Chronopolis

I've never had one in spite of recently moving back in with my parents. You have to open two doors to get to my room, so I always hear the first one opening and have time to react before the second one gets opened. I also tend to only skim/skip through H-scenes when I'm playing a VN during the day, so it doesn't come up a lot.
 
The closest thing to embarrassment I've come with this sort of thing is the number of times I've almost slipped into a long-winded explanation about VNs or one VN in particular before realizing that that would cause my parents to know the existence of such content and thus be on the lookout for it. 
 
 
 
Jesus, after my first breakup my mother bought me a 50 hour RPG to keep my mind off of it until it wasn't so raw. A very, very different approach.
 
I also bawled my eyes out after playing Katawa Shoujo soon after a breakup. It was Hanako's route that killed me, really, especially when you consider the fact that I myself am a burn victim and could relate to what was going on so closely.

You're missing euphoria.
 
No, really, I'm serious. The sad thing is that it handles the 'death game' and its effects on people way better than, say, Killer Queen/Secret Game does.

Song: V.K - Wings Of Piano
 



 
VN: ef - a fairy tale of the two.
 



 

I'd just turn off all the translation things, turn on auto-copy to clipboard, and run translaton aggregator if that's what you're more used to. The parser in VNR is notoriously bad to be honest. Auto copy to clipboard is on the option settings on the small bar to the left when it's running with a game, and turning off translation is in settings of VNR. 

I don't like to use the term visual novel.  It's too darn serious.
 
The words visual novel have an oddly formal ring to them.  When someone says visual novel, I immediately think of all the discussions about elevating visual novels to an art form (as it were), how to improve them by separating them from anime tropes, how important it is to have a serious, epic storyline, and so forth.  (The thought might also cross my mind of statements made about ero scenes gaining legitimacy by being "crucial to the story", but that is another kettle of fish.)
 
But I'm personally going back to "galgame" (or just "game" in context).  For me, this conjures up thoughts of, for example, cute, moe 2D girls all holding out chopsticks trying to feed you an octopus sausage or tamagoyaki simultaneously (yes I say "you" because I always think in terms of the player character so whether I say "you", or Tatsuya or whatever his name is, in describing a scene, it makes no difference in my mind.).  In other words, I think more in terms of entertainment, and accept any mild cheesiness as part of the fun, as I do with anime.
 
 
I don't like to use the term project for translations.
 
Now I'm very serious-minded about translation accuracy/transparency.  You see, even though I don't fret over the actual narrative value of the game I might be playing, I sure don't want jumbled up, goofy text in a game that is primarily text-based, like a you-know-what.  I don't want to be reminded of those Hong Kong anime bootlegs people used to watch.  I know I have certainly seen comments to the contrary, a sort of who-cares-how-it's-translated-if-it's-just-moege attitude (And if a game gets labeled a "nukige", you may as well forget about it, regardless of what kind of content the game has besides ero-scenes).  I happen to be fanatical enough think that translations are worth getting right even if it only lets you get to know some cute 2D girls a little better.  I must be nuts.
 
Nevertheless, I've discovered a few things since Mikukisu etc.  After trying to move up to the big league, I found out that just being able to translate Japanese to English does not make you a fan translator.  You need a lot of determination.  You need (appallingly) people skills.  And most of all, you need time.  I don't have these things.  I don't know if and when I will get these things.  So from now on, instead of "projects" it will simply be "stuff I translated."
 
Look at all the stuff that people on "projects" have to deal with.  "Is this something people are really going to want to play?  Will we really be able to complete this before we get sick of it?  What if people or patch files suddenly disappear?  Is someone else working on the same game in secret and will beat us to a release?"  And so on.  It's just too much. 
 
