Deceiving Your Audience - How?

[lazymunchlax]

I've got a hundred ideas, and some day I might actually start trying to actually convert them into stories, perhaps even VNs.

Now, in a book, I know how to easily mislead or even deceive my audience for the final plot. When said deception is regarding Fetishes though, I'm not sure how to apply that to VNs.

When a VN ends up here, it has tags on it marking the content. That will tell the audience what to expect and what not to expect.

For example, lets assume I want to add drama to a story and allude that a character might be cheating on the MC. Lets assume this is a big plot point. If I dont post NTR or such as a kink, or post some kind of warning, will people even believe it'll actually happen? Will the loss of that "Risk" be guaranteed to anyone? And will it likely cause people to simply drop it in a panic fear that there might be unskippable NTR content when there is in fact none?

If so, is there any method to counter this or am I just going to have to accept that a portion of any audience that play it will lose some of the suspense / risk by knowing in advance it wont go the path I'm alluding to?

Applies to other Kinks or Dark themes.

 

[Dicks McKenzie]

Yeah, that's the rub of tag based referencing system.

I wouldn't worry too much about people dropping the game if they think a game is going to have "abrasive" content. Usually they drop things after they've seen it happen. E.g. - if you allude to cheating happening but then it doesn't actually happen, people who don't like cheating content aren't likely to complain, heck some of them might even enjoy how close it got whilst remaining safe.

Inversely - if you tag a scenario with something that doesn't actually happen (using the example above where no cheating actually took place) then the people who came in expecting that to be there will be disappointed that it wasn't - something we've seen happen recently with a certain big game

A lot of the suspense can be lost going in if you know what sort of things will happen, but the upside is you never know when/where they'll happen.
For example - if your game/story/whatever gets tagged 'NTR' then sure, the audience knows some shit is going to go down at some point. But they don't know how or why.
And that's the golden ticket that you, the author, get to write. If you make your story compelling enough that the NTR (or whatever trouble fetish you're going for) isn't predictable then the desired effect will still be there - even though people knew it was going to happen going in.

It's also worth mentioning that there are some people that won't engage with your scenario at all if it has a fetish/theme they don't find appealing (again let's go with the classic - NTR) but that's just the law of the jungle, not much you can really do to change that. And indeed some people will ONLY engage with your scenario if it has what they want.

Don't sweat it too much amigo. Write the story you want to write, with the themes you think work best. If people find it interesting they'll stick with it, tags be damned.

 

[Icarus Media]

I'd be wary of doing this, there are a myriad of forum sh*tstorms where someone has been 'Surprised' and goes off on one ranting and raving.

The difference usually in a book vs VN is the level of pacing that authors often do. What causes shi*storms are when it's completely out of the blue with no warning. Now a simple tag on here there's no issue, the tag was there they choose to read the tags or not. But if you mean surprise as in playing a lovely dating sim, no NTR tag, you come home and BAM someone is on top of your girl. Yeah people will hate that, unless they are into that which if they don't know it's a possibility probably wont be playing your game, I.e People who think its a dating sim will play it, if NTR people see the tag they will play it. Surprises tend not to go over well.

However....

There are ways you can subtly do it, So for example you can have slight stepping stones, let's say for example you had a futa character in a novel or in a VN, even with the Futa tag you can make it a surprise. Little things like the character disappearing off to the bathroom during volleyball practice, or things like spotting a bulge and the audience thinking "is that a dick or just a fold in the trousers?" It's subtle, still maintains the surprise since the audience cannot know for certain and serves alongside the tag as a potential warning. Too many though make it an instant surprise, such as entering a unisex shower and Whoah she has a massive dong. So it can be done, just little hints to build up to it. You can even pull a double bluff and have it so the audience suspects something like one of the girls is a futa but end up thinking it's one girl to find out it's actually another, as long as there is some hint there IS one somewhere then it usually is enough warning.

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

I thought this was another thread about ICSTOR.

Also, if you try to write your game in a way that keeps the myriads of autistic fan and hate groups on this site happy you will just go insane. The only "surprise" in adult gaming I can remember was the incredibly stupid twist in Acting Lessons. It was pretty polarizing, but I guess it worked out for the dev in the long run and now he gets all the Patreon shekels because to simpletons ass-pulled drama and twists are high art because "wow, it's so different."

 

[khumak]

Depends on what you mean when you say deceive your audience. If you're talking about plot twists, I think most people consider that a good thing. It needs to make sense still, but I like it when a story plays out differently than I thought it would.

