VN Ren'Py Zia [v0.5] [Studio Zia]

4.10 star(s) 7 Votes

Arisushi

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Game Developer
Jul 9, 2020
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"oh hey this game got an update"
reads what discussions i missed:
View attachment 3261721
Yeah, I've pretty much given up on this game to ever break out of the "THIS ISN'T LESBIAN" conversations forever.

I'm not blaming anyone. It is what it is.

Still, I HUMBLY REQUEST anyone who is interested in the actually important aspects of the game (i.e. story and art) - to share with us your thoughts about the romance, the renders, the surprises, your favorite moments... and literally anything you can think of.

It doesn't even have to be positives. Even criticism are most welcome.

It will be a huge moral boost for us to hear opinions and feedback about our "actual work".
 

Arisushi

Member
Game Developer
Jul 9, 2020
416
1,619
Ps: JUST TO CLARIFY...

I will always be eternally grateful for anyone who defends, or appreciates, or understands, or even just tolerates the choices I made as the writer of Zia.

The whole "lesbian conversation" angle in the above comment was less about the people involved, (even those who don't like the hetero scene)...

And more about how a single "tag" (added purely based on the site's definition for it) ended up derailing this entire project's reception/focus into being mostly about that tag itself.
 
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Brannon

Well-Known Member
Nov 2, 2017
1,181
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Ps: JUST TO CLARIFY...

I will always be eternally grateful for anyone who defends, or appreciates, or understands, or even just tolerates the choices I made as the writer of Zia.

The whole "lesbian conversation" angle in the above comment was less about the people involved, (even those who don't like the hetero scene)...

And more about how a single "tag" (added purely based on the site's definition for it) ended up derailing this entire project's reception/focus into being mostly about that tag itself.
That is the "benefit" of the creative process on any major sharing sites.
Especially on "free" ones like this.

If the developer implements A and not B "fans" who like B are complaining.
If the developer implements B in the next update "fans" who like C are complaining whether it has been brought up or not.

Most often that happens with NTR and Futa/Trans, but these are not the only TAGs in question.
In both those cases you can see the thread turning into a battlefield.
A bloody one ...

It happens for harem, bisexual, lesbian, gay, sharing, blackmail, ... as well. But usually™ to a smaller extent.


What I mean by that is that a developer ALWAYS has fans and haters for the tread.
Sometimes silent ones, sometimes loud ones.

The only possible escape from that is completely deleting everything, "falling from the face of the earth" and never ever talk to any person again.

Would not recommend that, though ...
 

Kind Nightmares

Instinct Unleashed developer
Game Developer
Oct 1, 2019
700
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Yeah, I've pretty much given up on this game to ever break out of the "THIS ISN'T LESBIAN" conversations forever.

I'm not blaming anyone. It is what it is.

Still, I HUMBLY REQUEST anyone who is interested in the actually important aspects of the game (i.e. story and art) - to share with us your thoughts about the romance, the renders, the surprises, your favorite moments... and literally anything you can think of.

It doesn't even have to be positives. Even criticism are most welcome.

It will be a huge moral boost for us to hear opinions and feedback about our "actual work".
There's nothing to say about Zia/Nina in this update, but Zia's scene with "old lady" was nice. Hope there'll be options for Zia also be in charge in future.
 

Orphanus

Well-Known Member
Oct 25, 2019
1,061
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I get that it's kinda rough to deal with a debate like this when it was never the intended angle of the game, but at the same time I struggle to take the statement about valuing feedback seriously when apparently keeping a fully superfluous and pretty unimaginative, as well as unfunny, "joke" around that severely hampers the ability of quite a lot of people to enjoy what the actual game is supposed to be is mandatory for the story, despite not adding anything of value to it. Edit: said story that only starts after the "joke" which is a full, dragged out and extremely uncomfortable scene at best (for anyone interested in lesbian romance)
 

Udayana

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Oct 19, 2021
1,306
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And more about how a single "tag" (added purely based on the site's definition for it) ended up derailing this entire project's reception/focus into being mostly about that tag itself.
Be reassured, it didn't derail the reception of the game for everybody, only for a few picky players, probably :) Personally I'm quite interested in Zia. I love how she helped a poor lost soul, in a naughty but cute way.
 