But if I just do "stuff", then it's different.  I can relax.  I'll translate things that happen to interest me personally, in whatever spare moments I happen to have.  No promises or unfurl-the-banner announcements will be made.  If something is going to become a project, I want it to do so of its own volition.  That's what happened with Mikukisu--it didn't start out as a "project", it became one.  So no projects from now on.  Just seedlings that I or perhaps someone else can raise into a project if fortune smiles on us. 
 
Oh well, I don't usually make long posts like this.  So please put up with it one time...

Sort of finished Kami no ue no Mahoutsukai (took a bit over a month).
 
Non-spoiler thoughts, basically why I liked the game



 
The next game I'm playing's probably going to be Scales of Semiramis. Eek, the menu theme already is setting the mood, part melodic, part calm, part dramatic, part haunting.

while bathing in your kitchen sinku

I used the jlpt vocab lists for N5, N4, and N3.
http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/jlpt5/vocab/
 
As a starter, something like a verb list can be nice, since they often the most important words in a sentence.
http://nihongoichiban.com/2012/08/13/list-of-all-verbs-for-the-jlpt-n4/
 
If you want to learn by category, it can be fun to learn words from here: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:1000_Japanese_basic_words. The words obviously aren't the most common ones, and there are some rare words, but it's still useful vocab.
 
Keep in mind that the Japanese words, especially abstract nouns, are not used in the same way as the english words that are used as their definition.
 
If you're already gotten a hang of word types and basic grammar, the Core 10k deck for anki (https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/702754122) is a pretty good option. The pictures are from google search, and so are sometimes wrong, but the example sentences and audio are from native speakers.

you don't need to memorize how to write the kanji, though You still should learn to recognize the radicals: the 合　and the radical above it.

That method is perfectly legitimate (it's not by Aaeru btw, http://forum.koohii.com/viewforum.php?id=1). RTK teaches to recognize kanji and gives a keyword, which may have some connection with one of the meanings of the kanji. It doesn't give you the on-yomi reading for compounds, I'm not sure how much easier it is to remember the on-yomi reading if you already recognize the kanji.
 
Throughout my study, I had to go through the process of distinguishing similiar looking kanji by looking to see which radicals differed.
 
塵　鹿、
籠、龍
理科　料理
等、寺
待つ　持つ
慰める、褒める
桃色、　挑戦
微かな、微妙、微塵、　（same kanji)
 
Doing RTK kinda front-loads this, meaning you'll have to do less of this remembering differences later on. Whether it's hugely. Proponents say it's much more effecient, but I didn't have too much problem just examining words along the way, to see if their kanji were actually the same, and learning the differences if they were different.

Well, you'd be able to read it (assuming you're using TA or similar software for furigana), but you wouldn't be able to understand anything.
 
Build up on grammar at the very least so you know how Japanese sentences work, even if it's just the basics. This really is a must if you actually care about reading and understanding things.
You should also build up some basic vocab although you can do this as you read VNs (by looking words up with JParser or something) but it's always adviced to have some level of knowledge beforehand.
Knowing kanji in of itself is not a requirement but it's adviced that you try to memorize the most common ones so you don't have a super hard time. You'll have to deal with checking a dictionary all the time for definitions so i would advice you to at least try and learn some as you go (it's a continuous process after all).
 
Lastly, and I know i'm not alone in this:
 
Don't use machine translators (ATLAS, VNR, etc)
Machine translation doesn't help you understand anything any better, you should try to learn to understand japanese by thinking in Japanese, not by translating it into other languages.
Using machine translations only hinders your progress to learn the language more efficiently.
Not to mention 80% of the time the translation will never even be close to accurate.
 
Seriously, if you care to understand Japanese, don't go down the machine translation path.

It's not intentional, it's just a coincident that I'm dressed as a bat.
https://fbcdn-photos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-0/10268614_973758295984777_9183738296405525673_n.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=ec6096dda3b7b44a13dac47e1da521a0&oe=556E150F&__gda__=1429620793_dfde8d2d356fe86da86e7667725e83cd
Dont worry bout the guy with the phone. He said it was cool.

