Dragon Age II

[-Sho-]

Eeeh .. they look like Mi-Demon Mi-Human now ..

[Keroko]

Mreh, not really happy with that. Like you said Nighty, it just feels like going with whatever they think off and adjust the lore to that. At first they were just a different breed of human, now they're more... demons.

[Hellbore]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Mreh, not really happy with that. Like you said Nighty, it just feels like going with whatever they think off and adjust the lore to that. At first they were just a different breed of human, now they're more... demons.

Qunari were never human. The were always qunari.

[Keroko]

But they were human-like in appearance, making them more a different kind of human like western, Asian, and African people differ from each-other. That's what attracted me to them, they were mostly a different culture. Now their difference is more delegated to the species than that of the culture, which is a minus for me.

[Arbitres]

Qunari are Qunari, they are born warriors. Chances are, 99.99.9% of them want to die warriors.

Dammit, Bioware. Making Illidan's out of them.

[kujoe]

Man, what the hell happened to the qunari? Ok, I understand that only a few have these horns, but it just sounds like it came out of nowhere all of a sudden. They even have a different skin tone, which makes these horned qunari look so utterly different from the non-horned ones. Heck, they actually remind of vampires from Legacy of Kain!

I don't mind this new piece of lore (i.e., the horns), but the other distinct traits are too different for them to be considered as qunari. I hope Bioware will reconcile such differences under its new art direction. It's also mentioned that we'll be seeing some new stuff for the elves and dwarves as well...

Well, at least this piece of info *probably* answers who that horned lady might be in the promo art that has been going around. She's likely to be a female qunari, probably a mage—which raises another question: considering the qunari are even stricter when it comes to mages than the Chantry in Ferelden (assuming she is a mage...), why is she with Hawke? Also, why is she with the party (assuming she's a horned qunari...) when women are not supposed to be warriors in their society as Sten states in DA:O?

Oh, one thing I want to see in DA2? Aesthetic differences in armour depending on the region or kingdom. Surely, the Antivans have their own armour designs based on their culture and functional requirements. The qunari have their own unique culture and history too, which their ways of dress should reflect. One of the disappointments I have from the first game is that all those spirits in the Urn of Ashes quest look so generic. They are all dressed in contemporary clothes and equipment when they are supposedly figures of a long gone past. Details can make a difference.

Originally Posted by Nightengale

Kinda like how in Mass Effect 2, some people are in possession of new security droids and thermal clips when they aren't supposed to, being castaway for decades.

Well, thermal clips are supposed to be recent invention derived from geth weapon technology. Weird, I know. It's one of those "why didn't I think of that before?" moments.

[Irkalla]

Originally Posted by kujoe

Well, at least this piece of info *probably* answers who that horned lady might be in the promo art that has been going around. She's likely to be a female qunari, probably a mage—which raises another question: considering the qunari are even stricter when it comes to mages than the Chantry in Ferelden (assuming she is a mage...), why is she with Hawke? Also, why is she with the party (assuming she's a horned qunari...) when women are not supposed to be warriors in their society as Sten states in DA:O?

Actually, I think it has been established that the horned female in the promo art is Flemeth? If she can turn into a dragon it makes sense that she can take on every form she wants. This is Flemeth as well, notice how the dragon has the same head gear/horns than the humanoid Flemeth from the promo art?

I like the new Qunari design tho, but maybe that is is just me. He looks kinda like Hellboy meets Kratos, but very likeable. I think it's an upgrade from Sten, who is basically just a tall and buff black guy with white hair. It's nice to have a better variety of all the races, and exaggerating their features is just part of fantasy rpging. It's boring if all characters look too humanoid. I'd even romance him if he was an option, fufufu.

[kujoe]

Originally Posted by Zaseka

Actually, I think it has been established that the horned female in the promo art is Flemeth? If she can turn into a dragon it makes sense that she can take on every form she wants. This is Flemeth as well, notice how the dragon has the same head gear/horns than the humanoid Flemeth from the promo art?

Oh I didn't know that.

That's an interesting form she chose. Now I'm wondering if Flemeth is originally a qunari. Her horns are actually very similar to those of the horned qunari that was recently revealed.

I like the fact that the races didn't look that different from one another, save for unique features such as pointed ears, and different body types. It gave the whole racism angle something that can be related or comparable in real terms.

