Platformers are a common type of game in scratch. It's fun too! There are a lot of generic ones though. A lot of times I went on a platformer and comments said something like, “yo this is so generic”. And people say it like it's a bad thing. Why???

Generic platformers are usually perceived as low effort, clickbaitey projects. These generic platformers, using almost no original code, get hundreds of lives and favorites and often make people jealous. If you see a comment saying “this is generic so bad” report it.

Many Scratchers prefer to see unique projects that they have not seen before. If they see a platformer, they often expect that this platformer would introduce some creative mechanic that they are not used to.

Lots of platformers on Scratch tend to feature the same cube-eye character with the same control mechanics: use arrow keys to move, don't touch red/spikes, wall jumping, etc. When a platformer does not introduce a new idea, this is the type of platformer that Scratchers call “generic.”

I agree that the phrase “generic platformer” is a little unpleasant. Many Scratchers are learning platformer mechanics for the first time, and are simply trying to see what works. I would prefer to encourage this exploration rather than request immediately that they make something “better.”

It is clear to me that Scratchers who think these platformers are bad because they're “generic” are the minority. Since many of these platformers reach the front page or the Trending page, it is obvious that lots of Scratchers really do enjoy these “generic” platformers. So they can't be all that bad (otherwise they wouldn't be so popular)!

Honestly, people who complain about “generic” or “low-effort” projects get on my nerves. This is a website intended to teach LITERAL CHILDREN about coding. Kids (and even older people) typically learn by imitation. Of course not everything is going to be triple-a quality super-duper 100% original.

Don't like, don't play. Simple as that.
Make a platformer if you want to. If someone is being mean to you because of it, report them.

Scratch “elitists” (for a lack of a better word) are the absolute worst. Make what kind of projects you want to make. There is absolutely nothing wrong with platformers.

CandyMeowRuff wrote:

Platformers are a common type of game in scratch. It's fun too! There are a lot of generic ones though. A lot of times I went on a platformer and comments said something like, “yo this is so generic”. And people say it like it's a bad thing. Why???

Some people think that generic platformers are low effort, made way too much, and that some of the code is not original. Generic platformers are often on trending and this makes some people mad that a higher quality project didn't get on trending instead. But, you shouldn't hate on generic platformers because it can take a lot of work and hating on a generic platformer can hurt the creator's feelings. If you see a comment that's rude to generic platformers, you should report it.

Personally I find them a little bit boring, but I wouldn't stop people from making them. It's a good stepping stone to learning about game mechanics.

I would encourage people to push themselves and try something new though. Sure, make one “generic” platformer in your life if you must, but don't keep making similar ones over and over again…

Most of the time its not the platformers that people dislike, its the tags, because some platformers spam tags.

-Final- wrote:

Most of the time its not the platformers that people dislike, its the tags, because some platformers spam tags.

Please don’t necropost (post after the last post was a long time when a topic is no longer relevant) the last post was a year ago and this has been answered