Follow TV Tropes

Ask The Tropers

Go To

Have a question about how the TVTropes wiki works? No one knows this community better than the people in it, so ask away! Ask the Tropers is the page you come to when you have a question burning in your brain and the support pages didn't help. It's not for everything, though. For a list of all the resources for your questions, click here. You can also go to this Directory thread for ongoing cleanup projects.

Ask the Tropers:

Trope Related Question:

Make Private (For security bugs or stuff only for moderators)

MacronNotes (Captain)
13th Feb, 2021 03:49:14 AM

Given that geo characters get the most use out of their abilities because of these enemies slash boss it’s still an example. It doesn’t matter if other character shields work. The trope is about a certain subset of abilities/characters being being most useful because of a very specific situation so the edit reason doesn’t make much sense to me.

Macron's notes
Serac Since: Mar, 2016
13th Feb, 2021 02:21:11 PM

Yeah, it's still an example even if there's other options that will work. The trope is about something that is only useful in one situation, not something that requires one specific ability to be used.

Edited by Serac
DivineFlame100 Since: Mar, 2014
14th Feb, 2021 07:27:25 AM

Bump. Any more input on this before I request mod permission to add the example back? It seems there's an agreement that it counts as an example.

coconutkirin Since: Dec, 2020
14th Feb, 2021 07:32:48 AM

I quote Highly Specific Counterplay:

"These options may be very powerful in one specific situation or in a small number of specific situations, but they tend to be mediocre, weak or completely useless at any other time. A simple example is a Situational Damage Attack where the required situation is very rare, such as a Sword of Dragon Slaying in a game with only two dragons.

The high specificity may be explicit ("this can only negate attack X") or implicit ("this negates fire-based attacks" in a game with very few fire-based attacks)."

Admittedly I'm a bit confused. If it's just about "something that is powerful in a certain situation but nigh useless in others", don't we have This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman?

When I read the title, I thought it was more about "this situation requires only this option" regardless whether said option is viable elsewhere or not (i.e what Serac said: "(not) something that requires one specific ability to be used.")

Edited by coconutkirin
DivineFlame100 Since: Mar, 2014
14th Feb, 2021 07:37:19 AM

^ It was agreed in Trope Launch Pad that This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman is for narrative purposes only. Highly Specific Counterplay is a sub-trope that talks about instances where certain underutilized gameplay mechanics see the most use in specific situations. By that logic, the Geo characters using their reaction shields to counter the Geovishap's gimmicks qualify as an example, regardless if other shields from non-Geo characters work.

Edited by DivineFlame100
coconutkirin Since: Dec, 2020
14th Feb, 2021 07:51:42 AM

Don't we have Not Completely Useless then?

Maybe I also want to ask: What is the trope for "this situation in a game forces you to use that specific option"? I might have confused Highly Specific Counterplay for that trope. (My vague guess, it's Character Select Forcing, but it's specific to characters...)

DivineFlame100 Since: Mar, 2014
14th Feb, 2021 07:54:08 AM

^ If you're concerned about the validity of Highly Specific Counterplay being a redundant trope to Not Completely Useless, then maybe you can start a discussion of it over at the Wiki Talk sub-forum.

coconutkirin Since: Dec, 2020
14th Feb, 2021 08:20:11 AM

Speaking of which, the example in question mentions "tiers". Which means we're treading into YMMV territory.

What is factual in the game: Geo reactions can help in battles by creating "shields" for your characters, so that they can be protected from damage. So they have a use. The only place in the game where offense is actually favorable over defense is in the special "Spiral Abyss" stages where you have to defeat enemies under time limit. Everywhere else, it's simply the case of "the players in question like full offensive strategy more." In short: it's not "only useful in one situation", but rather "one certain situation makes it shine better".

With that, I doubt it even counts as an example. (Unless the trope also counts "one certain situation makes it shine better")

Top