WIP/Idea threads: What turns you on/off

[MJDAlleria]

[Interested In]

• Unique & simple plots (Don't need to be complicated to be a good story)
• Good Art (It's nice to have visuals)
• Reasonable and beautiful/badass characters
• Fantasy & Sci-fi/War/Dark humored genres
• Good Music
• Screenshots
• Demo/PV

[Not so against but avoids time to time (...)]

• BxB (If the males are far too masculine or too feminine)
• GxG (If there is a girl bashing on guys, then I'm out)
• Hentai Games (... I'm being a hypocrite but still)
• Dating Sims (Too troublesome)
• Furry (Do I have say?)

[Total turn OFF]

• Onslaught of senseless character deaths
• Always has an unnecessary Japanese theme/hint/name inside the story
• VN with real people pictures (no offense to those using real people)
• Fan (sex) games
• Forever stuck in school life
• Overkill with purple prose
• Twisted over Twisted plots
• Too many flash backs
• Please... for the love of anything good, PLEASE NO CHARACTER ASSASSINATIONS!

[Razz]

[on]
-Artwork! The better it is the more likely I am to keep checking back even if I feel so-so about the plot.
-Progress! Show me a screenshot or music clip every now and then.
-Creation processes. Talking the big wall of text going into how you did such and such...I'll definitely check back.

[off]
-Boring male protagonists. I'm way more unforgiving for this than I am with female due to the sheer amount of generic 'ordinary life' passive male protagonists out there.
-Japanese settings/names. I dunno i'm just tired of them and it now has an amateurish connotation to me.
-Wall of text. At least...break it up with pictures? >w>
-Katawa shoujo inspired vns or a huge emphasis on disabilities defining the girl.

[fleet]

Definite turn off: Use of Japanese terms in describing ANYTHING about plot or characters.

[Carrogath]

Let's see...

I'm partial toward:

• BxB/GxG/transgender characters/basically just people who aren't ramrod straight.
• Good writing, especially good dialogue. If the characters don't speak convincingly, that's an instant turn-off.
• Intelligent characters who don't do stupid things for the sake of the plot. Offer me a cast of bright characters with interesting motivations, and you've got me hooked.
• Fleshed-out settings. I like having a good idea of the world your characters live in.
• Drama/intrigue/people doing nasty things to each other (that don't involve outright murder). I generally hate high school settings, but I'm OK with if it if the story happens to be about school politics or scandals or some kind of conflict beyond "who am I going to the prom with."

I'm iffy toward:

• Bad art. Depending on how bad it is, it might turn me off the game for good.
• Slice-of-life. Mainly because the whole genre seems to suggest that nothing ever happens.
• Bland characters. Even if the plot is interesting, if the characters can't hold my attention, then I'm probably going to drop it.
• Similarly, unsympathetic characters. If everyone's a jerk, I don't really see why I should care.
• Stories with little-to-no plot/stories that are all about "getting the girl." Like I said, at least combine it with scandal or something...

Like everyone's been saying, as long as there's something interesting about it, I'll at least be willing to give it a shot.

[HienFan]

On turning
Distinctive art.
Good writing-Eck this one I'm serious about I'm sick of ban fanfic level writing
BXB-Though this I'm picky do not like overly dominant and overly submissive people
Interesting settings- cafes, manga making, anime making, jewelry shop any hobby related stuff
Slice of life
Friendship>Love- Yeah... I'm more of friendship over dating

Off turning
Hentai
Showing any really bad(blackmail, abuse, etc) stuff in a positive light
Too much romance- Eck there's more to life than hooking everyone up
Heavy on fanservice
Too much on highschool- C'mon can't I have a setting outside of the school?
Generic art
Anything with too much weeaboo vibe(Japanese words for no reason) I'm an anime fan but really do we need words like Baka, Kawaii, Desu everywhere?

[PrettieAngel]

This thread has some pretty good information so I guess I might contribute my thoughts. I haven't had the chance to look at many WIPs recently and I do lean more towards GxB but these are just some things off the top of my head.

What I go for:
- Good or at least decent art that fits the atmosphere of the game. I don't really have any specific preferences in terms of style as long as it works with the themes of the story. Goofy looking, more heavily stylised characters annoy me in a game that sounds like it's supposed to be serious, for example. Art pretty much always catches my attention first and makes the first impression.
- Notable diversity in the cast, especially there are (a couple of) obtainable characters. I generally avoid threads that have a long list of characters, where some/many of their descriptions don't really give distinct distinguishing features. I like to see a good range in most aspects of character, from appearance and personality to age and motivations.
- A story that is affected by decisions made in the game. I don't really like very linear stories and tend to avoid KNs. I suppose this is a little bit difficult to portray when writing a story overview but I like it when the description suggests branching potential.
- An indication of how long or complex the VN might be. I prefer to play longer games so it puts me off a little bit when there's absolutely no indication of how long the completed project might be, as I don't know if my expectations will be met. It's not that I don't play short games but I find it more difficult to get excited over them before their release.

