30 réponses à ce sujet

[Tommyspa]

Hard to place, honestly. If you are going to touch fantasy just make your own timeline.

[Zanallen]

Hard to say. The presence of magic kind of screws things up. Plus, different regions seem to have different levels of development. Sometime during the High Middle Ages would be my best guess. So, maybe somewhere around the 1200s or 1300s. Of course, I am willing to bet Orlais is closer to the Renaissance period.

[Sharn01]

Its not really based on any timeline, its very similar to the late middle ages in a lot of respects, but fantasy settings never truly emulate the actual time period.

The biggest differences in fantasy settings is the general mindset, health, cleanliness and education of the people living in the world, its much closer to modern times then the middle ages. Other then that the main differences change from setting to setting.

[TheBlackBaron]

Europe, circa 1150. Ferelden, as the Great Britain analog, is based on the idea of the Anglo-Saxons tossing out the Normans (represented here by Orlais) about a hundred years after William's invasion. Magic throws everything for a loop, though, and may explain why things are a lot healthier for the average citizen than you might expect.

[ZtalkerRM]

TheBlackBaron wrote...

Europe, circa 1150. Ferelden, as the Great Britain analog, is based on the idea of the Anglo-Saxons tossing out the Normans (represented here by Orlais) about a hundred years after William's invasion. Magic throws everything for a loop, though, and may explain why things are a lot healthier for the average citizen than you might expect.

This...it's Medieval Europe, with the mud, pine forrests and all those royal families. It has a 'hint' of 1400's and 1500's though, with the development of gunpowder, 'massive armors' (that were created in a reaction to stronger longbows and blunderbusses. In DA, probably in response to magic.), crossbows and potions.

@OP:
For your own fantasy setting, I recommend throwing in one 'unbalancing' factor though.
it's called 'fantasy' for a reason.
If you look at Game of Thrones, we see there's still magic, dragon but they get very little screen time. That's probably the reason why it works so good, since it's much closer to our reality without throwing away it's fantasy ingredients.

Modifié par ZtalkerRM, 14 mai 2012 - 11:40 .

[AkiKishi]

Thirteen to Fifteen seems about right. It's not really consistent. The most important thing is to make sure that what exists has a reason to exist. It's fine if it's exotic, but everything can't exist because it's magic (even in a very magic heavy setting).

[haroldhardluck]

The best inidcation of the time period is the armor. There is a reason why the Normans wore mail at Hastings but the French at Argincourt wore full plate. The ability to make large plates of steel simply did not exist until the Renaissance. And it was not until the late Renaissance that Milanese armorers discovered case hardening which greatly improved plate armor. Because armor was so expensive, older forms would continued to be used by lesser ranks and poorer officers.

In DAO the ordinary Watchmen wore what appears to be full plate. In the real world full plate was so expensive that only the richest nobles wore full plate. Lesser nobles wore only partial plate. According to some histories I read, a full plate for a French knight at Argincourt costs a years income from a noble's estate. This would make full plate about the price of a high end auto as a comparison. It is possible the Watch armor was harden leather. That would be likely given cost and the fact the Watch was more a police force than a military force.

The Templars wore what appears to be partial plate. With their "skirts" it is hard to see what the lower armor was. Maybe the skits hid the fact that the lower armor was mail. This would be realistic for a unit like the Templars who were above the ordinary but not quite elite.

Cuirasses seem to be very common but those could be made of leather for the common soldier and metal for the officers.

Add it all together and the time period would be late Middle Ages to early Renaissance. The armorers had some ability to make plate but real full plate would appear to be rare.

Harold

[Sacred_Fantasy]

Tervinter Imperium fantasy Roman Empire.
Andrastian fantasy Christian
Exalted March fantasy Crusade
The Divine fantasy Pope
The Templar Order fantasy Teutonic Order
1:1 Divine date fantasy 1 A.D.
The Qunari fantasy barbaric northern tribes like the Gauls with communism ideology.

[brushyourteeth]

It takes place during the Dragon Age.

.... just kidding, just kidding - I just had to.

Seriously, though, the closest time period to me seems similar to very late Middle Ages or early Renaissance, when the Renaissance was coming to France and Italy but hadn't hit England yet and took many years to do so. Orlais and the Free Marches are obviously way ahead of Fereldan in terms of fashion, art, architecture, and technology.

[Orian Tabris]

The Dragon Age series is based on the Thedas Calendar. That is the time period. Technically not 'based on', but rather 'set in'.


