Right!? We have something! (other than 'Varric's' book next month)
....Though I can't help to be amused by choice of name for the main character: Olivia PRYDE? Gosh, I have to admire just how brazenly unsubtle Bioware can be sometimes
TBH... my first thought ran to Kitty Pryde (from the X-Men).
Same
Greed is neither good, nor bad. Everybody wants something they don't have
I’m actually offended by this change. It’s Qarinus in both the lore books, it’s Qarinus in Those Who Speak and it’s Qarinus in DAI. Now you’re changing lore to accommodate morons? What other changes can we expect to be made on a whim?
If it had been a recent change due to a change in government, that’d be one thing. But to say it’s been that way for decades is just insulting. Or does my opinion not matter because I can tell the difference between words with similar syllables?
I’m not going to harass Patrick over this, but I couldn’t let this go without voicing my displeasure.
I really don't know how you mix Quarinus and Qunari, and why's that so bad that you have to go changing the name now, after all these years.
David Gaider @davidgaider Cities change names. It happens, even in our world. That doesn't mean that all the locals use the new name instantly. I wasn't part of this decision, but it seems fine to me.
I don't know why people keep throwing real life out as an example. Who cares? Dragon Age is a fictional universe. Sure, cities can change their names, but in this case the developers made a conscious choice to do so and did it for a specific reason, then made up a lore reason for it to make sense and fit.
Mountains. Cold. "Let's bring Dorian!" It's good to be Champion!
Okay, I'm just weighing in as someone who gets pissed every time they change something retroactively from what has been established as lore in game, in codices and in the lore books. This is not just some random city. It is also the name of one of the original three kingdoms that were united to form the Tevinter Imperium. So it has a significance as the major city on the east side of Tevinter and as previous capital city of the region/people of the same name. Dorian makes a big thing of how the people of Tevinter are really attached to the past. They are proud of it. They preserve it with a devotion bordering on obsession.
So changing a very ancient name to something else simply because of one victory in battle? It wouldn't happen. All those families associated with the ancient city of Qarinus would object. It is part of their identity.
Most name changes of cities in real life come about because of regime change. Where is the regime change here? Now if the Qunari had conquered the city and renamed it, that I could understand.
It's a name change to a city that's been largely irrelevant lorewise with no knock on consequences that I can see. ~shrug~
Hardly irrelevant when it forms a major part of the history of the Tevinter Imperium and in fact human history in Thedas in the north. It depends, of course, on whether you like Dragon Age for the immersive setting and considerable background lore, in other words a living world, or it is simply a computer game with no previous history worth worrying about. It jars with our conversations with Dorian in-game, the War Table missions and codices.
There is also World of Thedas the forward to which contained the following endorsement for the then Creative Director, Mike Laidlaw:
"The book in your hands covers a huge swath of the Dragon Age world. Races, politic, nations, it's all here: ruthlessly fact checked"
Of course there have been numerous instances of the fact checking having not been quite as ruthless as we were led to believe. However, in the addendum to WoT2, this was put down writer error as the implication was that the author of the book actually lived in Thedas. There is also the fact that anything that occurred post 9:40 would not be recorded in the book. However, the justification for changing the name of Qarinus was an event that took place "decades" earlier so should have been mentioned.
Surely if there was confusion about the name of Qarinus with the Qunari that is something that should have been picked up before now? How can the name have been used prominently in a major comic series, a lore book and DAI and yet no one had a problem with it? Then suddenly it is confusing?
Okay, I'm just weighing as someone he gets pissed every time they change something retroactively from what has been established as lore in game, in codices and in the lore books. This is not just some random city. It is also the name of one of the original three kingdoms that were united to form the Tevinter Imperium. So it has a significance as the major city on the east side of Tevinter and as previous capital city of the region/people of the same name. Dorian makes a big thing of how the people of Tevinter are really attached to the past. They are proud of it. They preserve it with a devotion bordering on obsession.
