I only care if it's the ro I want lol or if there's more than one poly relationship because I know the game is going to take forever to be finished with all the variations, I also haven't found a polyamorous relationship I enjoy within twine/cog/hosted yet, I prefer if the ros are already in a relationship and you join it than they be obviously so into each other tho as long as there monogamous ros I enjoy I don't really care, if all the characters are polyamorous I won't try that and as long as they are not the night market author, all of them put into the open.
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Stories that left you disappointed for a reason
- Thread starter Sant
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Yeah, but it's not the main focus. The story is still interesting and engaging enough even without romance. Honestly angsty romance is okay, as long as it's treated with maturity instead of just being the writer's self-indulgent fantasy fulfillment. There's a difference when reading the romance in Fallen Hero vs the romance in Wayhaven.
Not a fan. If we romance someone else or nobody, those two end up together. That's like most playthroughs in a branching game not counting romancing one of those character. It makes us feel like the meddling one in between their romance. I hate RO characters who are exes. It immediately crosses out the option of me romancing them in the event that they might get together or offer a poly route. We feel like the third wheel.
Also who in the right mind would date the ex of your colleague or friend? It's too weird. Imagine being around your friend who happens to intimately know your partner at the same level or even more than your character.
Some might say that it's just a game but these kinds of topics are real for a lot of people. It's not like murder or tragic backstory which most of us are not acquainted to, hopefully. These topics are safe to traverse cuz we have a certain fantasy about it compared to being cheated on or being in questionable relationships which is very real to almost everyone. It gives us the ick. In short words, being in a relationship is way closer to reality than committing murder or getting tortured. In a way, these are also kinks but are way more relevant in terms to story telling. The latter is more easier to roleplay than the former.
One of the reasons i keep somewhat mocking on this thread the "if no romance or sandboxy choices then I won't play the game". You can't expect a new writer to properly write for you:
1. at least three different protagonist routes based on gender choices
2. At least 4 RO routes
3. A story at least 100K+ long
4. Power fantasy MC, similar to the one from Solo Leveling
5. Micro-choices which will be referenced down the story. Etc.
Not everybody can write romance. And
the expectation for them to write the next fallen hero is too much, leading to the abandoned wips graveyard. Then you also get the "I'll never finish the story, but I'll gladly get your bucks for side-stories/POVs (don't get me started on the paywalled progress reports).
So let them write a short, fairly linear story with one or two ROs, but finish it for f*** sake instead of making empty promises, starting a Tumblr blog, starting a kofi, making playlists, moodboards, Pinterest pages, portraits of ROs, describing what ROs are like in bed, etc. etc. And you know what? I followed once WIP that was supposed to be a short romance story with two ROs and an MC with set background. In addition, the story based on other existing story.
Guess what happened with the project.
They promise a lot instead of actually focusing on writing and learning to code. People will follow the project that has been announced publicly and will have expectations. It's normal.
Btw. I don't expect next FH (not anymore) although considering how many years it has been, it would be nice if any new game appeared that would be such great example.
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I wish they'd stop failing the expectation to write what they want to write for themselves. As a bare minimum? I dunno why even asking that they have passion for their own project feels like too much nowadays.
I might be an outlier, but I don't mind as long as: a) it is clear that everyone into each other equally b) I have the option of dating each RO separately, should I choose to. You know, there are some characters from whom you kinda want to snatch their lover and rub it in big time.
What I am not a fan of is forced polys (hello, Night Market) and games where you can ONLY get one of the ROs if you are not in poly (hello, Bride of Shadows; I started playing it thinking I can romance the one char I liked, only to learn that to get with him my MC has to either also be with the second dude whom I cannot stand for the love of all holy, or there will be no romance at all; like... I see who is your favourite char, dear author, and I'm afraid we have very different tastes). If it's a sort of situation where MC is in the middle and everyone is happy AND romanceable separately (like in the Soul Stone War: you romance both, you can get a poly; you romance one, you get a monogamous relationship; you don't romance either, they don't end up together), I don't mind.
What if what they really want to write is RO scenarios and NSFW alphabets? Or lore posts or whatever lol
I don't think most consciously draw things out to profit from patreon. They are, indeed, writing what they want, and what a lot of their audiences want, and THAT is what killing progress on the game itself.
Sometimes writing involves pushing through and writing things you aren't inspired for. Or hours of breaking your eyesight editing. Writing isn't always fun, it's work, and it's that + lack of dedication/discipline that causes games to be dropped or stay in development hell when the initial burst of inspiration passes. Scenarios... these are small. Fun. And allow you to feel like you're still doing something while feeding the fanbase. And the game... will get finished... someday...
Alright lmao I'll shut up on this topic
While I mostly agree, I think these issue have more to do with the person who's making the if than anything else.
If an author aims high (and that high will vary but let's say Fallen Hero), they have to know they'll have to do A LOT to get there. At first it doesn't look like it's that much, but writing an interactive book, even if it's a short and more linear one, takes a lot of time, and everyone who tries can see it even before publishing the first chapter.
The way I see it, the moment that an author releases that prologue, they have a commitment to the readers. More so if they run a Patreon or Ko-Fi. The fact that so many new authors (and not that new) create a project, hype it up, publish a chapter or two, and then abandon it while making money with Patreon subscriptions and manage to drag it for so long infuriates me.
I recently met a Twine author that's been working on their project for a few years now and is very consistent even in Patreon, and yet they don't have that many subscribers. Their story isn't my cup of tea, but it's not bad either. Definitely better than a lot of things I've read recently in HG. How authors like this stay small while others who don't progress their stories and still get a big audience and economical support, I'll never understand.
I'd be fine with that if they'd be honest on that point. Lots of people profit off of writing short stories/scenarios for an audience just fine in non-IF spaces. But continually promising a game while only intending to do those short stories/scenarios because your looking for attention/praise (which a few of these writers have admitted to) is not. Even worse if you do so whilst taking money from people.
And yes, writing is hard but it's not an activity that needs to be done with an audience from the very first sentence which is my biggest gripe with people who stall (for months into years!) on the prologue or first chapter. They're their for their five minutes and don't give a **** for the people interacting with them when they quietly drop it and move on. I'd have a lot more respect for these types of writers if they were actually honest about wanting to shelve the projects they throw out and leave it up to the audience if they want to continue hanging around for something that won't reach fruition.
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Probably because they spend more time writing than in Tumblr. From the authors I follow, I’ve noticed that the ones that answer less have longer demos.
You're probably right. It's still sad how that gets rewarded less.
It's also funny how sometimes I get more entertainment out of if authors' tumblrs and the dramas they get into than their actual projects.
Eh I don’t really like when two ROs get together only because it feels like at least I’m the IF world means that’s the author canon relationship and MC trying is thrown in. With Mass Effect being probably my favorite series ever, my romances went Jack, Tali, then Liara. With the Garrus and Tali romance I’ll give the devs a pass it wasn’t so much they are canon, it’s more so Liara is the writer’s pet and they wanted her to be romanced so bad lol. Why the hell would I care about other people Relationships in an IF unless it’s a theme of the game that I most likely wouldn’t be playing. Especially when I used to play with other medias help these two get together like wtf.