nohman

400 subscriber special! Early episode release! Also final episode for Daru's route.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20bPv2chMt0

How could we miss this?

Thanks y'all.
 
...I'm really bad at thanking and congratulating people, what's wrong with me? I swear I can be just as sentimental as the next guy...
 
I have work to do today with fantl bulletin and all (#excuses), but to sufficiently pressure myself I will now commit to having a good draft of an actual recruitment post for blog writers done tomorrow (some US time and presumably even then half an hour before midnight.) Now, time to procrastinate said post by RtK learning. If I can get in the mood or whatever.

I'm sorry, but at this point I'll just go ahead and call tl;dr (I usually don't post if I haven't read the OP). Please, reflect on this article's point #5. And no, I don't think the Christmas exception really works out at this point...

Okay people, I know this is a hard sell since this is the internet, but can we steer this conversation away from the toxic turn it has taken? This is obviously an area of great contention, meaning it is a worthwhile discussion topic. HOWEVER, wouldn't it be better to talk about h-scenes in context of the industry, how they're used and misused, and our personal feelings on them without derisively calling each others perverts and otherwise continuing to flog a dead horse? At some point (lol not really, I know), you've just got to concede that your opinions diverge and that nothing productive will happen if you continue with specific threads of the conversation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFcv5Ma8u8k

Hmm, the actual topic is interesting so I'll just plow on ahead.
 
Why do nukiges exist?
-fappers may prefer the text + voice + sprite/cg interface of visual novels as it is more immersive.
-the long play time gives a chance for the fapper to grow attached the the characters, resulting in a different experience.
-a few people play nukige (mostly?) for entertainment value, but that's beyond the point
 
Why do people (still) play all-ages nakige/charage-VN's?
-they enjoy becoming attached to and spending time with the characters
 
Why developers explicitly include H-scenes in non-nukige games?
-some of the people who enjoy becoming attached to the characters now would like H-scenes with their herione. I mean doujinshi (derivative) porn is practically the same concept.
-for people who bought the story and get bored of it and are still interested in random porn, they are included anyways.
 
What if most VN's didn't have H-scenes?
We'd have a lot more resources to devote to CG's. Imo, that wouldn't improve VN's THAT much, unless artistic directing improved as well. Well, it would certainly allow for scenarios and settings which are more CG-demanding. That's actually pretty important and a shame.
 
In terms of the western market, it would definitely increase the marketability of these games. But many of the people interested in VN's still do so because they enjoy becoming attached the heriones, and as the TL'd hentai/doujinshi industry and manga gamer's finances show, the western fandom is no less horny than our Japanese counterparts.
 
It's hard to speak generally, but if a VN wanted to use an H-scene for development purposes, there would be no need to include them on the other herione routes. Now, since a quota is demanded, I suppose writers will incoporate them as best as they can, to the point where the fact that the two characters have sex isn't as disruptive to the story as the fact that the VN explicitly shows the scene, for the purpose of titillation. Honestly, for this, the skip button. If you are purely talking about immersion and not outrage at the existence of fan-service in this world, 8 seconds of skip isn't bad.
 
Now, for the topic I actually wanted to talk about: https://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/topic/7578-idealizationappeal-of-heriones-in-vns/

Okay people, I know this is a hard sell since this is the internet, but can we steer this conversation away from the toxic turn it has taken? This is obviously an area of great contention, meaning it is a worthwhile discussion topic. HOWEVER, wouldn't it be better to talk about h-scenes in context of the industry, how they're used and misused, and our personal feelings on them without derisively calling each others perverts and otherwise continuing to flog a dead horse? At some point (lol not really, I know), you've just got to concede that your opinions diverge and that nothing productive will happen if you continue with specific threads of the conversation.

Congratulations, Zaka. There's no one else who I could see running the blog.

