Yeah 
Why couldn’t vampire be a blushing mess, for change? But that’s not only Wayhaven problem. I never play shy MCs because they are so annoying and their reactions to RO (especially the flirty type, ugh) are exaggerated and unrealistic.
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Exactly. There are ways to be reserved and still show interest. Just like there are ways to be more direct in flirtations without seeming creepy and overly aggressive.
Just my opinion, I don’t think it’s necessary to label flirtations as subtle/flirtatious or the like, I think it’s more natural not to label them. I get wanting to clarify that kind of thing for sex scenes, but I think Fallen Hero handled that best without ever going into it by simply giving the choice of the RO pushing you on the bed or you doing the pushing or both falling together or whatever. That way, the actual actions are controlled by the player rather than stats.
With other interactions between the MC and RO, it would make more sense to me that, when the MC is “autoed” by the author, neutral ground is chosen. A smile, raised eyebrow, or a “normal” comment or reaction, instead of becoming “breathless and flustered”. Anything more than that kind of reaction needs to be decided by the player/MC so they aren’t either forced into turning their MC into something that doesn’t jibe with the character they’ve created or make them uncomfortable with the MC’s behavior (I imagine this is even worse for self-inserts!).
Why does anyone have to be a blushing mess? Maybe I’m weird (okay, yeah, I’m weird), but I haven’t seen anyone as flustered as the Wayhaven MC since I was in middle school. I just don’t think people behave that way, in general other than in shitty dimestore novels or teen angst novels. I especially can’t fathom that behavior from someone who is over 100 years old–or having someone that age running away when they like someone or intentionally being an ass to someone they want to bang in the future–no matter what trauma they’ve been through. Unless, perhaps, they are permanently scarred psychologically, in which case they need more help than a soulmate could provide to them.
There’s a big difference between being shy/reserved and acting like a child with your first crush and no social skills to speak of, just like there’s a difference between trying to distance yourself to protect someone and constantly giving mixed signals to the point where it’s borderline emotional abuse. Or the difference being grumpy because you’re in constant pain and intentionally being a hurtful dick to someone you want to screw on a regular basis. All of it is just so over-the-top that it’s jarring.
I read something once that said the best way to test your dialog and inner monologues is to read it all aloud. If it feels ridiculous to say it, then it’s going to be sound ridiculous to the reader. It’s damned good advice, IMO.
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That only works if you usually speak the language you’re writing in, though. Everything I read aloud in English sounds ridiculous, for example.
(On the other hand, everything I read aloud period sounds ridiculous, if I’m alone. But anyway, my pronouncing is atrocious, and it’s not doing any favours to my prose.)
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This is another problem I have with Wayhaven (and I’m quite sure a lot of people do); A’s behavior on their route. Because it is, as you’ve said, a tad bit over the top. It’s supposed to be a slowburn but, playing A’s route, I can envision the Detective potentially developing some type of emotional distress. I kept wishing, instead of swooning, I could keep it pushing until A can get their ish together.
There are a couple of moments you can kind of confront them about it but most the time the Detective remains a simp while A continues to be as hot and cold as they please.
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Oh yeah, that’s essentially what I meant. Basically to just have options that reflect that type of response. I think the way I did it for my only current intimate scene was “Smile confidently but wait for them to make the first move” or something like that… But regardless, I think that’s getting a bit too off topic.
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Vampires can’t blush without active effort, so they’re unlikely to blush as a byproduct of embarrassment.
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Everybody has a different method. Me, when I write characters, I focus on how I talk in real life - which is more or less the same as how I type, so it’s not hard to do - and how I interact with people, and how other people interact with each other. It winds up being that my characters very often curse like sailors, make the kind of philosophical talk that cowboys do, and otherwise talk in the kind of snappy, biting wit that you often see from shadowy agency characters in action movies (I live in a rural area full of deeply sarcastic people and old fellas who never really left the Wild West), but at least I can safely say that their dialogue is very realistic… relative to what I’m familiar with.
Blushing requires blood, and Vampires kinda need a lot of that already, can’t afford to waste it on being embarrassed.
No, but I imagine it helps with other concerns, certainly.
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The vampires could use Blush of Life. But probably not as a response to embarrassment.