[Irkalla]

Originally Posted by kujoe

Oh I didn't know that.

That's an interesting form she chose. Now I'm wondering if Flemeth is originally a qunari. Her horns are actually very similar to those of the horned qunari that was recently revealed.

I like the fact that the races didn't look that different from one another, save for unique features such as pointed ears, and different body types. It gave the whole racism angle something that can be related or comparable in real terms.

I highly doubt Flemeth is a qunari, it's more like she was just stylized. Or maybe that promo art is just a sequence from where she morphs from the dragon into her humanoid form, so it might not even be the final stage. But I'd kinda prefer if it was, she looks more badass like this.

Personally, I don't think you can compare real life racism to the in game one, neither do I think they should stay within "realistic" limits of differentiation. I think that sends out the wrong message. It would basically mean that, as long as we just differ a little bit in skin colour or features shape, we are all kin, but when the difference gets more vast, it's okay to be racist. Think about the racism in Me (if you have played it) with the humans vs aliens that look really nothing like us.

[-Sho-]

I'm ok that Bioware has changed the game to a ME2 , first looks are good ..
But don't go that far too , it'll also kill the game ...

[kujoe]

Originally Posted by Zaseka

Personally, I don't think you can compare real life racism to the in game one, neither do I think they should stay within "realistic" limits of differentiation. I think that sends out the wrong message. It would basically mean that, as long as we just differ a little bit in skin colour or features shape, we are all kin, but when the difference gets more vast, it's okay to be racist. Think about the racism in Me (if you have played it) with the humans vs aliens that look really nothing like us.

I don't mean it that way. Bioware is in fact, differentiating the races more in terms of appearances, not to make some commentary on racism, but merely to expand the lore of the setting.

Racism is racism, and really, its roots in DA:O lies in the shared history of the races in Thedas. Slight differences in appearance creates another dimension of tragedy when people cannot look beyond them. The idea here is not to focus on too much differentiation in appearances and not be too 'obvious' about it.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Zaseka

Personally, I don't think you can compare real life racism to the in game one, neither do I think they should stay within "realistic" limits of differentiation. I think that sends out the wrong message. It would basically mean that, as long as we just differ a little bit in skin colour or features shape, we are all kin, but when the difference gets more vast, it's okay to be racist. Think about the racism in Me (if you have played it) with the humans vs aliens that look really nothing like us.

Oh, but we can. After all, that's the entire point of the whole Elven alienage spin. I know racism is a touchy subject many people rather avoid than face, but really, the elven alienage is pretty much a 1:1 copy of any slum out there in the real world. That is, after all, the entire point. The alienages were designed to mimic real world racism because that way it hits home faster.

You can argue that it 'sends the wrong message' but then putting a knife between someone's ribs because he has a key I want is hardly 'sending the right message' either.

[-Sho-]

Ok here the concept art for all races and gender :

Spoiler for Hmmmm:

What's up with Female Human ? Look her chin .

This is the first time that we saw Female Qunari right ? Look like "Strong Woman" you know

[Who]

Actually, that's a tatoo. I nearly spit out my water cause I thought it was a beard too, but it's a green color.

[kujoe]

Is that comparison supposed to be in scale?

The elves were generally supposed to be of shorter and slimmer build compared to the humans.

Man, just when there's more qunari-related content, and we can't even choose to be one.

[Keroko]

Well, they still are slimmer.

Comparing the male and female qunari, I wish they'd make the male horns more subtle like the female ones.

Dwarves didn't change much. Females just got a teeny bit slimmer.

[Kaze]

Add a tail to the female qunari and you've got a Draenei from World of Warcraft.

I for one don't really like the new "look" they gave the Qunari, what's up with trying to set them up as the bad guys, sheesh.
What's next, their kings have wings and hooves?

[BetoJR]

Well, despite my misgivings with the Qunari look (those horns are really overkill), I'm quite fond of this new art style. Hopefully it will translate nicely to the actual game.

[kujoe]

The new qunari would look like tieflings if they had tails.

[Irkalla]

Wow, those concepts look neat, especially the qunaris and dwarfs. The qunari chick is a demonic babe!!! I'd be awesome if they'd put qunaris as a romance interest as well. It would be like Neeshka from Neverwinter nights, just more badass and demonic