Poll: Fantasy or Scifi?

[Vhite]

It's hard to tell for me. I was mostly a fantasy fan but last couple of years I read plenty of good scifi and I've seen what fantastic things it can do. This did two things for me.

1. Made me a scifi fan.

2. Made me a scifi hater when it comes to regular boring scifi you usually see in games or on TV. Main embodyment of this hate is Star Wars. It does absolutely nothing with it being scifi. It could just as well have regular knights using magic instead of force and with elves and goblins instead of aliens. When I read/watch scifi I want to see something strange and alien like in Childhood's End or Solaris.

So if you asked me if I want to watch/read scifi or fantasy I'm gonna go with fantasy because it's safer bet, seeing how rare this kind of scifi is these days.

 

[sXeth]

I think one leg up sci-fi has on fantasy is that Tolkien essentially published "The Book" on fantasy fairly early in the explosion of widespread fiction. Sci-fi hasn't had any real singular runaway successes, with even the more widely known stuff like '2001', The Foundation series and 'I, Robot', 'Ender's Game', or Dune. This has left sci-fi relatively freeformed, while fantasy is still largely stuck in LotR's shadow (not necessarily by authors alone, as publishers are probably like "Your fantasy book has no elves? GTFO!").

Even in the broader media sense, where you have the runaway sci-fi hits, it was prettymuch split from the get go by Trek vs Wars, preventing any sort of singular thematic from becoming the metaphorical blueprint.

I'm partial to mixtures of both anyways. Stuff like Shadowrun, or the Coldfire Trilogy, or Wizardry/Might & Magic in the videogame context.

 

[A Distant Star]

New Weird!

 

[StormShaun]

For me honestly ... I like both. Hell even steampunk at times.
So yeah ... voted for soda.
Cause soda IS BOTH!

Spoiler: To Aru-verse anyone?

Magic. Tech. Magic vs. Tech. Magic vs. Magic. Tech vs. Tech.

I love that anime ... waiting on the third season.
Still waiting. :/

Also you forgot one thing.

Spoiler

Everything and everyone Vs Touma.

"this is sparta"
Not related captcha!

 

[PatrickXD]

I prefer reading sci-fi over fantasy. In terms of gaming or movies, I enjoy both in fairly equally.

 

[Arctodus_Simus]

You're making me choose?! That is not fair! Both! Has to be both...

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Sci-fi, because although I like both equally, it's nice when they have to explain what's going on rather than simply say "magic".

 

[dementis]

Sci-Fi always held much more appeal to me.

Especially Cyber-Punk. Cyber-Punk has got to be my all time favourite genre. And there isn't enough good examples of cyber-punk out there. Much to my displeasure.

i like you and agree with everything you said. not enough cyberpunk !

At least we have cyberpunk 2077 to look forward to.

OT: Sci-Fi all the way, especially cyberpunk classics like Bladerunner and Ghost in the shell. Enjoy Mecha too, if giant robots destroying each other in either space or a post apocalyptic environment isn't sci-fi then I don't know what is.

 

[DolorousEdd]

Literary scifi tends to be detached from the human relationship to the world, which is an essential part of writing. It almost grudges to be literature and wants to be something more "real" than it. It can be very good and interesting (with or without), but that aspect rarely disappears completely. Fantasy is actually more authentic in that regard, it's actual drama and storytelling, although it naturally tends towards wish fulfillment as its other "sin", to put it one way, although that is not to say it is "wrong", just a potential pitfall in quality.

 

[Korenith]

A problem with sci-fi is technology. Not that I have anything against it, but technology is centered around making life easier and being able to overcome seemingly impossible challenges. However, challenge and tension are the main things I look for in my escapist hobbies. When you make life generally easier, I'm less interested in the product. Sci-fi does have universes where technology is either really low or has been wiped out (Star Wars universe, Warhammer 40K, etc.). While I do like these low-tech universes, they usually have more in common with fantasy than sci-fi.

Think about the dramatic/tension elements that are lost when we add technology before its time. Your typical horror movie would suffer from the inclusion of cell phones because a call to the authorities/help is right in everybody's pocket. How difficult are the Riddler's challenges to Batman when he has Google? How trying would the flight of the Israelites from Egypt be if Moses conjured dune buggies from the heavens?

