Best world from established media?

[Aquacorde]

Okay so I could just go the easy route here and ask: what is your favourite world, the one you would jump into instantaneously if given the chance?

But what I actually want to know is: what do you think is the BEST world, disregarding the stories told in it? What world is most well-developed? What world do you feel like exists beyond the stories told in it? What world feels real, despite sci-fi/fantasy/etc elements? Why does this world stand out beyond others for you? Can you identify a key element that makes it dazzle?

my pick is discworld i will go on and on about it later <333

 

[gimmepie]

Gotta say the Star Wars Galaxy and Middle Earth. As much as I hate Tolkien's writing and wish Lucas worked with other directors more both of them created amazingly deep worlds with rich histories, diverse landscapes and languages etc. The amount of detail involved is just mad.

 

[moon]

Yep, the Star Wars universe is amazing. It's just got so much variation, a rich lore and established history and even religion and "magic" in a way, along with space and starships. There's not much to not love there.

All the spinoffs from the movies, such as games and books, really have expanded the universe into something that's alive far beyond official installations. I think that's amazing.

 

[Juno]

Probably an obvious answer from me but truthfully I don't read a lot of literature and such so I don't really have that many options to choose from -

I gush about Westeros a lot because the history and lore is so incredibly intricate, but I know a lot of other fictional worlds are as well - Middle Earth, like gp said, is also known for being one of the most fleshed out fictional places out there, I'm just not as familiar with it as I am Westeros. I mean, there's thousands of years of history written about the place (and Essos across the Narrow Sea), hundreds of families, most with their own detailed histories as well, detailed maps with a name and story behind every forest and small town between the kingdoms - it's just mindblowing to think how much time it takes to develop a world like this.

I guess I've just always liked the medieval-ish setting - another world (continent) I spent a lot of time reading about is Tamriel of the Elder Scrolls - the cool thing about video games is you can really walk around and experience the place yourself, but what's remarkable about Elder Scrolls games is that it doesn't just establish enough of the world for you to traipse around and kill Skeevers in - there are literally hundreds of books and tomes you can find throughout the game, so if you actually care to learn more about the lore and history (and I did) you can.. um.. read books in a video game and actually learn about the lands and people that inhabit it. :P None of this is necessary for you to play the game or understand the current plot, but it's just really cool to see them insert all this additional info so you can really immerse yourself and understand these people better if you choose to. And again, it's another really well developed world just packed with history and believable interactions between the races that inhabit it (ie. what started certain conflicts, reasons behind animosity between races and wars, myths and folklore among groups, religions and deities, etc).

Since starting/attempting worldbuilding myself, and as I've tried to pull inspiration from these worlds, I've gained a much deeper appreciation for what these authors and writers have done - even a very small world takes so much time and dedication to develop into something cohesive and interesting, so any world capable of pulling me in and making me want to learn more about it is a great world, imo.

 

[moon]

I also really really love the Warcraft world. The best part of playing in it, for me, was always to experience the settings and people and rich lore and magic that were established. It's definitely my favorite fantasy world. Then again, I'm not extremely well versed in fantasy stuff (:

 

[gimmepie]

I gush about Westeros a lot because the history and lore is so incredibly intricate, but I know a lot of other fictional worlds are as well - Middle Earth, like gp said, is also known for being one of the most fleshed out fictional places out there, I'm just not as familiar with it as I am Westeros. I mean, there's thousands of years of history written about the place (and Essos across the Narrow Sea), hundreds of families, most with their own detailed histories as well, detailed maps with a name and story behind every forest and small town between the kingdoms - it's just mindblowing to think how much time it takes to develop a world like this.

OH MY GOD HOW DID I FORGET WESTEROS AND ESSOS?!

 

[Ice1]

I love the lore and world of the Full Mettal Alchemist universe. It fuses real world concepts that you won't expect to go together so well. The places all have a quickly recognizable, distinct culture, and the world has a great history that shines through.