I would like to start a petition to rename this thread to "I'll show you mine if you show me yours".

Update: 03-26-15
Finished almost all "basic" grammar with Nosebleed and Keaton. Congratulations for graduating Nosebleed and ~ Keaton (Grieviious). lol.....
Best of luck for your retention.
 
Topics I covered can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ku-5p27HxMlWySQAqBvZygwhQp8Z1EHFY-oYE-KdBlg/edit#gid=0
 
Happy Year 2015 to you~
You can call me rains
 
Do you have a strong motivation to learn Japanese?
Can you spend a fair amount of time on learning?
If you are a beginner and have interests in reading untranslated VNs and/or eventually becoming a part of the translation culture, then this thread might be for you!
I’m looking to help someone become self-reliant in Japanese. That means being able to: independently seek out resources, form your own self-study sessions, and most importantly --- be able to read from VNs and learn from them.
 
I will serve as the guidepost, giving you tips on what to tackle next. I will devote time to seeing your growth as long as you devote your own time to invest in learning Japanese. My approach will be purely on grammar. You’ll have to do all the vocab/kanji learning on your own. My goal for you is to get you to understand how Japanese sentences work. How do all the words relate to each other in the sentence. I’ll try to get you to learn from patterns and examples.  From then on, you can try to read manga/VNs and put the piece of the puzzle yourself.
Scheduling will be entirely reliant on you. You should create your own schedule. Try to learn it first, then come to me with questions and clarification. If I have time I can teach you the new topic myself. You can contact me anytime I’m free. 
It is imperative that you try to create a study routine --- keyword: routine. It needs to be a habit; it needs to be a lifestyle change.
Ideally, if you want to learn Japanese fast, you’d want to have full immersion. You’d want to have your free time devoted to anything related to Japanese: be it Anime, JP Manga, Drama, TV shows, VNs, etc.
If you have questions or interest, reply to this thread or pm me.
 
Unfortunately, I am but only a single person so this offer is only for one or two people. Keep in mind I am Eastern Time Zone (EST)… My weekday schedule is EST evenings.
What are your long term aspirations/goals? What are your short-term goals? Which VN would you like to read eventually? How much Japanese do you already know (if you do)? How much time can you devote?
 
 
If you’re selected, I’d like the main correspondence to be through skype (rains90), it’s the best way (and the only way really..) you can contact me during my free time. If you’d like, I might also throw you in a very small group of other people who are trying to self-study.
 
I’m planning to select someone by January 8th.
 
Extra Sources:
https://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/topic/3801-good-vns-for-starting-reading-it-in-jap-with-help-from-mecab-and-jparser/
https://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/topic/2792-learning-japanese-useful-resources/?hl=%20japanese%20%20learning
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar Taekim’s grammar guide. I might base the grammar sequence on this.
https://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/topic/7625-why-japanese-is-easier-to-learn-than-you-think/
 

 
Picture from a youtube video of Steve Kaufmann (a polyglot)

Welp. You said "comprehensive" so I'll throw in lots of people.
Use those to grow your internet stalking power.
 
First, websites:
 
Kazamatsuri
English-speaking Key fans community. Friends \o/
Website - Twitter
 
Beast's Lair
English-speaking Type-Moon community. Pretty big and encompasses anything TM, not just VNs.
Website
 
Nitro+ global
Nitro+ has an international website.
Website - Twitter
 
Steam
Curator page for visual novels
I don't have Steam, someone add more links D=
 
----
Then, people: ('personnal twitter' indicates that those people should rather be reached through their company official ways about company-related stuff)
 
Doddler
Scripter/Programmer for a lot of VNs, mainly for Mangagamer but also JAST and Sekai Project.
Twitter - Ask.fm - Blog (about VN hacking, etc)
 
Moogy
Founder of TLWiki, overall very knowledgeable about the eroge industry.
Twitter, blog, etc - Ask.fm
 
Tulip Goddess
Translator, mainly (exclusively?) for Mangamer. Currently working on Kara no Shoujo 2, worked on other Innocent Grey games.
Twitter - Ask.fm
 
Good_Haro
Translator, working on BL games such as No, Thank You and Ozmafia for Mangagamer
Twitter - Ask.fm - Progress page
 
Ixrec
Leader and main translator of Amaterasu Translations. Kinda social-media-ded lately.
Twitter - Amaterasu website
 
Makoto
Translator at JAST, mainly on Nitro+ games.
Can probably be reached on the JAST forums.
 
