Stories that left you disappointed for a reason

[Glitch]

the fact that the author said the story is at the halfway point and almost all the chapters minus the part of the last recent one are essentially dedicated to Lucy im wondering how much can be feasibly crammed in to the last half of the game to make it equal for the other ROs? I dont even mind lucy but damn can we have a smidge of someone else that isnt an interrupted hallucination or passing conversation idk

Not to make assumptions, but I do wonder whether, now that Wilhelmina has ended at the monastery, they're struggling to figure out how to move forward with their own take on the story. But hey, it's another case of an author being swayed by reader bias. The forum is practically all about Lucy. People complain about some of Jonathan's earlier scenes, and the author acknowledges those complaints and removes or changes things to accommodate them, but we're still expected to put up with Lucy.

The last public update is where you go to the monastery where he is, specifically to visit him.

Do we actually get to interact with Jonathan at the monastery, or does the chapter end as soon as we reach him? Do we at least get one dialogue option? Honestly, at this point, even a simple “hello” would be nice.

The next public update will make it possible to marry him.

So we barely get to interact with him for five or six chapters, nearly half the IF, but “at least” we can marry him next chapter? Mina might already know him, but we, as readers, haven't had the chance to get to know him or become invested in their relationship. They can't just give the option to marry and expect that to make up for the lack of development. I don't even know how that's supposed to work with Dracula and everything else going on.

the fact that the author said the story is at the halfway point and almost all the chapters minus the part of the last recent one are essentially dedicated to Lucy im wondering how much can be feasibly crammed in to the last half of the game to make it equal for the other ROs?

And Lucy can die next chapter I believe.

I guess with Lucy out of the picture, we're finally free from the story's cockblock.

Yeah, now this IF is like a bad soap opera but i'm sorta into that. Genuenly felt a bit ridicilous reading chapter 5's bad end epilouges.

I can't . I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt that way. It felt silly to play a hardass MC only for the bad endings to play out like that. I feel like the epilogues didn't do a good job of reflecting the MC's different personalities, especially in how they reacted to the revelation. Like, why can't I choose to cry, hug Elias, and punch everyone all at the same time? The epilogues feel a bit restrictive in how they let you express your MC's reaction to such an emotionally complicated revelation.

 

[SasariRomanii]

I feel like the epilogues didn't do a good job of reflecting the MC's different personalities, especially in how they reacted to the revelation. Like, why can't I choose to cry, hug Elias, and punch everyone all at the same time? The epilogues feel a bit restrictive in how they let you express your MC's reaction to such an emotionally complicated revelation.

The IF in general struggles to reflect MC's personality. It's doing a lot of telling instead of showing, like we got told the MC is intimidating by other characters more than we're shown how exactly are they scary and take no bullsh8t. Because the narration keeps forcing MC into situations that MCs with certain attitudes wouldn't be stuck in.

Like in the early scene where MC's being held back by some rando over a trash can, instead of forcing MC to argue back and forth why not make them shut the man up with one glare or totally ignore him like the fart in the wind that he is? ⁠(⁠⇀⁠‸⁠↼⁠‶⁠) Or when the office arranged a surprise welcoming party, a grumpy crowd hating MC couldn't get any negative option at all. Etc etc.

From what I've seen and know, a good rule of thumb is to watch almost all ifs/wips created through this lense. Sure, there are exceptions that prove the rule, which are basically a needle in the haystack that is worth folks' time, but aside from those, almost every if/wip is a self insert or a glorified fanfic pretty much. To elaborate.

Can't help but feel the new IF Into the Fog falls into this problem as well. It's still fresh from the oven yet it already tastes something rotten. There will be zero to negative improvements except for technicalities, of course, thanks to the great Tumblr (and to a lesser extent CS forum) echo-chamber of blind compliments driven more by the fear of lacking new shiny IF to play, mixed with this current trend of both spoiling and deifying creators like they're prometheus blessing everyone with holy fire.

