i don't believe i am.

i'll tell you why: since baldur's gate's re-release [and their dlc for that game] gog's customers have been...a little up in arms every time a game comes along that features even a /little/ bit of inclusivity. the common consensus on this forum seems to /very/ much be: NOT IN MY GAME.

so, perhaps i'm jumping to conclusions, [and while i'll admit that may be the case, we do have evidence to the contrary if you just look at the first page of this comment thread] but for MOST of gog's commenter-base, "later daters" is a trifecta of "not in my game:"

it features older characters
who are bisexual
and you can assign yourself a nonbinary pronoun.
[with a bonus bingo of polygamous relationships, too.]

and there's VERY CLEARLY a lot of ill-will about those sorts of things in these parts.

---

let's talk about your other statement:

not every game released on gog is meant for you. in that list you mentioned, how many of those are you likely to play? one game? two?

that's totally fine, and, in fact, i'm glad you have preferences. that's what makes us all unique and different.

well, i - and others here - have preferences, too.

i'm STRONGLY in favour of those indies and i want to see more of them.

for me, at this late date, indies are where the game industry is doing the most interesting stuff.

which - in a way - is analogous to the very early days of gaming.

are those games going to look great? no. that's totally ok. i'm here for their interesting stories. or their interesting gameplay mechanics - and yes, in this case, i'm here because "later daters" is trying to move a marker that i think is interesting: it's trying to tell a sort of story in gaming [about older people] that doesn't happen very often.

there will be PLENTY of games for you in the future.

in fact, i hope all those games you mentioned get released here. not necessarily because i'm interested in them. [alice just seems shruggy to me, for example] more because i want people to have ACCESS to them.

the same is true of this game. i'm glad people have drm-free access to "later daters."
absolutely agreed.

Its common to demand equality, even when it leads to a race to the bottom.

Just because you got disapointed when the game you wanted got rejected doesn't mean you should wish the same for others.

Get mad when a game you want doesn't make it, not when a game you don't want makes it.

PS: I won't claim to be in the know about this, but also consider that just because they claim a game got rejected because its too niche doesn't mean its the real reason a game got rejected. Maybe it just looks better to claim that than to give the real reason.

No. There is a comparatively small number of very loud people being like that (whether true believers or just people liking to troll is a question I no longer seek an answer to). Most of us have also learned from past experience that any form of engagement with those people is pretty darn pointless so the maximum most will do is hit that minus button.

Getting back to topic, while I don't mind it being here it's just not for me. But the answer would have been the same regardless of available pronouns, age of the participants or available pairings. It's just not my genre. I should not have to do this, but obviously "not my genre" does very much not mean "should not be here". I have no interest in breaking other people's toys just because I feel I did not get what I want.

Since I have seen consecutive release days completely filling the news bar in the past, I have absolutely no worries about this supplanting releases I actively want.

Personally, I appreciate this being here. GOG needed to cast a wider net, curation-wise. Some of the decisions of old seemed a bit ridiculous (seriously, "Opus Magnum" after so many other Zachtronic games were already here?). Maybe some of the older decisions can be revisited. A couple of games said to be rejected in the past made a later return. Maybe some more will come. Maybe some authors have lost interest publishing here. Maybe sometimes "rejected by curation" was just a convenient excuse for deeper issues.

I really want to know who among the GOG scouting/licensing/curation committee (or however else they pick games for this site) is obsessed with dating sims because good grief, it's been practically nonstop for the past several releases. People can enjoy what they enjoy but I have a very hard time believing that there's enough demand for games like these for GOG to release so many of them back to back while ignoring games that have so many wishlist votes that it's absurd. Granted, yes, a lot of the top wishlisted titles would be trickier to license but still, there are so many games out there that would EASILY outweigh the demand for games like this.

While I have no real interest in dating sims, I think I’m going to buy this one because of how uneasy it seems to make all of the stick-in-the-ass so-called "gamers".

