What Makes A Good Setting? | Cinematic Universes, Shared Worlds, and Why They Succeed or Fail

Why is it some alternate words can resonate with us so deeply where others fall completely flat? In this episode of the Way of Worldbuilding, we investigate what makes a good setting.

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00:00 | Introduction
00:38 | Table of Contents
01:20 | "Expanded Universes"
02:41 | Common Elements of a "Good" Setting
07:05 | Critiquing Expanded Universes
07:21 | Star Wars
08:24 | Lord of the Rings
09:55 | Halo
11:12 | Warhammer 40,000
11:52 | The Walking Dead
12:52 | Starfield
14:24 | Building Our Own Setting / Conclusion

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[CollinBuckman]

I really love how the writers over at Black Library have started to realize the power of 40k as a setting for a dozen different stories of many different genres, rather than sticking solely to blockbuster-style military action (aka bolter porn). For example there have been 5 crime novels set in the 40k universe released in the past 3 years, as well as a similar number of horror novels.

[simonjohansson]

One of my favorite fictional settings is Santa's Workshop on the north pole. It's such an insane story concept that so many have tried to create functional worldbuilding around. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. People really want it to work and I love that we constantly get new stories that gives alternative explantions to how Santa operates.

[chaosfire]

This entire series is becoming such a treat to follow along with. <3

Regarding Star Wars, it being a wide expansive setting that feels confined to the Skywalkers is a complaint that hasn't left me as I go through the new canon. I still *like* it, but I wish so much wouldn't always be going back to the same characters, planets, and factions we know of. It's why I like going way back into the past of the setting (and where I think Disney's actually doing something interesting with the High Republic).

[IndustrialBonecraft]

The main problem with most of these stories that try to become expanded universes is that they all end up trying to either: Tie themselves directly to the big setting-ending conflict of the original story, which always ends up feeling hamfisted and awkward. Or they try to one-up the main story, and the whole thing devolves into a Saturday morning 'existential threat of the week' cartoon where the ultimate bad guy of ultimate doom shows up and nothing will ever be as powerful as they are... except for the guy that turns up next week who is somehow more arbitrarily powerful! Raysed steakz guis!
I think other types of stories are perfectly valid in pretty much any setting. You can totally use the main story points to branch off of, even, but you don't need to be directly tied into them. Every time a city gets mostly destroyed in a big defence against some berk and their army before the hero sods off to hit them with a sword for a bit... what happens to the people that need to clean up? There's a million (in my opinion probably more interesting) stories that sprout out of that bit of the setting. You just have to accept that the arc of it is more "literary" fiction than grand-arc genre fiction.
I think genre fiction writers in general should avoid 'save the world' narratives in general. They're usually tedious and simplistic and there are so many better conflicts.

[DavidRichardson]

Star Wars Legends did not have the same extent of problems as the Disney stuff, but it would be disingenuous of me to say that they were not there at all. Still, the fact that Disney is now dipping into the Old Republic, doing things like making Revan canon, kind of shows what SW Legends was able to do with their universe, albeit in a somewhat limited way.

[thomashsiai]

The Templin Institute’s series so far is very excellent.
Another fine addition to the collection.

[fakjbf]

I’m really interested in the Mass Effect universe, because currently it’s stuck somewhere between Halo and Warhammer. On the one hand much like Halo the original games are dominated by a single central conflict (the Reaper Invasion). But Andromeda showed that the series has enough breadth of lore that it can support stories outside of that, that game’s flaw was far more in execution than concept. The next game in the series is going to be the real test, can BioWare go back to the Milky Way and build off of the original trilogy in a way that genuinely adds to the universe, or will it not be able to escape the shadow of the original games and doom any future sequels to the same fate. I eagerly look forwards to seeing which path they take.

[amateurcrastinator]

I agree with the extended/expanded universe part to an extent. Halo didn't need any more epic games after the original trilogy and perhaps the spinoffs. But often, a different type of media can serve these purposes extremely well. Books, audiodramas, and shows can focus on smaller, character driven or specific scenario type narratives. Many of the Halo books are fantastic. But wouldn't make for good games or movies.

