VN Ren'Py Friends in Need [S1 v0.85c] [NeonGhosts]

[Lightaces]

The difference is that here you can rig the polls

I made separate polls for the two sites, but they were on the same ranked choice platform.

 

[NeonGhosts]

So yeah, it'll cost me another 5 of NeonRel points, but ran across a small bug in CH.7:

        if ch6_ja_threat == True :
            mc"I knew he was a piece of shit."
//...
        elif ch6_ja_threat == True :
            mc"I can't believe I actually gave him the benefit of the doubt."

The second True should be False instead (or just a simple else) as it is the branch where Guy didn't threaten Jamie skips over both text variants.

Nooo, I appreciate it. Thanks for catching that!

There is an easy fix if Neon makes a poll on Patreon/Substar. That can give us a real estimate of who is players favorite and who is not.

I've always resisted doing that (despite being pressed by supporters) for a few reasons.

1. It's unlikely to change anything on my end, anyway. I don't want the story to be affected by public sentiment.
2. Assuming I was swayed by a character's lack of popularity, that character may only be unpopular at that particular moment in time, and they could grow more popular in the future. Every character I've introduced has had their detractors, and then a little more story development sees them gain or lose fans. So, someone without a ton of development, like Madison or Alex, may end up in the bottom of the rankings, putting me off from giving them the development that might have made them someone's favorite.
3. It provides a cudgel for some of the uhhhh.. enthusiastic detractors. If the poll ends with Brittani outstripping every other character by double digits, then I get to deal with a bunch of comments like, "Why are you even doing Mason content this chapter? Brittani's twice as popular, according to your own poll, so you should really do more Brittani!"

So, I get the appeal. But right now, I prefer to leave it to the fans.

 

[jadepaladin]

Time to reminisce about the olden days, when Nicki was so hated, Neon busted out the removal patch as a joke.

Polls are great at waifu war debates.
Polls are great for "What outfit should this LI wear in this scene?"
Polls are terrible at "What content/LI would you like to see?" because you end up in situations where you write for your audience instead of for yourself and it's hard to stay motivated.

 

[MiltonPowers]

Time to reminisce about the olden days, when Nicki was so hated, Neon busted out the removal patch as a joke.

Was ?
I'm still on the hate train.

 

[jadepaladin]

Was ?
I'm still on the hate train.

Maybe my memory is faulty (which wouldn't be the first time) but I'm not remembering a time you trashed a LI before. Hell you don't even join in on the Kim hate in YC, even though that's like a national pastime.

I've never really been on the Nicki hate train.

 

[Dessolos]

guys im on the headpat train and i'll tell you what Isabella gets no heatpats . Gabby and Mason only get a quick tap on the head don't want to send the wrong message by giving them headpats since im not interested.

 

[MiltonPowers]

Maybe my memory is faulty (which wouldn't be the first time) but I'm not remembering a time you trashed a LI before. Hell you don't even join in on the Kim hate in YC, even though that's like a national pastime.

I've never really been on the Nicki hate train.

I tend to praise my favs, rather than trash the ones I don't like - Go Brittani, Carolina, Ashe, Viola, Pepper, Wren, etc (also a big big fan of Mason in a fatherly way, rather than romantic).

Across all my AVNs there is only about 10 LIs I would love a kill them option and removed permanently.

Nicki is like Kim to me, not one of the despised, I just really, really don't like her.

I don't want her removed (but I have to admit, I was ecstatic when she moved out).

 

[Dessolos]

I tend to praise my favs, rather than trash the ones I don't like - Go Brittani, Carolina, Ashe, Viola, Pepper, Wren, etc (also a big big fan of Mason in a fatherly way, rather than romantic).

Across all my AVNs there is only about 10 LIs I would love a kill them option and removed permanently.

Nicki is like Kim to me, not one of the despised, I just really, really don't like her.

I don't want her removed (but I have to admit, I was ecstatic when she moved out).

even with the changes? As I thought he character got alot better now. I mean I get it before the changes even tho I was still on team Nicki back then because she tried her best not to use guy again among other reason.

 

[Ragnar]

Nooo, I appreciate it. Thanks for catching that!



I've always resisted doing that (despite being pressed by supporters) for a few reasons.

1. It's unlikely to change anything on my end, anyway. I don't want the story to be affected by public sentiment.
2. Assuming I was swayed by a character's lack of popularity, that character may only be unpopular at that particular moment in time, and they could grow more popular in the future. Every character I've introduced has had their detractors, and then a little more story development sees them gain or lose fans. So, someone without a ton of development, like Madison or Alex, may end up in the bottom of the rankings, putting me off from giving them the development that might have made them someone's favorite.
3. It provides a cudgel for some of the uhhhh.. enthusiastic detractors. If the poll ends with Brittani outstripping every other character by double digits, then I get to deal with a bunch of comments like, "Why are you even doing Mason content this chapter? Brittani's twice as popular, according to your own poll, so you should really do more Brittani!"

So, I get the appeal. But right now, I prefer to leave it to the fans.

Eh, many devs do polls to get a feeling about how people feel about their characters. It doesn't have to change anything if you don't want to.
Also don't look at it like I would have to make less content for X because she is less popular than Y.
Instead you can make better content for X to try to make her more popular.
You just did that with Nicki in the remake without any polls because she was hated by some players

 

[Ottoeight]

I tend to praise my favs, rather than trash the ones I don't like - Go Brittani, Carolina, Ashe, Viola, Pepper, Wren, etc (also a big big fan of Mason in a fatherly way, rather than romantic).

Across all my AVNs there is only about 10 LIs I would love a kill them option and removed permanently.

Nicki is like Kim to me, not one of the despised, I just really, really don't like her.

