Lesbian content in Harem games/getting to know the harem playerbase

[GoldenEyeDrake]

I am making a Harem game, and I would like to know the playerbase.

Would you mind your LI having sex with each other?

Would you mind your LI having a romance between them?

A lot of you have strong opinions about it, and I would like to know them.

Aside from that, what do you like/search for in a harem game?

Any suggestions are also welcome!

I'm not sure if it's too late, but to throw my two cents in. I never mind LIs having sex/romance with each other as long as the engagement is natural/ obtains progression. Here are a few situations in which I mean by natural:
1. LIs have either a known or subdued desire for lesbianism
2. An individual that is somewhat wild or eccentric to begin with.
3. A deep bond between the LIs that evolves from friendships into something more powerful like lovers or family even
4. An internal struggle from the LI to accept that the MC has feelings for another woman and gradually see the beauty of said LI for herself
5. A shared goal to provide the MC with comfort/stability/love
6. A heated rivalry that can only be flamed by the MC's involvement
7. The MC enters into an already established relationship of the LIs in question/trying to find his place as the third wheel
There's more situations I can bring up, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind to address your first two questions. As long as their sex/romance makes sense within the story, you won't hear me complain. If you wish, i can name some games that have LI dynamics that I enjoy.

Moving on to what I look forward to a harem game:
1. The MC displays flaws and isn't perfect right from the beginning. The MC should be improving himself or learning from the setbacks that come his way to be the best he can be, so he can be attractive to as many as possible or the ones his heart desires truthfully.
2. Choices matter a shit ton for me. Fake choices/ greyed out choices (based on some stat check system nonsense) that are continuously present throughout the game will make me leave and never come back. Depending on the severity, I'm quick to leave a bad review on top of that as well. It is misleading to put in your game's summary that choices matter only for the actual experience to be that of kinetic novel. Just say that from the beginning. The last thing I want is to be stuck with some obnoxious bitch that constantly belittles the MC whenever she can.
3. A fair selection of LIs that have quite some character development in place for them. If the developer is unable to shine some light on 20+ characters and ends up putting several of them on the back burner for years, then they should not be developing this game with this big of a scope to begin with. A few well-written characters will carry much you further than like I said 20+ LIs that I can barely remember their names.
4. The LIs are attractive to me. Yes I know basic and blanket request, but the way a lot of these AAA game studios appear to be nowadays, this seems to be a hard task for them to accomplish. I prefer a variety of women, but if there has to be a standard to abide by, then women with hourglass figures is something you can't really go wrong with for me. Especially, if they are athletically-fit with those amazing six-packs and glutes........
5. Consistent development and communication. Everything I said so far will be for naught if the developer don't have a vision and made plans to execute said vision. If you need a little time to polish such and such, then be honest. Do not wait til 3 months of radio silence to announce that the update won't be coming out anytime soon only to released an update with barely any content after a 6 month-1 year period. This is more in general, rather than specifically harem-based games, but it's still the MOST important aspect to me.
If you need me to clarify anything, do not hesitate to ask.

 

[Spin256]

I'm not sure if it's too late, but to throw my two cents in. I never mind LIs having sex/romance with each other as long as the engagement is natural/ obtains progression. Here are a few situations in which I mean by natural:
1. LIs have either a known or subdued desire for lesbianism
2. An individual that is somewhat wild or eccentric to begin with.
3. A deep bond between the LIs that evolves from friendships into something more powerful like lovers or family even
4. An internal struggle from the LI to accept that the MC has feelings for another woman and gradually see the beauty of said LI for herself
5. A shared goal to provide the MC with comfort/stability/love
6. A heated rivalry that can only be flamed by the MC's involvement
7. The MC enters into an already established relationship of the LIs in question/trying to find his place as the third wheel
There's more situations I can bring up, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind to address your first two questions. As long as their sex/romance makes sense within the story, you won't hear me complain. If you wish, i can name some games that have LI dynamics that I enjoy.

