Sword & Sorcery Fantasy vs Modern realistic setting. Which is more erotic?

[hakarlman]

Sword & Sorcery Fantasy

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(art by 3dmania)

Modern Realism Setting

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Which setting is more erotic? - Fantasy Sword/Sorcery vs Modern/Realistic

If a game mirrors our reality, I think the level of eroticism naturally increases since it feels more close to home so to speak. If a game is outside the scope of our reality, and is set in a fantasy sword & sorcery environment, then it may be harder to relate to, so I think more emphasis must be placed on basic human values we've come to know in order to deliver a highly erotic impact in a fantasy setting. But still, for some reason a modern/realistic setting seems to provide a more erotic experience from personal experience, is it the same for you?

What do you guys think? Which setting naturally delivers a higher erotic impact and why? Maybe both are equally capable of delivering a high erotic impact and all that matters is a proper execution via writing and renders/drawings?

 

[Volta]

I'm not the type to "self insert" or treat a character as "me" so the more close to home aspect doesn't matter to me, as such i'm not that worried about the setting adding to how relatable the character/scene/situation is.

The most erotic game I've played in the last few months is city of broken dreamers, it's cyberpunk(not a fav of mine at all) but it falls under broader fantasy the way sci-fi does, though it is closer than a typical swords and sorcery, what makes it erotic is good scene setting(drags you into the world), atmosphere and writing in general without some of that any game fails for me, no matter the setting, good renders help but aren't required, good enough can be all you need if written well enough, so long as it engages the player, i'm not talking immersion jut that the game has to absorb your attention to a certain degree, Milf City has some great renders and hot scenes but as for story, well not so much, though it still engages me, just not on the level that CoBD or TLS do, both of which don't use the modern setting.

What really sets some games apart is how well the sex meshes with the wider universe of the game, now this sounds pretentious and i guess it is but a game with a teenage protagonist in a modern setting having sex like you'd expect a porn-star with 20 years of experience to doesn't work, in this setting the protagonist would be inexperienced, he may be hung, naturally talented and great in bed but even so there needs to be some little tie of reason between the sex and the setup, this is where a lot of high fantasy falls on it's ass, if there is a lot of magic, different species, stuff like then that is going to have an effect on the sex lives of people, if magic provides contraception or w/e it would kill pregnancy a fetish for example, basically the actions an MC can take part in have to fit in the game world. The same can be said for the type of sex, a classic "white knight" hero wouldn't be into rough degrading sex, in fact there is a very good chance that he'd have very little to do with a women wanting that in the context of that world, unless perhaps he's conflicted, after all self conflict and hypocrisy make for interesting characters.

For me good writing and story is the first priority for a VN or game, then renders, then broader setting in that order, that's why Sierra Lee's Last Sovereign(text based RPGM in a fantasy world) beats a lot of generic modern incest crap that uses it's setting lazily,TLS builds a world very quickly by using an equal measure of classic trope stuff and subverted tropes, which for me is interesting and engages me far me than a modern "vanilla" setting does most of the time(not all of the time). To be fair there are games that i enjoy with no real story to worry about, it depends on the format, sometimes it's game-play that i look for, sometimes it's renders but i digress, generally story keeps me coming back to a game update after update not the setting, that's why i tend to skip a lot of updates for sandbox style games, irrelevant of setting.

In my opinion the context takes a scene from sexy into erotic, the context can be harder to build in a fantasy game because it requires world building and logical steps from said world building to then create a character with certain desires that can be spun out to write an erotic scene that fits into the world, rather than just some medieval porn. However there is a tendency to use the modern setting by default, in a lazy way, as if the dev can skate over details that would build engagement with the player, things like location and history of the PC and such, where the PC fits into the world. Without that context character interaction, including sex can feel a little empty, most fetishes can't be fulfilled very well without some context, take a sexy render, remove the text,

Basically any setting is as good as it's writer, if you favour the modern setting then great, you've got plenty of choice but i find a good story is better than it's setting and a good story engages you more, which brings you closer to a given sex scene if your invested in the story, if your closer to the scene you may find it more erotic, i certainly do, so i can see where you're coming from with the "more relatable" thing, but what you can engage and relate with varies from person to person and as such is a preference thing.

