Survey: Have you played or developed a visual novel?

[geoffreak]

Hey all, long time no see!

I'm just dropping by to request feedback from anyone who has played or developed a visual novel. I'm sure most all of you know what a visual novel is, but for those who don't, here's the wikipedia entry about visual novels. If the name visual novel doesn't ring a bell, maybe you have heard of some types of visual novels in various anime and manga such as galge, eroge, dating sims, or H-games (though not all of each of these are visual novels).

Anyhoo, I am doing some research on visual novels with the intent of creating a new tool for building and distributing them. I would very much appreciate if you could answer any sets of questions that apply to you, but don't feel obligated to answer any question you feel is too personal. The more feedback I can get, the better this tool will be.

Thanks in advance!


Questions for anyone who has played a visual novel before:

• How many visual novels have you played? (it's fine to give a rough estimate)
• Do you play visual novels to the end? If not, why?
• How much do you usually pay for visual novels, if at all?
• How frequently do you play visual novels?
• What makes a good visual novel in your opinion? Are there specific types of visual novels you enjoy?
• If you play visual novels with multiple endings, do you play through to each ending?
• Have you played visual novels with sex scenes or nudity? If so, do all visual novels you play have sex scenes or nudity?
• Have you played visual novels that do not have anime-styled artwork? If not, is it a matter of preference or availability of these types of visual novels?
  
• What system do you play visual novels on? Is there a system you would like to play visual novels on, but can't?
• What language do you play visual novels in? Is this your preferred language?
• Have you ever paid someone to create a visual novel for you? If so, why and how much did it cost?

Questions for anyone who has created a visual novel before:

• Have you used a visual novel generation tool? If so, which one(s)?
• If you have used a generation tool, what were some things you liked or didn't like about it? Are there any features you wish existed? Please answer for each tool you have used.
• If you have used a generation tool, was it WYSIWYG (visual) or text based? Do you have a preference?
• If you did not use a generation tool, why not?
• What was your target development platform? Did you consider consoles, mobile gaming devices, or tablets?
• How much did you sell your visual novel for, if not free? How many copies were sold or distributed?
• Did you work alone on creating the visual novel, or was it a team effort?
• Would you consider yourself an artist, a storyteller, a coder, or some combination of the three?
• Would you pay for a tool that helps you easily create, host, and sell visual novels without requiring any programming experience?

Questions for anyone who has never played a visual novel before:

• Have you heard about visual novels prior to reading this thread? If so, why haven't you played one before?
• If this is your first time hearing about visual novels, are you interested in playing one? If so, how much would you pay for one?

Questions for anyone who is interested in creating a visual novel, but hasn't yet:

• Are you actively looking into creating a visual novel, or is it just a project you hope to complete eventually?
• Would you pay for a tool that helps you easily create, host, and sell visual novels without requiring any programming experience?
• Would you consider yourself an artist, a storyteller, a coder, or some combination of the three?
• Are you aiming to create a visual novel alone, or with others?

Questions for everyone:

• Would you be interested in beta testing a tool that helps you easily create, host, and sell visual novels without requiring any programming experience?
• Do you know another good place to post this survey? If so, would you mind posting it there and either relaying the feedback it receives or linking directly to where the responses are posted?

[Soryon]

Ive never played one all the way through, and frankly, I dont have a desire to.
I have played a few dozen, but never went through the whole thing.

[Sosseres]

PM'ed response.

[Temuthril]

Have played.
1. ~19
2. Yes
3. I've only bought four, Demonbane was $39.95, Kara no Shoujo was 24.95 € (~35 USD at the moment), Ever17 and Umineko I don't remember. I intend to preorder the Saya + Hanachirasu set from JAST USA ($29.95).
4. Occasionally, other forms of entertainment (video games, anime) take their time too.
5. An intense plot that makes you want to read more and more. I enjoyed the military aspect of Muv-Luv Alternative and mystery aspects of Umineko, Chaos;Head and 999 for example. 
6. Sometimes
7. Yes. No.
8. No
9. PC
10. English
11. No

Last 2 questions:
1. No
2. Animesuki

[Ultra_Magnus]

Does phoenix wright count?

[Kyrdua]

All links relevant.

(click to show/hide)

Questions for anyone who has played a visual novel before:

• 6 or so. i play mostly shorts. so don't know if those would count.
  
  
• yes. naturally, if the story is good. or if i have a route i want to play other than the playable routes.
  
  
• don't buy em. if i had the money then that would depend on the cheapest price for it online.
  
  
• VERY rarely. whenever i get bored. i don't read a lot of fiction in the first place anyway.
  
  
• interesting characters and good usage of Tropes. plot comes second for me. as i'm fine with a ridiculous
  plot if the characters are well written.
  
