Hey everyone, thanks so much for indulging with me on this one! This one is certainly more meditative than bound to a single game, so forgive me as I wander about. A few quick things I forgot: - Definitely check out the full Q&A with the Wildermyth team here -> kzread.info/dash/bejne/eK6NxNCYp5iseto.html - I made an editing oopsies around the 09:30 mark for about 15 seconds, so if you can imagine some KILLER AWESOME EDITING SKILLS instead of what I give you, that'd be really great. Hopefully it doesn't detract from the flow. - I try to respond to every comment I get, so please do leave one!

@bryankelly3647

8 күн бұрын

Great explanation of this concept, useful for anyone who builds worlds and writes stories. I hope they don’t take it to the extreme and think that unexplained randomness is good and having reasons for why things are the way they are is bad

"I've seen your kind, time and time again. Every fleeing man must be caught. Every secret must be unearthed. Such is the conceit of the self-proclaimed seeker of truth. But in the end, you lack the stomach. For the agony you'll bring upon yourself." -Vilhelm, Dark Souls 3

@iamdoom9810

11 күн бұрын

Man did the Dark Souls III DLC's main story have an awesome meta-commentary on the nature of creative works and the struggles of being a creator of them. It really did give me a ton of trust in FromSoftware's design philosophy and creative integrity for them to be willing to lay it all out so honestly in what could only be described as artistic depiction. I hope it serves as a beacon to inspire many creatives to come.

@MapleFried

11 күн бұрын

​​@@iamdoom9810 "At the end of all things, we should be quite content to watch it burn away."

@jamesarthurkimbell

11 күн бұрын

@@iamdoom9810 MIYAZAKI: I'd rather be the Painter freely exploring a new idea than Ariandel tied down and bled dry AUDIENCES: If you change the Claymore animation I'm gonna scream

@mattd5240

10 күн бұрын

I will uncover and loot every secret. For it is my curse.

@annabellefawn4171

10 күн бұрын

That quote will stick with me forever

And then you get Morrowind, where you get so much lore that it actually begins to contradict itself and you notice that a lot of the sources and people you get this info from are telling it in a way that pushes a certain agenda, or is so ancient that even the certain phrasing of a sentence can create a dichotomy between factions hundreds of year later, that you have no idea what IS right or wrong, and that you more or less have to choose for yourself what to believe.

@greattower1650

11 күн бұрын

tes worldbuilding is at another level

@QuestMarker

9 күн бұрын

this is my annual reminder that I need to play Morrowind (I came into the franchise at Oblivion, and never have worked backwards!)

@Warmaker01

8 күн бұрын

I know Bethesda got it's big fame, money, fandom with Skyrim. But those boys' world building in the early 2000's Morrowind was top notch. It's forgotten how good they were back then because most of the fandom's memory starts with Skyrim. *Maybe* Oblivion in between these two games, but Morrowind is too old for most of the fan base now. Morrowind put you in a fantasy world. A *strange* fantasy world and not the typical "Medieval Europe but with Magic and Elves" generic fantasy.

@Michael-bn1oi

8 күн бұрын

​@Warmaker01 They were incredibly wealthy and famous before Skrim lol Morrowind, Oblivion, and Fallout 3 were all massive commercial and critical sucesses.

@Tirocoa

8 күн бұрын

"Each reader sees different reflections through different lenses, and may come away with a very different reading. But at the same time, all of it is true. Even the falsehoods. Especially the falsehoods."

I get this vibe heavily from Dishonored. There's frequent mention of an exotic continent named Pandyssia. The game features a plague that was said to have originated there, and in the sequel, we see Pandyssian insects infesting homes. Aside from that, there are some unfinished journals from expeditions into the continent, all of which end abruptly. There's also the largely unexplained history of whales being the source of magic, and their ties to a god-like figure known as the Outsider. Nothing is really explained. The game is absolutely dripping with lyrical worldbuilding.

@Doomsword0

11 күн бұрын

Yeah Dishonored does an excellent job with this stuff. It makes the world feel so big in that way

@ScipiPurr

10 күн бұрын

I've looked at maps of the Isles and wondered what some of the furthest, most out-of-the-way settlements were like

@QuestMarker

9 күн бұрын

Dishonored was definitely another game that looms in the background of this video too. I think a lot of games in the "immersive sim" category naturally have overlap with this lyricism in their worldbuilding, probably being systemic gameplay is kinda 'lyrical' in its game design. It wants you to figure stuff out and do cool things. Deus Ex also came to mind for me, in making this.

@naiyt9065

8 күн бұрын

They eventually explain where the Outsider came from, and I always hated that. He was so much better as an unknowable entity, an instantiation of the Trickster archetype. Learning where he came from and how he got his power made it lose its appeal for me.

@Doomsword0

8 күн бұрын

@@naiyt9065 I think learning that worked for me, I enjoyed it, and there is still enough other unexplained things out there that I didn’t mind

I see this in D&D and similar games a lot. The DM gets so enamored of their own worldbuilding, with languages and history and so on, that they get caught in a sort of sunk cost situation, where they NEED to tell the players What's Really Going On, and Where It All Came From. I love worldbuilding as much as anyone, but as a DM I've cultivated being okay with the players not knowing, not finding, not fully understanding, and even sometimes not even seeing all the stuff I built for them. I want the players to feel like the world is deeper than they can see, and older than their adventuring lifespans, and part of that is keeping things out of reach, unless they seek them out. At which point they truly DISCOVER something that's already there.

@TimlerFX

11 күн бұрын

Great approach. It's always great to play a TTRPG knowing that there is a lot more that is yet to be discovered.

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

As a longtime DM, one thing I really look forward to now is co-creating worlds with players. I often draw up a map, or a list of 'ideas', or a few NPCs, but then honestly leave it all blank. I obsesses over creating the tone or imagery or themes, but leave a lot of "the lore" ready to be defined and created and discovered together. Often, my ideas are not nearly as cool as what the PCs piece together. So let's roll with those! Only one in a dozen of my own bits of worldbuilding ends up being neater and cooler, and a lot of is still in response to what the players end up doing.

@Scruffi

10 күн бұрын

The trick is finding that balance between prep and improv. For me, it helps if I know WHY some things are the way they are, and sketch out some broad strokes ahead of time. I came up with a small town as a starter location for a new campaign, so I wanted it to be a good place to leave, but also have enough going on that 1st levels could find stuff to do if they looked. I decided that it was a once-prosperous town whose economy collapsed some time in the recent past and was a shade of its former self. That allowed me to have the basics - a tavern or two, a supplies store run by an ex-adventurer, potion store, and so on. There was a "prosperous" part of town near the main trade road, much more run down areas, and some areas that were just ruins or abandoned. Not a lot of money in the town, so a lot of squatters in the old buildings... And since it was bordered by a river to the north, I decided it used to be the northernmost reach of the old empire, long collapsed. SO that gave me enough background to give the impression of a living world, so I could improv detail on top of that. NPCs got improv'd into existence as the party needed, and little character details turned into major plot hooks leading to a larger problem to be solved. Then between games I filled in details, and now 2 years later the whole place could probably become publishable if I organized it a bit. And they're still there, finding new trouble to get into (and now helping to rebuild the economy through adventuring - like a city campaign in a ruined city haha).

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

@@Scruffi You take a very similar approach that I do! That sounds awesome. Everything for me is about creating a rough framework, an inciting incident or two, what are the big motivations or themes, and what then what are some interesting choices to put infront of characters. Everything else then just comes from playing!

@Scruffi

10 күн бұрын

@@QuestMarker Yeah, exactly that ]:)

This is exactly why I love the Mad Max series. Each movie after the first feels like a myth played out on screen, a story that is both canon and apocryphal. It all happens, none of it happens, who cares; it’s part of the legend. The wasteland can only be anecdotal and because of that partially unknowable

@gamer1X12

10 күн бұрын

Also it keeps in mind the setting, as you said. In a setting like Mad Max, there really isn't any record keeping or video recording... hell, depending on which crowd you run with, there won't even be witness 😂. There really is no proof or disproof of something other than what someone says.... reality and fiction blend together, perception is unreliable and yet all there is. In worlds like Mad Max, truth is non-existent and omnipresent all at once.

