Ehh, I've always been one for universes with a wide range of species that implement them well (think Wayne Barlowe's Expedition)
Thank you so much. I had no idea this book existed, and now I'm a much better and happier person. You've made my day, Tripton
she should get all the concepts actually mentioned in the comics and VNs out of the way before adding any fluff to the world -- several species often crucial to said plotlines (drops, uniqorns, honeyed moon mares) have had very little information revealed about them with proper introductions yet to be released.
This is something that I don't really understand. More than once have PK and Marl said that "when worldbuilding they focus on what's currently relevant", which is why when people ask about the Flora astrology and shit they don't have to provide answers.
This doesn't happen when it comes to species. Sometimes, that doesn't happen to the rest of the content either. PK puts out stuff that have partial relevancy for the future. For instance, these Althar entries mention Cayenne and possibly Calliope, which is interesting stuff concerning main characters and might be addressed in the future. But who gives a shit about these creatures? Why are they important?
The answer is, they aren't. They are used as a channel to introduce other less-irrelevant information, a very indirect exposition. It's likely we won't see them appearing in any storyline, not in any way relevant at least. They are extra information concerning Althar because "Try Try Again" is set in Althar, but they are completely irrelevant to anything story-wise. She COULD be providing useful background information concerning Althar, that had some connection to the story, but no.
I personally think that one of the reasons why PK doesn't provide information on important things (such as demons and other characters-species) is because she wants these to remain a secret for when she comes up with an update she can fool us into thinking shit is cryptic and mysterious (when it's really not, it's just holding up information for ransom and poorly communicating). I can see why she would do that (possibly due to an inability to put out information and still surprise people later on), but it's still lame.
Drops and demons have been around for a while, now. Why not tell something about them? You don't have to spoil surprises, you don't have to reveal everything (honestly, save shit for later updates), but, come on. The stuff she's putting out is useless filler, it serves no purpose except buy her time.
-At some point she
did understand how to make variations on a species without deviating wildly, as shown from her initial
vanguards sheet--while the designs are still iffy, they have a concrete base ("shark weasel otter thing, " as she so eloquently puts it) with just enough leeway to allow for customization. Unfortunately (and whether this is because of Marl's influence as stated before or not) she felt this concept was too restrictive and broadened it so much that we now have horrors like
these.
While I personally find the new Vanguards a lot more interesting then the old ones, the old Vanguards at least looked like a species. The new Vanguards are pretty much "dog-like marine wildlife". They don't feel like a species at all; rather, they're a generic group of sea creatures that are dog-sea animal hybrids. Those are some very loose parameters to use for the creation of a specific category (which species are, unlike, say, taxonomic kingdoms or classes).
The
painted alligators look like a species, the
cockatrice sorta look like a species, the
beholders look like a species, and the
rock candies look like a species. Imps, vanguards, singing rabbats and moahu, for instance, really don't. They are broad, unspecific entities defined by loose parameters. It's true that they have random characteristics that bind them together as a unit, but sometimes their physical differences make them unrecognizable as a specific group. When you can't tell that two members of the same species do in fact belong to the same classification, you should probably revisit the concept and limit some of your liberties.
Sure, it works for dogs in the real world; they were pretty much artificially selected to develop particular characteristics and generated lots of different breeds. A pug and a siberian husky don't really resemble each other visibly, but everything about their biology and many behavioral traits (as well as some physical aspects) can be linked. If you are creating a fictional species, though, you have to be careful with that sort of method, because people will usually assume that if your things are way too different from each other, they probably aren't related at all. Consistency, even if it isn't blatantly apparent, needs to be there.