Cafe
Translator for Mangagamer, currently working on Euphoria
Twitter
 
BlackDragonHunt
Translator for Mangagamer and JAST
Twitter
 
Meru
Freelance translator, onee-sama
Twitter - Can't find her blog back D=
 
Dovac/Raymond Qian
CEO of Sekai Project
Personnal Twitter
 
Kouryuu
Translator and PR guy at Mangagamer
Personnal Twitter
 
And have some VN-related blogs while I'm at it:
 
Golden Sneer (Private twitter)
Holy Church of Incoherence (Ariurotl)
Gareblogs (garejei - twitter - ask.fm)
Mimidoshima (kastel - twitter - ask.fm)
 
...I'm sure more can be added but that's already a lot.

Since it doesn't look as if Teito Hiten Daisakusen is going to get uploaded anytime soon, I'll go ahead and name Kami no Ue no Mahoutsukai as VN of the Month for December 2014.

Their personal meaning to me I already explained in this thread
 
As for the medium itself, it's a medium.
As it stands it's certainly a window into Japanese culture and subculture.
To be it's an incredibly good medium, but it's also incredibly underutilized.
 
There's two parts to a VN so let's start with the story part.
Many people mentioned screen/anime, novel, and manga/comics. I am going to be different and say there is one other thing VN is more functionally closer to than any of those three: Theater.
That I have amateur theater background has nothing to do with this
 
Let's break it down:
VN has tachi-e, background, and CG. It needs a lot less descriptive writing than novel, but can convey close to the same amount of details.
It can not convey as much detail as screen or comics, but in turn invites the audience to fill in with their imagination (before someone butcher me, manga just means comics in Japanese. Yes I know they mean only Japanese comics in English)
It has music to help build mood, something it shares with screen.
And there is acting. In this case voice acting, again to help with mood.
 
What also shares all those characteristics? Theater.
They are both middle points between showing you the entire scene and leaving it entirely to your imagination.
 
Now VN don't have actual acting-acting, and probably can not be used for a musical.
But it can convey thoughts and description better than a soliloquy or the chorus can.
 
If I were to put rank the five: Screen, Comics, Theater, Novel, and VN in different categories, from 5 to 1, 5 being most 1 being least, I would put it:
 
                                      Screen          Comics           Theater            Novel           Visual Novel
Time Needed                      1                  3                     2                    5                     4
Mood-Immersion                  2                  1                     4                    3                     5
Descriptive Details                5                  4                     2                    1                     3
Plot/Character Details           1                  2                     3                    5                     4
Open to Imagination            1                  2                     3                    5                     4
 
Now these are not set in stone, but just in general.
So as a storytelling medium, I feel VN is like an even more personal version of Theater. It's also a nice balance compared to other forms.
 
Each form has something very specific to it. VN is it's ability give the audience the visual and audio input from a character's point of view for long periods (or even most). Theater by design must be third person, while comics and screen can not only limit their first person view to short segments for emphasis. Novels can be written for first person, but has no sound or sight.
I feel this allows VN to be the most personal of all the forms.
Third person could definitely be done on the VN format (interestingly all the third person VN I've read are SLG or RPG) but I prefer first person. VN can provide enough details for narration to be minimum, or even non existent, so might as well not squander the chance to make the story personal, with access to thoughts and stuff.
 