I don't want her removed (but I have to admit, I was ecstatic when she moved out).

Honestly, I really can't see why people who don't like Nicki feel the need to play this game.

She literally is the most important character - except Guy - and the raison d'etre of every Guy's act.

The whole story simply wouldn't exist if there were no Nicki: Guy simply would have relocated to some villa in Maine/Bahamas/whatever and enjoyed his bitcoin lottery money.

 

[MiltonPowers]

Honestly, I really can't see why people who don't like Nicki feel the need to play this game.

She literally is the most important character - except Guy - and the raison d'etre of every Guy's act.

The whole story simply wouldn't exist if there were no Nicki: Guy simply would have relocated to some villa in Maine/Bahamas/whatever and enjoyed his bitcoin lottery money.

Oh good, thanks for the advice. I'll delete the game and move on.

 

[AlexMpog]

I tend to praise my favs, rather than trash the ones I don't like - Go Brittani, Carolina, Ashe, Viola, Pepper, Wren, etc (also a big big fan of Mason in a fatherly way, rather than romantic).

Across all my AVNs there is only about 10 LIs I would love a kill them option and removed permanently.

Nicki is like Kim to me, not one of the despised, I just really, really don't like her.

I don't want her removed (but I have to admit, I was ecstatic when she moved out).

Now I'm curious about other 8 "special" girls, I might have a few ideas, but still

 

[MiltonPowers]

Now I'm curious about other 8 "special" girls, I might have a few ideas, but still

Oh sorry, looks like I worded my original post poorly.

I do not want Nicki (or Kim for that matter) bumped off or removed from the game. There is definitely a place for her in the story I'm playing (I just don't like her as an LI).

 

[AlexMpog]

Oh sorry, looks like I worded my original post poorly.

I do not want Nicki (or Kim for that matter) bumped off or removed from the game. There is definitely a place for her in the story I'm playing (I just don't like her as an LI).

I get it, do not worry

And same here, I'd say - Nicky is too annoying for my taste, and that's kind of part of her personality, nothing can be done about it. Never really hated on her, I just focused on LIs I do like - Risa/Ash/Brittany/Alex/Carolina.

 

[SlowMotionBaby]

I just wanna make viola my cum dumpster and have her say thank you when she takes an envelope of cash

 

[jadepaladin]

I tend to praise my favs, rather than trash the ones I don't like - Go Brittani, Carolina, Ashe, Viola, Pepper, Wren, etc (also a big big fan of Mason in a fatherly way, rather than romantic).

Across all my AVNs there is only about 10 LIs I would love a kill them option and removed permanently.

Nicki is like Kim to me, not one of the despised, I just really, really don't like her.

I don't want her removed (but I have to admit, I was ecstatic when she moved out).

Not gonna lie, I'm wildly curious about the other LIs on your "remove" list. Not trying to throw shade, just curious if any names match some of the names I think of.

 

[NeonGhosts]

Eh, many devs do polls to get a feeling about how people feel about their characters. It doesn't have to change anything if you don't want to.
Also don't look at it like I would have to make less content for X because she is less popular than Y.
Instead you can make better content for X to try to make her more popular.
You just did that with Nicki in the remake without any polls because she was hated by some players

Well, in that case trying to make "better" content because a character is unpopular, would still be pushing me in one direction or another. :'D And I've said it before, but I didn't change Nicki because she had detractors -- she had just as many (probably more) fans. I only changed the first chapter because I wanted to bring the art in line with the rest of the game, and do some more world-building. As successful as I'd say the Nicki stuff was, I think introducing Carolina, Lane, Jun, and Callie early on was just as important. That and elongating the timeline for Gabby, Ashe, Madison, etc. to know Guy.

 

[Youtiy]

Well, in that case trying to make "better" content because a character is unpopular, would still be pushing me in one direction or another. :'D And I've said it before, but I didn't change Nicki because she had detractors -- she had just as many (probably more) fans. I only changed the first chapter because I wanted to bring the art in line with the rest of the game, and do some more world-building. As successful as I'd say the Nicki stuff was, I think introducing Carolina, Lane, Jun, and Callie early on was just as important. That and elongating the timeline for Gabby, Ashe, Madison, etc. to know Guy.

So given that you stated introducing Callie earlier was a part of the reason, does that mean that she's going to have a route at some point?

 

[ffive]

does that mean that she's going to have a route at some point?

Yeah, for Cassie.

(i kid, i kid. i imagine it's more of that simple aforementioned world building)

 

[Dessolos]

I get it, do not worry

And same here, I'd say - Nicky is too annoying for my taste, and that's kind of part of her personality, nothing can be done about it. Never really hated on her, I just focused on LIs I do like - Risa/Ash/Brittany/Alex/Carolina.

Not gonna lie what stops Nicki from coming off annoying for me is she has a few things about her that I would love to have a friend like her or even date her if she was real. But that is more because me and Nicki having a few things in common that and I just love her energy when the MC and her are just hanging out having fun together. So I am biased there for sure haha. But I do think if it wasn't for the those things I wouldn't care about her or even find her annoying too

Honestly, I really can't see why people who don't like Nicki feel the need to play this game.

She literally is the most important character - except Guy - and the raison d'etre of every Guy's act.

The whole story simply wouldn't exist if there were no Nicki: Guy simply would have relocated to some villa in Maine/Bahamas/whatever and enjoyed his bitcoin lottery money.

I mean you can say the same about me as I don't care much for Gabby and Mason content just not interested in their characters but I still enjoy this game. Yeah there is more Nicki content but I would say Gabby and Mason have important roles in the story as well. Just cause someone doesn't like a certain character that is important to the story doesn't mean they can't enjoy the game for other reasons.