Yggdrasill and the Norns

[Ferinex]

I think spawning under a large ash tree would be more suiting to the game's setting. Also, I think that when you begin it would be interesting if you were confronted by Urthr, Verthandi, and Skuld and asked to pick a few starting characteristics. Perhaps Verthandi could give you some starting skills immediately, Skuld could give you a long-term stat buff, and Urthr could... Well, I don't know, it's not my game. You figure it out. :P

After thought: Maybe you should meet Urthr upon death instead.

The actual implications the norns have on gameplay would be increased specialization.

[Jackard]

This is for the start area, then?

[Ferinex]

Indeed.

[Erik_the_Blue]

Lore-appropriate atmosphere can only be a good thing. That said, aren't Yggdrasill and the Norns a bit too Scandinavia-centric? From what I understand, j&l are going for a broad Germano-Slavic feel. Maybe there should be a representative from each of the relevant pantheons as opposed to a bunch of representatives from one.

[Ferinex]

Norse or Scandinavian mythology comprises the myths of North Germanic pre-Christian religion. Most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled in medieval Iceland in Old Norse, notably as the Edda. Norse mythology is the best-preserved version of wider Germanic paganism, which also includes the closely related Anglo-Saxon and Continental varieties. Germanic mythology can be shown to preserve certain aspects attributed to common Indo-European mythology.

;)

Edit: Also this.

I'm not sure if J&L are leaning more towards Germanic or Slavic.

[Erik_the_Blue]

Saying Norse myth and Saxon myth (for example) are the same is like saying Roman myth and Grecian myth are the same: Superficially you may be right, but you're certainly incorrect when considering the finer details. It's the details that are important for establishing a proper atmosphere, lest this become just another game in a generic quasi-Norse setting.

As long as we're discussing making the starting area better fit in with the supposed lore, would j&l mind doing away with that terribly anachronistic flag? I don't recall there being a unified proto-Germany prior to Charlemagne, yet the game is still firmly set in the Germanic iron age.

[Jackard]

Judging by the Credo and Myth threads where jorb mixes ideas from various places, isn't a generic setting exactly where this game is headed? You have three slavic creatures, a narnia wardobe, witches and witchhunters, a troll, and a dragon.

Whats wrong with borrowing from Norse myth while they're at it? The setting is clearly already on a different track than most other games and allows the devs room to experiment.

[Ferinex]

Saying Norse myth and Saxon myth (for example) are the same is like saying Roman myth and Grecian myth are the same: Superficially you may be right, but you're certainly incorrect when considering the finer details. It's the details that are important for establishing a proper atmosphere, lest this become just another game in a generic quasi-Norse setting.

Wat. The quote in my post is a direct quote from the wikipedia article on Norse mythology. I didn't really make any statements and never mentioned Saxon myth so I have no idea what you are saying I'm 'wrong' about.

Also what flag?

Edit: Also, yes to what Jackard said. Dryads are from Greek myth, even.

[loftar]

As long as we're discussing making the starting area better fit in with the supposed lore, would j&l mind doing away with that terribly anachronistic flag?

Aaah, you're speaking of Germania in the character creation room, right? :D

Well, yes, it is quite safe to say that we'll revamp the character creation Quite A Bit sooner or later. That is for sure. :)

(The current one is just something we made just for there to be anything, really.)

[Erik_the_Blue]

@Jackard:
I meant generic in relation to other games, as in "H&H might feel like every other game using Norse myth". Certainly, if j&l want a Germano-Slavic basis for the game's lore, they should use the full breadth of Germano-Slavic lore (including Nordic lore).

@Ferinex:
That quote includes the line "Norse mythology is the best-preserved version of wider Germanic paganism, which also includes the closely related Anglo-Saxon and Continental varieties.", which occasionally gets turned into the argument that Germanic lore *is* Nordic lore. Given the only context you provided with that quote was an emoticon, I assumed you were trying to make that same argument. If you're just posting quotes for the sake of posting quotes, well, expect to occasionally be misunderstood. I brought up Saxon myth to contrast with Norse myth.

When did dryads enter this discussion? I can't find any posts from j&l using using 'dryad'.

@loftar:
I thought there would've been some special reason for one of the NPCs having a large flag attached to her, such that said flag wouldn't be disappearing anytime soon. Guess I was wrong. Anyhow, I was more perturbed the OP would comment on the lack of lore-appropriateness of the starting area without mentioning the flag, and not so much making a serious suggestion.