Bueno, aprovechamos que hemos conseguido un mensaje de hoy mismo de Rawa sobre el asunto de la licencia artística para abrir un topic específico para hablar de este tema. A ver qué os parece...

From: "Richard A. Watson"
Date: Tue Nov 5, 2002 11:19:04 AM US/Pacific
To: The Lyst
Subject: Re: [TL] Artistic License
Reply-To: rawa@cyan.com

on 11/2/02 6:12 PM, Ahsirakh the D'ni at davidngisdumb@hotmail.com
wrote:

> There is a thread on MYSTcommunity over Cyan's use of Artistic
License
> as a
> reason to dismiss theories put forward by the games (e.g. Trap
Books).

Very interesting thread. I found the "RAWA at the top of people I
dislike"
type comments especially heart-warming.

Feel free to dislike "artistic license" all you want. I know I do.
The
fact is that as long as there are technical, financial, game-play,
and/or
time restrictions in making the games, there will be differences
between the
back story and what we are able to portray in the games, (yes,
unfortunately, even Mudpie to some extent).

don't like the way we've handled it? Sure you can do better? Go for it.
You'll end up facing the same kinds of decisions and making the same
kinds
of compromises, especially if you attempt to tell any kind of story
across
multiple media. I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

Seriously, I almost certainly dislike the changes we've had to make
more
than any of you (which is why the RAWA therapy jar got started on the
Riven
Lyst in the first place), and I have fought very hard to keep "Artistic
license" to a minimum in Riven and later projects, so you'll have to
excuse
me if I get a bit uptight when I take the time to explain an instance
where
we've had to compromise and then end up taking flak for it. Shooting
the
messenger isn't going to get you anywhere. It certainly isn't going to
change our minds.

For the record, since this was one of the debates in the thread, the
back
story is "top dog" as far as we're concerned. It always will be.
don't
like it? Sorry, it's not negotiable. We have no intention of changing
the
back story to match the limitations we face in making the games.

In every instance I can think of, my explanations have only tried to
put
things back to where they were originally intended. They were not
changes
made "after the fact" or because "we changed our minds."

The one folks most complain about is the Trap Books. I can understand
that,
but whether you like it or not, whether you agree with our decisions or
not,
those were _always_ complete Ages (like the Prison Books in the novels)
in
the back story, but that wasn't feasible to do in Myst. Period. We
even
stated that these were complete Ages on our very first website - years
before my post on the issue. This wasn't something that was changed
later. I
merely attempted to clarify this to those who were still wanting to
know
where Sirrus and Achenar got their food if they were "stuck between
Ages".

As for the "RAWA doesn't know what he's talking about" theory. you're
probably right. that's why I say, (usually referring to some article
that
was just printed with incorrect information) "don't believe everything
you
read." Then I add, "Especially if it's from me." to be clear that I
don't
make any claims of infallibility either.

But don't think that I'm just making things up and posting them on a
whim.
And don't think that you'd get any different answers from Rand himself.
Unfortunately for those who'd like to comfort themselves with this
view,
Rand and I are in complete synch about these issues 99.9% of the time.
(No,
that .1% doesn't give you a loop hole for the Trap Books; Rand says
they
were artistic license too.) I also always have him read any potentially
controversial posts before I send them to be absolutely sure that my
understanding of things matches his (this post is not an exception).

RAWA

___ _ __ _____ _______________________ _____ __________________ _____
/ /| Richard A. Watson /| mailto:rawa@cyan.com /|
_/ | D'ni Historian | http://www.cyan.com |
C Y A N _|/_ _______________________ _|/_ __________________ _|/_

********************Quick Links*******************
Lyst Page: http://www.TheLysts.com
FAQ's: http://www.thelysts.com/lystfaqs.shtml
LMC: http://www.thelysts.com/lmc.shtml
Admin Contacts:
Aquila: Admin@TheLysts.com
Kha'tie: Moderator@TheLysts.com
**************************************************