How important is writing quality to you in the Adult games you play?

[Deleted member 1030393]

If porn games only had images I wouldn't like them enough to play them, especially since I like real porn more than 3D porn. But there are porn games that only have text and I like them nonetheless.

That's why for me the text is more important than the images in a porn game.

The most important thing about the text of a porn game is that it turns me on. If it doesn't turn me on, it doesn't fulfill its purpose. It doesn't matter if the spelling, grammar, or style isn't perfect. I'd rather read a text that turns me on, even if it is poorly written, than a well-written text that does not turn me on.

As for the relationship between the text and the images of a porn game, for me "show and don't tell" is not a rule. The rule is: turn me on with your images, your text, or with both at the same time. And for that, sometimes you have to show, sometimes you have to tell, and sometimes you have to show and tell at the same time.

No one complains about a synopsis because it "tells and doesn't show", any type of text used in the right way is good.

 

[Meaning Less]

If porn games only had images I wouldn't like them enough to play them, especially since I like real porn more than 3D porn. But there are porn games that only have text and I like them nonetheless.

Can work both ways really.
You know what they say, a single image is worth 1000 words.
And sometimes you don't have to show the image plus 1000 words because we already have seen the image. I'm not a mindless drone that can't interpret images...

From memory the movie Tenshi no Tamago had very little dialogue and delivered a pretty interesting and surreal story, not sure if words would be able to convey the same feelings.

 

[Cryswar]

Depends on the game for me.

I like sprite sex stuff, which is typically either A. Japanese I don't remember how to read, or B. translated to reveal... a terrible, pointless story that usually the game would be better without. But I'm not really there to hear about why erryone getting raped, I just want to see the animations. There are some exceptions of course; Succubus Affection had a surprisingly decent little character-driven story for example.

However, when I'm playing a game that professes to want to make me care about the characters - where sex scenes (written, CGs, or a mix) are supposed to have meaningful emotional connections? Hell yeah, I care about the writing. After a point, it doesn't matter how great the idea is or how nice the CGs look, if the writing makes me want to deepthroat a cactus, I'll just unlock the gallery or download it from exhentai.

Ultimately, I'll try to engage a game based on how the dev wants me to experience it. If they want me to sit through a shitload of lore, well, I like lore - just make it interesting. If you just want to give me sprite sex, that's cool too.

 

[WIRProductions]

Since I'm playing a game for the gameplay/porn art, the story has to be enough to get me from point A to B believably and not overstay its welcome. I don't need a small book for a simple sex scene but I need enough to make it dirty and raunchy. Its a fine line. Sometimes less is more, and there are games I like to play but I skip a lot of dialogue because its just over-exposition.

 

[RainGres]

Can work both ways really.
You know what they say, a single image is worth 1000 words.
And sometimes you don't have to show the image plus 1000 words because we already have seen the image. I'm not a mindless drone that can't interpret images...

Take the word right from my mouth, honestly, I prefer to actually not have any dialogue at all. A good scene is better if you actually make a good scene and not fill it with text wall or text at all.

 

[PeterEnis23]

As for the relationship between the text and the images of a porn game, for me "show and don't tell" is not a rule. The rule is: turn me on with your images, your text, or with both at the same time. And for that, sometimes you have to show, sometimes you have to tell, and sometimes you have to show and tell at the same time.

No one complains about a synopsis because it "tells and doesn't show", any type of text used in the right way is good.

The saying doesnt mean to skip text. Just as a great movie also features conversations and sometimes even a narrator.

It means to not use your text to describe your pictures.
Or use your pictures to show what was just written.

Think about it like this, you look at the Mona Lisa and there is a text below.
One is stating what you see: "A woman with black hair a shy smile on her lips. She is wearing green clothes. She has her right hand over her left hand, while mildly leaning towards..."

One is giving aditional information: "Leonardo da Vinci painted it in the year 1510. He used a novel technique which he developed during his time in Mailand, using..."

