Dialogue choices even if they don't matter?

[Biceptual]

I like having the option to be nice or rude, even if it doesn't change the story. It's nice, though, if the characters react.

 

[hakarlman]

- Kinetic Novels are shit.
- Games with barely any choices are also shit.
- Games with choices that don't actually do or change anything are also total shit.

However, if you know of a kinetic novel or game where the choices don't mean squat and it's making tons of $$$ on Patreon, then GO FOR IT.

 

[Daruko01]

That's kinda why I like these flavor text choices a bit more if they are done as part of repeatable events rather than main story choices. I know mine is one of those weird type of things, but I've seen far too many games where exploring all dialog or choices is exhausting rather than fun. If it's just light flavor text like you said, and done infrequently, it probably wouldn't bother me much to not explore it fully. And it is hard work making writing for these games already, try not to burn yourself out. Quality can suffer when the game steers away from what you like making. I recommend this video on game critique

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Thanks for the video, it was a reaaally interesting watch, and also I've been editing in some flavour dialogue choices in my story, but kept them very sparse not to annoy players, and because my script didn't account for this so far. I'll be more mindful of this when writing the script for Chapter 2.

I like having purely flavour dialogue choices because they change the narrative (however slightly) and my perception of the character(s), especially if the next couple lines of dialogue respond to the choice I made.
I'd like at some point in the game to have a couple of meaningful choices though. Another thing with the flavour choices is that there shouldn't be way too many of them imho. A game that does flavour choices well is Price of Power, if you want to see what I'm talking about.
Other than that, what clockwork gnome said.

Makes sense, I've been putting some flavour choices based on the feedback, but I've kept them very sparse right now, because the script I had already written so far didn't account for that, and also not to put too many stops to the flow of the story and not to annoy players. I'll check this game out, thank you c:

I like having the option to be nice or rude, even if it doesn't change the story. It's nice, though, if the characters react.

Do you like only having these two options? Even if it doesn't really fit the personality of the character you're playing as?

 

[ClockworkGnome]

Do you like only having these two options? Even if it doesn't really fit the personality of the character you're playing as?

Not to speak for them, but personally I'd say it probably depends a bit on context.

Like, say you're talking to an advisor character that just seems to exude evil vizier vibes. Dialogue options in that situation might include trying to be diplomatic versus calling them out on their bullshit. In a scene where your archetypal best buddy character is talking to you about a LI, you might want options to show strong interest, be neutral, or be openly disinterested. If you're trying to comfort someone who's upset, it might be nice to be able to choose between being optimistically empathetic and making a bit of a joke to try and lighten the mood. If I'm being forced into working together with a character who has been presented as a major asshole all game, you might want to split options between begrudging acceptance and stubborn refusal (even if you get overruled or talked into an "Ok, fine!" sort of moment). Basically anything that gives the player a chance to define some aspect of the MC's personality in a way that makes them feel like they have agency, and can make the MC's character feel more complex and interesting.

But character matters, too. Constantly having wacky snarky choices like you're Nathan Drake doesn't really fit well if you're in a film noir detective story playing a character who is supposed to be a jaded PI (cynical sarcasm, sure, goofy humor, no). Choices need to fit the situation, but they also need to fit the established personality and intended story function of the main character. Otherwise they can start feeling a bit too disconnected from "reality" and break immersion a bit.

 

[Biceptual]

Do you like only having these two options? Even if it doesn't really fit the personality of the character you're playing as?

No, a range of responses is nice. With regard to the character's personality, I think that that should to some extent depend on the player. That doesn't mean that the breakfast dialogue should be "How did you sleep, honey?" and the reply "Fuck you, slut." Dialogue is situational.

 

[kristijanEX]

Choices should at least give you a different response from the person that you're talking to. So even if you don't get another scene, having some flavor text by having a couple of different text entries can at least make the choices feel worthwhile and I wouldn't mind that personally.