Which SF, and fantasy, world would you like to live in?

[GeneralTacticus]

Sci-Fi: Culture, again. Aside from all the obvious benefits, they have VR technology that would probably let you experience what it would be like to live in pretty much any other universe you can think of, if you're really desperate. 18, take note - if you really want to know what it's like to be in the Imperial Guard, join the Culture and have them whip up a simulation for you. You get the experience without the extremely high probability of dying in some hideously gruesome fashion.

Fantasy: no idea, really. I haven't read too many fantasy series, and the ones that I have read tend to have pretty shitty worlds compared to the modern day. Of the ones I've read, the Potter-verse would probably be the best.

[18-Till-I-Die]

Meh, to be honest the Culture would seem boring to me. Seriously it's "paradise" in the same way being a pampered housecat is "paradise".

There is only so many ways i can think of preparing candy that makes me orgasm while i use my VR dome to simulate sex with the entire cast of Eiken, before i'll want to...do something challenging.

[GeneralTacticus]

What makes you think life in the Culture is incapable of being challenging? Aside from the innumerable pursuits you could take up, from mountaineering and various extreme sports (and the Culture has some very extreme ones) to making cannons in a forge or mastering any number of intricate strategy games, you could always try joining Contact.

[Ariphaos]

Sci-fi Culture seems well enough off.

For fantasy, probably Exalted. Knowledge should be worth a Solar shard, after all.

[Kartr_Kana]

I'm afraid that I am ignorant of this Culture you speak of. So I'm going to go with slightly post KOTOR era SWs maybe ST VI.

Fantasy: Escore/Estcarpe from Andre Norton's Witch World

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

Meh, to be honest the Culture would seem boring to me. Seriously it's "paradise" in the same way being a pampered housecat is "paradise".

Except with total freedom. Want to go rock-climbing? Surfing? Play poker? If you want, the drones will let you break your legs when climbing if you don't want it to be too perfect, so you can spend a while healing. Or go into VR and be a pirate, a king or an Imperial Guardsman.

There is only so many ways i can think of preparing candy that makes me orgasm while i use my VR dome to simulate sex with the entire cast of Eiken, before i'll want to...do something challenging.

You can do whatever you'd like to challenge yourself. Hell, if you don't like it, you can do what plenty of people do and leave the Culture for awhile. Live on worlds analogous to Coruscant and Endor, see the sights, become a tycoon, whatever. No one's stopping you.

Or you could join Contact or even Special Circumstances. Now that would be fun.

[Crossroads Inc.]

I think I'll Just skip Sci-Fi for now. Considering the Culture, it's almost like a given.

As for Fantasy, thats a different kettle of fish. The OP doesn't stat what exactly we start with in any given realm. Several worlds I'd love to consider such as Middle Earth, the world of FMA, Discworld, and Especially Gaea from Escaflowne.

However, if all we have when dropped into these places is the shirt off our back, one could easily find themselves in a place as bad as the low points of the Medieval period.

[K. A. Pital]

Noon XXI century (Strugatsky) or Stanislaw Lem's future world.

Culture sucks. In Strugazky's or Lem's technoutopias, the world is full of smart people, there are no idiots in power and humanity creates most of near-starfaring civilization on it's own without any "cultures".

Besides, there's a great deal of both romanticism and realism in their universes about exploring even the nearest universe and participating in physics and chemistry breakthroughs. And pretty awesome tech level too, not Culture-like, but still more than enough to live with abundance.

So, I choose their world - where there is expansion, huge enormous challenges to tackle, an absolute supremacy of science in all, and virtually no stupid people in the entire humanity.

[Covenant]

Noon XXI century (Strugatsky) or Stanislaw Lem's future world.

Culture sucks. In Strugazky's or Lem's technoutopias, the world is full of smart people, there are no idiots in power and humanity creates most of near-starfaring civilization on it's own without any "cultures".

Besides, there's a great deal of both romanticism and realism in their universes about exploring even the nearest universe and participating in physics and chemistry breakthroughs. And pretty awesome tech level too, not Culture-like, but still more than enough to live with abundance.

