Impermiable
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- Feb 7, 2022
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When I click on this it leads me to a web pagefull gallery unlocked
put in folder game
When I click on this it leads me to a web pagefull gallery unlocked
put in folder game
Right click the link, then 'save link as' (Firefox) or something similar on chrome or other browsers.When I click on this it leads me to a web page
I'd say it's more that the game nudges us away from the extremes. After all, we have 'extreme' kindness options like not cheating with Mina or refusing to placate Kathleen's lust for flamboyant cruelty, and I don't think the game is weighted towards them.I would say that the game itself is "subconsciously" nudging us toward the kinder side as all the 5 main LIs favor a more empathetic MC and, for 90% of us, getting favor/advancement with LIs influences what choices we pick.
The only female character that likes a ruthless/sado MC is Kathleen (and perhaps the chess playing nurse, although we've hardly interacted with her so far). It'll be interesting to see if any of the house girls are elevated (in the same way that Quinn, Lily, Envy, Riona are in BaDIK) to make going for "stay with the hoes at the club" ending more enticing.
I'm not going to tell anyone how to feel about a character (even my favorite), but I do think that's a very ungenerous view of Veronica's backstory. We have no first hand knowledge of her marriage or her wife, so I don't think we should take Kat's word that Veronica was ultimately at fault for the failure. It's possible, but we don't know enough to be certain yet. Veronica might only have thrown herself fully into saving the gym after the divorce because it was all she had left. Even if the gym played a large part in the failure of their marriage, without knowing what Liliana's objections to the gym were, we can't really be sure how valid they were and thus how much blame she should bear for any strain those objections caused.And Edwin´s niceness does not prevent him from contemplating helping, but pragmatic solutions, esp. when something does not sit well with him. As an example, Veronica´s standing with this Edwin dropped quite a bit during the new update. As we learned during the sauna visit, Samson´s dickmove meddling might have pushed Veronica onto this path, but that was just recognising a chance. The gym already was a millstone around the neck, Sam "just" added the whipped cream topping on it.
Veronica had already destroyed her marriage for a fracking gym studio, one her old trainer even warned her about before selling out to Sam. And Sam even told us that Veronica could easily walk away and start anew with another gym, there is still time for it, but that she won´t because of her pigheadedness. (pot please meet kettle, Sam and Vera are from the same cloth) And we know from Vera herself that even a win at PC is just a band aid. But pardon me, that drops her reason to be at PC very deep. She ruined her marriage, her friendship with Samson(it is hinted they had one), it seems her relations with family too and her finances for a Gym she was warned about by her trainer and even the guy who hastened the mess Veronica is in. And again, Samson himself stated that Vera could still start anew fresh, it is not too late for that. She could still have/live her dream without competing at PC.
So sorry, but for me this makes her reason for being at PC even worse than Feli´s. Felicia might be eccentric with an eccentric reason to compete, but she stands to win substancially if she wins in the end and even a loss might bring her at least some of the influence network she aspires to. She will not be worse off either way. Rosi simply has no other option to raise the needed money quickly enough.
And what IMO shines also through during the game, is that Sam has a big crush for Veronica. Most of what he did is because he could not land with her. He might be a dick and ass, but in a certain way those two deserve each other. I look forward to see if there is a possibility to couple them up, if Vera does not win.
Hi! I see where you are coming from! It is not that the "pragmatic" Edwin does not feel sympathy for Veronica, he gives her a needed hug without question, but what he learns about her motives getting into the competition "disappoints" him.I'm not going to tell anyone how to feel about a character (even my favorite), but I do think that's a very ungenerous view of Veronica's backstory. We have no first hand knowledge of her marriage or her wife, so I don't think we should take Kat's word that Veronica was ultimately at fault for the failure. It's possible, but we don't know enough to be certain yet. Veronica might only have thrown herself fully into saving the gym after the divorce because it was all she had left. Even if the gym played a large part in the failure of their marriage, without knowing what Liliana's objections to the gym were, we can't really be sure how valid they were and thus how much blame she should bear for any strain those objections caused.
Meanwhile on the gym itself, I think you're giving too much deference to Samson and not enough to Veronica. He said her coach (Danny) was reluctant to burden her with the gym, which you take as a sign she knew it was a bad investment going in. But it's possible Samson dissuaded Danny from conveying those concerns to Veronica, either by convincing him the gym really was viable or by paying him off to keep his mouth shut ("A sick man with debts is easily persuaded"). That would certainly be more compatible with what Veronica herself said in the sauna; she said it didn't occur to her that being uncrowded was a bad sign, not that she ignored bad signs she was aware of. Given how self-critical she is in that scene, I'm skeptical she was covering for her mistakes.
