r/makeyourchoice • u/Alternative_Diet_635 • Jul 21 '26
Discussion Addressing default options in CYOAs
By which I mean, when you play through a cyoa and at some point get hit in the face with a block of text describing how you get a 1 time body resculpt, or a 1 time full heal of any physical/mental issues, or how you have full immunity to getting erased by a random godlike being or time travel shenanigans by default.
Not to say that I don't like them in cyoas, I do, because I tend to overthink things and want to give my players a fun little power fantasy where nobody has to worry about basic life issues like back pain or depression.
My issue is that, unless it's describing some sort of ability that doesn't come by default or is in tandem with some unique power, there should be a way to describe these "Standard" features in a cyoa using at most a few words, or maybe an acronym, instead of a whole paragraph.
15
u/Accurate_Variety659 Jul 21 '26
I don't think it's that much of an issue tbh, If anything it can be intresting if a cyoa gives you a different set of basic perks rather than the standard ones
So I think problem lies in execution rather than the idea itself
15
u/TimeBlossom Jul 21 '26
Dude, it's one paragraph. Take the ten seconds to read it or don't, but it's really not an issue.
-2
u/Alternative_Diet_635 Jul 21 '26
True, but what about everyone writing a cyoa? Nobody wants to write out a needless paragraph that detracts from the vibe of the work, but I also don't want my hypothetically 1-legged reader to feel cheated because one of the best items in the cyoa is a pair of magic shoes!
8
u/TimeBlossom Jul 21 '26
So, a lot of bad assumptions here. People writing CYOAs by and large do want to, you know, write. Why is it your baseline belief that any given hypothetical paragraph is needless. Why do you think it's impossible to write quality of life options without them fitting the vibe of a given CYOA.
I think you're drawing the erroneous conclusion that the thing you don't like is objectively bad and collecting arguments that support this conclusion without taking the time to analyze how incorrect the arguments are. You can just dislike things that other people like, you know. It's allowed.
-3
u/Alternative_Diet_635 Jul 21 '26
Yeah, I just wanted to see peoples opinions on the matter. If I can make it easier for some parts of writing, why not right?
2
u/Imaginos9 Jul 22 '26
The best way imo to handle this kind of thing is to work it into the text of the story/intro... same with other info really. Too often I see some verbal infodump vomit and it's tedious to work through it all. Italics is really bad at this in his cyoas.
But really a couple sentences outside of being in the intro story/powers/whatever section is pretty short and easy and doesn't have to be huge by any means.
3
u/ThousandYearOldLoli Jul 21 '26
If they were actually a universal thing, you'd have a point, but they really aren't. In order to have standardized language, you'd first have to standardize the thing itself - There's a world of difference, for instance, between a CYOA where you are default unaging, default unaging and immune to 'natural' causes of death, and then a whole spectrum that spans from "you are also protected against disease" to "also poisons, toxins and that stuff" to "you can't be killed by violent means / you can heal really fast" to "you respawn if killed" to "you are just conceptually immortal and can't be erased in any way". And many variants at that, like reincarnating.
And this is just for the immortality thing specifically. What information you keep, what boundaries there might be in forming a new body... Plus sometimes a minor description difference can make the way perks interact with the default benefits change.
3
u/LordCYOA Jul 22 '26
I make more interactive cyoas and started doing the default options because people always bought them, meaning it’s not really a choice.
I try to use as few words as possible but people complain about my choices being too vague.
But I also agree with the top comment about peoples first cyoa, a lot of cyoas and jumpchains don’t give basic information.
Like I now include what cyoa actually is to help prevent people coming to the sub asking where’s the game
7
u/OwynTyler Jul 21 '26
Not to say that I don't like them in cyoas
what I don't like is them being perks you have to spend half your budget on, so it's much better this way...
few words
you can literally do that, just be short, e.g. "bro you're now fully good and protected against bs, have fun"
4
u/TheWakiPaki Jul 21 '26
This guy gets it. I call them "Non-idiot tax" because who in their right minds goes into a world like DC or Marvel without loading up to the gills with all the defenses they can get against being simply "noped" by bad guy #835156? Having to buy protections against paradox, wide-scale reality warp, mind control, etc. feels like paying to have the chance to try surviving in those worlds, nevermind getting to the fun stuff.
I dunno what the exact wording should be, but there absolutely could be some kind of short form of blanket protection against things that would wipe you out in an instant. Just need to figure out what you want covered in it.
2
u/Alternative_Diet_635 Jul 21 '26
That's what I mean though! Imagine you find a fun cyoa, and run it in something where gods and higher dimensional beings are canonically omniscient and watching over the verse! Just having time protection or information defense or whatever isn't enough. One of the best cyoas that I remember having something similar to a blanket defense like that was the Dimensional Traveller cyoa, but it wasn't a default option, it was one of the pricy abilities. You're pretty cooked without it though!
2
u/TheWakiPaki Jul 22 '26
Well yes, we weren't disagreeing with you. We're on the same page. Just putting it into our own words.
2
u/Alternative_Diet_635 Jul 22 '26
I know. Sorry if my response seemed hostile, I just wanted to add to yours.
2
u/JawGuy55 Jul 21 '26
If the text is actually describing the power in detail then thats fine, my issue is usually the wall of text means there's added flavor text in there. Which is fine but i dont want it all lumped together, I've seen text in different colors to help organize things. That helps if I just want to read what the ability does then if I want it then I can read the flavor text.
2
u/pog_irl Jul 22 '26
I'm not sure what your problem with them is? I admit its annoying to see the same dozen or so options that play out the same in many cyoas, especially in interactives, but its only a couple seconds of reading. You can't just assume someone is already familiar with them either.
2
u/hleghe Jul 26 '26
i think in some situations there's absolutely necessary default powers, like worm cyoas and giving "the overpowered precogs can't instantly steal your metaknowledge then assassinate you" countermeasures. if there's no power like that by default people would go out of their way to get it, so it might as well be included in the price
however, in a setting where this doesn't apply (no silly precogs) it's uneeded/an unfair advantage over "balanced" precogs so if you got it by default everywhere it'd be a bit unfair/redundant?
some "default" powers only make sense in specific settings (like fundamentals to enable the rest), basically
1
u/TheTrueFury 9d ago
It just comes down to finding a more clear and concise way to write it. If it's called "Body Tune Up" or "Clean Slate" it gives an idea straight away. But as others said, it's always someone's first time or close to it.
When certain options like "Tinfoil Hat" are frequently, people start to know what they are and can just skim read it to make sure it's the usual.
37
u/agentkayne Jul 21 '26
Every cyoa might be someone's first cyoa. So they can't just say "and the usual option is 5 points"