Poll: Science and Logic in your books, movies, games, etc.

[Vhite]

In my fantasy I love sort of sciency magic that is explained into such detail that you almost believe works it real life like Sympathy from The Kingkiller Chronicles but I also like mysterious unexplained magic like in Harry Potter. I think that Patric Rothfuss even mentioned this difference in one Storyboard episode.

 

[Twilight_guy]

I enjoy a movie that prominently features a time machine made out of a car and who's key component is a string of LEDs in a Y shape. Yeah, so long as its fun I don't care. I don't care if it makes no sense and is stupid (hey look every single plot restitution for Star Trek ever!) so long as its an enjoyable show.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

As long as it stays consistent within it's own science, I don't really care.
The commentary of Moon said it best (can't remember who said it), to the best of my memory:

"If it's not accurate, it has to be consistently inaccurate."

Go ahead and break the real worlds rules, that's fine by me. Just don't set up your own rules and break those too.

 

[Terminate421]

"Sometimes dreams can be seen as upside down, 666 becomes 999 which takes us to 1999....."

They should have just said "The Devil wants to fight Arnold Schwarzenegger"

 

[uchytjes]

I love it when science and technology factor into stuff!

But I love it more when the science and technology doesn't run on normal laws!

As long as it doesn't contradict itself too much, science fiction is just plain amazing.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

I'd much rather being told something is magic then having some dubious scientific explanation. That's not to say I don't find some things stupid. If a 'serious' cop show used ghosts to solve a crime I would probably turn off the TV, and then wonder why I was watching TV in the first place.
Suffice to say I would much happier to be told dragons breathe fire because of magic then shooting gas they form in their stomach and mashing their teeth together for sparks or something.

 

[Arslan Aladeen]

I remember in basic training, we got to see an AT-4 rocket being test fired, everyone had to stand at least 50 ft away from it because of the backblast. Then sometime later, I remember seeing Rambo 2, where Rambo had landed a chopper full of POW's and shoots a rocket at an enemy chopper. All I could think was "Yeah, all those people he tried to save should be dead now." But then I thought, it's just a silly, fun action movie.

As long as I'm enjoying the movie/game/etc., and it stays consistent to what it is, I'm happy.

 

[el_kabong]

I didn't vote because it really depends. Generally, I want a universe to follow its own rules and stays coherent to itself. Good example of something that doesn't do that? Eagle Eye.

Spoiler: I suppose I should spoiler this...though if you haven't seen the movie you should probably read what I type and avoid it entirely

So, a supercomputer determines that the human element needs to be taken out of the picture when it comes to warfare. It identifies a suitable Commander-in-Chief and plots to assassinate everyone in the chain of command down to this guy. Having control of our entire infrastructure, anything wired into the internet, and military hardware such as predator drones...how does it chose to go about this assassination plot? By having a group of random strangers complete a series of overly complicated tasks that eventually leads to a BOMB BEING TRIGGERED BY A SAXOPHONE NOTE! How is THAT an intelligent plan that reflects the drive of the computer to remove the human element? THAT IS HOW DAFFY DUCK ATTEMPTS TO KILL BUGS BUNNY!

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I don't like it when a game or movie or novel's events contradict the logic of it's universe. For example I don't like it when the Normandy gets from orbit to the planet surface in a few seconds. But if it's explained and is consistent with the established universe, that's fine. For example if a magician casts a fireball and we've established that magicians use magic and can do that sort of thing, that's fine. Without elaborating too much, this is why I dislike the argument "You're worried about realism in a game that has dragons in it?!" that comes up when I complain about something unrealistic IN RELATION TO THE UNIVERSE IT'S IN. ie. I'm happy to accept anything that is explained and doesn't contradict established concepts/lore, but I don't like it when these are broken without reasonable explanation. Which is why I don't like things such as, say, hand-waving where time travel is concerned, or characters knowing things they have no way of knowing, or space vessels acting in ways the Codec says they shouldn't...!

And btw, I don't like it when crime shows play around with things like voodoo or split personality disorder or something and then fucking shrug their shoulders at the end and say "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't".

 

[Combustion Kevin]

I don't care how much sense it makes, as long as it does make sense WITHIN UNIVERSE.

 

[XMark]

Yep, within universe is the key. If something breaks known science, it should break it for reasons which make the story more interesting, and the new laws for the story should remain consistent.

Probably the most common thing for this is faster-than-light travel. Breaking the speed of light opens up all sorts of sci-fi possibilities, and it doesn't even really need a good explanation (Mass effect? Quantum Entanglement? Spice from sandworms? Whatever, it's all good) It just gets people zipping around to interesting planets and interesting star systems to do interesting stuff with interesting people/aliens.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Depend on the media itself. If it suppose to be wacky then adding science and logic would ruined it as in they had to explain the sceince or logic behind it.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Usually I'm willing to go along for the ride and suspend my disbelief quite willingly. Even the most "realistic" games are still fiction, let alone my beloved RPGs where science fiction and fantasy are the norm.

Every now and then however, something will jar quite badly, or a game will be so dreadful I can't forgive it for taking too many liberties with my ability to believe it. This is most apparent in games where immersion wasn't in the vocabularies of the development team.