Likewise, just because the gym was struggling under Danny doesn't mean it was a genuine millstone. Veronica mentioned several problems beyond low membership, and those tie in well with the shenanigans Samson mentions (like directing her to his buddy's leasing company). Given how hard Samson claimed to have worked sabotaging her, I'm not going to assume Veronica would have failed simply because the gym was losing money before she bought it. More importantly, Veronica specifically says her problems with the gym largely predate meeting Samson and we know they met at an industry show for gym equipment. If Samson really did persuade Danny to give her a bum deal, the amount of money she was losing *at the start* could be far more than just those caused by the gym itself.
As far as Veronica being friends with Samson, I see no evidence of that and what evidence we do have suggests the opposite. She says she initially thought of him as a "run-of-the-mill narcissistic asshole." She got drunk with him when they first met, but the context (as far as she says) was discussing business. Samson's side of their early history is less detailed, but it mostly focuses on knowing of her through Danny. If he was already manipulating her before they actually met, I very much doubt he had any interest in befriending her.
Of course none of this means you need to feel sympathy for Veronica, and I certainly agree her reason for entering the competition is much less serious than Rosalind's. I just think you might be underestimating how far Samson has gone to sabotage her.
Ok, dude. You just continue to think that the only way to make a good game is to cater to all your personal preferences and to none of the preferences you don’t have, and we can part ways.Everything else is a you said is a valid opinion to have so I dont think there is anything to gain by further discussion on it however that is a really bad take about not only VN's but GAMES as a whole. Beyond the debate of whether or not PC has made the player "choose their route" or if people have decided to play high/low due to their own preferences, I struggle to think of almost any games even AAA ones or huge VN that dont nudge you towards an ending despite you have choice in the narrative beforehand. I highly doubt any games on this site fit that description but regardless please dont post a list of all the games you can think of as I dont want to derail the discussion into a debate on how videos games have narrative limits and are written by people who have natural biases.
I grow more and thankful every day that my preferred play style seems to be what players are "being nudged towards". I can really just sit back and enjoy the ride, I didnt even think his introspection was out of place this update because it is what I would be doing if I were in their position
I think we need to discern what kind of nudging we’re talking about:I'd say it's more that the game nudges us away from the extremes. After all, we have 'extreme' kindness options like not cheating with Mina or refusing to placate Kathleen's lust for flamboyant cruelty, and I don't think the game is weighted towards them.
I don’t disagree with anything here, but I do want to point out that while kind/altruistic actions usually ingrate you with the person you’re being kind to, it also tend to have a cost in the sense that you have to give up something of yours (time, resources, opportunity and so on) in order to give that to the other. If anything, games have a tendency to over incentivise kindness/goodness, as the players seldom have to bear the cost that the kindness/goodness would entail for the character they’re playing. This is something to be vary of, if you’re making a game where you want the asshole route to be as rewarding as the white knight route.IMHO the reason the game seems to be nudging to the kind side of the line is because the society norm is for people to be empathetic and well behaved. The MC often struggles with latter (especially in his youth) and seems capable of the former only when he has a personal connection to the other person, but he knows he needs to fit in with the outside world. So it's natural that he would react warily to actions that might cause him to fall off the wagon and threaten his place in the world; even if he ultimately decides to take the action, he needs to think it through first. Whereas being extra nice to people rarely does long-term harm to your reputation (though it's worth noting he does still worry about how helping Rosalind and Veronica might hurt his standing with the Club when those options come up).
You make a really good point here, so far, almost all possible relationship points squandered due to high toughness/depraved choices are because those directly affected by these choices won't like Edwin as much as they would if he acted kinder towards them personally. So far, it’s mainly Veronica that you can loose a bunch of points to by acting depraved/tough even though she isn’t personally affected by your actions. Even Hana mostly just talk a good game. As long as you don’t contradict her when talking with her (no reason to do that just because you’re on the high toughness path, I’d consider that naturally suboptimal choices, as there is no cost for Edwin to simply agree with her), you won’t lose out on her affinity points. I’ve combined a maximum toughness playthrough (as in having reached the cap in toughness) with maximum affinity on the Hana path.Also, I think it's possible we're overstating how much 'high Toughness' options hurt you with the girls. The girls often react poorly to Tough options that are directed against them, but that's to be expected. It's less common for us to lose points by being Tough to someone else; I think most of those are Hana, followed by Veronica. For Hana, I'd say it's fair to say that she's just incompatible with high-Toughness behavior (at least unless the Club winds up changing her). For Veronica, I'm not as sure. She definitely doesn't like the Club, so any Toughness actions that toe the Club line will earn her ire. But I'm not sure she'd be all that upset in a case where the MC unconcerned with the problems of a house girl or one of the other carnations.
