Mahou Shoujo × Haiboku Saiban - Vol. 3 Ch. 12 - Case 4 Oribe Yahiro Part 5

[UdenEmpati]

I think a major reason why this title seems to have more going into it that others, is because most other stories are formulaic and tropey as hell. It seems like everything just recycles the same exact story, and copies the same exact characters over and over again, to the point where everything just feels like we've read it all before. I've even seen authors literally recycle their own works to basically make endless clone of the same exact story. A magical girl court room story -- with straight-up fetish porn punishments -- is a surprisingly new take that I'm surprised that I have not seem before. It's completely different from your typical dense, doormat MC that's a genius at everything, yet makes really stupid decisions because of plot.

And I know that most people go into those forums with the intent of writing actual stories in their worlds, but I just like world building for world building sake. I have no intention of publishing anything, so I don't have to be bothered with trying to make the characters and story interesting for everyone. All that matters is that the world is interesting to me, and that means that I am free to create anything that I like.

I can't tell you how much time I've lost going down various rabbit holes, trying to make my worlds "realistic" in their settings. I've spent weeks searching forums and wracking my brain to come up with a solution to "Medieval Stasis" that didn't involve just "ignoring the problem". The solutions I came up with is to keep everything limited to one continent, cheap labor due of overpopulation, entrenched class system, a world filled with monsters, with sudden and devastating invasions from monster hordes that appear out of nowhere; the types we see in Goblin Slayer and Dragon Age. Dragon Age sucks now, but the first game was good, and I like the idea of truly evil enemies that you can never negotiate with, always on the rampage in the form of the Dark Spawn. I've even made sure most of the continent is hugs the tropics, to make sure people have a good reason to wear little, if at all, clothing. NUDITY, HELL YEAH! And yeah, I have perverted mind. But we're 12 chapters into this story. We're all perverts here.

I get the drive to want to build something interesting, for sure.
It's a bit of a cop out in its own way - but I do also like "civilization-ending war resets technology back to swords and horses", a la when the Roman Empire crumbled and the "Dark Ages" begin in Europe (simplifying, but) - when you have people staring up at crumbling aqueducts wondering "who the hell built stuff like that"

Requires a lot of history in the world, but can "justify" things being reset to pre-gunpowder times in terms of technology, and litters the world with relics of a more advanced past for people to find and use (assuming you'd eventually use the world for a game of D&D or Pathfinder or GURPS or something, which is where I admittedly end up going).

 

[DeadToReal]

I get the drive to want to build something interesting, for sure.
It's a bit of a cop out in its own way - but I do also like "civilization-ending war resets technology back to swords and horses", a la when the Roman Empire crumbled and the "Dark Ages" begin in Europe (simplifying, but) - when you have people staring up at crumbling aqueducts wondering "who the hell built stuff like that"

Requires a lot of history in the world, but can "justify" things being reset to pre-gunpowder times in terms of technology, and litters the world with relics of a more advanced past for people to find and use (assuming you'd eventually use the world for a game of D&D or Pathfinder or GURPS or something, which is where I admittedly end up going).

It's not so much of a cop-out when the civilization they descended from never developed guns and the Industrial Revolution in the first place. It also helps that magic lets people get away with not having to understand the world they way we did, in order to progress. I mean, why bother understanding how the human body and germs work, when all you have to do is find a healer or drink some potion? Of course, don't drink too much of those potions -- you'll get cancer.

Magic is basically a cheat code that lets civilizations advance without the technological understanding that our world own needed. Regular large wars means that valuable resources and attention are spent on defense, survival, and rebuilding. Monster hordes and roving bands of bandits means that most of the population is stuck walled cities for survival, with only basic and unreliable trade between cities and regions. Guilds, too, play a role in stifling development, by acting as both a monopoly and a mafia. And since people can't leave those cities and large towns without risking their lives, people have to choice but to put up with the nobility and guilds that have a monopoly on power.

Also, weather and climate does have a surprisingly huge role in technological development. A lot of advancements were made because people had to survive in cold weather, or desert environments. Setting them in warm green environments helps limit advancement, simply because there is no need to solve many of those survival problems in the first place.

It is basically a more dangerous version of early Medieval Europe, but it is the only way I can think of to have a plausible way of making sure civilization never advances beyond a stereotypical Medieval Fantasy setting for thousands of years.

And the Dark Ages weren't actually that dark at all. People actually knew who built those aqueducts and roads, but they simply didn't have the money and labor to actually maintain those things any longer. Western Europe basically ran out of money by the time the Western Roman Empire fell, and the lack of slaves meant there was no labor to do anything. It really is true that the Roman Empire was built on the backs of slaves.