New Developer seeking help regarding TAGs to include

[Deleted member 1957140]

Right off the bat let me clear something up. After the release of a certain game that shall not be named, too many games with "School Setting" were developed. Most of them are big successes. At least initially. they reached $1K within 6 months and some even passed $10K within a year. So it's definitely the God tier Tag to include in a porn game right now if you want money. Lots of college girls(some games have over 30) to browse.

The next two most popular tags are "Incest" and "Harem". "NTR" on the other hand is the most controversial Tag. You either love it or hate it. Just adding the tag makes countless people mad for "reasons".

My game won't have NTR but it also won't have "School Setting" and "Incest" either. I initially wanted to add "Harem" but the mood of the story does not allow it. It's a very choice driven serious story. The best I can do is a "Threesome". There will be lots of other tags but those are available in all other games and not that sought after right now.

Final concern rises from the fact that my two personal favorite games(shall not be named) on this site with mature characters and stories, don't make that much money. Mostly because of not having popular tags. They have very high production value and quality but by simply checking the "views" count; I can tell that people don't click on those games that much.

So being a new developer who doesn't want to jump on the bandwagon; is there a hope for moderate success without including those tags? I mean I don't have the hardware to do 4K renders or animations. Is a good enough story viable enough to pique interest? I know some people care about the story and characters. But then again, a lot of games making over 10K a month have a questionable story at best(subjective). But damn they are good for fulfilling other wishes.

 

[Deleted member 3801150]

To quote Dante:
Abandon hope all ye who enter the porn business and want to preserve their integrity.

You have to be absolutely sure about your final goal: Artistic integrity Vs Making shit load of cash by milking retarded patrons.*

Both can be argue for in a Court of Justice: Integrity will make you sleep at night - Cash... well... Cars - bitches - fancy vacations - dope - livin' like it's still the early 90s. and you're Don Johnson in Miami Vice.
Happier days forever lost in past.

Pick your choice

*by catering to their Ungodly expectations.

 

[Meaning Less]

So being a new developer who doesn't want to jump on the bandwagon;

If you don't want to jump into a bandwagon just do your game and don't worry about tags...

You know what the actual most popular adult tags are? Sex and nudity. It is that simple to please most pervs out there.
The only tag that negatively impacts your game performance in this website is the "no sexual content" tag, but this same tag is what might boost your game accessibility and visibility in other non-adult platforms.

 

[Deleted member 1957140]

To quote Dante:
Abandon hope all ye who enter the porn business and want to preserve their integrity.

You have to be absolutely sure about your final goal: Artistic integrity Vs Making shit load of cash by milking retarded patrons.*

Both can be argue for in a Court of Justice: Integrity will make you sleep at night - Cash... well... Cars - bitches - fancy vacations - dope - livin' like it's still the early 90s. and you're Don Johnson in Miami Vice.
Happier days forever lost in past.

Pick your choice

*by catering to their Ungodly expectations.

I'll have 6 main LI's and around 4-6 secondary ones. I'm not going to change anything about the main ones no matter what. For others, I can be open minded, change a few things around if need/demand rises. That's as much catering I'm going to do. Apart from that, I'll always be open to suggestions to improve things and make my game better.

I don't care about shit load of cash. But obviously it should cover my production cost and allow saving for future hardware upgrades. Plus I'd like to add more features if things pick up. If after a year from first release, that criteria isn't met; then it'll be a difficult situation.

 

[Deleted member 3801150]

I'll have 6 main LI's and around 4-6 secondary ones. I'm not going to change anything about the main ones no matter what. For others, I can be open minded, change a few things around if need/demand rises. That's as much catering I'm going to do. Apart from that, I'll always be open to suggestions to improve things and make my game better.

I don't care about shit load of cash. But obviously it should cover my production cost and allow saving for future hardware upgrades. Plus I'd like to add more features if things pick up. If after a year from first release, that criteria isn't met; then it'll be a difficult situation.

I see - you apparently have chosen to walk the middle path - a good choice regarding important Life Choices.
For a porn game on the other hand...

Targeting a Niche too small may be risky (pleasing loyal to the death your 12 followers)
Targeting all over the place may be dangerous (please no-one displease everybody)

e.g. The first hint of a potential NTR will get you tons of Flak for little gain.

You seem to have well encompassed the "successful" tags to create a "mass effect" for a future gain, but as a creator hard choices have to be made.

as a side note 6 main LI + 6 secondary may prove to be an arduous task to manage and undertake (check the difficulties of Evakiss last project)

In the End You are the boss - Success will be yours to claim - Failure yours to undergo.

May your future endeavour meet with great success.

 

[Deleted member 1957140]

If you don't want to jump into a bandwagon just do your game and don't worry about tags...

