@Permidion_Stark But Hooomans are single minded. You don't go down the street to the butchers and then see the same man to get a loan as he is also a banker!!! (unless he is a very RICH butcher but that's not the point...)
Hooomans are also short lived. So you want to find a good butcher, you find the old geezer who has been making sausages since you were knee high to a grasshopper. He hasn't had time to become a good banker, because he became a butcher.
I've always wanted to play a full-game as a chaotic evil gnome illusionist named Tiax, with the Tiax soundset used, just because I'd like to imagine how humiliating it would be for Sarevok, Irenicus and Melisandre to get curb-stomped by such a character.
@Anduin I thought humans would be the most picked for the same reason most people pick male.
Don't most people pick males because most gamers are male? How does that relate to the choice of Human, although I agree that I usually see Humans as the most commonly chosen race.
I'm going to probably go for a half Orc something maybe fighter if black guard is only human but dorms an exception then definitely half-Orc black guard with a two handed weapon and evil not sure what kind of evil but evil
Gnomes are amazing fighters, with the tomes i will have 19 str/dex/con and AMAZING saves, although dwarf is a VERY close 2nd, because their saves are a little better,, and can hit 20 con and start regenerating
@Anduin I thought humans would be the most picked for the same reason most people pick male.
Don't most people pick males because most gamers are male? How does that relate to the choice of Human, although I agree that I usually see Humans as the most commonly chosen race.
I pick human because I am one o.O ? Last time I checked I wasn't wearing my LARP Drow ears (lool) but still, the only reason I usually play humans are for the Paladin class. But only for single player games cause its seems rare that gamers loves Lawful Good alignment with them
@Anduin I thought humans would be the most picked for the same reason most people pick male.
Don't most people pick males because most gamers are male? How does that relate to the choice of Human, although I agree that I usually see Humans as the most commonly chosen race.
Most gamers are human, I think...
...Isn't that so blatantly obvious that it never requires being stated, thus leading me to believe that there is another reason for Jalily's response?
...Isn't that so blatantly obvious that it never requires being stated, thus leading me to believe that there is another reason for Jalily's response?
I was actually just trying to make a joke by making people imagine non-human gamers in their heads. Sheep picking their favourite Bhaalspawn class, and such. Klingons who want to play a Blackguard in BGEE. Melvin the depressed robot creating a party with Xan in it and actually smiling for the first time in 6x10 to the power of 42 years...
But I'm also wandering what @Jalily had in mind to be the reason for picking humans.
Humans are usually presented as the "default" option, which generally gets more picks if all else is roughly equal. They're the first option and clearly the base from which the others are derived - just look at how racial stat modifiers are applied.
Similarly, when developers make male and female options, they make the man first and modify his dialogue for a woman, never the other way around (and it really, really shows). Like humans, the male option is virtually always presented first, even in games where you choose one of two predefined characters to play as.
In BG, details like the protagonist's starting age, frequently incorrect pronouns, and the almost exclusive preference for masculine words (and phrases like "human body") to describe a PC in the game and manual make it pretty obvious that you're "supposed" to be a male human. Obviously, not everyone will go on to pick a male human, but those without strong preferences otherwise will be influenced towards the default.
P.S. Son_of_Imoen, did you edit my nametag into the post or was that there originally? I'm trying to figure out if they fixed a notification bug because I only got one this time.
P.S. Son_of_Imoen, did you edit my nametag into the post or was that there originally? I'm trying to figure out if they fixed a notification bug because I only got one this time.
At first my post was just about the joke, I added the question for you with the edit function.
P.S.: I'm a chronic editor if there's no preview function on a board.
I sort of regret starting this thread as it sorta kicks the idea of adding more races and subraces in the rectum.
It's quite a coincidence I picked 'Human' for my first playthrough, as I want to try out a Cavalier this time. (Half)elven spellcasters are my most favourite pick, but your question was not as to what is ones favourite race, but what she/he (*) will pick this time. (*) I'm learning quick ;-)
@Jalily - Wow, that is one of the most insightful things I've read in awhile. Never something I thought about before. Great stuff, thanks for posting that.
