Ren'Py Fashion Business [Ep.4 v9.02 Extra] [DecentMonkey]

[Ostego]

I think in terms of "game reality" she just have this cruel ruthlessness, which seems to be key to survive in this kind of world. I dont believe that we wont get a satisfying "poisoned Joffrey"-moment with victoria. But it needs a good build up for that, so iam very okay with her being kinda untouchable for the time being.

Vicky is a good cliffhanger after finish ending text after game end.)

 

[Stan5851]

I dont believe that we wont get a satisfying "poisoned Joffrey"-moment with victoria. But it needs a good build up for that, so iam very okay with her being kinda untouchable for the time being.

I hope so, too.

Also I fell in love with Victoria. She is fascinatingly cruel

Everything is learned by comparison. If, for example, you compare Victoria's cruelty to what Juliette does (from "Karlsson's Gambit"), then all of Vika's "cruelty" is more like the harmless antics of a three-year-old with a pacifier in her mouth. I wouldn't call her cruel, but rather mean-spirited and duplicitous, which is even worse.

 

[raziul]

I wouldn't call her cruel, but rather mean-spirited and duplicitous, which is even worse.

yeah you are right. That suits her better. Still I think she is a sadist by heart. Also I guess when there would be the necessity she wouldnt hesitate to commit cruel deeds. Maybe it will show when she is trying to gain more might and has to remove obstacles on her way to the top.

 

[TheLecher]

Also I fell in love with Victoria. She is fascinatingly cruel, hot and plays the game of thrones the best. Hope that Victoria will even outsmart Marcus or something like that. She deserves the crown.

I strongly disagree with this assessment of Victoria's character. I don't think that Victoria is especially smart. In fact, I'd say that she has about average intelligence. I don't think that Victoria is a brilliant strategist, or that she has outsmarted or outmaneuvered Monica, and certainly not Melanie. I do think that Victoria has a certain amount of animal cunning.

I would say that Monica and Victoria are probably fairly equal in terms of intelligence. I would say that they are both just average. Victoria is ambitious and ruthless and opportunistic, but those things are not the same as intelligence.

As for Melanie, I think that she's more intelligent than either Monica or Victoria. I think that she's also a better judge of character, and a better manipulator. She's probably just as opportunistic as Victoria, but she's not as ambitious or ruthless.

Victoria has only been able to get as far as she's gotten in this game because of her ambition, ruthlessness, and opportunism, combined with an incredible amount of luck.

Before Monica fell victim to Marcus and his allies, Victoria would never have tried to go against Monica. She knew perfectly well that Monica was completely out of her league, and she had no chance of changing that.

And I think that Melanie was right in her first evaluation of Victoria. She knew that she could easily outsmart and outmanipulate Victoria. She could play Dick (and most men) far better than Victoria could. Victoria also sensed this, and was rightly intimidated by Melanie.

But then Victoria's incredible luck came in - Marcus. If it weren't for Marcus, Victoria could never have gotten a hold over either Monica or Melanie. They would always have been out of her league. But she saw her opportunity, and she seized the moment. And she was ruthless about it.

If Marcus and his allies hadn't reduced Monica to a desperate fugitive struggling for survival and at pretty much everyone's mercy, Victoria couldn't have dominated her. If Melanie hadn't made the mistake of trying to manipulate Marcus, and then spent time at the farm, she wouldn't be so afraid of getting caught crossing Marcus' plans. And if Victoria hadn't lucked into that photo which could get Melanie in trouble with Marcus again, Melanie would have crushed Victoria.

But luck was on Victoria's side. She just happens to work for Monica's lawyer, so she gets to do whatever she wants with Monica. And she happened to get her hands on a photo which could send Melanie back to the farm, so she gets to do whatever she wants with Melanie, too. It's not brilliant strategy. It's just luck, fueled by ambition and strengthened by ruthlessness.

As for Victoria outsmarting Marcus, that's a joke. All of her influence is only because of him - just crumbs which fell from his table. She's not even a player in his game. She's just a pawn who was able to grab some power over the other pawns.

She is smart playing 4d chess

As I said at length above, I very much disagree. She could maybe manage regular chess, but not at a master's level. 4D chess is completely beyond her.

you are among not much ppl how can see that Vicky is good for game)

I don't know. I think that the only people who hate Victoria are the people who don't like the lesbian content. Maybe I'm wrong about that.

