Marginally related, but the big "what if" i've been puzzling out (aside from one where the Chinese knowledge boom of the 1400s led to a philosophical renaissance, making China the center of democracy and the center of science and knowledge moving into modernity), is:
What if the Star Wars films had been made "in order"? E.g. the original trilogy was episode I, II, and III, and then the new trilogy was 4, 5, and 6?
This is assuming that only the general plots stay the same for both: e.g. episode I is about finding Anakin and encountering a mysterious evil of the Sith that seems to be stirring up the corrupt but otherwise peaceful alien groups in the galaxy, and that it wouldn't be the exact same thing, due to budget and technology and Lucas having less direct creative control.
Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.
