Fantasy worlds and what I grew up with

As I grew up there were certain fantasy worlds that connected with me more than others, so I thought I'd list them here and what I loved about them so much.

Fighting Fantasy

I think a lot of people my age can remember the fighting fantasy books where you'd read a paragraph and then it would give you some options and instruct you which page to move to and so on; sometimes having to fight monsters on the route or solve puzzles.

These were the only books I could ever read as an 8 year old. I was a late developer when it came to reading and I'm still not the best reader now, but there were certain books or subject matters that would instantly click and I'd happily read them all day long.

It was when I was introduced to Advanced Fighting Fantasy that my obsession really stuck in. Being taken on those first adventures, with my brothers and 2 friends whose family had a holiday home near our house. The eldest of these two friends would take us on adventures through the grimy streets of Blacksand or into a Warlocks tower. It was all, what I now consider, classic medieval fantasy; wizards, warriors, rogues; magic swords, amulets and healing potions.

The Old World

When my brothers and I first started exploring Games Workshop and it's games we first went towards the futuristic Warhammer 40k. Our first game was Space Crusade and then we went into 2nd edition 40k. At the time I remember enjoying it, but I never really understood it, or rather, it didn't really grab me. I remember really wanting Heroquest, but we went into 40k and my brothers grew up playing that throughout their teenage years.

Once I got a little older and started to become a little more independent my friends and I quickly made the switch to Warhammer Fantasy and it became our lives! We instantly fell in love with the kingdoms of High Elves, The Empire, Bretonnia; each of us finding our own little space on the map to engross ourselves in its armies units, history and feel.

The Warhammer world probably appealed so much because it's development lie in the hands of the people who wrote the Fighting Fantasy books! So the dark, grim fantasy world instantly appealed to us.

Star Wars

In one of the many arguments we had as kids between Star War and Star Trek, I was always a Star Wars fanatic! I watched some Star Trek, because it was on and my brothers enjoyed it. But the Star Wars universe was the first Sci Fi that really gripped me.

I cannot say how many times I've watched the original three films, but it's got to be well over 10 times each (and embarrassingly, probably nearer 20...). I had a Star Wars encyclopaedia and knew almost every planet and variant of the star destroyer there were - even the ones not shown in the films!

Tolkien's Middle Earth

I actually came quite late to this. It was my mum who introduced me properly to it when she lent me a copy of The Hobbit and then I left it sat on a book shelf somewhere for a few years before finally reading it.

The Hobbit, if I remember rightly, was the first proper novel I ever read. I think I was 18, or maybe nearer 20. Either way, it was a break through moment for me. I had never thought I could enjoy a set story so much. Previously, one of my reasons for not wanting, or being able to, read a novel was because I felt I would get frustrated at the lack of interaction and control I had over the outcome. I always wanted to play inside a world, not be led through a story. But The Hobbit showed me how good good literature was.

I now recognised how significant Tolkien was to everything based in medieval fantasy. I've read The Lord of the Rings and have really enjoyed books edited and published latterly, by J.R.R. Tolkien's son, Christopher Tolkien.

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As always there is a reason I wanted to write this post, I wasn't just being self indulgent chatting about what I loved and grew up with. The reason I wanted to write about it was because I often wonder why my preferences are the way they are.

 

Anyone who might have read anything in my blog before would know that I really hate level based systems and I hated games that thrive off "loot" and crazy magical super power weapons and such. These, I feel, I perpetuations of aspects that were really important in all the stories and worlds that I do enjoy. It was finding a magical sword in Fighting Fantasy that we all craved, but would never happen! When it did it was something amazing and satisfying. In Star Wars, the fact that Luke Skywalker was a Jedi and had amazing powers was very cool, but only because he was essentially an ultra rare freak with a sensitivity to an invisible force. Gandalf was one of only a few wizards in all of Middle Earth.

 

When Star Wars Galaxy gave way to class based "balancing" and was then re-hashed into a new MMO where everyone could be a Jedi, it was no longer a game trying to give people a chance to experience the Star Wars universe. Games where you find magic items in every loot drop have no depth in my opinion. Massive customisation in games without needing to give any regard to the a world's lore is pandering to modern wants. We all have too much and we all want more, and this is something that I feel has a massive negative effect on nearly all fantasy and sci fi RPGs.