Moving on to what I look forward to a harem game:
1. The MC displays flaws and isn't perfect right from the beginning. The MC should be improving himself or learning from the setbacks that come his way to be the best he can be, so he can be attractive to as many as possible or the ones his heart desires truthfully.
2. Choices matter a shit ton for me. Fake choices/ greyed out choices (based on some stat check system nonsense) that are continuously present throughout the game will make me leave and never come back. Depending on the severity, I'm quick to leave a bad review on top of that as well. It is misleading to put in your game's summary that choices matter only for the actual experience to be that of kinetic novel. Just say that from the beginning. The last thing I want is to be stuck with some obnoxious bitch that constantly belittles the MC whenever she can.
3. A fair selection of LIs that have quite some character development in place for them. If the developer is unable to shine some light on 20+ characters and ends up putting several of them on the back burner for years, then they should not be developing this game with this big of a scope to begin with. A few well-written characters will carry much you further than like I said 20+ LIs that I can barely remember their names.
4. The LIs are attractive to me. Yes I know basic and blanket request, but the way a lot of these AAA game studios appear to be nowadays, this seems to be a hard task for them to accomplish. I prefer a variety of women, but if there has to be a standard to abide by, then women with hourglass figures is something you can't really go wrong with for me. Especially, if they are athletically-fit with those amazing six-packs and glutes........
5. Consistent development and communication. Everything I said so far will be for naught if the developer don't have a vision and made plans to execute said vision. If you need a little time to polish such and such, then be honest. Do not wait til 3 months of radio silence to announce that the update won't be coming out anytime soon only to released an update with barely any content after a 6 month-1 year period. This is more in general, rather than specifically harem-based games, but it's still the MOST important aspect to me.
If you need me to clarify anything, do not hesitate to ask.

If you want choices that matter, the game needs to track those choices for them to matter. If you pass up options with an LI because she's not your type, then the option to invite her into your harem should be disabled because your previous choices matter.

My game has disabled choices (based on stats), but this feature was added at the request of players. They wanted to know if there would be another option had they made a different choice. I do give players the option to turn the feature off if they don't like it.

 

[GoldenEyeDrake]

If you want choices that matter, the game needs to track those choices for them to matter. If you pass up options with an LI because she's not your type, then the option to invite her into your harem should be disabled because your previous choices matter.

My game has disabled choices (based on stats), but this feature was added at the request of players. They wanted to know if there would be another option had they made a different choice. I do give players the option to turn the feature off if they don't like it.

Yes, that's absolutely fine, because like you said she wasn't my type. My issue is the stat-check don't align with the action/dialogues of the characters. For example, your MC (female) cannot make out with this LI, who the MC has started to develop feelings for, because you don't possess enough lust points rather than making the right choices continuously (no numerical values needed) earlier on to go down said character's path. However, you apparently obtained enough lust points to have a random co-worker grind on your backside until he ejaculates at your workplace rather than flirting/showing interest towards the co-worker from earlier choices. I'm not sure if I'm making this clear.

 

[YogSothoth1982]

I'm not sure if it's too late, but to throw my two cents in. I never mind LIs having sex/romance with each other as long as the engagement is natural/ obtains progression. Here are a few situations in which I mean by natural:
1. LIs have either a known or subdued desire for lesbianism

If she is openly lesbian, the best option, in my opinion, is to avoid romance with her. Unless you can prevent the lesbian from having lesbian sex once she enters the harem.

2. An individual that is somewhat wild or eccentric to begin with.

I prefer her to be eccentric in the sense that she likes exhibitionism or prefers to watch television while standing on her head.

3. A deep bond between the LIs that evolves from friendships into something more powerful like lovers or family even
4. An internal struggle from the LI to accept that the MC has feelings for another woman and gradually see the beauty of said LI for herself

I prefer to prevent these things from happening.

5. A shared goal to provide the MC with comfort/stability/love

This can be done without having lesbian sex.

6. A heated rivalry that can only be flamed by the MC's involvement

I see several options:

1) One of them already has a romantic relationship with the MC: Then the second can go fuck herself, because I'm not going to accept her having lesbian sex with one of the LIs to be part of the harem.

2) Neither of them has a romantic relationship with the MC: They can perfectly well kill each other. If to be part of the harem they have to develop romantic feelings for each other and have lesbian sex, then I don't want them to be part of it.

3) I can make the part where they develop feelings for each other and end up in a threesome not happen: They only have romantic feelings for the MC.

