobselVith8]

The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...

*gives the OP a cat hiss*


don't you touch my DA2 style elves!

Are you using Ser Pounce-A-Lot for that cat hiss?

Out of curiousity, are there any brown and black elves anymore? I don't recall seeing any elves who were brown or black in Dragon Age 2.

[Xilizhra]

Out of curiousity, are there any brown and black elves anymore? I don't recall seeing any elves who were brown or black in Dragon Age 2.

Marethari is brownish. And, of course, there's Zevran.

[Sharn01]

David Gaider wrote...

Sharn01 wrote...
I will give bioware a pass on not understanding that recessive traits can never be removed between a pairing, they may be rare, but they are not gone and have a tendency to show up in later generations, sometimes in the first children.

That's appreciated-- though you might also want to include in that understanding the fact that this has much more to do with magic and almost nothing to do with genetics.

I suspected there may be magic involved as elves are often magical creatures, I suppose you could say the magic is lost when pairing with humans, but you have not given any indication of elves having a magical nature.  There is evidence in the lore they may once have had magic, but it does not seem to be the case any longer, and if magic is a part of what makes them elves, then they cant lose it and still be elves, or even exist.  Saying elves are magic based creatures that have lost their magic would be like saying humans are carbon based  creatures that have lost their carbon, I dont see how it can work.

Modifié par Sharn01, 21 octobre 2011 - 08:14 .

[atheelogos]

David Gaider wrote...

The Grey Nayr wrote...
If so, something tells me there's a story behind that.

That seems likely.

Can't wait to hear it.

[Ju13es]

I think BIoware needs to balance out the old DA:O style elves and DAII once. The old ones were far too human looking, bearing no actual differentiation aside from slightly pointed ears and being shorter. And, though I do like a lot of the elves in DAII, some go too far extreme on the "look unique" road. My suggestions would be

-Make the ears half way between the old and the new size.

-Meet halfway in the eyeball size, some of them are FAR too big.

-Make the heads proportionate to the bodies. Its a wonder their damn necks dont break by the sheer size of their heads.

-Making them very thin is good, but their arms and legs hardly have any shape, as if they were muscleless. They should still have some curve instead of being boards with sticks for arms and legs.

-I personally like what Bioware is trying to go for in the facial features, making them somewhat cat-like, but again, sometimes its far too extreme. Refine it a bit more and it should be super.


There's my 10 cents. Take it or leave it. I personally think its worth taking

[nightscrawl]

Hanz54321 wrote...

I'm not looking the thread up . . . but when discussing Slim Couldry's parentage this was not your story at all.

When will we discover the Darkspawn are actually aliens planted here by the mothership and that Nugs are actually subliminally ruling the Tevinter Empire?

It's your perfectly good story to retcon and sequel into silliness.  But it makes me sad.

Seeing as how The Calling was released even before DAO and there is a racial mixing in that, I doubt it's something David thought up yesterday... It should be remembered that the lore material we see in game is only a portion of the lore as it relates to all of Thedas, and usually the lore nuggets we are fed have to do with whatever plot scenario we are currently involved in (which we typically learn through conversations and quest NPCs). The only exception to this being the various books and such we find scattered all over to read. Also, just because they might have an idea they want to implement regarding one thing or other, doesn't mean it will make the final canon and get put into the game, for any number of reasons (budget, player confusion, continuity, consistency, etc).

[nightscrawl]

Ju13es wrote...

I think BIoware needs to balance out the old DA:O style elves and DAII once. The old ones were far too human looking, bearing no actual differentiation aside from slightly pointed ears and being shorter. And, though I do like a lot of the elves in DAII, some go too far extreme on the "look unique" road. My suggestions would be

-Make the ears half way between the old and the new size.

-Meet halfway in the eyeball size, some of them are FAR too big.

-Make the heads proportionate to the bodies. Its a wonder their damn necks dont break by the sheer size of their heads.

-Making them very thin is good, but their arms and legs hardly have any shape, as if they were muscleless. They should still have some curve instead of being boards with sticks for arms and legs.

-I personally like what Bioware is trying to go for in the facial features, making them somewhat cat-like, but again, sometimes its far too extreme. Refine it a bit more and it should be super.


There's my 10 cents. Take it or leave it. I personally think its worth taking

I thought it was unfortunate that the OP used Orana as his example. IMO Athenril is the best looking femElf in the entire game and a testament to the ability of the CC engine.

Modifié par nightscrawl, 22 octobre 2011 - 07:41 .

[GodWood]

I'll never understand the Athrenil fetish.

[Reno_Tarshil]

GodWood wrote...

I'll never understand the Athrenil fetish.

Me neither, her betrayal armor visit in nighttime hightown makes her seem like she has poo on her legs.

[Gervaise]

Referring back to the post by Lobi, the reason Tolkein depicts the elves as he does because he was wanting to get away from the twee Victorian idea of fairies and back to how they were originally depicted not only in Scandanavian folklaw, but also that of Wales and Ireland, and in whatever old Anglo-Saxon texts he was able to translate.

Read any of the old folklaw and the "Beautiful People" which is how the word usually translates when referring to these people, are powerful magical beings that interact with our world and often form relationships with humans. What Tolkein did was differentiate between the Fair Ones, whom he chose to call elves, and the Dark Ones, whom he called Orcs (but made clear in his history were actually corrupted elves).

In another short story he wrote, "Smith of Wootton Major" he actually has a King and Queen of Fairy and the story is intended to highlight how the image of the Fairy has diminished through lack of contact and knowledge. The beautiful and powerful Queen of Fairy that the hero encounters in her own realm bears little relationship to the doll on top of a children's party cake that was placed there by the Master Baker, yet she says "Better a little doll, may be, than no memory of Faery at all".

In many old tales the people from Fairy can live unnoticed in the human world, simply being regarded as incredibly attractive, until they choose to reveal themselves as not really belonging. In Irish folklaw the fairies are linked with Tuatha de Dannan, a people said to have been the first inhabitants of Ireland and could call upon great magic in their battles with the Fir Bolg led by Balor of the Evil Eye.

So the elves in Fantasy literature and generally in the gaming world are the beautiful and powerful humanoid inhabitants of faery, not the smaller pixies, golbins and sprites that are also thought to live there and occasionally cross over into our world. The Fair folk can have relationships and children with humans, although the consequences are often tragic.

And so far as Tolkein's elves in Middle Earth are concerned, he never even wrote them with pointed ears and they are generally taller than humans, not shorter. What distinguishes them is their incredible beauty, their immortality, their battle prowess and their magical power. Most elves appearing in Fantasy games are a pale shadow in comparison.

[PPR223]

I don't like the Elves design in DA2, but its the darkspawn that bother me the most. They need to be changed back to the originals in DA3, for definate.

My problems with the Elves are; their eyes are too insect like, their shoulders are too close together, their necks are too long, their ears are too big, and their arms and legs are too thin. If these were changed, then I don't think they would look too bad.

[TEWR]

GodWood wrote...

I'll never understand the Athrenil fetish.

She's sexy and awesome

[lobi]

Could be worse.....
*Think of it as a Latex sock.

Modifié par lobi, 22 octobre 2011 - 06:11 .