Do you like having checkpoints?
- Yes, after every chapter
- Yes, every couple of chapters
- Yes, in very specific parts of the game (ie. risk of MC death)
- No, I don’t like nor want checkpoints in my games
0 voters
5 Likes
I chose the option to have specific checkpoints only if there is a risk of character death to save the reader from having to start from the very beginning of the book. I feel that a checkpoint after every chapter kind of rewards poor decision making, if someone makes a choice they aren’t happy with, the outcome isn’t what they expected or they didn’t choose the right skill for the choice, they can just jump back and quickly change it instead of moving on with the story and accepting what has happened.
Of course that’s entirely optional and if a checkpoint system is in place you don’t have to do it, but it almost encourages you to do so. Like there is a correct way to be playing through and the checkpoints are there to help.
7 Likes
That is exactly why I chose a Checkpoint after each chapter. I have stopped playing several games because an choice I had Chosen had a completely different Outcome that I had expected, and since I did not want to play everything from the beginning, so I Just quit. everyone likes different things. 
9 Likes
I’ve been working on a secret project (aka a WIP I haven’t shared with anyone yet) and I’ve had a concern come up about the heights of the love interests in this project. I figured a thread talking about RO height preferences was a bit much, so I decided to make a poll instead.
All ROs are of another race, if that matters at all. I want to include them being larger than humans, but I was worried about there being a lack of interest in the female ROs if they were all taller than the MC, no matter the MC’s height. I might decide to change this detail if it’s an issue for people.
Would you not romance an RO if they were taller than the MC?
- No, it wouldn’t bother me.
- Yes, it would bother me.
- Only if it’s a female RO.
- Only if it’s a male RO.
0 voters
6 Likes
I love women taller than me, so I would probably be very pleased with your female ROs 
I would say don’t worry too much about it and make your characters tall.
3 Likes
Readers, would you like it if authors included achievements for reaching milestones or making certain decisions within a relationship with an RO?
- Yes, I would like to see achievements for things like this.
- No, I would not like to see achievements for things like this.
- Neutral/Don’t care either way.
- Other.
0 voters
I know quite a few people don’t care about achievements (me being one of them) but I usually see some sort of achievement for entering into a romance (or having an intimate encounter) with an RO. I was curious to see if people would be interested in getting more achievements as they progress through that relationship.
3 Likes
I don’t care that much about achievements… But if there’s romance achievements in the game, it’d help me to find out if the game has romance or the romance options interested me while I was browsing through COG or HG categories easier.
Sorry I didn’t make myself clear enough before, @TheChaosArchivist I meant these two apps actually, but the word ‘anumius…? ammmus?’ just kept slipping from my mind, so I gave up and settled for ‘categories’
7 Likes
Interesting! Off the top of your head, what kind of achievements do you think would catch your attention?
- Should They Be Treated Differently Than PG?
- Trigger Warnings And/Or Inappropriate References
- Should They Have Their Own Section?
It was this question, here, that made me pause. This is, without doubt, a very tricky subject and one which, I feel, a lot of us think on. I selected “other” for an answer there because this topic, in general, isn’t one that can be easily defined or answered.
I honestly feel they should be treated differently from PG stories/games. A PG game could be read by a teen or a child, in many cases, and things they read in PG are, usually, safe for them to pursue. However, a game/story with mature themes wouldn’t be something I’d want a kid or a young teen to read depending on the exact nature of the mature content in question.
And this also slips into the grey when defining what “mature” content is and how extensive it is in a story. One or two instances of swearing (even the f-bomb) is fine for a teen to read. In most cases, they’ll likely hear far worse in public schools or outside in the general population.
References of body parts aren’t that big a deal if done in a non-sexual tone.
However, should anything with a “mature” theme pop up, having a warning ahead of time is advisable because it lets readers/players know ahead of time. On the same hand, having an option, in-game/story, to switch that off for players who don’t want it is a good idea (if that is feasible for the story overall and won’t subtract from the story overall).
