LordArioch
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News From the Six Realms #40 - 2019 Survey Results Analysis
🕑 Added 2019-06-12 15:35:06 +0000 UTC
Hello everyone,
Time for another newspost. Today I am going to be mostly talking about the survey results, so for those of you who aren’t interested in those, I’ll get the other stuff out of the way first.
Release is going fine, everybody is well on with what they have to do this month, and I’m even going to do a little surprise myself which I think a lot of you will like very much. On the art side, we’ve got the CGs to start colouring back from MDN, Sommy is nearly done with his BG for this month, and we have a sprite coming from Keidi as well. I have to go away for a week at the end of the month, so the release date for the new backer version is the 27th.
Also, for those of you who are interested in Jessika’s Curse but haven’t checked it out yet, you can now play it online in your browser over on Newgrounds here - https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/732915
Okay, survey time! (Note: Whenever two percentages are given without reference, it is always Backer / Public).
Pretty decent sample size, combined public and backer response number is 898. I have no real idea of knowing how many people play the game, but legitimate downloads (backers plus itch tracking) put it at around nine thousand a month.
Unsurprisingly responders were overwhelmingly male (94.8% backer / 93.8% public), and mostly straight (67.4% backer / 68.3% public). On the public survey, responders tended to be younger with the largest section being 18-25 at 46.3%, whereas backers fell into the next age group of 26-35 (49.2%). The vast majority were either located in Europe or North America, with more backers being located in North America (54.2%) and more public responders in Europe (42%) with North America a close second. In general, most people either heard about the game on message boards, Patreon, or via other adult developers.
Moving on to the gameplay section, the new guys is backers had a whopping 97.2% combined level of strongly enjoy (41.3%) and enjoy (55.9%) when asked how much they enjoyed the game currently. The public responders weren’t far behind with a combined 92.5% (31.7% / 60.8%). Both groups are also very interested in upcoming content, with the backers showing a combined 96.8% (57.7% very interested / 39.1%), and the public a combined 92.9% (47.9% / 45%). Both groups felt like they were given enough freedom (82.9% backers / 73.9% public), that they were not forced to make unwanted decisions (74.9% / 65.4%) and felt engaged by the decision they made (89.8% / 86.5%).
The most popular mechanic currently was castle management, with 55.5% of backers choosing it as their favourite, and 51.4% of the public. This was followed by map exploration (23.8% / 26.4%), and then NPC job placement (13.4% / 13.5%). Both groups want to see castle management expanded (33.5% / 34.6%), while in second place, backers want more job placement (21.8%), while the public would prefer map exploration (22.2%). On the question of what should be added to Rosaria, the vote was split pretty much four ways, but on the backer survey a map spanning plotline just won out at 27.4%, while the public would prefer a single location with multiple visits (25.2%). Finally the majority of people in both groups agree the current level of depth of the mechanics is fine (72.8% / 67.4%), with a smaller group thinking the game needs more depth (18.4% / 20.4%).
When it comes to narrative, the majority of people like the game’s story, backers with a combined 95% (42.1% strongly like, 52.9% like), and the public with 86.4% (34.6% / 51.8%). Most people also think the amount of story is fine as well (82.5% / 76.6%), and that the pacing is good (86.2% / 81.4%). The most popular options for how decisions are made are “Roleplay” and “Hedonism”, with the backers choosing the former as number 1 (51.6%, ahead of hedonism at 46.9%), while the public was the reverse (45.4% hedonism / 44% roleplay).
Most backers choose to serve the twins because Jezera was convincing (36.3%) ahead of seeing Alexia again (33.9%), while the public prefer to choose Alexia ahead of Jezera by a very small margin (32.3% / 31.7%). Most people in both groups choose to serve Jezera (72.4% / 64.4%), with Andras is second (18.6% / 20.9%). Most of you evil, evil people chose to kill the poor old village elder (72.8% / 69%), and feel that the twins are threatening enough to justify Rowan’s unheroic behaviour (68.3% / 62.2%). When it comes to NTR, the vast majority choose to play with it turned on (91.4% / 79.1%). Feudal is also the most popular society choice (50.1% / 54.8%). Lastly, when it comes to endings, for the backers Rowan becoming evil and joining the twins (42.5%) just beating out Rowan’s own overlord ending (41.3%), while the public preferred the overlord route (42.9%).
In terms of character, most people feel Rowan is just about right (55.3% / 48.6%) although quite a few feel he is currently too passive (41.9% / 48.2%). The most popular role for Rowan is unsurprisingly “Corrupter” (63.7% / 60.1%), with “Judge, Jury and Executor” and “Steward” following behind. Both groups agree that consistency in character and player freedom are equally important (45.8% / 45.6%).
