Furthermore, I argue that such a representation is historically inadequate and caused by how white normativity and romantic mediaevalism inform the ways in which racial thinking is technologically embedded in the DA games. Where on the world map of Dragon Age is the player most likely to encounter indigenous NPCs and what are the implications of such spatial constructions? I demonstrate that the gamesвЂ™ general spatial simulation of native NPCs perpetuates a problematic mediaeval racial trope. Then, I zoom out to focus on my main point: how Indigeneity is spatially constructed within the gamesвЂ™ environments. Firstly, using the hermeneutics of research-play, I survey the depictions of the Chasind, the indigenous human Non-Player Characters (NPCs) whom the player can encounter in DA:O, after which I proceed to discuss the way the Avvar, the indigenous human NPCs of DA:I are portrayed. In my paper, I address this overarching issue by investigating how Indigeneity is constructed in the digital environments of Dragon Age: Origins (2009) and the franchise's latest instalment, Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014). This insistence on excluding minorities from games rife with dragons and sorcerers for the sake of perceived historical accuracy not only misses the point but is also arguably historically inadequate as such a (lack of) representation fails to address the games' diverse, present-day audiences and does not acknowledge how the world has changed culturally since the European Middle Ages. Yet the roles of mediaevalism in this process deserve attention because perceived historical accuracy tends to be a significant justification for the overall absence of characters who fall outside the вЂwhite, straight, cis-gender, able-bodied manвЂ™ norm in mediaevalesque fantasy games such as the Dragon Age (DA) franchise. Moreover, such analyses rarely consider how mediaevalism informs a gameвЂ™s constructions and receptions of Indigeneity. Depending on how much you enjoy roleplaying your character or like to place yourself in these hypothetical conundrums, these may become pertinent questions to your faith and understanding.Although the field of game studies has slowly been gaining ground, studies on the ways in which race and Indigeneity are represented in videogames remain scarce. This is a similar character to conundrum to the revelation in 'DA: Inquisition' where the Herald learns they were not in fact saved by a goddess but by a good Samaritan. These absent makers were suddenly not only quite real, but active. I had the opposite problem - my dissident, logical, and skeptical character was suddenly at a loss. Many players have expressed their joy at having their doubtful Cleric or Priest characters' faith proven true after an arduous trek (the folk in Pillars have beef with the gods, go play the game). Most important, however, is the impact on the personal narrative that these demonstrations have. The closest example of this (besides what Pillars showed us) is Fen'Heral's petrification power in 'Dragon Age: Inquisition.' Normally, the pantheons in these RPGs have their deeds retold or prophesized, but never shown to the player in the actual playthrough. The way that gods like Abydon and Ondra manifest themselves to aid you or the world as a whole in the epilogue is a nice change in active participation.

Dragon age inquisition the university