So changing a very ancient name to something else simply because of one victory in battle? It wouldn't happen. All those families associated with the ancient city of Qarinus would object. It is part of their identity.
Most name changes of cities in real life come about because of regime change. Where is the regime change here? Now if the Qunari had conquered the city and renamed it, that I could understand.
Cities change names for weird shit all the time - one of the cities near me changed it's name and put "burn" in it about 150 years ago cus it burned down 3 times close together so they thought they'd change the name and it stuck. The old name was Irish and probably had been named that way for hundreds of years. Another city in my neck of the woods, changed it's name 400 years ago to add another cities name because they set up guilds in the city - despite this name change 400 years ago, people still refer to it by the older name and it's a contentious political issue so much so that our transport system refers to it by both names, one after the other. So I reiterate, humans are weird, will change things for weird reasons and if they don't agree with the change are perfectly willing to keep refering to the old name for a very long time.
Okay, it seems I'll just have to head-canon that Dorian was fabricating the truth a little. He has a devotion to the past, as do many of the people he associates with. May be it is the fact that some jumped up Magister in Minrathous decided to arbitrarily change the name of his home city that he was so insistent that proper Tevinter are so devoted to preserving their heritage. This would also account for why he insisted on calling his home city Qarinus despite the official name change. There you are, done.
I still think that it is wrong for them to make changes like this when they have sold lore books with the original name and insisted on their accuracy to the setting. World of Thedas should have noted the change of name if it took place before 9:40, which "decades" would suggest was the case.
Post by UutIVvdPw7END0Ef on Jun 30, 2018 9:39:35 GMT
With the dumbing of AI and less party control in DA2-DAI-MEA, to simpler dialogue in Anthem, and now changing city names cuz they're confusing. Guess BW's demographic is just the average twitch streamer that doesn't give a shit about storytelling and is all about shooting and looting, might as well ditch RPG genre all together, them skills and class choices are too complex!
It's a name change to a city that's been largely irrelevant lorewise with no knock on consequences that I can see. ~shrug~
Hardly irrelevant when it forms a major part of the history of the Tevinter Imperium and in fact human history in Thedas in the north. It depends, of course, on whether you like Dragon Age for the immersive setting and considerable background lore, in other words a living world, or it is simply a computer game with no previous history worth worrying about. It jars with our conversations with Dorian in-game, the War Table missions and codices.
A name change is not a history change. It's the same place, it played the same role. Considering the fact that Weekes tweeted that this is addressed in the comic it seems to be an in-universe name change, presumably recent as Weekes makes room for in his later tweet on the subject and if it isn't it's a continuity error. Either way it has no bearing on Dorian or his character. The rest of your post seems to be whining that the devs aren't infallible; an attitude to which I am equal parts baffled and dismissive. Kindly take your sanctimonious gatekeeping (if you were a REAL DA fan you'd hurl your cereal everywhere because THEY CHANGED THE NAME OF A CITY) and put it back where you found it [further location redacted]
Last Edit: Jun 30, 2018 13:21:41 GMT by SofaJockey
Kindly take your sanctimonious gatekeeping (if you were a REAL DA fan you'd hurl your cereal everywhere because THEY CHANGED THE NAME OF A CITY) and put it back where you found it [further location redacted]
There's no need to be so offensive. I am a real DA fan and I've paid good money for an awful lot of products that have been produced to supplement the games. I am not the only person who gets a little fed up when it seems that the information in those products can be changed in this way So it doesn't matter to you. Fine, but don't insult other people simply because it does and they have wished to express that view.
Last Edit: Jun 30, 2018 13:22:01 GMT by SofaJockey
Kindly take your sanctimonious gatekeeping (if you were a REAL DA fan you'd hurl your cereal everywhere because THEY CHANGED THE NAME OF A CITY) and put it back where you found it ie presumably your ass.
There's no need to be so offensive. I am a real DA fan and I've paid good money for an awful lot of products that have been produced to supplement the games. I am not the only person who gets a little fed up when it seems that the information in those products can be changed in this way So it doesn't matter to you. Fine, but don't insult other people simply because it does and they have wished to express that view.
