I'm working on something right now that makes me super excited. I wish I could show you guys some progress, but it's not ready yet. D: Have a sketch from Oneiro as an apology. XD
Anyway, another great turnout. We got 145 votes this time, which is another record breaker. Yaay! If we get 200 next time, I will do a little dance. XD The results were pretty cohesive this time around, too. : D
First off, not many of us have the luxury of a smart phone in the first place. (It's okay, my phone plan is so cheap I don't even have texting options XD).
iPhone: 22 (15%)
Droid: 4 (2%)
Other: 11 (7%)
It seems like a lot of us would really like to have a smart phone, though.
Want an iPhone: 40 (27%)
Want a Droid: 18 (12%)
Want Other: 6 (4%)
Don't want one: 17 (11%)
The votes don't really add up to 100%...but I'll assume that the missing votes probably go into the "don't care either way" category.
Aaaaand the major question of the whole ordeal: Should there be more mobile VNs?
Yes: 25 (17%)
Focus on computer versions only: 102 (70%)
Wow. That's probably the biggest percentage of votes I've gotten for a single option since ever. You guys even beat out more story in VNs. The majority is pretty clear this time around. As it stands, I'll continue to focus on computer releases, with mobile ports of those releases when possible.
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Our newest poll is a very timely and important one! Your vote will be hugely useful to me and a lot of other VN developers, so exercise your right to vote! XD
There's been a lot of talk lately about bringing visual novels to a web platform. Rather than download games, you'd just log in to whatever site is hosting the games, and play away. A few different engines have made themselves evident lately (I've seen three NEW ones in the past two weeks, and there are a few old ones still floating around), and I'd like to know if you guys are interested in playing your visual novels online via Firefox, Chrome, or some other browser (none of the engines I've seen can really handle Internet Explorer). The cool thing is you'd be able to just surf the net and tada! A VN! Right there! No downloads, no installation. On the downside, it's not so good if you lose your connection, the site goes down, your connection is so slow that parts of the game don't load, etc. Do you have a preference as to how your VNs are delivered?
What about once they're commercial? Would you be fine paying for a game that you can only play online, or do you prefer to pay for a game that you then download?
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8 comments:
If it's free, I honestly don't care either way. Though hopefully there is a downloadable version, whatever gives less strain on servers and more traffic for you, Ayu, I'm fine with.
If I PAY, however, it can still be online. Fine and dandy. But I'd like a download version, thanks. Just in case the website ever goes down, my internet goes off, ect. I don't have to have every game on CDs, like some people, but I like an off-line version for backup. I guess it's the same mentality, though. xD
Though actually, playing on a browser means that it can't be totally fullscreen... If you work that out there shouldn't be any difference, though, right?
I think the technology exists to make it fullscreen or at least very, very close. The major difference between online and off is that with online games, it's convenient, and you can play any place where you can get 'net. With a downloadable, you can only play where you've installed it, but there's no risk of losing the game if the site crashes or not being able to play if you don't have an internet connection, the site's undergoing maintenance, etc.
I'm always really iffy about web-based games. Playing a game in a web-browser seems cheap to me. Not to mention if your net is down, you're out of luck. I like having the game ON my hard-drive where I can keep an eye on it.
Not to mention having a game on the web sorta diminishes the personal ownership aspect of the whole thing. I like to refer to my games as "MY copy of (insert game here)". If it were online, I wouldn't really have that. It takes away the personal pride of a game collection if the game is just floating around in cyber-space somewhere.
I like having a game sitting on my computer available for play whenever I want, although I know there are also advantages to having it online because it doesn't take up space on my computer. If it's for free, I'm not going to complain either way.
If I'm paying for it, though, I'd expect to be able to access it whenever I want, and to know that it'll be there for as long as I want it (since I paid for it) and not have to worry that the site that hosts the game isn't going to close down at some point after I've paid for it and might want to play it again. I want at least to be able to download it if I've paid for it.
I think that there's a greater sense of satisfaction from having downloaded a game, not just in the sense of "If my internet ever farts, I won't lose the last 200 choices I just made," but just because there's something different psychologically about actually owning a copy of the game, even if it is a free one.
I think that since VN's are a very personal experience, I'm sort of hard-pushed to say I'd really like to see this feeling given up in favor of convenience, but... I don't know. I might just be being pretentious about the whole thing. XD
Even if I understand the people with normal internet speed, for me, I have a dial up internet. I just simply won't be able to play online if I have to wait for each image to load every time. I can only have a fast internet when I go to school, but it's not a good place to sit back and relax with the visual novel.
If I pay for it, I'd prefer to download it. :)
VNs have different endings and CGs, and a lot of the satisfaction comes with "fully completing" a game and viewing the completely filled in CG gallery, and you really want to say: "Yup! That's MINE." If it is online, people will have to have accounts for the game to have that sense of ownership, or it'll take the pleasure out of the game.
I know some people feel ownership comes only when the game is downloaded, but with the benefits of online, I think people will get used to it - especially if it's free.
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