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Hello, guys. I'm not actually new here; I was a lurker for a few years then made an account just last year. Come to think of it, it's almost exactly one year since I've made this account. So yay me. Aaaannnyway, for the past few months I've been making three storygames at the same time (I know, not a good idea) and  the one that has the most progress is my "Skyden" storygame. So basically it's set in a ancient Celtic Britain where you play as a boy named Skyden who, along with eight other boys, has to be trained as a warrior. Now the hard part's kicking in; in reality in the Iron Age there isn't really much - no toilets, TV, written books etc. I could change it a bit by making it more modern, but somehow I don't know if I should. Then a crazy idea popped in my head: what about adding magic in my story? Makes writing harder and delay a bit due to school/work/life, but it will probably be done next year. So what do you think? Should I add magic in the game or not?

My second question is about ROs. Since you play as a boy, I've made two female ROs with two very different backgrounds. Each had a problem of their own, and if you make the right choices, their problems are solved and you'll get an ending with one of them. Sweet, huh? But knowing the readers here are big suckers for romance, should I more ROs? If so, how much?

Third and final question is again about ROs. When I researched by sex and marriage in Celtic/Roman times, apparently in those times male and male relationships are common. Like, very common. Even Alexander the Great was a homosexual. With that in mind, show I add male ROs? If so, how much?

Thanks for reading this guys. I usually don't write so long and write in public forums, I usually PM people. But I really need some of your opinions, and I feel this is the only way. Thanks again .

P.S. The emojis are so weird.

Story Im writing is based on three ROs. You wouldn't beleive how much i wanted to just delete and entire path and just publish the dam thing already. I could get away with it to as it wouldn't damage the story. But there's something about making them that adds something to your story. Another RO can pretty much make it 10x better as that's a path people might love the most and remember when they think of your story again.

Although there's the problem of rushing a RO just to get to another one, or just finish the story all together. One awesome RO is better than 5 that no one will remember or look back on.

I guess it's your opinion on the male RO though xD never read or written that kind of RO so can't really give say much,

Yeah I get the gist. But I guess patience is the key. Oh and don't worry about the RO path(s) being rushed - I've wrote notes on a few potential ROs and their backgrounds. I've even wrote the endings for them.

And lol yeah I've also never written same sex romance paths, but it's become more and more popular in storygames, so I thought about writing it myself. I just want to see if other people wanted it too.

And thanks for answering my questions! I've got a better idea of how to write now. 

1. If you want to. 

2/3. Most here arent as interested in having choice of romance. Generally the best games i can recall have one romanced character, maybe two. If you think it adds to the story, you should put it in, but dont worry about your audience needing more. If you write it well, itll be awesome. As for the homosexual relationship, the same advice applies. Write it well, and itll be good. Dont put it in to please the audience, write it in if it fits the story.

Honestly, I'm on the fence here. Not only I have the choice to add magic to the Celtic world but also have a choice if the MC should have magical abilities. I've got a few ideas in this but I just want other people's inputs in this.

Hmmm. Are you suggesting that I should have a very few ROs but must be written well? I guess that could work. Maybe two ROs each for each sexual orientation... yeah that's seems to be a great idea. Thank you for your input! 

P.S. Just to be sure, I want to know anyone else's opinion in this. But you're more than welcome to put your point of view here.

First rule of ROs: Unless you're really, truly ready to go through with ANY answer to your question, DO NOT FUCKING ASK ABOUT ROS!

If you end up getting asked to do something you don't want, or if you end up getting encouraged to do something you're really not sure about... Well, that's a sure way to fuck up the entire goddamn RO thing. Any forced aspects in a romance story can and will be picked up by your readers, and anything you can't do naturally will result in a serious, painful boner that sticks out like a red thumb. And I mean "boner" in the original sense of the word, meaning "Blunder". But, I guess if you like uncomfortable/forced writing, you could get a boner yourself. That's niether here nor there, however, and very few people are actually into that. ROs should be the creative liberty of the author and the author only. If you want advice, that's really the kind of subject that receives better, more helpful critique as part of the finished work rather than it is when it's still in developing stages.

I see. The thing is, I actually want to add romance in my story, not just because it's what the readers want. I've written romance in my stories before, but never in multi-choice stories, so I want to know how many ROs should be in these kind of stories.

Lol, boners. That actually cracks me up! In a serious note, I work quite slow in my storygames because, y'know, life. I write because I love to, but I have to push myself if I have to make good progress in them. And, fortunately, no boners yet! I'm about 10% into my "Skyden" game and have planned every single chapter so far. 

Thanks a lot!

 

Just to clarify beforehand, everything I'm saying here might be a load of nonsense, as you should expect when you ask for peoples opinions on things. We all like different things, so you should put in what you like, not what you think most other people might like. It makes it feel more real.

But anyway, here's my tuppenceworth. In response to your first question: Depends on what the magic is. If its a story about Celts, I would want the magic to be the type of magic that Celts believed in, not just someone waving their hand and a fireball appearing. Not that I actually know what Celtic magic was like, but it would make the story feel more real if it wasn't just generic fantasy magic. Also, if you're just adding it to make up for the lack of modern stuff, does it really add anything to the story? Or is it just being thrown in for the hell of it?

Second/ third question: I'm not a fan of romance stories, so my opinion is heavily biased in this respect. But anyway, it depends on what the story is. Is it about you growing up to become a Celtic warrior, or is it about deciding which of the ROs you go for? If its about becoming a warrior then I would go for less ROs, but again, that could be just my personal distaste for romances speaking.

I've done some research in magic in Celtic Mythology and it turns out the Celts actually does believe in magic! Their priests are called Druids, and the people believe they have magical abilities e.g. healing, able to produce fire, bring storms etc. And yeah, I also don't want just a cliche fantasy story, just a more historical kind of fantasy.

And yeah I see your point in adding modern stuff. I'm actually conflicted about it, but of course I wouldn't want to add obvious things like a dictionary or a radio since the readers can pick that up very easily! Just some tiny things, like written books, some sort of a wooden toilet seats instead of a hole in the ground, silver and gold jewelry etc. 

Oh, it's okay if you're not a fan of romance. It's not such a big element in the game since ROs are optional, so you will get a choice if you want to pursue them; I'm more focused on the MC being a Celtic warrior against the legendary Romans and able to pass the overwhelming odds against you. And a bit of a teaser, about betrayal that could cost you your life...

I hope I've made it at least a bit clearer. I really appreciate your response!

I like magic, I like to have options when it comes to character choices, especially in romance (I'd rather not have anything feel forced) but you do need to understand your limitations. Don't overwhelm yourself. Lastly, I'd say go for it, on the male RO option. Diversity is nice and I am aware that there are readers here who appreciate a "gay option." I'd advise as many as the lady folk for the sake of fairness, but again, don't kill yourself. Also, if something feels unnatural to you, I'd cut it.

Sorry for the late reply, I was at college. So yeah, romance is optional, not a priority in the storygame. And thank you for being concerned, but I actually have a steady schedule of writing each week. Slow but stable. 

I'm now planning to to make four possible ROs; two males and two females. It's still debateable though, but adding homosexual romance in the game is now comfirmed. Hurrah!

Thanks for contributing! 

There's nothing at all wrong with writing more than one story at a time. I usually have anywhere from 5-10 going on in my mind at one time. When I have no inspiration for one, I can write on a different one!

Wow, 5-10 stories?! That's quite alot lol. But that actually make me feel a little better, since I suddenly have some great ideas that have potential to be stories but wasn't sure if it was a good idea.

Thanks for the emotional boost!