Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What's fun?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8824725" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>Fantasy is the act of imagining itself--of conjuring mental images or sensations, of engaging in and with the depiction of the conceived world. It is nourished by lavish descriptions and evocative dialogue.</p><p></p><p>Discovery is the act of <em>learning</em> about the world. You don't need to have a crisp, practically-there "feeling" of the world in order to learn things about it and expand your horizons (e.g. visit new places, uncover hidden things, witness rare or unusual events, etc.) You just need to gain more information or find the answers to questions or go to a new/rare/distant place.</p><p></p><p>Now, many folks who like the one also like the other, but that doesn't have to be the case. One can read mystery novels, for example, without having any particular interest in or appreciation for evocative wording or painting a picture in the reader's mind; the process of <em>solving</em> the mystery is the key focus for many mystery fans, and that's practically pure Discovery. In a more videogame context, Minecraft can offer tons of Discovery with very very little Fantasy, because the world is intentionally minimalist, blocky and unrealistic, but delving into the earth in search of treasures or slowly learning what kinds of things can be built is a Discovery motivation.</p><p></p><p>Conversely, I would call Dragonlance (and many other "scripted" type things) heavy on Fantasy and light on Discovery--this isn't always true (I hear Zeitgeist is pretty heavy on Discovery and Fantasy both), but often. To give a different example, many MMOs specifically target what is called "class fantasy," that is, supporting the ideas, themes, tropes, etc. associated with a particular character class, as an important aspect of play. If playing a Paladin doesn't evoke enough Paladin-y elements in the imagined world (e.g. righteousness, zeal, golden glows, shining armor, horsey friend, etc.), then that class is failing to live up to its "class fantasy." If the Paladin <em>does</em> do that, though, there's probably not going to be any "discovery" involved--the player will know what Paladins do and how they work as a matter of course, they will in fact be <em>expected</em> to know those things and be taught them in a reasonable way, removing most of the interest behind Discovery.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 8824725, member: 6790260"] Fantasy is the act of imagining itself--of conjuring mental images or sensations, of engaging in and with the depiction of the conceived world. It is nourished by lavish descriptions and evocative dialogue. Discovery is the act of [I]learning[/I] about the world. You don't need to have a crisp, practically-there "feeling" of the world in order to learn things about it and expand your horizons (e.g. visit new places, uncover hidden things, witness rare or unusual events, etc.) You just need to gain more information or find the answers to questions or go to a new/rare/distant place. Now, many folks who like the one also like the other, but that doesn't have to be the case. One can read mystery novels, for example, without having any particular interest in or appreciation for evocative wording or painting a picture in the reader's mind; the process of [I]solving[/I] the mystery is the key focus for many mystery fans, and that's practically pure Discovery. In a more videogame context, Minecraft can offer tons of Discovery with very very little Fantasy, because the world is intentionally minimalist, blocky and unrealistic, but delving into the earth in search of treasures or slowly learning what kinds of things can be built is a Discovery motivation. Conversely, I would call Dragonlance (and many other "scripted" type things) heavy on Fantasy and light on Discovery--this isn't always true (I hear Zeitgeist is pretty heavy on Discovery and Fantasy both), but often. To give a different example, many MMOs specifically target what is called "class fantasy," that is, supporting the ideas, themes, tropes, etc. associated with a particular character class, as an important aspect of play. If playing a Paladin doesn't evoke enough Paladin-y elements in the imagined world (e.g. righteousness, zeal, golden glows, shining armor, horsey friend, etc.), then that class is failing to live up to its "class fantasy." If the Paladin [I]does[/I] do that, though, there's probably not going to be any "discovery" involved--the player will know what Paladins do and how they work as a matter of course, they will in fact be [I]expected[/I] to know those things and be taught them in a reasonable way, removing most of the interest behind Discovery. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What's fun?
Top