Poll: The best at medieval fantasy lore
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I consider the matter of "Best" as a matter of opinion. however, I like bethesda's fantasy, as it has the most diversity.
I think that's why I liked Final Fantasy XI so much. It was a fantasy MMO that did NOT take place "Totally-not-Middle-Earth-we-promise" land. It had orcs and goblins, and trolls a few expansion packs in, but they were downplayed and not stereotypical, and were only a few of the dozens of kinds of beasts that inhabited the land. And the graphical quality and overall aesthetics were much more appealing to me than the god-awful messes of neon polygons that inhabit World of Warcraft.Zhukov said:
I vote TES on account of never playing the other two. To be frank I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around it.
And the dwarfs were a race of steampunk elves who managed to bink themselves out of existence by giving the universe a rounding error. And Orcs are Orcs because somebody ate their god, and the resulting feces decided that it could still have a go at this god business.SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
Elder Scrolls is a bit weird, when you get right down to it.
Ditch the Bs and go onto the Cs. CDProjekt Red is great for this stuff. They really aimed for a 13th Century aesthetic, and in my opinion, they nailed it far better than Bioware, Blizzard or Bethesda have done.
The armor looks functional, it looks practical, and it doesn't clash with the visual style.
The armor looks functional, it looks practical, and it doesn't clash with the visual style.
To be honest, they're not even doing a good job of ripping off Tolkien. Alan Lee and John Howe's artwork is far more exotic, Dark Ages styled visual aesthetic than true medieval fantasy.Zhukov said:
Eh, everything I've seen about the TES setting and lore was generic piffle.SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
Pseudo-medieval Europe land, high tech underground dwarves, long-eared elves who live in forests and like bows, rich stately arrogant elves who like magic, fire-breathing dragons, magic that consists of light coming out of people hands, 'The Empire', fierce warlike orcs with a honour schtick, anthropomorphic people... blah-de-fucking-blah.
In short, this is a dance that I have done many times before. Y'know, like in damn near every fantasy game ever.
Oh, and before you try pointing out that many of those things differ from Tolkien's stuff, allow me to draw your attention to the "fifth generation" part. They're not even ripping off Tolkien directly now, but rather ripping off the people who ripped off the people who ripped off Tolkien.
SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
Lore that isn't actually in the game doesn't count, you know that right?
OT: I'd have to say Bethesda. Because at least they're trying to break away from the "THERE ARE THREE CLASSES AND ALWAYS WILL BE" method of thinking. Hell, dwarves aren't even a thing.
Oh, or Black Isle.
Zhukov said:
Generic Medieval Fantasy Land, ladies and gentlemen.
That's a mushroom, by the way. As well as a house.
Anyway, the "dwarfs" fit almost none of the standards typically met by dwarfs, including being called dwarfs and existing. They had beards, and they occasionally lived underground. That's about it.
There are, in fact, elves who use bows and like trees. In fact, they like those trees so much that they don't even eat off of them, instead opting for an entirely carnivorous diet. This results in a culture where cannibalism of one's fallen foes is considered normal. Not exactly what I'd call befitting of the spirit of the trope.
The magic-using elves go all ubermensch in the fifth installment and start a gambit to wipe out all of the other races so they can return to their previous state of godhood. This isn't even the main conflict, that's just incidentally happening in the background.
The dragons may seem generic from the trailers, but there is some seriously funky stuff going on in the background. That is part of the main conflict, though, so I'm not going to spoil it for anybody.
Where the hell do you expect magic to come out of?
"The Empire" was almost universally, but not entirely, seen as a force for good, at least subverting the "evil empire stereotype. You didn't go into any details there, so I don't know what else to say.
The Orcs are the result of one god eating another and crapping out a new one. Possibly not literally. Either way, the "proud warrior" stuff was deliberately cultivated by them to raise themselves out of the "Always Chaotic Evil" pit. It succeeded, and many Orcs are moving away even from that. By Skyrim's time there's a noticeable rift between the Orcs who still abide by the warrior shtick and the ones who are happy to integrate with the rest of society. They hardly fit into a single category.
Saying that the Elder Scrolls just uses Tolkien knockoffs is like saying that a Witcher is just a Van Helsing knockoff. Superficially, yes, but you're missing out on a lot if you assume any further.
And you seriously think any of that makes TES's setting any less generic?Hal10k said:
"No, look! Our bow-using, forest-dwelling, pointy-eared elves are cannibals!"
"No, look! Our dwarves are sometimes referred to as "Dwemar" and they're all dead!"
"No, look! Our zombies wear viking hats!"
If it looks like a Tolkien rip-off, sounds like a Tolkien rip-off and smells like a Tolkien rip-off...
If it wasn't yet another middle-earth imitation, there wouldn't be a single damn elf in sight, cannibal or otherwise.
I'd like to see something completely different, not the same old setting in a different hat.
I'm sorry you feel that way. I think it's a bit much to expect every work to be a shockingly original masterwork that manages to avoid the trappings of every genre that has preceded it. as somebody with a fond interest in literature, I find there's a lot of mileage to be had in the way of playing with genre conventions- subverting the audience's expectations, showing them that things can happen in different ways while still retaining the central positive aspects.Zhukov said:
Imagine a standard setting as a house that you've grown familiar with. You know the ins and outs, where all the rooms are, that one stair that squeaks on the way up. You've gotten used to it. Now, if you wanted something new, you could build a new house. But building a house takes time, and since you aren't working off of a standardized set of plans, your house might just collapse in on itself. You don't know until some poor schmuck sets foot in it.
Alternately, you could just use the preexisting house plans and rearrange the framework within. I can assure you that this is not an architecturally sound thing to do, but I've got this metaphor secured and I'm not letting it go until I'm done. It won't be the most brilliantly original work of a generation, but it carries a principal advantage in being able to surprise the audience. If you walked into a new house right now, you wouldn't know where to start looking for a bathroom. You'd have to look for it, and subsequently wouldn't be surprised to find one. But imagine that you walked to your own bathroom right now and found yourself staring at a boiler. You'd probably have a few words to say. That's what playing with a setting is: subverting the audiences expectations, which are set up by the nature of the setting itself.
That's one thing I think the Elder Scrolls is good at. Take the cannibalistic wood elves thing as an example. Somebody familiar with the Tolkienesque setting would assume that your standard wood elves would be your peaceful, commune with nature, only fight in defense sort. That's why its more surprising to find them making a roast out of grandma than it would be for a wholly original race.
I can understand if you simply don't like the setting in general, though, no matter what you do with it. That's more like living in a house with a structural integrity dependent on it not having a roof.
Oh good lord do I love the Witchers world and lore, but it feels like cheating in a thread like this since the games are based off of pre-established lore for a book series over a decade old. Still love the worlds lore and fun twists it does with some standard fantasy conventions. Still, the games do a pretty damn good job realizing the world.Soviet Heavy said:
I'm really excited and hopeful that we get to venture into Nilfgaard in W3 and maybe even meet big bad Emperor Emhyr, and Yennefer of course.
Also: Whooo 4k posts
Yes, that's a fair way of putting it.Hal10k said:
However, to stretch your metaphor still further, once a house has been rearranged so many times each layout starts to look the same. It takes but a moment to recognize the same rooms and furniture, no matter how they are placed.
What I long for is a house of a fundamentally different design, perhaps a nice yurt...
none of those
Gamesworkshop- Warhammer
with Bethesda's Elder scrolls III Morrowind being an exception (i just love that province the most)
Gamesworkshop- Warhammer
with Bethesda's Elder scrolls III Morrowind being an exception (i just love that province the most)