You know what the actual most popular adult tags are? Sex and nudity. It is that simple to please most pervs out there.
The only tag that negatively impacts your game performance in this website is the "no sexual content" tag, but this same tag is what might boost your game accessibility and visibility in other non-adult platforms.

Obviously there will be sexual content. But some tags really make a difference. "Animated" tag comes to mind. I've been here for 2 years now and I've forgotten how many times I've seen this comment, "No animation? I'm not playing this s#!*" OR in the Reviews, "1-2 less stars for not having animation in [put current year]".

But yeah, I'll make the game the way I want and do as much as my skill and hardware allow. I just hope enough people at least click on it. Thus the tags.

 

[Meaning Less]

"No animation? I'm not playing this s#!*"

Well I've lost count of people complaining about literally anything, if a game has animation they find something else to complain about.
Don't worry, people will complain either way.

 

[Deleted member 229118]

They are populair tags for a reason but if your in it for the money.
Dont bother.
Plenty of good games get ignored everyday simply due to being released at the wrong time.

Make the game you want and if people pay you for it great.
If not at least you manage to make something.

 

[Deleted member 1957140]

Well I've lost count of people complaining about literally anything, if a game has animation they find something else to complain about.
Don't worry, people will complain either way.

Haha yeah. Internet anonymity is the ultimate superpower. License to be mean.

 

[Deleted member 1957140]

They are populair tags for a reason but if your in it for the money.
Dont bother.
Plenty of good games get ignored everyday simply due to being released at the wrong time.

Make the game you want and if people pay you for it great.
If not at least you manage to make something.

I'm not in it for money. My main concern is, not enough people checking out my game for whatever reasons. Tags are just a way to make more people notice. I don't want $50 patrons. If I had a choice of having 10 patrons giving me $50 each or have 500 $1 patrons, I'll take the latter. I want to reach more people.

 

[Deleted member 229118]

I'm not in it for money. My main concern is, not enough people checking out my game for whatever reasons. Tags are just a way to make more people notice. I don't want $50 patrons. If I had a choice of having 10 patrons giving me $50 each or have 500 $1 patrons, I'll take the latter. I want to reach more people.

I am going to be mean here.
You wont.

You are 1 dev among dozen of dev.
You could create god tier game and still not be noticed.

You want people to notice.
You got to spread the word, Actievely talk to your fans, Have something to show.
Marketing works.

The main thing i look at when searching for a new game:
The title.
The discription.
The tags.

Games with title's or discription that dont tell me anything get skipped.
I got dozens of others to check out and if you can not convince me with a short discription of the game.....

 

[Meaning Less]

I'm not in it for money. My main concern is, not enough people checking out my game for whatever reasons.

In my opinion, just make an interest enough first version that will give users a basic idea of what you are going for. The one mistake some devs make is to release their games too early.

For instance if you plan to have a sandbox game don't release just the kinetic intro otherwise sandbox fans might ignore it thinking that is what the game is about. Meanwhile the people that like it thinking it is going to be a kinetic experience will complain later when you start adding sandbox mechanics.

Marketing works.

Very debateable for porn really, the only marketing you need is consistent updates, those will keep promoting your game to the first page.
I never once clicked on a porn game ad and never once cared about devs that talk to fans, in fact I actually tend to avoid those games because it means they aren't really focused on their game but instead on what people think about it.

 

[Deleted member 1957140]

I see - you apparently have chosen to walk the middle path - a good choice regarding important Life Choices.
For a porn game on the other hand...

Targeting a Niche too small may be risky (pleasing loyal to the death your 12 followers)
Targeting all over the place may be dangerous (please no-one displease everybody)

e.g. The first hint of a potential NTR will get you tons of Flak for little gain.

You seem to have well encompassed the "successful" tags to create a "mass effect" for a future gain, but as a creator hard choices have to be made.

as a side note 6 main LI + 6 secondary may prove to be an arduous task to manage and undertake (check the difficulties of Evakiss last project)

In the End You are the boss - Success will be yours to claim - Failure yours to undergo.

May your future endeavour meet with great success.

GGGB is probably the most complicated game I have ever played choice-wise. Mine won't be that complex. Secondary ones will just be Yes/No choice Sexual act wise; but they'll bring some story elements and enrich the lore. Some of the Main ones will be exclusive to certain paths. Kind of Good/Evil path but not that straight forward. So some of them will right out refuse you if you are against their inclinations. Trying to keep the difficulty setting to "Easy" for my first playthrough.

I wont have NTR and I'm not pointing out "successful" tags for their money making potential. That's why I've already said that I won't have those tags. It is more because of their power to make people click on a game and check it out at the very least. A favorite game of mine just got completed on this site. Ran for almost two years. All the characters are mature and the story was quite deep. But the Dev didn't even reach 1K after 2 years. In my opinion, he/she should be making a lot more.

