Bioware's isn't pandering to SJW's. Bioware is run buy SJW's and always has been. I mean, they've had LGBT characters in their games since 2000, folks. This isn't a new trend.
Including LGBT characters doesn't qualify as SJWing to me. That's what I'd call actually being progressive. That doesn't mean I don't think they sometimes go a little to0 on the nose with it, see my objection to the Krem convo above.
EDIT: Typos
Eh, I think I did a decent job. She'd look more authentic without blue eyes, but I liked Memoirs of a Geisha, sue me
It's not perfect but if we're going for "Jade Empire" Asian, imo you can the right nose (I was also trying to include the elvish nose bridge here) and OK-ish eyes.
They should include a preset, though.
Spoiler
Anyways, while I do think there's some "SJWing" going on in Inquisition (that super cringy Krem convo), I don't think the majority of players bat an eyelash at a diversity in skintones. One dude writing a blog piece doesn't mean most of us feel that way.
I wouldn't waste too much energy on it.
She's jaw-droppingly gorgeous. 
And, yes, she definitely looks Asian.
This is one of those issues I can't believe is actually an issue. Travel was practically nonexistent in the middle ages, the local gene pool was entirely streamlined from village to village all over the world, and larger cities had an extremely tiny minority of foreigners who were either officials or visiting merchants and possibly a much larger population of slaves, with so few exceptions as to not even be worth mentioning. Xenophobia was absolute and universal as a matter of fact, and cross-cultural exchanges always had to overcome that barrier.
The concept of fantasy is to take mythological elements and use them to craft an otherwise consistent and recognizable world. Dragon Age: Origins leaned heavily on xenophobia to underline the "dark" in dark fantasy, and that made Thedas all the more authentic and realistic as a quasi-medieval setting, especially because its countries were made to clearly mirror real-world cultures. The problem with random characters being differently colored in later games without explanation or it noticeably having impacted their lives or reputations is that that isn't consistent with the original portrayal of the setting.
"There's dragons so why shouldn't there be black people?" completely misses the point. Dragons are a key part of the setting's lore, them returning is a minor but overarching plot point. Thousands of black people traveling to the equivalent of Northern Europe and somehow establishing themselves and gaining respect so as to live alongside the radically different-looking locals without apparent discrimination makes no sense, because the Thedas we were originally presented didn't seem anywhere near tolerant enough for that to happen, much less without note or comment.
People who have a problem with this don't, as a rule, have a problem with black characters. They have a problem with the writers who didn't follow their own rules and didn't maintain the realistic atmosphere in the first game. It's the same with the cartoonish depiction of warfare, corrupt government, organized crime, religious military and cult mentality we see in Inquisition. All whitewashed, completely departing from the grittyness and authenticity that made Origins special and in fact respected those issues as not to be swept under the rug.
The series basically went from treating its players like adults to treating them like children over the course of one game. And I don't see how people being reproached for ostensibly supporting racism and rape just because they're disappointed with that is either fair or helps alleviate actual real-world suffering in any way whatsoever if that's the intention.
But isn't that still a, and please take no offense to this I just can't think of a better word, erranous way of thinking? Why should Bioware have to explain it? Considering the implied magical origins of different species expecting real world racial/ethnic development is a bit pointless isn't it? Further...the culture is European and most characters are European, but the DA team included people of color from Roma(rivain) to blacks (througout the world). Should that just be ignored because they haven't shown a Jade Empire style kingdom or a Wakanda? Isn't that just picking and choosing arbitrarily?
@ least Bethesda are more diverse than BioWare, you can be black, Hispanic, Asian, or white. And the have more people of color NPCs than Dragon Age and ME.
But you can do that in Bioware games.
And what are we considering a NPC?
The thing is, as I said before, Thedas isn't literally medieval Europe. It's a fantasy world. It would make sense to have more diverse-looking faces.
