165 réponses à ce sujet

[Celtic Latino]

I'm well aware the party members and LIs have been set for DAI, and I'm looking forward to it in general, but I'd like to say I really wish there would be a greater balance of female non-humans. In both the Mass Effect and DA games, the male cast of party members are often a greater range of species (often one per species) while the female cast is always predominantly human. This, of course, is excluding DLC and all that.

 

Origins:

Male Human- Alistair, 'Secret'

Male Qunari- Sten

Male Elf- Zevran

Male Dwarf- Oghren

Male Mabari- Dog

Female Human- Leliana, Morrigan, Wynne

 

DA2 (I'll admit, this one wasn't as diverse in general):

Male Human- Anders, Carver, Sebastian

Male Elf- Fenris

Male Dwarf- Varric

Female Human- Aveline, Isabela, Bethany

Female Elf- Merrill

 

Mass Effect 2:

Male Human- Jacob

Male Krogan- Grunt

Male Drell- Thane

Male Turian- Garrus

Male Geth (technically genderless, but used a semi-masculine voice)- Legion

Male Salarian- Mordin

Female Human- Miranda, Jack

Female Quarian- Tali

(Female) Asari- Samara

 

Inquisition:

Male Human- Blackwall, Dorian

Male Spirit- Cole

Male Dwarf- Varric

Male Elf- Solas

Male Qunari- Iron Bull

Female Human- Cassandra, Vivienne

Female Elf- Sera

 

Now, I'll say the DLC added to the diversity. In Origins we got Shale, a genderless golem who was once a female dwarf. In Awakening we got Sigrun and Velanna (a dwarf/elf respectively). In Witch Hunt we got Ariane (Dalish elf). In DA2's MotA, we got Tallis (a female elf). In the Omega DLC for Mass Effect 3 we encountered a female turian (Nyreen). However, they were all DLC, with a bulk of the party members only available for that specific mission (Nyreen, Tallis). Without DLC, these characters would never be encountered.

 

Often times, the less human/not as conventionally attractive alien-type characters encountered are male. We didn't encounter any female turians outside a comic and DLC. We didn't see female Krogan and Salarians until ME3. To be fair, we didn't see male quarians until ME2. The only alien females we seen were the Asari, which are the blue version of the green alien space babe trope. http://tvtropes.org/...kinnedSpaceBabe

Tali was a bit less orthodox, given the bow legs and three toes, but even a picture of her was a photoshopped model in Mass Effect 3.

 

Additionally, we didn't see female dwarves in Dragon Age 2 and DAI will be the first game female qunari are seen and shown (and playable). Dwarves have always been stereotypically male in most fantasy works, with female seeming to be an afterthought or a mention. Fortunately, that's not as much of a problem in the DA-verse, where females have visibility (though much less), but still they are underrated as far as party members go (we only ever got Sigrun).

 

Of course, the characters are what fit the story as opposed to a token or trope. I'd rather a party of humans than a character type forced in due to fan demand. But still, I would like to see a bit more of a balance in the future.

 

Thoughts?

[Vanth]

Can we really classify Morrigan as human?

 

Looking at your lists I think the companions have already been pretty diverse. It is natural that there are some gaps simply because otherwise the cast of companions becomes too big and you have to sacrifice the story. 

[daveliam]

Can we really classify Morrigan as human?

 

?  Why wouldn't we classify her as human?  She's a human mage who can shapeshift because of magic.  What would you classify her as?

[Celtic Latino]

Can we really classify Morrigan as human?

 

Looking at your lists I think the companions have already been pretty diverse. It is natural that there are some gaps simply because otherwise the cast of companions becomes too big and you have to sacrifice the story. 

 

Fundamentally yes I would consider Morrigan to be human. Just a powerful, shapeshifting human with magic.

 

I wouldn't add in companions 'just because', but I'm saying when it comes to companion design right off the bat. For example I like how they did things in the first Mass Effect. They had a male and female human (pretty much the rule foe each game) while the other companions (equally split by gender) were each representative of the various races in the lore. I know you can't do that each time and for the most part, the companion/party member has to fit the story itself, and then there's writers vision (as a writer myself, I'm well aware artistic vision and licensing is extremely important. I'd never want to put in a character just to fill a quota or feel like I 'had to'. But as a fan I'd also say it would be nice to see some more variety).

