CLICHE BREAKER

3rd Revision

PROJECT RECRUIMENT: one to two writers needed to help me flesh out story ideas.

TITLE: CLICHE BREAKER (current running name)

GOAL:
Get the story done first, then make an rpg. Not waste anyone's time by hiring a bunch of people only to abandon the project before its done.

The story doesn't need to take itself seriously. It's rpgmaker, not dramatic theatre. I want to have some fun. The project should be well-done and intelligently written.

UPDATE: - Oct. 07, 2008
I've compiled the ideas into an .rtf and spent a few days cleaning them up. I'm interested in having a few people give feedback. Please bump the thread if interested and I'll send the document your way.

Oh, sounds interesting! I'd like to join, if it's not too much trouble

Nah, no trouble at all. I added you to MSN so we can begin discussing ideas. I have put down some research and brainstorming, but I've been busy with exams. Tomarrow is my final exam (I hope I do well).

[offtopic] Good luck ! [/offtopic]

When are you usually on msn?

Hard to say. It's because I only have msn on one account. I'll use the other one then. I'd say at 2-4 o'clock in Paris time (+1)...

I'm -8 PST (Im in Vancouver)

Btw, I have a few questions:

1) What comes to mind when you think of "Cliche Breaker"? How do you think a story like that would work?
2) Who is your favourate hero out of all the rpgs you've played. Why?
3) Least favorate hero. Why?
4) Fav. villain. Why?
5) Least. fav villain. Why?
6) Favorate 3 rpgs.
7) Cliches you like. Cliches you hate.
RPGs you've played (old and new).
9) Do you listen to RPG music? If so, what do you like?

Just some interview questions. We've got to start our discussion somewhere, since I can't catch you on MSN =D

My website! Sorry, it IS freewebs... might be a good place to chat. The forum was made yesterday, and not many will go there I think.

Cliche Breaker: A person with special magical powers wielding a giant rune-inscribed war-hammer which has the power to dispel cliches and other induvidual forms of magical energy.

Not sure about all the questions but a couple:
Fav. villian: Jack of Blades (Fable: LOS, Fable 2) - This guy is just plain evil. And he is so cool also, with his dark mask of utter destructive, and evil power!

Cliches: Earthquakes, would be a classic, but it would be good to try something else.

I would also like to come with one idea: That parts of the world are torn into a black world of chaos, where no living being is able to enter, thereby creating giant obstacles of immense difficulty for all sides of many fights!

And manipulation of civilians and NPCs: That they are turned into slaves, their souls under the control of these spellbreakers. Maybe, a mutation could occur. Twisted extra limbs, horrible melting faces, cries from out of this world (like if a wolf sounded like a bird kind of thing. Not that some voice from a different dimension starts speaking when the peoples mouths move).

This is a small post.

Anyway, did you read the first post? I updated it.

Second revision? Well, it's hard to see what the change is actually. But I guess revisions never hurt anyone

I tried to be more clear with what the goals of the project were. I also mentioned a few plot ideas, namely an Adventurer's Society, a Magnifiscent Seven, and the story concept (i.e. hero lost in alternate world, tries to get back). Read up ahead =) Btw, I'll make another post later tonight if I can. Got a dinner to go out to.

Btw, I think I did well on my exam.

1) What comes to mind when you think of "Cliche Breaker"? How do you think a story like that would work?
1) Someone who can disarm spells and enchantments and fight against godlike characters who can manipulate and change the world. I've thought of ways on how I can take this concept pretty far. For instance, we haven't narrowed down what a "cliche" is. We also don't know anything about spellbreakers, the kind of powers they have, what their limits are, or how many there are.

2) Who is your favourate hero out of all the rpgs you've played. Why?
..hmm.. Citan from Xenosaga. Philosophical cooler-than-the-hero's best friend with a katana. 

I also like Phoenix Wright. . . .

3) Least favorate hero. Why?

Tidus from Final Fantasy X. He's annoying.

4) Fav. villain. Why?

Albedo from the Xenosaga series. He's psychotic.

5) Least. fav villain. Why?

Zenon from Disgaea 2. He's as two-dimensional as bowser but a thousand times lamer.

6) Favorate 3 rpgs.
1) Xenosaga 3 (Episode III can be played without playing the first two games). Xenogears is even better (both games are completely unrelated).
2) Phoenix Wright (I've only played PW3, and Apollo Justice).
3) Chrono Trigger

7) Cliches you like. Cliches you hate.
I hate recurring plots. Resistance versus Empire; Evil Chancellor betrays Evil Ruler.

Main character is naive, annoying, young, and stupid. His father left him when he was young and is tied into the plot somehow. The character's main weapon is a sword and by chance his hobbies include swordplay, flirting with danger, and bouts of courage.

9) Do you listen to RPG music? If so, what do you like?

Yes. I get my music from various websites. Current soundtracks I listen to are Dragon Quarter (Breath of Fire V), Final Fantasy 12, and Xenosaga III.


