Quote:Original post by orionx103 Okay, I can understand the need to have multiple races in a story. When it comes to fantasy and games, multiple races provide a little variety and make things more interesting, or are meant to. We've been using multiple races since the 1950's, at least. Back then they were using Elves and Goblins and Orcs and Dwarves. They were NEW then. It was okay.
But now, sheesh. Fifty years have passed and we're still using the same old races. There's a lot less variety in our American-made RPG's because we just use the same old formula OVER and OVER and OVER. The EGOD thing has been driven into the ground and I'm frankly surprised people are still trying to use it. It should be dead by now. We're using the same prototypes: Tall Magical Archer, Short Blacksmith Axman, et cetera. Why don't we change it, even in the simplest manner?
AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STOP USING ELVES.
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Is the "oh I know that, I like that" syndrom. The opposite of the "I don't know that, I feel stupid, but I still won't try to learn, it's easier to hate it" syndrom. As someone said above: "Psycho-Logic".
Well, i dont know.. i began writing almost two years ago, just cause i was inspired, after reading every tolkien book, (Silmarillion,Hobbit,LOTR, And those other books) also the Dark Elf trilogy, which i thought was actually good.
So anyways, back in febuary of 2004 i started writing my own book. but i didnt just put all this random crap together, i made history with the races, the world, a mythological system, the tale of how the world was created, the first race,(called the Kel-Dan). created by the System Lords. but it goes even deeper, im not going into detail cause i gave up on the project in september of the same year, i have been going through and barely touching it. but i cant seem to figure out what to do next. im not going to lie, it simply isnt the next Tolkien, but it sure was interesting creating it. but who would read it? a book called The Tales of Malan. not like anyone would be interested, i gave up the project simply because i felt it could not keep up with anything i want to deliever, then again i was only 15 at the time, now 17. I'll tell you the truth, i hate harry potter, i havent had the chance to read ergon, i've only read a little dragonlance(which i thought was a bit dry) a little of the FR (but it was just like dragonlance except for Dark Elf Trilogy). i mean how could this world even make it, i mean i loved to write it, but come on? who would read a world called Malan. freaking Ogres who were built in clans instead of being stupid in caves, being 9 feet tall. or hobbits with their own midgets of gnomes. actually i loved creating the gnomes, freaking 2 1/2 feet tall hobbits with smaller feet and actually grew facial hair, instead of holes lived in brick houses. embracing technology instead of shunning it. poor eyesight so they wore monicals. ya, that was the great time i made them. but look at the story line for this book,(it was going to be the 2nd book in a trilogy) A man named Dundilë (pronounced Dee-Un-Dale) is just a farmer, town over ridden, finds the magic sword Dëndor (Dee-En-Dor) which is made out of rune-thril, with a jewel called Elixar (The heart of the rune mts.) and a finger bone encasing it at the end of the hilt. he falls in love, goes to Elaran and becomes friends with king Eöled, the king of the elves of Elaran. tells him his history, "OH your the last line from the king of demoria"... so then he goes off to Andúl which he gets in trouble and oh wow a dragon quest, didnt see that coming -.- goes off, fights ogres invading the dwarves at Thos, with his handy dandy wizard Polipheon, then all kinds of stuff happens. and basically i left off in a forest where they get captured by giant spiders which the main dude will get jiggy with the spider queen (Who is actually the daughter of Eöled) and she sails to the east to the dead lands where... DUN DUN DUN.. Mortheg, The Shadow King XD.. has that kid, then the spider lair gets destroyed by Dark Elves which they capture Him and his 2 friends Polipheon and Glairing (hes a dwarf), so basically, the tree-lings (which are like elvish-ents except they grow into trees, the third book would've shown their true purpose) finds the caravan of dark elves and reports to the wood elves and they kill them and deliever them to the king.. and thats it, i gave up on the book, i dont even know if i should go back to it, cause i lost the first 55 pages so theirs really no point for me to redo them..
so nothing is new, it just didnt go as the way i wanted to.... lack of inspiration i guess, or the TToM just never would of worked.. oh well......
So i did come up with new races, most are just modified ones from the "Mainstream" since every story shouldn't be confined to what just one person set it to be, its suppost to be free, with a few inspirations.
If anyones even interested in TToM which will probably not for a long time, be put back together, you can just talk to me, i really wanted it to be free book, you know, like an online book, with lots of other writers who wanted a place to help them be free with their writing, thats what i wanted.. but i guess dreams are ment to be broken, only to create 2 more in its place...
but ya, i guess theirs a few that lack enough imagination to bother with a deeper story. i guess i was one of them. =/ you know, you can create your own race called elves, they dont have to be what the other people expect them to be, their your own elves, do what you want with them, its your imagination, let it run wild, they can be green and small and be wise but obnoxious. you know, just cause tolkien created a wonderful race of elves, their his elves, not yours, you can do to whatever your elves you want....... hey, dont let your imagination be limited.
