Favourite sci-fi/present-day FF gamebook poll

[CharlesX]

What are your favourite 2 FF sci-fi/present-day FF?
   While we've had the FF gamebook rankings, my intent is to see whether Rebel Planet in particular and also Robot Commando are considered the greatest SF gamebooks, to see if there's anyone who likes Blood and Sky Lord, to see the extent of following for so-called 'average' SF works.
   To get the best flavour of people's overall favourites, not just their number one, voters can vote twice. Voting ends 24 Dec 12 A.M.
   After feedback about this poll, I decided to remove the poll and replace it with a corrected one. I didn't include Star Strider because I messed-up, I didn't include House Of Hell because I based the book listings on the SF chapter in You Are The Hero, which didn't or did make the right call. Having effectively deleted everyone's votes, I've extended the deadline until 24 Dec 9 P.M..
   Sorry, hope this can work out! .

[terrysalt]

There's only 2 on the list that I even like. Both written by Steve Jackson (but a different Steve Jackson for each).

[daredevil123]

I'm the same! Glad I could choose two as to my mind it's a very close call as to which is better.

[vastariner]

1. Rebel Planet - very well written.
2. Rings of Kether - doing something different.

[The Count]

Star Strider is missing, and if Blood is included then there is an argument that House should be as well.

[CharlesX]

I wonder who voted for Sky Lord and and why?

[CharlesX]

I'm urging those people who voted before to do so again, as I think this poll can work, that is, get results, interesting or expected. So, feel free to vote just for your favourite SF FF or your top two. We've already had an upset result with Sky Lord apparently having a following, although I've no idea if that was a weird joke or a protest over altering the poll, which I mainly chose to do over the hard call about House Of Hell (not including the amazing Star Strider was definitely a big mistake on my part and I shouldn't have done that, apologies).

[a moderator]

'Present day' and 'sci-fi' are an odd mix anyway, especially as the majority of the present-day FFs are horror-themed.

[a moderator]

Dec 20, 2021 10:20:24 GMT CharlesX said:

We've already had an upset result with Sky Lord apparently having a following, although I've no idea if that was a weird joke or a protest over altering the poll

The last time I checked this thread before going offline for the night, there were 25 votes, and one of them was for Sky Lord (Blood was still on zero, though), so the post-edit vote for Sky Lord may well be the same person reinstating their vote.

[peasantscribbler]

I changed one of my votes to House of Hell, but I think it's out of place in this poll. I'm not even sure that it's set in the 80s. It seems to me like it could be set in the 50s or even earlier. You can make an argument that BotZ fits with the scifi books because it features a mad scientist and unethical experimentation to rationalize the existence of zombies (which seems like a scifi approach to me). You can't really make the same argument for HoH.

[a moderator]

Dec 20, 2021 22:58:55 GMT peasantscribbler said:

I changed one of my votes to House of Hell, but I think it's out of place in this poll. I'm not even sure that it's set in the 80s. It seems to me like it could be set in the 50s or even earlier. 

I wonder when home phones became sufficiently widespread that people would be likely to assume that a house did have a phone.

[CharlesX]

Dec 20, 2021 22:58:55 GMT peasantscribbler said:

I changed one of my votes to House of Hell, but I think it's out of place in this poll. I'm not even sure that it's set in the 80s. It seems to me like it could be set in the 50s or even earlier. You can make an argument that BotZ fits with the scifi books because it features a mad scientist and unethical experimentation to rationalize the existence of zombies (which seems like a scifi approach to me). You can't really make the same argument for HoH.

I'm not sure HOH should be included or excluded. My argument is it fits in from a 'no\he' pov, if that makes sense, because it isn't the traditional fantasy setting, and it is close to present-day Earth in ways other FF isn't. The elements in HOH always seemed to me to be from a supernatural universe, not a magical one, which I wouldn't call straight fantasy as well as straight SF. HOH reminds me of a John Carpenter film where supernatural things just 'exist' alongside 20th-21st century Earth with no particular justification - it sounds slightly like your interpretation of HOH was not the same as mine.

[daredevil123]

I'd like House of Hell to be excluded simply because its inclusion makes it much harder for me to choose my votes...

[CharlesX]

Dec 20, 2021 23:36:13 GMT daredevil123 said:

I'd like House of Hell to be excluded simply because its inclusion makes it much harder for me to choose my votes...

I agree it's definitely one of the better non-Titan works.

[terrysalt]

While I didn't change my vote from the original poll, the inclusion of HoH meant I had to actually think about it.

[peasantscribbler]

Dec 20, 2021 23:28:21 GMT a moderator said:

Dec 20, 2021 22:58:55 GMT peasantscribbler said:

I changed one of my votes to House of Hell, but I think it's out of place in this poll. I'm not even sure that it's set in the 80s. It seems to me like it could be set in the 50s or even earlier. 

I wonder when home phones became sufficiently widespread that people would be likely to assume that a house did have a phone.

After a little light googling, I don't have anything definitive. However, there does appear to be distinct differences in the history of phone ownership in the UK and in the US. One web site (statista.com) claims that only 35 per cent of UK households had a home phone in 1970 compared to 90.5 percent of US households that year. The sourcing of the stats is behind a paywall, so I'm not sure how reliable they are. As I believe HoH must be set in the UK, I've come round to the idea that it is set in the 80s after all.

[vastariner]

Just to throw this out there, Mingleford is north of Brisbane, so perhaps the storm is in the rainforests of Queensland.

[The Count]

Is the vote for Sky Lord going to be another mystery like the 10 points given to Chasms of Malice that no one really thinks about until it is brought up in an unrelated thread?

