A problem with RPGs: RPG developers are not well-read in myth and fantasy/sci-fi literature

[Desiderius]

On a related note, don't some cultures eat various body parts of defeated enemies (not necessarily their cocks) to gain their strenght? So the phallic part might be irrelevant or secondary.

No idea, dude, in some fantasy fiction I vaguely remember that some barbarian tribe partook in that kind of ritual cannibalism, can't tell you the title for the life of me, but I believe is a trope that can be found in several works (eating the brain to get the smarts of a foe, the heart for his bravery, so on and so forth). In real life however, can't recall. Anthropology is not my forte. But even if such culture existed in the real world I don't see it being the inspiration for the symbolic 'castration' in the horror slasher sub-genre.

South American tribes during the Conquistador period did so, partially for religious purposes, but also to intimidate enemies. If you read accounts of Cortez's retreat from Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs cooked and ate some conquered Spaniards in front of the building they were holed up in and threw body parts at them, warning they were next.

You also have the historical practice of Mummia consumption for health, as well as the well-documented Maori practices and African cannibalism which has persisted from antiquity up until the modern day.

They got pwned.

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[Donald Gordon Lord]

Oh yeah, the Japs chowed down on a bunch of POWs during WW2 as a religious/demoralization thing too.

 

[Desiderius]

Oh yeah, the Japs chowed down on a bunch of POWs during WW2 as a religious/demoralization thing too.

Yeah, well, our Jews nuked them.

 

[Donald Gordon Lord]

Sure sure, but old boy was asking about societies that were into eating people, not if they were successful.

 

[MurkrLurkr]

I've read all 20+ pages of this conversation so allow me to add my basso to the chorus of your shrill, whining voices... As a species, we have finally hit the wall. Our brains, that elevated us above other organic lifeforms, have turned against us, transforming into parasites that feed on words and the fruits of cultural production. Everything important has already been said, all human stories have been told, all roles have been played, the movie has long since ended (we are living tragicomic post-credit scenes, not unlike those in Marvel movies) and all that remains is muteness... The only form of resistance. To shut the fuck up! Without attitudes and opinions, without ideas, to numb that damned organ that drives us to create cacophony with constant blabbering. Let us all collectively pledge ourselves to a vow of silence, let us become tongue-tied... To separate ourselves from modern life through fasting, by abstaining from everything that nourishes us (materially and spiritually), cos by distancing ourselves we may once again draw closer to the source of life. For those who want to read a more detailed post, keep reading, and you TL;DR peeps, abandon ship now and spare me your ratings ;-*

In pretty broad strokes, for me it all begins with the overwhelming need to meticulously classify, dissect and disassemble everything (a natural process that stems from the human need to understand the world and our role in it, but which inevitably leads to the mapping of reality, leaving nothing unexamined, the defogging of the proverbial Fog of War, the loss of Terra incognita from geographical maps)... In religious thought this is echoed by kataphatic theology, which in the West, in contrast to the more mystically inclined, apophatic theological traditions of the East, prevails. Because everything must be understood, dressed up, poured and chained into a word, a (magical) formula... Deconstruction, demystification (or demythification as Louis_Cypher would surely approve) ruined the industry... Like Edgar Allan Poe's shunned essay "The Philosophy of Composition" in which he describes the literary process as something premeditated, in order to rationalize something inherently mystical and show his contemporaries how he follows the currents of the zeitgeist..

Post-structuralists

fascination with subversion and breaking of the walls that separate the author and the recipient, as well as communist distorted view that art must be reactionary (politically engaged) if it wants to be vital.. Critics thought that they can write better fiction than the authors themselves.. "Artistic" production is only a reflection of the image of the world (lebenswelt) that we shape by walking (living life)... It has become very difficult to identify with the heroes and experience the emptying (kenosis) and catharsis, because the stories are no longer told by shamans and guides of the tribe (of humanity), but by a scrap of the human race that has conquered the global platforms in recent decades, from which they/them scream neurotically! The roots of drama (ancient tragedy and comedy) are in the religious movement of the soul towards the heavenly spheres... Now that hieros gamos has been brought before the matrimonial court, we will pay the settlement.
As for the mentioned drought in meaningful and imaginative SF stories, it comes down to being unable to envision alternative ways of realizing the future! We as a species don't have one. There will be no pilgrimage to other planets and stars, "to boldly go where no man has gone before"... We are trapped on this lump of earth, until we turn ourselves and it into uninhabitable gray sludge. Social networks and forums like this one with its meme culture have also contributed to the decline of the written word (we are going backwards in time to ideative, hieroglyphic mode of communication). I find myself contributing to this spirit-crushing at times when it's easier for me to send a song whose "vibe" matches the current feelings I'm going through, than to put them into words, freeing myself by naming demons and dispersing them into the ether... Lucky that there are still people here who will try to articulate their impressions about the things they are emotionally invested in... But alas, all in vain. With the rise of AI we will see the emergence of more vacuous narrative experiences and the "storyfags" as you call us will be driven once more to the fringes (or better yet to the warm bosomed embrace of some VN waifoo) and dull, autistic supporters of gmaeply will reign supreme... If I wasn't clear enough, I shit in the mouth of all who put mechanics above a well and coherently told story!



The solution!? To STFU and go AWOL or accelerate the production and consumption until the world eats itself! Buy those Starfields and Dragon Ages, DLCs ov trv RPGs and fan favorites like Underrail, eroge point and sticks, nu soulslikes and tactical urinary tracts by the handful... Or pirate everything, creating unending backlogs of games to play. Wail, ask and demand for moar good old stuff! Be the dancing donut, embody the black hole! (Create) Coom und Consoom! There are a lot of idiots on this site who are happy with the way the system works, not seeing the deadly magnetism of capitalism, and the melevolent Nothingness it attracts us to... My family and I recently inherited several acres of land and are gradually learning how to make a living off of it... So you can guess what I'm hoping for when shit hits the fan.. Sort of communal primitivism that'll be able to slow, but eventually ineffectually, assault of the purple haired, marauding city zombie hordes, unable to provide for themselves, that will block the sun and engulf the land... I wish you luck in these trying times friends, pending when the damnable itch to say something becomes unbearable again . . . μαράν ἀθά !i
Unironically this ... ...

Wishing a death upon the world so it can live!

 

[Saldrone]

Warcraft 3 was most definitely l1brul. Noble savage orcs, corrupt blonde haired human prince (humans in fantasy games are a stand in for white people), Tyrande bieng an arch feminist who does whatever she wants and needs no man, and of course multikult with all races banding togheter at the end.

You forgot to mention that the human faction often got portrayed in both RoC and Frozen Throne campaigns as incompetent and corrupt losers who often got their asses regularly kicked by the other 3 races. Despite i loved the game i really disliked that.