Lucidity and levity have worn off. Back to being normal zombie. And normal zombie equals sad zombie. Hate sad zombie. Wish sad zombie would just die...
Starstream Think Tank
- Thread starter Lyte
- Start date
Dahlexpert
Well-Known Member
Please don’t go back to sad zombie, you were so happy to see everyone talk about TD2.
Anyone see the Netflix movie Bright? The one with Will Smith, came out about a year ago? Two years? Has it been that long? Anyway, cop movie set in an alternate history Earth with Orcs and Elves and a war against a Dark Lord in the past and such?
Shadow, if you haven't, I'd see it so you know what NOT to do for your RP. I saw it when it first came out, and I liked it at the time, but the more I thought about it, the less I liked it, especially after watching an informative video analyzing it online, which I would also recommend.
https://youtu.be/gLOxQxMnEz8
Whether you liked the movie, hated it, or didn't care, we must all agree on the fact that they really wasted their potential in terms of taking advantage of their alternate history. There is a reason the YouTube video is called "Bright: The Apotheosis of Lazy Worldbuilding."
If both the movie and the analysis are TL; DW for you, a brief explanation of my main problem with it: they set up that this is an alternate Earty with several different races living on it and some great war that happened long ago against this great magic user... and did nothing else to alter history. They wanted to have their cake and eat it too. Or, more accurately, to have their cake and eat it too without having to put in any of the work to cook said cake.
Sorry, but you don't get a fancy cake just because you throw a bunch of ingredients in a bowl. You get a pile of egg and flour and water that no one is gonna like. You gotta mix your ingredients in the right amounts and bake your cake. In this case, you can't take a bunch of ideas about an alternate history and expect it to just work. You have to make the effort of, you know? Actually altering history!
How did other past events happen? Did the Orcs and Elves fight in WW1? WW2? Which side did they pick? Were there even world wars? What countries do they primarily come from? How are those countries different? How are things like race and gender politics different when faced with whole other races we can be bigoted against? How does the existance of magic affect current day technology? How does the one time existence of a Dark Lord effect the existance of other world leaders? If there was a great battle with him, did we have great wars against any other historical figures? Was there a Hitler? A Stalin?
I'm not saying they should have gone down the Butterfly Effect route and had the smallest difference in history radically effect the present, but some things should have been different. What was different in the movie? You mean, besides the existance of the things they threw in the pot? Nothing. Technology was the same, race relations were the same, major historical events were the same. Like, for example, one guy mentions how Mexicans are still blamed for the Alamo. That... still happened? Exactly the same way?
Yeah, it is implied that pretty much everything is the same despite the existance of Orcs, and Elves, and Fairies, and magic, and warlocks, and who knows what else. The movie... is... laaaaaaaazy. The token definition of Oscar Bait. All the Orcs were in this story were an substitute for poor, less fortunate races. The Elves were just an allegory for the rich and over privileged. And that's fine if you want to put elements of racial and class tension in your movie, and say something about it... but you need substance in your movie and a decent foundation or it falls flat and becomes pandering.
Ahem... sorry. This became a rant on a two year old movie that most of you probably didn't even see when my point was to ask Shadow to avoid this. But hey... light at the end of the tunnel, ending on a positive note; I feel like, so far, Shadow is doing just that. He's made an alternate history and actually altered history. If you guys haven't yet, check out his alternate timeline. He's changed wars, altered historical events, even radically shifted entire continents. Keep up the good work, friend.
Alright... rant over... for now. I'm watching you, Will Smith... I'm watching you.
...
...
...After Earth fucking sucked!!!
Shadow, if you haven't, I'd see it so you know what NOT to do for your RP. I saw it when it first came out, and I liked it at the time, but the more I thought about it, the less I liked it, especially after watching an informative video analyzing it online, which I would also recommend.
https://youtu.be/gLOxQxMnEz8
Whether you liked the movie, hated it, or didn't care, we must all agree on the fact that they really wasted their potential in terms of taking advantage of their alternate history. There is a reason the YouTube video is called "Bright: The Apotheosis of Lazy Worldbuilding."
