Which of both MCs do you prefer? (poll)

[MWPA78]

I prefer the play-style that makes a great movie, the scrappy underdog using everything available to defy the odds.

Would you dislike to step into the shoes of a good natured "chad"?

 

[suprisedcrankyface]

Would you dislike to step into the shoes of a good natured "chad"?

I've done enough of that already

Games for me need to have significant levels of gameplay - (Ideally) a good sandbox, legitimate branching choices, consequences for choices etc. but in the absence of that then I will take the MC that gives the most room for development along their more linear path.

I would wager if there was a third option in your poll for 'average joe' that would get the most votes. Not objectively bad, yet room to grow over the game.

'Conventionally attractive' means either they look good enough to get away with wearing any old sht, or they are more average but have taken steps to go to a gym, get a nice haircut, work on clothes that fit their look etc. These things often form part of a games development arc

You start with 'I have inherited/gained xyz place/job/house' and then you grow into being the kingpin of it.

 

[MWPA78]

I've done enough of that already

Games for me need to have significant levels of gameplay - (Ideally) a good sandbox, legitimate branching choices, consequences for choices etc. but in the absence of that then I will take the MC that gives the most room for development along their more linear path.

I would wager if there was a third option in your poll for 'average joe' that would get the most votes. Not objectively bad, yet room to grow over the game.

Can you name the 3 most convincing MCs of that type that you encountered? Seen excactly 1.5 so far.

(Prefer VNs without gameplay and ideally no/little choices.)

 

[suprisedcrankyface]

Can you name the 3 most convincing MCs of that type that you encountered? Seen excactly 1.5 so far.

(Prefer VNs without gameplay and ideally no/little choices.)

Of which type, average or loser?

 

[MWPA78]

Of which type, average or loser?

I thought you meant good natured chad?

I've done enough of that already

 

[suprisedcrankyface]

I thought you meant good natured chad?

Well I wake up, brush my teeth & go out front door

 

[MWPA78]

Well I wake up, brush my teeth & go out front door

Spoiler

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[Letstryitout]

I don't care when MC's going full internal monologue, but I also dislike when they show no emotions. IDK if I can explain it.

 

[poetflag]

写得好就行
空缺：

 

[Jaike]

Not very happy with the options, but I prefer a protagonist with qualities, flaws, motives, goals, and the growth or means to reach those goals... if the point of the story is that they succeeds. Nothing wrong with a tragedy after all. I believe that's closer to "convincingly attractive MC".

I dont play VN's they are pointless to me (others can enjoy them I am not saing get rid of them) just for me at that point just watch porn.

Gameplay for me separates porn from porn games & I personally have no interest in male beauty, I am looking at the T&A - its a porn game.

Lots of VN readers don't just want more plot in VNs than in porn, many don't really see its purpose as the same like porn and prefer to call them adult VNs instead of porn VNs. Like, erotica with pornographic visual directness, or just adult stories where the camera doesn't turn to black during a sex scene.

Loser every day, if you start off being everything you have nowhere to go. Any RPG that gave you max tier gear at the start would ruin the whole point of the game.

Give me the peasant in a sack cloth any day.

Disagree. From a story perspective the MC needs to match the narrative. You can't have a loser MC believably in a netori story about seducing all the neighborhoods women just like you can't have the superchad MC in a story about a guy that gets cucked daily. Us story types care about continuity.

Edit: Well you can, but it changes what is required in the narrative. But you get my point.

And a housewife drawing the attention of the neighborhood superchad who proceeds to turn his steely gaze, chiselled abs and charismatic personality towards pursuing her is very much a female fantasy.

male fantasy is (generally) something something look at that this 10/10 woman has no clothes on & wants to go for a ride. Thats why so many games have corruption, or hypnoses, or extremely artificially sped up romance to speedrun getting to the T&A part. I mean most slow burn games have an intro or something where the MC 'remembers what T&A looks like' to hold the player over till the gameplay reaches that point in the game.

There are exceptions to every rule, but a rule is generally true

First of all:

I agree a protagonist should fit the narrative. If the tone is serious, don't send a young kid on a mission into a warzone, don't send a moron to win a quiz show or reach a scientific discovery, don't send a hobo to run a business. And I'd prefer if devs didn't send retards into Lechertown, but at least those devs have an idea about how their protagonists' "qualities" lead to the desired results.

I can relate to the preference for a peasant, our stories way overrely on elite perspectives, but I don't think that was the question that was asked. A peasant can be convincingly attractive, a king can be a loser.

Finally, this.

gave me weeks worth of fuel to tease someone

Did you leave your hat on tho?

the MC should not even be shown if it can be helped in a visual novel IMO, but if the dev is going to show the MC I want to be able to self insert

I cant self insert if the MC is a loser/bald/ugly/out of shape etc.

Something like this?

Zero is a bit extreme, isn't it? Just look at the topic from the other day about small dicks in these games. At the very least guys like to have large dicks that they find to be aesthetically pleasing in the picture. Is it really so much of a stretch to make the rest of him attractive, too? Wouldn't that help with the fantasy rather than get in the way?

The loser fantasies are definitely power fantasies too. They usually go so far as to -literally- wave a magic wand and give the loser some power that lets him enjoy the results of being attractive without all the work that goes into it. "Skipping to the T&A", as you said. What's really so different about it being more grounded and working based on attractiveness? You could still speed the whole thing up and get straight to the sex (or pace it out and use it as a reward for the gameplay loop as it often happens).

It seems like a very specific issue that's being treated with a loser MC who isn't at all attractive on his own merits.

Beyond power fantasies, I think those magical solutions are way more boring and destructive to maintaining stakes in the plot than giving the protagonist a bit of a headstart in a more normal way. No one should be surprised that the protagonist of a spy story is a competent or borderline competent spy instead of a sputtering, seething imbecile.

Or, if you want to play the male equivalent of a Mary Sue type character, that uses his good looks and irresistable bad boy charm to fuck with all the women in his harem, that would be akin to that of a sexually indomitable scenario.

That's called a Gary Stu btw. Most male harem protagonists don't have great looks tho, they're often like those bland Japanese anime kids.

I don't care when MC's going full internal monologue, but I also dislike when they show no emotions. IDK if I can explain it.

Maybe you're looking for something like:
- strong emotions are shown through visuals or direct dialogue, maybe with a short description
- short sections of thoughts to add nuanced or express more complicated feelings, instead of a way to bypass "show don't tell"