What If Orion's Arm Was Soft Sci-Fi Instead?

If you've ever heard of Orion's Arm, then you're also likely aware of the very mixed reviews that it gets.

It draws praise for its creativity and extensive world-building on pretty much every aspect of galactic life, from new sciences like Hencity, to the anarcho-capitalistic NoCoZo, to the weirdities of edible tables, Dyson Trees, and Ode To Twenty Cubic Centimeters of Lovely Sand Mud, that can only be found in the far out and futuristic.

At the same time, others are highly critical of it. The biggest reason I've seen is that while Orion's Arm claims to adhere to hard science, the presence of AI gods, memes, and Sephirotic Empires very much states otherwise.

So, what if Orion's Arm was instead an unconventional, soft science fiction project that drew upon hard science concepts for inspiration?

Would reviews still be nearly as critical? Would the universe itself be any different, and if so, how?

Thank you in advance,
Zyobot
 
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If I understand a lot of the praise is because of its allegedly "hard" sci fi setting.

Huh, I haven't tended to see that as much.

In the various forums I've visited, a great deal of criticism surrounded Orion's Arm's claim of adherence to hard science, especially since it prioritized so much future-wank.
 
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