A shame then i really like the rest of the game and is gonna scare a lot people in your future game i hope you at least learn that going for shock and dark endings when the game wasnt going that route out of nothing dosent work . Sorry if i sound very rude but this was like when you have a son that you see a lot of poetential starts going drugs and lost his opportunity of having a great succes in life .
- Thread starter Seacth
- Start date
I like your game and I don't have a problem with the ending per-se.
I understand that you feel this is your story, and it is. However, people get invested in characters and get sad if they die.
But I don't see why you would be against a player choice to give the players the one they want. I remember the game Acting Lessons, and how bad that game made me feel... why couldn't the developer give the choice to save both? People begged him to give the choice.... he never did... And I have never played another of his games. Because I just figured he would do it again and make me feel like shit.
Maybe you feel that you need to have this ending, But for me I like happily ever after endings. Because there is already enough sadness and pain in the real world.
peace
There is a difference between criticizing (giving a thought out opinion) and belittle the game and by association the dev (including the creative choices being made).
Just because the ending is not satisfying for you or the bigger portion of the player there is no reason to simply slander.
Did seacth justify the ending because he felt he was misunderstood or because he did not expect this kind of reaction?
We don't know.
Did seacth update the ending to appease the fanbase? (I did not play the update yet!)
Possibly.
If multiple games from the same dev receive a "bad" review, naturally either the narrative development will improve in order to find resonance with the fanbase or the dev will sink (financally) as he loses his subscriber base.
What the key take away is: The dev reacted by giving his two cents about his choice of ending. Furthermore an update dropped extending the game.
This is something, that is NOT given for many devs in either the "official" market, e.g. ubisoft, or the NSFW market.
Best course of action is just to give a well-put feedback (be it negative or positive) and put this issue to rest.
It's alright, man, I've been called many things. I don't see it that way, but I understand your POV, and I'll make sure to make a better job of it if I ever do a sudden shift on any of my games, so the player wouldn't feel like it happened out of the blue.
I love Acting Lessons, and that ending only made me love it even more. It was surprising and impactful and if we're talking about it today it's 'cause of that ending. Also, no one dies in my ending, everything turns out well in the end.
I have seen the furore here over the recent ending to this game. I haven't played yet due to other commitments but the following lines came to mind;
- Cassandra: Varric, how could you let the Knight-Captain be framed for murder?
- Varric: Well, I did spent three entire chapters setting it up.
- Cassandra: But she didn't deserve it! You'd already put her through more than enough!
- Varric: Look, Seeker, if you love a character, you give them pain, ruin their lives, make them suffer. Maybe even throw in a heroic death.
- Cassandra: That makes no sense!
- Varric: You care enough to argue. If she had a nice afternoon and took a nap, you'd stop reading.
"Being happy all the time gets old real quick", when it comes to media that doesn't mean having to completely play god to completely fuck with the narrative out of nowhere just to introduce conflict or have some literally last second "character development". Especially not for such an important thing like an ending. It's like if in real life someone is living their best life, but someone out there went "hey! I got bored so I gave you super cancer now! I'm sure after months or years of treatment you'll learn to love life more when you recover! teehee!"
Hell, you said that the ending was supposed to be even more brutal, but something must have stopped you from going through with that. Whether that was higher paying supporters not liking that idea, maybe someone you talked to about it advising against it, or maybe you yourself realized that doing so would be the epitome of stupidity. In the end, your mind was made up to follow through with something so undesirable even if it had to be toned down.
If this ending is truly the way you lovingly wish to end the piece of creative work you spent 4 years of your life on, and it left you yourself satisfied, then good for you. In the same way you spent those 4 years working on this, a lot of people on here followed and enjoyed your work for that long as well. Some from the beginning, others just recently. So despite this being a game people get to graciously experience for free, it doesn't mean their voices and opinions should be invalidated. You can see for yourself how many people were left completely upset by this ending. For many, the ending is truly a big stain on an otherwise great game and a blight that will inevitably remain with you as dev moving forward.
At the end of the day, it's not that deep, life goes on. Everyone has creative liberty, so if this is not quite your perfect ending but a satisfactory enough ending for a work I'd assume you still care about; then all we the players can do is accept that, since at this point it seems like you are dead set on leaving things unchanged. You have that right.
Good luck on your next game, may it serve as a good distraction towards the backlash because I can't imagine it being easy seeing such criticism by so many.
Varric my GOAT. But I must say my ending lacks a lot on the setting it up department, but I'm always improving.
Didn't you know you need to eat shit to know what good food is?
The reason there was backlash was because there was no set up in this. It came completely out of nowhere and was executed poorly. If it was handled well then it could have been memorable, but it simply wasn't which is why people call it a bad ending despite the mc getting his "happy ever after".
You are probably right i delete my comment i was extra mean whitout i reason i guess that i really liked the game but hated the ending .
I still think he can make a comeback retcon the ending and save a really good game but thats decision of the dev.