Next question. What are some towns or cities in the region you live in?

Question #2 - What do you prefer? An RPG with a few characters, or many?

Btw, I'm going to try and get a subforums... I also have one more question.

Question #3 - Are you comfortable if we brainstorm ideas through exercises? This may sound silly but it actually works. Anyway, the first exercise I have in mind is to design a main character. Basically, we each make up a main character description and hide it away in a spoiler box so the other person can't see until they've written their idea. The point of the exercise is to compare ideas and either decide which one is better, or to use those ideas to come up with something better. Think of it was drafting up an idea. It could take a couple stages to happen =D

bump.

This sounds interesting.  I'm up for writing something like this, ^^  Something that isn't inherently serious, and can be both funny /and/ silly.  Sign me up.

I started sending a lot of my ideas to Demonic Blade over PM, but sadly, have not heard back from in days. He must be working on that rpg of his. We got as far as naming the protagonist Riot, but he hasn't responded to my other ideas.

So anyway, just out of curiosity, can you tell me a bit about your rpg, and creative writing experience?

Well, as for my RPG, I'll have to provide a bit of background, :P  My significant other and I like to RP, and she, like myself, doesn't holster her creative power in creating characters...so between the two of us we have nearly a hundred characters.  So, a fan of FFVI and rpg-creating in general, I'm attempting to create one that utilizes about forty characters, using many side-quests and multi-party function.  While it sounds a tad...ridiculous at first, the main plot, which won't be revealed until I'm anywhere near close to done, :P 

But the side quests will happen in between the main plot, which carries most of the character development.  Say you pick four characters, and start Sidequest A.  Well, upon finishing it, or somewhere in the middle, something else will happen, prompting Sidequest B, which means you have to use four characters, while none of them can be from Party A.  But then, it turns out that Party A needs assistance, and so then comes Party C for Sidequest A-2.  etc etc etc. 

I loved the multi-party use in FFVI, and so creating something along those lines seems quite interesting to me.  And once I get the story and dialogue and all that written out, and probably a decent mapping/eventing scheme, I'll look for assistance on scripting, because I fail epically at it for some reason.  *shrug*

Oh, and also, I plan on having 'group bonuses.'  Such as...four of the characters are an independent team outside of the RP's, so if you use all of them together, maybe their stats gain a temporary boost.  Something like that; I'm not entirely certain yet how that will pan out.

As for writing experience, I wrote my first short story in 1st grade, and haven't stopped writing since.  I've been on a plethora of the RP Message boards, and I've even got a few novels in the works, if you'd like to take a look at my ability.  I excel in character development and dialogue, but I'm skilled in all aspects of writing.  ^_^

I'll also take a stab at that survey of yours:
1) What comes to mind when you think of "Cliche Breaker"? How do you think a story like that would work?
Well, the way I'm understanding it, is the hero's world is being turned into the cliche sidequests, and he's the only one who has realized it (or the only one who resists.)  I can almost see others that live around him knowing and realizing this, but know that it's `just something that happens`and he should `just accept it.`  Thus he also has to deal with the abandonment of his fellows as well as fighting against everything in order to keep his world as he remembered it.
2) Who is your favourate hero out of all the rpgs you've played. Why?
Kain, from FFIV.  He is the most human character I've seen.  He's a friend to Cecil, but his weak will and personal attraction to Rosa make things very difficult from time to time.  He doesn't forsake everything for the sake of the quest, and doesn't follow blindly.  Definitely my favorite.
3) Least favorate hero. Why?
Well, Locke from FFVI just because he's overrated, :P  But as for an actual choice, I'd have to go with Zidane from FFIX, simply because he tries way too hard to be likable.  I mean, everything he does is just...it's too much.  I don't know; it's hard to explain, but it just seems like he's actually trying to be everyone's favorite.
4) Fav. villain. Why?
Favorite villain...hm...I'm tempted to agree with the Albedo, just because he's batshit insane.  Kefka's got that going for him too, but it's almost a bit overplayed with him.  I do happen to like Chaos also, just because he took the time and effort to come up with a way to live forever that didn't involve some ULTRA MEGA POWERFUL ARTIFACT MK III :P
5) Least. fav villain. Why?
Seymour from FFX.  There is a difference between a recurring villain and an annoying one.  Seymour falls into the latter one. 
6) Favorate 3 rpgs.
Final Fantasy VI, Digital Devil Saga, Final Fantasy Tactics: Lions War (better than the original)
7) Cliches you like. Cliches you hate.
I actually do enjoy the dark, brooding main character...as long as s/he has a good reason to be that way.  Characters who are like that `because it's cool to have a character like that` do not get bonus points.
As for cliches I hate...that's actually kind of hard, as I don't mind most of them.  I can ignore an overly-cliched plot, for the most part, as long as the storyline and character development is good.  One that caused me to be completely flabber-gasted though, was in FFXII, where a certain character has an evil twin.  Let me repeat that: An Evil Twin.  *sigh*
8) Cool RPGs you've played (old and new).
Well, I'm a bit of a Final Fantasy Nut, as I'm sure you can tell, and I'm currently replaying the series.  But some of the ones that stand out in my mind for uniqueness are:
Digital Devil Saga.  It was so original it caught me completely by surprise.  I loved it.
Bahamut Lagoon.  Let's see...tactical combat and standard combat, monster raising, and excellent characterization.  Damn fine game.
Valkyrie Profile. Possibly one of my favorites, I only cut it out because the plot was a little weak at times.  Combat in that game is amazing to me, though.
9) Do you listen to RPG music? If so, what do you like?
Well...sorta.  I stumbled upon The Black Mages a few months ago and now own all 3 of their CD's.  They are, simply, Nobuo Uematsu and a rock-oriented orchestra performing FF classics.  ^_^  It rocks.

