Mature/Sexual Content?

[OtterFace]

Now let me clarify, I really enjoy the otome/dating sims the Winter Wolves team is producing. I have absolutely no problem with idealized, pure romance, but after playing a couple of games like Heileen 3 and Nicole where sex and sexuality are specifically referenced, I wanted to ask -is there any chance we might actually see a sexual relationship fully realized in future games?

I don't mean in the pornographic sense, where explicit sex is shown just for the sake of it. I mean something more along the lines of Katawa Shoujo, where sex is:

1. Part of the story (not simply tacked on)
2. An important aspect of character relationships
3. Portrayed in a mature, varied manner (e.g. healthy, emotionally damaging, good, bad) that contributes to characterization and character development
4. Depicted tastefully (while still retaining the eroticism)

Now, Katawa Shoujo in particular was really explicit in some scenes. This level of explicitness might not be appropriate for Winter Wolves games, but I still think it would be interesting to see this kind of interaction between characters. Ideally, not as a culmination of the game quest (i.e. not as a reward for giving a character the correct gifts or "winning" the game), but as an integral part of their story as a couple. Ideally, it wouldn't be a "reward" at the very end of the game either, but written into the plot more organically.

Since Jack seems to prefer to keep his games as accessible as possible, it could be an optional thing, with censored and uncensored versions of the same game or an option to turn these scenes off.

Thoughts?

Any chance we might see some tasteful eroge in Winter Wolves' future? Am I the only one who'd like to play something like this?

[Aleema]

Have you played Loren The Amazon Princess?

[jack1974]

Heh was about to post that Loren was very explicit. Planet Stronghold had some sexy images but not much. All the next games will have both normal/sexy versions - but I'm talking mostly about the RPGs, instead I think otterface is talking about VN/dating sims only?

[Sylrissa]

Ah yes who could ever forget about Chamby's CG in Loren for one :D

[jack1974]

Now that I remember, even some Roommates CG are quite sexy, so I think you could really enjoy that one, Otter

[P_Tigras]

I can't say that I've played a lot of "eroge", and I'm no prude, but I've disliked every single one of the handful of eroge's I've played. Too much gratuitous porn combined with unbelievabily bad stories. Loren on the other hand I don't have the least bit problem with. Loren could have gone a bit farther in that direction and I wouldn't have minded. So put me down in the maybe, it depends on how well it's done column.

[OtterFace]

I've played the demo of Loren, but I have yet to buy the full game. I knew it was more...fanservice-y than other WW games, but I didn't realize it featured actual sex. Interesting.

But yeah, Jack is right. I was referring to VNs/dating sims, not RPGs, since this is what I play the most

Is there a particular reason the more explicit content is saved for the RPGs, actually? Is it that the writers who work on these games have different strengths/preferences or is it a conscious decision to keep the dating sims more romantic and less sexual? Just curious.

How is the subject handled in Roommates? So far it sounds like exactly my type of game, so I'm really looking forward to it

@P_Tigras What kind of eroge have you played? To be honest, most of what I played in the genre (mostly japanese translations) has been really cringe worthy and terrible. Sex is a sensitive subject and erotic content is very difficult to do in a non-offensive, non-gratuitous manner. Main reason I'm asking about it here is because I'd trust the WW team to deliver quality content.

[jack1974]

Is just a random coincidence that so far the most spicy content was allowed for the RPG. In some cases depends on artists, for example I don't think Nicole artist would do anything too much steamy both Loren, Planet Stronghold and Roommates artists are fine drawing more hot stuff instead.

About how it's handled in Roommates... well is mainly a light-comedy game with lots of jokes, but there are some serious/romantic moments too. There's a scene during Spring Break where all the characters go in a holiday home and there can happen all kind of stuff, there are some very sexy scenes but it's nothing gratuitous. Well I'm not the best judge for such things but I think it's very well done

[Lonestar51]

I really would like to see such a game from winterwolves - which includes explicit sexual content, but which has an interesting story (i.e. it's not as if the scenes were written in a way that it leads ASAP to the explecit content...)

And I voted "YES", as jack has the experience to make it in an interesting way.

HOWEVER...

I do not expect it to happen, and if I were jack I would not do anything where sex is a selling point. (A scantily clad girl is one thing, it's on every other game's box, but promising sex - big no-no.)

The reason why it is a bad idea is that people take about zero point two seconds to form an opinion, and after that any additional information just reinforces the opinion. (Except: you can always scare them off...) So if they read "sex" first thing, they will assume it is the described variant of shallow "how to get to the steamy stuff QUICK" game. Except of course the return customers which have bought several games here, but you cannot write a game which does not reach out to first time customers at least a little bit.

The other reason is that later people will remember anything which has to do with sex more vividly than anything else - even (and especially) if sex was the reason not to buy.

[OtterFace]

I agree it could a risky move, marketing-wise, but I don't imagine Jack and the team would market anything on promises of erotic content alone.

Going back to the example of Katawa Shoujo, I was only vaguely aware that it featured some explicit scenes from checking the Options Menu and seeing there is an option to turn them off, but I don't recall people going mental about it on news sites and the like.

Some reviewers found the writing a bit unsexy or commented on the fact that the game could be misconstrued as a "disability fetish simulator", but I still feel that a more mainstream kind of romance (like a university/college setting) could incorporate some erotic element without making it the main selling point and giving people the wrong idea. Also, as I said, it could be an optional thing, featuring only in the uncensored version of this hypothetical game.

I don't think it's likely to happen either, as it's risky and hard to implement, but I've noticed some of WW's latest otome games are definitely getting more bold in their mentions/depictions of sex

Spoiler:

(like, John's or Sebastian's ending in Heileen or Kurt's ending in Nicole)

so I thought it might be nice to just go all the way and portray it openly.

Either way, an otter can dream.

On a side note, I actually find that scantily-clad ladies on any type of game make me avoid it almost automatically. Even more so due to the fact that they are so common in games, even though their presence is just cheap and exploitative most of the time.

Is just a random coincidence that so far the most spicy content was allowed for the RPG. In some cases depends on artists, for example I don't think Nicole artist would do anything too much steamy

Aww...shame, cause I love those characters and some steamy scenes with them would be a treat.

About how it's handled in Roommates... well is mainly a light-comedy game with lots of jokes, but there are some serious/romantic moments too. There's a scene during Spring Break where all the characters go in a holiday home and there can happen all kind of stuff, there are some very sexy scenes but it's nothing gratuitous. Well I'm not the best judge for such things but I think it's very well done

Cool! Really looking forward to it.
Who is the writer? Have they worked on another game of yours?