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Why is Elf-Fantasy the most popular?

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  • Proudsoul11Proudsoul11 Member CommonPosts: 1
    Renoaku said:
    https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yk5dbxJ558s/maxresdefault.jpg

    Star Trek Online / Movie Series there are elves there too?

    Yes they are called Vulcans/Romulans
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    Well, Game of Thrones is most likely the most popular fantasy franchise right now, and it does not involves a single elf...
    It's just heroic fantasy that is popular. People happen to enjoy epic stories about heroes, swords, sorcery, princesses and dragons. Has always been.
    Well if you're talking about Tolkien's take on elves as tall, beautiful and human-like, you're right. But GOT does have The Children of the Forrest that are a different kind of small sylvan elf, more in-line with pre-Tolkien folklore.



    They were really only prominent during parts of seasons 5 and 6 and like every magical or supernatural thing in GOT, rare, hidden, long forgotten and believed to be fantasy or old wive's tales.

    This last season was all about "oh shit, this stuff is for real"
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  • linadragonlinadragon Member RarePosts: 589
    I assume you meant to say High Fantasy and not elf-fantasy, but beside the point is that it is what is "popular" because of the gorilla in the room. Then you also run into the whole thing that there aren't many games in other types of fantasy in the mmorpg market that are actually well done enough to be "popular"
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  • SovrathSovrath Member LegendaryPosts: 31,937
    Wizardry said:


    I guess after having think it over a Mystery rpg is possible,you could be role playing a mystery seeker,who travels the world seeking out mysteries to unravel,like ancient heiroglyphics and hidden treasures that again need to be deciphered from ancient mysteries,sort of like Tomb Raider.


    Now this I could get behind.
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  • linadragonlinadragon Member RarePosts: 589
    Sovrath said:
    Wizardry said:


    I guess after having think it over a Mystery rpg is possible,you could be role playing a mystery seeker,who travels the world seeking out mysteries to unravel,like ancient heiroglyphics and hidden treasures that again need to be deciphered from ancient mysteries,sort of like Tomb Raider.


    Now this I could get behind.
    I'm not sure that would work in the broader sense of an mmorpg though. It might work for an rpgish game, but mmorpg would be odd. 
  • EldurianEldurian Member EpicPosts: 2,736
    The issue with a mystery MMO is once the mystery is solved for someone it gets posted up on the wiki and is solved for everyone. A serious mystery MMO (Or MMO which includes a strong mystery feature) would have to have mysteries that are randomized (partially or entirely) in a way that you can't just wiki the answer.

    That sounds very difficult to pull off well.
  • EldurianEldurian Member EpicPosts: 2,736
    Well he's comparing it to pre-Tolkien lore but I would argue even pre-Tolkien elves were said to be beautiful. I'd say they are most comparable to contemporary dryads.
  • ConstantineMerusConstantineMerus Member EpicPosts: 3,338
    Iselin said:
    Well, Game of Thrones is most likely the most popular fantasy franchise right now, and it does not involves a single elf...
    It's just heroic fantasy that is popular. People happen to enjoy epic stories about heroes, swords, sorcery, princesses and dragons. Has always been.
    Well if you're talking about Tolkien's take on elves as tall, beautiful and human-like, you're right. But GOT does have The Children of the Forrest that are a different kind of small sylvan elf, more in-line with pre-Tolkien folklore.



    They were really only prominent during parts of seasons 5 and 6 and like every magical or supernatural thing in GOT, rare, hidden, long forgotten and believed to be fantasy or old wive's tales.

    This last season was all about "oh shit, this stuff is for real"
    Well, if you stretch it (a lot), they COULD assimilated to some "kind" of elves... but they definitely aren't remotely close to a "Tolkien" elf, or it would be one which has mated with a hobbit maybe? ;)

    Actually, the Valerian civilization was closer to an "elf" civilization than the children's.
    Well if you wanna get super technical, it all came from The King of Elfland's Daughter first. To be honest I think this book is lethally underrated. If you are a fantasy fan, this is a must read. 
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  • Azaron_NightbladeAzaron_Nightblade Member EpicPosts: 4,829
    Gorwe said:
    Phry said:
    Tolkien most likely.
    And DnD (which is in turn Tolkien inspired).

