Ib really popular uh
2 Likes
Hello Everyone,
I am working on the alternate route for Act 2 and the Arbiter scene for the climatic fight of Act 2. After that I plan to add some cooldown chapters for our cast. Anyway here are the results for the anniversary poll!
Winner for Best Character
Anna/Apollo [18 Votes]
Abel/Belle [10 Votes]
MC [7 Votes]
Winner for Best Romance Option
Anna/Apollo [40 Votes]
Tenth [8 Votes]
Abel/Belle [7 Votes]
Winner for Best Character Platonic-Wise
Syo [17 Votes]
Anna/Apollo [13 Votes]
Abel/Belle [10 Votes]
Winner for Best Apostle Member
Ib [22 Votes]
Cytherea [17 Votes]
Faust [3 Votes]
Winner for Best Contract
Arbiter [23 Votes]
Wanderer [19 Votes]
Painter [13 Votes]
Winner for Best One-Night Stand
Abel/Belle [27 Votes]
Tenth [23 Votes]
Hector/Helen [16 Votes]
Iām a bit conflicted with the results of the poll, on the one hand Iām glad that so many people love Anna/Apollo, but on the other hand it makes me wonder if anyone has seen the slight jealousy scenes that can happen at the diner 
But with that, Anna/Apollo have officially won the best character poll, so there will be a bonus scene in the next update that will be incorporated in the story! Once again, I am grateful for everyone reading my story, voting in my polls, and commenting it means a lot 
9 Likes
what would be the limit to the Arbiterās power
1 Like
Syo explains it in the book slightly, but at this point the limit is that user can only affect the targetās reality with a lie, so basically their perception of the world. A small example in the book is when you give Arlo a placebo stating that itās pain relief medication. At that point, because Arlo believe the MCās words, his back pain was relieved, although thereās a timer on the effect of that lie. But in this instance, Arlo believed the lie, thus his reality of in the medicine shifted thinking it would work.
However, there is a limitation since the more unbelievable the lie is, the more effort it takes to warp the userās reality. For example, if the MC gave a person some food, and then told them that there was a tiny bomb in there, even if the target believed the MC, the lie wouldnāt work as itās based on pre-conceived notion. Itās hard to imagine what it would be like for oneās stomach to burst open to a tiny bomb, hence a ridiculous lie that wouldnāt work.
However, if the MC lied in this case about saying that the food was long expired and will give the person a stomach ache, the power will take in effect and give the person a stomach ache, since itās a common experience.
Limitations of Arbiter (generally):
- Cannot warp objective reality (for example, saying that a fish is inside the bucket and if the person believes you, a physical manifestation of a fish would not appear in the bucket.)
- If the target knows the user is lying, the power is null and itās as if the MC did not have any powers to begin with.
- Generally has to work a lot to convince otherās of more extravagant lies. Preparation is important.
- Weak against perception, clairvoyant, telepathic, or empathetic abilities. [Any power that can tell one is lying makes it quite difficult.]
- If the target cannot be communicated with or methods of communication donāt work, the power is essentially null.
Thereās a lot of variance with this current Contract, and it makes this one of the harder Contractās to incorporate into that story, but I hope that answers your questions.
12 Likes
Love the power system. Just need some polishing of RO gender. Sometimes the gender interchange or missing all together. Also some route mix together. Sophist and apothecary route sometimes mix in the Arbiter route. Probably need a stats for romance specific options too. Some option with donāt grow relationship stats. So Iām sometimes torn between relationship stats growth or choices because I donāt know what flags the romance in this game, is it relationship stats or choosing enough option. If relationship stats is not the flag for romance then choices need their own stats.
