Anybody else tired of feeling lied to by tags?

[zeph19]

Okay, let me set the scene:

You browse the latest updates and a cool looking banner featuring 5 pretty looking love interests catches your eye. You're smart, so you check the version. 0.4 or beyond - nice. You look at the tags and feel confident that the game won't blueball you. You click on it and the screenshots look decent. No sex scene with those banner-girls, but if I was a dev, I wouldn't add those either maybe - surprise the players and all that. You click on download and the file size gives you confidence thatyou'll get a good amount of playtime out of this. You click the button and a little later, you start the game.

Fast forward a couple hours later and you're hit with a black screen thanking you for playing the game and advising you to scroll back and save. After that you get the credits and a link to the patreon.

You look at the screen and raise your hands thinking "What the fuck is this shit?"

Why, you may ask? Well, it's because you feel deceived into trying this game and stupid because you had to have seen it coming.

Vaginal Sex, Oral Sex - those tags were there because they applied to some scene that was shoehorned into the game only to get those tags there in the first place. Your character fucked some random slut in some alleyway, bathroom or maybe at her place, with only the tiniest amount of buildup so you might have even skipped the scene (I always do) because you're here for the main course, the steak, and not the sad excuse for a salad you're offered beforehand. The three bites with a fork that don't satiate the hunger at all, but only further make it grow.

And I'm honestly wondering why that is. Most stories aren't all that deep or interesting and are only there as a framework for those LIs to be conquered. So why delay it with all the needless teasing and buildup? Don't get me wrong, without those things, the conquest gets boring. I feel that the middle ground is more often than not missed though.

Development cycles have gotten much longer in the recent years. In the beginning, most games were updated once a month or bimonthly, with a good amount of content.

Now you're waiting 3-6 months for that next version to drop only .. for nothing at all to happen?

Is it because assets are expensive, so you've got to get a good amount of use out of them by stretching the story? Charge your patrons a couple more times before they get the goodies?

Do people that played such games from practically the beginning even give a shit when the girls they were invested in finally get their scenes?

I'd like to hear some takes and opinions on that. Maybe there's a good reason that I can't see.

 

[fooslock]

Right, I'll take a stab at some of this.

Fast forward a couple hours later and you're hit with a black screen thanking you for playing the game and advising you to scroll back and save. After that you get the credits and a link to the patreon.

You look at the screen and raise your hands thinking "What the fuck is this shit?"

Feel that. Some of the devs really are just in it for the patreon and it shows, some aren't. Not to say you can't be in it for both, but if all you are doing is trying to make money, it will show.

Vaginal Sex, Oral Sex - those tags were there because they applied to some scene that was shoehorned into the game only to get those tags there in the first place.

That's a common tactic yea, but it falls flat when it's only one scene. Both this and the one before it are marketing tactics; scratch your itch maybe, get you hooked on the rest. And it may work, but it also simply may not. If you come around for the anal scenes but find you enjoy the other scenes and stick around, well wasn't it worth it? Sure you only got one anal scene but the blowjob scene with girl 3 was hot as hell. This converts passerby's into subs (sometimes). The broader the net you can cast, the more subs you can get. And sometimes, more often than not, it just pisses people off.

might have even skipped the scene (I always do) because you're here for the main course, the steak, and not the sad excuse for a salad you're offered beforehand.

Ok, but that's your personal preference friend. Throwing out one-offs like that is a good way to gauge what players like. Maybe they fancy the bank teller enough after that one time to dig into her more, maybe flesh her out, maybe not. Sticking with the food analogies, maybe she started as a side dish but becomes a main dish.

I personally enjoy one-offs if done right. Sure I'm definitely enjoying the main dish, but heck, I like a bit of salad before my steak. And with early dev work, it's a good way to give the players sex scenes without keeping them waiting. Tons of people get extremely pissy if they have to play for 3 hours before the first sex scene, especially if it's just a handjob. Throwing out appetizers keeps them from blowing up the restaurant with bad reviews, and it showcases work as well.

Development cycles have gotten much longer in the recent years. In the beginning, most games were updated once a month or bimonthly, with a good amount of content.

Now you're waiting 3-6 months for that next version to drop only .. for nothing at all to happen?

