Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon
That sounds less like marginalizing Material Magic, and more like emphasizing magical terminology
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That's kind of the opposite of what I was trying to say. My point was more, "flipping labels around doesn't transform science fiction setting into a fantastical setting, it makes a science fiction setting with weird labels." And so, transforming a science fiction setting into a fantastic one means that you need to detechnologicalize the unusual elements of the setting.
Unusual elements ought to behave differently depending on who's using them. For example, some things ought to be only usable depending on intrinsic factors (like Magery). This is present in original Stargate to some degree, like with the Ancient gene, but it shouldn't be that comprehensible or hackable by something base like gene therapy.
Another example; there shouldn't be things like Zat guns. A weapon that shoots energy blasts shaped like a snake? Sure. Not needing a special intrinsic feature to use? Go ahead. But it's effects shouldn't be completely predictable either. Like, if you're trying to deduce its function, it shouldn't work as well. Or if you don't think the weapon would do damage, it should do less damage. Or if you're in a blind rage, it could do more damage.
But the main point to this is, the Earth humans shouldn't be coming out of Earth, concluding how mana is an as of yet undiscovered fundamental particle, and going out to other worlds to tell the other humans that the Goa'uld aren't gods, they just have fancy and difficult to explain technology. That's what Stargate already is, just without the weird labels.