I think this is more of my idea of fantasy in the terms of elves, dragons and what not. But there’s also a difference between finding similarities between a small community such as ourselves and the thousands upon thousands of books you can find just at your local library. Of course there are thousands of stories about bastard children you can find on print, but in a small community and seeing the same stories about bastard children can get tiring. Along with this there can be a lot of problems trying to find a book about something such as the Vietnam War. In real life it would most likely have its own section in the larger historical selection, but to find something similar in COG or other IF communities is more challenging. Of course it’s easier to write a story about brave knights slaying dragons to save princesses online in interactive fiction, but when it feels there’s only this selection of similar stories to choose from it can feel lackluster. That is not to say there isn’t a great selection available and can be available, but variety is a desire.
I wouldn’t compare Hamburgers or whatever. It is like going To Larian and complaint there GUYS all your games are fantasy rpgs. Go and made a shooter or a sci fi simulator
Cog in all three branches have an immense catalog of games from size to genre even maturity level.
Fantasy is the best selling and with overall better ratio. Always have been.
But it is dozens of games with other themes and narratives. From being a parent to be a mafia guy.
My favorite genre is not fantasy but still I respect and have enjoyed reading many on that category.
The people who want more games from other genres I really believe they should make a group focused on providing help and writing themselves other genres. Making contest, offering edition and testing focused to hosted authors.
That would make a very valuable experience. And all win fromit.
Variety doesn’t tend to be rewarded except in a minority of cases. If you want variety, you need to support the games that do something different but often never make it to publication because the authors feel no one wants them. This goes for unusual fantasy storylines, or any other genre around here that is underrepresented. Although a lot of authors write “standard-ish” fantasy plots because they like them, they also do it because it’s a known quantity that has a fighting chance at doing at least middling well in the popularity stakes.
Real historical war type games? Ok, how many people do you see praising games like divided we fall who have actually read it? Now what proportion of COG’s reader base do you think has been actually interested enough to read it. I know I’m harping on the point here, but it’s not enough to just say “I wish”. If enough people want something you need to really support authors who try those sorts of projects.
…western with high vampires in superhero school…
Ya know I’m actually kind of surprised we haven’t gotten that yet. I could totally see a team vamps vs team supers at a college sporting play off happening 
Add a Murder and a disco party and You have the theme entry for the Halloween jam…
Mara’s advertising moment is over
Probably needs time travelers too, because how on Earth are you going to have disco in a western otherwise?
What if it’s a western style sci-fi?
That could work. As long as you have shootouts at high noon.
You can have a scifi western coff Star wars cofff Return to future. Then Midnight cowboys and several westerns were made in 70s based on farmers and cowboys in that time period.
Of course you can, it just wasn’t what I was picturing.
As long as creator is willing, invested, interested, and have the drive. It should be fine.
Otherwise, forced upon, it won’t be fine.
Surprised there isn’t a vampire vs supers high school yet. Vampires with Supes been involved before, as adults.
I don’t think you meant anything by this, but this comment rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed
to carry the implication that writing a fantasy story is easier than writing any other kind of story or that writers choose to write fantasy because its easy. It takes a lot of work to design a functioning fantasy world that I don’t think people always consider.
Reading this thread made me chuckle a little because my latest project has both magic and high technology and they’re pretty much interchangeable. The writing experience is funny because I’ve read A LOT of fantasy, so writing those sections takes minutes, while writing about using a techno gizmo takes a day of research and asking friends questions like “so…how does one hack a VPN anyway” 
Chiming in here with my thoughts:
- There are plenty of genres for all kinds of tastes, which is how it should be.
- I read and write fantasy almost exclusively, as has been the case for most of my life since I spent my childhood adventuring in my basement with the map from the Hobbit. While there are themes and tropes often used in fantasy, most other genres follow a similar pattern of using familiar themes and tropes.
- Writing fantasy can sometimes be easier than, say, historical fiction (some fantasy stories require less research than others, and there’s the added bonus of pretty much being able to make up whatever you want), but it can also be A LOT of work to create an entire world from scratch. The worldbuilding in many fantasy stories and games (including my HC games: Their Majesties’ Pleasure and Ink and Intrigue which is in beta) can take years to develop and polish to the point where it feels believable.
As far as this thread’s primary question goes, I’m sure some CoG readers will always love fantasy and some would prefer other genres. Which is totally fine. Variety is the spice of life.
Personally, I will never tire of fantasy worlds. I enjoy the escape from this world and the chance to find universal wisdom in unexpected ways. All of my favorite stories have some combination of magic, love, and adventure.
I do wish to address the point regarding the possible negativity that may come from a post like this. And why despite that feeling, posts like this can be an important tool in gauging the general interest of those who peruse the forums.
Given the near 50-50 split on people who cant have enough and those who are not fans of that specifc genre I would say this post has shown that there still exists demand for fantasy themed IFs despite the view shared by some that there are too many. And Ithink a part of that fault is the lack of a clear defintion of fantasy.
I earlier did make my position clear, as I myself am not a fan of the genre. But then I would ask you, would Aura clash or path of the martial artists count as fantasy? They certainly bear some elements of fantasy with magic and humanoid creatures in a fantastical world with asian folklore as opposed to the likes of Tolkien. But if you ask me if I find myself tired of those. It would be a different answer than the fantasy of Knights and Magic prophecies with elves and Orcs and dragons.
But that nitpick aside. I feel it is important for writers to know full well that what they write and choose to write may not be particularly in the zone for people or that its in an oversaturated genre. This is not to discourage them. Even if I myself share no interest it is not a reason to stop. But merely something to note when you make your eventual WIP post. Knowing the mood is important in preparing yourself for your reaction and even just reading through the notes from people who feel it saturated can provide ideas for writers to deviate and bring a bit of spice into it. Too many complaints of a prophesied hero? Change the prophecy to be a hoax. Or make the person who has it someone other than the MC.
Too many elves or orc stories with similar notes? Change how they are portrayed by making them different to the usual expectation. To make fallout as an example. Super mutants in Fallout 1 and Fallout 4 are radically different. With the former being a superior being with intelligent thought and goals of world conquest. Seeing the FEV as a serum to elevate humanity.
While fallout 4s super mutants are dumb and burly. With only few being capable of coherent thoughts and intelligent conversation outside of pillaging and murdering.
A fantasy worlds biggest advantage is that you are only limited by the rules you set for yourself. Rules you can change. Create what you like. Not everyone will like it and thats fine. But do not take a post like this as a sign of discouragement but rather a point of creative inspiration. One cannot improve if they do not see anything to improve upon. And at the end of the day as this post has also shown. There are plenty of people who will still be interested in what you write irrespective of what those who do not have much interest in the genre would think.
There is an audience for every type of story. Personally, I’m not a fan of fantasy or sci fi. I want to be up front about it because I want to encourage more of the stories that I want to see be made, so I’m going to express what I like and dislike. I don’t think anyone here that I’ve seen anyway has been rude to any specific author. Personally, I think authors should write whatever they want, but I’m under no obligation to encourage them to write a story that I’m not going to want to read.
Not always 
. I actually did a heap of research for Oedipus. But yeah, it kind of depends if it’s a purely made up world or if you’re basing it within a particular historical time period and/or mythology system. Each has their pros and cons.
Doing a mix of historical and mythological is a fun experience! … Mostely. lol.
It is always fun when you turn a mythological being into a historical version, or visa-versa, and your educated readers get confused by that.
I think there will be an audience for whatever you write. The hard part of the proccess is finding and then marketing to that audience.