19658 réponses à ce sujet

[Finnn62]

Biologically speaking, we don't have the faintest clue how biology works in Thedas.

 

True, true, but assuming it is similar to real life biology, I am now thinking that the different races of Thedas could have been divergent populations of common ancestors on the verge of becoming separate species when they rediscovered each other. This would explain why some maintain the ability to interbreed. If they actually are closer to separate species it may be that this interbreeding is more difficult and less common than for members of the same "race" possibly producing offspring that have reduced breeding capabilities, similar to mules.

 

 

well, there are certain animals as well, who can interbreed in rare opportunities. for examples tigers and lions. their babys are called hybrid and they're infertile.

 

Yeah, that's a good point  Also, LOL: ligers.

[MisterJB]

Race restriction for romance...

isn't this racist?

"Oh, he's white. I'm Asian. Asian aren't suppose to like white boy. So no I can't like him. Even though he's so nice to me and all"

Sexual orientation is one thing I don't like but I'll probably accept it at one point. But this race thing is a bit over the line for me.

 

I thought Bioware game was about freedom of choice. Not "if you want to get close with A, pick race B only."

No? A person does not need to be romantically or sexually open to every race out there or be called a "racist". People feel attracted to different things.

And while Bioware games are about freedom of choice, we do not complain if companions express preferences for certain view points such as "security" such as Fenris or "freedom" such as Anders. Why should we complain if some companions express preferences for certain races over others in an intimate setting?

It further defines them as characters.

[Finnn62]

No? A person does not need to be romantically or sexually open to every race out there or be called a "racist". People feel attracted to different things.

And while Bioware games are about freedom of choice, we do not complain if companions express preferences for certain view points such as "security" such as Fenris or "freedom" such as Anders. Why should we complain if some companions express preferences for certain races over others in an intimate setting?

It further defines them as characters.

 

Yeah, racist characters! 

 

Haha, Just kidding   fair enough

[HuldraDancer]

No? A person does not need to be romantically or sexually open to every race out there or be called a "racist". People feel attracted to different things.

And while Bioware games are about freedom of choice, we do not complain if companions express preferences for certain view points such as "security" such as Fenris or "freedom" such as Anders. Why should we complain if some companions express preferences for certain races over others in an intimate setting?

It further defines them as characters.

 

I thought that they were referring more to the point that if you're playing one race and despite getting along with one character and being close to them they won't romance you not because they are not interested but because of the race you are and won't romance you until you pick the 'correct' race. 

[MisterJB]

I thought that they were referring more to the point that if you're playing one race and despite getting along with one character and being close to them they won't romance you not because they are not interested but because of the race you are and won't romance you until you pick the 'correct' race. 

People become close friends to each other all the time without being romantically involved for a great number of reasons; personality, gender, race, appearance. Some people have come to call it the "friendzone".

It's really no big deal.

[The Elder King]

We were humans but we romance Garrus and Liara. Isn't that cross species relationship?

Yes, and Bioware never said that cross-species romances won't be present. For example, they confirmed that dwarves have access to non-dwarf relationship.
Want Bioware said is that some race/specie will prevent you to romance some LI, not that all romances will be between members of the same one.

[HuldraDancer]

People become close friends to each other all the time without being romantically involved for a great number of reasons; personality, gender, race, appearance. Some people have come to call it the "friendzone".

It's really no big deal.

 

I'm not arguing about personalities matching up or if a straight pc is trying to woo a gay character those I get it makes sense (even if I do prefer the DA2 approach to be honest) but the race restrictions rub me the wrong way cause it feels like you race is the only thing that will be keeping the relationship from going further and that wouldn't really feel like anything else other than Thedas racism. Like say you make two characters exactly alike aside from their race and they both try to romance one character but the character they are going after rejects one and accepts the other based on their race, it strikes me less as a preference and more as DA racism though I'm sure thats not what the Devs were trying to do at all that its mostly due to animation but I can't help but see it as a very unattractive quality in the companions with race gates.

[daveliam]

I'm not arguing about personalities matching up or if a straight pc is trying to woo a gay character those I get it makes sense (even if I do prefer the DA2 approach to be honest) but the race restrictions rub me the wrong way cause it feels like you race is the only thing that will be keeping the relationship from going further and that wouldn't really feel like anything else other than Thedas racism. Like say you make two characters exactly alike aside from their race and they both try to romance one character but the character they are going after rejects one and accepts the other based on their race, it strikes me less as a preference and more as DA racism though I'm sure thats not what the Devs were trying to do at all that its mostly due to animation but I can't help but see it as a very unattractive quality in the companions with race gates.

