Zander

Fuwanovel has this tagline both here on the forums as well as the main site; if you were to Google Fuwanovel, the first result proudly exclaims "Fuwanovel – Make Visual Novels Popular in the West!". I haven't seen too much discussion about it, though, so I thought I'd stir up a conversation to hear everyone's opinions on what needs to happen in order for VNs to appeal to a larger portion of the Western audience, or if it's possible at all.
Popularity is subjective, of course, so for our purposes just consider what would make VNs more popular, rather than reach any particular standard of renown.
I'll present a few general topics that I feel are relevant to provide a base, but of course don't be afraid to present any thoughts that may pertain to something else.
1. Sexual Content - This post and associated podcast by NowItsAngeTime brought up some good points on this topic. Do you feel that the presentation of sexual content, or the idea of pursuing heroines as a requisite feature, that is so common in VNs needs to be changed, altered, or removed somehow? Dreamysyu noted that visual novels with sexual content are separated from those without completely in Japan - to the point that they are essentially different genres. 
2. Setting and Japanese Influence - Naturally, a lot of VNs are set in Japan, frequently in specific settings like a high school. This even extends to OELVNs, where it is not unusual to see a VN that takes place in Japan or has characters with Japanese names, honorifics, and so on. Do you think VNs, particularily OELVNs, need to break away from this standard in order to appeal to a larger Western audience?
3. The Format in Itself - Does the nature of a visual novel make it forever doomed to be a niche genre? Would VNs with gameplay features appeal more in the West? Are there possible changes to the existing format that can be altered while still retaining the core of what a visual novel is?
I look forward to hearing your opinions!

1. I've already posted my thoughts about that in length in the thread you linked to. In short I think it is something that is at the moment a necessary evil but it is something I have never been real fond of. I think going forward if vn's want to have a larger penetration() in the west then they do will have to alter or remove them. Or at the very least there will have to be more high quality vn's with minimal h scenes translated and released. The English vn market is still largely dominated by vns that are heavily sex based and I think that will need to change if we want to draw more people in. It still is a bit embarrassing to go on to a vn retailer and see almost nothing but titles like Bleeding Orphan Makers~My Cunt is Overburdened by Lust.
2. This definitely needs to change because for one thing it just demonstrates a complete lack of originality. These elements are already played out in mainstream vns as it is, so if OELVN's want to stand out and be their own thing they will have to drop a lot of overused anime and vn tropes. They will have to branch out and challenge themselves or they will continue to be seen as a inferior offshoot.
3. Well in much of the western world anime itself is seen as a niche market even though it has grown in popularity over the years. Video-games themselves have only just now started to be taken as a mainstream entity. So VN's will probably always keep the cult status they currently occupy. What we really need is more vn's like doki doki and katawa shoujo that become immensely popular and reach a large audience and  garner a strong media presence. More anime adaptions are always a positive as well.
For the forum itself? I think there should be more engagement with the steam vn audience. I know there is a fuwa steam group but it seems to be pretty much defunct.

1- It should be noted that, unless you intend to strip out romance altogether, avoiding sexuality itself is impossible.  However, having actual sex scenes in a VN isn't a requirement, when it comes down to it.  That is a Japanese custom born partially from the fact that VNs started with nukige.  It is also the biggest barrier to widening the appeal of VNs in general, which is one of several reasons why most companies make a non-ero version of story-heavy VNs when they get localized (other reasons include legalities, Steam rules, etc) nowadays.  Sexual content in most Japanese VNs tends toward the excessive (even for romance's sake, one is usually enough even in American movies). 
2- The visual novel medium possesses immense potential for storytelling (just look at what Light and Nitroplus do with it).  There should be no limit to the kind of settings and stories that can be presented.  However, if a VN maker wants to sell their game, they have to get past the art bigotry which consumes a large portion of the community first, and that is a huge barrier to justifying the production of 'pure western' visual novels.
3- Not necessarily.  The reasons visual novels are niche primarily come from your question 1 and the death grip the otaku community has one the medium.  Sex puts some people off, causes legal problems at times, and is something a lot of corporations don't want to deal with.  The other part is that roughly 70% of all visual novel fans are otakus (the other thirty percent being a mixture of adventure game lovers who began from stuff like Heavy Rain, people who only play OELVNs, and people who will read anything with a good story).  Otakus dominate the demand in the industry so far, so widening the appeal has remained difficult.  Anyone who wants to spread the appeal of the medium, as opposed to a specific VN, will have to be willing to take the risk of abandoning the otakus altogether and convincing people to invest in something that is entirely Western in flavor... a risk most business people will not be willing to take, unfortunately.  In other words, it isn't impossible but it won't be easy.

