Meat_Bun1

I haven't had any major problems with this, and I play most of my VNs on a flash drive. The only things worth noting are that sometimes, the save files are still on the internal hard drive. So if you change computers, you may not have the same save data. You probably won't have that problem since your external drive stays connected to one computer most of the time. Also, it can be a bit slow at loading text, but I have only noticed this problem once or twice, and it only happens when I run many other things at once on the computer.

The very first choice of the game determines whether you go on Tsugumi/Sora or You/Sara (not counting the true route). Tsugumi and Sora have the same bad ending, so once you choose their route, it is all about affection points. As for You and Sara, there is one choice that leads to another choice to enter Sara's route. If you don't select that choice, you are locked into You's route. TL;DR First choice reduces route to 2 characters. On You/Sara's route, you need to make two choices to go to Sara's route. Otherwise, it defaults to You's route.

If you can follow flowcharts well, here is one that shows what choices can help you get a bad ending. To get bad endings in this one, just avoid choices that add affection points as shown on the flowchart. https://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/931349-ever17-out-of-infinity/faqs/66995

Sure, why not? Favorite series: Grisaia (though I've only read the first two) Favorite VN: Katahane Best VN ever read: Steins;Gate Least favorite VN: None worth mentioning Favorite Company: I don't pay attention to the company names much. Backlog: Eien no Aselia -The Spirit of Eternity Sword-(Kyouko, Tokimi, Lesteena)/Muv-Luv (currently on a VN cooldown from Steins;Gate) Number of finished VNs: 100 VNDB: Click the VNDB link under my picture

I had the cliche start of Katawa Shoujo in the summer of 2014. The next notable ones were probably Homeward, Fault Milestone One and Katahane. Had a lot of shorter stuff and gaps in between before Danganronpa. Then I started spending a lot more reading VNs to the point where I would devour long VNs in a week or two. It was probably around here that I also lost interest in trying to figure out which choices to pick and just went with a walkthrough. Grisaia no Kajitsu became my favorite VN. About a year into VNs, I started reading some more well-known VNs (Fate/Stay Night, Demonbane, Symphonic Rain). Finally, I just finished Grisaia no Meikyuu (my 94th VN according to VNDB). Because of all this, I am now on a translation team as an editor and am starting the long journey of learning Japanese two years later. I also dictate VN music from time to time. I discovered my passion for yuri and romance/slice of life. My standards have probably grown higher than they were when I started. Now VNs are my time and money sink, but I enjoy it. Now to get back to my absurdly large backlog...

False, haven't played purina party since I don't own it. Next person prefers VN hybrids over pure VNs.

I guess I am partially guilty of the attitude of longer VNs being better. I won't discard shorter titles, but I tend to enjoy the longer VNs better. I think this is because I like immersing myself into the VN rather than seeing a snapshot of the world (so to speak). Maybe shorter VNs are like passing through a tourist area without really stopping while longer VNs are more like fully engaging in the attractions in that area. I personally like the immersion approach although others may like seeing a little bit of everything. That is not to say that every long game is great. If it is too repetitive (too long of a common route or gameplay), I tend to drop it (Aselia the Eternal comes to mind). Usually, this isn't a problem for me though since there is a skip read text feature. Sigh... Derg beat me again

For a concrete example of question 1, G-senjou no Maou has a voiced and a voiceless version on Steam. The voice pack is the same price as the voiceless version, making it worth 50% of the full version. Though I couldn't really find any other VNs with a deliberate separation for voices. In terms of KS VNs, the ones I checked vary from 10%-40% with most being around 30% (really rough estimates since VA is sometimes a stretch goal). As for question 2, I can't say anything about part a. For part b, I think it is definitely increasing sales since it is a marketing platform that engages a wider variety of people (Steam as a whole, not necessarily the VN fanbase there). Whether it is helping in other aspects of VNs is another discussion. But I digress. Question 3: As others have stated before, it is like a pre-order although it is important to remember that it is not actually guaranteed, just very likely. In terms of localization, the developers can probably afford to put a lower price (like the $10 mentioned above) and still make a profit, albeit a smaller one as a reward for supporting the work early. As for creating a VN from scratch, those can be a lot more risky. Question 4: I can't really say anything confidently, but I could bring up some points for consideration. Perhaps VNs continue to reuse the same tropes so much that people are becoming weary of them. Will the VN market die because of this (and other factors)? I don't really think so, or if it does, it is probably farther off than people speculate. After all, VNs have stories and people, regardless of time period or age, love stories. Maybe VNs just need to try out new things.

For Steam, I divide it up into finished, "in progress", and not started. For non-Steam ones, I have a flash drive for unfinished (in progress or not started) games and one for finished ones. I use VNDB to track all the ones I have obtained and/or read and I'm very good about that (although I never say I am playing one; just stalled or finished).

Nice progress so far! Good luck on your exams!

True; most of the time, I just scan and email unless I absolutely have to mail it. Next person hates icebreakers.

True, the windstorms from a hurricane some years back knocked out the power at my place for at least two nights. Next person loves climbing trees.

False, I like both equally. Next person usually has more than 5 browser tabs open at a time.

False, although I knew a little gong fu (it has been so long since I learned it). The next person has traveled to 5 or more countries (just passing through an airport or train station doesn't count).