[pendragon]

To me, Star Wars actually hit the sweet spot in the middle of having an open-ended story with a beginning, middle, and end that teases a wider galaxy to explore, especially with the ancient history of humanity and of the Force itself. The creative teams behind Star Wars focus way too much on the Republic, the Empire, and the Rebellion; there are so many other narrative possibilities in the Star Wars universe to fulfill if the producers and the writers just free themselves from the box they trapped themselves in.

[FCD]

Being a millennial just on the other side of 40 one series I truly miss and would have loved to seen an EU on is the original C&C dawn series, I would have loved to see a game or book set in the tiberium sun era with mutated wildlife and the politics behind Blue, yellow and red zones... Another universe that is amazing for lore is the Expanse series, utterly compelling to read, listen to and watch!

[lukasz]

I noticed the same characteristics of settings as a game master running an RPG in the world of warhammer 40k and star wars.
Whenever I play Star Wars, I have to change something to make the adventure make sense and not destroy the existing lore, or I have to change the lore.
I don't have this problem in Warhammer 40k. If I want, I can add a strange faction, a new order of marines or a race of aliens to the edge of the galaxy, lead an epic conflict and nothing will change in the lore.

[leonkautz]

Never gave up hope on sleeping eight hours that fast before, this is clearly more important than sleep

[johnecoapollo]

I'll be voting for the Mil Sci-Fi/Space Opera one but so help me God, Eternal Kreventum must make an appearance. One of the best lost narrative opportunities ever teased by the Templin Institute. I'll even become a Patreon if that's what it takes to bring them back.

[S.Collins]

While I hate all the Post Human-Covenant war story lines I think they would be a lot better if they were small scale more mass effect style stories with a new multipolar order of various small factions picking up the pieces of The the Covenant and a decimated and divided UNSC, Post war Halo falls into the same trap as every other sequel storyline were everything is a galaxy ending threat and has to one up itself instead of a smaller more focused story . I also wish more Halo stories would take place in during The Insurrection.

[AlexanderosD]

Stories that tell a particular story within a world setting, tend to fair poorly as expanded worlds of storytelling.
(Lord of the Rings, Star Wars.)

But world settings that tell various stories within that particular world setting, tend to create expansive worlds for possible story telling.
(Warhammer, Magic the Gathering, Fallout, Halo sort of.)

Really looking forward to seeing what sort of world you begin to create on the 4th!

[VestigialLung]

Your talking about the issues with telling other stories in LotR got me thinking, and the one thing I can think of is go smaller rather than larger.

Give me a story or game about the a family living near the front when the front spills over, follow their struggle to escape danger and survive in this empirically hellish world now that they’re refugees. It would be different and would feel smaller, but that’s because it *is* smaller, but done so in a way that isn’t striving to tell another epic tale in a world that has one - and only one - epic tale.

[salihnu]

I have to tell you, I really appreciate the work you are doing here and looking forward to your content. Thank you!

[BernddasBrotB]

With regard to Lord of the Rings, the setting is very much multipolar, you just need to look at events between the grand wars with dark lords, or at the First Age for that matter. Gondor fought a civil war which resulted in a breakaway power in Umbar for quite some time. Arnor imploded in an even more dramatic fashion into a conflict which Sauron later took advantage of. The Wainriders had very little to do with Sauron and fought wars with his servants AND Gondor. The Second Age had a three way power dynamic between Sauron, Lindon and the Numenoreans.
As for the First Age, you have Morgoth vs the native populace of Beleriand vs the Fingolfinian Noldor vs the Feanorean Noldor, to greater or lesser degrees. Not to mention the Dwarves getting in on things by sacking Doriath's capital but also siding against Morgoth.

There's also a very much open ended narrative. We have the whole of the Fourth Age to play with, not to mention the events of the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh ages which have little coverage save that the Sixth and Seventh take place in something approximating our own world's history.

[briantarigan]

when it comes to Zombies Genre, World War Z ( Novel) and The Last of Us seems to be one that fill all your check list

[Clockmann]

I think Halo: Legends did a really good job of showing where Halo should have gone. The series of short stories all within the UNSC Covenant War or before worked really well! Showing different perspectives and stories of the same events. The stuff they’ve done now just isn’t as strong. And at times feels contradictory to the original games’ intent. I hope the studio comes to realize this and get the series on track!