The idea of pursuing heroines is one of the defining attributes of VNs, regardless of genre. It's also one of the biggest selling points. I can't imagine it being removed and positively impacting sales. If gamers want a medium of story-telling that's less romance-driven, there are countless alternatives. The sexual content is just a step-up from the romance aspect, even if they're considered different genres. Players either appreciate it as a form of romantic bonding, or they more or less ignore it either by skipping the H-scenes or playing all-ages versions when available. (I'm only referring to regular story-driven eroge, not nukige.)
Personally, no. But I'm biased in this regard. Still, I imagine that it'd be difficult to alter VNs to conform to Western preferences. That would mean Western-style artwork and English voice-overs, among other major changes. I have a hard time imagining it being successful.
 
That's the problem. VNs are unfortunately a niche genre. Also, while quite a few well-known VNs are getting official translations now, they're not catching on to the point where the medium as a whole can be considered successful. Gameplay features such as in Ace Attorney or Danganronpa can help certain titles stand out from the rest, but if the VN industry is to become popular in the West, some more action will be necessary.
Negating the notion that VNs are only for Japanophilic weebs is one major task. Giving the option of VNs with or without sexual content is another, as well as actually localizing more VNs, advertising them, and making finding and purchasing them a simple process. Steam makes it easy for Westerners to get hold of some VNs, but it's restrictive nature is preventing the genre from shining. The fact that physical copies of VNs are virtually nonexistent in the West is also a major hindrance. 
Basically, we need to popularize Japanese otaku culture in the West more, if even a little. But with all the other ubiquitous entertainment mediums, it's not an easy task.  

Fuwanovel has this tagline both here on the forums as well as the main site; if you were to Google Fuwanovel, the first result proudly exclaims "Fuwanovel – Make Visual Novels Popular in the West!". I haven't seen too much discussion about it, though, so I thought I'd stir up a conversation to hear everyone's opinions on what needs to happen in order for VNs to appeal to a larger portion of the Western audience, or if it's possible at all.
Popularity is subjective, of course, so for our purposes just consider what would make VNs more popular, rather than reach any particular standard of renown.
I'll present a few general topics that I feel are relevant to provide a base, but of course don't be afraid to present any thoughts that may pertain to something else.
1. Sexual Content - This post and associated podcast by NowItsAngeTime brought up some good points on this topic. Do you feel that the presentation of sexual content, or the idea of pursuing heroines as a requisite feature, that is so common in VNs needs to be changed, altered, or removed somehow? Dreamysyu noted that visual novels with sexual content are separated from those without completely in Japan - to the point that they are essentially different genres. 
2. Setting and Japanese Influence - Naturally, a lot of VNs are set in Japan, frequently in specific settings like a high school. This even extends to OELVNs, where it is not unusual to see a VN that takes place in Japan or has characters with Japanese names, honorifics, and so on. Do you think VNs, particularily OELVNs, need to break away from this standard in order to appeal to a larger Western audience?
3. The Format in Itself - Does the nature of a visual novel make it forever doomed to be a niche genre? Would VNs with gameplay features appeal more in the West? Are there possible changes to the existing format that can be altered while still retaining the core of what a visual novel is?
I look forward to hearing your opinions!

Fuwanovel has this tagline both here on the forums as well as the main site; if you were to Google Fuwanovel, the first result proudly exclaims "Fuwanovel – Make Visual Novels Popular in the West!". I haven't seen too much discussion about it, though, so I thought I'd stir up a conversation to hear everyone's opinions on what needs to happen in order for VNs to appeal to a larger portion of the Western audience, or if it's possible at all.
Popularity is subjective, of course, so for our purposes just consider what would make VNs more popular, rather than reach any particular standard of renown.
I'll present a few general topics that I feel are relevant to provide a base, but of course don't be afraid to present any thoughts that may pertain to something else.
1. Sexual Content - This post and associated podcast by NowItsAngeTime brought up some good points on this topic. Do you feel that the presentation of sexual content, or the idea of pursuing heroines as a requisite feature, that is so common in VNs needs to be changed, altered, or removed somehow? Dreamysyu noted that visual novels with sexual content are separated from those without completely in Japan - to the point that they are essentially different genres. 
2. Setting and Japanese Influence - Naturally, a lot of VNs are set in Japan, frequently in specific settings like a high school. This even extends to OELVNs, where it is not unusual to see a VN that takes place in Japan or has characters with Japanese names, honorifics, and so on. Do you think VNs, particularily OELVNs, need to break away from this standard in order to appeal to a larger Western audience?
3. The Format in Itself - Does the nature of a visual novel make it forever doomed to be a niche genre? Would VNs with gameplay features appeal more in the West? Are there possible changes to the existing format that can be altered while still retaining the core of what a visual novel is?
I look forward to hearing your opinions!

