- Apr 10, 2018
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Another long post on the direction of the game
Hi everyone,
I've been meaning to write another post on the direction of the game for a while.
In particular about the distinction between the character paths, and the difference between the setting, and what takes place in it. Since Release 4 seems to have lead to some confusion, now is as good a time as ever to write that post. I'm going with a Q&A format to make it easily digestible.
Note that I can't talk about the direction of the game without talking about the direction of the game, so if you're concerned about spoilers and you're content with the game anyway, you might want to skip this post.
Q: Is Estate : Dominate a 'Femdom Game'?
A: No, it isn't. The game is set in a female dominated environment, but that does not mean that everything taking place there will be 'femdom'.
Imagine a movie that is set at the front line of a war. That movie could be a war movie, but it could also be a romantic love story. You would, of course, expect the front line setting to have relevance either way. So even if the movie is a love story, there's a good chance one of the lovers dies to a random artillery shell in the end.
The same is true for Estate : Dominate. The MC will be in a female dominated setting for the entire game. But that does not mean that all content will be 'femdom'. It does, however, mean that even an MC with a dominant disposition can be hit by a femdom artillery shell from time to time.
Q: I want to be a dominant MC, where is my dominant content?
A: It's coming, but I have no intention to degrade the game by allowing you to 'escape' the setting. If you are not interested to play as a dominant MC in a female dominated environment, then Estate : Dominate is not the game for you and you should play something else.
If you do continue to play, you will be able to slowly expand your power and partly turn the tables. Unlikely to the point of formal role reversal, and certainly with setbacks to remind you of the place you're in, but there will be plenty of dominant scenes where you can take advantage of other servants or get to pay back some of the Mistresses for what they've done to you.
Q: So the game won't be a never-ending image series of a caged dick now?
A: Of course not. Release 4 sets up the first really major split of the game. The caging does a lot of heavy story lifting. It establishes several important conflicts, both between the MC and the Mistresses, and between other characters. It gives a reason for the Mistresses to care for the MC's sex life and take an active part in it. And it will play out in very different ways, depending on the path you choose. Only the sub MC will 'enjoy' chastity for an extended period. Which is great for him, because it will allow him to serve the Mistresses even better.
Q: OK, so what exactly is the difference between the 3 character paths?
A: First of all, you can switch very freely between them so far. There are no points to collect and no game overs. You should really just forget about all this the first time you play, and simply make choices and live with them. That said, I do develop the MC in 3 different flavors. Submissive, dominant and neutral.
Here's a very rough sketch of what you can expect:
Submissive: Slowly but surely learns to appreciate service, but is not always appreciated himself. Most content will be femdom, ranging from abuse to more gentle and caring domination. There will also be occasional scenes where he is forced to do things against his nature to other characters.
Dominant: Despises the situation more and more and wants payback. Schemes and bullies his way into more freedom which will lead to a focus on maledom content. But will still accept that he can't openly rebel and will be forced to serve from time to time, just like anyone else.
Neutral: Does what it takes to get through the summer while protecting Heather. If he must serve for that, he does. If he can get an advantage by being more dominant, he does that too. Will get a mix of content and the biggest focus on relationships.
All paths have exactly the same importance to me, and to get the full experience, you should really play them all. The game is meant as one giant 'what if' scenario. I'm personally neither into femdom, nor maledom. I'm into characters, mindgames and power plays, regardless of sex or gender.
Alright, I hope that explains what I'm doing a bit better. I think much of the confusion stems from the episodic release model and people's tendency to extrapolate the current state into the future. But that's not how a story works. There are high points and low points for a hero in a story, and a Release ending on either one of those does not mean that that's how it will be forever and ever. I think one of the reasons so many adult games fall apart quickly, is that there's an immense pressure to present the 'end state' from the start. Which leaves you with no room to develop, you can just repeat and repeat, until the characters have fallen apart.
I'm well aware that what I'm doing isn't the norm, but that's the main reason I want to make the game in the first place. So everything I've written above is nonnegotionable
All the best,
Henissart
P.S.
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on the direction of the game. Everything is still accurate.
