Non-Revolutionary thought in progress–complex game settings aren’t the problem (and I’m not going to go into how I think they should be expressed for maximum gameability, because that’s a whole separate thought process). You either like them or you don’t, but there isn’t a right or wrong. The problem is, where is that complexity housed? If you have a campaign
Read moreI’ve been thinking a lot about shared world settings again, given that I just finished the Sundering novels for the Forgotten Realms and am rather enjoying the contents of the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide, and it’s making me cogitate upon shared world settings and how they are used, as well as the reputation they gain over time. First, I’ve never
Read moreThere are stories that are good stories. There are stories that are good stories on their own that are not good shared world stories. There are even stories that are probably worth reading that are good shared world stories that are fairly bad stories standing on their own. The sliders on this kind of fiction can be all over the
Read moreAs I’ve been thinking about shared world fiction, some things became clear to me about Star Wars and it’s Expanded Universe, and why people have such varying degrees of attachment to it and it’s importance to the Star Wars brand overall. Star Wars essentially started out as a licensed property that was clearly being directed by one creator, George Lucas.
Read moreI think that people that have a lot of negative things to say about shared world fiction miss the point of it, just a bit. Some critics claim that the stories aren’t able to stand on their own or are too derivative. They point out that some of the most beloved stories in shared world fiction are usually “average” by
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What Do I Know? 