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

Gosh Fury Road is one of my favourite movies of the past decade (and apocryphal is one of my favourite words). I love the myth-making of Mad Max.

@TheRusty

10 күн бұрын

And I love that the fandom, such as it is, embraces. "Don't know, don't care; it's rad though!" is the order of the day

I'm suprised shadow of the colossus wasn't mentionned here, it's so vague about everything but it really sticks with me for some reason

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

I was waiting for this comment! Youre totally fair. ...i have never played shadow of the colossus. I wasnt a PS2 kid (I was Gamecube and 360)! And I have yet to go back to try it out. Always funny how us gamers can have such different journeys.

@patjohbra

7 күн бұрын

Lol, I clicked on the video thinking it was going to be about Shadow of the Colossus

@Rikirie

6 күн бұрын

@@QuestMarker The PS5 remake is phenomenal if you don't want to go back too far :)

@simomon6

6 күн бұрын

​@@QuestMarkerBro you are missing one of the top 5 games of all time

@ganthori

2 күн бұрын

​@@QuestMarkerbro you gotta play it. It is a beautiful game.

this video cured me of self-doubt, acrimony, and the feeling that I am doomed to disappoint anyone who believes in me. thank you.

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

Self-doubt can be an awful thing. Just keep trucking, my friend! This stranger on the internet believes in you.

@ryanparker4996

7 күн бұрын

Maybe if you didnt invoke the number of the beast you would feel better about yourself 😂

@emirobinatoru

6 күн бұрын

​@@QuestMarkerGurren Lagann wisdom

@TwixtheFox

6 күн бұрын

​​@@ryanparker4996OoOooOoh, sPoOkY nUmBeRs!!!!!1!!! OOOOH Grow up

that's why i love adventure time so much, everything being so vague makes it feel so real

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

:( this is has been on my Watchlist for so long. I really do need to just start!

@reese3083

9 күн бұрын

@@QuestMarker please pleas please do, great video by the way

@QuestMarker

9 күн бұрын

@@reese3083 i'll get on it! and thank you so much :)

@BaleonRosen6547

8 күн бұрын

It's what I liked about Adventure Time initially too, and why I was a little disappointed with later seasons. It felt like they had to start explaining everything. But the early seasons weren't afraid to just have things happen "just because."

@jazermano

8 күн бұрын

Wow, you're totally right. When I walk down the historic district of a city, with buildings sometimes hundreds of years old, there are surprisingly few plaques and signs just... telling you how it was made, who worked on it, why, etc. It usually just a year, maybe an architect, and who lived there. If you're lucky. Life is in no hurry to explain itself to you. Why should a game?

I'm so glad I finally had this explained in a way that clicked with me. You always hear "show don't tell" "don't overexplain everything". But something about the phrase "A World Not Desperate to Explain Itself" just hits different and really has me rethinking a lot of my exposition dumps in my novel. I realize that the deep worldbuilding and lore I've built up will be far more interesting to the reader, and certainly more fun for me to write if I keep secrets to myself or keep mysteries even from myself. Keeps the imagination flowing without putting in a ton of work just to cheapen my world with answers.

@bradleymay5350

7 күн бұрын

*Whoops! Sorry, you can ignore my rambling because I paused the video before the Tolkien segment. If I'd waited a moment I'd have seen all of my talking points repeated almost verbatim (although much more eloquently). But I should mention the author I spoke of was a different, lesser known one. But, like most sci-fi/fantasy authors, he admits to taking inspiration from Tolkien.* Excellent tieback to those common aphorisms. As you pointed out, it's not that "show don't tell" doesn't have its own inherent wisdom. But it's almost so worn out that I'd forgotten its ultimate narrative purpose and utility. So you and the author are correct, that alternate phrase is illuminating. It kind of reminds me of an author I'm fond of. He mentioned that one of his favorite narrative devices is when you're really invested in some concept or piece of lore but the characters can't be bothered to properly flesh it out for the reader because it's common knowledge to them. There's a KZread channel called Sarcastic Productions that has a fantastic 'Detail Diatribe' featuring the world building of Zelda: Breath of the Wild that covers this concept beautifully. As an author, it can (lol supposedly) be tempting to try and fill in all of the blanks and give your audience clear answers to the remarkable ideas populating your story. But their thesis was that it can almost be more telling to have landmarks and phenomena that no one truly knows about because so much other stuff happens in this universe and much of it is lost to time. Instead they're left with legends and rumors. Or just idle curiosities mentioned offhand, but never elaborated on.

@QuestMarker

7 күн бұрын

@@bradleymay5350 Who is the author you're fond of?! You forgot to mention!! The suspense is killing me

@QuestMarker

7 күн бұрын

I'm really glad this clicked. I think the "show don't tell"/"don't overexplain everything" spectrum is just one way of looking at it, but Douglas Austin's principle has a different feeling and approach to it. Exposition dumps all have their place and time. Even the game Wildermyth has them! It can also be about the "feeling" or "quality" of those exposition dumps (is the goal to inform the reader of the systems? or a launching off point for something more mysterious? or seeding a theme that's going to be expanded up throughout the book?). Really hope this helps with your worldbuilding and writing :) Let me know how it goes!

@ZealotPara

7 күн бұрын

​@@QuestMarker Not long after watching your video, I heard a quote from Neil Gaiman, and I'm gonna paraphrase here but he essentially said what you did, that there's a time and a place for tell. If you, the author feel like you need to tell, then do it. Goes to show that there's a lot of nuance behind phrases like "show don't tell." Coming from a legendary storyteller like Gaiman, these are definitely words to keep in mind.

@ZealotPara

7 күн бұрын

@@bradleymay5350 It's like how in Dune 2, Princess Irulan warns the Emperor about killing Muad'dib. A prophet is stronger when he's a martyr (paraphrasing). In a similar vein, the *idea* of something can often inspire the imagination and be more powerful than the real thing. I don't think this is a universal rule, but it is good to keep in mind.

I think that this is part of the beauty of Ghibli films, like Spirited Away. They aren't afraid to have distant mountains

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

"Distant mountains" is something someone else has said in the comments. I really like that!

@ramley

5 күн бұрын

@@QuestMarker It comes from J. R. R. Tolkien actually! He always created what he called "distant mountains" (places mentioned but not fully developed) to keep the world feeling alive. Someone once asked him why he didn't develop these places. He said something like "I could, but then I'd have to create distant mountains for those places as well." (Jesse Schell talks about this in his book The Art of Game Design)

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

@@ramley That makes total sense. It looked super familiar. Jeez, that Tolkien guy!

“Closure…. It’s like a drug.” -David Lynch It’s not to bash frustrated people who want answers but “can’t” have them. It’s about reminding ourselves that we don’t have to, and shouldn’t, stop wondering about mysteries *because* of lack of information. Especially in fiction. Like, it’s understandable, but also really strange when someone is quicker to attribute a lack of information to be the cause of *no* explanation, and therefore lazy, instead of there being a mundane, true answer, where the ideas *you* come up with are probably more fascinating than the thing itself. Like finding a machine in Sable, as you mentioned. When I ask “I wonder how that works?”, I imagine like three different possibilities for how little mechanisms could take shape inside the machine. For others, they don’t do that, they ask “I wonder how that works?” but then imagine no further than the question, and where to find an answer, instead of the machine itself. Again-totally understandable, but it boggles me. It comes off as, you’re missing out on yourself.

@maximedaunis8292

11 күн бұрын

Too much ignorance is not a pleasant thing to live with either you know

@thefarlander2050

11 күн бұрын

@@maximedaunis8292 I think what we mean is that there shouldn't be more information than there should be when explaining the lore of a world. The line that Imperial officer used in Star Wars: A New Hope, as well as dissected in the video, exemplifies that. "Sorcerer's ways" imply some type of mysticism, and "ancient religion" implies that it was worshipped a very long time ago and persists in the modern age as long abandoned practices. That's all we really needed to know about The Force and Jedi at that current moment, and any extra lore dumping would've been boring, out of place, and kind of a letdown as we can't wonder about it in the future.