I like the lesbian content, and I like Victoria.

I think in terms of "game reality" she just have this cruel ruthlessness, which seems to be key to survive in this kind of world.

On this we agree. Victoria is ruthless, and she seizes her opportunity when she sees it. And she has ambition to climb higher. And she has a cruel delight in humiliating and degrading those who used to be above her.

As for that last point, I think that she especially delights in humiliating and degrading Monica and Melanie, because she knows in her heart that she never could have gotten the better of them by herself, and she resents that fact, and wants to take it out on them.

I dont believe that we wont get a satisfying "poisoned Joffrey"-moment with victoria. But it needs a good build up for that, so iam very okay with her being kinda untouchable for the time being.

Here's what I'm hoping, with regard to Victoria and the end of the game. I would like to see two endings for her character.

1. I would like to see a "good ending", in which both Monica and Melanie beat Victoria in the end, either together or separately. I want to see her pay a heavy price for the things she did to them, and I want them both to enjoy her punishment as much as she enjoyed tormenting them. I would also like it to be made clear to Victoria, either by events or by Monica and Melanie, that this is happening to her because she tried to play out of her league.
2. I would like to see a "bad ending", in which both Monica and Melanie end up permanently enslaved by Victoria. I would like her to openly gloat and lord it over them that they both thought that they were better than her, and look at them now.

I want the good ending because I think that Monica's determination and hard work should be rewarded, and she should win in the end, and also because I do think that Victoria is playing out of her league, at least with Melanie.

I want the bad ending because I think that would be the opposite of the way things "should" work out, and I like to have "bad guy wins" alternate endings.

 

[Stan5851]

I strongly disagree with this assessment of Victoria's character. I don't think that Victoria is especially smart. In fact, I'd say that she has about average intelligence. I don't think that Victoria is a brilliant strategist, or that she has outsmarted or outmaneuvered Monica, and certainly not Melanie. I do think that Victoria has a certain amount of animal cunning.

I would say that Monica and Victoria are probably fairly equal in terms of intelligence. I would say that they are both just average. Victoria is ambitious and ruthless and opportunistic, but those things are not the same as intelligence.

As for Melanie, I think that she's more intelligent than either Monica or Victoria. I think that she's also a better judge of character, and a better manipulator. She's probably just as opportunistic as Victoria, but she's not as ambitious or ruthless.

Victoria has only been able to get as far as she's gotten in this game because of her ambition, ruthlessness, and opportunism, combined with an incredible amount of luck.

Before Monica fell victim to Marcus and his allies, Victoria would never have tried to go against Monica. She knew perfectly well that Monica was completely out of her league, and she had no chance of changing that.

And I think that Melanie was right in her first evaluation of Victoria. She knew that she could easily outsmart and outmanipulate Victoria. She could play Dick (and most men) far better than Victoria could. Victoria also sensed this, and was rightly intimidated by Melanie.

But then Victoria's incredible luck came in - Marcus. If it weren't for Marcus, Victoria could never have gotten a hold over either Monica or Melanie. They would always have been out of her league. But she saw her opportunity, and she seized the moment. And she was ruthless about it.

If Marcus and his allies hadn't reduced Monica to a desperate fugitive struggling for survival and at pretty much everyone's mercy, Victoria couldn't have dominated her. If Melanie hadn't made the mistake of trying to manipulate Marcus, and then spent time at the farm, she wouldn't be so afraid of getting caught crossing Marcus' plans. And if Victoria hadn't lucked into that photo which could get Melanie in trouble with Marcus again, Melanie would have crushed Victoria.

But luck was on Victoria's side. She just happens to work for Monica's lawyer, so she gets to do whatever she wants with Monica. And she happened to get her hands on a photo which could send Melanie back to the farm, so she gets to do whatever she wants with Melanie, too. It's not brilliant strategy. It's just luck, fueled by ambition and strengthened by ruthlessness.

As for Victoria outsmarting Marcus, that's a joke. All of her influence is only because of him - just crumbs which fell from his table. She's not even a player in his game. She's just a pawn who was able to grab some power over the other pawns.



As I said at length above, I very much disagree. She could maybe manage regular chess, but not at a master's level. 4D chess is completely beyond her.



I don't know. I think that the only people who hate Victoria are the people who don't like the lesbian content. Maybe I'm wrong about that.

I like the lesbian content, and I like Victoria.



