Porn Game Tropes: The good, the bad, and the fugly

[Mark17]

Cuckquean Unicorn Dream Girl

Such a female in real life has proven impossible for me to find, and I don't think such females exist in nature, and if they do exist they are extinct in the wild. I have never found one. If you find one please capture her (without hurting her) and bring her into the laboratory so that we can study her. The cuckquean unicorn dream girl fits all of the following characteristics:

1) She is cool with you, cool as fuck. I'm talking you can sit and chill with her for hours like a best friend, and she is not a bimbo and contributes to the conversation like she is your best friend.

2) She is not going to have any sort of large social media presence. She is not going to be sitting on Facebook all day or Instagram. She finds such things of little interest.

3) She is not a gold digger at all. She is not after you for your money, and if she were to be unemployed she would totally contribute around the house washing dishes, cleaning the house, washing your clothes, cooking your meals and so on. So she may or may not be dependent, and if she is a dependent she doesn't freeload and she contributes.

4) She will have 0 interest in the attention of other males regardless of physical attractiveness, wealth, or social standing. She is incapable of having good chemistry with any other male other than you.

5) She will love you no matter what you do so long as you want her love. You may have the option to avoid such a female, but it wouldn't make good sense to do so. She will not turn into some sort of crazy ex or stalker were you to end intimate relations with her and she will handle things like a mature adult.

6) She does not mind one single bit if you are with other women. In fact, she will encourage you to do so as much as a cuckold would encourage his partner to sleep with other men. She is perfectly happy to be in a half-open relationship with you, and she has a more the merrier mentality.

7) She will be open to threesomes (and more) with other girls, but not other males. She will convert other females to be like her, and treat you as she does and not be jealous of her "sister wifes". She will happily help you build your harem as big as you want it to grow.

8) Physically she will be of model attractiveness. She won't be a fatty or deformed, or ugly. She will be a hot enough girl to get any mans attention.

AHHH my dream woman

 

[yihman1]

"Yes Man" Programming Style:

Theses sort of games don't have many difficult choices, and a lot of games that have difficult choices will still have a lot of "Yes Man" programmed into it anyways as a filler segment even beyond the branching and more complex aspects.

Rewards only come when you say "Yes" to things. I'll give some examples of what I mean.

"Peak on her?

Peaking you get to see her getting dressed. Not peaking doesn't magically grant you anything, you just miss the peeping on her scene.

"Kiss her?"
Doing this you get a makeout scene. Not doing this has no negative consequences at all.

"Go to the party, or stay at home?"
If you choose to stay at home you get 2 or 3 renders of a movie you watch before bed. If you go to the party instead, you get the chance to get a blowjob from a drunk slut if you say yes to it.

"Give a compliment or not?" Giving her a compliment now can boost her like in you and lead to sex, or do nothing at all just get a smile out of her. It's not a bad choice.

The general theme is that things are "uneventful" you don't choose to partake in an event, and there is just no consequences for positive things, nor is there an alternative event. Programming in such a style gives the player a choice between "Eat ice cream" or "Go Hungry". There is no alternate junk food choice given, and the ice cream doesn't make you fat or get a cavity or brain freeze. It's a positive or a nothing choice without alternate positive.

 

[yihman1]

"Walkthrough Needed" Programming Style:

The crazy neighbor of the "Yes Man" Programming style... This type of programmer is well aware of the "Yes Man" style, and has gone to war against him... and the player too... because fuck them both!

So you wanted to get that one specific sex scene, did you? I will be happy to oblige you. I hope that you answered with 100% accuracy for the previous 30 menu choices consecutively in a row or you will get NOTHING. 29 out of 30 will not cut it. You must play perfectly start to finish, and if you tipped the waitress 30% (showing off) or 10% (being cheap) instead of 20% (correct) several months ago in-game you lack the relationship points to copulate with this female and doomed to be forever alone.

