| From: | korishinzo@*****.com (Ice Heart) |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Physics and Realism in SR (and other games) |
| Date: | Thu, 18 Aug 2005 14:04:35 -0700 (PDT) |
>
> In which universe is there no fault line there?
In which universe are we now supposed to accept that a mere
earthquake can sink a significantly large portion of land under the
sea?
> If the guys who designed the universe decided to split
> California there and they decided to say that it's because
> of a fault line rupture that caused exactly the result that
> happens in the game... then in that universe two things are
> true:
>
> 1 there is a fault line there
>
> and
>
> 2 earthquakes and plate shifting can and did cause exaclty
> what we see in the map.
>
> My point is that the Shadowrun universe isn't this
> universe. Get over it.
I see...
"And so it came to pass...
That the world as you know it now changed in all these internally
consistant ways... and then the laws of plate techtonics got
hoop-fragged by a dragon having a bad day. Sorry for the utterly
implausible inconvenience."
Here's the problem.
For an earthquake to turn California into an island, something on the
scale of the Great Ghost Dance has to have taken place. Dormant
volcanoes don't just errupt. Dragons don't just suddenly come out of
hiding. Humans don't just turn into orks at purberty. These things
all defy the laws of nature. Unless magic is involved. Magic
introduces new natural laws. We can all accept that some Force 30
Great Form Earth Elemental Free Spirit shoved California a mile out
into the ocean for some reason. And if the game writers have
secretly got some plot of that nature cooking, fine. However, if
California is now an island because some writer was watching "Escape
from L.A." and gave NO thought to the scientific impossibility of
such a thing happening, then we have a legitimate complaint.
After all, at some point, a player is going to want an island. What
Force effect is it to sail a chunk of North America out to sea? Can
such a thing be done with nanites? Please please please Madame GM,
tell us how they moved Caifornia, so we can move it back.
Yes, you are right. The game writers can do whatever they want to
the world. And it is a fanciful setting, certainly. However,
deciding for the sake of the story that conventions of the setting
(e.g. it is basically Earth with magic) will be suspended here and
there is very poor writing.
It would be like writing a new Batman movie, and spending a whole lot
of time trying to explain the technology Batman uses in terms of
current science. I mean, really struggling to get the audience
accepting that the Batman storyline could believably come to pass in
our world. Then, two thirds of the way along, introducing a device
that can almost instantly vaporize water in a water main a hundred
feet below through asphalt and steel without the slightest effect on
human beings right next to it. I mean, it would just be
irresponsbile writing.
> <yoda>
> you must unlearn what you have learned
> </yoda>
I really really wish Kermit's dad would stop posting on this list.
:p
======Korishinzo
--Really glad the Batman analogy didn't happen... oh wait. Drek. :(
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