 

Not against human party members in general, male or female. Leliana, Morrigan, Aveline, Ashley, Cassandra, Vivienne, etc...in general are all very diverse in terms of personality and storyline factor. Just saying that if they're going to add exotic non-human species, it'd be cool to see more females, especially if they are very alien/not very human (turians, krogan, qunari can be argued for since of the DA races they look the least human with the horns and ox-ears). It gets played out when its just males of the 'cool/otherworldly/different/martial/not conventionally attractive' species and maybe only one female that fits the token alien/elf babe while the rest are humans.

[Vanth]

I thought it was implied that Flemeth wasn't human. She is certainly much older than she seems, a character from legend. And Morrigan is her daughter, so...

[daveliam]

I thought it was implied that Flemeth wasn't human. She is certainly much older than she seems, a character from legend. And Morrigan is her daughter, so...

 

Flemeth's origin is pretty vague.  Is she a human woman who uses magic to sustain her life?  Is she a demon?  We know that Morrigan thinks she raises daughters in order to take over their bodies when her current body gets old.  Does that mean that she's not human? 

 

Anyway, that's kind of a moot point because it's also implied that Morrigan isn't her biological daughter anyway.  You can have a whole conversation with her where you and she speculate if she was a child stolen from her family by Flemeth years ago.  

 

I guess, there's nothing really to indicate that Morrigan isn't human.  I could see a line reasoning that would bring you there, but it's speculative and not directly supported (or at least not any more than the other theories) by the lore.

[Celtic Latino]

Plus, the point is, fundamentally Morrigan is human. She's certainly no elf, dwarf or qunari, that's for sure. Even if she's a powerful spirit or something else, she takes the appearance of a human woman.

 

With Flemeth you may have a case considering she changes into a dragon (and could very well be one for all we know). Aside from her shapeshifting talents, Morrigan comes off as a human and nothing more. She was probably just the most ambitious of Flemeth's daughters and most likely she's an adopted mortal who just happened to be sharp-witted and crafty.

[Bayonet Hipshot]

Agree with the OP.

 

Bioware games, especially DA, a very human centric with regards to their female party members. 

 

This is somewhat annoying because as a straight male Warden or straight male Hawke or straight male Inquisitor... 5/6 times you are stuck with a human female for romance. Merrill was the only non human romanceable female, which just sucks. 

 

IMO, for DA4, it would be good for humans of both sexes, especially females, to be in the minority. 

[Celtic Latino]

Agree with the OP.

 

Bioware games, especially DA, a very human centric with regards to their female party members. 

 

This is somewhat annoying because as a straight male Warden or straight male Hawke or straight male Inquisitor... 5/6 times you are stuck with a human female for romance. Merrill was the only non human romanceable female, which just sucks. 

 

IMO, for DA4, it would be good for humans of both sexes, especially females, to be in the minority. 

 

That's been one of my main issues with the DA series in general. Generally speaking if I'm RPing a male elven/dwarven Warden who prefers women, I'm stuck with humans (save for the DN origin which is more of a one night stand).

 

In DAI, you can play as a male elf, qunari or dwarf but the only females available are human where as non-human female PCs have a greater variety in Solas, Sera and Iron Bull. 

 

 loved how they did that in Awakening, making the only female party members elven and dwarven. In future IPs it would be nice to have the female party member/companion cast be just as varied as the male cast. Not all need to be romanceable either nor should they be created with the prospect of being romanceable in mind.

 

I could see DA4 being:

 

Male-

Leading/Stock Male Human Rogue- romanceable obviously

Male Elf Mage- romanceable

Male Golem Warrior - not romanceable because he's a golem (not going there)

Male Human Warrior- not romanceable because he's old and wizened, has a widow who recently passed and has no interest in anyone else/on the last years of his life

 

Female-

Leading/Stock Female Human Mage- romanceable obviously

Female Qunari Rogue- not romanceable because she is already involved with someone/not interested

Female Dwarf Warrior- romanceable, first female dwarf romance

Female Elf Mage- not romanceable because she is aromantic/asexual

 

*all four romances would be available to both genders/histories left ambiguous

[daveliam]

I could see DA4 being:

 

Male-

Leading/Stock Male Human Rogue- romanceable obviously

Male Elf Mage- romanceable

Male Golem Warrior - not romanceable because he's a golem (not going there)

Male Human Warrior- not romanceable because he's old and wizened, has a widow who recently passed and has no interest in anyone else/on the last years of his life

 

Female-

Leading/Stock Female Human Mage- romanceable obviously

Female Qunari Rogue- not romanceable because she is already involved with someone/not interested

Female Dwarf Warrior- romanceable, first female dwarf romance

Female Elf Mage- not romanceable because she is aromantic/asexual

 

*all four romances would be available to both genders/histories left ambiguous

 

I'd actually be fine with this.  Let's just change that male mage to a qunari (or human and then change the rogue to either qunari or dwarf), so that both mages aren't elves and I'm down!

[Celtic Latino]

I'd actually be fine with this.  Let's just change that male mage to a qunari (or human and then change the rogue to either qunari or dwarf), so that both mages aren't elves and I'm down!

Whoops oversight didn't realize I made both elves mages lol!

 

I'll rework it:

 

Men:

Male Human Rogue- romanceable

Male Elf Warrior- again, romanceable

Male Golem Warrior (Unique)- not romanceable

Male Human Mage (the old, wizened one. We need a Gandalf!, Knight Enchanter/Battlemage type)- not romanceable

 

Women:

Female Human Mage- romanceable

Female Dwarf Warrior- romanceable

Female Qunari Rogue- not romanceable because of Qun/already involved

Female Elf Mage- not romanceable because she's aromantic/asexual

 

And just for added effect, the female human will not be a dark-haired, light-hazel eyed lady like Morrigan, Cassandra, Bastila, Miranda, Jack, etc.., etc..., and the male human will not be blond. Let's have some diversity in visual appearance too folks. But that'll be for another thread

[Decepticon Leader Sully]

needs more Dwarf.

[EmperorKarino]

I'm well aware the party members and LIs have been set for DAI, and I'm looking forward to it in general, but I'd like to say I really wish there would be a greater balance of female non-humans. In both the Mass Effect and DA games, the male cast of party members are often a greater range of species (often one per species) while the female cast is always predominantly human. This, of course, is excluding DLC and all that.

 

Origins:

Male Human- Alistair, 'Secret'

Male Qunari- Sten

Male Elf- Zevran

Male Dwarf- Oghren

Male Mabari- Dog

Female Human- Leliana, Morrigan, Wynne

 

DA2 (I'll admit, this one wasn't as diverse in general):

Male Human- Anders, Carver, Sebastian

Male Elf- Fenris

Male Dwarf- Varric

Female Human- Aveline, Isabela, Bethany

Female Elf- Merrill

 

Mass Effect 2:

Male Human- Jacob

Male Krogan- Grunt

Male Drell- Thane

Male Turian- Garrus

Male Geth (technically genderless, but used a semi-masculine voice)- Legion

Male Salarian- Mordin

Female Human- Miranda, Jack

Female Quarian- Tali

(Female) Asari- Samara

 

Inquisition:

Male Human- Blackwall, Dorian

Male Spirit- Cole

Male Dwarf- Varric

Male Elf- Solas

Male Qunari- Iron Bull

Female Human- Cassandra, Vivienne

Female Elf- Sera

 

Now, I'll say the DLC added to the diversity. In Origins we got Shale, a genderless golem who was once a female dwarf. In Awakening we got Sigrun and Velanna (a dwarf/elf respectively). In Witch Hunt we got Ariane (Dalish elf). In DA2's MotA, we got Tallis (a female elf). In the Omega DLC for Mass Effect 3 we encountered a female turian (Nyreen). However, they were all DLC, with a bulk of the party members only available for that specific mission (Nyreen, Tallis). Without DLC, these characters would never be encountered.

 

Often times, the less human/not as conventionally attractive alien-type characters encountered are male. We didn't encounter any female turians outside a comic and DLC. We didn't see female Krogan and Salarians until ME3. To be fair, we didn't see male quarians until ME2. The only alien females we seen were the Asari, which are the blue version of the green alien space babe trope. http://tvtropes.org/...kinnedSpaceBabe

Tali was a bit less orthodox, given the bow legs and three toes, but even a picture of her was a photoshopped model in Mass Effect 3.