 

I know it's kind of a touchy subject, but I kind of feel this way as well.  If the only thing keeping me from romancing a character is my race, it leaves a kind of gross feeling around the whole thing.  I wouldn't mind some races being more difficult to romance, but completely unable altogether strikes a bit of xenophobia, which makes me like that character a bit less.  For example, a character like Velanna I could see being elf-only.  Then again, she was very prejudiced against other races (particularly human), so while it makes sense for her character, it's also part of why I don't really like her much as a character either. 

[Finnn62]

I'm not arguing about personalities matching up or if a straight pc is trying to woo a gay character those I get it makes sense (even if I do prefer the DA2 approach to be honest) but the race restrictions rub me the wrong way cause it feels like you race is the only thing that will be keeping the relationship from going further and that wouldn't really feel like anything else other than Thedas racism. Like say you make two characters exactly alike aside from their race and they both try to romance one character but the character they are going after rejects one and accepts the other based on their race, it strikes me less as a preference and more as DA racism though I'm sure thats not what the Devs were trying to do at all that its mostly due to animation but I can't help but see it as a very unattractive quality in the companions with race gates.

 

As my dad tells me of interracial relationships: "There's already so many problems in relationships. Look at how many people get divorced. If people can find happiness in a relationship with someone that lasts, they shouldn't let something like race get in the way". That said, racism does exist in the real world so I see this as an attempt at "realism" in the Dragon Age universe. Seems fair enough as we've already seen racism towards humans, elves, & qunari in the games. I'd prefer if my companions were a little more tolerant, but I suppose it makes sense that some might not be. Meh, it is what it is.

[PrayingMantis]

Haha, I want an option to call my companions "racist pigs" if they reject me (no matter if they really are racist or not), so i can be a whiny qunari with a victim-complex.

 

Companion: "Look, this can't work out-"

Inquisitor: "PAH! It's because of my horns, isn't it? I knew it."

Companion; "No! It's just" 

Inquisitor: "My ears too pointy for you, too? Hmm?"

Companion: No! Look I just don't-"

Inquisitor: Think you'll look pathetic when standing on toes because of my height, huh?"

Companion: Just stop, I-"

Inquisitor: "Che. You're a shallow man/woman. I didn't know I had such racist pigs in my party." [hairflip and walks away]

[MisterJB]

I'm not arguing about personalities matching up or if a straight pc is trying to woo a gay character those I get it makes sense (even if I do prefer the DA2 approach to be honest) but the race restrictions rub me the wrong way cause it feels like you race is the only thing that will be keeping the relationship from going further and that wouldn't really feel like anything else other than Thedas racism. Like say you make two characters exactly alike aside from their race and they both try to romance one character but the character they are going after rejects one and accepts the other based on their race, it strikes me less as a preference and more as DA racism though I'm sure thats not what the Devs were trying to do at all that its mostly due to animation but I can't help but see it as a very unattractive quality in the companions with race gates.

 Let's say that instead of race, it was about hair color. One companion could be romanced by any race... so long as they had dark hair. Would you still claim racism?

What if it's simply about physical appearances? Maybe Cassandra is not into elves because, lorewise, elves are lithe people with sharp features and short in size while Cassandra finds muscles and tallness and more defined features attractive hence she is romanceable by humans and qunari.

 

Do people have an obligation to be available to every type of person out there regardless of physical apperance? Of course not. Then why should people be obligated to be available to every race out there?

[HuldraDancer]

 Let's say that instead of race, it was about hair color. One companion could be romanced by any race... so long as they had dark hair. Would you still claim racism?

What if it's simply about physical appearances? Maybe Cassandra is not into elves because, lorewise, elves are lithe people with sharp features and short in size while Cassandra finds muscles and tallness and more defined features attractive hence she is romanceable by humans and qunari.

 

Do people have an obligation to be available to every type of person out there regardless of physical apperance? Of course not. Then why should people be obligated to be available to every race out there?

No I wouldn't call it DA racism because hair color does not equal race, I would mark it up to being a stupid check mark though (like would you really be interested in anyone that would tell you they'd date you if only you had blond hair? That's stupid) This is all about animation when you get down to it as well so the race gates most likely won't even make sense lore wise either.

 

Its a video game one where we already have a small pool of people to choose from for optional romance content made even smaller by set sexualities and now ever smaller by race gating I don't think its unreasonable for me to want to play as my favorite race and be able to romance a character without having to deal with a race gate.

[Mukora]

Biologically speaking separate species should be unable interbreed, but we know that's not true (at least of elves & humans) because of characters like Feynriel.

Meet the liger.

 

Or, more mundanely: The mule.

 

... has it been mentioned if half-elves like Feynriel are sterile or not?

[daveliam]

 Let's say that instead of race, it was about hair color. One companion could be romanced by any race... so long as they had dark hair. Would you still claim racism?