And should there be an entire different section dedicated to stories/games with mature content depends on, once again, the extent of that content. It would require a greater viligance from the writer and beta/alpha-testers in general to ensure the ratings are honored.
It’s certainly a tricky subject.
And this completely negates taking into account Apples very strict guidelines for the games, as, from what I’ve seen, Apple tends to have a larger selling rate than Android’s Play Store (which I use). They also don’t sell “books” in their store, but that’s been worked around by Kindle simply by having an app where the stories they’ve bought through the Amazon Kindle store are directly added into the Apple Kindle app automatically without any “in-app store” purchases.
Though this could be a route COG could take, given they already have two apps that behave in a similar function. However, as per the Mature Content part of the games and stories we adore, this is a difficult topic.
However, I think it shouldn’t really be treated all that differently from any other game/story, but the entire “ratings” aspect could use some rework. I have my own list of “ratings” that are pretty strict that I follow, and most of my games would be considered “mature” but not “adult” mature in the sense of explicit sex scenes, murder, and violence and a thousand cuss words.
Don’t most games let the readers/players know there’s romance in them? Most of the forums I’ve read generally state that, anyway, but that’s likely harder in a published game. Perhaps in the game description, once finished, adding in if that game, in question, has romance in it would also help readers/players when hunting for those kind of stories?
I like to see achievements used as a guide to all the possible branches you can explore. It’s not an integral part of the gameplay, but it’s nice to have.
3 Likes
To be honest, it simply discourages me from pursuing the achievements. I typically don’t want romance all the ROS, so if I’m achievement hunting, it’s pretty irritating. I dislike the intimate encounter achievements even more. I am asexual and prefer playing as such in games if it’s possible to do without automatically also making the MC aromantic, so such achievements are…questionable to me.
It’s also worth noting that the entire concept of romance achievements is a little problematic in general, although this has been discussed in far better and greater detail previously on this forum.
3 Likes
Completely understandable!
I share those concerns as well. Reducing any relationship to an achievement is problematic due to the implications that relationships, and the people involved, are prizes.
2 Likes
For me personally, I try to explore all the content, mostly because I’m curious at what happens if I go down this one path or the other, and as a way to appreciate an author’s efforts. I don’t see the achievements, the people, or relationships as a prize. I just want to see everything that’s written.
3 Likes
I voted second person, but I actually prefer first if the MC is more established, because it helps the MC feel more their own character than the player’s.
8 Likes
For… scientific reasons. 
Given the choice of height for your MC(s), what would you choose?
- Under 5’0"
- 5’0" - 5’2"
- 5’3" - 5’5"
- 5’6" - 5’8"
- 5’9" - 5’11"
- 6’0" - 6’2"
- 6’3" or Above
0 voters
3 Likes
Readers: do you prefer to pick the gender of non-RO NPCs or would you prefer if the gender for those characters was preset?
- I prefer to not pick the gender of non-RO NPCs.
- I prefer to pick the gender of non-RO NPCs.
0 voters
3 Likes
As a writer, I 100% support not having the choice to pick non-RO NPC genders. Too much coding haha. However, as a reader, I still would choose to not pick NPC genders. At least for me, I like having a preset world that I can self insert into. I dont want to pick every little detail, I’d rather have the author’s original ideas shine through.
20 Likes
I think it would also take you out of immersion more if for every person you meet you have to pick gender. I made the side characters that my MC will have with him have a variable gender but feel that is already a lot, imagine doing the same for more NPC’s that are not even romanceable. That is just my feeling although I am a bit surprised by the 25% that would be interested to see this? I wonder if that’s really representative and would like to hear the argument. I think the idea is good but it would only work on a sequential playthrough imo. How can you decide a characters gender without knowing the character. → You’re going to the shop, the shop owner is *choice male/female/nb. How do you decide without knowing what’s coming? Or do these people just want all people to be the same gender?
5 Likes