 

Additionally, we didn't see female dwarves in Dragon Age 2 and DAI will be the first game female qunari are seen and shown (and playable). Dwarves have always been stereotypically male in most fantasy works, with female seeming to be an afterthought or a mention. Fortunately, that's not as much of a problem in the DA-verse, where females have visibility (though much less), but still they are underrated as far as party members go (we only ever got Sigrun).

 

Of course, the characters are what fit the story as opposed to a token or trope. I'd rather a party of humans than a character type forced in due to fan demand. But still, I would like to see a bit more of a balance in the future.

 

Thoughts?

 

you skipped awakening, and why is just mass effect 2 up there? you should have done all 3 mass effect or none at all, weird to just pick mass effect 2 out of those. and yeah, lets hope for more female characters in the next dragonage game.

[Asdrubael Vect]

Male Human(andrastian?) Rogue- romanceable

Male Elf Warrior- romanceable

 

Female Human Mage- romanceable

Female Dwarf Warrior- romanceable

 

again? why?

 

Straight males get:

DAO - 2 humans(1 andrastian non-mage bard/chantry spy, 1 non-nandrastian apostage mage)

DA2 - 1 human pirate, 1 elf dalish mage

DAI - 2 andrastian nobles non-mages humans(1 is a templar/seeker)

 

Straight females get:

DAO - 1 grey warden human, 1 elf assain

DA2 - 1 apostage mage human, 1 elf super soldier from teviter,(Sebastian does not counted)

DAI - 2 humans(1 templar 1 grey warden), 1 elf apostage mage, 1 kossith qunari spy reaver

 

Gay males get:

DAO - 1 elf assasin

DA2 - 1 apostage mage  human, 1 elf super soldier from teviter,(Sebastian does not counted)

DAI - 1 human exiled mage from tevinter, 1 kosith qunari spy  reaver

 

Gay females get:

DAO - 1 human  andrastian non-mage chantry spy

DA2 - 1 human pirate, 1 elf dalish mage

DAI - 1 human andrastian noble, 1 city elf

 

 

 

i think this would be  much better

 

 

Male Dwarf Warrior-bisexual romance option-only dwarfs, humans, elfs

Male Kossith Mage-bisexual romance option, only kossith, elfs, dwarfs

Male Elf Warrior-straight romance option, only elfs, kossith

 

Female Dwarf Rogue-bisexual romance option-only dwarfs, humans, elfs

Female Kossith Mage-bisexual romance option-only kossith, elfs, dwarfs

Female Elf Mage-straight romance option-only elfs and kossith

 

Female Human Rogue-some old grey warden woman who is our neutral loyal advisor and mentor, not a romance option

Golem (Unique companion, hybrid of warrior and rogue)-not romance or asexual romance option for  dwarfs, humans, kossith

[Celtic Latino]

you skipped awakening, and why is just mass effect 2 up there? you should have done all 3 mass effect or none at all, weird to just pick mass effect 2 out of those. and yeah, lets hope for more female characters in the next dragonage game.

It was to illustrate a point. Mass Effect 1 and 3 did better in that regard, but if you've noticed all of the male alien squadmates were designed as 'cool/freaky/alien' (Grunt/Wrex, Garrus, Legion) while all of the females are designed as sexy humanoids (Liara/Samara from the green alien space babe race, Tali who is implied to be very human looking in ME3 with that photo, and EDI's physical body). I do give credit that there were plenty of female non-humans though, at least far more than Dragon Age.

 

 

 

Male Human(andrastian?) Rogue- romanceable

Male Elf Warrior- romanceable

 

Female Human Mage- romanceable

Female Dwarf Warrior- romanceable

 

again? why?

