Tags and spoilers

[Ataios]

The topic was mentioned in another thread briefly some time ago: Could correct tags be considered spoilers for some games?

Tags by nature give information about the content of game. But what about games with plot twists the player should not know in advance? Do you think, a game should be tagged correctly regardless of possible spoilers or do you think tags that could work as spoilers should be avoided.

If e.g. the unsuspecting hero is betrayed and cheated on by a character he loves dearly late in the game, should the game have the NTR tag to tell people what to expect or would you skip the tag to make the plot twist more surprising? Movies and regular games don't use tags after all, but in their case the story is not meant to cater to certain fetishes, as is the case in porn games.

 

[thecardinal]

I think it's a judgement call on the dev's part. They just have to determine if the surprise is worth potentially upsetting fans and losing supporters.

Personally, I would preemptively add the tag. But I also did that and got some complaints for adding a tag that wasn't in the game yet. I don't think there is a right answer.

 

[kiteares]

If a dev doesn't add the tag then they will open themselves to all sorts of flack, especially if there is no <insert kink> for the 1st couple of issues. Also people into that particular tag may just search on it and miss out on a game/VN that they would enjoy.
If they do add it then there cannot be any surprise about it turning up in game and anyone whinging can be dismissed, importantly those looking for it can find it and those wanting to avoid it and are sensible enough to do so can avoid it.
Going with the NTR tag as that seems the most volatile (though I came across someone complaining about perverts that are into role playing O.O), just because the tag is there it doesn't tell when, where or by whom it will happen so things can twist about. "Ooh wasn't expecting <so and so> to be the antagonist". Add to that the wildly varying definition of NTR, then what you see as is not what others see, so you are potentially damned whatever you do.
TBH a far bigger issue is people that do not know how to are are just too ignorant to use spoiler tags when taking part in discussions. There are so many threads I am pages behind, because I have not got round to playing them and don't trust people not to ruin it.
Ultimately it is of course down to the dev to start with, in here mods may add tags as deemed necessary, in part to save them work so chances are it will be out of the devs control.

 

[W22N]

I agree with cc for the most part. Just imagine supporting a dev for months only to get blinsided with something that makes the game / vn unbearable for you, on the other hand, having to tag everything that could potentially make it into the game is not only a mood killer but also annoying.

But also the cases where this would actually matter are very few imo. Just to use the same example you did, ntr is a love it or hate it topic, in general people who seek that kink look for games tagged with it and don't bother with those who don't and vice versa. So what do you gain with that plot twist? kill your audience when it's unlikely that you'll attract a new one.

Also if they were to take that route and avoid spoiler tags, imagine the amount of fucking people that don't know how to use a search bar: "NTR?!" "DO HAVE NTR?" "what is ntr?" "I like ntr" "ntr is for...." (replace ntr by any other kink that may attract or deflect people from playing the game)

 

[redknight00]

They should be available from the beginning, they are only minor spoiler on the nature of the content, not the story. Even if the player knows what to expect, they won't know how and with who everything will happen, so it's no big deal. Just like movie/game trailer show the customer what to expect with only minor spoilers.

About what to expect in the future, it's entirely up to the developer, something like 'planned tags' can be a good idea if they have a solid plan of the future and want to share it. No that the lack of it would ever kill my interest in a game, IMO if I like 99% of the game, one scene will not lessen my interest.

 

[Ataios]

It also raises the question how far unexptected plot twists should go in porn games compared to other media.

Betrayal by an NPC is a common trope in regular games, an NPC lover cheating on the MC in porn game on the other hand will certainly repell many players. Also futa comes to mind. Most straight men wont be very excited to find out that the woman they love has a penis.

 

[GuyFreely]

As far as tags in the main post of a game thread, you could have Tags and Spoiler Tags. So you could have Tags be the theme and general kinks, whatever. (Furry, Corruption, etc.) Spoiler Tags could be things that aren't heavily featured and may be part of a twist if you will. This let's a player think twice about checking them out. I think at the end of the day, most people looking at tags would still look at spoiler tags (I would). Being blindsided by content that might be unavoidable is the worst case scenario. Something like "Oh, the main girl in the story is actually a trap and he fucks you in the ass, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise."