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I hope that cussing hasn't lowered any ratings for any story. that's stupid imo. It could be for dramatic effect, and it makes it more realistic. My Scary Movie game is PACKED with f-bombs. That's because I think if teens were in a life-threatening situation, it would be more realistic for them to be dropping f-bombs than saying, "Gee whiz, whatever shall I do? That darn killer won't leave us alone. That's bullpoo."

riley 

Firstly, as I said, different people hold different views on such things. Secondly, I haven't lowered any ratings, I simply said it made it harder for me to read those stories.

Thirdly, I guess you've spent most of your life around people who swear all the time. I don't think it makes it 'more "realistic" at all. There happens to be a large percentage of the world's population who don't talk that way. Where I live, it's rare to hear a swear word. When I grew up going to school, I'd almost never hear someone talk that way, and people who swore were reprimanded for their behavior. Among my family, and my friends, there's never a single swear word, and in any workplaces I've been in, people talking that way were considered to be acting inappropriately, and would get a warning about their behavior.

I don't find swearing dramatic, either. Plenty of books are dramatic and chocked full of character, plenty of movies too, and they didn't require it. Some people might like it, and that's fine, I won't hold it against them, I just find it harder to like what I'm reading. And I didn't mean that you had to use words like "Gee whiz". There's a difference between G-rated 'oh no, what will we do', simple curses like "Hell!" and "Dammit!", and stronger coarse language.  Such differences are why things are rated G, PG, M and R. And as I pointed out, I took into account that Necromancer was rated 7 for maturity. I was just expressing my opinion.

Fourthly, I'll shut up now, or I'll go on all day.

I agree with you on the fact that multiple story threads are a bad idea, but that doesn't mean you can't have a lot of choice. Terra Proxima and the Lone Wolf series only have one main thread or path. This is divided into 'chapters' where you can choose what to do. Eventually through, you will either meet the main path again or die while being attacked, etc...

This is how Lone Wolf has the same endings no matter what you change (assuming you don't die).

Rommel: "I agree with you on the fact that multiple story threads are a bad idea."


What!? Man, that was the way I was going to do it, House of the dead style. Why is it bad?

Yeah, i get what you're saying, but i've heard people who rarely say cuss words ever scream out "HOLY S**T" when theyv'e been scared. So, maybe, not so muc dramatic effect, but as DEP once said, wich sounds like someone is more angry, "Get out of my house." or "Get the f**k out of my house."  I was just exagerating with the Gee whiz thing though. I'm noyt trying to start an arguement with you, just saying that I think it's ok. I agree that large percentage of the population doesn't cuss, but I do believe that still leaves a lot of people that would cuss.  It also seems that, the worse the game, the more people complain about language. In mommy, I didnt hear one complaint about cussing. Invasion had about 4 cuss words, and October complained.

riley

it is true that having a cuss word is effective to show certain emotions (fear, anger, so forth) however, what should be more important is making the characters different. people who only concern themselves with dialogue tend to forget that people talk differently, me and my fiancee are perfect examples. if we get scared, we are going to say different things. she hardly ever cusses, i might lol. the point being, you need to concern yourself with making the characters different. be aware of who they are. it wouldnt make sense to have a Reverend cuss, or a 6 year old girl (in most cases). paying attention to the differences in character is more important in my opinion than just having any one cuss cause they are scared or angry.

nate

Rommel: Actually, I don't think multiple story threads are a bad idea, just saying I have difficulty accomplishing it myself.

Darth: I didn't complain about the language and stuff in Mommy, but I did have trouble getting through some of it as well. However, I saw it as a well written, well thought out work, had great choices, and again, it had a high maturity rating, so I wouldn't complain about it. I wasn't complaining about coarse language in Necromancer either, just expressing my reading taste as we were asked to express our opinions on the stories. Like saying "I don't like listening to country and western music" but can still recognise the talent of an artist, and accept a country and western song that wins an award, even if I don't enjoy listening to that style of music personally. So both are still really great stories in my opinion.

So if it's part of a person's character in a story, I can accept that. At the other end of the scale, if its on every page, for every character, it might draw away from any desired dramatic or characterisation effect, by 'overusing' words, instead of using them where they count to make an effect.

I hear people at my work place swearing all the time, especially using the f-word. I don't really care though, and in fact I swear a lot myself, sometimes just for the hell of it... like I did there. I especially enjoy the usage of the f-word (trying to keep the forum clean for others)

I went and read your details for your Scary Movie game and it sounds really good, I'm loving the idea! I actually watched "Stay Alive" and though it was kind of cheesy, I thought it was good fun, and really enjoyed watching. Plus it was an original idea and that gets points from me.

I sub-plot device I had considered using (and sometimes still ponder over) is having a protagonist who never curses while everyone else (and I mean EVERYONE else) does. It wouldn't really have anything to do with the story, I wouldn't point it out or anything, it would just be there. I think it would help to establish the protagonist as a morally superior person even before I start implementing acts of morality.

Sorry, that was a little off topic. This just reminded me of it.

It isn't necessarily realistic, but more like showing off their personality. Like how if you trip over a wire, you can take it as a little thing and ignore it, or curse it with the f-word. Personally, I've never use the word before, but I know that the thing is some people have a tendency to overuse them. Therefore, you might find them tedious and repetitive that way, but if used correctly, they're actually a great tool. I was reading a book or so lately and one of the adults in the story was using the f-word and the way he used it in accordance to his actions created, for me, a very distinct image of his personality. Therefore, use them, just don't overuse them.