So, I choose their world - where there is expansion, huge enormous challenges to tackle, an absolute supremacy of science in all, and virtually no stupid people in the entire humanity.

That sounds pretty good. Sadly, I believe I would invariably end up being the one stupid person.

I might as well go Culture as well, it's a free pass to anything you want to do. Sure, it's mindlessly indulgent, but I think overcoming hardships kinda loses it's luster when anything you could ever want is already at your fingertips. And even then, there's fame.

[The Grim Squeaker]

Sci Fi: The Culture. Can't thing of anything else that comes near in sheer "paradise like" bliss (While being safe and offering immortality, sexual pleasure of an unheard of level, discourse with super "AI's", lots of stuff to do and places to explore). I wouldn't get bored too much .

Anyone picking 40k (Barring the Eldar) - WTF are you thinking? True there are worlds that enjoy a standard of living higher than present day US with cheap life extension technology, but the chances of being that and not, say a Hive world labourer or IG conscript are not that good. (To say the least, not to mention the 50% chance of being a human in the Eye).
Eldar might be fun though, Culture+ level orgasms and all, but It sounds overrated (Since too much of it will make your soul come out )

Fantasy: Tougher, FR might be fun for the "easy to use" (Compared to some places) magic, though it depends who I end up as (A peasant would suck, a Deep Imaskari human would rawk, a Dragon would be cool beyond words, a Drow Slave would make suicide preferable, etc').


Do we retain our "RL" relative status in society and species?

[NecronLord]

Wel, like i said, under a good commander those arent big problems.

Yes they are. A commander that blatantly violates these regs is going to be excecuted himself. While I've not read any Gaunt books, anyone who habitually violates the rules like that on behalf of his men is going to get a short sharp and agonizing visit from the Hereticus. And they have to be fantastic to beat eldar or necrons.

Fantasy: Maybe Lord of the Rings. Idyllic medieval setting without cholera, filth or ignorance? Nice. I'd probably live near the Shire just so I don't have to put up with world-shaking Lords of Evil.

It's implied that human life is just as shitty in Middle-Earth than it is in any other pre-industrial society, whether it be fantasy or factual. JRR Tolkien often bleated on about how Elves, Dwarfs and even Hobbits were more longer living creatures than the lowely humans.

That's nothing to do with enviroment. We live shorter lives than the Quendi. The Culture's citizens live shorter lives than the Quendi. The Quendi are immune to all disease, and generally superior in every way. They can walk over snow drifts in light sandals without even sinking in and are pretty much immune to cold (note, those that died in the Helcaraxë died because it was much more violent than the real poles, with crevasses and jagged edges everywhere) and don't even need to sleep. They actually can not die in the proper sense. You kill them, and the essence of what they are remains, regenerates and keeps coming, well, that's meant to be the borg, but it's much more true of the Quendi: Look at Glorfindel. Being yanked off a cliff by a Balrog only slowed him down, eventually, the Valar provided him with a new body, and off he goes again, terrifying the Witch King and chasing him around like a catholic priest chasing a Chorister.

I wouldn't go so far as to say there's particularly notable cholera, filth, or ignorance everywhere; or at least, anywhere in the West, not compared to comparable periods of our own history. Valinor, or Numenor would be nice, and many other places are much more advanced: The Shire has some very anacronistic stuff that makes it seem more overtly modern. Spring loaded umbrellas and such like. However, I wouldn't trade in this life for being anything but an Elf or an Ainur there. Otherwise, there's the constant threat of Dark Lords and horrible torture (hell, there's horrible torture as the former, too, most of the time) or maybe being in Numenor at some stage during the Second Age, but generally... no. Valinor or bust.

[Dartzap]

Sci-Fi, it would have to be the Culture, I'm a lazy sod with no skills as it is, might as well be in a place where that's appreciated

Fantasy: Has to be the Discworld. Join The Watch And Be A Man, heh.

