So elves not looking like humans is bad whereas dwarves not looking like humans is good?
Nope - I personally don't care whether either race looks exactly like humans - just commenting on the evolution of Dwarves between games....and my personal preferences around body posture mostly. I actually prefer the look of Dwarves in DA:I to previous iterations.
...exceptionally short in Inquisition?
Just try and remember what they looked like in previous games.
Granted, the main characters (Cullen, Leliana, etc) look alright but they tend to be the exception to the rule just like Solas and Sera don't have the Dalish Inquisitor's anorexic appearance.
Everyone seems so tiny, including the Inquisitor. Our male Trevelyan has stumpy legs while female Trevelyan is about the same size as an elf with just a few extra pounds.
Maybe one of the easiest examples is default female Hawke. It was impossible to truly do her justice as she was a taller woman back in DA2 and the body proportions were different.
I say it's clothing. All clothing. The pjs were clearly made for humans; hence why every other race is varying degrees of awful in that number. However, Calpernia's armor looks great on females, and the males look anorexic in that armor. In this case, clothing does really make the man.
Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, I found Blackwall seemed shorter than my female Trevelyan.
Yes, it appears that Blackwall is shorter than the human Inquisitor. His padded tunic also gives him the illusion of being burlier than the average human.
I say it's clothing. All clothing. The pjs were clearly made for humans; hence why every other race is varying degrees of awful in that number. However, Calpernia's armor looks great on females, and the males look anorexic in that armor. In this case, clothing does really make the man.
^ It really is. You just need to watch a show like What Not to Wear where they talk about the shape/cut of clothing accentuating certain parts of the body, designs that make people look taller/shorter, wider/slimmer, draw attention away from the bust or butt or TO the bust or butt, and so on.
Hell, some of the Skyhold attire recolors worked wonders for that, and those changed nothing about the actual build of the character.
Yes, it appears that Blackwall is shorter than the human Inquisitor. His padded tunic also gives him the illusion of being burlier than the average human.
Ah so it wasn't just me. I noticed that after romancing Cullen, then romancing him. He seems rather stout next to my Lady Trevelyan. and unless she leans back, he has to lean up to kiss her (during his judgement).
^ It really is. You just need to watch a show like What Not to Wear where they talk about the shape/cut of clothing accentuating certain parts of the body, designs that make people look taller/shorter, wider/slimmer, draw attention away from the bust or butt or TO the bust or butt, and so on.
Hell, some of the Skyhold attire recolors worked wonders for that, and those changed nothing about the actual build of the character.
^ It really is. You just need to watch a show like What Not to Wear where they talk about the shape/cut of clothing accentuating certain parts of the body, designs that make people look taller/shorter, wider/slimmer, draw attention away from the bust or butt or TO the bust or butt, and so on.
Hell, some of the Skyhold attire recolors worked wonders for that, and those changed nothing about the actual build of the character.
I know, right? I took shots of my Lavellan in different outfits during the same scene, and am amazed by how color and cut can affect just the look of her face! It shouldn't matter, but for some reason it does!
The best outfit for this particular character was the Formal Outfit in blue:
While the Sunset version best suited this character:
Even pretend people have color palettes that best suit their frame and skin color. I, for example, suffer in spring colors and pastels.
Of course, then there's this:
If I wanted I could make a similar graphic for dwarves where I kept the head the same size and squashed the body from the top instead of the side, or Qunari where I made the body a bit bigger and stuck some horns on. I certainly get no uncanny valley feelings from elves myself. All I get from your post is the impression that you don't like a slim body shape for some reason...
Slim is fine and dandy (femshep in ME1 for example was slim but with normal proportions) but they don't look slim, they look deformed. They made the elf's shoulders disproportionately narrow (like a toddler's) and to me it looks like they did exactly what I did with the picture. It would explain why the male elf's arms are sucked into his body. I think BioWare knew people wouldn't like that body which is why Sera uses a different body with normal shoulders and Solas' clothing fluffs him out to give him normal shoulders as well.
Slim is fine and dandy (femshep in ME1 for example was slim but with normal proportions) but they don't look slim, they look deformed. They made the elf's shoulders disproportionately narrow (like a toddler's) and to me it looks like they did exactly what I did with the picture. It would explain why the male elf's arms are sucked into his body. I think BioWare knew people wouldn't like that body which is why Sera uses a different body with normal shoulders and Solas' clothing fluffs him out to give him normal shoulders as well.
Actually, I believe it was a (really crappy) design decision due to the fact that elves are supposed to be "half of what they once were" due to the Veil going up. Solas, Abelas, and the sentinels, obviously, would not have the same issue. And unless Sera is revealed down the line to also be Elvhen, her model is just... more bullshit that NPCs always look better than us?
But hey, none of this matters, because we have multiplayer that makes EA a ton of money, right?
Actually, I believe it was a (really crappy) design decision due to the fact that elves are supposed to be "half of what they once were" due to the Veil going up. Solas, Abelas, and the sentinels, obviously, would not have the same issue. And unless Sera is revealed down the line to also be Elvhen, her model is just... more bullshit that NPCs always look better than us?
But hey, none of this matters, because we have multiplayer that makes EA a ton of money, right?
LMAO they certainly are 
I don't think the humans are shorter. The elves, on the other hand, are definitely taller than before.