Having said all that, I feel VN is being limited by its fanbase and dating-sims history. I hope some day there could be something like, I don't know, a WWII VN or Fantasy VN with little or no romance. VN I feel is the only one of the four mediums that is limited to centering on comedy/romance/drama and taking little experimentation in other genres, instead of a more frequent, wider reach.
 
With that I go to the game part.
Of those 5 mediums, VN is the one unique in that it makes the audience participate, and in ways far engaging than Theater or Choose-your-own-adventure novels can without needing to sacrifice story-telling in theory (in practice it will likely happen). Yet I haven't seen any go down this route. At best I've seen games and story in the same software but more-or-less independent of each other. (Though Key has a interesting thing of writing replayability and routes into the story itself).
 
I hope someday I can find a VN where the story path is decided by gameplay, like what objective you pick in an SLG, how you do in an RPG, etc.
Long Live the Queen does this. And it's quite refreshing and entertaining. Just that both story and gameplay are very barebone.

People are bashing this surprisingly often... but I didn't go into this VN expecting a masterpiece (good god, what kind of expectations do people have for a doujin-game anyway?), unlike some people.  I knew from the first scene that this was a moege, nothing more, nothing less.  Moreover, it was a straight-up 'pure' moege, meaning there is no depth of characters, no exploration of society or people, just cuteness, archetypical enjoyment, and eye-candy.  People really need to learn to take a step back and go 'so what can I really expect in a given situation?'  Seriously.  There is a very good reason why I bash pure moege like crazy.  Pure moege have nothing resembling depth, and the lack the dubious 'virtue' of being pure fap material that a nukige possesses.  Charage took the best aspects (though that too is a dubious concept) of moege and added on in-depth character development and character dynamics, in order to increase emotional attachment to the cast.  This is the type of moege we are most familiar with... and the 'purest' one that sells nowadays. 
 
Why am I raving?  Because people are divided into 'I love the cuteness' and 'it is so stupid' camps. Am I the only person who can take a step back, look at this VN objectively, and both bash and praise it as it deserves?  Because it does deserve both.  This happens every single, freaking time a new translated VN comes out.  The two sides get polarized and no one is willing to admit when they are wrong.  Worse, this VN is only four hours long in Japanese, so there really isn't that much to argue about in the first place.  So why am I getting complaints because I didn't side with either group?  Subjectively, this is a soothing VN, but that is about all I can say for it.  Objectively, it is pretty visually and impressive for a doujin effort, but it lacks a story and fails utterly to make effective use of the setting it introduces.   There, now you have both sides of my thoughts.  That pretty much covers everything there is to say about Nekopara in two sentences.
 
Edit: Now the Fuwans know why I object to any and all attempts to translate 'pure' moege.  There are some things people are just better off not experiencing.
 
Edit2:  At the same time, I strive for objectivity because I see that as the duty of being one of the very few people who have the capabilities and patience to pound their way through VN after VN in Japanese.  My views here are only ever meant to be a point of reference, save in a few cases where I seriously warn off any who might attempt to read a particular VN.   If I chose to review purely based on my subjective point of view, there are a lot of VNs in this thread that would have resulted in a lot more poison from me. 
 
Edit3:  Oh, and I'm adding Unionism Quartet to my list of December VNs because this one turned out to be so short (managed to play this in the background while working).  That means that that and Holy Breaker will be the last two.  Look forward to those, since Holy Breaker is, interestingly enough, made by a single person... meaning he basically did what he wanted to it without restrictions (hehe).  Unionism... looks like it could be a charage or a nukige. 

Finished the first two chapters of Senshinkan. That sure went from dream fun times to horror and death quickly. o.O
 
As cool as everything is, I have to say that fight scene in chapter 2 was so long and absurd that it was downright exhausting. I know a lot of it is on purpose, and that having difficulty with the complicated language is my own fault, but it doesn't change the fact that it was tiring.Considering the purposes of that scene, I hope they tone the fights down a bit from now on - or, explain them better, would probably be a better way to put it.Either way, I'm curious where the story goes from here... probably not anywhere nice, that's for sure.