On this we agree. Victoria is ruthless, and she seizes her opportunity when she sees it. And she has ambition to climb higher. And she has a cruel delight in humiliating and degrading those who used to be above her.

As for that last point, I think that she especially delights in humiliating and degrading Monica and Melanie, because she knows in her heart that she never could have gotten the better of them by herself, and she resents that fact, and wants to take it out on them.



Here's what I'm hoping, with regard to Victoria and the end of the game. I would like to see two endings for her character.

1. I would like to see a "good ending", in which both Monica and Melanie beat Victoria in the end, either together or separately. I want to see her pay a heavy price for the things she did to them, and I want them both to enjoy her punishment as much as she enjoyed tormenting them. I would also like it to be made clear to Victoria, either by events or by Monica and Melanie, that this is happening to her because she tried to play out of her league.
2. I would like to see a "bad ending", in which both Monica and Melanie end up permanently enslaved by Victoria. I would like her to openly gloat and lord it over them that they both thought that they were better than her, and look at them now.

I want the good ending because I think that Monica's determination and hard work should be rewarded, and she should win in the end, and also because I do think that Victoria is playing out of her league, at least with Melanie.

I want the bad ending because I think that would be the opposite of the way things "should" work out, and I like to have "bad guy wins" alternate endings.

That's pretty much where our assessments are similar. I've always considered Victoria's mental abilities to be rather average. Sneakiness and duplicity are not indicators of great intelligence. An average girl with mediocre looks who was just lucky enough to suck on Dick's wallet and take advantage of the situation.

In the case of Fashion Business, I wouldn't take it too seriously. No matter how desperate Monica is, this whole utopian world looks pretty comical. Yes, we like playing the game, but everyone realizes that it's a utopia, a world made up almost entirely of scumbags and duplicitous villains, where the intelligence services and police don't work properly, where the characters often don't take advantage of obvious things like direct dialogue with each other that could solve almost all problems. Say, if all the girls talked to each other without Victoria present and figured out who was really pitting them against each other. I take this game world with a certain amount of humor because it doesn't work otherwise. If DM wanted to show us a smart Victoria conducting multi-move complex combinations, he would have had to create something like "Karlsson's Gambit", but DM has created a different world that I don't think should be taken seriously.

That's not a criticism, it's a statement of existing game reality. And really, that's a good thing. Because if this world was shown more seriously, it would be an extremely bleak and depressing game. However FB is not such a game, we just accept this world with its illogical character behavior and let Victoria do what she does.

Fashion Business, if you like, a very high quality porno-spectacle, but played not on the theater stage, but digitally recreated by DM. The audience is well aware that all people on stage are actors, but tacitly accept the unwritten rules of the theater and are involved in what is happening on stage, forgiving the illogic and unrealism of what is going on, just enjoying the events, talentedly played on the scaffolding. So I haven't looked for logic in our game for a long time now, I just accept what's going on as an intriguing and interesting play and look forward to seeing how it all ends.

 

[Birdnman993]

The fact that Victoria believed that she could become a model with blackmail and bribes without having the talent or appearance for it, shows that she is not as smart as she thinks.

That aside, am I the only one who remembers Victoria getting spanked? Which makes me think she's just someone else's pawn, who is probably the mastermind behind Monica's misfortune, which makes me wonder if it would be possible to side with Monica's victory to overthrow this sinister figure.

 

[Ostego]

The fact that Victoria believed that she could become a model with blackmail and bribes without having the talent or appearance for it, shows that she is not as smart as she thinks.

That aside, am I the only one who remembers Victoria getting spanked? Which makes me think she's just someone else's pawn, who is probably the mastermind behind Monica's misfortune, which makes me wonder if it would be possible to side with Monica's victory to overthrow this sinister figure.

This sinister figure is Philip. And the question who’s the target of Victorias game. With Monica he plays on his own rules. Only one person who left - Stephanie. Cuz if u see gallery next scene after whipping just about Stephanie.

 

[Ulysseplus2]

Spoiler Strip Club(part 2),need help

Spoiler: .

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[EraRamp]

Spoiler Strip Club(part 2),need help

Spoiler: .

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You probably haven't fully completed all the positions in Monica's striptease dance. There are arrows that let you know which positions have not yet been performed

 

[Ulysseplus2]

You probably haven't fully completed all the positions in Monica's striptease dance. There are arrows that let you know which positions have not yet been performed

You probably haven't fully completed all the positions in Monica's striptease dance. There are arrows that let you know which positions have not yet been performed

I've done the dance 100 times, even with the black girl, nothing has changed since always the stool on molly's head...