On topic:
I usually pick gender/race that makes me the "other," on the theory that I'm a human male 365 days a year, every year, and in the context of an RPG it's fun to pretend to be something else.
Parsing that more closely, these kind of preferences carry from one game to another, and have for twenty or so years:
- Spell caster of any kind? Always female. Elf preferred, or any non-human race. - Melee/tank type? Always male. Dwarf preferred, or any non-human race. - Thief or rogue? Always female. - Buff/Support class, like a Bard? Male, any race that confers good bonuses.
I realize this makes me both racist and sexist. And yes, occasionally it bothers me in a real world context that my fantast imagination is limited when it comes to gender roles.
Just because Human is the only race who can be monk.. or else half-elf..I like being a mixed blood..like the story around mixed blood but no many games do go deep with bloodline issue
o wait..CHARNAME IS a "mixed blood"...no matter the race O.o
A Dwarf fighter is my main choice. Sometimes I play a dwarf cleric. There is not enough dwarves in the game and I find it sad (not to mention that the only dwarf stronghold is the abandoned Durlag's tower...).
Most of my characters I will try to play the game as are Elven, then Human, then Dwarven, then Half-Elven in that order.
My first one MIGHT be a halfling assassin, but honestly with the list I have its doubtful. Also @Jalily that was a massively insightful post. I'll be honest it took me awhile to start to notice some of these things (for reasons I prefer to leave unmentioned) but I have increasingly noticed them as time goes on to the point that they irritate me now. It's amazing how something as slight as being called Sir drives me nuts in a video game ><
I actually had it picked out many years ago but then I lost the desire to replay the game/was busy so I never got past character creation. Dude was a beast though. Had max everything except intelligence, which was at 10 or 12 if I recall correctly. His strength was something like 18/24 but its nothing a book couldn't have cured.
I've never played an evil party in BG1 and also never played gnomes. So for the first playthrough of the EE I'll choose an evil illusionist/thief. Shar Teel, Dorn Il Khan and Tiax shall be my companions! Maybe also Eldoth and Skie, someone has to be using missile weapons exclusively.
There's 2 races I've never played yet in Baldur's Gate (though I did in Icewind Dale): dwarf and halfling. For BG2 I have a party planned, once I have completed some of my ongoing SOA-campaigns, with a Dwarven Fighter/Cleric, leading a party of Mazzy, Haer'Dalis, Jaheira, Jan-Jansen and Edwin, thus having all available races of BG2 except for half-orc. It call it the 'United Races'-party. I alreay did one in BG1 with a half-orc barbarian leading. Alas with a tiefling NPC, the number of available races in BG2 is one more than 6.
Jaheira has the function of representing all available elven races (half-elf, drow, avariel) in this party. I could squeeze in an half-orc PC and Korgan representing dwarves if I let Jaheira represent humans as well. But I'd get short of casting power in that setup, that's why I chose above setup.
Edit: that still leaves a task for me on the table, to do a playthrough with a halfling Charname once. Though they feel like the least believable as a Bhaalspawn to me. Smoking a pipe by the fire is a more likely career-option than becoming a god-born hero of the Swordcoast and Amn - but the people of Middle-Earth also thought of Frodo as an unlikely hero to save them from Sauron - it's one of the reasons he could sneak into Mordor with the ring - it came as a complete surprise to Sauron, a single pair of halflings hidden in orc clothing instead of an army.
Though they feel like the least believable as a Bhaalspawn to me. Smoking a pipe by the fire is a more likely career-option than becoming a god-born hero of the Swordcoast and Amn - but the people of Middle-Earth also thought of Frodo as an unlikely hero to save them from Sauron - it's one of the reasons he could sneak into Mordor with the ring - it came as a complete surprise to Sauron, a single pair of halflings hidden in orc clothing instead of an army.
I believe that, in FR lore, Gnomes are considered much less outgoing and less likely to become adventurers than halflings.
I believe that, in FR lore, Gnomes are considered much less outgoing and less likely to become adventurers than halflings.
