A debate on "NO Sci Fi in muh Fantasy"

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Malkavius, Oct 5, 2021.

  1. Malkavius Augur

    So I've been playing a big rpg a lot recently. And one huge point of contention in the game is an area that is essentially a borg star trek like area. I personally have no issue with it, the lore explains it well enough. And it is established in the universe as something that happens and has sci fi aliens in it. But apparently a lot of people don't like it at all. And it got me thinking about how people HATED Shadows of Luclin (for various reasons) and a big part of it was because they hated being on an alien like moon. I still think SoL was extremely sci fi light and had other issues but I digresss.

    Fantasy players seem to despise sci fi in their genre even though they have been connected to each other since the early 1900s? EQ has a space ship in qeynos. Star wars is one of the biggest pop culture juggernauts that is like 85% fantasy. Might and magic, wizardry, warhammer and countless other "Fantasy" games have tons of sci fi influences in them. Often they are in the background but it is a huge part of their universe and when it is brought out some people lash out?

    I guess my question is why do people seem to hate the idea of sci fi in their fantasy even though 90% of the fantasy they consume was largely tied to or inspired by sci fi? The list of fantasy without sci fi linked to it would surely be smaller than "pure" fantasy only.
  2. Tucoh Augur

    I'd love an expansion where we hijack the ufo in qeynos, fly to rodcent nifes homeworld and fight whoever drops loot.
  3. Malkavius Augur


    I believe in EQ2 lore it's said that both Rod and Bert are from the same world. One become good healer boy the other became stinky boy. I assume they both left because there was no good loot though.
  4. Fenthen aka Rath

  5. Skrab East Cabilis #1 Realtor

    EQ1 is very grounded in its Tolkien style, and Sci-Fi doesn’t really work with it. FF14 can blend in the magic and sci-fi pretty seamlessly. WoW is built on space travel and planet hopping, and it’s the most successful MMORPG.

    It really just comes down to your world building and whether or not it fits.
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  6. Malkavius Augur


    Eq was literally meant to be an MMO of DnD. DnD has never been grounded in Tolkien style fantasy. Yes it took literally everything from Tolkien, but it never confined itself to the walls Tolkien built.
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  7. MasterMagnus The Oracle of AllHigh

    Dungeons and Dragons was grounded in Tolkien style, so not much of a distinction I suppose.
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  8. MasterMagnus The Oracle of AllHigh

    Thinking about it though.

    TSR had DnD, Boot Hill, and Gamma World. There were official dungeon modules (AD&D at least) with crossovers to time travel, and alien spaceships crashing in fantasy world.
  9. Evye Augur

    Wasn't VOA aliens?
    Weren't the original races aliens on luclin?
  10. Benito EQ player since 2001.

    Ask yourself,

    Would you like to see a Wild West (Old Western) theme in EQ?

    Some people prefer tight editorial script (medieval motiffs) while others are more inclusive (think of the "paper mache" of themes in Free Realms, Roblox, Fortnite, or Legos).
  11. Svann2 The Magnificent

    “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
    Arthur C Clarke
  12. Riou EQResource


    VoA aliens came from a different planet yea, they came to Norrath to escape discord

    The deity Rodcet Nife and his spaceship in Qeynos, is an alien too
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  13. Yinla Ye Ol' Dragon

    Until the devs give us a Thunder Gun as an ormament I can't see them giving us a Wild West theme with guns. Though Wild West feels even more out of place than aliens.
    Svann2 likes this.
  14. Benito EQ player since 2001.


    This is like saying the Easter Bunny is more realistic than Santa Claus.

    I lean purist (medieval motiffs) because it's tough to classify other people's preferences (hypocrisy on the classifier).

    Edit: There are a few pistol appearance (equippable) items that are tinkered: Gnomish Handcannon, Saltwater Pistol, etc.
    Elyssanda likes this.
  15. Jumbur Improved Familiar

    EQ has a lot of themes already that would not fit into a traditional "Tolkien-verse". In my opinion EQ is its own thing now. We had an afterlife base on "day of the dead" Mexican-style, Genies in almost Arabian settings, Moon kitties, and Arx Mentis looks like something from Stargate. :p

    We are past the point of no return.

    I do think a wild west theme would be kinda weird in EQ though, on the other hand Riwervale guards do have that look already(black-hat/mask and all)
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  16. Sissruukk Rogue One

    I used to be a "purist." Now I just want them to come out with something that isn't a rehash of old content. Like instead of Luclin, put us on Drinal.

    In the end, though, as long as the mobs drop coin or loot, that is what matters.
  17. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    Who says EverQuest is not already full of Science Fiction, it has a lot of Magic, how would you discern "real Magic" from "sufficiently advanced technology" anyway?

    My favourite CRPG was Planescape: Torment, that setting was wild and crossed so many realms there was quite a bit of sci-fi in there among the demons and angels, one character, Nordom, was from a realm of biomechanoids that served as the represenation of order.
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  18. Zunnoab Augur

    It's a common thing for people to say that even with examples that disprove it too though. See Ak'Anon and the clockwork/steamwork stuff in general, a literal flying island with a mechanical mansion and factory, etc. People like to say that about Final Fantasy despite the series having sci-fi from the very first game too.

    It's going to come down to personal preference. It's probably obvious I'm on the "it can fit together fine" side of it. As someone who kind of snickers at the silly "society doesn't change for thousands of years" thing in much fantasy lore, I love how Guild Wars 2 had an industrial revolution... led by the stereotypical primitive "beast" race from hundreds of years prior in the first game, among other things.
  19. Malkavius Augur

    Thank you for bringing up Planescape torment. It was both one of the best sci fi and a literal Story that I had to read. (oh noes). It was also a deep fantasy.
    Skuz likes this.
  20. Dre. Altoholic

    I don't like Fantasy in my Sci-Fi any more than I like Sci-Fi in my Fantasy.
    Allworth likes this.