110 réponses à ce sujet

[PlatonicWaffles]

If Andromeda is another human-centric story, I'm going to be so disappointed.

 

The expedition and expansion into Andromeda should be a united effort, not just humans and a couple of other Milky Way races helping out.

[AlanC9]

I would argue that race selection in DAI didn't add nearly enough race-specific content even where there absolutely should have been race-specific content "Who is "Mythal"?

Wait a second. Was an elven Inquisitor actually forced to ask that question?

[Panda]

Yes, that was my number one wish for the game and it didn't came true. My second wish is seeing either Drells or Geths in the companions. Having my fingers crossed for that one.

[Killroy]

Yes, I know that. But I'm not watching a movie, I'm playing a roleplaying game. There's stuff happening outside of the game that colors and affects what's happening inside of the game too.

 

There's never been any real benefit to offering race selection in TES games either. Would you say those would be improved by removing it?

 

TES is mediocrity defined so having pointless race selection is just part of the package. And if your argument hinges on an abstract idea that you can't even tie back to the game then it's a losing one. Race selection in DAI had no impact on the story, characters, gameplay or outcomes. The closest it ever comes to being relevant is in race-specific romances. Saying "yeah, but muh glorious headcanon!" doesn't change facts.

A few more pesky facts about race selection are that story and gameplay content had to be cut to accommodate it(according to multiple devs) and more time could have been spent fine tuning the CC if they hadn't added 3 additional races. 

 

And just FYI, I've never even played a human in Inquisition. I just recognize that it's an objectively pointless feature.

[Killroy]

Wait a second. Was an elven Inquisitor actually forced to ask that question?

 

No, but they are forced to listen to that exposition no matter what. As an elf you frequently get hu-mansplained to, because why should the Dalish elf who's in charge be telling the filthy shems about Dalish culture instead of the other way 'round? 

[AlanC9]

If Andromeda is another human-centric story, I'm going to be so disappointed.
 
The expedition and expansion into Andromeda should be a united effort, not just humans and a couple of other Milky Way races helping out.

OTOH, racial integration wasn't really a thing in the MEU. Do we really want yet another change to the setting?

There's precedent for it. On Star Trek, the racial governments became completely vestigial sometime between TOS and TNG, and colonial racial integration never did take off. Also, Starfleet maintained its mostly-segregated-crew policy, but we all know that was just about keeping the makeup budget from blowing up.

[AlanC9]

No, but they are forced to listen to that exposition no matter what. As an elf you frequently get hu-mansplained to, because why should the Dalish elf who's in charge be telling the filthy shems about Dalish culture instead of the other way 'round? 

I took that as being for the benefit of the other party members, myself. And the player, in a metagaming sense.

Of course, that might have been about me not paying attention since I knew that stuff already. I guess you could say that I was in-character.

[9TailsFox]

Yes, I know that. But I'm not watching a movie, I'm playing a roleplaying game. There's stuff happening outside of the game that colors and affects what's happening inside of the game too.

 

There's never been any real benefit to offering race selection in TES games either. Would you say those would be improved by removing it?

ME is not TES. 

[FKA_Servo]

ME is not TES. 

 

Super glad you're here to tell me that.

[Dr. rotinaj]

What I mean there is that its very inclusion adds gameplay content - fodder for future playthroughs. It necessarily involves a certain amount of headcanon (hence acknowledge, not contradict), which I know some people around here can't abide. Nevertheless, I think headcanon is always going to be an integral and necessary aspect of roleplaying. DAI supports it very nicely.

 

I can value headcanon but I disagree that DAI supports it, at least with respect to race selection. The game needs to give content, context, and recognition to my chosen race for my headcanon to be meaningful to me. If I want to be a dwarven inquisitor I have very little of those things and at that point I'm just imagining that my chosen race matters. I can imagine that my Lavellan hates human nobility but can I insult human lords the way my Mahariel could? I can imagine that my Adaar is not Andrastian but why does he refer to the southern Chantry as "our chantry" when talking to Dorian? I can imagine that my Cadash has certain opinions of surface dwarf culture, kalna, ascendants, Orzammar, etc but she never really gets to express them because there are so few dwarven npcs.

 

I just can't headcanon away the fact that game makes me feel like I'm supposed to be a human.

[The Hierophant]

Would be stoked if i can play as a russian volus.

[SNascimento]

Would be stoked if i can play as a russian volus.

 
You can! In ME3MP. 

[The Hierophant]

 
You can! In ME3MP. 

Meh not the same. Has to be the pc of the single player campaign.

[Sylvius the Mad]

I can't play a game about Human expansion with a Turian...

Is it about human expansion, or Milky Way species expansion?

I somehow doubt the Ark was a strictly human endeavour.

[FKA_Servo]

Is it about human expansion, or Milky Way species expansion?

