Poll: Fantasy or Scifi?

[Tom_green_day]

In theory, I'd prefer Fantasy. I love things like Skyrim, LotR. But most of the time it's done so hamhandedly that I can't like it. Really stereotypical, elves are all whimsical with long golden hair and dwarves are short and fat and have beards. It seems like fantasy is meant to focus more on nature and stuff, but is made by people that don't go out in nature enough. Also magic is used so much as a deus ex machina that it annoys me. Protagonists shouldn't be omnipotent.
Although I think Sci-Fi can be really annoying, I don't like cyberpunk or gritty sci-fi stuff, I really love post-apocalypse settings like Fallout, Mad Max, The Road, Book of Eli etc. I also think Mass Effect is awesome because it focuses less on the sci-fi itself and more on the themes that are brought up by it.

 

[The Funslinger]

Unfortunately, it heralds people shifting from Tolkien rip offs to ripping him off instead, with poorly implemented, over the top grim-dark fantasy universes with maidens being raped, and main character death up the arse.

I dread that day.

Ohhhh, that is a harrowing prosepct.

But really, can it be much worse than effeminate elf and brutish dwarf infested forests and mountains?

....... it's a hard one to call.

I don't think there's much in this world that could annoy me more than a man-child cradling his piece of blood and guts never a joyful moment, all women are up for grabs piece of media exclaiming 'look at dis, guise! IT'S SO MATURE, I'M BEING SUPER SERIAL, GUISE!'

At least effeminate elf and brutish dwarf intrinsically offers some parallels.

 

[Goofguy]

Sci-fi appeals to me much more. I'm a big fan of the cyberpunk theme and the creativity that persists to this day with sci-fi technology and themes.

 

[xplosive59]

I like Sci-Fi more, but even then it has to be pretty much pure sci-fi like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Moon, Ghost in the Shell and Legend of The Galactic Heroes to name a few. No aliens and shit, just science.

I am fine with Sci-Fi mixed with other genres like Cowboy Bebop and Steins;Gate but not like Star Trek or Star Wars, Mass Effect is the exception to the rule though.

 

[DoPo]

Why do I have to choose? Can't I enjoy both?

You can - the question is "Which one do you like better?" and not "Which is the only one you are capable of liking from here to eternity and never look back".

 

[Xarathox]

Since there's no option for both, I voted "soda".

I even have a Cyber Punk/Fantasy idea I'm slowly working on.

 

[Xdeser2]

Honestly, I can Enjoy Both. The settings are equally interesting and even share lots of common traits. Its all about the characters anyway.

Hell, Its even logical that the two things can exist in the same universe (Though...that thinking lies a little too close to really bad crossover Fanfic)

 

[Vykrel]

i definitely enjoy fantasy (been playing the hell out of Witcher 2 recently) but i definitely prefer Sci-Fi.

it just tends to be much more original. Fantasy almost always involves medieval weaponry, magic, and the usual variety of races and creatures (orcs, elves, dwarves, goblins, trolls, ogres, golems, dragons, etc. etc. etc.)

Sci-Fi works, on the other hand, usually involve a vastly different experience each time.

it just allows for more creativity, i suppose.

 

[BrotherRool]

Always fantasy for me, even my sci-fi I prefer fantasy (Star Wars etc). Sci-fi is fine and I love the clever things it does with society, but I love the feeling of wonder that's at fantasies core. I'm a fairly logical person, I don't need the nitty gritty of life in my escapism, I want to feel awe. I think fantasy is a lot more emotional than sci-fi

 

[Fijiman]

I chose soda because I like both. And I like soda.

 

[Gizmo1990]

Uh... both?

They can both be done incredibly well, and they can both be insipid regurgitations of hideously overused tropes.

I'm with you. There are 2 series of books by Simon.R Green that have both and it works really well. They both share the same universe and magic is as common as alien tech and super science. That being said I have never read a pure Scifi book that I have enjoyed as much as pure fantasy/ urben fantasy. So I guess I am both but fantasy over Scifi when forced to pick one or the other.

 

[theSteamSupported]

Why not have both at the same time?

 

[Jimmy Sylvers]

To me SciFi and Fantasy are really the same genre.

Where fantasy has magic scifi has SCIENCE!
Where fantasy has elves, dwarves, goblins etc. scifi has aliens.
Where fantasy has lands of desert, archipelagos, vast forests etc, scifi has planets that are usually entirley made up of one of those terrain types.


beyond that both genres usually deal with the same kinds of human interactions. Almost every scifi and fantasy story comes from 'Lets take this idea from everyday life/history but make it in:

-SPACE
-PRETEND ENGLAND

Sure that is an over simplification but I think it would be applicable to most stories in both genres.

(Oh, I like both )

 

[ImperialSunlight]

I prefer fantasy (and I write it, so I'd better). The main reason being that sci-fi gets bogged down in the realistic extension of our reality, which I personally find pointless. It's not a textbook from the future, it's fiction. Explaining the mechanics of their futuristic world and how modern Earth would develop into it doesn't do a lot for the narrative in my opinion. I think fantasy gives the author a lot more creative power over the setting. And, on a much more mundane level, I honestly just like magic, swords, castles, fantastical races, and what have you and sci-fi doesn't usually have that, so... not my kind of thing. It can be done well, of course, and really I don't think any genre is inherently bad, but I do prefer fantasy.