205 réponses à ce sujet

[AlanC9]

you can't really use Kotor as an example because your character had been given false memories to hide the fact that he used to be the Big Bad.

 

 

What if there hadn't been any twist, though?

[Sylvius the Mad]

you can't really use Kotor as an example because your character had been given false memories to hide the fact that he used to be the Big Bad.

Since the game never even hints at the content of those memories, however, they could be literally anything you can imagine.

Regarding Inquisition, we don't yet know enough about the game to know how well a blank slate would work.

But it would have worked fine in DAO (arguably better than the city elf), and I frankly don't remember DA2 well enough to make a strong claim.

[Mirrman70]

Since the game never even hints at the content of those memories, however, they could be literally anything you can imagine.

Regarding Inquisition, we don't yet know enough about the game to know how well a blank slate would work.

But it would have worked fine in DAO (arguably better than the city elf), and I frankly don't remember DA2 well enough to make a strong claim.

 

in DAO it wouldn't have worked at all because the Origins were literally part of the game. Dragon Age: Origins.  the only way you could make a blank slate character in that game would have been to have a recruit fresh into camp and then have to answer a series of questions to create a back-story. DA2 the game is about Hawke not some nameless individual referred to by their job title. also I agree with city elf having the least amount of sense to it but in a heavily story driven game where everyone has semi-important pasts you have to have some kind of background. At the very least there has to be some kind of reason to you being at the peace conference. Dalish elves might be passing through, dwarves and qunari might be mercenaries the non-mage human PC might be a member of a dignitaries group or the mage one could be part of the Mage Rebellions delegation. I just personally feel like leaving it as a complete blank slate would generate plot holes from the beginning.

[KC_Prototype]

Well Hawke regain his/her noble status so they weren't a commoner no more and besides, why would you want to be a commoner when being a noble is fun??!! I loved the Human Noble origin in DAO and can't wait to play as a human Inquisitor in DAI!

[Schreckstoff]

Well Hawke regain his/her noble status so they weren't a commoner no more and besides, why would you want to be a commoner when being a noble is fun??!! I loved the Human Noble origin in DAO and can't wait to play as a human Inquisitor in DAI!

Hawke gained noble status he never was a noble.

[KC_Prototype]

Hawke gained noble status he never was a noble.

I know, but his maternal side was. 

[Schreckstoff]

I know, but his maternal side was.

Did any of them ever take up the name of Amell again? Hawke didn't but dunno about Leandra.

[Maria Caliban]

I disagree.

The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearl'd;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
Sylvius the Mad and In Exile are arguing.

All 's right with the world.

[Il Divo]

All roleplaying is head canon. Even in tabletop games, your character's thoughts and motives and objectives exist only in your head.

 

All fanfiction is head canon, I think is a bit more accurate (and that's nothing against fanfiction). Thoughts, motives, objectives exist in your head, much like in real life. Everything else exists outside of your head and requires something external as a stimulus to the player, again much like real life. 

[Il Divo]

@Sylvius the Mad: I disagree that they ever really were.  Unless you played your table top strictly mathematically (and some do).

 

A computer could never possibly be as free form as table top.  Computer RPGs are inferior in every way except for friend count which comes in nice when I feel like playing RPGs are 2 A.M. or something.

 

Agreed. I absolutely love my Bioware RPGs (and many others), but nothing has compared to having a DM on the spot who can react to your decisions. Of course, YMMV depending on DM ability. 

[Sylvius the Mad]

in DAO it wouldn't have worked at all because the Origins were literally part of the game. Dragon Age: Origins. the only way you could make a blank slate character in that game would have been to have a recruit fresh into camp and then have to answer a series of questions to create a back-story.

I'd say we should skip the questions. The game doesn't need to know the backstory.

[Han Shot First]

Not really what the OP is asking for, but I think it would be cool in a future DA title to have a human warrior companion who is from a common background. It would be fun to have a warrior companion who wasn't chivalrous & knightly, and instead a little rough around the edges. Someone like Bronn, basically...