Damn, I made a grave mistake with my outgoing and well-humoured gnome Cleric-mage Ohrlinka. Should I have made her grumpy as well, or can gnomes be well-tempered? ;-)
Haha, I'm not sure if you're making fun of my lame appeal to source lore, but anyway: Yes, it's because they're so good-humoured and carefree (and a bit cowardly) that adventuring gnomes are so rare, they just don't think quests and things are really their problem.
Comments
Hooomans are also short lived. So you want to find a good butcher, you find the old geezer who has been making sausages since you were knee high to a grasshopper. He hasn't had time to become a good banker, because he became a butcher.
What in the blazes have I just waffled on about!
Don't most people pick males because most gamers are male? How does that relate to the choice of Human, although I agree that I usually see Humans as the most commonly chosen race.
Yes, i'm weird
But I'm also wandering what @Jalily had in mind to be the reason for picking humans.
Humans are usually presented as the "default" option, which generally gets more picks if all else is roughly equal. They're the first option and clearly the base from which the others are derived - just look at how racial stat modifiers are applied.
Similarly, when developers make male and female options, they make the man first and modify his dialogue for a woman, never the other way around (and it really, really shows). Like humans, the male option is virtually always presented first, even in games where you choose one of two predefined characters to play as.
In BG, details like the protagonist's starting age, frequently incorrect pronouns, and the almost exclusive preference for masculine words (and phrases like "human body") to describe a PC in the game and manual make it pretty obvious that you're "supposed" to be a male human. Obviously, not everyone will go on to pick a male human, but those without strong preferences otherwise will be influenced towards the default.
P.S. Son_of_Imoen, did you edit my nametag into the post or was that there originally? I'm trying to figure out if they fixed a notification bug because I only got one this time.
P.S.: I'm a chronic editor if there's no preview function on a board.
And it looks like they fixed the bug where edited-in nametags don't work. Yeees!
On topic:
I usually pick gender/race that makes me the "other," on the theory that I'm a human male 365 days a year, every year, and in the context of an RPG it's fun to pretend to be something else.
Parsing that more closely, these kind of preferences carry from one game to another, and have for twenty or so years:
- Spell caster of any kind? Always female. Elf preferred, or any non-human race.
- Melee/tank type? Always male. Dwarf preferred, or any non-human race.
- Thief or rogue? Always female.
- Buff/Support class, like a Bard? Male, any race that confers good bonuses.
I realize this makes me both racist and sexist. And yes, occasionally it bothers me in a real world context that my fantast imagination is limited when it comes to gender roles.
or else half-elf..I like being a mixed blood..like the story around mixed blood
but no many games do go deep with bloodline issue
o wait..CHARNAME IS a "mixed blood"...no matter the race O.o
My first one MIGHT be a halfling assassin, but honestly with the list I have its doubtful. Also @Jalily that was a massively insightful post. I'll be honest it took me awhile to start to notice some of these things (for reasons I prefer to leave unmentioned) but I have increasingly noticed them as time goes on to the point that they irritate me now. It's amazing how something as slight as being called Sir drives me nuts in a video game ><
I actually had it picked out many years ago but then I lost the desire to replay the game/was busy so I never got past character creation. Dude was a beast though. Had max everything except intelligence, which was at 10 or 12 if I recall correctly. His strength was something like 18/24 but its nothing a book couldn't have cured.
Jaheira has the function of representing all available elven races (half-elf, drow, avariel) in this party. I could squeeze in an half-orc PC and Korgan representing dwarves if I let Jaheira represent humans as well. But I'd get short of casting power in that setup, that's why I chose above setup.
Edit: that still leaves a task for me on the table, to do a playthrough with a halfling Charname once. Though they feel like the least believable as a Bhaalspawn to me. Smoking a pipe by the fire is a more likely career-option than becoming a god-born hero of the Swordcoast and Amn - but the people of Middle-Earth also thought of Frodo as an unlikely hero to save them from Sauron - it's one of the reasons he could sneak into Mordor with the ring - it came as a complete surprise to Sauron, a single pair of halflings hidden in orc clothing instead of an army.