 

[WellAllGood]

This error:

File "game/00_Functions/01_init_python.rpy", line 748, in extraFunction
    exec (OO00O00O00000O0O0 ,globals (),O00000O00O000OO0O )
ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: ''

I think is a problem relative to the key activation. Does anybody has this problem o has already solved this?

I've tried with a clean installation and with a new save but the error persist, i don't know what to do

 

[vimmers]

I used the activation file that was in the compressed version

EDIT: I tried the file posted by ground_zer0 but its the same file

I've tried with a clean installation and with a new save but the error persist, i don't know what to do

don't you think you shall try the full version
instead of a compressed
i constantly see people there use compressed versions
come here and ask for help
ask the compressor or use the full version

also i suggest
you use a torrent if it's cos of speed you use compressed file

 

[EraRamp]

I've done the dance 100 times, even with the black girl, nothing has changed since always the stool on molly's head...

I don't understand what the problem could be. Try to go through the other branches and increase your stats. Or use cheats

 

[raziul]

I strongly disagree with this assessment of Victoria's character. I don't think that Victoria is especially smart. In fact, I'd say that she has about average intelligence. I don't think that Victoria is a brilliant strategist, or that she has outsmarted or outmaneuvered Monica, and certainly not Melanie. I do think that Victoria has a certain amount of animal cunning.

I would say that Monica and Victoria are probably fairly equal in terms of intelligence.

As for Melanie, I think that she's more intelligent than either Monica or Victoria. I think that she's also a better judge of character, and a better manipulator. She's probably just as opportunistic as Victoria, but she's not as ambitious or ruthless.

Well thanks for that long comment. I guess we can all agree that Victoria is a sucessfull Villain when it leads to such discussions. Or we are people who have too much time to waste.

First of all. What I mean when I say smart(or intelligent) or cruel is always within the boundary of the Game Reality of FB. Otherwise I would consider Immanuel Kant or someone like that as the benchmark for Smart and Intelligent. And of course all of this is ignoring the illogic behaviour and plotholes in that game.

In that regard I think Victoria is depicted as an above average smart Character in the world of FB. She plans multiple steps ahead (aka "4D chess") which is visible when she for example is able to outsmart Melanie and Monica as they try to denigrate Victoria at Dick with the compromising Video Melanie believed to have on her phone, while victoria exchanged it with a video of melanie acting like a prostitute which she recorded a long time before. Taking Dick`s birthday as the password to unlock her phone is also a small fracture of the plan to convince Dick that she has nothing to hide from him and let Monica and Melanie fall from his grace.
And yes of couse she had luck of having Marcus as a leverage against Monica and Melanie but she is playing her cards good, keeps her enemies under constant pressure and on top of it enjoys playing the game.
And while its true that without Marcus, Victoria could never have gotten a hold over Monica or Melanie, Marcus is just allmighty because he is. While with Victoria it is shown how she is pathing her way, which makes her more interesting to me.
During the whole time she lays out traps and constantly working on creating situations to gain more influence or obtain compromising material like letting Melanie record that video acting like a prostitute, observing and befriending the people closer to monica to use them against her. Like the workers in the office (here she shows that she has good perceptions on how to charm people) and especially that nerd guy from Monicas Office. This isnt just luck. She works for it and she most often has a long term plan why she is doing those things. As for example when she commands Melanie to get together with the Photographer guy, which she later uses to gain leverage on Melanie and win prestige at the girl-party with the high-society-girlfriends of monica and step up the ladder which seems to be her ultimate goal. Its strategy and not just tactics. Even small details like painting a dick on Melanies picture so the conversation between Alex and Melanie leads to steamy topics and paves the way for Melanie "confessing her lust for Alex". Although I dont know If this can be considered as exactly planned, but Its an example of how its her own intervention in the fortunes of the world and not just pure luck.
So she truly is a spider with a net in which she is pulling the strings which is a cool character design considering that this is a steamy porn game. Also I think her psycho mannerism with forcing people to pretend that they love her is hilarious and sad at the same time. She truly is the embodiment of that shallow world. So godspeed Vicky you pervy empress! Even if you are just a pawn, you are the most interesting pawn.