No, it wouldn't. We're given no reason to believe that more travel occurs in Thedas than did in medieval Europe. Mixed gene pools require a clear and/or constant influx of foreign genes, which simply doesn't occur without modern transportation or a history of warfare between two cultures of different ethnic origins wherein one has or is occupying the other, none of which applies to either Orlais or Ferelden where DA:O and DAI take place. Thedas is only unlike medieval Europe in the ways that it's shown to be unlike medieval Europe, and the way it's presented doesn't account for sudden and inexplicable multiethnicism.
Just because a setting has some fantastical elements doesn't mean it's not supposed to follow any logic at all, unless the setting being illogical and inconsistent is specifically part of what makes it fantastical, such as for example with the Fade. In Thedas the principles of cause and effect, human nature and a mildly adjusted spin on the laws of physics are all supposed to be in effect unless stated otherwise. Mixed racial groups, among other things, happen to be subject to those.
If you're so comfortable saying that it being fantasy excuses everything and that there's no point analyzing or finding holes in the logic because that's what your idea of the genre is, why can't you afford the same courtesy to people who just like to take the consistency in fantasy settings a little more seriously? You not caring about that doesn't make you a lunatic who thinks nothing in the world is real, why should us caring it about make us racists and worse just because those issues are part of a consistent depiction of reality? Hoping for the opportunity to kill Howe doesn't make us supportive of frontier justice, does it?
And more importantly, why would painting those issues over with crayons as if they don't and have never existed in any way do any good, that people have such a problem with some of us disapproving of the attempt? Any highly realistic and merciless depiction of human cruelty is a hundred times better at demonstrating how horrible such a thing is and how important it is to safeguard against it than blissful images of people unaccountably getting along with a subtle implication of "or else..."
Supporting censorship of something because you find it "problematic" is one of the most destructive things you can possibly do. If problems could be censored away then we'd be living in a perfect world by now. Society betters itself by looking straight in the mirror and figuring out where the issues come from as it recognizes them, and we're all supposed to halt that process for fear of touching on something you feel sensitive about? Get over yourself.
Yes. BioWare don't have enough people of color when it comes to NPCs compared to Bethesda especially Fallout series.But you can do that in Bioware games.
And what are we considering a NPC?
Yes. BioWare don't have enough people of color when it comes to NPCs compared to Bethesda especially Fallout series.
So you admit that you were lying by saying Bioware doesn't let you be black, hispanic, asian, and white.
You didn't answer my NPC question at all.
*sigh* I did answer your question about NPCs and I said yes to your question about the NPC.So you admit that you were lying by saying Bioware doesn't let you be black, hispanic, asian, and white.
You didn't answer my NPC question at all.
Yes. BioWare don't have enough people of color when it comes to NPCs compared to Bethesda especially Fallout series.
Fallout is set in a futuristic America. Ethnic diversity makes a hell of a lot more sense in that setting than in alternate medieval Britain/France.
Also, Jade Empire is chock-full of Asian characters with nary a Caucasian in sight. And Bioware is a Canadian company, Canada being the 11th whitest country in the world. I'd say they've met their quota overall. Which isn't to say that I wouldn't kill for a Middle-Eastern fantasy Bioware rpg.
*sigh* I did answer your question about NPCs and I said yes to your question about the NPC.
My question was not a yes or no one.
And that still doesn't address your flat out lying about Bioware not letting you be the race you want to be when they have for decades.
Why are you mad at me every time I say something?My question was not a yes or no one.
And that still doesn't address your flat out lying about Bioware not letting you be the race you want to be when they have for decades.
Why are you mad at me every time I say something?
I'm not mad. One can disagree and question without being angry.
Some ways that Thedas is not like Medieval Europe that have nothing to do with magic:
1. Practically everyone, at least in the south, is literate. (We've read notes from everyone from hunters to cooks to jailers, and Hawke is actually surprised when Fenris can't read.)
2. Nationalism is a thing, to a far greater extent than it was in Earth's Middle Ages.
3. Everyone speaks a common language. Well, the Qunari still have their own day-to-day language, but everyone else seems to communicate in the common tongue. It's not like Medieval Europe where you could walk to the next county and have trouble understanding people.