TL: DR: good scenes need context to be erotic and have impact, it can be harder or longer to lay down that context with fantasy settings, but it doesn't mean that it is intrinsically less erotic as a setting,, just different in pace, what i would say is that in general i see less high quality fantasy games at the moment than modern set games.

Dare i say this is in part due to DAZ, they have an extensive modern HQ library of backdrops, clothes, figures ect. to draw from, fantasy is more limited in terms of stock assets at an HQ level, sci-fi has an even tougher time and as such a smart or experienced devs may steer clear of those latter two settings for that reason.

P.S - I see a greater proportion of modern setting games by far, just by weight of numbers there is a greater chance that with a bigger pool of games to look through that you'd be more likely to find something you like.

 

[F22232425]

Why not combine both?
There is not need to be restrainted into any of them.

 

[anne O'nymous]

If a game mirrors our reality, I think the level of eroticism naturally increases since it feels more close to home so to speak.

I can rarely play a game in a modern setting without few "WTF". Who eat pizza every day ? Where are the fucking pastries for the breakfast ? WTF is this, WTF that... Despite looking the same seen from far away, modern times isn't a united thing and life in the USA isn't life in UK, which isn't life in France, which isn't life in Japan, which isn't life in whatever you want.
This while it's easier to relate with a fantasy setting, whatever it's put in the past or in the future, because it's a full imaginary setting where things are supposed to be different from what the player know/live.

But anyway, I can't see why this could have an impact on the eroticism of a scene, unless the scene itself is a whole WTF thing. It's the situation that is, or not, erotic, and as long as the situation is coherent with the setting, there's no reason for it to be more or less erotic depending of the said setting.

Maybe both are equally capable of delivering a high erotic impact and all that matters is a proper execution via writing and renders/drawings?

It's more this than anything else.
The eroticism of a scene come from the mind of the player, and from there only. Face to the same situation with the same context, two persons can differ on their interpretation of it and the level of eroticism carried. It become erotic when, consciously or not, you want to be "here", to live/witness this situation. Else it's just porn, a situation deprived to all context ; you don't want to bang this particular girl in this particular situation, you just imagine that you are banging a girl, in a totally different context or outside of all context.
Therefore, the eroticism of a scene/game is conveyed by the author himself, through his writing and the CGs. They should slowly plunge the player in his own imagination. Then the scene can possibly pass from "porn" to "erotic", and this whatever the setting of the game.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

A lot of it depends on the writing, well for me at least.

If a story is erotic in itself then the setting is secondary, it could be in the past, the present or even the future. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

Realism loses. There are a lot of kinks that by definition aren't realistic.

Of course ultimately it depends on the writing, but fantasy & sci-fi have more potential in general.

 

[215303j]

If a game mirrors our reality, I think the level of eroticism naturally increases since it feels more close to home so to speak. If a game is outside the scope of our reality, and is set in a fantasy sword & sorcery environment, then it may be harder to relate to, so I think more emphasis must be placed on basic human values we've come to know in order to deliver a highly erotic impact in a fantasy setting.

You already answered the question

If a game has a setting outside the setting with which the player is familiar with (e.g. modern day USA or modern day France, which as anne O'nymous rightfully mentions, are not the same), then the story needs to explain stuff. Which is a reason why I'm not overly fond of Japanese stuff, as I'm not Japanese nor a student of Japanese culture, so I tend to miss a lot of subtext.

