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SouthParkClannad Since: Dec, 1969
#1: Feb 25th 2011 at 2:39:42 AM

I would pay big money if someone had the guts and no life to compile ALL the tropes and write a book, of course this would be impossible but woundn't it be awesome?

FastEddie Since: Apr, 2004
#2: Feb 25th 2011 at 5:42:31 PM

I guess. It'd be out of date the day it was published, though.

Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
blackcat Since: Apr, 2009
MousaThe14 Writer, Artist, Ignored from Northern Virginia Since: Jan, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Writer, Artist, Ignored
#4: Mar 1st 2011 at 1:46:06 PM

I imagine a book of tropes would work like a dictionary and new editions are published every couple of years, and the examples list would be utterly minimal.

The Blog The Art
dontcallmewave Brony? Moi? surely you jest! from My home Since: Nov, 2013
Brony? Moi? surely you jest!
#5: Mar 1st 2011 at 1:55:24 PM

I'd love it too, especially if it had the history of tv tropes

He who fights bronies should see to itthat he himself does not become a brony. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, Pinkie Pie gazes Also
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#6: Mar 1st 2011 at 2:13:48 PM

At the risk of running afoul of Tropers Law (although this is actually a reverse invocation), when was the last time anyone suggested publishing Wikipedia as a book? Aside from the fact that it's getting causality backwards: Wikipedia is an evolution of encyclopedias into an online collaboratory format, technically it'd be near impossible. We're nowhere near as big but the same issues apply.

  • How many truckloads of books would you need?
  • How would you attempt to keep them current?
  • How do you duplicate the searching and indexing functions? (Answer: you can't)

edited 1st Mar '11 2:15:10 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
FastEddie Since: Apr, 2004
#7: Mar 1st 2011 at 2:17:15 PM

A realistic, publishable book size would have room for somewhere between 250 and 300 tropes, max, with severely limited example list.

Publishers just aren't interested in a 'might-sell' with a really large production cost.

So... what are the 300 definitive tropes?

Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#8: Mar 1st 2011 at 2:19:24 PM

You mean a trade paperback or novel format? That's at least plausible. I was imagining something like an actual hardcover encyclopedia format, in multiple volumes. And then, like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, imagining how many trucks you'd need to cart its abridged edition around in.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Arctimon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#9: Mar 1st 2011 at 2:40:44 PM

So... what are the 300 definitive tropes?

There's one you can put on the back cover:

Tv Tropes Will Enhance Your Life.

And possibly Tv Tropes Will Ruin Your Life.

edited 1st Mar '11 2:41:44 PM by Arctimon

dontcallmewave Brony? Moi? surely you jest! from My home Since: Nov, 2013
Brony? Moi? surely you jest!
#10: Mar 1st 2011 at 4:01:11 PM

Tropes Of Legend

He who fights bronies should see to itthat he himself does not become a brony. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, Pinkie Pie gazes Also
FastEddie Since: Apr, 2004
#11: Mar 1st 2011 at 4:02:02 PM

[up][up] The absolute maximum a publisher might go for would be a trade paperback.

Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
Arctimon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#12: Mar 1st 2011 at 6:19:16 PM

If technology caught up to us, we could just have a Hitchhiker's Guide rip-off called The Tv Tropes Guide to Everything.

Though we can't use a towel. We could just substitute a nightstick or something.

Or an eraser.

edited 1st Mar '11 6:19:48 PM by Arctimon

nuclearneo577 from My computer. Since: Dec, 2009
#13: Mar 1st 2011 at 6:35:40 PM

If we had 300 items, it would probably have 200 tropes, 50 or so YMMV items, 25 Trivia items, 10 Just for Fun items, 10 Sugar Wiki items, and 10 Darth Wiki items. There would be a Wild Mass Guessing page, a It Just Bugs Me! page, a Laconic page, a Quotes page, and page about something that I cant think of.

blackcat Since: Apr, 2009
#14: Mar 1st 2011 at 7:40:59 PM

We don't need to include examples. That is what the site is for. The book would be a way to explore the tropes without getting sidetracked by the examples. Oh you could put a few lines in for people to list their own, and then later check against the website. But it would be a fun thing while travelling.

dontcallmewave Brony? Moi? surely you jest! from My home Since: Nov, 2013
Brony? Moi? surely you jest!
#15: Mar 1st 2011 at 7:46:23 PM

Maybe a book about the site itself

He who fights bronies should see to itthat he himself does not become a brony. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, Pinkie Pie gazes Also
BigT grimAuxiliatrix Since: Jan, 2001
grimAuxiliatrix
#16: Mar 6th 2011 at 12:09:53 AM

There are a lot of peoplewho publish books that are just copies of Wikipedia. And, yes, you can order print copies.

There's even one company that publishes books that are just copies of Wikipedia content, and, because of the license, Wikipedia can do nothing about it. I can't remember the name, but I know it was a big deal. Heck, Wikibooks may be a direct response to that, as people thought Wiki Media should be getting money for Wikipedia content, rather than some group that sells small books for $50-$100 a pop.

I wonder if the printing place Wikipedia uses would also work with us.

Everyone Has An Important Job To Do
kyun Since: Dec, 2010
#17: Mar 11th 2011 at 8:12:27 AM

Because tropes evolve and disappear overtime, the book would need to be reset into editions, and republished with new ones regularly, which costs a lot.

MousaThe14 Writer, Artist, Ignored from Northern Virginia Since: Jan, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Writer, Artist, Ignored
#18: Mar 12th 2011 at 7:35:38 AM

So... Like a Dictionary.

The Blog The Art
dontcallmewave Brony? Moi? surely you jest! from My home Since: Nov, 2013
Brony? Moi? surely you jest!
#19: Mar 12th 2011 at 5:36:30 PM

Why don't you make just one edition for now as an experiment to see how well it would do?

He who fights bronies should see to itthat he himself does not become a brony. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, Pinkie Pie gazes Also
chihuahua0 Since: Jul, 2010
#20: Mar 13th 2011 at 3:07:05 PM

A dictionary is the best bet, although there's always the chance of Trope Decay.

amalimrock Since: Feb, 2011
#21: Mar 20th 2011 at 6:58:12 AM

maybe do it in volumes as well? Though I hardly see any books nowadays being published in volumes anymore

Judecca Since: Dec, 2010
#22: Mar 23rd 2011 at 1:27:25 PM

I wouldn't mind a Book of Tropes that had the Laconic and the Main page. The examples get into HST When you try adding examples onto it though, since most pages have around 1000 examples. You could possibly skip the Works pages too, and just stick with the tropes.

Alpha Parum est esse aliquid.
Unknownlight Since: Aug, 2009
#23: Mar 24th 2011 at 1:39:17 PM

I can see it as:

Trope Name

Laconic Definition and/or quote

Describing trope, blah blah blah. Probably remove page image image.

Possibly one example from The Alice and Bob Show. (And/or the Trope Namer, if the trope has one.)

Assuming we could squeeze each trope into a single page each (the longer tropes might need two pages) we should be able to fit 300 tropes into a 300 page paperback.

edited 24th Mar '11 1:50:23 PM by Unknownlight

HieronymusII Since: Dec, 1969
#24: Apr 1st 2011 at 11:48:39 AM

When we're done writing it.

Monday okay?

PDown It's easy, mmkay? Since: Jan, 2012
It's easy, mmkay?
#25: Apr 2nd 2011 at 10:39:35 PM

How about a book ABOUT TV Tropes?

At first I didn't realize I needed all this stuff...
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