User blog comment:Chilly Bean BAM!/Chilly's New IaLR Changes/@comment-26888167-20180823003652

First of all, I want you to know that I appreciate that you're trying to grow your cast and do some changes to improve things. I just have a few things to say that you might want to consider before doing these changes.

"Torchy will also have a scar around his left eye."

Why will he have a scar? It's not a bad idea, just that I feel that it's pointless, unless you've got a good reason and plot for how he got the scar.

"Richard's Ice Sword will be renamed to the Sword of Icy Arctic."

Don't do that. It will sound too similar to The Sword of the Arctic Seas, a sword that Captain Red Shell gave to Kyoji on his birthday. For the record, I wish Pea used that sword more in stories, but the point still stands.

"Richard will get a new girlfriend."

Ok, so that means we will have to scrap what we were planning for Richard and Wendy?

"New human, plant, ghost (though not as much as before), inkling, and food-based characters will be introduced."

Don't you think it's a better idea to develop the characters you already have? There's a lot of characters that you're not going to remove that could certainly benefit from getting more attention. How about instead of filling your cast with many new characters, you further develop the ones you already have? Give them more backstory, more character growth, etc. Too many characters that don't get enough attention are going to end up becoming forgettable. I guess that's why I don't recognize half of the characters you've mentioned in this blog.

"A new plant group will be introduced, inspired by the Sprout Squad."

I think it's better if you don't do that. Most of the time you do something "inspired" on someone else's characters or stories, it turns out being almost a rip-off. So I suggest you don't do that, and instead work on your own ideas.

"At least four new villains will be introduced."

Are you sure about this? I'm pretty sure it would be better to develop the villains you already have. Furthermore, the more villains you have, the harder it is to make them unique. So consider that first. What I said about adding new characters applies here too. Villains need to get developed enough, unless they become forgettable. What's the difference between a villain like Galaximus or Bright Spark, and a random monster that attacks a city? Galaximus and Bright Spark are well developed villains that have gotten the attention they need, and thus are memorable. However, a random monster doesn't get that attention, and thus ends up being forgettable.

"A new location will be added as a new home for Richard, Ryder, and Reagan."

So Richard won't live in Echo Creek Anymore? It's not exactly a good idea to send them far. Remember that most of the action happens in Echo Creek. Besides, them living somewhere in Alaska would greatly reduce the likeliness of my characters ever going there, thus reducing the possibilities for stories between us by a considerable percentage. Actually, it reduces the possibilities of anyone visiting them, to be honest. Don't you think it would be easier to just leave Richard in Echo Creek? Think about that.

For everything else, just remember a few points:

- Think carefully before you do important changes in your cast. Otherwise you might regret some changes later on.

- Do not introduce too many new characters. Otherwise, they won't get enough attention in stories, and will just get forgettable. It's better to develop a smaller group of characters, than to try to force in a huge amount of characters that at the end we'll barely remember who was who. Same goes for villains.

-Try not to make too many changes at once. Otherwise, you might end up getting yourself tangled up with all the changes, and you might forget what has been changed and what hasn't.

That is all. Good day Chilly, and I hope you keep this in mind before making these changes.