Fuwanovel has this tagline both here on the forums as well as the main site; if you were to Google Fuwanovel, the first result proudly exclaims "Fuwanovel – Make Visual Novels Popular in the West!". I haven't seen too much discussion about it, though, so I thought I'd stir up a conversation to hear everyone's opinions on what needs to happen in order for VNs to appeal to a larger portion of the Western audience, or if it's possible at all.
Popularity is subjective, of course, so for our purposes just consider what would make VNs more popular, rather than reach any particular standard of renown.
I'll present a few general topics that I feel are relevant to provide a base, but of course don't be afraid to present any thoughts that may pertain to something else.
1. Sexual Content - This post and associated podcast by NowItsAngeTime brought up some good points on this topic. Do you feel that the presentation of sexual content, or the idea of pursuing heroines as a requisite feature, that is so common in VNs needs to be changed, altered, or removed somehow? Dreamysyu noted that visual novels with sexual content are separated from those without completely in Japan - to the point that they are essentially different genres. 
2. Setting and Japanese Influence - Naturally, a lot of VNs are set in Japan, frequently in specific settings like a high school. This even extends to OELVNs, where it is not unusual to see a VN that takes place in Japan or has characters with Japanese names, honorifics, and so on. Do you think VNs, particularily OELVNs, need to break away from this standard in order to appeal to a larger Western audience?
3. The Format in Itself - Does the nature of a visual novel make it forever doomed to be a niche genre? Would VNs with gameplay features appeal more in the West? Are there possible changes to the existing format that can be altered while still retaining the core of what a visual novel is?
I look forward to hearing your opinions!

Fuwanovel has this tagline both here on the forums as well as the main site; if you were to Google Fuwanovel, the first result proudly exclaims "Fuwanovel – Make Visual Novels Popular in the West!". I haven't seen too much discussion about it, though, so I thought I'd stir up a conversation to hear everyone's opinions on what needs to happen in order for VNs to appeal to a larger portion of the Western audience, or if it's possible at all.
Popularity is subjective, of course, so for our purposes just consider what would make VNs more popular, rather than reach any particular standard of renown.
I'll present a few general topics that I feel are relevant to provide a base, but of course don't be afraid to present any thoughts that may pertain to something else.
1. Sexual Content - This post and associated podcast by NowItsAngeTime brought up some good points on this topic. Do you feel that the presentation of sexual content, or the idea of pursuing heroines as a requisite feature, that is so common in VNs needs to be changed, altered, or removed somehow? Dreamysyu noted that visual novels with sexual content are separated from those without completely in Japan - to the point that they are essentially different genres. 
2. Setting and Japanese Influence - Naturally, a lot of VNs are set in Japan, frequently in specific settings like a high school. This even extends to OELVNs, where it is not unusual to see a VN that takes place in Japan or has characters with Japanese names, honorifics, and so on. Do you think VNs, particularily OELVNs, need to break away from this standard in order to appeal to a larger Western audience?
3. The Format in Itself - Does the nature of a visual novel make it forever doomed to be a niche genre? Would VNs with gameplay features appeal more in the West? Are there possible changes to the existing format that can be altered while still retaining the core of what a visual novel is?
I look forward to hearing your opinions!

Fuwanovel has this tagline both here on the forums as well as the main site; if you were to Google Fuwanovel, the first result proudly exclaims "Fuwanovel – Make Visual Novels Popular in the West!". I haven't seen too much discussion about it, though, so I thought I'd stir up a conversation to hear everyone's opinions on what needs to happen in order for VNs to appeal to a larger portion of the Western audience, or if it's possible at all.
Popularity is subjective, of course, so for our purposes just consider what would make VNs more popular, rather than reach any particular standard of renown.
I'll present a few general topics that I feel are relevant to provide a base, but of course don't be afraid to present any thoughts that may pertain to something else.
1. Sexual Content - This post and associated podcast by NowItsAngeTime brought up some good points on this topic. Do you feel that the presentation of sexual content, or the idea of pursuing heroines as a requisite feature, that is so common in VNs needs to be changed, altered, or removed somehow? Dreamysyu noted that visual novels with sexual content are separated from those without completely in Japan - to the point that they are essentially different genres. 
2. Setting and Japanese Influence - Naturally, a lot of VNs are set in Japan, frequently in specific settings like a high school. This even extends to OELVNs, where it is not unusual to see a VN that takes place in Japan or has characters with Japanese names, honorifics, and so on. Do you think VNs, particularily OELVNs, need to break away from this standard in order to appeal to a larger Western audience?
3. The Format in Itself - Does the nature of a visual novel make it forever doomed to be a niche genre? Would VNs with gameplay features appeal more in the West? Are there possible changes to the existing format that can be altered while still retaining the core of what a visual novel is?
I look forward to hearing your opinions!