I also think that the category "Sword & Sorcery Fantasy" is way too broad. It may include a setting which is completely alien to us (e.g. Conan the Barbarian), or it may be modern day USA but with swords instead of guns (e.g. Xena Warrior Princess). Yet another category might be "modern USA setting" but with certain magical elements, e.g. mind control pills.

But generally, I think that in order to have the desired erotic effect:
1) The player must already be familiar with the context in which a certain erotic event happens
or
2) The context must be carefully explained

If the context is not familiar, but well explained, then it may be more erotic because the dev does have the possibility to include scenes that would be outrageous in a modern setting, but hot in a fantasy setting.

Realism loses. There are a lot of kinks that by definition aren't realistic.

I think that's a different topic. It doesn't matter if e.g. incest is realistic (or, more to the point, erotic) IRL. The appeal is in the taboo. So in a fantasy world where incest is not a taboo at all, it also loses the erotic appeal. Same I think with shemale / futa. The taboo is the implication that guy + shemale = (almost) gay, but if the futa is 100% woman but with a dick (magically), the taboo is lessened (guy + girl (with dick) = (almost) hetero) and therefore perhaps less erotic. Although I guess it also depends on the players perspective and stomach for taboo topics.
Of course, if you are referring to tentacles, that's again a different topic...

 

[anne O'nymous]

If the context is not familiar, but well explained, then it may be more erotic because the dev does have the possibility to include scenes that would be outrageous in a modern setting, but hot in a fantasy setting.

Well explained... or handle in a way that make it feel natural.
Take Heavy Five by example. I'm sure that none of us can say that it's a familiar context... at least I personally never been on an armored space shuttle, nor on an exo-planet full of crazy self centered scientists (and a fucking giant monster with height fucking legs that still haunt my nightmares). And Nottravis didn't past too much time to explain it, focusing on the MC context more than on the global one. Still it feel so natural that the game have an erotic charge high enough to make an eunuch grow a new dick.

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

(magically)

To me, that's the key word here. The reasons why a something (say futa) is appealing or not are way beyond this discussion topic. We can just say it's a matter of personal preference (and be absolutely correct). It basically comes pre-packaged with the reader/player, analyzing the deeper cultural roots (so futa is the taboo sweetspot, you say? ) is overthinking it for the purposes of the question asked.

My point was that the very inclusion of some elements breaks realism. There aren't any tentacles IRL so if you are into those, you want a "fantasy" setting, period.

If the fantasy label is too broad, you can split the question in two: cultural realism/fantasy and mechanical realism/fantasy, and as you probably guessed I am talking mainly about the latter axis.

 

[anne O'nymous]

There aren't any tentacles IRL so if you are into those, you want a "fantasy" setting, period.

I have to disagree

 

[215303j]

Take Heavy Five by example.

I haven't played that one yet (I know ) but sci-fi stories do tend to differ in context.

For example, human Star Trek characters behave like modern Western / American humans, and are therefore easy to understand and empathise with.But if you take the Dune setting, for instance, the first book focusses on the Atreides which are also quite close to modern Western / American humans. But in later books, the MC's are hardly human anymore and pretty difficult to understand. This is part of the appeal of Dune, I think: a dystopian far away future which is still based on a twisted version of present-day humanity.

All in all, Dune is probably more intellectually interesting than Star Trek (strictly culturally speaking), but is it also more erotic? I'd say not. Although Dune contains several concepts which could be considered strongly erotic, the alien setting of Dune makes it difficult to understand the exact motives and emotions of the characters, which reduce the eroticism, in my opinion.

It basically comes pre-packaged with the reader/player, analyzing the deeper cultural roots (so futa is the taboo sweetspot, you say? ) is overthinking it for the purposes of the question asked.

I don't know... I think it's a very interesting and very deep question, which, I guess, has hardly been researched.
I'm not saying that futa is a sweetspot, but it depends on the player what he/she find erotic, which is the question at hand here.

