There's no hero to identify with. And OA goes to great ends to make sure everyone understands that. It's our most talked about subject - intertoposophic conflict. To be fair, we're kind of smug about it. We lampoon the basic idea as - well - stupid and childish. We make fun of the square-jawed manly hero character.
Now - in our defense, our take on the thing is reasonable. But that's not what the wider audience is wanting. They don't want "reasonable". Reasonable is CSPAN. They want entertainment.
They want the greek hero to stand in defiance of the gods of Olympus and win - not because he's stronger or smarter, but because he's a good and honorable man.
Yeah - old and tired trope is old and tired. But it's what makes the wider audience happy.
There's a reason Star Trek is popular and other, "hard sci-fi" material isn't. And the important question is this: Do you want this worldbuilding project to be a soft sci-fi space opera setting that allows for such? Or do you want this place to remain Orion's Arm?
I'm pretty certain I know everyone's answer - and that leads to the conclusion that we're just not going to please this wider audience and should focus on what we do, not what they want. New people that like what OA is will find us - as they always have - and they'll hang around and enrich the project. People who want something else...well...they can start their own. Good luck to them - and I might even pop in and assist if I'm welcome.
Now - in our defense, our take on the thing is reasonable. But that's not what the wider audience is wanting. They don't want "reasonable". Reasonable is CSPAN. They want entertainment.
They want the greek hero to stand in defiance of the gods of Olympus and win - not because he's stronger or smarter, but because he's a good and honorable man.
Yeah - old and tired trope is old and tired. But it's what makes the wider audience happy.
There's a reason Star Trek is popular and other, "hard sci-fi" material isn't. And the important question is this: Do you want this worldbuilding project to be a soft sci-fi space opera setting that allows for such? Or do you want this place to remain Orion's Arm?
I'm pretty certain I know everyone's answer - and that leads to the conclusion that we're just not going to please this wider audience and should focus on what we do, not what they want. New people that like what OA is will find us - as they always have - and they'll hang around and enrich the project. People who want something else...well...they can start their own. Good luck to them - and I might even pop in and assist if I'm welcome.