In regards to Alexia, most people prefer a wife who is loyal to Rowan (44.3% / 54.6%), with Andras in second place (33% / 28.4%). The vast majority of people like having Alexia work in the castle (92.7% / 86.5%), and her most popular narrative is becoming Andras’ slut (32.4% / 28.4%) followed by descending into hedonism with Rowan (27% / 25%). The most popular job for both groups was librarian (30.9% / 31.9%) followed by breeding pit assistant (19.7% / 23.2%). Most people (53.3% / 45.4%) would like to see more scenes from Alexia’s point of view, even if it means less from Rowan’s.
Helayna continues to be popular, with most people choosing to claim her (74.3% / 73.4%) and most convincing her to stay (60% / 61.9%). Jezera is also a popular girl with most people either strongly liking (43.4% / 35.3%) or liking (39.7% / 42%) her character. As expected, Andras is a bit more polarizing, with just about more people liking him than not (backers - 25.1% strongly / 33.9% like, public - 23.2% / 30.3%). The most popular female character is Alexia (44.1% / 42%) followed by Helayna (14.3% / 17.7%) and Jezera (13.2% / 15.4). The least favourite characters are X’zaratl (24% / 28.7%) and Cla-Min (21.6% / 22.9%). Despite that, X’zaratl is the second female character that people would like to know more about (43.6% / 42.9%) behind Cliohna (56.6% / 56.9%).
Despite her already having the most content by far, both groups feel that Alexia is the character who needs more content (19% / 23.9%). In second for the public is X’zaratl (15.1%), and joint third, Cliohna and Helayna (both 14%), while second for backers was Cliohna (18.8%), and third was X’zaratl (12.3%). Both groups would like to see Rowan have serious relationship outside of Alexia with Helayna (68.3% / 68.9%) and Jezera (62.8% / 58.2%), while the backers chose Liurial in third (40.4%) and the public Cliohna (41.6%).
One the male side, Greyhide was overwhelmingly the most popular character for both groups (50.5% / 48.4%), beating Andras into second place (35.2% / 35.1%). He is also the character most people would like Rowan to have a serious relationship with (59.4% / 72.7%), again followed by Andras (44.1% / 47.1%), and is also the male character people want to know more about by a large margin (74.5% / 72.7%). The least favourite male character is, for the second year in a row, poor Skordred (38.9% / 33.3%), with Draith in second place (28.9% / 29.1%). Unsurprisingly, when it comes to characters who need more content, both groups put Greyhide in first (41.3% / 42.4%) and Andras in second (23.8% / 23.4%).
When it comes to kinks, NTR was the most popular for both groups, followed by corruption, and then pregnancy / breeding, when extrapolating data from the three pie charts and multiple choice content question. When it comes to Rowan’s straight sex scenes, the majority of people in both groups enjoyed him in both dominant and submissive positions (47.7% / 40.4), followed by dominant positions (36.3% / 39.9%). On the gay side, backers preferred both (22.2%) to Rowan being submissive (21%), while the public preferred sub (19.3% to 16.3% for both).
On the subject of races, Dark Elves were the most popular for both groups (66.5% / 59.2%) with beastmen (50.7% / 47.5%) and minotaurs / cowgirls (45% / 48.6%) both scoring well. The majority of people are also interested in transformation content (79.5% / 70.2%) with the most popular potential transformations being Alexia being slutted up (53.2% / 48.3%), other female NPCs being slutted up (36.9% / 37.2%) and Alexia futa content (31.5% / 30.9%).
Finally, the last section - the vast majority of people are happy with the size and frequencies of the releases, a whopping 97.2% on the backer survey, and 87.8% on the Public. Most people on both also think that the currently month release schedule is the best (80.6% / 76.5%), so no rest for me. :) In a result that I’m sure will surprise no one, most people wanted additional funds to be spent on art (48.6% / 47.5%), with the suggestion to split it between every area in second (23.1% / 22.7%). When it comes to our other games, more backers than not are interested in both Jessika’s Curse (58.3%) and The Eternal Feast (58.3%), while the inverse is true for the public (not interested - JC 52.8% / TEF 53.7%). Both groups, however, are interested in another game set in the Seeds of Chaos world (97% / 95.2%).
In conclusion, and I’ll try to keep this short as it already feels like I’ve been talking forever, I think it is a pretty positive survey, both from backers and the public. The majority of people are enjoying the game and are excited about future updates, and generally feel like we are doing a good job. We’ve got some pretty useful data about the game from these as well, as we’ll be able to use that to improve the game going forward. If you want to compare these results to last year, you can find those here. Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer the survey, and we’ll do this again in a year. :)
Comments
Desiree Tiffany
I like Andras/Rowan....but the game itself is enthralling and fun. So whether the pairing is made into a route or not, I'm fine with just playing. The art and story is to amazing to complain.
Lord Arioch
I am far too busy to have to reply to things like this. You have had your say Varric. Constantly posting demands and using sock puppets is only undermining what you want, it certainly won't help you get it.