Fetishes are a whole different thing though. For an adult game most people have certain fetishes that they're into and they seek out games that have those fetishes. They expect that game to have those fetishes, not some other stuff they have no interest in.

So pulling a bait and switch and showcasing one set of fetishes in your promotional screenshots/etc and then hiding the fact that half way through the game you're going to bring out futa/gay stuff or something is not going to gain you any fans. Whatever fetishes you advertised originally is what I expect to be in there throughout the entire game. Doesn't matter what the fetish is, don't add new ones or discontinue old ones half way through. Nobody wants that.

Same goes for body type. If all the girls in your screenshots have massive tits and fat asses then it should stay that way through the whole game. If they're all slim and athletic in the promo screenshots then it should stay that way through the whole game. People generally prefer specific body types. If I'm into giant tits then athletic builds probably won't do it for me and vice versa.

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

Doesn't matter what the fetish is, don't add new ones or discontinue old ones half way through. Nobody wants that.

That depends on the fetish. As long as it's not one of the more polarizing ones like NTR, nobody is going to be like "omfg, this guy added a footjob when there was no footjob tag from the beginning! UNSUBSCRIBE!" I mean, maybe someone will, but he's a weirdo and nobody should care.

Same goes for body type. If all the girls in your screenshots have massive tits and fat asses then it should stay that way through the whole game. If they're all slim and athletic in the promo screenshots then it should stay that way through the whole game. People generally prefer specific body types. If I'm into giant tits then athletic builds probably won't do it for me and vice versa.

That seems insanely restrictive and boring to me. Games that feature women who literally all have the exact same body type are already boring and lazy to begin with, so stay boring if you want, I guess.

 

[Cryswar]

Same goes for body type. If all the girls in your screenshots have massive tits and fat asses then it should stay that way through the whole game. If they're all slim and athletic in the promo screenshots then it should stay that way through the whole game. People generally prefer specific body types. If I'm into giant tits then athletic builds probably won't do it for me and vice versa.

I'd politely disagree with that one. While you can certainly make a game work with ONLY gigantic tits, having a decent variety has its strengths. It lets more than just one group enjoy the game, and even for those who prefer one type, not everyone always wants solely the exact same body type all the time. Some days I'm in the mood for tig ol bitties, some days I want some petite angel, or somewhere in between. Or it can be more about the fetish; I really like the cowgirl position in art/animations, so big or small tits don't matter much in that context.

That said, if you want to make a game solely about tig ol bitties, that's fine too. I don't think Spooky Milk Life has any tits that are below the size of a character's head, and while usually I dislike that scale, that game made it work pretty well imo.

Whatever fetishes you advertised originally is what I expect to be in there throughout the entire game. Doesn't matter what the fetish is, don't add new ones or discontinue old ones half way through. Nobody wants that.

That one I disagree with fundamentally. Maybe it was just supposed to be an extension of 'don't add surprise NTR', but the way it's worded suggests that adding any new fetishes at all is a bad thing. Whether it's a Patreon piecemeal game or a polished 1.0 that eventually gets a content patch, simply by the nature of development, new fetishes WILL be added throughout the game's progress. Just because a game doesn't launch with a cowgirl scene doesn't mean it can't get added, and even larger-scale fetishes can be added or altered as game development continues to progress and things work unexpectedly well or something doesn't work out that well.

That said, I agree with the general idea that advertising intended fetishes truthfully and as fully as possible from the start is ideal behavior, and I THINK that's what you meant, but wasn't sure.

 

[khumak]

That depends on the fetish. As long as it's not one of the more polarizing ones like NTR, nobody is going to be like "omfg, this guy added a footjob when there was no footjob tag from the beginning! UNSUBSCRIBE!" I mean, maybe someone will, but he's a weirdo and nobody should care.

My point was that most people want to see lots of the stuff they like, not a small number of things they like and a bunch of stuff they don't care about. So if the promo stuff for the game checks all the right boxes as far as the fetishes you like but then everything changes after the first few updates to something else you're probably going to be a lot less interested. That doesn't even take into account that there are some deal breakers for a lot of people so if you happen to add one of those that wasn't in the promo stuff it most likely will lead to a rage/quit for a lot of people.

That seems insanely restrictive and boring to me. Games that feature women who literally all have the exact same body type are already boring and lazy to begin with, so stay boring if you want, I guess.