[CharlesX]

Dec 21, 2021 14:00:37 GMT The Count said:

Is the vote for Sky Lord going to be another mystery like the 10 points given to Chasms of Malice that no one really thinks about until it is brought up in an unrelated thread?

I do not know about this.. So, did you give COM 10 points as a known fan? Because even defending it I don't think it's worth 10!
   This kinda reminds me of the Doctor Who lines to Vincent Van Gogh, "they're my favourite pictures" "you can't have seen many then".

[a moderator]

Dec 21, 2021 14:00:37 GMT The Count said:

Is the vote for Sky Lord going to be another mystery like the 10 points given to Chasms of Malice that no one really thinks about until it is brought up in an unrelated thread?

What makes you think no one had given it any thought?

Dec 20, 2021 10:28:51 GMT a moderator said:

Dec 20, 2021 10:20:24 GMT CharlesX said:

We've already had an upset result with Sky Lord apparently having a following, although I've no idea if that was a weird joke or a protest over altering the poll

The last time I checked this thread before going offline for the night, there were 25 votes, and one of them was for Sky Lord (Blood was still on zero, though), so the post-edit vote for Sky Lord may well be the same person reinstating their vote.

The poll says 'favourite' rather than 'best', so this is about personal preference rather than (attempted) objective analysis of relative merits.

Whoever it is that enjoys Sky Lord more than 9 of the other books in the poll is welcome to their opinion, and I'm happy that someone is able to derive entertainment from the book in spite of its flaws. But, given how hostile FF fans can sometimes get (on another forum someone wanted to beat me up for finding Legend of Zagor dull), if the voter in question wishes to remain anonymous, they are free to do so.

[kieran]

Dec 21, 2021 14:00:37 GMT The Count said:

Is the vote for Sky Lord going to be another mystery like the 10 points given to Chasms of Malice that no one really thinks about until it is brought up in an unrelated thread?

Is this your way of confessing it was you? 

There was a big Sky Lord fan active on this forum (or perhaps its predecessor) some years ago. Maybe he's still lurking?

[philsadler]

Maybe the Skylord fan was Vag? After all, he has disappeared without trace...

[kieran]

Dec 21, 2021 14:15:15 GMT a moderator said:

But, given how hostile FF fans can sometimes get (on another forum someone wanted to beat me up for finding Legend of Zagor dull)

Wow! I think people on this forum are pretty chilled about differences of opinion thankfully.

[a moderator]

Dec 21, 2021 15:54:50 GMT philsadler said:

Maybe the Skylord fan was Vag? After all, he has disappeared without trace...

Unlikely. During one anti-Appointment with F.E.A.R. rant vagsancho referred to the Silver Crusader's civilian identity as 'Jang Mistral', and I doubt that a fan of Sky Lord would be so careless as to associate its hero's name with one of their least favourite FF books.

[The Count]

Dec 21, 2021 14:15:15 GMT a moderator said:

Dec 21, 2021 14:00:37 GMT The Count said:

Is the vote for Sky Lord going to be another mystery like the 10 points given to Chasms of Malice that no one really thinks about until it is brought up in an unrelated thread?

What makes you think no one had given it any thought?

A sweeping statement does more to get a discussion towards one topic than another one that is overdone and rather boring (HoH).

[bloodbeasthandler]

Dec 21, 2021 15:56:08 GMT kieran said:

Dec 21, 2021 14:15:15 GMT a moderator said:

But, given how hostile FF fans can sometimes get (on another forum someone wanted to beat me up for finding Legend of Zagor dull)

Wow! I think people on this forum are pretty chilled about differences of opinion thankfully.

Maybe he [I'm assuming it was a man] took the Fighting part of Fighting Fantasy a bit too literally. 
But yes, thankfully this forum is pretty chilled out. 

Side note: I discounted voting HoH because I don't think it's sci-fi. So it was Rings of Kether and Robot Commando for me. 

[The Count]

Dec 21, 2021 14:12:24 GMT CharlesX said:

Dec 21, 2021 14:00:37 GMT The Count said:

Is the vote for Sky Lord going to be another mystery like the 10 points given to Chasms of Malice that no one really thinks about until it is brought up in an unrelated thread?

I do not know about this.. So, did you give COM 10 points as a known fan? Because even defending it I don't think it's worth 10!

I like Chasms of Malice

[CharlesX]

Dec 22, 2021 10:27:58 GMT The Count said:

Dec 21, 2021 14:12:24 GMT CharlesX said:

I do not know about this.. So, did you give COM 10 points as a known fan? Because even defending it I don't think it's worth 10!

I like Chasms of Malice

That's as good as a signed confession. Not that there's anything to confess, obviously.

[CharlesX]

Dec 20, 2021 22:58:55 GMT peasantscribbler said:

I changed one of my votes to House of Hell, but I think it's out of place in this poll.

I think we should get some things straight. In no particular order:

I deeply regret not including Star Strider, just as much as deciding to include or exclude House. Or more. .
This is not an SF poll, but rather an SF\present-day poll. So, this makes the decision to include House seem more reasonable. If you'd prefer to treat it as a straight SF gamebook poll, do that, but that is not the title.
I could have went further and done a poll of all the FF set on non-Titan worlds, which would have been even bigger and probably required top 3 instead of top 2, I chose a compromise. As this poll is quite successful ( ) in spite of me not even getting it right the first time I posted it, I could do exactly that in the new year, and\or a straight SF poll which would not include Blood and HOH. 

[schlendrian]

Then the thread title should probably be altered as well.