The cat has a very special significance in the human culture, because the cats protected granaries and households from mice. This was crucial to early communities especially large ones. Probably large cities would have not existed in antiquity without the domestication of cats.
For the Egyptians it was so important, they even had a cat goddess, Bastet, which was the goddess of the home, domesticity, women's secrets, cats, fertility, and childbirth. There is a crown store furnishing with a Ra-gada gilded cat, which is very much like the sculptures of Bastet.
Dogs were important too, but it seems that cats fascinated people more.
So, with all this being said, I think dog-khajiit would have been less interesting.
I know a lot of people are dog lovers they have dog pets and perhaps (some) hate cats, but this is not about which pets you like, is how the cat as a symbol has a deeper meaning compared to the dog (cats are associated with the unconscious, dreams, black magic, secrets, bad luck, etc).
If Khajit were altered to be dog people, nothing would HAVE to FUNCTIONALLY change - they could still have the same culture, same architecture, same accent and cultural speech quirks and whatnot...but I don't think they would.
For whatever reason, we (western/eastern gamer culture) are comfortable with the idea of cats (and by extension cat people) being quirky, sneaky, thiefy-type people as a whole culture. We also seem to be quite comfortable associating them with more african/middle eastern desert-style motifs (probably cuzza the whole egyptian cat culture expectation we have).
I suspect, that if we altered them to be dog people, we'd have different basic expectations about the Khajiit culture - we'd expect them to have different cultural priorities (that we more commonly associate with dogs), like pack behavior, and alpha chiefs, and such. We'd probably pick architecture and a biome of the world to call home that we more commonly associate with dogs (maybe we'd go wolf-like and associate them with northern wastes and snowy climes, or we'd go domestic dog and, I dunno, maybe associate them with the more temperate european-like zones).
I dunno where we'd go with speech styles, but I suspect we'd make the dog-people less cagey, and probably more straightforward, if not downright doofy like scooby doo or any of a hundred other comical dog stereotypes that we're used to.
Sadly, I feel like western/eastern gamer culture tend to see dogs as simple (if not downright dumb), or, alternatively, loyal and upright (probably almost to a fault). I'm not quite sure how we got these visions of dogs, and people with strongly ingrained cultural perspectives from outside the mainstream us, europe, and china/japan, might have...significantly different expectations about anthropomorphized dog-people, but it might be interesting to hear the expectations some people have from other cultures about what an uplifted dog-like race would be like in a fantasy setting
...if you think the old egyptians had no canine god to balance the feline Bastet, well, Anubis would like a word with you!For the Egyptians it was so important, they even had a cat goddess, Bastet, which was the goddess of the home, domesticity, women's secrets, cats, fertility, and childbirth. There is a crown store furnishing with a Ra-gada gilded cat, which is very much like the sculptures of Bastet.
Dogs were important too, but it seems that cats fascinated people more.
JamieAubrey wrote: »Hard to imaging
You mean the Lilmothiit not having been eradicated by a plot device?
starkerealm wrote: »JamieAubrey wrote: »Hard to imaging
You mean the Lilmothiit not having been eradicated by a plot device?
Point of order: The Lilmothii were fox people, not, strictly, dogs.
starkerealm wrote: »JamieAubrey wrote: »Hard to imaging
You mean the Lilmothiit not having been eradicated by a plot device?
Point of order: The Lilmothii were fox people, not, strictly, dogs.
Well, Foxes and Dogs are both Canids. I figured that would be close enough for the Dog lovers.
If Khajit were altered to be dog people, nothing would HAVE to FUNCTIONALLY change - they could still have the same culture, same architecture, same accent and cultural speech quirks and whatnot...but I don't think they would.
For whatever reason, we (western/eastern gamer culture) are comfortable with the idea of cats (and by extension cat people) being quirky, sneaky, thiefy-type people as a whole culture. We also seem to be quite comfortable associating them with more african/middle eastern desert-style motifs (probably cuzza the whole egyptian cat culture expectation we have).
I suspect, that if we altered them to be dog people, we'd have different basic expectations about the Khajiit culture - we'd expect them to have different cultural priorities (that we more commonly associate with dogs), like pack behavior, and alpha chiefs, and such. We'd probably pick architecture and a biome of the world to call home that we more commonly associate with dogs (maybe we'd go wolf-like and associate them with northern wastes and snowy climes, or we'd go domestic dog and, I dunno, maybe associate them with the more temperate european-like zones).
I dunno where we'd go with speech styles, but I suspect we'd make the dog-people less cagey, and probably more straightforward, if not downright doofy like scooby doo or any of a hundred other comical dog stereotypes that we're used to.
Sadly, I feel like western/eastern gamer culture tend to see dogs as simple (if not downright dumb), or, alternatively, loyal and upright (probably almost to a fault). I'm not quite sure how we got these visions of dogs, and people with strongly ingrained cultural perspectives from outside the mainstream us, europe, and china/japan, might have...significantly different expectations about anthropomorphized dog-people, but it might be interesting to hear the expectations some people have from other cultures about what an uplifted dog-like race would be like in a fantasy setting
JamieAubrey wrote: »Hard to imaging
JamieAubrey wrote: »How different would the ES series if Khajiit where Dog people ?
JamieAubrey wrote: »How different would the ES series if Khajiit where Dog people ?
They'd be compliant, obedient slaves with neither the capacity to think for themselves nor the will to fight for a life without a collar.
Cats are a much better choice ...
Rain_Greyraven wrote: »Probably be just as irritating to be honest, I always thought that anthropomorphism in fantasy writing was trite at best.
But beyond that the type of people it attracts is an issue with me personally, I have yet to see a Furry that wasn't also a thespian gamer, which can get ridiculous at times.
There is something demented about a player that refuses to break character.
JamieAubrey wrote: »Hard to imaging
Not at all...
Only, you might get comments of wow clone races instead. Worgen.
Seperatist wrote: »Just less furrys throwing moneys to zos
You just gotta stoke the bees nest huh Andy.They'd be compliant, obedient slaves with neither the capacity to think for themselves nor the will to fight for a life without a collar.JamieAubrey wrote: »How different would the ES series if Khajiit where Dog people ?
Cats are a much better choice ...