Forum:A noob's perspective
From Vaporstory
Revision as of 03:21, 25 March 2007
I realize that as a total newbie to this wiki, my opinions probably carry little weight against what's been built up over the past month of Vaporstory's existence, yet already this problem has been nagging me. I know that a hybrid Sci-Fi/Fantasy setting was voted upon in this topic, and I'm cool with that, but it seems to me like the whole thing is starting to look a lot like Final Fantasy. As the fourth best-selling video game franchise ever, it's understandable that FF is the greatest source of inspiration that most people have for this genre, but it shouldn't be restricted to just a handful of popular culture sources. Myst is a fine example of a Sci-Fi/Fantasy that is completely original and would make a good inspiration for certain parts of Vaporstory. Other than that, books may be the best things to look to for new ideas and content (come to think of it, there are three Myst novels in print, I rather liked them).
It occurs to me that Vaporstory is a sort of study in group writing. While there are 17 of us at the time of this writing, we can only do so much as part-time writers working in our spare time. If any of the other 16 users are Dungeons & Dragons players, you may know what I'm talking about when I say that the Dungeon Master's Guide suggests creating the world only as you need it. Here we are, starting off with two planets, four continents, six countries, four cities, three oceans, a mysterious island of which there is only one written account yet satellite images have been taken of it, twenty gods, and three kings. How about slowing it down a bit, and working with what we already have? We should each pick a handful of topics and flesh them out properly before getting into anything else. Don't just hastily toss out names and new ideas without putting some real content in them. Also, don't be afraid of contradicting something somebody else wrote; there's not enough that's been written to contradict! Read the pages that link to the one you're working on, and just try to be consistent with those.
While I'm pretentiously throwing out ideas, might I suggest a few readings? For fantasy inspiration, try The Magic Goes Away by Larry Niven, The Darkness That Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker, and the Riddle-Master Trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip. I'm not so well read in science fiction, but Larry Niven's Ringworld is a classic.
I apologize if I sound patronizing; I know how it feels to have someone come out of nowhere and start criticizing stuff you worked on. --The Acceptable Cainad (Fnord) 22:21, 24 March 2007 (EST)