[Lord Woodlouse]

The Culture. If only so I can become a chick on demand like most people put on a pair of shoes.

Unfortunately, it takes about a year to change sex. On t'other hand, I remember some modifications specifically for improving sexual congress, in both length and enjoyment. Sign me up!

Fantasy: I'm slightly more ignorant of this, but Middle-Earth seems like a nice place to live.

Oh, I thought it was much quicker than that since a few people seem to have changed (and the change seems like a perfect transformation) multiple times.

I suppose if you live a VERY long time a year out aint that much, though...

[18-Till-I-Die]

Wel, like i said, under a good commander those arent big problems.

Yes they are. A commander that blatantly violates these regs is going to be excecuted himself. While I've not read any Gaunt books, anyone who habitually violates the rules like that on behalf of his men is going to get a short sharp and agonizing visit from the Hereticus. And they have to be fantastic to beat eldar or necrons.

Well, Gaunt has, in more subtle ways, bent the rules to help his people. Indeed on more than one occasion he has nearly lost his command to protect his men. In fact on at least two occasions Inquisitors were called in. Through deft maneuvering, he utterly played one, and the other he managed to convince of his loyalty enough to drop the BS and let him do his thing.

And as for "fantastic"...Gaunt kept a crew of like, five or six people alive with him on a planet run by a Chaos lord general for months without losing a single man OR being contaminated by Chaos itself, despite the fact that Chaos, quite literally, owned the planet. To say nothing of when Gaunt saved an entire Hive City, defeated a huge army so completely people didnt even believe it could happen, etc etc. Fantastic doesnt begin to cover it. No wanking here, just calling it as i sees it. The guy keeps his command so long because h's an excellent commander, his superiors know they cant afford to execute him. And a lot of other generals are intensely jealous of his success, and try to downplay or discredit him despite these successes.

Plus, like i said, all of the competent Generals seen in the series were vastly less draconian than the "regs" say they should be, and damn good at their job for it. It's clear from Gaunt's Ghosts that many of the better Imperial Commanders knwo exactly when to set aside the "regs" and how to keep it quiet, bending though not outright breaking teh rules when it is required.

[NecronLord]

Well, Gaunt has, in more subtle ways, bent the rules to help his people. Indeed on more than one occasion he has nearly lost his command to protect his men. In fact on at least two occasions Inquisitors were called in. Through deft maneuvering, he utterly played one, and the other he managed to convince of his loyalty enough to drop the BS and let him do his thing.

Uhuh. And does he actually not excecute people, ever?

And as for "fantastic"...Gaunt kept a crew of like, five or six people alive with him on a planet run by a Chaos lord general for months without losing a single man OR being contaminated by Chaos itself, despite the fact that Chaos, quite literally, owned the planet.

That's really not that impressive. Remember, ordinary, relatively uncorrupt, peasants have to live on those chaos planets, for that reason, most of them aren't that exotic. Surviving out on a deathworld would actually be more impressive.

To say nothing of when Gaunt saved an entire Hive City, defeated a huge army so completely people didnt even believe it could happen, etc etc. Fantastic doesnt begin to cover it. No wanking here, just calling it as i sees it. The guy keeps his command so long because h's an excellent commander, his superiors know they cant afford to execute him. And a lot of other generals are intensely jealous of his success, and try to downplay or discredit him despite these successes.

So, you've got one example of a guy, in the entire galaxy, and an army countless billions strong, who might not have you flogged to death for misplacing your cigarettes?

Plus, like i said, all of the competent Generals seen in the series were vastly less draconian than the "regs" say they should be, and damn good at their job for it.

Err. Have you ever seen them let someone off for a crime?

It's clear from Gaunt's Ghosts that many of the better Imperial Commanders knwo exactly when to set aside the "regs" and how to keep it quiet, bending though not outright breaking teh rules when it is required.

