I don’t think it’s because “americans are soft” Personally (and I’m sure I’m not the only one out there) I play these types of games to escape the shittyness of my reality so having a bad/unhappy ending (which is the ONLY ending in the game) makes the games just not worth it. There’s no satisfaction in them, you know?
That doesn’t mean the game can’t be dark or have certain characters die or something, but if there’s only one finale and it’s a bad or unhappy one, to me, it’s just not worth it.
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Another thing to bear in mind, which I’ve mentioned on other threads before, is the generally low proportion of LGBTQ stories with good endings. It’s rare enough to find a story with an LGBTQ protagonist, and far rarer to find one with a happy ending (unlike stories with cis straight protagonists). I (and, I’m assuming, a lot of other commenters here) like CoG precisely because we can play through stories as gay protagonists without being forced into a bad ending.
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Personally I don’t like writing sad endings. They’re just not fun to write for me. Sure, I might include one or two but honestly? I like drama and I like tension, dabbling with the consequences of the character’s actions is fun and I don’t mind if those consequences are terrible, I love writing action scenes with high stakes… but I also like everything turning out alright in the end. I just don’t find ending things on a depressing note… fun. And since I don’t like to write it in, well…
I don’t.
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Could be we’re soft, as long as it’s not a lesbian character dying (had more than enough of that thank you) I don’t mind books or movies having the protagonist die in the end. Heck before the final Harry Potter book came out I said that it should end with Harry dying and Neville being the chosen one, I think that would have been a good end. When it comes to video games though my character better be alive at the end, I put far to much work into playing just to end up with a sad ending (I’m looking at you Bioware 
)
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I’ve changed it so that I agree completely with your post now 
, though in order I prefer lesbian characters to remain alive over their straight counterparts in fiction and videogames as well…
Still if I had to choose between a lesbian and a cute gay guy to save…
On the other hand in a more perfect society where all non-straight orientations are perfectly normal and boring then it probably really would come down to how much I like the character as written and presented.
No arguments there, in most but not all of my escapism I’m probably a big old softie.
I mean I can’t bring myself to make my character enough of a dark-side asshole so that Sammy dies in Parrotwatcher’s, Totem Force games (even if he is a no-good (attempted) Phil thief) when the childhood friend dying arguably makes for a more gripping story. I mean if I was a TV or movie exec and it wasn’t a show aimed at very young children then I do think the dramatic death of the childhood friend would make for the better storyline there. As player of the IF for my own escapism I just cannot bring myself to do it though.
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Well that’s the thing, once we get to the point where LGBT characters aren’t just an omen of tragedy ahead then I won’t be so enraged seeing sad endings again, but as of now…well those characters are usually just there to bait us into watching before they are mercilessly torn away, I had to celebrate that Freya and Keelin survived to see season 5 in the originals, I shouldn’t have to be this cynical about it
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That’s why my stories are almost entirely made up of gay guys, though I hardly ever kill off characters. In the only story I have where people die, they’re all antagonists except for one, and I regret a couple of them. And in every other story except for that one, pretty much every character will get a happy/decent ending.
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Ah, if only Americans and the rest were soft. If only being sensitive and compassionate were the ideal to strive for rather than being viewed as weakness.
As it’s been said, I have long read insatiably, and there are dark endings aplenty, also quite prevalent in IF. Though, a tricky thing to offer control to a reader only to box them into devastation after the journey is done.
Stories may be an echo of life, but it’s a gift to allow people to escape the darker aspects of it, even for a short while…
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??? Which game was that?
Anyone remember Me:2’s David? Fun times…
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Talking about the ME3 ending, not what I would consider happy by any means (until I found out about the mod), I’m still bitter about it…spend all those hours playing in the hopes of getting to be Liara’s wife and to raise a bunch of adorable blue daughters and instead I got…THAT mess 
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Ah, thought you were talking about that. Didn’t like the Shepard waking up on some rock ending? Or the A.I?
Well, I am in favor of the arguments that, hey, in choice-based fiction, your choices need to be pretty important in how the ending goes 
I’d also say that overall I can be a fan of quite happy endings and also rather tragic endings, sorta depending on my expectations in what I’m playing. (Am I going for light entertainment or some big heavy examination?)
