First of all, thank you all for your messages, it truly means a lot to me
that's exactly why i hate play no harem game...choosing is so damn pain
I could take the easy route and make my game a harem game, but I have absolutely no interest in doing that.
I want my story to be as close to "reality" as possible, and ending up in a harem with five girls is really, really not common at all—unless you're a pimp or some weird billionaire but most importantly, my LIs—the characters they are, with their personalities, desires, jealousy, etc.—would never accept being part of a harem.
Haven't tried the game yet, just jumped through some comments and I just want to put it out there. PDA(handholding, hugs, kissing) and some simple text is enough to establish a LI moving on with their life, showing fully rendered and animated scenes with them and their new partner, or reading in autistic details their new sex life is done for one reason only, trying to appeal to a certain crowd.
How can you know that :
"it is done for one reason only, trying to appeal to a certain crowd" when you yourself admit you haven’t played the game, and especially when you haven't even seen the scene in question that was being debated in the thread—which, by the way, concerned one sex scene involving an
EX LI?
Even the ones that don't mind that type of scenes still considering them a major waste of dev time and effort that should have went in the route the player actually picked. And for the rest are just a major turn off, that instead of making them cannot wait to restart the game and get on that girl's, now they probably have no interest in her anymore. What anticipation is there left on their route when you already seen them naked and sweaty with someone else, probably without all the effort the player has to put into 'seducing' the girl.
Out of the many sex scenes that will be in the game, you’re telling me that one scene—which is entirely avoidable and that most players won’t even see in their first playthrough because they likely won’t meet the conditions to trigger it—will suddenly make everyone hate the LI in question?
And like I said, the player chooses to see that scene. At that moment, they will be fully aware of what’s happening, and they decide whether they want to watch it or not.
If you want a more "concrete" example, imagine coming home, hearing that your former crush/roommate is having sex with someone else, and having the option to take a peek.
If you do, that’s on you, but don’t come complaining about what you saw when no one forced you to watch it.
IMO, monogamy romance devs should focus on making the LIs as desirable as possible, not with what they can get away becasue the tags do not currently include some scenario, even though it has the same narrative reason to exist in the game and is designed to evoke the same type of emotions as that said tag.
I don't get it,
"do not currently include some scenario"? You mean the harem scenario ??
Platitudes are nice, but in a oversaturated market, why not give yourself the best chance of success with the main audience? How many have to fail in the same manner for people to understand that blindly 'follow your vision' means shoot yourself in the foot more often than not?
If I had to listen to everything said here and completely abandon my vision, I would have made a harem game, with MILFs, all living together, with a stepdad/stepbrother fucking a stepsister/stepmother everyday.
Or better yet, I’d just create polls every time, asking people here what my story should be, since apparently, I should only try to cater to the main audience, right?
Your reasoning is exactly why we get bland TV series, movies, and games every year—projects that try to appeal to the masses, conform to the mold, and never dare to be different, all to avoid taking any risks that might "offend" the "main audience".
But let’s take your reasoning and apply it to one of the most beloved and award-winning series of all time—Breaking Bad.
Normally, in a TV show, people want a hero they can relate to—someone with a savior complex who defeats the bad guys and eventually gets a happy ending with his family and kids.
And yet, when Breaking Bad was released, audiences witnessed something completely different—a protagonist who spirals out of control, transforming from an ordinary, mild-mannered middle-aged man into a ruthless drug lord, willing to kill a child just to keep his empire and remain Heisenberg.
This approach was shocking and completely off-track compared to other mainstream movies and TV shows at the time. And that’s exactly what made the series so successful—they took risks and didn’t just try to fit into the mold.
That's how great stories are born—by taking risks, not by checking boxes dictated by a marketing team that says there shouldn’t be too much violence, that no one should die, etc...
It’s the same for VNs—how many games look exactly the same and follow the same formula?
A handsome MC (or not) who don't have any problem in life, for whom every girl they meet wants to fuck him within 30 minutes of meeting him.
A lot. And I’m not criticizing those who make such games. They’re absolutely right to do so—there’s a huge audience for them.
But I would be even crazier to create a game that looks like 80% of the other games here instead of sticking to my vision and seeing it through to the end.
And if I crash? So be it. I won’t die from it, and I’ll always find a way to bounce back.
don't know why a dev would go through the trouble of making a single li structured game and simultaneously kill replayability with a LI
Look at what I wrote above, especially from the third quote.