They don't have to all be exactly the same. I'm talking more about having a reasonable range for body types. In my case I like realistic proportions that could be achieved through diet and excersize without implants or steroids. That's a fairly large range.

I don't like exaggerated proportions personally. Some people do. The people who do generally want to see a lot of it. I can overlook 1 or 2 examples of it if I like most of the rest, but once you exceed a certain range of proportions that character is completely ruined for me. So just like I don't have any interest in girls with basketball sized tits, I also don't have any interest in guys built like the hulk with baseball bat sized dicks. Some people like that, and that's fine. My point is that mixing extremes is counterproductive.

 

[lazymunchlax]

So pulling a bait and switch and showcasing one set of fetishes in your promotional screenshots/etc and then hiding the fact that half way through the game you're going to bring out futa/gay stuff or something is not going to gain you any fans.

Yeah, I'm not pulling a bait n switch on kinks. I'm not saying "Here's a game for feet lovers" than not including it.

I mean where a Narrative element coincides with being a sexual kink.

Examples:
NTR Risk. Suspecting that a love interest is "Cheating" on you can be a key story moment, regardless of whether it happens or not, though if it does happen, it can be an integral plot point. Yet, sense would dictate that if I were to actually have you be cheated on, I have to make you aware of it which lessons the impact.

Incest. Long lost family member. You meet someone and there are subtle hints you might be related. I can drop hints all damn day, but it's only the "Potential" or "Risk" (Depending on whether you like that) which impacts the narrative, yet requires me to explicitly state in advance whether it happens, once again lessening the risk and removing the "Risk" and giving you a predetermined guarantee.

Betrayal as a concept can factor into several types of kinks, NTR at the forefront, yet it could also accumulate in simply who another person has sex with irregardless of your relationship to them. Let me give you a BFF who you can't sex, now depending on your choices said BFF might end up dating the game Asshole that you despise, and may act against your best interest at said assholes behest, because you have been betrayed, but not cucked, I wouldn't necessarily class that as NTR, Right? Yet the emotional baggage it plays upon is so similar to NTR that people might argue it's the same.

In the case of Acting Lessons, that twist had nothing do with sexual fetishes and was exclusive regarding emotion. It was an emotional play based on Trauma. Thus, irrelevant to my discussion here which focuses on Important Narrative elements I want to Hint at, put the thought that it might be possible into your head, or catch you off guard with, but I can't because I have to explicitly state it's going to happen.

What's exactly wrong with me having a Trans character (Futa if you must) that you can make out with, get blown by etc. And only discover the truth by 2 paths, 1) Emotional convo or 2) You get her pants off. Either way, you can ALWAYS back out of the sexual interaction and say no to more, yet apparently, I'd have to pre-warn you of her Sex before hand, while putting that tag on my game tells you that there is at least ONE "Trap" character waiting for you.

I gather there is nothing that can be done, if someone wants to know explicitly whats in the game, they can find out from anyone that's played it, and I'll have to accept certain narrative elements will be lessened or ignored, but I am disappointed at the notion that people will be put off by it all.

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

My point was that most people want to see lots of the stuff they like, not a small number of things they like and a bunch of stuff they don't care about. So if the promo stuff for the game checks all the right boxes as far as the fetishes you like but then everything changes after the first few updates to something else you're probably going to be a lot less interested. That doesn't even take into account that there are some deal breakers for a lot of people so if you happen to add one of those that wasn't in the promo stuff it most likely will lead to a rage/quit for a lot of people.

Adding a scene with a certain fetish doesn't equate to "everything changing" though. You have a weird all or nothing approach that really makes no sense. Unless you're looking for a super specific "one fetish" focused game, adding like a titjob scene in v0.3 isn't going to make anyone go "OMG I WAS HERE FOR ANAL SEX, THIS IS DISGUSTING."

So just like I don't have any interest in girls with basketball sized tits, I also don't have any interest in guys built like the hulk with baseball bat sized dicks. Some people like that, and that's fine. My point is that mixing extremes is counterproductive.

Okay, you never said anything about extremes though, you straight up said that you shouldn't mix body types.

 

[lazymunchlax]

Depends on what you mean when you say deceive your audience. If you're talking about plot twists, I think most people consider that a good thing. It needs to make sense still, but I like it when a story plays out differently than I thought it would.

