Why do game pundits love the word "trope" so much?

[BakedSardine]

A trope, in the context traditionally used, is a cliche, as in "That game contains all the traditional tropes of that genre".

Am I the only one that has noticed that this word is running rampant in podcasts and other game commentary? Sterling dropped it in his latest Jimquisition and I swear I hear it 2-3 times per episode of Weekend Confirmed, yet it's not a term I hear when any other genre of art (music, movies) is discussed.

Why is use of this word so rampant in video game discussion?

 

[DoPo]

yet it's not a term I hear when any other genre of art (music, movies) is discussed.

Hmm, can't point to specific examples, but "literary tropes" seems to be something I come across relatively a lot.

As for why it's so prevalent in gaming...I don't know, but I question if it is really that prevalent. Sure, yes, I'd agree I do see it frequently but then again - I mostly go around gaming stuff - I've got little interest in discussion about movies or music, to use your examples, so I don't know what those discussions look like and how often is "trope" used in them.

 

[Savagezion]

It is used in movie discussions around me. I have even seen people use it referring to books. The thing that makes gaming different is in gaming it is used to insult writing often. Most movie buffs and avid readers that do discuss tropes in books and movies acknowledge that tropes should and will always exist. Shrek is a spoof of the Damsel in Distress trope in fairy tales. In gaming I often see people refer to the fact that if there is a trope means it is lazy writing. Both good writing and bad writing use tropes. For some reason, video games get blasted for using tropes. Dialogue is where the writing is generally lazy in games from my perspective. This is all anecdotal though, so see it as such.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I don't think the overuse of the word 'trope' is relegated to just gaming.

Geeks tend to use it for everything; Movies, games, anime, you name it...

 

[Vegosiux]

"Trope" is more a term used in movie and TV discussion for the various prevalent formulas within different genres. Hence the life devouring Site "TV Tropes".

"Trope" in game discussion has been partly Hijacked by that series and has been misused as a tool to spin something negatively by taking it out of context or extrapolating it's meaning beyond a logical limit. This is not really how tropes are generally used.

Tropes are not inherently 'bad' or even inherently lazy (Star Wars was built on tropes, it rigidly followed the heroes journey to pretty great effect) they are just there. Snarky hipsters tend to over-use the term when talking about a Movie or TV show to look smart. But in general a trope is just there to describe a form of widely seen story short-hand.

Quick and concise, this is basically the gist of the mystery of the word. Now excuse me, I need to go look up something on TvTropes, then wonder why suddenly I've been declared legally deceased shortly after.

Trying to write without tropes is doomed. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/TheTropelessTale?from=Main.TheTropelessTale] And so are you, now that you clicked the link. Muahahaha.

 

[Vern5]

Tropes are everywhere. Best to get used to that word because it is not going away.

The reason you may be hearing it so much in relation to games might be because more games are falling under the usual tropes i.e. games are starting to become more and more cliche for various reasons.

 

[CloudAtlas]

Tropes are everywhere. Best to get used to that word because it is not going away.

The reason you may be hearing it so much in relation to games might be because more games are falling under the usual tropes i.e. games are starting to become more and more cliche for various reasons.

I agree with everything you say except for the last part. The stories and characters of games are generally just not very good, and relying on cliches too much is one contributor, but it's not getting worse imho, it's getting better... slowly.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I for one am a little sick of hearing the term over and over. I get the feeling people use it as a "tech term" along with other recently hot vocabulary (AAA, "damseling") to pad up posts and give them a serious, academic vibe.

 

[Auron]

It's like fiction doesn't have a history and every work should be completely independent from that history never paying homage to or drawing from anything that came before like it was possible or even something we'd like at all, right?

 

[Erttheking]

Because we all love TV Tropes and TV Tropes is slowly seeping into our lives and destroying us. *Slowly leans in* HELP ME!

 

[Someone Depressing]

Really, from the beginning, most genres have been about gameplay than storytelling (compare Super Mario to an average 1990s JRPG) and because the narrative tend to be weaker, is easier to criticise.

Really, tropes - and, ery very very very very rarely cliches - are neccesary to write a good story. And a bad one. And sometimes an ok one.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

OP, you desperately need to read this article from the very website that specializes in this [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Trope].

People who say "tropes" are one of two things:
1. The literary educated who actually have points to make and (generally) like the shorthands that trope names provide.
2. Pretenders.

Tropes are tools. Do not abuse them.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Why is use of this word so rampant in video game discussion?

It's because the word 'cliche' is, like, so cliche.

Basically it's used by people who want their average to appear different from regular peoples' average.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Well...it is a word for something that is commonly discussed in regards to video games. It's like asking why people refer to "mechanics" and "stats".

 

[BloodSquirrel]

yet it's not a term I hear when any other genre of art (music, movies) is discussed.

Broaden thy horizons:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well when a person is not that knowledgeable about a topic they will resort to their small bag of tricks plus whatever is most popular at the time, which is an easy way to spot someone having no clue on a topic as they can't describe anything beyond a very recent scope.

And this very much applies to every field not just gaming.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

It's a buzzword, whose use is spread by people hearing it used and re-using it. It spread prevalently in the gaming world because that is the biggest audience of the TVTropes website (as you can see through the comprehensive lists under videogame specific tropes.)

It's use has spread considerably because it grasps a concept that cannot be fully expressed with other words (they arn't quite cliches or stereotypes) and the whole basis of reccuring themes or devices used across genres of games can be a good trend analysis starting block to changing something within the medium.

I think it would have caught on in the gaming world online more so than other mediums is that we are much more focussed and prevelant online. We have communities within communities, and are more savvy to online communication, and therefore are more susceptible to accepting a term as a community.

It will pass, however, and will be replaced with something else... but for the time being just rejoice that it is not more 'arrow in the knee' jokes...