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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dr. Strangemonkey" data-source="post: 2279776" data-attributes="member: 6533">Sometimes, yes, I think that at its heart high fantasy as a term is probably a lot more stable, coherant, and interesting than GnG, but GnG has a level of vitality, youth, and easy application that high fantasy lacks.Which is both a good and bad.  On the one hand the theoretical high fantasy snob is easier to dismiss than the theoretical GnG snob simply because everyone's been dealing in high fantasy for forever.On the other hand(only two hands here people I swear), everyone's been dealing in high fantasy for forever.  The term is so loose at this point that, while not nearly meaningless, it's not nearly as meaningful. It's impossible to tell when someone first uses the term, for instance, whether they mean high fantasy in terms of high moral drama or high fantasy in terms of high magic.  Plus its so conceptual that it's hard to make a high fantasy RPG that doesn't feel sort of generic.  Blue Rose had to go all the way over to the other side and call their game Romantic fantasy.If GnG has a problem on this level it's the opposite in that GnG seems too potent and unified.  Everyone has a theory on what high fantasy is and is willing to debate it, which is cool when you're trying to figure out how to do it but not cool when you're trying to figure out what everyone is talking about in the first place, GnG seems to have a tendency to go, 'well, we all know what it is so let's not hash it out,' which is cool when you are trying to get stuck in in the action, trading things, and building up a group with similar tastes not so cool when you're trying to think out the action ahead of time, buy something, or deal with a group with different tastes.  It's one of the reasons I think most literary examples of GnG tend to be older since its hard to figure out what actually fits into the category without waiting for consensus, whereas with high fantasy it's hard to say what new thing doesn't belong.Look at how hard Mieville has to shout to feel like he can be distinguished from Tolkien or Celebrim's arguments in the fantasy thread that, you could uncharitably say, argue that all fantasy is high fantasy. Worth pointing out, however, that GnG's culture of 'old media' probably makes it easier to make an RPG.  You say high fantasy RPG and noone really knows what you're deriving it from.  You say GnG and everyone goes, 'Ah, Conan!  Fafrhd and GM! Rock on! Fart's Stink!*' and that's about it.  *Having admitted defeat I do intend to run this into the ground.  You know who you are... and you should love yourselves for it.</blockquote>

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