I have to mention I just have started Part 3. So my knowledge about characters and story is limited at that.

Also sorry for the bad english.

 

[Ostego]

I have to mention I just have started Part 3. So my knowledge about characters and story is limited at that.

ohh...you`ll see more details for Vicky`s background then.

 

[3nterprise]

By the beginning of episode 4, I stopped assigning any meaning to the characters. It can be seen that the Monkey has a problem with the continuation of the story and loses the drive. If a DJ did this at a party, so he would change it to dormitory.

 

[Ostego]

By the beginning of episode 4, I stopped assigning any meaning to the characters. It can be seen that the Monkey has a problem with the continuation of the story and loses the drive. If a DJ did this at a party, so he would change it to dormitory.

its only 2 updates (1.5 to be honest)...in ep.3 drops with drive happened too. but in the end we get 3 greatest updates.

 

[TheLecher]

I guess we can all agree that Victoria is a sucessfull Villain when it leads to such discussions. Or we are people who have too much time to waste.

It's possible that both of these are true at the same time.

Otherwise I would consider Immanuel Kant or someone like that as the benchmark for Smart and Intelligent.

Wait a minute. You want to make one of history's leading philosophers the benchmark for smart? I don't think that it's necessary for you to be a thought leader in an entire discipline for you to qualify as smart.

She plans multiple steps ahead (aka "4D chess") which is visible when...

Okay, without addressing your specific examples of Victoria's actions, I'd like to clarify the use of the term "4D chess."

Planning multiple steps ahead isn't 4D chess, or even 3D chess, it's just normal chess. Anyone who is consistently successful in playing normal chess against decent players is regularly planning multiple steps ahead. It's not a sign of special brilliance. Lots of people of average intelligence or slightly higher than average intelligence are able to do it successfully.

As you probably already know, 3D chess is when you superimpose multiple chess boards, so that you have to calculate for vertical movement, as well as horizontal movement. Obviously, this multiplies the difficulty factor considerably.

4D chess isn't an actual variation of chess. It's an expression we use to imply that someone is operating at such a high level that they are beyond the complexity of even 3D chess.

But planning multiple steps ahead isn't enough to qualify as 4D chess. It's not even enough to qualify as 3D chess. It's just normal chess. And that's how I rate Victoria. She's playing normal chess, and she's not bad at it, but she's not amazing, either. She's just an average player who's also the beneficiary of some amazing luck.

And yes of couse she had luck of having Marcus as a leverage against Monica and Melanie but she is playing her cards good, keeps her enemies under constant pressure and on top of it enjoys playing the game.

Keeping your enemies under constant pressure is usually a smart thing to do, but that doesn't mean that everyone who does that is doing it because it's smart, or because they're smart. Sometimes, it's just aggression. Victoria is ruthless, and ruthlessness is often paired with aggression.

As for enjoying playing the game, that's also not an indication of intelligence. Smart people, stupid people, and average people can all enjoy playing the game, and being smarter doesn't make you more likely to enjoy it, it just makes you more likely to be better at it.

I stand by my previous evaluation of her character. I think that you're overestimating her intelligence and acumen. But there's no reason why we should have to agree about it.

So godspeed Vicky you pervy empress! Even if you are just a pawn, you are the most interesting pawn.

She's not the most interesting to me, but she's certainly interesting. I enjoy her scenes and look forward to more in the future.

 

[qazxsw80]

Now after finishing the update I understand why there was so little excitement about it.

Decent Monkey kind of tried a new strategy with this update - instead of making one or two big events (like it was at the end of Ep.3), he decided to produce as many scenes as possible so he can show a lot of spoilers.
But unfortunately the result is that every single event is mediocre at best and cannot hold a candle to the best ones, such the yacht or doll events.

The update for sure failed to live up to the huge expectations of being "the best update ever". Not sure it is even among the top five or even top ten.

I hope the next one will be better, especially the photoshoot with Grace since it is clear now that photoshoots are the best part of the game. Well, since it is called "Fashion Business", that is kinda expected, I guess.

 

[Alea iacta est]

Very harsh comments lately, considering that literally there is nothing in comparison to this game as baseline for your feedbacks.

The game stadly improved across all the episodes, from a grind fest to a top notch quality scenes and story. Episode 4 is just at the beginning, still another year to go.

Being the last episode it means all the pieces of the puzzle must go in the right place...