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I thought the whole writing thing was exaggerated but this dialog...

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  • BeowulfBeowulf Member Posts: 236
    All right this is going to require you to see symbols and meanings and inferences found in poesy. If you can do that you can see the metaphor.

    You have a race that is said to be brutish savage stupid and prone to violence all these RACIST attributes are given to African American males - oh no my daughter can not date a man like that he is then you have the text comparison of half orcs - a higher Strength score a higher constitution score - go see the documentary made with African Origin peoples of Jamaica who argue (these are people of color) that perhaps the reason the Jamaicans perform well in track and field is due their greater strength and constitution from elimination on the slave ships and in the cane fields. Now you take these ideas and inject hate into them - Oh we hate half orc thugs - oh we hate groups of black men - and you see the comparison it is not a far stretch at all. You have the elite position of power men (white guys / Certified Lawful Soldiers trying to put down the half orc disenfranchised / black men with no power or position in the hegemony ) there you go it is as clear to you.

    But yeah I still think my:

    "If you truly expect me to bow to you and crush under foot the same blood that I have under Grurmish One Eye you'd be wiser poking your own eyes out first." answer is better than the loaded modern answer

    "If you truly expect me to indulge your prejudice..."

    I hope the game makes cash as overall I like it. I am have not rated it nor am I going to give a 1 star because of some issues. If I did I might give it a 4 out of 5 and that is because I hate the map and that their is no bag of holding in the first part.
  • GoodSteveGoodSteve Member Posts: 607
    edited April 2016
    Beowulf said:

    All right this is going to require you to see symbols and meanings and inferences found in poesy. If you can do that you can see the metaphor.

    You have a race that is said to be brutish savage stupid and prone to violence all these RACIST attributes are given to African American males - oh no my daughter can not date a man like that he is then you have the text comparison of half orcs - a higher Strength score a higher constitution score - go see the documentary made with African Origin peoples of Jamaica who argue (these are people of color) that perhaps the reason the Jamaicans perform well in track and field is due their greater strength and constitution from elimination on the slave ships and in the cane fields. Now you take these ideas and inject hate into them - Oh we hate half orc thugs - oh we hate groups of black men - and you see the comparison it is not a far stretch at all. You have the elite position of power men (white guys / Certified Lawful Soldiers trying to put down the half orc disenfranchised / black men with no power or position in the hegemony ) there you go it is as clear to you.

    But yeah I still think my:

    "If you truly expect me to bow to you and crush under foot the same blood that I have under Grurmish One Eye you'd be wiser poking your own eyes out first." answer is better than the loaded modern answer

    "If you truly expect me to indulge your prejudice..."

    I hope the game makes cash as overall I like it. I am have not rated it nor am I going to give a 1 star because of some issues. If I did I might give it a 4 out of 5 and that is because I hate the map and that their is no bag of holding in the first part.

    You think the reason Jamaica does well in track and field is because black Americans were bred to be bigger and stronger during the years of slavery? Tell me, how would this affect Jamaicans exactly?

    I think you're being completely ridiculous and I'm not even sure what your point is. Are you suggesting the word "prejudice" doesn't exist in the forgotten realms or that its simply silly for someone from Faerun to use it?

    Also, 4 out of 10 for no bag of holding during the prologue is quite ludacris.
  • TorinTorin Member Posts: 229
    Beowulf said:



    I think a better way to put it is more earthy and DnD like so the half orc should have said:

    "If you truly expect me to bow to you and crush under foot the same blood that I have under Gurmish One Eye you'd be wiser poking your own eyes out first."

    see that lame script I wrote in like 3 minutes of thinking is INGAME DnD kind of banter - it does not think you are in a tutorial to check your prejudice and destroy your thespian role play mindset.

    This is way better than what is in the game. This is what I was talking about as well. Serious conversations need to fit the world and time it is happening in or immersion is lost.
  • helmo1977helmo1977 Member Posts: 366
    Illydth said:



    Did you not read the dark elf trillogy? The ENTIRE SERIES OF BOOKS, all...what? 25 of them? Is about social injustice, prejudice and the way people treat each other.

    I have read many books about Drizzt and I am still scratching my head about the "social injustice" part of your sentence.

  • helmo1977helmo1977 Member Posts: 366

    Torin said:

    Zoimos said:

    What is wrong with it?