Basically, my point is that I think it might be possible for us to stay on the path for most girls even with a relatively high Toughness. I think our ultimate decision about what we do with the Club will have a much more profound affect on those paths. The 'darker' options will probably end (or hopelessly twist) most of those paths. There will probably be a lot of overlap between the dark options and high Toughness, but I'd expect it's still possible to pick most of the dark options even with mid-range Toughness.
I agree about Veronica. She have a chip on her shoulder regarding PC and Kathleen, which affect how she feels about people doing the bidding of PC/Kathleen. But I don’t view her as a crusader for good (that’s more Hanas role) and on the contrary, she seems to get off on a bit of dominance herself, as long as she’s the one in the driver seat. Her almost predatory reaction towards teenage Mina, when you bring Mina to the gym, also tells a different story, than that of a morally upstanding citizen. But alas, this doesn’t matter if you borked your chances with her by playing along with Kathleens depraved games, because I don’t think we’re going to get some “you and me are not so different” redemption moment any time soon. If your affinity rating already is low enough to lock you out of certain actions, you’re probably done for as far as romancing her goes, and that's where I am at my current playthrough even though "my" Edwin has tried his best to keep her happy without turning to much into a sofite himself.For Veronica, I'm not as sure. She definitely doesn't like the Club, so any Toughness actions that toe the Club line will earn her ire. But I'm not sure she'd be all that upset in a case where the MC unconcerned with the problems of a house girl or one of the other carnations.
Agree on this to. Poor Veronica.I'm not going to tell anyone how to feel about a character (even my favorite), but I do think that's a very ungenerous view of Veronica's backstory. We have no first hand knowledge of her marriage or her wife, so I don't think we should take Kat's word that Veronica was ultimately at fault for the failure. It's possible, but we don't know enough to be certain yet. Veronica might only have thrown herself fully into saving the gym after the divorce because it was all she had left. Even if the gym played a large part in the failure of their marriage, without knowing what Liliana's objections to the gym were, we can't really be sure how valid they were and thus how much blame she should bear for any strain those objections caused.
Meanwhile on the gym itself, I think you're giving too much deference to Samson and not enough to Veronica. He said her coach (Danny) was reluctant to burden her with the gym, which you take as a sign she knew it was a bad investment going in. But it's possible Samson dissuaded Danny from conveying those concerns to Veronica, either by convincing him the gym really was viable or by paying him off to keep his mouth shut ("A sick man with debts is easily persuaded"). That would certainly be more compatible with what Veronica herself said in the sauna; she said it didn't occur to her that being uncrowded was a bad sign, not that she ignored bad signs she was aware of. Given how self-critical she is in that scene, I'm skeptical she was covering for her mistakes.
Likewise, just because the gym was struggling under Danny doesn't mean it was a genuine millstone. Veronica mentioned several problems beyond low membership, and those tie in well with the shenanigans Samson mentions (like directing her to his buddy's leasing company). Given how hard Samson claimed to have worked sabotaging her, I'm not going to assume Veronica would have failed simply because the gym was losing money before she bought it. More importantly, Veronica specifically says her problems with the gym largely predate meeting Samson and we know they met at an industry show for gym equipment. If Samson really did persuade Danny to give her a bum deal, the amount of money she was losing *at the start* could be far more than just those caused by the gym itself.
As far as Veronica being friends with Samson, I see no evidence of that and what evidence we do have suggests the opposite. She says she initially thought of him as a "run-of-the-mill narcissistic asshole." She got drunk with him when they first met, but the context (as far as she says) was discussing business. Samson's side of their early history is less detailed, but it mostly focuses on knowing of her through Danny. If he was already manipulating her before they actually met, I very much doubt he had any interest in befriending her.
Of course none of this means you need to feel sympathy for Veronica, and I certainly agree her reason for entering the competition is much less serious than Rosalind's. I just think you might be underestimating how far Samson has gone to sabotage her.