I'm a big fan of the fourth choice, really helps represent VN fans of all backgrounds. 

Perhaps I didn't express myself properly, Amethyst, so allow me to reassert my position.
A little over a month ago, before I joined Fuwa, I was a pretty happy guy. I loved life, went to class at my university, had a girlfriend and a great group of friends. I went out often, whether it be to a local restaurant or to the theatre, and had a great time socialising with my mates. I used the computer only occasionally to play an all-ages VN, something like Clannad, if you will. I went to church every Sunday, and was a pious, if not necessarily entirely pure, member of the Lutheran church.
It's been a month since then. Bags have formed under my eyes. I can't sleep at night, because I'm busy thinking up what my next post will be. How can I stay under Kaguya's radar, but troll all of Fuwa at the same time? I go hungry sometimes, because I'm stuck in a voice chat thinking up shitposts. I wake up and open the newest nukige I can find. The crosses on my wall have fallen down and I've become too fat and lethargic to hang them back up, if they even have any meaning to me anymore.
My girlfriend has long since left me, as I can provide her no affection or love anymore. She isn't 2D. I don't have to feed my waifus. Money. I need that money. For eroge. For nukige. To make commissions of my favourite girls being raped by tentacle monsters.
It's not mere morals like you may understand, Amethyst. Fuwa is a living, inescapable hell.

It doesn't seem to be digital at all in this case; according to the website, it's a physical "album" with 15 separate CDs + an additional one with the opening songs.
Unless you're asking if purchasing the collection entitles you to a digital download as well, in which case I don't believe it says anything with regards to that.
 

Mmm... Decay or Poltroon would probably be better advisors on this matter.  However, I can give you a few pieces of advice.
First, unify your terminology and name-spelling... when translating from Japanese to English, this is always an issue, especially with fantasy and sci-fi types.  As an example... the term 汚染獣 (romaji: osenjuu) from the anime Koukaku no Regios.  First, ask your translator how many variations on the translation of the jargon term he can think of, then figure out if you can find or create a term that fits and doesn't feel awkward to you when reading it.  In this case, we picked 'Taint Beasts', though the official translations picked something different.
Second, decide whether you are going to keep honorifics.  This issue tends to make purists go bonkers... but a good rule of thumb is, if it is based in Japan, keep them.  If it isn't based in Japan or an oriental culture, don't. 
Another issue... one that is probably going to pop up a lot.  Line consistency and line awkwardness.  A lot of translators don't take context into account when translating, so if you find inconsistencies between lines in a scene, mark it down and ask for clarification.  Many translators also go to insane lengths to keep the entire meaning of a sentence in every last detail, including the 'rhythm' in their translation.  Unfortunately, this frequently results in grammatical abominations.  Be prepared for a fight with your translator if he is attached to his work, because no one likes reading awkward lines, but no translator likes to see meaning cut out of a sentence.  Often, simply rewording the sentence is sufficient (I dunno how many times, as a translation-checker, I've simply rearranged a sentence to make it sound like real English), but sometimes you really do have to rewrite the line because it just makes no grammatical sense (ask any editor on a fansub project and they'll probably nod to this). 
Don't be afraid to break up run-on sentences.  Japanese allows for much longer strings of concepts in a single sentence than English does, and I've actually run across sentences in Japanese that have gone on for five or six lines before concluding.   The natural tendency for a translator is going to be to try to replicate this in English, but that won't work *states this bluntly*  If it looks like a stream of thought is continuing across multiple lines, it is perfectly fine to rearrange the order of them, if the new order works better.  Readability is important.
Implied subjects pop up a lot in Japanese... and as a result, you'll probably come across a lot of lines where the translator might have completely misunderstood who the subject of the sentence was, because he failed to take the entire context of the series of lines into consideration.  If this occurs, ask your translator to go over it again, pointing out inconsistencies that bothered you.  Some translators are too stone-head stubborn to do this, but a good translator will be willing to accept they might have made a mistake. 
Last of all... my condolences for picking one of the most thankless jobs in the fantranslation community.
Edit: One nasty little secret translators tend to use any excuse not to speak about...
Edit2: There is a lot more that I could say, but this is all from the two perspectives I've experienced most often, translator and translation-checker.  With anime it isn't so bad, but with VNs, the difficulty level for an editor increases exponentially simply because you have to keep track of so many different factors.  Also... how is your prose?  That is going to be important when dealing with narrative.  I don't know how many editors I came across over the years that could write lines that were perfect grammatically but were pure s*** as prose... the same for translators.

