YOVANREN'S PROFILE

author=thesacredlobo
Yeah, I'll openly admit I'm ripping off this idea from Animaniacs, but I figured we could come up with a few good idea, bad ideas when it comes to video games.

Good Idea: Allowing a player to name their own character.

Bad Idea: Allowing them to name any other character.

I suppose one of the more notable examples of why you shouldn't let someone name other characters is probably the old school Pokemon games where you could name your rival. I still remember giving him names like asshole and whatnot as a kid. Though, I believe this issue extends beyond just rival characters on the grounds that Spooony in his let's play/review for Final Fantasy 8 decided to name Rinoa as "A Whore" and named her dog "Anal". That way you could get such great lines during battles as "A Whore used Anal Cannon!".

there are a few more bad examples of flawed games )
1. Too much small dialogue

Although we advise writers to include more dialogue in their books, it's a bad idea to saturate your books with 'small talk' for no reason.

If your character is going to chat about the weather or someone's health, there can only be one of three reasons for that.

Dialogue moves the plot along. It's important for the reader to know how the character is feeling if his or her condition affects the denouement of the scene throughout the story.

Dialogue reveals something significant about the character. A character who is not going on a trip when the weather is bad has to justify it somehow.

Dialogue reveals something significant about the environment. Characters can talk about the weather, time and place when something changes in the environment.

2. Action without purpose

If you want pointless action, you're better off watching a TV show or playing THIS WAS SOME ELABORATE SPAM RIGHT THERE . A good writer loads the character with those actions that are bound to affect the development of the story. Sure, your characters' lives are filled with small unimportant moments, but we don't have to read about every single one of them.

Here's what Nancy Kress, author of Nancy Kress, Dynamic Characters, has to say about that:
"The mistake I encounter most often begins where the author gives a reference to his character, his background. It's much better to get the characters on stage as soon as possible".