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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 3468650" data-attributes="member: 22779">Ooo, that stings.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I think I can see where the breakdown in communication is coming from though and it's in the basic definitions we're working from.  Celebrim and I believe RC are working from the position that world building is any setting element which is created that doesn't directly impact the plot.  Again, I'm sorry if that's wrong and please correct me if I am.  That's the position that I think they are taking.For me, and I believe a few others, world building is just that - building a world.  It's not a throwaway line buried in the middle of dialogue.  It's the attempt to create an entire working world complete with history, society and whatnot.  Talking about Andorian Brandy in Star Trek is not world building.  The only things we really know are that it's strongly alchoholic, it's made by blue guys with funny antennae and it's difficult to get.  At no time are we told anything about what is actually in it, how it's made, how it's distributed, or anything else about it.  From a story perspective, the only function it serves is to tell us that in the future, you have to go to space to get a good drink.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />If we were to use world building with Andorian Brandy, we'd know all the extra details about it.  History, what it tastes like, how it's made, what it's made of, etc.  Just like in a Tom Clancy novel we are told the exact methods for creating a bomb in a spectacular show of technoporn.  CSI works much the same way.  There is very little plot or story in any given CSI episode.  Most of the show is technoporn.  Granted, it's very popular, but, certainly lacking in any sort of character development or, I don't know, actual story.  I mean, the last one I watched had them figure out how one guy used his Battle Bot to whack his competitor.  That's scraping the bottom of the barrel.CSI is popular, but, would anyone here say that it's popular because of the riveting story?  Porn is popular too, but that doesn't make it good.  Setting development in service to the plot is good, IMO.  Setting development for the sake of developing a setting is bad.  It's stageporn.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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