One way that choice can play into things is if you have a variety of endings that are part-good, part-bad, and it’s based more on what the character chooses to prioritize rather than simply succeeding or failing. Sometimes you can’t resolve everything, and have to decide what’s most important. (This makes me think, for example, in the original Zombie Exodus if you go for the ending where you cure the virus, this is a pretty huge success… but you do end up very busy and cut off socially and I still found it rather poignant.) And yeah, mixed endings can bring out a lot of emotions 
So the question isn’t necessarily “happy ending or sad ending!” There’s a lot of in between.
Switching gears a bit, I would also note that one of the most powerful Choice of Games experiences I had was with a devastating ending… I pretty much did get the tragic hero arc… this was playing Hollywood Visionary, where my main character was just determined to spend all his energies on creating this brilliant movie… so much so that he got overstressed, the quality of the movie suffered, he compromised his integrity by submitting to the censorship demands, was dumped by his boyfriend, and then the movie was a flop… but wow was this an emotional journey. (And when I replayed for a better ending, it did end up feeling like it stole the thunder from the original tragedy.)
But yeah, I certainly enjoy an uplifting story where everything wraps up happily and nicely for my main character in the end too
Come to think of it, there is a choose-your-own-adventure-style book of Hamlet out there, called To Be or Not to Be I don’t think it includes Horatio make-outs, but I don’t know for sure 
Assumption confirmed This is definitely something I’ve been actively seeking out. I’m sick of the message that gay people don’t get to have happy endings… there’s a lot of works where gay people seem to exist as characters solely in order to make heterosexuals feel sorry for us 
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I think happy endings are preferred over sad endings because they’re easier to write, and difficult to be dissatisfied with. I think it’s rarely said “Wow, I made it to the end of the game? Man, to bad.” or “Oh, my favorite character survived? Darn, I wanted them to lose the respect of all their closest friends and then DIE.”
With endings that are unhappy, sad, bittersweet, horrid, or subjectively “bad,” they’re viewed that way because someone’s take away is it didn’t end how they wanted it to/how it was supposed to.
It’s hard to end something like that and for it to resonate with people, and knowing you might be guaranteed a warm response by having the heroes get away with bodies and minds intact can make it all the more appealing.
Then what else would he do? 
To be fair, that’s better than the message that LGBTQ people don’t deserve happy endings… 
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Paradox Factor is a terrific unhappy HG.
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Burned by Mass Effect 3 ending too. Garrus and my Shep had an island ready to retire with their adopted little alien babyes!
I hate bad endings when mandatory.
I already don’t like that much in non interactive fiction, but I can be “whatever”. But in choice based games I don’t like them one bit. I can appreciate them in certain run (I usually do a “fail run” to see the differences) because I see them as pessimistic fanfiction to the good ending, and even then, I hate having my protagonist die.
So, optional, ok. Mandatory, bad.
Edit: I have already had enought tragedy in RL in these last years to have even my fictional character die just for easy tears.
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I loved my hero’s end in DAO so I agree. (Best game, with the best ending so far.)
I’d love to play/make such choice script games…there’s a catch though: This death ending can’t be the only ending you have (obviously), and the player should be in full control IF or IF NOT they want their character to die our of/for/because of reasons 
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Hmm, there is a strong wish fulfilment element in CoG, but some are more sunshine and roses than others. Moreytown had a good few bad ends, and always ends with the Furries still on the bottom, for example, while Tally Ho is in a genre that only ends unhappily in the ‘Pekinpah’s Salad Days’ sketch. I’d generally like to have a few bad ends in a game (The ending of Herofall where the MC is living happily with their approving family, while about to be tried for murdering the POTUS in cold blood, came off as very unconvincing) but the main challenge seems to be getting a perfect ending rather than a good one. Try ‘Long Live the Queen’ or Fighting Fantasy for bad endings?
I know you said you werent joking but that was funny…
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Almost no one gets to choose how they die in life. IF gives you that opportunity. I prefer IF where the MC doesn’t die. The death of a close NPC or love interest is more interesting to me.