Nah, don’t worry 
it wasn’t you and my own comment wasnt toward you either . It just a mentality I see alot outta there, where its repeated like a mantra . The last time I saw it was when Cyberpunk was mentioned .
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This is polls about IF games, CoG games and HG games. The point of view in writing is much different from in graphical gaming – I think @E_RedMark’s statements were concerning graphical games and not text-based games.
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I picked 1st person POV because I can see how it offers more options when you identify less with the main character, but overall I would say that I don’t really have a preference between 1st and 2nd POV for IF. 3rd person POV is the only one I can see really bothering me in interactive fiction, but hey maybe someone could make it work.
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Forgive me if I don’t get my point across well. I just woke up a few minutes ago (and too early at that, if you ask me)
I picked 2nd person POV, but I’d say that’s for the prose and I like 1st person POV for the choices. I find that the most immersive combo.
Perhaps I come at this too much from a writer’s perspective, though. I know I enjoy writing in 2nd person because it feels much more like I’m writing this for someone; which is what I’m doing when I write IF or otherwise reader-insert stories. It’s a reminder to keep my narrative of this “you” person loose, to not make too many decisions for them, whether in actions or descriptions (unless I’m writing a choiceless story and I do need to make more action decisions for the sake of it, but still minimal descriptions of the MC)
And writing the choices in 1st person makes me feel like I’m writing this story with the reader. Like we’re crafting this playthrough of theirs together. I supply the scenario and they decide who they are and what they do.
So I suppose my feelings as a writer influence my feelings as a reader. I’m not inherently put off by 1st person perspective in an IF, but I feel like it can often come off like I’m just reading the author’s MC’s story, and not my own. I feel like it can be a slippery slope into forcing actions onto the reader. Not big ones that must happen to make the story continue. But small ones that break immersion… Take Wayhave, for example. I adore Wayhaven, believe me, but… Sera makes my MC smile too much lol.
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I can do either 1st or 2nd person when I’m reading. I don’t mind that whenever I make choices the options are in 1st person but everything else is in second. To be honest, I barely even notice.
As a writer, I like using 1st person as a subtle clue that the MC is going to be their own character and hinting that the story is going to be more linear than what you would expect.
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This is why I prefer 1st-person POV. I don’t play as me, I make a character (and sometimes go to great lengths in creating them, from the name to the personality to the history, etc.) and that’s who is “playing.” So my character shouldn’t “see” anything they aren’t able to see (and, honestly, I don’t like it when the narrative “assumes” my MC thinks a certain way about a NPC’s behavior, because my MCs vary widely in their responses and interpretations of things around them).
That said, I have seen it done well–such as showing a NPC’s POV without the MC around. That gives me, the reader, something to enjoy, especially in a game where things aren’t looking too hopeful from the MC’s POV (even if my MC perseveres, if things get too hopeless, I’m out). Somehow that doesn’t break immersion for me, while 2nd-person omniscient totally breaks it, to the point where I stop enjoying the game and may quit playing.
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Depends entirely on the way the story is written, there’s no real one size fits all here. Each pronoun lends itself to a different kind of game. IMO 3rd person is best for more predefined character or if switching between multiple predefined characters. 2nd for self inserts. 1st works well when wanting to put the reader into seeing through the eyes of a story character 1st hand. Most CSG’s are 2nd person with the very occasional 1st person thrown in. If you branch out into other kinds of IF, you find 1st and 3rd person comparatively more commonly though.
Yes and no. In 1st person I think you can get away with the use of more inner monologuing which can be valuable for setting things like tone and motivation. 2nd is often similar to 1st in what the PC sees although you can get more “godmode” happening if the writer wants. Sometimes restricting what the PC sees is better for a story. I don’t think it’s always a limitation, sometimes its definitely an asset.
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I didn’t mean that, but as @E_RedMark pointed out above, some people happen to hate it because of how limiting it feels. Something can be an asset only for so long before it turns into a liability. Someone coming from 2nd or 3rd-person PoV may feel disconcerting in 1st-person PoV.
But hey, I’m a 1st-person stan, so I’m certainly not complaining about it being an asset 
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OK, kind of borked my own poll, so doing a second take my bad! 
How do you prefer romance option genders be presented?
- All gender flippable
- Set genders
- Set and gender flippable
0 voters
Also if you don’t mind could you explain why you prefer your choice?
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I do like having like some set gendered characters - it makes the world feel more grounded to me, but I’ve grown to like gender flipping features so long as I get to choose the character’s gender rather than leaving it up to randomization or setting by the MC’s orientation/gender (like how if you play as a male or non-binary person attracted to multiple genders in Wayhaven Chronicles, you’ll get female A/N and male F/M). It’s not so much about my gender preference (I’m pan ace and prefer to play characters that are the same), as it is I like to keep character’s genders consistent across playthroughs.
