The World of Layonara
The Layonara Community => Just for Fun => Topic started by: Gulnyr on May 29, 2010, 02:06:40 PM
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What breaks your suspension of disbelief?
Remember those apparently simple springy things (http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Advanced_Knee_Replacement) on Chell's legs in Portal? Those were knee replacements added by the game designers after playtesters thought the character could never survive the drops and jumps. So a gun that shoots portals is reasonable, but people falling and flying several dozen feet and being fine is outrageous?
I actually agree with that position. I find it's easy to accept technology and magic doing outrageous things, but there are limits to what flesh can do. That may be partially because I think characters should have flaws. It's also because I know what a human is, and altering the universe to make a human into something it's not breaks my suspension of disbelief. If you want a human who can survive a three hundred foot jump and keep going as if there were no impact force, make him a cyborg or a robot instead. Or make it happen in the Matrix, where things aren't real in the first place. Now he's not just a human; he has been modified by the magic of technology.
I'm not sure where the line is, exactly. A little exaggeration of real-world ability is good. That makes things exciting and heroic. Something that completely disregards the physics of a body isn't going to go over so well, though. I think that's where my point was leaning [post=1313692]here[/post]. "There's a point where combat power goes from cool to ridiculous," basically.
So, one thing that breaks my suspension of disbelief is over-extension of the abilities and limits of human (and human-like) bodies. Pretty broad one, huh? Lot of stuff fits in there.
What suspends your suspension of disbelief?