Which do you play: Incest patch or vanilla?

[kytee]

I recently read on some post on reddit that incest is a popular kink only because it is a shortcut for writers to develop an existing relationship between characters and justify them living under a roof together. Others mention that the taboo is what makes it interesting, which is the reason why I like incest. Funny thing is, the most upvoted comment by far is the one former.

Saw someone mention that if the former is the case, having roommates who fuck each other should be as popular, if not more popular, than incest. This got me thinking, if presented a choice between playing the incest version of a game or the roommate/landlady version of a game, which would you play? Is incest really that popular or, as mentioned, do people actually just like watching people with a shared history under one roof fuck? For the sake of the poll, let's just assume that the game's dialogue makes sense either version you play, incest or non-incest so you don't use the excuse of "I'm playing incest only because it was the intended version".

 

[Hagatagar]

Which do you play: Incest patch or vanilla?

Haven't we reached a point where incest counts as vanilla?
I know I know, vanilla as in unmodded.

Incest is my main kink, so yeah... Incest on.


If you hadn't mentioned that it will make sense in all versions, I would have added a "but", which I'll do anyways.

Spoiler: But...

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Whenever you can exchange a relative for an non-relative and it makes NO difference, then the incest has failed and is... pointless.


But I agree that at least in porn (step-)incest is almost exclusively used as a shortcut, a reason why these characters are in the same house without the need for explanation or justification.

 

[Satori6]

I like incest when there is a power dynamic at play (eg; corruption) that develops slowly throughout the game. When done right, it can be enjoyable and make sense as a story.
Otherwise it is, as you say, a cheap excuse to avoid developing an in-game world and story, and it can be a turn off because of how nonsensical the scenarios and the reactions of the characters are: "oh, my teenager son is masturbating - guess I'll go suck his dick".

There's also degrees of incest - I don't mind it when it's between brother/sister/cousin and there isn't a lot of age difference. Father/mother-daughter/son is something I dislike in most instances unless the story is completely plausible. Granny/grandpa is a complete turn off for me.

If you're asking because you're making a game, there's games that ask you to pick the relationship and/or the title of the character: eg; you can leave some character as your mom, or change it to "landlady" or whatever other descriptor you prefer. I think those are the best of both worlds: they cater to the modern audience that seems to love incest, while not forcing it everybody else.

 

[anne O'nymous]

For the sake of the poll, let's just assume that the game's dialogue makes sense either version you play, incest or non-incest so you don't use the excuse of "I'm playing incest only because it was the intended version".

I'm tempted to answer the one where the story make the most sense. And I'm not talking here about the dialogs and characters motivation to have, or refuse to have, sex, but the context of the story.

By example, it would be ridiculous for a 18yo or 21yo to suddenly discover that his family is involved in shady business, or threatened by some bad guys. He had (near to) two decades to notice the strange behaviors, among which there's his teenage years, therefore a period where he's both curious and rebellious. That he waited to be in legal age, to both uncover that and discover that he want to fuck his family, looks really cheap.
But this would make sense in a landlady/roommate context, even if he live with them since one or two years. In fact, even the MC motivation to suddenly lust for them would make more sense.

Yeah... Saying this, I guess that the reason why I rarely use the incest patch nowadays isn't just laziness, but sanity. Too many incest games rely on the MC waking up on his 18 or 21 birthday morning and suddenly wanting to fuck the girls he lived with through his whole puberty. It make even less sense than a landlady being offended that her tenant find her sexy, or a sexually frustrated roommate who want to kill her roommate because he hinted that they could possibly be fuck buddies.

 

[Doorknob22]

People enjoy characters who should not be having sex, get it on. In a nutshell, that's the very heart of erotica (and romance). And one of the the most common "should not be having sex" relationship, which is not very complicated to set up, is incest.

Let's take it to the other extreme: would you play a game where you're a happily married guy who fucks his wife? Only if the art was mind blowing. It's not an interesting premise, it's actually boring.

 

[Skullivan]

If there's an incest patch, I'll play with it on.

Like someone else said, I draw some lines. Mother/Son? Sure Brother/Sister? Yep. Mother/Daughter, Sister/Sister, Mother/Aunt, Aunt/Nephew or Aunt/Niece. All good. Cousins? Go for it. Two brothers having a threesome with their sister or mom or aunt? Cool.

Father/Daughter? No thank you. Grandparent content? Absolutely not. Uncle/Niece, no thank you.

I agree it's often a short-hand for writing out unique character dynamics. But when it's done well, the forbidden fruit/taboo nature is a cool dynamic. "I know it's wrong but it feels right" is harder to pull off in regular romantic situations.

 

[Liquid Tube Technology]

For me, it all depends on a couple of things. If the original story has been written to include incest, then playing it without the incestuous element may prevent things from quite making sense. "Avalon" and "Lord King" would be a couple of good examples of this. However, incest isn't really something I'm super into, so I don't even bother with the incest patch if the original storyline has been created without any element of incest. If an incest patch is provided for a game purely for the sake of making it incest oriented, then I personally see no point in using the patch, because that's not how the original story is intended to be experienced.