 

[weaselman]

"Walkthrough Needed" Programming Style:

The crazy neighbor of the "Yes Man" Programming style... This type of programmer is well aware of the "Yes Man" style, and has gone to war against him... and the player too... because fuck them both!

So you wanted to get that one specific sex scene, did you? I will be happy to oblige you. I hope that you answered with 100% accuracy for the previous 30 menu choices consecutively in a row or you will get NOTHING. 29 out of 30 will not cut it. You must play perfectly start to finish, and if you tipped the waitress 30% (showing off) or 10% (being cheap) instead of 20% (correct) several months ago in-game you lack the relationship points to copulate with this female and doomed to be forever alone.

adding to this
sharpshooting in a ferrari
did you have the exact item at the exact place at the exact time with the exact stats on the exact girl?
no? too bad, unless you start over no scene for you
unless you already know where, when and how the scene will come you'll be entirely blindsided by it and watch it go by

 

[yihman1]

Women are computer illiterate.

It doesn't matter if this woman is a genius otherwise, she will be a retard on a computer. Many male protagonists must play the role of computer repairman. Not for monetary compensation of course, this is a temporary gig. It's your job to fix a female's computer. Usually, this is prior to you having fucked her. Sometimes she will reward you with a kiss, or a handjob or something small sexually for fixing her computer. After you have fixed it in less than 30 seconds: you will check her pictures (or recycle bin and not yet deleted) and sometimes find sexy pictures of her, or possibly find some sort of diary she has written to really get inside of her head. Perhaps you can install some sort of spy software on her machine. These females do not have cellphones to look up the problem. They do not have antivirus software. They do not know how to call tech support and are not willing to simply buy a new computer. They are not very computer literate even if it is their job to work with a computer every day.

There is an exception to the computer illiterate female.

Sexy Gamer Girl

A true mystery. These gamer girls really love to play videogames. No, their faces are not covered in hideous acne. No, they do not weigh 200 pounds. Yes, they will look like they have been tanning, and wearing perfect makeup. They physically will look like a fitness model even if all they ever do is sit around eating junk food and playing videogames. How they maintain such a physical appearance while never working out or eating properly is indeed an oddity. It doesn't matter if their nails are an inch long they will still button mash that controller and win every game you play against her. Unless you cheat to win, in which case you have won her heart for some reason.

 

[yihman1]

Irresistible Male Protagonist or IMP for short

It is exactly what it sounds like. Such a male can spread legs as easy as you or I spread butter on toast.

Are you going to a lesbian wedding? Well, you can have both brides they are both bi, also the bridesmaids will join in too, and the mother of both brides even though both are happily married.

Walking in the park? Well, a gorgeous girl is going to be jogging on the same path as you today. It doesn't matter that she has a boyfriend, you can fuck her today. All you gotta do is cat call her.

That mean ass bitch of a teacher that gives you tons of homework and embarrasses you in the middle of class? She just wants you to fuck her in the ass buddy...

Spending the night over at your buddies house? His mom, and sister will suck your dick together.

Someone comes up to you and smashes your face with a brick? Don't worry buddy, your super power isn't going anywhere. Your nurse will revive you with a blowjob.

Meet any girl in any bar anywhere in the country? She will happily bounce on your dick tonight.

Have you been captured by a rival gang, and beat to a bloody pulp? No worries, the hottest female in that gang is goign to make a distraction and run away with you and become your new girlfriend since she liked your smile.

Did you jump into a public pool and prove yourself a moron for nearly getting drown? That lifegaurd is going to toss some pity sex at you to build your confidence back up.

With such a trope there is no circumstances in which a female will not be fuckable no matter how illogical and unattainable the female is. You could literally walk up to a random female you have never met before... steal that woman's car at gun point, run over both her child and husband killing them, get into a wreck where your face is full of glass and all fucked up forever, then get locked up in prison where you have no money, and no freedom, and the first chance this woman gets she is going to be coming to that prison to give you a conjugal visit. 1000 batting average can always hit it.