I mean your point about not being sactimonious about being a real DA fan might have worked better if you hadn't brought up how much money you spent on DA products - like c'mon. that's a bit ridiculous, and I say that as a person who's bought the World of Thedas books and the novels. It doesn't make me any better then anyone who was confusing Qarinus and Qunari - it's important to consider newcomers to the series as we were all newcomers once - I recently was trying to get one of my friends to try Dragon Age and it was actually very difficult to explain the setting and lore. And we need newcomers coming in too.
Interesting topics. Turning the heat down on the debate a couple of notches would be appreciated.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 decades of RPG gaming from green screen to 4K. Moderator posts mostly marked by 'Police' emoji. Other views shared are just personal ones. On UK time zone.
It reviewed pretty well, but it would be fair to say that public reaction to BioWare's sequel was... unfavourable. That's fair: a game with only one cave layout shouldn't have so many missions set in a cave. In fact, many criticisms of Dragon Age II are entirely justified, but to write it off because of them would be to miss out on one of the most interesting RPGs BioWare has made.
Instead of sending you out on a grand journey, Dragon Age II is about a single city and the people within it. As Hawke, you travel to this city, survive in this city and fight to save this city over the course of around ten years. You get to feel like a member of the community in the way few RPGs, with their huge maps and sweeping stories, can support. And you get to hang out with Varric in a dingy pub. I'd love for a developer to revisit this style of role-playing, but, until that happens, I'll keep propping up the bar in the The Hanged Man.
It doesn't make me any better then anyone who was confusing Qarinus and Qunari - it's important to consider newcomers to the series as we were all newcomers once
I never said I was better than anyone else and I take your point, although I have to say that when I was a newcomer to the series, I read up on anything I found confusing. Part of the interest for me is that there is so much lore that you have to study in order to understand what is going on. I listened carefully to everything Dorian had to say because he was a first hand reporter of what Tevinter is like.
Anyway, I'll leave the matter alone now since the change has been made and it doesn't really matter what we think about it, although I must admit I think they could have come up with a bit more of an inspired name than Ventus. It will be interesting to learn the reasoning behind this.
It doesn't make me any better then anyone who was confusing Qarinus and Qunari - it's important to consider newcomers to the series as we were all newcomers once
I never said I was better than anyone else and I take your point, although I have to say that when I was a newcomer to the series, I read up on anything I found confusing. Part of the interest for me is that there is so much lore that you have to study in order to understand what is going on. I listened carefully to everything Dorian had to say because he was a first hand reporter of what Tevinter is like.
Anyway, I'll leave the matter alone now since the change has been made and it doesn't really matter what we think about it, although I must admit I think they could have come up with a bit more of an inspired name than Ventus. It will be interesting to learn the reasoning behind this.
I love the lore too, but you have to get into the game in the first place to really get to that point, so anything that is causing too much confusion early on can just cause a newcomer to give up or not start in the first place like my friend which is a shame since she has a Master in History and I thought she'd be really interested in the way true events get twisted over the centuries due to different bias being entered into the mix, but she's not relly interested in games much so perhaps it was a lost cause, though she did have a confused look on her face when I was trying to describe everything, and dang is there alot to describe - and I was only describing the first game which takes place in only one location!
Also, sorry I was a bit harsh earliar, just really annoys me when people bring up the money they spent in the past on a game series, I've seen it used too many times of people trying to act superior for it. Also didn't like earliar how many people (not you though) were refering to people as morons for getting confused by what is at the moment an obscure bit of lore. They may explain the name change quite well so that it fits with the current lore (I think Patrick Weekes said it would be refered to in the comic) so hopefully everyone will be happy, or as happy as BioWare fans get
It's a name change to a city that's been largely irrelevant lorewise with no knock on consequences that I can see. ~shrug~
Largely irrelevant? It’s not some backwater in the Free Marches. Outside of Minrathous, it’s the second-most prominent name in Tevinter, being one of the three founding kingdoms. Dorian is from Qarinus, as is Maevaris Tilani. The first issue of Those Who Speak is set there and the name has come up in DAI as part of a war table operation.
