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Cliches
Jan 26, 2005 21:03:51 GMT -5
Post by Tinbok on Jan 26, 2005 21:03:51 GMT -5
I'm not sure if this belongs in technical help or not. But to be sure, I'll post it here. I found a nice website with a BUNCH of RPG cliches. Some of them can be used to make a game better, but some, you may want to watch out for. Here's the site.
[ftp]http://atrocities.primaryerror.net/rpgcliches.html[/ftp]
I thought these were pretty humorous:
Facial Hair Law. The style and amount of facial hair on any character will indicate alignment and general tendencies: goatees are either evil or poseurs, full beards are lovable big guys, long beards indicate wisdom, and scraggly, unkempt beards mean insanity. This is never more true than in fantasy games.
Felton's Law. No party is so powerful that a clever trap can't defeat them.
I got a kick outta this one: Innkeeper Law. Innkeepers in fantasy games have to be either fat and grumpy, or fat and jovial. (If we're in The Last Paladin, they're also allowed to be wide-chested.) Either way, their daughters are always beautiful.
Those are just examples, there are TONS more. Hope this helps! ;D
Edits: Eep, I forgot this. There is some cursing in it just to let you know beforehand...
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Cliches
Jan 26, 2005 21:13:40 GMT -5
Post by christi on Jan 26, 2005 21:13:40 GMT -5
If you liked that, you might find this humorous as well... project-apollo.net/text/rpg.htmlI found that a few weeks after I started work on Reawakening. Probably a good thing, too.
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Hedrum
RPG Making Novice
Active RPG Maker 1 user
Posts: 105
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Cliches
Jan 26, 2005 21:23:09 GMT -5
Post by Hedrum on Jan 26, 2005 21:23:09 GMT -5
Ha! Ha! You'll find lots of cliches in my RPGM1 game "Patrick's Journey". Main character has blue hair. That's hilarious! ;D
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Cliches
Jan 26, 2005 21:26:05 GMT -5
Post by Tinbok on Jan 26, 2005 21:26:05 GMT -5
Lol, those are pretty funny. Mostly because I can relate to a lot of them.
Garrett's Principle Let's not mince words: you're a thief. You can walk into just about anybody's house like the door wasn't even locked. You just barge right in and start looking for stuff. Anything you can find that's not nailed down is yours to keep. You will often walk into perfect strangers' houses, lift their precious artifacts, and then chat with them like you were old neighbors as you head back out with their family heirlooms under your arm. Unfortunately, this never works in stores.
I've always noticed things like these (not like it's that hard). I always found it funny and that above sums up everything I would say about a cliche like that. Yeah, these are pretty funny. ;D
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Cliches
Jan 26, 2005 22:05:01 GMT -5
Post by NASH7777 on Jan 26, 2005 22:05:01 GMT -5
Hey they have a "nash" rule lol
All Is Forgiven (Nash Rule) However, when the trusted member of your party turns against you, do not give it a second thought. They will return to your side after they're done with their amnesia/mind control/hidden noble goal that caused them to give away all your omnipotent mystical artifacts. ;D
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Cliches
Jan 26, 2005 22:22:48 GMT -5
Post by Tinbok on Jan 26, 2005 22:22:48 GMT -5
Lol, yeah, I saw that one. In my opinion, Christi's website was better than the one I found. I did like ones that say things like: "You're a thief, barging into peoples homes and they act like it's nothing." It's amazing that you aren't the only one who thinks certain things.
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Cliches
Jan 27, 2005 22:20:29 GMT -5
Post by KingSpoom on Jan 27, 2005 22:20:29 GMT -5
I always thought this one was funny and mostly true.
Not Invented Here Trade of technology will not exist. One place in the world will have all the techno-gadgets while all the others will be harvesting dirt.
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Cliches
Feb 1, 2005 22:19:49 GMT -5
Post by Aaron on Feb 1, 2005 22:19:49 GMT -5
I like this one personally: "Just Nod Your Head And Smile" And no matter how big that big-ass sword is, you won't stand out in a crowd. Nobody ever crosses the street to avoid you or seems to be especially shocked or alarmed when a heavily armed gang bursts into their house during dinner, rummages through their posessions, and demands to know if they've seen a black-caped man. People can get used to anything, apparently.
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Cliches
Feb 2, 2005 21:52:11 GMT -5
Post by vespuleth on Feb 2, 2005 21:52:11 GMT -5
i think this has popped up at some point on any rpg related board. i read it a while back both at bai and agetec. rather humorous. i have it saved as a favorite.
