- Oct 24, 2018
- 4,152
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This might be the only AVN where I will be praying for a house Fire where her and Carolina will be caught into and my Athletics Perk will not let me save more than one. Hardest decision of my life, I'm telling ya' 
- Thread starter NeonGhosts
- Start date
- Jul 25, 2017
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it's all a matter of personal opinion at the end of the day. Like i said in my post a LI can come across as slutty at first to me but once I get to know them I dont consider them as such anymore. Probably different for you of course. But those 2 actions she did may come across as such but im not going to judge her say she is a slut right off the bat until I get to know her some more first. As up till the last update and the next one we barley had any scenes or content with her at least for me to judge her accurately. As ive made that mistake with other LI in the past that were quick to be flirty and have sex but then once I got to know them and learned what they were all about my opinion completely changed on that matter. That is why I do disagree with you but understand why you have that view just like I said in the post you quoted me on.She just offered sex for money/drugs in last update, after offering a foot job while knowing Guy for 10 minutes 2 updates ago, after flirting with him in front of others after knowing him for 5 seconds. Like why are we splitting hairs about this?
I have no problem with people liking what they like, my problem is with people refusing to call the spade they like a spade.
- Apr 7, 2020
- 2,633
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What a deja vùThis might be the only AVN where I will be praying for a house Fire where her and Carolina will be caught into and my Athletics Perk will not let me save more than one. Hardest decision of my life, I'm telling ya'
who is the blonde from signature?This might be the only AVN where I will be praying for a house Fire where her and Carolina will be caught into and my Athletics Perk will not let me save more than one. Hardest decision of my life, I'm telling ya'
- Sep 20, 2018
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I'm loathe to defend Risa in the slightest, but I don't think the mere fact she was conceived of as a minor character is particularly important. Things evolve; I doubt Brittani started out as developed as she's become either, yet the game is much stronger for that change. Nor does the fact that we're forced to interact with Risa's backstory really set her apart. That's true of all the LIs to one degree or another - particularly Nicki - and realistically there's always going to be a limit to how much choice can be programmed into a game. It's not fair to hold perfectly normal behavior against Risa just because we dislike her.View attachment 3619528
We all know that the more money you spend the more your opinion matters.
She just offered sex for money/drugs in last update, after offering a foot job while knowing Guy for 10 minutes 2 updates ago, after flirting with him in front of others after knowing him for 5 seconds. Like why are we splitting hairs about this?
I have no problem with people liking what they like, my problem is with people refusing to call the spade they like a spade.
Are you counting renders she physically appears in, because I count as Risa screen time any render related to her scenes?
Prove me wrong that I'm unreasonably displeased with this, I suggest when next update drops to count the perchantage of the total renders her scenes have of the total renders in each update and compare them with other LIs that have had screen time 3 updates in a row. I doubt you will find many other than Nicki(obviously the most important non-MC character in the story) and maybe Ashe.
Let me run it back one more time, because for whatever reason its lost in translation.
- she was never supposed to be anything but background fodder so that will forever will be a vote against her from me.
- she is now tied to the main plot, so her scenes are mandatory, I can't actually make a choice not to get dragged in her shit, so you see your general argument about the game offering many choices and something for everyone is completely moot in this case, now is it?
What I do object to is the way Risa was suddenly thrust into such a prominent position without the proper setup. The MC's relationship with Nicki, even with the early game weirdness in Episode 1, was developed well enough that we can understand why Guy will lavish so much attention on her (regardless of how sordid that attention is). But Risa was a very minor presence in the MC's life, and the few choices we had allowed us to blow her off completely if we were so inclined. She was very much an optional extra. Yet somehow the MC is not only willing to buy drugs for her out of the blue, he's even willing to do so personally, after she blatantly lied and manipulated him. And we can barely even get our avatar to raise an eyebrow at this turn of events! It all just happens, and now we're locked into spending even more time with Risa cleaning up the fallout in the next chapter.
It makes no sense. Worse, it unintentionally undermines what I assume was the very point of weaving her arc into the main story this way. She was supposed to be a graceful way to introduce Luthien with out having to drag the game to a halt and drop a lot of exposition on us. But because the MC's are so incongruous with the game up to that point it winds up feeling every bit as heavy handed and artificial as an infodump would have been... while also saddling poor Risa with a level of resentment the game is unlikely to be able to handle. Before Chapter 8 I was happy to turn a blind eye to Risa's constant harassment and assume the MC was inwardly rolling his eyes the same way I was. But now that she's made it clear she's a genuine problem I'm not going to settle for anything less than a tough love stance so unyielding that her father's attitude pales by comparison. Is that a level of branching the game can support? I doubt it.
