Virtual Reality Cliches?

[starstrike_2]

Hey, I'm trying to write a story about virtual reality, but am afraid of making something cliche. What virtual reality cliches do you guys know of?

[The Phoenix Rises Again]

starstrike_2

Hey, I'm trying to write a story about virtual reality, but am afraid of making something cliche. What virtual reality cliches do you guys know of?

Tropes or cliches?

[starstrike_2]

The Phoenix Rises Again

starstrike_2

Hey, I'm trying to write a story about virtual reality, but am afraid of making something cliche. What virtual reality cliches do you guys know of?

Tropes or cliches?

Both, if you want.

[The Phoenix Rises Again]

starstrike_2

The Phoenix Rises Again

starstrike_2

Hey, I'm trying to write a story about virtual reality, but am afraid of making something cliche. What virtual reality cliches do you guys know of?

Tropes or cliches?

Both, if you want.

Cliches are tropes written badly. Anyway, why do you need them? We aren't allowed to hand out ideas.

[enchantedsleeper]

Ooooh, I love virtual reality stories!!

The first thing that springs to mind for me would be anything that's been done by the anime/manga/games franchise .hack, which is one of the most well-known series revolving around VR. .hack's signature tropes involve things like people falling into a coma whilst playing the VR game and/or getting trapped inside it whilst their body is in a coma. If you do either of those people will probably think ".hack" straight away.

There's also the French cartoon Code Lyoko which revolves around a virtual world; it doesn't really have clichés as such but it's a good idea to be aware of these series so that you don't unintentionally wind up writing the exact same story.

Oh, and how could I forget The Matrix, the most famous VR franchise of them all? If you write a story about people unsuspectingly living in a virtual world when the reality is something else entirely, people's minds will jump to The Matrix. Again, it's not exactly a cliché, but just something to avoid. Then there's the anime Ghost in the Shell, which some claim The Matrix was copied from (but they're really not that similar). The main trope shared by those two is that of plugging in to the virtual world through the back of your neck. In other stories and films, VR is more commonly accessed through some sort of headset or glasses to provide a visual, and maybe gloves for the tactile aspect.

If you're interested in reading around the subject, definitely look into the genre Cyberpunk and its associated clichés. That should put you on to some books and films about VR. I can also personally recommend the Legendeer trilogy (Shadow of the Minotaur/Vampyr Legion/Warriors of the Raven) by Alan Gibbons as a great VR book trilogy which I read growing up. Ultraviolet by Lesley Howarth is also quite good and should give you lots of ideas as to how you can play around with the concept of VR. Oh, and check out the series Otherland by Tad Williams; I've only read the first book but it's good. :3

Haha, you can see how the subject gets me going xD Hope that's useful to you.

[enchantedsleeper]

The Phoenix Rises Again

Cliches are tropes written badly. Anyway, why do you need them? We aren't allowed to hand out ideas.

But it's not ideas she wants, it's pitfalls to avoid. Which I think is a reasonable enough request and not against the forum rules.

[The Phoenix Rises Again]

enchantedsleeper

The Phoenix Rises Again

Cliches are tropes written badly. Anyway, why do you need them? We aren't allowed to hand out ideas.

But it's not ideas she wants, it's pitfalls to avoid. Which I think is a reasonable enough request and not against the forum rules.

True, but I can't tell which she wants at the moment. I need clarification so I know what to tell her.

[enchantedsleeper]

She wants you to list any virtual reality clichés you're aware of... doesn't seem complicated to me. If you want to throw in some tropes for good measure, I'm sure that would be appreciated as well.

[Isaiah Moretti]

enchantedsleeper

Ooooh, I love virtual reality stories!!

The first thing that springs to mind for me would be anything that's been done by the anime/manga/games franchise .hack, which is one of the most well-known series revolving around VR. .hack's signature tropes involve things like people falling into a coma whilst playing the VR game and/or getting trapped inside it whilst their body is in a coma. If you do either of those people will probably think ".hack" straight away.