Hopefully people will not find this weird, but here goes .
 
People get into relationships, then they marry. We are obviously capable of having love for one another. But what about other things?
 
For me, I find myself deeply loving places. Usually, places I visit alone on holidays. I would arrive, get lost, then gradually become familiar with the area until I know my way around every street. That to me feels like spending time to know a person.
 
After returning home, I find myself obsessively looking at the place I visited on Google Street View, YouTube, etc. Many people want to visit new places all the time. For me, I desperately want to relive memories that I found enjoyable.
 
Recently, I got to revisit Melbourne to attend PAX. I recorded gigs of footage to ensure I will leave with no regrets. The whole time, I wore a stupid grin and skipped along the streets. Not tourist attractions, but simply soaking in that daily lifestyle. Love it so much.
 
I get similar feelings when I return to suburbs where I used to live. It brings me so much bliss that other people say they are unable to relate.
 
I also love storywriting and game development to a point where I have no interest in relationships, even though I am approaching 30. If that is all I do in my lifetime, I am delighted with that. My mind might change later, of course. For now, I want to devote everything to a craft I care deeply about.
 
Thanks for reading until the end XD. I have read stories of people wanting to marry their car tires, or a bridge, etc. By no means have I reached that extreme, but yeah. If anyone has experiences they wish to share, I will be happy to read about them!

I've been wondering recently what the appeal of forums are. In terms of social-networking, forums definitely standout as sort of unique. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc, our identities are relatively anonymous; yet at the same time out identities aren't non-existent like on anonymous message boards. Then there is the added factor that while Twitter and Facebook seem to be places for basic communications with friends, forums generally have a purpose. There has to be a distinct purpose to your topic and you have to place it in the right place. Also, your topic is open to discussion to anyone who wants to participate, it is not limited to your friend group. This is why I like forums, and why they are the only medium of social-networking I use (don't have a twitter or Facebook). Forums allow me to discuss topics and to get many different opinions.
 
The issue of identity particularly interests me about forums. How much do our identities matter here? On the one hand we all have usernames and most of us have avatars that relate to our interests. Our avatar is about the only outlet outside of our posts that signal to people what our interests are, and possibly what our personalities are like. For instance, lets take my avatar as an example. My avatar is retro (its a character from an snes game), and he has a concerned, serious expression. Certainly if you read my posts, one thing you would know about me is that generally I am more on the serious side, and that I like retro stuff. Hell I love the 1999 VN Kanon so much I wrote a whole analysis on it. Meaning that at least for me, the reason I have the avatar I have is because I feel it accurately represents a part of my personality. What's more, my avatar represents how I interpret myself. My avatar represents how I internally think I am as a person, not what other people think about me. So one big question of mine is does the same apply to you? Do you think your avatar represents your personality in anyway?
 
Then there is the question of what a "forum community" is. If we are all half anonymous people using digital identities, how well can we/do we know each other? Forums allow you to communicate with people when it is convenient for you, and always around specific topics. Loosely speaking, getting to know people on forums is sort of similar to getting to know people at school if you only talk to them when in assigned groups. Whether you are discussing and debating a topic, or working on a project on the site, communication on forums always has a higher purpose "than just getting to know each other". While some more extroverted people seek to communicate with people outside of the forums, either through Skype or IRC, or other things that I don't use, its very easy to remain relatively isolated if you only use the forums/pms to communicate. Certainly that is the case with me, and I was wondering if others felt the same way. The only knowledge I have of being recognized by people is if they like or reply to my posts. But even then, I am unsure if they like/replied knowing it was me who said it, or if they looked at what I wrote without attaching my digital-identity to it.
 
