Talk:Plot coupon

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removed this:

The Gadgets Q issues to James Bond, every single one of which will be used at least once in the movie, definitely fall into this category.

The gadgets are in fact one of the main points of the movie. Bond will use all of them because there is no point in inventing a nifty gadget and then not letting the audience enjoy its use.

Of course there's a point: See Red herring and Cliffhanger. --Damian Yerrick (talk | stalk) 17:50, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
Chekhov's Gun. MMetro (talk) 22:01, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Voucher NPOV

I find it hard to believe that someone thinks that using "a pretty darn egregious one at that" and similar editorial comments is conforming to the NPOV. ➥the Epopt 17:58, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

It's not professional-sounding, but it has little to do with NPOV, unless you think "many would consider this to be an obvious example of a plot voucher" is inherently less of an opinion. The "N" does not stand for "neutered".
I for myself continue to be puzzled at people slapping tags on articles for things they can easily fix themselves. I do hope you do more than observe, as your handle suggests...
I rewrote the section to make it less... colorful, which included cutting the apparently offending example as superfluous. I encourage you to edit it yourself if more is necessary. Words speak louder than talk, after all. 82.92.119.11 18:42, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] um...

this is basically an essay that is a summary of another essay. interesting? yes. belonging on WP? No. Blueaster 00:55, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Definitely yes. It's providing information about a term, which is the purpose of an encyclopaedia entry, and it does so by reference to an essay because that's how the term was introduced. I came across the term in another article and wanted to find out more about it. That's exactly what Wikipedia is good for. 84.70.226.68 00:30, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
The problem is that the term is NOT exclusive to that essay; other critics have even criticized the original conception while using it. Goldfritha 02:09, 1 May 2007 (UTC)
This article needs sources. A Google score of approximately 1,200 doesn't say much (for comparison: plot immunity has a Google score of only 1,400) and with the questionable tone of the article, I almost nominated it for an AFD. --Stratadrake 03:18, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Final Fantasy I

There isn't any such lute in FFI. Perhaps this is a reference to one of the other games.12.144.50.194 17:16, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Chekhov's Gun

The way the section on Plot Vouchers is worded (limiting it to items received earlier without apparent significance at first) makes this sound remarkably similar to the Chekhov's Gun device. Is there actually any major difference between them, and if not, should they be merged? (I'll note, however, that the lead section seems to describe only items that are seeked out as they're needed, and is as such a distinct device.) --DrLeebot (Talk) (Contribs) 20:31, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

I'll have to read the article, but surely ploy vouchers are a number of items that must be collected. The Bond examples are Chekhov's guns not plot vouchers. -- Beardo 20:53, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
This article seems like it should be, at the very least, split into two separate articles on "Plot Coupons" and "Plot Vouchers". The two concepts are quite separate except for them both being coined by the same person. After it's hypothetical splitting, however, it's pretty clear at least to me that the Voucher is basically synonymous with Chekhov's Gun, defined as an item seen early in the novel whose importance is not immediately apparent until much later. I'll add a merge tag. --TexasDex 18:43, 4 November 2007 (UTC)
Do Not Merge Chekhov's gun is the principle of foreshadowing and payoff, whereas plot coupons are a course of action, either sequentially, or just as a to do list. Plot vouchers don't necessarily have a payoff, or it may be Chehkov's gun being shot very badly, with rubber bullet ammo. Take the Stars Wars saga. The Chekhov's gun is that Anakin was the Chosen One, although it didn't seem like it at first. A plot voucher would be the racing pod. No, they can't leave Tatooine riding it, but you can bet on the race to pay for the repairs to Amidala's flagship, and see the potential of the young Anakin as well. Was there really foreshadowing and payoff with the pod? I don't think so.

MMetro (talk) 22:49, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge to Plot Device

While this is an interesting article it's name is really only based on Nick Lowe's article. While Nick is a great speaker and writer (and I saw him give the talk this is based on in 1983) the concept he is talking about is the Plot device, of which 'Plot coupon' and 'Plot voucher' are two subcategories. 'Plot device' is a far more widely used term, yet the article is way too short - maybe we should be merging this information to there? 199.71.183.2 (talk) 14:46, 23 November 2007 (UTC)