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Why do KSPers dislike shipping (as in the love version)?


fredinno

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4 minutes ago, JeramyM said:

Is this...is this like rule 34?

Not entirely.  Just the fantasy of relationships between fictional characters, sometimes resulting in fanfiction, fanart, and, yes, rule 34.

I think it isn't prevalent in KSP because the characters involved are fairly one dimensional.

I just have no interest in shipping, personally.  So that's my answer.

Edited by klgraham1013
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1 minute ago, klgraham1013 said:

Not entirely.  Just the fantasy of relationships between fictional characters, sometimes resulting in fanfiction, fanart, and, yes, rule 34.

Rule 34, like the postcards from Laythe.:0.0: Jeb didn't like them too much.

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Kerbals in my fiction (see links in sig) are for the most part guileless, loyal to a fault, and are pretty much constantly awestruck by the universe around them. They have no concept of violence. They have friendships--very strong friendships in the case of Bill and Bob--but in my Kerbalverse none of those relationships are romantic or sexual in nature. We don't even know where new Kerbals come from! (not too surprising for a species that needs to go to space to figure out how to make a ladder)

Why? Because, to me, Kerbals are essentially highly intelligent children who happen to be running a space program. When I write for them, I try to write about the best parts of being a child, and those childlike tendencies I'd like to think I still have after 40+ trips around the sun. And it should go without saying that romance--especially its physical expression--has no place in a story about children.

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KSP has a grand total of one female character, who was only added recently. It still has a total of zero fleshed-out and multidimensional characters. Is it any surprise that shipping isn't a thing?

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Given that I am in control of the only space program, located at the only occupied buildings on the planet, I can only conclude that Kerbals are either grown in space junk, or sent from another planet like superman.  Cause the only time I get new ones is by rescuing them from orbit.

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You know, it's weird how some people try to shoehorn relationships into everything, I blame the American movie industry, they can't leave a good story alone without forcing a love triangle or romance in it somewhere.

KSP doesn't need relationships or "shipping", please keep that stuff to the Fanworks section, if people like it they'll let you know.

Actually I'm going to move this over there...

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12 minutes ago, JeramyM said:

Given that I am in control of the only space program, located at the only occupied buildings on the planet, I can only conclude that Kerbals are either grown in space junk, or sent from another planet like superman.  Cause the only time I get new ones is by rescuing them from orbit.

You can hire them from the Astronaut Complex :sticktongue:.

7 minutes ago, Randazzo said:

Gives a whole new meaning to "Free Shipping" for the holidays.

 

Also, no.

But why?

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9 minutes ago, sal_vager said:

You know, it's weird how some people try to shoehorn relationships into everything, I blame the American movie industry, they can't leave a good story alone without forcing a love triangle or romance in it somewhere.

KSP doesn't need relationships or "shipping", please keep that stuff to the Fanworks section, if people like it they'll let you know.

Actually I'm going to move this over there...

Amen! :D

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2 minutes ago, Randazzo said:

Because it's silly and entirely unnecessary.

Well, sure it is. But I would interpret the OPs question as, "Shipping is a big part of most other scifi/gaming/geekfiction communities I've been a part of, but not this one. Why not?" I'd think you might argue (as would I) that shipping is silly and unnecessary in, say, Final Fantasy -- and yet it happens in that fan community. I do see it in some other fanfic here, but it's not in mine for the reasons I gave earlier.

So I think fredinno's question is a fair one--but then again I've written over 500 pages of a Kerbal-themed comic book so I might not be the best person to judge whether something is "unnecessary" :) 

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8 minutes ago, Randazzo said:

Because it's silly and entirely unnecessary.

To you.  I'm not interested in it, but I grew up in a time where your response would have been aimed at computers, games, and model rocketry.  Everyone has interests, and if "shipping" gets a few more people into writing and art, I'm all for it.

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Personally, I feel that it's not that we dislike it, but that anything explicit or tending towards roleplay is pretty obviously banned :) I don't think that some fiction with romance in it would be poorly-received, as long as it was tasteful and didn't make romance the main focus of the fiction. This is a rocket game forum, not a fanfic forum after all.

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3 minutes ago, DuoDex said:

This is a rocket game forum, not a fanfic forum after all.

Really good point. If only a certain % of members are at all interested in fanfic, and only some % of those are interested in shipping, then that could be your explanation right there.

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1 hour ago, fredinno said:

No seriously, for some reason it appears many don't. Why is that?

Especially Jeb X Val, which is my favourite shipping in KSP :wink:.

In my perception of the Kerbal universe, Jeb only has eyes for the next new craft he can fly, Bill is busy trying to keep that craft together or getting it to lift/take off, Bob still hasn't figured out how to overcome Valentina catching him playing with the Goo, and Valentina is constantly in a secret competition with the boys to do everything better, faster and more efficiently - or rescuing them when Jeb gets them stranded, again.

They're all fascinated with space and over-engineered contraptions and generally just fill their time with either flying, returning from a flight, or preparing for either. It just doesn't leave much room for anything else.

I will admit: I tend to rush career towards unmanned flight and then put probe cores on everything. But adding a Kerbal or two does make for somewhat 'livelier' and more humorous unplanned rapid disassembly events...

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