If we’re changing names to accommodate people who confuse certain terms, why don’t we drop Rogue as one of the three classes and rename it Rouge?
(sigh) This isn’t the hill I choose to die on, and I’m not going to keep arguing about this this. But I was already cynical about the future of Dragon Age, and the new guard's apparent willingness to change lore on a whim does not help.
Everyone is so busy debating the name change instead of getting hyped that we're going to Qarinus in the next game!
My read in here is they decided to change the name because the city will be important in the next game and they are expecting a lot of newcomers to the series!!!
This is similar to Asha's name change to Yara in game of thrones (producers said people confused her with Osha). I don't like the new name and didn't get the old one mixed up with qunari, but ultimately it is inconsequential. Nothing groundbreaking has changed about the characters or world that we love.
Ben Gelinas @bengelinas Today is @conalpierse's last day at @bioware. I thought I would make a short thread of some of my favorite things he made over the last few years. The fandom would not be the same without Conal's ridiculous talent.
.@bioware The scariest thing about the Grunt gif @conalpierse and @strayner made? The unspeakable happenings behind the scenes.
Perhaps Conal's most memorable on-camera role was in a clip (he wrote) in which @alixwiltonregan repeatedly spit on him. People would later approach him at cons, remembering him as "the guy the Inquisitor spit on", at least once asking for an autograph.
Conal would often do things to challenge himself. He'd never really tried animation, so he spent countless hours between so much other stuff creating this perfect piece of art:
I relished every opportunity we had to work together. Conal and I barely fought at all while writing this script for a Dragon Age cooking show together.
Conal also drove the runaway weirdness of 2016's holiday livestream, featuring the now infamous Mugman, sitting silently for what felt like forever and frustrating a generation (a year before another company did it, mind you. Not that I'm grumpy about it).
Conal also helped make the @cah Mass Effect Pack, drove early cosplay kits for Inquisition characters with another badass @jessicamarzipan... and ran so many con events I don't know how he's still alive. Here is a page he colored to cheer me up while I was crunching on Andromeda.
In closing, @conalpierse is probably gonna be mad at me for making this thread but I don't care because I love him and he did amazing things at @bioware and now he's gonna do amazing things wherever comes next... even if that wherever is just sleeping for a while.
It doesn't make me any better then anyone who was confusing Qarinus and Qunari - it's important to consider newcomers to the series as we were all newcomers once - I recently was trying to get one of my friends to try Dragon Age and it was actually very difficult to explain the setting and lore. And we need newcomers coming in too.
New comers are indeed important, but there does come a time when they have to do their own homework and not have their hands held, wouldn't you agree?
If someone chooses to jump into a franchise right in the third or forth installment, they should accept the risks that come with that choice. It's no one's fault but their own if they get confused by previous world building that they have no knowledge of. If they care enough, they'll either pick up the previous games or go on a Wikipedia binge (or watch some Let's Plays).
In terms of, well, ... the terms, Qunari are mentioned so many times in the games before Qarinus that it's drummed into your mind that they are a race (you have Qunari companions in DAO and DAI who infodump at almost the drop of a hat, and they also play a prominent role in DA2). If you don't really read the codex, the first time you hear about Qarinus might be from Dorian, and by that time you are already familiar enough with the term "Qunari" to know which one is a race and which one is a city. You just need to pay a little bit of attention and your brain does the rest.
And in case I need to specify this, I've read the novels exactly once, never read any of the comics, haven't played DAO or DA2 since before DAI came out and haven't played DAI for about 2 - 2.5 years. I even forgot Qarinus existed until the tweet mentioned it but I remembered it was a city because I paid attention during the games. Sometimes, that's all you need to do, pay attention, and your brain does the rest.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust Life's a b***h and beer's a must