 

[IhaveNoPornAndIMustFap]

Irresistible Male Protagonist or IMP for short

It is exactly what it sounds like. Such a male can spread legs as easy as you or I spread butter on toast.

Are you going to a lesbian wedding? Well, you can have both brides they are both bi, also the bridesmaids will join in too, and the mother of both brides even though both are happily married.

Walking in the park? Well, a gorgeous girl is going to be jogging on the same path as you today. It doesn't matter that she has a boyfriend, you can fuck her today. All you gotta do is cat call her.

That mean ass bitch of a teacher that gives you tons of homework and embarrasses you in the middle of class? She just wants you to fuck her in the ass buddy...

Spending the night over at your buddies house? His mom, and sister will suck your dick together.

Someone comes up to you and smashes your face with a brick? Don't worry buddy, your super power isn't going anywhere. Your nurse will revive you with a blowjob.

Meet any girl in any bar anywhere in the country? She will happily bounce on your dick tonight.

Have you been captured by a rival gang, and beat to a bloody pulp? No worries, the hottest female in that gang is goign to make a distraction and run away with you and become your new girlfriend since she liked your smile.

Did you jump into a public pool and prove yourself a moron for nearly getting drown? That lifegaurd is going to toss some pity sex at you to build your confidence back up.

With such a trope there is no circumstances in which a female will not be fuckable no matter how illogical and unattainable the female is. You could literally walk up to a random female you have never met before... steal that woman's car at gun point, run over both her child and husband killing them, get into a wreck where your face is full of glass and all fucked up forever, then get locked up in prison where you have no money, and no freedom, and the first chance this woman gets she is going to be coming to that prison to give you a conjugal visit. 1000 batting average can always hit it.

A while ago I wrote about how female protagonist games (or female characters in general) can be divided into "Retard in Lechertown" and "Cockhungriest Slut" type games. Male protagonists in porn games seem to get divvied up into a similar dichotomy. One is "Irresistible Male Protagonist" as described, the other is...

If you grind it she will cum

So that girl just jumped your dick without any adequately explained reason? It's not like you'd say no, you're a MAYNNNE after all. Feels rather unsatisifying, don't it? Real girls don't act like that. Real girls, you're told, require you to go home with her every day, hold hands every day, bring her chocolates every day, tell her she's pretty every day, until an arbitrary counter has reached a designated threshold and she will offer to suck you off in return after suddenly discovering what a nice guy you really are. Because that is how girls work, all the friendzoned beta orbiters are sure to get laid if they just grind up more relationship points with their targets of affection. Just tell her you like her new hairdo enough and she will eventually let you progress the Stairway to Heaven all the way to unlubed anal, when the Russian Grind meets The Gentleman

Even more unsettling is when there is a set number items with monetary value that has to be grinded out in a money-making minigame to get biz-zay. Especially when that applies to a close family member, because dude, your mom's a whore.

Alternate title: Beta Orbiter Simulator

As seen in: Summertime Saga

 

[DarthSeduction]

Metatropes

Blank Slate

So, you're writing a game and you want your players to be able to map onto your MC? How about making them a blank slate? A teenager with no skills or value to any of the women around him, a 40-50 year old with no life and a boring ambiguous office job? That's right, your main character could easily be whatever the Player brings to them... but wait... ​

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Relationships are give and take and your MC has nothing to give, and also, the only thing they want is sex. You see, the flaw of your MC being a blank slate now bleeds into the rest of the cast. 1 dimensional characters become the norm, they'll have 1, maybe 2 defining character traits and you'll exploit those to get what you want, sex. A greedy bimbo uses you for your access to money and other things she wants. A shy and quiet nerd has an inexplicable crush on you that you just kinda need to be there for. A doting mother just needs to see your cock, or worry that you can't handle your erections yourself, and she'll quickly be hypnotized into more. Not to mention the dirty, underhanded, and downright sex pest-like behavior that will get your rocks off until they are willing to do it without your criminal behavior. Because that's all these characters are, sex toys with simple personalities.​

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With one decision, you've written an entire game that is barely any different from watching porn. In fact, in many cases, porn is better since it's easier to get.​

The good? - Echoes of Lust, Babysitter. EoL has all these problems, but the introduction of the fun groundhog day mechanic adds a layer of intrigue to it that makes it fun even if you've played it a million times with all the other blank slates. Babysitter took the time to flesh out their blank slates as the game moved on. It started out no different from Dating my Daughter, in terms of construction, but found it's own place with well rounded characters.

