Welcome to the inaugural annual update on the state of Pride and Prophecy. As we close out another exciting year, I want to reiterate the core vision for this platform. Pride and Prophecy is not about being the fastest or most extensively cited source of fantasy analysis. Instead, it occupies its own unique niche: exploring intergroup variations across fantasy universes while touching on overarching themes. My goal is for this site to serve as more than just a book club recommendation list. I want it to help you immerse yourself in new universes from the familiar vantage points of the ones you already love.
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| Another year in the books (almost)! |
Relative Ranking
Relative Ranking is finally here! You can access the feature here. This voting system allows you to compare two characters randomly selected in the Arena across fifteen rating categories. Each vote updates the Elo ratings of the respective characters in our database. As it stands, there are 208 characters and 15 attributes, which means at least 1,500 votes are necessary for a preliminary level of coverage, and ideally 45,000+ votes would achieve statistical validity.
I'm also working on implementing radar charts that display each character's attributes and their overall percentile rank on individual character pages. These ratings will eventually form the basis of the Arena match algorithm.
Known issues include:
Duplicate matchups: If you encounter duplicates, please skip them to ensure even Elo updates. This issue is more frequent when filtering universes, and I’m actively working to resolve it.
Load time: The matchup generation function currently takes 5-6 seconds to load. Optimizing this is on my to-do list.
The basic functionality is live, so get out there and vote!
Bookmaker
A longstanding issue in Season 2’s Bookmaker data has been resolved! The issue involved a time formatting error, which has now been corrected. The bookmaker is fully functional for the remainder of Season 2 and accessible here.
Factions, Races, and Atlas Resources
Over the past year, new resources for factions, races, and atlas comparisons have been introduced:
While these sections are still works in progress, they aim to fill a gap in the fantasy community by presenting information from multiple universes in one place. Unlike a wiki, our goal is to analyze these elements within the broader context of high fantasy rather than solely within their in-universe narratives. These resources will take at least a year to become fully fleshed out, and while outsourcing additional content is a consideration, I’d prefer to maintain Pride and Prophecy’s distinct approach.
Timelines (Beta!)
Individual character pages are receiving steady updates, including features like character information cards, radar charts, recent Arena matches, trophy cases, and comparative universe rankings. Additionally, timelines are being beta-tested. You can see an example on Elrond’s page.
Timelines have been tricky to implement due to the complexity of chronologically close events. This feature will likely require years of development and research before it’s fully operational.
Season 3 Teaser
Season 3 characters will be added to the relative ranking algorithm immediately following the Season 2 Grand Championship! Depending on vote totals, ongoing matchups with updated ratings might not be implemented until Season 4. Balancing the number of contestants across universes is a priority moving forward, though it may pose challenges in the long term. While I’m considering introducing two new universes, I’m hesitant to overextend without fully engaging with the existing source material.
Bluesky Integration
The Arena is now live on Bluesky, alongside integrations for F* Every Word and Celebrity Deathmatch. I’m exploring ways to expose these projects to a wider audience while avoiding platforms like Meta, which are difficult to integrate with our format.
Everyword Market
The beta version of the Everyword Market, tied to the F* Every Word project, has been launched. This experimental platform attempts to correlate word prices with cultural relevance using trade volume and potential Google Trends data. Currently, the system is purely fictional and struggles with scalability beyond 10,000 words. While this project is on the back burner, it could eventually serve as an academic tool for predicting linguistic patterns.
Divinations
For fans of Daedric Divinations, I hope to expand this category with more lore-driven content rather than standard quizzes. My experience with researching Nirn's astronomy has inspired me to tackle similar in-depth projects for other universes. I’m committed to ensuring these additions are thoughtful and rich in content.
In Summary
Pride and Prophecy continues to grow, and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished. While feedback from different communities varies, I’m grateful for all of it. Lesser-known fandoms, such as The Black Company, tend to embrace cross-universe analysis, while more prominent ones, like The Lord of the Rings, can be protective of their lore. My goal is to thoughtfully intertwine high fantasy narratives, and I’ll continue to address feedback as it comes.
Thank you for your support, and I wish you all a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year. Pride and Prophecy will still be here, growing and evolving—with your help!