@nojusticenetwork9309

11 күн бұрын

​@@thefarlander2050 sure, you can wonder about something for a time but if it's a key part of the narrative and lore, eventually people will want answers. There is a limit to how much intrigue or mystery you can create before it becomes obtuse and unsatisfying.

@mastersquinch

11 күн бұрын

Disco Elysium has a bunker dealing with this exact thing lol.

@QuestMarker

9 күн бұрын

@@thefarlander2050 woo this is totally my stance!

This is something I had to learn myself, to get over my anxiety, to be unapologetic about being me. To be "a person not desperate to explain themself".

@QuestMarker

7 күн бұрын

preach, brother!

You have no idea how much this helped me regain my writing confidence.

@QuestMarker

7 күн бұрын

really happy to hear this. keep up the writing! let me know how it goes

@daniellegilmore541

4 күн бұрын

It has genuinely inspired me to really think about my world building. There’s a part of that ego that wants to say “Look! Look at all the cool stuff I’ve created! I’m so clever!” and there’s the joy of world building because it’s fun. But it can be so easy to get bogged down in the details, and to overwhelm a reader with unnecessary details. This was a great video!

Another really good example of over-explaining is Baldor in LotR, the body they find on the Path of the Dead outside the locked door that Aragorn makes a big deal of how they'll never know what's beyond that door. It freaked me out as a kid because I wondered what dark force was beyond there that they didn't even want to speculate what it was. Then I learned Tokien said in one of his essays that Baldor had been trying to break into some dark temple when he was ambushed and his legs broken. While it's still horrifying and there's plenty of mystery, it just turned the moment into something so mundane for me. It's fun to know the truth or intent of something, but the mystery and wonder has its own allure as long as it's not over-used or trying to patch bad writing Wildermyth really fed that for me, with stories that refused to give you a conclusion so you can make it yourself. The flame shrine felt good because you really don't know what you're getting into letting a flame spirit possess your character, all you see is the result of your character slowly being burned away by flame and if that's good or bad (non-mechanically) is entirely up to you. Is it giving them power? Stealing theirs? I don't know, and it's great to wonder how all this will end up once the story ends. Tangent: Thanks for listing where the game footage came from, I was going mad trying to track down The Pathless because the visuals looked cool and had no luck until I saw it in your notes. I've also been pronouncing Wildermyth as Will-der-myth not Wild-er-myth and now I'm revaluating my life choices lol

@QuestMarker

12 күн бұрын

There's definitely moments in Tolkien's letters that take away some of the mystery away too, as much as he adds to some of it. I think there's definitely A Lot that has come out since his death that does increasingly colour Middle-Earth in a certain way, and maybe always not so much for the better. (Our constant quest of wanting more and more of something necessitates that things become less and less mysterious, ... right?) Wildermyth definitely has a lot of moments where it doesn't explain things. In that q&a, Douglas Austin also talks about how the gods in their world "just don't have the same interests" as mortals, which I also thought was a really cool take. And I'm glad my notes were helpful! I need to make sure they're accurate, too haha. I definitely think it IS pronounced Will-der-myth, and I totally got that wrong. It definitely wasn't my obvious first take of how to say it, so please don't re-evaluate lol

This is my favorite type of world building. Where there is no pages of lore explaining the history of every little thing, just small exerpts of 2-3 sentences. Really allows the imagination to flow

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

Agreed! I love a 'voice' in worldbuilding that definitely has mastery of when to let you wonder, and when to let you know.

I feel like every question that you answer in the world should only raise more, to create that urge to want to know more. A compulsion.

@DarkJediHunter117

10 күн бұрын

It's the wonder. The little tidbit of information that sparks a desire to know more, and wondering how deep the lore of a fictional world goes down, but never being able to tell how far down. A lot of overdone fantasy franchises seem to forget that last part.

@QuestMarker

9 күн бұрын

This is really nicely put. I also really like the idea that there is an urge to know more... but you just never will. Like we'll never know things about Elden Ring or Middle-earth, and there's almost a sense as long as we have questions, we're never quite 'done' exploring.

@driver3899

8 күн бұрын

You just have to watch out for the Lost problem. If you are led down a trail of interesting hooks you eventually have to have something satisfying at the end of it. Having no good answer at the end of it, something less satisfying than the puzzle peoples they found along the way, then it will make people super mad at something they previously loved. Just like how people turned on the show Lost at the end.

Check out the video game "kenshi". They dont explain jack unless you explore the world yourself and find out.

@QuestMarker

12 күн бұрын

It's been on my wishlist for a very long time!

@yawarapuyurak3271

11 күн бұрын

​@@QuestMarker Kenshi was the game that reminded me of childlike wonder. It's an inhospitable world, I would dare say more dangerous than any From Software. And with that, every new discovery, feels as finding purpose in the world.

@ethanmarvalenzuela9619

11 күн бұрын

You'll have to do a lot of walking though 😂. Hands down one of the most immersive games out there

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

Haha you and @ethanmarvalenzuela9619 have both sold me on it

@EgoEroTergum

9 күн бұрын

​@@QuestMarker It is an amazing world. An entire continent, with no invisible walls.

Some modern Star Wars fans would do well to not the difference between “I don’t know what happened, it is better if there is some left out, just like real history” and “it is just a story, stop taking it seriously, it doesn’t matter”

@AndrewChumKaser

12 күн бұрын

Well said.

@gearandalthefirst7027

11 күн бұрын

Some star wars fans would do well to go outside sometime

@elijahherstal776

11 күн бұрын

There are still Star Wars fans? Weird.

@Aeraleach

11 күн бұрын

"...and somehow palpatine returned" you can't just drop that on people. At least cloud it in mystery, different accounts etc.

@nakenmil

11 күн бұрын

Star Wars has always been obsessive in murdering its own mystery, paradoxically. They painstakingly chartered the life-stories of literally every person inside the Mos Eisley cantina for example. I think this is an inevitable result when something ceases to be a story (an artistic endeavour) and becomes a FRANCHISE (a business model).

This video is very comforting for my own worldbuilding. I’ve had quite a big dilemma for a while with my own worldbuilding when there are things I don’t want to explain, and I’d rather just say “I don’t know what happened”, but I felt obligated to come up with a concrete answer. But now I can confidently write I don’t know what happened

@AD-dg3zz

11 күн бұрын

My personal strategy is to come up with concrete answers for as much as I can think of, but purposefully leave a lot of it out of the final draft. That way the world does feel like it has an internal logic to it, even if it's impossible to fully understand with the limited information you provide. The audience can often sense the difference between when the author has answers that go unanswered, and when the author is copping out of having answers in the first place. Think of J.J. Abrams' controversial 'Mystery Box' method as a shining example of how *not* to set up your world's lore.

@TuckOfIron

11 күн бұрын

Came here to say this myself.

@thehunter8417

10 күн бұрын

Definitely this

@wesleywyndam-pryce5305

8 күн бұрын

because you do need a concrete answer, you just don't need to share it. when a world is actually thought out it shows even if it is not explained, there is an internal consistent logic.

@wesleywyndam-pryce5305

8 күн бұрын

​@@AD-dg3zz calling that a "method" is far too generous. its lazy garbage from a hack.

Wildermyth is the height of collaborative storytelling with the audience's imagination. The studio has just finished content for the game and I desperately hope they are about to keep up this sort of evocative and emergent storytelling with a future endeavor.

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

I also really hope it's not the last game from that group of developers - Wildermyth definitely deserves a sequel (whether spiritually or otherwise). It definitely has its flaws, but it really does something wholly unique!