Err. Again, have you actually seen them not have drunks flogged then shot, or have anyone shooting themselves to get out of duty flogged, flayed, then shot? You're saying they're lenient, but the only books that are explicity about Guard discipline to any degree are the Cain ones, and he regularly has people up before the firing squad - and he's famously lenient. The best discipline code you're getting is WW1 English, they're not really comparable at all to modern armies of any note.

Remember, this is the Guard. When you get a bad case of shellshock, they cut you apart and turn you into a servitor.

[tim31]

Sci Fi: I think I could swing being a Starfleet officer with a first and last name.

Fantasy. Oh, boy, am I going to get it for these. Either: Pirates of the Carribean, especially after a mate and I watched Dead Mans Chest the other day then later, drunk, attempted to summon the Kraken.

or...

Harry Potterverse. IF ONLY to find out what the magical world is like outside of Europe. I bet it'd be way more laid back in Australia.

[Lord Zentei]

Fantasy: Maybe Lord of the Rings. Idyllic medieval setting without cholera, filth or ignorance? Nice. I'd probably live near the Shire just so I don't have to put up with world-shaking Lords of Evil.

It's implied that human life is just as shitty in Middle-Earth than it is in any other pre-industrial society, whether it be fantasy or factual. JRR Tolkien often bleated on about how Elves, Dwarfs and even Hobbits were more longer living creatures than the lowely humans.

Heh, "bleated".

Elves and Dwarves were different races. The comparison does not hold, and regardless, it does not follow that "human life is just as shitty in Middle-Earth than it is in any other pre-industrial society".

In any case: it really depends a lot on which part of Middle Earth you are talking about.

[18-Till-I-Die]

Uhuh. And does he actually not excecute people, ever?

Actually i cant ever recall him doing so, except maybe twice. Once he executed the man who killed his father. Another time, he was going to execute, but decided to imprison instead, a guy who had betrayed the Imperium and nearly lost them a hive world.

That's really not that impressive. Remember, ordinary, relatively uncorrupt, peasants have to live on those chaos planets, for that reason, most of them aren't that exotic. Surviving out on a deathworld would actually be more impressive.

It was supposed to be a kamikaze mission. It turned out to be a round trip. This is like being sent on a DEFINITE suicide mission and still managing to come back without a single casualty.

So, you've got one example of a guy, in the entire galaxy, and an army countless billions strong, who might not have you flogged to death for misplacing your cigarettes?

Exactly. And the proviso was "under a commander in the vein of Gaunt". I'm sure with the billions of IG commanders, many hundreds must be similarly intelligent.

Err. Have you ever seen them let someone off for a crime?

"Crime"? Like rape or murder? No. However he did defend someone in his unit accused of murder and saved his ass (the guy WAS innocent actually, it was another soldier)

Err. Again, have you actually seen them not have drunks flogged then shot, or have anyone shooting themselves to get out of duty flogged, flayed, then shot? You're saying they're lenient, but the only books that are explicity about Guard discipline to any degree are the Cain ones, and he regularly has people up before the firing squad - and he's famously lenient. The best discipline code you're getting is WW1 English, they're not really comparable at all to modern armies of any note.

So far, i've seen SOME of them be fairly lenient, by Guard standards. One Commissar guy, for example, had developed a practice of killing the officers if the men fled or whatever because "It's not their fault, men run because their commanders are insufficient. If they had better leadership, then we wouldnt have this problem" paraphrasing. Granted now, he was once under Gaunt. But he was considered a 'hard ass'.

I'm not saying it's a walk in the park. But...i guess what i mean is, under the right commander, i think i could handle it. I'm not the kind of person who screws around with rules anyway. I consider it common sense not too, unless i have a very good reason. So far, the IG seems fairly sensible, considering the dangers in the 40k verse i can understand their need for certain rules of reverence and control. And again i'm not saying i'd want to be plopped down undre just any old IG commander, but one who is competent. So far the names on that list are short, but yes Gaunt is one. So yeah, i wouldnt mind it much.

Though i will concede it's not as lenient as a modern army. But that really doesnt bother me as much as, i guess, it would some people. An army doesnt NEED to be lenient anyway. I mean...it's the fucking army, they're not there to blow you kisses, they're trying to make you into a professional paid killer. It's SUPPOSED to be hard, to weed out those who would weaken the unit and endanger their lives in combat.

