13 réponses à ce sujet

[Maclimes]

Forgive me if this has been verified already, but do we know with any degree of certainty which background the player elf will have?

 

I've been assuming City Elf, but I'm not sure where I got that.

[David Gaider]

Forgive me if this has been verified already, but do we know with any degree of certainty which background the player elf will have?

 

Believe I mentioned this before, but once again: if you're an elf, you're Dalish.

[Allan Schumacher]

I'd say that it depends on the person. For some (like myself) the dalish origin is not so interesting. Being a city elf felt way more fun.

 

I do agree that the Dalish origin in DAO was probably the least interesting (disclaimer: it was also the first level to load on consoles, so I probably played it more than 200 times....).  The city elf was more interesting and had a stronger sense of conflict (I wonder if it's because it's a bit easier to relate to, and in that sense a bit more "human") which I think set the stage for the City Elf having a greater opportunity at coming across as interesting.

 

That said, it also makes me wonder if some who are very disappointed would end up being pleasantly surprised if the Dalish components were just done better and were considered more interesting?

[Allan Schumacher]

Well, that's speculation and assumption though. The Dalish origin was my favorite. I felt there was incredible conflict; my Warden did NOT want to leave his tribe, and couldn't get over his grief over Tamlen for a long, long time. Did not trust humans either for a long, long time.

 

Yeah it is.  There's going to be anecdotes on both sides (including my own).  I considered it more musing, but yeah I was just philosophizing on potential reasons why one might prefer one of the factions over the other, based on some of the exclusive content they receive (which is often in the origin stories).

[Allan Schumacher]

how many city elves actually rise to prominence as warriors?

 

The important thing to remember is that for the protagonist, they can be (and often are) the exception to the rule.  Unless it's fundamentally impossible for a city elf to become a warrior, I have no problems with exceptional accomplishments.

[Allan Schumacher]

The argument was that since it was already done in origins I suspect it would feel less original... it would be the second exception. I wouldn't have a massive issue with it, I just think Dalish is a significantly better fit.

 

Eh, second exception is still not telling.  Protagonists aren't typically bound by the rules in general because by their nature of being protagonists, they tend to rise above.

[Allan Schumacher]

Boooooooo. Now I'm stuck playing a racist bigot if I go elf.

 

Would it be more palatable if you could portray the Dalish Elf in a way that was less racist and more willing to be collaborative?

[Allan Schumacher]

Well yeah, but then it would go against everything it means to be a dalish. Being dalish is about rejecting all things non-elven and especially anything with human involvement in it, and having a predisposition to it as inferior. It's about hating humans either for taking away a supposed immortality, enslaving them, not falling over easily after the second blight for them to take over, or for still being mad at them after they already beat them so thoroughly. Isolating and rejecting all elves who live with humans unless they come crawling back to them and begging to be let back into the clan, and being very, very, very, ethnocentric and racially minded when making judgements and decisions. Your pretty much living a survival game in a post apocalypse if you're a dalish in the human lands, and you can't afford to have understanding or empathy for these invaders that you have been taught will have no sympathy for you.

 
Sounds to me like a fun opportunity to subvert the extreme position? To recognize that circumstances come up that show that collaboration comes up?
 
 

Not being concerned with the cultural purity of the elves and open to working with uncle tam elves of the alienages, or creators forbid humans, would be paramount to heresy if you're going to play any sort of dalish seriously. A dalish inquisitor would be likely to spit or attempt to shank the divine before ever agreeing to work in any sort of tandem with her and her false religion. The clan come first, and foremost, and everything else is just a minor distraction or inconvenience.

There's nothing suggesting that the short term goals of the Divine, and the short term goals of the Dalish Inquisitor, cannot be in alignment.

[Allan Schumacher]

Well, IIRC David has made posts about having a degree of flexibility for things like statements of religious belief and the like, so it's possible that "going against the grain" with a Dalish character is also a possibility if other player character races are hinted at having some degree of freedom in that regard.

[Allan Schumacher]

I'm of a similar mindset. I was all excited to play as a City Elf as my first playthough, setting up how I think I would play the character...and then this news landed in our lap.

 

This is definitely part of the risk that I tried sharing with people in the "human only protagonist" thread, in that it's not simply allowing the player to be any race, but a lot of the unspoken associations and assumptions that come with it.  And by including something like Qunari, we end up taking away the opportunity to do other things... but then a lot of people are excited by the Qunari too!

 

It's a tough spot and it's sucky but few actions will please everyone, even if on first read of news like that it makes people super excited because that excitement bleeds over into the imagination and the assumptions/hope that it fuels.

 

[Allan Schumacher]

it's just that this news is still a little fresh.

Fair enough and that's understandable.

[David Gaider]

I see some people are disappointed about not being a City Elf?

 

Fair enough, and that's too bad if that's what you were looking forward to. I'd caution anyone who decides who and what their Inquisition PC is going to be prior to knowing anything about the story and their PC's place in it or even how our character generation is going to work. You're setting yourself up for disappointment, and that applies to more fronts than just elves.

 

Duly warned be thee says I.

[Allan Schumacher]

Even I grow tired of cynicism and pessimism

 

It doesn't have to be fueled by cynicism though.  I'm mostly a "hope for the best, expect the worst" type.  Though I suppose it's more "hope for the best, but be okay with the worst."  Any game that doesn't make me think I'll be "okay with the worst" is the type of game that I probably won't buy day one, but may keep an eye on depending on what I feel "hoping for the best" may provide.

[Allan Schumacher]

since the short term goals of the dalish are 'painful death to the divine' they kinda are

 

I disagree.  But I have more context than you.