62 réponses à ce sujet

[yullyuk]

the protaganist isnt strictly 'young' the age range differ for people, so it could be anywere between 20 - 40+ if you make them 'look' that old, the main thing to take away is age isnt strictly defined as no one will most likely ask which doesnt pin down how old they are, i think thats more down to the player decide for themselves

[Nukekitten]

In a battle most soldiers are not wearing plate and there are normally not enough mage medics to heal all of the dying or injured. The same occurrence happens in any battle.

Be that as it may, your assertion - if I understand you correctly - was that the only way to survive was to be lucky. But it's not hard to envisage a situation under which the way to survive is to be valuable enough to get healing/good armour/not be in the immediate front lines.

Sure, you might randomly end up dead anyway - a stray bolt or what have you - but you can most definitely slant your odds.

Imagine you're a mage. What sort of idiot places their mages in the front lines of the army as crossbow fodder? Not that mages don't have defensive wards that'll help to turn aside ranged weapons anyway, mind.

Seems to me the way to survive is not to be Peon#6574, standing there in the front ranks with a hastily weaponised farming implement.
 

Magic healing is also an abstraction for gameplay purposes. I doubt that the healing magic could regrow limbs. Anders in one of the cutscence in DA2 is extremely drained curing a refugee boy. I seriously doubt that any 50 year old mage could do that multiple times in a row which most battles would require. Whereas a younger mage would probably have more stamina and an ability to recover quicker.
 
The older mage may have more mental fortitude to withstand mystical attacks than the younger mage. That comes down to experience. The ability to wage prolonged battle is significantly weighed in favor of the young.

We just don't know enough about how magic works to say there. Mages with lyrium and or blood magic have performed feats that seem to be beyond other mages, and Wynne and Morrigan were of comparable utility. It may be that a younger mage would have been completely incapable of healing the refugee boy, not able to wield their power with enough finesse or efficiency or what have you. Or that Anders merge with Justice allowed him more power than any 20 y.o. mage of comparable experience would have had.

I'm just not seeing sufficient information to say one way or the other there.

Though even if it were true that older mages were weaker than younger, I don't get the argument there. A younger mage would be more valuable than an older one, at least for things that required brute displays of power, but older mages would still be more valuable than your average conscript and would be used and protected accordingly by and half-way intelligent commander.

[DarthLaxian]

*snip*

So, does anyone here feels the way I do? Would anyone be interested in backstory that doesn’t involve not-that-old parents or your childhood friends that are young? Is there a chance we could create an Inquisitor that’s not only looks middle-aged/older, but also addressed as such?

Sorry for my, english beforehand - not my first language.

 

 

 

Hey,

 

Well, while I would like the option of playing an older protagonist, there are certain problems with it (not taking into account that I would not like to be forced into it either, because I like people I can relate to...40 Year old (hell even 35 year olds) are not that kind of people...I am in my 20's after all!):

 

1. There's the history of the character, the older he is, the more story there is to tell (making a "blank slate" where players can fill in most of the details themselves - particularly the ones that roleplay the characters, viewing them as real people more or less and making decision how they think a certain type of character would - very hard to pull off)

 

2. Most of the playerbase is young 18-30 on average I would say) and they like playing relatable characters (have stated that above ^^)

 

3. Most people like really good looking characters and that hard to pull of with older character (not everybody is Richard Gere (or similar) and looks hot (at least women say so...I would not really know ^^) while being over 50)

 

...(there's more, but the top 3 should be enough ^^ - don't want to write a WOT (wall of text) either )

 

greetings LAX

[Gamemako]

Boxing is also a controlled sport. It does not compare to getting a sword through the gut, head trauma from a sword cut  or having limbs damaged from axes.

If you receive any of these types of wounds and are not subsequently killed, then you're fantastically lucky. Even if you survive the wound itself, there's a person who did it who doesn't plan on walking away while you're down. Furthermore, if you did survive the wound and the fight, then it either heals fully and doesn't matter or you retire due to no longer being unable to fight properly. Thus, there's really no issue with an aged protagonist and "accumulated wounds".

The only reasonable concern here is head trauma, which is like boxing, except that boxers suffer it more frequently.

I seriously doubt that any 50 year old mage could do that multiple times in a row which most battles would require. Whereas a younger mage would probably have more stamina and an ability to recover quicker.

