Somehow we've ended up with another wacky brawl on the game thread over Tlaero's male MCs, who some players dislike because she writes them with rather distinctive (emotionally mature) personalities and doesn't allow tabula rasa-esque agency.
That pretty much sums up the average complaints, yeah. It's even more infuriating in this game as after each 'fail' you have a perfect explanation of the reasons why the MC (or any mature person who actually loves their partner, btw) should act as intended. They just don't get the message even though is explicitly said in one of the T&T unavoidable interactions: caring about the other's happiness above your own is the first sign of real love, which is what the game is all about (at least regarding that relationship: love is the answer even if it hurts and you could end up alone). But people want "agency" as an euphemism to ditch a character they didn't like, without even trying to understand the game's setting for that couple (they are already together because they love each other, so they should act as they do, supporting and trusting each other) nor the constraints of the overall storyarch. Well, I guess we should be used to it by now
Yay, we have our first celebrity in the story-first thread
Seriously though, you are an outstanding writer Tlaero. Whenever you release something new in the Elsaverse, even text-only, I find myself in awe of how you've yet again managed to expand the universe so delightfully. Like, "Triple A" is probably my favourite story of yours, and I still cannot believe just how well it fits with all the previous games. You must be planning everything years in advance, right?Indeed, three cheers for moskyx for defending our favourite dev against rank stupidity!
Hear, hear! I echo Raife's feelings, and my wife loves your writing like I do.
Thank you!Yay, we have our first celebrity in the story-first thread
OMG, Sunstone was fantastic. I won't write BDSM, not because I'm morally apposed (if it's consensual, go for it) but because nothing I could do would hold a candle to that masterpiece.
That sounds very impressive given the scale of your universe. It's hard to believe one can sustain the dedication, enthusiasm, and discipline required not only to maintain but actively improve and expand a world for almost a decade. I cannot sing your praises enough
I've touched this on the Chasing Beth thread, but as amazing as Mortze is, I'm pretty much only interested in your words. When you originally "retired", it felt like a real loss. Even if you stop developing VNs one day, I hope you'll always keep writing. It doesn't even have to be erotic really.
Indeed. In my experience, couples who can openly talk about - and experience - sexual subjects together have much healthier relationships. My wife is also on F95, but she mostly avoids commenting as it tends to attract unsavoury attention. People like you (and a few others, mostly on this thread) provide a nice counterbalance, so your presence is much appreciated
I must say it didn't seem like half the shitstorm I expected to see after I had read your post, unless the staff deleted tons of silly posts, but still I don't get these complaints about the lack of freedom to play as an arse. Many games with choices and a male MC tend to tie rewards to one 'personality' style so you kind of need to guess anyway what the dev's views on 'proper' masculinity are. And yes, in many older games those implicitly prescribed views were horrible. And who's to say devs can't put limits on the
I don't know if it's related, but a handful of my comments from many different threads, going back months (!!) were deleted by staff today. Maybe it's part of a larger clean up effort? Who knows...
In my experience, the people who complain about this almost universally exhibit repugnant views, so if anything their presence on a thread actually tells me the game is probably worth checking out
Oh, thanks for the recommendation! I've read a lot of praise for this one back when it was first released, but never really gave it a chance. Perhaps it's time to change that.
I doubt it is part of a larger effort, moderation here seems too incidental for that even though it's sometimes pretty heavy-handed. Like police driving a riot van into a street and doing a drive-by shooting after getting a call about a cat stuck in a tree. They probably just acted on reports.
The VN strongly stresses consent, although the implementation has been criticised too, of course... The Wikipedia article says it all, really. A lot of it is impossibly high standards imo, especially for LGBT devs and games. It doesn't change that the writing is super powerful.
It wasn't too bad... certainly not compared to jufot's _Hillside_ brawls of yore... but it monumentally pissed me off to hear one or two posters essentially accuse Tlaero of hating men. Nothing could be further from the truth, as far as I'm concerned. My own view is that some of these posters have obvious personal issues that have nothing to do with Tlaero... but jeeez, they certainly have at her in a way that I see as very much not on. (And they are _still_ at it... yikes, what is wrong with this guy?!)I must say it didn't seem like half the shitstorm I expected to see after I had read your post, unless the staff deleted tons of silly posts, but still I don't get these complaints about the lack of freedom to play as an arse.
But you never see these types protesting the lack of freedom of choice in Japanese retard-in-Lecherville games.
Oh, and another suggestion for you, jufot and Nyravrod: Ladykiller in a Bind
That whole screed is nauseating. I get it though, if your perspective on relationships is warped to such an extent, these games really must feel like "anti-men".
If this story was written by a man, I imagine there'd be some colourful commentary around how the developer is a "soy boy" or a "beta cuck", but in my experience the fact that it's written by a woman makes these people all the more angry, like it's a personal affront to them. The guy from that thread dresses it all up in politeness and decorum, but his seething contempt is palpable. I mean, look at this shit:
I hate this entire characterization, including that fucking sarcastic wink at the end. I know you and moskyx have tried to show him the light, but I fear the only winning move is to not play...I know that there are very few women who truly believe in gender equality. Even less of them can tell amazing stories and create solid games with such theme. I am fine if you are not one of them, but I'm not going to stop looking for it and I am not ashamed about it.
Yeah... I think you're right. That guy feels damaged to me... like he's mad about something else that happened to him, rather than something Tlaero wrote.
[Bows low] -- I genuinely admire you, and have for years. The capacity for empathy and decency you give to some of your characters, like Joel, is inspiring.
There's a reason why in most places I go on the internet, I pretend to be male. "Tlaero" is the main exception.
I cannot understand why you seem to attract such bizarre, unjustified anger from some quarters of this hellsite... although I have a few guesses related to issues we discuss regularly on this thread.