What turns me away:
- Bad art, or little to no art. Seeing a thread missing visual details for many characters is a big turn off for me. I'd rather see concepts of all characters than polished finals of only one. Bad art will pretty much make me stop looking immediately, though by bad I really mean bad. I've only ever very rarely come across art that was too low quality for my standards though, which is good.
- Incorrect grammar or messy structure. It just makes things difficult for me.
- Seeming favouritism for character/s from the creator. I don't mind casual or non-serious comments in this vein but seeing it stated or even implied in the OP that certain characters are favoured over others has me automatically reacting with 'Mary-Sue', even if they're not, and I find it more difficult to take a project seriously.
- Chatting posts with little substance in the thread itself. I guess this one's a bit of an uncertainty but I try to read through entire threads if I'm interested, so seeing pages of messages that don't add much to the discussion discourage me from following a project.

[Lumen_Astrum]

The threads that catches my attention:

• Supernatural. I think it's one of the hardest genres to write, because technically there are a lot of stuff going on in the same way as fantasy, but unlike the latter it still needs tons of research and it can get really, really complicated and dark and bloody. Just the way I like it.
• Dystopian settings. In the same sense as above. Also the writer has to think up of ways how the setting ended up like that, and it gets complicated too.
• Fantasy especially if there are elves in it <3. It's one of my favorite genres, since the writer's creativity is unleashed in this genre. Well, any sort of fantasy will do, and not just the usual RPG fantasy. There are many possibilities in this bracket.
• Horror. IT ScARES THE SH*T OUT OF ME BUT BAH WHO CARES IT'S AWESOME owo
• Survival. You know, something like the Hunger Games I'm one of those very few people that liked it YEARS before the movie by the way. It shows strategy, strategy, wits, brain and it soemtimes gets pretty dramatic. So it's like a small little bundle of everything~ I think.
• GxB, GxG and BxG. All sorts of romance except BL, and sensual things pass to me fine, too. But I kinda get picky on romance stories, so it varies. I like romance games with non-romance paths, though. You can't hook up with everyone ouo
• Pretty art. No, I think this is just me being an artist, that's why I get picky in this part. I don't really get picky on the style, whether that be anime or what, as long as it fits, it's fine.
• Stuff that makes me THINKKKKKK. Yeah, mystery. Since there's the visual part of the story, for me the imagination section of my brain's in a shutdown so I need something to work with owo'''

The threads that scares me away:

• BL/BxB. Fluff is okay actually, but the hardcore ones might burn my eyes.
• Romance games with no plotline whatsoever. Come on, why do I have to hook up with this guy/gal!? Give me a reason why I should, and not just because this is a romance game. I really hate those "okay here's the game go pursue those people" games
• Posts with horrible grammar and showered down with typos. Sorry, I'll be expecting that sort of typing in your game.
• Little to no art in post. I also like reading text only things, but for someone's attention to be taken they have to look at something graphic and pretty in your thread!
• Overly generic themes. I think the VN world doesn't want another VN with a highschool setting with the same stuff going on.
• A poor writing style. The story can be great, the art can be great, but all of it falls down when the writing style doesn't hold it up enough dignity. If you write like how a reporter says his/her report, all the characters will sound like robots and will totally ruin everything.
• Fangames, especially those that you need to know the original game's story to understand the VN. I'd like anything that would be okay even though I don't know the original story/series. Say, I don't mind playing a Touhou fangame.
• The OP being a little too detailed on their characters.
• In romance games, there's no one in the cast that isn't the same gender as the protag. If there is any, he/she's a totaaaaaal ass. Not.

Long list is long. I may have written a lot more if I continued but I don't want to spam stuff so yeah =w=;;

[Anarchy]

but unlike [fantasy] it still needs tons of research and it can get really, really complicated and dark and bloody

Really? As a huge fan and writer of complicated/dark/bloody fantasy I object to that! Of the top of my head I can think of A Song of Ice and Fire, Lord of the Rings, Berserk, the Gentlemen Bastards series, HunterxHunter, His Dark Materials, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, some of Anne Rice's works, Animamundi: Dark Alchemist, not to mention the entire subgenre of dark fantasy...

Also, any fantasy work that takes its worldbuilding seriously tends to have a loooot of research involved too.

Hunger Games

Same here. It WAS a really popular YA book after all, even before the movie hit.

[Lumen_Astrum]

but unlike [fantasy] it still needs tons of research and it can get really, really complicated and dark and bloody

Really? As a huge fan and writer of complicated/dark/bloody fantasy I object to that! Of the top of my head I can think of A Song of Ice and Fire, Lord of the Rings, Berserk, the Gentlemen Bastards series, HunterxHunter, His Dark Materials, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, some of Anne Rice's works, Animamundi: Dark Alchemist, not to mention the entire subgenre of dark fantasy...

Also, any fantasy work that takes its worldbuilding seriously tends to have a loooot of research involved too.

Welp it depends. ouo I was mostly talking about the RPG-esque fantasy stories after all. It depends on the story if it needs a lot of research or not.