An author I feel does this well is Steven Erikson, with the Malazan Book of the Fallen. By the end of the core ten books, you'll know everything you NEED to know, but the world doesn't care about the reader. This makes the first couple of books feel dense and impenetrable, but that fades by the middle of the series. It also means there are a lot of loose threads, but thats because many of them arent necessary to finishing the story. People and plots simply cross paths, and move on in their own directions.

@ryanpangilinan5803

11 күн бұрын

Going through this series right now! And feel this already lol. Just started Memories of Ice!

@chuckwagon3718

11 күн бұрын

This is the one I came to mention. It's always been my go-to example for this kind of approach.

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

I read Garden of the Moon many years ago, and I loved it. It was in between school years, so I never embarked on the journey of the rest of Malazan, but, I also love the writings/interviews with Erikson (he doesn't live that far from where I do, currently!). This is a great reminder I need to get back to it. But his series and his philosophy of writing epic fantasy is definitely this video also in a nutshell.

@wesleywyndam-pryce5305

8 күн бұрын

"tying up loose threads is not important to the story" asinine.

@IntrusiveThot420

6 күн бұрын

@@wesleywyndam-pryce5305it works for Malazan because the core story covers hundreds of thousands of years of history. The central conceit is compassion's very real, historical, material role in human society and how it can exist as a core pillar of even the worst, most genocidal regimes. Sometimes, plot threads will be lost to time.

Togashi has turned 'The Dark Continent' into the embodiment of this concept through sheer delay and blue balling of the fandom. Perhaps the most built up place in all of ani manga other than laugh tale.

@ReiseLukas

9 күн бұрын

Is that problem even? I get that many fans want explanations to these places, but does it really need to be completely explained?

@wesleywyndam-pryce5305

8 күн бұрын

​@@ReiseLukas yes. why even introduce it if you're not going to explain it? especially in a Shonen.

@JCRS92

5 күн бұрын

​@@wesleywyndam-pryce5305but why explain it? The suspense, the unanswered questions makes us look forth. Closure is stillness in this case.

A friend of mine and I had a conversation over a topic similar to this, about what should be seen by the audience that's necessary for them to see. Should they see this part of the fictional world for the context to the plot? Or context of characters and motivation? Should they be exposed to this part of the world for mood and tone? Suggestion for what the audience should feel? How much is too little and how much is too much? Ultimately we came up with a good little phrase for ourselves in terms of writing fantasy/supernatural/whatnot: Don't explain. Explore.

@jocosesonata

8 күн бұрын

*_"Don't explain. Explore."_* Bro thought he could drop a hard line like that and dip out, but I see you! I want that as one of the core pillars of Worldbuilding & Storytelling. Fuck it, I want that on a shirt.

@bryankelly3647

6 күн бұрын

@@WarPenguinDude you explained that well 🤭I agree tho it’s a delicate balance

@bryankelly3647

6 күн бұрын

@@jocosesonata it’s like show don’t tell only better

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

"Don't explain - explore." Yo preach. This is stellar.

Man, am I glad you put Hyper Light Drifter in the end there. That game really fueled my desire to begin understanding for myself instead of relying on what others told me. That being said, my favorite is when others find intriguing ways to interpret it themselves. I remember I was kinda mad when Nintendo officially released a Zelda timeline because me and my friends used to always wonder if the stories were connected and sometimes we were dead certain they were. Now less folks will be able to have those discussions.

@QuestMarker

9 күн бұрын

Hyper Light Drifter is the game I never finish. I pick it up, watch the intro, jaw drops, have buckets of fun for the first few hours, inevitably get stuck or lost somewhere, put it down, and then remember it again a year later. (but I still do think its awesome) Have you seen Jacob Geller's video on Zelda? It's all about the timeline discussion!

@jacemoran1190

9 күн бұрын

@@QuestMarker that’s the one saying every Zelda is the darkest Zelda right? Yea I watched it ages ago and quite enjoyed it, strangely Twilight princess was my first as well. I dunno if you’ll ever finish HLD (i highly suggest you at least hit credits it’s truly wonderful) but there’s this other great video essay called hyper light drifter is art and it’s about the games real world connections with its creator. It’s another great one.

@QuestMarker

9 күн бұрын

@@jacemoran1190 Do you have a link to the video about HLD? I'd love to check it out! And yes it's the one about the darkest Zelda, yeah.

@jacemoran1190

7 күн бұрын

@@QuestMarker sorry for getting back late. The vid is The beautiful metaphor of Hyper Light Drifter. kzread.info/dash/bejne/hqWDzNSSf7Kyfs4.htmlsi=in9pqwIraTLP58f7

@jacemoran1190

4 күн бұрын

@@QuestMarker ok, I keep getting blocked for links, the vid is The Beautiful Metaphor of Hyper Light Drifter it’s about an hour long. I highly suggest you play first and then form your own opinions, but the video is excellent and explores some great themes. (Edit) it’s by S.H. Consoli.

Scavenger's Reign was really good at building tihs type of world imo

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

duuuude thank you for reminding me about this show. I saw the trailer for it when was released earlier this year, and I've been meaning to get to it.

@fredrik5827

9 күн бұрын

@@QuestMarker Happy to help :D Thx for a great video ^^

“We are born of the blood, made men by the blood, undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. Fear the Old Blood". - Bloodborne

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

lots of bloodborne love in these comments and im here for it

I'm sick of having to understand everything. How rare do we fully understand our own world?

@QuestMarker

7 күн бұрын

Preach, dude.

terrific work. i've said it before but i feel like your channel is a real hidden gem, and i wish it got a bigger audience. this is a really beautifully crafted argument, it's introduced me to a new game in Wildermyth, and it's articulated something fundamental to how i think about fantasy worldbuilding. thank you, and keep it up!

@QuestMarker

11 күн бұрын

thank you so much for your kind words, and continued support! I really appreciate it, it means a lot. (and it looks like this might have found a bigger audience - you willed it, my dude!) Circle back and let me know what you think about Wildermyth!

@dc526

11 күн бұрын

​@@QuestMarker oh that's wonderful! i was literally telling some friends about it today!

This has given me a lot of food for thought when it comes to constructing my own science-fantasy world. I have this breadth of passion and information that I feel excited to exposit to my players at my Pathfinder 2e table, but I've learned over the years that it truly is for the better to keep the fantasy intimately tied to mystery as you have mentioned in this video. I've slowly accepted that real world history has a lot of open gaps, mysteries and uncertainties and why shouldn't my fantasy world be the same way? Great video, I look forward to more insightful ones like this from you in the future!

@QuestMarker

9 күн бұрын

Another Pathfinder 2e player?! Awesome! I think one of the great joys of being a DM is putting a world in front of players and seeing what they're drawn to the most - I'm always so surprised by their curiousities and where it leads the table. Mystery at a TTRPG table is heard, because it can be really easy to show too much (and it becomes boring and obvious) or show way too little (and it's vague and confusing). Let alone that different players pay attention to different things - because people are different! The balancing act I still continually struggle with. But when we get little moments of mystery/wonder/payoff/'lightbulb aha!' it's just so awesome.

Well I've never heard of Wildermyth but it's certainly going on my wishlist. We're definitely getting more answers about Elden Ring's world but there is still plenty of mystery there. Great video.

@QuestMarker

9 күн бұрын

Definitely check out Wildermyth and let me know what you think! It got a lot of praise when it was released a few years ago, and nothing like it has come out since. And yeah, a friend and I are working through our second playthrough of Elden Ring right now to get to Shadow -- we're both stoked to see what's in store!

Elden Ring rides a fine line where an absolute ton of things are explained in good detail, yet several major aspects are left completely unexplained. Despite their importance to the story, the game never really explains what the Outer Gods are or what their relation to the Greater Will is… it really doesn’t explain the Greater Will either. Or how the Elden Ring actually governs the Lands Between. And we’ll never really know the answers to these questions, which is why they’re so hotly debated. People even argue over whether or not the Greater Will is even sentient, with both sides having radically different takes on Elden Ring’s story. Regardless, I’m really just leaving this comment to bump you in the algorithm. I loved the video!