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Cliches
Apr 7, 2005 21:06:57 GMT -5
Post by Dark Knight Of Lodis on Apr 7, 2005 21:06:57 GMT -5
I like this one personally: "Just Nod Your Head And Smile" And no matter how big that big-ass sword is, you won't stand out in a crowd. Nobody ever crosses the street to avoid you or seems to be especially shocked or alarmed when a heavily armed gang bursts into their house during dinner, rummages through their posessions, and demands to know if they've seen a black-caped man. People can get used to anything, apparently. lol. So do I.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Cliches
Apr 7, 2005 21:18:48 GMT -5
Post by Draygone on Apr 7, 2005 21:18:48 GMT -5
The first one appears to be geared towards pen and paper RPGs more than anything. The second one, I've seen more than once, but it's still an interesting read.
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Cliches
Apr 7, 2005 22:22:09 GMT -5
Post by Neo Samurai on Apr 7, 2005 22:22:09 GMT -5
Yeah. It would seem that this list of cliches were intended for paper and pen RPGs. The Grand List is probably my favorite (and some of those cliches are pretty funny, like Garrett's Principle ).
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Post by vespuleth on Apr 8, 2005 0:55:57 GMT -5
i printed it out, and put it with all of my game writing papers.
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Cliches
Apr 10, 2005 20:41:01 GMT -5
Post by The Smurf on Apr 10, 2005 20:41:01 GMT -5
i think i should make a non-serious game where i try to break every single cliche. it'd take forever, but it'd be worth it!
yeah, right.
-the smurf
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Cliches
Apr 12, 2005 15:02:55 GMT -5
Post by Neo Samurai on Apr 12, 2005 15:02:55 GMT -5
Heh, heh. I've heard a lot about people doing this, but they never attempt to. I'd like to see it.
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Cliches
Apr 12, 2005 15:09:13 GMT -5
Post by The Smurf on Apr 12, 2005 15:09:13 GMT -5
or make a game that abuses every cliche...that'd be funny too
-the demon smurf
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Cliches
Apr 12, 2005 21:01:23 GMT -5
Post by vespuleth on Apr 12, 2005 21:01:23 GMT -5
just out of curiosity, which cliches does everyones game break? or at least how many? (i know that if your using them as plot devices, you dont want to tell which ones, most likely) when my story is finished, ill be sure and feel everyone in.
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Cliches
Apr 12, 2005 23:57:30 GMT -5
Post by KingSpoom on Apr 12, 2005 23:57:30 GMT -5
Alright, I'll bite... from the apollo cliche I have:
19 cliches from that list in my game and 173 are either not in my game or don't apply (but mostly not present). Of the 19 that DO apply, most of them are ridiculous (such as 24 and 25). It would take more work to get around those cliches and it wouldn't really improve the game.
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Cliches
Apr 13, 2005 15:00:04 GMT -5
Post by Neo Samurai on Apr 13, 2005 15:00:04 GMT -5
Yeah. Some cliches, even though overdone, can help to make games better. I don't mind the "Save the world" cliche as long as the reason for the world being destroyed/taken over has a logical reason behind it (No "Ha, ha! I have possessed the great all-mighty crystal which has the power to give world domination to me! Muhahahahahahahahaha!").
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Cliches
Apr 13, 2005 23:59:47 GMT -5
Post by KingSpoom on Apr 13, 2005 23:59:47 GMT -5
I'd REALLY like to see at least everyone else's raw numbers of do and do not have's for the apollo list. It's just something of a benchmark that interests me. I know 192 is a lot of things to check, but... well, I did it.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Cliches
Apr 14, 2005 0:37:07 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2005 0:37:07 GMT -5
I did this a long time ago and didn't get any responses. I'll do it again, no worries KingSpoom, probably a little later tonight.