This has been touched on. Early releases hit often because there's less content, but as games get bigger, more characters are introduced and the plot thickens, the game takes longer to develop, kind of like a bell curve. As others have stated, it's just the industry or dev cycles maturing appropriately. Also, animations are bullshit and take way too long to get to look good. Sure you can half-ass it, but you might as well just loop two images and call it sex in that case. And yes, people will also blow your shit up for lack of animations because its become an expectation.

Edited for typos

 

[woody554]

sounds like clearly not a tagging issue when the tagged vaginal sex was in the game.

so the real issue is the throaway sluts a lot of people put in their games and especially the beginning. I've always hated them and been vocal about what a bad idea they are, but there's another side to it as well: every game without early sex has people complaining "why isn't there early sex? IF i don't see sex in first 5 minutes I'm deleting game!"

now, that's of course idiotic, in two different ways: firstly those people calling for throaway sex that has nothing to do with main plot are idiots who don't understand it's making the story much worse. but also secondly, the devs are idiots for listening to them, and not understanding it (like many other stupid suggestions people have) ruins their story.

so that's why it mostly happens. it's not some trick to add tags, but a dev with good intentions trying to give his audience what they ask for. and listening to other bad advice like "you shoud listen to your fans" which is super common to see and just horrible advice.

there's a better piece of advice: "when people tell you there's something wrong with your story, they're almost always right. but when they tell you how to fix it, they're always, ALWAYS WRONG."

never listen to suggestions, the fans who make them have no clue. and if you give them what they ask they won't like it because it never works.

 

[anne O'nymous]

And I'm honestly wondering why that is. Most stories aren't all that deep or interesting and are only there as a framework for those LIs to be conquered. So why delay it with all the needless teasing and buildup? Don't get me wrong, without those things, the conquest gets boring. I feel that the middle ground is more often than not missed though.

Well, from my point of view the question is more: Why do you pass 4 hours playing a game that have a not that deep story, that don't even really interest you, and near to no lewd content ?

If I'm not interested after 10-20 minutes, at most, I just close the game and don't even care to know if the content that made me try it worth it or not. It's not like there's a lack of available games, or nothing else that I can do in my free time.

I'd like to hear some takes and opinions on that. Maybe there's a good reason that I can't see.

Could it be that not everyone is you ?
There's people who enjoy a good story and don't care this much about fapping. There's people who take the time to appreciate the CGs, to think about the story, or whatever. Hell, there's even people who simply enjoy what they are doing, even if for most people the game is shit.

To come to the point where you want to complain about all this, it mean that you witnessed too often, what come back to my first question and, in the end, is nothing more than a "me issue". You are playing those games through the end of the current content, and playing their updates... This while most members just don't care about games that don't interest, and skip few updates when they feel that a single one isn't satisfying.

 

[zeph19]

Well, from my point of view the question is more: Why do you pass 4 hours playing a game that have a not that deep story, that don't even really interest you, and near to no lewd content ?

Many reasons for that. One, when I start something I, most of the time, want to see how it ends. Two, if it's a rather popular game, I play to find out what the hype is about and what got players hooked. Three - if some screenshot looked interesting enough, I want to see the context.

Could it be that not everyone is you ?

To come to the point where you want to complain about all this, it mean that you witnessed too often, what come back to my first question and, in the end, is nothing more than a "me issue".

Can only find out whether everyone's me or not by asking. Haven't really seen this subject being discussed yet, and I won't ask in a specific game thread because I don't feel like shitting on one game in particular.

Call it a market research. I'm just curious if people are getting tired of being promised meat and instead are being given bones.

 

[Death Panda]

I think some people get into the porn game biz because they aren't quite good enough to be regular game developers/writers.

 

[Rafster]

That's the nature of the tags here in F95. One scene with vaginal sex? bam, tag. It often happens with the gay tag, just one scene with a trap/femboy and that's it.

And the tags won't tell you that you'll bang the ladies on the banner either. For example, the vaginal sex tag only guarantee at least one sex encounter, but not with whom, or how many times you'll do in the game, or if it's the main kink.

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

I'd like to hear some takes and opinions on that. Maybe there's a good reason that I can't see.

Reviews exist for a reason. Read them.

That's the nature of the tags here in F95.

