Quote Originally Posted by Cluedrew View Post
I think this is the version I would prefer story wise. In a game I might prefer post fall of Beacon, perhaps not due to a grand evil plot but something to create a changing environment for PCs to act freely in, without having a single hook they must follow.

Or like the old Star Wars movies. Personally I don't like RWBY, I like talking about RWBY with my friends. That is why I bother to watch the episodes and the first thing I do once finished is announce that I have in to my friends so we know when we can start discussing what happened. For me it and Star Wars have the same primary value, a touch-stone by which I communicate with the people around me.

I mean when describing dust I said that it is the settings hand-wave material. Not to be confused with the hand-wave abilities or the hand-wave creatures or just the straight magic/divine intervention in the setting. That is a lot of unconnected strange stuff in the setting.
The old Star Wars movies have a goal: The oldest ones want the Empire defeated and Vader downed. The Prequels are about a crappy galaxy with egotistical and lazy Jedi falling apart due to the manipulations of one Sith and the kid he messes with. The prequels have a lot of extra junk they added for the sake of worldbuilding, and not all of it is good. Much of it sucks. But I can respect it for trying to add more to this universe instead of taking the safe option and remaking these films to squeeze nostalgia.

also you're right about the handwave thing. The more of these hand-wave things a story has, the worse it gets. I think that's how that works. That's why this show worked so much better when it just had videogame healthbars, one superpower per person worth anything, and magic crystals with consistent elemental effects to fuel your guns and sometimes mess with your one superpower in interesting ways. One power, the dust you carried, the weapon and fighting style you used and how much HP you had. That's all the show needed. None of this Special Eyes, Gods, Warring Gods, Those Chosen By The Gods, Chosen One, Wizards and Do-Anything Magic crap from the hat of cliche ideas.