Okay people, I know this is a hard sell since this is the internet, but can we steer this conversation away from the toxic turn it has taken? This is obviously an area of great contention, meaning it is a worthwhile discussion topic. HOWEVER, wouldn't it be better to talk about h-scenes in context of the industry, how they're used and misused, and our personal feelings on them without derisively calling each others perverts and otherwise continuing to flog a dead horse? At some point (lol not really, I know), you've just got to concede that your opinions diverge and that nothing productive will happen if you continue with specific threads of the conversation.

Okay people, I know this is a hard sell since this is the internet, but can we steer this conversation away from the toxic turn it has taken? This is obviously an area of great contention, meaning it is a worthwhile discussion topic. HOWEVER, wouldn't it be better to talk about h-scenes in context of the industry, how they're used and misused, and our personal feelings on them without derisively calling each others perverts and otherwise continuing to flog a dead horse? At some point (lol not really, I know), you've just got to concede that your opinions diverge and that nothing productive will happen if you continue with specific threads of the conversation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-TZ8Z5S9rI

What if I hate stories and hate hentai scenes?

What if I hate stories and hate hentai scenes?

What if I hate stories and hate hentai scenes?

What if I hate stories and hate hentai scenes?

What if I hate stories and hate hentai scenes?

A little different flavor:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eB4PkCo4Lo

Let's keep the discussion away from what kind of people enjoy h-content (as per the OP and to avoid beating a dead horse like was done in the other topic) and instead focus on their place and impact in VNs.
 
 
 
 
 

I agree. More interesting, I think, is the way and extent in which VN heriones are idealized.

If you are reading VNs for H-scenes, you are a nukigamer, though you probably don't want to admit it - unless you are as open as Steve is.  If you believe that h-scenes ruin VNs, you probably shouldn't be involved with otakudom at all. 
 
The proper answer is 'h-scenes are the frosting on cake and the mold on bread'.  A proper VN-reader shouldn't consider them to be important either way, as h-scenes at best are no better than frosting on a cake and at worst, mold on otherwise edible bread.
 
Edit: I know that first paragraph sounds pretty... assholish?  However, it is a fact that if you are placing too much importance on the existence of or non-existence of h-scenes in VNs, you are probably way too far to one side or the other.  Sometimes I want to play a VN with no sexual focus, like Tokyo Babel, and at others, I feel like something with an ecchi atmosphere, such as Erect.  However, regardless of how I feel at a given moment, I don't place any significant interest in the existence of h-scenes.
 
Edit2: To be honest, I don't like seeing this ancient debate getting revived at all.  Tay already made a similar thread last year, and it was argued to death, so seeing this argument resurrected is rather unpleasant.

I have contradicting views on H-scenes, I haven't been able to work out if I'm in favor of them or not overall.  I do think they have a strong negative impact on VNs becoming popular in the west, as it becomes associated with the social stigma of porn.  However, at the same time it likely buoys sales in Japan and helps keep the industry afloat.  If a novel is being imported, I think having the option to disable is a good call, but completely excising them MoeNovel style is a dealbreaker for me.
 
I don't specifically read stuff for H-scenes, and quite like some VNs without them (ex. S;G, Clannad), but for the right novel I still believe a well done H-scene can add a lot to immersion. If you've accumulated personal investment in the character over many hours of gameplay, the eventual H-scene can be a lot more enjoyable than just porn or a nukige. The problem there is the number of poorly done H-scenes, which can serve just as much to detract from immersion.  Besides just plain poorly written cliche ones, I hate when a H-scene pops up for no apparent reason that doesn't fit into the narrative or mood properly.  Another pet peeve is how 99% of VN girls are virgins, in this mystical world where beautiful girls never date anyone else until the protagonist shows up -- not only is this ridiculous, but it also leads invariably to the worst cliche scene, ever, the standard virgin sex scene which seriously reads like copy paste from a template.
 
So I kind of just rambled, but I guess my overall opinion sways positive toward the ideal H-scene, but negative in terms of either poor implementation or effect on VNs status in society.
 
