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DArtagnan
Guest
I call the "older generation" the Escapists. Because they want a settiung that is completely different from reality ! Because of what Escapism actually is.
The "younger generation" doesn't want that. They want games (and P&P) to actually reflect reality.
In the end, we have kind of a "clash of generations".
While I see your point, I think that's quite a simplification.
Personally, being very much of the "older generation" - my tastes have never really changed.
It very much depends on the genre and the setting, and I want very different things for sci-fi than I do for fantasy. But there are things that I find more comfortable, and then there are things that I think SHOULD be.
Ultimately, I want something that fits the game - but I DO shy away from overly lighthearted settings, unless we're talking Zelda or something.
Drakensang was too bright and cheery for me, but then - I think Fallout is horribly depressing. But those settings seemed to fit the mood, so I can't really complain.
The best executed settings I take from books, because those exist in my mind. I think Tolkien did a masterful job detailing his world - and I think Lord of the Rings Online remains pretty faithful to that - and that's why I LOVE the world in that game.
I also think Age of Conan did a masterful job with its environments, and even World of Warcraft had some absolutely amazing atmospheres.
There's really no one kind of setting I prefer, but there are two settings I LONG to see, when done right:
Cyberpunk - ala Shadowrun
Sci-fi - ala Aliens
I really, REALLY would love CRPGs set in those worlds - with immersion being a key focus area for the developers.
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But anyway, I'm not really into any extreme - neither bright/cheery or dark/gritty.
In my personal opinion, dark/gritty has much more to do with characters and story, than the visual aesthetics of the world they're set in.
In fact, I think you can have a much darker and more impactful experience - if you place truly dark characters in a beautiful world. The contrast can work towards that - but the Hollywood clichés developers are working with will never achieve that.
As far as I know, the american audience consider something so profoundly cartoonish and caricatured as Dark Knight dark and gritty - as if it had anything to do with the horrors of the real world.
If you want to make any kind of serious statement about the world and morality, you go make a movie like Apocalypse Now - not a Batman movie.