The bad? - Big Brother (I know you probably wanna see it in fugly but this trope isn't about Eric), Summertime Saga, Cure my Addiction, Milfy City really so many others. What BB and CmA do is put at least a little effort into making the characters themselves fun, nowhere near as much as Babysitter did, but at least to some extent. Summertime Saga is about half and half at this point. My recent replay has shown that there's a lot more thought put into characters like Eve and Roxy, as well as a little more skill put into characters like Jenny. It still suffers a lot from it's MC being a blank slate, but it at least gave some of it's cast depth. Milfy City seems to have taken a cue from Summertime Saga, it's trying to shake up the narrative, mom and older sis are completely different from the normal bitch older sister and doting mother, but at the end of the day, while it's shaken things up a bit, it's still not great.

The Fugly? - Dating my Daughter, F.I.L.F., pretty much any RPGM incest game, Man of the House, and so many others that aren't worth listing. These games either make progression pure grind, or they are just writing the blankest of slates and making getting in their pants more of a chore even if it's easy. There's no fun in this, and even the porn itself loses it's value to you because you have better shit to do.

Blank Check

Your character is rich or at least has a very easy way of making money, good looking, and knows exactly what to say at any given time. He's not particularly interesting, he probably doesn't have a 9-5 job or any specific hobbies, in fact, he's kinda a blank slate except for the fact that in his case, it's all too easy.​

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Maybe you inherit a lot of money when a family member dies, or maybe you invested and won big during a major economic boom, maybe you made something in the past and don't really have to work now. Or maybe you have a roof over your head regardless, and so whatever simple thing you do, you do it freelance and without any deadlines. This financial freedom and lack of any obligations frees you up in a major way to sate the one desire you do have, getting laid. You are literally surrounded by pussy, and if we're being honest, they all already want to fuck you, they're just holding back because they've been taught that it's the only proper way to behave.​

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And so, you spend your time with them, or on them, as need be. Maybe they express desire for something and you make it happen, or maybe they need advice and you know just what to say. Regardless of what it is, you're the solution to all their problems, and this constant ability to solve their problems makes them more and more likely to give you that sex they're already begging themselves to give.​

​

The Good? - Harem Hotel, Mythic Manor, Offcuts. These games make do with your blank slate, surrounding the main character with girls who have their own problems and desires and giving you the push to help them work through it. Harem Hotel manages to make people tear up over some of these girls' experiences, and makes you genuinely want to help them. Mythic Manor doesn't quite get that good, but regardless it makes you feel like you're accomplishing something while not making you grind your ass off. Offcuts has a genuinely entertaining story with characters who are absolutely well written, in spite of being no one, you've been given a blank check in regards to these girls' affection, you just have to make sure to cash it.

The Bad? - Parental Love, My Sweet Neighbors, Sisterly Lust, Acting Lessons. These games aren't "bad" but in their attempt to differentiate themselves from the grind of DmD, of which they're kinda clones of, they created these Marty Stu MCs who really just have to be there to get sex. Sure, there are different routes in them that have some sense of consequence, but is it really a consequence to not get to have sex with a character you don't want to have sex with? I enjoy or used to enjoy these games, and they aren't as bad as some of the Blank Slate games with 1 note characters, but they're not much better either. Acting Lessons specifically has a huge problem with tone that it simply couldn't nail down, it might have made it to the good list had it not had no idea how to use its antagonists.