In general, I think that a "minor" taboo, in the eyes of the player, is tittilating and intriguing, and therefore erotic. A "major" taboo on the other hand may be a turn-off. With minor taboo, I mean that the MC is brought into a situation that the player find almost (but not entirely) acceptable. It pushes the boundary. For a straight MC / player it can mean gay-ish acts, like cumming in your girls mouth and kissing her, or having a MMF threesome and touching the other guys dick. But full-on gay sex is probably several bridges too far for a straight MC / player and thereby a turn-off. For incest it's similar. Consentual sex between close family members is a taboo, it takes a lot of time for the MC and the sister/daughter to get on board with concept, but when it happens it's hot because it's consentual sex between two attractive persons but with a bit extra baggage. Non-consentual incest on the other hand is probably a bridge too far for many players.

The point in all these examples: It's all about culture. If the culture of the writer, the fictional culture of the story and the culture of the player are too far apart, they'll probably miss or wrongly interpret stuff.

This brings us back to the OP: if the story is set in a fantasy world, then what kind of normative references should the player use? His own? The story's? The writer's? This is really complicated...

If the fantasy label is too broad, you can split the question in two: cultural realism/fantasy and mechanical realism/fantasy, and as you probably guessed I am talking mainly about the latter axis.

I'm not sure what you mean by "mechanical realism/fantasy"?

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

This brings us back to the OP: if the story is set in a fantasy world, then what kind of normative references should the player use? His own? The story's? The writer's? This is really complicated...

Is it? We can exclude the latter, because how are we as a player going to do that, ask the author on twitter?

And then it's always a split between our own and the ones dictated by the story. How much of each is never fixed and there is no ought here; in art there's always interpretation. That doesn't mean that the author can't influence an "average" interpretation of the work, so to speak.

I'm not sure what you mean by "mechanical realism/fantasy"?

Are there "magical" elements in the world? Yes? Fantasy. No? Hard realism.

 

[anne O'nymous]

All in all, Dune is probably more intellectually interesting than Star Trek (strictly culturally speaking), but is it also more erotic? I'd say not. Although Dune contains several concepts which could be considered strongly erotic, the alien setting of Dune makes it difficult to understand the exact motives and emotions of the characters, which reduce the eroticism, in my opinion.

As far as I remember (I read it when it was translated, so decades ago), "Chapterhouse: Dune" is pretty erotic.
But you are right on your main point. Face to two Sci-Fi settings, the one where the characters and their personality are the nearest to the humans we know, have more potential to be erotic.
Which lead to a question : are heroic fantasy settings less erotic for some people, because the author try to mimic what he expect to be the personalities of such setting, and so, like you said, have characters less easy to... hmm, impersonate(?) ?

[...] For a straight MC / player it can mean gay-ish acts, like cumming in your girls mouth and kissing her, or having a MMF threesome and touching the other guys dick. But full-on gay sex is probably several bridges too far for a straight MC / player and thereby a turn-off.

And reported to futa, it mean that male on futa will be more easily accepted that futa on male ; and even more easily if it's a hermaphrodite futa, than if it is a dickgirl futa.
In real life, imagining a guy sucking you, or you fucking a guy would be a big "No". But in a game, a futa doing it is another thing, as long as she act like a girl and don't try to use her dick on you. In top of that, while the CG show a girl with a dick, nothing prevent the player to see it as a girl with a really realistic strap-on.

For incest it's similar. [...]

And Freud would have added that we all dreamed at least once about doing it.
Modern psychologists would probably place some kind of return in childhood. While playing those games, we unconsciously search to go back to the time we had those dreams, which was also a time were life didn't matters that much and was way easier for us.

The point in all these examples: It's all about culture. If the culture of the writer, the fictional culture of the story and the culture of the player are too far apart, they'll probably miss or wrongly interpret stuff.

Not a bad argument, I would just add "interest" in addition to your "culture". Someone more appealed to heroic fantasy stories will find a game with this setting more easily erotic than a game with a modern time one. Simply because the setting itself trigger more his imagination.

