Oddworld Expanded Universe...?
 

I was wondering what everyone on these forums thought of the possibility of having an Oddworld expanded universe created by fans, artists and authors, much like the Star Wars expanded universe.

I personally really enjoy the Star Wars expanded universe. Although I haven't read any Star Wars books and comics out of the hundreds there are, I am still amazed by the detail and depth involved in them (wookieepedia.com is pretty great). I believe the way it works is that all ideas go through LucasArts or George Lucas himself to be acknowledged and accepted to be part of the official Star Wars expanded universe canon (I haven't actually researched this... I could be totally wrong about it, to be honest).

Now what I was thinking, from seeing all these fanfic (all of which I'm too lazy to read, but look pretty 'in-depth' either way) and such, is of what people would think about having their ideas go through Lorne Lanning and the Oddworld Inhabitants team to be made an official part of the Oddworld universe. I still don't know what I'd say on the matter, but I'd be delighted to see what the Oddworld Forums think of it.

So... what would you say about an Oddworld Expanded Universe?

You got my "NO" vote as soon as I saw:
I don't mind other artist writing stories and such, but OWI would need to set a serious department monitoring all the "crap" other people write and need to get trough and give their permission for every piece of "expanded" content created.

I agree there are many people out there that could enrich the oddworld universe, but I don't want it drifting away from Lorne's original vision.

Particularly before the original trilogy has been completed, so to speak.

Ha. Those ewok films sucked hard.

EDIT: And yeah, it's a good idea. But the problem is that the movie needs to be launched first, to gather enough popularity for that.

I don't like starwars ....

NO gets my vote. Have you SEEN some of these fanfics? By their own terms, some fanfics are gold from one's own heart, but compared to OWI, they all just don't have that particular trait needed to create a good OW story.

I wish not to bash someone else's hard finger-breaking work on a fanfic, but it's true. The fanfics don't have that special thing. In fact, a number of them would make Oddworld incredibly cheezier. The minds behind OWI can freely do as they wish, but I think following the ideas of fans is not the best idea out there for any bussiness like OWI. Maybe a few things of inspiration from the fan-made stuff is possible, but not the actual plots from them.

That's why I said they'd go through Oddworld Inhabitants first to be approved. That way only the good ones go through. :P
Lorne doesn't seem the type, to me, to hesitate in saying he thinks something is crap and will not be accepted into the universe (probably disguising it by saying there were 'creative differences').

Also, I did mention I hadn't read the fanfics.

The best way is to allow created content to be made. And then just get rid of the worst 2/3rds of material :p

I say yes, if it can attain the level of the Warcraft or D&D expanded universes.

You have to remember, there's still more coming from Lorne and OWI, in due time. I'd rather wait until the Oddworld series is finished until the Universe is expanded. I voted Maybe.

My vote will always be no until OWI is no more.

I say maybe. There are definately people out there that have good ideas and could contribute something amazing that OWI may like, but there are also those people that make everything corny, cheesey, annoying, repetitive, and let's not forget those who trace storylines with a whole different set of characters. I wouldn't think ANYONE would want to read through those.

Even if it were done so, Lorne would not hesitate to render huge quantities of previously established EU canon obsolete with a new project. I don't think George Lucas even ever read the SW books.

We also have the advantage that Lorne is much more trustable than Lucas to remain faithful to his original vision. I mean, take a look at all that Greedo shooting first crap in the reedition of A New Hope, and compare the quality of the new trilogy with the original one. Star Wars needs the EU. Although Episode III was fairly enjoyable, for me the best stuff that has been coming out recently are the Clone Wars things, like the animated series (well, relatively recently, anyway).

With Oddworld we have plenty of characters to work with. Most fanfics exist purely because of Vykker meddling :) They make good characters, and of course open the way for creating new sub-species etc.

So often it's like "We need a new species for this story!" and then you feel dirty for introducing something so important.

Still, you can't do much worse than the dragons I read about in one person's fan fic.

No. Fan fiction is the way of Satan. Do not be drawn down his dark path.

Dragons were rather a minor component of Warcraft lore until Richard Knaak came along.

NO, Oddworld is and aways will be made by OWI

Fanfics may be the way of Satan, but expert writers doing Oddworld stuff might end up with something interesting, especially if a new story with the existing species is made. So my thoughts are really mixed, I think the most important elements must be created by OWI, the elements that define Oddworld; but that also other people might write interesting stuff with those elements.

I suppose it's worse than you are thinking. He probably was talking about someone writing about dragons in Oddworld.

Oh yes I know, I was making a subtle convoluted and confusing point.

Could you imagine what would happen if the Oddworld canon reflected the popularity of Sligs in Oddworld fanfics?

The only thing interesting about fan fiction would be doing a psychological study on what type of person writes them. They are the height of intellectual stagnation. Nothing good or useful will ever come of it and it merely helps herd the new wave of writers into further chicanery and form fitting work. It teaches people to write in the existing forms for a genre.

Those are all bad things, by the way.

We'd have a Slig Die Hard trilogy.

Heres some possible films names;

The Slogfather
Reservoir Slogs
Slogs of War
Slog Soldiers
All Slogs go to Heaven
Slig (parody of Tom Hanks' Big)
Slig's best friend
Sligs on a Plane
The Odd-Files
The Odd-Factor
Wildum at Heart
Forest Chump
Glukk Fiction
Mudhoney
Mudokon Squad
Under the Mudokon
Thunder and Mudokon
His name was Mudokon
Stick in the Mudokon

I wasn't saying that fanfics are good, I was saying that professional work like Star Wars EU stuff is positive, for example Timothy Zahn's books, which in many ways improve the original universe. You should have read with more attention what I wrote, I specifically mentioned expert writers and NOT fanficers.

That would be one hell of a slig :D

you forgot "My name is Elum"...

At least you got it right. Fanfics were just an example of unofficial Oddworld texts (the only ones that happen to be available to use as an example at the moment), and now everyone's turned this into a discussion about how bad fanfics are.

Perhaps stray from the 'Fanfics are shit' discussion and have a look at what the Star Wars Expanded Universe or any other expanded universes of media series' actually entail. Then you might see the possibility of an Oddworld EU. That way you can say 'No', but do it on the right grounds.

This thread makes me want to write a fanfic about a slog that falls through vortex and ends up on earth 40,000 years in the future, but all humans are extinct and the only thing left alive are dragons and giant flaming cockroaches.

What.

I still say 'maybe', but I'm starting to learn more towards 'no'.

=Slogfather=
Don Canneloni - "It's not personal, it's strictly business"
Don Tagliatelle - "Mullock sleeps with the fishes"

(Abe wakes up with an Elum's head in his bed)
Abe: AAAAAAAAH aAAAAAAAAAAAAH AAAAAAAAAAAH AAAAAAAH (etc)

Don Gnocchi - "No Slogfather can ever refuse a request on his birthday."
Don Linguine - "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse"

(Don Tortellini puts a Scrab Cake in his mouth in the opple garden in order to make his young grandson laugh)

Yup, it could work!

Now I've got this urge to write A Midsummer Night's Dream with an all-Oddworld cast.

That's what OWI should be making :)