A poll to girl gamers

[Arcanum]

Hey guys. I’m an artist/writer with lots of free time on her hands and a desire to make games catered to other girls. I’ve seen and played many interesting VNs and Dating Sims - and now I feel like it’s my turn to make something nice. Although I have a couple of ideas myself (because, after all, I know what I like), I also want to understand what other girls are after. I’ve condensed a poll here, and I’d be very happy if any girls fulfill it!

(If you’re a guy that plays otome/BL games, feel free to answer the questions too, although my main focus are the ladies!)

Gender:
o Female
o Male

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes
o Yes, but only because of the shortage of Otome/BL games
o No

Style:
o Visual Novel
o Dating/Life Sim

Genre:
o Otome (Girl x Boy)
o BL (Boy x Boy)

If BL, playable character should be:
o Uke (“Submissive” character, gets romanced)
o Seme (“Agressive” character, romances)

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
o Pursued.
o Averted.

Setting:
o Fantasy (Magical, set on the past)
o Modern (Usual, set on the present)
o Scifi (Technologic, set on the future)

Mature content:
o Yes
o No

Rate from more important to least:

Overall-
o Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs)
o Character (design, likability)
o Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options)
o Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines)

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, realistic, cute, cell shading…?

When pursuing a character-
o Character Design
o Personality

What kind of looks attract you? (glasses, muscles, hair color, etc.)

What are the personality traits that attract you? (mean, kind, teasing, flirty, etc.)

[MaiMai]

To be honest, I'm a bit tired of all these polls/surveys. For answers, you could probably just search past polls/surveys that ask similar questions before constructing one that asks the same thing-- and then get to making games!! And really, if you're making an otome game, visual or dating/sim style, your striking zone will tend to be very wide. You don't have to worry about catering to everyone.

But I think I'll just answer regardless since you took the time to make this.

Gender:
o Female
o Male

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes
o Yes, but only because of the shortage of Otome/BL games
o No

Style:
o Visual Novel
o Dating/Life Sim

Genre:
o Otome (Girl x Boy)
o BL (Boy x Boy)

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
o Pursued.
o Averted.

(No comment. I'm not interested in yuri.)

Setting:
o Fantasy (Magical, set on the past)
o Modern (Usual, set on the present)
o Scifi (Technologic, set on the future)

(I like all of these, they need to be executed well.)

Mature content:
o Yes
o No

(Either is fine. I'm over eighteen so it won't matter either way. I definitely have my limits on how mature content is though)

Rate from more important to least:

Overall-
o Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs) (2)
o Character (design, likability) (3)
o Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options) (4)
o Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines) (1)

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, realistic, cute, cell shading…?
Any is fine as long as it's drawn and CGed well and fits the story. It doesn't have to be anime.

When pursuing a character-
o Character Design
o Personality

[papillon]

Yeah, I started making up a list of past survey topics to link to because I'm tired of answer them, but I got tired of answering why I wasn't answering, too.

The fewer questions you ask at once, the better your chances of getting good feedback. Some people obsessively answer polls, but a lot of forum members have seen so many polls go by that they're really tired of them, and MOST of the answers boil down to "do whatever, just write it well and we'll be happy"

Otherwise scan through the forum and look at some of the existing topics for inspiration?

[Veniae]

Gender:
o Female
o Male

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes
o Yes, but only because of the shortage of Otome/BL games
o No

Style:
o Visual Novel
o Dating/Life Sim

Genre:
o Otome (Girl x Boy)
o BL (Boy x Boy)

If BL, playable character should be:
o Uke (“Submissive” character, gets romanced)
o Seme (“Agressive” character, romances)
... Don't even know. I never played a BL game. ^^' It depends, I guess.

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
o Pursued.
o Averted.

Setting:
o Fantasy (Magical, set on the past)
o Modern (Usual, set on the present)
o Scifi (Technologic, set on the future)

Mature content:
o Yes
o No
Not strictly against it, but I could do without it.

Rate from more important to least:

Overall-
o Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs) - 3.
o Character (design, likeability) - 2.
o Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options) - 4.
o Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines) - 1.
Although all of them are almost equally important.

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, realistic, cute, cell shading…?
I like anime, lots of details, probably some complexity, a bit on the dark side perhaps. Other styles are cool as well.

When pursuing a character-
o Character Design - 2.
o Personality - 1.

