What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

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Cyanade
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What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#1 Post by Cyanade »

I've just always been curious about why and I figured this might be a good place to ask!
Is it because you're not interested in nsfw content in general? Or is it just specifically nsfw content in VNs?
What's your personal reason? (Could it because of Age? Religion? They're just not done well? Past experiences? Discomfort/squicky feelings? Something else?)

Personally I'm neutral about it-I don't mind if it's there but it seldom makes a huge impact on my enjoyment of the game as much as the characters and plot do. Maybe it's because the nsfw scenes I've encountered (mainly otome games) have been kind of bland compared to the erotic literature or the fanfic lemons that I've read, but then again I haven't played many nsfw games ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ so that could be why.

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Re: What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#2 Post by Mammon »

My main reason is similar to yours: a lot of NSFW scenes are just thrown in halfway, they're bland scenes added because they have to be added. Either they feel out of place, just too bland and uninspired, or just plain wrong. They often degrade the characters too, by allowing coitus so quickly after meeting the LI/MC. Too often it's just 1-3 days after meeting one another, going full penetration after having to slowly get acquianted and get over something as embarrassing as holding hands.

And the scenes are often very boring too. Not just bland, but devoid of the chemistry and personality that the characters usually have, following a simple flow of events, ending in an act that usually doesn't even affect the story at all. If you can just add a black screen and say 'and then they had sex' in some way or another, and that wouldn't change anything about the game except it's age rating, the scene is rather pointless. And considering that's what a lot of VN do when giving censorship, most sex scenes are even made to be completely pointless aside from the act of coitus itself.

The imagery does make me uncomfortable too, it's not something I like having displayed on the screen for all to see. But that changes nothing about how bored I usually am when reading the scene itself.
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Re: What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#3 Post by Imperf3kt »

If the game is designed as a NSFW game, I take no issue with it, but I pretty much concur with Mammon; most NSFW scenes are unneccesary and interrupt an otherwise fine story with out of character nonsense.
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Re: What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#4 Post by Chekhov »

Whatever I find disgusting, which is hard to define. Not many things. I think most other people are more sensitive to this than I. When writing for others I try to figure out where the border of what they find disgusting lies and try not to cross it for undue reason. However, what the story demands comes first.

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Re: What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#5 Post by Aviala »

One reason a person might not enjoy NSFW stuff is asexuality. I'm grey ace myself and I read smut from time to time but a lot of asexuals are sex-repulsed and want nothing to do with it. I wasn't interested in that stuff during my teenage years when most of my peers were reading fanfics with adult content (and yes, I know it's adult content so teenagers aren't supposed to read it but that doesn't change the fact that everyone did). Nowadays I don't mind smut and I'm actually 100% sex-positive when it comes to real life relationships (meaning almost any sexual stuff between two or more consenting adults is their business and there's no reason to judge) but I do often get bored reading sex scenes. Usually they're not written that well.

When I read BxG VN's I usually really like the love interests but I dislike the protagonist and I don't feel like the protagonist deserves an awesome girlfriend... BxG protagonists are often bland or just unlikeable as people. The notorious example being Fate/Stay Night where Saber and Rin are super awesome and amazing and that little turd Shirou does not deserve to even be in the same room as them... (I never read the sex scenes tho, didn't get that far because the VN is so.. so... long... and then I just watched all the anime series based on the VN. I'm 100% sure I would have hated them though.)

If I'm invested in the characters and the sex scene actually affects their relationship somehow then it's fun to read. So basically it often comes down to the quality of the writing and whether I like both characters or not.

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Re: What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#6 Post by theforgot3n1 »

An epic tale is usually made less epic by the introduction of hentai. There's something about sex that undermines your sensitivity to "epicness" or "coolness" in a story. It's a distraction. The more sex you introduce, the less impact the rest of the story gets, in my opinion, as is extremely apparent in full-blown hentai. Probably has something to do with your mind fixating on boobs and butts instead of thinking about the implications of what the scantily clad demon-girl just said.

Fate Stay Night survived despite its sex scenes because it had such awesome themes anyway. The scenes could have easily been removed. Although I do appreciate their attempt to make it be important to the plot.

The opinion you just read above, however, does come from a guy who wanted gymnastics in high school to be boy/girl separated because he didn't like the distraction and wanted to act more freely with the guys.

Disclaimer: I'm mainly talking about non-romance type stuff.
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Re: What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#7 Post by theforgot3n1 »

Aviala wrote: Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:14 am The notorious example being Fate/Stay Night where Saber and Rin are super awesome and amazing and that little turd Shirou does not deserve to even be in the same room as them...
Shirou is an amazing character. If you cut out all the slice of life stuff, he's the best VN character evar.
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Re: What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#8 Post by Aviala »

theforgot3n1 wrote: Sat Aug 18, 2018 5:56 am
Aviala wrote: Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:14 am The notorious example being Fate/Stay Night where Saber and Rin are super awesome and amazing and that little turd Shirou does not deserve to even be in the same room as them...
Shirou is an amazing character. If you cut out all the slice of life stuff, he's the best VN character evar.
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Re: What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#9 Post by Cyanade »

Thanks for the response guys! It’s interesting to see such a wide variety of opinion.