What if it's simply about physical appearances? Maybe Cassandra is not into elves because, lorewise, elves are lithe people with sharp features and short in size while Cassandra finds muscles and tallness and more defined features attractive hence she is romanceable by humans and qunari.

 

Do people have an obligation to be available to every type of person out there regardless of physical apperance? Of course not. Then why should people be obligated to be available to every race out there?

 

I think it's the outright refusal part that doesn't sit well with me.  If someone prefers blondes, that's one thing.  Everyone has preferences.  But it is very rare to run across someone who will flat out refuse to date someone who is brunette.  That's odd. 

 

If we take it to race, it's one thing to find people outside of your race to be attractive.  It is odd to say that you will only date outside of your race.  There are some odd and uncomfortable implications there.

 

Again, if someone prefers one race over another, it's fine.  Make it harder for them to initiate the romance.  But to say that the only reason why they won't romance the PC is because they are a dwarf?  That's unfortunate and would make me like the character a little less. 

 

ETA:  I find the biology conversation interesting (as a biology teacher who works at a zoo!).  However, I have to say that race and species are really complicated constructs.  It appears to me that human, dwarf, elf, and qunari function more like "races" than "species".  i don't think the DA team takes a hardline sociobiological approach to romances.  Even in Mass Effect, they blurred the line and at one point called the Asari and "all-female race", even though they are referred to as a species elsewhere.

[Finnn62]

Meet the liger.

 

Or, more mundanely: The mule.

 

... has it been mentioned if half-elves like Feynriel are sterile or not?

 

I'd be interested to know that, as well, honestly.

[Kimarous]

Also, yeah, how sad. God forbid you play as something other then a straight male.

 

I can't speak for everyone else, but the reason I don't really play something other than a straight male is because... well... that's what I am. That's what I identify with, and I have a hard time getting into any other mindset.

 

Deviating from Dragon Age for a second, let's talk Mass Effect. As a guy in real life, watching a random Let's Play, Kaiden strikes me as pretty dang dull. Playing the game as a male character, more or less same reaction. Playing as a female character, however... there was a little something about the chemistry between him and FemShep that made me go "doki doki doki" / gave me the feels, and I really started to regret my initial belief that "Yep, this'll be my Liara run - Kaiden sacrifice, standard procedure" (not helped by how I was playing a Sentinel, which made him feel redundant as far as combat went). Seriously, I've done whole evil playthroughs where I haven't felt so heartless.

 

Speaking of which, female-female romance. "HURR HURR HURR GURL ON GURL IS HAUWT!!!" That's the only way I've processed a lesbian romance in the past, and I've gotten to the point where I feel really icky about even considering the option, both from a personal standpoint and from social stigma.

 

As for male-male... I don't feel comfortable with that and that's all I'm going to say on the matter.

 

To recap:

- Straight as male feels most natural.

- Straight as female has potential.

- Lesbian makes be feel kinda bad.

- Homosexual male isn't happening.

[daveliam]

I can't speak for everyone else, but the reason I don't really play something other than a straight male is because... well... that's what I am. That's what I identify with, and I have a hard time getting into any other mindset.

 

I don't think that you or anyone else needs to justify why you play as a particular type of character.  While I get very happy when I hear straight guys say that they have done gay male playthroughs, I can't very well get upset at a straight guy who isn't interested in doing so when I know full well that, when given a choice, I will always (literally 100% of the time) play my male characters as gay.  It makes me sad to see that other people won't try an m/m playthrough at least once, but, frankly I think it's not my business to tell them how to play the game.

 

I get frustrated when I see people chastising other players for essentially not role-playing "enough" for their liking.  If I only want to play as a lesbian qunari, why would that matter for anyone else?  If you only want to play as a straight white human male character, why should that matter to me? 

 

The only place where it should matter is when people who aren't getting equal options are told to suck it up and play as another combination.  That is BS.  In that case, the devs should do what they can ahead of time to make sure that all combinations have a somewhat equitable playthrough. 

[Finnn62]

Speaking of which, female-female romance. "HURR HURR HURR GURL ON GURL IS HAUWT!!!" That's the only way I've processed a lesbian romance in the past, and I've gotten to the point where I feel really icky about even considering the option, both from a personal standpoint and from social stigma.

 

I probably should feel bad for thinking "GIRL ON GIRL IS HAWT!!!" but, to heck with it, I really don't. The only relationship that I won't consider in these games is male/male, because as a heterosexual male, in order for any romance scenes to get me excited they have to at least have a female in there somewhere. That's just how I see them, though. There's nothing wrong with other people playing differently.