    It is written using modern talk. That is only fault I seen. You not supposed to use out of place words in a fantasy game set in medieval world. At least not in serious conversations.
    Nobody in the series really uses "medieval speech" except Dynaheir and she comes across as a total weirdo for being like that. Everyone else just uses normal modern speech.
    This. I dont know why some people keep on telling FR is set in a medieval age fantasy world. I guess they have no idea about the real Middle Age. Sure, they have taken elements from the Middle Age, but FR is far, very far from the Middle Age, just as I am very far from being a knight if I get dressed as a one for carnaval.
  • BeowulfBeowulf Member Posts: 236
    The person who started pointed out he saw a comparison could be stretched to half orcs and young blacks kicking it by a gas station. Thus I brought up the Jamica movie. But any North American kid automatically gets history class flashbacks when you say the P word. Martin Lurher King fought P.... We need to fight P....

    They can use DnD terms like Viconna I despise surface scum or Korgan Me clan slaughters thee Drow but I never heard the P word until this expansion.
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  • MyrdiNNMyrdiNN Member Posts: 11
    helmo1977 said:

    Illydth said:



    Did you not read the dark elf trillogy? The ENTIRE SERIES OF BOOKS, all...what? 25 of them? Is about social injustice, prejudice and the way people treat each other.

    I have read many books about Drizzt and I am still scratching my head about the "social injustice" part of your sentence.

    Eh... not sure if serious? I can understand maybe if you read them as a kid, but like Illydth said, the entire premise of the story is basically the struggle against norms/society/acceptance of others unlike yourself etc.
  • Diogenes42Diogenes42 Member Posts: 597
    Prejudice against elves is perfectly natural, so its understandable that our friend there did not notice it.
  • MyrdiNNMyrdiNN Member Posts: 11
    It's not just elves though ;). Like I said, when I first read them as a kid I didn't grasp any of the overarching themes myself, being focused on arcane magic, dual wielding drows and summoned panthers. Just like how I never noticed how CS Lewis Narnia stories have quite a lot of parallels with Christian theology.
  • GoddardGoddard Member Posts: 134
    Serious taking my favorite game and giving it some political agenda is messed up.
  • Diogenes42Diogenes42 Member Posts: 597
    My friend I can understand you are upset but you would be hard pressed to find a creative work that does not advance a political agenda. The idea in Baldur's Gate 2 for example that "slavery is bad" might seem like common sense but it is still a political agenda that the writers put into the story.
  • 4verse4verse Member Posts: 26
    edited April 2016
    Goddard said:

    Serious taking my favorite game and giving it some political agenda is messed up.

    if you think bg1/2 do not have what you call "political agendas" then you either have not played them or have not read the dialogs ...
  • ArchaosArchaos Member Posts: 1,421
    You are right. Your Half-Orc charname should have totally gone:
    "I'm an evil half-orc. I do bad stuff. Grr."

    ...Or a proper PC, would try a more diplomatic solution and turn the situation around.
    It happens ALL the time in PnP.
  • VallmyrVallmyr Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,459
    Pelmaleon said:

    There's absolutely nothing wrong with irl social issues and themes being in video games, video games which can be used by many as a cathartic escape from that reality. There's countless issues which exist irl and it would be impossible not to notice how a game's themes are derived from a writer's real life experiences and accumulated knowledge. As Illydth mentioned, a ton of Viconia's story was discussing the prejudice she faced and there are many more examples just like this. The problem lies in how it was poorly written; it doesn't really sound like it was tailored to be uttered by someone in the Baldur's Gate series. It sounds like a poorly written fan-mod.:"'different' kind of half-orc" and "I believe this discussion is over" sound incredibly puerile, sanctimonious, and valley-girl-esque. I apologize for not having the greatest lexicon, or I'd write better descriptions of those phrases. But the point is, they just sound wrong.

    I think people are so upset not just because it's poorly written content, but more importantly it's that fact coupled with slightly immersion-breaking and lore-breaking themes (half-orcs aren't really discriminated against, as seen in BG1 and BG2). It's the combination which makes it leave a bad taste in one's mouth.

    In the Forgotten Realms Half-Orcs are discriminated against. Take a look at Daelen Red-Tiger in Neverwinter Nights 1. He was exiled from the Uthgardt tribe with a near-impossible task because of his Orcish father. After his human mother died the tribe told him to get out. I believe in the 3.5 handbook Half-Orcs are described as being social outcasts as well. The fact that Half-Orcs aren't discriminated against in BG1 and BG2 I assume is a lack of attention to detail. If I recall race doesn't really matter outside of romances and statistics when they should matter a bit more I think. It's why I enjoy the Neverwinter Nights series (particularly 2) in their race/class interactions with the plot.
  • AnduinAnduin Member Posts: 5,745
    Illydth said:

    The real problem with that conversation is that they aren't elves gnomes so there is no reason to kill them.

    Fixed that for you. :)
    *Narrows eyes in a menacing manner*
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