inherit
Elvis Has Left The Building
7794
0
Oct 31, 2020 23:57:02 GMT
8,068
pessimistpanda
3,804
Apr 18, 2017 15:57:34 GMT
April 2017
pessimistpanda
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect Andromeda
|
Post by pessimistpanda on Jun 30, 2020 8:59:03 GMT
Personally, I prefer to use the term "speculative fiction" these days, as it covers fantasy to hard sci-fi and everything in-between.
...Except whenever I say I like speculative fiction, people go "what's that?". Lol.
Also, does the "Force" *actually* have 'Light' and 'Dark' sides? Or are the in-world characters just attributing moral aspects to a... well, force... that they don't in fact fully comprehend?
|
|
inherit
Glorious Star Lord
822
0
Jan 24, 2024 17:47:40 GMT
16,819
KaiserShep
Party like it's 2023!
9,233
August 2016
kaisershep
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda
|
Post by KaiserShep on Jun 30, 2020 9:04:18 GMT
It's a practical problem resulting from the necessity to avoid wildly divergent world states in a game series. If one player destroys a nation and the next one destroys a different one, and they both expect a sequel to preserve continuity, you're in an impossible situation as a game developer. It basically requires free storytelling, and that won't be possible in video games without strong AI, or a human GM. Or giving up on save imports.I think DA would be better if they'd never started with that. I dunno about all that. Mass Effect got carried away with the choices Shepard could make, but this didn't really ring true with Dragon Age. Most of the Warden's choices could be kept isolated to whatever disparate part of Thedas they occurred in, or just have some flavor dialogue or NPC swaps. Like, choosing the leader of Orzammar doesn't really mean anything for the surface world, and even if you visited that location again later, Orzammar in general would probably not be much different, and its various social constructs would probably remain largely intact. Choosing between the Dalish or the werewolves, I mean, would anyone even care at that point? We get a bit of a follow-up there in DA2 at the Wounded Coast, and it really doesn't need to be any bigger than that.
|
|
inherit
1047
0
Apr 26, 2024 11:46:03 GMT
1,396
ClarkKent
882
Aug 17, 2016 20:27:17 GMT
August 2016
clarkkent
|
Post by ClarkKent on Jun 30, 2020 9:25:43 GMT
I've always liked the theory that Thedas is the product of a bunch of species being stranded for thousands of years as a result of the low EMS destroy ending in Mass Effect 3.
|
|
inherit
1033
0
Apr 26, 2024 11:28:39 GMT
31,223
colfoley
16,559
Aug 17, 2016 10:19:37 GMT
August 2016
colfoley
|
Post by colfoley on Jun 30, 2020 10:47:15 GMT
It wold be an interesting thought experiment however such things usually are the domain of sci fi and sci fi and fantasy do have a lot of different...thematic tension. I do not think they can be clearly distinguished these days, if they ever could. One aspect of this is that people ask scientific questions of a setting, regardless of whether it is marketed as fantasy or not.
Take Star Wars, for instance. I would argue that any setting where some kind of morality is built into the structure of the universe is fantasy, for this can't be explained without a supernatural reality. The only way to approximate this with SF is for the story to feature a virtual reality that simulates such a universe - in which case it isn't actually real, defeating the purpose yet again. However, does Star Wars actually qualify? The Force has been presented in different ways, and one way you can describe it is a kind of energy which can be channeled by humans according to certain psychological characteristics. It's clearly beyond explanation in current science in-world, but not beyond scientific hypotheses, as it would be if there really was a "dark" and "light" side in ontological reality which mapped to human morality. At the same time, scientific explanations of power differentials in users of the Force have met with considerable resistance by almost all of the fans (it didn't help that the attempt was clumsy and lacked all elegance). So, the fantasy-like unresolvable mystique surrounding the Force appears to be an integral part of the setting's appeal as well.
Regarding Thedas, I don't know whether a Thedosian would ever come up with this question, but it is one I find much more interesting than the question whether a Maker - an entity that created Thedas - exists: If a Maker exists, what exactly is this entity?
Considering this, you might want to go and ask: why would I ask this question of Thedas, but not of Middle Earth? What exactly is it of Middle Earth that tells me this is not a question that makes sense to ask there? Surprisingly, it occurs to me that the answer is irrelevant to Middle Earth, but not to Thedas. Middle Earth works as it is, regardless of whether the metaphysics behind it are true or not. You could also ask "how exactly did Gandalf come back" but that's actually not every relevant as well. In Thedas, however, the Black City is a tangible aspect of the world, and the whole setting could feel very different after someone managed to enter the Black City and made some significant discoveries.