    Oh, let's not forget Warhammer Fantasy then.
    The setting with the best Orkz. ;)
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  • DauzqulDauzqul Member RarePosts: 1,982
    Because there is a beauty and
    lahnmir said:
    Xasapis said:
    Immortality and eternal beauty and youth are popular ... I wonder why ... :blush:
    Twilight man, Twilight.  o:)

    /Cheers,
    Lahnmir
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  • HatefullHatefull Member EpicPosts: 2,502
    DMKano said:
    Sorry but dwarves > elves any day

    Orcs > dwarves

    Ogres > Orcs

    Trolls > all
    Dwarves > All else! 

    If you want a new idea, go read an old book.

    In order to be insulted, I must first value your opinion.

  • HatefullHatefull Member EpicPosts: 2,502
    Sovrath said:
    Wizardry said:


    I guess after having think it over a Mystery rpg is possible,you could be role playing a mystery seeker,who travels the world seeking out mysteries to unravel,like ancient heiroglyphics and hidden treasures that again need to be deciphered from ancient mysteries,sort of like Tomb Raider.


    Now this I could get behind.
    Eldurian said:
    The issue with a mystery MMO is once the mystery is solved for someone it gets posted up on the wiki and is solved for everyone. A serious mystery MMO (Or MMO which includes a strong mystery feature) would have to have mysteries that are randomized (partially or entirely) in a way that you can't just wiki the answer.

    That sounds very difficult to pull off well.
    The secret world does this, and it is pretty cool. Sadly, there are a million Wiki's on how to do everything and of course region wide chat where people spout spoilers constantly because we live in the age of trolls.

    Anyway, TSW is a really cool idea, and I think they did a good job on the stories.

    If you want a new idea, go read an old book.

    In order to be insulted, I must first value your opinion.

  • iixviiiixiixviiiix Member RarePosts: 2,256
    Elf ?  i vote for D dragon master race .
  • DvoraDvora Member UncommonPosts: 499
    "elf fantasy" if that means tolkien etc is just better.  In MMOs, Steampunk sucks(always), sci-fi sucks most of the time, and straight up medieval without magic elves etc is just bland.
  • lahnmirlahnmir Member LegendaryPosts: 5,041
    edited September 2017
    We doing favourite races now? Hell yeah, Ratonga baby, screw the rest!



    /Cheers,
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    It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.

    It is just huge resource waste....'

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  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    lahnmir said:
    We doing favourite races now? Hell yeah, Ratonga baby, screw the rest!



    /Cheers,
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  • someforumguysomeforumguy Member RarePosts: 4,088
    So people going for the pretty, immortal and wise elves. How surprising. And boring. Tolkien style elves are utterly boring. WoW male elves are funny (to laugh at) though for being this weird mix of a Tolkien elf and Hulk Hogan.

    I prefer Terry Pratchett's elves. Not that I would want to be one though.
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    Eldurian said:
    Well he's comparing it to pre-Tolkien lore but I would argue even pre-Tolkien elves were said to be beautiful. I'd say they are most comparable to contemporary dryads.
    In some countries and some lore and some time periods. In England for example elves and fairies got conflated (and it was used that way by Shakespeare) somewhere along the line making them more like J.K. Rowling's elves than Tolkien's (which, BTW, are the only ones with pointy ears.) In German mythology the same thing happened except they conflated elves and dwarves.

    But yes, Martin's Children are much closer to ancient Greek Dryads than European elves especially with their connection to the trees.


    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

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  • g0m0rrahg0m0rrah Member UncommonPosts: 325
    When watching Thor 2 I heard someone say, here we go again, another Tolkien rip off. I'm like Yea, Norse mythology ripped off Tolkien, right buddy... 
    Azaron_NightbladeGorweJemcrystal
  • lahnmirlahnmir Member LegendaryPosts: 5,041
    Iselin said:
    lahnmir said:
    We doing favourite races now? Hell yeah, Ratonga baby, screw the rest!



    /Cheers,
    Lahnmir
    Hey I know that guy. He's a famous chef isn't he?
    That could very well be. I must admit I needed a quick pic to show the unaware the coolness of the Ratonga and didn't feel like installing EQ2 again just to take a screenshot.

