196 réponses à ce sujet

[General TSAR]

It's agnostic in terms of a divine creator/creators.

[Ferretinabun]

To be perfectly honest, most of Dragon Age lore is fairly standard fantasy fare. Sure, some of the conflicts (like the mage-templar-tranquil arrangement) are fairly interesting, but there's little about the world itself which is groundbreakingly original.

Speaking for myself, it's not the world of Thedas itself which is so appealing - it's the way we get to interact with it and shape it, an option pretty unique to computer games as a medium. Give us a world full of interesting characters that we can REALLY affect and interact with and does it matter if that world's history and lore have come straight out the Fantasy Fiction cookie cutter? I certainly don't think so.

Modifié par Ferretinabun, 21 septembre 2013 - 07:14 .

[ReallyRue]

I don't know about special, but what always stands out for me is the amount of thought behind magic, the Fade, demons. In a lot of games I've played, magic is just 'there'. It's not explained, it's not treated as that much more interesting than having sword skills. Explaining the magic, and giving it social, religious and political ramifications is more like what books do, and I find that interesting.

The Deep Roads are also interesting, though not unique. The addition of the Wardens makes it more unique, specifically how the taint affects them, their role in society, etc.

The racial conflict too, specifically the role of the elves. Nice to see them as something other than the 'we're on special terms with nature and live to be 1000' type of elf. It's even more interesting because they *want* to be that type of elf, and the Dalish at least, think they used to be.

[Gwydden]

Frankly, I don't care that much for originality. There's nothing new under the sun, much less in the fantasy genre. Dragon Age presents a fascinating and unique enough setting for said genre's standards, which is even more commendable if we consider that video games are even more reluctant to try novel concepts than books or movies are.

I love stories. They're my passion. Being told stories and creating them. Dragon Age lets me do a bit of both. Add to that the awesome characters you get to interact with, the interesting, mysterious world and thrilling plots and there you have it, the best RPG I've ever played.

Lorewise? It avoids the most used, typical tropes, and focuses on creating its own background. For fantasy standards, it's even innovative.

[Dutchess]

Cyanide Disaster wrote...

The way they handled dwarves were unique. Example: in LOTR dwarves are ugly little creatures that hate anything that isn't one of them, and their women are usually mistaken for men.

Elves are not the all-powerful creatures who rule everything or have some advanced knowledge. The opposite actually.

And then magic. It's feared and taboo, which is very different from many magical worlds. In D&D no one blinks if you run into a town and start throwing fireballs, but in DA you would be hunted down and likely killed.

On top of those there is the whole Darkspawn/ Blight/ Taint thing, which I thought was very different. I had never read or played a story with that sort of element.

I don't think the dwarves in elves in DA are really unique. Dwarves being small, stocky humans who live underground is certainly not something that hasn't been done before. Dwarves often seem apt at mining and crafting. In appearance they appear to be the same as the dwarves in The Witcher, with long beards, often with breads. No female dwarves in TW games, though, so no way to compare that. I don't mean this as an insult, by the way. I like DAO's dwarves and Orzammar, and their culture. Their caste system might be unique - I haven't come across anything similar so far. 

Elves having lost their empire, though, really has been done a lot. In The Witcher elves are treated as second-class citizens as well and you have groups of rebels that refuse to bow down, kind of like the Dalish. In most books that I have read and that contain elves, the elves are struggling to push humans and their armies back or have already lost most of their land and people. Even in LOTR it is stated that their time is over and they leave their original lands. 

I agree with the view on magic. DA's interpretation is quite interesting, although the horror of DA2 has made me rather tired of it, with a crazed blood mage around every corner. 

Darkspawn are mostly the basic orcs, but I agree that the idea of the Taint manages to give them a certain twist, although it is comparable to zombie infection, I think. Except that it taints land and plants as well. The Blight comes down to defeating the evil leader (Archdemon) and fighting lots of scary orcs/darkspawn. You have a similar evil army in LOTR, and undoubtedly in other games/movies/books as well. That a Grey Warden is needed to kill the Archdemon made for some extra personal drama in DAO, but is not that relevant in the larger scheme of things (army of monsters has to be defeated).


The world that was presented to me in DAO seemed believable and well-thought-out, even though not everything was highly original and *gasp* never-ever seen before. The World of Thedas has a lot of background information and strenghtens the idea that a lot of time has been put into the creation of the DA world. But the inconsistencies and contradictions that have already arisen with the second game and the artist's constant quest to revamp everything (elves, Qunari, darkspawn, Flemeth, and now dragons) make me doubt the amount of thought has been put into it after all. 

[Lokiwithrope]

Nothing. I just like it.