What kind of looks attract you? (glasses, muscles, hair color, etc.)
Hmm... I like longish, messy hairs and I have a thing for white-/silver-haired dudes. Also, I'm not a fan of glasses, but they're cool. The taller guys are better, they aren't supposed to be really sinewy... Also, probably unnatural colour styles are good.

What are the personality traits that attract you? (mean, kind, teasing, flirty, etc.)
Lemme think... I like the cold, sarcastic guys, and the flirty, teasing ones. I'm a sucker for people who appear reserved and then turn out to have a sense of humour. Also, I like self-deprecation. Probably the only type I don't like are the shota guys.

Hope that was helpful~

[Taleweaver]

Gender:
x Male

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
x Yes

Style:
o Visual Novel
o Dating/Life Sim
x Both

Genre:
x Otome (Girl x Boy)

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
x Pursued.

Setting:
x Modern (Usual, set on the present)

Mature content:
x Yes

Rate from more important to least:

Overall-
1 Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines)
2 Character (design, likability)
3 Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options)
4 Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs)

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, realistic, cute, cell shading…?
Realistic

When pursuing a character-
x Personality

What kind of looks attract you? (glasses, muscles, hair color, etc.)
Boyish, intellectual type

What are the personality traits that attract you? (mean, kind, teasing, flirty, etc.)
Headstrong, creative

[Nimuell]

Gender:
o Female
o Male

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes (such greats like Ever17, Fate/Stay night and Saya no Uta)
o Yes, but only because of the shortage of Otome/BL games
o No

Style:
o Visual Novel
o Dating/Life Sim

Genre:
o Otome (Girl x Boy)
o BL (Boy x Boy)

If BL, playable character should be:
o Uke (“Submissive” character, gets romanced)
o Seme (“Agressive” character, romances) would be more interesting

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
o Pursued. sure, why not
o Averted.

Setting:
o Fantasy (Magical, set on the past) better set in parallel world
o Modern (Usual, set on the present)
o Scifi (Technologic, set on the future)

Mature content:
o Yes
o No I don't actually care

Rate from more important to least:

Overall-
3 Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs)
2 Character (design, likability)
4 Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options)
1 Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines)

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, semi-realistic, cute, cell shading…? Also cartoony and more comic-like.

When pursuing a character- both ^^ but sometimes personality means even more
o Character Design
o Personality

What kind of looks attract you? (glasses, muscles, hair color, etc.) Glasses. Also I have specific fetish for short ponytails on blond guys. Ah. Also I love sly guys with eyes always closed ^^; weirdo

What are the personality traits that attract you? (mean, kind, teasing, flirty, etc.)
Shy and nerdy ^^ Also sarcastic, clumsy, panicking and easy to blush.
Cold guys are fun sometimes

[10kNing]

Gender:
o Female
o Male

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes
o Yes, but only because of the shortage of Otome/BL games
o No

Style:
o Visual Novel
o Dating/Life Sim

Genre:
o Otome (Girl x Boy)
o BL (Boy x Boy)

If BL, playable character should be:
o Uke (“Submissive” character, gets romanced)
o Seme (“Agressive” character, romances)

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
o Pursued.
o Averted.

Setting:
o Fantasy (Magical, set on the past)
o Modern (Usual, set on the present)
o Scifi (Technologic, set on the future)

Mature content:
o Yes
o No

Rate from more important to least:

Overall-
3 Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs)
2 Character (design, likability)
4 Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options)
1 Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines)

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, realistic, cute, cell shading…?

When pursuing a character-
o Character Design
o Personality

What kind of looks attract you? (glasses, muscles, hair color, etc.)
Tall, androgynous are really nice~ I'm also pretty partial to light or cold-colored hair.

What are the personality traits that attract you? (mean, kind, teasing, flirty, etc.)
Nice guys who are actually just pretending to be happy to hide their self-loathing, flirty types, shota~ I'm not the biggest fan of tsundere types, but they're nice too, I guess!

[Snowflower]

Gender:
o Female
o Male

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes
o Yes, but only because of the shortage of Otome/BL games
o No

Style:
o Visual Novel
o Dating/Life Sim

Genre:
o Otome (Girl x Boy)
o BL (Boy x Boy)

If BL, playable character should be:
o Uke (“Submissive” character, gets romanced)
o Seme (“Agressive” character, romances)

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
o Pursued.
o Averted.

Setting:
o Fantasy (Magical, set on the past)
o Modern (Usual, set on the present)
o Scifi (Technologic, set on the future)

Mature content:
o Yes
o No

Rate from more important to least:

Overall-
o Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs) 2
o Character (design, likability) 3
o Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options) 4
o Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines) 1

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, realistic, cute, cell shading…?

