Polls about COG, HG, and IF games

I mean like in general from your experiences. Do sexuality-locked RO’s leave a good or bad impression on you, and your feelings on the matter.

In general I’m not a huge fan of this. Personally, I don’t think there are many authors on here that could write scenes like that without making me feel uncomfortable. I think a fade-to-black just makes the scene more ambiguous and… sweet?

Answered other for this one because, as already mentioned, explicitly gay ROs are good! Unfortunately, if I don’t like the gay ROs I’m going to feel a little left out, so I much prefer them playersexual which leaves a bit of ambiguity behind what side they play for (Model Citizens: Unmasked does this, IIRC, one of the ROs not explicitly being bisexual but still romanceable by male MCs).

Again, picked other because I love bittersweet endings, but if you’re writing a CoG/HG why would you have the worst ending be the only one available?

So far I think only A Study in Steampunk did this well, though it kinda doesn’t count.
Like what I said about sex scenes I think it depends on the author. If they can make me love the character and not have their death have no impact (at least let me have moments to remember them goddammit) then hell yeah go for it.

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The same question still applies. In my experiences, it leaves a bad impression when the game is written so that gay playthroughs provide a worse experience than straight playthroughs, which happens a lot. But it leaves a good impression when that is not the case, which does happen sometimes (e.g. Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven). So I like it when it’s done well, but it frequently isn’t.

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I agree and now I also really hope you and TSSL might get around to actually making the super-cute (un)dead gay boyfriends game. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Gluten-free or else it’s poison. As long as it is I don’t care as long as it’s not cheesecake.

Yes, I always like to see how others describe sexual or even just smutty scenes. Tells me a lot about them. With the caveat that if the m/m scenes are clearly inferior to all the others I’d prefer a toggle or fade to black.

For me the magic number is six, which would allow for at least one gay male, one lesbian, a male and female bi/pan ro and a male and female straight ro. This way if you gender lock the ro’s everybody has at least two choices, though giving everybody at least three is probably even better. Any less than that number and I feel gender-locking is not worth it.
Which doesn’t mean every ro needs to be equally easy to romance, but I would make that dependent on variables other than the player’s gender.

Only if I’m very, very clearly warned in the synopsis. Otherwise, no, just no.
That said outright tragedy is probably far easier to pull off well in a non-interactive movie or novel as it would require a series of protagonist actions leading up to it that I as a genre-savvy gamer or a roleplayer might not be willing to make for my character.
Now that said battling against overwhelming odds is exciting and games, where most or even all endings are a variety of bittersweet, are difficult but doable, just look at @Havenstone 's XoR epic, where I don’t think that given the nature of the game and our rebellion there are going to be any perfect endings and it will be more about how well the mc can ultimately live with, the flaws in their ending than anything else. Our own @Cataphrak is also a master of bittersweet endings, in fact, I don’t think any of his games even have unambiguous “golden” endings. :wink:

Not a great fan of unavoidable character deaths, particularly of gay ro’s myself.

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Depends on the number of the ROs. With a few ROs it’s better to make them playersexual or to genderflip. With a wider cast of ROs it’s fine to sexuality lock them.

If the game already has a dark tone to it then why not? Tho I don’t think that would become my favorite game I’d just try it out of curiousity probably.

(How do I change my vote after accidently picking the wrong option?)

I don’t like any of these options. The first one sounds more like a silent protagonist from old rpgs while the second one sounds like a way too preset MC for my tastes. Tho maybe I’m just too nitpicky about wording here?
I’m fine with a backstory given to my MC but I like to build up my MCs personality.

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When you click “Hide results” you have the option to change your vote :stuck_out_tongue:

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Just to agree with @Gabs and @Johann on this one: while I am a fan of smut (and voted that way), it has to be well written smut. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: If it’s poorly written it can come across as flat, unsettling, or even hilarious, all of which are probably not what the writer intended. And some things that will work for some people won’t for others. :thinking: (And as @Gabs said, if an author’s not really into the sex scene they’re writing, it will be noticeable to the readers.) So, yeah, while I am “for” in general, it’s definitely a case-by-case basis.

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written or visual? I don’t mind either…fade to black or show some skin…as long as its not porno like…

Playersexual…cose otherwise…the romances are often cliché…Good exemple: Dragon Age serie sticking me the lesbian…with a freaking rogue!! 3 times!!

is there such a thing…cose…I probably just skipped such a game :sweat_smile:

Bad ending are the kryptonite to mah Superman! bad bad bad…writing .

not emotional …traumatizing? Sure…walk around like a zombie and talk someone ear off about said character death for a year or so? yup…

Hence why I dont like character death…often it just trauma with no meaning…no goal…no reasons…

blank state…I can shaped somehow…pre-made isnt my character…I’m borrowing the author character…and I’m limited about how they feel and what they do .

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But those are great! :rofl: Even if it is unintentional.

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Well, hopefully the gay boyfriends game I am working on will fill this hole… one of the ROs is dead, anyway.

