Lunchtime Poll #1: When Do You Want To Go Today? asks:
What is your favorite historical period for RPGs, and why?
I am not a big fan of history, as anyone who looked at my grades in all history classes except, um, "Mr. Z's" could attest. Which isn't to say that I haven't, say, played "Civilization," but that I don't really like getting down into the nitty-gritty details. I don't even read biographies unless they're fictional.
Honestly, I'm a very strong urban fantasy fan. I love Shadowrun, Nightlife, Dark Conspiracy, Kult, Chill, and lots of homebrews set in the era. I also look forward for my fun: a little bit of cyberpunk, a little bit of space opera. So why am I stuck in castles and caverns?
A lot of the problem is drawing the conclusion. "If I had magic, how would technology develop?" A lot of hand-waving and, "It'd be just like our technology today, except, um, cleaner," is how it usually happens. I can't follow that line of thought: once I start with magic as a possibility and developing it, my engineer hindbrain takes over and things get Very Odd, very biomagical constructionaryish.
Instead of worrying about the details, I generally find it much easier to cut it off at a certain playable point. So you'll see my games wandering into the Untamed Wilderness more than the Outer Regions of the Demon-Infested Galaxy.