[ClassicBox]

How is being only attracted to certain races 'racist?' Racist is "a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another." How are your sexual preferences believing some one is superior? I'm sure they can't help not being attracted to certain races. ^^"

[MisterJB]

I think it's the outright refusal part that doesn't sit well with me.  If someone prefers blondes, that's one thing.  Everyone has preferences.  But it is very rare to run across someone who will flat out refuse to date someone who is brunette.  That's odd. 

 

If we take it to race, it's one thing to find people outside of your race to be attractive.  It is odd to say that you will only date outside of your race.  There are some odd and uncomfortable implications there.

 

Again, if someone prefers one race over another, it's find.  Make it harder for them to initiate the romance.  But to say that the only reason why they won't romance the PC is because they are a dwarf?  That's unfortunate and would make me like the character a little less. 

Well, you're free to feel that way but I don't think you have any basis to call someone like that racist.

Personally, I think that the implication that there is a reason; whether it be because of race or the way you eat damned Oreos; why a person can't refuse to engage in a romantic or sexual relationship with someone is much more uncomfortable.

After all, how many girls have been attacked after turning down someone? I don't believe that this is what you meant but you can see where this trail leads us.

[Fiery Phoenix]

I don't think that you or anyone else needs to justify why you play as a particular type of character.  While I get very happy when I hear straight guys say that they have done gay male playthroughs, I can't very well get upset at a straight guy who isn't interested in doing so when I know full well that, when given a choice, I will always (literally 100% of the time) play my male characters as gay.  It makes me sad to see that other people won't try an m/m playthrough at least once, but, frankly I think it's not my business to tell them how to play the game.

 

I get frustrated when I see people chastising other players for essentially not role-playing "enough" for their liking.  If I only want to play as a lesbian qunari, why would that matter for anyone else?  If you only want to play as a straight white human male character, why should that matter to me? 

 

The only place where it should matter is when people who aren't getting equal options are told to suck it up and play as another combination.  That is BS.  In that case, the devs should do what they can ahead of time to make sure that all combinations have a somewhat equitable playthrough. 

100% with you here.

 

In my case, speaking as a straight male, I view romances as a little side-story, a subplot that offers something you wouldn't experience if you only stick to the main plot. As a result, I choose to play whoever I want and romance whoever appeals to me. This generally translates into a straight male character and one or more female characters.

 

Example: I played FemShep in ME2 and romanced Thane at least three different times. Not because I'm attracted to him personally, but because I actually liked his romance and relationship with FemShep. I thought it was a lovely little love story and enjoyed it just for that.

 

In DA:I, I will be romancing Sera with my female Inquisitor. And it has nothing to do with whether I 'identify' with playing a lesbian female or not; it's entirely about Sera herself, who just happens to be a lesbian character.

[daveliam]

I probably should feel bad for thinking "GIRL ON GIRL IS HAWT!!!" but, to heck with it, I really don't. The only relationship that I won't consider in these games is male/male, because as a heterosexual male, in order for any romance scenes to get me excited they have to at least have a female in there somewhere. That's just how I see them, though. There's nothing wrong with other people playing differently.

 

I find this interesting because I would much rather play as a lesbian than a straight woman or straight man.  I would rather my PC be gay (or bisexual) than straight.  That comes first then (very closely) comes gender.  I strongly prefer playing as a gay guy.  I find people's preferences interesting. 

 

How is being only attracted to certain races 'racist?' Racist is "a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another." How are your sexual preferences believing some one is superior? I'm sure they can't help not being attracted to certain races. ^^"

 

I don't know if I'd say "racist", but I certainly side-eye people who make claims that they are not attracted to "white people" or "asian people".  It seems wrong to categorize all people of once race in this way.  I can understand preferring one race over another because you find the features common within that race to be attractive.  But to outright refuse someone based on their race is questionable in my opinion.  There is a lot  of variety in looks within a race and even more so around personality.  To completely disregard a race entirely is odd to me. 

Also, if you are only dating a particular race over another, aren't you essentially believing "that a particular race is superior to another" in this regard?

[daveliam]

Well, you're free to feel that way but I don't think you have any basis to call someone like that racist.

Personally, I think that the implication that there is a reason; whether it be because of race or the way you eat damned Oreos; why a person can't refuse to engage in a romantic or sexual relationship with someone is much more uncomfortable.

After all, how many girls have been attacked after turning down someone? I don't believe that this is what you meant but you can see where this trail leads us.

 

I'd like to point out that I've never used the word racist in this discussion.

[Former_Fiend]

Also, little bit of fact correction regarding the hybrid discussion; while male ligers are sterile, females aren't infertile; they can produce children when mating with a male lion.

 

Whether or not that has any bearing on half elves or half dwarves(it rarely does in fantasy), I have no idea. Just thought I'd point it out.