Avoiding Cliches, and Why You Shouldn't

[Roland_Deschain]

Originally posted by Moosetroop11
On a different note, when I first glanced at this topic title I thought it said "Avoiding chickens, and why you shouldn't" and I came here expecting an inane X marks the Ed thread XD

Ever tried glasses or contacts? Those might help.
I'ma go avoid some chickens now, even though I shouldn't.

[DragonBlaze]

Originally posted by Osmose
You guys do realize that Sephiroth did not want to destroy the world, only create a giant wound? Meteor would've killed millions, but a good part of the world would live. His plan was to create a gigantic wound that would take a humongous amount of Mako to heal. Then he would go to the center of that wound and absorb the Mako being sent there by the Planet to heal it (Technically it's the Lifestream and not Mako, but regardless) so that he would become a living god. I believe there might've been something about leaving into space with Jenova after that, but regardless, he didn't want the world to die, otherwise there'd be no Lifestream to absorb power from.

Really? Well any meateor the size of that one crashing into a planet would end all life anyway. I'm pretty sure that they said it would kill everyone. I could be wrong, its been years since I've played the game.

[drenrin2120]

I agree with osmose almost completely, but I do think some stories posted here just make you go... ugh... I'm really tired of hearing about X number crystals and some kind of power hidden in them. So while I agree with osmose, I still strongly dislike some cliches. But I definitely think cliches can be taken and turned into something original and interesting. With work.

Hm... this is making me think about things. I really liked what Dragonium said about what Charas has to offer for games. Like, why don't we have more games to offer? I don't believe I've seen one finished game come out of Charas since I've joined. And when I say that I mean like a finished game from a long time member, not some random awesome German game maker or something like that come to promote his awesome, sadly in foreign language, RPG.

[aboutasoandthis]

 Originally Posted by drenrin2120
 

Hm... this is making me think about things. I really liked what Dragonium said about what Charas has to offer for games. Like, why don't we have more games to offer? I don't believe I've seen one finished game come out of Charas since I've joined. And when I say that I mean like a finished game from a long time member, not some random awesome German game maker or something like that come to promote his awesome, sadly in foreign language, RPG.

It's getting a translation. Celebrate.

[Rowan]

On the subject about the villains...

The villain itself doesn't always need to "destroy the world" "kill all humanity" "become god/immortal" etc.. A villain could just simply be trying to accomplish something that is going against the protagonists beliefs. Such as saving a particular someone the protagonist believes doesn't need to be saved. Of course, leaving it like this makes the hero's seem evil so spice it up with these ingredients:

"The villain wants to resurrect his dead friend who he killed on accident because of his own recklessness of his extraordinary power. When his friend was alive he made a vow that as long as the villain never killed a single person, he/she would in turn protect him from the forces that seek control of his power.

During one of processes for resurrection, the villain accidentally kills the protagonist's leader whom the protagonist idled and came to known him for more then just leader (the hero is a girl). The antagonist again broke his promise to his late friend to which he apologized to the hero (heroine) from deep within his heart. The protagonist wanted to accept the antagonists apology, however she knew that the antagonists actions goes against the policies of life and soul (which her former leader sworn to protect.)  In order to continue her former leader's legacy she vows to stop the antagonist's with any means necessary."

This was thought of right off the top of my head. The conflict is right there. Sure, there is obvious cliches here and there. You just need to know how to work with them in combination with your own story to make it appealing to the audience.

What a person SHOULD avoid doing is trying to take things WAY out of scale. For instance lets say the heroes successfully stop the villain from saving the life that shouldn't be saved, then the villain gets corrupted by despair/the forces of darkness/influences of evil and wants to destroy the world in revenge. Something like that would be an instant turn off to everyone.

Sorry about the long post :O!

[CoolZidane]

While I agree that going from "revive friend" to "destroy the world" is a bit excessive for a turn, you still need to raise the stakes before the end. It's an old story-telling idea. At the beginning, you establish what will happen if the villain succeeds. Then, as the game goes on, things happen that could result in even worse consequences. Do this at various points (smoothly; don't make them sudden changes) until you have a lot at risk. A sort of "little to gain, a lot to lose" kind of idea.