The Fugly? - SolValley High School. This one doesn't belong in the blank slate, because he actually has something more to him, and while he starts out with low stats and a need to increase them, there's nothing stopping you from grinding his job till you get them and then just playing the game as if you were independently wealthy. Once you have his stat boost items the game is simply a buffet of girls waiting to by hypnotized by his giant cock and asshole attitude.

 

[Callowayaway]

Darwin's Underdog

Closely related to The Retard in Lechertown, this girl will proactively insert herself into situations that would get most people killed or at least severely injured, but instead she is raped. Most commonly this is by literally inserting herself into a hole in a wall that is obviously too small. No Darwin Award for this girl, far from removing herself from the genepool because of her recklessness/stupidity, she's actively adding herself into it.

Examples: most games with through wall fetish or rape on defeat. Probably a ton of others.

Edit: You sonovabitch, you ruined my perfect 69 score.

 

[kotte]

Blank Slate

The good? - Echoes of Lust, Babysitter. EoL has all these problems, but the introduction of the fun groundhog day mechanic adds a layer of intrigue to it that makes it fun even if you've played it a million times with all the other blank slates.

Excuse me for deviating a little bit, but mentioning Echoes of Lust made me think of one aspect where EoL does something I've never seen in a porn game and never expected to see (and I was laughing out loud when it happened):


When Jessica realizes that MC's cunnilingus skills are inadequate, and decides to fake it

 

[takuya.aihara]

Nice thread! One of the very few where I read several pages in one sitting; thanks everyone!

 

[yihman1]

McMansion Magical Economics

This basically boils down to unrealistic housing and living situations. A house can have a single mother breadwinner working a blue-collar job such as a secretary, waitress, or teacher, or a single father working some menial job. This single breadwinner will have spare cash to hand out regular allowances and take people out shopping or go to fancy restaurants buying expensive champaign or on week-long vacations on tropical islands. If one of the other residents in the house happens to have a job they do not help with the bills at all or only at a negligible level. The house will have a HUGE big screen TV, and everyone in the house will have all of the latest electronics including nice cellphones and laptops. The refrigerator is always packed full of the finest foods. There are several bedrooms for numerous adult children who do not contribute to the household at all other than occasionally washing a dish or running to the store to grab milk (and keeping the change). Such household budgets can somehow also often afford a maid to come in and clean things professionally. The backyard will have an inground Olympic size swimming pool and a hot tub. The only real problem is many of the things in the house break easily. The dishwashing machine is 100% going to be broken or nonexistent. Odds are a number of the doors have a busted lock. A number of computers in the house are going to have viruses and be need of repair.

If magic is not the explanation that breadwinner is sitting on a massive hidden nest egg and are secretly a millionaire, or they have debt to the ceiling.

 

[yihman1]

Blue Balls Simulator

The BBS is a female type, not a game type although it is possible for all females in a game to be a BBS type.

There are not many games that are a blue ball simulator, but they definitely exist. These games can actually be rather popular if made well. A BBS can have any gender as the protagonist. In a blue ball simulator, there are often other tropes to the game. Such as a "Retard in lecher town" Where every male in the game acts like an incel on MDMA. Always trying to get that grope or peek in. In the BBS a great deal will be put into the story.

In the BBS the standard "Ladder to heaven" model of sex going from: hold hands > kiss > handjob > boobjob > blowjob > sex > anal > threesome ect ect... sort of deal... Well, it sort of exists, but is formatted differently each step is far more spread out. So, in a non BBS game where you would expect sex by step 5, you are not looking at sex until step 50 or so being off by a scale of magnitude.

In a BBS with a female protagonist, you will not be having sex in the first year or two of development at least. This, of course, does not include if the person she has sex with is her significant other, that fella can get a pass.

The BBS is extremely heavy on the "Build up" portion of the story arc.

BBS with a male protagonist may or may not include "Relief Girls" such as a slutty friend. Not all females in a game need to apply to the BBS standard.

Games in this genre include but are not limited to: "A Wife and Mother", "Jessica O'neil Hard News", and "The Deluca Family".