I'm not the best to answer this as I haven't maximized Veronicas affinity myself, but there is both readable walkthroughs and a walkthrough mod on the first page of this thread, that probably can help you.How do I become Veronica's lover? I've tried replaying the entire game twice, but I can't figure out what I'm messing up
This is a quick reply, since I am on a coffee pause and don´t have time to write a full essay.I think we need to discern what kind of nudging we’re talking about:
The main problem, as I see it, lies with 1, if it is done poorly, so that the illusion breaks, 2 regardless of reasons and 3 if consequences are opaque, making it difficult for the player to figure out which choices/paths are suboptimal, easily leading to dead ends, where the player unintentionally has failed all or most viable routes.
- There is deliberate nudging on the part of the devs, because the devs want to give the players illusion of choice but steer the outcome of the game in a canonical direction,
- there’s accidental nudging due to bad planning and then
- there is “natural” nudging due to not every choice and every possible path being equal.
Having some choices be suboptimal in themselves is no problem as I see it and I think the game has plenty of those, as there, for example, are conversations where the “right” answer nets you affinity points, whereas the wrong answer gives you nothing and none of the answers forces the player down a particular path.
Now, PC is constructed in a way as to give the players the choice between a more moral route (I say “more”, because it’s simply not possible to play 100 percent moral, because then Edwin wouldn’t be working at PC at all, he is an inherently flawed character) and a more depraved route, usually, but not always, measured in toughness-points. The more moral route will terminate in Ewdin leaving PC, whereas the more depraved route will terminate with Edwin staying at PC (and possible advancing into a leadership role). According to TD1900, the devs actively strive to not make the more moral route a suboptimal one as measured in sex scenes. From that I think we can infer that they also don’t intend to make the more depraved/more tough route suboptimal.
Fair enough, if that is what the Devs have said, then I've missunderstood leave or stay being connected to morality/toughness. It doesn't really take away from my conclusions though, as that was a sidenote. You're more than welcome to explain where your other disagreements lie.This is a quick reply, since I am on a coffee pause and don´t have time to write a full essay.
I definitely question most of your conclusions and even the ones I agree with, I think you put a too negative spin on them. One example of your conclusions being flawed is that you state that the "more moral path" will end with Edwin leaving PC and the "more hard path" will end in him staying.
This is most definitely flawed since TD1900 stated more than once over the time PC is in development, that there will be endings with "nice Edwin" leaving AND STAYING with the Club (with one of the main LIs or single) and that "assh... Edwin" will likewise have endings where he leaves and stays with Pale Carnations (also either with a LI or single).
It was also implied that "mischievious Edwin"(a middleground Edwin, nice but able to make hard decisions if he thinks them to be the best solution) will have the same options.
Can't yet, Friend is max for now.How do I become Veronica's lover? I've tried replaying the entire game twice, but I can't figure out what I'm messing up
Hi! I might do that, but such explanations would come on sunday the earliest, too much others things on plate. But your questions about the love interests of Edwin can be answered rather fast.Fair enough, if that is what the Devs have said, then I've missunderstood leave or stay being connected to morality/toughness. It doesn't really take away from my conclusions though, as that was a sidenote. You're more than welcome to explain where your other disagreements lie.
Other than that, has the devs said anything about who will be potential LIs when the game ends? I'm wondering if it might be the case that the carnations and Kathleen are not real LIs in the sense that you can end up boyfriend-girlfriend with them at the end. Maybe the only real LIs are Mina and Hana?
Do you mean in the Stats window? Or do you mean just being able to "do stuff" with her?How do I become Veronica's lover? I've tried replaying the entire game twice, but I can't figure out what I'm messing up
You salty!You drew alot of conclusion without having reading the pubically available stuff the devs have posted here. It took me a few seconds to look for "potential LI" in this thread and found this
Well, someone just told me that no quality game could ever let the players decide for themselves what kind of ending they might want, they need to be "nudged" in the right direction. So, if the devs think that two of the possible six LIs are preferable, of course they should restrict the game in such a manner so that that is what the players will end up with.TD liked this post so it is very safe to say that the contestants are LI otherwise "if they are emotionally fragile then they should avoid the contestants" would be a pointless sentence not to mention a game having 4 of the 6 LI be fake outs/depressing/bad ends would be an EXTREMELY bold choice in a (very compelling) adult visual novel
No sweat!Hi! I might do that, but such explanations would come on sunday the earliest, too much others things on plate.
