Poll: RPG Cliches you want to destroy

[James is a nerd]

I love RPG clichés.
It means I can snap my fingers and yell "Called it!" when they happen.

A few of my favourites, are (taken directly from the Grand List)
Bed bed bed. Where you sleep. And instanly you in tip-top shape again.
The Compulsories. There is always a Fire Dungeon, Ice dungeon, Sewer Maze blah de blah de blah.

One I think RPGs could do without though..
Physics defying Hairstyles.
Final Fantasy is the main offender in this..

And having unlikeable main characters.
I hate Cloud.
I hate Squall.
I hate Tidus..
Ok. I hate Final Fantasy main characters. They annoy me.

 

[Mizaki]

Main characters who people percieve as angsty but actually are devoid of all personality and emotion and the story goes on and characters react as if they really are angsty. (HI CLOUD)

Orphans.

Random useless incredibly hard animal-type bosses that the characters could distract with a steak and run past.


Characters who lose their personality gradually throughout the whole game/Main characters who have some moment of realization that causes them to become bland and dull.

Villians who have nothing to do with it, but are still the last boss.

More when I think of them!

 

[Lord Beautiful]

I don't hate cliches so much as I dislike the abuse of them. Nearly every cliche you can think of can be brilliant and compelling if it's presented properly. The trick is that presenting it properly is a pain in the ass.

 

[dudeindrag93]

I want the Mary Sue female lead cliche to die. This is the only big cliche that really bothers me though.

By the way, go here for the best list of cliches.
http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html

My favorite is the McGuyver rule.

o couldn't help but notice this one

# "You Couldn't Get To Sleep Either, Huh?"
If any character in the game ever meets any other character standing alone at night looking at the moon, those two will eventually fall in love.

i'm pretty sure in the lotr movie aragorn and legolas meet up like this in a scene

 

[James Raynor]

I want the Mary Sue female lead cliche to die. This is the only big cliche that really bothers me though.

By the way, go here for the best list of cliches.
http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html

My favorite is the McGuyver rule.

o couldn't help but notice this one

# "You Couldn't Get To Sleep Either, Huh?"
If any character in the game ever meets any other character standing alone at night looking at the moon, those two will eventually fall in love.

i'm pretty sure in the lotr movie aragorn and legolas meet up like this in a scene

Lotr is a movie/book not an actual RPG.

 

[SirJewBagel]

Be funny if they made a RPG where they blew all the cliches out of proportion also that the some of the characters completely knew about them.
IE: One character is the cliched chosen one who's world is destroyed and s/he has complete amnesia but points out all the cliches as they go on, as the overly cliched support characters look at the main character as if s/he is crazy... (it sounds SOOOO much better in my head)

or

GG1: Hey look the last precious stone/rune/artifact!
GG2: you know right when you grab it (Insert bad guy name) will appear
(Grabs thing)
GG1: we got all of the precious stones/runes/artifacts!
BG: HAHA! i wanted you to do this so i can steal them now!
GG2: I told you he would do this....

 

[jakefongloo221]

heres a cliche: its amazing how theres always someone in the group that knows the answer to any and every problem that faces you. also i'm getting pretty sick of text boxes

 

[GoblinOnFire]

I've seen that before, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.

As for me, I want goblins to pose a real threat to people. Not the pussies you see these days. That way some RPG enthusiast will see a goblin and think "Easy kill!" and charge right in. The goblin will then stun the enthusiast and summon two dozen of his friends and rape said enthusiast with their weaponry.

Set the goblins on fire. That would help, wouldn't it?

 

[Booze Zombie]

I would like it if there was an RPG that broke the cliche of only giving you about 12 class choices and limiting you to being only a good guy.

For instance, a game where you can choose from about 50 different classes (necromancer, druid, sniper, etc) and make your own choices. A solid gameplay mechanic would help, too.

Anyway, the "mystical old person who knows everything" cliche is getting extremely old and I think I can safely say the same of the "go for on a quest... FOR OBLIVION" cliche.

 

[dudeindrag93]

I want the Mary Sue female lead cliche to die. This is the only big cliche that really bothers me though.

By the way, go here for the best list of cliches.
http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html

My favorite is the McGuyver rule.

o couldn't help but notice this one

# "You Couldn't Get To Sleep Either, Huh?"
If any character in the game ever meets any other character standing alone at night looking at the moon, those two will eventually fall in love.

i'm pretty sure in the lotr movie aragorn and legolas meet up like this in a scene

Lotr is a movie/book not an actual RPG.

yeah but i'm pretty sure it shows that scene in the third age game so technically it is an rpg moment

 

[Ursus Astrorum]

http://objection.mrdictionary.net/go.php?n=2891933

http://objection.mrdictionary.net/go.php?n=2891948

I've already said a couple of these before, but one of my personal pet peeves is the Stupid Fighter stereotype. Just because he can't melt into the trees or cast Magic Missile doesn't mean he's dumb as a rock.

 

[Ionami]

No more parents dying, sacrificing themselves, being murdered by big baddy, etc.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

"If the fate of the universe is at stakes. Round up a bunch of orphans who have no parents and who's villages have recently been burned to the ground to save the universe instead. Thats right screw the army all they do is stand in the same place and say the same thing over and over again anyway."

"No I don't care how overly cute this female thing is, I don't want he in the party!"
"But she's very mysterious and.. power"
"NO. I don't care. All she'll do is be incredibly week stand there and eat up all my potions!"
"Come on look at those puppy do eyes. How could you say no."
"Go away. I never want to see you again. It (by it i mean the girl) has the personality of of cardboard"
Girl:"I love you"
"Oh very well come along Sex slave... Uh I mean meat shield I mean ah screw it just fallow to our death at the ends of the earth"

 

[Clemenstation]

I would like it if there was an RPG that broke the cliche of only giving you about 12 class choices and limiting you to being only a good guy.

...Fallout 3?

 

[MercenaryCanary]

I want the Mary Sue female lead cliche to die. This is the only big cliche that really bothers me though.

By the way, go here for the best list of cliches.
http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html

My favorite is the McGuyver rule.

#7 Doesn't apply to Mass Effect.

 

[Jursa]

What's wrong with drunken dwarfs...

 

[Avida]

The Colosseum Rule, not overused but utterly ridiculous:

Noooo! Colosseums kick ass!

"Everything about JRPGs."

Nooo! Shutup Croshaw! JRPGs are a horribly mistreated genre, and they shouldn't be for games with normally deep storylines, combat, better characters and dialogue than most other games, if a bit predictable. Hell even graphics and sound are often top-notch. Why all the hate?

As for me, I want goblins to pose a real threat to people.

Noo!... Well actually yes..ish. I'd be nice to see some variation from the sterotype but ive played a few games where they're not the easy kill and in that case i HATE the annoying jumpy bastards *shakes fist into the air*

Aside from that, the 'TRUE FORM' and 'ULTIMATE POWER' things need to take a break, they'd be ok maybe once every few RPGS (looking primarmarily at square here). The protagonist being androgenous, im more than fine with that, its better than him being a big manly man and getting various people worked up, moreover it makes a great break from FPS heroes.

The thing that really gets on my tits though is the unexplained new uberbaddie being the end of the story (again, looking at square), you know, like the guy after Kuja, or the rather unnessary Yu yevon fight. I'd wholeheartedly welcome these guys but not there, it ruins the experience - make them the optional uberboss and ramp up the difficalty, put them in a lost temple somewhere obscure and YAY, just make sure they are as far away from the narrative as possible.

 

[Powas]

Bethesda. Burn.
And woman characters - always spellcasters or men hating barbarian bitches.