Um... Isn't that how tag systems work, by design? Genuinely curious, is there another way of tagging that solves such issues?

 

[Rafster]

Um... Isn't that how tag systems work, by design? Genuinely curious, is there another way of tagging that solves such issues?

On itch, for example, is about what is the game about. So yeah, you see the gay tag, and you can be sure it has a lot of gay content. I think it's the same with TF-Games.

Just to add, the tag-redesign of F95 will solve a lot of these problems

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

On itch, for example, is about what is the game about. So yeah, you see the gay tag, and you can be sure it has a lot of gay content. I think it's the same with TF-Games.

So it's tags, just for central themes of the work? Okay, I guess that's valid approach for something as imactful as core audience divide (gay or hetero, ntr vs no ntr, etc). But for some more niche things it's not gonna work, unfortunately.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Two, if it's a rather popular game, I play to find out what the hype is about and what got players hooked.

The answer is rarely found in the game.
By example, WVM succeeded because BrainDrop was doing small update, but releasing them every two weeks. Then, a thread starts to have a given amount of traffic, sheep will join and turn the game into something popular.

Haven't really seen this subject being discussed yet,

Hmm... It's not the threads that are missing. Oh, they don't directly address tags in their title, but the regular "why do people like those games" and other, "is it me or are all games lame" threads talk about this at a moment or another.

Call it a market research. I'm just curious if people are getting tired of being promised meat and instead are being given bones.

I'm sure that the vast majority don't even know what tags, out of "male/female protagonist" and "gay/lesbian", are used for the games they play. They read the description, look at the screenshots, and will try, or not, the game depending on that. Therefore, they aren't tired, because they don't know what they were promised.

 

[morphnet]

Okay, let me set the scene:

You browse the latest updates and a cool looking banner featuring 5 pretty looking love interests catches your eye. You're smart, so you check the version. 0.4 or beyond - nice. You look at the tags and feel confident that the game won't blueball you. You click on it and the screenshots look decent. No sex scene with those banner-girls, but if I was a dev, I wouldn't add those either maybe - surprise the players and all that. You click on download and the file size gives you confidence thatyou'll get a good amount of playtime out of this. You click the button and a little later, you start the game.

Fast forward a couple hours later and you're hit with a black screen thanking you for playing the game and advising you to scroll back and save. After that you get the credits and a link to the patreon.

You look at the screen and raise your hands thinking "What the fuck is this shit?"

Why, you may ask? Well, it's because you feel deceived into trying this game and stupid because you had to have seen it coming.

Vaginal Sex, Oral Sex - those tags were there because they applied to some scene that was shoehorned into the game only to get those tags there in the first place. Your character fucked some random slut in some alleyway, bathroom or maybe at her place, with only the tiniest amount of buildup so you might have even skipped the scene (I always do) because you're here for the main course, the steak, and not the sad excuse for a salad you're offered beforehand. The three bites with a fork that don't satiate the hunger at all, but only further make it grow.

And I'm honestly wondering why that is. Most stories aren't all that deep or interesting and are only there as a framework for those LIs to be conquered. So why delay it with all the needless teasing and buildup? Don't get me wrong, without those things, the conquest gets boring. I feel that the middle ground is more often than not missed though.

Development cycles have gotten much longer in the recent years. In the beginning, most games were updated once a month or bimonthly, with a good amount of content.

Now you're waiting 3-6 months for that next version to drop only .. for nothing at all to happen?

Is it because assets are expensive, so you've got to get a good amount of use out of them by stretching the story? Charge your patrons a couple more times before they get the goodies?

Do people that played such games from practically the beginning even give a shit when the girls they were invested in finally get their scenes?

I'd like to hear some takes and opinions on that. Maybe there's a good reason that I can't see.

Can you maybe give a few more details on a couple of points you raised to make them a little more clear?

You said...

No sex scene with those banner-girls, but if I was a dev, I wouldn't add those either maybe - surprise the players and all that.

but then you said...

Your character fucked some random slut in some alleyway, bathroom or maybe at her place, with only the tiniest amount of buildup so you might have even skipped the scene (I always do) because you're here for the main course, the steak, and not the sad excuse for a salad you're offered beforehand.

