So, one day, while watching some tv i realized something.....
the villain treathened to destroy the world, but i knew it wasnt gonna happen. Not only because it almost never happens, but because there was an aditional season of that show.
They just couldn`t afford to make the protagonist fail because it would mean the end of the story, but a treat of conquering/destroying a city could happen and the story could continue.
An example of relatively low stakes where the protagonist can afford to fail are pokemon leagues. Ash has a terrible habit of failing them, but when he failed for the first time in the kanto league it was a mind blowing twist for that time. The writers could afford to make the protagonist fail sometimes and succeed in other ocassions...that is why the time Ash managed to defeat Gary for the first time was so meaningful, because he was defeated many times by him.
Any stake can be interesting as long as it has a deep personal meaning for the characters. Even showing the characters cope with the failure and trying to move on or become stronger can make an interesting story in itself.
Obviously, it depends on the level of predictability and what level of stakes work better too for that story.
so......what are your experiences and opinions about it?