Any kind of art style is fine by me as long as the effort is put and fits well with the story.

When pursuing a character-
o Character Design
o Personality

What kind of looks attract you? (glasses, muscles, hair color, etc.)
not too buff, glasses are sometimes good. PIERCINGS! (haha, I love bad boy types), and silver hair seems to pop up a lot in my list of favorite characters.

What are the personality traits that attract you? (mean, kind, teasing, flirty, etc.)
teasing, flirty, cold at first, sarcastic

[teacup]

Gender:
o Female
o Male

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes
o Yes, but only because of the shortage of Otome/BL games
o No

Style:
o Visual Novel
o Dating/Life Sim

Genre:
o Otome (Girl x Boy)
o BL (Boy x Boy)

If BL, playable character should be:
o Uke (“Submissive” character, gets romanced)
o Seme (“Agressive” character, romances)
(I don't play BL games)

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
o Pursued.
o Averted.

Setting:
o Fantasy (Magical, set on the past)
o Modern (Usual, set on the present)
o Scifi (Technologic, set on the future)

Mature content:
o Yes
o No
(It doesn't really matter, as long as the story is interesting, I'll play it. But for otome games, I prefer it to be a sweet and innocent game... also I get embarrassed to see naked guys XDD)

Rate from more important to least:

Overall-
o Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs) (3)
o Character (design, likability) (1)
o Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options) (4)
o Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines) (2)

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, realistic, cute, cell shading…?
Anime. For otome games, the boys should appear as bishounen (I don't really like it if the boys look young/cutesy)

When pursuing a character-
o Character Design
o Personality

What kind of looks attract you? (glasses, muscles, hair color, etc.)
Shaggy/messy/cool hairstyle. Color doesn't matter... though I have a strange attraction to guys with silver or red hair. Or simple brown, always good too. XD Don't really like rainbow haired guys...

What are the personality traits that attract you? (mean, kind, teasing, flirty, etc.)
Kind and sweet, blushable guys. Tsundere guys are good as long as they aren't so extremely TSUN TSUN they become annoying. I really hate flirts (some flirting is okay, but it can go overboard)/creeps/rapists

[NatsukiDeath]

Gender:
o Female

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes

Style:
o Visual Novel

Genre:
o Otome (Girl x Boy)


If BL, playable character should be:
o Seme (“Agressive” character, romances)

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
o Pursued.

Setting:
o Fantasy (Magical, set on the past)


Mature content:
o Yes

Rate from more important to least:

Overall- 1-10
o Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs) 6
o Character (design, likability) 8
o Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options) 7
o Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines) 9

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, realistic, cute, cell shading…?
Hmm , I suppose anime ,cell shading

When pursuing a character-

o Personality

What kind of looks attract you? (glasses, muscles, hair color, etc.)
Strong ,Frexing tall , define gravity hair ( blue or pale green ) or normal brown, red hair

What are the personality traits that attract you? (mean, kind, teasing, flirty, etc.)
Quiet, Out there thinking,Do whatever ,willing to learn and annoyed by wimps

[EternalDream]

Gender:
o Female
o Male

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes
o Yes, but only because of the shortage of Otome/BL games
o No

Style:
o Visual Novel
o Dating/Life Sim

Genre:
o Otome (Girl x Boy)
o BL (Boy x Boy)

If BL, playable character should be:
o Uke (“Submissive” character, gets romanced)
o Seme (“Agressive” character, romances)

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
o Pursued.
o Averted.

Setting:
o Fantasy (Magical, set on the past)
o Modern (Usual, set on the present)
o Scifi (Technologic, set on the future)

Mature content:
o Yes
o No

Rate from more important to least:

Overall-
o Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs) 3
o Character (design, likability) 2
o Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options) 4
o Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines) 1

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, realistic, cute, cell shading…?
As long as it looks good and matches the setting but I'd more likely kyaa over anime-ish. (... And why's cell shading in there...? o_O;;)

When pursuing a character-
o Character Design
o Personality

What kind of looks attract you? (glasses, muscles, hair color, etc.)
The 2 things that attract me like honey is:
- guys who tie their hair
- guys who have red hair

What are the personality traits that attract you? (mean, kind, teasing, flirty, etc.)
Teasing, sarcastic, mean to the general public but nice to people he likes, can tell jokes, and people can obviously tell who he likes. And um, does being able to fight counts? (Because I completely love guys who can)

[Halca]

Gender:
o Female
o Male

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes
o Yes, but only because of the shortage of Otome/BL games
o No

Style:
o Visual Novel
o Dating/Life Sim

Genre:
o Otome (Girl x Boy)
o BL (Boy x Boy)

If BL, playable character should be:
o Uke (“Submissive” character, gets romanced)
o Seme (“Agressive” character, romances)

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
o Pursued.
o Averted.
(Really can't choose, it honestly depends on the characters. If the female love interest is an interesting or pretty character in comparison to the boys [especially if the boys are feminine], I'll go after her.)