You say, you know the "main course, the steak" i.e. the "banner-girls" are not in the game yet but you are unhappy that the "main course, the steak" isn't in the game yet?

You also say...

You look at the tags and feel confident that the game won't blueball you.

but then...

Vaginal Sex, Oral Sex - those tags were there because they applied to some scene that was shoehorned into the game only to get those tags there in the first place. Your character fucked some random slut in some alleyway, bathroom or maybe at her place, with only the tiniest amount of buildup so you might have even skipped the scene (I always do)

I doubt many dev's design their games around F95's tagging system, plus the tags don't imply "you" won't be blueballed, only that some won't be. You will also find that some people will like a random character a lot and request more content for them.

Up to this point, what you have described is a game who's tags have delivered, just not to the characters you were wanting the tags to apply to and the tags don't single out any specific character, so this is not a tagging problem but an information problem.

This can be solved by looking in the changelog (although the amount of times it only gives N/A are ridiculous) or asking in the game thread or following the link in OP to the dev's page and looking there for the info. All of these would take less time than playing the whole current build only to be disappointed.

And I'm honestly wondering why that is. Most stories aren't all that deep or interesting and are only there as a framework for those LIs to be conquered. So why delay it with all the needless teasing and buildup? Don't get me wrong, without those things, the conquest gets boring. I feel that the middle ground is more often than not missed though.

This part is fairly easy to explain, it's because they are catering to a large audience with a large variety of tastes.

Development cycles have gotten much longer in the recent years. In the beginning, most games were updated once a month or bimonthly, with a good amount of content.

Now you're waiting 3-6 months for that next version to drop only .. for nothing at all to happen?

Is it because assets are expensive, so you've got to get a good amount of use out of them by stretching the story? Charge your patrons a couple more times before they get the goodies?

This part is also fairly easy to explain, on the one hand the community has grown a lot and their are more voices asking for different things, if you just take F95 as an example, in the beginning people asked for the general stuff, as more people started asking for stuff the requests covered a lot more things.
You can find threads asking for renders with and without pubic hair, for high and low res versions, for lots of cum and no cum versions, more varied LI's etc. etc. and while the community's modders help with some of these, the people getting their games straight from the source still want their requests filled.

On the other hand there a few dev's that draw out development to make more money.

Do people that played such games from practically the beginning even give a shit when the girls they were invested in finally get their scenes?

Some yes, if they are still playing by the time it happens. Other's have been disappointed with how the scene played out or how short it was or that it should have had X or Y in it too.

Which brings us full circle, the dev's are trying to draw in and crater to a large audience and they will never make everyone happy. What might have been a "skip scene with a random slut" for you, might have been the hottest scene for some other player, and when "you" finally get the scene with the character "you" have been waiting for there is no guarantee that "you" will like how the dev's posed it, used lighting, didn't give enough breast shots or had too many from behind shots but there is a chance other players will think it was great.

If you find you get really invested then one way to not be disappointed is to not just rely on tags but to also use the other options available to you to save you from playing for hours only to be disappointed.

 

[zeph19]

That's the nature of the tags here in F95. One scene with vaginal sex? bam, tag. It often happens with the gay tag, just one scene with a trap/femboy and that's it.

And the tags won't tell you that you'll bang the ladies on the banner either. For example, the vaginal sex tag only guarantee at least one sex encounter, but not with whom, or how many times you'll do in the game, or if it's the main kink.

I don't know anything about the tag rework, but you definitely get what I was trying to say. I wish there was a way to know whether the tags apply to the main girls that are on display and real scenes or just random low effort chicks being banged / dream scenes.

The answer is rarely found in the game.
By example, WVM succeeded because BrainDrop was doing small update, but releasing them every two weeks. Then, a thread starts to have a given amount of traffic, sheep will join and turn the game into something popular.

Interesting take. I think besides the regular updates WVM succeeded because the premise was fresh at the point it came out. Superstar basketball player joining a college and, with the help of his main girls, getting into this massive poly relationship or whatever you may call it. Sprinkle in the vanilla feel of "My new family" and there was an undeniable appeal / pull. But yeah, I get the point and partially agree with it, especially the second part.

Hmm... It's not the threads that are missing. Oh, they don't directly address tags in their title, but the regular "why do people like those games" and other, "is it me or are all games lame" threads talk about this at a moment or another.

