discussion How big of a harem is too big?

[69Questions]

Anything over 5 is too many IMO, there's nothing wrong with having more on the side, but to me, a harem is everyone living in the same house together and anything more than 6 people living together can be a bit cramped. (Now if I were the "Sultan of Baghdad" or something...)

 

[Gorden]

It is Can't be big enough

 

[bldckn]

4-5 is a good amount

 

[IFF01]

No limit but there needs to be a story for all of them,

 

[Misuk09]

5-7 it's okay for me

 

[Parental]

Depends entirely on the developer. Some games have 10-20, but they look and act differently enough that I can tell them apart. Some games have 4 different girls that are exactly the same.

 

[kot9ira]

Like in corruption from mr.c 15-20

 

[lcarrow]

If you're looking for actual substance in the harem with actual relationships between the girls themselves then 4 is a good spot. Beyond that it just feels like each girl is just there for a hookup and not in an actual harem

 

[mazep]

up to 5, may be a bit more if a story covers it

 

[hiuyt]

probably 3, if it's more than that i don't mind but i think it's hard keep a relationship with a lot more people

 

[odspyykt]

Depends on the character. If you're a famous celebrity or athlete, I suppose your harem is the general public so to speak. But if you're a tyrannical leader like Genghis Khan, then the millions of people you conquered are your potential harem. Like Genghis Khan:

"In 2003, a study was conducted in which the Y-chromosome of Asian populations was examined. The study showed that 8% of all the men living today in the areas previously under the control of Genghis Khan carry a Y-chromosome that marks them as direct descendants of a patrilineal ancestor who lived 1,000 years ago in Mongolia. This figure is almost certainly Genghis Khan."

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[User_109578]

I think 5-7 is around my limit.

Games that go overboard with the harem (10+) become boring due to lack of character development, lack of focus on specific characters I like, or just fizzle out as there's just too much to do.

Yeh I mostly miss the build up with those numbers, it's like the first 2-3 takes a lot of work, and then with in 1 scene he gets to fuck more girls, and every update they keep coming, after the first 2-3 you stop noticing their names, if you did at all... Grandma's House is a nice example of that second issue, a bit overkill. Maid to Please is a bit of the first, slow build up, and then they start to add new girls, who I don't even know who they are..

 

[User_109578]

probably 3, if it's more than that i don't mind but i think it's hard keep a relationship with a lot more people

So MC + 3 girls, so probably some girl on girl action too, so nobody gets left out. Is nice...

And you can build a story around it, and a build up, we get to know the girls, know their likes, dislikes, their name is nice too...

Any more, and it quickly starts to get very confusing, like who the F is that again, that young asian girl, instead of name or what she does...

 

[dweeb213]

anything more than 5-7

 

[master cruss]

The more the merrier especially if there are 3sums.

 

[dripgawd]

In a sandbox style game, something like Summertime Saga, I really don't think there is a limit as long as the members are each memorable for some reason and are well animated. For all its recent faults this is one of Summertime Saga's best selling points, a lot of fairly memorable women (and pregnancy). Renpy games get confusing at around 5-7 especially cause I tend to skip past a lot of uninteresting dialogue. Eventually I'll come to a h-scene and have no idea who I am having sex with

 

[anon515]

I'd rather have the harem sizes on the smaller side so we can have good writing per character, huge harems tend to dumb the game to the gutter, might as well be reading a doujin instead of wasting time here

 

[herelooking027]

Harems are pretty popular, but what is the right number of girls in a harem? Can it be too big? I think harems are too big when it feels like you have to choose between girls in the harem, or you only ever see a girl when you're having sex with her. I personally like WVM but I feel like it may be pushing that limit. How big is too big for you, and have you ever lost interest in a game because the harem got too big?

Define harem.

If "harem" is "characters that have sex with the MC whenever the player wants" then I don't have a limit. In one game I have more than 200 characters like that.

If "harem" means characters that have a close relationship with the NPC and come and go as they please but sometimes ask to spend time with the MC" then maybe around 20 is good. I have games where they will interact with each other and stay happy without requiring the MC do things with them some number of times per week.

If "harem" is "characters that have close relationships with the NPC and the game forces you to spend time with them or the player wants to spend time with them all" then maybe 6 is my max. After 6 it is busy work to interact with all of them every day and the fun is lost even if I like the content naturally.

If "harem" means "characters that will get jealous and frustrated if the MC has more than 3 close NPCs" then I usually pick just one or two so I don't have to bother with what the dev thinks normal responses to polyamory are (until I mod the game).

 

[Deleted member 123057]

when you reach the point where each member of the harem cannot be easily distinguished then its too big.

 

[billwanna]

when you reach the point where each member of the harem cannot be easily distinguished then its too big.

I have to agree, once the models are pretty much just cut and paste with no personality it gets pretty pointless