All these fake weebs disgust me. Anyways recently I got new shelves and some new games so here is my new setup.

 

Don't worry about the haters, Maggie. I think you bring a valuable perspective to Fuwa that would not be represented adequately without your contributions here. I always look forward to reading your posts about otome games over on your blog, and encourage you to continue writing them. Best of luck with your degree, by the way!

Might these be airbags? 

Perhaps I didn't express myself properly, Amethyst, so allow me to reassert my position.
A little over a month ago, before I joined Fuwa, I was a pretty happy guy. I loved life, went to class at my university, had a girlfriend and a great group of friends. I went out often, whether it be to a local restaurant or to the theatre, and had a great time socialising with my mates. I used the computer only occasionally to play an all-ages VN, something like Clannad, if you will. I went to church every Sunday, and was a pious, if not necessarily entirely pure, member of the Lutheran church.
It's been a month since then. Bags have formed under my eyes. I can't sleep at night, because I'm busy thinking up what my next post will be. How can I stay under Kaguya's radar, but troll all of Fuwa at the same time? I go hungry sometimes, because I'm stuck in a voice chat thinking up shitposts. I wake up and open the newest nukige I can find. The crosses on my wall have fallen down and I've become too fat and lethargic to hang them back up, if they even have any meaning to me anymore.
My girlfriend has long since left me, as I can provide her no affection or love anymore. She isn't 2D. I don't have to feed my waifus. Money. I need that money. For eroge. For nukige. To make commissions of my favourite girls being raped by tentacle monsters.
It's not mere morals like you may understand, Amethyst. Fuwa is a living, inescapable hell.

Perhaps I didn't express myself properly, Amethyst, so allow me to reassert my position.
A little over a month ago, before I joined Fuwa, I was a pretty happy guy. I loved life, went to class at my university, had a girlfriend and a great group of friends. I went out often, whether it be to a local restaurant or to the theatre, and had a great time socialising with my mates. I used the computer only occasionally to play an all-ages VN, something like Clannad, if you will. I went to church every Sunday, and was a pious, if not necessarily entirely pure, member of the Lutheran church.
It's been a month since then. Bags have formed under my eyes. I can't sleep at night, because I'm busy thinking up what my next post will be. How can I stay under Kaguya's radar, but troll all of Fuwa at the same time? I go hungry sometimes, because I'm stuck in a voice chat thinking up shitposts. I wake up and open the newest nukige I can find. The crosses on my wall have fallen down and I've become too fat and lethargic to hang them back up, if they even have any meaning to me anymore.
My girlfriend has long since left me, as I can provide her no affection or love anymore. She isn't 2D. I don't have to feed my waifus. Money. I need that money. For eroge. For nukige. To make commissions of my favourite girls being raped by tentacle monsters.
It's not mere morals like you may understand, Amethyst. Fuwa is a living, inescapable hell.

Perhaps I didn't express myself properly, Amethyst, so allow me to reassert my position.
A little over a month ago, before I joined Fuwa, I was a pretty happy guy. I loved life, went to class at my university, had a girlfriend and a great group of friends. I went out often, whether it be to a local restaurant or to the theatre, and had a great time socialising with my mates. I used the computer only occasionally to play an all-ages VN, something like Clannad, if you will. I went to church every Sunday, and was a pious, if not necessarily entirely pure, member of the Lutheran church.
It's been a month since then. Bags have formed under my eyes. I can't sleep at night, because I'm busy thinking up what my next post will be. How can I stay under Kaguya's radar, but troll all of Fuwa at the same time? I go hungry sometimes, because I'm stuck in a voice chat thinking up shitposts. I wake up and open the newest nukige I can find. The crosses on my wall have fallen down and I've become too fat and lethargic to hang them back up, if they even have any meaning to me anymore.
My girlfriend has long since left me, as I can provide her no affection or love anymore. She isn't 2D. I don't have to feed my waifus. Money. I need that money. For eroge. For nukige. To make commissions of my favourite girls being raped by tentacle monsters.
It's not mere morals like you may understand, Amethyst. Fuwa is a living, inescapable hell.

