The problem with being realistic is often it is just not believable. The second problem is that it often just gets in the way.

There is truth to the adage ‘life is stranger than fiction.’ The real world features countries in the shape of boots, political and historical events that are so unlikely they’re unbelievable, and creatures like platypuses (the laziest of chimeric animal). While all these elements are certainly realistic (after all, they all actually exist), incorporating similar elements into a fictional world may not feel realistic because of how outlandish they initially appear. There is a big difference between that which is truly realistic and that which feels realistic. Worldbuilders often opt for the latter, as what is real can often be jarring.

Worldbuilders often craft worlds that purposefully avoid unlikely elements and in doing so, actually create worlds that are less realistic. A good example of this aversion to true random in fictional settings is the use of random numbers. While generating a random three digit number, statistically 123 is just as likely to occur as 389. Yet numbers like 000, 333, or 777 are rarely used as ‘random’ numbers in a fictional world. There is a general consensus that some numbers are less random than others.

Elements are placed within a fictional world for a purpose. Audiences and designers recognize this fact. A random number of 123 is jarring because it feels more purposeful than the random number 322. An island that looks like a skull may have formed naturally in the real world, but it will never have naturally occurred in a fictional one.

The second problem with being realistic is that sometimes it just gets in the way. Being realistic can interfere with the story being told, the game being made, or the world being created. Worldbuilders that limit themselves to realism limit what they can build and how they can build it. While this is NOT a bad thing (often worldbuilders want to work within limitations, especially when it comes to realism) it can shut off potentially interesting avenues to explore. Designers should always consider when it may serve them to be less realistic, even if that is a route they do not take.