NebulousShooter

Engaged Member
Donor
Oct 24, 2018
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I get that it's kinda rough to deal with a debate like this when it was never the intended angle of the game, but at the same time I struggle to take the statement about valuing feedback seriously when apparently keeping a fully superfluous and pretty unimaginative, as well as unfunny, "joke" around that severely hampers the ability of quite a lot of people to enjoy what the actual game is supposed to be is mandatory for the story, despite not adding anything of value to it. Edit: said story that only starts after the "joke" which is a full, dragged out and extremely uncomfortable scene at best (for anyone interested in lesbian romance)
pointing-upward (1).png
screenshot0006.jpg
To make a gaming metaphor its obvious that the G+G content its the shitty afterthought PC port version...It sucks because I really liked the premise and the soundtrack, but I' don't want to force myself to play while the game keeps reminding me that I'm the second class citizen in the audience.

One day, one day my dream will come true...
 
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Brannon

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Nov 2, 2017
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I get that it's kinda rough to deal with a debate like this when it was never the intended angle of the game, but at the same time I struggle to take the statement about valuing feedback seriously when apparently keeping a fully superfluous and pretty unimaginative, as well as unfunny, "joke" around that severely hampers the ability of quite a lot of people to enjoy what the actual game is supposed to be is mandatory for the story, despite not adding anything of value to it. Edit: said story that only starts after the "joke" which is a full, dragged out and extremely uncomfortable scene at best (for anyone interested in lesbian romance)
Might I ask why and how "battle lesbians" were able to endure that torture in the first place?

I mean in the total beginning of this game AFAIR there was no lesbian tag at all and there was no comment from the developer that Zia is bisexual and you can play her how you want i.e. fully lesbian or fully hetero.

To remind you:
The official tags are this
Genre:
3DCG, FEMALE PROTAGONIST, Romance, Fantasy
The searchable TAGS on top include "lesbian" as well, but remember that these TAGS are set by the moderators and not by the thread owner/developer.


There was no incentive for players to sit through this torture because at the time there was not the promise that it would be "better".

The scene was present right from the very first moment the game was available to download. And despite OR BECAUSE of this the game saw a 0.2, a 0.3 and now a 0.4.
"Completely full battle lesbians" might have been deterred at the first version, but now are vehemently and aggressively demanding that this part of the game that they and nobody else do not like MUST be changed.


If you don't like a part of the game you are free to make suggestions.
But you are NOT free to make demands.
 

NebulousShooter

Engaged Member
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Oct 24, 2018
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Might I ask why and how "battle lesbians" were able to endure that torture in the first place?

I mean in the total beginning of this game AFAIR there was no lesbian tag at all and there was no comment from the developer that Zia is bisexual and you can play her how you want i.e. fully lesbian or fully hetero.

To remind you:
The official tags are this


The searchable TAGS on top include "lesbian" as well, but remember that these TAGS are set by the moderators and not by the thread owner/developer.


There was no incentive for players to sit through this torture because at the time there was not the promise that it would be "better".

The scene was present right from the very first moment the game was available to download. And despite OR BECAUSE of this the game saw a 0.2, a 0.3 and now a 0.4.
"Completely full battle lesbians" might have been deterred at the first version, but now are vehemently and aggressively demanding that this part of the game that they and nobody else do not like MUST be changed.


If you don't like a part of the game you are free to make suggestions.
But you are NOT free to make demands.
Screenshot - 2024-01-14T223239.061.png
You are joking, right? Its on the front page, don't try to rewrite history, I get it the dev didn't know what 'only lesbian' entails for the players in the genre, but don't pretend that premise/confusion was not what brought a lot of people here, myself included. And people complained about it from the start and stuck around hoping it might get reworked. People didn't just woke up 3 versions later to complain about it like you imply.
 
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Brannon

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Nov 2, 2017
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View attachment 3263342
You are joking, right? Its on the front page, don't try to rewrite history, I get it the dev didn't know what 'only lesbian' entails for the players in the genre, but don't pretend that premise/confusion was not what brought a lot of people here, myself included. And people complained about it from the start and stuck around hoping it might get reworked. People didn't just woke up 3 versions later to complain about it like you imply.
Slightly off.