There's also the French cartoon Code Lyoko which revolves around a virtual world; it doesn't really have clichés as such but it's a good idea to be aware of these series so that you don't unintentionally wind up writing the exact same story.

Oh, and how could I forget The Matrix, the most famous VR franchise of them all? If you write a story about people unsuspectingly living in a virtual world when the reality is something else entirely, people's minds will jump to The Matrix. Again, it's not exactly a cliché, but just something to avoid. Then there's the anime Ghost in the Shell, which some claim The Matrix was copied from (but they're really not that similar). The main trope shared by those two is that of plugging in to the virtual world through the back of your neck. In other stories and films, VR is more commonly accessed through some sort of headset or glasses to provide a visual, and maybe gloves for the tactile aspect.

If you're interested in reading around the subject, definitely look into the genre Cyberpunk and its associated clichés. That should put you on to some books and films about VR. I can also personally recommend the Legendeer trilogy (Shadow of the Minotaur/Vampyr Legion/Warriors of the Raven) by Alan Gibbons as a great VR book trilogy which I read growing up. Ultraviolet by Lesley Howarth is also quite good and should give you lots of ideas as to how you can play around with the concept of VR. Oh, and check out the series Otherland by Tad Williams; I've only read the first book but it's good. :3

Haha, you can see how the subject gets me going xD Hope that's useful to you.

Can't forget about Digimon. Digimon dates .hack by three years, and Code Lyoko by four years.

[enchantedsleeper]

Isacean

Can't forget about Digimon. Digimon dates .hack by three years, and Code Lyoko by four years.

Sorry, I don't know anything about Digimon x3 I can only recommend series and books I've come across myself. I'm sure there are some other archetypal, genre-defining novels I don't know about, but I'll leave those to someone who's read them, or to Wikipedia.

[Isaiah Moretti]

enchantedsleeper

Isacean

Can't forget about Digimon. Digimon dates .hack by three years, and Code Lyoko by four years.

Sorry, I don't know anything about Digimon x3 I can only recommend series and books I've come across myself. I'm sure there are some other archetypal, genre-defining novels I don't know about, but I'll leave those to someone who's read them, or to Wikipedia.

I kind of figured, but I just wanted to toss the name out for reference purposes :3

[starstrike_2]

The Phoenix Rises Again

enchantedsleeper

The Phoenix Rises Again

Cliches are tropes written badly. Anyway, why do you need them? We aren't allowed to hand out ideas.

But it's not ideas she wants, it's pitfalls to avoid. Which I think is a reasonable enough request and not against the forum rules.

True, but I can't tell which she wants at the moment. I need clarification so I know what to tell her.

Basically, I'm trying to avoid pitfalls. I don't want ideas; that'd ruin the process! xp

[The Sauce Boss]

Write now, worry later. It's moot point what cliches to avoid if you don't write. You can always edit, but only if there are words to do so with.

[enchantedsleeper]

Isacean

I kind of figured, but I just wanted to toss the name out for reference purposes :3

Ah, I see xd Well, I'm really intrigued by that, actually. I had no idea Digimon had anything to do with VR. But from the name, it does make sense xD

[Yanueh]

starstrike_2

Hey, I'm trying to write a story about virtual reality, but am afraid of making something cliche. What virtual reality cliches do you guys know of?

Here are some that I'd avoid like the plague, just because they're so ridiculous...

Death in virtual reality = death in real life (where the body is still in the physical world). I only saw that one done in such a way that it actually made sense once - a training simulation was programmed to deliver a sort of shock to the body that made death feel nasty, but it wasn't actually fatal - unless the same shock was delivered over and over again, stressing the body to the point of death.

The virtual world working in ways that would make sense if it were the physical world, but actually make no sense in the virtual world. For example, sending someone into the virtual world to "kill" a virus instead of having the admins remove it from outside of the program.

People in the VR sim being able to modify or terminate parts of the program at all. Mods/hacks would be implemented from outside of the program, not from within it, and certainly not while the program was running.

Anything that causes sentience in the NPCs that isn't supposed to be paranormal.