Fetishes are a whole different thing though. For an adult game most people have certain fetishes that they're into and they seek out games that have those fetishes. They expect that game to have those fetishes, not some other stuff they have no interest in.

So pulling a bait and switch and showcasing one set of fetishes in your promotional screenshots/etc and then hiding the fact that half way through the game you're going to bring out futa/gay stuff or something is not going to gain you any fans. Whatever fetishes you advertised originally is what I expect to be in there throughout the entire game. Doesn't matter what the fetish is, don't add new ones or discontinue old ones half way through. Nobody wants that.

Same goes for body type. If all the girls in your screenshots have massive tits and fat asses then it should stay that way through the whole game. If they're all slim and athletic in the promo screenshots then it should stay that way through the whole game. People generally prefer specific body types. If I'm into giant tits then athletic builds probably won't do it for me and vice versa.

Read my last post. I'm not lying about the content of my game.

 

[khumak]

Yeah, I'm not pulling a bait n switch on kinks. I'm not saying "Here's a game for feet lovers" than not including it.

I mean where a Narrative element coincides with being a sexual kink.

Examples:
NTR Risk. Suspecting that a love interest is "Cheating" on you can be a key story moment, regardless of whether it happens or not, though if it does happen, it can be an integral plot point. Yet, sense would dictate that if I were to actually have you be cheated on, I have to make you aware of it which lessons the impact.

Incest. Long lost family member. You meet someone and there are subtle hints you might be related. I can drop hints all damn day, but it's only the "Potential" or "Risk" (Depending on whether you like that) which impacts the narrative, yet requires me to explicitly state in advance whether it happens, once again lessening the risk and removing the "Risk" and giving you a predetermined guarantee.

Betrayal as a concept can factor into several types of kinks, NTR at the forefront, yet it could also accumulate in simply who another person has sex with irregardless of your relationship to them. Let me give you a BFF who you can't sex, now depending on your choices said BFF might end up dating the game Asshole that you despise, and may act against your best interest at said assholes behest, because you have been betrayed, but not cucked, I wouldn't necessarily class that as NTR, Right? Yet the emotional baggage it plays upon is so similar to NTR that people might argue it's the same.

In the case of Acting Lessons, that twist had nothing do with sexual fetishes and was exclusive regarding emotion. It was an emotional play based on Trauma. Thus, irrelevant to my discussion here which focuses on Important Narrative elements I want to Hint at, put the thought that it might be possible into your head, or catch you off guard with, but I can't because I have to explicitly state it's going to happen.

What's exactly wrong with me having a Trans character (Futa if you must) that you can make out with, get blown by etc. And only discover the truth by 2 paths, 1) Emotional convo or 2) You get her pants off. Either way, you can ALWAYS back out of the sexual interaction and say no to more, yet apparently, I'd have to pre-warn you of her Sex before hand, while putting that tag on my game tells you that there is at least ONE "Trap" character waiting for you.

I gather there is nothing that can be done, if someone wants to know explicitly whats in the game, they can find out from anyone that's played it, and I'll have to accept certain narrative elements will be lessened or ignored, but I am disappointed at the notion that people will be put off by it all.

I think most fetishes fall into the category of things that people can overlook if they don't like it as long as there is other stuff in there that they do like. But there are also some things that fall into the "hell no" category that people will not touch with a 10 foot pole if they know it's there. But my "hell no" fetishes might very well be your "yes, give me more!" fetishes. If I know it's there I can avoid it and if you know it's there you'll be more likely to find it and play it. Everybody wins.

In my case gay/futa is a deal breaker. I won't play it if it's in there and it ruins the game for me if I stumble into even one of those scenes so unless I can guarantee that I can avoid it, it's not worth risking for me. Some people like it and that's fine. Footjobs fall into the don't care category for me. Doesn't do anything for me but I can ignore it if it's in there. If there's a lot of it though then I'm probably going to lose interest and move on to something that has more fetishes that I do like. The key is knowing what's in there so I can either seek it out because it has stuff I like or avoid it because it doesn't.

Someone else would very likely have entirely different things that are dealbreakers. Someone looking for pure lesbo stuff for instance might decide that blowjob scenes are a dealbreaker for them.

I also think a lot of fetishes kind of fall into related groups. For instance people who like blowjobs probably also like to see other things involving the mouth. People who like footjobs probably like other stuff showcasing feet. People who like bondage probably like things like domination or submission. Things like that. I think it makes sense to focus on themes that are related.

