Clephas Q & A (9/28/2015 to 10/4/2015)

[Clephas]

What kinds of steps do you think the OELVN industry will need to take in order to reach an equal level of respect to the Japanese VN industry?  Do you think it has the potential for VNs to become a more well-known part of gaming in general?

First, the ero option isn't going to work here.  At the very least, making eroge-VNs mainstream as part of the OELVN culture isn't going to work.  2D culture in general just isn't as well established here as it is over there and our artists just don't have the skill yet, for the most part. 

 

Second, we have to work with what we have and the Japanese don't.  Where the Japanese have moe-art and the tendency to go for emotional surrealism and exaggerated emotions at every turn; we have the ability to write a more serious, less emo-dependent story.  Not only that, we don't have their taboos against violence, and so our writers are less limited than theirs are in that sense. 

 

Third, to make OELVNs more successful, we have to draw in a non-otaku crowd.  To be blunt, I think the best aim would be to go for the bibliophiles who read comics as well.  This is a surprisingly large crowd, and if you wrote something literate enough to satisfy them with a solid visual and audio style, then you would have a much larger potential fanbase than OELVNs can hope for at present.

 

Fourth... to be blunt, you'll have to distance yourselves from standard eroge-VNs in style.  At present, too many OELVNs are imitations of the Japanese style, which lays on the sexuality like a fat guy pouring maple syrup over his pancakes.

[Clephas]

Midnight tomorrow is the last chance to ask me questions with a certainty I'll answer. 

[kingdomcome]

Have you been to Japan? If so, what did you do there? Would you ever move there?

Edit: I realise it's been over 3 days, but whatever..