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[Sloth Of Doom]

Kwanzaabot wrote...

Sloth Of Doom wrote...

Ithink you fail to understand what anachronistic means

"Ana" means "anti" or "against", and "chronistic" means pretty much "time". So against the time period. As in, modern expressions in a medieval setting. It's not rocket science. <_<

The thing is, Dragon Age is loosely based on England in 1200 AD. So, yeah. Old English was the common tongue at the time.

Yes, and translating it ito modern English would not suddenly make phrases like 'pwned, n00b' and 'epic fail' fit at all.   Just because someone doesn't want anachronism doesn't mean thy want to speak an indecipherable language.

[Kwanzaabot]

Sloth Of Doom wrote...

Yes, and translating it ito modern English would not suddenly make phrases like 'pwned, n00b' and 'epic fail' fit at all.   Just because someone doesn't want anachronism doesn't mean thy want to speak an indecipherable language.

At what point does anyone in the game say pwned or n00b?

[WhyIsThisNecessary]

I would like someone to explain how the words "epic fail" are anachronistic in and of themselves. Failure and epicness are not modern concepts, though the grammar is an internet invention. It should be, I suppose, "An epic failure!", but complaining about grammar in a situation where

a) it is a setting where English doesn't exist
if it did exist, it won't be modern English, but middle English
c) if the human characters spoke middle English, the insular dwarves wouldn't necessarily speak it anyway

is a house built on shifting sands.

Modifié par WhyIsThisNecessary, 04 février 2010 - 12:03 .

[Atcherseid]

I think that this all comes down to very subjective feelings. Some people aren't bothered by it; for others, it's distracting.

Granted, a Middle English speaker could have said something like, "I shal forthwyth hie myselfe thither," and you could translate it to "I am about to leave." But translating it as "I'm outta here," is distracting. For me, the closer it comes to TV or pop-culture catch-phrases, the more distracting it is.

As for "epic fail" -- "fail" is a verb. Its use as a noun meaning "failure" is fairly recent and slangy.

I'm not against all in-jokes. I find it amusing when you speak to Alistair in camp and he says "Something on your mind?" That's because the voice is clearly not Steve Valentine's. It's pretty obviously recycled from Baldur's Gate, when random strangers would say that when you initiated conversation.

Modifié par Atcherseid, 04 février 2010 - 09:03 .

[qalan]

Uh, how do we know that 'Epic Fail' isn't an idiom that arose out of a famous mis-match on the dwarven proving ground? The point is we don't. Just because a phrase arose in a certain way or during a certain time point in OUR history/language/culture doesn't mean that it would necessarily have evolved out of the same circumstances or at the same historical point in Thedas. I could see people with being unhappy if actual phrases that referred to real-earth personages or events made it into the game (e.g. if Jowan had said 'Christmas is coming' instead of the 'clock is ticking') but that hasn't happened as far as I can see...

[WhyIsThisNecessary]

I just take it to be a translation of a phrase that has similar connotations in Dwarven - i.e "he ****ed up royally" the fact that they picked "epic fail" rather than, well, "he ****ed up royally" is an in joke.



It's not "anachronistic" unless you have this really cliched idea of how they spoke in olden times i.e. modern english scattered with random thee's and thou's. Both are equally anachronistic, therefore we have to accept that whatever we hear out of these characters mouths is translated. And if it's going to be translated, then there's really nothing wrong with a few in jokes.

[Atcherseid]

qalan wrote...

Uh, how do we know that 'Epic Fail' isn't an idiom that arose out of a famous mis-match on the dwarven proving ground?

Because Orzammar does not exist.

[Lith Maethor]

fluxcage wrote...
Agreed, except I'd wager that the ancient Egyptians (just for the sake of example) had an expression that would translate into "epic fail" in today's English.

(Hoping that there are no experts on ancient Egyptian in the audience...)

can't speak for the egyptians, but there have been ancient greek artifacts (mostly weapons) with inscriptions on them that could be roughly translated to "pwned" or similar expressions

[Aldandil]

"Epic fail" is clearly an intended anachronism. I think it's pretty funny. Other people do too. Sorry if it breaks someone's immersion, we sure know immersion breaking is to be avoided at all costs.

[BBSooner]

I found most, if not all, of the anachronisms to be a welcome addition. I understand that some people didn't like them, but I did.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Shale's line about genetic stock was the only thing that really bugged me in this regard.

[simplificationizer]

I'll tell you one thing which did bug me somewhat: gaxkang. A one liner is one thing, but an NPC which clearly alludes to the most notorious foe in BG2 is pushing it a little. I do chuckle when I see posts asking how to kill gaxkang though.

For those of you who never played BG2, kangaxx is a demilich that makes gaxkang look like a rheumatic goblin in comparison.

Modifié par simplificationizer, 04 février 2010 - 06:18 .

[JBurke]

Wow... this is deep man...

Come on people, the immersion level isn't detracted from by simple little inside jokes. Just be happy you even understood them since many outside of this Nerdiverse would have cocked and eyebrow and said "Huh?" Face it people, we're part of a D&D basement group that other people laugh it, try not to take it too serious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zng5kRle4FA

[Atcherseid]

Call me a nerd again and I'll smack you with my 20-sided dice.

[bobogon]

the line when talking to sten says "Cookies? ...Oh, Yes!!"

Also i could have sworn i heard a commercial slogan in one of the dilogue choices when talking to Flemeth...

Modifié par bobogon, 24 février 2010 - 07:24 .