 

Straight males get:

DAO - 2 humans(1 andrastian non-mage bard/chantry spy, 1 non-nandrastian apostage mage)

DA2 - 1 human pirate, 1 elf dalish mage

DAI - 2 andrastian nobles non-mages humans(1 is a templar/seeker)

 

Straight females get:

DAO - 1 grey warden human, 1 elf assain

DA2 - 1 apostage mage human, 1 elf super soldier from teviter,(Sebastian does not counted)

DAI - 2 humans(1 templar 1 grey warden), 1 elf apostage mage, 1 kossith qunari spy reaver

 

Gay males get:

DAO - 1 elf assasin

DA2 - 1 apostage mage  human, 1 elf super soldier from teviter,(Sebastian does not counted)

DAI - 1 human exiled mage from tevinter, 1 kosith qunari spy  reaver

 

Gay females get:

DAO - 1 human  andrastian non-mage chantry spy

DA2 - 1 human pirate, 1 elf dalish mage

DAI - 1 human andrastian noble, 1 city elf

 

 

 

i think this would be  much better

 

 

Male Dwarf Warrior-bisexual romance option-only dwarfs, humans, elfs

Male Kossith Mage-bisexual romance option, only kossith, elfs, dwarfs

Male Elf Warrior-straight romance option, only elfs, kossith

 

Female Dwarf Rogue-bisexual romance option-only dwarfs, humans, elfs

Female Kossith Mage-bisexual romance option-only kossith, elfs, dwarfs

Female Elf Mage-straight romance option-only elfs and kossith

 

Female Human Rogue-some old grey warden woman who is our neutral loyal advisor and mentor, not a romance option

Golem (Unique companion, hybrid of warrior and rogue)-not romance or asexual romance option for  dwarfs, humans, kossith

 

 

I never implied who was Andrastian or their backgrounds, first and foremost

 

You have to remember that 'human' is a core race marketing wise, and it's always been BioWare's tradition to have a romanceable male and female 'leading human' (Kaidan/Ashley, Carth/Bastila, Jacob/Miranda, etc...), so its always key to include at least one as an option. Although I would love it that the only female human companion is not romanceable next game for the sake of being a game-changer. Males have always been a bit diverse in the species department while females are so heavily human-centric that DA4 could actually do without one, instead make the leading/marketed female party member an elf or something. Or qunari if they really wanted to go unconventional (wouldn't oppose it!), but I say elf to make it safe. Elves are generally token fantasy races that do well in that department.

[Foxhound2121]

Not only that but also race.

 

The one time that Dragon Age puts a playable black female and we can't romance her?

 

She is gorgeous. So much for diversity.

[IamTheXena]

I agree @Foxhound2121 not having Viv as a romanceable character seems like a case of "dropping the ball on that one."

[Asdrubael Vect]

I does not like her but think it would be better if we have Viviene as romance option over Cassandra

[DaySeeker]

I'm all for more varied female NPC's, but I am tired of this "why must females be attractive" argument.  They are obviously not attractive to all players, glance through the threads and we have players complaining how ugly every female is.  The Dragon Age Franchise has done the best of any other in representing different types of people and bodies.  It has shown various types of beauty and not made sure that women had huge breasts or hips or make up in their character models.  Women have been placed in many positions of authority and in many different roles.  Can we all decide to agree that Bioware has done a bang up job representing women?Must women be horribly scarred, obese, and with a speech impediment to somehow prove that the females of the species can hold their own?.  All of the men are pretty attractive- granted Garrus, Wrex, and Grunt are aliens and not attractive humans, but they are shown to be attractive to the races- and outside them (Garrus and Tali ahem), but we're in DA forums.  Personally I'd like my NPC's to be good looking.  They don't have to be the same type of good looking, but I don't see how hunchbacks make for better NPC's.  Aveline was attractive, I thought, but not like the sexpot Isabella; Merrill was attractive.  

 

I'd love a female qunari or female dwarf companion because I would like to know more of both those cultures and how it is viewed trough the eyes of gender. I don't think attractive characters are offensive.  I don't think it is bad that they are fun to look at, especially gven that this is a visual medium.  If the characters are treated repspectfully in game I don't see a problem.

[berrieh]

Can we really classify Morrigan as human?

 

Looking at your lists I think the companions have already been pretty diverse. It is natural that there are some gaps simply because otherwise the cast of companions becomes too big and you have to sacrifice the story. 

 

Morrigan is obviously human as far as the races of Thedas go.

 

I get what you're saying about story. But maybe next time, there could be more ladies (less female companions total this time; could be a higher population next time) or more male humans and ladies of other races. I don't think Bioware should be crucified for it, but we could do with more lady race diversity in DA definitely. 