If both the movie and the analysis are TL; DW for you, a brief explanation of my main problem with it: they set up that this is an alternate Earty with several different races living on it and some great war that happened long ago against this great magic user... and did nothing else to alter history. They wanted to have their cake and eat it too. Or, more accurately, to have their cake and eat it too without having to put in any of the work to cook said cake.
Sorry, but you don't get a fancy cake just because you throw a bunch of ingredients in a bowl. You get a pile of egg and flour and water that no one is gonna like. You gotta mix your ingredients in the right amounts and bake your cake. In this case, you can't take a bunch of ideas about an alternate history and expect it to just work. You have to make the effort of, you know? Actually altering history!
How did other past events happen? Did the Orcs and Elves fight in WW1? WW2? Which side did they pick? Were there even world wars? What countries do they primarily come from? How are those countries different? How are things like race and gender politics different when faced with whole other races we can be bigoted against? How does the existance of magic affect current day technology? How does the one time existence of a Dark Lord effect the existance of other world leaders? If there was a great battle with him, did we have great wars against any other historical figures? Was there a Hitler? A Stalin?
I'm not saying they should have gone down the Butterfly Effect route and had the smallest difference in history radically effect the present, but some things should have been different. What was different in the movie? You mean, besides the existance of the things they threw in the pot? Nothing. Technology was the same, race relations were the same, major historical events were the same. Like, for example, one guy mentions how Mexicans are still blamed for the Alamo. That... still happened? Exactly the same way?
Yeah, it is implied that pretty much everything is the same despite the existance of Orcs, and Elves, and Fairies, and magic, and warlocks, and who knows what else. The movie... is... laaaaaaaazy. The token definition of Oscar Bait. All the Orcs were in this story were an substitute for poor, less fortunate races. The Elves were just an allegory for the rich and over privileged. And that's fine if you want to put elements of racial and class tension in your movie, and say something about it... but you need substance in your movie and a decent foundation or it falls flat and becomes pandering.
Ahem... sorry. This became a rant on a two year old movie that most of you probably didn't even see when my point was to ask Shadow to avoid this. But hey... light at the end of the tunnel, ending on a positive note; I feel like, so far, Shadow is doing just that. He's made an alternate history and actually altered history. If you guys haven't yet, check out his alternate timeline. He's changed wars, altered historical events, even radically shifted entire continents. Keep up the good work, friend.
Alright... rant over... for now. I'm watching you, Will Smith... I'm watching you.
...
...
...After Earth fucking sucked!!!
Last edited:
ShadowHounder
Well-Known Member
What happened to Hitler and Stalin in a world where neither World War happened you ask? Demonic gears start turning in head.
Black0ut
Well-Known Member
Oh dear.
Sooooooo... how is everyone? Wanted to talk to you guys about my next RP today. Again, not trying to take away from Shadow's fire. Will probably talk about it tomorrow, and if he wants to bring up topics about it, I'm willing to discuss. Not like I have much else to do at work...
At any rate, in the vein of what I asked yesterday, what do you guys hope to see in a Zombie RP? Or more generally, a horror-themed RP?
Should it be in a world were the idea of the zombie is known, or are zombies an unknown in this world?
What are different kinds of zombies you'd like to fight?
Are you guys interested in a RP where the death rate is much, much higher then usual (and it will be)?
What kind of character ideas do you have? You'll have to try a little harder to make them interesting since there are no cybernetics or magic in this one.
Are there any questions about characters? I would rather answer them sooner then later so people can start thinking about this.
Any questions about the world at large? I obviously won't spoil anything that I want to be a surprise, but there are a number of things that will be made known from the beginning that I'd be willing to share.
Anything else you guys want to discuss in relation to this? Seriously, work is... so boring...