Granted, I'm sure things work a lot better for those who liked Risa and were eager to help her. That's fair. But it worked spectacularly poorly for those of us who disliked Risa and/or felt strongly that enabling her habit was a dreadful idea. I'd like to think I'm objective enough that I'd still consider that a poor exchange even if Risa was one of my favorites, but all I can say for sure is that it really sucked when my ox got gored.
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- Jul 25, 2017
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As someone that loves Risa, I do agree it was handled fairy poorly. We barley got to know her character at all up until that point. Honestly there is nothing about her character that should make me like her , yet the facial expressions she made in the car flipped a switch or something because that was the moment I changed my mind enough to have some sympathy for her and became interested in her.I'm loathe to defend Risa in the slightest, but I don't think the mere fact she was conceived of as a minor character is particularly important. Things evolve; I doubt Brittani started out as developed as she's become either, yet the game is much stronger for that change. Nor does the fact that we're forced to interact with Risa's backstory really set her apart. That's true of all the LIs to one degree or another - particularly Nicki - and realistically there's always going to be a limit to how much choice can be programmed into a game. It's not fair to hold perfectly normal behavior against Risa just because we dislike her.
What I do object to is the way Risa was suddenly thrust into such a prominent position without the proper setup. The MC's relationship with Nicki, even with the early game weirdness in Episode 1, was developed well enough that we can understand why Guy will lavish so much attention on her (regardless of how sordid that attention is). But Risa was a very minor presence in the MC's life, and the few choices we had allowed us to blow her off completely if we were so inclined. She was very much an optional extra. Yet somehow the MC is not only willing to buy drugs for her out of the blue, he's even willing to do so personally, after she blatantly lied and manipulated him. And we can barely even get our avatar to raise an eyebrow at this turn of events! It all just happens, and now we're locked into spending even more time with Risa cleaning up the fallout in the next chapter.
It makes no sense. Worse, it unintentionally undermines what I assume was the very point of weaving her arc into the main story this way. She was supposed to be a graceful way to introduce Luthien with out having to drag the game to a halt and drop a lot of exposition on us. But because the MC's are so incongruous with the game up to that point it winds up feeling every bit as heavy handed and artificial as an infodump would have been... while also saddling poor Risa with a level of resentment the game is unlikely to be able to handle. Before Chapter 8 I was happy to turn a blind eye to Risa's constant harassment and assume the MC was inwardly rolling his eyes the same way I was. But now that she's made it clear she's a genuine problem I'm not going to settle for anything less than a tough love stance so unyielding that her father's attitude pales by comparison. Is that a level of branching the game can support? I doubt it.
Granted, I'm sure things work a lot better for those who liked Risa and were eager to help her. That's fair. But it worked spectacularly poorly for those of us who disliked Risa and/or felt strongly that enabling her habit was a dreadful idea. I'd like to think I'm objective enough that I'd still consider that a poor exchange even if Risa was one of my favorites, but all I can say for sure is that it really sucked when ox got gored.
If we spent more time to get to know her I wouldn't of disliked how she bossed us around and made us drive her somewhere. But up till that point she felt like a side girl that I want to just say fuck off when she bossed us around. I know only chapter 1 is getting a rework but I feel like Risa's entire character needs a rework as well. As the way it stands right now it feels very rushed and forced. But if she got a rework and had some scenes added so we get to know her better beforehand I think that scene with her making us drive her to drug den would play out so much better.
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- Sep 20, 2018
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With respect, seeing more of Risa early in the game wouldn't make make like her; if anything I'd dislike her even more. She and I are just not compatible, so mere exposure to her sob-story isn't going to cut it.
What we need is to build up and broaden her relationship with the MC to the point that even a player who dislikes her personally can still be invested in her plight (for whatever reason). That's certainly doable, but it's neither simple nor easy, and it gets harder the more characters the game has. (Technically you could also dial Risa's act down a notch and make her a little less polarizing, but that would risk damaging the character for those who actually like her so I wouldn't recommend it.)
