User blog comment:TheNewProtagonist/Dust is actually kinda dumb./@comment-90.204.168.41-20130816010350/@comment-9090085-20130816053650

I've got an in-depth counter-argument a bit lower down, so read that to get my thoughts on his post. I will provide a counter-argument/explanation to your post here.

I suspect you misunderstood TheNewProtagonist's point: that this show has been running a long time and Monty still hasn't explained the rules of Dust and how it's different from Magic, and thus believed that Monty will never explain it - in other words, he wanted Monty to just call it magic.

Which leads to the core argument against him: This show as been up for around 30 minutes, the length of one TV episode; most of this time needs to be spent on the characters and the conflict, not the science of the world.

Don't get me wrong, his questions are good ones (I myself am looking forward to the chart on Dust types). The problem is, he wanted them answered right now, when we're still learning who's who and what this show is about - Basically, he wanted a season's worth of information on Dust in the first episode, which would take up half or all of the episode. Let's say Monty did what I suggested in my other post: That is, to devote a 10-20 minute stretch of the show to explaining what Dust is, what it can and cannot do, it's history, and lots of other details. That would take up two - four episodes; 2-4 weeks of nothing a schoolteacher rambling on about dust. It would basically put the entire show on hold: the plot, the characters, the world, the central conflict, none of these be established during that time.

Do you think people would enjoy a long-winded lecture about information that probably won't be relevant for hours or tens of hours and which will likely be forgotten by the time it's actually relevant? Considering about a third of comments are about how long it's taking to establish what's needed to enjoy the show right now, I will assume "no".

But perhaps the biggest problem people (well, me) have is that he demanded to be told what the rules are, and assumed that because we haven't been told, the don't exist (or rather, shouldn't exist). I explained this below but I'll repeat it here: Just because you haven't been told the rules, doesn't mean they're not there. That there is an internal framework that decides what happens instead of the great literary cop-out "A wizard did it!", makes a show far more believable and keeps the audience involved instead of thinking "what new power is he going to pull out of nowhere now?"

Many series leave such explanations for later; Storm Hawks for instance (mentioned waaay down at the bottom of this thread) is a show where various types of Crystals are used to power many types of technology in that world. After watching the first episode (and only the first) how much time was spent explaining this? None. I actually know less about those Crystals then Dust: Dust I know is mined, while Crystals are "found". Found where? Never mentioned, but that's not a problem; I got to know the main cast, the basics of how their world works, and the main conflict. I can watch the show with these generalizations while the specifics are woven into the story.

As for the whole "RWBY anti-Christ"? this is the internet, where most have attention span of flies, and EVERYTHING is blown out of proportion; he just jumped the gun in wanting explanations before the show got rolling... which he acknowledges was the case. He was just impatient - really, who can blame him? - and, you know, is prepared to hear the series out now. I hope you're ready to hear the series out as well :)