Edit: Another thing that I just thought of -- clearly just from this thread, there is a lot of variation in how people feel about H-scenes and their place in various VNs.  There doesn't really need to be a unified answer to how the community feels, as VNs aren't uniform in their inclusion of H-scenes.  There are all-ages titles, eroges built around the romance and eventual H-scenes, action VNs with scenes added in as an afterthought, and just straight up nukiges.  People will naturally gravitate to the titles that fit their own preferences.  As said above, I personally dislike shoehorned in scenes and nukiges, but those have their own audience.
 
The best possible approach is just to be tolerant as consumers, and realize this is small enough of a community that something so easily ignored shouldn't be a deciding factor in overall enjoyment of VNs.  On the translating/development side, providing options to meet the variable demand is ideal-- this is where the option to flag scenes off is the best practice, but even in absence of that variation can be created just by different developers releasing titles that fall into different categories.

What is shocking are not the h-scenes themselves but the way they are written.

>Ask for the discussion to stay civil
>Starts out by saying that H-scenes are an atrocity
meph_says_gg_topkek_10/10_10h.mp3
 
In terms of purely narrative value, implied sex or explicit sex are the exact same. Their presence may or may not emphasize the fact, but I don't find that extremely important - I ctrl through them anyway so it doesn't matter.
 
I have to disagree with your statement though. Eroge ARE for the most part hentai games, I don't give a flying damn about being called a "hentai gamer" and I don't think the presence of sex scenes does the medium any bad per se. If there is a problem with this media, it's its niche nature and the extreme exigence of its players about trivial details - mandatory voice acting, mandatory routes for everyone, mandatory archetypes, mandatory sex scenes too but that's only a consequence.

Okay then. First of all, unit types are basically how they appear to be.
 
Warriors - Good at attacking. Will be primary damage dealers. Most will have Warrior Attack 2 as their upgraded attack, but you should keep a unit with Guard Break. Guard Break helps your units ignore pesky high-number footsoldier units. Another notable skill of warriors is Charge, which raises their attack by a certain multiplier (Apparently it's 70%. So your attack gets multiplied by 1.7). Personally, I seldom use that skill. Light Attack is also a must for capturing unique commanders, and also for game progress report completion.
 
Footsoldiers - Used for guarding. Strong footsoldiers have Counterattack as their skill, since their high defense + damage return makes them a hard unit to deal with. This is the reason why you should be wary against Teru and the eldest Shimazu. They both have Counterattack 2, after all. Initail Guard is also nice, but a high percentage of Guard is better.
 
Archers - They're sort of a meh unit. You'll be better off not using them. Use them in the early stages when you have no units to replace them. Best archer unit would easily be Isoroku, since her upgrades would give you either Whirlwind Shot or Yamamoto Sweeping Fire, which are both good.
 
Musketeers - They're basically glass cannons. Overall, they're not really that good. Only a number of them are actually advantageous to use. An example would be Yuzuhara Yuzumi, with her one-shot attack skill. You can further utilize that skill by equipping Working Bee, which gives her +2 action points. Another notable would be Shimazu Toshihisa. 8/8/8/8 stats are nice, y'know.
 
Monk - I don't even know man. They're basically fighters specialized against Youkai-type units. The most notable Monk unit would be Seigan. With his high stats and an attack that hits all enemy units, he's someone you'd want in your team. Aburako Dousan is also a nice addition, having high stats early in the game.
 
Ninja - Basic use would be cancelling preparations. Yeah. They're basically that. I don't really see a lot of uses for ninjas. Other than being ranged and being able to learn Assassination, I don't see advantages in using them. Of course, the exceptions would be their notable units. Suzume is a nice unit early game, since she comes with Assassination ready. It'll be easy to kill off enemy commanders with Assassination. Beware the RNG. Assassination scales with troop size. Keep that in mind. Another notable would be Gekkou, which will be available once you've earned enough points to select his bonus in starting a new game. He starts with overall high stats, and with a passive that gives you a sure kill when using Assassination against units who have exhausted their action points.
 
