Something I hadn’t realized before in the concept of world-building was how diverse and sporadic it could be. Let me explain.
World-building is a piece of equipment that writers and artists use to detail the setting around the characters within it. It’s often altered through life-changing scenarios, and it can even be described in the perspective of the characters. How they view the world, for example, versus what it is matter-of-factly to normal people. Usually, in fiction, the world only changes after a big battle against the central antagonist or an ultimatum made by the protagonist in said battle. It’s often forgotten that little details hidden in the background could also be substantial enough to have a butterfly effect later on. In other words, a foreshadowing towards a major shift. Of what? That solely depends on who’s telling the story.
I remember sitting there on the bean bag playing “Minecraft” on the Xbox. I followed a tutorial on how to build a tent–yes, a tent–because I needed a quick-and-easy structure to call home. Fortunately, not far from spawn, was a little valley between a cherry grove and a snowy mountain. This is where I built it, in addition to a couple of entrances to a man-made cavern system, in which I would mine for resources. The more I did, the more I shaped the world around me. I dug tunnels, constructed bridges, built pens for cows and sheep, and I even thought of creating a path leading towards a nearby village, even closer to the point of spawn than my large tent.
Whatever I decided to build, it would change the landscape forever.
Similarly, in “Elden Ring,” progressing far enough and making a significant amount of choices will have an impact on the characters you meet and the locations you come across. Some changes can’t be avoided while others have a non-zero chance of being ignored.
An event that is necessary to happen occurs after the player defeats Starscourge Radahn, one of the main antagonists. Upon defeating him, a meteor crashes down into Limgrave, opening up a massive hole in the ground leading to one of the Eternal Cities, Nokron.
A smaller example of permanently changing the world is if you choose to either kill Patches in the Murkwater Cave or show mercy when he begs for it. Killing Patches grants you a bell bearing to access his shop items further into the game. Letting him live (which you should do, you sinners) also allows the player to purchase from him, but it also comes with meeting Patches in other regions and continuing and completing his questline, which in turn offers more rewards. Good things happen to good people.
I’m shaping the world right now by putting this article out there for all of your eyes to read. Or, at the very least, beginning the butterfly effect that may or may not come back to me somewhere in the future.
We are all building the world around us every single day. Wherever we walk, whatever we do, how we react and respond. How will you shape your slice of life? What will you leave behind on our planet Earth, or somewhere beyond the stars?
