I know that this is a topic that has been talked about before but I just want be sure. The child of a human and an elf will be human in apperance no matter what correct?
Half Elves
Débuté par
Caiden012
, juil. 03 2012 08:10
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#2
Posté 03 juillet 2012 - 04:31
TEWR
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Correct. They're not just human in appearance, but are really just human. They may have some Elven features -- see an image of Feynriel in DAII -- but they're still human.
David Gaider intimated that the reason for this has less to do with genetics but more to do with a Tevinter spell that effectively cursed the Elves.
David Gaider intimated that the reason for this has less to do with genetics but more to do with a Tevinter spell that effectively cursed the Elves.
#3
Posté 03 juillet 2012 - 05:05
TobiTobsen
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The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...
David Gaider intimated that the reason for this has less to do with genetics but more to do with a Tevinter spell that effectively cursed the Elves.
He did? I thought I had seen every information about that topic. Could you provide me a link for that discussion, Ethereal?
#4
Guest_Faerunner_*
Posté 03 juillet 2012 - 05:07
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... A Tevinter curse? Really? He said that?
If this is true, I hope they explore this concept in the future. This deserves attention.
What do you think would happen if the curse was lifted? Do you think all the half elves and the people with elven genetics would revert back to their more natural features? Maybe varrying degrees depending on how much elven blood they have? (There must be a lot of them. Since you can't tell who's full human and who has elven ancestry, it could be any number of humans.) Or just any mixed child born after would have un-cursed features?
If this is true, I hope they explore this concept in the future. This deserves attention.
What do you think would happen if the curse was lifted? Do you think all the half elves and the people with elven genetics would revert back to their more natural features? Maybe varrying degrees depending on how much elven blood they have? (There must be a lot of them. Since you can't tell who's full human and who has elven ancestry, it could be any number of humans.) Or just any mixed child born after would have un-cursed features?
#5
Posté 03 juillet 2012 - 05:52
Caiden012
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Really? I never thought it would be a Tevinter curse. I wonder if it can be removed. It would be awesome if the devs explored this in the future.
#6
Posté 03 juillet 2012 - 07:24
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This is the only thing that comes close that I'm aware of.
David Gaider wrote...
The child of elf-blooded humans and an elf is another elf-blooded human. Whether or not such a line would eventually become more "elven" is unknown -- the elf-blooded don't tend to distinguish themselves as a group for cultural reasons, and more often then not find themselves living amongst humans rather than elves. Saying that elves have recessive genes obviously isn't the answer -- I said a long time ago on the forums that elven genetics were "adaptive", but that's just an attempt to explain the phenomenon since people were insisting on talking about genetics. The elves don't know why it happens, and there's no understanding of genetics in the world to explain it... if that would even be the reason. More likely it has a supernatural origin relating to the nature of the elves themselves, though what that might be and whether or not the elves were truly once the immortals they claim simply isn't known.
#7
Posté 03 juillet 2012 - 08:22
TEWR
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Here ya go
It seems I misremembered some information. He doesn't outright state that the magic is of Tevinter origin, so my apologies.
That said, it seems to be the most likely candidate, given how Tevinter invaded and conquered Arlathan.
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.
It seems I misremembered some information. He doesn't outright state that the magic is of Tevinter origin, so my apologies.
That said, it seems to be the most likely candidate, given how Tevinter invaded and conquered Arlathan.
Modifié par The Ethereal Writer Redux, 03 juillet 2012 - 08:24 .
#8
Guest_Faerunner_*
Posté 03 juillet 2012 - 08:42
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Corker wrote...
This is the only thing that comes close that I'm aware of.David Gaider wrote...
The child of elf-blooded humans and an elf is another elf-blooded human. Whether or not such a line would eventually become more "elven" is unknown -- the elf-blooded don't tend to distinguish themselves as a group for cultural reasons, and more often then not find themselves living amongst humans rather than elves. Saying that elves have recessive genes obviously isn't the answer -- I said a long time ago on the forums that elven genetics were "adaptive", but that's just an attempt to explain the phenomenon since people were insisting on talking about genetics. The elves don't know why it happens, and there's no understanding of genetics in the world to explain it... if that would even be the reason. More likely it has a supernatural origin relating to the nature of the elves themselves, though what that might be and whether or not the elves were truly once the immortals they claim simply isn't known.