Tactician - Are crucial in some battles. Their stat buffs are very important, as these can determine the outcome of a battle. Bring them if you worry about your opponent starting off with buffs (Tokugawa Ieyasu, for example). Removing buffs can make battles a lot easier. Notable among the tacticians are Urza Planeis and Naoe Ai. Urza learns Precision Shot, which reduces the opponent's action points by one. Very useful if you ask me. Pair that up with Kenshin's Goddess of War, and you can chip off the opponent's actions. Another notable one would be Sanada Tourin. His Battle Result Down really helps when you're in a pinch.
 
Shikigami - The Houjou House will be the ones mainly utilizing this type of unit. You can also see a lot of these in the One-Eyed House, or the Dokuganryuu. Their most notable skill is the Shikigami/Advanced Shikigami attack, which basically damages everyone. Can sometimes be heavy, so be wary against them. They also have Guard Shikigami, which is a pain in the ass to dispel. Most notable Shikigami unit would be Omachi. It's like cheating when you use her.
 
Miko - Huh. They're the units that heal your other units in battle. I wouldn't really recommend using any of them besides Natori and Kobayakawa Chinu. They have attacks that damage all units by a certain amount based on their troop count.
 
Cavalry - Enhanced Warriors. Can attack from the front and back row. Only house to have them is the Takeda. That's why they're a pain in the ass to beat. The notable Cavalry in the game are, of course, the two Takeda Generals, Baba Shouen and Yamagata Masakage. They both start off with Fuurinkazan, so they shit on you in battle. Use Tacticians to debuff them. After that, they're as good as warriors. Note that these units can still kick ass even without buffs.
 
Mages - Glass Cannons. I wouldn't really recommend using them. Rizna's a good unit against magic users though, since she's immune to magic. Shikigami units can't hurt her too.
 
Knights - Only one unit is classified under knights. Leila's a good unit overall. They're both warriors and footsoldiers. They also do not sacrifice attack for defense. They're a good balance of both. Do remember that Leila's special attack is x2 in power when her troops are less than that of the opponent.
 
Cannons - Regarded as one of the best units in the game. Consisted of Maria and Kasumi. They boast the highest attack in the game. They have terrible defense though. Putting a footsoldier along their column guarantees high firepower and protection against retaliation. Use them if you can. Also, equip Popularity Staff to automatically increase their troop size.
 
Those are basically the units. It's your choice to make.
If you want in-depth analysis of the game's mechanics concerning damage dealt, refer to this. If you want to know more about skills, refer to this.
 
I wouldn't recommend you getting Morita Ai. She's a mediocre warrior unit, and you'll be able to replace her early in the game. I recommend you get either gold, action points, or something. Just not special units.
 
Money can be made naturally. It should increase without you doing anything if you manage properly your units and your actions. Levy if you're low on money. The Merchant skill can also increase additional gold per turn. Forgot the other one. There's another one. I just forgot.
 
There should be no reason for you to fail finding Miki unless you did it on purpose. Do not be afraid to sacrifice your best units for a few turns in order to find her. Remember, finding her is your top priority. If you don't, automatic Demon King route. The route's possible to beat. It's just that it'll take a long time.
 
You can slow down the activation of the Honnouji Event by not attacking the houses holding the eight gourds. They should be as follows: Oda, Ashikaga, Iga, Takeda, Houjou, Uesugi, Mouri, and Akashi. Once you reach the 5th gourd, the Honnouji Event triggers. So try to stall that by attacking the other houses first. If you want, you can also declare war with multiple gourd-holding houses and capture their commanders in the process.
 
Asai-Asakura automatically declares war on you after you gain a certain number of territories. I forgot how many though. It's the same idea as with Uesugi's declaration of war. Asai-Asakura is easy, so you shouldn't have any problems with it.
 
There you go~
Those are my answers for now. I hope they help~