- Jul 25, 2017
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ah I didn't mean seeing more of her early would make the player like her but rather it just wouldn't make the scene feel so forceful to the point it feels really random when she bosses us around. As up to that point why would the MC listen to her and drive her anywhere that's all I was trying to say. I feel they need to be shown to be a bit more friendly or friends with with one another before that point a few small and quick conversations doesn't cut it imo.
I don't think if a hypothetical rework of her character were to happen she needs to be made to be likeable. All that I think needs to be done is to make them appear like they are friendly enough with one another that they might ask each other for help or a favor and that's it. As it stands now they still feel like mostly strangers and the MC happens to let her boss him around. I think It's going to take alot more to make someone like her especially if they know what's to come anyways so shouldn't focus making her likeable f it were to happen. As people have strong opinions when it comes to drugs / junkies in or out of fiction. So I think after that point is when she should be made to appeal to the player through her story or character. But that's just my opinion.
- May 3, 2018
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Just started playing and already that Anti-Nicki Patch is tempting me.
- Oct 19, 2022
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Go wild, you'll really enjoy it.
- Nov 12, 2021
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Play violence route with her,best and most suitable route for her !!
you can humiliate her,hit her and spit in her face,
and take her beautifully rough anal until she literally screams,
and then another gorgeous rough Deepthroat !!
- Jul 21, 2021
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i love nicki especially the ''make her your bitch'' route
- Jul 25, 2017
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Nicki love route with hand holding and all other romantics stuff for me
I do see your point, even though I'm personally not convinced tbh.
I know this is outside of what was being discussed, but aside from the story reasons that Neon's already discussed, I think it's important to remember the other benefits of a large LI count; for example, audience capture (and the business from it). I kinda feel like the diverse number of LIs is a big part of what gave this game its popularity. I'm no expert certainly, but the way I see it is this: whoever was captivated even by a single LI might be willing to play, spread the word, and/or pay, even if only when their favorite LI is coming up in an update (or two). And then you multiply that by all the LIs. And then you consider that a portion of those players might be willing to play, spread the word, and/or pay even outside of their favorite LI coming up. That's a good business decision imo.
I personally wonder if Martin decided that his story & setting was so big, that not including more Houses, more regions, more characters, to take part in what's clearly going to be a HUGE, HUGE event in Westeros... would make his story feel so much smaller, less fully realized, and would probably be something he would regret as an author later.
Yeah, maybe not the best analogy for reassurance to some people "Martin's taking fucking forever, he'll never finish", the understanding being that "Neon's taking fucking forever, he'll never finish". But, let's not forget: ASoIAF is a masterpiece.. and it's a masterpiece because GRRM is doing all the torturous legwork to ensure it. And even more importantly: Neon isn't GRRM, and FIN isn't ASoIAF; two different authors, two completely, vastly different works (mediums, even). We're not going to be waiting a decade for a porn VN release to come out, I don't think.. lol. Highly doubtful the whole game will take that long, too, even given its character size. If it does, then I'll scooch over to ya'lls side.
Until then, I see good, regular progress being made.I really, really hope this doesn't fuel any drama or anything, as that's not my intention. Well, ..you're being a little too confident & strident with your recommendations towards a game that's not even yours; maybe you don't mean to be, but seriously, if you were the dev and you had read this reply, it would come off as pretty noxious to you I think. Like, in the midst of asking your questions about his design decisions, you accuse & criticize before even waiting for the answer.
Anyways, shoving more LIs into each update would just decrease the writing quality, wouldn't it? We're still in the "getting to know each LI" phase, so I kinda feel like "everyone waits their turn" is actually the best possible way to do it. After we've gotten the meat & potatoes of each LI down, Neon has said that sex scenes will likely be shorter, and we'll probably get more LIs in at once because of it, barring certain major character/plot developments that demand more story/renders.
And also, I don't see how he's being stubborn. You didn't write the story, you don't even know exactly where it's headed, none of us do, and you don't witness the development process, so how can you have a better perspective on the big-picture of it than he does? You're viewing it from a "I want to see more content" perspective, whereas the author, as all good authors do, is viewing it from a "I want to see properly developed content" one.
