LadyVe
06-19-2010, 08:38 PM
I know this is definitely not a good place to post something like this, but since the Ubisoft site lacks a valid e-mail address, my fellow fans (whom helped me compose this letter), told me to post it here. So here it goes.
Dear sir/madam,
First of all, let me inform you that I have been a great fan of the games you produce at Ubisoft Montreal, namely the Prince of Persia series and Assassin’s Creed. It is about the latter that I wish to point out some issues that have arisen in our fandom (for this letter is written on the behalf of a number of fellow fans, both male and female, and a result of many discussions on the subject), all due to the latest news concerning this franchise.
I will start off with the Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood trailer. Honestly, the trailer in itself is utterly astonishing. If I will have to wait another year for the official Assassin’s Creed III but will have the joy of playing this game, I won’t have a reason to complain at all.
My issue with this trailer, however, is the representation of Caterina Sforza in it. As you are the team of that created the game, I am certain that you have done a great deal of research on this real life historical character. In fact, this is proven to us in the database of Assassin’s Creed II. Therefore, the way she is shown in your newest trailer is rather offending, both to the fans who love the character and to the real person.
This, however, has little to do with the fact that we saw her engage in sexual intercourse with protagonist Ezio Auditore. It is rather that she is in Monteriggioni in the first place. In real life, as you have confirmed in your own database, Caterina was in Forlí when Cesare Borgia attacked and fought to protect her city before she was captured. Then in your trailer, she is captured as she is providing, to use one of your lovely quotes from the game, an “outlet” for Ezio. Also, I recall you pointed out in the previous game that she was a good mother. She wasn’t willing to sacrifice them in the Battle Of Forlí, yet she is perfectly fine with abandoning them for a roll in the sheets with the main character? Please excuse me for stating this, but this whole reeks of “out of character” behaviour and terrible twisting of history while, so far, you have done a pretty good job at keeping historical facts intact. Yet most of all, seems like just an attempt to make Ezio look unrealistically succesful in his love life.
Please don’t get me wrong, I adore the character of Ezio Auditore. Always did and always will: he is one of the things that made Assassin's Creed II fantastic. In all honesty, seeing what a womanizer he is, I also don't think he'll ever settle and that's fine with me. Still, it does seem rather pretentious to me, and a lot of AC fans I've spoken to, that he would be able to bag a real historical person and manage to have offspring with her. Especially when so much is known about this person and we can practically trace her line back to the present day, therefore suddenly making Desmond Miles the descendent of someone famous. This would be like Altaïr Ibn La’ahad suddenly having a secret bastard child with Queen Sybilla of Jerusalem and I think you’ll agree with me that such an notion sounds ridiculous.
If you wish to use the argument that, around the time Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood ends, Caterina still has an age where she could still be a mother, I also disagree. I have calculated that she will be forty by then. For example, another female character, Rosa (with whom Ezio was shown to have far more of a connection throughout Assassin’s Creed II) will be forty-three years old. Three years makes little to no difference and I myself know plenty of women who still have (first) children around this age. Aside from that, isn’t it strange if Rosa, Ezio’s close friend and love interest for at least ten years as the game shows, would be brushed off as ‘unimportant’ all of a sudden, in favour for a character Ezio has only seen twice in his life so far?
The fact that Caterina would suit him because she is also a noble is also something I don’t agree on. If the Auditore are truly as infamous as you claimed during the Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood gameplay commentary, the chance that any nobleman will give Ezio his daughter will be rather small. As such, I don’t think there’s much pressure on whom would be the mother of his children, especially since he’s practically the man of the house already.
Therefore, I hope you will make a wise decision in where the line of Ezio Auditore will end. Ezio is great, but in the grand scheme of things, he remains a fictional character among many characters that are supposed to represent history. Therefore, I think he should only be treated as such. I sincerely hope you’ll make it so that it will be believable to the fans and he will not, at the last minute, transform from a good credible character into a Mary Sue: a character with too great achievements and lack of flaws to still be considered interesting or good.
