Getting Over Him - a plot bunny

[papillon]

A game idea that I don't personally intend to work on, so I offer it freely to anyone who wants it.

Lots of games focus on the beauty of First Love, and we've had long discussions about the appeals of virgins. Now, imagine a game where every single datable girl is just coming out of another relationship.

You are the Good Friend, the Sensitive Male that all these girls cry on - and don't see as anything more than a friend. (A situation that I'm sure some of your players can sympathise with!) As well as helping your chosen girl deal with the baggage of her failed relationship, you've got to find a way to convince her to see you as more than just a Nice Guy!

Why each girl's past relationship failed will depend somewhat on what the setting is, but some possibilities:

his family moved away (especially if this is high school)
he cheated on her
he was an asshole/abusive and she dumped him
he dumped her because she wasn't ready for sex
he Died Tragically
she prefers girls (oops! a path that would end badly!)
he's now in JAIL (how embarassing)
she has some contagious or fatal disease
her kinks are weird enough that they scared him off!

[monele]

Sounds cool ^^... and automatically makes for interesting girls when they are the ones scaring the other away XD

[Counter Arts]

I'm going to give my two cents.

Hmm... I guess for appeal quite a few might have to be tsundere. Hehe...

What else? While they all might have had relationships before, it might be a good idea to make a quite a few of them not obvious.

For instance, one of them might look like the most innocent and naive but actually has been in a lot of relationships before.

Hmm, the premise of the game seems marketable but kinda has that... "shallow" feeling regardless of how deep it actually is.

Hehe... I'll admit I had that issue before and I can relate. However, somehow it kinda feels weird.

However, as long as it's not the premise of the game then it should be fine.

[EwanG]

Well, if someone writes this, please let me know. I never DID figure out how to be more than the shoulder they cried on...

[dizzcity]

Well, if someone writes this, please let me know. I never DID figure out how to be more than the shoulder they cried on...

Ugh, same here. I wish I could break out of the Big Brother/Friend/Agony Uncle position. Hopefully someone who actually managed to do so could write this game and give advice.

-Dizzy-

[papillon]

(Well, one way to get over the just-a-friend barrier is to first become very close, then provoke jealousy. Which would be easy enough to do in a setting with a lot of different girls trying to get the use of your shoulder. The pain she feels on missing her Best Friend Boy is a much better way of getting her to realise 'Hey! I love him!' than him trying to kiss her while she's crying. Of course, plotting this sounds horribly artificial and cruel... and I don't know how long these rebound relationships would last... )


CHER V.O. Everything I think and everything I do is wrong. I
was wrong about Elton, I was wrong about Christian, and now Josh hated me. It
all boiled down to one inevitable conclusion, I was just totally clueless. Oh,
and this Josh and Tai thing was wigging me more than anything. I mean, what was
my problem? Tai is my pal, I don't begrudge her a boyfriend, I really.. Ooh, I
wonder if they have that in my size. What does she want with Josh, anyway? He
dresses funny, he listens to complaint rock, he's not even cute... in a
conventional way. I mean, he's just like this slug who hangs around the house
all the time. And he's a hideous dancer, I couldn't take him anywhere. Wait a
second, what am I stressing about? This is like, Josh! OK, OK, so he's kind of a
baldwin, but what would he want with Tai? She couldn't make him happy. Josh
needed someone with imagination, someone to take care of him, someone to laugh
at his jokes... in case he ever makes any. Then suddenly...
CHER Oh, my God. I love Josh.
CHER V.O. I am majorly, totally, butt-crazy in love with Josh.
(Yes, Clueless is a silly movie, and my little sister subjected me to WAY too many viewings of it, but I was always amused by the Revelation.)

