People think they want to know, but they really don’t. Honestly. When you have just enough clues to put together wondrous and amorphous theories of what really happened, a world of possibility is opened up. But, the moment an explanation is given, it reduces the infinite number of possibilities to a single truth, and that truth may not be as grand as the not-so-thought-out-ideas in your (speaking in the “general” term when saying “your”) head.
Oh, and PDO does make sense chronologically. That doesn’t mean it’s a great story by any means, but it fits in the timeline just fine.
Indeed ever since this year i have entered a land where there are portals that lead to other worlds all of which are connected together. But all of these worlds contain dragons, it’s amazing!
Dragons are OK, I don’t think I’ve ever been particularly enamored of them as a rule, kind of like Superman or something they’re too archetypal of form and concept most of the time.
But these dragons, dragoons or whatever, are somehow far more tangible, frightening, alien and at the same time knowable than any others have ever been to me. The portrayal avoids any of the cliched anthropomorphizing that afflicts most ‘friendly’ dragons, yet bespeaks a terrible and magnetic intelligence as well. These dragons are also enigmatic without being outright mythical, godlike in capability, yet fending off demigods is essentially their purpose of being.
In the end it might just be the animation, it convinces me this entity is alive and real, far better than any other dragons I’ve met anyway.
I couldn’t agree more, sorry to go off topic a bit but I felt the same for BladeRunner for years and years I wanted some sort of answer to weather Deckard was a replicants or a human. Then when I found out the truth I didn’t want to belive it .
Sometimes its best not know, and just use ones Imagination.
Also I can’t help but feel some times people try and read far to much into a event or part of a game (more so with Panzer) , and come up with all these Theories and other stuff Some times I bet over stuff , that the Team never ment to happen, and were just put into the game by chance , and not with some massive meaning behind it .
You’re all taking it out of context, anyway. It doesn’t matter what the developers had in mind, the fact that the game ignites the imagination in such profound ways is a feat that is very rarely accomplished in storytelling. Though the main mysteries should probably remain unsolved, it wouldn’t hurt to have SOME questions answered.
Is an anthropologist or archaeologist better off not knowing ‘the truth’? While a search may be it’s own greatest reward, any search can have no purpose without a real possibility of the finding, and one conclusion does not mean the end to searching. Abadd’s viewpoint there, while insightful and relevant, is really about the pitfall of prejudice. The attachment to one possible ‘truth’ that may be biased by yearnings and notions that have nothing to do with the stimulus of the immediate search.
In essence it is about the search being called prematurely.
[quote=“Heretic Agnostic”]Is an anthropologist or archaeologist better off not knowing ‘the truth’? While a search may be it’s own greatest reward, any search can have no purpose without a real possibility of the finding, and one conclusion does not mean the end to searching. Abadd’s viewpoint there, while insightful and relevant, is really about the pitfall of prejudice. The attachment to one possible ‘truth’ that may be biased by yearnings and notions that have nothing to do with the stimulus of the immediate search.
In essence it is about the search being called prematurely.[/quote]
One thing you aren’t taking into consideration, though, is the difference between science and fantasy. The purpose of archeology is not to uncover “wondrous” things, but rather, to find out the specifics of what happened. Whether or not the discoveries are interesting or mundane is irrelevant.
In a fictional story, on the other hand, it is entirely relevant whether or not the “truth” is interesting or satisfying to the end user. The purpose of these stories is to entertain… and in a case like Panzer, where the mysteries have sat in the public domain for a number of years without answers, and where a story was so well-crafted that fans have been able to think up an amazing number of theories on their own, providing an answer that may not be as wondrous as having a multitude of possibilities would simply kill the magic.
Take a look at Star Wars. When it was just the original trilogy, people were dying to know what happened before those movies. Putting the quality of the second trilogy aside, the story itself was not that interesting… which lessens the impact of the original quality. People can say that Lucas didn’t do it right or whatever, but he is the creator. He writes the “truth” of that world. So now, fans are left with an answer that they find unacceptable.
for some people, no matter how good a story turns out, they’ll never be satisfied. If it’s not to their liking, they won’t be happy.
I think that’s how people felt about both the Star Wars prequels and Orta
I agree actually Abadd, but I wanted to put a finer point on your generalization. It had a very fatalistic, and somewhat condescending character as you presented it, the idea that “you” may think “you” want to know these things but not actually want to know them… is a faulty way to put it. That is not the same thing as being disappointed by the knowledge once gained.
No matter what it comes down to two primary options, to either lock what one does know in a cage where it will be forever “perfect” and static, or set it free and risk disappointment.
