GridStream Productions

OK on the CG forums we had a little discussion about what folks though of AI so far. The point about it bringing AO back more toward a SciFi theme was mentioned since SL is so not SciFi but more Fantasy. The discussion awoke a small rant in me that I thought I would share for comment or no, as you wish....

Sorta outta context - imagine somebody was talking about how AI is so purely SciFi cause of the aliens & the motherships & the lasers (and imagine that line in the voice of the goofy scientist guy from the Simpsons please )

/rant on

Anyway, since when did Sci-Fi get pigeon-holed? Oh the 70s. I knew that.

Seriously though Sci-Fi is technically science fiction right - definition: literary fantasy involving the imagined impact of science on society

That's a pretty broad possibility for it then. Sci-Fi could simply be a story about how a mechanical pencil changes 1 persons life. Heck for that matter how an old school pencil does the same (that was a scientific improvement at one time too). Sci-Fi does not imply neccessarily "in some future time from right now" in any sense of the term. We've become so used to Sci-Fi meaning spaceships, robots, aliens & cyborgs marrying our daughters or sons we've lost the pure essence of what Sci-Fi really is. Read some sci-fi authors from the 50s or 60s, most of them wrote real stories with 1 odd scientific anomaly in it that often wasn't even the actual focus of the story, it simply affected the charcters by existing and so set the general tone for the greater story. One of my favorite authors wrote stories like that - Philip K Dick. You've seen the movies, and even there you can see it. Blade Runner - a study in psychology with artificial lifeorms analyzed alongside humans. Minority Report - a question analyzed "If you are told your future, can you then avoid it?"

Sorry, I like a good space battle & the robots threatening to take over the earth, but give me some good old-fashioned Sci-Fi sometimes as well!

/rant off

I'm going to have to pretty much lean towards your opinions, here, Boinky. While I find the "gripe" over SL being "fantasy" both amusing and ironic, I can understand how Sci-Fi did get pidgeonholed. Times change, and so do "cultural" devices, genres, or interests. Especially when revolved around entertainment.

New considerations of things that have been around for decades, or even centuries, become the norm. It's an unending cycle of re-invention. The only downside of this re-invention, seems to be that a lot of the times, previous incarnations are forgotten or completely unconsidered.

I guess it all comes down to being Narrow Minded. Some of us who would argue up and down that we are so very open-minded, can usually find one thing on which we will never budge. For some - that seems to be what is and what isn't "Sci-Fi".

I don't like to limit classifications on genres, but I do agree with the general viewpoint that Shadowlands was too fantasy-esque for AO.

Wait, lemme back that up.

Yes, I do limit classifications to some degree. If you semantically define "Science Fiction", then you are right in that post. But that's not the general accepted definition for the term, and one which I subscribe to for lack of a better term (save for "cyberpunk", which is sometimes much too limiting).

Science Fiction, as it is known by society, refers to that sort of thing: imaginitive interpretation of a futuristic setting.

Then there's Fantasy. Semantically defined, I could have the same quarrels that you present simply by saying "Well that just means to fantasize, so anything and everything that is fictional is automatically in the fantasy genre." But, as stated, hard semantics is not good here. It's a general accepted definition that it refers to the D&D/J.R.R./metaphysical view of humanity's past.

Using those accepted definitions, AO is a very sci-fi game. SL is a very fantasy game, that was written in (VERY WELL written in, I might add) to the AO universe.

But I'm sick to death of fantasy genres. I grew up tabletopping them and playing computer games of them. Something in my brain gets really bored and aggrivated when I'm subjected to fantasy-type material that can only explain powerfull/strange things with the all-encompassing term "magic!". Bleh. Give me circuit-based infused teleprojector combine rifles any day. Just my lame little opinion.

Tarryk wrote:I don't like to limit classifications on genres, but I do agree with the general viewpoint that Shadowlands was too fantasy-esque for AO. etc...

What he said

I wuz like, shadowlands? wtf m8?! hahaha yeah... we need some more killer concepts lol... aliens, that stuff is too old... for me at least.
I bet this post could turn out into ideas for ao lol hehehe but yeah... I thought that Alien Invasion sounded chessy, and to me, it is

Hey tarryk, speaking of magic vs Nano..

Are elves more bootylicious than opifexes?

I dont know why people objected to shadowlands. The take might have been too much "EQ", but a chance to subject the mystical and ancient into the futuristic was a nice idea. Why can't the world of Rubi'kai, real for its citizens, have its own fantasy in it? The strange and fantastic beings and worlds we see in AO might just be real and normal for the people in it!

Actually, I can't honestly say that I had anything against SL on a general level. I thought the storyline was cool, the integration of it into the game was VERY cool, and the graphics of it were (and still are) purely awesome.

But I love AO because it is basically (IMO) the perfect interpretation of what "Cyberpunk Online" should be. Having a mystical gateway open up into a lush landscape of fairies and unicorns is neat and exciting, but nothing I personally want to involve myself in.

I want gridding, jacking-in, nanoprograms, hi-tech guns, wierd technologically-explainable races, and matrix-meets-shadowrun environments. SL gave absolutely none of that, so it didn't interest me as a part of my AO experience.

Are elves more bootylicious than opifexes?

Depends on the elf. But on a majority scale, I call opi's. They are yummilicious.

Will Alien invasion do the same? Bringing about more of the futuristic, Starship troopers to the cyberpunk world. Makes me wonder, is this a good marketing idea? AO being made to cater to any number of tastes. Roleplayer, PVPer, casual and obessive, fantasy to cyberpunk to now Sci Fi Alien invaders. Does anything beat the bleak wastes of northern Rubi'kai though? (Makes me wonder what that "pandemonium" place looks like)

Elves'll never shake their booty in front of you, so Opi is a good bet!

Tarryk wrote:Depends on the elf. But on a majority scale, I call opi's. They are yummilicious.

Every time I see a comment like this it makes me want to jump to the defense of the Solitus female. Then I take a look around on the GDF and I think, "he's right, they are yummilicious."