 

[DarthSeduction]

Blue Balls Simulator

The BBS is a female type, not a game type although it is possible for all females in a game to be a BBS type.

There are not many games that are a blue ball simulator, but they definitely exist. These games can actually be rather popular if made well. A BBS can have any gender as the protagonist. In a blue ball simulator, there are often other tropes to the game. Such as a "Retard in lecher town" Where every male in the game acts like an incel on MDMA. Always trying to get that grope or peek in. In the BBS a great deal will be put into the story.

In the BBS the standard "Ladder to heaven" model of sex going from: hold hands > kiss > handjob > boobjob > blowjob > sex > anal > threesome ect ect... sort of deal... Well, it sort of exists, but is formatted differently each step is far more spread out. So, in a non BBS game where you would expect sex by step 5, you are not looking at sex until step 50 or so being off by a scale of magnitude.

In a BBS with a female protagonist, you will not be having sex in the first year or two of development at least. This, of course, does not include if the person she has sex with is her significant other, that fella can get a pass.

The BBS is extremely heavy on the "Build up" portion of the story arc.

BBS with a male protagonist may or may not include "Relief Girls" such as a slutty friend. Not all females in a game need to apply to the BBS standard.

Games in this genre include but are not limited to: "A Wife and Mother", "Jessica O'neil Hard News", and "The Deluca Family".

I'm having a hard time separating this trope from a criticism of the method of releasing games bit by bit the way we do, or, alternatively, as a criticism of erotic games from the perspective of someone looking for porn games. Sure you point to the mechanic of the stairway to heaven being stretched out, but DMD is the definition of the stairway to heaven, and the definition of it being stretched out.

The issue with the first scope, as a trope, is that if you play the game when it's complete it may not even come close to feeling like that. Kinda like how, when you binge a show, you can sit through a series of episodes that feel like they don't necessarily move the plot forward in any meaningful way and be entertained because together they work, but watching them weekly you'd have been complaining.

The issue with the second scope is that 2/3 of the games you listed will definitely tell you they're more about telling an erotic story than providing you with porn. So applying this as a trope would be implying that their purpose is to deliver you porn at some point and that they're dragging their feet with it.

So, mechanically, I think the Stairway itself is sufficient for talking about games dragging their feet with sex. Thematically I think this trope fails to allow for differences in approach. And economically, I really think a lot of this anxiety with the amount of time it takes to get to what you want with the characters has more to do with the slow drip of content than an actual identifiable slowness with the content when played as complete.

 

[yihman1]

I'm having a hard time separating this trope from a criticism of the method of releasing games bit by bit the way we do, or, alternatively, as a criticism of erotic games from the perspective of someone looking for porn games. Sure you point to the mechanic of the stairway to heaven being stretched out, but DMD is the definition of the stairway to heaven, and the definition of it being stretched out.

The issue with the first scope, as a trope, is that if you play the game when it's complete it may not even come close to feeling like that. Kinda like how, when you binge a show, you can sit through a series of episodes that feel like they don't necessarily move the plot forward in any meaningful way and be entertained because together they work, but watching them weekly you'd have been complaining.

The issue with the second scope is that 2/3 of the games you listed will definitely tell you they're more about telling an erotic story than providing you with porn. So applying this as a trope would be implying that their purpose is to deliver you porn at some point and that they're dragging their feet with it.

So, mechanically, I think the Stairway itself is sufficient for talking about games dragging their feet with sex. Thematically I think this trope fails to allow for differences in approach. And economically, I really think a lot of this anxiety with the amount of time it takes to get to what you want with the characters has more to do with the slow drip of content than an actual identifiable slowness with the content when played as complete.