[Wulfram]

I don't play Dragon Age for the setting.

[GDog89]

My Main One was The Joining ritual was kinda orginal.

But as far as fanasty in General I always like Humans, Elves, and Dwarves each has their own legacy. The Qunari being a playable PC is interesting as well.

Modifié par GDog89, 21 septembre 2013 - 07:55 .

[cactusberry]

I love Dragon Age's take on magic.

[Boycott Bioware]

I can't say it is so special, but special is it mix with everything, from religious messianic trope, Illuminati conspiracy trope to common fantasy trope, and it also a twisted version of common fantasy trope. It is all mix up in one world. But DA2 suffer a bit because of War on Terror 9/11 trope in which i find it cheap

[In Exile]

The qunari.

[Cyanide Disaster]

renjility wrote...

Cyanide Disaster wrote...

The way they handled dwarves were unique. Example: in LOTR dwarves are ugly little creatures that hate anything that isn't one of them, and their women are usually mistaken for men.

Elves are not the all-powerful creatures who rule everything or have some advanced knowledge. The opposite actually.

And then magic. It's feared and taboo, which is very different from many magical worlds. In D&D no one blinks if you run into a town and start throwing fireballs, but in DA you would be hunted down and likely killed.

On top of those there is the whole Darkspawn/ Blight/ Taint thing, which I thought was very different. I had never read or played a story with that sort of element.

I don't think the dwarves in elves in DA are really unique. Dwarves being small, stocky humans who live underground is certainly not something that hasn't been done before. Dwarves often seem apt at mining and crafting. In appearance they appear to be the same as the dwarves in The Witcher, with long beards, often with breads. No female dwarves in TW games, though, so no way to compare that. I don't mean this as an insult, by the way. I like DAO's dwarves and Orzammar, and their culture. Their caste system might be unique - I haven't come across anything similar so far. 

Elves having lost their empire, though, really has been done a lot. In The Witcher elves are treated as second-class citizens as well and you have groups of rebels that refuse to bow down, kind of like the Dalish. In most books that I have read and that contain elves, the elves are struggling to push humans and their armies back or have already lost most of their land and people. Even in LOTR it is stated that their time is over and they leave their original lands. 

I agree with the view on magic. DA's interpretation is quite interesting, although the horror of DA2 has made me rather tired of it, with a crazed blood mage around every corner. 

Darkspawn are mostly the basic orcs, but I agree that the idea of the Taint manages to give them a certain twist, although it is comparable to zombie infection, I think. Except that it taints land and plants as well. The Blight comes down to defeating the evil leader (Archdemon) and fighting lots of scary orcs/darkspawn. You have a similar evil army in LOTR, and undoubtedly in other games/movies/books as well. That a Grey Warden is needed to kill the Archdemon made for some extra personal drama in DAO, but is not that relevant in the larger scheme of things (army of monsters has to be defeated).


The world that was presented to me in DAO seemed believable and well-thought-out, even though not everything was highly original and *gasp* never-ever seen before. The World of Thedas has a lot of background information and strenghtens the idea that a lot of time has been put into the creation of the DA world. But the inconsistencies and contradictions that have already arisen with the second game and the artist's constant quest to revamp everything (elves, Qunari, darkspawn, Flemeth, and now dragons) make me doubt the amount of thought has been put into it after all. 

But like almost everyone has stated there is only so much 'unique-ness' that a Dark Fantasy can go. I find that the exclusion of the "orc" race is pretty different and I wouldn't equate Darkspawn to Orc just because they're "evil" per-say. Because in WoW, Orcs aren't actually evil (I'm Horde, don't you say nuthin' about my Orcs) by design.

You reference the Witcher constantly; I've never played that game, nor do I really feel like it. So to me, these are very unique still. Other than the Witcher, do you have any other examples? Because I none come to mind for me.

As for the contradictions.. I have a few different theories on that. Some of the inconsistencies can be give to the fact that all the history we have was either given by characters or by 'word-of-mouth' (Codexs). Brother Giovanti or whatever had said a lot of things that have been contradicted elsewhere, but if you compare history books from Canada and the US you will find inconsistencies as well (Example: War of 1812. I'm Canadian, our history books tell us we won the war because of the French Canadian Militia and the British who we were colonized by at the time. US history states they won said war). As for the visual differences of the Qunari and Elves/ Darkspawn in DAO and DA2 CAN be explained as Varric's narration (but Sten is one of the Hornless Qunari which are uncommon but not unheard of). 

You also have to remember that there were YEARS inbetween the production of those two games, allowing for new technology/ graphics to be available, and even a new platform for this next one, so they are able to do more than they could with Origins or even 2. 