@kindlingking

11 күн бұрын

Elden Ring's lore is a complete mess of dumb characterisation, self-contradiction and above else pointless "twists". It's not mysterious in the slightest, it's annoying and frustrating to piece together because god knows if it sucks because it was meant to suck or if you missed something crutial.

@AlexanderofMiletus

11 күн бұрын

Sooooo, like everything else Martin ever wrote?

@mercerholt8299

11 күн бұрын

​@@AlexanderofMiletus This right here is the truth game of thrones fans will never admit to.

@christopherschneider2968

11 күн бұрын

@@mercerholt8299 I love the books and plenty of fans think he wrote himself into a corner. You could feel the drop with a feast of Crows.

@mercerholt8299

11 күн бұрын

@christopherschneider2968 For me, it was the red wedding infeel like he wanted a dramatic scene and killed off a lot of characters that could be used later on he definitely wrote himself into a corner. Honestly, the way things played out in Elden ring before th player arrives feels similar, but our arrival is what allows the plot to progress.

Man, the joy I felt when you dropped that Wildermyth music cue at the top of the video. I adore that game (for essentially the reasons you talk about here).

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

I'm glad the music cue worked! I figured that only those familiar with the game would recognize the distinctiveness, but even then, I was worried - glad to see my worries were for nothing haha

The kind of deliberate creative ambiguity you mention here was one of my favorite things about the first two Silent Hills, as well. When I first played SH1, I remember hearing Dalia talking about the "Mark of Samael" and expecting that to be the villain (it wasn't). Or "Key of Phaleg" and wondering who the hell they're talking about. It took a lot of these old names and terms from Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Kabbalah, etc., and using them in the perfect places to leave the player constantly wanting to learn more about the world. In SH2, they literally wrote on a random brick wall, "THERE WAS A HOLE HERE. IT'S GONE NOW." Zero context, zero explanation.

@Kageryushin

10 күн бұрын

This is very much true, but I feel like, just like Fromsoft games, the context to comprehend the setting and its mechanisms is very much present because of how paradoxically incredibly detailed and coherent the first four games are. In point of fact, I can tell you pretty much exactly how Silent Hill functions. Hell, I'd like to live there. It's simply that the playable characters are neither equipped nor predisposed towards comprehending the town and its underlying spiritual power. The arc and payoff surrounding getting Leonard's Seal of Metatron talisman in Silent Hill 3 is playing off of this, because Vincent's plan is sound, Heather just... doesn't actually know how to do it correctly, even though she's been given the tools to.

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

If one wants to go back and play SH1 or SH2 for the first time, what's the best way to do it? ...and just how spooky is it?

@andrewjhollins

5 күн бұрын

@@QuestMarker It's so much more than just spooky. But by today's standards, it's hard to tell. If you're like me, then seeing a highly pixellated skinned corpse isn't going to be the shock that it was in 1999; that said, there is so much more about the original silent hill games than just the horror. There's grief, shock, violence, trauma, loneliness... it's not an amazing horror game, it's an amazing story. As for where to play it, given Konami's history with their IPs, my suggestion would be emulation. But I do believe there's legit copies available on the Playstation Network site.

@Kageryushin

5 күн бұрын

@@QuestMarker ​Your two options are purchasing the original PS1 and PS2 hardware or PC (either emulation or the PC port of SH2). Buying the original hardware is obviously going to be expensive, but it's the most likely to give you the "authentic original experience" with minimal chance of any sort of hiccups. In this case, you should go for the Greatest Hits version of SH2, as that's the most updated version of the title. If you try to get a physical copy of SH1, there's four separate prints of it: two of the Black Label original (the only difference is the manual of the first printing is shinier), and two of the Greatest Hits version (the second printing was from a promotion Konami ran with Blockbuster); the Greatest Hits version has simplified art on the casing, manual, and disk, but the game itself is no different, unlike the Greatest Hits version of SH2. That said, I think emulators are perfectly fine and quite capable of delivering that authentic original experience, and that's going to be by far the more immediately available option. You'll have to do a little research, but there are guides online for how to go this route. Look up "Silent Hill Series-Wide PC Guide" and you'll get multiple useful posts on the matter. Regarding SH2 on PC, there is an extremely efforted and thorough fan-made project called "Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition." This was created to ensure the PC version of Silent Hill 2 was compatible with modern hardware and displays while enhancing the experience through updated visuals, audio, and features. If you go with the PC version of Silent Hill 2 (as opposed to emulating the PS2 version), it is 100% the way to go. It has higher fidelity graphics, model display, screen filters, upscaled FMV cutscenes, various graphical options you can toggle, and fixes glitches that the PC version had that the original PS2 version did not. Some people consider it the definitive way to play SH2 at this point, and it certainly is when it comes to the PC version. Regarding SH1, either original hardware or emulation, you should get the NTSC (American) version of SH1 due to the censorship omissions and frame rate differences of the PAL (European) version. The PAL version does fix a single glitch which causes a certain extremely significant document to fail to appear in the NTSC version (this document also appears in the Japanese version). Frankly speaking, because of how that document works in-game, you may well fail to get it even if you _did_ happen to play the PAL version, so because the NTSC version is superior otherwise, it's best to just complete that version and then look up "Silent Hill 1 Newspaper from 7 years ago" to see what that document says, as it's basically the last piece of the puzzle of that game's plot. As to how spooky these games are, that's going to vary from person to person. People have different opinions about both of these games and what they represent and deliver, and fear isn't even the only emotion these games elicit. I think it's generally agreed that SH1 has the harsher, more classical presentation of horror, while SH2 is just... incredibly _heavy_ in its mood. Both are able to create powerful atmospheres of dread. You can only come to your own conclusion by playing them. I hope you enjoy them from the bottom of my heart.

This was quite thought provoking and I'm glad the algorithm decided to share it with me

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

I am very glad it did as well, and I'm glad it got you thinking. If anything, that's all I'm really aiming for!

Malazan Book of the Fallen is another fantasy book series that nails this

@QuestMarker

7 күн бұрын

Mr. Erikson has come up in other comments! I hope you saw them (and also Gene Wolfe's books too!)

i was talking about that “sorcerers ways” line with my sister earlier today because i thought it was so mystical and awesome- i just saw it in a tiktok clip and it was literally the only dialogue from star wars that has ever really piqued my interest. it’s an awesome exchange and the way it makes the force sound genuinely mysterious is so cool compared to the oversaturated, i mean, i’ve never watched star wars but i know everything about the force.

@QuestMarker

7 күн бұрын

Really hearkens back to a different texture/feeling to Star Wars, eh? I don't know if we hear "sorcerer" anywhere else in the franchise (I bet some lore aficionado might know!).

@RazorO2Productions

6 күн бұрын

@@QuestMarker The Mandalorian uses it to describe Jedi

I needed this. I have stories I want to tell but I have been worried about how I'm going to explain everything, but I've asked myself "Why should I have to explain everything?" You provided the answer. Thank you

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

happy to help!

I gotta say, thank you for making this video and releasing it right now. I've been working on a bit of world building of my own and wanted it to be full of mystery and awe, but couldn't figure out the right mindset. Now, I have an idea to follow on: to make a "world not desperate to explain itself".

@QuestMarker

8 күн бұрын

all kudos to Douglas Austin (the gamedev in the vid!). It's a really great line. Good luck with all your worldbuilding endeavours, dude! There's other worldbuilders in the comments, I wish we could all jam!

i love stuff like little details of there being a skeleton in the corner of a setting, mushrooms growing through its chainmail… and you’ll never, ever know why. books like Roadside Picnic and Annihilation are full of this vague, unexplained horror. what is Hell Slime, why does it exist, why does it melt bone faster than flesh? nobody knows. and that amplifies the fear.

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

I've never heard of Roadside Picnic but I need to go check it out. it looks awesome!

Very genuine,soulful, no bullshit video, a rarity on YT. Subscribed, great channel.