7. The MC enters into an already established relationship of the LIs in question/trying to find his place as the third wheel

Currently, it's one of the situations that bothers me the most if you don't give me the option to reject them. If those "LIs" are already a couple, then I don't want to have anything to do with them.

 

[Rebel Tomboy Games]

If she is openly lesbian, the best option, in my opinion, is to avoid romance with her. Unless you can prevent the lesbian from having lesbian sex once she enters the harem.



I prefer her to be eccentric in the sense that she likes exhibitionism or prefers to watch television while standing on her head.



I prefer to prevent these things from happening.



This can be done without having lesbian sex.



I see several options:

1) One of them already has a romantic relationship with the MC: Then the second can go fuck herself, because I'm not going to accept her having lesbian sex with one of the LIs to be part of the harem.

2) Neither of them has a romantic relationship with the MC: They can perfectly well kill each other. If to be part of the harem they have to develop romantic feelings for each other and have lesbian sex, then I don't want them to be part of it.

3) I can make the part where they develop feelings for each other and end up in a threesome not happen: They only have romantic feelings for the MC.



Currently, it's one of the situations that bothers me the most if you don't give me the option to reject them. If those "LIs" are already a couple, then I don't want to have anything to do with them.

Hey, the op here. New acount to make AVN with a friend, etc.

" If she is openly lesbian, the best option, in my opinion, is to avoid romance with her. Unless you can prevent the lesbian from having lesbian sex once she enters the harem. "

Yes, I had a group of 100% lesbian women and another one heterosexual, but they can do bisexual stuff in a trio if you want. I think that's a good solution. I still conserve the second idea.

Talking about that (and not thinking about a harem). What about a game where you are in a throuple of girls who lives for you and only you, heterosexual and there other girls are lesbians sharing with you? 2 couples of bisexual girls romantically with a girl but open to have sex with you sometimes. You can't have dates with them (maybe one of them. two would be a good idea?) but you can with the girls of the throuple.

I don't know if I have developed well the idea but you seem to not like that content, wich is perfectly fine. So... what do you think about that? Maybe I am asking nonsense but you seem to comment peacefuly, so I'll ask this question only once and to you

 

[YogSothoth1982]

Hey, the op here. New acount to make AVN with a friend, etc.

" If she is openly lesbian, the best option, in my opinion, is to avoid romance with her. Unless you can prevent the lesbian from having lesbian sex once she enters the harem. "

Yes, I had a group of 100% lesbian woman and another one heterosexual, but they can do bisexual stuff in a trio if you want. I think that's a good solution. I still conserve the second idea.

As long as I can avoid lesbian sex, that's fine.

Talking about that (and not thinking about a harem). What about a game where you are in a throuple of girls who lives for you and only you, heterosexual and there other girls are lesbians sharing with you? 2 couples of bisexual girls romantically with a girl but open to have sex with you sometimes. You can't have dates with them (maybe one of them. two would be a good idea?) but you can with the girls of the throuple.

I don't know if I have developed well the idea but you seem to not like that content, wich is perfectly fine. So... what do you think about that? Maybe I am asking nonsense but you seem to comment peacefuly, so I'll ask this question only once and to you

It's okay that the lesbian couples are open to having sex with me sometimes. That's more times than I'm open to having sex with them. In fact, once is more than I'm willing to. What we do agree on is that we don't want to go on dates.

I'll just stick with the two who aren't lesbians.

 

[Rebel Tomboy Games]

I'm not sure if it's too late, but to throw my two cents in. I never mind LIs having sex/romance with each other as long as the engagement is natural/ obtains progression. Here are a few situations in which I mean by natural:
1. LIs have either a known or subdued desire for lesbianism
2. An individual that is somewhat wild or eccentric to begin with.
3. A deep bond between the LIs that evolves from friendships into something more powerful like lovers or family even
4. An internal struggle from the LI to accept that the MC has feelings for another woman and gradually see the beauty of said LI for herself
5. A shared goal to provide the MC with comfort/stability/love
6. A heated rivalry that can only be flamed by the MC's involvement
7. The MC enters into an already established relationship of the LIs in question/trying to find his place as the third wheel
There's more situations I can bring up, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind to address your first two questions. As long as their sex/romance makes sense within the story, you won't hear me complain. If you wish, i can name some games that have LI dynamics that I enjoy.

