Eleven Minutes on World Building by Biome - The Great Plains

[@lordzorm-el9iz]

I have been looking for a channel like this for SO long...

[@dresdenstale2253]

Glad I could be here for you.

[@tiaelago-oretukaumunika7017]

This is super cool! I really enjoy your narrative style. Couldnt ask for more other than perhaps a more consistent audio quality. Looking forward to more content from you! Just subscribed :)

[@dresdenstale2253]

Thanks for the sub. By the way, you'll be totally impressed with the audio quality of this video, when you hear the old stuff. Lol

[@tiaelago-oretukaumunika7017]

@@dresdenstale2253 hahaha, up is the only good way I suppose! :D

[@JimRFF]

It's actually a bit more interesting on an ecological level -- you shouldn't just put megafauna into your fantasy grasslands because they're cool... If you have grasslands, biologically you OUGHT put megafauna there, because in real life grasslands are formed by megafauna grazing/trampling anything larger than grass and small brush. Without those animals, the plant ecosystem would gradually become dominated by large plants that can shade-out their competition, like trees, and the grassland would eventually become a forest over time. Animals and plants don't *just* adapt to their ecosystems but they influence and change those ecosystems as well... The biome is really an interaction between all of its components, both living and non-living

[@dresdenstale2253]

Great points. I completely skipped over this aspect of plains and the sometimes thin line that keeps them from becoming forest. It's definitely a two way street. Luckily, I can make up my oversight as I'm planning on producing a few follow up exercises for this video. Hope you check it out.

[@JimRFF]

@@dresdenstale2253 I really enjoy thinking about world-building, especially the back-and-forth interactions that come from thinking "how would this environment affect the plants and animals and people that lived there? how would those plants and animals and people affect the environment?" and that sort of dynamic... Like, a fun example you mentioned in this video -- a culture of bird-people in a plains biome... they may develop an advanced civilization and culture without ever doing the things that we normally consider fundamental to culture forming in the first place, things like pottery and the wheel may never be invented at all. Why would you need roads or wheels for logistics at all if you can fly? Perhaps this culture took advantage of abundant fibrous grasses and developed sophisticated weaving and net-making techniques instead of ever turning to wet clay for their storage needs (it would be a lot easier for two bird-people to share a load by carrying a net between them, rather than trying to fly with ceramic pottery haha)... thinking things through like that can lead to some pretty "fantastical" deviations from what we normally see in our world that are totally alien and different, but they still feel consistent and reasonable rather than feeling like the world-building is just someone shouting out "HEY DRAGONS ARE COOL LET'S PUT DRAGONS THERE"

[@ShioriWhitefeather]

I have learned a thing today, thank you!

[@nurfuis]

This was the first of your videos that has shown up in my feed. I subd and I'll check out your channel.

[@dresdenstale2253]

Thanks for giving me a try.

[@ShioriWhitefeather]

Giant moocow!!

[@ShioriWhitefeather]

Man, I wish I could weave words together to paint a picture like you do. 😩

[@dresdenstale2253]

Images are courtesy of Pixabay lite on this one, but I can take credit for the script. Thank you!

[@ShioriWhitefeather]

Oh oh do the Arctic tundra / taiga! Oh or scrublands!

[@dresdenstale2253]

Consider them added to the list of future videos

[@ShioriWhitefeather]

What's a weather encounter?? I've never heard of this! How do you run one? 😮

[@dresdenstale2253]

Usually weather events are pretty basic, just costing time, but they can get as spicy as the story requires. Sounds like it might be a future video.

[@michaelpark5439]

Forests!

[@dresdenstale2253]

It's on the list. I'll move it up a notch for ya.

[@michaelpark5439]

Immediate sub

[@dresdenstale2253]

Thanks!

[@BellaBellaElla]

I was so excited for this video when I saw the title but wow was this video so painfully insulting to those of us who live, work, admire and desire the great plains. I hope that you will consider trying again. As a channel seeking to speak on the 'basics of world-building' you really should acknowledge the goodness of each terrain you speak on. Think about it, if the inhabitants in your world don't care about or respect their territory, why would most of them choose to live, build, and as always seems to happen with humans - go to war for their land? Speaking of the land, you barely acknowledged the vast variability of the prairies; for the sake of attempted brevity I will mention that it is more than shrubs and short-grasses (though those are wonderful) there is also savana, bluffs and tallgrasses (tallgrasses which can easily hide an average height person) I respect your feelings regarding the great plains, however should you choose to try again (as I hope you do) I encourage you to speak to/do research about those who *do* recognize the majesty, wonder, importance, and power of the prairies; native americans, homesteaders, heck even many of our storm chasers etc etc. I grew up in kansas (whose topography across the whole state is more varied than I think you realize), and i am here to tell you there is MUCH to cherish about the great plains. As a wise person once said "anyone can love a mountain, it takes a soul to love a prairie". Have a wonderful day!!

[@dresdenstale2253]

You're absolutely right about how the biome varies. Unfortunately in a short video, there's a need to focus more, I'd sometimes like. Didn't mean to sound disparaging, I loved my time in Oklahoma City. People don't get how meteorologists and storm chasers become local celebrities. I still follow several on Facebook. I promise to be more positive in the follow up videos over the next few weeks. Thanks for the comment. Have a great day.

[@ShioriWhitefeather]

Coming from a city slicker, I can definitely say that even this "little bit" (as I suspect you might call it) has still opened my eyes to a lot of new ways to look at grasslands. Usually, I just skip over them as much as possible and go to (what I've traditionally considered as) "more interesting biomes". So as someone who *doesn't* hail from this biome, thanks for the info :3