    /Cheers,
    Lahnmir
    'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'

    Kyleran on yours sincerely 


    'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'

    Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...



    'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless. 

    It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.

    It is just huge resource waste....'

    Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer

  • EldurianEldurian Member EpicPosts: 2,736
    So people going for the pretty, immortal and wise elves. How surprising. And boring. Tolkien style elves are utterly boring. WoW male elves are funny (to laugh at) though for being this weird mix of a Tolkien elf and Hulk Hogan.

    I prefer Terry Pratchett's elves. Not that I would want to be one though.
    There's a quite good assessment of the fantasy races in "The Noob" comic...



    Credit: Gianna from The Noob Comic: http://thenoobcomic.com/

    They forgot a race that's either a straight humanoid animal or a race of all female gendered lolis with some kind of animal ears and tail.
    Azaron_Nightblade[Deleted User]Hatefull
  • lancerxxlancerxx Member UncommonPosts: 63
    edited September 2017
    Would elric of melnibone from the elric saga books be considered an elf? I could see him having some influence, on the Witcher games
  • cameltosiscameltosis Member LegendaryPosts: 3,703
    It is just a legacy of western European history, particularly influenced by the British. 

    Most western European cultures have fantastical creatures in their mythology, probably from our pagan roots. We have elves, dwarves, goblins, trolls, ogres, giants and dragons in our collective history, we've been making stories and songs about them for millennia. This is then combined with our martial history - swords, shields and bows - as we look back in fondness and awe at the conquerers who marched across Europe, invaded neighbouring countries, lay siege to castles etc. 

    Whether it be things like the vikings killing crazy creatures, St George slaying the dragon, or King Arthur chillin' with Merlin, we have a very long history with these sorts of creatures. 


    So, it doesn't surprise me that "elf fantasy" is still the most popular genre for RPGs. It speaks to us on a cultural level. We are surrounded by it growing up in Europe, whether it be your mum taking you to look for faeries at the bottom of the garden, or visiting a castle with your dad, or reading up on pagan history, or reading about the crusades. 



    It is also why there are vast differences between western and eastern fantasy: vastly different cultures and histories. Eastern games are designed by people with cultural histories vastly different to our own, which is why the creatures we read about or fight in games are so different. It is what makes the crossover particularly difficult - western RPGs often struggle in the east and vice versa. 


    As to why elves appear in Asian fantasy when a lot of other western fantasy doesn't? Prevailing opinion seems to be that modern elves are in fact heavily influenced by Eastern culture - things like meditating, living at one with nature, weird spirituality, vegetarianism etc - so it makes sense that they would be able to identify with elves and wish to incorporate them back into their own fantasy settings. 


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  • Azaron_NightbladeAzaron_Nightblade Member EpicPosts: 4,829
    Eldurian said:
    So people going for the pretty, immortal and wise elves. How surprising. And boring. Tolkien style elves are utterly boring. WoW male elves are funny (to laugh at) though for being this weird mix of a Tolkien elf and Hulk Hogan.

    I prefer Terry Pratchett's elves. Not that I would want to be one though.
    There's a quite good assessment of the fantasy races in "The Noob" comic...



    Credit: Gianna from The Noob Comic: http://thenoobcomic.com/

    They forgot a race that's either a straight humanoid animal or a race of all female gendered lolis with some kind of animal ears and tail.
    Clearly they skipped the Korean MMOs. ;)

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  • CryomatrixCryomatrix Member EpicPosts: 3,223
    I usually tend to go with humans over elves, but if I am going to go crafter or tank, I'd go with a dwarf. 

    But in reality, I'd prefer to play one of the least popular classes if I could. I don't play MMO's much anymore, more of an ARPG guy these days, but I'd love to get into a role where I'm one of the very few "of X" in the server but i'm a damn good one though. 

    When I played WoW, I went with Orc Hunter (2004), it was pretty fun. I played Darkfall for a month and was a dwarf crafter before I lost all the will to play the game for the unknown reason. Perhaps, because, any MMO i play, I feel like i've played before. 

    Anyway, I think it comes down to what we relate to. I relate to human the most, but I try not to play elves or half-elves due to how cliche they are. Anyway, my useless 2 cents to this discussion.

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