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.

 

[azhomeboy]

Around 5 - if they are fully fleshed out characters in the game. Would prefer to get as many as possible, but not interested in generic, mindless LI's.

 

[Eve D'Apple]

The best narratives don't have a harem at all

 

[phatphuc]

You can never have too much. i mean look at monster girl 1000. Hellaaaa harem

 

[pornit1111]

When they get too big 9/10 times the game us gonna become a slog and slow down. 5-7 is perfect

 

[MB1255_Reg]

The best narratives don't have a harem at all

Agree. Actual 'harem' games either become fairly monotonous after you get to 4/5+ girls where you're just going through the motions. Or, to try to keep their narrative going, they basically sideline every girl you've 'completed' into only random optional sex scenes so that they can push the new girls.

 

[Goblin King]

Depends, in reality 1 is the best number, 2-3 is pushing it and we all know it.

In a game, likely around when you stop remembering whos there, juggling more then 5-6 becomes an issue, and you might be better off just not marrying everyone.

 

[tme9422]

I also agree with 4-5. As for me I begin to forget and confused. Anymore and its just feels like they are there just to be there.

 

[Malingo]

6-8. less is family

 

[SilentHunter]

I'd rather quote a classic of our literature. The novel is called "The Story of a City" and at the beginning it lists all the mayors of the city. Among others (machine translation):
"Mikaladze, Prince Xavier Georgievich, Circassian, descendant of the voluptuous Princess Tamara. He had a seductive appearance, and was so eager for the female sex that he almost doubled the urban population. He left a useful guide on the subject. He died in 1814 from complete physical exhaustion".
It seems to me that the lords of excessively large harems can repeat the fate of this prince.
As for the harem lovers, I sincerely feel sorry for them. As a rule, these are people with problems in their personal, real lives. If they're comforted by fantasy, you're welcome. I mean, all these games are an urban fantasy category, nothing more.

 

[373578807]

No limit, man！ It all boils down to the author’s skill. A talented writer can craft thirty‑plus distinct, well‑defined characters, weave them seamlessly into the plot, and build such staggering depth that you’ll be blown away. You might end up with over a hundred named characters within just three in‑story days. But writers of that caliber are few and far between. More often than not, keeping a harem coherent gets really tough once you go past five characters. Three‑member harem setups are the classic sweet spot. Personally, I prefer two‑person .

 

[richpalmer]

Love the game, but I have started to reach the harem size limit in Grandma's House. There are interesting characters that I haven't seen in... years now?

 

[amypames]

you can never have too many lolis. i even think most games don't do enough group scenes with the harems. always seems to stop at threesomes maybe 4somes

 

[gemrush]

In my opnion there is no hard limit but it does star to have diminishing returns after a while like over 15 or so