In DAO, Zevran was definitely shorter than female Amell/Cousland.
In DA2, Fenris seemed to be about the same height as femHawke.
In DAI, male Lavellan is taller than Josephine, Cassandra, Leliana, etc.
I think that's part of why the elves look too thin. They've stretched taller but haven't gotten broader. Unless he's in armour, my male Lavellan looks like a bean pole. 
Well, as a 5'7" guy shorter humans are fine for me. 
Well, as a 5'7" guy shorter humans are fine for me.
This whole thing is silly though because humans are still the second tallest race relative to everyone else, so they're not actually shorter in that sense. Human in DAO was taller than elf and dwarf, human in DA2 was taller than elf and dwarf, and human in DAI is taller than elf and dwarf.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but humans apparently can come in two sizes! Well, the men, at least. Cullen is about the same size as Skywatcher and the leader of the Blades of Hessarian, but the female Avvar just look normal. (Though I haven't played JoH yet.)
If I wanted I could make a similar graphic for dwarves where I kept the head the same size and squashed the body from the top instead of the side, or Qunari where I made the body a bit bigger and stuck some horns on. I certainly get no uncanny valley feelings from elves myself. All I get from your post is the impression that you don't like a slim body shape for some reason...
The elves aren't just slim - they have unreasonably narrow shoulders vs. their waist. That's what makes the build screwy. It's not a proportion that's really at all common in men or women IRL.
The elves aren't just slim - they have unreasonably narrow shoulders vs. their waist. That's what makes the build screwy. It's not a proportion that's really at all common in men or women IRL.
It's the build of a child, which makes it impossible for me to play a male elf without a body mod. That scene with Cassandra is... very disturbing.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but humans apparently can come in two sizes! Well, the men, at least. Cullen is about the same size as Skywatcher and the leader of the Blades of Hessarian, but the female Avvar just look normal. (Though I haven't played JoH yet.)
That doesn't seem right. Cullen is shorter than my qunari, but Skywatcher and most other brutes are taller than him, much to my annoyance.
Slim is fine and dandy (femshep in ME1 for example was slim but with normal proportions) but they don't look slim, they look deformed. They made the elf's shoulders disproportionately narrow (like a toddler's) and to me it looks like they did exactly what I did with the picture. It would explain why the male elf's arms are sucked into his body. I think BioWare knew people wouldn't like that body which is why Sera uses a different body with normal shoulders and Solas' clothing fluffs him out to give him normal shoulders as well.
I would agree with you, but I can't wrap my head around them designing a model on purpose for people not to like it. I think for the male the arm joints are screwed up in animations, as his upper arms cave inward, angling the forearms into his torso. Solas has the same caved-in arms when he gets on a lift in the deep roads and they are magically fixed when the lift stops.
I wish the female elves and female humans had more fat and muscle on their bodies. More Kate Winslet, less Angelina Jolie.
I would agree with you, but I can't wrap my head around them designing a model on purpose for people not to like it. I think for the male the arm joints are screwed up in animations, as his upper arms cave inward, angling the forearms into his torso. Solas has the same caved-in arms when he gets on a lift in the deep roads and they are magically fixed when the lift stops.
I wish the female elves and female humans had more fat and muscle on their bodies. More Kate Winslet, less Angelina Jolie.
One thing I liked about fem Hawke was that she had a robust figure, she wasn't a waif.
It's the build of a child, which makes it impossible for me to play a male elf without a body mod. That scene with Cassandra is... very disturbing.
Agreed. It's like they took the body of a 9 year old child, made the arms and legs longer (but not thicker) and added breasts.
I would agree with you, but I can't wrap my head around them designing a model on purpose for people not to like it. I think for the male the arm joints are screwed up in animations, as his upper arms cave inward, angling the forearms into his torso. Solas has the same caved-in arms when he gets on a lift in the deep roads and they are magically fixed when the lift stops.
I wish the female elves and female humans had more fat and muscle on their bodies. More Kate Winslet, less Angelina Jolie.
I feel like someone out there had some kind of "artistic vision" that the elves should have this kind of body but then someone else was like "no one is going to want to romance this, make the two elf LI's look normal." I definitely wish BioWare would make the female characters more muscular. The female inquisitor looks like she does paperwork all day, not like she fights and traverses the countryside. BioWare always gives noodle arms to its' female characters. The female Qunari was waaaaay less muscular than I would have liked too (especially compared to the male version). Hell, she's less muscular than me and I decorate cakes for a living.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but humans apparently can come in two sizes! Well, the men, at least. Cullen is about the same size as Skywatcher and the leader of the Blades of Hessarian, but the female Avvar just look normal. (Though I haven't played JoH yet.)
There is one Avvar in JoH - Runa (you do a mission to find her. I could be mistaken on her name) .. she is way petite. Like Dwarf sized petite. I thought maybe she was supposed to be a child but she has boobs and hips like an adult woman so she was just way shorter than my human female Quizzy. If she were a teenager she still should not be Dwarf height.
The elves aren't just slim - they have unreasonably narrow shoulders vs. their waist. That's what makes the build screwy. It's not a proportion that's really at all common in men or women IRL.
You know what else isn't common IRL? Elves.
Maybe that came across too harshly, but I like the female elf body model. I enjoy the thinness, especially for mages; it underscores the power of magic rather nicely, and it helps differentiate elves from humans.
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