Technology takes the humanity out of stories by lessening our limitations.

Erm... you do know Fantasy has magic a lot of the time right? Or something equivalent which makes things just as easy. Both genres have to be careful with tension for that very reason but I think using that in an discussion about which genre is better is flawed.

 

[Nazulu]

Both honestly. I really couldn't care where the movie is set as long as it's a good movie.

Surprisingly, the LotR trilogy is my favourite out of all the trilogy's, and I reckon the last 30 minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey's are the greatest scenes ever made. That's a good blanace isn't it?

 

[hiei82]

Shadowrun

Nothing like fighting a giant, magical dragon and his army of cyber-soldiers with railguns and summoned spirits to make a question moot.

 

[Meatspinner]

Show of hands!

Who actually bothered to read the OP's post?

He/she is asking which genre do you LIKE more. Pavlovian responses be all up in this *****.

Anywhos, my vote goes to sci-fi. It tends to be more creative and not shackled to a single piece of literary work

 

[nincrony]

I'd go with science-fiction, personally. I like the concepts, stories and ideas you can cover with sci-fi. Favorite authors being Asimov, Philip K Dick, Arthur C Clarke etc. Love fantasy though. Just grew up reading/watching/playing more sci-fi stuff

 

[Alcamonic]

Science fiction series and movies.
Fantasy based games.
Why? No idea, probably something to do with swords, shields and shiny armor. The tech geek in me likes the inspiration I get from science fiction (which is most of the time meh in games).

So, Soda!

 

[Assassin Xaero]

SciFi. About the only thing I like in fantasy is dragons, but the rest of the stuff (goblins, trolls, elves, fairies) just bothers me, which is probably why I can't stand most RPG's.

 

[Da Orky Man]

I like them both, but I generally lean towards sci-fi more. I prefer it when the author keeps their universe under at least a few constraints, and sci-fi tends to do that more.

However, I do have a weak spot for 40k, which is usually described as science fantasy.

 

[AT God]

I prefer Scifi, I wish that media would move away from fantasy and toward more cyberpunk or even steampunk settings.

I can't get into the whole idea of elves and ogres and stuff. It draws me away from what ever the media is. I can see how immersive Skyrim is but the minute I walk up to a lizard man or a cat I get sucked out of it and immediately start to feel like I am too old for this.

Fantasy seems childish to me, I know it isn't but the idea of mages and stuff really makes me feel like I am listening to a little kid.

I hate that I feel this way because it ruins the Lord of the Rings films. I watched them all, extended back to back and while I was very impressed by the visuals and I felt like I was a part of the action during the major battles, the second someone started talking I felt silly for being engrossed in a silly fantasy world.

I think the thing is reality. Sci-fi isn't real, we can't make cyborgs that are powered by steam but it feels like something that could happen. I know that the fantasy world isn't real, but sci-fi can make similar things seem real. Instead of magic, I can get immersed in a story with psychic powers or the force. Aliens can seem more real to me than pointy eared humanoids. This is probably why I love games like Starcraft and most of the Mass Effect trilogy.

That said, mechanical dragons sound pretty awesome, someone needs to capitalize on that.

 

[Saviordd1]

That's a retarded rule.

That's like saying "all sci fi you include in your list must be better than Star Wars"

To answer your question: A song of Ice and Fire (better known as that book series Game of Thrones is about), Dragonlance, City of Embers (If I remember correctly, its been a while), and others I can't think of right now.

OT: I honestly can't decide, its such a 50-50 its not even funny. That said I prefer my "save the world" stuff to be sci fi as it seems authors get more imaginative with the shit that's going to end the world (universe, whatever).

Sure. I, Robot, Foundation, Dune, Philip K Dick. ASoIaF, really?

If you condescended harder you would implode.

Believe it or not there's a thing called "taste" everyone has a different one, whether you like it or not ASoIaF is well written and a lot of people like it (well, at least the first few books were well written).

Just because every book doesn't explore the deep meanings of humanity versus an ever uncaring world (Or whatever Brave New Wold rip of we want to discuss) doesn't mean its bad.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I voted SciFi.

Fantasy settings, particularly those based on Lord of the Rings or D&D, have never appealed to me a whole lot. I find them kinda dull. The movies and games are often quite well-made, I'm just not the target audience I think.

I do love Soda, though...