I've been using forums for 5 years now, and I've been on the Fuwanovel forums for around 2 years. Of my 5 years experience using this medium of communication, I've never felt that my digital identity was particularly well recognized.  
 
 
TL;DR: Please read it, but if you insist not to, I have three questions:
 
1) Do you feel your avatar represents a part of your personality?
2) Do you feel your identity is acknowledged and known on forums (either here or other forums)?
3)  How well do you honestly feel you know other people on forums?  
 
Edit: I should note that I generally feel I recognize other members better than I think they recognize me. 

@Avatar Honestly I rarely look closely at avatars that don't give an immediate impression. Just like card art from collectible card games, I just recognize the pattern. A user's avatar is like a VN's art style. Unless something substantial in the text/story builds up an actual impression, the art style (ie. avatar) is all you see. So if whether they are a happy, sad, cute, funny, non-anime avatar affects my perception of the, and more so, the less I know them.
 
Like for Tiagofvarela, I imagine his avatar (and by association, him) pointing out the points layed out in his post with a raised finger while friendlily smiling.
 
I used skype (text) and I still felt isolated. I think I've accepted that, but whenever there's ever a chance to do something together within a field of common interests or have a meaningful discussion, I will. Like right now.
 
Guy-who-wrote-the-kanon-post, played swan song (which I need to play sometime), and makes interesting posts (err, to be more objective: seems to be a person who tries to make most out of textual forum interaction to try and have deeper discussions about various relevant topics and contemplations, which I think are interesting or at least interesting enough).
 
 
1) Do you feel your avatar represents a part of your personality?
1: It's kind of like my (are you serious do you really mean that in your post) type of exasperated face, but it also on account of being really cute, disperses any passive-agressive overtones, which sorta reflects me. But the reason why I picked it up was not because of that, it was just because it was a unignorably disgustingly hngggg picture from a non-moege VN.
 
2) Do you feel your identity is acknowledged and known on forums (either here or other forums)?
I'd bet it is, but it's not something anyone would mention out loud. It's probably at the level of acknowledging that such and such person (I) exists, and that if you make a post about this topic, that person (I) might come in and comment. A few specific interactions with cordial and yet not distant people make me wonder if they perhaps feel positively about me, which would be a most wonderful possibility that would make me feel like beaming.
 
3)  How well do you honestly feel you know other people on forums?
From 1-10:

It unsurprisingly depend on the work
 
There was a time I almost committed suicide, and for a long time after, the warmth from VN was the drug keeping me from trying again. At the time what I loved about VN was simple love stories and the kind, unselfish characters helping each other get better, even if it reinforced how hollow my life was in comparison. I made that sounds really simple and unimportant, but considering it kept me alive, it was very important.
 
While this was there before as well, now that I am better focus more on other aspects. I have branched away from utsuge/drama VN to other genres, even if I have to go through dlsite doujin and otoge to do so.
 
Some of it are enjoyment without too much depth. And while everyone else have focused on really powerful impacts, I feel it is just as important to have doses of "average". Not "average quality" so much as "average life". And just casual enjoyment is also very important, or VN would become a trap for our thoughts and feelings instead of a mountain we come out stronger after climbing it.
 
And by climbing it I'm of course talking about the actually deep and moving VN.
Interestingly I've lately begun to feel that VN that moves me to tears and make me feel really relatable are actually not that rare (hence my user name). There are certainly more of them than I have time to read.
So lately (and it might change again, who knows) I really like VNs that go one step further from appealing to my humanity to instead challenge it.
VNs that force me to ask "what's better for this world", "how should I be living my own life", or even "what does it mean to be human?".

I was in the shower after finishing Steins;Gate 12
 
And I thought about the phenomenon of writing characters by archetypes. You've all seen it.
Whether in design, personality, or back story, it's all there. Certainly this is not a phenomenon limited to VN. It's in all genres of fiction, even if the archetype is different.
 
