90 réponses à ce sujet

[BraveVesperia]

I think it would be interesting if the other races (human, qunari, dwarves), were still an option, but the story focused on an elven perspective/plot. Like the equivalent of going to the Temple of Mythal in DAI, but for the whole plot. You can still have other races there, but their perspective would be different and they would have less insight. Just like a Dalish elf has less insight into the Chantry/Andraste thing than a human noble.

 

It would basically just be an interesting flip of what we already have.

[Mims]

Not likely. If ever there was a time for a canon elf protagonist, it was likely this game.

 

I am guessing that going forward, DA marketing will use a sort of ambiguous character in armor and focus on the companions, like they did with DA:I. There won't be a 'true' canon, just a default set on the keep. 

[(Disgusted noise.)]

Never going to happen and I'm glad about it. I wouldn't buy a mono-race elf game. I can't stand Dragon Age elves. Even if the other races were available, I would still hesitate on an entire "Temple of Mythal" game.

[Aimi]

Both are in a different situation from elven lore, for different reasons. For dwarves, pretty much all of their lore is underground, and a great deal would be in darkspawn-infested locations; while I'd definitely support a visit to Kal-Sharok, and I think that a game set in Tevinter could get a lot of dwarven lore in (as Tevinter is the one possible exception to the previous statement), the dwarven racial conflict isn't really about identity so much as it is about sustaining oneself in the face of darkspawn aggression. It's a good story, but it'd also be one that'd require a heavy darkspawn focus, and by the same token, wouldn't require a dwarven protagonist because the darkspawn are everyone's enemy.
 
Qunari are in a completely different spot, where issues of identity are important to them... but the Qun is so alien and so in opposition to the rest of Thedas that a story arc about whether or not to join the Qun wouldn't really work, as joining the Qun would lead to the end of one's independent adventuring career. So most if not all of qunari lore would be gained through conflict with the qunari themselves, which also doesn't have any racial requirements.
 
Elves are the only race where being a part of their struggle practically necessitates that you be part of their race.

If that's what you think 'being a dwarf' and 'being qunari' are all about, then maybe we really do need them to be the sole protagonist options of their own titles, to more clearly demonstrate how wrong that is.

[Felya87]

I'd like it, but I don't think it will ever happen. Still, an elf blooded human background would be interesting...maybe I would finally play a human character.

[Xilizhra]

If that's what you think 'being a dwarf' and 'being qunari' are all about, then maybe we really do need them to be the sole protagonist options of their own titles, to more clearly demonstrate how wrong that is.

What would your interpretation be? Keep in mind that I'm not talking about the entirety of what each race is, only their major plot conflicts. Dwarves also have caste struggle, which I admit that I omitted before.

[I SOLD MY SOUL TO BIOWARE]

I'd rather we never get another game that forces one race upon us again. That was already a bad move with DA2. Best not do that twice.

That said, the human focus will hopefully be gone if the next game is made with multiple races in mind from the start, unlike DAI. DAO felt pretty neutral, every Warden fit, because it was made that way from the get-go. DAI had some great moments for elves, and IMO it's my favourite way to play the game, but it could never shake the human centricness because it was made that way. Hopefully that's not the case next game.

[TheRatPack55]

Never going to happen and I'm glad about it. I wouldn't buy a mono-race elf game. I can't stand Dragon Age elves. Even if the other races were available, I would still hesitate on an entire "Temple of Mythal" game.

 

Yep. I'm one of 'those' people who don't identify with the DA elves at all. The Dalish are honestly quite 'alien' to me, and the city elves are just the oppressed poor.

Additionally, I don't like their design.

I could possibly swallow being a Qunari in Tevinter, albeit Tal-Vashoth, and I would have to have the option to support the Empire.

 

But no obligatory elves please.

[Carmen_Willow]

Can't say that I don't agree with the OP,especially if the fourth instalment takes place in the Northern part of Thedas as it's speculated to be.But I will also agree with Addai.

 

Unless the developers decided to make a spin off of the series that takes place in Arlathan,I can't see the canon protagonist being an elf a la Hawke.

I would LOVE to see a prequel game that deals with the fall of Arlathan and the rise of the Tevinter Imperium.

[Cespar]

Maybe with a slavery elf's perspective, which would be fun and interesting to get treated badly by everyone in the story while we work our way up or something.

[Aimi]

What would your interpretation be? Keep in mind that I'm not talking about the entirety of what each race is, only their major plot conflicts. Dwarves also have caste struggle, which I admit that I omitted before.

