270 réponses à ce sujet

[Warden Majere]

Before the changes made to the Elves in DA2, I feel like they were the closest thing to "Asian looking". Most of them had the almond shaped eyes, and the delicate bone structure in their faces. Also, if you look at many of the philosophies in the Qun, (besides the brainwashing and such) it has some striking resemblances to Asian religions. I have some quotes written down from the Qun, that get down into the inner-self, and how the path to enlightenment is with acceptance of oneself. My best friend is a Buddhist, and he absolutely adores some of the messages that the Qunari culture tries to get across. 

 

I may be simply grasping at straws here, but I think that it is unfair to say that Asian culture isn't represented in Thedas. Yet again, this is a fantasy universe, so I think that they did a fairly good job. I've yet to see a single little green man, with pointed ears, and hideous facial structure running around with a club, screaming about their hate for humans. Bioware has done an extraordinary job of creating unique, and deep cultures to fill this fantastic world that I have had the pleasure of exploring over the past few years. 

 

Now that I think about it, I may have made a mistake by posting in this extremely controversial thread in the first place..... Oh well, take it as you will. 

[hobbit of the shire]

I am Asian, yet my preference for my PC is usually "European".  That's probably because I have the medieval-European fantasy ideal stuck in my head.  Also, the CC sucks for doing anything Asian-esque (because it wasn't designed to do so).

 

I'm a little at odds for adding "Asians" in Thedas.  I wouldn't mind being representative, but I also don't want the world to be changed simply for equality.  There are plenty of other ethnicities we could add in the game if we went along this route.  What's worse is putting the token POC in a game just cuz and making it stand out like a sore thumb.  So, it's good to see black and Latino/a people in the game throughout (if Josephine and Vivienne were in the game alone that would be really weird).  Although, I believe that the addition of ethnicities are there simply as a reflection of what we see in entertainment today.  Asians are still super rare in Western entertainment, despite being a fairly large population in the West.  There is usually the token black and Latino/a in any single piece of medium.  Asians not so much, yet (or if they are, usually stereotyped).  So, DAI matches that.  If the trend in more Asians in entertainment continue their rise, I would imagine DA4 follows suit, matching pop cultural tastes.

 

In the DA world, which looks medieval-esque, and other than the Inquisitor and his/her band who seem to make it to all 4 corners of Thedas, people probably don't travel much.  So, Orlesians look mostly Orlesian, Fereldens look mostly Ferelden.  So, French-esque and Brit-esque.  That's not to say there can't be POC in these nations.  But I think they either have to be common enough in the world to not look like an outlier (or, if they are outliers, there should be an explanation) and not just be put there for sake of equality.  So yeah, if it makes sense with the lore, sure there could be an Asian-looking nation in Thedas or perhaps a particular phenotype that exists in Thedas but not representative of a nation.  As long as it makes sense and not put there as a token equality thing.  And not stereotyped.  If I see any Asians in Thedas with the stereotypical accent or being a martial-arts master, I will facepalm.

 

I did not play Jade Empire so don't have a clue what the characters looked like there, but for example, if that world is supposedly Asian and 99.9% of people there look Asian, I would not want a European dude slapped in there just for equality.  If it made sense in the game, sure.  If the lore indicates a world is multiracial, then so be it.  As long as it makes sense and is consistent.

 

Of course, we're all looking at the game through a colored lens so maybe we really should stop looking at the game in terms of RL ethnicities. :-P  I dunno, hard to decide!

[Killdren88]

Plot twist. There are  Asians in Thedas, but they are on another land mass and this Landmass is where Jade Empire takes place.

[Ieldra]

Can we please STOP turning EVERYTHING into a representation issue!

[(Disgusted noise.)]

Can we please STOP turning EVERYTHING into a representation issue!

[Nefla]

I remember someone made a thread like this after DA2 came out and it didn't go well. You had people on one side saying "why not add Asian looking NPCs too? There are already NPCs that look like other races" but others arguing that any NPC who looked Asian would have to be some merchant from a "far off land" and would require an explanation for being a part of the world/population where other races did not. It wasn't pretty.

[DanteYoda]

Can't have Asian characters in Dragon Age, what the hell is wrong with you...

 

I wondered the same OP, i guess Bioware didn't have enough complaining to add them.

[Rawgrim]

Thedas is a fictional world. It may not have an Asia like our world does.

[Panda]

Bioware would need probaply write new ethnicity to include asian characters since most of ethnicities have been already quite established: Ferelden people look like this, Antivan like this, Rivaini like this etc.

[Rawgrim]

Bioware would need probaply write new ethnicity to include asian characters since most of ethnicities have been already quite established: Ferelden people look like this, Antivan like this, Rivaini like this etc.

 

Then they need to include Arabs, slavic people, latinos, and all kinds of others too.

[Rawgrim]

 

 

 

That is true. But if it didn't, that's probably when I'd talk trash and call foul. lol. Maybe. Since they already have pseudo Italy, pseudo England, France, Rome, etc.. I think it'd be cool if they accounted for others.

 

I mentioned Robert E Howard's Conan world earlier..the Hyborian age. This was written in the 1920s, and it's a more fleshed out setting.. but done along similar lines.

 

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Hyborian_Age

 

 

It is more fleshed out now. Howard didn't flesh it out too much himself, though.  The setting is really a mix of several different cultures from all over the place in our history. Someone said that the hyborian age is actually 1000 years + of our cultures all at once.

[Panda]

Then they need to include Arabs, slavic people, latinos, and all kinds of others too.

 

They don't have any North Europeans either, where are the Nords? ^^;

[Rawgrim]

That's true.

 

Although I recall someone saying the Qunari were slightly inspired by Vikings.. or at least Viking invasions.

 

But I'd hardly call it Nordic.. Qunari are so.... clinical and unfestive.

 

+ they force their beliefs down people's throats. That is more a christian thing, not a viking thing.

[Rawgrim]

The vikings attacked Christians for being unbelievers too. lol. And for the loot, of course. 

 

This is a pretty common trait in humanity, I think. Terroritorialism... mental, physical, or spiritual.

 

 

By viking invasion, I think it was just meant to signify a scary outside threat of invaders/raiders. Qunari do kind of invoke that sort of threat in a way.

 

Yeah but mostly they attacked because they started "butting in" on their culture. They did attack christians in other countries, though. But that was purely for looting and villainy.

[Rawgrim]

Fair enough.

 

In any case, I forgot who said that. In my opinion, it's a bit off. I mean, the first thing that comes to me is a jihad like force. Or maybe mongols. Not vikings. But whatever.

 

The feel like Mongols with some Spanish Inquisition dna in them, I think. Something like that.

[BraveVesperia]

Here's where it starts to get complicated - I am going to dare to call Dorian and Vivienne black characters, and Josephine a Latina character, although I know this is far from an accurate statement. Nevertheless, it is the closest I can describe the difference between a "black" person of color and a "Latino/a" person of color and an "Asian" person of color.

 

What I fail to see in Dragon Age are specifically "Asian" people of color.

Actually, Dorian is ethnically Indian. He was originally supposed to have an Indian accent and his voice actor is Asian.

 

That said, I would definitely be happy to see a wider variety of people, and more of the world of Thedas.