4. There's no evidence of massive infant mortality - nobody has five dead siblings who died in childhood, the graveyards aren't full of people who died before they're five.
5. In fact, there's evidence that there might be reliable contraception, given the size of the average family. We know that the Circle has it, but to be fair that might be magic.
6. There are four different sapient species running around dealing with each other. (Or maybe five, because Fex.)
7. They've already got block printing. (Implied by Varric being a famous author - not very plausible if manuscripts were being copied by hand.)
8. The church is a matriarchy, and women are relatively equal in status to men and have far more social roles available to them than women in Europe's Medieval period.
9. Speaking of the church, nobody seems to think that kings are chosen by divine right.
10. Also, there are some black people about the place. (I mean, there were in Medieval Europe too, depending on whether you were in Spain or not. So maybe that's the thing that doesn't belong on this list.)
That's off the top of my head.
9. Speaking of the church, nobody seems to think that kings are chosen by divine right.
This is the only one I'll disagree about somewhat (good post btw)..
It isn't Chantry sanctioned, but there's a strain of nationalism and sanctity to it that might as well be Divine right. That was Eamon's poor argument for Alistair.
The fact that Ferelden also has a hero like Loghain though is interesting.
All this talk about there having to be "explanations"... What do you actually expect? Every NPC with darker skin colour to be like, "Hi! My name is Bla, I come from BlaBla, my right and reason to exist in this setting is BlaBlaBla," every single time we meet one?
All this talk about there having to be "explanations"... What do you actually expect? Every NPC with darker skin colour to be like, "Hi! My name is Bla, I come from BlaBla, my right and reason to exist in this setting is BlaBlaBla," every single time we meet one?
I wouldn't want that either.
I just like coherent world building. I like a setting to have many features.. but I'd prefer they clicked in place. Not a fan of whimsical things in general. Unless the whole setting is whimsical... like.. umm.. Tim Burton or something. 
I also think being dismissive of races is something Western caucasians do. They have a tendency to say "We're all the same. Why does it matter?" nowadays. It's a poor way of moving past the subject of race.. even if well intended.
I wouldn't want that either.
I just like coherent world building. I like a setting to have many features.. but I'd prefer they clicked in place. Not a fan of whimsical things in general. Unless the whole setting is whimsical... like.. umm.. Tim Burton or something.
I also think being dismissive of races is something Western caucasians do. They have a tendency to say "We're all the same. Why does it matter?" nowadays. It's a poor way of moving past the subject of race.. even if well intended.
But the thing is that Thedas is already established as a world where we have countries with different kinds of people and we also know that they travel a lot for various reasons - trade, wars, Blight, work, assassins, bards, magical and natural catastrophes, just because they want to, rich people that wish to study, show off or enjoy, etc. Some of them settle down, have children, those children grow up in the new country.
That's why it's mind-boggling to me it's still such a big deal.
But the thing is that Thedas is already established as a world where we have countries with different kinds of people and we also know that they travel a lot for various reasons - trade, wars, Blight, work, assassins, bards, magical and natural catastrophes, just because they want to, rich people that wish to study, show off or enjoy, etc. Some of them settle down on, have children, those children grow up in the new country.
That's why it's mind-boggling to me it's still such a big deal.
I don't see the evidence that it's widespread though. And I don't know any countries in Thedas that are truly cosmopolitan. They're still tied to ethnicity or culture. Not even Tevinter seems to be a hub. It's still colored by Tevinters.
I can see it happening on individual cases.. like, say, Duncan or Vivienne or whatever main character we run into. It can always be written off that way. But I don't see how that can used in large numbers, without the communities and story to support it. And to that I say, what would be wrong with that? These are RPGs. Stories make the world go around. If there's a Disapora of Rivainis in Orlais, then I'd love to hear the story. That would make everything richer. Rather than having it waved off. Like what crisis brought them there? Or did they move en masse because of jobs? Or were they religious outcasts? It could be anything! But anything is better than nothing. Like I said, I just want good world building... which is another way of saying I want good stories.