Now, it might just be me, but Id prefer the second most of the time.

 

[PeacePeace]

Generally agree with your pet peeves OP, but I have a particular approach to accommodate the writing in games which is, predictably, not so great.

You can view the writing in two categories: descriptions of the (usually lewd) events, and the stuff that gets you from one event to another.

Of the two, the event writing is by far more important, but neither is essential (if you've ever managed to enjoy an MTL game, you'll know what I mean). The writing, and every other aspect of the game, provides a framework for the story/experience. Within that framework you're free to use your imagination to make the characters & events as interesting or exciting as you'd like. All it requires on your part is your imagination and the ability to not adhere to the words on the screen.

How to do that? Skim. Get the gist of what's going on and fill in the rest to your heart's desire. At the end of the day the writing and images exist to stimulate your imagination, and you can opt into an even greater reliance upon imagination to fulfill your preferences. This is pragmatic for the obvious reason that everyone will have their own ideas about 'ideal' writing, and most peoples' ideas will differ from the developer anyway.

The closer you scrutinize a story, the more flaws you'll find, and the more you'll hamper your enjoyment. As such, I treat any good writing as a luxury; not essential nor expected, but appreciated when I find it. For the rest, I fill in the story myself (assuming I know what I want), which may not work for everyone but as someone who holds writing to a high standard it works best for me.

Bonus food for thought--here are a few interesting examples of good/flawed writing:

Henteria Chronicles 2: Plot-driven story focused on NTR. The story's quite good, the setting is well-developed, the plot is full of suspense & conflict in a Game of Thronesy sort of way, the characters are believable and given real depth... But the lewd writing sucks. Everything breaks down for me when the sex starts. The characters' behavior doesn't make sense, the sex is awkward and tropey in a way that undermines the attention to detail provided everything else. Good example of misplaced priorities IMO, but also shows one of the challenges of writing a good story that's also sexy and appealing to a niche audience.

The Dungeon of Lulu Farea: Sex, puzzles, and monster girls. Fan translated, but fantastic. The writing never takes itself too seriously. It's fairly cliché, full of jokes, but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless. Shows how a consistent, simple writing style that doesn't try anything fancy is sometimes all it takes to facilitate enjoyment. There's something to be said for getting out of the way and creating a separation between the player and the character--your immersion can't be broken if you're never immersed in the first place. And that can free you to enjoy the porn for what it is. It's porn, after all. You don't have to rely on your story.

I'd say defaulting to clichés is the best rule of thumb devs can use. It won't blow anyone away, but the risk of trying something new and untested rarely pays off. As OP alluded, these aren't professional writers, so the best policy is to act as such and keep things simple, barring exceptions where a very specific approach is necessary (odd fetishes). Even in an approach favoring mass appeal, there's plenty of room for creativity.

 

[Doorknob22]

I've been writing porn for literally decades so obviously writing is very important to me, as is evidenced in my game. However, over the last few years after playing many porn games I grown to realize that there is no direct correlation between the quality of the game and how much I enjoyed playing it. While I'm personally obsessed with rendering the perfect images, I find myself enjoying (and supporting) games with mediocre art and/or writing. This made me understand that players enjoy a combination of factors (sum bigger than its parts and all that) and are willing for forgive reduced quality in some areas as long as the whole package is satisfying. A big part of porn games "package" is addressing fetishes: if a game manages to address fetishes in a satisfying manner, many will forgive mediocre writing, amateurish lighting and more.

 

[Serupiko]

Quality is important, and correlated to that, quantity too. I want goodly written games (no awkward phrasing, typos and so on) that don't have way too much text. And by that I mean, I do not want to spend 5 minutes going through a sex scene because of how the MC monologues inside his head, or how his partner talks about his big dick for the 10th time.

I don't mind some meta stuff, or to acknowledge that the game can be kinda silly, but some devs take it too far and it becomes an easy option instead of a properly written plot.