Poll #3--Elements of Writing

What element of gameplay do you think needs the most work?

Choice #1-- Dialogue
Some characters are all kinds of dull. They tend to fall into a speech pattern cliche that drives me crazy. Or worse, to better "immerse" yourself into the game, they take out the speech of the main character entirely. I really don't see the cleverness to this. If you want to make it more like the player, why don't you let the player choose traits for the main character and base speech patterns off that? It would take some work, I realize, but it would give the game tons of replay value.

Choice #2-- Character Development
This is my vote. Two dimensional characters piss me off. If your character is going to be cold and quiet give him a REASON to be so. Not just cause you saw Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children and thought "Omgz Cloud is awesome!!!! My entire life will be based off his totally cool example!!! I love youz!!!!"
...Sad.

I have nothing against Cloud, but the clones I see throughout RPG games is to say the lamest thing I've ever come across in game writing. If you're going to have the strong, silent type don't make him the main character.

And another thing, what is with the stereotypes? I haven't found a black character that wasn't all "Bust a cap" with an insane gun and ready to pop someone the face whenever they said something remotely suggestive. Way to profile, jerks. There seems to be only seems to be 4 or 5 types of characters in games anymore; few with any real depth.


Choice #3-- Plot
We get it. The bad guy is the main guy's father. Someone is always magically royalty. The bad guys want to rule the world for no real reason other than to mark it off their checklist of "Things to Do Before You Die." How many times are you guys going to use these lame plot devices?

Now I'm not saying not to use what has been used before. That would be nearly impossible. But at least put a spin or an angle on it. In Final Fantasy 10, they had Sin (the main bad guy) as Tidus's father. But they didn't tell you that at the end, where it would have been retarded and not that great of a surprise. They told you directly after they set up the fact that Tidus hates his father with a passion. So during the game, you watch as Tidus gets ready to destroy his own father, but starts to become torn between his hatred and his compassion. It has some dorky parts, but at least it put some sort of depth into it.


Choice #4-- Romantic Chemistry
Anyone who knows me well knows that I can't stand the fact that Tidus and Yuna get together in Final Fantasy 10. Not to piss off you Yuna fans, but Tidus and Yuna had the worst romantic chemistry of any two game characters I've seen. They were entirely fake. Remember that forced laughter scene? Look it up on youtube if you've never seen it. It's ridiculous. It is my personal opinion that Rikku was much better for Tidus. Not only did they work well in battle situations together, but the first thing she does when meeting him is knocks him out. It's funny and it works.

If you want two characters to be romantically involved, you have to have them bring out the best and the worst in each other. A romantic interest should bring out all of the characters colors and just lay them out on the table whether they like it or not. It's even more fun if they hate it! And by the way, if you have two well developed characters, the chemistry should speak for itself. You won't even have to put much effort into the chemestry because the characters will do it for you.


So what do you guys think? Leave some comments!