Well then. That means that Tumais comment is still relevant, especially if Kathleen is some sort of half LI and ESPECIALLY should Hana be locked out for max toughness Edwin (but I'm still thinking there will be an opportunity to turn her to the dark side...But your questions about the love interests of Edwin can be answered rather fast.
According to what TD1900 told and implied us, the main LIs are Felicia, Hana, Mina, Rosi, Veronica and to a certain point Kath(but logically only for a max toughness Edwin). I am not sure if Dalia, Lucy or Harper (which play larger roles in the game than others) might be some dark horse LIs opened up later on, but THE MAIN LIs are Hana, Mina and the three Carnations.
So, that implies that there either will be some large orgy where the carnations have sex with other men or one or several of them will become house girls or something similar. Interesting. As for Harem, I kind of assumed that was out of the question and I'm no particular fan of NTR, but I'm not allergic either.PC is statedly not a harem builder. You can pursue one, several or all of the possible love interests, but there will come a situation where you have to choose one of them as your lover/wife. Corruption will have some influence how some paths in living together develop, but not be gamebreakers (Theory for example a high libido Rosalind might be convinced or decide on her own to keep doing some shifts at PC afterwards, no matter if winning or not. Might be easier if some reforms are made at the club, but this is just one theory)
If you are on good terms with a girl you did not choose, then you stay platonic friends and/or part ways on friendly terms.
As Simpgor and Avaron1974 wrote, if you are a hardcore-NTR hater(of which some have very strange notions what NTR is) or not so resilent emotionally, then you would be better off not pursuing the three Carnations.
No LI is locked out, but depending on their established personality some couple options are easier or harder to create, due to convictions, ideals and compatible outlook of the two persons in question.No sweat!
Well then. That means that Tumais comment is still relevant, especially if Kathleen is some sort of half LI and ESPECIALLY should Hana be locked out for max toughness Edwin (but I'm still thinking there will be an opportunity to turn her to the dark side...).
Even in a reformed PC there might be a bit "funny sex business". Not that much, but still a bit. Hana has no problem with prostitution as a job, her problem with the Club is that many of the Girls and Carnations there are exploited or working under duress. If someone working at the Club is there without being forced and by their own decision, then Hana is OK with that. As seen when she told Felicia that she wished all girls at the Club were like her. Feli does not need to be at PC, it was her choice to do so and she has at least sometimes real fun doing the competition.So, that implies that there either will be some large orgy where the carnations have sex with other men or one or several of them will become house girls or something similar. Interesting. As for Harem, I kind of assumed that was out of the question and I'm no particular fan of NTR, but I'm not allergic either.
By the way, if it is possible to reform PC, so that the nasty things are removed and it is reinvented as a union approved, only safe-sex brothel were sex-workers are treated decently and no funny business, I would consider that as basically the same as leaving, even though it is technically staying. That kind of staying would work fine with a moral/low toughness Edwin and an uncorrupted Hana. Just saying.![]()
Hi! TD mentioned these numbers for the toughness score once during a discussion and for now they are only a measure of how you tick. Currently the toughness score "just" alters dialogue and impacts relationship scores (which can become problematic even now, depending on how you play), with the one pissing event gated by your toughness. There is also a choice somewhere, which you only get if your toughness is low. According to TD, later on in development, there might be more events gated by your toughness.Altough this may change in the future, TD1900 stated in this post that the main impact of toughness is in altering some of Edwins flavour texts, with thresholds Turret mentioned on a few occasions (btw Turret, where did you get those numbers? Also i would like to see the source of your claim that 30+ toughness disables some softer and kinder choices, because i couldnt find evidence for it). From personal experience i can attest to the statement that toughness indeed alters the internal monologue of Edwin. In my old canon playthrough with 27 toughness, i found his thoughts in Minas sex scene off-putting, so i started a new one and with 23 toughness the scene played out exactly the same way, except this time i was perfectly fine with Edwins internal monologue.
I believe so far the main function of the stat is to provide the players a feedback on their choices, without effectively altering the storyline. Nonetheless, if toughness would be utilizied to a greater degree in future, i would probably welcome it.
Bottomline: if someone is hell-bent on taking only asshole choices which give them toughness even if they surpass the cap of 30, they dont need to be flabbergasted when their playthrough went into the gutter. Play it smart guys!
That's it, prove me wrong.