[18-Till-I-Die]

ghetto edit: "many hundreds of thousands must be similarly intelligent."

[NecronLord]

Though i will concede it's not as lenient as a modern army. But that really doesnt bother me as much as, i guess, it would some people. An army doesnt NEED to be lenient anyway. I mean...it's the fucking army, they're not there to blow you kisses, they're trying to make you into a professional paid killer. It's SUPPOSED to be hard, to weed out those who would weaken the unit and endanger their lives in combat.

And that would be your choice, out of any science-fiction? A hard-assed job full of hard work, facing all sorts of horrors, with rigid discipline, and horrible prospects of agony if you're ever captured?

[18-Till-I-Die]

Though i will concede it's not as lenient as a modern army. But that really doesnt bother me as much as, i guess, it would some people. An army doesnt NEED to be lenient anyway. I mean...it's the fucking army, they're not there to blow you kisses, they're trying to make you into a professional paid killer. It's SUPPOSED to be hard, to weed out those who would weaken the unit and endanger their lives in combat.

And that would be your choice, out of any science-fiction? A hard-assed job full of hard work, facing all sorts of horrors, with rigid discipline, and horrible prospects of agony if you're ever captured?

It actually seems cooler, from the books. But not my only choice.

I was actually going to say Lensmen on the off chance that i may be able to get a Lens, or at least be able to see some cool space battles. But the chances of either are slim...so meh.

Star Trek comes in second as it's a "safe" choice. As a normal Fed civie i doubt i'd have to worry about much, or want for much. But it's...so...boring! It'd be like living in a Norman Rockwell painting come to life and wearing pajamas. Blegh.

The Culture sounds fun for a while, and in short doses it'd be incredibly boss, but honestly i just dont like the whole idea o having EVERYTHING i want given to me on a whim. Sounds terrifyingly dull. If i could hang there for a while, like a vacation, would be cool though.

Basically...i would want to go somewhere cool. I'f i'm leaving this world behind, i dont want, six months later, to be sitting somwhere on a pile of gold created by matter-cloners with thousands of android concubines and a room full of immortality pills thinking...man i'd go for a game of lazer tag right now. Well that's an exageration but you get the idea.

I want to do something cool, not just easy.

[Walsh]

Sci-fi: With the aliens of the 'Cocoon' movies. Other than that, life on Malcolm Reynolds' ship would be pretty cool, even at the risk of having my skin eaten by reavers.

Fantasy: Despite a shortened lifespan, it would be off to Valinor for me, preferably the era before the two trees were destroyed.

[NecronLord]

The Culture sounds fun for a while, and in short doses it'd be incredibly boss, but honestly i just dont like the whole idea o having EVERYTHING i want given to me on a whim. Sounds terrifyingly dull. If i could hang there for a while, like a vacation, would be cool though.

It should be pointed out that it really isn't like that. You can get stuff done for you and doss about, but you can just as well work as a ship-builder, bookbinder, soldier, or whatever you like, as hard as you like. Not all that many people actually idle about, at least, the impression is that most people occupy themselves with some 'occupation' be it gaming, singing, writing poetry, building GCUs, or being a 'soldier-missionary' for Contact.

[Gandalf]

I'd be tempted to follow my inner fanboy and join Starfleet.

Maybe go into sciences, because the aquashirts seem to have the lowest death rate.

[Guardsman Bass]

There are actually four that interest me, but

For a sci-fi universe, I'd either take the Culture as it's been described, or live in the universe in Charles Sheffield's novel Tomorrow and Tomorrow, after the Shivan crisis has past. You can be an immortal, collective-intelligence with thousands of probes, a giant-faster-than-light 'meld mind', and so forth.

For fantasy, I think I'd actually be willing to try the Harry Potterverse (as long as I'm not a permanent resident in England, and if I get to be either pure- or half-blood).