TBH, it's too contradictary to be placeable, in any time period. You've got priests, templars, blacksmiths, assassins, but then you've also got people with different skin colours, none of whom are persecuted for being different. Even a person's gender doesn't make society - or even themselves - believe them to be below any other person. Let's not forget sexuality; people don't care if you are attracted to the same sex.

Modifié par Orian Tabris, 15 mai 2012 - 08:18 .

[FASherman]

There haven't been any dwarves in Europe since the 1500s and elves died out in the 1200s. But the key piece to the mystery is magic. That disappeared with Merlin in 1184. So anytime prior to 1184.

Seriously?

[haroldhardluck]

Sacred_Fantasy wrote...
The Templar Order fantasy Teutonic Order
The Qunari fantasy barbaric northern tribes like the Gauls with communism ideology.

The Templar Order is the fantasy version of the Templar Knights not the Teutonic Knights. Both Templars were religious based orders that technically reported only to the Divine/Pope. The Teutonic Knights were also a religious order originally formed like the Templars to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. However after the Holy Land was lost, the Teutonic Knights became embroiled in very secular political power struggles in eastern Europe. The Templars continued to fight Islamic expansion in the Mediterranean. While the Templars drew from all of Europe for their members and support, the order was centered in France/Orlais.

The Qunari are more difficult to pin down. They came from outside the known world while the Gauls and other barbarian tribes were well known as far back as the Helenic Greek era. The Qun is clearly a religious system with a fatalistic total obedience to the Qun. They most resemble the Japanese militant Zen Bhuddist monastic orders. The Qun tenets also resemble that of the old Roman Stoicism which was endure and die bravely.

Harold

[Iosev]

I would guess that Dragon Age is largely inspired by the Middle Ages, ranging from the Late Antiquity to the late Middle Ages/Early Modern period. However, I don't think the inspiration is restricted to that period, as Qunari seem to be inspired by even earlier, classical elements, whereas other elements have parallels with the modern world.

[Massakkolia]

DA:O gave an impression of mid to late Middle Ages but that was only because Ferelden is such a backwater country. I love Ferelden to bits but it isn't a very good indication of the time period that DA draws inspiration from. Poor European countries and countryside in general looked a lot like Ferelden all the way till 18th, some even early 19th century.

Major cities like Kirkwall are much better indicators of the level of civilization. I'd say early to mid Renaissance is about right. There are still plenty of anachronisms but DA's a fantasy setting and thus allowed to have its own rules. If you're writing a historical novel though, pick things you'd absolutely like to exist in your setting and choose a timeline that historically supports your choices.

Modifié par Ria, 15 mai 2012 - 09:36 .

[MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES]

DRAGON AGE IS BETTER DESCRIBED AS "INSPIRED BY" THE MIDDLE AGES, RATHER THAN "SET IN" THE MIDDLE AGES. PEOPLE WALK AROUND CARRYING SWORDS AND STUFF, BUT THE WORLD OF THE GAME DOESN'T REALLY MAKE SENSE AS AN ACTUAL PRE-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY.

[Sidney]

brushyourteeth wrote...

It takes place during the Dragon Age.

.... just kidding, just kidding - I just had to.

Seriously, though, the closest time period to me seems similar to very late Middle Ages or early Renaissance, when the Renaissance was coming to France and Italy but hadn't hit England yet and took many years to do so. Orlais and the Free Marches are obviously way ahead of Fereldan in terms of fashion, art, architecture, and technology.

Best guess since the full plate falls in that range and nothing else is really all that specific unless you count the Qnari gunpowder weapons which would be roughly the same time line.

[haroldhardluck]

Ria wrote...
DA:O gave an impression of mid to late Middle Ages but that was only because Ferelden is such a backwater country. I love Ferelden to bits but it isn't a very good indication of the time period that DA draws inspiration from. Poor European countries and countryside in general looked a lot like Ferelden all the way till 18th, some even early 19th century.

There is nothing backwater about Ferelden. Orlesians thought of it as backward but that was simply cultural  bigotry. As the map of Denerim shows, it was a very large city. It takes a large economy to support a city that big.

Rich and poor countries in Europe and every where else looked like Ferelden until the Industrial Revolution happened. That event transformed what a rich country looked like. England acquired macadam roads, canals and railroads which greatly increased the size of cities as food could be quickly shipped to the cities from a much larger area around the city. Russia which surpressed the Industrial Revolution for as long as possible to benefit the landed aristocracy had few paved roads, canals and  railroads until the Crimea War in 1853 showed the military weakness of not having railroads. Despite being a major European power, Russia up to the begining of the 20th century looked much like it did in the Middle Ages.

