discussion Story elements that make you STOP playing a game?

[Aerythox]

you can have the most beautiful and cute renders but if the story is inconsistent and lazy I would not care and drop it immediately, I do not mind cliche's in fact I welcome them, I just want them to be well made

 

[pervin]

I'm not talking about NTR or gay or some fetish thing.

I'm talking about things like the below for me:

* Really, really, really bad writing. This is most noticeable when guys start writing a story like they think they're Quentin Tarantino. "You're a Mafia kingpin who needs to kill the other Mafia guy. Also you fuck your own kids." There are good examples of this stuff, like the stuff in The Guardian and similar games, but there's also a LOT of really bad ones out there where people just think "hey, I like porn, I like Guy Ritchie movies, what if I could just write a story like that?"

* Nothing happening. Just...nothing happens. At all. Ever. Long, elaborate interpersonal relationship stuff and discussions, but then...nothing. Especially noticeable when paired with the first one - bad writing - because there's nothing worse than listen to a dev talk to themselves through two characters for 5,000 words and then have nothing happen.

* Terrible humor. It's one thing if it's supposed to be a bad joke, that's fine. But humor is HARD to do well, and when you try and make something legitimately funny but fall short, it's painful.

* Characters singing & dancing to songs with the lyrics written out. It's kinda cringe. This is especially bad when a character is into music that they would not legitimately be into. Like "oh you're a 17 year old Korean girl from Portland? Surely you sing along to Def Leppard songs in the car. You're a balding 60 year old white banker? Your karaoke song is Kendrick Lamar, of course." It's just....it's painful.

Yeah, bad writing is the first thing, trying to make a Pulp Fiction clone, dragging the story, putting the story into chapters, lack of choices, miserable attempts at psychology, and failed attempts to make "deep" characters that fall flat. I'm not put off by bad humor, it actually makes me laugh, not at the joke but at the joke attempts, you know when something is so bad is good Also those lyrics make me laugh, so in the end I like the mess it results.

 

[cosicosi89]

I'm not talking about NTR or gay or some fetish thing.

I'm talking about things like the below for me:

* Really, really, really bad writing. This is most noticeable when guys start writing a story like they think they're Quentin Tarantino. "You're a Mafia kingpin who needs to kill the other Mafia guy. Also you fuck your own kids." There are good examples of this stuff, like the stuff in The Guardian and similar games, but there's also a LOT of really bad ones out there where people just think "hey, I like porn, I like Guy Ritchie movies, what if I could just write a story like that?"

* Nothing happening. Just...nothing happens. At all. Ever. Long, elaborate interpersonal relationship stuff and discussions, but then...nothing. Especially noticeable when paired with the first one - bad writing - because there's nothing worse than listen to a dev talk to themselves through two characters for 5,000 words and then have nothing happen.

* Terrible humor. It's one thing if it's supposed to be a bad joke, that's fine. But humor is HARD to do well, and when you try and make something legitimately funny but fall short, it's painful.

* Characters singing & dancing to songs with the lyrics written out. It's kinda cringe. This is especially bad when a character is into music that they would not legitimately be into. Like "oh you're a 17 year old Korean girl from Portland? Surely you sing along to Def Leppard songs in the car. You're a balding 60 year old white banker? Your karaoke song is Kendrick Lamar, of course." It's just....it's painful.

I totally get what you're sayin'! Bad writing can totally kill a story, especially when it's tryin' too hard to be edgy or cool. And don't even get me started on stories that just drag on with no actual plot progression – it's like, what's the point, right? I love how you call out the "porn meets Guy Ritchie" vibe, that's a great way to describe it.

 

[yukiea]

This may be a bit strange, but when things stop mattering. When the stakes are so high that it starts becoming bigger than life OR when the stakes are so low that nothing matters. The first one, I cant remember the names, but second is easily some of the AVNs which start of as dramatic cheating to be with a lover or whatever, then it blows up to becoming a cheating fes rather than a simple harem.

