When people complain about this game I can't help but CTFU. LOML has elevated and distinguished itself as THE GAME among the top games...Milfy City, Being a DIK, DMD, AWAM, etc. At this point I rank LOML above those games and pretty much every other game. Why? NR is a great creator with a STORY and CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
AWAM is comparable in terms of quality but those updates are less frequent and have less content like the "tiny updates" youre talking about. Great game, no doubt, but AWAM creator L&P made a project that is too big for ANY SINGLE creator and he refuses to accept help. Sadly, this game will fizzle and die unless as people are already starting to jump ship
Milfy City was a fun project but it was kind of the BEST of the BRAINLESS story/character development. Creator didn't know what to do with it and game is basically abandoned as a result...but ICSTOR def got paid which seemed to be his primary motive all along
DMD was INITIALLY the best game of its sub-genre but it never evolved from what it was. The game shouldve been much shorter OR expanded and has instead become overly repetitive and a "tiny update" game.
NR can take the time he needs. He does accept patrons/$$ but this project seems to be more than just a means to an end for him. He genuinely cares about the project and story. It comes out in the quality of his product and I'd rather 2 STRONG chapters each year than 4-5 mini updates...with more focus on deadlines than on quality.
My rants in the AWAM thread lead to to Dr. Pinkcake hitting me up on writing advice back on Acting Lessons. That man is gifted no doubt.
Milfy City started on solid ground but something happend that always happen if you don't know where to go with your story and making stuff up as you go. You write yourself in a corner and can't escape your own screw up and toss it out the window.
DMD is already way to long and everyone can see that.
But
naughtyroad doesn't need advice in that regard as he understand the 3 fundamentals of a good story already. Which makes him even more gifted.
1. Less is more. (AWAM is a prime example of how to ruin your story by years of build up which can only go downward. If the build up is longer than the payoff wtf you even trying to do with your story?)
2. Believable characters have edges. (Denise and Macy are the most fledged out in depth characters in any story of any game on this forum. You like and dislike some of their behaviour like real ppl they have edges. Some you like, some you dislike. But overall the likeable traits outweigh the negative ones.)
3. He instantly provides hooks of all sorts inside his story. (if he realizes it or not thats the AAA game in writing)
A hook is something many writers struggle with to establish because they overthink it. The dead wife and mother to macy and denise is such a hook. But instead of what many devs do "you know that happend.... anyway look at those tits right here" and wonder why their characters feel shallow and empty and ppl forget about their characters in 2 minutes after finishing the update.
naughtyroad understands that you can be subtle about an emotional hook.
He shows you how the MC and the girls struggle with the loss of a loved one in certain moments. Self doubts, Moments in which the family as a whole struggles only to embrace each others comfort stronger than before.
Not to much but exactly the right amount so you feel an emotional hook and understand their motives for certain behaviour.
Maybe
naughtyroad has not realized this himself or maybe this was his intention from the start! I can't tell but do you know the 5 stages of grief? Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance,
And when you play the game you see those stages inside the story happening. Replay the game and watch if you can catch all 5 stages. The game is not only good because the story feels right and the characters have depth. From a writing point of view this is literally AAA Material.
The moment i realized that all 5 stages of grief are portrayed inside this story so far blew my mind. Because of intentionally being put there or not this is quite a feat to pull off inside a story to not make it obvious but subtle like a painting in the background for you to find if you look for it.
So while many people like the game for obvious reasons. Writers like myself can play and find such things and be amazed how easy he makes it look to put something in there for you to find and enjoy.
I also rather wait for 2 to 3 updates a year in the same quality as some rushed content by many on their games who don't even come close to half the quality being presented here.