The "only lesbian" comment was AFTER the first very vocal complaints/questions/demands.
It was not present when the very first version of this game was uploaded.

Plus you do know what "editing a post" means, yes?


And btw. thanks for misreading previously.
I did not imply that the lesbian yellers only got vocal here 3 versions later, that is what you "wanted to understand" and not what was written. They were here relatively early on and DEMANDED that the start is changed.
And very often it is yelled from the rooftops that one hetero scene at the start means that the player is not able to play zia as a lesbian.
Which is plain wrong.

--IMPORTANT NOTE--
ZIA IS BISEXUAL!!!


The lesbian tag on the thread is in accordance with the site's definition - "Sexual acts between two or more females"

If you want a game that treats its female characters with care, and crafts a sincere "female-female" romance route as much as the "male-female" one - then you may like this VN.

But if your top priority is that the protagonist shouldn't be interested in any men, even in the slightest - then this game is not for you.
 
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NebulousShooter

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Oct 24, 2018
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Slightly off.
I was in the thread the moment it was posted, 'only lesbian' was in the OG synopsis, it got changed to '(After the one, non-skippable hetero scene in 0.1) You will also have the flexibility to stick to "only male partners" or "only female partners" in all future updates.' after people complained thats not what lesbian only means, hell you can see the posts, most of them are still there.

...and now edited again to what you just posted. Like I said, stop trying to rewrite history, you aren't doing the dev any favors.
 

Brannon

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Nov 2, 2017
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I was in the thread the moment it was posted, 'lesbian only' was in the OG synopsis, it got changed to '(After the one, non-skippable hetero scene in 0.1) You will also have the flexibility to stick to "only male partners" or "only female partners" in all future updates.' after people complained thats not what lesbian only means, hell you can see the posts, most of them are still there.

...and now edited again to what you just posted. Like I said, stop trying to rewrite history, you aren't doing the dev any favors.
It is not rewriting history when I repeatedly say that A HETERO SCENE BEFORE THE GAME TRULY STARTS DOES NOT MEAN THE GAME CAN NEVER BE LESBIAN as that is the main and recurring complaint.

But I guess some people are ... up for interpretations.
 

c3p0

Forum Fanatic
Respected User
Nov 20, 2017
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Screenshot from 18th Januar 2023 (Wayback machine):
1705268197135.png
And yes, most likely the "You will also have the flexibillity to stick to "only straight" content or "only lesbian" content" would be behind one of the spoilers.
Yet, then again, in porn, lesbian porn or straight porn or gay porn, does not say that the actor is lesbian/gay/straight. So, the dev could have meaned that the sex act can be only straight or only lesbian and not that the MC is either straight or lesbian.
But, as other pointed out, some* do really care about it and even about their interpretation of the tags and some do not (especially for harem tag or neotare tag).

*I do not mean any person in this thread, but generally.
 

Brannon

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Nov 2, 2017
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But, as other pointed out, some* do really care about it and even about their interpretation of the tags and some do not (especially for harem tag or neotare tag).

*I do not mean any person in this thread, but generally.
Some people do not understand the fact that the TAGS mean that content with that TAG is PRESENT in the movie/game/whatever and not that it EXCLUSIVELY IS PRESENT AND PREVENTS CONFLICTING CONTENT FROM BEING THERE.

If you go to any porn site of your choice and stream/download a movie tagged with lesbian but you see a dick it is the very same concept.
The movie has lesbian sex IN IT but it does not mean that there is ONLY lesbian sex.


In this specific case you can play Zia as a lesbian or as a hetero.
But the mere presence of one scene before the game truly starts does mean for some players that their fully lesbian playthrough is not possible anymore and their world view is crushed.


If we go to technicalities some more the game is currently neither lesbian nor hetero porn game as there is (almost) no sex.
Flirting is in the game.
And tits.
And a scene where you can't see genitals with either zia or connor and a ghost. Sex is heavily implied but to be honest I don't know if the dev is capable of rendering a pussy or dick at all as none were visible so far. And IMHO that's OK.
That's it.
 
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Birdnman993

Active Member
Dec 6, 2021
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I haven't played this game yet because I want to let it cook more, but I can't help but give my kudos to DEV for approaching this "debate" with maturity and elegance. :coffee:
 
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4.10 star(s) 7 Votes