Culturally Ferelden with its Landsmeet to elect kings most closely resembled Ango-Saxon England where the king was elected from among the royal family by the nobles. Anglo-Saxon England ended in 1066. But in its time, Anglo-Saxon England was a major power in western Europe. It was one of the few western European countries that successfully fought the Vikings.

Harold

[Chaos Lord Malek]

Sacred_Fantasy wrote...

Tervinter Imperium fantasy Roman Empire.
Andrastian fantasy Christian
Exalted March fantasy Crusade
The Divine fantasy Pope
The Templar Order fantasy Teutonic Order
1:1 Divine date fantasy 1 A.D.
The Qunari fantasy barbaric northern tribes like the Gauls with communism ideology.

The Templar Order is based off Templar Order :-)

And Qunari are based off Ottoman Empire, who also had advanced technologies back in medieval age - like gunpowder, because the religion wasn't holding them back.

In Christiansy controled lands was used method that less the people know, the more will they turn to God. So all the inovations and science was branded as heresy - similar thing that happens within Chantry controlled lands, which would explain why the technological advancement in Thedas was almost to none over a 1000 years.


 

[PPR223]

Chaos Lord Malek wrote...

Sacred_Fantasy wrote...

Tervinter Imperium fantasy Roman Empire.
Andrastian fantasy Christian
Exalted March fantasy Crusade
The Divine fantasy Pope
The Templar Order fantasy Teutonic Order
1:1 Divine date fantasy 1 A.D.
The Qunari fantasy barbaric northern tribes like the Gauls with communism ideology.

The Templar Order is based off Templar Order :-)

And Qunari are based off Ottoman Empire, who also had advanced technologies back in medieval age - like gunpowder, because the religion wasn't holding them back.

In Christiansy controled lands was used method that less the people know, the more will they turn to God. So all the inovations and science was branded as heresy - similar thing that happens within Chantry controlled lands, which would explain why the technological advancement in Thedas was almost to none over a 1000 years.


 

Or it could be for other reasons. For example the crossbow was banned by the Pope, forgot which one, because he thought it was unfair.

Dragon Age is based on the medieval era.

Modifié par PPR223, 16 mai 2012 - 12:15 .

[haroldhardluck]

Chaos Lord Malek wrote...
And Qunari are based off Ottoman Empire, who also had advanced technologies back in medieval age - like gunpowder, because the religion wasn't holding them back.

Both sides had gunpowder back in the Middle Ages. Gunpowder and guns originated in China and spread west. The Arabs certainly got it first but Europeans got it very soon after. By the time the Ottomans, who were latecomers, came on the scene everyone had guns and gunpowder. When it comes to war, no religion has ever been successful in banning a superior weapon.

I also question whether the Qunari are based on the Ottomans. The Ottoman empire was basically a feudal empire just those of Europe. Their army was basically a feudal levy just like the European armies. Elite professional units such as the Janissaries were only a small party of the Ottoman army. And they had their European counterparts in the militant orders such as the Templars. The one advantage of the Ottomans was unity. They controlled all of the Islamic lands while Europe was divided into many empires that were more often interested in fighting each other than uniting against the Ottomans.

In Christiansy controled lands was used method that less the people know, the more will they turn to God. So all the inovations and science was branded as heresy - similar thing that happens within Chantry controlled lands, which would explain why the technological advancement in Thedas was almost to none over a 1000 years.

In the real world, the attitude towards science reversed among Christians and Mulims during the Renaissance. After centuries of accepting Church doctrine, people such as Galileo started asking questions. Despite the efforts of the Church to stop the trend, the development of scientific thinking continued, At the same time the Muslims decided that since they were scientifically more advanced than the Europeans, there was no need for them to do any more and to do so would be heresy. By the 17th century it was the Christians who were advanced and the Muslims who were behind scientifically and industrially. A state that continues to this day. There are no world class universities in any Muslim nation nor are there any pure research facilities there comparable to Cern.

Given the events in DA2 and Asunder, it appears the Chantry is undergoing its own version of the Reformation. If it happens then the Chantry lands will surpass the Qunari in technology as their religions seems to be very reactionary. Other than gunpowder, which was probably an accidental discovery, they do not appear to more advanced. They are certainly less advanced when it comes to magic which is the Thedas equiavent of science.

Harold