MERLANDESE'S PROFILE

author=luiishu535
I didn't know that more than three consecutive periods could form a grammatically correct ellipsis.
I still don't like it though, since it looks like the writer accidentally fell asleep on the period key for a short burst....
It looks very ugly to me.

They're definitely ugly.

But it's interesting to think how their overuse came around. Unlike real audio or text narration from books, games started (generalization for brevity) with written text where there are already pauses between things. The pause is natural for the medium.

So, like, they couldn't just leave some time in between phrases for the text to breathe or it might feel like the scene was cut off completely. That would be jarring. They weren't going to narrate every instance or else the visuals would become meaningless and they'd bog down certain types of games ("Devon took a sharp breathe as Master Reynold's words sank in."). And they couldn't make empty text bubbles because then it'd look like there as a glitch.

So now we have hyper-compensation as devs tried to figure out how to modify lengths of pauses without the use of actual time and without the aid of narration.

I guess that links to the tool RM and other games have provided and used, where they insert time "artificially" into the active text. I think it was a natural evolution, even if I don't care for it. And the battle between ellipses and text pauses forever rages on inside us all.

FLEURET BLANC

-Female = 42%
-Not-White = 42% (doesn't include animals or named characters not shown, but also doesn't include the wide array of "white" nationalities)
-LGBT+ = 00+% (Many characters have no romantic interest, so who is to say if some are gay?)


SOCIAL CATERPILLAR

-Female = 50%
-Not-White = 50%
-LGBT+ = 100% (You can choose sexual preference)


LAST WORD

-Female = 44%
-Not-White = 25% (Includes "of Asian decent"; doesn't include animals)
-LGBT+ = 25% (Only two are canonically gay, although it's never mentioned; doesn't include animals)


AVERAGE in TWELVE TILES

-Female = 45%
-Not-White = 39%
-LGBT+ = 42+%

Perfect! If you have any other issues don't hesitate to ask. :)

I personally think the idea of shops "updating" as characters do arbitrary things is a little too contrived. It never settled well with me.

I like the idea Liberty suggested of one-off items you have to find, rather than a bunch of sporadic new shipments to small villages in the game.

My suggestion would be to think of something different entirely, although I'm coming from the angle of disliking that core idea and not from the angle of knowing how to do that idea better. If you HAD to have it so that these shops suddenly have more capability to sell better weapons, I'd recommend this:

The shop upgrades only when you spend enough money in it. By using clever numerical balances you make it so that when your characters buy 3/5 of the current weapons, the shop suddenly has an agitated economy that allows them to order the next series of 5 new weapons. As you keep purchasing from the shop they are able to order better and better products, which completes the micro economy of the shop.

I think that depends on the game type/genre and the audience you're aiming for.

Think of your audience and what other games they might enjoy, then think of how your game relates to those games. Try and figure out if the audience you're aiming for would enjoy/tolerate certain styles of intro.

People who play quick puzzle games like Tetris may not enjoy the lengthy intro of Final Fantasy XIII, but Final Fantasy XIII and Tetris don't have the same audience. :)