"Elves as a playable race", how does it fit in New Britannia lore?

That wouldn't play very nice with the story. If the PC isn't an Avatar, the whole thing falls apart.

 

I have an idea for how Elves can be incorporated into SotA lore. Please allow me to tell a short tale.

After years of slumber, the Avatar is awoken by sharp and frequent jolts to the face. Confused, hungry, and increasingly annoyed the Avatar manages to gather the energy to utter "Who would dare interrupt my slumber and why hath thou called me to rise?" Hanky, a bit nervous, responded sheepishly "Hanky did not mean to agitate you my master, please understand..." Interrupted by the Avatar, "Hanky? Master?" The Avatar watches as Hanky creeps towards a tea kettle boiling over an open fire that is just beginning to whistle. "Hanky is here to serve -- I have.. started.. a.. a.. pot of barley tea for you." "Very well," the Avatar responds.

As the Avatar gathers strength, and reflects on his journey, Hanky warns the Avatar of the of tribulation he and his Elven brethren have endured during the Avatar's deep slumber. "Avatar, many have perished -- Hanky is very pleased we have found you. Hanky knows you will save us!" The Avatar, bewildered by the little creatures inability to take control of his destiny, takes solace in knowing that throughout his journey in this new world he will have Hanky the house elf, at his side. The Avatar declares, "Hanky, you my friend will make this adventure a luxurious one. Now please, fetch me that loaf of bran bread I see over there."

 

I had forgotten that Update of the Avatar! It gives me some hope that, at least, elves will have their own quests and storyline.

 

Spoiler Alert for anyone who has not read BotA.

Maybe I misread in the book BotA. yes there were elves that were made to fight, but wasn't Syenna's sister Amanda made into an elf? Also, could she not think intelligently? Was she just as human as she was elf? So was she ugly or alien looking? yes her legs were misshaped and she had the pointed ears of the elf. Did it not mention somewhere else in the book, that there were others who were made into elves that were misfits also? Maybe these are the elves that later developed over time to become the playable elves, then again maybe not. I never read about Amanda in the debates on here, just the evil ugly elves that were made for fighting.

I do understand both sides of the debate. But if you are going to play yourself in SotA. Then how can some choose to play a different sex in the game. How many of you or any humans do you know that have magic, or go around and kill each other (PVPers), which if you did in your real life, you would be a murderer so you would be in jail or should be and would not be playing SotA I am sure, or how many people carry swords and bows around? If you playing yourself and you do not carry a bow or sword around on Earth, they why do it in the game? Except real hunters, How many of you are hunters on Earth? Your avatar in SotA is not your body from Earth, its an AVATAR because if it was then it should look exactly like you, so unless you paid $11,000 or more it is not going to look like you.

How many of you are truly going to play yourself in SotA and NOT roleplay your alter ego?

 

Me. I try to do this in every game I play. This was always the appeal of Tabula Rasa, Ultima, Ultima Online. The only thing missing is the surname for security reasons.

 

Not to mention this:

I hope ninjas are not the next ones

 

Me too!

And I do not carry a sword or kill people on Earth, but I would do it in Brittannia or New Brittannia.

 

And when you are playing those games, do you do anything on the game that you would not do in real life? If you do, then its the same as roleplaying, just using your real name instead of another one.

 

Of course not. I don't do anything that I would not do in real life. But if I get attacked by a monster I would kill it. I think I would do the same in real life

 

@Ariella, if I played myself in SotA, I'd login, go to work and write C++ for 9 hours, then go home and drink a beer.

 

Exactly, that is what I am getting at, you are not going to play yourself to the tee on a game, you are going to do something different on a game, whether its playing another race, being a worrier, PVPing, crafting or being your alter ego. There are no mimics in real life or undead you going to be fighting in real life. Its all a form of roleplaying.
Who is really going to play themselves? No one wants to login to game and do what they do in real life, they are going to change it up for some kind of excitement.

 

I sincerely do. I don't steal, I don't murder and I go by the same belief system I do in real life. It's natural to do this. I've always behaved like this in single-player games. The ones I played generally immersed me so much I never found myself metagaming. That is I never felt the need to steal, murder or minmax because consequence didn't truly matter in a virtual world.

If I did engage in the contrary, it was with a very shortly lived alt that I simply made to try things differently.

Now to clarify, I'm not opposed to people playing other races either. In-fact I appreciate it. Because they are playing the game the way they enjoy. And it means when I do come across another race, it'll be far more interactive and interesting than a scripted or limited AI. So that's not the problem.

My problem is that stretch goals and trends are currently emerging that are contradicting previous direction or steering the game away from its principles.

 

Tabula Rasa and Ultima overcame this quite easily.

You're forced to change and adapt to new circumstances. In TR, your old life was over thanks to an alien invasion. So you didn't log in to "program C++" or continue your old job. You were forced to take up arms. And you'd do so by picking things that you personally found appealing.

You're still you. Just because your previous occupation has no contextual relevance doesn't mean you're not still possessing your beliefs and interests and likes/dislikes.

 

That is wonderful Dean478, not many players are like you and I commend you for it. . Most roleplay something. I'm not for the stretch goals either, they seem to high $$ to meet the goal. Its like dangling a carrot in front of us that we never going to get. As for the principles, if they did not want elves or other races introduced into the game, then it should not have been mentioned in the book. However they did so it opened a whole area for roleplayers to go.

I am me also in my morals do not change , but I like roleplaying an elf. and each to there own.

 

I happen to agree with both of ya... I agree there is a form of role playing regardless of whether or not you're actively participating in it. I also agree that when you're forced into a new environment you tend towards things that are appealing to yourself. I don't particularly like the way any of the stretch goals are structured, and Elves as a new race, with potential for racial abilities, in my mind is a mistake. But, hey, if it brings new blood, and a ton of money to SotA, I can live with it. Plus, like I mentioned in my previous post, this new Elven race will be great servants to the Avatar. Its a win/win.

 

Tarsin said: "this new Elven race will be great servants to the Avatar"

Not going to happen.. but I look forward to you trying.

 

But the important decisions, the moral dilemmas, are never roleplayed, its YOU and your ethical education.

 

Well, I'm just hoping my proposal for Elven lore is adopted by the dev team. If it is, we can expect great racial abilities like "Avatar has +10% health regeneration by drinking Elven barley tea." And, "Elven +5% chance to pee pants in battle."

... All in good fun, of course.

 

Ariella, a brief off-topic question: where did the art from your banner come from? She looks like she just survived a battle, and is looking on at her conquered enemy.

 

AvatarGG, yes when it comes down to the morel dilemmas, I for one will chose what is right. However that has no bearing on what I look like or what race I am. I can still roleplay and have morels.