I expect 3.14159265359… is gluten-free… and clearly the most popular option… the voters are a bunch of math nuts :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Oh yeah, and about the smut, I didn’t vote because really I’m fine with both its presence and absence, but I guess also worth noting that if it’s there, it really should be skippable :sweat_smile: and preferably not make too many assumptions about the main character in terms of things like dominance/passivity :thinking:

As far as the hilarious bit, though… some intentional hilarity in a sex scene might actually be a really nice change of pace :grin:

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Written… but I’d like to see a visual someday :smirk:


Just to clarify, I’m loosely using the term “Blank State” and “Established” for anyone confused. For Blank State, I mean an MC that doesn’t do much on their own without your input and that their background isn’t gone into with detail, or their personality at all. To give more freedom to the reader supposedly.

Established, I’d say is an MC with a personality similar to the author’s they are implementing in the story with an established background to fit the world they are written in. Along with a particular route in mind when writing them, you still have options and the like to direct them or change them somewhat, customization included, but whether you’ll find them relatable or not is up for debate.

“My tongue scrolled elegantly along the lips of her sweet honey pot.”

Correction, the gay ones are great. I tend to skim over the straight and lesbian ones. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Same, though, that is just one of the kind of descriptions I see in fanfiction. :thinking:

Hi there! Cool thread. Any thoughts on a luck stat?

  • I like it.
  • I didn’t like the way the stat was used on games I previously played.
  • It’s unnecesary: Scenes should be defined by the player’s stats only.
  • Other thoughts.

0 voters

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I voted other because it depends on how relevant it is in the game, I guess. If it’s set in a casino then it’s a no-brainer, but if the Lost Heir series, for example, had a prevelant luck stat then it’d be a slog to get through.

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Personally, I don’t like luck stats and haven’t had an enjoyable experience with them in past games. But, like @Johann said, relevance is a major factor and if used in a setting that makes sense it could work.

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Biggest obstacle when writing?

  • Word Count. Everything I write always comes out short. I may get writers block, but something makes it hard to add on to. Boredom may also stop me from continuing on.
  • Typos, Grammars. Whether it’s a habit I can’t break, or a mistake that keeps repeating, or English not being my first language. It’s difficult for me.
  • Perfectionist, I am always editing my story. Always going over things. Making things more complicated than it needs to be. Going through every nook and cranny to make my story perfect which makes the process longer.
  • Too many stories to count, I started so many projects and don’t know what to do with them. With multi-tasking I cannot simply work on just one story at a time.
  • Procrastination, I need to be in the mood to write. Otherwise… I just can’t do it. If I don’t feel like writing, It’s absolutely a struggle or near impossible to get anything done.
  • Self-doubt. I don’t think my writing is good enough. I don’t think anyone would or likes my writing. I find that others can do my job better.
  • Not enough time. Busy life. Between work, children, or anything else you can think of I just can’t put aside time to write consistently.
  • Planning, I always get stuck on a particular part of a story that is the hardest. And that will always get me (say the introduction) but after that, everything else is easier.
  • (Other I did not think of…)

0 voters

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English’s not my first language, so I get this a lot. Not so much on typos or grammar, but not being able to recall how a word is said or having to rephrase a sentence a lot of times to get the right feel. Sometimes I think I use a certain word too much and have to find an equivalent, etc. I’m used to it, but writing a story, it gets frustrating from time to time.

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Well since you comment this…

Romance options:
If you had to choose, which subverted character tropes do you like out of this list? (you can pick multiple.)

  • The Cheerleader/popular girl who’s actually nice and a bit clumsy
  • The stoner who has rich and overprotective parents
  • The jock who is actually friendly and smart
  • The bad boy/girl who’s actually nice and doesn’t want to be a bad boy/girl.
  • The smart kid who’s actually really lazy and likes angering the teachers
  • The Nerd without glasses
  • The dream boy/girl who’s hiding something…
  • What’s with all these polls…
  • All of the above
  • None of the above/the ones I like isn’t here…
0 voters

In general:
In an IF game, would you like it if you had to look up somethings occasionally in order to get through the next parts? Like for instance a restaurant IF where you have to look up ingredients for the recipes in order to put them in the right place and order.

  • That probably would get boring quick
  • Yes, please
  • No, please
  • As long as there’s a skip button…
0 voters

Would you mind/like it if in an IF game you’re playing your main character has a possibility(random occurrence and if you decide to do the ‘scenes’) of getting pregnant as some kind of realistic fanservice(non-sexual)? (and the possibility there for men and Nonbinary too… 'cause its fantasy) (think the sims but it’s main genres are fantasy, supernatural and some slight life.)

  • Yeah
  • No/if it’s not a life simulator no thanks
  • As long as there’s a toggle off button, sure
  • Other
0 voters

That’s it (also if you picked other, yes, no or meh if you want can you tell me why.)

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How would it work? :confused: If it’s about random chance, I’d suggest not doing that; these games don’t really work well with randomness. I guess it could work as a “jack of all trades” stat, where it adds to all of your other stats, but I can’t see that working unless it was very well balanced… :thinking:

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