VN survey results

[sciencewarrior]

Even though you aren't supposed to follow polls blindly when planning a new visual novel, you will probably find these results interesting. Quoting the main numbers:

Total number of respondents: 160
Here's an album with pie charts of the data: link
Raw data, with top answers bolded:
1. What is your favorite VN genre? Action/adventure: 7.5% (12)
Comedy: 5.0% (8)
Drama/mystery: 27.5% (44)
Fantasy: 9.4% (15)
Romance: 34.4% (55)
Sci-fi: 7.5% (12)
Other (please specify): 8.8% (14)
2. Which of the following is most important to you in a VN?
Art: 5.1% (8)
Characters: 30.1% (47)
Music : 2.6% (4)
Replay value (ie, multiple routes): 5.1% (8)
Story: 57.1% (89)
Voice acting: 0.0% (0)
Other (please specify): 5.1% (8)
3. Do you prefer a VN that is set in the real world or a fictional world?
Real world: 47.5% (75)
Fictional world: 52.5% (83)
4. How long do you like your VNs (per one play through)?
Less than 4 hours: 4.4% (7)
4-9 hours: 16.3% (26)
9-15 hours: 26.9% (43)
15-30 hours: 24.4% (39)
More than 30 hours: 28.1% (45)
5. How much money are you willing to spend on a VN that fits your gaming preferences (such as genre, story, and game length)?
$.99-$5: 8.2% (13)
$5-$10: 13.2% (21)
$10-$20: 38.4% (61)
More than $20: 30.8% (49)
I'm not willing to spend any money: 9.4% (15)

[gekiganwing]

I don't know much about Reddit, so I don't know what sort of people are active there. But I'm pleasantly surprised by the very clear posting rules and the short list of useful links.

...Which of the following is most important to you in a VN?
Art: 5.1% (8)
Characters: 30.1% (47)
Music : 2.6% (4)
Replay value (ie, multiple routes): 5.1% (8)
Story: 57.1% (89)
Voice acting: 0.0% (0)
Other (please specify): 5.1% (8)

*If* there is complex gameplay, then I will be concerned about its quality. If not, then I will have to agree with the majority and say "story." I appreciate quality art, music, and voice acting, but I can live without all three.

...4. How long do you like your VNs (per one play through)?
Less than 4 hours: 4.4% (7)
4-9 hours: 16.3% (26)
9-15 hours: 26.9% (43)
15-30 hours: 24.4% (39)
More than 30 hours: 28.1% (45)

Up until I started working full time, I had quite a bit of spare time. I used to invest many hours into the small number of video games in my collection. But now I have many video games and systems, as well as broadband internet in my condo. So now I like shorter stories, so I'd say less than four hours through playthrough.

5. How much money are you willing to spend on a VN that fits your gaming preferences (such as genre, story, and game length)?
$.99-$5: 8.2% (13)
$5-$10: 13.2% (21)
$10-$20: 38.4% (61)
More than $20: 30.8% (49)
I'm not willing to spend any money: 9.4% (15)

If it's a paid download for a computer or a console, then I'd pay $10-$20 US. If it's a physical disc or cartridge that will work without having to register or activate it, than I'd pay more than $20. (I paid full price for a limited edition of Hakuouki earlier this year, and a couple years ago, I pre-ordered a limited edition of Sakura Wars 5 with a hardcover artbook.)

[Nuxill]

Wow, I honestly had NO IDEA that there were VNs that had over 30 hours worth of play time (unless they're talking about VNs with added gameplay elements)! That's almost as much time I would expect one to spend playing a game like Pokémon or Mass Effect. It makes sense since VNs are basically animated books and a long book can take a long time to read, but still! Here I was thinking five hours was a long time for a Visual Novel! It's probably obvious I'm new to the whole Visual Novel scene.

The other answers I'm not so surprised with. They're what I figured most people liked about VNs. Except I would have thought that artwork and re-playablity would have gotten higher numbers.

[Blane Doyle]

So in order to make the perfect visual novel it should have these elements:

Romance themed with a drama/mystery
Set in a fictional world
Have a great story/great characters
Up to 30+ hours
$20 or less.

IT'S SO SIMPLE 8D

In all seriousness, this is both surprising and expected in multiple places. It is interesting to look at.

[Argeus_the_Paladin]

Wow, I honestly had NO IDEA that there were VNs that had over 30 hours worth of play time (unless they're talking about VNs with added gameplay elements)!

AFAIK Clannad or Kanon can pack 60+ hours, what with all the flags and secret options.

Still no match for Mount&Blade Warband with mods, but we are getting at something here.

[LVUER]

I wonder if fictional world that very similar with present-day realistic world will work out?

[Nuxill]

Wow, I honestly had NO IDEA that there were VNs that had over 30 hours worth of play time (unless they're talking about VNs with added gameplay elements)!

AFAIK Clannad or Kanon can pack 60+ hours, what with all the flags and secret options.

Still no match for Mount&Blade Warband with mods, but we are getting at something here.

Wow! I guess you can't say you're not getting you're money's worth, especially if what I've heard the prices of Visual Novels in Japan are is true.

[Samu-kun]

Sadly, it seems like nearly 100% of the audience wants visual novels longer than most of the works here.

[Mirage]

^
Not to mention, they want it at way lower price than the one in Japanese market. lulz

[jack_norton]

As I said several times, those polls aren't really meaningful. People with more free time = less money = more likely to answer polls.
When I posted Planet Stronghold on Desura got lots of comments and even private messages telling me how I was wrong to price it $24.99. Then I ran a sale for a weekend at $9.99. Result? same income or slightly less (even if of course more copies sold) than when was at $24.99.
People can talk but ultimately you have to see for yourself checking the numbers, because they never lie (differently from people ).

[lepapillonrouge]

I was going to say, doesn't this mainly apply to big time JVNs?
Edit: Perhaps for the quality long storyline part. But money wise I wonder who'd be willing to drop +$20 for OELVNs.

[redeyesblackpanda]

I'd say that in regards to play time, I'd be among the group that likes the playtime to be as long as possible. My reasoning is if I like something, I don't want it to end. I'll never want a game to be short. If it bores me, I'll just stop playing
That being said, if it's worse quality because someone's tried to drag it out, I'll probably drop it pretty early on anyway. My magicalhappyland is a really long, really well written VN.

[papillon]

But money wise I wonder who'd be willing to drop +$20 for OELVNs.

Quite a lot of people. At least, for a price just slightly over $20.

However, your chances of selling anything indie, VN or not, for something like $40 would seem pretty slim, because that's way outside market expectations. Still, unless someone actually makes a go of it, that's supposition, not fact.

[Blane Doyle]

I was going to say, doesn't this mainly apply to big time JVNs?
Edit: Perhaps for the quality long storyline part. But money wise I wonder who'd be willing to drop +$20 for OELVNs.

*raises hand* Before I found out about the demo discount I was planning on saving up to buy Magical Diary: Horse Hall. And that's $25. (granted, I almost spent 20 after that discount)

I don't mind paying a pretty penny to support creators of good indie games. But you might be hard pressed to FIND an OELVN over $30.

[lepapillonrouge]

Oh. |Dc If it were me it would have to have stellar reviews and good reputation...unless it's Analogue, which I'm considering buying. I like Christine Love's writing enough to buy it |Dc And the people who give it a bad rep...well, they and I don't think alike anyway.