[citation needed]

[hobbit of the shire]

I would imagine this would add a whole other layer to dialogue writing.  Not that old and young people are clear cut, but I think a substantial part of the dialogue would simply not work for an overly young vs. overly old character.  So the game would have to frequently provide both options (dialogue options check for age).  And all the other characters have to respond as such as well.

 

I think an older character would be pretty neat, though, if the game was made with the intention of having an older character.  They would still have to be fairly clean slate, though, for RP reasons.  Had a boring life and then some s*** happened and forced the character to action.  I would be very intrigued if this came to fruition.

[Nefla]

Just an excuse to start out incompetent and level 1. In an action game for example you could be older because you already start with skills, you just learn more special abilities as you go on, plus since you're not shaping your character they could have any backstory they want which could include you being experienced and knowledgeable.

[sunnydxmen]

who wants to be old modern society is all about being young and hot sexy and skinny if your fat your ugly plain in simple besides you can make your charcter lookold to match your preferences.

[aTigerslunch]

DA:O you could design the Warden to look old if you wished.

 

I think DA2 allowed It as well

 

DA:I should allow wrinkling as well since previous two did, and it was stated 20 -40 age frame.

[Patriciachr34]

First let me say that age is relative. Since I just turned 50 I might have some perspective on this subject. It seems that y'all think that 50 is old. That is simply not the case. At 40 many of us middle agers take e moment to reflect on their life. Many of us take this opportunity to mwk changes based on our life experience. And, many of us can physically put you youngsters to shame. So it it is very plausible that the inquisitor can be older and still fit into the storyline.

[Realmzmaster]

First let me say that age is relative. Since I just turned 50 I might have some perspective on this subject. It seems that y'all think that 50 is old. That is simply not the case. At 40 many of us middle agers take e moment to reflect on their life. Many of us take this opportunity to mwk changes based on our life experience. And, many of us can physically put you youngsters to shame. So it it is very plausible that the inquisitor can be older and still fit into the storyline.

 

Today 50 is not old, but most crpgs are based on medieval times and 50 was considered old. 50 is still considered old for a combatant in a war or battle. Very few if any 50 years olds were or are on the front lines of battle.

 

All the information I cite comes from http://www.statistic...y-u-s-military/ which bases it information on Defense Manpower Research at http://defense.gov

 

The number of military personnel between 41-59 in the Army is 8.6%. The average age is 29.  The Marine Corps has even lower percentages for ages 41-59 at 3.3%. The average age being 25. The other services you can look up at the site.

 

Most of the men above 40 are normally officers or a high ranking non-com like Sergeant-Major, who have made the service a career and are looking to retire from it. Most of those men are not on the front lines, but usually training the men who will be.

 

In a fantasy game the gamer can make the character look or be any age he/she pleases, but the writers are usually going to have a specific age range when they write a particular character.

 

Even in competitive sports there are very few if any men or women in their 40-50's out dueling men and women in their 20-30s. 

[aTigerslunch]

I'm 41 myself. I did serve in the army as well when I was younger. I just consider age as just a number, always did ever since I was still in school.

[Brass_Buckles]

Honestly, I get the impression that 50-60 is very old in Thedas.  And it's not due to the backward medieval society aspect, but probably due to Thedas being a hostile world in general.  Most people are poor, there was recently a Blight, darkspawn still occasionally attack.  Plus there's wildlife to worry about, and bandits, and raiders, and dragons, and demons...

 

Magic or no, also, people's bodies tend to wear out.  I'd be okay with an older protagonist--and DAI isn't actually going with a youngster in the sense that a JRPG does (JRPGs tend to star teenaged protagonists), but I also see what others are saying about younger protagonists being more likely to be learning new skills, less likely to be slowing down from age, etc.An older person should already be fairly skilled.

 

I will also say that I'm sure there are, and were in the real world, some athletes and warriors who were very capable into their 50s or even 60s, but again, the body begins to wear down after a certain amount of time.  This person might still be in excellent shape for their age, but they likely would not compare to how they were when they were 20 or 30 years old.

 

Having said all of that, the Inquisitor could be in their early- to mid-40s.  While that's not really old, 40 is also definitely no longer a youngster.  You could play a 20-something Inquisitor as well, which is fairly young, but again it's not like in a Japanese RPG where you'd be playing a 15-year-old.