I'm not trying to include niche tags like "Furry" or "Gay". But I also won't destroy a game just to cover all the bases like a certain Daddy-Daughter game that I used to like 2 seasons ago.

Just have to do my job and pray a bit XD.

 

[Deleted member 229118]

Very debateable for porn really, the only marketing you need is consistent updates, that will keep promoting your game to the first page.
I never once clicked on a porn game ad and never once cared about devs that talk to fans, in fact I actually tend to avoid those devs because it means they aren't really focused on their game but instead on what people think about it.

Sorry.
I ment worth of mouth marketing.
As in get people talking about it.

I find that dev that actively talks, takes feedback and explains why he isnt adding something tents to create better games then ivory tower dev's who think they have all the answers.

Granted 90% of the games have way to much praise for being medicore games.
But then again i have standerds.
And a crappy story and some sex scence arent really worth my time.
Unfortantly the dumb masses do exist.

 

[Meaning Less]

I ment worth of mouth marketing.
As in get people talking about it.

Well considering how underwraps most people are about porn word of mouth is probably pretty low in the terms of marketing.
But if you still value that then you could just make the game as controversial as possible, that is certainly going to ruffle some feathers and get people talking about it.

I only learned about the existence of "sex with hitler" because everyone was talking about it in other threads when it was released.

 

[Deleted member 229118]

Well considering how underwraps most people are about porn word of mouth is probably pretty low in the terms of marketing.
But if you still value that then you could just make the game as controversial as possible, that is certainly going to get people talking about it.

Fair point.
I dont really look for porn games outside f95zone anyway.
To many bad sites.

How you feel about the cover art?
Like what do you look at when browsing for a new game?

 

[Deleted member 1957140]

In my opinion, just make an interest enough first version that will give users a basic idea of what you are going for. The one mistake some devs make is to release their games too early.

I'm trying to make my first release as much detailed as possible in terms of world building and getting to know the characters. Although it'll take the first two releases to know all the main characters by my estimate. I have no intention of releasing a half baked 10mins demo as first release with a sex scene thrown in just to reel in people.

I find that dev that actively talks, takes feedback and explains why he isnt adding something tents to create better games then ivory tower dev's who think they have all the answers.

Yeah. I've seen many many people say in various sites and forums that they support a Dev because they listen to all their concerns and always reply to them and make changes etc. Having a small number of supporters in easy to deal with but it can get time consuming later on. Also just because they are paying you, some also make demands that might go against the flow of a story. I've even seen some Devs to do that for appeasement. That's why I made that "500 $1 patrons" comment. I want my creative freedom. A $50 patron might disagree.

 

[Meaning Less]

How you feel about the cover art?
Like what do you look at when browsing for a new game?

That might help a bit for a general first impression, but as an user I learned to overlook it.

I've played enough shitty games that had good looking cover art, and enough solid games that just had a random screenshot as cover.
Much like books, you just can't effectively judge a game by it's cover, no matter how much you think that game might be great/horrible/generic, you relly won't be sure if that game is for you until you play it.

 

[Deleted member 1957140]

How you feel about the cover art?
Like what do you look at when browsing for a new game?

I've played enough shitty games that had good looking cover art, and enough solid games that just had a random screenshot as cover.

I agree. Once I was done going through the popular ones I mostly stuck with tags. I too have played many games with great cover art that were just awful. I'm not going to follow those. The content matters the most. And for me, the story/character development matters equally to well done sex scenes. Many games have the second part fleshed out very well but everything else is not on par. Introduce the gallery mod.

Other than tags, I think the second feature I used the most is the "weighted rating" button when browsing for new games. It's more like trending button. Other than big name games, some new ones with high count of recent likes show up there. Most new ones I found that way were pretty good. Some lost their touch along the way but that's a different story.

 

[JoeTheMC84]

A few tips.

The game needs to be one you enjoy making. So, make something you would want to play, render scenes you would want to see. That can keep you going even if other stuff gets in the way or slows you down.

As for tags, just make sure you are upfront about them. For example, if you plan to have a corruption game with rape, make that clear even if it isn't in the game yet.

As far as tags I like, or think are good to make sure you include, well, you've already eliminated my two favorites, incest and harem,

But other than that, you could consider pregnancy (either as an end epilog or even in the game, just be clear which is it) it's one I enjoy and can bring in some fans and it's one that can be easier to have optional.

If you are going to have a corruption game then you'll get all the tags that go along with that, sexual harassment, blackmail, possible rape so make sure you are clear about them.