Never read those tbh. Don't feel there's anything to gain in those. But to be fair, my title also sucks and I could've put it better.

I'm sure that the vast majority don't even know what tags, out of "male/female protagonist" and "gay/lesbian", are used for the games they play. They read the description, look at the screenshots, and will try, or not, the game depending on that. Therefore, they aren't tired, because they don't know what they were promised.

Makes the players sound kind of ignorant. But to be fair.. I don't read most descriptions anymore either, because most of them are generic as hell.

 

[zeph19]

You say, you know the "main course, the steak" i.e. the "banner-girls" are not in the game yet but you are unhappy that the "main course, the steak" isn't in the game yet?

No, the point more or less is that I do not know whether the main course is in the game yet, because developers can open the game with a 10 render slideshow of a sex scene including 10 different positions and get 10 tags for it.

The surprise-part was related to the screenshots, not tags.

I doubt many dev's design their games around F95's tagging system, plus the tags don't imply "you" won't be blueballed, only that some won't be. You will also find that some people will like a random character a lot and request more content for them.

Up to this point, what you have described is a game who's tags have delivered, just not to the characters you were wanting the tags to apply to and the tags don't single out any specific character, so this is not a tagging problem but an information problem.

This can be solved by looking in the changelog (although the amount of times it only gives N/A are ridiculous) or asking in the game thread or following the link in OP to the dev's page and looking there for the info. All of these would take less time than playing the whole current build only to be disappointed.

The point is that there are 5 or whatever number of character in the banner because those matter. They have fleshed out stories and there will be more anticipation for their scenes.

The tagging system for early versions reminds me of "Beware of dog" signs. The expectation is some bloodthirsty beast ripping you to shreds when you enter the premise, and instead you get a friendly dachshund waving its tail or throwing little barks at you. The owners put it there in the expectation that noone would be bold enough to enter. We have the same here, where devs get their tags to raise the expectation that you get meaningful content with the main cast.

The changelogs are, for most games, absolute garbage. It's either, as you say, N/A or "Added 15381 words and 678 renders, 8 animations". Doesn't tell me anything at all. Same goes for "Love interest 2 progression". It's always cryptic as hell.

One guy who does it well, I think, is Zett. You know exactly, or 95% of what you get when you dl the update.

This part is fairly easy to explain, it's because they are catering to a large audience with a large variety of tastes.

I accept that, although I wonder about the number of players that are left unsatisfied. Maybe that number is low, since people don't have many expectations at all when starting the game, as they didn't even bother checking the tags as another user already stated.

This part is also fairly easy to explain, on the one hand the community has grown a lot and their are more voices asking for different things, if you just take F95 as an example, in the beginning people asked for the general stuff, as more people started asking for stuff the requests covered a lot more things.
You can find threads asking for renders with and without pubic hair, for high and low res versions, for lots of cum and no cum versions, more varied LI's etc. etc. and while the community's modders help with some of these, the people getting their games straight from the source still want their requests filled.

On the other hand there a few dev's that draw out development to make more money.

That might be the case, although I don't play any games that come out in different versions. If it's about the players' requests being granted, you might think 'forking' might be at fault here, with too many strands of the story diverting from each other, unable to connect. You're probably right though.

Some yes, if they are still playing by the time it happens. Other's have been disappointed with how the scene played out or how short it was or that it should have had X or Y in it too.

Which brings us full circle, the dev's are trying to draw in and crater to a large audience and they will never make everyone happy. What might have been a "skip scene with a random slut" for you, might have been the hottest scene for some other player, and when "you" finally get the scene with the character "you" have been waiting for there is no guarantee that "you" will like how the dev's posed it, used lighting, didn't give enough breast shots or had too many from behind shots but there is a chance other players will think it was great.

If you find you get really invested then one way to not be disappointed is to not just rely on tags but to also use the other options available to you to save you from playing for hours only to be disappointed.

I'll also accept that. Players might like those scenes way more than I thought, but I'm still sceptical about about the intention behind them, because (to me) they often scream 'low effort', because I didn't hate every single one of them either.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Interesting take. I think besides the regular updates WVM succeeded because the premise was fresh at the point it came out. Superstar basketball player joining a college and, with the help of his main girls, getting into this massive poly relationship or whatever you may call it.