At the same time, I don't want them to avoid putting certain people in the setting either. That would suck too.
I don't see the evidence that it's widespread though. And I don't know any countries in Thedas that are truly cosmopolitan. They're still tied to ethnicity or culture. Not even Tevinter seems to be a hub. It's still colored by Tevinters.
I can see it happening on individual cases.. like, say, Duncan or Vivienne or whatever main character we run into. It can always be written off that way. But I don't see how that can used in large numbers, without the communities and story to support it. And to that I say, what would be wrong with that? These are RPGs. Stories make the world go around. If there's a Disapora of Rivainis in Orlais, then I'd love to hear the story. That would make everything richer. Rather than having it waved off. Like I said, I just want good world building... which is another way of saying I want good stories.
At the same time, I don't want them to avoid putting certain people in the setting either. That would suck too.
I don't see it the same way, but I don't think it's something I can argue with because we do not have evidence one way or another. It might be just my impression, but I felt that people travel all the time in Thedas, but that might be just me. I also don't think we always need to see evidence for something to be included. Maybe it's the state of the world for reasons they haven't explained just yet or didn't even think it needed to be explained in more detail.
The issue becomes more funny when the qunari walk in because what's the explanation for their appearance as regards their environment and geographical location? Exceptions from the rule are only okay with fantasy people? I'm not sure how to make sense of them if we should apply the same rules to them.
As for the rest, the thing is how to do both these things at the same time when we already have multiple storylines going and whether it is really necessary to focus on this topic in a fantasy game where we have more interesting things to do than deal with migration. It's not that the topic isn't interesting as such, but I also admit I've picked these games up because of the fantasy aspects and not the real world ones. I suppose more information from NPCs and codex wouldn't hurt.
Either way, I don't disagree with you exactly, but on the other hand, I think that sometimes things can really be that simple. But that's just my opinion. I definitely agree that I wouldn't want them to deliberately avoid making all kinds of characters, either.
I don't see it the same way, but I don't think it's something I can argue with because we do not have evidence one way or another. It might be just my impression, but I felt that people travel all the time in Thedas, but that might be just me. I also don't think we always need to see evidence for something to be included. Maybe it's the state of the world for reasons they haven't explained just yet or didn't even think it needed to be explained in more detail.
The issue becomes more funny when the qunari walk in because what's the explanation for their appearance as regards their environment and geographical location? Exceptions from the rule are only okay with fantasy people? I'm not sure how to make sense of them if we should apply the same rules to them.
As for the rest, the thing is how to do both these things at the same time when we already have multiple storylines going and whether it is really necessary to focus on this topic in a fantasy game where we have more interesting things to do than deal with migration. It's not that the topic isn't interesting as such, but I also admit I've picked these games up because of the fantasy aspects and not the real world ones. I suppose more information from NPCs and codex wouldn't hurt.
Either way, I don't disagree with you exactly, but on the other hand, I think that sometimes things can really be that simple. But that's just my opinion. I definitely agree that I wouldn't want them to deliberately avoid making all kinds of characters, either.
The Qunari are poorly done in this game. They'd be the first object of my criticism. Right now, it seems they mostly exist because of a loud minority. Outside reasons rather than interesting in-game reasons. The internet is full of people who said DA2 and humans were "boring", and Bioware mistook them as majority. Lo and behold, their opinion meant little. The amount of human characters was still roughly the same as DAO -- 80 percent. And we have a year and millions of dollars that could have been better served on the story.
As for diaspora communities, I don't think anything like this is simple. Even the melting pot I live in (America) is full of community stories. It isn't inclusive just because of ideals.. there was a story behind all of it. There's a reason why, say, there are many Vietnamese in New Orleans and Houston. Or why Irish moved en masse to early America. I'd expect fantasy worlds tell similar stories... at least half as well.
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