WIP/Idea threads: What turns you on/off

[CheeryMoya]

I'm also not fond of 'pick your love interest' games, especially if the story only focuses on the characters' relationship. Love and romance are important parts of humanity but if it's not a part of a bigger story I'm more likely to pass it up.

A thing I would find interesting is to have a route where you don't end up with anyone at all, just continue the story (Of course, dating sims end if you don't romance anyone, so...)

Heh, I'd love to see more romantic games having friendship options. "But what's the point of it being in the romance category if-" What if I don't want to get into a character's pants, but I want to be bros with them? Yeah, it happens. There's more to relationships than kissing and stuff.

[Nuxill]

I'm also not fond of 'pick your love interest' games, especially if the story only focuses on the characters' relationship. Love and romance are important parts of humanity but if it's not a part of a bigger story I'm more likely to pass it up.

A thing I would find interesting is to have a route where you don't end up with anyone at all, just continue the story (Of course, dating sims end if you don't romance anyone, so...)

Yeah I wish there were more 'alone' paths in visual novels, but a lot of them don't seem to have any plot besides 'mc and character ___ are now dating'.

Heh, I'd love to see more romantic games having friendship options. "But what's the point of it being in the romance category if-" What if I don't want to get into a character's pants, but I want to be bros with them? Yeah, it happens. There's more to relationships than kissing and stuff.

I'd love to have that in a game. Friendships are an important part of our lives too.

I'd also like to see more games that aren't drawn in an 'Anime' style, or at least something a little more european. If something has an art style more reminiscent of european or western art It's a high possibility that I'll be interested.

[PyTom]

To me, the big thing I try to evaluate is if the creator knows where they're going with the work. There's nothing worse than a list of characters, a detailed setting, and - nothing. So many games get stuck at the "meeting people" phase, and never reach the later parts of the story.

So if someone makes it clear where they're going, that's a plus.

This doesn't need to be out-and-out spoilers - but screenshot of an interesting promising moment, rather than "Hello. My name is Jim." go a long way.

(In general, starting in the middle is a good thing. Too many games start boring and get better - start in the middle, and then jump back to cover exposition, I say.)


Of course, Sci-Fi and old-school Bishoujo games are my thing. Combine them and I'm going to root for you anyway, even if I don't think the game has a whelk's chance in a supernova of being finished.

[nyaatrap]

Art. I don't start reading them if they have no good arts.

[Hijiri]

Art. I don't start reading them if they have no good arts.

The problem with that is that what is good is subjective. What one might find gorgeous, another might find hideous.

[Mink]

^This. I keep seeing people rave about Madoka, but I hate the artstyle so much I've never watched it.

Uh, turn offs for WIPs? High schools settings and/or romance. Turn ons for WIPs? Horror/Scifi/Fantasy/Comedy or some combination thereof. I probably like dark comedies a little too much, though.

[Reikun]

Things that catch my attention:
-- Interesting plot description/synopsis
-- Screenshots/artwork
-- Creator takes time to respond to people who comment on their game (in a respectful/reasonable way)
-- Good grammar in the first post

Things that make me hit the back button:
-- Wall of text (Won't read it if it can't hold my attention in the first few sentences)
-- HUGE character descriptions (how am I supposed to get to know your characters in-game if you're telling me all about them now?)
-- When characters have B-days, astrological signs, other miscellaneous information that's not important to the plot listed >____> (Those things can be fun, but only AFTER I already care about your character)
-- When Creators apologize for their game/WIP (if you can't have confidence in your own work, how can I have confidence in it)

Things I don't really care about:
-- Genre/pairing tags (as long as it's well written and presented in a consistent visual style it's good)
-- Quality/style of art (if the story is good). I will withstand almost any art quality/style if it comes with a good story
-- Character descriptions. I don't really mind if they're there, but I prefer to learn about characters in-game u___u;; (Also, I have a hard time digesting character descriptions because I feel like 'How can anyone write what is essentially a synopsis about someone's personality and life? Aren't characters, like people, multifaceted?')

[Crocosquirrel]

Let's have a look...

I avoid dating sims like the plague.