He told us it needs to be day-by-day for the story initially, because it's supposed to be a hectic time in Guy's life with a lot of events packed in to a short span of time. And let's think about what that means for us: we need to be introduced to the MC, to everything he's planning & doing, to all the characters that will play an important part, to all the plot pieces that will develop, etc., and it needs to happen in a relatively smaller time-frame as compared to later stages of the game just to make better sense (again, from the story's perspective, not from a release perspective). From a gameplay perspective, it needs to happen in a relatively smaller time-frame so the player doesn't get bored or confused in one playthrough.
I don't think he decided to eventually start skipping time because people complained; it's because the story will better allow it as it enters another stage of its development, as the MC enters another, more finalized, stage of relationship with the LIs, and so on. The setup is usually the biggest hump, and it isn't quite finished setting up yet. Once it is, it seems to me things will necessarily go faster, both the story development & the rendering.
I don't know, I see your guys' issues, and I sympathize.. but I think Neon's path creates less problems in the end, just for the sake of the flow of everything. It might flow slower because of it, in terms of releases and frequency of seeing characters; but it flows better. Dev evidently cares more about latter, and good for him. And I'll bet you that when the game is finished (yeah yeah, it might not, w/e), we will see that too and prefer it. And that's what some of us are forgetting I think: we understandably want more and sooner, but we're forgetting that everything he's doing right now is for the sake of the finished product in the end, not our moment-to-moment whims & desires. Too many devs design their VNs around the latter, and it shows in my experience. That's why this one is a breath of fresh air for so many players!
- Nov 15, 2022
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for your first point obviously it will be higher percentage cuz no matter how you look at her , the total render mentioned for her was very low so saying 100 renders more will be almost 30% even when it's like 100 renders it's very insufficient to ask for percent in this case also saying 3 chapters were her renders is this low is barley noticeable .
- she was never supposed to be anything but background fodder so that will forever will be a vote against her from me.
- Indeed Neon mentioned this but he also mentioned that a lot of character when writing could be insert into scenes that will help grow the story at first i was "why i'm at drug den all of sudden then" but it let me thinking did Guy really have a problem so far that we could call a problem? everything so far could resolve with a phone call, Brittani with Modeling , Gabby and Madison Library even with her father. him funding left and right a lot of newly open company and people who needed help without issue, but will you call this a story when everything goes to shine ? it will be a dating sim at this point which is not for this game. you could see the situation later on from the point view of Guy who got stuck on this issue. And as i recall Neon so far have an option even for anyone you could love hate friendzone corrupt them.
- she is now tied to the main plot, so her scenes are mandatory, I can't actually make a choice not to get dragged in her shit, so you see your general argument about the game offering many choices and something for everyone is completely moot in this case, now is it?
- For this point i think i kinda see your point " why am i dragged into this i didn't sign up for this" but look at it from another view here we will see how will Guy do in this situation he is in now? how will he handle it? will he hate Risa , her family , Lucien ,everyone and break? For those who play good Guy how will this play out for them? for People who manipulate other characters how will they use this Maybe they could work with Lucien.
Maybe i will like Risa? maybe she is manipulated ? Maybe she is also working with Lucien as villain and wants to setup Guy and blackmail him.
The game did ended in situation made a lot confused or waiting on their feet or unhappy, but lets wait and see how it will play out eventually
- Apr 7, 2020
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See, but mine is not a point to begin with. I wasn't complaining of anything. I was just answering to NeonGhost's perplexity on why fans complain when they get girl A instead of girl B. But this is just a natural implication of having deployed such a wide cast without keeping it all in one place like other games do. And i was warning him (but i presume he already considered this, otherwise this game will end in the 'abandoned' shelf) that a big cast with a strongly forking story will require and exponetially increasing load of work for each release and he need to be prepared and well planned or it might get overwhelming as it happened to many games.
- Oct 24, 2018
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- Sep 1, 2023
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- Oct 24, 2018
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I didn't fall in love with Brittani after the shop scene, I thought she looked cute and that was that, I started liking her after she was dangled in front of me and then taken away, I wouldn't have probably cared that much until the shoot and her mom' short story.
I didn't immediately dislike Risa, I just didn't care about her, but then the more she got pushed onto me the more frustrated I became, reaching the boiling point when I counted 20 renders out of the previews for next update(probably 80% of the total previews at the time) were related to her scenes.
The fact they were small and then became prominent is not my fault, its the game's, so I'll hold it against it until the game gives me the opportunity to drop kick Risa out of Guy's life and reunite with Brittani