The Multiverse

[ashkelon]

Ghost in the Shell, including Avalon, I love that ****.

[battlefields]

I said BORDERLINE nerd, nerds.

[Hiro Protagonist]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Nerd mode: Activated.


My favorite video game universe is most definitely the world of Final Fantasy VI (released as Final Fantasy III in the US). That's because it's the first time, for me, at least, that a video game feels like set in an organic environment. And that for a 16-bit game, mind you.

People react to things you do, and the world changes over the course of the game in a way that feels natural, and not exaggerated. But most interestingly, it's the first gaming world that doesn't feel like a succession of levels, like many of my old Nintendo games do.





My favorite pen & paper roleplaying game is, hands down, Dave Arneson's Blackmoor. While the setting is far from coherent, or featuring stuff you don't see elsewhere, it's dear to me simply because I ran a seven-year-long online campaign in there. I can't tell at this point if *Blackmoor* is all that great, or if the people that played it with me made it so. :D (Google *Last Fantasy Campaign* to see mah work there.)



In movies and TV, I still keep a soft spot in my heart for the Star Wars universe. - Man, that last decade really killed the franchise, but the stuff released pretty much until Episode I was good. Not exceptional, not flawless, but at least not an insult to people's intelligence. I hope that, sooner or later, there will be a reboot or a sequel that is done by people who actually give a **** about the associated stories.



In comic books and animation, I go with something very D&D-ish again, which is "Record of the Lodoss War". It's a pretty standard fantasy setting, about a lonely island that is plagued by evil liches and sorcerers, but the production values of at least the first series from 1991 were simply amazing. 80s Kevin Costner-ish power-balladed fantasy, though. See, they make even STAINED sound good.





And finally, my favorite world in a book: I have to give a nod to Tolkien, as well as to Jack Vance (for the Dying Earth), I think my own personal favorite would be the world of Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings. While the books vary EXTREMELY in terms of quality and readability, the world and its history remain very intriguing - which has a great deal to do with the author being smart enough to leave some open ends to her stories. Overall, apart from the classics of the genre, the very best fantasy books I have read in terms of making you buy into the story against a background that is so obviously artificial as a world filled with dragons and magic.





Aaaaaaah, they served me NERDITY for breakfast.
I am most pleased.

[ashkelon]

Oh and BSG, they completely nailed that reboot. I ignore Caprica like the Matrix sequels.

Star Wars, never been a fan. Too much cringeing.

[lordbd]

Bravo for dying earth! And if you like dying earth lets not forget the world of Nifft the Lean. A newer fantasy universe I love is China Mieville's New Crobuzon world.

[Colin]

For what it's worth, the ASOIAF universe deserves a nod, as well.

Spoiler:

[Tom .C]

I like the Pac Man universe cuz of hallways and corners and stuff.

[ashkelon]

I like the Pac Man universe cuz of hallways and corners and stuff.

and PED's

[jnp]

I played D&D back in '81. I enjoyed it, but found the Gamma World universe more intriguing.

I also really liked the cartoon Starblazers (originally called Spaceship Yamamoto in Japan as I recall) as a pre-teen.

I'm a bit too old to glamorize video games in the same manner, but here are a few book universes I wished I could live in when I was a kid,

Alfred Bester's The Star's My Destination
Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber
Patricia McKillip's Prince of Hed trilogy

I'd be surprised if any of you had even heard of the last one, much less read it.

[Colin]

I'm a bit too old..

You are?

I played D&D back in '81.

Holy ****... you definitely are T_T
In 1981 I was only 2 years old!