Polls about COG, HG, and IF games

Scenes where the characters spontaneously break out in song, yes. The lyrics of course would also be included. (I don’t have music files, but that would be a pipe dream.)

1 Like

Title:

For me, an interesting title isn’t always “catchy” or a single word or two words or something a bit longer. It’s more ‘does this sound cool?’ and ‘does this sound professional?’

Professional being no spelling/grammar errors and something that can be show to any age group without issue. Sorry if that’s not very helpful, I can’t really pinpoint why titles are eye-catching to me.

If it’s a longer title (4 words or more), I prefer it when the title is a phrase used in speech, like a saying or something. If it’s a specific reference to something in the book or something like “How to Save the World in High School” I’m put off since in the first case I lack context and the second is just wordy and unoriginal/not meant for fiction IMO. That sort of “How to” titles are reserved of manuals in my mind so it’s odd seeing it paired with a fictional book.

Feedback:

I said Other because I leave feedback if the WiP left an impression on me. Good, bad, somewhere in between, doesn’t matter. I’ll leave feedback which can consist of typos, bug reports, what I liked, what I thought the author did a kick ass job on, and what I felt they missed the ballpark on based on the summary of the story/how the story set up my expectations.

Sibling Relationships:

Depends on the sibling. I really love Nick from @wildelight’s Mind Blind but other siblings have just… bleh in WiPs/published stories.

Nick strikes the perfect balance of feeling like a real character/sibling by not only loving Button but also teasing the ever loving crap out of them too… because that’s sibling-hood in a nutshell lol

I don’t like the sibling rivalry. It’s just… not done well in the stories/fiction/tv shows/movies I’ve consumed and I just want something sweet. Plus I think another reason I love Nick is because he’s not the asshole sibling, Button can be which is a change from the usual sibling relationship dynamic in IF. Bonus points for Nick rightfully calling Button out if Button absolutely despises him too.

Preteen:

70% no, I’d say mainly because I like darker stories which don’t mix well with children, but 30% yes but that highly depends on the genre/premise. If it’s fantasy and I get a dragon, I’m in.

Puppy Love:

Maybe. No romantic gestures/actions beyond sweet stuff (like cards, stuffed bears, candy, etc.) and probably no kissing. At most, hand holding. I feel like the relationship is much more enjoyable if it’s implied that the act of making it an official dating couple happened when the characters were older, so still acknowledging that the characters are children (and a bit young for that) but respecting the reader’s decision.

Honestly, I’d just go for the friendship route every time since there’s never not a need for good friendship stories at that age.

Musical:

I like them in musicals lol

I need to hear the song being sung because otherwise I’ll probably mentally sing it on a different beat than whatever the author imagined.

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To the feedback question, I leave less feedback, If there are more posts in a thread, since that implies for me that there is already a big crowd to give feedback. I like to help Out, where it is more needed.

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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

4 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.

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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. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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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

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I love women taller than me, so I would probably be very pleased with your female ROs :smile: I would say don’t worry too much about it and make your characters tall.

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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.

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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’
Screenshot_20210506_200607

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Interesting! Off the top of your head, what kind of achievements do you think would catch your attention?

  1. Should They Be Treated Differently Than PG?
  2. Trigger Warnings And/Or Inappropriate References
  3. 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.

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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.

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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.

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ChoiceScript Games-wise

  • 1st person
  • 2nd person

0 voters

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. :thinking:

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

2 Likes