 

Spoiler

 

[CronoDragoon]

If I wanted the freedom to headcanon everything about my character and the characters that I associate with, I would simply write my own fiction. I much prefer inhabiting a character with a defined backstory but undefined personality, and party members that act 95% on their own, with the possibility of me helping them through a problem or giving sage advice and possibly receiving some, as friends (or people stuck with each other) can tend to do.. That is the sweet-spot of player discretion to me.

[Lurklen]

I'd say we should skip the questions. The game doesn't need to know the backstory.

It does if you want any sort of reactivity to your backgrounds, which is something people seem to like. If you don't want that then no the questions aren't needed but that seems to be very counter to what Bioware wants to achieve with their recent output. A reactive world that is affected by the players existence, beyond them being the protagonist. Really, the Elder Scrolls games seem to be much better at what you're describing, at least among those games produced by big western developers. Though they fail in many other areas. As is very often the case you and the Devs at Bioware seem to be at slightly cross purposes. 

 

 On topic, I think the main reason we don't get any human commoners is Bioware wanted to avoid the chosen one/farm boy trope. Which is kind of moot now that you're some kind of fade Jesus, sole saviour of the world this time. One reason might be that being a peasant one place is pretty similar to being a peasant every other place and they feel like that story has been told many times before. Honestly I think a soldier background would be really fitting and at least somewhat plausible. It didn't happen often but sometimes regular soldiers through feats of awesomeness or quirks of fate rose to very high positions of authority. Farmers not so much.  

[Sylvius the Mad]

It does if you want any sort of reactivity to your backgrounds, which is something people seem to like. If you don't want that then no the questions aren't needed but that seems to be very counter to what Bioware wants to achieve with their recent output. A reactive world that is affected by the players existence, beyond them being the protagonist.

I wouldn't suggest that players who want that should choose the mysterious stranger origin.

Really, the Elder Scrolls games seem to be much better at what you're describing, at least among those games produced by big western developers. Though they fail in many other areas.

Also on reactivity, I don't find human behaviour particularly predictable, so it doesn't bother me when NPCs don't say the right thing based on who I am. I don't know what the right thing would be.

Like combat. If TES didn't have action combat, thise games would be amazing (imagine Skyrim with VATS, and unlimited action points).

However, BioWare is better at writing NPCs and creating believable worlds. The seamless open worlds that BethSoft makes have significant problems related to scale.

[Nimzo Witch]

I'm glad this thread went so far. It looks like many people prefer a human noble vs. a human non-noble. Still, I would be happy if Bioware alternated between the two types of background.

A couple of clarifications.

1) I am well aware of Dragon Age's storyline and Hawke's status and that his/her is a story of rising to some sort of influence from ashes; what I say by labeling him/her as "noble" is that he/she is one of the few descendants of a formerly influential noble family from Kirkwall, which adds some sort of "sense of entitlement" to the whole rising to power and becoming a champion thing (because of his blood and family origins). Being a "noble" is not a position or a job as some people seem to believe by reading some posts; it is something that you acquire by birth.

2) I have the impression that according to some people, only nobles can be effective leaders and "professionals" in Thedas's world. Well, this seems to me to be a quite limited view. Without resorting to examples from actual European Middle Ages history and society, I will resort to few examples of leaders and soldiers with relatively humble origins from the DA world that come easily and immediately to my mind, but I am sure many others could be found by re-reading the Codex entries (or replaying the games). These are Loghain, Ser Cauthrien, and Meredith. All these characters' backgrounds are very fascinating to me, and I wish I could play as one of these.

[DarthLaxian]

So, it has been confirmed that whatever the class of choice, a human Inquisitor will be a noble (ironically, it was around the anniversary of the takeover of the Bastille in Paris). Why don't we ever have the chance of playing as a commoner? The scrapped human commoner origin from DA:O is still my biggest regret from that game. So far, the only human character we can play are nobles of some sort (Couslands, Hawkes/Amells, Trevelyans) while I think that rising to power from a condition of minor importance would make for a much cooler game - apart from the fact that nobles are usually arrogant and irksome.