A staircase with 5 steps is not the same thing as a staircase with 50 steps and is a different beast entirely. The Blue Ball simulator status. You mentioned DMD, and yes that game for a while was a BBS category game, but it's a status that can eventually be lost when the game progresses to a certain point. I think a better example of a BBS that lost it's status would be a game called "Elena's Life". If you look at the first 10 or so in-game days or about the first year of development Elena doesn't suck, or fuck, or touch any man with a 10 yardstick. Her attitude is "shy, prudish, honest and loyal". It's a phase of development that can be passed through quickly or slowly. It was like 9 or 10 updates before Elena cheated so prior to that it was approaching BBS. The game has progressed very far since then, and is obviously nowhere near a BBS.

After passing the BBS portion of a game that has such elements the female in question tends to change. Far enough past the BBS element can turn that once shy, prudish, honest, loyal girl into a bold, cheating, lying, slut..

To be fair often times the girl prior to the transformation can be much more appealing, and enjoyable for many players. However, it's a slippery slope that game developers must balance properly and fairly. Rome wasn't built in a day of course. The phase in a girls development in a sufficiently long story prior to her becoming what one would call naughty is the BBS phase.

 

[HopesGaming]

I've always said that the blue ball term couldn't be used for my game for the single reason that the game is not a porn game but rather an adult game.
If the main goal was to have sex with the girls - blue ball term is correct.
If the story revovls around sex or is very sexual themed - blue ball term is correct.
If the story is a story that has nothing to do with neither of those thing and the sex is just something that will happen 'as it happens' kind of thing then it would just be outright silly to call it blue balling. You don't watch game of thrones and say 'damn I feel blue balled' after you watch (a rare) episode that does not contain something sexual because you have to expect that.

Example, in my game I got an event called 'My Name Is Luna'. It is the longest event I have in the game and the lenght would be the perfect time to yell blue balling but if someone played through that and was thinking to himself 'damn I feel I am blue balled after that' then there is something very wrong with them. In the head. (the few ones here that played my game would know what I mean).

Always had a bad taste for that word. Blue balling. The sex freaks that keeps coming into my thread and demanding sex scenes can lick my blue balls

 

[DarthSeduction]

Always had a bad taste for that word. Blue balling. The sex freaks that keeps coming into my thread and demanding sex scenes can lick my blue balls

In other words, Suck le Blue.

A staircase with 5 steps is not the same thing as a staircase with 50 steps and is a different beast entirely.

A trope is not a criticism though, mechanically the trope in use would be the same. The stairway trope isn't about the number of steps, but rather the trope of systemic progression in the first place. More to the point, there aren't many games that have the sexual imagination to actually include 50 individual steps anyway, and if they did, you'd be getting into much lewder territory than vaginal along those steps. What you're calling 50 steps is more like the same 5-10 steps but made for a giant, so that climbing to the next step is something of a chore.

You mentioned DMD, and yes that game for a while was a BBS category game, but it's a status that can eventually be lost when the game progresses to a certain point.

And this is the issue I had with calling it a trope. It isn't one. It's a complaint that games take time to develop to the point where they're ready for the sexual content. I don't mean that to offend you, I'm simply trying to help you understand what a trope is.

The Damsel In Distress is one of the oldest tropes in the book, what it entails is some character who our hero cares about is kidnapped and it is up to the hero and their companions to save that character. Usually this character is a girl, hence the term damsel, but in more modern media especially those with a 5 man band (another trope) you'll often see gender doesn't really matter, strong warriors might be incapacitated and need their friends to save them.

Now, we could critique the DiD, it's an overused trope in many ways, and can perpetuate harmful stereotypes when done poorly. Bleach, the anime, for example, damsels one of the female love interests every arc it seems, while also portraying these female characters as typically weaker than their male counterparts. That is bad. But it isn't the trope itself that's bad, it's the use.

