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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DreadPirateMurphy" data-source="post: 4829945" data-attributes="member: 20715">I was reading dmccoy1693's apology to WotC, and while it is very classy to publicly admit error, it made me think about this whole concept of "canon."People argue about it for all sorts of fictional universes, whether they be RPG settings (Forgotten Realms), video games (Fallout), movies (Star Wars), books (Harry Potter) or TV shows (Dr. Who).  Now, I'm happy that we have such a wealth of sci-fi and fantasy, and that there is so much of it that brings so much enjoyment and has enough depth for such a thing as canonical "history" to even exist.  I also totally get the fixation on little details that adds a degree of truthiness, so to speak.What struck me as funny is that there really isn't a real-world version of "canon."  Everybody sees things subjectively, so there usually isn't one version of any major event.  History is based upon after-the-fact accounts and surviving evidence, and respected and capable historians get into disagreements about the details.  Even news of what's happening right this minute varies from source to source and is often spun in various directions.Does anybody think the Trojan War happened the way Homer described it?  Do we really know all of the conversations and negotiations that took place at Yalta?  Even simple facts, like the top speed of the Bismark or the number of Model T Fords produced could, quite simply, be wrong from simple error in recording or some other oversight.That's true for the educated and scholarly, and even more so for the average person.  No matter what your opinions on anything, I guarantee you that there are thousands of people in the world with a conflicting opinion so off the wall that you would consider it mad.So, walk into a tavern in the Forgotten Realms, and you'll here that smokepowder was REALLY invented by Asmodeous rather than Gond as a plot, and the Dragonborn were created from thin air by Elminster to fight dracoliches.  The Shadovar are actually drow being mind-controlled by rogue eladrin.  The last king of Cormyr was secretly a vampire, and Thay is really controlled by a rogue group of witches from Rashemon.  From a player's perspective, it doesn't have to make any sense, and there could be more than one plausible story.I think everybody has a tendency to want to know what really happened...we have that X-Files commitment that the Truth Is Out There.  In reality, everybody forms opinions and makes decisions based on the best information available, and we manage to get by.  So, the next time a company completely revamps a setting, I'm going to treat it as just another opinion in the tavern...</blockquote>

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