Continued Appeal of High Fantasy?

[Sheilbh]

High Fantasy is appealing and harkens back to western culture, which is nice if your a reactionary.

Western culture isn't a period in the past that one can hearken back too

[garbon]

Western culture isn't a period in the past that one can hearken back too

Western culture is dead and only existed at one idyllic moment in the past.

[Jacob]

Have you actually played Dragon Age?

I wouldn't call it a game where "evil is relatively easy to identify".

Have you actually read the thread?  It's a thread about the "Continued Appeal of High Fantasy", not a specific game.

[Jacob]

Is it even possible to completely divorce fiction from historical context? What would that kind of fiction even look like?

I don't think so, but at this point I think high fantasy are several more layers of reference away from the historical context than the equivalent Chinese stuff and since that was part of what Caliga was talking about I wanted to acknowledge that.

[Jacob]

Thats going to get harder and harder. Good story telling or no, the modern gamer and maybe even reader is too lazy to bother fully learning a new lore. What is familiar is most comforting.

Yeah it's true.  It also isn't helped by the fact that most "new lore" that people come up with is fantastically tedious.  Who cares if Shmebiggan from the land of Crapulitania is concerned about the Maboggins invading through the mountains of Blabbablabba to gain control of the ancient Uggadax and institute the the worship of the foul Flaxlords or whatever?  Most "new lore" is just silly names and one dimensional stereotypes it seems to me.

The "lore" should serve the interest of the story and the world, and if it is to serve the world there needs to be a point to why it's different.

[Caliga]

That's actually the way I've felt about the lore in Dragon Age.  I don't feel like trying to remember all the background shit, nor am I impressed with all of the supposed work went into constructing it like alot of people seem to be.

[Habbaku]

That's actually the way I've felt about the lore in Dragon Age.  I don't feel like trying to remember all the background shit, nor am I impressed with all of the supposed work went into constructing it like alot of people seem to be.

Work?  They ripped off a dozen different sources and, for their countries, just said "fuck it" and took stereotypes of various kingdoms during the Middle Ages.

[Grallon]

That's actually the way I've felt about the lore in Dragon Age.  I don't feel like trying to remember all the background shit, nor am I impressed with all of the supposed work went into constructing it like alot of people seem to be.

I think you have a problem with this game for some reason.   I found the DA lore to well done for what it is - a bakcground setting.  Sure it's a number of clichés but what isn't these days?

Here's a good candidate for an RPG - one that should please everyone since it's very different in terms of settings and the main character is gay. 

The Stone Dance of the Chameleon - http://www.ricardopinto.com/index.php - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stone_Dance_of_the_Chameleon





G.

[Caliga]

That's actually the way I've felt about the lore in Dragon Age.  I don't feel like trying to remember all the background shit, nor am I impressed with all of the supposed work went into constructing it like alot of people seem to be.

Work?  They ripped off a dozen different sources and, for their countries, just said "fuck it" and took stereotypes of various kingdoms during the Middle Ages.

That's why I said "supposed work"   But I mean one time I looked in the DA forums someplace and a bunch of fanbois were all "OMG MOST ORIGENUL SETTING EVAR"

[Barrister]

I dunno - with DA:O I'm vaguely impressed that they sat down and gave some thought to the setting and it's history.  Many games/settings really just invent the stuff as they go along.

But yeah in the end it's just background.

[Valmy]

That's actually the way I've felt about the lore in Dragon Age.  I don't feel like trying to remember all the background shit, nor am I impressed with all of the supposed work went into constructing it like alot of people seem to be.

Work?  They ripped off a dozen different sources and, for their countries, just said "fuck it" and took stereotypes of various kingdoms during the Middle Ages.

That is not fair they definitely put work and thought in to it.  But yes the whole idea was to use recognizable archetypes and put a spin on them.  For somebody who doesn't care they don't have to work hard to recognize what is there and for somebody who does there is alot of detail to enjoy.

It looks like to me you are just trying to put the worst possible spin on it.  I assure you enormous games like Dragon Age take alot of thought and effort.

[Valmy]

That's why I said "supposed work"   But I mean one time I looked in the DA forums someplace and a bunch of fanbois were all "OMG MOST ORIGENUL SETTING EVAR"

Well it was intentionally designed to be the "spiritual successor to Baldu's Gate" so it was never intended to be original in the first place but classic fantasy with some touches.  Naturally some people confuse liking the game with attaching every single hyperbole they can imagine and hammering everything critical about it. 

[crazy canuck]

Have you actually played Dragon Age?

I wouldn't call it a game where "evil is relatively easy to identify".

Have you actually read the thread?  It's a thread about the "Continued Appeal of High Fantasy", not a specific game.

Don't worry Jacob, in the DA thread Marti was going on about how is was grouped with his "evil" party that made him do "evil" things and now he is replaying with his "good" party and doing "good" things.

So while he would call DA a game where evil is not easy to indentify he was in fact able to indentify the evil and so I will leave it to others to conclude whether it is easy or not.

[PDH]

As a friend of mine said once, "High fantasy is when people don't shit."  Lore or not, it is very hard to do properly so that the setting seems "real."  Too often it is repetitive regurgitation, the same things over and over that don't just seem to work.

[Razgovory]

Western culture isn't a period in the past that one can hearken back too

Western culture is dead and only existed at one idyllic moment in the past.

Apparently the one with Elves.