Ah, so in other words, "the elves don't know, therefore we don't know"?
... No offense, but that seems like kind of a cheap answer. The devs created this universe, the devs decided that elf + human = human, so the devs should have some inkling as to why it happens. If they don't, if they haven't put that much thought into it yet, it's fine, but it seems a little silly to pass the burden of answering the question onto the characters. The characters didn't create themselves.
#9
Posté 04 juillet 2012 - 01:00
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I think it's more 'the elves don't know, so I'm not telling you." Either to preserve some Sooper Sekrit Surprise Reveal in a future property, or because the devs haven't decided on the 'why' yet.
Which isn't unreasonable, from a game mastering point of view. Half-breed races are popular and a long-time standard of RPGs. So, okay, Thedas has them. Then people will ask, Why don't we see them? The real answer is that they don't matter for the plot of DA:O, and there's precious little reason to develop a separate character body model for half-elves. So bam! they look like humans, problem solved.
*Why* do they look like humans? Eh, magic. Figure it out later when it becomes a plot point, leave it undefined and flexible until then.
Which isn't unreasonable, from a game mastering point of view. Half-breed races are popular and a long-time standard of RPGs. So, okay, Thedas has them. Then people will ask, Why don't we see them? The real answer is that they don't matter for the plot of DA:O, and there's precious little reason to develop a separate character body model for half-elves. So bam! they look like humans, problem solved.
*Why* do they look like humans? Eh, magic. Figure it out later when it becomes a plot point, leave it undefined and flexible until then.
#10
Posté 04 juillet 2012 - 03:48
BevH
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I would think it would go back to the "so much of our history is lost." That the elves don't know may relate back to the fact that it simply isn't there to remember any more.
#11
Posté 04 juillet 2012 - 05:15
Caiden012
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Another thing I have to wonder is, do "Half elves" only look like humans or are they humans. Because during the mage origin an elf states that elves are more attuned to magic. Would this apply to the child of an elf and a human?
#12
Posté 04 juillet 2012 - 07:03
BevH
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I think this was once true. However, we learn (during the Dalish origin, I believe) that even the elves are losing magic. It's why Merrill is with the Warden's clan - they had no one with magic to become the Keeper. I wouldn't think that a half-elf would have any greater propensity towards being a mage than a full elf or a full human. It just seems to occur randomly no matter what race the parents are and no matter if either, or both, are mages.Caiden012 wrote...
Another thing I have to wonder is, do "Half elves" only look like humans or are they humans. Because during the mage origin an elf states that elves are more attuned to magic. Would this apply to the child of an elf and a human?
#13
Posté 14 juillet 2012 - 09:48
PizzaThe Hutt
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BevH wrote...
I think this was once true. However, we learn (during the Dalish origin, I believe) that even the elves are losing magic. It's why Merrill is with the Warden's clan - they had no one with magic to become the Keeper. I wouldn't think that a half-elf would have any greater propensity towards being a mage than a full elf or a full human. It just seems to occur randomly no matter what race the parents are and no matter if either, or both, are mages.Caiden012 wrote...
Another thing I have to wonder is, do "Half elves" only look like humans or are they humans. Because during the mage origin an elf states that elves are more attuned to magic. Would this apply to the child of an elf and a human?
How is it that in DAO elves are losing their magic but in DA2 there are more mages being born(even though they don't actually specify human or elf) Was there something that happened in between DAO and DA2 to make this change?
#14
Posté 14 juillet 2012 - 10:08
TEWR
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PizzaThe Hutt wrote...
How is it that in DAO elves are losing their magic but in DA2 there are more mages being born(even though they don't actually specify human or elf) Was there something that happened in between DAO and DA2 to make this change?
Well, take into account how the sources claiming such things aren't very reliable, due to them being the only two sources.
That said, if the remarks are true more mages are being born outside the Dalish clans but inside the Chantry lands.
So that's a factor. There may be more Elven Mages, but they're probably all being rounded up and tossed in a Circle.
Second, it's entirely possible that the Elves are experiencing more and more Mages in their clans being born. Perhaps what happened before that led to magic declining is now going in reverse.