I would not prefer a single species choice over multiple ones for pretty much any reason. I liked Hawke a lot, but I liked her in spite of the fact that she had to be human, not because of it.

I think that BioWare protagonists intrinsically view all "major plot conflicts" from an exterior point of view regardless of race or species and that it is up to the player to roleplay them any other way anyway, and I think that this is a feature, not a bug. I think that experiencing most of those conflicts is significantly easier to do through the mediation of other characters, which can be characterized in a way that the protagonist of an RPG can't, and that this would not change if the protagonist were restricted to a single race or background. I do not believe that forcing the player to play as an elf would meaningfully improve BioWare's writers' ability to convey the meaning or experience of any supposedly intrinsically elven conflicts in the setting.

I think that your particular example in the OP is indicative of this point. Hawke was neither a mage nor a templar. Even Mage Hawke wasn't a mage: she existed apart from the Circle and blood-mage communities by design, and could align herself with whatever faction she chose with virtually no consequences at all. Nothing about the way the mage-templar conflict in Act 3 was written forced Hawke into a particular position, or allowed her to experience the conflict from 'inside' either group. But people made strong identifications with the respective sides anyway.

I think that nothing we've seen from either Tevinter elven slaves or elven viddathari indicates that there is any stratum of interest in specifically elfy problems among the elves there. Granted, this is based on very limited data, and new material could change that appraisal dramatically, but the existing information all points in the same direction. So positing a primary conflict between elves and Vints is more than a little presumptuous and silly, like proposing a Manchu national revolt in modern Dongbei.

I view a request for a purely elf story in the next game as a complaint by the community of players who prefer to play as elves and who believe that Inquisition failed to meet their expectations in terms of being able to be surrounded by elfiness. I think that many people in that community are bizarrely parochial and out of touch.

[Heimdall]

It's an interesting idea OP, but I doubt they'd ever make a game without a human option.

I would actually like to see a plot more focused on the Qunari (And Kossith) or the dwarves. Their deeper lore remains fairly unexplored.

Give me race choice and I'll be pleased.

[Hazegurl]

Nope, I wouldn't buy it, period. I love my human protags. My canons are always human. I don't care if anyone thinks they are "dull." DAI, didn't even do races justice when they implemented them anyway and I have no desire trying to headcanon why any elf could just walk around the Imperium like they own the place which is what usually happens to the PC because people can't stand failing at anything in a story.  I also have no desire to have a whole game centered around one plot point near the end of the last game. They haven't done anything with Flemeth so far and I doubt they will do anything major with Solas except keep him a mystery until he either ends up a big bad to be destroyed or he gets killed or it's revealed that Flemeth took his body et al to prolong some sort of plot mystery.

 

Anyway

 

I'd rather be a human mage in Tevinter.  

 

Also, I can't stand the elves of DA, on occasion they can be good looking Fenris, Solas, Sera, and Ableas. But usually it's because they have some human features in their design.  The PC never look as good,  and I have no desire to run around with a malnourished and broken body while making my LI look like a pedo for hooking up with me.

[Heimdall]

It's an interesting idea OP, but I doubt they'd ever make a game without a human option.

I would actually like to see a plot more focused on the Qunari (And Kossith) or the dwarves. Their deeper lore remains fairly unexplored.

Give me race choice and I'll be pleased enough.

[In Exile]

I think everyone can agree that the southern Andrastian human perspective has been thoroughly explored in the past three games, yes? And it occurred to me that, while the general perspective of elves would be at least as interesting to follow as that of any other faction, elven culture isn't as assimilationist as Andrastianism, so being able to have a game that would focus on this would require that we play as an elf. Which I don't think is beyond Bioware's design philosophy, as DA2 was monoracial and DAI almost was; being an elf would also avoid some of the problems of DAI's attempted monoracialism, as it's not just a repeat of previous games.

I can see a game where the overall conflict of the PC's arc is between siding with the elves and the Tevinter Imperium, similar to how DA2 had the mages vs. templars arc. The qunari would probably be everyone's antagonists.

There was a cannon elven protagonist in the first game at least if you're talking about the default world.

[Han Shot First]

If the game is set in Tevinter it would be far more interesting to play as either an Altus or a Soporati than an elf.

[Xilizhra]

I would not prefer a single species choice over multiple ones for pretty much any reason. I liked Hawke a lot, but I liked her in spite of the fact that she had to be human, not because of it.