This is a feeling I've had for a long time and never had the words to articulate it. Thank you for putting it into words

I loved listening to this. You put to words a concept I had subconsciously felt but not realized after playing and reading fantasy my entire life. So many of the indie games you highlighted were games I have played, loved, and returned to because their worlds were so intriguing that I had to reengage with them. Thank you for this video.

@QuestMarker

2 күн бұрын

On average, indie games do heck of a lot more interesting things with narratives and worlds these days!

Wow. Caught a video almost as soon as it was uploaded. And what a great one to catch. I don't have much to add at the moment except that when they asked the question about writing style at the end I finally stepped on the spring that was coiling in my mind while watching video. It may sound strange but this is why Henry James is one of my favorite novelists and his last three in particular (along with many of his short stories). "A world not desperate to explain itself" describes exactly the enigmatic psychological and sociological mythologies he creates, largely by the paradoxes his characters encounter and work (or don't work) their way through. It's no wonder his last and unfinished work, "The Sense of the Past" is what it is. It really bridges that gap between this and that kind of fiction and shows how non-fantasy material can create this same feeling. It makes it hard to read another novel sometimes. Those who read and enjoy James know what I mean, I hope.

@QuestMarker

11 күн бұрын

really glad you got here at the beginning of it all! I've honestly never heard of Henry James - but my American novelists pre-1920s is a bit spotty! If he has this vibe, I am definitely going to check him out. This is definitely not restrictive to just fantasy (and genre) literature, and is pervasive throughout all kinds. I definitely find Hemingway to be understated to the point of being non-desperate, too.

@hardtailgang

11 күн бұрын

Thanks for a recommendation, it sounds like something I'd like. I rarely stray out of the speculative fiction genre, but it sounds like Henry James is doing something similar to a lot of my favorite authors. Got a favorite work of his, or short story collection that would be worth starting with?

SO happy you mentioned Roadwarden. I've never had a game give me the feeling like there is HOURS of lore to explain to me yet it just doesn't. It only feeds you the bits relevant to you. The characters in the game are busy enough with their own lives and problems to give you a history lesson. You play your role in the story and that's that. One of the best roleplaying games ever made and it's made by a single dev!

@QuestMarker

3 күн бұрын

Stay tuned for more Roadwarden 😉

thank you, thank you for making this video, not only did i enjoyed the video's topic but it is something i needed to hear, something aside from constructive criticisms for my own stories, which i still welcome them, yet this topic is the one i needed to hear the most, there are some things of my own ideas that i had no idea how to explain and i felt forced to need to explain them, i'm glad that a relative of mine found this video where it had an answer, the fuel i needed so badly on wanting to make my own story a reality. as i said, thank you so much, well done my friend.

@QuestMarker

9 күн бұрын

Really glad this was helpful in your writing/worldbuilding journey. I hope it gives you the confidence to keep creating awesome stuff! Thanks for leaving the nice comment friend :)

Dude dropped the hardest edit at the end and thought we wouldn't notice

This video has transformed my thoughts and ideas in a way I thought not possible. Thank you so much!

this is why i absolutely love the His Dark Materials books, especially the first book. Philip Pullman doesnt feel the need to explain the whole world and (at least for me) it makes it feel more lived in, as if hes explaining a story about a world that we already should know.

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

I've only ever read the Golden Compass but I need to go back and finish it.

What a great analysis, loved how you used examples from different types of media. When I heard the Wildermyth music in the intro I wasn't sure if it was going to be discussed or it was just used because it's a beautiful piece of music

This is top tier content, so happy to have found you!

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

Daww that's very kind of you. I'm glad you found your way here. Thanks for leaving a comment!

This video is my first introduction to your channel, and it is amazing. I share a love of the original Star Wars, Tolkien and the other Inklings, and I dabble at writing and worldbuilding. This video is worth pondering repeatedly, and I will be looking through the rest of your content to see if I find any other gems worth keeping. Thank you for your work on this concept.

This is something I've been thinking about for several months now. I don't create anything on my own *yet...maybe one day_ but I have been searching for stories that give off the kind of vibes you describe here. Thanks for putting words to the feeling

@QuestMarker

Күн бұрын

There are a ton of recommendations for movies, games, books, and TV shows across the comments if you are looking for something! (And thanks for leaving a nice comment!)

That was amazing. Especially the crescendo over montage and speech at the end. Hope this vid, and you, find deserved success.

I love Wildermyth so much. Probably one of my favourite games of all time.

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

its cemented itself in my Top 10 RPGs ever

A writer that uses this concept very effectively is Brandon Sanderson. The Cosmere is his shared universe where multiple series take place, and you get drip-fed lore about the past of this universe bit by bit, sometimes in confusing ways. He also slides in letters characters send to one another between chapters in books that have close to nothing to do with what's happening but make sense in hindsight. He constantly builds mystery and myths all the while making previous myths more clear as he goes with the ultimate mystery of all being: what is Adonalsium, and how did the Shattering happen ? I think it's no coïncidence that Fromsoft games are his favourite games, and that he has expressed he would love to work with them in the future if they will have him.

This video is pure gold! It is exactly how I feel about the topic. You don't need to explain everything and your shouldn't. Even if you could. The mystery and questions can be so much richer and more important than the answers ever could be.

It's a little bizarre to me to use Tolkien as an example here because his secondary world is so detailed, because he did set about beginning a sequel, and because the entirety of the lord of the rings is actually detailed exploration of the Necromancer, Ring, and so forth from the Hobbit, being a kind of tell-all follow up for those dangling elements.

This is a great first video to find your channel on. Really given me a lot to think about and might be the kick in the pants for me to actually start writing stuff instead of working out every detail to a world that only currently exists in my head. Thanks man.

Man, you are speaking my language. With stories that have mysteries or lost or forgotten or ancient lore and whatnot it's so often better to want to know than to actually find out. When you're still wanting the answer, your imagination runs wild, you speculate, you come up with theories and ideas, you have fun swapping your theories with friends and peers. Once you find or are given the answer, that's all over, and I've found that pretty often it's actually kind of a downer. Not to say that every single mystery and secret should stay unresolved, but leaving some of them that way definitely lends a sense of wonder and a sort of evergreen playground for the imagination to run wild in.

Really poignant video, and really well made (as always). So glad to see this one get really good success!

@QuestMarker

3 күн бұрын

Thanks so much, PW! I always appreciate you stopping by

This video encapsulates everything I've been thinking about this topic, thank you.

@QuestMarker

9 күн бұрын

you are most welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

@nekiddo

9 күн бұрын

​@@QuestMarker I think you would love Morrowind btw

This video does such a good job of explaining something I’ve been missing from many games. I personally have had frustrations with the fact that players expect a setting desperate to explain itself, especially in tabletop gaming. D&D’s abstractions and formulaic gameplay has done terrible things to the rp side of ttrpgs. Players often get genuinely upset and confused when told that a setting doesn’t have a defined magic system. The anxiety caused by the unknown and the lack of control that not knowing causes some people to entirely sour to the idea of trying many games.

Oh my god the second I heard the background music I knew what video game you were talking about. I’m gonna get back to this video once I finish my current session in it

New to your channel, but this is the top of content I love KZread for. Just someone digging into the things that inspire their passion. It also happens to be an idea that I agree wholeheartedly with. Without mystery, there are no questions to ask. No frontiers left to explore. Let the magic flourish in mystery rather than drag it into the light of mundanity.

Incrediblle video, really glad I found it, and your channel.

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

super glad you also found me! thanks for such a nice comment! glad you enjoyed

Loved this, great work.

Wow, great video! This made me realize just HOW MUCH the original Star Wars had an influence on how I worldbuild/reveal little things about my worlds. I like to offer little glimpses or imply a larger world being at play, as if the story I'm telling is just one thread in a tapestry.

Haven’t come across your stuff before but I really enjoyed this! Currently trying to write something set in a fantasy world that I want to follow this principle but didn’t really have a good way to describe said principle til now! My thanks, and keep making videos in this style! I would certainly watch more of them

@QuestMarker

8 күн бұрын

really glad you enjoyed this! I'm glad this video helps with your worldbuilding endeavours. I definitely have a slate of videos/ideas in the pipeline that are about worlds/places in video games and beyond.