Having said that, there are some games that don't need any incest patch even if they have been designed to include the incestuous element in their original plot. "Dr. Amana Sexual Therapist" is a pretty good example, I think. That game heavily implies mid-gamepay that there is supposed to be incest there, and a patch is provided to make that possible. However, I personally thought playing it without was still entertaining enough because the developer had made the "non-incest" version witty and comical enough, so I'd find myself chuckling at the way the "non-incestuous" topics were mentioned and talked about.

 

[woody554]

I recently read on some post on reddit that incest is a popular kink only because it is a shortcut for writers to develop an existing relationship between characters and justify them living under a roof together.

it's certainly a very convenient thing, just like ntr forces drama even if you didn't know how to write drama, but really every time someone claims this or that kink is used BECAUSE lazy author, they don't understand what the word 'kink' means. nobody gets their dick hard from being lazy.

 

[woody554]

By example, it would be ridiculous for a 18yo or 21yo to suddenly discover that his family is involved in shady business, or threatened by some bad guys.

I've seen that happen in some mob documentaries where the daughter never understood her dad was a mob boss until as adult the police finally caught him. they usually knew there was SOMETHING going on because other people treated their family differently, but mistook that as a sign of respect. also these men tended to be highly sexist and carried an atmosphere of unspoken violence so the women in general learned to not ask questions that made dad explode.

i've also seen similar thing with serial killers whose family often sensed SOME things were not okay to ask about.

all that said, it seems your issue is more with bad writing than incest patches. the job #1 of the writer is selling the emotional truth of the story, and if he fails to convince you that an 18yo son suddenly wakes up wanting to fuck his family, that's a writing problem. so many easy ways to frame the situation right, like adding one sentence of mc remembering getting a boner for sister on a summer camp when he first saw her in a bikini. just few words can put the idea into reader's brain that mc had urges for a long time, but only now realized it.

 

[anne O'nymous]

I've seen that happen in some mob documentaries where the daughter never understood her dad was a mob boss until as adult the police finally caught him.

You know that there's their lawyer behind the camera, remembering them every two minutes before the filming starts that if they say something else, they can be held accomplice for some of their father actions, right ?

Every close family member saying in those documentaries that they where totally clueless are just saving their own ass. Face to possible prosecution, but also face to their future life. Because they have a life, and for the rest of it, that can easily be 40 years or more, they'll have neighbors, co-workers, and expect to have some friends. They just can't say, "yes, I knew", and expect those future persons to not be at least suspicious around them. They'll have witnessed some odd behaviors, because they also don't want to looks totally stupid, but they never thought about them with malice and have a perfectly legit explanation for everything.

i've also seen similar thing with serial killers whose family often sensed SOME things were not okay to ask about.

What isn't the same thing.
Being a serial killer isn't a full time occupation. Most surely think about it 24/24, but it's not their day basis occupation. Same can be said about hitmen, who have a cover job, and use it as excuse when they need to be absent for few days due to a contract.
Anyway, here again, no one will recognize that (s)he knew everything, it would be a judicial and social suicide.

all that said, it seems your issue is more with bad writing than incest patches.

I only addressed the patches to say that I rarely use them nowadays... And I explicitly said that the issue is with the story context. A game like Triple Ex, by example, would be ridiculous without incest, since among the twentish girls the MC can have sex with, only two aren't family members. But there's also games that have the opposite issue, and stories that looks totally ridiculous when put in a family context ; but because of this ridicule, no names cross my mind right now.

the job #1 of the writer is selling the emotional truth of the story, and if he fails to convince you that an 18yo son suddenly wakes up wanting to fuck his family, that's a writing problem.

No, it's not a writing problem, but a premise problem.

As stupid as the trend was, the succubus contract was far more believable than incestuous lust waiting for the MC to be of legal age, then growing in one night. Will the resolution should be like a dam breaking, and isn't, this is more a detail than a flaw ; it's less believable, but excusable due to the story. But incest is a feeling that grow slowly, and the MC isn't different from the family members he pursue, he started by denying his lust, then fought against it, before finally giving up to it. And not respecting this is not being a bad writer, but not knowing what you'll talk about.
A game like My New Memories is believable because the MC have sex with his sister-in-law since officially 18 years (because he'll also have sex with the daughter they had together), and with one of his sisters since longer than that. He never thought, or dared, to also have sex with his daughters for whatever reason, but he haven't woke up one day, discovering that he had such tendency, doing it precisely when the story starts.

so many easy ways to frame the situation right, like adding one sentence of mc remembering getting a boner for sister on a summer camp when he first saw her in a bikini.

Oh god, it's even more lame than the succubus contract...
It's confusing a physiological and uncontrollable reaction, with the lust that incest is. Most guys between 13yo and 16yo had at least one boner for their sister/cousin in bikini, especially if they are near to their age. What doesn't mean that they had incestuous thoughts, nor that they'll have incestuous lust in the future. It just mean that they are functioning males and where full of hormones due to their puberty.

just few words can put the idea into reader's brain that mc had urges for a long time, but only now realized it.

But he waited to be of legal age to suddenly decide to act... Please, give us back the succubus...

 

[4 Anon]

I use the patch mainly because calling someone "roommate" or "landlady" constantly is fucking ridiculous. (just use their fucking name..)
Even more when its beyond obvious the original intent was family members.

 

[bebiho]

Vanilla all day, the plot in incest games sucks balls.

 

[Pitrik]

Incest patch mostly, depends by the game tbh