So fantasy, as I see it, only manages to remain pure fantasy in modern stories if it manages to make questions like "what exactly is this" and "how does this work" irrelevant to the story. And this is, contrary to what you might think but at the same time rather plausibly, much harder to do if supernatural elements like gods and magic are tangible rather than remote.
For the scenario in question, thus, it can be stated that Thedas gives itself more easily to it than, say, Middle Earth would.
It is way too late for me I should be going to bed rather then answering this...and yet... I really want to answer this and PISHAW there is a lot to unpack with you. Now first off what I am about to say applies only to the type of fantasy that DA or Middle Earth or the Witcher or GoT is...I know there is more 'modern' fantasy out there that takes place today which would just blur the image if I were to try to define that as well, so here we go. Now you are right the two don't really have a meaningful distinction especially on the sci fi end because you tend to have 'soft' sci fi and 'hard' sci fi. Where hard is more scientifically accurate and soft is more 'sci fantasy'. That being said I do tend to define them thus: Fantasy of this nature tends to be more about the exploration of the past and using that as a vehicle for exploring human nature. Personally I tend to find fantasy more philosophically...adaptable...then science fiction for this reason. Usually you have vague explanations for things like magic, which itself can be hard or soft, but again without specific examples...ugh its just all about the past and dealing with humanity with a primitive understanding. In this vein magic is used in place of technology. Without tech or the ability to truly understand it the writers usually use it as a means to explore the effects of such magic on the world, the really good ones anyways...both DA and GoT qualify. But, the important thing is the exploration of the past, looking to the past to make whatever phislophical point the creators are making...which DA does quite well considering the characters themselves are looking to the past to fix things, probably. Science Fiction on the other hand is all about 1. Exploration of the future, or at the least the present, and exploration of technology and how actual science and tech will change human nature and how we relate to them, Which makes sci fi more ridgid because it just is focused on that one thing, though its probably more important as a case study in where we are going. EXCEPT as you mentioned Star Wars is fantasy because it has all the hallmarks of GoT/DA type fiction...but in space. Its 'continent' is the Galaxy and its magic system is the Force. On the other other hand it can also be argued that DA also might be an exception considering how much time characters in the setting do try and understand the nature of things. Magic, the past, the nature of gods...a big part of DAs narrative is revealing the 'truth' and the true nature about things of the past to give a better understanding for the future. And I think its Fredrick of Seralt...I know its in there somewhere...but I think its Fredrick of Seralt mentioned that he does hope that the application and usage of the scientific theory can actually be applied to any thing. Now I am a bit...uneasy about this concept because I don't think a science triumping over religion argument is...always proper...but so far DA has been towing that balance well. Personally, I prefer to use the term "speculative fiction" these days, as it covers fantasy to hard sci-fi and everything in-between. ...Except whenever I say I like speculative fiction, people go "what's that?". Lol. Also, does the "Force" *actually* have 'Light' and 'Dark' sides? Or are the in-world characters just attributing moral aspects to a... well, force... that they don't in fact fully comprehend? I do prefer the term speculative fiction as well, but its more like a umbrella term where Science fiction and fantasy are the two wings. And well, I don't want to get into the knitty gritty details HERE, but if you want me to explain in detail send me a PM but there is enough evidence to suggest the Force does actually have sides to it beyond the moral understanding of the individual characters and...a will of its own. Edit: Also Leldra by and large fantasy is a lot better about explorations of religion. The one big exception to this is RDMs BSG.
|
|
bshep
N5
We destroy them or they destroy us.
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Anthem, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Origin: MasterDassJennir
Prime Posts: 1876
Prime Likes: 376
Posts: 4,444 Likes: 7,936
inherit
269
0
7,936
bshep
We destroy them or they destroy us.
4,444
August 2016
bshep
Top
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Anthem, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
MasterDassJennir
1876
376
|
Post by bshep on Jul 1, 2020 6:29:45 GMT
I've always liked the theory that Thedas is the product of a bunch of species being stranded for thousands of years as a result of the low EMS destroy ending in Mass Effect 3. Well there is a Thedas planet in ME3. It has been quarentined because of some blight disease.
|
|