If something was appealing beyond the update schedule, it's more that it was heavily story based. The girlfriend attitude was a "don't worry guys, you'll get all the girls" note more than anything else ; and she don't help the MC, she just push him to fuck all girls.

But well, it's a detail and I could have used many other games as example. I mean, the same happened for Milfy City. The day the thread was moved to the game section, it got 26 pages. And it raised to 84 pages just for the first week, going up to 268 pages the first month. There's WIP games that don't reach this in one year or more.
But it had nothing to do with the quality of the game. ICSTOR already have many finished games, that were appreciated, and like he finally switched to Ren'Py, members assumed that it would become the best game ever ; side note, many still believe that it is...
It's a pure circle, what make a game popular is its popularity during the first months. Then, the more time pass, the more people will see it as popular due to its thread page count, this even if after some times most posts turn into "wtf is this shit".

Makes the players sound kind of ignorant.

It's not being ignorant that not caring this much about the tags.
Personally I'm interested by the story and I can stand kinks that don't appeal to me, and deal with those I don't like. I'm not playing with one hand, so I don't care this much what content it have or not.

 

[Ying Ko]

The problem described, in theory, will remedied by the future tag system. "... tags will also have an optional 'context' input, where uploaders and developers can provide any additional context for that tag, which will be shown to users when they hover over the tag on the content page."

 

[morphnet]

No, the point more or less is that I do not know whether the main course is in the game yet, because developers can open the game with a 10 render slideshow of a sex scene including 10 different positions and get 10 tags for it.

The surprise-part was related to the screenshots, not tags.

That makes things more clear, I do agree with the screenshot part. The slideshow part though I think is a mixed bag but you do have a point here.

The point is that there are 5 or whatever number of character in the banner because those matter. They have fleshed out stories and there will be more anticipation for their scenes.

The tagging system for early versions reminds me of "Beware of dog" signs. The expectation is some bloodthirsty beast ripping you to shreds when you enter the premise, and instead you get a friendly dachshund waving its tail or throwing little barks at you. The owners put it there in the expectation that noone would be bold enough to enter. We have the same here, where devs get their tags to raise the expectation that you get meaningful content with the main cast.

This part I disagree with because it assumes the dev's have full control over the game thread and the tags added. That is not true though, members can and have requested tags get added and removed. This is why I mentioned that tags do not apply to any given character because the tag rules say you can only add tags that are in the game. So it's not to raise expectations for content with the main cast, just content you can find in the game.

This link should help to explain it better.

https://f95zone.to/threads/tags-rules-and-list-updated-2023-02-03.10394/

The changelogs are, for most games, absolute garbage. It's either, as you say, N/A or "Added 15381 words and 678 renders, 8 animations". Doesn't tell me anything at all. Same goes for "Love interest 2 progression". It's always cryptic as hell.

One guy who does it well, I think, is Zett. You know exactly, or 95% of what you get when you dl the update.

I agree but if you do find yourself getting very invested it is still a good idea to use the options you have so that you don't waste time on a game you won't like or so that you know to come back in a few updates time. Tags and reviews (sometimes) are the obvious starters but asking in game threads, looking up the dev's site etc. can help to save you a lot of time.

I accept that, although I wonder about the number of players that are left unsatisfied. Maybe that number is low, since people don't have many expectations at all when starting the game, as they didn't even bother checking the tags as another user already stated.

I'm sure lots of players are left unsatisfied but that is in the players hands, it is up to each player to decide if the game has more enjoyable parts than not and whether to continue.

As an example, I think the milf in AWAM is REALLY sexy but the downsides of that game for me personally outweigh the upsides so I chose to stop playing. I do understand though that there are people who really like the game and for them it has more upsides, it wouldn't be fair for me to put my enjoyment over those other players so I chose to move on to a game that gave me what AWAM gave those other players.

That might be the case, although I don't play any games that come out in different versions. If it's about the players' requests being granted, you might think 'forking' might be at fault here, with too many strands of the story diverting from each other, unable to connect. You're probably right though.

Unfortunately this is the case, even with simple ones like having a love and a corruption route this can happen but in order to reach the largest audience possible this is the path many games follow.

