I have discretion over the polls, yes, but at the end of the day I'm running a business and I'm best off following what my patrons want. If the punishment system takes me several months to make but not that many people are interested in that character, than is it necessarily a good idea? These will be some difficult decisions for me (or for my patrons) down the line.
Anyway, April will get a few scenes in the next update for certain, as will Charlotte. They both had good stuff that didn't quite make the cut for version 0.9.
Speaking developer to developer, we run into a similair problem all the time in other games I work on. I suppose, the best answer is to figure out who is responding to content pieces and how. A good approach to consider is this:
- Is a charachter somewhat polarizing with some people un-intirested but the ones who are intirested very posative/enthusiastic? In such a case, you ensure that content is somehow optional and then continue investing resources relative to the fanbase. Niche but Strong material isn't bad.
- Is the charachter getting a "Meh" response all around? In situations of a character just not generating excitement, what that usually means is that the character is presently missing something. Either some detail to improve their level of engagement, or a direction for the story to take that uplifts it.
I haven't actually played the new version yet, so I can't comment on any of the new material. But, thusfar I'd say that the work you've put into Rachel, Debbie, Amy and Ms. Claire have all panned out and produced strong results. Of the side cast that don't have a lot of content, Donna and Priti really stand out to me as having well thought out concepts/hooks.
Of the remaining charachters with content in 0.8, I think that Lucy (I think) the maid, Cassie (I think?) the blond bully, The twins, and Sally all strike me as examples of charachters in need of a stronger hook. Rationales:
- The maid thing is non-psychological. She doesn't seem to have like some kind of charachter conflict rooted in cleaning his house or whatever. It needs more for her as a charachter to do. Also, "maid" doesn't strike me as quite enough of a sexual hook. That's really more of an outfit in this case.
- There is, I think, the roots of a good storyline for Cassie. But, there does strike me as some kind of missing ingrediant here. If I had to wildly speculate as to what would make it work, I'd say that some kind of "Appearance Change" type mechanic of gradual changes in her looks and demeanor is what's missing. Also some kind of clearer core kink (like with Amy/Rachel). But, god alone knows what a struggling mess a progresive appearance change mechanic would be to impliment. But, "play side" that's what it feels like it needs.
- Twins. Yeah, just not feeling them for some reason. Could be personal in this case. But, for a sexual hook, I think "twins" is a bit underwhelming. Needs "Twins And" if that makes sense. But, I saw something about a big event with them coming up so feelings tbd.
- Sally. Yeah, can't put my finger on this one either. Something's just not clicking for me. I guess it's because she seems kind of static.
If this has been useful to you, I'll give you my feedback on 0.9 and the girls who got content there when it comes out legally.