At any rate, in the vein of what I asked yesterday, what do you guys hope to see in a Zombie RP? Or more generally, a horror-themed RP?
Should it be in a world were the idea of the zombie is known, or are zombies an unknown in this world?
What are different kinds of zombies you'd like to fight?
Are you guys interested in a RP where the death rate is much, much higher then usual (and it will be)?
What kind of character ideas do you have? You'll have to try a little harder to make them interesting since there are no cybernetics or magic in this one.
Are there any questions about characters? I would rather answer them sooner then later so people can start thinking about this.
Any questions about the world at large? I obviously won't spoil anything that I want to be a surprise, but there are a number of things that will be made known from the beginning that I'd be willing to share.
Anything else you guys want to discuss in relation to this? Seriously, work is... so boring...
Last edited:
Dahlexpert
Well-Known Member
First I think the zombies should be unknown, characters don’t fully understand what’s happening yet, zombie types I don’t fully know. And it would be interesting to have a RP were the death toll is higher.
Any character ideas? I'm open for just about anything.
Dahlexpert
Well-Known Member
Well we could for once have our characters be normal people for once, if I remember correctly I think I has a high school jock I was gonna play.
Nice, nice. What kind of sports? Personality? Popular? Handsome? Tough?
Dahlexpert
Well-Known Member
If I remember correctly I do believe he was gonna be a nerdy jock, that played baseball and was really popular. But he kept the nerdy side to him to himself, because he thought others would mock him for it.
I love it.
Dahlexpert
Well-Known Member
Really you’re not just saying that?
No, I do. Just from that small description they sound interesting and uniquely different from other characters you've made in the past.
Frostlich1228 (Alt)
Well-Known Member
Also the writer is a horrible Rapist but that is neither here nor there
Wait... what?
So I didn't get as big of a response yesterday as I did the day before. A bit... disconcerting, I'll admit. Doesn't exactly fill me with boatloads of confidence. But whatever. We can move on.
The KotR RP. Characters. What are some ideas you guys have? Any plans or desires or hopes? I'm sure Shadow is ready, willing, and able to help should you have any questions, comments, or concerns, and I'm willing to throw my bame in the hat of people you can talk to. Onviously, Shadow has final say, but I'd like to think I'm pretty good at designing characters. Not that great with the whole... developing of characters... or stories... or realistic drama... but at least I'm okay with getting those characters off the starting line, right?
So come on! We've all been too quiet lately! Let's talk about this! Or anything else you guys wanna talk about? I recently started watching Avatar (the one with the Airbender, not the one with the blue cat people). Anyone else watching something? See any good movies for the first time? Want to touch on a previously discussed topic? Wanna just sling some undeserved compliments my way?
The KotR RP. Characters. What are some ideas you guys have? Any plans or desires or hopes? I'm sure Shadow is ready, willing, and able to help should you have any questions, comments, or concerns, and I'm willing to throw my bame in the hat of people you can talk to. Onviously, Shadow has final say, but I'd like to think I'm pretty good at designing characters. Not that great with the whole... developing of characters... or stories... or realistic drama... but at least I'm okay with getting those characters off the starting line, right?
So come on! We've all been too quiet lately! Let's talk about this! Or anything else you guys wanna talk about? I recently started watching Avatar (the one with the Airbender, not the one with the blue cat people). Anyone else watching something? See any good movies for the first time? Want to touch on a previously discussed topic? Wanna just sling some undeserved compliments my way?
Black0ut
Well-Known Member
Already have idealized my only character (for the moment), so no need for help. (If I do think up another character, I'll slap them down in front of you and go 'EVALUATE ME, MY FRIEND' or something similar.)
As for compliments, you're one of the sweetest, kindest, and all-around amazing guy, my friend.
Tired... sad... want to skip today. Going back to bed, everyone. Friday is canceled this week...
Dahlexpert
Well-Known Member
Goodnight zombie enjoy your rest.