I actually like when its is based off of a real culture with some heavy differences, gives it some grounding to work off of, and also allows a tiny bit of shorthand. Like how you don't really have to justify to a viewer that Orlais has this aristocratic society that cares so much about optics and the game, but of course it does. But this then allows the series to go into the more specific stuff like the role of assassins in society, past conflicts with Elves,government instability because of this system, and their history with grey Wardens and Blights.