That is such an elitist attitude, and begs the question of where do you draw the line between media deserving of respect and expectations, and those undeserving.
Well, there are a few factors that make VNs still feel a little raw compared to other types of media.
1. It's usually done by a solo dev who can only do so much all at once - coding, art/renders, soundtrack, writing, proofreading, bug testing, etc. Point is, things can fall through the cracks. Even the most popular ones. It's really a jack of all trades and master of none type of deal.
2. Suspension of disbelief is required more often than not when regarding plot holes, realism of the situation, etc.
3. There are indie devs for games and ones that are just ongoing projects essentially but VNs are usually the ones with this paradigm of the majority of its life being spent as an incomplete, ongoing project. I say that because most of the people following a VN will be following it throughout its whole process and not just "buy" it when it's done.
4. Low barrier to entry. While great because it gives anyone a chance to create something good, it also means a lot of devs with low skills flood the space with low quality stuff.
5. This kind of hits on #3 again but the patron - supporter model has created a kind of low-trust relationship. While great because it gives creators the freedom to do things on their own terms, there have also been a lot of VNs that are just abandoned after gaining traction or even some devs who have abused the system and milked supporters. That can result in a general low credibility view on VNs or people who just don't keep high expectations.
6. Also while there are people who support the creators monetarily, the fact that you can just get them on forums like this probably makes people think not to take it as seriously. It's that old abundance/scarcity mindset. They might think what's free, cheap, or easily acquired isn't that good and what's behind a pay wall or expensive just
has to be good or at least have some standard of quality to it. (Which, from my experience holds a little truth but isn't always the case. It's just lazy thinking to apply it to everything.)
Overall:
While I don't personally believe all the points I made, I can still understand the sentiment of not having overall high expectations for this medium when compared to things with huge, multi-million budgets. I mean, these are all still essentially indie games. I feel like it doesn't have such a negative implication of being elitist. I think it's more or less "fair enough" when viewed from that perspective. It also just makes the really good ones just shine even brighter for me. The ones that take it to the next level and really start brushing up against the production level for high budget crap.
Disclaimer:
- I honestly prefer VNs over other types of media these days. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. I ESPECIALLY like Mad World. I can't even remember the last AAA game, movie, or tv show I've played/watched. It's all just been indie dev stuff, reading, or old stuff.
- Which is why I really appreciate really good ones. Finding VNs like Mad World is like finding a diamond in a pile of rocks.
- Just in case anyone might think I'm implying something about this dev or this game, I'm not. In no way I think he's milking. For a part-time, solo dev his pace is perfectly understandable and even though I only found this one a few months ago, each chapter has a fuck ton of content. So he definitely delivers the goods.
- I also think that unless it's some really piss poor quality stuff, respect should be paid for the huge amount of work that goes into these. Especially if it's done by just one or two people. The really bad stuff seems more like a cash grab rather than anyone with actual passion.
