Ask the Devs!

[ProNice]

Are you asking, why try to make people care about mentally handicapped love interests?
I have to ask due to my lack of knowledge of the English language.

[Snuffkin]

Well yes, but I mean really why try to make people care about incomplete/highly imperfect people in the first place? Why go for an Eva/Madoka character when you can have an ideal waifu, since it's all in your head anyways?

[ProNice]

Hm.. alright, this is only my personal perspective. I don't speak for the rest of the team:
Why did we choose imperfect people before perfect waifus?
First off, because it is highly functional. It adds conflict and tension. Its a challenge. Its unorthodox and interesting. Its imperfection adds to its attractiveness that no perfection could.
Secondly, because we want to make a statement. About the impartiality of human affection. About the equality that exceeds our differences. Against discrimination and prejudice.
We could actually write a new Blogpost to elaborate on that topic, if we not already wrote one.

[Snuffkin]

Alrighty, but again, nobody is equal to anyone else, and never has been.

[ProNice]

Alrighty, but again, nobody is equal to anyone else, and never has been.

Thats true! As individuals, we are all special and different. But as humans we also have a lot in common.
And without neglecting our differences, we should celebrate the things we all share.

Even if the VN is only fantasy, an illusion, we still learn from every experience we make, be it real or artificial.
And learning to care for an imperfect person in an artificial story is a small first step in the right direction.

[whiic]

I find it highly amusing that dogfuc... I mean Snuffkin, asks why all characters should not be made into Mary Sues, Marty Stus, Yamato Nadeshikos, 15yo university graduates, Hulks and Captain Kirks. Why settle for less when you can have perfect characters? I think it's kinda obvious why. Also ProNice explained it quite well.

Btw, ProNice, the blog's been quite infrequently updated lately, so do write about that topic. It'd be a good filler as many of the blog posts have been from a point of view of a single dev. Putting filler blogs can't be harmful when you're not ready for dev updates on the project itself.

[ProNice]

Btw, ProNice, the blog's been quite infrequently updated lately, so do write about that topic. It'd be a good filler as many of the blog posts
have been from a point of view of a single dev. Putting filler blogs can't be harmful when you're not ready for dev updates on the project itself.

Sure.

[Likhos]

I'll respond to the "perfect character" by saying that perfection is just a pretty little word that can not apply to anything in this so imperfect world.

There is no actual possibility of creating perfection, as it is only limited to our own human perspective.

Lilly for example is said to be perfect, but she is blind, which can be part of her charm (I actually don't mind), and she has no regret in leaving you behind when the time comes to.
She's not so perfect afterall.

Saya (Saya no uta) is perfection from Fuminori's point of view (he can't have better to be honest). She is an abomination for other peoples.
That's only a matter of point of view.

For what I recall, I have never seen a perfect character in a VN.
in Yume Miru Kusuri, they all have their lot of problems.
in Vanadis's games, they are monsters.
in Monster girl quest... you know what. I should make a review of this game, it should be fun.
and in Kurukuru fanatic, they are all fucking psychopaths.


And when I saw a "perfect waifu", it's too bad because the game include harem scenes with her. Fucking... great. Perfection shattered, boner killed, hopes busted.

[Snuffkin]

... Uhh, Doghunner is Dogfucker, man.

[whiic]

Oh yeah. Doggierapist was Wolfhunner or something like that... I must have mixed two people into one. My mistake. Your avatar might have messed with my mind even though felines and canines aren't closely related.

I might also add to the "perfection" topic that there is no such thing as objective perfection, or even objective better or worse. When it comes to mate selection they are just thought patterns formed by our genes and upraising. Sure, people with mental disorders are considered broken in our culture. But what is a disorder... that's also cultural. For example: homosexuality was a paraphilic disorder prior to political correctness taking over psychiatry. Other paraphilias (i.e sexual orientations and fetishes that hinder successful procreation) are still disorders. Homos, not. Can homos breed now, then? Then why is it not a paraphilia? Also, why is biastophilia a paraphilia since rape has been proven to be a functioning reproductive strategy (see: mallards, fruit bats... or Africa)?

Reason: values are subjective.

And values are never objective. Some people even disagree with UN's Human Rights declaration. Muslim Brotherhood disagrees with it because they can't stone people to death for blasphemy or adultery. I disagree with it because while one half is about human rights (freedoms) the other half of it is about socialism (entitlements).

_____


So, if there is a perfection, it's only your personal perfection, nothing objective. The writers could aim for their personal perfection (resulting in Mary Sues), or toward fanbase statistical "closest to perfect", but both routes would lead to a disaster.

Mary Sue type:
* Creating the feeling of high improbability to the reader (too idealized and naive). It'll also be quite apparent it's just some highly specialized fap fantasy for one person and for him/her only. High likelihood for ikkiness for everyone else.

Fan-pandering type:
* Falling back to proven fetish character archetypes, making the character unoriginal and shallow in order to avoid any characteristics and character-related events that might turn off anyone.

...both types would also severely intervene with writing an original plot. Mary Sue characters wouldn't probably create any drama, and "well liked archetypes" (while they could create drama) are limited to what kind of drama they can be part of without being too offensive.

So these are some reasons why not create "perfect characters". To do anything interesting, you have to deviate from fairytale.
But why out of all things mental disorders? Maybe because it's a topic that hasn't been touched before. At least not having any VN dedicated to the topic - as was Katawa Shoujo.

[Snuffkin]

>human rights
HAHAAHAHA
I realized the question was idiotic, by the way. Hell, my female ideal is pretty dysfunctional anyway.

[TheLastMelody]

in Monster girl quest... you know what. I should make a review of this game, it should be fun.

Yeah, give me a call when you are done ^_^

And when I saw a "perfect waifu", it's too bad because the game include harem scenes with her. Fucking... great. Perfection shattered, boner killed, hopes busted.

Read Shuffle!, no harem and some "perfect" waifu ^_^

[whiic]

I realized the question was idiotic, by the way. Hell, my female ideal is pretty dysfunctional anyway.

Oh, don't be so negative. There are no stupid questions, just stupid people.

[TheLastMelody]

I realized the question was idiotic, by the way. Hell, my female ideal is pretty dysfunctional anyway.

Oh, don't be so negative. There are no stupid questions, just stupid people.

False!
There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers!

[VacuityMechanica]

False!
There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers!

Well "Is this chewable morphine chewable?" is a stupid ass question.

[Snuffkin]

Gotta love South Park.

[ProNice]

Right, do someone else have any questions to the developers?

[Carighan]

Hihi.

Come to think of it, how do you want to handle translations? Entirely post-release, or do you want people to start translating script as it evolves (so, say, after the act 1 demo released)?
I could offer German translations ^_^

[kosherbacon]

I think the easiest for us would be entirely post-release, since changes in the script would likely need to be applied to all translation releases.

We haven't begun planning translations yet, but thanks for the offer.

[Wren]

I think the easiest for us would be entirely post-release, since changes in the script would likely need to be applied to all translation releases.

We haven't begun planning translations yet, but thanks for the offer.

Any translation teams will have a fun time sorting out all that script, heh. Anyone else have other questions?