@MaggieROBOT is a living shitpost, don't listen to her

Perhaps I didn't express myself properly, Amethyst, so allow me to reassert my position.
A little over a month ago, before I joined Fuwa, I was a pretty happy guy. I loved life, went to class at my university, had a girlfriend and a great group of friends. I went out often, whether it be to a local restaurant or to the theatre, and had a great time socialising with my mates. I used the computer only occasionally to play an all-ages VN, something like Clannad, if you will. I went to church every Sunday, and was a pious, if not necessarily entirely pure, member of the Lutheran church.
It's been a month since then. Bags have formed under my eyes. I can't sleep at night, because I'm busy thinking up what my next post will be. How can I stay under Kaguya's radar, but troll all of Fuwa at the same time? I go hungry sometimes, because I'm stuck in a voice chat thinking up shitposts. I wake up and open the newest nukige I can find. The crosses on my wall have fallen down and I've become too fat and lethargic to hang them back up, if they even have any meaning to me anymore.
My girlfriend has long since left me, as I can provide her no affection or love anymore. She isn't 2D. I don't have to feed my waifus. Money. I need that money. For eroge. For nukige. To make commissions of my favourite girls being raped by tentacle monsters.
It's not mere morals like you may understand, Amethyst. Fuwa is a living, inescapable hell.

Where did you hear such rumors? I'll have you know that all my posts should be taken seriously.

Definitely plan on continuing to upload on YouTube. Episodes should be up on it within a few hours after it's up on the main site.
In Japan, apparently the VN scene (according to VN;Conference) took a big hit due to natural disasters and VNs continuing to stay niche. So developers these days continue to play it safe with the typical eroge/moege/charage stuff.
Non-18+/"Artistic" VNs made in Japan made these days are a big risk. Sure they could potentially make it big IF the story is that good... but there's no guarantee if there's no H-scenes or super moe waifus or whatevs. So it's understandable to take the safe route.
Companies that are already fairly well off in comparison (Type Moon, KEY, Ryuukishi, Nitroplus/5pb, etc) can easily take risks with artistic stories since people will buy them based on brand name. But many of them had to take the safe routes of making eroge back in the day to get recognized in the first place.
So it'd be high risk for a new/not well known company to do a story like this without failing as a company in terms of sales. Sure the "hardcore" fanbase may love the VN but they're still the minority, especially western readers.

Well, don't VNs like Steins;Gate actually position themselves in Japan as something completely different from the usual eroge? Correct me if I'm wrong, i'm simply reciting things from my memory of something else talking about it, but I think Japanese don't even have a word for 'visual novel', calling them simply as eroge in case they have h-scenes, or as adventure games in case they don't. And, yeah, selling something like SG in a store like that would be pretty stupid.

Thinking about it, I have two reasons to think the image visual novels won't change.
The first one is, again, the fact that sex sells, being the tried-and-true method as it were. In order to avoid confusion, let me be specific that by 'h-scene' I mean any sort of pandering material unnecessary to the plot in the following. Even if many more visual novels appear which don't rely on h-scenes, I think there'll always be at least as many that do. As was mentioned in the podcast, it is fairly easy to write in h-scenes after the story itself has been written down, too. Inserting h-scenes seems to be something that costs relatively little while paying back big from a company perspective. I do agree that this may very well be a short-term vision, but that brings me to the second point.
H-scene-less (man I wish there were better terminology for this) visual novels would have to break free from their bad stigma. Think of a separate name for this kind of game/novel, separate steam tags, selling them in different stores (looking back at what Dergonu wrote, if I'd walk into a store like that unknowingly, I'd also be tempted to think everything in there must be porn), that kind of thing. These visual novels would need to profile themselves as being distinctly different from 'the stuff with porn in it'. I don't mean this purely on the business side, though - fan communities, too, would have to split lest you be named together with porny variant of your hobby.
As such, I don't think stigma visual novels have will change anytime soon. Now, I should mention that these are purely my thoughts on the matter - I can't exactly back this up with anything and I might be wholly mistaken, but these are my two cents.
Sorry for the bombastic opening, I initially had four points but then I realised three were really the same thing, please don't lynch me.