Apparently I kicked the hornet's nest with my last comment.
I have hang ups and would like the dev to do EVEN MORE WORK so I don't have to do things I think are icky... rather than just not playing this game.
Fixed it for you.
This is a porn forum. I'm just expressing a personal opinion. I don't expect the dev to make a decision based on my opinion alone. However, if the dev starts hearing from lots of users that they don't want to interact with Mason, then that might impact how they develop the game.
Also, I made it very clear that given Mason wants to be viewed as a boy, I have done that. I don't have any desire to force Mason to use genders he doesn't want. However, it's perfectly reasonable for me to not want to interact with a character I have no interest in. This is a porn game... I generally prefer to focus on characters who I am interested in. That's not being a bigot, it's being human.
I disagree on this
Mason is a great character
He helps give the story more depth.
And Neon Isn't catering to anyone he is making the game he wants to make.
And some people don't even want to interact with Mason which is just stupid.
They want him gone completely
Even though he makes the story better imo
I'm happy you enjoy the character. That's great. For me, I don't find the character very compelling. This is a porn game and Mason is not a character I intend to have any relationship with. Because of this, I prefer to keep my interactions with him limited. I don't misgender him or force him into things he doesn't want. But, I'm also not interested in spending time with him either. I prefer to focus on girls I am pursuing... It's a porn game.
Maybe because that poster wants nothing to do with Mason
He wants Neon to give an option to avoid Mason completely
That kinda sounds like entitlement to me
If they payed attention they would know you can just be friends with him
If the character annoys him that much then he should probably not play the game.
He just sounds rude thb
I'm aware you can just be friends. However, this is a porn game so I prefer to focus on characters I'm interested in. There are multiple characters in this game that don't get screen time unless you are pursuing them so I don't know why it's such a bold statement for me to say I would prefer if we had that option with Mason. I don't know why you are so agressive... this is a forum and I gave my opinion on a character and preference.
Saying "he should probably not play the game" and "he just sounds rude" seems like an extreme reaction.
I am well aware that Neon won't overhaul everything just for me. However, if users don't post their preferences, then NeonGhosts won't know what users are receptive to and what they are not interested in. If enough people were to agree with that post, then NeonGhosts might feel it's worth adding an option.
By the way you can avoid Mason already. You can lend help and decline the avances. I think it's good enough, expecially since the story is about a dude who runs a charity operation.
I was ok with this but the number of interactions have been increasing. The game has several characters that the MC doesn't have to interact with if the player doesn't select options that encourage that. Given this, I don't feel it's wrong to state my opinion that I prefer to not spend time with Mason. I had no problem with the initial interactions with Mason, and I referred to him the way he prefers. However, I don't have desire to spend lots of time on him. It's a porn game, I'm not interested in spending time on the game focusing on characters I'm not interested in.
Let me assure you that, as someone who spent over 20 years of his adult life programming, it is not "an easy way around it".
EVERY time Mason has interactions with other characters, not just the MC, at the very least, code would have to be created to exclude him from the scene. If renders are necessary (as they usually are), a second set of renders would be required to handle the dislike of Mason.
I'm sure there are more problems involved, it has been almost 20 more years since I last looked at code. HEY, maybe we could have an "exclude Mason patch" similar to the existing exclude Nicki patch! I hope everyone understands that this patch proposal is just a joke.
EDIT: added the missing word programming ... oops
As someone who has also programmed you're making it out to be more complicated than it is. The programming part is actually the easier part. You can attach a flag to a character and depending on it's state, future scenes will look at the flag.
However, I do acknowledge that the bigger issue is changing an entire story to accommodate this change. I don't know what NeonGhost's future story plans are or how big a role Mason plays in the story. As it currently stands, limiting Mason is pretty easy.
Reading comprehension is hard
"Oh you like apples? WHY DO YOU HATE ORANGES?!"
Yup... I feel like people overreacted and took this as I'm a hateful bigot. I didn't misgender Mason... I just don't want to focus on a character I'm not interested in.... in a porn game.
How is this person being bigotted over it? They're saying they're not wanting sex with a trans man, and that they feel its a dick move to refer to him as she, ie, they're expressing their own personal sexual preference of not being interested in a trans man, and that they don't want to deadname / invalidate who he is
I can't say I agree with their complaint, as, which has already been stated, the playthrough with Mason allows you to merely be "friends", ie help but no sexual content, as is the case I think with most of the characters
Thank you. I have no interest in misgendering Mason and can sympathize with him. However, there are several characters that don't have any screen time if the PC doesn't try and interact with them so I don't feel it's a problem to say I would prefer that option with Mason. This is a porn game... I don't want to have to spend time with a character I'm not interested in.
Yeahhhh.. I mean look, I get why people may not want to interact with any character. Some people are going to be salty because the next update is so Ashe heavy, I'm sure. But, the 'friendship' paths for each character are basically the best way to minimize contact with them. Look at MC's friendship with Gabby -- she's basically just a girl you see every now and then, who was mildly irritated when she felt like you'd hidden things from her. If you keep Mason purely as a friend/ward, you can expect something similar. He'll just be this dude you're letting crash at your spare place, until he's back on his feet.
Even just writing around a character, unless absolutely necessary, brings with it certain issues. Just as a for-instance, here's a scenario that we'll see in a few updates. MC's going to take Mason to get glasses. So, he'll visit the studio and find Mason in one of three basic states -- friendly and chilling, nervous and chilling, or amorous and eagerly anticipating MC's return. So, there's three dialogue and image sets, right off the bat.
Now, I could write an option for MC to simply delegate the responsibility to Nicki. But, then I have to write around Nicki's attitude towards MC. Friend, romantic interest, submissive, or angry due to the way the last interaction with her played out? Would she come home and say, "Hey, Mason told me he blew you?!" How does that affect her on her various routes? More options, more fallout.
And since Mason's eyeglass errand likely won't just be entirely glossed over, I have to plan for future paths that do or don't refer back to anything that happened during said errand. If you stop off at The Posh Pit or The Lawful Waffle and encounter Pepper or Viola while you're with Mason, that's multiple sets of renders/choices. And if I don't want to deprive players who don't like Mason of content, then I have to do another set, where MC is alone.
On and on it goes, and soon it's a decade later and FiN still isn't complete. :'D
Thanks for the response and insight NeonGhosts. I totally understand where you're coming from. I don't expect my personal opinion to shift the game but felt that it's important for users to give their feedback on what they like and what they don't like. Obviously, if Mason is woven into a lot of additional scenes then it's hard to easily cut him out. That's perfectly fine, I can just power through those scenes.
The game is phenomenal and you've done a lot of great work.
