As I’m reading over feedback and doing revisions, the hardest decisions are always when I’m not sure if I want to apply a suggestion.
On average, I agree with 95% of the feedback I get, and make changes accordingly. Most of the notes I receive make the game better, and I am grateful for all of them. Even the ones I don’t apply make me think. Sometimes, I consider them for a while before making a decision about whether I’ll make changes.
One such suggestion was to shorten the descriptions of the runes in chapter 3. I can totally see this point (if your eyes are glazing over and you’re skimming the text that’s super helpful for me to know), but I’m also thinking there might be a lot of people who want more in-depth information because dragon runes are such a big part of the game. Perhaps I need to add a choice there so players can decide if they’re interested in more details. I do this in some places but not all. So that’s one I’m thinking about.
Likewise, deciding how many character appearance options to include is something I’ve contemplated since May of last year, when I was doing a 3-week beta testing marathon to get Their Majesties’ Pleasure ready for release. I had a couple people mention they thought there should be more character options then, and I’ve had a comment on that for the demo of Ink and Intrigue.
First of all, wanting more characterization options is totally valid. People have strong opinions on this. There’s a forum topic devoted to this subject, and I am clearly in the minority being someone who would rather skip setting appearance details like hair, eye, and skin color, height, etc. I find it tedious because I just want to dive into the story. I want to be able to set gender, but that’s about all I need. I focus on who my character is and what motivates them. I can envision an image easy enough in my head, so why do I need to make a bunch of choices that delay the story? I realize there are people who don’t see pictures in their heads, so I’d imagine choosing character attributes help quite a bit if that’s the case.
When I write, I focus on how the PC feels, thinks, and acts. What they say and do.
I’m thinking of including eye color and skin color, but then you have to include hair color, and if you include hair then is it short/long/wavy/bald? It just spirals. 
I will look to see if I can fit a few of these into the first chapter, but I don’t want to slow it down. If I end up leaving it at gender and anatomy, I hope you’ll enjoy the story anyway. But I haven’t made up my mind yet. Feel free to toss your ideas my way!
I don’t want to derail the topic here, as there’s another thread to discuss character options, but if anyone has specific attributes they’d like defined in Ink and Intrigue, I’d love to hear what those are.
- I prefer lots of character customization.
- I really only need gender/pronouns definined.
- I don’t mind either way.
What options are most important to you?
- Eye color.
- Skin color.
- Hair color.
- Hair style.
- Height.
- Weight.
- Other.
FYI, I am unlikely to add size options for nsfw anatomy, but feel free to imagine all you like! Also, I’m really of the opinion that less is more for character optimization.
I know, this is IF, more is more. MOAR WE SAY!
Maybe I’ll come around. I look forward to your thoughts on this, as it’s something I might be adding in the next couple of days.