 

[Cryswar]

What's exactly wrong with me having a Trans character (Futa if you must) that you can make out with, get blown by etc. And only discover the truth by 2 paths, 1) Emotional convo or 2) You get her pants off. Either way, you can ALWAYS back out of the sexual interaction and say no to more, yet apparently, I'd have to pre-warn you of her Sex before hand, while putting that tag on my game tells you that there is at least ONE "Trap" character waiting for you.

I gather there is nothing that can be done, if someone wants to know explicitly whats in the game, they can find out from anyone that's played it, and I'll have to accept certain narrative elements will be lessened or ignored, but I am disappointed at the notion that people will be put off by it all.

I think it comes down to - an H game can have a story, and that an be one of its primary pulls, but people want to satisfy their fetishes and (if they have any dealbreakers) avoid dealbreakers. NTR, futa, rape, loli, and certain other fetishes tend to be absolute dealbreakers for a vocal group - if it's a minority or a majority, I don't know, simply that they tend to be very vocal groups.

If I loathed loli, I wouldn't really give a fuck what kind of story you were trying to tell; if you tried to surprise me with loli content, whether or not I could back out after seeing her naked, I would not be pleased - especially if that happened to be illegal in my country. Now, I personally have no issue with loli within reason, but you can extend that same example to NTR, futa, etc. and I guarantee you'll get as strong or stronger reactions.

Trying to be coy about NTR or futa and refusing to tag them is simply setting yourself up for trouble in the future. Suck it up, use the tags, and write the game however you want, with as much mystery and surprise as you want. Then if anyone has a problem with it, you can shrug, point at the tags, and ignore them.

Respect is a two-way street. You can write your game however you want, with as much NTR or futa/trans/loli/etc as you want. In turn, you should also respect people wanting to know what they're getting into.

 

[lazymunchlax]

Respect is a two-way street. You can write your game however you want, with as much NTR or futa/trans/loli/etc as you want. In turn, you should also respect people wanting to know what they're getting into.

Honestly? It was mostly about hinting the possibility but not including it. I want to entice your interest to find out more, while make you worried it's true.

Hints that your wife is your sister. Eventually you find out she isn't.
Hints that your girlfriend is younger than she looks. Eventually you find out she isn't.
Hints that your girlfriend / Wife is cheating on you. She's not, but you don't know that.
Hints that your partner used to be a man / still has a dick.

Ultimately, the content doesn't exist, I'm talking from Purely a narrative perspective. I want to worry you for a bit that it might exist, not surprise you with content you dont want to see xD

 

[khumak]

Honestly? It was mostly about hinting the possibility but not including it. I want to entice your interest to find out more, while make you worried it's true.

Hints that your wife is your sister. Eventually you find out she isn't.
Hints that your girlfriend is younger than she looks. Eventually you find out she isn't.
Hints that your girlfriend / Wife is cheating on you. She's not, but you don't know that.
Hints that your partner used to be a man / still has a dick.

Ultimately, the content doesn't exist, I'm talking from Purely a narrative perspective. I want to worry you for a bit that it might exist, not surprise you with content you dont want to see xD

I don't see any problem with that. If the game is dropping hints that something may or may not be in there then the player is free to choose whether that's a problem for them or not. I would say however that if some of those things fall into the "dealbreaker" category for someone, they're probably just going to assume it's in there and move on. I will sometimes play a game that has 1 or 2 of my dealbreakers in it but only if I know with 100% certainty that I can avoid it. Maybe doesn't cut it.

Using cheating as an example, I freely admit to having a double standard. I enjoy games where a male MC can cheat. I do not enjoy games where a male MC is cheated ON. But I don't mind if it's a possibility that I can avoid. For other people if it's even a possibility they won't play it. By contrast if the main character is female then I have no hangups at all about cheating. The main character can cheat, she can be cheated on, or both, I don't care. The key is knowing in advance what the options are.

 

[Cryswar]

Honestly? It was mostly about hinting the possibility but not including it. I want to entice your interest to find out more, while make you worried it's true.

Hints that your wife is your sister. Eventually you find out she isn't.
Hints that your girlfriend is younger than she looks. Eventually you find out she isn't.
Hints that your girlfriend / Wife is cheating on you. She's not, but you don't know that.
Hints that your partner used to be a man / still has a dick.