[destiny_921]

Ons
-Music. Ambience is important.
-Plot/Storyline. I'm extremely particular about this. There's too much predictable ones out there. Like, boy meets girl, they become friends and fall in love and...you get the point. More twists, more surprises, the better. So long as it's not too complicated until I lose sight of the whole story and everything else.
-Character development. Move along with the plot, please.
-Pacing. Not too fast, not too slow. No sudden "I-met-you-and-this-is-crazy-let's-get-married-and-live-happy-ever-after", thanks.
-All genres except horror. I can take the others head-on, but...for horror, I take it mild~
-Well-written cast of characters.
-RPG elements

Partial towards
-Graphics from "so-so" to "awesome". Of course, the better the artwork, the more I love it.
-BxB, GxG. No hardcore scenes for me.
-Clichés. But for the love of chocolate, please don't take a bunch of them and throw them all together.

Offs
-Mary-Sues and Gary Stus aka "perfect" characters. Just. No.
-Atrocious (read: horrible) writing.
-Bad usage of characters. Example? No offence to Twilight fans, but...

you have a good cast of characters and end up with No Consequences? It's like, me teaching my little cousin that stealing won't get you in jail or in trouble. Don't even get me started on the plot.

-Plot inconsistency. Plot is going along swimmingly well, when...a wild muse appears! and it all goes downhill (read: veers off) from there.

[papillon]

Ons
-Music. Ambience is important.

How much music do you generally see in a WIP thread?

[destiny_921]

Ons
-Music. Ambience is important.

How much music do you generally see in a WIP thread?

Not much, really. But let's say, I play the demo or completed game - and if the music doesn't suit the scene or novel, I find it harder to immerse myself in the game fully.

[ShippoK]

The Good:
+(Music) : Any music is good music! I can never find myself playing a game without it.
+(English) : Even if it's a Japanese based game, I like when everything is typed in all English like. (No -Kun, -Chan, etc)
+(Extras) : Who doesn't love them?
+(Art) : Any really, because I believe there's no such thing as 'Bad Art'. It's really all based on Style.
+(BxG, BxB, GxG) : With a few exceptions with GxG, I prefer any of these three anytime.
+(Thriller/Dark Tones) : Crazy Stuff that just keeps you on edge.
+(Parody itself) : I love when games parody themselves (Special the serious ones).
+(Foreshadowing) : Special if you have to look over it twice to realize it. Great surprises like that.
+(Porn with good Story) : I sometimes end up reading it for the story and skipping the sex scenes it's so good!

The Bad:
+(Same Face) : Never liked the feeling of the same girl/guy but with different hair or EDGY-ATTITUDE.
+(Sci-fi) : I never could get into it much... I'm more of a medieval, dragon, warriors, etc type.
+(Dues Ex Machine Endings) : Endings that seem to resolve themselves magically in a non-magical word. I'm looking at you Clannad...

The Ugly:
+(GxB Otome Games) : They just feel so bland and they always feels like a (Gushy Lovely Handsome Husbo Simulator). I could never understand the appeal of them.
+(Heavy Romance) : To must sparkles and roses, argh!
+(Unnecessary Branches) : Do I really need to call this person at 11:00pm at night to tell them I hated what are teacher gave for homework just to bang them!? Can't it be some extra event instead?

[inhalance]

Ons:
-colorful CG's: I don't know why but I'm naturally drawn to them. If I see bright, colorful CGs with lots of detail, I'll probably feel more inclined to play the game.
-clear, long description of the game: If there isn't enough information in the first post or first page of the thread, I'm most likely not going to waste my time searching through the pages or scrolling down to find out what the game is about. I normally like to see the progress reports (ex. Script ??%, Music ??%, etc.). It gives me a feel if the person is serious or not about the VN.
-amazing art: I'm such a bad person OTL If the art doesn't appeal to me, I don't even think twice about looking at the game, even though I can't draw to save my life anyway.
-threads tagged GxB or BxG: Most of the VNs I play are these two genres. Other genres such as GxG and BxB I generally don't search for, but if the story line interests me, then I might consider looking into it.
-good grammar: If a thread is written with good grammar and the person sounds serious, then I will probably keep browsing through the topic, and maybe even through all the pages/posts if the idea interests me. However, if they type like they're in middle school, then I just think "No."

Offs:
-bad grammar: As stated above, if the majority of their posts are written with bad grammar, my eyes will burn.
-art style: There's no such thing as "bad art", however if if the CG's use too many dark colors or the art isn't exactly my style, I won't look into the thread.
-overachieving games: Don't get me wrong, I love seeing game makers being enthusiastic about their projects. However, if their ideals and goals seem a bit ambitious, and in the end (after searching through their thread), they end up never going through with it, I tend to just smh and walk away.
-threads looking for multiple positions: It's basically like they're asking people to do all the work for them. Since I can't draw, I normally don't take up the artist position, but I normally compose/proofread/beta test for collabs and others, etc. Basically, if they've got nothing to show for what they do, then it makes me feel like they're just trying to act as if they're accomplishing something when in reality they actually aren't.

[papillon]

+(Dues Ex Machine Endings) : Endings that seem to resolve themselves magically in a non-magical word.

I think generally if you reveal that you have a Deus Ex Machina ending in the WIP thread, you're doing something very wrong.

(Just trying to make the distinction here between "what do you like in games", which is a different subject than "how do you react to WIP threads" )