Moving on to what I look forward to a harem game:
1. The MC displays flaws and isn't perfect right from the beginning. The MC should be improving himself or learning from the setbacks that come his way to be the best he can be, so he can be attractive to as many as possible or the ones his heart desires truthfully.
2. Choices matter a shit ton for me. Fake choices/ greyed out choices (based on some stat check system nonsense) that are continuously present throughout the game will make me leave and never come back. Depending on the severity, I'm quick to leave a bad review on top of that as well. It is misleading to put in your game's summary that choices matter only for the actual experience to be that of kinetic novel. Just say that from the beginning. The last thing I want is to be stuck with some obnoxious bitch that constantly belittles the MC whenever she can.
3. A fair selection of LIs that have quite some character development in place for them. If the developer is unable to shine some light on 20+ characters and ends up putting several of them on the back burner for years, then they should not be developing this game with this big of a scope to begin with. A few well-written characters will carry much you further than like I said 20+ LIs that I can barely remember their names.
4. The LIs are attractive to me. Yes I know basic and blanket request, but the way a lot of these AAA game studios appear to be nowadays, this seems to be a hard task for them to accomplish. I prefer a variety of women, but if there has to be a standard to abide by, then women with hourglass figures is something you can't really go wrong with for me. Especially, if they are athletically-fit with those amazing six-packs and glutes........
5. Consistent development and communication. Everything I said so far will be for naught if the developer don't have a vision and made plans to execute said vision. If you need a little time to polish such and such, then be honest. Do not wait til 3 months of radio silence to announce that the update won't be coming out anytime soon only to released an update with barely any content after a 6 month-1 year period. This is more in general, rather than specifically harem-based games, but it's still the MOST important aspect to me.
If you need me to clarify anything, do not hesitate to ask.

Thank you, that's very detailed. Em... I am the op, I am making a game with a friend so... Magic Harem here!


No, it's not too late. What you said is pretty interesting. I was doing some fake choices, but my friend told me not to, as a developer it makes sense, a variant of the text but the same scene or almost.

What do you mean about grey choices? We have another game with something like that based on the rpg system of the game.

I agree with almost all what you said. Why do you think devs do the number 5? I love to communicate with people, more with fans.

Making an AVN is hard, very hard, it require a lot of time and planing, LOTS of both.

 

[Rebel Tomboy Games]

As long as I can avoid lesbian sex, that's fine.



It's okay that the lesbian couples are open to having sex with me sometimes. That's more times than I'm open to having sex with them. In fact, once is more than I'm willing to. What we do agree on is that we don't want to go on dates.

I'll just stick with the two who aren't lesbians.

Thank you a lot for your comment. I honestly don't understand some things. One can't please everyone, but I really don't understand. Anyway, so... a lesbian patch to eliminate the lesbian options/content should be enough to you?

And... let me ask something. I don't sense hate in your comment, but some... resentment, like you were saying "I don't want anything with those women" with a lot of distance from them to you. I don't know if I am explaining what I what to say but, why is that? What is your vision.

Oh, and, I am adding 3 more heterosexual girls. 5 heterosexual girls for the MC and 4 bisexuals that can share with him.

 

[YogSothoth1982]

Thank you a lot for your comment. I honestly don't understand some things. One can't please everyone, but I really don't understand. Anyway, so... a lesbian patch to eliminate the lesbian options/content should be enough to you?

Any option that prevents lesbian sex is fine for me. This could range from being able to refuse relationships with lesbian (or bisexual) LIs to disabling lesbian content so it doesn't happen.

And... let me ask something. I don't sense hate in your comment, but some... resentment, like you were saying "I don't want anything with those women" with a lot of distance from them to you. I don't know if I am explaining what I what to say but, why is that? What is your vision.

Oh, and, I am adding 3 more heterosexual girls. 5 heterosexual girls for the MC and 4 bisexuals that can share with him.

I don't like lesbian sex, so I have zero desire for the MC to start a relationship (sexual or romantic) with lesbian LIs, nor for casual sex with them. The fact that they're willing to have sex with the MC doesn't miraculously make me like lesbian sex; I'll still want to avoid it (and with it, any potential romantic and/or sexual relationship with them). So what I don't want is anything sexual with those women.