I'll also accept that. Players might like those scenes way more than I thought, but I'm still sceptical about about the intention behind them, because (to me) they often scream 'low effort', because I didn't hate every single one of them either.

I think, the intention behind them is to quiet most of the louder players complaining about lack of content so the game can build a base of support and then continue. Kind of like giving the players some snacks to keep them busy until the steak is ready. Bad for parents but not too bad when it comes to game development and you'll never put as much effort into buying snacks as you would into cooking a steak supper.

 

[Satori6]

As I understand, tags are added whenever something is present in the game, even if just for a second.

If you applied the same logic to a TV show, Game of Thrones could get the "church burning" tag if that was a kink, and then the player (or viewer in this case) would spend countless seasons with none of it only for it to happen once later on.

This could be fixed or at least improved in a somewhat simple way: along with each tag, request the submitter to mention how prevalent the content for that tag is on a scale of 1-5 (1 being "it happens once or twice" and 5 being "almost every other scene"), then simply color-code the tags and sort them based on frequency.

This would allow people to avoid games with tags that are deal breakers for them, all without misleading the rest of the players who may be looking for particular kinks.

 

[anne O'nymous]

This part I disagree with because it assumes the dev's have full control over the game thread and the tags added. That is not true though, members can and have requested tags get added and removed. This is why I mentioned that tags do not apply to any given character because the tag rules say you can only add tags that are in the game. So it's not to raise expectations for content with the main cast, just content you can find in the game.

This have to be weighted.

When the thread is created, it generally have a list of tags that do not apply to the current content. Devs tend to list all what they want to put in the game, and when it's not them who create the thread, it's still the tags they used on their Patreon, or whatever, page that will be used ; moderators/uploaders don't have the time to play every games they've to deal with.
After some time the tags list will generally be more precise, because updated by member request. But it need for the game to be popular enough among members that care to help, and not just among those who are only here to consume.
Also, asking for tag removal is less frequent, because most can't be totally sure that it's not simply a content that they happen behind a choice, or route, that they haven't followed.

I'm sure lots of players are left unsatisfied but that is in the players hands, it is up to each player to decide if the game has more enjoyable parts than not and whether to continue.

+1

The more the community grow in number, the more every single one of the games available here have chance to find a significant number of players. And with now more than 6 millions members, I'm pretty sure that each game have at least a thousand regulars. It's just that it don't really show with the numbers, because less than 5% of the members are effectively active, the others just being here to download what interest them.

As an example, I think the milf in AWAM is REALLY sexy but the downsides of that game for me personally outweigh the upsides so I chose to stop playing.

+1 here too.

She's sexy, but god what an idiot. And it's something that have to be took into account. Whatever how sexy a player can find a character, it will not do it if he pass his time to facepalm because of the story, writing, character building, or whatever other reason.
What doesn't mean that the game is bad. Everyone have his own expectation, and there's people who will not be bothered by what bother others.

Unfortunately this is the case, even with simple ones like having a love and a corruption route this can happen but in order to reach the largest audience possible this is the path many games follow.

I'm not sure that it's solely to reach a larger audience.

Take a game like Karlsson's Gambit by example. Strictly speaking the game have at least two dozen possible routes. Yet it don't have a bigger audience because of this, because all of them rely mostly on Femdom, what drastically limits the possibilities ; unlike your love/corruption example, that target two difference audiences.
But in the same time, it's those routes that make the game enjoyable, precisely because it feel like an effective Choose Your Own Adventure, and not a kinetic novel hidden behind meaningless choices.
If you compare with Dreams of Desire by example, you feel the difference. In this game, you've choices, but the only effective impact they have in the story is the sex scenes you'll have and the 1 minute ending scene. This while in Karlsson's Gambit, the story will goes from a slave MC to almost free MC, depending of your choices.

But of course, to achieve this, you need more time to build an update. In exchange, the players have a better experience because he have an effective impact on the story.

I think, the intention behind them is to quiet most of the louder players complaining about lack of content so the game can build a base of support and then continue. Kind of like giving the players some snacks to keep them busy until the steak is ready. Bad for parents but not too bad when it comes to game development and you'll never put as much effort into buying snacks as you would into cooking a steak supper.