It's ridiculous (⁠╬⁠⁽⁠⁽⁠ ⁠⁰⁠ ⁠⁾⁠⁾___⁽⁠⁽⁠ ⁠⁰⁠ ⁠⁾⁠⁾⁠)

I remember when the IF was written by Fidere and called Wilhelmina, before it was eventually dropped and picked up by this new author. When people asked whether they had permission to take over the IF, the author shut down and locked the thread after being accused of taking Fidere’s IF without changing or adding anything. They eventually came back and continued the project, but made a point of not responding to those comments. That said, I did notice that the parts carried over from Wilhelmina are well-written and polished compared to the new additions, which feel less so. The new added choices also aren't particularly fulfilling, varied, or impactful. Most of the time, they feel more like skip buttons than actual choices.

This one is so weird because she kept denying that she's basing her IF off of any other's when it's weirdly similar to Fidere's Wilhelmina, even the writing at first before she updated it. She even closed her forum thread for a while because she's — seemingly, of course — panicking over the people asking about if her IF is the same as Wilhelmina and that other Dracula IF (there was Fidere's and another one by someone else I think).

Then again... maybe she is Fidere going by another alias?!! (⁠ʘ⁠ᗩ⁠ʘ⁠’⁠) Jk. That can't be it (⁠´ v｀⁠ ⁠)

 

[seneya]

It's still fresh from the oven yet it already tastes something rotten.

Is something wrong with the game? I haven't tried it yet.

when it's weirdly similar to Fidere's Wilhelmina

I mean, they're poth based on the same book, same plot with the same scenes. Of course there are going to be similarities. It's fine to dislike the writing or a character, but I feel like plagiarism accusations is going too far lol

 

[SasariRomanii]

Is something wrong with the game? I haven't tried it yet.

I mean, they're poth based on the same book, same plot with the same scenes. Of course there are going to be similarities. It's fine to dislike the writing or a character, but I feel like plagiarism accusations is going too far lol

People were just asking though, that's the funny part. Even the forum mods told her that people would question her IF, since it (before she updated and changed the writing) begins the same, gave the same set of choices, same sequences of scenes, etc.

It is based on the same book, sure, but she could make it less similar by using a different starting scene (which she did after a while), and giving Mina different choices (again, in an update that feels more like a cover up). These all pile up in strange coincidences that is enough to draw side-eyes. Lots of it. At the beginning. Before she tweaks the IF into what it is now.

Not that I'm complaining (apart from the Lucy problem), I like Fidere's Wilhelmina and happy that it got continued somewhat.

Is something wrong with the game? I haven't tried it yet.

You should try it if you want. My observations and opinions of the game are just that, personal observations and opinions based on some nascent intuition. I immediately don't like how the IF is going, the choices being served, how it affects the story, and doesn't see a chance that it'll be improved in any meaningful way so I dropped it ┐⁠(⁠ ⁠∵⁠ ⁠)⁠┌

I saw people saying stuff like "these are just WIPs the full game will be different and better" but haven't seen much of prove of that. Most IF remains in the WIP state anyway so might as well judge it as it is.

 

[jaded]

Fidere's Wilhelmina

Draw your own conclusion

Edit: Maybe she took advantage of Fidere deleting their accounts, knowing she'd never find out

 

[Glitch]

Draw your own conclusion

Edit: Maybe she took advantage of Fidere deleting their accounts, knowing she'd never find out

The thing is, Fidere was last seen on the forum on May 26 and said she was putting Wilhelmina on hiatus. That's why this crossed my mind too, ngl:

Then again... maybe she is Fidere going by another alias?!! (⁠ʘ⁠ᗩ⁠ʘ⁠’⁠) Jk. That can't be it (⁠´ v｀⁠ ⁠)

 

[Slivermoon]

 

[Parallax]

Wow. I wonder how many authors are lurking here, reading posts xD
In any case, nice to see someone who didn’t come here just to vent their rage over criticism of their game.

 

[Devious MF]

Wow. I wonder how many authors are lurking here, reading posts xD

More than you might think. You can tell from the occasional stirrings on Tumblr or other platforms when authors come across something they don't like.