 

[GoldenEyeDrake]

Thank you, that's very detailed. Em... I am the op, I am making a game with a friend so... Magic Harem here!


No, it's not too late. What you said is pretty interesting. I was doing some fake choices, but my friend told me not to, as a developer it makes sense, a variant of the text but the same scene or almost.

What do you mean about grey choices? We have another game with something like that based on the rpg system of the game.

I agree with almost all what you said. Why do you think devs do the number 5? I love to communicate with people, more with fans.

Making an AVN is hard, very hard, it require a lot of time and planing, LOTS of both.

Thank you. What I meant by grey choices are you, as the player, will see often in some games two (or even three) options for the player to choose in a choices matter game. However, only one of those choices are available to you and the other option(s) are just there, because you didn't obtain enough points in whatever respective category (love/lust/moral/corruption/etc) to pursue said LI, which is forcing you down a path that isn't true to your playthrough (I can't think of the right term).

If this happens continuously, then it's no longer a choices matter, but a kinetic novel with fake choices in my opinion. Also, no, I don't consider it a fake choice when a player consistently rejects a LI's advances/makes no effort to show interest only to find out that LI only considers you a friend/moved on to someone else. Now, the only options you have available are how to better/worsen your friendship.
To give examples, some of the choices matter in harem games I have come to enjoy are:

-Desert Stalker
-Companion of Darkness
-Superhuman
-The Seven Realms
-Tales of the Unending Void
-Long Road Home
-Eternum/ Once Upon in a Lifetime (same developer)
-Harem Hotel
-New Antioch
-Bare Witness
-Golden Mean
-Drop Out Saga

There are some non-harem games, but I'll stick with the general tag.

As for No.5, there's so many reasons as to why, so I'll just stick with two. One, the developer no longer has the passion for the project as they originally started, but don't wish to lose the gravy train, which has caused some issues with Patreon users/developers not stopping payments debacles. I simply wish for the developer to be honest with the lack of motivation and just take a break. The onhold tag is there for a reason on this website.
The second reason is sometimes the scope of their project is just too ambitious for them to undertake, whether by themselves or even with a team. It doesn't help the situation if there's a lack of prioritization of moving the main story forward. God forbid, if the developer(s) randomly desire to commit to a remake/remaster 2-3 years down the development line.

I hope I was able to address your concerns and clarify better on my stances.

 

[Rebel Tomboy Games]

Thank you. What I meant by grey choices are you, as the player, will see often in some games two (or even three) options for the player to choose in a choices matter game. However, only one of those choices are available to you and the other option(s) are just there, because you didn't obtain enough points in whatever respective category (love/lust/moral/corruption/etc) to pursue said LI, which is forcing you down a path that isn't true to your playthrough (I can't think of the right term).

If this happens continuously, then it's no longer a choices matter, but a kinetic novel with fake choices in my opinion. Also, no, I don't consider it a fake choice when a player consistently rejects a LI's advances/makes no effort to show interest only to find out that LI only considers you a friend/moved on to someone else. Now, the only options you have available are how to better/worsen your friendship.
To give examples, some of the choices matter in harem games I have come to enjoy are:

-Desert Stalker
-Companion of Darkness
-Superhuman
-The Seven Realms
-Tales of the Unending Void
-Long Road Home
-Eternum/ Once Upon in a Lifetime (same developer)
-Harem Hotel
-New Antioch
-Bare Witness
-Golden Mean
-Drop Out Saga

There are some non-harem games, but I'll stick with the general tag.

As for No.5, there's so many reasons as to why, so I'll just stick with two. One, the developer no longer has the passion for the project as they originally started, but don't wish to lose the gravy train, which has caused some issues with Patreon users/developers not stopping payments debacles. I simply wish for the developer to be honest with the lack of motivation and just take a break. The onhold tag is there for a reason on this website.
The second reason is sometimes the scope of their project is just too ambitious for them to undertake, whether by themselves or even with a team. It doesn't help the situation if there's a lack of prioritization of moving the main story forward. God forbid, if the developer(s) randomly desire to commit to a remake/remaster 2-3 years down the development line.

I hope I was able to address your concerns and clarify better on my stances.

A lot! Thank you!