When I and my friends left the cinema the day Episode 7 released, we all asked each other what we thought of it. They had all loved it (and fair enough) and I hadn't HATED it, but I remember saying in a very confused, disappointed manner "I feel like I just watched A New Hope, but I didn't want another ANH: I already have that movie on DVD." The irony of trying remake the nostalgia of ANH is that, well, you can't remake that experience by just COPYING the movie. It's an impossible paradox. The experience of watching ANH was about novelty, suggestion, wonder, curiosity. About catching a glimpse of a whole universe that existed in and of itself, not for an audience. ANH was in no hurry tl explain itself because it simply WAS itself. So remaking that sense of new-ness - to the extent that it was even possible - demanded DOING SOMETHING NEW. However good anyone thinks Ep 7 was...it absolutely did not do somwthing new. And as a weird SW fan whose favourite SW was ANH, not ESB (because of that wonder and novelty) I still find that profoundly disappointing. I think it was the original, unfixable failure of the sequel trilogy. And apparently George Lucas agrees, saying, iirc, "there's nothing new here". All of my favourite SFF settings from when I was young created this experience: SW, LotR, 40k, China Mieville's Bas Lag series. A settings that with more going on inside it than it will ever try to explain to you. That creates the sense of wonder. But it also creates the desperate, insatiable impulse to KNOW. And there's nothing wrong with that...to a point. Sw would have been poorer for not spawning ESB and RotJ. But at the same time, the desperate nerdy desire to know everything, to explain everything, to list and catalogue everything? It kills the experience that we had in the first place. Some people don't mind, and that's alright. But I think we could all try to become more like Frodo: "fine, keep your secrets". That feeling of unsolveable mystery is what these stories were first written to create in us.

This really nails one of the reasons Fumito Ueda’s three games are all so great. Deep histories, ancient civilizations, and magic systems that MUST have rules, none of which are explained beyond that which is centrally important to the very human stories being told. The room for imagination is truly endless, and continues to captivate myself and so many others even after many years and playthroughs.

I don’t really play video games, so I have no idea why KZread recommended this video to me but I’m glad it did. Incredibly well done. Such a poignant look into the art of storytelling.

Great video, I appreciate stories which let people understand without knowing. Lore is a distraction, stories are what's important.

Fun fact about the Death Star boardroom scene: in the original script, and the comic adaptation that was based on it, it took place BEFORE Obi-Wan tells Luke about the fall of the Jedi. That line, the Force and Vader choking Motti come completely from left field and the viewer has absolutely no point of reference. Swapping the two scenes in the final cut is likely the single most important decision to making Star Wars work. It should also be noted that Episode I, the movie that should be watched first in Lucas' preferred viewing order never offers a clear explanation of the Force and relies on the cultural osmosis of the entire Star Wars franchise to make sense.

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

this is a great fun fact. I never knew that! I do know that a lot of the brilliance of Star Wars was in the editing room

Very Calming and somehow reassuring... good work, thanks.

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

thank you for leaving a nice comment!

I agree with you on some points and disagree on others. My favourite kinds of stories are those fully of mysteries, but mysteries that can be solved, or at least guessed at, if it matters to you to search it out. I agree that I don’t like when explanations for everything are shoved in your face as the world tries desperately to explain itself, but exploring and learning more about the world is what I love.

Devil May Cry 1 and Devil May Cry 3 did this wonderfully. DMC1 had you explore an island and you only understand maybe half of the scope of what happened by interacting with stuff throughout the castle and asking questions about the demons you're fighting. Dante wasn't a wacky dude then but an accomplished spiritual investigator so you were supposed to tap into that. In DMC3, the game was heavily focused on relationships and rebellion but it doesn't tell you anything. Instead you're supposed to draw connections as the story unfolds. By the end of the game, you're stuck with as many questions as you have answers about the characters and their past, the overall history of the demon tower you're exploring and the events that happened there, and how it all ties together into the game's chronological sequel DMC1.

this was wonderful, thank you.

Thanks for adding the song list!

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

No problem, hope you find something new that you like!

Yeah this video's gonna blow up. Great job!

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

we're doing it! let's gooooo

@graydogger5711

9 күн бұрын

@@QuestMarker lol, I'm glad to hear. I kinda suspected it was gonna happen given that this video was recommended to me despite never watching any of your other stuff. Stand proud

@QuestMarker

9 күн бұрын

@@graydogger5711 thank you friend. and thanks for your support! now to just keep the momentum

This is the first video of yours I've seen. It was very good. Thank you for it.

Great story telling with this video! I liked your style of video essay :)

@QuestMarker

10 күн бұрын

I am very happy you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for leaving a comment

Thanks for this, I genuinely needed this video right now. I've been too lost in over-analyzation as of late, overthinking everything, as is my penchant. On another note, I think, maybe, it was narnia that first inspired in me my love for this type of story.

Loved the video. Glad to subscribe to your channel.

I enjoyed this video so much. In the current trend of hard magic and hard world building in fantasy books, its refreshing to hear someone praise soft worldbuilding. Also, its inspiring realizing how often Tolkien would just say "I don't know" or go back to what he had already written and puzzle some small details out, but leave things very shadowy and open.

Damn that montage at the end made me tear up and I haven't even played half those games

@ALFASKWODRUN

4 күн бұрын

It’s that Witcher music. It’ll get you every time.

Great vid! I’ve spoke on my own channel before about the kind of pedagogy of lore-hunting that’s sprung up around From’s games, and the ways that that’s been detrimental to the way we can talk about them. It’s hard to engage with the way an experience makes you feel if you’re preoccupied with piecing together an objective accounting of its fictional history! Not only can a world be too eager to explain itself, but we can be too eager to explain a world

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

hell yeah brother. we smalltubers gotta stick together! "we can be too eager to explain a world" is a great part 2 to the quote.

This video encapsulates everything ive been trying to do eith my worldbuilding without realizing it. I've been making a setting for D&D for several years and delving into some specific details like how magic works and obsessing over making conlangs (because I ultimately want to write some kind of fantasy series out of this too). This is making me step back and realize that I don't need all that, for a book or for D&D. I can have a background reason but it doesn't need to be fully explained or even really planned ahead of time as long as there's enough structure to begin with.

Really enjoyed this! It's maybe a rote response in the "video games writing" space, but I think Disco Elysium has a lot of this DNA in it too. It's a fantastic and weird world, but the game rarely forces you to learn anything about it. You just get enough of a vibe from dialect differences and various little oddities from conversations for a long time, and then some of the fantastical elements build up a bit more later on. I'm glad to see this is blowing up. A friend linked me your Assassin's Creed 3 Ratonhnhaké:ton analysis a few months ago, and I've been quietly following along since then. Would love to see this kind of attention on your Witcher 3 elves video.

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

I really need to try to get into Disco Elysium again! I've tried twice to get into, but I had a lot of difficulty engaging because of the plentiful text + the narrator and then getting bored out of my mind. I have to fiddle with the settings on that more, I think. And really awesome to hear you liked the AC3 vid (it's still one of the ones I'm most proud of!), and my one about the Elves. Thanks for being here pre-blowup. It means a lot!

I appreciate your skepticism of the elden ring lore divers, folks seemingly latched on on autopilot to unravel and demystify every bit of trivia about the lands between before there was even a coherent or prescient story in view

Good on you and anyone like you. I, on the contrary, am too curious and have always been stressed at not learning everything. I can leave with slowly discovering stuff, but never learning the lore would be too much pain for me.