Edit: Off the apollo one (console rpgs):
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Cliches
Apr 14, 2005 2:43:29 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2005 2:43:29 GMT -5
From the apollo one. I'll count 1's, 1/2's, and ?'s. 1 means for the most part I have it. 1/2 means I have a part of it but not all of it. ? means I haven't gotten to that part of game development and I don't know (you'll see based on what they are). I'll talk about any I have that I don't mind sharing about. The ones I don't want to share about I won't put the number of. #7- 1/2 - Bad guys (mostly) only have one name, while good guys have first and last names but the last names are never really used. I'm going to try to give everyone a first and last name though so things don't become predictable from the names (but haven't done it for all of them yet). #8- ? - I may have to do this some because giving names to VERY unimportant characters doesn't help any, but not giving names to them does make the player write them off as unimportant. In the end it's damned if you do damned if you don't. #9 - 1/2 - I have 5 of the 10 that they list. #13 - 1 - I've made ALL the character graphics of my game, and this one does hold true. #14 - 1 baby! #17 - ? - Haven't made all the townspeople yet so I don't know. #24 - 1 - Not worth doing anything about. #25 - 1 - With RPGM2 you should do this for astheatic reasons. #28 - 1 - For me this only comes up with arrows for Longbows and Crossbows (not guns), but it's more conveniant for the player when doing this (kudos jugem ). #29 - 1 - Same as the last 3 I listed. #32 - 1 - I think it's cool later when a few enemies you fought separately team up and fight you and are tough (for once), so I do this some, and 'cause I'm not a fan of the big beast appearing out of nowhere as THE main boss of a whole dungeon. #39 - 1 - The ol' save the world ordeal. Mine eventually comes down to this too, but the personal stories of all the party members, the protagonist, the antagonist, and some of the minor antagonists are the main foci. #41 - 1/2 - It's explained perfectly in the story why though, and instead of small towns they're the big-ass cities, and also it's always more than 1 per nation. #45 - 1 - Bleh. #50 - ? - Don't care, may or may not but don't know yet. #52 - 1 - This is even in the intro to my story on my site. It's almost the only way to make a personal alone moment between 1 or more characters in the linear story-line, and as long as it's not some reused, predictable storyline or event the player will like it. #58 - 1 - Again, don't care enough. #67 - 1 - I don't have the monastery they mention, but I did end up having to do this. You'll see it's 99% inevitable to block off the player from going farther than you want him to. #74 - ? - Whatever #79 - ? - Same as 74. #81 - ? - Don't know. #85 - ? - Don't know. #88 - ? - Don't know. #93 - 1/2 - They do always say the same thing (but I'm aiming for 7 cities of roughly 95 townspeople each), but they don't do the stupid part of this one. #95 - 1/2 - They are immune, but I don't use it as a plot device suddenly like this one says. #98 - 1 - Eh, what can I say. I try to keep realism though and not make him the best, but rather just innately good. #100 - 1 - Only the Chemist class has any science attacking, and that's why it's interhchangeable with magic attacks. I don't care about this one. #102 - 1 - This is a good thing!!!!!! #108 - 1/2 - I've already talked about this a little in draygone's battle arena topic. I keep it believable though, don't worry (but do force you to enter). #119 - 1/2 - Eh, all my story-related characters have their own special graphics. Nothing special here. #128 - 1 - I spent roughly a half-hour on each party member's model to make damn sure they looked as good as possible though . #129 - 1 - They do change equipment though. #139 - 1 - booya! My entire map is one big 'ominous ring of land' so you're all 'just screwed'. #141 - 1/2 - I sometimes use this to prevent the player for a bit from advancing on the map. Oh well. #144 - 1 - Every game has to have Bronze, Silver, and Gold Armor, no? #147 - 1/2 - Not nearly like they say, but the power of damaging skills does gradually increase from spell to spell. #163 - 1 - I only have a few parts where time is of the essence. Otherwise I have four 1/2's. Alas, the totals come to: ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 1's, 13 1/2's, and 8 ?'s. Any feedback on what you think of the ones I have would be nice.
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Cliches
Apr 14, 2005 8:04:06 GMT -5
Post by The Final Rune on Apr 14, 2005 8:04:06 GMT -5
As my stories are a constant work in progress I can't do this, nor do I really want to. But I would speculate that I use 10-20 cliches in my games.
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Cliches
Apr 14, 2005 11:50:22 GMT -5
Post by KingSpoom on Apr 14, 2005 11:50:22 GMT -5
Well, I have to say that the only ones that will passively affect your game on that list are:
32, maybe 52, and 102. 32 obviously affects the story, but since it was probably made as the story, it wouldn't have really changed anything. 52... well it's hard to say without knowing what happens. People get free stays at inns in my game, but only as a part of package deals or because of some heroics. 102... 102 is one that I had to avoid. Depending on the situation, it wouldn't make sense for the townsfolk to talk about exactly what you need to hear. My game doesn't exactly leave you hanging for what to do next either. I hope to have some sort of quest log so you can remember what you were doing, just incase.
Out of the whole deal we share 6.5 cliches... at first I wondered why more of them didn't match up, but then I realized I have some pretty specific ones. (just noticed you have 4 halves above 163, but then again, I only have 1 above 163 myself)
About the bronze, silver, gold armor... I think they just meant about it being so strong in the game, and the description being non-existant. In my game, gold armor is actually fool's gold armor, as pyrite is almost as hard as steel.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Cliches
Apr 15, 2005 3:17:47 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2005 3:17:47 GMT -5
The four halves aren't all above 163, sorry. I just can't mention them.
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