re: Reader's Manifesto: heh, yeah. totally good read. seriously awesome. odd place to recommend it, but there you go.
Aislinn Trista wrote...
AtlasMickey wrote...
Well I live and hope that someday this forum will once again be populated by people who like Mass Effect and that this thread in particular will once again be populated by people who celebrate their characters as they exist in the Mass Effect narrative, which is indeed speculative fiction, whether you like it or not.
And I hope maybe someday you'll understand people have a right to vent their frustration or concerns, whether it jibes with your opinion or not.
Well, okay. I will engage once more to this, and then I'm dropping it.
About
speculative fiction:
Speculative fiction[/b] is an
umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical
fiction genres, specifically
science fiction,
fantasy,
horror,
supernatural fiction,
superhero fiction,
utopian and dystopian fiction,
apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and
alternate history in
literature as well as related static, motion, and virtual arts.
[1] <--taken from wikipedia, as defined by Margaret Atwood in her paper on speculative fiction re: her book the handmaiden's tale
^ That's a descriptive term. That's just saying 'Mass Effect is a sci fi series.' And yes, I think we have established that. It's 'speculative,' meaning that it speculates 'Let's assume the world is this way and run with me on this...." C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien called them 'supposals' - as in 'suppose it was this way.' They wrote these as an alternative to the typical genre of allegory in which a fantastical element stands in place of a real-world element. Speculative fiction simply means the world makes sense
on it's own rules and, perhaps, by analogy to the 'real' world. speculative fiction establishes alternate realities.
And i dig that. I run with that. I will buy ANY premise you give me. Truly, I will. You want to establish any sort of crazy world, I'll buy it. But you must be consistent in your delivery. speculative fiction lives OR DIES by how well it establishes the groundings and boundaries of the world
and maintains them. if harry potter could suddenly cast magic at the end of the story without a wand, we'd all cry foul - yes, it's speculation that magic works only with a want; it's speculation magic works at all. but if you set that up, you need to follow it unless you established another rule prior to change that rule. and with mass effect, if you establish certain laws about distance, time, mass relays, synthetics and organics and toss that out the window at the end, this is not being 'speculative'. this is being inconsistent and introducing plot-breaking and world-breaking mechanics at the end.
So all you are telling me by bandying about the term 'speculative fiction' is that Mass Effect is a story of a particular type. And I am saying 'yes. yes it is. and it is an amazing speculative fiction right up until the end, at which point it fails on nearly every level, artistic, fantastical, supposal or otherwise.'
Look, I'm with you on this. I LOVE MAss Effect. If I did not like Mass Effect, do you know what I would be doing? Playing Skyrim.
As for me, I'm trying to direct my irritation in positive ways, realizing on one level, it's a game, a story, and it's out of my hands. And in some ways, there are other things in the world and I'll move on. But if I can encourage BioWare to fix it, I will. It is because I care about Mass Effect that I care enough to give the devs a second chance to repair the ending that sinks the franchise. It is because I celebrate their characters as they exist in the narrative that I say this.
AtlasMickey wrote...
People do not have the right to be party-poopers.
People have every right to be frustrated. People have every right to engage in discussion. People have every right to communicate about what they think and feel. But people do not have the right to personally attack others for what they are saying.
Alright, I am done now.
Modifié par sagequeen, 30 mars 2012 - 07:24 .
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