This is a great video about an important yet neglected underpinning of modern media. I can't help but relate this thoroughness in which a worldbuilder explains the world to the reader to the notion of respect. I can't quite pin why, but I feel disrespected when I'm spoon-fed an entirely comprehensive lore with no holes or "stones left unturned". Maybe it's that, with omissions, narratives and worlds have the capacity to mean more to the consumer, as the mental exercise of subconsciously filling, re-emptying, and re-interpreting those narrative holes is part of the intrinsic enjoyment of consuming stories. Perhaps it's more about how this process, especially in the case of Star Wars, leads to a complete commodification of the lore. Answers become things you have to buy and consume to find out, gradually stifling curiosity in the name of stipulating everything in pursuit of profit. Nonetheless, I heavily agree with your sentiment here. I see these omissions as respectful gifts to the consumer: a sort of "you can do what you want with the rest".

@hardtailgang

11 күн бұрын

Dude I totally get that feeling of being "disrespected" by being spoon fed in fiction. I get so annoyed that it makes me actually angry. I remember actually flinging a book across the room one time lol. I really resonate with your sentence: "Maybe it's that, with omissions, narratives and worlds have the capacity to mean more to the consumer, as the mental exercise of subconsciously filling, re-emptying, and re-interpreting those narrative holes is part of the intrinsic enjoyment of consuming stories." Well said. Totally agree. One of my favorite quotes by one of my favorite authors: “My definition of good literature is that which can be read by an educated reader, and reread with increased pleasure.” ― Gene Wolfe

@QuestMarker

8 күн бұрын

This is a great comment, thanks so much for leaving it! "Commodification of the lore" is very much a thing (what a convenient way to reintroduce and remerchandise Bobba Fett, I must say! I'll stop my cynicism there). I agree with you wholeheartedly -- and I feel disrespected when "we can't just let things be." It's been like this for a long, long time - but it's always easier to do things familiar and providing logic and reasoning because we're too worried about readers not being able to 'figure it out', misinterpreting, or risk our stories being called illogical. The quote by @hardtailgang from Gene Wolf really hits below. (and Gene Wolfe has come up in a different comments on this video!)

Absolutely love this video, it really mirrors the kind of worlds I want to write about!

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

That's awesome - keep on writing!

And this is exactly why I love frictional games' games so much. Especially the older titles. Lovecraftian horror if the fear of the unknown and they conveyed it pretty well in the first few games.

Idk if disco elysium fits into the description of worls not desperate to explain themselves, it explains a lot but honestly most of it doesn't matter to the game, the world is and you're just in it. One of my favorite quotes is from outer wilds and i think about it all the time, "the universe is and we are". I feel like it fits for this discussion i just can't put into words how

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

Definitely some other folks have mentioned Disco Elysium in the chat, so I think it fits!

very cool video. downright inspiring.

I think one of the strongest aspects of a good story or setting, whether in literature, film, or games, is in their mysteries and their unknowables-- not simply because the unknown is a space onto which our minds can project their imaginations, although that is a part of it-- but because in the very fact that a thing is unknowable but the story ends anyways, and usually well, we get a gentle nudge from the part of our brain that knows and reminds us that its okay to not know everything. It's not a failing to be left without the pieces to complete a thousand-year-old puzzle, nor does the small tragedy of that knowledge being lost prevent us from appreciating what remains in the here and now, and how beautiful and strange and exciting and scary it can all be. So often in daily life we become so focused on what we have to do to get by and whether we can achieve our goals, or even just get through another hellish day. That's not a failing either, it's just what you feel like you have to do to survive. But that stress and exhaustion wearing on the soul feels unnatural and inflicted, even for those lucky enough that it isn't inflicted upon them by another, and it's just the world spinning along and the logical followings of our actions. But at least to me, the purest and most restful moments for the soul are those moments where we experience true awe and wonder and curiosity all mixed together. Staring into the night sky and wondering how much exists out in the void that we'll never see, and what things we will see. Having a moment of shock and excitement and confusion and curiosity as a new piece of art that astounds you is dropped into your lap. The anticipation and uncertainty of what you'll hear and feel when you put your foot down on a crunchy leaf or a thin sheet of ice in the gutter, but knowing it will be satisfying. To one of your examples in games: **spoiler for Outer Wilds, go no further if ye have not played** The strongest moments and most memorable in the game for me weren't when the puzzle pieces all clicked together for the timeline of events in the main game, or how the DLC fit into it. Those were incredible moments, to be sure, and the mysteries of why things happened exactly as they did are never fully explained, which I appreciated. But it was actually the moments that forced me to stare into a great unknown and accept that it was okay to just wonder at it because there was nothing I could do to learn more just then. Falling into the halls of time on the Eye, and briefly seeing an abstract glimpse of the fabric of a thousand universes and times before falling back into the ending of mine. Talking to Riebeck at the fire right before the final jump, and hearing them say, "The future is always built on what came before, even if we're not there to see it." Walking into the water after freeing the Prisoner and wondering whether our souls really did go together into a great unknown life after this one. Those moments of awe, wonder, and *catharsis* in knowing that it was okay to be too limited to get the answer, because whatever the answer was, we were now a part of it. It's that feeling that comes rushing back to me whenever I think about that game. Not the fear of splashing down on Giant's Deep the first time, not the excitement of realizing you could use the comet's orbit swinging close to the sun to slip inside the icy core, and not even the sadness of understanding the tragedies of the groups who meet their end in the story. That curiosity mixed with wonder, excitement, grief, and gratitude to be where I was experiencing what I was-- that awe-- it's still rolling about within me to this day, the same as the awe I felt reading a fantasy book for the first time and getting sucked into the world. Thanks for making a wonderful video reflecting on your own experiences with mystery and unanswered questions in media. You slowly led into the topic by laying a framework of many different settings where this plays out, highlight some of your favorite examples of it and why the open-endedness matters, and then left off with a discussion of where you got the spark to light the fire of this story, giving credit where it is due. You did a fabulous job. Like and sub well-earned, but don't let the interest and expectations of a bunch of us strangers on the internet who cone flooding in after this video become a burden to you if you can help it. Just keep making what you're interested in making, and hopefully you find an audience large enough and supportive enough to help you carry on as long as you'd like. All the best.

@QuestMarker

8 күн бұрын

Hey I just wanted to say this was very nice to read (even though I did my best to just avoid those Outer Wilds spoilers! ... because it's a game I still need to get to the end on!). Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. There's a few things that stood out to me, You've definitely touched on something - on things being "unknowable but the story ends anyways." I think there's something very primal about us where we have a hard time with things ending, and a harder time without knowing. It's almost against our nature, even though the best stories stick with us because it is very much the thing we struggle with - not knowing (perhaps that's the reason!). "Staring into the night sky" - you'll be pleased to know a lot of Wildermyth has a relationship with the night sky, sunsets, stars, moons, etc. I think there's a reason why it does, and it is so naturally invoking of wonder and awe. And lastly, with your final comments, I'm really glad the structure resonated with you. It's always a struggle to doing what you like - at the risk of being a bit meandering. But I try to only make what I like to make! Thank you for your words of support and warning - I hope I can just continue making stuff that resonates, and making stuff where I get to learn and explore too. That was very much what this video was. It was a great excuse to read some of Tolkien's letters, and learn from the devs of Wildermyth, and talk about some of favourite things in stories. See you on the next one! ;D

Cultist Simulator and Book of Hours by Weather Factory are some of my favorite examples of this! Alexis Kennedy's writing is some of the most beautiful and literate and yet cryptic and mysterious I've encountered in video games.

@QuestMarker

5 күн бұрын

I've heard about Cultist Simulator... but never Book of Hours! I'll add it to my list

Great video, thought provoking for worldbuilders & storytellers. I was struggling with the translation of lore to players without it becoming a wikiquest of spoilers. We learn thru stories , our cultures established with morality tales, ancient authority based on interpretations of history and complicated relationships between societies factions. Maintaining a sense of influential everyday mythology and an immersive understanding of ‘commonsense’ of the stories environment without it becoming a lore dump seems possible if I can discover the ‘game mechanics’ of what you’ve presented here. This is the trap I find myself doing research on KZread. Constant inspiration for the exploration of so many aspects of pure creativity that I never get anything finished. Now I must go down the rabbit hole of your suggestions. The more you know reveals how so much more there is to go.

Bro your channel seems new and your content is so impressive!! New fan!!