 

I think that 30-40something is probably the best range for the Inquisitor, considering there will be a lot of physical activity involved (even for a mage) and yet you'd need to be old enough to command a certain amount of authority.  Not all 50-somethings or 60-somethings would be put off by so much physical activity, but even those who could handle it would mostly find it exhausting to a degree that someone a couple of decades younger wouldn't.  While some 20-somethings have managed to become leaders of companies and the like, the modern world doesn't tend to take them all that seriously for the most part.  And, as it happens, I don't believe the medieval world did, either.  A twenty-year-old man was still often called a "lad."

[I SOLD MY SOUL TO BIOWARE]

I plan on, and look forward to playing a slightly more world-weary protagonist in DA:I. 38 perhaps. 

 

However, I wasn't terribly bothered by Warden and Hawke being stuck with a younger age - Warden who I pictured around 22, Hawke who was canonically 25 in act 1 if I recall. I found it fit the narrative. Duncan didn't recruit the green-as-grass Warden thinking she would be the big guddamn hero/leader of everything, circumstance forced him/her into that role and they gradually got into it. Hawke...was Hawke. Oldest child in a family with a mother who hardly looks old at all. Hawke was kind of just blundering his/her way from situation to situation. 

 

Inquisitor seems like he/she is going to be selected specifically for a leadership role, and though from a gameplay standpoint they might be green as grass as well...I'd prefer if, for story reasons, the Inquisitor was slightly more experienced for such a role. 

[Realmzmaster]

In the medieval world a young person was considered a lad until he proved himself. If a squire reached knighthood he was called sir. He had earned that title of respect. A young person who had proven himself in battle was no longer called a lad unless it was a term of endearment and never in front of any men under his command.

He would have to prove himself in battle, but once that was done the respect was earned.

[themikefest]

I'm 41 myself. I did serve in the army as well when I was younger. I just consider age as just a number, always did ever since I was still in school.

That's how I look at it. Age is a number.  It has been over 23 years since I wore my uniform and I would've stayed in had I not suffered the injuries and illness that I got in combat.

[BrownMuscle]

I'm 41 myself. I did serve in the army as well when I was younger. I just consider age as just a number, always did ever since I was still in school.

Haha had someone whom tried to look at it that way(37 year old hanging around a bunch of 17-18 yr  olds as friends], but did not work out for him. their are physical.mental. differences from age depending on the individual or culture

[TurretSyndrome]

I think the reason the devs don't want to go with old protagonists is because then they would need to add extra "complain", "lecture" and "reminisce" options for him/her, along with the occasional "my back hurts" and "too old for this sh!t" lines.

[sunnydxmen]

I think the reason the devs don't want to go with old protagonists is because then they would need to add extra "complain", "lecture" and "reminisce" options for him/her, along with the occasional "my back hurts" and "too old for this sh!t" lines.

 

dont forget whippersnapper and respect your elders.

[OrayMoor]

I'm 19 and my dad is and mom are a round 50... I really dont want to play my parents in a roll playing game like DAI...

[In Exile]

Hello people, this my first post so I’m sorry if this topic been addressed before (I used search, but didn’t find anything). I was wondering, does anyone here interested in playing an older Inquisitor? Older, I mean like 50+.
I was always bothered the way DA:O didn’t have at least one origin that wasn’t tied to certain (young) age. Of course, you could create a character that’s looking old, but it totally didn’t make sense in game. If you were a circle-tower mage, of course you’d already passed Harrowing or made Tranquil by your 50s, human noble or casteless dwarf don’t make sense either (they both have older parents). City elf has his wedding day at the beginning. And so on. Even if the game don’t state your exact age, it’s pretty clear that all of protagonists are in their 20s. The same goes for DAII, where your age is stated pretty clearly.
Actually, that’s why I love to play Orlessian Knight-Commander - he/she doesn’t have any backstory, that’s ties him/her to a certain age.
So, does anyone here feels the way I do? Would anyone be interested in backstory that doesn’t involve not-that-old parents or your childhood friends that are young? Is there a chance we could create an Inquisitor that’s not only looks middle-aged/older, but also addressed as such?
Sorry for my, english beforehand - not my first language.

