Sevri & Apus - Some Feedback & Suggestions
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Maybe I'm alone in thinking this - I did a search and couldn't find any other posts addressing this - but the way Sevri is depicted and voice-acted (in English, anyway) seems more than a little...problematic.
Her character portrait looks like an unflattering caricature of a West African medicine-woman, and the broken English of her voiced and written dialogue is kind of jarring. The fact that she also pronounces her grandson's name 'Ape-us', and calls it out frequently in her idle dialogue/barks is also questionable. Now, I know that Gruest, Spider and Yeena also had dialogue that suggested a lack of complete fluency in English. I also know that Apu is a Quechua word for beneficent mountain and rock spirits, and that this might be the inspiration for the name of Sevri's grandson. All the same, having the only African-coded NPC in the game speak in broken English while yelling at a child whose name sounds very very similar to ape - all while sporting a borderline-offensive character portrait - is definitely...a choice. My suggestions: 1) Change Apus' name to literally almost anything else. Here are a few more Quechua names that wouldn't risk offense: Amaru (name of a mythical snake said to embody wisdom), Kunaq, Aymara. 2) Update the NPC portrait. 3) If you're really married to the current VA and verbal mannerisms, that's probably fine. It might be nice, though, to include a few other NPCs from Sevri's tribe with some dialogue that's accented while still remaining fluent. The Vaal voice acting has threaded the needle on this beautifully, for reference. Last bumped on Dec 16, 2024, 1:38:23 PM
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