While what crosses the line of acceptability appears to be highly subjective, the consensus seems to be that NSFW content detracts from the overall plot but can be well received if it's believable, well-integrated, and relevant to the story while involving characters we’re invested in-which seems like a rarity from what you guys are telling me.

Now I'm wondering why there's an epidemic of badly written smut to the point where people would rather not have it there lol.

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Re: What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#10 Post by Zelan »

Cyanade wrote: Thu Aug 23, 2018 7:53 pm Thanks for the response guys! It’s interesting to see such a wide variety of opinion.

While what crosses the line of acceptability appears to be highly subjective, the consensus seems to be that NSFW content detracts from the overall plot but can be well received if it's believable, well-integrated, and relevant to the story while involving characters we’re invested in-which seems like a rarity from what you guys are telling me.

Now I'm wondering why there's an epidemic of badly written smut to the point where people would rather not have it there lol.
In regards to that, from what I can tell there IS a huge group of people that enjoy pornographic content in their VNs regardless of the story's quality (the popularity of the Sakura VNs is probably the first example that comes to mind). LemmaSoft Forums seems to have very little overlap with that group is all.

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Re: What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#11 Post by trooper6 »

I enjoy NSFW content, but not if it is sexist, racist, homophobic, etc. I have lots of sex positive friends who aren't judgmental, but I don't want my NSFW stuff to embarrass me if they look over my shoulder and see me playing it. So a lot of the stereotypical anime shiny boob fans-service stuff is out. It makes me feel pandered to and I don't like that. Also...boobs aren't shiny.

I also want it to be written by someone who seems like they have had sex before so that it is believable. If the person writing it doesn't understand the physics of sex, I'm turned off.

What is a turnoff will also depend on the type of game it is. If the game is mostly supposed to function as pornography, then I don't want long winded stretched out exposition...I want it to get to the NSFW stuff efficiently. These games have often worked well for me when they had game play elements like exploration or day/night cycles, etc.

If the NSFW stuff is part of a larger story, without much gameplay where there is going to be long stretches of time with no NSFW stuff, that is also okay, but then the story needs to be compelling.

Poorly written NSFW is also a turnoff.
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Re: What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#12 Post by 1911 »

I'm good with both SFW and NSFW games, but as everyone above already said, sex scenes are notoriously badly written in VNs so I mostly skip them. I think the problem stemmed from the fact that JVNs intentionally write sex scene verbally in order for seiyuus to voice the moans. Those are, unfortunately, utterly boring to read. Many EVNs copy that tradition even though they don't do voicing. In contrast, actual erotic literature uses narration to describe the chemistry and physical/emotional reactions, which is what makes it hot to read.

Another thing is that since most VNs aim at male audiences, the sex act is always more pornographic than romantic. That's why the narration reads like a scheduled flow of events and the characters speak exactly like in a doujin ("Ah no, not there...!"). It failed because it attempted to emulate a novel after visual media like porn and hentai anime/manga.

Many people already express their dislike for sex scenes that have no relevancy to the story. I would go a step furthur and denounce even sex scenes that are tacked on with poor reasons, no matter how relevant to the plot they superficially appear to be. E.g. the "mana transfer" in FS/N - really on the nose hentai shoehorning right there.

Let me list a few examples where I actually like and read every word of the sex scenes:
- Sengoku no Kuroyuri series: sex every 10 minutes, yet they're all important scenes where the characters or the relationship gets developement. The plot is also genius because it intergrates the sex in so well: it's about a lesbian Princess whose brother laughed at her sexuality and ordered to marry her off while mocking "unless you can produce a child with a girl", so the Princess bought a shady drug that promised to do just that, not knowing it would turn her into a futa AND turn her insane gradually. She went on to rape several girls because she wanted to avoid the arranged marriage badly, and also because she thought no girl would fall in love with her. Some of them eventually fall in love with her for real through very complex development.

- Kindred Spirits on the Roof: just extremely well-written journey of various couples from the moment they met each other to eventually sex. The sex are great and feel natural because all have adequate dating time, good relationship development, good sexual tension built up, and full of chemistry/personality during the deed.

- Flowers: only implicit sex. Not exactly "fading to black", but a couple poetic paragraphs that take everyone a while to realize the characters are having sex. Stuff like "I hold her close in an intimate embrace" and "We give each other everything." Very rewarding because it came after a big ordeal and an emotional confession.

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Re: What turns you off from NSFW content in VNs?

#13 Post by Metaparadox »

I'm very meh about sexual content in games, movies, TV, etc. That's probably because I'm asexual. I'm not repulsed by the concept of sex scenes, but I mostly find them boring or think they keep the plot from moving along. I prefer strictly romantic content, mostly GxG, BxB, and GxB, in that order. I tend to prefer content that is written by queer people, women, and non-binary people. I'm not aromantic, and I'm pretty drawn to romance in stories, so I like route-based VNs. If a sex scene concludes a well-written romance route, it doesn't bother me. However, the following things are squicky for me: dubious consent, rape, objectification/degradation of women, male-gazey scenes, sex with someone being portrayed as conquest, dominant/submissive dynamic outside of explicit consent (especially when a female character becomes tame and submissive and boring out of nowhere), and extreme fetish content. I refuse to have anything to do with media that sexualizes children.
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