Play "guess the trope".: Constructed World

Constructed World is the standard pre-existing term here, and shouldn't be changed. We should have Secondary World and Conworld as redirects, though.

In theory it would be cool to list some examples where the author was really much more interested in Worldbuilding for its own sake than in just using the world as a setting for stories — Middle Earth would fit there, as well as some Web Originals like Almea — but I'm not sure that's going to be possible without people just adding any fictional world they happen to think is really cool.

edited 6th Aug '11 3:45:11 PM by dangerwaffle

Before I add redirects — couldn't this page easily be merged with Worldbuilding? The distinction feels artifical and blurry. Worldbuilding emphasizes the process, Constructed World the result, but essentially it's the same concept and could be dealt with on a single page. The examples are largely identical. Having two such lists is quite redundant.

It seems to be in fairly common usage.

I was able to guess the trope pretty easily.

edited 8th Aug '11 9:51:03 AM by Auxdarastrix

I had no problems guessing what the trope was.

I second this. There are plenty of examples which overlap. In fact, I think all of the examples could be overlap if someone took the time to add them to both pages. Can anyone come up with an example that would only fit on one page versus both pages?

Not every Constructed World is subject to Worldbuilding. Worldbuilding is a form of All There in the Manual. It's when there are supplemental materials available (books, interviews, DVD extras etc.) that show the process of the world being built and flesh it out farther than the narrative.

OK, after carefully reading the Worldbuilding page, it seems that Worldbuilding does not refer exclusively to Constructed Worlds, but generally the fleshing-out of the background and setting of any story, even if it's a realistic story set 'in the real world'.

However, the Worldbuilding article might need some restructuring, as it reads somewhat confusing and self-contradictory.

But if I am right in my understanding that Worldbuilding does not refer only to constructed worlds, then maybe all the examples of Worldbuilding that are constructed worlds should go to Constructed World, and only here.

Also, is the article on a trope on a term?

And is it supposed to have examples or not? It's so widespread...

It's not a supertrope or a subtrope, so that makes no sense. Just because two tropes have overlapping examples doesn't mean that we cut those examples for one of them. We don't do that for any other tropes that don't have a true super/sub relationship.

Also, Widespread has nothing to do with People Sit On Chairs! We catalogue all sorts of widespread tropes. Just because a trope is common doesn't mean it doesn't get examples! Common isn't important. Meaningful is.

edited 9th Aug '11 8:10:54 AM by shimaspawn

I think we have no consensus what "Worldbuilding" actually means. The Worldbuilding page lists several definitions, but doesn't settle for one. But that's derailing the thread here. I think Worldbuilding will need its own TRS.

Forget what world building means, we know what THIS trope means! They shouldn't be merged because every built world isn't one separate from our own.

It can have it's own fantasy history, technology, culture and what not, but if the protagonists are from Earth, it is not a Constructed World. If the possibility of finding Earthlings is a possibility at all, even if the characters in the setting know nothing of it, then it is probably not a different trope. The contructed world's thing is as far as the setting is concerned the reader's world doesn't exist in any form.

edited 16th Aug '11 2:19:51 PM by Cider

Wouldn't that make Lord Of The Rings (which, if the page quote is anything to go by, is this trope's poster child) not an example since Tolkien has explicitly said that it's set on Earth in a mythical past?

The page quote is a terrible summary of this trope and doesn't appear to even be talking about it and yes, Middle Earth is not an example.

edited 16th Aug '11 2:45:09 PM by shimaspawn

That page quote is indeed really irrelevant.

Thread Hop,

Preexisting term, though I vote no examples, since it's so pervasive to everything in Speculative Fiction...

edited 16th Aug '11 3:35:12 PM by USAF713

It's not though. It's not half as common as people think it is and common isn't a reason to cut examples. We have examples on The Hero and that's much more common.

What? Unless you're counting "worlds that are totally unoriginal" as "not being properly constructed?" Then, yeah, that narrows it down a lot.

I suppose we could keep the examples, but then maybe we should put it on Special Efforts so that all those examples that aren't listed get on there...

A lot of speculative fiction is set on Earth, or in a universe that contains Earth. None of those count for Constructed World. It's not about how well it's done. It's about is this set on Earth or an alternate version of Earth in the past, present, or future. Yes, no. A special effort to get it better pimped might not be a bad idea though.

I had no problem guessing the trope but I was directed to it from Magical Land.

I always thought that constructed world meant a world that had been artificially made be it by computer, science or magic. And I'd have counted Dwarf Fortress as an example.

Turns out I was wrong

Three day clock set as requested.