[DaFool]

WOMEN'S VIEW OF MEN (horizontal divides up down):


("LOVER ZONE") Hot Guy-->Casual Friend-->Sex

-------THE GREAT DIVIDE----------one-way-street-(downwards)-----

("THE SHOULDER ZONE") Sensitive Guy--> Best Friend-->Still only a Best Friend










MEN'S VIEW OF WOMEN (vertical divides left right):


Hot Girl ---> Casual Friend ---> | Sex

("THE SHOULDER ZONE")------- | ("LOVER ZONE")

Sensitive Girl--> Best Friend--> | Sex








I actually did research on this. So guys, if you find yourself as The Shoulder, its usually pointless and no turning back. You have to start Hot. My 2 cents.

Disclaimer: The dynamics of marriage is different, this is evidently the dynamics of hooking up. Another term for "SHOULDER ZONE" is one of the most dreaded terms in men's vocabulary, "FRIEND ZONE".

[papillon]

Don't make me start having to tell you intimate details of my life to prove that best friends can become romances...

(Although I can't speak for 'hooking up' because the concept is pretty foreign to me.)

Hrm, for game design purposes you could have fun with BAD PLANS... like "Let's pretend we're dating in order to make your ex-boyfriend jealous!" and the painful aftermath when this plan works and she gets back together with her ex...

[dizzcity]

Actually, that sounds a bit more fun. Imagine being a guy trying to keep a whole bunch of girls in check with regards to dating impulses. Sort of how Kyon would handle having multiple Haruhis all intending to explore dating as many guys as possible - all completely unsuitable for her, of course. Turn it into a comedy of errors.

-Dizzy-

[Counter Arts]

Hehe... actually acting like yuuichi (kyoani ver) and kyon actually would help immensely.

Also acting like asakura from Da Capo in regards to Kotori is actually how you get close to popular people (idols and such). How he did it is on wikipedia. Those fan clubs are practically handing you to her if you know what you are doing.

Haha... actually I am planning to make a game in the future that actually can help you date. I'll never market it as such though.

[musical74]

I'm in the same boat as Ewan and Dizzy...I'm the guy they come to when they need a shoulder....

If someone DOES make this, you'd better believe I'll play it =)

[Laveil Kurtis]

I'm in the same boat too, but I had relationships being the "shoulder which everyone cried". But I got dumped after 2 months in every relationship:

- She dumped me because she fell in love with another guy (twice)
- I dumped her because she was über-jealous and doesn't stand that I'm the shoulder to more girls.
- She dumped me because the love is not "passionate" enough.

Maybe I'm special about relationships and the girls got tired of me or something XD but well, past is past now. But now, my opinions about the idea:

You are the Good Friend, the Sensitive Male that all these girls cry on - and don't see as anything more than a friend. (A situation that I'm sure some of your players can sympathise with!) As well as helping your chosen girl deal with the baggage of her failed relationship, you've got to find a way to convince her to see you as more than just a Nice Guy!

Sounds very interesting. If anyone plans to make the game, I can work on a basic script of that. For example, I'll take "he cheated on her" and start with the basics, calling "Girl" and the boy being the POV chara "Me":

Hi, I'm "Me" and I'm a high school student. I'm usally good friends with a lot of girls, and some of them I like. But for them, I'm nothing more than a "good friend". I wish I have a girlfriend sometimes.

For example, "Girl" is a good friend of mine. She is a brilliant student and is beautiful too. But in contrast, she's very unlucky.

She usually had a boyfriend named "Guy" who was cheating with her. He dated many girls and even kissed them in everyone's eyes. And "Girl" knows the facts, but she always trusted him with his empty promises like "I promise not to date anyone else. You know that I love you the most".

But she couldn't stand him and ultimately, she broke with him. "Guy" was desperate and managed to convince her for a second opportunity. And some weeks later, he dated another girl. When "Girl" discovered that her boyfriend was dating another girls, she dumped him for good.

Then, I met her with tears on her eyes. She knows me because she's on my class, but never talked before. She told me about what happened. I knew about her problems with her boyfriend because it was always hot topic for the class. I lend my shoulder to her, and listened about her problems.