I'd rather like to disagree with the argument that new races will confuse people. Really? As has been pointed out before, Ocarina of Time created three new races with some history to them, and everybody understood. They clearly didn't have the depth of Tolkein's work, but you got to understand each race all the same.
Harry Potter changed elves again to a smaller, domestic creature. They didn't take it to the old Disney style (thank God, and Tolkein would be rising from the dead if they hda), but the HP elves are decidedly not your WoW elves. Then consider the merpeople in the franchise: do they look or feel anything like your usual version of a mermaid? Dear God, no.
WoW has lobstermen, by the way, roaming around the water. You don't get any history about them, though. A few quests lead you to scattered book about the other water races, but not the humanoid-lobsters.
Discworld did have superior races... sort of. The gods (poor gods), Death and his friends, and the Ice Giants, who did manage to show up once [smile]. But you're entirely right in that there was nothing very new. Just some excellent humor about things we already know.
On the Star Wars side, at least the damn Wookies could manage something akin to speech (Shyriiwook) in 4, 5, and 6 (in fact, they made a point to do so). But in the new movies, the conversations were more along the lines of "Pitiful Roar," with the required response of "Equally Pitiful Roar."
gsgraham.comSo, no, zebras are not causing hurricanes.
Quote:Original post by Avatar God Discworld did have superior races... sort of. The gods (poor gods),
Are the Gods really superior, though? They're powerful, of course. But they're also petty and childish; and their very existance is dependent upon the faith of their followers.
Plus, they are nothing next to Human sorcerors.
Quote: Death and his friends,
I'm not sure there are enough of these to make up a race, though. Death is obviously a very intelligent and very powerful entity. But he is, by nature, an archetype. When he steps out of his alloted role, things go badly wrong. He is superior in ability, but not really in potential.
Quote: On the Star Wars side, at least the damn Wookies could manage something akin to speech (Shyriiwook) in 4, 5, and 6 (in fact, they made a point to do so). But in the new movies, the conversations were more along the lines of "Pitiful Roar," with the required response of "Equally Pitiful Roar."
They were also incredibly stupid. Having seen Yoda flip out and kill two clones without any provocation, they're just like "yeah, that must be okay". A member of any sane species would run away. Quickly.
Wow, you have an incredible ability to miss my points entirely...
Anyways, as for the Discworld comments, that's my point exactly. And as for the Star Wars ones, did you notice I was not being friendly to Episodes 1, 2, and 3? Besides, does the 'dumbness' really factor into the point I was making?
gsgraham.comSo, no, zebras are not causing hurricanes.
Quote:Original post by Avatar God Wow, you have an incredible ability to miss my points entirely...
I aim to please.
Quote: And as for the Star Wars ones, did you notice I was not being friendly to Episodes 1, 2, and 3? Besides, does the 'dumbness' really factor into the point I was making?
The point you were making, surely, was that the whilst Wookies were (almost) a complex and realistic species in episodes 4 through 6, they were reduced to the role of "primitive roaring warrior" in episode 3.
My point is that not only were they turned into zero-dimensional cardboard characters, but that the little characterisation they did have was thrown out of the window when Lucas needed Yoda to cut the clones' heads off. Rather than responding with, at least, "excuse me, master Jedi, but why did you do that" in Shyriiwook, they just turned off their brains because Lucas didn't feel like having Yoda explain himself. That would have at least been acceptable if there was some prior suggestion that the Wookies would accept whatever Yoda did without question.
By using them as little more than scenery, Lucas rendered them valueless within the storyline.
(I suppose I'm starting to drag this off-topic now) I would comment that running probably wouldn't have done any good. If Yoda wants to kill you, he's gonna kill you. Plus, wouldn't you just *have* to trust Yoda sometimes, what with him feeling the Force and all?
gsgraham.comSo, no, zebras are not causing hurricanes.
Quote:Original post by Avatar God (I suppose I'm starting to drag this off-topic now) I would comment that running probably wouldn't have done any good. If Yoda wants to kill you, he's gonna kill you.
Sure. But then, not everybody can think smart in a crisis. (I'm thinking suddenly of somebody who did: Imhotep in The Mummy Returns, upon seeing the Scorpion King, immediately debases himself exclaiming "I am your humble servant". Pretty quick thinking.)
Quote: Plus, wouldn't you just *have* to trust Yoda sometimes, what with him feeling the Force and all?
Some Force-users I wouldn't trust: Maul, Tyranus, Sidius, Vader.
And given that the Jedi council were oblivious to Palpatine's true identity, I'm not certain I'd feel inclined to trust them implicitly.
