Why does the Story Limit sometimes have no effect on the storyform?
Out of 32,767 unique storyforms that Dramatica can identify, there are some that appear to be duplicates. For example, if you make the following storyform choices: Steadfast, Stop, Be-er, Holistic, Decision, Failure, Good, Psychology, Becoming, Commitment, Avoidance you are left with two possible storyforms -- the Story Limit being the deciding factor. Neither selection seems to have any appreciable effect on the final storyform, i.e. the Limit doesn't seem to make a difference. Why is this, and are there other appreciations that share this same quality?
The Story Limit does effect the storyform, just not in ways that are obvious (or visible) within the Dramatica Pro software. The biggest place this choice affects is the audience appreciation (story point) of AUDIENCE REACH. Audience Reach identifies which parts of your audience are likely to empathize with your Main Character. Audience Reach is determined by combining the choices for Story Limit and Main Character Problem Solving Style. Here are the combinations:
CHOICES
- STORY LIMIT: TIMELOCK or OPTIONLOCK
- MC PROBLEM SOLVING STYLE:* LINEAR (Logical) or HOLISTIC (Intuitive)
EMPATHY RESULTS
- MALE AUDIENCES
- FEMALE AUDIENCES
- BOTH AUDIENCES
- NEITHER AUDIENCE
COMBINATIONS
- OPTIONLOCK + LINEAR = BOTH AUDIENCES
- OPTIONLOCK + HOLISTIC = FEMALE AUDIENCES
- TIMELOCK + LINEAR = MALE AUDIENCES
- TIMELOCK + HOLISTIC = NEITHER AUDIENCE
NOTE: The results of these story dynamic combinations are generally true, though results may differ for particular audience members.
*Previously known as Mental Sex: Male or Female