Now, I will address my second reason for writing this letter, which is Ubisoft’s decision to release an Assassin’s Creed game annually. As I’ve mentioned before, if all of these will be of the quality of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and would contribute to the storyline of the franchise, I don’t mind this: in fact, I'll happily embrace it. However, I think this goal is nigh impossible and as such, I take issue with this decision.
In my essays, I have often complained about how good game series often turn into cash cows once they’re found to be successful. The creators churn out several more titles for the franchise, simply assuming that the title will seduce fans into buying it. After all, we cannot bear the fact our beloved series would ever end.
This, in my opinion, truly seems like insulting the intelligence of the people who essentially pay for your house and car. To most gamers, especially the growing population of female gamers, gaming is far more than picking up a controller to pass some time. As with novels, movies and television series, we actually love the characters and storylines this medium is capable of providing. We cherish them and, if a series must end to preserve something great and original, we have peace with that. Certainly, we are sad it is over, but we are satisfied to know that the creators truly loved their creation enough to end it when the story had reached its full potential.
In the Prince of Persia franchise, for example, this mentality is thoroughly carried out. Granted, the 2008 Prince of Persia was a good but not spectacular game and the Forgotten Sands was a midquel, but at least it was established that The Two Thrones was truly the end of the main story and it wasn’t milked to produce yet another continuation. This kind of respect and actual care for creativity is a blessing to any medium, but especially to games. If this kind of attitude is applied to the Assassin’s Creed franchise, its fans will do nothing but cheer for your apparent mindfulness of something they love.
As this letter has gone on for too long now, I will wrap this up. As I have said before, I love the creations that Ubisoft Montreal releases and I can only sincerely hope you will take the time to read this letter and will not shrug it off as “just a complaining fan”. It is not my intent to complain, only to give you an insight into your (at least a part of) target group and attempt to make the very best of whatever the future of the Assassin’s Creed franchise may be.
Yours sincerely,
A happy gamer and a Ubisoft enthusiast to the core.
Dear sir/madam,
First of all, let me inform you that I have been a great fan of the games you produce at Ubisoft Montreal, namely the Prince of Persia series and Assassin’s Creed. It is about the latter that I wish to point out some issues that have arisen in our fandom (for this letter is written on the behalf of a number of fellow fans, both male and female, and a result of many discussions on the subject), all due to the latest news concerning this franchise.
I will start off with the Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood trailer. Honestly, the trailer in itself is utterly astonishing. If I will have to wait another year for the official Assassin’s Creed III but will have the joy of playing this game, I won’t have a reason to complain at all.
My issue with this trailer, however, is the representation of Caterina Sforza in it. As you are the team of that created the game, I am certain that you have done a great deal of research on this real life historical character. In fact, this is proven to us in the database of Assassin’s Creed II. Therefore, the way she is shown in your newest trailer is rather offending, both to the fans who love the character and to the real person.
This, however, has little to do with the fact that we saw her engage in sexual intercourse with protagonist Ezio Auditore. It is rather that she is in Monteriggioni in the first place. In real life, as you have confirmed in your own database, Caterina was in Forlí when Cesare Borgia attacked and fought to protect her city before she was captured. Then in your trailer, she is captured as she is providing, to use one of your lovely quotes from the game, an “outlet” for Ezio. Also, I recall you pointed out in the previous game that she was a good mother. She wasn’t willing to sacrifice them in the Battle Of Forlí, yet she is perfectly fine with abandoning them for a roll in the sheets with the main character? Please excuse me for stating this, but this whole reeks of “out of character” behaviour and terrible twisting of history while, so far, you have done a pretty good job at keeping historical facts intact. Yet most of all, seems like just an attempt to make Ezio look unrealistically succesful in his love life.