The supporting comic relief. The good samaritan. The empty. The confident. The shy. The rebel. The smart guy. The dumb guy. The charismatic leader.
The tsundere, kuudere, tomboy, yamato nadeshiko, bookworm, cutsie-moe
Big breasts, loli, ojou, longhair, shorthair, twintail, cutsie-moe, cat, dog
Abusive family, child mistakes, promises, lost stuff, bully, owe the protagonist one
 
Now personally, I don't like how they are used. It feels very unrealistic and unrelatable.
Don't get me wrong, I understand that all type of people exist in the world. And there are probably a heck of a lot of people who know not only people with such archetype traits but are as if they're carbon copy of a fictional character. And there's nothing wrong with that, or the archetypes themselves inherently. I actually feel I have a far higher tolerance for characters. I've read a lot of people go "I don't like this or that character". But for me, as long as s/he's not a selfish narcissist asshole, I'll accept whatever quirk s/he has.
 
What make me feel it's unrealistic/unrelatable are:
#1 People usually make friends with like-minded people, whether interest or personality or backstory. So to me an tomboy sports captain, shy bookworm, charismatic ojou, neighborhood tsundere etc, would all hang out in the same group when they share no interest or personality or backstory seems...odd. I'm not saying they can't be close friends, but they're really more likely to have their own separate group with like-minded people instead. But this point is very minor if it was only by itself.
 
#2 The archetype is too exaggerated. I'm fine with them if they are "within reason". Take tsundere for example, and I actually like tsunderes. If this happen when they're really flustered then fine. If every other interaction has a tsundere response then, that breaks my suspension of disbelief. And this really, really increase the problem of #1, so much so that #1 is not really the problem, #2 is. This is especially a problem for supporting characters, whose archetype are too played up to become distracting yet do not get enough time to develop into a well-rounded character.
 
#3 The characters become more identifiable and identified by their archetype and less by their, well, character. People have many different traits, complicated motivations, and act differently depend on the situation. People have different sides. So there's two parts to this problem: a. focusing too much on the more identifiable but shallow archetype traits (oh look, #2 again) and b. not writing enough different traits when putting together the character. When this happens, it makes it really easy to get the feeling that "I've seen all this before". It also make me feel like say "the MC argued with old-conservative commander" instead of "the MC argued with Commander Denniston", or "the old mentor type died" instead of "Obiwan died", or "I'm romancing the doggy girl" instead of "I'm romancing Mikamo". I am sure going to care a lot less about an archetype than I do an individual.
 
 
I've often read people complaining this or that work has "plain characters" and point that as a weakness.
But to me, I much prefer this weakness to carbon archetype cutouts. "Plain characters" are people who have a bit of personality, but let the situation decide what's appropriate to do, just like most people do every day at more restrictive settings. "Plain characters" might be boring and interchangable sure, but they are both acting realistically (and therefore relatably). Archetypes to me act unrealistic (when the situation calls for it), unrelatable, and only distract me from the main character spotlight and plot.
 
It's easy for me to chalk this up to lazy writing. But is it really lazy writing? I do not know. Archetypes are a useful writing tool for sure, and their traits themselves are most definitely realistic, even if the way they're played is not. But I have to say these archetypes are at least just as lazy writing than plain characters. Plain character are carbon copies of the average Joe, while archetypes are carbon copies of X different types of fictional Joes. You're still copying common knowledge.
 
And yet, if you throw enough traits together (skillfully enough), an archetype becomes a character.
 
Which is why I have hesitated for a long time from moving from NekoNekoSoft VNs (who's common route, if there's one, is incredibly short), and I have always preferred single-route VNs and I often like gaiden games better than the VN they came out of.
 
tl;dr I feel that writers are using archetype copies too much and too exaggeratedly. If they're not going to be given proper time and focus for development, being toned down and plain, or just be given one or two identifying traits, is better than being exaggerated archetypes.
 
 
What do you think about the use of Archetypes in VN (or fiction in general)