Swinging is not the same as NTR but many people view it in a similar light so if you want swinging or sharing then make sure you are upfront about it.

If you want to have virgins then decide if you will show more realistic first times or not. Some people see the virgin tag and are upset when having sex with the virgin plays out the same as the non-virgin they want it to be different otherwise what's the point?

I'm still learning Daz but I am writing and scripting in Ren'py several games already. I have a note page in my google doc for each one and the top of each is this:
--
VN Game Template Blank:

Planned Tags: (all listed, selected specifics for game when copy/pasting)
Technical - 3DCG, Animated, Male Protagonist, Multiple Endings
Sexual Content - Anal sex, Ahegao, Bdsm, Bestiality, Big ass, Big tits, Blackmail, Bukkake, Cheating, Corruption, Creampie, Dilf, Drugs, Exhibitionism, Female domination, Footjob, Furry, Futa/Trans, Gay, Groping, Group sex, Handjob, Harem, Humiliation, Incest, Internal view, Interracial, Lactation, Lesbian, Loli, Male domination, Masturbation, Milf, Multiple penetration, Oral sex, Pregnancy, Prostitution, Sex toys, Sexual harassment, Shota, Sissification, Slave, Sleep sex, Spanking, Stripping, Swinging, Tentacles, Teasing, Titfuck, Transformation, Trap, Urination, Vaginal sex, Virgin, Voyeurism
Non-sexual Content - Adventure, Combat, Cosplay, Dating Sim, Dystopian setting, Fantasy, Graphic violence, Horror, Humor, Management, Mind control, Monster, Monster Girl, No Sexual Content, Paranormal, Parody, Platformer, Point & Click, Possession, PoV, Puzzle, Religion, Romance, Rpg, Sandbox, School setting, Sci-fi, Shooter, Side-scroller, Simulator, Strategy, Superpowers, Trainer, Turn based combat, Twins
Other (not official tages from F95) -
Developer Note - There will be no Necrophilia, Rape, NTR, Scat, or Vore content ever, so don’t bother asking. Other tags may be added later, but none are planned.
--

I then modify it based on what the game will have. An example from one of the games I'm writing is this:
---
Planned Tags:
Technical - 3DCG, Animated, Male Protagonist, Multiple Endings

Sexual Content - Anal sex (Optional), Bdsm (Optional), Cheating? (May include, MC takes the girl from asshole), Creampie, Drugs (Optional for illicit, not for prescription), Exhibitionism (optional on MC gigolo path), Female domination (optional on MC gigolo path), Footjob, Groping, Group sex (FFM, (Optional)), Handjob, Harem, Incest, Interracial, Lactation, Lesbian (Optional), Loli, Male domination (optional on MC gigolo path), Masturbation, Milf, Multiple penetration? (May include, FFM with toys (Optional)), Oral sex, Pregnancy, Prostitution (Non-LI, MC on gigolo path), Sex toys, Sexual harassment (You get to kick the guys ass), Spanking (Optional), Stripping (Optional), Teasing, Titfuck, Vaginal sex, Virgin, Voyeurism (Optional, none sex scenes)

Non-sexual Content - Cosplay, Graphic violence, PoV, Religion, Romance, Twins

Other (not official tags from F95) - PTSD, Addiction, Trauma, Cum on Food (optional on MC gigolo path)

Developer Note -[While no love interest is forced on the player (there are many endings), may change?] This game is for people who enjoy incest, pregnancy and harem content, it will heavily feature those if you pursue the relationships in this game. If those repulse you, then this game isn’t for you, if they aren’t your favorite tags but you don’t mind them, then you should still be able to get plenty of enjoyment from this game as there is still a lot going on outside those three fetishes. There will be no Necrophilia, Rape, Bestiality, NTR (even hinted), Scat, or Vore content ever, so don’t bother asking. Other tags may be added later, but none are planned.
---
This is just something I do to help keep me focused on what the game is going to contain as far as content. You can see the notes I wouldn't include when I put the game up, but I believe in being transparent, so this is kind of my plan to post when I get something ready to put up.

Edit:
A second thing:

One reason harems are popular is because they don't make the player rush into picking one girl and miss out on the others before they even know them all. If you aren't going to go a harem route, then make sure the make-or-break moment with any girl is late enough in the game so the players get the chance to really get to know them. I hate it when games make me pick a girl exclusively before I have even met all the love interests let alone gotten to know them all well enough to know who I connect with the best.

PS, I'm also not a huge fan of "side girls." For me if a girl isn't going to be a real love interest, then I'd rather the developer just spend time on developing and growing the relationship with a real love interest. I've had several games where my favorite girl ended up being a "side girl," and it was just a terrible feeling for me. Which is another reason I really like harem games.