ArenaNet:International cultural references/France

International cultural references
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I was a little shocked when I saw there was no France section on this page...although I'm not French myself, there certainly are some French culture references that could be implemented somehow in Guild Wars 2, or perhaps Guild Wars in a later update.

Here's what I've got so far:

• Tintin and Asterix - Two very well-known and loved French comics; I could see some sort of reference being slipped into a quest.
• Paris landmarks - Eiffel Tower, Louvre, etc; a small structure in an outpost would be a nice little easter egg.
• French history - Napoleon, Voltaire, Robespierre, etc; perhaps an NPC named after one of them?

Got any more? Please add to this section! Thanks! -AyaStowar

Tintin is Belgian by creation, and his ethnicity is never stated in the comics themselfs.[1]

--SirFranz 05:19, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

My bad on the nationality of the comics; and I wasn't talking about the ethnicity of Tintin or Asterisk, but rather the comics themselves. - AyaStowar

Its a common mistake most people make about Tintin, so no proplem.edit By most I mean in Canada and the USA. The misconception that Tintin is French is because the french translation is used in French language classes to help students learn the language(Didn't help me much though >< ).--SirFranz 17:37, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

A player once asked me if we would ever have such things as pubs, chocolate shops, and bakeries in Guild Wars. I don't know the answer to that yet, but surely if we have a bakery, we must consider having a least one French boulanger as a member of the staff! I know it's a small cultural reference, but it's one of those that comes to my mind with great fondness. -- Gaile 03:18, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Tu l'as dit la gueuse, t'es pas gironde mais t'es bien bonne, allez en route simone ! More seriously I was thinking about Pascal Sevran ( if there is any french reading this name, please pardon me I couldn't resist ), or Patrick Poivre d'Arvor as a news reporter from whom you can get the latest game update notes in an outpost: "Here are the 20 'o clock news - soul reaping have been adjusted, millions of necromancers have started a hunger strike in front of Gaile's garden in pre-searing". Yseron

I just realized that by "international cultural reference" we mean "internationaly known" and not just "references from around the world" so ignore my preceding post, my lack of skills at english and my small brain are to blame. Yseron

Actually, I don't think it's a requirement they be "internationally known" references, as long as they're recognisable to members of the country/culture they refer to. :) --Mme. Donelle 22:09, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Kaamelott maybe? It's a "French comedy television series which parodies the Arthurian legend" (quoting Wikipedia). It is broadcasted in Canada on Historia. All the actors in this series are now very popular, the ones playing the incredibly silly Perceval and Caradoc are especially famous.--Moriturus 21:02, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Oh, and what about cheeses? The French really love cheese, and they produce so many different varieties of them. There could be mobs with cheesy names, like 'Cancoillotte the foul' or 'Chabichou the mouldy'. Ok, maybe not. Or the Dwarves could make cheese from the milk of their Yaks? After eating it you'd get +9 HP regeneration during half an hour! yum!--Moriturus 17:33, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

or get sick.. Personaly i can't stand french cheese... ^Teo^ 20:06, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

My! You tasted them all? You're courageous then. Anyway here it's DWARVEN YAK MILK cheese, so nothing to fear! But that's an idea maybe : on some occasions (a player not allied with the dwarves?) the cheese could cause a -9 health degeneration?--Moriturus 21:14, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Some famous French (and Franco-Belgian) comics : Dungeon (by Joann Sfar and Lewis Trondheim), Wake, Philémon, Iznogoud, Le Petit Nicolas, Lucky Luke and also Moebius's works : Blueberry, The Incal, Arzach. (Can't mention Titeuf as Zep, the author, is Swiss. Same thing for the Smurfs (Belgian).)--Moriturus 12:50, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Kaamelott is a good idea. I named my main character after it. --King Of Kamelott 18:52, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

My two cents:

• Standing right next to cheese, French wine is a must. Champagne, Bordeaux, Côtes-du-Rhône, you name it.
• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Le Petit Prince. This huge best-seller would be a fine basis for an epic 7-step quest with a flying mount/pet as a reward.

Come on, add more! Azath 20:14, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

A much awarded french pornographic cartoon : Kirikou and the Sorceress.--MORTUIЯUS 20:06, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

A lot of French are fond of self-mockery. I think some NPCs that are on strike in a town with obvious french references (in the dialogs, names, etc.) would totally make me crack up. Then again, some might be offended by that, so I guess it should be made in a really humorous way... I don't know, I guess it depends on your politics, hehe.
More culturally speaking, you also have the famous Bohème and also the "poètes maudits" such as Rimbaud, Verlaine, Baudelaire, who have a strong myth and aura in France and I guess in other countries too. There are also great writers such as Boris Vian, Victor Hugo, and Jacques Prévert.

About sports, we have the Tour de France, a cyclism competition that happens every year (and people seem to be either fond of it or utterly bored by it because when it's taking place you can't spend half an hour without hearing about it). Football is probably the "national sport"; but we also have a phenomenon going on with the rugby player Chabal, especially since the last World Cup. For the record, I followed some of the matches on a giant screen in the city center, and each time he was doing an action you had all the people screaming "Aouh!" (y'know, like in the 300 movie). A reference to that would be funny, I think. Daeril 00:30, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't know if there will be dances in GW2 but I always dream about seeing one of my char dancing like that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaYOeRARwfU. This comes from a movie with Louis de Funes, a very well known french actor (at least if you're older than 20^^).Cornflakeboy 08:19, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I've read all of your comment so far and lot of them made me laugh (my preference for Cancoillotte the fool) There is a french movie with lot of mythic quote: Les Tontons flingueurs. The movie itself is in black and white from 1963 but the quotes stayed over ages. Les Tontons Flingueurs on Wikiquote --RAd1cAl_EdwArd 14:31, 22 June 2008 (UTC) Also, some region-specific cultural references can be good (like provence or celtic). I cannot really help for celtic but i live in provence so if you need help or quotes, just go ahead and ask me... --RAd1cAl_EdwArd 14:36, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Hey, talking of Provence, there could be more cicada songs. I really like the bug sounds in Elona (and elsewhere) and all the wildlife sounds in general. In France Cicadas are common only in the South (particularly in the Mediterranean region) and they are very popular as they remind of the summer vacations, the stone pines (another provençal/mediterranean cliché), the deep blue sea, the crowded beaches pristine calanques, the wildfires, the jellyfish invasions, etc. The songs of Cicada orni and Lyristes plebejus are very evocative and part of the local (tourist ?) folklore and often used in advertisements, etc. They are sometimes deafening/overwhelming too if you're too close or they are too numerous, but that's what is funny, in other regions cicadas are much less noisy and obvious) - MORTUIЯUS 23:16, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Provençal cuisine? : Pastis? Aioli? Ratatouille? Bouillabaisse? MORTUIЯUS 23:16, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

OMG! I realize I forgot pétanque!! THE minigame for GW2! MORTUIЯUS 23:31, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Pure french culture at 2:24 "I want to know...." ( since Napoleon and before ). Yseron - 90.15.191.9 20:46, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

Wealso got RemiGaillard. Yseron - 90.9.127.56 00:41, 5 July 2009 (UTC)