Never the less, thank you for your input!

[In Exile]

DA lore is not like TW lore when it comes to the elves. The lore suggests that the elves were (i) the victims in their plight and (ii) generally not a racial supremacist empire currently participating in the genocide of the dwarves when the humans came around. At least (ii) happened to be the case in TW lore. Whether (i) was the case is a bit more contestable, since the elves are victims in the modern setting, but they were not good people.

[Eterna]

there is plenty of stuff about Dragon Age that is unique and not a rip off.

[Eterna]

MasterScribe wrote...

Eterna5 wrote...

there is plenty of stuff about Dragon Age that is unique and not a rip off.

Name one thing that isn't derivative of any other fantasy series. 

Dwarven Legion of the Dead. 

[Gwydden]

MasterScribe wrote...

Eterna5 wrote...

there is plenty of stuff about Dragon Age that is unique and not a rip off.

Name one thing that isn't derivative of any other fantasy series. 

Fantasy and new stuff don't really go hand in hand. As I said, Dragon Age at least has a thicker filter than most fantasy worlds. I don't know you, but that's enough for me. As uninterested as I am in elves and dwarves, that is not going to make me ignore a perfectly good story.

[Gwydden]

Eterna5 wrote...

MasterScribe wrote...

Eterna5 wrote...

there is plenty of stuff about Dragon Age that is unique and not a rip off.

Name one thing that isn't derivative of any other fantasy series. 

Dwarven Legion of the Dead. 

Very Night's Watch, only that... well, dwarven.

[Eterna]

Gwydden wrote...

Eterna5 wrote...

MasterScribe wrote...

Eterna5 wrote...

there is plenty of stuff about Dragon Age that is unique and not a rip off.

Name one thing that isn't derivative of any other fantasy series. 

Dwarven Legion of the Dead. 

Very Night's Watch, only that... well, dwarven.

The Night Watch does not conduct a funeral for new recruits. 

[Eterna]

MasterScribe wrote...

Eterna5 wrote...

MasterScribe wrote...

Eterna5 wrote...

there is plenty of stuff about Dragon Age that is unique and not a rip off.

Name one thing that isn't derivative of any other fantasy series. 

Dwarven Legion of the Dead. 

A military organization that accepts anyone and whose members fight until death?

That's not original.

Their purpose isn't.  Other things are. Like the fact that their entire society thinks they are dead. 

[Navasha]

I actually like the juxtaposition of certain themes throughout the game.

For wxample,slavery and control is a pretty prevalent theme throughout the game. The mages are controlled by the Circles, which are controlled by the Templars, which are controlled by the Chantry through lyrium addiction. Tevinter uses the most obvious form of slavery and the Qunari also are also blatantly slaves to their own religion.

The societal caste system comparisons are another. Humans have various castes ranging from royalty to impoverished. Dwarves have their nobility to their casteless. Then you have the Qunari who have different castes of an equal level but lose all their freedom to achieve it. Then you have the Dalish who are also all fairly equal but have the most freedom of them all, even if they are despised for it.

Just a lot of different ways to compare everything in Dragon Age. I daresay, you could easily write a college level term paper on the different societies introduced in Dragon Age.

[Iron Star]

The most important thing in the DA universe is the characters. The way Bioware makes them really feel alive in a way which makes us players truly care about them (be it by hatred or love) is the sinlge most important part in what makes dragon age so compelling, imo.

other than that, it's how the writers have managed to take a pretty generic, run-to-the-mill fantasy setting, and spun it's major founding pillars and make them pretty unique to much of the other fantasy universes we have today. They took magic, which is often symbolized with power and reverence, and made it threatening and feared, to the point where mages are locked up and guarded from the moment they're born until the day they die.

They took the giant, alien horned beastmen, often shown as violent and barbaric, and made them into a race almost entirely devoted to order, and converting the misguided and dirty humans for their own good, by any means necessary. In most fantasy settings, humanity is usually the most developed and powerful race, or second only to the eternal and ascended elves, who just happens to be second-class citizens in dragon age. Forced to live in ghettos, uneducated and barely surviving on a scrape-by income, except the hateful few elves who choose to live a nomadic life in order to try and restore their lost glory.

Dwarves keep some of their stereotypical traits, such as living within mountains and being very crafty, but instead of a simple society where most dwarves drink ale and brawl all day they have an extremely strict caste system, where being highborn is paramount, more so than anything else, in fact.

I don't really know where I'm going with this post, but I suppose you get the gist of it.

TL;DR: Bioware take commonly used fantasy tropes and makes a unique twist of them. And they write compelling characters.