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King`s Bounty: Warriors of the North Next game in the award-winning King’s Bounty series

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  #1  
Old 10-27-2012, 07:52 AM
KaryAnn KaryAnn is offline
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Question The Sultan's Alchemist quest....erm, what?

The alchemist quest on the second island, which is a story quest and you have to visit him, tells you a story about how he got his turban. After following various conversations options in asking him about it, we find out it's not a regular turban, but one worn by Islamic 'warriors' as he further goes into detail that he was the "Sultan's" alchemist for a time, following an accident that made him leave the land of Noltan. The alchemist further talks about the Sultan calling him a 'great warrior'.

Lastly he references a "harem" and having multiple wives, in a wishful manner.

Again, what?! What did I just play, I crossed the river in a Viking longboat, ended up on the snowy shore of a fantasy game filled with fantasy creatures where I had just fought some dragonflies and then the next quest gives me a lesson in Islamic history?! Where did that come from? Why is that even there.

This is an inappropriate quest for the game, and frankly I don't want to go into detail as to why. Those discussions never end up in a good place and the threads get ban hammered without ever really solving the problem. As it stands however, the connotations involved in this quest are inappropriate and if we cannot discuss them on public forums why should they be presented in a game?

There is no freedom to interpret the game's descriptions a different way because the connotations are so religiously specific.

Most of all a fantasy game with a nordic theme at that. Talk about the consumer getting completely snowballed into thinking they bought one thing and then receiving another. This is not appropriate content for the game! It is not even remotely advertised by the game's theme.

Not to mention it would be controversial even if it was remotely advertised by a different theme.

Assassin's Creed games at least have a 'religious disclaimer' right when you first start the game, so you know what you are getting before you play it. This quest however, came right out nowhere and in no way fits the setting.

You can't even skip the quest because the character is tied to the main story. So he will have to be a character you interact with whether you like it or not.

So my question to the developers is do you have any plans of changing the background and lines of Alchemist Morrek. Or frankly, just remove Olaf's questions about his turban, what a sultan is, where that country is, what they do there, and so forth.
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Old 10-27-2012, 09:06 AM
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Metroplex Metroplex is offline
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Religion plays a part in the game as it has in previous games.
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Old 10-27-2012, 09:38 AM
KaryAnn KaryAnn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Metroplex View Post
Religion plays a part in the game as it has in previous games.
That is a little vague. I have not played the previous games. Can you be more specific?
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Old 10-27-2012, 09:47 AM
Totoro Totoro is offline
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@OP

Oh please...
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Old 10-27-2012, 10:21 AM
KaryAnn KaryAnn is offline
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@OP

Oh please...
That sounds like you don't care. Or you don't think it's a relevant issue.

Should we stop caring about 9/11? Should we forget about that too? When terrorists blow up innocent people because they want to impose their will over someone's else, we should forget about that too and say "Oh please..."?

The terrorists seem to care about their Sultanate a whole lot, while butchering innocent people. It certainly seems important to them. Perhaps you should tell them they're wrong.

And when you've lost a family member or someone close because of that nonsense, maybe you will care and want it to go away too, and not have it in your game when you're trying to get away from all that.

That's all a game is. An escape.
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Old 10-27-2012, 10:30 AM
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Zechnophobe Zechnophobe is offline
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As far as I can tell, you are just a really intolerant person if you think references to any specific religion, especially the fairly historical benign parts, are somehow 'not okay' to have in a game.

The vikings are noticeably Norse. This guy? He's got obvious middle eastern background. What's the big deal?
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Old 10-27-2012, 10:33 AM
axxis34 axxis34 is offline
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Just in case you didnt know: The Vikings travelled far around the world. They discovered North America as early as around year 1000, they discovered and settled Iceland and Greenland. They had colonies on Ireland and in the Uk and they were given the lands of normandie to safeguard from other vikings. They were the ones that named Russia Russia (ruriks land, wich was shortened to Rusland, and later became russia), they had settlements along the river of volga down to the black sea, they traded with Baghdad, the sultans there even had a bodyguard of Vikings!

The vikings also travelled along the coast in the Mediterranean past the gibraltar strait.

So in essence, no, it is NOT wrong for the game to have this quest, it actually fits withing the games lore (and real history too).

Btw, did you know that the vikings also worshipped Odin, Thor et all? The old Norse Gods? But that you arent complaining about? It is also stated in the game, infact, in the first island! So I dont buy your reasoning.

Last edited by axxis34; 10-27-2012 at 10:35 AM.
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Old 10-27-2012, 10:34 AM
Totoro Totoro is offline
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Religious terrorism as we know it, is a quite new phenomenon. Terrorists will eventually realize that no matter how much people they blow up, someone will always be mocking their religion.

What comes to this game, there are no pictures of prophet Mohammed or any offensive material. Having multiple wives is normal in the Middle-East so you don't need to lose your sleep.

Also how many terrorist leaders you think are playing this game?
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Old 10-27-2012, 10:45 AM
KaryAnn KaryAnn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zechnophobe View Post
As far as I can tell, you are just a really intolerant person if you think references to any specific religion, especially the fairly historical benign parts, are somehow 'not okay' to have in a game.

The vikings are noticeably Norse. This guy? He's got obvious middle eastern background. What's the big deal?
Fairly historical benign? I don't even...

If a fantasy game with flying horses and giant man eating plants referenced the second coming of Jesus and quoted Aristotle, you better believe it sticks out like a sore thumb.

This guy isn't referenced as someone who is 'obviously middle eastern' but someone who is and was around where Islam was practiced. Which puts Islam in your whole game setting. Which puts kind of everything else in the whole picture too. It's not unique anymore.

The world is supposed to be unique, isn't it? Which means that you cannot use historical connotations, only general ones. You can use middle eastern but you can't use Ottoman anything because that has a connotation you cannot generalize. Which means you cannot use Sultan anything.

English literature is very strict on this kind of thing. You know, time periods, anachronisms, pretty sure there is a definition for this sort of example as a no-no.

As a literary framework, it is not done. And every serious author knows this.

It's not the same thing as basing your story around the Norse gods. Not even remotely close.
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Old 10-27-2012, 10:48 AM
5h1nj1 5h1nj1 is offline
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How can anyone even remotely reference content of this beautifully cheesy and funny game to terrorism, is completely beyond me.
The fact alone suggests there something wrong with you, mate. I'm sorry about personal tragedies that may have happened to you but stop constructing absurd theories.
If you can't get rid of these connotations, stop playing the game but at the same time you might wanna stop watching TV, stop reading books, stop talking to people and so on. Because, you know, someone might mention sultans accidentally. -_-'
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