Setting:
o Fantasy (Magical, set on the past)
o Modern (Usual, set on the present)
o Scifi (Technologic, set on the future)

Mature content:
o Yes
o No
(It's not fun to have to hide my games from people.)

Rate from more important to least:

Overall-
o Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs)
o Character (design, likability)
o Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options)
o Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines)
(Character is the most important by far, then Art, Story, and Gameplay)

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, realistic, cute, cell shading…?
(I love anime style art so long as it's not some kind of weird in-between of more western styles.)

When pursuing a character-
o Character Design
o Personality
(Generally it's personality, unless the character is like, gorgeous. Then I must chase after them)

What kind of looks attract you? (glasses, muscles, hair color, etc.)
(Manly, manly, manly. I don't like a cast full of feminine guys. I really love a muscular masculine dumb/sweet type character. But I also really like a tsundere with cute features like glasses)

What are the personality traits that attract you? (mean, kind, teasing, flirty, etc.)
(My favorite personalities are tsundere(mean, but sweet) and moe(endearingly cute) type personalities.)

[gekiganwing]

To go along with what Papillon and Maimai said, writing is the most important thing. And if there's complex gameplay, that also matters. Everything else is less crucial. Anyway...

Gender:
* Male

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes (I enjoy stories about various types of fictional characters in relationships, as well as general audience/plot driven stuff.)

Style:
* Visual Novel
* Dating/Life Sim
(in short, I enjoy both)

Genre:
* Otome (Girl x Boy)

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
* Pursued.

Setting:
Any of the three options.

Mature content:
* Yes... but only if it isn't tacked-on or hardcore

Rate from more important to least:
Overall-
4 Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs)
3 Character (design, likability)
2 Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options)
1 - most important Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines)

What kind of art style pleases you?
Any kind will suffice.

When pursuing a character-
* Personality

[SyphyChan]

Gender:
o Male

Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes

Style:
o both

Genre:
o Otome (Girl x Boy)

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
o Averted.

Setting:
o all work

Mature content:
o No

Rate from more important to least:

Overall-
o Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs) 4
o Character (design, likability) 2
o Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options) 3
o Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines) 1

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, realistic, cute, cell shading…?
anime!

When pursuing a character-
o Personality

What kind of looks attract you? (glasses, muscles, hair color, etc.)
Cute! Long preferably black hair.

What are the personality traits that attract you? (mean, kind, teasing, flirty, etc.)
shy, or teasing but kind

[SilverxBlue]

Gender:
*** Female
o Male


Do you also play Boy x Girl games?
o Yes
*** Yes, but only because of the shortage of Otome/BL games
o No

Style:
o Visual Novel
o Dating/Life Sim
***Both!

Genre:
*** Otome (Girl x Boy)
o BL (Boy x Boy)

If BL, playable character should be:
o Uke (“Submissive” character, gets romanced)
o Seme (“Agressive” character, romances)

If Otome, a female love interest and/or yuri scenes would be:
*** Pursued. (But please, no H scenes.)
o Averted.

Setting:
*** Fantasy (Magical, set on the past)
*** Modern (Usual, set on the present)
*** Scifi (Technologic, set on the future)

Mature content:
o Yes
*** No

Rate from more important to least:

Overall-
o Art (number and quality of sprites, cgs) 4
o Character (design, likability) 3
o Gameplay (interactivity, lots of options) 2
o Story (plot complexity, multiple story lines) 1

All of them are important I was tempted to put 1 on all of them.

What kind of art style pleases you? Do you like anime, realistic, cute, cell shading…?
Anime!

When pursuing a character-
*** Character Design
*** Personality
It has to have a good balance of both.

What kind of looks attract you? (glasses, muscles, hair color, etc.)
Glasses FTW!

What are the personality traits that attract you? (mean, kind, teasing, flirty, etc.)
Mean, teasing, cold, sarcastic or clumsy and geeky in a very cute way.