discussion Breadth or Depth: Preferred story structure

[User_56991]

Do you prefer games with breadth or depth?

Breadth means a lot of girls/characters to interact with. Harem games are like that typically, but there are others outside of the harem genre in which a character can be conquered after one or two interactions, and there a lot of such characters.

Depth means one or two girls/characters with long storylines. Slow burn games, for example, or those heavy with romance elements.

 

[Jambagi]

Honestly, both have their place. But like, if theres no nudity in the first 5-10 minutes, im gunna get bored. Gotta plant the seed after all.

 

[User_56991]

Honestly, both have their place. But like, if theres no nudity in the first 5-10 minutes, im gunna get bored. Gotta plant the seed after all.

I assume that's what the "Should I peek in the bathroom while so-and-so is showering?" sequence that appears in every single game ever made is for.

 

[herelooking027]

Do you prefer games with breadth or depth?

Breadth means a lot of girls/characters to interact with. Harem games are like that typically, but there are others outside of the harem genre in which a character can be conquered after one or two interactions, and there a lot of such characters.

Depth means one or two girls/characters with long storylines. Slow burn games, for example, or those heavy with romance elements.

Why not both? The games I play the most have a lot of NPCs that are generated randomly, between 6 and 30 that are premade, and a few that are integrated deep into the story and have backgrounds and personalities that leave an impact. I customize the game to add stuff to the ones that aren't integrated, or change the integrated ones to fit what I like.

But if I have to choose, I will always choose whatever game has the best characters. Many games have few characters but terrible characters. Many other haves have many characters and the characters have no depth and the game is boring.

 

[User_56991]

Why not both? The games I play the most have a lot of NPCs that are generated randomly, between 6 and 30 that are premade, and a few that are integrated deep into the story and have backgrounds and personalities that leave an impact. I customize the game to add stuff to the ones that aren't integrated, or change the integrated ones to fit what I like.

But if I have to choose, I will always choose whatever game has the best characters. Many games have few characters but terrible characters. Many other haves have many characters and the characters have no depth and the game is boring.

Sure, many games have both. But even then, do you like to collect the quickies or focus on the one that's going to require the effort?

 

[herelooking027]

Sure, many games have both. But even then, do you like to collect the quickies or focus on the one that's going to require the effort?

Both. In my Apocalyptic World save file I have 672 NPCs. 39 of them have custom backgrounds and interactions. In my Masters of Raana save file my house is completely full (96 NPCs) and 57 characters have custom backgrounds. In my Course of Temptation save file I have 47 NPCs with custom backgrounds.

Edit: I forgot what is in my Degrees of Lewdity save file and my Free Cities save file but those are mostly uncustomized because I haven't played them as much yet.

 

[Loliholic]

Or?
And!
I dont like insta-horny girls in games, i prefer some development for the harem part and some one night stands on the way. Just like rl, those who are available for ons often dont want more then just one time...except you are good enough to make them want to meet again...and again...and again...hmm, thinking about it thats also a form of development. But these "hey lets fuck? Sure, can i join your harem?" games dont last long on my hdd or in my mind.
However, repeated grinding the same bullshit over and over isnt development at all, thats just annoying bullshit to fake a development.
But in the end it always comes down to the protagonist, if it has a dick, even the best story dont makes sex scenes enjoyable. Sadly there are not many lesbian harem games -,-

 

[Jambagi]

I assume that's what the "Should I peek in the bathroom while so-and-so is showering?" sequence that appears in every single game ever made is for.

Exactly right ahahahaha

 

[AnyNameYouWish]

Depth by far. Sure, I like having many LIs to choose from, but if all of them seem shallow or like they're speedrunning from introduction to insemination, I have little interest in them beyond bagging the CGs and making myself scarce. I might not even get that far if I think the storylines are particularly rushed or anticlimactic, assuming they exist at all.

A big problem I have with broad games is that the characters often feel as if they're all charting the same course narratively. You go down the same list of interactions with each of them, at the same pace, and end up reaching their endgames at roughly the same time. It's all too homogeneous to feel like the character bloat is warranted.

