Reply To: Where has the world-building creativity in games gone?

[Clash957]

I think you are partly right CK Lai on the Lovecraft being open to use. However, I also think it is more so that Lovecraftain monsters have finally hit critical mass in terms of popularity in geek culture that it has become a comfortable setting for games to be created from. Which is all the more weird given that it is supposed to be a strange and inherently disorienting setting.

I am still amazing that there is such a thing as generic fantasy. I mean it is fantasy which is supposed to be about the fantastic, but when we talk about books, games, and other media it almost always means a European-ish medieval place with wizards, elves, dwarves, etc. all of which conform to fairly narrow guidelines set down by works more than 30 years ago.

Universal Head is correct much of these fantasy settings are largely superficial in the differences. It is like a dozen different flavors of vanilla ice cream. There is nothing wrong with vanilla ice cream and everyone is going to have their own favorite brand of vanilla ice cream. Many are even likely to have vanilla ice cream as their favorite ice cream. Oh, and sci-fi would be like chocolate ice cream.

I still think there are a bunch of flavors to choose from, though; I also, as a customer, think their could be more variety in flavors rather than more variations on vanilla and chocolate.