[General Discussion] Overused Gaming Conventions

The Grand List Of Console Role Playing Game Clichés. This list summarizes a lot of the flaws with RPGs, and I figure I may as well share it in a thread about overused conventions! It's a very good read.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Josiah

Getting hurt or killed by simply touching a bad guy, no matter how passive they look. I haven't seen it as much nowadays, but I thought it was really ridiculous with games like Contra.

Well, it was a really easy way keep players at safe distances at all times without having to draw a bunch more attack animations. I guess it might not make sense for some enemies, but it makes perfect sense in shmup where you colliding with another ship is death, or if the enemy's a bouncing fireball or something. Yeah it is a little ridiculous though, but I'm not that annoyed by it. However, something as general as this isn't really a candidate for overuse I think.

Another convention you need to find odd though is jumping on things' heads to defeat them. Although if somebody landed straight on your head, it probably would defeat you.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Well, for the "bottomless pit" thing, I assume it's the lazy or less violent and animation-intensive way to show that the player clearly splattered their head open on the cold pavement. Plus, simple map-wide deathtraps like this one ensure you're not stupid.

Hmm, how about platformers, which have grass platforms levitating several hundred feet above the earth without any believable supports. They could at least make the damned things "hover" a bit if they're floating, since it'd be more believable. Although, believability and realism isn't always the primary focus, with gameplay usually being up there instead

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.