I love it when conservatives feel challenged, it means the world is going forward, leaving them behind in the process ;)

Now here's the mindset that's ruining the world in a nutshell - "I will support something not because I like it, but becuase it might annoy someone I don't like". What a positive message indeed :D

It is.

Someone, who has ARTE TV on heavy rotation, is VERY fond of art / artsy games AND has a good standing in GOGs hirarchy.

This is another title (like the Yaoi VN a few months ago), which is only listed because it is ART. They do not and CANNOT expect it to sell well here. Or anywhere.

But the creator wanted it here, GOG said "at least it gives some good press" and now it is here.

It is quite sad that other titles do not get here and I DO NOT buy the "it was rejected by curation" stuff anymore. There are other reasons (partial DRM, missing online features, not wanting sales for their games, not wanting to accept regulary updates here...) they are not telling us.

So we have to wait here, buy with DRM elsewhere or pirate those titles. I can live with that. I have time. A lot.

Oh, yeah, spite, that's totally a legit reason to support something you other ways would not have. What a healthy and not at all destructive mindset you have.

You are the problem.

Lack in quality? Maybe, cannot see that at the moment. This is just not a game for me to buy. I cannot and will not deterrmine that without playing it.

Those games quite simply do not have a large audience, are partially niche in a niche, so high sales are not to be expected. Even if they are perfect.

But if a developer approaches GOG, he accepts all of GOGs conditions, GOG is not against he title itself and the game is not outragiously broken and can be updated in the following months, it is gonna be published here.

Shame that many publishers do not see it that way and we had quite some delistings in the last few months and mostly the developer was cause of that.

Makes life somewhat simpler for me. Had some stuff to buy in the last months, now no new interresting titles for me (so I can save money for now), so let's hope for more stuff in the next months.

Well.. Kudos for this game. I don't really know what is the "target" here (my grandparents don't play video games...),
but it's nice to see different games on the indie market !!!

I wish you well ! :-)

I think the issue is if the topic/content of the game is what causes people to say it is niche. In other words, the fact that it is not only a dating simulator, but, a dating simulator also containing this topic/content.

Why else are people bringing up the topic/content AT ALL in this topic, if not to smuggle it in as a reason for why the game is not only niche but indeed all the way to the magical "too niche"?

As a contrast, if someone says "generally speaking, dating simulators are too niche, thus this game which is a dating simulator is too niche and should be rejected along with the rest of its genre", that doesn't have the same baggage.

it's about eight hours later and i've had some sleep, so...let the rep sinking continue!

i've read a handful of reviews. at this point, i think this game - quality wise - is on par with dream daddy. that is to say: dd had very few bugs and was reasonably well polished when it was launched.

so, no. this doesn't come across as a "low quality" release.

it's not for you? that's totally cool, but judging the game without doing research on it's actual merits and deciding it's low quality just seems to me like you're writing it off with a value judgement [that you're attempting to pass off with a "valid reason."]

ps: it's totally ok to not like something.

I don't think anyone feels challenged; rather that a large subset of regulars feel this is at best, a confusingly scouted pick that only a very small subset of people would be interested in.

So let's try a logical approach:
There's dating sims. The audience here tends not to skew in favor of them.
Then you add the factor of being old. And not fantasy old or hot old. But just reality old. Video games are a form of escapism. People want to escape being old.

So these in mind, the question asked is: Who is this for? What is the internal direction of the team that decided this was the game that would be right for the audience? The demographics may sweep upwards a bit compared to a normal chart, but I'd have to see proof of this.

These discussions for game approvals could take weeks. At some point, an agreement is reached; but what is the stamp of approval reading?

There are obvious signs of favoritism, (anything made in Poland, no matter what) but after that, there's absolutely no rhyme or reason. I feel that Patrician Havelock Vetinari was right: What most people want in their lives is a resemblance of order; for tomorrow to look mostly alike today.

Unfortunately, there is neither a resemblance of order or even a benevolent dictator, we've had to resort to dowsing rods & divining the stars in the vain hope of attempting to figure out what the auditors are thinking. Even followers of Blind Io have more guidance than this!