I think that BioWare protagonists intrinsically view all "major plot conflicts" from an exterior point of view regardless of race or species and that it is up to the player to roleplay them any other way anyway, and I think that this is a feature, not a bug. I think that experiencing most of those conflicts is significantly easier to do through the mediation of other characters, which can be characterized in a way that the protagonist of an RPG can't, and that this would not change if the protagonist were restricted to a single race or background. I do not believe that forcing the player to play as an elf would meaningfully improve BioWare's writers' ability to convey the meaning or experience of any supposedly intrinsically elven conflicts in the setting.

I think that your particular example in the OP is indicative of this point. Hawke was neither a mage nor a templar. Even Mage Hawke wasn't a mage: she existed apart from the Circle and blood-mage communities by design, and could align herself with whatever faction she chose with virtually no consequences at all. Nothing about the way the mage-templar conflict in Act 3 was written forced Hawke into a particular position, or allowed her to experience the conflict from 'inside' either group. But people made strong identifications with the respective sides anyway.

I think that nothing we've seen from either Tevinter elven slaves or elven viddathari indicates that there is any stratum of interest in specifically elfy problems among the elves there. Granted, this is based on very limited data, and new material could change that appraisal dramatically, but the existing information all points in the same direction. So positing a primary conflict between elves and Vints is more than a little presumptuous and silly, like proposing a Manchu national revolt in modern Dongbei.

I view a request for a purely elf story in the next game as a complaint by the community of players who prefer to play as elves and who believe that Inquisition failed to meet their expectations in terms of being able to be surrounded by elfiness. I think that many people in that community are bizarrely parochial and out of touch.

I take your point on Hawke's example. I think that something that would help a lot is if we can stand outside all organizations that exist within these conflicts, something that we were unable to do with either 2 or Inquisition with the Chantry (even not being Andrastian couldn't prevent you from constantly advancing specifically Andrastian interests).

 

And if there's an element of parochialism, it's a reaction to being forced into parochial characters and settings we didn't like in previous games.

 

 

If the game is set in Tevinter it would be far more interesting to play as either an Altus or a Soporati than an elf.

I think it's more likely that we'd play as a Laetan than an Altus, and free elves would be either Soporati or Laetan.

[Korva]

Also, I can't stand the elves of DA, on occasion they can be good looking Fenris, Solas, Sera, and Ableas. But usually it's because they have some human features in their design.  The PC never look as good,  and I have no desire to run around with a malnourished and broken body

 

Goodness, yes. I've always loathed the "half-starved, wide-eyed babyteen" look that elves often get saddled with in fantasy. Hell, I can barely stand the scrawny (female) human model because I usually play warriors and really wish my characters looked the part, had some physical power and "presence". It would take a serious graphical overhaul AND a very, very tempting premise for me to consider picking up a game in which the only option for my character is this pathetic tiny thing that looks like the strain of picking up a sword would snap her spine like a dry twig. I've been meaning to replay Inquisition as the ever-popular elven mage for the extra dialog options, but this issue really is a huge roadblock.

 

On principle, I don't actually mind racial restrictions if it means we get a character more tied to the plot (and not being made to look like a clueless ignoramus at every turn) ... provided the lore and premise interest me. The DA elves don't really do that for me, so between that and their looks such a game would be an extremely hard sell.

[Ser Kilroy]

yea this won't happen and i wouldn't  want to. i like playing as an elf and human. i plan on doing a qunari once they get more armour.

 

 

What i wish for more backgrounds for the races, i am tired of the human being a noble  

[Bayonet Hipshot]

I would be happy with anything that is non-Human noble at this point. I mean all the human characters we have had so far are nobility or related to nobility. Cousland, Amell, Hawke, Trevelyan. 

 

As some of the posters said, Bioware needs to market their games to the mundane mediocres out there hence that is why human nobles are in the game. 

 

Why don't they give us those humans from the human tribes ? An Avvar or a Chasind ? I would like an Avvar human.

[sandalisthemaker]

While I think the idea is interesting, as there are interesting things that seem to be happening with the elves, I personally would never be satisfied with my PC. 

 

Unless elven men can suddenly grow facial hair and are capable of having more than three pounds of muscle on their frames, and their arms weren't dislocated, then there is no way that I would be pleased with an elf-only protagonist.  I would still play the game, but I wouldn't be thrilled.  

 

Plus, dwarves interest me more and I enjoy playing as a human well enough.

 

I am a supporter of race options. 

[Han Shot First]

If the elves are going to be the sole playable species, something has to be done about the way they look. 

[Hanako Ikezawa]

Race options would be vastly preferable to just being an Elf, especially if said elf is Dalish. 

[AresKeith]

Doubt it