Please don’t get me wrong, I adore the character of Ezio Auditore. Always did and always will: he is one of the things that made Assassin's Creed II fantastic. In all honesty, seeing what a womanizer he is, I also don't think he'll ever settle and that's fine with me. Still, it does seem rather pretentious to me, and a lot of AC fans I've spoken to, that he would be able to bag a real historical person and manage to have offspring with her. Especially when so much is known about this person and we can practically trace her line back to the present day, therefore suddenly making Desmond Miles the descendent of someone famous. This would be like Altaïr Ibn La’ahad suddenly having a secret bastard child with Queen Sybilla of Jerusalem and I think you’ll agree with me that such an notion sounds ridiculous.
If you wish to use the argument that, around the time Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood ends, Caterina still has an age where she could still be a mother, I also disagree. I have calculated that she will be forty by then. For example, another female character, Rosa (with whom Ezio was shown to have far more of a connection throughout Assassin’s Creed II) will be forty-three years old. Three years makes little to no difference and I myself know plenty of women who still have (first) children around this age. Aside from that, isn’t it strange if Rosa, Ezio’s close friend and love interest for at least ten years as the game shows, would be brushed off as ‘unimportant’ all of a sudden, in favour for a character Ezio has only seen twice in his life so far?
The fact that Caterina would suit him because she is also a noble is also something I don’t agree on. If the Auditore are truly as infamous as you claimed during the Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood gameplay commentary, the chance that any nobleman will give Ezio his daughter will be rather small. As such, I don’t think there’s much pressure on whom would be the mother of his children, especially since he’s practically the man of the house already.
Therefore, I hope you will make a wise decision in where the line of Ezio Auditore will end. Ezio is great, but in the grand scheme of things, he remains a fictional character among many characters that are supposed to represent history. Therefore, I think he should only be treated as such. I sincerely hope you’ll make it so that it will be believable to the fans and he will not, at the last minute, transform from a good credible character into a Mary Sue: a character with too great achievements and lack of flaws to still be considered interesting or good.
Now, I will address my second reason for writing this letter, which is Ubisoft’s decision to release an Assassin’s Creed game annually. As I’ve mentioned before, if all of these will be of the quality of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and would contribute to the storyline of the franchise, I don’t mind this: in fact, I'll happily embrace it. However, I think this goal is nigh impossible and as such, I take issue with this decision.
In my essays, I have often complained about how good game series often turn into cash cows once they’re found to be successful. The creators churn out several more titles for the franchise, simply assuming that the title will seduce fans into buying it. After all, we cannot bear the fact our beloved series would ever end.
This, in my opinion, truly seems like insulting the intelligence of the people who essentially pay for your house and car. To most gamers, especially the growing population of female gamers, gaming is far more than picking up a controller to pass some time. As with novels, movies and television series, we actually love the characters and storylines this medium is capable of providing. We cherish them and, if a series must end to preserve something great and original, we have peace with that. Certainly, we are sad it is over, but we are satisfied to know that the creators truly loved their creation enough to end it when the story had reached its full potential.
In the Prince of Persia franchise, for example, this mentality is thoroughly carried out. Granted, the 2008 Prince of Persia was a good but not spectacular game and the Forgotten Sands was a midquel, but at least it was established that The Two Thrones was truly the end of the main story and it wasn’t milked to produce yet another continuation. This kind of respect and actual care for creativity is a blessing to any medium, but especially to games. If this kind of attitude is applied to the Assassin’s Creed franchise, its fans will do nothing but cheer for your apparent mindfulness of something they love.
As this letter has gone on for too long now, I will wrap this up. As I have said before, I love the creations that Ubisoft Montreal releases and I can only sincerely hope you will take the time to read this letter and will not shrug it off as “just a complaining fan”. It is not my intent to complain, only to give you an insight into your (at least a part of) target group and attempt to make the very best of whatever the future of the Assassin’s Creed franchise may be.
Yours sincerely,
A happy gamer and a Ubisoft enthusiast to the core.