And bloat it is. The more characters you have, the less time you (in this case, the developer) can devote to each one of them. This ends up creating a problem where different sections of the audience like different characters, and so now you're at an impasse when it comes to updates: do you finish a single girl's storyline and continue with another in the next set of updates (everyone who doesn't like that girl is angry), or does every update introduce a single point of character progression for each girl, slowing the story to a glacial pace where it feels like the end is never in sight (annoying everyone and getting you a reputation as an exploitative dev)?

Conversely, deep games are far easier to construct in a way that pleases people. You only have a few (or just one) girls to worry about when it comes to your story, so you can devote a lot of time, progression and work to each of them, allowing for more narrative momentum with each character on every update. Plus, the less characters there are, the less of a split there is among the audience, since people have a narrow pool of LIs to choose from. You don't have to worry about either angering some because you couldn't get to their waifu in this update, or annoying everyone because all the characters are stuck in a holding pattern.

Then there's narrative flexibility. In a deep game, you might be able to give characters alternate routes and endings if you're dedicated enough, or there are few enough characters to worry about. That adds replayability, which increases the longevity of the game as people chart new courses with familiar people every time a new version is posted.

Depth is simply more rewarding in the long term, and tends to weigh a game down far less if it doesn't arrive on the market finished. I'd rather a game have a single LI with a fantastic story than fifteen LIs who all feel like shallow cut-outs and stereotypes, or, even worse, the same character copy-pasted fourteen times into slightly different environments and stories that only have one or two major plot beats.

 

[cr503]

Depth is necessary, breadth is welcome.

I've seen too many games in which the dev keeps adding characters while neglecting the older ones.

I like it if the MC starts already within a relationship with an LI, so lewd scenes can be inserted from the very start.

 

[Loliholic]

I like it if the MC starts already within a relationship with an LI, so lewd scenes can be inserted from the very start.

That is mostly an insta-skip reason for me since most of them start with a hetero relationship

 

[Ant28jsp]

I prefer depth. with too much we end up going in circles with little we go deeper

 

[AlBetGam]

I like both, but prefer depth without question.

 

[Demiurge299]

Do you prefer games with breadth or depth?

Breadth means a lot of girls/characters to interact with. Harem games are like that typically, but there are others outside of the harem genre in which a character can be conquered after one or two interactions, and there a lot of such characters.

Depth means one or two girls/characters with long storylines. Slow burn games, for example, or those heavy with romance elements.

Most of my favorite games somehow manage to balance both (most likely at the cost of the devs sleep schedule), but personally I'd prefer more breadth and some decent depth for all of them, even if not the most depth. I really just like having a variety of choices to sleep with. Games with only one or two are certainly okay, but I find the NSFW scenes get boring, or they simply spend far too long focusing on JUST storylines with very little actual NSFW. really though, I'll play anything with enough NSFW scenes that fit my preferences as long as the game doesn't step outside of that.

 

[Ribaso]

Depth, breadth makes me anxious.

 

[Karamchad]

Quality over quantity, always.
Quantity over quality is why we have games like Dragon Age Veilguard, Star Wars Outlaws, Flintlock, Unknown 9, and Dustborn.

 

[IFF01]

I prefer the Harem games but would like all my girls to have depth. I understand that the more there is the harder to go to far in depth, but that is my wish and I do mean more than two or three. Lika my new family has some depth to most of the charactors.

 

[zakarmmusa832]

In the moment, breadth like I'm in a buffet, but the games I remember are all depth like an expensive meal.

 

[Val]

In the moment, breadth like I'm in a buffet, but the games I remember are all depth like an expensive meal.

That's actually a great analogy. I also want to say, only if the expensive meal suit my palate.

 

[TittyCommittee]

Do you prefer games with breadth or depth?

Breadth means a lot of girls/characters to interact with. Harem games are like that typically, but there are others outside of the harem genre in which a character can be conquered after one or two interactions, and there a lot of such characters.

Depth means one or two girls/characters with long storylines. Slow burn games, for example, or those heavy with romance elements.

A little bit of both. Just like our game