 

[3n69]

I've put up against a lot of irredeemable shit, just to see if the end is worth it, but when you're forced to make decisions you personally know are 100% avoidable, but your character is just THAT insufferable... yeah, that'll make me ragequit.

I also hate poly choices by authors who obviously don't understand how they function. Most will make you hide your relationship with other characters, and make you juggle and cheat. I genuinely hate that you don't get the option to sit everyone down and join. I enjoy games like Grandma's House, because while it's not 100% honest, it's got nuance enough to let the characters (almost but not really) believably get used to an idea.

 

[JadedSkywalker]

Death of love interests. Or out of nowhere NTR. Rewriting earlier parts of a game/ self-censorship.

 

[Sural Argonus]

It's hard to say what will turn me off a game...even bad writing can be a source of amusement...but I'd say overuse of common tropes probably bugs me the most.

One thing that does bug me greatly...tho not enough to turn me off...is translations. If English (or other language) isn't a strength for you...get help...even if it's from AI. I may not trust AI...but it's still a decent tool to enhance a project...even in it's current state.

 

[SilentHunter]

An idiotic plot, above all. The classic example is "23 Sisters", but unfortunately, there is an abundance of such garbage.

 

[Abere Lucifer]

An idiotic plot, above all. The classic example is "23 Sisters", but unfortunately, there is an abundance of such garbage.

Are you saying 23 Sisters has a plot? As the dev I'm surprised because I didn't think it had one.

 

[Republican Bear]

Are you saying 23 Sisters has a plot? As the dev I'm surprised because I didn't think it had one.

What you mean beside fucking all the sisters you could....zing but yeah it was more a running gag joke.

Still was a good game though. Just like all your other game as well.

 

[Sural Argonus]

An idiotic plot, above all. The classic example is "23 Sisters", but unfortunately, there is an abundance of such garbage.

You obviously totally missed the entire point of 23 Sisters.

That's ok tho. You are allowed your likes and dislikes. I won't beat you up over them.

 

[ElongateMusk]

AI CG Slop = instantly delete the game and never look back

 

[Sural Argonus]

AI CG Slop = instantly delete the game and never look back

AI is getting better...but few devs actually take the time to do AI right.

Also it should be used as an enhancer, not a replacement.

I suck at animations...but I think if I start working on another game, I might take renders and use AI to animate them.

This was a quick render I made in DAZ3d, then tossed it over to Grok with no prompts.

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[Republican Bear]

AI is indeed getting better...but most devs use the same boring render method and don't bother putting in the work to actually use it correctly.

I've seen games that use their regular 3D renders and use A.I to improve the quality and make them more lifelike.

 

[malikite8008]

AI is getting better...but few devs actually take the time to do AI right.

Also it should be used as an enhancer, not a replacement.

I suck at animations...but I think if I start working on another game, I might take renders and use AI to animate them.

This was a quick render I made in DAZ3d, then tossed it over to Grok with no prompts.

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Yeah I feel like it would really speed up the scene generation, I haven't seen anyone do it yet though

 

[malikite8008]

overly repetitive "puzzles" or randomly inserted quizzes that make sure you have read all of the words

 

[ElongateMusk]

AI is getting better...but few devs actually take the time to do AI right.

Also it should be used as an enhancer, not a replacement.

I suck at animations...but I think if I start working on another game, I might take renders and use AI to animate them.

This was a quick render I made in DAZ3d, then tossed it over to Grok with no prompts.

You must be registered to see attachments

It still has that uncanny valley feel to it, but I could see it massively improving over the next few years.

The one game where AI CG Animations are done incredibly well is "Innocence or Money". That developer nailed the use of DAZ3D and combined it with AI to create fluid sex animations.

 

[MattaMus11MattaMus11's icon]

MC being a pussy bitch

 

[Fredbeans123]

If a game jumps from innocent SC to "sex crazed" after one encounter. It just seems lazy

 

[xxxTenta]

if the story/fuck balance is not right. i played games where they where yapping for hours and the reward was like one scene and the current game was over. like we all play these kinde of games for a reason, if i want a real VN i go play real one