I somehow doubt the Ark was a strictly human endeavour.

 

One never knows. One can hope it wasn't, however.

[Killroy]

Is it about human expansion, or Milky Way species expansion?

I somehow doubt the Ark was a strictly human endeavour.

 

The wording of the leak made everyone jump to the conclusion that Andromeda is all human, all the time. Of course, that's silly. It was a marketing survey designed to figure out how best to market the game to new players. If it had spent more time talking about Krogans and Quarians than humans the uninitiated would be left confused, and that would be bad marketing. 

[Sylvius the Mad]

I can value headcanon but I disagree that DAI supports it, at least with respect to race selection. The game needs to give content, context, and recognition to my chosen race for my headcanon to be meaningful to me.

If the game acknowledges it then it's not headcanon.

And if that's what you need, then you're limited to the sorts of character designs that the developers foresaw or intended, and that's a far narrower set than I would like.

If your problem is that the game plays as if you were supposed to be someone in particular, then the solution is not to explicitly require that - it is to remove that sense of requirement.

If you don't want to say "our chantry", don't pick the dialogue options that say that.

If you can't tell which dialogue options say that, that's a paraphrase issue that needs to be fixed.

[Catastrophy]

I feel blue today. I'm gonna pick Asari.

[AlanC9]

Didn't the leak imply something about an optional mission dealing with a krogan colony, which would be important to the krogan squadmate? Sounds like helping krogan colonies isn't the PC's mission.

[Killroy]

Didn't the leak imply something about an optional mission dealing with a krogan colony, which would be important to the krogan squadmate? Sounds like helping krogan colonies isn't the PC's mission.

 

Or it could be that you have to choose which colonies to help. We probably shouldn't jump to conclusions.

[BatarianBob]

Yes, I know that. But I'm not watching a movie, I'm playing a roleplaying game. There's stuff happening outside of the game that colors and affects what's happening inside of the game too.

There's never been any real benefit to offering race selection in TES games either. Would you say those would be improved by removing it?

No real detriment to it in TES either. The protagonist is silent, so no extra voice actors to hire. No cinematic cutscenes, so no animations botched because the protagonist is clearly supposed to be human.

[Panda]

Is it about human expansion, or Milky Way species expansion?

I somehow doubt the Ark was a strictly human endeavour.

 

I was also under impression that the game is going to be more about Milky Wayan species than only humans, but maybe that's me being hopeful speaking..

[General TSAR]

Just allow us to switch to party members during gameplay.

 

Problem somewhat fixed.

[AlanC9]

I can imagine that my Adaar is not Andrastian but why does he refer to the southern Chantry as "our chantry" when talking to Dorian?

Hold it. In context, "our Chantry" is a statement of geography, not a statement of belief. They are discussing the difference between the two branches of the Chantry, and an Adaar simply did grow up in lands where the Orlesian branch holds sway. I can talk about "our churches" when discussing the difference between U.S. and European religion with my German relatives (typically in a political context). Doesn't make me any kind of believer.

I just can't headcanon away the fact that game makes me feel like I'm supposed to be a human.

But this is just a misreading of the fundamental theme of the game. It doesn't matter that your Inquisitor is non-human, yes, but that's a particular case of a general principle. Nothing about your Inquisitor matters to the people of Thedas; it's all projection.

[Pasquale1234]

What I mean there is that its very inclusion adds gameplay content - fodder for future playthroughs. It necessarily involves a certain amount of headcanon (hence acknowledge, not contradict), which I know some people around here can't abide. Nevertheless, I think headcanon is always going to be an integral and necessary aspect of roleplaying. DAI supports it very nicely.

While I completely agree that race selection can add a deeply satisfying dimension to roleplaying, I'm just not convinced that it would make much difference in ME.

The primary reason has to do with this:
 

Yes, I know that. But I'm not watching a movie, I'm playing a roleplaying game. There's stuff happening outside of the game that colors and affects what's happening inside of the game too.

If MEA is anything like ME2&3, it will feel a lot like a movie, where the writers decide exactly what the player will do throughout and design the whole thing to be experienced in a very specific way, with little (if any) room for emergent narrative.

Of course, since exploration will be a thing in MEA, I am somewhat hopeful that there might be more room for RP - but I suspect, in the end, I'll just have to accept the idea that ME offers a different form of entertainment than what I look for in an RPG.
 

There's never been any real benefit to offering race selection in TES games either. Would you say those would be improved by removing it?

You didn't ask me, but I'll answer: the benefit is enormous.

An anti-Thalmor Bosmer is a very different character than an anti-Thalmor Imperial would be. And that addresses only one single, isolated part of Skyrim - there are quite a few factions, quite a lot of history and politics, and an environment ripe with character design considerations and role-play opportunities.