This brings us back to the OP: if the story is set in a fantasy world, then what kind of normative references should the player use? His own? The story's? The writer's? This is really complicated...

Which fall back to what is said right above and regarding Sci-Fi settings. The more easily you can relate to the story and characters, whatever because of your culture or your books/movies preferences, the more easily you'll use your own normative references and so be able to see the eroticism of a scene.

 

[215303j]

Is it? We can exclude the latter, because how are we as a player going to do that, ask the author on twitter?

For example: Japanese games made for a Japanese audience but translated to English.

The story is culturally completely Japanese, and for me, poor Westerner, often difficult to understand because I don't get why a girl holding hands with a guy is a big deal, why you need to visit a love hotel instead of your bedroom, or what the difference is between an onichan and oneechan (if any). *shrug*.

If you want to really understand those games, you should make a real effort to learn about Japanese culture and language. And then I guess it will still remain somewhat difficult because you'll always remain an outsider.

Are there "magical" elements in the world? Yes? Fantasy. No? Hard realism.

Then what is Star Trek? Hard realism? I think not.
Still closer to "our" realism than Dune...
Which, by the way, also doesn't feature magic as such, just very advanced technology and extra-terrestrial lifeforms.

As far as I remember (I read it when it was translated, so decades ago), "Chapterhouse: Dune" is pretty erotic.
But you are right on your main point. Face to two Sci-Fi settings, the one where the characters and their personality are the nearest to the humans we know, have more potential to be erotic.
Which lead to a question : are heroic fantasy settings less erotic for some people, because the author try to mimic what he expect to be the personalities of such setting, and so, like you said, have characters less easy to... hmm, impersonate(?) ?

Several passages in the Dune books are pretty erotic. But, you need to immerse yourself in that universe to understand it. Otherwise, it's just weird.

The other side is that a fantasy setting does allow to present "hard taboo" situations in a "socially acceptable" manner.

There are simply some situations / fetishes which are hard to accommodate in a modern Western setting. Slavery, which I think is quite a popular fetish, is much easier to portray in e.g. an Ancient Roman setting, or a Sci-Fi setting. But Ancient Rome also has limitations on the part of the player: does he expect a realistic portrayal of slavery in Ancient Rome or does he expect a porn version of Asterix (or worse, Xena)? If it the player expects Asterix but gets Xena he'd be disappointed. If the player expects realism, but the writer didn't do his research, he'd also be disappointed. Maybe in some cases this disappointment would be irrelevant for the erotic value, but personally I think it distracts, a lot.

A well done (!) fantasy, sci-fi or historical setting has definately a lot of potential for erotic value. It just needs to be done properly, which Ï think is more complicated than in a normal everyday setting which most players can relate to.

Not a bad argument, I would just add "interest" in addition to your "culture". Someone more appealed to heroic fantasy stories will find a game with this setting more easily erotic than a game with a modern time one. Simply because the setting itself trigger more his imagination.

Which fall back to what is said right above and regarding Sci-Fi settings. The more easily you can relate to the story and characters, whatever because of your culture or your books/movies preferences, the more easily you'll use your own normative references and so be able to see the eroticism of a scene.

Agreed!

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

If you want to really understand those games, you should make a real effort to learn about Japanese culture and language. And then I guess it will still remain somewhat difficult because you'll always remain an outsider.

Yes, pretty much. Not sure how it relates to the quoted piece. It's part of the setting (modern Japan), the author is irrelevant.

Then what is Star Trek? Hard realism? I think not.
Still closer to "our" realism than Dune...
Which, by the way, also doesn't feature magic as such, just very advanced technology and extra-terrestrial lifeforms.

The quotes around "magical" were used for a reason. Yes, neither are hard realism. Don't know a lot about Trek, but Dune is full of magic. Technobabble doesn't make magic, well, not magic. And frankly (pun not intended) Dune doesn't try that.