Ultimately, the content doesn't exist, I'm talking from Purely a narrative perspective. I want to worry you for a bit that it might exist, not surprise you with content you dont want to see xD

That's fair. By no means am I judging the content morally, or telling you what to put in your game. If you think you have the writing chops to pull it off, I encourage you to do so! The world could use more creative and well-written H-games created with passion. Probably best to be prepared for people unhappy with the implications, though. Even the slightest hint of NTR is enough to set some people off.

 

[sillyrobot]

Honestly? It was mostly about hinting the possibility but not including it. I want to entice your interest to find out more, while make you worried it's true.

Hints that your wife is your sister. Eventually you find out she isn't.
Hints that your girlfriend is younger than she looks. Eventually you find out she isn't.
Hints that your girlfriend / Wife is cheating on you. She's not, but you don't know that.
Hints that your partner used to be a man / still has a dick.

Ultimately, the content doesn't exist, I'm talking from Purely a narrative perspective. I want to worry you for a bit that it might exist, not surprise you with content you dont want to see xD

Hints that your girlfriend may be younger than she looks can still get people in legal trouble even if the narrative arc ends up saying she isn't. Laws wrt to obscenity -- especially pedophilia -- are regional and should not be danced around.

 

[khumak]

One of the games I'm working on is actually based on a similar idea of not giving the player the full picture of what's going on until the end. In my case the game is based on the consequences of trusting (or not trusting) your partner. I think it can work as long as the player knows in advance that this is what the game is about.

So to use a scene from my game as an example, the villain in my story is a rich MILF who likes to play mind games with people. The protagonist is a female character (FC) with a business idea who is trying to find an investor. Rich lady offers to provide the investment FC wants in exchange for a week with FC's hubby. They still get to see each other, but if she agrees to it, every night rich lady comes and picks up hubby to do as she pleases with (the implication being that she wants to fuck him). Initially you only get to see what's going on from FC's perspective so you don't know what hubby is doing when rich lady comes and picks him up.

Rich lady likes to play mind games though. So she will set up twisted scenarios for both of them to make deals and decisions that will affect what's going to happen. For instance, one of the days that rich lady comes to pick up hubby, she brings two young smoking hot babes with her and sends them to her limo with hubby. She shows FC video footage of them in the limo from a video camera she has set up. Both babes are all over him but mostly just kissing and fondling initially. At this point rich lady tells FC she has a choice to make. Either she can watch the two of them suck him off right here and now, at which point he gets out of the limo and he's hers for the rest of the night, or she turns off the video camera, hubby continues on his way to rich lady's place and FC gets to wonder what hubby is doing for the rest of the night.

Does she trust him? Could he resist the temptation? Would she rather take the sure thing and give him a free pass on the blowjob? Or does she say fuck it and blow up the whole deal?

Then at the end, you get to see the story from hubby's perspective. She gets to find out what really happened. Did all the nightmare scenarios she conjured up in her mind if she trusted him come true? Or was he a good boy who remained faithful? Hubby has similar choices to make as well that can put FC in compromising situations and the player gets to temporarily take control of him to make those decisions.

 

[DuniX]

You need Choices, Consequences and Possibilities if you want to give the Player a surprise with tags on.

You need to present your project as anything can be possible and there is content for everyone to chose from.
And choices having "Real Consequences" aka make them Think the bad content only happens because its Their Fault.

But if you mean surprise as in playing a lovely dating sim, no NTR tag, you come home and BAM someone is on top of your girl.

For a Dating Sim if you have multiple girls you can pursue you can add a few red herrings while misdirecting the player that the girl he is pursuing is safe.

You also don't need to use Tags if you don't really want to.
Understand what Function Tags serve, as Advertisement for people who look for that Content, and as a Warning for people who don't like that Content and what to Filter that out.
If the story and drama is appealing enough to get people through that Controversial Content and can handle a few negative reviews(although players could be spoiled by those reviews) you can do it without Tags.
If it's your mission to make it a Surprise, then getting a Reaction and its Consequences should be something you expect.

Can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[raMasters]

I think the thing is that you still want to write for your audience.

Like if I get excited because there's some hints that the story's going in a way I'm interested in, then find out it's not going there, that leads to a disappointing experience. And if someone is turned off because of hints it's going in a way they're not interested in, they might just stop playing. I don't think it's a winning scenario for either party, and I don't think it will lend itself to good word of mouth.

I think there's ways of building intrigue in a way that excites your target audience rather than alienates/disappoints it, it just will require you to think about what your audience is looking for in the experience.