After that, I've been good friends with her. I think she sees me as a very good friend, but I want her more. I think I fell in love with her and I wish I can heal her scars on her heart. But she doesn't want to date anyone else. She is feared of being cheated again.

I want her... but before speaking about my own feelings, I should give her courage to surpass her fears.

I went today to class and met her. She was wearing the uniform. Then, she noticed me and approached next to me smiling.

Girl: Hi!
Me: Hi! How're you?
Girl: Not very good. Can I talk to you out of class?
Me: Sure

I followed her to the roof. She leaned on the door and with her eyes closed, said:

Girl: Yesterday I met him again.
Me: Who?
Girl: My ex-boyfriend. And he talked to me
Me: And what did he say?
Girl: He want me to be his girlfriend again. But I don't trust him anymore.
I don't want to see him again in my life.
Me: So, what's the problem?
Girl: That a part of me wants to be with him...
Me: Really?
Girl: Yes. I know that's stupid, but I don't know what to do. I hate him, but at the same time, I love him.
Me: You shouldn't trust him anymore. Remember what you said to me once. He asked you for a second opportunity and he did it again. No matter how many times you give him more opportunities, he'll probably be the same.
Girl: You're right.
Me: I don't want you to suffer. You should say "No" even if he promise it.
Girl: Thanks! I'm feeling better. You're very nice!

And after that, we went to class. After the class, I approached to her

Me: Can I ask you something?

(to be continued)

I guess it was taking much time about it. I've been typing for more than a hour and I need to leave now T_T I'll continue it later.

[Impossible]

This sounds like it could be the hardest game ever created .

[Otaku_Dash_offline]

Hiya all! Otaku Dash here after a long time of hiatus ^^

Actually... there is a chance that might happen, that a best friend becomes a good boyfriend/lover... I'm looking at this game project(sketch) with some interest as it's actually the other way around for me in the: "Girlfriend broken up with him" deal.. (one of the reasons of the recent comeback... mixed with Uni problems.. a guy needs to distratc himself on focus on good things and what is better than Lemmasof? ).

Anyways... it might be hard to pull it off but it certainly isn't impossible... i'm possible is just a word for people feel good when they give up lol *smiles*

Thre are also many side-steps to those actions... for example the point of veiw of being a best friend and only a crying shoulder is painfull in it per se... if the loved one is with someone else. Now Imagine teh deal of trying to help the girl buy doing your best to see she's going only for a physicall/empty/shallow relationship, but isn'tead of the good outcome you get the hate treatment? "Well is wan't expecting this" kinda feeling will surely surface...

It's an interesting aproach to romance and love... so it's s very interesting and ambitious project... I'll support it 100% and god be dammed I'll play it if it comes out *laughs*

Cheers
Dash out

[Otaku_Dash_offline]

Hiya all! Otaku Dash here after a long time of hiatus ^^

Actually... there is a chance that might happen, that a best friend becomes a good boyfriend/lover... I'm looking at this game project(sketch) with some interest as it's actually the other way around for me in the: "Girlfriend broken up with him" deal.. (one of the reasons of the recent comeback... mixed with Uni problems.. a guy needs to distratc himself on focus on good things and what is better than Lemmasof? ).

Anyways... it might be hard to pull it off but it certainly isn't impossible... i'm possible is just a word for people feel good when they give up lol *smiles*

Thre are also many side-steps to those actions... for example the point of veiw of being a best friend and only a crying shoulder is painfull in it per se... if the loved one is with someone else. Now Imagine teh deal of trying to help the girl buy doing your best to see she's going only for a physicall/empty/shallow relationship, but isn'tead of the good outcome you get the hate treatment? "Well is wan't expecting this" kinda feeling will surely surface...

It's an interesting aproach to romance and love... so it's s very interesting and ambitious project... I'll support it 100% and god be dammed I'll play it if it comes out *laughs*

Cheers
Dash out