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I like set genders most of the time - Fallen Hero is the rare and probably only exception - because I don’t like more interruptions than necessary when I read a story.
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I prefer to see set-gender ROs when their gender is a significant and meaningful part of the story. I would rather have gender-flippable ROs otherwise because that is the best way to keep a cast small enough to have in-depth relationships while also giving people representation.
A good example of using selective gender-flippability in a WIP right now is Wilhelmina. Lucy’s whole sub-plot is about her being a lesbian expected to marry a man, so she is gender-locked. Dracula is gender-flippable because really, the only important thing about them for the plot is that they are rich and powerful.
That explained, I am not against either of the other methods. They also have pros and cons, and it can really depend on what story you are writing.
All Gender-Flippable
Pros:
- Men don’t hit on lesbians in works they may be trying to use for escapism (I love that for us)
- gives everyone the most possible RO options, and the author the largest reach.
- The game can be gleefully recommended to both lesbians and gay men and everyone else. wlw/mlm solidarity for the win
Cons:
-
Can limit the author from doing identity-specific plot lines/ only make them available with A LOT of extra writing depending on the universe.
-
Beware the little things. Probably like 97% of things are going to be exactly the same between a male and female version of an RO in most universes authors create. You just need to make sure to pay attention to what that 3% difference is and where it impacts your story because otherwise it can really ruin immersion. This happens a lot less when characters are written as a set gender, but I think with some attention to detail and good beta testers this is largely avoidable.
-
Fandom/Social Presence Bias: If you as an author are socially present on Tumblr/Discord/Patreon anywhere you might produce/share secondary content related to the actual game you run into the potential alienation problem again where you need to make sure to keep your responses gender neutral/ if you do gendered scene writings needing to make sure you evenly balance the gender distribution or produce multiple versions of each scene depending.
Additionally, your audience is not going to be great at being inclusive no matter how hard you try. This is not any fault of the author’s of course, but I personally think it should probably be a little disheartening as an author to put so much work into making a game wonderful and inclusive for all and then end up with it being…very much not reflected.
All Set Gender
Pros:
-
technically less work (when compared to the exact same story with all the ROs being gender flippable). As you can see, this one is kind of shakey because there are lots of exceptions for this.
-
those sweet sweet representational plotlines (where gender identity matter)
-
Gender diversity in the maintains throughout all versions of the story. All of the women do not suddenly disappear from your story in some versions leaving you with the stereotypical Crew of all men or all men + one token woman in multiple variations. (This is, of course, avoidable by creating non-romanceable main characters that are well-developed in gender flippable cast)
Cons:
- In order to make your Romance Options inclusive and equally represented you suddenly need a lot a lot more cast members. It may only be one singular con, but it can be a gigantic con. This either results in way more work for the author and/or less in-depth romances. The less in-depth part is not necessarily bad depending on your story, but it is much easier to also end up with lower quality interactions and is prone to the dreaded “only explores relationships through romance” experience.
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I am thinking of Creating a Game jam for Halloween where everyone can present their short games or demos. Mainly in Choicescript language but accepting other languages even Visual comics or Videos always there is an interactive component where player choose from.
I just want to check out If there is someone that is interested in participating in a Forum activity like that and contact with other forum members and writers maybe writing together.
- I am not interested in the Game jam
- I will like to participate
- I will love to read other stories but not make one by myself.
0 voters
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Gender flippable, mostly because in my experience with set genders the male ROs tend to be more fleshed out/have more interesting story lines (probably because male ROs tend to be more popular imo), which is unfortunate for people who are exclusively attracted to women. There’s probably plenty of games where this isn’t true, but that’s just been my experience.
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Does the last option mean a mix of set and flippable, or that you don’t have a preference for either? 
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A mix of both set gendered and flippable characters in a game.
I prefer set gender characters, because of the grounding effect it has on the story/setting as a whole not to mention characteristics or relationships with other characters, but I don’t mind gender-flippable characters, because of what it can provide for players. However, I do feel like some people kind of expect the author to have the NPC’s be gender-flippable by default(i.e the comments that ask if the characters can be gender-flipped when a new W.I.P is released), and see set gender/sexuality NPC’s as something that won’t ensure they get the relationships they want which is sometimes true, but at the same time shouldn’t automatically be labeled as a game with hollow characters because of past experiences.
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If you were reading a mystery/horror romance story, with otome style routes you lock into at a point, how would you prefer the horror/mystery/monster/villain worked?
The amount of work needed isn’t a consideration, I’m more interested in peoples views on this, regarding predictability and replayability.
- Always the same horror/mystery
- Horror/mystery changes depending on romance route
- Horror/mystery is randomly determined at game start
0 voters
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@The_Lady_Luck – Are you getting at a tsundere type of romance?
I guess I am not comprehending what your poll is asking.
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