Thank you for taking the survey. Now that I understand you a bit better, we can move on to other things. I'm going to dig through the PMs I sent and see if I can forward them to you. They contain a wide assortment of ideas. If you could comment on them (via PM) that would be great 

Blast. None of my PMs to Demonic Blade were saved so I'll have to rewrite them all manually. It may take some time, but I may end up sending them to you in parts.

Yo. And yes, I have been working on my rpgs. I could just forward your PMs to me back to you couldn't I? lol, I'm a busy guy, that's why I haven't responed (yet).

hey Demonic Blade, can you forward the pms I sent you? When you get some time can you also comment on the ideas? I know you're busy with your rpgs. Good luck with them, but don't forget about us too =D

Update: okay, seems my two writers have gone AWOL. I've made some pretty good progress in drafting out ideas, but could use some new help. If anyone is interested, let me know. I've got a lot of ideas worked out. If no one is interested, I'll reconsider revising my first post with new info on characters and ideas I've come up with.

bump. Yeah, it's been a month since I've heard back from my writers... okay, let's try this again.

Hey, I'll give this a shot...I've always wanted to break the cliches.

Writing Experience? Hmm...

Well, I'm in the middle of writing my first novel at the moment. It's currently around 50pgs in length. The story before that, however, was a fanfiction that was 351 pages in length and unfinished. It got stagnant so I dropped it after 1 1/2 years of work.
Other writing experience? I write out plots for games quite often. I'm currently the writer for my own project, too. I have a folder in my documents called my writing files and its around 10 meg in size :/.
(it may seem like I'm boasting but I'm not. Writing is something I take very seriously and have wanted to be an author since I was seven)

I'll complete the survey later. For now I'm going to bed XD.

Writing experience? Tons, tons  tons. and then some more tons. I do more less nothing but write and flesh out stories.

Sorry guys, haven't been around in a month but I am still committed to this project. I've been fleshing out ideas in my spare time, but I still haven't written the story itself yet. I think I've got a working plot in progress including the motivations of each character and how they affect the plot. Little details, like names of groups or organizations still needs to be worked out.

There is something I will need help on and that will be on the way the ball gets rolling in the story. In this sense, long term committment is not required so much as input on developing this story project.

I will also need help on something related to the main character, namely his modus operandi for said supernatural abilities.

Working details: feel free to input:

- Primary Hero's real name is Joe / Joseph / John. This is a story of parallel worlds. This is his real world name, before he changes his name to Riot to play in a world-game after being stuck in an alternate world. Joe/John refers to John Doe, the average everyday young person stereotype whose personality is brought to life after the story's lifechanging event.

- Joe or John? or J.

- J's power is to break cliches. This power comes from either a scroll, or a book, so far named a Codex. The book is a rare item, and he aquired this book accidentally. The book was blank except for a rule, or insignia, which granted him an inate power. The book is aimed to be a broken, godlike item that many sides are. I also thought of a large ring-shaped pendant or bracelet or peice of jewelry related to a power called Kompassing (i.e. power of seeking, finding something, or knowing). Kompassing could have infinite possibilities like magic or alchemy and rules for use. It could be a possible alternative to the book suggestion. The book idea, though a cliche, could itself be explained by that same reason: it was created because of a 'cliche', or is a 'cliche' that was created by some other kind of magic (because of some kind of rules or laws requiring that it has to be a scroll or book).

Also, now that I think about it, there is a certain irony to using a cliche to break other cliches.

- The story has two different characters / stories that converge together at the start, shortly after the story takes off.

- A theme I have thought of is a subplot regarding Riot's ability to break cliches, and another character's ability to create cliches. This is not the plot of the story, but a very important and connected theme.

I will try to write more later. I need to go back and review a few emails so I can recap what I've already developed with a few people.

Bump.

I'll got a few people reviewing the first outline I put together. It's taken me a while to peice things together, but so far the input is pretty strong.

Right now, looking for people to review my ideas as I come up with them. If you are interested in taking a look at the outline, let me know.

Also, I will probably be redoing this thread and updating the first page with a proper outline.

-Dan.