Music remained part of religion however, in songs and chants of monks and clergy. They would not stoop to lowly activities such as tavern brawling, injuries could ruin their career forever. Troubadours who wished for sponsorship had to act like nobility, enough to not be out of place at court.
The Bard was now merely a minstrel or troubadour, a traveler bringing news along with entertainment for a night’s lodging, or gaining entry to a court or even a sponsorship by great talent for diplomacy and music – plus good looks and seduction skills. Their words and their songs, had power.Īs the Druid tradition was stamped out by invading Christians, the songs and lore were lost save for the songs of the people, sung in taverns and homes across the land. Historically they did not fight, themselves, but oversaw the fighting of others. At the word of a Bard, battle would end, or begin. They were a specific rank and training of Druid class in Celtic society, honored as negotiators and storytellers, keepers of lore. To rouse people to battle to make even the most hardened warrior cry and to soothe people to sleep. In the Celtic Tradition, the Bard had three main tasks. They used drums, various wind instruments, and stringed instruments, made from natural materials. This was part of being a Shaman, but also part of ordinary life for everyone. So why is it that many games just don’t get what bards can be? Let’s have a look at the historical roots of the Bard, both in real life cultures and in gaming cultures.įirst, ancient cultures around the world used chants and songs as a way to promote community, change and uplift moods, drive away bad spirits, and bring healing. Instead, my character insulted Mako’s intelligence and professionalism, and seemed to be completely without empathy or even intelligence herself! I expected my character to say something to justify her thinking, or at least have a choice in what to say next to justify asking Mako what Mako would do then deciding to go ahead and do something else. I, the player, chose that option for intelligent, empathetic, emotional reasons. Because although I supported Mako’s desire to see the scum dead, I believe due to my own past that everyone, no matter what they’ve done, deserves a chance at redemption. Why? Because I chose to freeze the whiny, arrogant daughter of a Sith Lord and deliver her back to her father despite how I personally felt about the woman, empathetically deducing that they really needed to have a talk. The options were, freeze, kill, or tell Mako to do it. It just bumps me completely out of immersion and out of attachment to my character, because THAT’S NOT WHAT I SAID. Played my Bounty Hunter yesterday, while trying to catch up in story to a level where I could help my guildie with his leveling.Ĭame across a situation in the game that I’ve come across a few other times: I choose a dialogue option and my character acts completely OUT of character. So, to offset the inevitable trolling, have any of your ideas ever been ripped off by someone, a boss, a coworker, a friend? How did you deal with it? Hey, even my own friends refused to believe me at first, joking that I must be psychic and have unconsciously ripped off GW2 over a decade before GW2 was even thought up! Because a well-respected company wouldn’t possibly act like this right? Despite that this has happened to many people in this and various other creative industries, people will pretend that it can’t possibly have happened, or try to tear down my character with various troll attack attempts. I don’t care if you believe me, in fact I expect to be heckled and trolled for saying this since in my experience men who abuse people (especially women) tend to stick together and cover for each other, and well, this is the internet. The short of it is that my intellectual property was ripped off and I refuse to give them money because of it. Mentioned this a few times on twitter already but I figured I’d put up a better explanation than 140 characters will allow.