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So, for the love triangle route I hope it doesn’t take another 3 books for shit to come to a head between A and N. I know in book 3 demo it seems like N is catching on, but it’s kind of stretching the level of believability that N is still acting so oblivious.
It says in the demo that N hears A’s heart beating fast, but if that’s the case why are they just now noticing? By the end of book 1 it should of been pretty obvious to them. Not to mention all the comments from F and others.
Maybe ignorance is bliss to N. But I wants me that confrontation in book 3! Not just with A, but also the MC, especially if they are dating.
I have a feeling book 3 will address most of this concerns, perhaps a gut feeling; got that vibe.
It is a tangent, but I will say that the flustered/blushing bit can be very ingrained in writing without even a conscious effort to put it there simply by what books you have been reading. I think it was Mara that made a comment (I don’t even remember if it was about my game or another) about how off-putting it felt to be reduced to a blushing mess without having any input, and I went and tried to hunt down any mention of it in my games where it wasn’t the result of a choice made. There was a LOT, and yet I can’t remember writing that intentionally. I had just internalized how romances “should” be written. It took work to unlearn that.
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The fact that Wayhaven cannot even get romance right is honestly mind boggling to me. Like, that’s literally the only thing it’s supposed to get right. The story is ok-ish, the main character is honestly fucking useless, the world builing is meh and your choices are meaningless.
So what do i get?
2 whole ass books about A being a brick wall with a tragic past, capable only of regurgitating the same scenes about wanting to touch me but stopping at the last second because “i don’t wanna hurt him durr”. It gets old incredibly fast.
M is just a sex scene factory that verbally abuse you and acts edgy and shit, with a tragic past. That’s it. That’s all she can offer.
F is just a textbook “kid that acts lewd and mischievous but in reality is cute and innocent” with a tragic past, while N is “big caring brother/sister” with a tragic past.
None of them is long term romance material but i gotta stick with one because i either kiss them or get the book content cut in half.
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If it really annoys you that much just don’t play it lol. 3 books in and if it’s not appealing to you at that point best to just leave it alone.
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I won’t. I tried it, disliked It, left a critic here and will move on with my life 
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Why is this? Why wouldn’t it want to get things like story and character building right? Not commenting on whether it does or not, just confused why romance would be the only goal.
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Because it has nothing else to offer.
The world builing is nothing special. Standard modern fantasy world with secret fantasy creatures and secret magic agency ™.
The MC is just a dude that attracts monsters because they smell funny. Most of the time they just wonder wtf is going on, gets fucked up/kidnapped by some monster, thinks about their romance and somehow pulls an hail mary out of nowhere to (kinda) save the day. It feels like i’m a side character in my own story.
Choice importance: none. You can literally do and say anything you want and you’ll always reach the same outcome. Everyone will always love and like you even if you’re an insufferable dick or a charming prince.
The characters are just one big cliche after the other, like someone else said.
What does this leave? Romance. If i can’t be an interesting character, the world is just a stock modern fantasy setting and my choices don’t matter then at least i’ll have a blast with the romance no? Nope. Not at all.
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I mean, this isn’t exactly the official Wayhaven thread, so leaving your critique here doesn’t really do much - but at the same time, official Wayhaven threads are so busy that leaving a critique there would probably get buried outright, so meh, I guess. Better here, in a thread about romances you don’t like, I suppose.
Getting the story and worldbuilding and character development right is all well and good, but given that Wayhaven markets itself as primarily a romance series, the fact that so many of us find the romance to be a solid miss is kind of damning, on that front. It’s not the only goal, but it is the big one.
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This logic is very flawed… romance is the only thing left because it’s the thing you ended with. You clearly don’t like any of them. If you started and ended your analysis elsewhere, you’d interpret something else as being the only thing left, and call that the only thing it’s supposed to get right. The fact of the matter is that what it’s supposed to get right is whatever the author intends, not whatever you decided to analyze last.
Ah, so that’s the actual answer to the question.
I’m not sure the marketing is very good, then, since I was pretty sure it was supposed to be a detective series, and wasn’t focused on romance at all.
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Not really considering the whole thing was marketed as a romance focused story. The author literally warns you that not choosing a romantic partner will cut down your experience.
The author clearly intended to mainly get the romance right, but spectacularly failed to do so.
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The author intends it to be a romance story, it’s not even a question at this point.
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