Generic fantasy setting?

[Metabot]

Project Eternity is supposed to be an 'old school' RPG, hearkening back to the days and Baldur's Gate and whatnot right?

 

In which case being a 'generic fantasy' is a must.

 

No it's not.

[Metabot]

Frankly I have 0 interest in desert-dwelling agnostic elves. Doesn't appeal to me at all.

 

Exactly. You think "elf" and you think "lives in forests, loves nature". If you hear "elf", and you are presented with something that doesn't match your preconceived idea of what an elf is, you can already declare that you have absolutely no interest in it because it deviates from what you were expecting. You subscribe to the platonic idea of the elf, and therefore if the name is attached to something that doesn't reflect the platonic idea of the elf, it is wrong. That's a common trend. It is exactly why BSN gets so many furious debates about what, exactly, the shape of an elf's ear should be.

 

It is therefore reasonable that if a franchise was going to present you with something that doesn't fit your preconceived idea of an elf, if it doesn't want to alienate you it should not use that label. Then you might be able to judge what you saw on its merits, rather than being disappointed that it wasn't what an elf is supposed to be.

 

So, people want different but when confronted with something different they'll be upset because it is different and thus not as easy to classify and label.

[NOK222]

I frankly don't think that deconstructing everything is all that hot either.

 

People praise MoTB, but I liked the NWN2 OC far better.

 

HAHAHAHAHA

 

EDIT: Seriously? But why? Even if you are not a fan of decontruction, the story is much better in MotB.

 

Deconstructions can be a bit too...ehhh...ok.

 

Personally i like a story that both deconstructs and reconstructs fabulously.

[moridin84]

Project Eternity is supposed to be an 'old school' RPG, hearkening back to the days and Baldur's Gate and whatnot right?

 

In which case being a 'generic fantasy' is a must.

 

No it's not.

Yes it is.

[Vulee]

"Generic fantasy" is such a stupid term. I see kiddies od IMDB forums call Game of Thrones "generic" fantasy all the time. Hell, some even label Warcraft as "generic" and that stuff is almost as full of wierd random crap as a China Mieville novel. Don't think anyone is is able to explain what "generic fantasy" means, that's just something that kids who don't know s*** about fantasy like to throw around.

[Elerond]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StandardFantasySetting

 

Funny collection of most typical fantasy setting tropes.

[TrashMan]

I frankly don't think that deconstructing everything is all that hot either.

 

People praise MoTB, but I liked the NWN2 OC far better.

 

HAHAHAHAHA

 

EDIT: Seriously? But why? Even if you are not a fan of decontruction, the story is much better in MotB.

 

Everyone is entilted to their own oppinion.

The story just didn't grab me. Dunno. Didn't really care much about the betrayers or the Mask... or for that matter the companions.

I can only remeber the one with the wings (Dove?) and the baldy - which had one of the worst romances ever. It just came out of nowhere and suddenly there was *BAM* "my darling, I love you!" .. Wut? Whoa wait. Lady, I exchanged two words with you!

 

Mabye it was because MoTB was more deepressing than NWN2 OC?

 

As I said, I can't pin it down. All I know is that I haven't enjoyed it as much as NWN2OC.

 

But seriously.... drop the subject.

[Saerain]

The ‘generic’ races stick around because they work. But they don't fail to change, either. They've changed a lot. They evolve iteratively because that's how creativity works. The dwarves and elves we have today are not Tolkien's, by far, just as Tolkien's were not those of mythology.

 

Evolution will beat any single, isolated instance of randomly cobbled-together DNA, every time.

 

If you don't like something about the tropes, work to change them, even if only in the form of discussion/feedback.

 

I'm a big elf fan, but I don't like their often-expected tendency toward naturalistic fallacies (i.e. both the is-ought and the appeal to nature) and what I call ‘the elder race syndrome’ (basically appeal to tradition/antiquity with a dash of xenophobia toward ‘lesser races’). So, in my campaign settings I sometimes offer them as the new, progressive race on the block, seeking to change up the tired old world with their magical affinity, and full of transhumanist (transelvenist?) ideas, rather than the preservationist hippies nearly as old as the planet (which better describes my dwarves or orcs, though neither are so concerned with forests). You can do things like this and still have a picture that is recognizably and evocatively elven, in my opinion. Sometimes it might even be a mutation that survives the natural selection that is the players.

 

I don't think there's a core, immutable ‘essence of elf’, not even the good looks and pointed ears. It's all subject to change, given that the change works.

 

It seems to me that many, perhaps most, of the people who resent the ‘generic fantasy’ races do so not because of the elf/dwarf tropes in general, but because they want races that are even further from the human norm, physically and otherwise. I can sympathize with that, but I would hope that they also understand that every time such a race is introduced to a setting (and really, there have been a lot), they face the same selective pressures that elves and dwarves have faced for a long time, and they have to move their own weight.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Saerain

[Sarkus]

A lot of people bash "generic fantasy" settings but they keep making them because they keep selling. The reality is that a lot of people still like the setting - hence more LOTR movies coming. That doesn't mean their isn't room for something different, but honestly most of the something different fantasy variations I've seen are rather dull and lifeless. We get cat and lizard people instead of dwarves and orcs. Whoopee.

 

So while I'd love to see more sci-fi and other settings explored in an RPG (I'm still mad that Sega pulled the plug on the Aliens RPG Obsidian was doing), its not like there aren't any of those coming - Wasteland 2 kickstarter, Shadowrun kickstarter, Fallout 4, and the Cyberpunk based game coming from The Witcher developers. So the people that can't stand another "generic fantasy" game need to stop whining - its the best time in years if you want something else. And meanwhile I and a bunch more of us will be more then happy to see more elves and dwarves in a medieval-type setting.

[LostSenSS]

I would like as much as possible non-standard setting in Project Etirnity.

But concept art, which Obsidian have already shown - standard banal fantasy, except for firearms.

I'm a little disappointed

 

I am not much hope to see something as magnificent as Planescape of course, but...

Edited October 4, 2012 by LostSenSS

[Saerain]

But what? What are some things you'd like to see done differently, and how?

[LostSenSS]

But what? What are some things you'd like to see done differently, and how?

Just fight brave paladins and elfs against the forces of evil have become boring.

I'm not even talking about the level of Planescape setting, just something a little more serious and adult, something on the level of The Witcher,

I would like to rejection of purely positive or negative characters.

Existence of problems of inequality, discrimination, as an example.

...The absence of right or wrong actions.

This is all the distinguishing features of the present good and adult RPG, in my opinion.

"Game of Thrones" is a good example of what I mean.

Edited October 4, 2012 by LostSenSS

[Gyges]

As long as it isnt high fantasy. Mature themes pretty much excludes that.