20 réponses à ce sujet

[berelinde]

This has been bugging me since Inquisition came out.

 

Fairbanks is the leader of the Orlesian freedom fighters, and a few Skyhold residents talk about him. He's supposed to be this kind of heroic outlaw, I guess, and one woman in Skyhold mentions Robin Hood. I guess Thedas has one of those. Who knew?

 

Except that Douglas Fairbanks was a real person, a famous silent film actor known for his costume adventure films such as Zorro and - you guessed it - Robin Hood.

 

It's a BioWare game, so there are going to be winks at the camera... but that's a big one. I'm probably the least knowledgeable film aficionado out there, so if I get the reference, it's probably too much.

[Char]

I'd never heard of him.
Now I'm a bit impressed

[trevelyan_shep]

Never heard of the RL guy, but that's some cool information.

[Handsome Jack]

I like references as much as the next guy, but yeah, that's way too heavyhanded and unfunny. Part of the reason why I'm actually not a huge fan of Borderlands. Blatant memes and pop culture lulz get real annoying real quick.

 

Origins did it better, like how all the male Howes were named after British officers in the Revolutionary War.

[Lady Artifice]

Origins had a lot of names that fit the characters perfectly. Cailan = Child, Morrigan invokes reminders of Morgan le Fay and was an actual Celtic Goddess known for turning into a Raven, Alistair = Avenger, Duncan = dark warrior.

 

Maybe they're getting so many characters that they're just running out of options? 

 

But I don't actually think it's really that bad. I'd heard the name, but I had to look it up to find that Douglas Fairbanks died in 1939, so it doesn't sound to me like you're as unaware as you think. Fairbanks could also be seen as a tidy reference to his nature and his location in the game.  

[metatheurgist]

What's in a name?...

[Master Warder Z_]

I had no idea about this.

[thats1evildude]

Fairbanks is also a city in Alaska.

 

But yes, I suspect the NPC's name is a reference to Douglas Fairbanks.

[Bugsie]

Someone in Skyhold mentions Robin Hood?

 

Now I'm curious, where exactly in Thedas is Sherwood Forest??? 

[nightscrawl]

OP, I think you are over estimating the amount of people that would "get" such a reference. Robin Hood? Of course. Douglas Fairbanks known for playing Robin Hood (in a silent movie, no less)? Far less likely. I happen to really enjoy watching older movies but I didn't get it either, primarily because I'm not that into silent film, the Robin Hood type is not a genre I care for, nor is Douglas Fairbanks an actor that I would be on the lookout for when perusing Turner Classic Movies -- Ramon Novarro in Ben-Hur is more my thing.

 

So, for people in the know, it is heavy handed, I agree. Then again, it's not obvious overall because most players aren't going to get it.

 

There is also the fact that not everyone manages to hear all of the miscellaneous NPC banters while running to and fro around Skyhold. I've heard the talk about him around Skyhold, but I'll have to pay extra attention to catch the Robin Hood name drop.

[VictoriousScandinavian]

Are we ignoring the fact that many of the Orlesian nobles houses in Orlais share the names of real life medieval dynasties in the high middles ages France? de Montfort, de Chalons and we can't forget the fictional de Valmont known for a particular novel and the film adaptation Dangerous Liaisons. Orlais itself it basically the Kingdom of Arles anyways.

 

I don't think it's suppose to be a reference, it's just their imagination running thin on some areas. Nothing major, kind of neat sometimes.

[Junebug]

I'm also surprised anyone in Thedas would mention Robin Hood o.O must've been an oversight or something.

[berelinde]

The woman in Skyhold doesn't say Robin Hood, she's talking about how romantic Fairbanks is. Her (more grounded) listener is the one who makes the comparison, actually. The precise phrase is "What, like <some name I couldn't catch> and the Hood?" So yeah, the spoken reference isn't glaring. If you're zooming by the speakers on your way to the stables, you're going to miss the whole thing. But I figured that if somebody took the trouble to write background dialogue, I might as well listen to it.

 

BioWare writers have always been name droppers, though. Baldur's Gate 2 had Reynald de Chatillon, a real-world Crusader, and there were a bunch of others. And I imagine most people enjoy these little easter eggs. I guess i'm just weird. But I do understand the pain of trying to come up with enough names.

[AtreiyaN7]

Given that Fairbanks (the character) is clearly a bit of a Robin Hood-style character and happens to have his base of operations in a giant forest (with his merry band of men), I find the Fairbanks reference amusing as someone who has watched a lot of classic films. It's not like they ran out of ideas or names - it seems like a purposeful tongue-in-cheek reference. Besides, the character's real name (after you find out his true parentage) is entirely different. I fail to see how it can be considered "too much" when the reference will probably fly over the heads of most people who aren't film buffs.

[BSpud]

Scraping the bottom of the complaint barrel now.

 

I hope they do Errol Flynn next.

[Mihura]

There are a lot of references that I only notice after some years, like the book Seven Brothers on Orzammar shaperate and so on. Mostly I like this references, they are bit obscure but nice for people that catch them. Not sure what is the problem here?

[Lumix19]

Scraping the bottom of the complaint barrel now.
 
I hope they do Errol Flynn next.

Well it's either that or the same complaints are recycled over and over, this is the lesser of the two evils.

[berelinde]

There are a lot of references that I only notice after some years, like the book Seven Brothers on Orzammar shaperate and so on. Mostly I like this references, they are bit obscure but nice for people that catch them. Not sure what is the problem here?

There isn't really a problem. A slightly-grumbling observation, maybe. Nor would I categorize my remark as a full-blown complaint. I've seen epic whining, and this is more of a shrug and a "Meh."

 

I hate using the word "immersion" because people usually use it to complain about how cosmetic animation glitches and the lack of scantily clad demons is ruining their gaming experience, but it is kind of a thing. Players get wrapped up in the world and the lore and the plot and they become less aware that they're playing a game. The issue with real-world cultural references is that they are kind of like a spray bottle of reality spritzing the player's face. It isn't a problem, exactly. I reserve that category for things like CTDs or broken plot flags or serious issues. But it is a reminder that hey, it's a game. That isn't going to be an issue for some, obviously. And to be fair, there are plenty of times where I'll cheerfully ignore it (I'm looking at you, Alistair). And to be honest, I have no idea why I find this mildly irritating when I'll laugh at Alistair's Ritual Dismemberment Tuesdays and call it good fun.

 

On the scale of Sera's pranks, it's the slip of paper under the corner of Cullen's desk: something ever so slightly wonky. It isn't anywhere close to the bucket of water over Josephine's door.