3 Likes
Thank you for the comment! Sophist and Apothecary are supposed to be under the Arbiter, with sophist itās convincing targets with logic and verbal lies while with Apothecary itās using placebo substances to convince targets of certain effects. (Note, I might rework the archetypes for each Contract, so if you see them not change in the story that is why)
As for the relationship stats, I agree it definitely needs some adjustments that I will tweak along in the future updates. To answer your question temporarily, the does increase a hidden flirt stat that is not display, but Iāll make a note to have it display in future updates. I was thinking of using counters rather than percentage bars to display stats 
Overall, Iāll most likely revamp the stats page as Iām not a fan of it, so itāll be experimental throughout the WIP. Thank you for reading my WIP
5 Likes
Hi Everyone,
I was reviewing over the code for the WIP on the COGDemos site and I realized there was an error on my variables. It looks like when you upload files on COGDemos, thereās a soft limit of how much you can re-upload at a time. This meant that my āstartupā files were not getting updated at the time, meaning that my version on ChoiceScriptIDE was not necessarily the version you were reading on COGDemos. Iām a bit frustrated if thatās the case, because that means the people that have read the demo so far, were cut off at an extreme cliffhanger. (I thought when people talked about the cliffhanger, they meant the cliffhanger after the duel)
So I would appreciate if you took your time to answer this poll if you have read the demo since the Valentineās Day Update
Where did the story end off for you?
- Right when the duel was about to start in Act 2
- Right when the duel ended in Act 2
0
voters
Again I apologize for any inconvenience on anyoneās part, from now on if I upload to COGDemos, Iāll make sure to upload the story in batches rather than one big file dump at a time 
1 Like
It cut off early for me, but as it happens the last time I read this specific WIP, the MC hadnāt even met Syo yet. That was forever ago, and from my pov, I got to read quite a lot of new-to-me content. It might be a bit disheartening to know there was an error from the hosting site, but at least we know it is being worked on about as quickly as they can handle it.
I can try to replay a bit later to see if the fixes have gone through, but it will be like getting a small bonus update from my pov. Maybe even the povās of others who also experienced the unintended cut off. 
2 Likes
Based off the early votes, and your response, it looks like everyone couldnāt reach the end of the duel for Act 2, Iām really sad about that . Even save files wonāt work because the startup file they would have on save has a variable set incorrectly, meaning they would have to start from the beginning or after the prologue. I donāt think itās worth it to restart all that for around 3-6k words of a fight/flashback, even if it was the climax of Act 2. At least the new readers will have something to read, Iāll definitely try to implement a āSkip Act 1ā feature very soon. Thank you again for the response!
10 Likes
Wait , we can fight in the duel now ??
2 Likes
Hi Everyone,
At this point, I think I got all the major bugs in the update out of the way. You should be able to read the duel between Possessed Abel/Belle and the MC [With the Arbiterās powers included].
Although, Iām sad that it might have killed all momentum for the fight with this COGDemos situation. The update was intended to include the fight and not end right before. Now Iām annoyed that readers whoāve read the update, wonāt get the intended experience.
Unfortunately, saves most likely wonāt work either, but to compensate that I created a quick skip to Act 2 feature to the story. @Khotun, when you talked about the cliffhanger, I thought you meant the cliffhanger after the duel, since the story ends right there D: Now Iām just sad at the idea where readers just read the fight and then have the story end since theyāve read everything else.
I am aware of other typos and potential bugs, but this problem was my main priority. Enough sapping around though, Iād love to hear what everyoneās thoughts are on the story and I hope to get another update for the next act done much sooner!
10 Likes
@Remnant Got a question. Does this game have poly? Just want to know since Iām currently playing right now.
Daanng , dont stress bruv. And yes when i said cliffhanger, it was before the fight
It was before the fight in my save
@Zarkrai This game does not have poly and there are no plans to include it. I apologize if that is disappointing
@Khotun Gotcha, I recently play tested it, and it should end off at the end of the duel now! (Although old saves wonāt work :O) 
4 Likes
I finished the update and youāre right. Old saves will not work so I did the jump to act two and got to the end of the duel.
I gotta admit it was pretty awesome though
2 Likes
A little disappointing but Iām still interested in the game and will still play it. No worries.
1 Like
@Zarkrai Thank you for understanding 
Also, I am combing through the story and Iām finding and fixing more errors along the way. If thereās a part of the story that doesnāt make any sense, that might be an error. Feel free to let me know, in case itās a bug I have not caught yet. 
1 Like
Well there was a little pronoun error near the beginning I think. I canāt remember the specific scene but it mentioned Anna āputting his hands around meā instead of putting āherā hands around me. I think it was during the Festival stuffs.
1 Like
I want to try this but I saw the longer synopsis and it mentioned Remnant: Twenty-One and I havenāt played that game before. So, I was wondering if I need to play remnant before I play this or is this story a standalone?
1 Like