milkymylk: Thank you for the releases! Especially the Trap Shrine series. I enjoyed my time with those, they're actually quite comfy. :>
I didn't expect GOG to release non-hetero or non-yuri titles though, so I'm extra pleased!
GOG, please consider bringing some BL/gay/male x male eroge here too:
- JAST has some high quality titles by Nitro+'s side brand, such as "Dramatical Murder", "sweet pool", and "Togainu no Chi"
- Mangagamer also carries high quality titles: "Hashihime of the Old Book Town", "UuultraC", "Room No. 9", and others
Heck, while you're at it, bring us some female-oriented titles as well please:
- Mangagamer's "Fxxx Me Royally!", "Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome", "Steam Prison" and "Ozmafia" (the latter two are without erotic content)
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In regards to the types of people who enjoy these games and having partners:
I'm a married woman, and it was
I who brought up that I enjoy erotic content and want to be able to openly consume it, without having to sneak around or be ashamed. We don't "enjoy" the content together, mainly because my tastes in eroge aren't his jam. Nothing to do with jealousy.
And I would never want to roleplay any of the content anyway, even the vanilla stuff. Because to me that would cheapen the story/characters I've come to adore, and reduce them down to mere fap material.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter which of us enjoys what kind of content - it has zero bearing on our interactions, relationship satisfaction, or real world tastes/interests.
Not sure if most couples are like this or not, but I think it's becoming more acceptable for people to talk about this kind of thing with their partners, at least. So yay, progress. :)
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There also seems to be a misunderstanding about why people enjoy these kinds of games. I often see people bring up "if I want to fap, there are millions of hentai/real porn sites out there"... but these are all different options for different desires.
Personally, I like to think of erotic content in Japanese games as "officially created R34". People who play eroge are often doing so because they're interested in the
characters themselves (not just how they look or the fact they're being sexy or whatever), so they want to see
those specific characters doing more than what the plot dictates. Which means they're not after some 'wham bam thank you ma'am' random porno, or one-off sexy images intended as fap material - both of which involve non-characters.
I mean, that's a big part of why the R34 side of any fandom exists. People fall in love with (or find themselves attracted to pairings of) characters, to the point they go looking for fanfic and fanart that lets them explore 'that side of things'. It just so happens that Japan has a culture where the original creators themselves are so board with it, they feel it's fine to include it in the source material. Or craft an entire story around getting to 'those' moments.
Then there are games where the erotic content is part of the plot - stories that literally cannot be told in any other format, without its erotic content. The sex isn't just there for the hell of it, but to tell a specific story, one that can't be told via live action porn or communicated within even a fap-material image set. The medium also lets you play with some pretty out-there 'what if' scenarios because they're fictional. I think that's the best part about it.
Aaaand then there are games where erotic content is there just for kicks, maybe because it's cheeky or not something you normally get to see in our every day, straight-laced lives. Games like HuniePop, and I assume those Seed of the Dead games. And hey, why not have fun the way you want in your spare time? Again, it's all just as made up as any other game, so whatever floats your boat. ;)
I'll talk to Jast. They love their BL titles. Also, thanks for that perspective. But in a way, aren't these kinda like interactive harlequin romance novels? I get the same feeling when I play them and it hit me - oh damn, this is basically a harlequin romance! I told myself I wouldn't get into these and here I am reading them live and getting into the stories, the characters and the steamy scenes.
