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 Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:42 pm
It could indeed be percieved by some as "a stuck up writer" but that's not why I'm posting so enough of that.
I believe that fantasy does seem to work in good harmony with history. It doesn't have to because the definition of fantasy does not specify any period of time in particular.
To say that anything based on future technology is sci-fi would not be right. You could have dragons shooting laser beams if you so chose to and that could still be considered fantasy.
I much prefer writing historical-based fantasy because at that time people were superstitious and had no way of proving the non-existence of magic and whatnot. At that time people did not know many things about the world and could possibly have believed that other races of humanoids were living where they did not see them.
As time progresses so too, will the time we consider "history" and so fantasy stories may be more often written in what is currently modern times. In my opinion thinking about fantasy like that is rather depressing. To think that people will write about technology as a basic part of history is rather strange to me. When I write about past technology I try to write creativly about the things that other races of humanoids living in different situations may have created. These things usally end up having more of a magical than thechnological influence on the world. Exepting maybe some dwarven technology. designed for mining and the like.
If the future of fantasy were in my hands I would try to steer writers away from relying on technology and modern advancement for stories. To push them in the direction of creativity, to create a world of thier own. That I believe is truly fantasy at it's best.
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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:21 am
The same could apply for science fiction. However, fantasy has always been marked under "historical", and science fiction has always been marked under "futuristic". In my opinion, the only fantasy stories that work in a world bustling with technology are the Final Fantasy games (perhaps we'll be seeing it with Lost Odyssey as well?). Prime examples are: FFVI, VII, VIII, X & X-2, and XII. Eventually FFXIII will join them.
It's not that either couldn't be added to one another or even swapped, but fantasy prefers a historical setting and science fiction prefers the futuristic.
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Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:03 pm
You have valid points, both of you. I still haven't read most of the other posts here so I'm not sure what to add right now. mrgreen
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:53 pm
Well to be perfectly honest, I think it makes more sense the way I think about it. I don't know, perhaps it's just me.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:26 am
We all have different opinions so it's only natural to feel that way, right Mel?
BTW, what I've been writing recently mixes history and fantasy rather well. Or so I think. I already mentioned what is it about at the writer's circle sub-forum. 3nodding
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Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:27 am
Yeah...
Where to take the discussion now though is a pain. It needs a new edge.
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:07 pm
Hrm this may just be adding on to the previous conversation but I think Tales of Symphonia is a good example of something set around medival times but still uses technology. It's not exactly normal technology all the time but some of it is, and the other tech is "magi-technology" basically technology that works because of a magical aid.
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 8:59 am
I will digress heavily here...
Tales of Symphonia is a great RPG, but the world just screams "Final Fantasy wannabe" just as much as Final Fantasy XII reeks of Star Wars. In my opinion, worlds that don't distinguish between technology and medieval ways of life don't work. I loved ToS as a game, I really did, but inside my soul is pining for a fantasy world that's 100% medieval/renaissance in a game.
See the rest of my thoughts on the gaming world in this respect on the "what makes it fantasy?" thread.
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:25 pm
This may change the course of the topic entirely, but it's a thought to ponder.
Magic has a certain sense of mystery about it, yes? The advancement of science has eliminated a certain amount of what would have been a mystery in the medieval and renaissance times. Perhaps fantasy goes so well with the past because it hearkens back to a time when humanity just didn't know better and a number of things would have been explained as magic.
Berz.
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:41 am
DM_Melkhar
Tales of Symphonia is a great RPG, but the world just screams "Final Fantasy wannabe" just as much as Final Fantasy XII reeks of Star Wars. In my opinion, worlds that don't distinguish between technology and medieval ways of life don't work. I loved ToS as a game, I really did, but inside my soul is pining for a fantasy world that's 100% medieval/renaissance in a game.I haven't played any "Tales of..." games but I sort of agree with Mel on that. At least I have read reviews about the games and maybe I agree mostly cuz I've only played FF more than anything. I also agree with Berz there. When people don't understand something that seems mysterious they think it's magic.
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:31 pm
Magic or a conspiracy xp
Anyway fantasy certainly does seem to make more sense in historical times because people could not prove such things as magic did not exist and thus these tales of elves and dragons become more believable. To say anything further I suppose would be rambling and restating my post in the What Makes it "Fantasy"? thread. So I shall say no more.
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:25 pm
Hmm... so in my Anthro class the other day...
(I'm sorry, you're getting all of my "OH NO SCHOOL HAS EATEN MY SOUL!")
... we were discussing magic as it exists today. Science is used to explain such things as what causes the apple to fall, or under what causes disease or violence, or other such happenings. Magic on the other had explains why it happened on that day to those people.
Anyways... I had a point here... really I did...
I think it had to do with the fact that magic exists today, too, in the form of things like superstition and the like. When it comes to dragons, though, we prefer to say that those big freaky looking bones were from dinosaurs, not dragons. Our explanations have changed. And perhaps it also has something to do with fairy tales and mythology being the basis for most fantasy.
Magic is romantic, history is romantic. Rome is romantic, too, but that is besides the point, well, it might be the point. And that is why everything works neatly together.
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Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:49 am
Well seeing as the Italians have always been known for their "love" of a lot of things including the one on one love between two people, that's probably where the word romantic came from. Rome, Roman, Romantic.
Perhaps looking into the etymology of the word would give us an answer.
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Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:49 pm
I do believe romantic does have its roots Rome, although I do not recall exactly what evolutionary path it took. I think it had something to do with the knightly stories of romance.
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:45 pm
Talking about romance, I think there is something very special about the past when it comes to that. Modern society seems to promote infidelity and casual sex nowadays. In the past, of course those things happened, but it wasn't promoted. It was scorned. Also, the love between people was much more sincere than it is today (in the majority of cases - not all!)
How do we apply such things to fantasy as a preference?
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