 

[Slivermoon]

 

[Parallax]

Hah, I see. It's fine.

I thought to come and explain myself.

Something most others don't have the guts to do... so

 

[jaded]

Anyway putting that aside, I’m aware of the criticism regarding Lucy. In fact, I’ve been working on a large update for a quite the while now. It reworks a huge part of the game, adds more scenes for Jonathan, and includes more scenes for Drac as well. There will also be more choices that allow you to distance yourself from Lucy and explore other paths. As well as tone her down a bit till the events of Drac can affect her.

You didn't need a friend to tell you people were ripping you apart on some 'piracy'' forum. All you had to do was address your readers questions and criticisms about Lucy in a tumblr post. They were already talking about it anyway lol

how many authors are lurking here

Why are they so obsessed with us?

 

[SasariRomanii]

Why are they so obsessed with us?

One of the world's mysteries. Maybe they're into it, who knows (⁠-⁠_⁠-⁠;⁠) And it's not just the authors but the fans as well like wtf are they doing here??? Then they go running and crying (most of the time) if their favorite IF is being spit-roasted like...... hullo??? This sh8t is entirely avoidable

 

[LtheStoryteller]

One of the world's mysteries. Maybe they're into it, who knows (⁠-⁠_⁠-⁠;⁠) And it's not just the authors but the fans as well like wtf are they doing here??? Then they go running and crying (most of the time) if their favorite IF is being spit-roasted like...... hullo??? This sh8t is entirely avoidable

Serpent and I are kind of hellbent on telling this to everyone, so yeah, there's that. Also, for the most part, the biggest percentage of the cases, is that they are not really obsessed with this place, rather two things, as far as I know. (hell, even I don't know all of them, since new ones are bound to be here, and since I'm blacklisted in the servers for mentally retarded, I can't easily keep up with things anymore, and honestly, I give less and less ****s to do so as the time goes on)

Why are they so obsessed with us?

They lurk here to see if their patreons get leaked, so they'd know to boast how insanely mega mind they are, and how they know all that happens, and so they've changed the password or link or some ****. Not saying everyone is doing that, but most are, plain and simple.
The other thing is that both them and their "fans" need approval of people in their lives, and so they'll come here, report back to their lord and saviour (insert writer of choice) so they can be told how amazing they are, and how one is thankful for them, and all that good stuff.
Actually scratch that, let's add a third thing as well.
The third, and final thing, is that they come here, also on reddit, so they'd see how others are talking about their story, and how big they are, since apparently everyone knows them and talks about them, despite the things said are bad. Then they'll rant about it, get a hundred likes and yas queen slays in the comments and reblogs, and they'll satisfy their, as previously mentioned, fragile egos.
Also so they can be bots to themselves, and defend their own works, while **** talking other works behind a different version of anon that they oh so despise.

These are all just facts, though as I said, there are always exceptions that prove the rule, which is why I'm not saying everyone is doing this. Just the majority

 

[A-Kun]

Sleeping blood, beautiful throne is a mess that just bulldozes from one scene to the other to the point its hard to keep up with the story (I also have a slight feeling its ai but its just a feeling)

 

[Parallax]

Sleeping blood, beautiful throne is a mess that just bulldozes from one scene to the other to the point its hard to keep up with the story (I also have a slight feeling its ai but its just a feeling)

The plot was strange. And the characters. I mean, it seemed promising at first glance, but when I took a closer look... meh. I pick up on some fetishes. There isn’t much freedom for the player either, which, of course, comes as no surprise.

 

[A-Kun]

The plot was strange. And the characters. I mean, it seemed promising at first glance, but when I took a closer look... meh. I pick up on some fetishes. There isn’t much freedom for the player either, which, of course, comes as no surprise.

Yeah, it also does a bad job introducing characters to the player

 

[Parallax]

Yeah, it also does a bad job introducing characters to the player

I don’t know about others (tho, people on Tumblr love them, I bet. A character who acts like a slut, how could you not love them???), but the main RO was off-putting. The author intended to make the sleeping beauty charmingly flirtatious, but they came across as... rather vulgar.