 

[Margot]

I guess I've just always liked the medieval-ish setting - another world (continent) I spent a lot of time reading about is Tamriel of the Elder Scrolls - the cool thing about video games is you can really walk around and experience the place yourself, but what's remarkable about Elder Scrolls games is that it doesn't just establish enough of the world for you to traipse around and kill Skeevers in - there are literally hundreds of books and tomes you can find throughout the game, so if you actually care to learn more about the lore and history (and I did) you can.. um.. read books in a video game and actually learn about the lands and people that inhabit it. :P None of this is necessary for you to play the game or understand the current plot, but it's just really cool to see them insert all this additional info so you can really immerse yourself and understand these people better if you choose to. And again, it's another really well developed world just packed with history and believable interactions between the races that inhabit it (ie. what started certain conflicts, reasons behind animosity between races and wars, myths and folklore among groups, religions and deities, etc).

YES to all of this <3 The game was such a fun experience because of all the little things you could fully immerse yourself in. The world wasn't a passive place for all your quests, there was so much there for you to learn if you just went looking around.

A couple others I love:

1. Westeros and Essos: My first world building attempt is an alternate universe of this existing universe and it both a huge blast and utterly terrifying because GRRM goes into a crazy amount of detail and it can be hard to work with imo. But each of the locations is really unique and beautiful and it's one of the first worlds to really ever make me want to dive in and learn e v e r y t h i n g. I also adore learning about the history and politics, he goes back so far in the history! You can learn about the entire Targaryen Dynasty and all the major events surrounding the different rules. It's mind blowing.

2. Hyperion: If you've read the Hyperion Cantos series, you'll know what I'm talking about. It has been years since I've read it, so everything is fuzzy, but the worlds involved in the series were so intense and fun to imagine think about. I wish I could speak more to this. I'll look up more on it ;<

 

[Esper]

my pick is discworld i will go on and on about it later <333

Discworld, yes. It helps that there are like 50 books set in it. But it's got a very distinct flavor that you don't see elsewhere as much.

I'm of course a sucker for Star Wars, having grown up on it and consumed a large amount of the extraneous novels so that universe seems really large in my mind even if those books aren't cannon anymore. The movies are more than enough to paint a large canvas.

I feel like I should give an obligatory shout out to Pokemon, too. And ATLA/LOK. They're not my #1 favorites, but they really do a great job of creating believable and memorable worlds.

 

[Desert Stream~]

Gonna say Pokemon and TES because those are the worlds that made me like worldbuilding so much.

 

[Aleister Marlowe]

Well I think that most that i had chance to interact with are good but my personal favorites are:
1. The Matrix
2. Pokemon
3. Yu-Gi-Oh
4. Star Wars
5. Wind In The Willows
6. The Walking Death
7. XIX Century Horrors for example Dracula and Frankenstein
8. Return to Castle Wolfenstein

 

[Juno]

I know you're allowed to bump creation threads but I'm not sure if the rules for necroing discussions apply here, just had something to add

I've been reading the World of Warcraft wiki a bit lately and I just can't help but notice how amazing it is - this is all really inspiring and making me want to build again! Even excluding all the major characters and specific plotlines, everything about the world is so detailed - all these races with rich histories, the maps, unique flora and fauna, etc. Even if you don't play the game, this is some top quality worldbuilding.

 

[gimmepie]

I know you're allowed to bump creation threads but I'm not sure if the rules for necroing discussions apply here, just had something to add

I've been reading the World of Warcraft wiki a bit lately and I just can't help but notice how amazing it is - this is all really inspiring and making me want to build again! Even excluding all the major characters and specific plotlines, everything about the world is so detailed - all these races with rich histories, the maps, unique flora and fauna, etc. Even if you don't play the game, this is some top quality worldbuilding.

I've never played Warcraft games in all honesty, but I thought Blizzard did a pretty good job of worldbuilding for the Starcraft series and from what I understand, Warcraft's races and lore is vastly more detailed.