Battlestar Galactica or Mass Effect. Which is the greatest new Sci-Fi world from our generations?

[Xe4]

The strength of Battlestar: Galactica was in the acting and (to a lesser extent because of later seasons) the plot.

Aside from the Cylon vs. Human plot, the world building in the show is practically non-existant.

I'd say nearly any other popular Sci-Fi has better world building than BSG.

The answer is obviously some book series, because the medium itself is much more conductive to creating a well realized world.

In terms of video games or TV, I'd also have to go with The Expanse. The world and internal logic/rules followed is one of the best things about the show.

 

[Fudgepuppy]

1. Halo
2. Mass Effect

Mass Effect is really dense and interesting with lots of small tidbits, but Halo rules in how focused it is.

 

[SofNascimento]

...What?

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To further clarify my previous post. I might have been slight... unwell at the time. So forgive any incoherence!

 

[AliceAmber]

FARSCAPE!

Hehehe. Personally I prefer Mass Effect. I tried getting into Battlestar twice but I just was not feeling it.

 

[Slayven]

this question with these options is offensive on many levels

 

[Gabbo]

The strength of Battlestar: Galactica was in the acting and (to a lesser extent because of later seasons) the plot.

Aside from the Cylon vs. Human plot, the world building in the show is practically non-existant.

I'd say nearly any other popular Sci-Fi has better world building than BSG.

The answer is obviously some book series, because the medium itself is much more conductive to creating a well realized world.

In terms of video games or TV, I'd also have to go with The Expanse. The world and internal logic/rules followed is one of the best things about the show.

Click to shrink...

There is some world building in BSG, like Dirty Hands, and clearly the New Caprica insurgency, but youre correct. A show where one side is almost always running from the other side as it;s major plot point tends keep world building to a min unless it has to.

In terms of world building in tv: Farscape for me is far and away the best at it, with the Expanse being the best recent example.

 

[Digital Dinosaur]

[laughs in Marain]

 

[teruterubozu]

The Expanse is much, much closer to BSG than it is to Mass Effect. Instead of the "fleet" you have Earth, Mars, the "Outers", and so on.

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*Belters! arggghhhh!

 

[HustleBun]

Battlestar Galactica is a great series marred by some weird tonal shifts and genre pivots, especially in it's final season.
I know not everyone will agree with me but I don't think the series finale retroactively ruined anything, I still think it's a great ride and a series that is absolutely worth watching.

I would warn that almost every character, save for Adama, has some weird change in motive or direction. Some are harder to swallow than others, and I got used to almost all of them except for this fucking character:

Spoiler: UGH

Gaius Baltar

They had way too many swerves with no satisfying payoff.

 

[HStallion]

Neither but I'd give the edge to BG for not having a universe designed by a horny teenager.

 

[RecLib]

Books are good, people should read books. Counting stuff like Leviathan Wakes, The Becky Chambers books, Themis Files, Area X, Gideon the Ninth....
Despite a lot of problems with the narrative, I'd say the core world built by The Windup Girl is really good too. Hell, even a lot of young adult novels have genuinely interesting sci-fi worlds that are better than BSG and Mass Effect.
I don't think these two poll options even crack the top 10 likely.

 

[SofNascimento]

OP u drunk?

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Blackout drunk, which is very rare for me, but that's what happens when you don't drink liqueur. And then you do. I apologize for any inconvinience.

this question with these options is offensive on many levels

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In my defense, I barely remember writing this thread. In retrospect, the OP at least is remarkably coherent. But I think these two Sci-Fi would certainly make the list of the great ones, so I don't think it's offensive in that way. I just... hid the other ones.

 

[bawjaws]

Mass Effect always struck me as massively hackneyed. It was just a hodgepodge of science fiction references thrown in a blender, with little of its own to add or say :/

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I don't understand what people love so much about Mass Effect, it's Scifi Cliches: The Game. It has zero originality, everything it does has been lifted from other scifi works without any creative differentiation. Everything from aesthetic design to the actual damn story. It's super boring to me

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Yeah, ME is incredibly derivative, almost like a sci-fi universe by focus group. Just a while load of "homages" (ripoffs) of other ideas crammed into one setting.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

Mass Effect for me, not even a contest

Although many of these posts in this thread make me want to watch The Expanse

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Halo.

Spoiler

No, really, Halo might take a lot from Aliens but it's my favorite Sci Fi setting.

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One and done. Reading the new Halo books now and it's so good.

 

[Deleted member 14518]

Not really sure I understand the question. BSG is from the 70s - loved it as a kid. Star wars and buck rodgers, some great 70s scifi.

But 60s scifi was even better, Land of the Giants, The invaders, Star trek, Planet of the apes, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel. Awesome stuff..

 

[the lizard]

Blackout drunk, which is very rare for me, but that's what happens when you don't drink liqueur. And then you do. I apologize for any inconvinience.

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Hahaha, none at all. I could just tell from your posts that you were deep in the cups.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

Not really sure I understand the question. BSG is from the 70s - loved it as a kid. Star wars and buck rodgers, some great 70s scifi.

But 60s scifi was even better, Land of the Giants, The invaders, Star trek, Planet of the apes, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel. Awesome stuff..

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We all know the best was Land of the Lost

 

[Xero grimlock]

Babylon 5

 

[Deleted member 14518]

We all know the best was Land of the Lost

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Nice...

Almost forgot one of my favourites:

 

[ZiZ]

Definitely Mass Effect.

Also this thread is making me consider playing Halo. Is the lore really that good? I haven't played any of the games but my impression was they had great gameplay and revolutionized the console FPS. But every screenshot is the blandest shit I've ever seen. Master Chief looks like a free model they pulled from an asset store for a generic enemy. The game takes place in space (I think?) but all the environments looked like a generic meadow with grass and trees or an extremely boring looking future (spaceship? Factory?) interior.

 

[Annubis]

The Expanse?

 

[Quinton]

SofNascimento I love you, man, and I'm being 100% cheeky here, but I dare you to go two solid months without making a Mass Effect topic. LOL.

Anyway, in terms of world, Mass Effect has this in the bag. BSG isn't especially compelling to me for its worldbuilding. It's the characterization and aesthetic therein. Also wow I'm literally typing this immediately as I get a push notification that Sof @'d me elsewhere.

 

[SofNascimento]

SofNascimento I love you, man, and I'm being 100% cheeky here, but I dare you to go two solid months without making a Mass Effect topic. LOL.

Anyway, in terms of world, Mass Effect has this in the bag. BSG isn't especially compelling to me for its worldbuilding. It's the characterization and aesthetic therein. Also wow I'm literally typing this immediately as I get a push notification that Sof @'d me elsewhere.

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I have another one ready mind you.

 

[Quinton]

I have another one ready mind you.

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[HStallion]

ME's universe is laughable even if BSG's isn't anywhere near as varied or fleshed out. An all female alien species that fucks creatures from other planets to reproduce but for some reason looks exactly like stereotypical hot human women will never not be incredibly hilarious to me as something you're just supposed to take seriously.

 

[gforguava]

We all know the best was Land of the Lost

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Seriously, this show is incredibly underrated.

Super low-budget but it is a really good sci-fi show with concepts and a setting that is way more interesting than I think most people are aware of. With episodes written by the likes of Larry Niven, Ben Bova, Theodore Sturgeon, and a bunch of Star Trek writers(the aforementioned Sturgeon, D.C. Fontana, David Gerrold, and more), the first two seasons are great stuff.

 

[BigWeather]

Of the two, ME. Voted neither, however, because Babylon 5.