Radisshu
Prophet
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2007
- Messages
- 5,623
Something that annoys me about fantasy settings, and settings using magic in general, is how unrealistic it seems that magic barely has contributed to the setting's technology at all. Sure, there have been flying cities and such, but overall, one would expect the average, or at least the wealthy, farmer to use animated plows and so on, to save money. Entire factories could be animated, floating fireballs could light the streets up, etc.
Following a setting where magic exists as it does in D&D (possibly Dragon Age, though the whole anti-magic religion that's widely accepted kind of subverts this) to its logical conclusion would lead to a ridiculously magic-depending setting, which could be fun in its own way.
Another way is treating magic quite differently.
I've always liked settings that "feel" realistic. Sure, Fallout (strictly 1, not 2) is placed after the apocalypse of a retro sci-fi future, but there is something in the way people react and how society has rebuilt itself that makes everything feel quite real. It's dirty, it's sometimes cruel and dark, but it does not feel forced. A contrast to this could be almost any game, but as an example, BG2's setting feels just like every idea ever to hit high fantasy mixed into a single bag (which it is supposed to be, granted).
Sadly, though, it lacks the consistency of Fallout, making the game appear more as a jolly adventure, where facing a huge red dragon never actually feels that frightening. Just heroic. I realise this caters to many RPG gamers wishes, they just want to be the greatest hero in the realm, getting complimentary blowjobs from every village elder they happen to stumble across.
But I've always felt that playing a genuine badass in Fallout is much more rewarding than in BG2. Killing a bunch of bandits in a heroic game never feels even close to wrong, you're just the big hero with a shiny sword. And if you're evil, you're usually just a saturday morning cartoon villain that still for some reason ends up working for the good guys.
Killing a bunch of bandits in a "realistic" game, though, feels quite grim. Sure they might've attacked you first, and asked for it, or something, but you still just killed ten people, there's nothing glorious or heroic about that. You did what you had to do, that's it.
But why are sword-based settings rarely this realistic? Are there any medieval-like games that feel more like Fallout than, I dunno, Lord of the Rings? I guess Age of Decadence is trying to remedy this, but I would love to see a setting like this that isn't post-apocalyptic.
And no, I do not feel Dragon Age feels very realistic. Especially not the quest for the ashes, that was just ridiculous. What the hell where those ghosts doing? Couldn't I have read stone plates with riddles or something? What the fuck happened to subtlety?
Following a setting where magic exists as it does in D&D (possibly Dragon Age, though the whole anti-magic religion that's widely accepted kind of subverts this) to its logical conclusion would lead to a ridiculously magic-depending setting, which could be fun in its own way.
Another way is treating magic quite differently.
I've always liked settings that "feel" realistic. Sure, Fallout (strictly 1, not 2) is placed after the apocalypse of a retro sci-fi future, but there is something in the way people react and how society has rebuilt itself that makes everything feel quite real. It's dirty, it's sometimes cruel and dark, but it does not feel forced. A contrast to this could be almost any game, but as an example, BG2's setting feels just like every idea ever to hit high fantasy mixed into a single bag (which it is supposed to be, granted).
Sadly, though, it lacks the consistency of Fallout, making the game appear more as a jolly adventure, where facing a huge red dragon never actually feels that frightening. Just heroic. I realise this caters to many RPG gamers wishes, they just want to be the greatest hero in the realm, getting complimentary blowjobs from every village elder they happen to stumble across.
But I've always felt that playing a genuine badass in Fallout is much more rewarding than in BG2. Killing a bunch of bandits in a heroic game never feels even close to wrong, you're just the big hero with a shiny sword. And if you're evil, you're usually just a saturday morning cartoon villain that still for some reason ends up working for the good guys.
Killing a bunch of bandits in a "realistic" game, though, feels quite grim. Sure they might've attacked you first, and asked for it, or something, but you still just killed ten people, there's nothing glorious or heroic about that. You did what you had to do, that's it.
But why are sword-based settings rarely this realistic? Are there any medieval-like games that feel more like Fallout than, I dunno, Lord of the Rings? I guess Age of Decadence is trying to remedy this, but I would love to see a setting like this that isn't post-apocalyptic.
And no, I do not feel Dragon Age feels very realistic. Especially not the quest for the ashes, that was just ridiculous. What the hell where those ghosts doing? Couldn't I have read stone plates with riddles or something? What the fuck happened to subtlety?