The Retard In Lechertown is one we've come up with here, and there are ways to do it that aren't bad. For instance, in the game California Bound the main character did really well in school to earn her parents paying for her college. She was determined to go to an acting college and become an actress. Her parents however never intended to send her to whatever college she wanted, they wanted her to become a doctor or lawyer or something else deemed productive and lucrative with a guarantee of success should she put in the effort. So at the start of the game they fight over this and she runs away to California. Important bit there, she has a goal, becoming an actress, she has no support, her parents don't like her decision and she's not willing to play by their rules, and she has no money, making her an easy victim. When she is inevitably forced to make decisions that put her between a safe place to sleep and demeaning herself sexually because she has no other options, she has a realistic motivation to do those sexually demeaning things, even if she really doesn't want to (at first). Compare that to Elena's Life, since you brought it up, and Elena's problems are super contrived. Her stepson blackmailing her for being molested, her boss at the job she doesn't actually need to survive is one of the people molesting her, etc etc etc. Elena does have a support system, while her goal is to support her daughter through school, both her daughter and her new husband would understand if it took a minute to be able to since the principle was trying to molest her. There's no real reason Elena has to convince herself to go along with this. Both games are that trope, one is well thought out, the other is really contrived. Again, the trope isn't inherently bad, the usage is.

In this case, you're taking a criticism "this is taking longer than I think it should to get to the lewds" and turning it into a trope "Blue ball simulator". This criticism doesn't take into account that the game likely has more to do than get to lewds. As Hopes said themselves, their game isn't a porn game. So applying it to their game is missing the point, and revealing that the trope itself doesn't actually work.

 

[Burt Reynolds Mustache]

Well I think that the issue here is that the BBS trope isn't really a trope so much as a mix of several different ideas that are similar but not entirely the same thing.

DmD was the ur-Stairway to Heaven game on the VN side, and Big Brother would be its counterpart on the sandbox side. Hell I used a BB image for the trope. Both of these games would fall into Blue Ball Simulators, I suppose, but I just don't see a meaningful difference in that case from the stairway to heaven trope.

DarthSeduction has a good point about how something feels during release vs how it feels when playing the game as is. I would argue that most stairways would be just as annoying playing them all together as they would be over a monthly release. Consider the sheer amount of time it took to get anywhere with say Lisa in BB, repeating events over and over, waiting for just the tiniest bit of progression. Early DmD had a very slow initiation as well, with each date being what amounted to a ritualized lesson where only one step at a time could be taken. And those games aren't unique.

I do tend to think that the other issue with Blue Ball Simulator is the connotations it gives and it's a little too mean spirited, which I don't think we try to be in this thread. I never quite understood it, but some people LOVE the long drawn out teasing and snail's pace of advancement that makes me want to rip my hair out at times. Different strokes and all that jazz.

Now what I did think that yihman1 stumbled on to that was interesting was the virgin/whore transformation. It is a trope that you see quite a bit. Once the boning begins the most prudish girl in the world will become addicted to the cock and be up for whatever, whenever. Doesn't have to be a virgin either, the housefrau who has only ever done missionary, with the lights off, through a hole in a sheet awakens and soon after meeting the MC is taking it up the ass while tied to a sex swing.

HopesGaming Maybe we can do a trope of "I play it for the story!" for games like yours that are far more story than porn.

Then again, I wouldn't be too hard on the guys who are frustrated, your ladies are quite smoking, and incredibly moving and heartbreaking backstories aside, Gracie and Luna's stories are a fair bit about the MC trying to worm his way into their pants. There's just a whole lot of other really fun mafia drama as well.

 

[yihman1]

No Periods Period and any blood coming from a vagina means a virgin.

If blood is coming out of a females vagina in an adult game it is almost certainly from her cherry being popped.

Real-life odds of blood from a vagina = 99.9% Period 0.1% Virgin
Adult game Odds of blood from a vagina = 99.9% Virgin 0.1% Period

 

[jormungandrswe]

The Aphrodisiac Tongue

Your mother/sister/aunt wants a kiss from her favorite male relative? That's weird but kind of sweet, just don't slip her the tongue. Definitely try not to pop a huge instaboner just from a peck on her lips. At all costs don't allow your erection to poke out of your beltline in an Olympic feat of gymnastics. Should your she notice your gigantic hard-on, avoid the temptation to explain to her that "it's normal" to become aroused by kissing your female relatives and that "it's just hormones, mom".