What needs to be said in a setting description?

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

It's the difference between a good salesmen and a bad one. A Bad salesmen will simply say 'this is a vacuum, it sucks stuff up and it has ball bearings that make it twist good.' A Good Salesmen will say 'this is a vacuum, it will make your life a thousand times easier. Its suction power is 2 times that of the leading competitor and it comes with these fancy German-made ball bearings that allow it to twist and turn with ease.'

One method just tells you the info, the other sells you the info.

That just seems so'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦dishonest. :(

[Ishmayl-Retired]

Seriously man, it's only dishonest if you lie.  Selling something is a natural part of the world, we've been doing it as human beings since we climbed down from the trees.  It's not about profit making, it's about making sure the right people are interested in the right things so that everyone can go on living a decent life.  The Wright Brothers, even after their first "flight," had to still convince people that flying was something worth pursuing.  The word "sell" and "salesman" take on extremely negative connotations (possibly in part due to unscrupulous salesmen, but also partly because people are scared to take another person's word on something), but the fact of the matter is, if you can't convince someone to buy your product over someone else's, then you'll go broke.  And not to make this a political thing, but I ain't bailing your ass out because you can't do your "job."  

Sure, one way to sell is to lie, but the other million-plus not-dishonest ways are perfectly fine.  

So yeah.... err, apply that to the conversation at hand?

[LD]

It is all about presentation. If you want people to read and comment, then you have to give them a reason to do it. Everything is about advertising. And if you are not famous for being "great", then you need to work a little harder at attracting attention.

If you do not care if people read your pieces, present them however you like-- no one will be upset. But if you want people to read, then you have to play their game.

You advertise yourself all the time. When you choose clothing to wear for school, or work; when you select certain things about yourself to tell to a pretty guy or girl, etc.

Advertisement is natural.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

That's what I find so dishonest: if the thing as-is does not interest someone else then what reason is there for it to exist when it will have to be distorted to sell it otherwise?

I don't mind saying what I think is good.  I just don't want to say anything that I don't know is true.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

I'm not going to touch the issue about dating; that's all b/w you and Light Dragon.

But in regards to setting-presentation (or presenting any other work):

Seriously man, it's only dishonest if you lie.

You could take a great movie and make a trailer from parts that taken together make no sense and look terrible. What you're presenting is always a snippet because people cannot watch the entire movie at a glance. That snippet has to give an idea of what's going on, and the snippet itself has to be interesting enough that people finish watching it (more so in writing, where I can just close a thread).

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

You could take a great movie and make a trailer from parts that taken together make no sense and look terrible. What you're presenting is always a snippet because people cannot watch the entire movie at a glance. That snippet has to give an idea of what's going on, and the snippet itself has to be interesting enough that people finish watching it (more so in writing, where I can just close a thread).

But you can also take all the best parts out of a movie, the few, short, only good parts out of an otherwise boring movie.

If you weren't aware that the trailer didn't contain a representative sample then it's not dishonest.  But if you do know then you're selling something that doesn't exist then it's dishonest.

I always know that what I create has many things other people won't be interested in, and I don't want to fool them into reading something I know they might not like.  I want them to make the decision fully-informed.  Otherwise I'm cheating both them and myself.

[LordVreeg]

It's the difference between a good salesmen and a bad one. A Bad salesmen will simply say 'this is a vacuum, it sucks stuff up and it has ball bearings that make it twist good.' A Good Salesmen will say 'this is a vacuum, it will make your life a thousand times easier. Its suction power is 2 times that of the leading competitor and it comes with these fancy German-made ball bearings that allow it to twist and turn with ease.'

One method just tells you the info, the other sells you the info.

That just seems so'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦dishonest. :(

good lord, no.

Transmitting data is one thing,
framing that same data in terms of how it will affect an end user is merely a service (and a talent).

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Transmitting data is one thing,
framing that same data in terms of how it will affect an end user is merely a service (and a talent).

But you don't KNOW how it will affect them.

[beejazz]

Eh... it's sounding worse than it is. As far as setting presentation goes you just need to hook them with an intro. There are a few ways of going about this.

You could give the "condensed version" of your setting in a few key points before detailing specifics. No lying or stretching the truth here. Chances are you know what you found interesting writing this and others will probably agree with you.

You could give a little teaser about what characters could do in this setting, whetting folks' appetites to game in the setting. No fabrication necessary.

You could throw out a little blurb of short fiction that'll both illustrate some key concepts and maybe set the tone or theme down right off the bat, albeit implicitly. Okay... that'll require some fabrication as you're writing fiction, but beyond that it's a great way to get people interested.

As for content, it depends on the setting, but there are really two parts.

1)The top-down view: What's the genre? Where/when does this all take place? What exists/doesn't exist that sets this world apart? (for example: "Is there magic and how does it work?" falls under this category... "Are there monsters and what are they like?"... Mutants? Psychics? Gods? Demons? Whatever's there needs some broad description.) You don't need more than a paragraph for each broad category. You can get into specifics later.

2)The specifics: Cities? Organizations? Geography? People? Specifics  on things mentioned in the top-down view? You may include less of this if you aren't writing the setting for gaming or haven't gamed in it, but this is where you expand on the generalities and get into specifics.

As far as what you do and don't need in each category... include only those things you find interesting. The setting will sell itself.

[Superfluous Crow]

It's not that you distort your campaign or bend it to conform in any way. Presentation is matter of layout, order and priority, not content. Your content is your creation, and now you have to tell it so others get it.
Also, if you post all the boring bits first, then nobody will read it, not even those who would like the rest of the setting. If you post some interesting bits, or hint at them, (you could have a list in the beginning and then expand on it later) then you can alert people to the fact that your setting is not just a another drab run-of-the-mill project and that it has something that makes it worthy of your attention. Notice that this form of advertisement doesn't change your setting or ideas.  
Someone who might like sci-fi and spaceships might not want to read it if it all starts with a historical account from the stone age up and details on the development of bookbinding in your setting. (even if that is an impressive amount of detail)