 

I'm all for more varied female NPC's, but I am tired of this "why must females be attractive" argument.  They are obviously not attractive to all players, glance through the threads and we have players complaining how ugly every female is.  The Dragon Age Franchise has done the best of any other in representing different types of people and bodies.  It has shown various types of beauty and not made sure that women had huge breasts or hips or make up in their character models.  Women have been placed in many positions of authority and in many different roles.  Can we all decide to agree that Bioware has done a bang up job representing women?

 

Bioware has done a pretty damn good job representing women, and they are one of the few game companies that seems genuinely interested in continuing to do better and better. I appreciate that. I especially like the women in authority. (I do not like the sashaying Inquisitor walk outside of cutscenes, or a few other elements, but I don't expect perfection.) The point is we can continue to get better, while making the companions more diverse and thus more fun for everyone. 

 

I think the attractive thing is more like - we can have a massively scarred Garrus, but we can't seem to get a scarred female, etc, those types of scenarios. The race restriction may also come from that - no lady dwarves or Qunari, who are traditionally less attractive, for example. 

 

ust women be horribly scarred, obese, and with a speech impediment to somehow prove that the females of the species can hold their own?.  All of the men are pretty attractive- granted Garrus, Wrex, and Grunt are aliens and not attractive humans, but they are shown to be attractive to the races- and outside them (Garrus and Tali ahem), but we're in DA forums.  Personally I'd like my NPC's to be good looking.  They don't have to be the same type of good looking, but I don't see how hunchbacks make for better NPC's.  Aveline was attractive, I thought, but not like the sexpot Isabella; Merrill was attractive.  

 

I'd love a female qunari or female dwarf companion because I would like to know more of both those cultures and how it is viewed trough the eyes of gender. I don't think attractive characters are offensive.  I don't think it is bad that they are fun to look at, especially gven that this is a visual medium.  If the characters are treated repspectfully in game I don't see a problem.

 

 

Attractive NPCs don't offend me, but I don't see why all NPCs have to be attractive either. 

[Celtic Latino]

I'm certainly not against attractive NPCs of either gender. However, I would like to see at least one or two female party members who are not human or space/elf babe token in the party. The point is not against elf/space babes (hey, I like them too, believe it or not), the point is that male squadmates can be weird, grizzled, muscled, and cool (Wrex, Grunt, Garrus, Legion) yet females are always just token humans, even if their appearance is diverse, and maybe one space/elf babe (Liara, Tali) thrown in the mix. I'd like to see some change.

Male:
'Weird/Freaky' NPC (like a spirit/demon/golem)
Conventionally Attractive Human
Hot/Fantasy Elf Hunk
Wizened/Older Veteran (Gandalf type)

Female:
Decent/good looking (think Aveline) Dwarf/Other Race
Badass NPC that is not attractive/places no stock into visual appeal (qunari)
Conventionally Attractive Human/Elf (preferably elf)
Weird/Freaky NPC (new race, possibly one that doesn't have visual gender distinctions and very alien/not human or humanlike at all)

A mix of good looking men/women, cool/Badass men/women, and weird/alien/freakish men/women

[Decepticon Leader Sully]

1 word Berserker Elf. 

2 thats 2 words but you get what i mean.  

[Gannayev of Dreams]

I am in full support of more non-human females.

[DaySeeker]

I'd be for like a 2nd generation female darkspawn ala The Architect or The Mother.  I would love to know how they create a culture or if they could.  A qunari female would be great o shine more light on how that culture is set.  And dwarven females, seriously, what do they do?  Thinking back I guess we've seen a merchant, some nobles, courtesans and beggars, and a paragon but I still get the idea they are second class citizens- maybe because we see them trying to get pregnant with a noble baby to move up.  Sigrun was a member of the Legion of the Dead, but I never felt like she was a real character.  DOn't know why, so I think we could benefit from more dwarves.  I think the elves get double representation in DA because of the huge difference between city elves and the clans- two cultures, one race.  I love the city elves struggle and finding out more about The People, so I can understand why we often get elvn characters.  Also, with two elves you get the tension between the two soceities and identities.  Putting all that together I see it less as an attractiveness thing and more as a cultural exploration.  Also, elves are usually more popular than dwarves.