 

You are one strange person...at least if you are not a noble (or rich) in real-life, because why would anyone who is unremarkable in RL (and most of us are - we are not rich and/or noble, nor do many of us have any real power)

 

I mean, if I had the choice I would never want to be a commoner (commoners get ignored, get killed etc. whenever the rich an powerful want to play their game (not talking about Orlais particularly, it's like that everywhere IMHO))

 

greetings LAX

[Nimzo Witch]

You are one strange person...at least if you are not a noble (or rich) in real-life, because why would anyone who is unremarkable in RL (and most of us are - we are not rich and/or noble, nor do many of us have any real power)

 

I mean, if I had the choice I would never want to be a commoner (commoners get ignored, get killed etc. whenever the rich an powerful want to play their game (not talking about Orlais particularly, it's like that everywhere IMHO))

 

greetings LAX

Well, in my country of origin and probably even in the one where I live now I have been told all the time that I belong to some kind of "intellectual elite" but I can't say I really wield any tipe of power or wealth.

The thing is, I do not play RPGs because I want to be "someone different". I'm pretty ok with what I am now. I rather play RPGs for the value of the story and of the causes that our characters fight for: in particular I like the DA world for the realism of Thedas' politics immersed in a deep fantasy lore. In general, I do not like to fight for the causes of the rich and powerful people, so I do not want my character to be a "winner" type of person who is also a noble.

[The Elder King]

I still don't understand how Hawke is compared to the Cousland, since he grew up as a commoner, and became rich thanks to the DR expediction, not family's money.
Yes, Leandra was of Noble birth, but it didn't help them entering Kirwkall or becoming rich. If anything, it's possible Hawke's new wealth (as well as Hawke's role in saving Seamus) might've convinced the viscount to grant them their Noble status again.
Hawke's story is about rising to power from a poor background.

[Sister Goldring]

I would like to play a commoner, more specifically I would like to play a commoner armed with a +3 muckrake named Victory.

 

Commoner backgrounds and ridiculous weaponry brought much joy into my D&D playing youth.  Nobles can pay for armour and weaponry right off the bat, where's the fun in that?  The epic 'nicking stuff to equip yourself' quest, was always such an enjoyable start to an adventure.  

[SamaraDraven]

Well in Dragon Age II, Hawke had a mother from a minor noble family but really Hawke was as common as they come. That aside, I just really like having the choice between being a noble and not. There's a difference of expectations between the two. Mind you, even if I can't choose to play as a commoner, my highborn PC will be crass and lewd and messy - swear like a sailor drink like a fish - enough to be as good as. LOL!

[LPPrince]

Hawke was a commoner;DA2 was all about a commoner rising up to become something more than just run of the mill.

 

And funny enough, it started with running.

 

Anyway, DA has gone longer without playing a noble than it has playing a commoner, so I welcome the return to human nobles being available.

[SamaraDraven]

Regardless of how long one has been done over the other or which has been done more, I just want there to be the option to choose either.

[In Exile]

I'm glad this thread went so far. It looks like many people prefer a human noble vs. a human non-noble. Still, I would be happy if Bioware alternated between the two types of background.

A couple of clarifications.

1) I am well aware of Dragon Age's storyline and Hawke's status and that his/her is a story of rising to some sort of influence from ashes; what I say by labeling him/her as "noble" is that he/she is one of the few descendants of a formerly influential noble family from Kirkwall, which adds some sort of "sense of entitlement" to the whole rising to power and becoming a champion thing (because of his blood and family origins). Being a "noble" is not a position or a job as some people seem to believe by reading some posts; it is something that you acquire by birth.

2) I have the impression that according to some people, only nobles can be effective leaders and "professionals" in Thedas's world. Well, this seems to me to be a quite limited view. Without resorting to examples from actual European Middle Ages history and society, I will resort to few examples of leaders and soldiers with relatively humble origins from the DA world that come easily and immediately to my mind, but I am sure many others could be found by re-reading the Codex entries (or replaying the games). These are Loghain, Ser Cauthrien, and Meredith. All these characters' backgrounds are very fascinating to me, and I wish I could play as one of these.

 

I think you're going to always have a "chosen" or otherwise "elevated through talent" background, whether a character is a commoner or not. It's going to be unavoidable. The sense of entitlement will just come from how awesome you are despite fancy blood. Your "nobility" is your status as a BAMF.