Bad Grammar/spelling? Another downvote. Visuals aren't always needed, but they can get attention for a project with flat writing in the initial post. I like to know that people have some concept of what they're doing when making games, particularly when it comes to such niceties as design documentation of some sort. A little diligence in hiring staff helps as well. I'll bring on a less-experienced artist if they've been showing improvement that I can see over time.

Fangames. Fangames get much annoyance. Touhou is an exception-- Not because I'm a fan, but because the person doing the work holds conventions just to let the doujin circle know what he's up to so they can keep the Canon straight. Hts off to him. He's a better man than I.

Someone that has just an idea, and they need everything. What exactly are you planning on doing again? Oh, right. Selling the end results.

I wanna do a Superhero VN! Who wants to work with me?

If you post that, I'm going to ignore you. At least try and flesh out first?

Otome games generally go on the 'No' list unless there's not a heavy romance component. Hentai games the same way for the most part, although I have been known to pick one up from time to time to see how people write those scenes. I'll usually check out threads, though. Espacially with Sci-Fi tags or hints of proper horror.

I prefer a solid story, or at least a well-developed concept, from people that have some kind of a plan. Imagery is nice, but it tells me nothing. Just says you have someone that can make Pretty Pictures. Not shorting the artists amongst us, but pretty pictures with crap writing just doesn't do it for me. I'll get over crap art, to a point, or poor-ish writing that at least looks like they went to HS English classes.

[lepapillonrouge]

Things that I like -
GxB. I generally only play GxB games, unless you're aiming for an nakige type of storytelling. But even so I have issues going for girls...
Character Portraits - I like knowing what they look like. It gives me a sign that there's some concreteness to the project.
CONSTANT UPDATES - I would know, because I don't do that in my own work ;w;
But when I was following the first Fantasia I remember getting really hyped up about it. And the one thing I've always liked is how many screenshots or pictures or updates of characters that azure and Momento Mori VNs put up. It gets me excited. Another thread that I like is 9:19's 'Tonight' for the same reason.
A lot of page numbers on the WIP - goes alone with 'Constant Updates'. If other people are interested, I tend to be interested.
Original Gameplay - LLTQ and numerous ways to kills your MC? Mmenosyne and otome with danmaku?! Very interesting.

Things I don't like:
...anything other than GxB: This is not a fast and steady rule but for WIPs it kind of is unless I see some buzz for it, I don't tend to look at it.
Overambitious work: Unless you already have the work to back it up (i.e. Mnemosyne and it's massive and impressive wordcount) I'm not interested. Will be interested with 'constant updates' of course.
Good art and no plot: That's just generally disappointing to me because I expect quality art to go with quality writing. In general, this happens to me even if the work is completed. And it happens a lot.

Things I don't care about:
Setting: I like Japan, I like America, and I like to see VNs in other places too. But it usually doesn't matter to me.
Genre(?): Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Contemporary, Historical...I like them all. Well Sci-Fi is iffy sometimes but I might like it.

[MaiMai]

Aha, I think I got you guys beat on turn-offs:

--> anime/manga style art

That said, this is the VN world. When in Rome...

I honestly would like to see more VNs with unique art styles. There was this one really good WIP thread where the person made the most amazing sprites for a 1920's style story with anthropomorphic animals (He never finished it ). Still, I like anime/manga, but I also like western style art (both just need to be visually adequate!)

- VNs where there is no plot beyond chasing the love interest of your choice. Bonus negative points if they take place primarily in high school or middle school.
- Excessive typos. They make me think that your game script will follow suit.

A very big yes to both. I don't mind young people, high school students, hell sometimes I like that setting but c'mon... And I honestly don't mind romance as long as the circumstances surrounding it is interesting and helps shape the characters rather than pandering romantic development.

[Auro-Cyanide]

I generally look at all the WIP threads, but I definitely have gotten pretty picky about what I will follow or comment on.

