discussion How big of a harem is too big?

[absoluteTreebrush]

That gets to be the issue, though: if you fully flesh out dozens or more LIs, the bar for "fully fleshed out" inevitably starts to drop. Dev time/player attention are often finite resources, so finding the right number to spread that attention around to is the difficult part. Sure, its not fun when a core set get all the attention and the outer harem, for lack of a better term, only gets cursory details. But the alternative of giving every girl a character arc ends up taking a substantial amount of time to do right.

 

[hmm_85]

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.

I agree, any more than about 5 seems excessive to me.

 

[ilion7]

That gets to be the issue, though: if you fully flesh out dozens or more LIs, the bar for "fully fleshed out" inevitably starts to drop. Dev time/player attention are often finite resources, so finding the right number to spread that attention around to is the difficult part. Sure, its not fun when a core set get all the attention and the outer harem, for lack of a better term, only gets cursory details. But the alternative of giving every girl a character arc ends up taking a substantial amount of time to do right.

"Dev time/player attention are often finite resources" I think this is the key. And not only for the size of harems but also for almost every other decision.

 

[LarkFrquaad]

I lean to the smaller end - I agree that the less LIs gives each one more time to shine. But I'll also say, there is something nice about adding new LIs to cycle in different kinds of content, pacing wise. Just finished Proud Father and found that it was just starting to get out of hand, but that game is also abandoned so I know there's an end. With something like Grandmas House, it feels a bit daunting knowing just how many LIs are out there.

 

[asvgdad]

I think 5 is the maximum of my limit

 

[Nowaise]

Double digits is probably stretching it. Definitely second the OP about only seeing harem members when there's sex to be had. More importantly, it's not a true harem if I can only be with one member at a time. If I can't have a threesome (or more) on demand, what's even the point?

 

[TabooDad50]

It's only too many if I cant keep them satisfied.
Personally Id be happy with ONE thats perfect for me but if I can dream Id say 3 to 5.
Need a good round number counting myself so we even numbers for games, sports etc.. want to at least give them attention weekly.