Race Elimination "Quarterfinal"

[ourchair]

Are we voting according to fluff or crunch?

Either way, I'm voting against the half-elves. D&D is predicated on racial generalizations -- I call it "racist but not" -- and I've always felt that people who chose to play half-elves were indecisive people who couldn't commit to one set of racial assumptions.

It's like, "Hmm! I want to be strong, sturdy and courageous like a dwarf, but I don't want to be stubborn or made fun of because of my height, so can I like, be a half-dwarf?"

I'd probably be more respectful of the half-elf if players deliberately chose to play up their mixed ancestry as part of their character background, but more often than not, they don't.

 

[lukelightning]

I've always felt that people who chose to play half-elves were indecisive people who couldn't commit to one set of racial assumptions.

"I'm soooo special because I come from two races" and "woe is me, I am in-between two races and not accepted" are both valid racial assumptions. People like to play half-this and half-that because they want to seem like they are unique.

 

[renau1g]

It's like, "Hmm! I want to be strong, sturdy and courageous like a dwarf, but I don't want to be stubborn or made fun of because of my height, so can I like, be a half-dwarf?"

As has been established at least twice, if not more, times in this thread, there are half-dwarves, they're call Muls.

Indecisive? Maybe, or maybe the player comes from a mixed race themselves and identifies far more with that mythical race than a typically racist elf or human. Just throwing out one potential scenario of many.

 

[Infiniti2000]

I'm curious if someone plans to go back to the very first poll on this and see if all of these subsequent polls were ever necessary or if the races got voted off in the order of most-to-least votes in the first poll.

eamon?

 

[eamon]

I'm curious if someone plans to go back to the very first poll on this and see if all of these subsequent polls were ever necessary or if the races got voted off in the order of most-to-least votes in the first poll.

eamon?

I'm going on vacation, so I'll leave the last phases to others, I'm afraid. I would be curious about whether the initial rounds were sufficient, though.

I guess it'd be handy to have only a very quick next round; it's pretty obvious dwarf+elf will be the finalists anyhow, by now - that's the only round that's a little uncertain. But dwarves are more loveable, so my guess it they'll win ;-).

 

[interwyrm]

Indecisive? Maybe, or maybe the player comes from a mixed race themselves and identifies far more with that mythical race than a typically racist elf or human. Just throwing out one potential scenario of many.

Actually, the criticism reminded me most of the criticism leveled at bisexuals, particularly because people don't "choose" their race IRL. (Veering too close to political chat?)

I'm curious if someone plans to go back to the very first poll on this and see if all of these subsequent polls were ever necessary or if the races got voted off in the order of most-to-least votes in the first poll.

I was actually thinking about (after all this is done) doing two one shot polls with multiple voting allowed. The first would be "favorite 4e race". The second would be "least favorite 4e race". I'm curious to see how the results would match up.

 

[Nifft]

I've always felt that people who chose to play half-elves were indecisive people who couldn't commit to one set of racial assumptions.

"Social outcast in real-life plays character who is social outcast in game, but in-game outcast is super-cool. Film* at eleven."

Cheers, -- N

*) "Filmed in Smell-o-Vision for an immersive experience."

 

[interwyrm]

*) "Filmed in Smell-o-Vision for an immersive experience."

Smells like Cheetos... beer... and... salycilic acid.

 

[ourchair]

"I'm soooo special because I come from two races" and "woe is me, I am in-between two races and not accepted" are both valid racial assumptions. People like to play half-this and half-that because they want to seem like they are unique.

Agreed.

I'm not challenging that, and it's pretty obvious I'm just putting the hate on people who don't use their choices to role play well. They don't harness the story and character opportunities of a mixed breed as much as I'd like.

Indecisive? Maybe, or maybe the player comes from a mixed race themselves and identifies far more with that mythical race than a typically racist elf or human. Just throwing out one potential scenario of many.

Valid point there.

I'm actually someone who comes from a country that has an overwhelming population of mixed race individuals, so it's probably the reason why the poor half-elf roleplaying is such a sore point for me!

(Then again, there are many people -- even those from mixed race identities themselves -- whose ethnocultural ambiguity serves as an excuse to erase any traces of those origins. Some famous celebrities have even used their ambiguous racial origins to TRANSCEND them.)

As has been established at least twice, if not more, times in this thread, there are half-dwarves, they're call Muls.

Yes, but do they have successful careers hosting lifestyle programs, fashion events and charities for the rich and famous while doing skin whitening endorsements? (/oblique reference)