 

[Niteowl]

I tend to prefer fantasy/SF settings.....
For one thing they offer more opportunities in terms of characters' aspects (elves, aliens, succubi, etc) and situations
and for another exploring a new world is more interesting than exploring a very limited imitation of reality

But I have to agree it's mostly down to the story. Good writing can make any setting erotic (interesting situations, characters you have to struggle to eventually conquer etc).

 

[anne O'nymous]

Don't know a lot about Trek, but Dune is full of magic. Technobabble doesn't make magic, well, not magic. And frankly (pun not intended) Dune doesn't try that.

Er... There's really few, if not no, magic in Dune. There's a lot of technology, and senses enhanced by drugs, but the only character that can be seen as having magic is Leto II, and he's a unique living form. The other characters near to that are the Mentats, who are just artificially enhanced genius, and the Bene Gesserit's Reverend Mothers, who need their daily dose of spice to maintain their mind tricks. Because it's just that, mind tricks. They don't manipulate mater, they don't create things, they just enhanced their, not like ours, brain.
We already know how to use technology to make someone walk again, and the tests even demonstrated that after times, nerves started to grow back. We already know how to use technology for (still basic) mind controlled devices. And few other things like that. Therefore, that an extra-terrestrial race from far away, both in space and time, can have brains able to perform those kind of things when enhanced by drugs have nothing to do with magic. Especially when the whole meaning of the said Bene Gesserit is to use genetic to enforce the brain natural capabilities.

But anyway, what is a "modern realistic setting" ?
Battle of the Bulges, The Gift reloaded, Lab Rats, Deviant Discoveries, Occultus, Sisterly lust, to name just few. All take place in our modern society. Yet in the first, guys can have a dick bigger than their thighs, and in the second you'll found a pill that will give you the possibility to control mind. The third and fourth let you create a mind control potion, and in the fourth the potion can even change your body. In the fifth you're a vampire, while in the sixth all the female members of your family agree to be part of your harem.
But for all, this little thing is the only not realistic part. In the last example, there's no magic, no potion, no mind trick, just a totally unrealistic family... As unrealistic than all those games where all the girls will fall for the MC, whatever their personality...

The truth is that there's really few games that can be said as having "modern realistic setting". They represent probably less than 0.5% of the adult games. All the others are unrealistic in a way or another, simply because without a really strong story (The DeLuca Family, Depraved Awakening) an effectively realistic adult game would be boring.

 

[Pingy]

Victorian era setting is criminally underused.
Generic medieval fantasy setting and generic modern day incest settings are criminally overused.

 

[215303j]

The truth is that there's really few games that can be said as having "modern realistic setting". They represent probably less than 0.5% of the adult games. All the others are unrealistic in a way or another, simply because without a really strong story (The DeLuca Family, Depraved Awakening) an effectively realistic adult game would be boring.

Maybe, but the way I'm seeing it is that in those games, the setting is "modern and realistic" but the story has elements which are not very likely. Still, because of the "modern realistic" setting, the characters can be judged according to the player's mindset. For instance, Luna is on one hand a murderer but on the other hand also sweet and innocent. One thing we perceive as negative the other as positive, thus creating character depth. But this perception is only possible because of the setting. In a setting where murdering is fine but innocence is frowned upon, Luna would/should be seen in a completely different light.

To go back to Dune: I personally find the Bene Gesserit a thoroughly evil and wrong organisation. But in the setting of the novels, they are not always seen as such, with many of the "good" characters being members or being allied to them etc. The Tleilaxu on the other hand I somehow find kind of sympathetic, but in the novels they are generally portrayed as the bad guys. Clearly my personal morality and that of the characters in the novels do not match. On one hand this is confusing, on the other hand it gives the worlds created in the novels a lot of additional depth.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Maybe, but the way I'm seeing it is that in those games, the setting is "modern and realistic" but the story has elements which are not very likely. Still, because of the "modern realistic" setting, the characters can be judged according to the player's mindset.