Older characters are harder to justify. Someone with over 5 decades of experience is really embedded in the world. Children - or grandchildren - are common enough that a character either has to have them or have a justification for not having them. You've not only had a lifetime in a profession, but presumably a need to justify why someone capapble enough to be a world changing hero at that age either is or isn't in the public spotlight.

None of this is to say you can't have an old character - but the game basically has to commit to the story working for someone at that age. That's not easy to do.

[In Exile]

I plan on, and look forward to playing a slightly more world-weary protagonist in DA:I. 38 perhaps.

However, I wasn't terribly bothered by Warden and Hawke being stuck with a younger age - Warden who I pictured around 22, Hawke who was canonically 25 in act 1 if I recall. I found it fit the narrative. Duncan didn't recruit the green-as-grass Warden thinking she would be the big guddamn hero/leader of everything, circumstance forced him/her into that role and they gradually got into it. Hawke...was Hawke. Oldest child in a family with a mother who hardly looks old at all. Hawke was kind of just blundering his/her way from situation to situation.

Inquisitor seems like he/she is going to be selected specifically for a leadership role, and though from a gameplay standpoint they might be green as grass as well...I'd prefer if, for story reasons, the Inquisitor was slightly more experienced for such a role.

Duncan recruited you because you were a badass. You weren't picked to be a leader but you never led in DAO - the small posse you picked up isn't tantamount to an organization. It's basically leading a squad. In DAO you got drafted because you were great at killing and all of your issues are resolved through killing.

[XMissWooX]

Doesn't DAI place your protagonist somewhere between 20 and 40? So you could play a slightly older character if you wanted.

Perhaps most protagonists are on the younger side because a 40-year-old player has had experience of being a 20-year-old, whereas a 20-year-old player has had no experience of being a 40-year-old. Thus, it's is easier for older gamers to identify with a younger character than for younger gamers to identify with an older character.

[In Exile]

Doesn't DAI place your protagonist somewhere between 20 and 40? So you could play a slightly older character if you wanted.

Perhaps most protagonists are on the younger side because a 40-year-old player has had experience of being a 20-year-old, whereas a 20-year-old player has had no experience of being a 40-year-old. Thus, it's is easier for older gamers to identify with a younger character than for younger gamers to identify with an older character.

 

We have games with older characters, even outright old characters. The MGS line of games - aside from the IMO unacceptable player-trolling MSG2 - are all based around an older protagonist. So is the Witcher series. Solid Snake was an awesome badass and certainly those games had no issue appealing to younger gamers. 

 

I think what you really see is that as the video game player base gets older, that you'll get games with older protagonists too. We're starting to see that already, as people who were young in the 1990s create games with older protagonists, parental figures, etc. 

[I SOLD MY SOUL TO BIOWARE]

Duncan recruited you because you were a badass. You weren't picked to be a leader but you never led in DAO - the small posse you picked up isn't tantamount to an organization. It's basically leading a squad. In DAO you got drafted because you were great at killing and all of your issues are resolved through killing.

 

You were the leader of your chosen monarch's armies by the end of the game, and you were the Warden Commander and Arl of Amaranthine by Awakening. 

[XMissWooX]

We have games with older characters, even outright old characters. The MGS line of games - aside from the IMO unacceptable player-trolling MSG2 - are all based around an older protagonist. So is the Witcher series. Solid Snake was an awesome badass and certainly those games had no issue appealing to younger gamers. 
 
I think what you really see is that as the video game player base gets older, that you'll get games with older protagonists too. We're starting to see that already, as people who were young in the 1990s create games with older protagonists, parental figures, etc.

I think that's definitely a part of it. Despite the 'stereotypical gamer' being perceived as an 18-25-year-old straight white male, there is actually a very large number of gamers and game developers aged 30+. In fact, the entire 'gamer demographic' is a lot more varied than one might think.
No doubt this has resulted in a demand for more diverse characters, including older protagonists.

I'm just thinking that if I were a developer and I had to choose between a 20-year-old or a 40-year-old character for a specific game, I might feel more inclined to go with the younger one because they would be more 'accessible' to both younger and older players, since anyone over the age of 20 can say "I know what it is/was like to be that age" and draw upon that experience to help their roleplay.

Speaking from personal experience, I know that I generally prefer to play protagonists who are close to my own age, though I have no issue playing characters who are older than me (or who are not my own sex, race, sexuality, etc.).