Things that catch my attention:
- Art. As an artist this is one of the main things I look for. If I find a nice style that compliments the story I will be interested. Make me jealous and count me intrigued.
- Good writing. I am extremely picky about writing. I expect the opening post to really catch my attention with the premise of the story.
- Design. Typography, logos, GUI <3
- Strong and unique protagonists.
- Unusual takes on different things, from characters to stories.
- OMG SCIENCE! Apparently.
- Funny stuff
- I generally look at all genres but I do have a soft spot for fantasy, slice of life, sci-fi, dark stuff, all with a touch of romance.
- People's whose work I like, either I have played previously or I have seen around. Oh, and generally people I like, though those two tend to go in the same basket.
- I tend to keep an eye on commercial work too because they tend to do thing I am interested in seeing on a technical level.

Retreat! Retreat!
- People who have a list of WIP threads and nothing to show for it.
- Bad writing. Too many people start with boring writing. If someone can't hold my attention for a couple paragraphs I doubt they can hold my attention for a whole VN.
- People who make the recruiter's mistakes I have listed elsewhere. I can tell they aren't going to finish.
- Loli/Shota stuff. It creeps me out a fair bit when it's fetishised.
- Big breasted women/Overly sexualised women make me :/
- An idea and nothing else.
- Anything that just comes off as REALLY generic. I don't care if it's GxB, BxG, whatever, if I feel like I have heard the story before, I'm not interested.
- People who act pretentious. I'm on a forum to interact with people, not faceless entities that try and act professional.

Warning signs:
- People taking on more than they should
- Large groups
- Inexperienced groups
- First couple posts
- Lack of involvement in the community
- Lack of proper writing or formatting of graphics
- Very little in the way of progress or plans
- Things that might generally not interest me or make me roll my eyes, though that is fairly subjective to a lot of things.

Overall I like to see well presented work with clear goals that are achievable and a fair amount of work. I like to see unique takes on concepts and genres and interesting characters that I want to find out more about. I don't like to see the opposite of that.

[Obscura]

Aha, I think I got you guys beat on turn-offs:

--> anime/manga style art

That said, this is the VN world. When in Rome...

Yeah, just so I don't sound like I'm trolling here, let me explain.

To people who don't watch a lot of anime or read manga, the art style tends to look kinda samey-samey. It's probably because I'm not used to manga enough to pick up the differences between characters, but I have a hard time distinguishing one sparkly-eyed, tiny nosed, tiny mouthed character from another.

I'm sure if I look at enough manga, I'd feel differently. As of now, I prefer VN's that have more realistic characters if they're done in manga style. I don't know if Legend of Korra (never have watched it, but have seen many stills) is considered anime, but I love the style the artists use.

[Nuxill]

Aha, I think I got you guys beat on turn-offs:

--> anime/manga style art

That said, this is the VN world. When in Rome...

Yeah, just so I don't sound like I'm trolling here, let me explain.

To people who don't watch a lot of anime or read manga, the art style tends to look kinda samey-samey. It's probably because I'm not used to manga enough to pick up the differences between characters, but I have a hard time distinguishing one sparkly-eyed, tiny nosed, tiny mouthed character from another.

I'm sure if I look at enough manga, I'd feel differently. As of now, I prefer VN's that have more realistic characters if they're done in manga style. I don't know if Legend of Korra (never have watched it, but have seen many stills) is considered anime, but I love the style the artists use.

I have the same problem telling characters apart. Especially in Manga. Even though I love the series It took me forever to figure out who was who in Azumanga Daioh. Thankfully it's a lot easier to tell who's who in color, and there's a constant reminder of what the character's name is when they're speaking. It'd be nice to see less sameface but that's a topic for another day.

A WIP thread is more likely to attract me if it's got a nice logo or image at the top of the thread. Nice formatting is good too. Anything that helps make your thread look polished. It gives off the impression that the creator knows what they're doing.

[EroBotan]

No love for fangames T_T

I do love fangames ^^, I'm planning to make Strike Witches game later

mmm ... what turns me on? good artwork I guess .

[MaiMai]

No love for fangames T_T

There's always a place for fanstuff, but I always felt that this forum was more for original works and supporting the people who make them. It's like how there's a website for fanfiction and how you can label your fanart on DA. And to be honest, whatever fangame you're making your audience shrinks by quite a lot since it will be a game that targets people who know the series already.