Misused (Alt Names Crowner 28th Mar 2015): I Cant Use These Things Together

So excluding ZC Es, irrelevant cases, and cases where I couldn't make any determination of whether the usage was correct or not, I count 38 examples, of which 28 are correct. That equals 26.3% misuse. How bad is that?

Oh, and Solip, the name actually is pretty easy to grok if you're a fan of point-and-click Adventure Games.

That's cleanup worthy, but not terrible. No matter how clear the name, we seem I have a sizable chunk of editors that will shoehorn anything. It is a sign that a bit more clarity would be good.

Requiring knowledge of point-and-click games just to understand what the trope name is about makes me think it should be renamed, especially since this isn't exclusive to those.

edited 19th Jan '15 1:40:23 PM by Karxrida

Calling it Player Character Expositioning Whatever The Player Commanded Him To Do is the clearest... but obviously it's jumbled.

Maybe some element of Fourth Wall can be added as this feels like the player character is somewhat aware that they're "told" to do a certain thing and then they say something about it.

It's also wrong because that is not precisely what the trope is about.

and This. Both of these.

So from my perspective, it looks like it's time to start brainstorming names. Yes? No?

edited 20th Jan '15 8:22:51 AM by SolipSchism

Calling it Unrealistic Game Character Speak or Saying Things To The Fourth Wall?

Ooh, maybe something about the Fourth Wall.

Maybe Internal Small Talk.

...Okay, okay, Bad Snowclone I know, but hear me out: As I Know.

Not insanely indicative if it weren't a snowclone, but it is a snowclone for a good reason. As You Know is Alice telling Bob something Bob already knows for the benefit of the audience. This trope is Alice telling herself something, out loud, for the benefit of the audience.

...Decent? Maybe?

It skirts the edge of No New Stock Phrases, but despite the wording, this trope will (as far as I know) never actually include that phrasing, and I've never heard a character say "As I Know" for any reason, so I don't foresee it ever being misused as a stock phrase.

Informing the Fourth Wall sounds best IMO.

It is better than the current name, to be sure (but then, the current name is so bad that This Is A Trope About Stuff would be a better name—that's sarcasm, by the way), but the name seems like it would overlap with a lot of tropes that mix exposition with fourth wall leaning/breaking. To be frank, it sounds like a Super-Trope to this and numerous others.

Responding To The Fourth Wall Actions?

In World Of Warcraft the option to turn these off is called 'Speech From Input Errors' we could go with that.

edited 20th Jan '15 3:49:50 PM by Memers

Given that the current name seems to be mostly working, maybe a small change to something like "Can't Use These Things Together" Declaration?

edited 20th Jan '15 3:53:36 PM by tbarrie

Except that is not what the trope is about and can easily be mistaken for a Stock Phrase.

Could try the Pot Hole from Combinatorial Explosion, Default Failure Message. Problem is, not all of these—not even most of them—are actually failure messages.

Inane Observation Inner Monologue? Not much of a monologue, but still.

Responding To Player Actions? Commenting On Player Actions?

Not always about player actions. (I'm not trying to be curt, just pointing out potential problems.)

...Although I suppose it is generally triggered by player actions, even if it's just an inane observation about the room. I don't think they're ever on a timer. They're always prompted, directly or indirectly, by a player action. (e.g. walk into a room, "Hm, there's a body over in the corner there.")

edited 20th Jan '15 4:06:39 PM by SolipSchism

I would say a vast majority of them are responding to player actions like a Point-and-Click and you tell the character to 'inspect that object' and you get a responce like 'it is a key', responding to errors like trying to cast a spell that is on cooldown 'I cant do that' or 'I must wait longer to cast that', or telling the player a hint on how to do something in a 'Player Notice This!' way.

edited 20th Jan '15 4:20:33 PM by Memers

...Suddenly I'm entranced by Player Notice This. I don't think it's quite right, but it feels much closer than anything we've tried so far.

How about Player Character To Player Conversation? nah 'conversation' implies a 2 way convo. How about Player Character To Player Declaration? I really like that one.

edited 20th Jan '15 4:39:35 PM by Memers

It's a little clunky, but it's basically Clear. I'm not a fan, personally.

x9 The name is completely non-indicative and can very easily be mistaken for a different trope (which I did before reading the definition).

I actually like As I Know, since it's the shortest one, is easy to remember, and is totally indicative.

edited 20th Jan '15 10:46:01 PM by Karxrida

I can't imagine Player Action Response is a good choice, then?

Do we feel like we're ready for a crowner, or should the name-storming continue to percolate? I've seen at least two or three names that I could see working.

I'm not wild about it, but I'd include it on a crowner. I just feel like it covers any response a game can deliver to a player's actions, up to and including basic cause-and-effect; it doesn't suggest the "game character talking to themselves" aspect.

edited 21st Jan '15 9:04:30 AM by SolipSchism

As we have Calling Your Attacks, maybe this can be called Calling Your Actions?

Only a small portion of them would be that, most are responces to player input like 'I need more rage', 'more supply depots required', 'it is a key' and are specifically the player character informing the player of something, most are just stock lines and are stiff usually because they are trying to avoid making it look like they are Talking To The Fourth Wall but and still get the info across. But really that is what it is.

edited 21st Jan '15 5:35:22 PM by Memers

Clock is set.