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I already told everyone that I could've done a better job at setting this ending up with giving clues about Sarah's mother and whatnot, but the ending would still be the same, I honestly don't want to change anything about it."Being happy all the time gets old real quick", when it comes to media that doesn't mean having to completely play god to completely fuck with the narrative out of nowhere just to introduce conflict or have some literally last second "character development". Especially not for such an important thing like an ending. It's like if in real life someone is living their best life, but someone out there went "hey! I got bored so I gave you super cancer now! I'm sure after months or years of treatment you'll learn to love life more when you recover! teehee!"
Hell, you said that the ending was supposed to be even more brutal, but something must have stopped you from going through with that. Whether that was higher paying supporters not liking that idea, maybe someone you talked to about it advising against it, or maybe you yourself realized that doing so would be the epitome of stupidity. In the end, your mind was made up to follow through with something so undesirable even if it had to be toned down.
If this ending is truly the way you lovingly wish to end the piece of creative work you spent 4 years of your life on, and it left you yourself satisfied, then good for you. In the same way you spent those 4 years working on this, a lot of people on here followed and enjoyed your work for that long as well. Some from the beginning, others just recently. So despite this being a game people get to graciously experience for free, it doesn't mean their voices and opinions should be invalidated. You can see for yourself how many people were left completely upset by this ending. For many, the ending is truly a big stain on an otherwise great game and a blight that will inevitably remain with you as dev moving forward.
At the end of the day, it's not that deep, life goes on. Everyone has creative liberty, so if this is not quite your perfect ending but a satisfactory enough ending for a work I'd assume you still care about; then all we the players can do is accept that, since at this point it seems like you are dead set on leaving things unchanged. You have that right.
Good luck on your next game, may it serve as a good distraction towards the backlash because I can't imagine it being easy seeing such criticism by so many.
Also, my initial, more brutal ending didn't give Serena any chance to give MC a goodbye, and had any clues about where did she go, but other than that nothing is changed.
I don't invalidate any voices, if I did that I would never be here in the first place, and the thing most people complain about is not even the lack of setup. They're mad 'cause they don't want anything sad or tragic happening on this happy harem game. They just want the perfect happy harem life, and even if I had the perfect setup for the shooting scene, most people would still complain about not having an option to prevent it to achieve the perfect happy ending, they even want an ending where MC fixes Sarah's mother a mental psycho bitch.
There's no winning here, you either follow the script they want and make their ending, or just become a bad dev I guess?
"There is no winning here"
I don't see how making an option to prevent the shooting would count as losing. Do you lose because you caved to people's demands? Do you lose because it's extra work on an otherwise finished game? Do you lose because you see it as compromising your creative vision? Do you lose by adding choices on a literal visual novel that, while currently locked into the harem route due to the lack of solo endings, isn't a kinetic novel otherwise?
I do get that to you, it probably very much feels like there is no winning here. Considering how recently and for how long this has been discussed. You're still "lost in the sauce". Things haven't really dialed down yet, and looking back at your work and wanting to change it usually takes time to set in (if it ever does for some writers). Who knows how you'll feel in the future, but it's pretty obvious for right now, that things won't change anytime soon.
In the end it doesn't really matter, the people who played along through out the years have already expressed their frustrations, and the people who might have played this if not for the ending will instead get entertained by these discussions rather than downloading the game. It doesn't lose me any sleep, probably doesn't lose you any sleep, it's just another piece of media that has a sucky ending. You can't please everyone, (even if in hindsight, pleasing everyone would have been so incredibly easy in this situation).
Your ending is ok man. It's not perfect, as nothing is, and surely unexpected cause of the tone, but a decent ending overall. People will keep playing your future games.
I don't want the shooting to be optional the shooting as I explained has a lot of impact on this storyline, it gives MC a new life and gives Serena a meaningful goodbye, having anything else lessens the impact of this ending.
This is my vision for this ending, and I lose that vision if I listen to the minor but a loud part of my community which is a loss for me and if I don't change it I lose again cause that part of my community now hates me for not giving them the perfect happy ending. See? I can't win.
You have to draw a line somewhere, you can't make everything optional and add a different outcome, 'cause some people are mad. If everything was optional, this story would still be on its first chapter. I had many request for different paths in 4 years, do you think I should've listened all of them to please everyone? Of course not. I tell my story in my own way, if you like it good, if you don't, I can't do anything to change your mind.
- Oct 8, 2022
- 282
- 383
I'm not touching this game anymore, and others have stated they aren't even bothering with this update either. And with not even 100 supporters on SS, I don't envision with putting out this kind of garbage that number is going to go very much higher with this hanging over it so it'll be interesting to wait and see how bad the solo ends get botched, if and when they ever do materialize, before deciding on whether or not they're even worthy of replaying or not as the unholy dogshit that is masquerading as the main ending certainly is just not even worthy of your time.People will keep playing your future games.
Holy shit people are overreacting. The ending is fine, that is the dev's creative vision, you don't have to like it. But people are acting like they themselves got shot in the head. Maybe some people just cannot mentally handle bad things happening in their harem power fantasy escapism game, idk. I personally get the bittersweet vibe that the dev was going for, and I find it to be satisfying enough.