Worldbuilding with generic archetypes

[WooHooMan]

What is framing?

Perspective, how things are portrayed in relationship to each other, if you portray something in your story idealistically, cynically, etc.

 

[Peat]

The value of worldbuilding depends on your audience and desires. It is a piece of string question. There are audiences who aren't getting out of bed for Yet Another Medieval European setting and there are audiences that don't really want anything else. And everything in between. And because that is so, worldbuilding is one of many things where an author is probably best advised to spend less time thinking "is this feasible? is that feasible?" and more "this is what I want, I will convince others it is what they want". So I guess that yes, in some places, its import is greatly overrated.

But if we're looking for some model of what all the big works do, some tick list so we can look at our work and say "I think this is a goer", then what TheFifthView said is imo important - old but new. Or easily understood with some air of novelty, some combination or framing that hasn't been seen in a while. Preferably combinations you can explain in a short sentence. Also enough details to form the impression you could live there and would want to live there, without much explanation, and lastly factions and things for people to identify with. All of which can happen with generic archetypes and in some cases bluntly require them.

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

As long as it's consistent, do whatever you want.