The cliche tropes new developers should look out for?

[Aristro]

Hey. I have been developing a Renpy game for past two months. I tried to avoid cliche story lines as much as I can but I wanted to know what you all consider as overused tropes.
I know most obvious answer is the incest themed game where MC moves back with mom, bitchy older sister and sweet young sister. But I am looking for more subtle tropes.
I will start : I personally think the "troublemaker friend" that MC or Li has is an overused theme. Usually they are a bit annoying too.

 

[DanThaMan]

Night time perving scenes is quite overused too iMO

 

[paust.alex]

If she is over 14, she absolutely cannot be a virgin trope.
There are many girls who are beautiful and nice to talk to, who even in their late 20s remain virgins, because they have the most important thing - a sense of dignity and self-respect.

 

[Lussuria]

Here is a 41 page thread on tropes in these games, I would recommend reading through it.

 

[Aristro]

Thanks for the answers

Here is a 41 page thread on tropes in these games, I would recommend reading through it.

I actually read that thread before making this. I was looking for more specific pitfalls a new dev could fall into.. Still thanks for the link

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

If she is over 14, she absolutely cannot be a virgin trope.
There are many girls who are beautiful and nice to talk to, who even in their late 20s remain virgins, because they have the most important thing - a sense of dignity and self-respect.

You can also have those and not be a virgin, or you can have neither and still be a virgin. Either way is fine, only douchebags judge other people for their sexual experience.

 

[rk-47]

Landlady and tenant... like bro just say m0m and son so i know many people get annoyed, yeah i know incest rules and whatnot but there are always other avenues

 

[Catapo]

It might have been mentioned in the other thread but I would suggest avoiding characters interacting with the narrator, self-aware characters, 4th wall breaks and meme dialogue.
Sometimes it could be clever or funny but most of the time it is not.

 

[ddakkal]

Making characters stupid just to progress the story (of course that's depends on the character themselves and the tone of the game). I think developers forget that they are creating a visual NOVEL and not just sex scenes slide show.
There are nothing wrong with sex scene slide shows but if that's the case, devs shouldn't waste their and our time creating meaningless dialogue just for us to skip it... waste of time on both ends.
Instead they could fill it in between with something more humorous than serious.

 

[Doorknob22]

I don't think you should map tropes and avoid them, but rather focus on what in your opinion is hot. Even if it's a cliche, it's a cliche for a reason, it is because many people find it hot.

Try to avoid the tropes you personally think are stupid but letting a bunch of strangers telling you what not to do in your first game? I'm not sure it's a great idea.

Having said that, if I play another game in which the MC watches his mom masturbating while calling his name (or the other way around) I'll break my keyboard.

 

[Laikhent]

Yea, I think even if I play that trope 1000's of times, I will never ever get tired of the bitchy sister.

 

[Doorknob22]

Yea, I think even if I play that trope 1000's of times, I will never ever get tired of the bitchy sister.

...yeah, and I'll fuck (and hopefully impregnate) every big titted mom they'll throw my way. Tropes are not necessarily evil.

 

[Aristro]

Thanks for the answers guys, Don't worry. I already fixed story and elements of my game. I am asking this because I wanted to know if I overlooked something. It is kind of a self evaluation thingy because perspective of an author and reader/viewer is often different. I am not looking to change anything to fit "popular opinion"...

 

[csgomarathon]

Every harem protagonist looking like a kid even though he's 18. Is it so much to ask for a normal adult looking dude to lead the story.

 

[Doorknob22]

Every harem protagonist looking like a kid even though he's 18. Is it so much to ask for a normal adult looking dude to lead the story.

To each his own. I prefer the MC to be as young as possible, it intensifies the gap between him and the women, hence the conquest is sweeter.