+1 again.

Ask Hopes Gaming what he think about this... There's a reason why he almost never log in between two updates. The DeLuca Family needed 5 (or was it 6, I don't remember precisely) before the first sex scene to happen. And of course, the more the time was passing, the louder were the "what a fucking lame game that have no sex" apostles. And he's far to be the only one in this case.
Story driven games need times before the sex happen, because the characters aren't animals in heat, as well as because the story and characters need to be installed. And some devs fall for the easy route, adding a slutty friend/neighbor, when they don't rely on wet dreams, to put sexual content earlier in the game.

 

[morphnet]

This have to be weighted.

When the thread is created, it generally have a list of tags that do not apply to the current content. Devs tend to list all what they want to put in the game, and when it's not them who create the thread, it's still the tags they used on their Patreon, or whatever, page that will be used ; moderators/uploaders don't have the time to play every games they've to deal with.
After some time the tags list will generally be more precise, because updated by member request. But it need for the game to be popular enough among members that care to help, and not just among those who are only here to consume.
Also, asking for tag removal is less frequent, because most can't be totally sure that it's not simply a content that they happen behind a choice, or route, that they haven't followed.

This is true but many games here aren't uploaded / updated by the dev's, so it's up to the uploader / thread owner to list them.
Some even have a message in their OP about "not condoning the sharing of the game but they want to be involved with them community..." So the amount of cases where this happens is limited.

So I agree with you but only in the cases where the dev has ownership of the thread and has been in control from the start.

I'm not sure that it's solely to reach a larger audience.

Take a game like Karlsson's Gambit by example. Strictly speaking the game have at least two dozen possible routes. Yet it don't have a bigger audience because of this, because all of them rely mostly on Femdom, what drastically limits the possibilities ; unlike your love/corruption example, that target two difference audiences.
But in the same time, it's those routes that make the game enjoyable, precisely because it feel like an effective Choose Your Own Adventure, and not a kinetic novel hidden behind meaningless choices.
If you compare with Dreams of Desire by example, you feel the difference. In this game, you've choices, but the only effective impact they have in the story is the sex scenes you'll have and the 1 minute ending scene. This while in Karlsson's Gambit, the story will goes from a slave MC to almost free MC, depending of your choices.

But of course, to achieve this, you need more time to build an update. In exchange, the players have a better experience because he have an effective impact on the story.

I do agree that in many cases it's not solely to reach a larger audience but it does seem to be a major factor. If a game includes many different kinks and some even on the opposite sides of the scale, there is only a slim chance that a small audience will like a large combination of those kinks together. The more kinks and / or variety of LI's a game has, the larger the audience the game is trying to appeal to.

For this I was picturing games like "life in santa county", "no more money" and "photo hunt" on the one hand and on the other "grandma's house", "man of the house" and "a family venture".

In the first group the routes are clearly marked/separated and still allow for some to little crossover, with the second group the routes are not separated and are dependent on characters, with options to turn on off kinks like watersports and "the one that shall not be named " this let's the games reach a larger audience as far less of the characters are not locked behind kinks.

Even with just those two routes, there is an increase in requests like "I want more watersports in the love route" or "I want more outdoor sex in the corruption route" etc.

+1 again.

Ask Hopes Gaming what he think about this... There's a reason why he almost never log in between two updates. The DeLuca Family needed 5 (or was it 6, I don't remember precisely) before the first sex scene to happen. And of course, the more the time was passing, the louder were the "what a fucking lame game that have no sex" apostles. And he's far to be the only one in this case.
Story driven games need times before the sex happen, because the characters aren't animals in heat, as well as because the story and characters need to be installed. And some devs fall for the easy route, adding a slutty friend/neighbor, when they don't rely on wet dreams, to put sexual content earlier in the game.

This makes me think of "Grandma's House", it's only at 0.40 and some people have been moaning for awhile now that there is no sex with nana. There is a ton a sex with sexy side and some main characters, a lot of kinks, the dev give good quality / amount of content per update and updates twice a month and yet some people still moan
"Chasing sunsets" also added sex with the.... sorry wiping up the drool... REALLY sexy sister late but added scenes with other early too. In both cases the timing felt right but are good examples of not being able to please everyone.