[General Discussion] Overused Gaming Conventions

Originally Posted by Qwarky

I've gotten pretty tired of the way none of the female characters in RPGs wear proper armor. I mean sure, I like the female form and a bit of cleavage never hurt, but it's just so incredibly DEPRESSING that even after decades, designers still can't get over themselves and devise some proper protective gear for characters who are supposed to be engaged in combat for 90% of the game. Why make chestplates shaped like breasts? Battle armor can be attractive looking without a massive hole for cleavage or a two inch long skirt. WHY WOULD THEY EVEN WEAR A SKIRT IN FUCKING COMBAT? It's more offputting and insulting of gamer intelligence to see it constantly used in the wrong context.

But then this applies to every unconventional "combat gear" in any game, movie or anime.

Ever heard of Samus Aran? Still I agree, but you know damn well that covered up girls don't sell games to teenage boys.

Originally Posted by Qwarky

A third incredibly outdated, abused and embarrassing structure design is the arbitrary witholding of information or necessary inventory that is mostly present in RPGs, but has also leaked into most other genres as well.

A typical situation is that you arrive to a town and you are told to go talk to some person as you need some piece of information or perhaps some device to continue your journey. This person only agrees to give this necessary information or device once you have done something for them, which usually involves a long treck to another location where you will probably need to do more favors for more people before you are able to return.

If the character extorting you is a greedy, influential, sly crimeboss who has a habit of putting his own interests before others', the idea is somewhat more plausible than when a character who is supposed to help you save the world asks you travel to a distant cave to bring back a ring he left there and seems too lazy to go get it on his own.

The problem is not the witholding itself, it's the way most games present themselves. Designers need to consider whether the character, within the context of their personality and their standing in the game's narrative, would stand for such ordering (and how much this would piss the player off), and whether the character giving the orders actually have any kind of proper motivation to do so, other than just to slow proceeding down.
Military based games support the order following very well if the character is supposed to be a trained soldier, but in more relaxed environments it's just not that plausible.

If a person is said to be the only person in the world who can save the universe from destruction, you'd think people would try to help him as best as they can by providing equipment, useful advice etc, instead of asking favors and preventing him from reaching his goal.

This is hilarious. I've noticed this in several games as well. Jak II had quite a bit of this running around. A lot of other games use it to introduce chances for mini-games. It's a pain when you practically forget the story of the game because you're busy running your tail off for some nut job for no specific reason.

Another MAJOR issue I have with most games is characters having to relearn ALL of their abilities. I guess it does reflect the gamers who play the games though. I was never able to retain information . . . good.

Jam it back in, in the dark.