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I think you've deeply misread the arguments being made here, or at least mine. I am not asserting the idea that changing times have made the desire for freedom from civilization less appealing as an unquestionable fact: I'm taking the OP's assertion that Conan is no longer as relevant as read...

Where does this data come from, and what is it measuring? We need more context!

Fair enough--I certainly have no data to back it up. But I expect you don't either, so all we're going off of here is anecdote and vibes. All I can say is that it seems like an extremely likely claim to me.

I was responding to the idea that these ideas would remain relevant because the conflict between civilization and frontier remains relevant. I took your raising of feudalism as an assertion that this isn't the case--that ideas from the past are still relevant even if they are not held by...

I don't see much evidence of this trope in recent fiction, cinematic or otherwise. It's not the same thing as conflict between city and small town values (both the city and the small town are civilized)--and frankly, I haven't seen that one too much recently either. I'm not claiming that the...

Yup. That's exactly why he's a much weaker example of the trope then Conan. Oh, I disagree about him being an outright good character. Wolverine belongs to that category of pseudo-antiheroes who were so popular in comics in the 80s and 90s, who are ultimately just regular heroes with extra...

You're talking about something different then what I am. Of course fantasies of physical power and righteous violence haven't gone anywhere--they're basically the basis of most adventure fiction (and their appeal is hardly limited to men). What I'm talking about is the tension of civilized vs...

I'd argue that the decline of Conan's relevancy is related not just to his age, or the degree to which he is or isn't read, but to the degree that the "barbarian" figure--the figure free from the constraints of civilization, who relies on extreme athleticism, cunning/craftiness, and wild daring...

Yeah, and this has always bugged me--there's a wide range of quality in terms of how Asian martial arts are portrayed on screen, but there just aren't a lot of good examples of Western martial arts and swordplay on film (unless you count boxing of course). It's pretty hard for me to think of any...

I kind of see where you're coming from--I also think that mechanics have a particular feel, and that matching that feel to the fiction matters. It's why I dislike the Artificer so much, since so many of its capabilities are just "you're a Wizard, but you can pretend your spells are something you...

Sure, there are differences in presentation, although personally I'd chalk part of that up to Hollywood filmmakers just being really, really bad at making sword fights look good on screen. 😁 Even my beloved Errol Flynn movies are full of, you know, Flynning! But while the emphasis on unarmed...

Oh certainly, if you wanted to model wuxia or cultivation fantasy with any kind of accuracy you'd need something pretty complex. But the same is true of a variety of other genres. When I say it's a very specific fantasy, I mean that the class Monk, as we know it, tries to model only that...

Oh I know--I've taken a look at A5e and it looks much better at expressing a wide range of fighting styles! But I'm moving more in the direction of wanting something rules-light over wanting more crunch, so if I were to play something that isn't standard 5e I'd probably be more likely to play...

My problem with Monks is that they take concepts common to a lot fantasy contexts--the fighter who trains in seclusion to perform incredible physical feats, the "martial artist" who fights unarmed, the fighter who uses pure skill and speed for defense instead of armor or a shield--and bound them...

I'm not surprised that these discussions tend to become an endless morass, because the subject matter couldn't be more conducive to having one's rational thought overwhelmed by the lizard brain. I'll use myself as an example. My first, gut level reaction to these two images wasn't at all...

A few years ago, I wrote up a description of my view of arcane magic in the voice of the character I was playing at the time: https://docs.google.com/document/d/107zHUXugW0Kl1xmGESPAsqndrNuRixGc086ZOSRvGLU/edit?usp=drivesdk I tried to make something here that was big and flexible enough in...

You try telling that to a six year old.

It's not exactly a walk in the park for native learners either! I got a front row seat for how much it isn't when my daughter was learning to read. English makes no sense, and she found this infuriating.

Actually, on second thought the closest thing for me would be the 1974 Three Musketeers (the one with Charlton Heston and Christpher Lee).

Army of Darkness was MIA, so I had to go with Big Trouble in Little China.