I think this project is interesting enough to warrant its own thread.

TRAILER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2enbYOMtR4I

So just this week, FromSoftware (Demon Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro) announced their largest project to date -- an open world action RPG in a brand new 'high fantasy', with story and worldbuilding being co-created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin.

If you're totally and completely unfamiliar with the FromSoftware's more recent trend of titles (starting with Demon's Souls and then going through the Dark Souls trilogy, along with the masterpiece fusion of dark Victorian/Lovecraftian cosmic horror Bloodborne, and most recently the Edo Japan set action game Sekiro), then this may not mean much to you -- but now (or whenever this game comes out) might be the time to give the developer's next entry a shot.

Miyazaki is already a proven master worldbuilder and creator of dark, epic fantasy settings and lore -- the Dark Souls games mythos, as well as Bloodborne, contain what is genuinely the best 'serious' dark fantasy worldbuilding, lore, mythology -- from gods and monsters to articles of clothing and weapons -- that I have ever played personally, and is literally the only stuff I can think of that I'd actually say is able to rub shoulders with the great epic fantasy worlds of literature (the works of Tolkien, GRRM, RSB, etc.).

So perhaps it's not SUPER suprising that when Miyazaki reached out to G.R.R.M for a little help on creating the vast new world and setting for Elden Ring, G.R.R.M. accepted it. You don't even need to have played Miyazaki's games -- simply read some stuff online, or watch any of the countless 'lore' videos online -- to get an idea for just how special the worlds he creates already are. Few games have the sense truly being in a world that was old long before you ever got there, and which -- similarly in many ways to unravelling the metaphysics or backstory of TSA -- are always experiences that treat the player like an intelligent adult, where the more effort you put into solving the riddle of some mysterious ruined fortress (and usually a complex and tragic tale for whatever eldritch abomination likely dwells in it) or dungeon, the more one is rewarded with layers upon layers of history, complex yet original mythology, and some of the coolest and creepiest characters and settings you're likely ever to come across.

If you're interested and want to learn more, there's a solid interview with Miyazaki here:
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2019/06/09/hidetaka-miyazaki-and-george-rr-martin-present-elden-ring/

Regarding the collaboration with George R. R. Martin, can you further explain how this collaboration came about and in what role it has served throughout the project?

Miyazaki: I suppose the start of this collaboration came from the fact that I myself am I huge fan of Mr. Martin’s work.

I loved “A Song of Ice and Fire” as well as the “Tuf Voyaging” series, however if I had to pick a favorite I would probably say “Fevre Dream.”

I personally see “Fevre Dream” as a masterpiece among vampire fantasy and had even previously recommended it to all new employees.

Me being such a known fan of Mr. Martin caused our executive business director Eiichi Nakajima to reach out to him with the expectation that we would get turned down.

However, we were then given the rare opportunity to talk one-on-one with Mr. Martin which was an incredibly fun and stimulating experience. It was then that I strongly felt that I wanted to work with Mr. Martin.

I am still unable to put into words how grateful I am to Mr. Martin for agreeing to our offer.

The actual collaboration itself begun with Mr. Martin ever so politely confirming what sorts of themes, ideas as well as many game-related aspects I had envisioned for the game.

This allowed us to have many free and creative conversations regarding the game, in which Mr. Martin later used as a base to write the overarching mythos for the game world itself.

This mythos proved to be full of interesting characters and drama along with a plethora of mystical and mysterious elements as well. It was a wonderful source of stimulus for me and the development staff.

Elden Ring’s world was constructed using this mythos and stimulus as a base. Even I myself find it hard to contain my excitement from time to time. We hope that everyone else is looking forward to the world we have created.

She can die in childbirth, we'll name it Serweel, after herself, her namesake, and her father (also a pun on surreal because its ridiculous, but definitely happening.).

Serweel needs to be a thing.

Unfortunately I have a feeling that if Serwa bears any children, they will be of the half Nonman variety, and probably several of them at once, given the Dunyain female's genetics. But who knows, maybe a Dunyain woman can bear children from more than one father at a time...? Stranger things have happened.

Also looking back at this original OP, I have no idea why I thought Mimara's survival was a 'coin flip', since at this point I no longer remember not being 100% confidant that she (along with Akka, Esmi, and baby) survived. Otherwise it's the same, other than that I'm perhaps slightly less inclined to believe Aurang lived, even though his death is still suspiciously written to me. Feels like a door RSB left open for himself, just in case.

In the spirit of posterity, I'd also definitely add motherfucking Shauriatas to the list of "survivors" with zero hesitation. I'm completely convinced that he -- or it -- never went anywhere, but rather the Mutilated are now basically just upgraded versions of the Larvals.

The showdown in the Golden Room was as much 'Shauriatas vs Ajokli' as it was 'Mutilated vs Kellhus'.

"An angel is depicted there who looks as though he were about to distance himself from something, which he is staring at. His eyes are opened wide, his mouth stands open and his wings are outstretched. The Angel of History must look just so. His face is turned towards the past. Where we see the appearance of a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe, which unceasingly piles rubble on top of rubble and hurls it before his feet. He would like to pause for a moment so fair, to awaken the dead and to piece together what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has caught itself up in his wings and is so strong that the Angel can no longer close them. The storm drives him irresistibly into the future, to which his back is turned, while the rubble-heap before him grows sky-high. That which we call progress, is this storm."

Walter Benjamin, Theses on the Philosophy of History

"The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him."
- William Faulkner

This feels like a pretty big deal TBH. I mean I'm not even remotely qualified to have an opinion beyond that, but like, this seems like kind of a big deal right? 

Awesome stuff as always Sci.

Someone should make some Sranc meat candy, and Chorae key chains, and also Pez dispensers of the main cast. The merchandising possibilities are endless!

Quote from: Francis Buck on April 15, 2019, 05:00:35 pm

The real question is, how does Roko's Basilisk stack up against the No-God?

Did God lose Himself in the “labyrinth of the continuum”?

Quote

A second reason why I like this theory is that it enables us to explain why the universe is not perfect, despite being the mathematical image of ASA (or ‘God’ if you prefer). For, as Turing showed (as part of his proof of the undecidability of the halting problem), by far most of the real numbers are uncomputable and therefore transcendental. This means that their decimal expansions cannot be generated by any algorithm. Thus, from the perspective of algorithmic information theory, their decimal expansions are totally random. In being aware of the continuum, therefore, ASA is aware of something that is for the most part unordered, a kind of primordial chaos. ASA’s attempt to find patterns in the continuum (in order to mirror itself in those patterns) must therefore be extraordinarily difficult, indeed virtually impossible, since the ordered part of the continuum is infinitesimally small compared to the unordered part. In fact, if one could randomly pick out a real number (say, by pricking somewhere in the real number line with an infinitely sharp needle), the probability of getting an uncomputable number is approximately 1 (cf. Chaitin 2005: 113)! Perhaps this explains why the universe, despite being an image of ASA, is not perfect? It must, after all, be close to impossible for ASA to find order in the continuum.

Hm, very interesting indeed. Any chance you could elaborate on --

Oh I barely think I understand the quote or the essay itself...so not sure if it would make a difference?

-- ah, welp. Something to mull over!

(#Team No-God)

The real question is, how does Roko's Basilisk stack up against the No-God?