Indeed I must say I agree with Heretic on this one. Although I definitely do see where you’re coming from Abadd. I know that I would probably be one of the ones to bitch and moan if it turned out to be a sub par experience
Still, I do believe the risk would be worth it, if there was a good development team behind it who knew what they were doing and understood what Panzer was all about.
Now about the Star Wars prequels: A lot of people hated them, but I wonder if - apart from the direction of the movies, that story itself was actually the reason for this? If we take away the bad dialogue and the fact that we all knew how Episode 3 was going to end, was the plot itself really that bad? I actually found all the political stuff going on the prequels much more interesting than the straight forward Good Rebels vs the Evil Empire stuff in episodes 4, 5, and 6.
For me the Star Wars prequels were mostly a matter of inferior storytelling by comparison. Except for one factor, did Lucas always have it in mind that Anakin was so weak minded that he had been manipulated so easily? Darth Vader is a sad joke forever now… but then again Star Wars was never all that special to me.
By contrast, I was absolutely prepared for disappointment from Orta, and I also knew that disappointment could not diminish the worthiness of what I had already received from the experience of Panzer Dragoon.
[quote]but he is the creator. He writes the “truth” of that world. So now, fans are left with an answer that they find unacceptable.
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One could also say the same about the Maxtrix moves
Where parts II and III were just drivel ,and it would have been better to just leave it with the 1st movie . It worked so much better , than the sequels even though they were made my the same Team .
Exactly the same thing with the * Alien * series where they could’ve concluded it at the end of the first movie but continued and made * Aliens * and then were a failure in * Alien 3 * however they made a comeback in * Alien: Resurrection *
Still it is fascination that gets the best of us at times along with lust for more when some stories we don’t wanna end yet. Personally I agree with all of you here. But not all is so bad, sure you have those that will go beyond what is said and pretty much act like a bloody git. But then you have those who pick out valuable info. Well, I think I might have confused you all here but you can see perhaps what I am getting at. The reason most likely they continued the * Panzer Dragoon Series * after the original * Panzer Dragoon * was probably because in the first game, there was not much going on in it, the characters hardly spoke so it was hard to tell what was going to happen most of the time, they needed more dialogue and more storyline to add to it. In a way, I say they were success * Pandora’s Box * was…
Anybody understand me here and somewhat agree? Feedback is most appreciated…
Oh and yeah before when I got into * Panzer Dragoon: Orta * for the first time, I thought it was bad but then when I saw the dragon, I thought it was really futuristic and thus was a creature that I had never pictured before, indeed i found the Solo Wing Dragon (Lagi), quite alien to me and was definately the sort of dragon you would not expect see, something that looks crossbred with a stagbeetle. A futuristic dragon like that is so unexpected but all the same was cool.
I think you’ve raised an interesting example in the Alien movies. Each movie was developed by different teams with a new director for each film, taking an alternative direction to the previous movie (Alien as a monster movie, Aliens as a war movie) yet still keep story details consistent from movie to movie yet not hampering new developments (such as the introduction of the Queen in Aliens or the dog alien in Alien 3).
There ar eplenty of untold stories in the Panzer world. Some, like the nature of the Ancient Age, I would prefer not to be told. I don’t think any telling of the Ancient Age could satisfy all of the fans. Other stories, like what happened to Azel and the dragon between Saga and Orta could be worthwhile.
[quote=“Legendarus”]The reason most likely they continued the * Panzer Dragoon Series * after the original * Panzer Dragoon * was probably because in the first game, there was not much going on in it, the characters hardly spoke so it was hard to tell what was going to happen most of the time, they needed more dialogue and more storyline to add to it. In a way, I say they were success * Pandora’s Box * was…
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You NEED to play Panzer Dragoon Saga. Just to give you an idea what you’re missing, watch the wonderful intro to the game here:
Haha… Sorry about that. Going back and reading my post, you are right. I think I was just stressed/busy at work and didn’t bother to write my post properly. Mea culpa.
Solo - I agree that the new trilogy had some solid areas (like the politics, as you mentioned), but to echo Heretic’s point, Vader was turned from a stoic, ominous character into a weak-minded, emotional little punk. In addition, a lot of the events portrayed in the new trilogy simply make a lot of the story in the original trilogy not work. For example, why would someone refer to the Force as an old myth? Why would someone call Vader a sorcerer? The Republic was policed by the Jedi Council less than 20 years prior to that…
But, that’s the reality that Lucas created and it does affect the quality of the originals. (Which is why I only own the originals on DVD :P)