  
• depends on if i find pursuing other routes worth it.
  
  
• yes and yes. i have little to no interest in playing non-eroge. that is not to say i haven't played non eroge's.
  
  
• no. and 75% preference and 25% availability. non-anime stylized visual novels pique my interest too, but i
  just can't be arsed to find good ones.
  
  
• PC, and i'd like to play em in err... PSP,DS, PS3/360. mostly because of the exclusive titles in each. and
  can't play them because i don't have those consoles and portables.
  
  
• English, and no. my preferred language is the orig language the VN is in. because sometimes there are
  untranslatable dialogue in other languages. or at least untranslateable without losing original context.
  
  
• no. and i'd rather participate in making one than pay someone to do it.

Questions for anyone who is interested in creating a visual novel, but hasn't yet:

• Something i'd do eventually.
  
  
• no, i wouldn't. i'd rather use a free one that requires me to program. like say, Ren'Py.
  
  
• I'd call myself a below sub-par artist and storyteller.
  
  
• with others. doing one alone takes too much time and may not be worth it.

Questions for everyone:

• no, at least not yet.
  
  
• nihonomaru.com, animesuki.com, animtake.com, animesharing.com, ggkthx.org,
  4chan.org's /jp/ or /a/ * warning: majority of people who may respond on gg & 4ch could be trolls.

[AceHigh]

My answer:

No, what's a visual novel?

After thinking about it, isn't it a more fitting name for those linear, full of cinematics JRPGs? 

[JoonasTo]

(click to show/hide)

Questions for anyone who has played a visual novel before:

• How many visual novels have you played? (it's fine to give a rough estimate)

6

• Do you play visual novels to the end? If not, why?

yes

• How much do you usually pay for visual novels, if at all?

none

• How frequently do you play visual novels?

not in many, many years

• What makes a good visual novel in your opinion? Are there specific types of visual novels you enjoy?

good story, mystery

• If you play visual novels with multiple endings, do you play through to each ending?

maybe

• Have you played visual novels with sex scenes or nudity? If so, do all visual novels you play have sex scenes or nudity?

yes, no

• Have you played visual novels that do not have anime-styled artwork? If not, is it a matter of preference or availability of these types of visual novels?

yes

• What system do you play visual novels on? Is there a system you would like to play visual novels on, but can't?

PC, Web Browser (two different platforms, not one!)

• What language do you play visual novels in? Is this your preferred language?

english, finnish, yes

• Have you ever paid someone to create a visual novel for you? If so, why and how much did it cost?

no

Questions for everyone:

• Would you be interested in beta testing a tool that helps you easily create, host, and sell visual novels without requiring any programming experience?

no

• Do you know another good place to post this survey? If so, would you mind posting it there and either relaying the feedback it receives or linking directly to where the responses are posted?

reddit?

[/list]

[Slysoft]

My answer:

No, what's a visual novel?

After thinking about it, isn't it a more fitting name for those linear, full of cinematics JRPGs? 

No because visual novels don't necessarily need any form of gameplay other than dialogue interaction between characters. There are many that have more but a true visual novel in my opinion is a game for a niche group whereas JRPG games are more widely played. Also visual novels aren't linear they usually have many different paths to take and multiple endings. Which is why many visual novel turned anime shows often follow multiple story arcs to try to get as much of the visual novel before the ending.

[AceHigh]

Hahaha! So both the western RPG players and the visual novel fans go all like "woa! Don't compare jrpg to our stuff" 

I think I get it now. I remember there was a time when I was interested in one of those text based MMOs. While not limited to only social interactions, it was sure as hell the biggest part of it.

[Duki3003]

• How many visual novels have you played? (it's fine to give a rough estimate)
  15-20ish.
• Do you play visual novels to the end? If not, why?
  Generally, yes.
• How much do you usually pay for visual novels, if at all?
  Not more than 20 EUR, and the free kind.
• How frequently do you play visual novels?
  Seldom occasionally when I have time.
• What makes a good visual novel in your opinion? Are there specific types of visual novels you enjoy?
  Good story, plot, art.
• If you play visual novels with multiple endings, do you play through to each ending?
  Yes.
• Have you played visual novels with sex scenes or nudity? If so, do all visual novels you play have sex scenes or nudity?
  Yes, no.
• Have you played visual novels that do not have anime-styled artwork? If not, is it a matter of preference or availability of these types of visual novels?
  No, preference.
• What system do you play visual novels on? Is there a system you would like to play visual novels on, but can't?
  Pc.
• What language do you play visual novels in? Is this your preferred language?
  English.
• Have you ever paid someone to create a visual novel for you? If so, why and how much did it cost?
  Why would I do that?