Hi,Everyone.
I know this may seem like a weird thing but I'd appreciate any advice.
The problem is I've devloped a crippling fear of writing due to discovering that a key element to my game's backstory is slightly similar to a big AAA RPG's. While I'm a big fan of said series I had no idea that said element was even in their game till I played it.
While the two are more than different enough I still cannot help worrying about someone thinking I copied them and starting some sort of Twitter mob to destroy my company before it begins. Do I just stop need to stop hanging around 4chan and people who think Mass Effect 3's ending was a literal criminal act or do my worries have a valid point?
Any advice would be appreciated.
-NateOcosoft
Edit- Yes I do have OCD before someone asks.
Crippling Fear of Unoriginality (Any Advice?)
Well, pretty much no matter what sort of creative thing you do, when you release it to the public some people are gonna slam it, for an assortment of reasons. This is the same reason why it's generally a bad idea to post an idea to some forum asking if people like it - no matter how cool the idea is, it's not going to be cool to everybody; can't please everyone, it's simply not possible. So as an artist, you gotta figure out why you are creating your art besides the urge to have everyone praise you. Hopefully you have some other artistic goals and motives, and as long as your writing satisfies those, that's what really matters, not what random bozos think.
I guarantee you if the writing is strong enough and it's not a blatant, soulless rip off, people will still enjoy it. Do you. Don't plagiarize or steal someone's ideas because you want to get away with something quick and easy. But if you feel it, who cares if it's cliche? Look at Skyrim as compared to thousands of other RPG's. You start the game as a prisoner, freed by a dragon, and enter into a world where two warring nations are trying to take hold of the land and you can choose to help one. Then dragons and time travel and the end of days and our mystical overlords yada yada... but I still enjoyed the story.
I wouldn't worry about it. Every story ever bears some degree of resemblance to some other story. There's just so many different types of stories that people enjoy creating or consuming. People to a large degree even expect common elements, especially if a story is supposed to fit into a particular genre. A fantasy story without some sort of magic I don't think would even be a fantasy story, for example.
You might want to look at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage just to see the degree to which pretty much every story ever can be broken down into some common elements, although I have to warn you that it's the kind of website you get sucked into.
You might want to look at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage just to see the degree to which pretty much every story ever can be broken down into some common elements, although I have to warn you that it's the kind of website you get sucked into.
Its been said that there are only 7 original stories in all of storytelling, so I wouldn't sweat it. It's the detail, character, arc, and progression that make a story unique.
Yep, and you just change the window dressing depending on the genre.
Its been said that there are only 7 original stories in all of storytelling, so I wouldn't sweat it. It's the detail, character, arc, and progression that make a story unique.
The problem is I've devloped a crippling fear of writing
Any advice would be appreciated.
Edit- Yes I do have OCD before someone asks.
Wise sayings about fear - these may help you.
http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson47.html#fear
I still cannot help worrying about someone thinking I copied them and starting some sort of Twitter mob to destroy my company before it begins.
I'm not sure if you meant this literally, but I'll say this anyway - if you're a new developer such a mob is probably just as likely to make you (via publicity, people checking out your game to see what all the fuss is about) as to break you (via negative publicity) anyway. This is probably especially true if your game is interesting enough that others will step up to defend you as well.
I suggest you spend more of your time worrying about simply not being noticed!
It has been said, but I will repeat for emphasis: anything you do has been done before. Maybe you knew, maybe you didn't, who cares. If you write your idea and it ends up being more derivitive than you thought, that is what editing is for.
Besides, sometimes what people want is more of the same. Just look at the state of major movie and book successes.
Besides, sometimes what people want is more of the same. Just look at the state of major movie and book successes.
I think it's important to decide what your goals are for writing on any given project. Try to examine what you already have written through the lens of "Why did *I* write this?". Identify the events and values in your life that made you want to write the game you're working on; It's unlikely that the AAA JRPG embodies/comments on them in ways that perfectly allign with your worldview. Find the differences and amplify them. Dont worry too much about surface details (sewer levels, magic stones,etc), it's easy to embellish those as you edit and ultimately the visuals will determine how familliar they feel to the player.
Try to find opportunities to make characters and solutions idiosyncratc in ways that are truer to you and the things you care about, players remember personality more than they remember cold plotting logic.
Try to find opportunities to make characters and solutions idiosyncratc in ways that are truer to you and the things you care about, players remember personality more than they remember cold plotting logic.
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