It's the flip side of a "modern and realistic" setting. We will judge the characters according to our own moral/personality. This while with all the other settings, even "modern and unrealistic", we tend to be more tolerant because it's not "our world".
By example, outside of all fetish, a rapist character will be less likely welcomed on a "modern and realistic" setting, than on a "sword & sorcery" one by example, because we'll think that "at this time it was the norm".

For instance, Luna is on one hand a murderer but on the other hand also sweet and innocent. One thing we perceive as negative the other as positive, thus creating character depth. But this perception is only possible because of the setting. In a setting where murdering is fine but innocence is frowned upon, Luna would/should be seen in a completely different light.

I think that you don't need to go as far as changing the setting, changing the context is enough.
Put Luna as everything else than the daughter of a head of a Mafia family, and her complex and deep personality will be limited to a freak one. In fact, it would just not works. Outside of this context, you can't be both a cold murderer and effectively a sweet innocent girl ; unless the context is perpetual war, yet the said war have to really be perpetual, the character need to know absolutely nothing else for her personality to keep its realism.

To go back to Dune: I personally find the Bene Gesserit a thoroughly evil and wrong organisation.

For me, they are the Nazi party of this part of the universe. They don't use (directly) violence as a way to achieve their goal, but their goal is to purify the race and create the perfect "human".

But in the setting of the novels, they are not always seen as such, with many of the "good" characters being members or being allied to them etc.

It's, from my point of view, the most marvelous idea that Herbert had. They are all women. Therefore, from the point of view of the reader, they can't be this bad, right ? As for the point of view of the characters themselves, they are their wives, sisters, mothers, daughters...
The Bene Gesserit is the most beautiful conspiracy of the Dune universe. While the head of the families use poison, murder and war as more or less discrete weapons for their conspiracy, they use blood relationship for theirs. No one can effectively goes against the Bene Gesserit without also going against part of his own family.

The Tleilaxu on the other hand I somehow find kind of sympathetic, but in the novels they are generally portrayed as the bad guys.

They are the one that gave up to their humanity. Add to this the fact that the Tleilaxu ask for money, while the Bene Gesserit don't do, and how can they be perceived otherwise that greedy monsters for the characters ?
But for the readers, the opposition with the Bene Gesserit goes further, because we have access to what is missing for the said characters, the effective goals of both. And, because the Tleilaxu's goal is at the opposite of the selfish goal of the Bene Gesserit, they become the good ones ; greedy, but working for the good of the humanity and not their own sole good.

Clearly my personal morality and that of the characters in the novels do not match. On one hand this is confusing, on the other hand it gives the worlds created in the novels a lot of additional depth.

You put your finger of one of the most, if not the most, difficult part of a good writing : The creation of this duality between the way the reader will see someone, and the way the characters will see him.
As I implied above, it's natural that your view on the Tleilaxu and the Bene Gesserit are at the opposite of the one of the characters. But to achieve this, you need to always keep in mind that people wear a mask and never are exactly the same in public and in private. And, obviously, you need to never mess with the two personalities that it create, not mixing them by error.

Take Luna by example. As player we know her sweet and innocent part, but ask anyone outside of the DeLuca family (and probably even most of the soldiers of the family) and I doubt that you'll find someone that don't see her as something else than a fucking freaks of murderer. This because HopesGaming achieve to deal with this dual personality.
Luna is sweet and innocent when she want an ice cream, it's seen both in the dialogs and the CG. But once the two jerks come, it's finished, there isn't a single part of this that stay. And even when the said jerks are supposed to be outside of the scene, she stay cold and freaks in her attitude, but the sweet and innocent part come back in the dialog. She could have relaxed her attitude, but there's surely witnesses since she used her gun, so the sweetness part is limited to what only the MC can witness.