Do you like trolls?

[SonicMage117]

Neither does your party!

 

Nasty, mindless creatures in battle really and quite mannerless as well but this prejudiced viewpoint may be an accurat example of stereo-typing and goes along with what this thread I've written will be talking about.

 

 

The subject of this thread is "Racism"... and not racism as we know it but racism in the fantasy genre. As with the first game, which was sprinkled with it in such a way, not in a demeaning manner (since the races are fictional) but one which has great impact on the player's experience and building of the world of Eora without hindering the story.

 

You see, in Pillars 1, if you are were an elf or godlike, reactions from say... a bartender could have had a slightly different view towards your character than if they were a human. To me, this added a depth to the storytelling and overall immersion and was easy to pick up on with just even one playthrough.

I, like you, am wondering what affects racism has on Deadfire or if it's even still a thing. If so, I hope it is expanded upon in the writing because I appreciated this aspect if the game and think it adds more of it, personally.

 

Will we see racism return in Deadfire? Will racism play a bigger role in areas like Nekataka? Will we be banned or not permitted from certain areas due to our race? Will we be denied certain quests due to npc's having thrusting issues upon our race? suppose that could qualify for even more a reason to replay the game. What do you think? Do you find Eora's racism to be a burden to the experience as a player or do you prefer it in such that it adds some sort of thing for your character to mentally deal with? I think and hope it will be because I like to see Eora and it's inhabitants develop and since that part of the lore was touched on, this would be great to see continue, as morality can tell one's intention, a town's history or even a motive behind a deed.

 

In case you are wondering why this thread was made, it's because I couldn't find anything on the subject when it came to Deadfire, I don't really remember anything being mentioned about it at least so if you have anything feel free to share because I'd like to know if my dwarf will face prejudice on his journey or if they can be mistaken for human at any rate, in any given situation.

 

The extent to how races will differenciate and communicate or interact with one another will be most exciting to explore, especially now that we will be out to sea and discover new places where we will meet even more races, who will have even more diverse cultures and so forth. How will they react to a race they've never seen before? How will you introduce yourself? I think that could be quite beautiful and maybe even sad at the same time. I expect some pretty influentially impactful dialogue moments such as this, maybe not that exact thing but alas..

 

Just one of the many features which excites me!

[IndiraLightfoot]

Personally, I think there was too little reactivity of this kind in PoE1, and I really hope Deadfire will improve on this aspect.

As for Deadfire:

After having played the beta, from the convos and storylines and such, I can tell there will be more of this thing, with plenty of cultural biases and even racism.

 

 

I recall how DA:O promised lots of reactivity in this regard, but when I picked a poor elf as my origin, it almost felt that the 2h origin story was the gist of it, which was a huge let-down.

 

P.S. Cool title - click-friendly, trollish, and with a question mark, but still to the point. Brilliant!

Edited January 16, 2018 by IndiraLightfoot

[SonicMage117]

P.S. Cool title - click-friendly, trollish, but still to the point. Brilliant!

Thank you! It means alot :D

[smjjames]

 

P.S. Cool title - click-friendly, trollish, but still to the point. Brilliant!

Thank you! It means alot :D

 

 

I think 'Do you like Ogres' would have been better because trolls are apparently non-sapient in PoE and in PoE+WM, there is definite racism at Ogres, theres even an item called Ogre blood.

 

+1 for pun though

[SonicMage117]

Thank you. Puns are life! And since my threads are always being reported or considered trollimg I figured I use that to my advantage on this thread. No snide remarks yet so I guess it worked and the content of the comtext is equally great

Edited January 16, 2018 by SonicMage117

[Wormerine]

I recall how DA:O promised lots of reactivity in this regard, but when I picked a poor elf as my origin, it almost felt that the 2h origin story was the gist of it, which was a huge let-down.

I felt the battle for Ozimar was still pretty good, with people reacting to you based on your race. After that if they ever mentioned your background is to tell you why it doesn't matter.

 

Shame I hoped for reactivity closer to Tyranny.

[SonicMage117]

I'm happy to hear that it will be evolving this feature and look forward to it.

 

I think the writing in those terms will be beautiful. Really can't wait to see Obsidian expand upon it and continue to put their spin on such topical issue.

[Boeroer]

By the way: one of the "not really companions but in the game files" in the wiki (named Brita or so?) looks like a troll to me. Could also be an ogre matron or something. But the pointy nose and the pointy ears look more trollish to me - not really PoE-style trollish though.

[Ninjamestari]

Neither does your party!

 

Hey! I was going to say yes to that question!

 

EDIT: to be quite honest, I don't think racism is that interesting as a 'moral issue'. As a phenomenon it is more interesting, and if it is a major theme in deadfire, I hope they observe it more as a phenomenon, it's reasons and implications, rather than making a sad attempt at moral commentary like most games and movies do.

 

Like attracts like and rejecting 'the other' is simple practical reality for limited and vulnerable biological creatures such as us. It's not inherently evil, it's just a natural fear of the unknown; which is important because the unknown *can* be incredibly dangerous, and a certain care needs to be exercised when exploring it. Bravery is one thing, but suicidal foolishness is completely another. People naturally create factions over similarities, racial traits being one of them, and then these factions naturally oppose one-another. Stupid black dudes hate white dudes and stupid white dudes hate black dudes, and intelligent white dudes and intelligent black dudes just hate stupid dudes, but can't be on the side of eachother because the stupid dudes outnumber them 20 to 1, so they naturally pick their racial faction instead. This phenomenon is as old as humanity, and it will never go away.

Edited January 17, 2018 by Ninjamestari

[Juodas Varnas]

Well, Trolls in Pillars were mostly mindless half-plant half-beast killing machines, so to hell with those abominations!

 

Ogres were pretty cool though. I basically took every single opportunity to be nice to them, when i was given one. Got one to protect my keep too (sure, it's probably not the best guard to have due to the prestige malus, but i found him super useful whenever someone decided to assault it.)

 

Vithrack were still cooler though.

[Boeroer]

But negative prestige is a feature at some point. If you didn't do your favorite Minor Adventure yet you can make sure that your defenses go up but the prestige stays down so that more Minor Adventures will pop up instead major ones.

Edited January 17, 2018 by Boeroer

[Messier-31]

I like trolls, ogres, orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, snotlings, and whatnot...

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I like trolls, ogres, orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, snotlings, and whatnot...

Better than elves I suppose.

[Messier-31]

 

I like trolls, ogres, orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, snotlings, and whatnot...

 

Better than elves I suppose.

 

I like cliche elves, cliche dwarves, cliche humans, cliche halflings, cliche gnomes, cliche dragons, cliche Obsidian Forum Memebers...

[daven]

 

 

I like trolls, ogres, orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, snotlings, and whatnot...

 

Better than elves I suppose.

 

I like cliche elves, cliche dwarves, cliche humans, cliche halflings, cliche gnomes, cliche dragons, cliche Obsidian Forum Memebers...

 

Yep I've gotta say I still like the drunken Dwarves from Glasgow. Is it overdone? NAY!

[IndiraLightfoot]

I had Khelgar Ironfist in most of my NWN2 playthroughs. I just couldn't help myself!!

And despite decades of CRPGing, I still haven't had enough of these cliches. I guess I'm set in my old D&D ways, and I seem to wear rose-tinted glasses when it comes to your standard races and monster manual creatures. Even rust monsters makes me smile, although my party should probably quiver with fear.