Sommelier
*popcorn emoji*
Ranulf
Since you mentioned your wording I do think it came of agressive in the comments you made. I don't like that people want X-character to get more focus it ruins the story and I don't like X-character so add more for someone I like. Opinions are fine sometimes we feel strongly about something but generally bashing something in favor of something else tends to not help your cause. I mean even when I expressed my own opinion your first comment was kinda weird in the context as in I say I personally like Andras and you simply say but greyhide is more popular. As in that does not change anything I said nor my opinion it was a weird thing to answer. That being said I like the dynamic between Andras and Rowan aswell as how Andras looks visually that's why I like the character. I get why others don't like him but personally i would like to see where interacting with him leads to more so than with any other character xd Oh also even though I defend Alexia x Andras I don't like the pairing myself I try to make them interact as little as possible xD
Ranulf
I mean just looking at the results of this it shows Alexia x Andras has to be atleast decently popular if "her most popular narrative is becoming Andras’ slut" and (53.3% / 45.4%) wanting more scenes from Alexias point of view. So there has to be many people liking the pairing otherwise it would not be her most popular narrative. Regarding it not being fair I see why you think that's the case but I mean there was no chance for the team to react to this result so far so in my opinion it would be better to atleast wait a little bit before judging whether or not they take this into account regarding which guy rowan should be able to romance and add more greyhide scenes with him.
lollerskates
Hoping that Alexia can get pregnant soon. That would be incredible. ^_^
Funky Munky
Dragonblade45... you know this is still in development? and still only act 1 ? there's plenty more time for stuff to happen. I'm sure they have many, many plans ahead, if we are just patient and of course, fund them
Sommelier
That I have no copy of unfortunately i only provided Arioch with tileart. he's the only one who knows the pattern. I don't think he'll be sharing it anytime soon as we have a no walkthrough policy coming from the devs. My apologies on that regard.
J
Thanks for replying. You could maybe also provide the full unmarked map as an image and we could print it and mark it as we go. Although I don't know if many people would want to go through it.
Sommelier
Being disapointed at me is 100% fine Deathstar.
Sommelier
That we'll have to consider as far as ,I've asked about this as well several years back, talked about this for a bit. It is designd explicitly not to have a minimap int its original design decision. But we'll see.
Ranulf
I'm just gonna quote you here: "The gay players have really only asked for Greyhide and Rowan" I am gay I don't agree I prefer Andras over Greyhide simple as that that is why I expressed my own opinion here. I don't have anything against greyhide but he is simply not my first choice. One thing though I personally think the team behind this does a very good job at listening to feedback but really everyone sees things differently. The rest I already expressed in my previous comment
J
maybe you could add a minimap?
Sommelier
I can only answer on the zooming part. It usually breaks apart the plugin we used with renpy as it usually loads a giant baked area. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do there until we find a more suitable game engine as renpy is usually specialized for visual novel.
VampyrëanFox
Sommelier I am gay and I was a patreon but what Varric said is the reason why I stopped. I am disappointed with your reply.
J
Oh and also: what were the results on Rastedel and the Orciad?
Ranulf
Just because there is apparently the need to be vocal I personally really like the Andras x Rowan content more so than Rowan x Greyhide lol That being said this game mainly has a heterosexual audience and if said audience that actually mainly funds the game wants more Alexia content than Rowan content that's how it is. I still prefer a fleshed out game with some content I really like than no game at all and the game does a great job trying to include many different things. If Alexia x Andras is popular that's for a reason lol (Also just to state it again yes my favorite pairing is Andras x Rowan so I'm very happy they have quite a bit of content with each other if that were to change so be it if not yay for me I won't complain about it if they decided these two shouldn't be able to romance each other in favor of other pairings or if they just wanted to not go that way with them)
J
Also let me add that overall I liked the survey even though "I didn't feel the survey gave me enough choice / freedom", but that's why I'm posting here (・_・；)
J
I think this would be a better place to post this: It'd be great if the map was zoomable since it's hard to keep track of where I've been to. Also I'd love for there to be artwork and story for the captured female royal knight that we meet after the Astarte Plains' Battle and for Nasim's "Alexia" . There is something to be said about Save the Princess and Damsel in Distress tropes. The plot revolves about saving Alexia; we (can) rescue Helayna, and Lady Delane; we protect (and can tell Alexia so) Liural; and we even got in all this trouble trying to save Jezera's 'daughter', and to me those interactions are very special and consistent with the Rowan I like to play. He is, for better or worse, a hero after all. So yeah. Being able to 'save' those two would be amazing and at the same time give more freedom of choice and be more consistent with the Rowan I'm trying to play. And even if in our play-through we are going for The Fall or Evil triumphs instead of Good prevails, that drive to save could be a drive to dominate. Just as Jezera has her girls Rowan should as well.
I think you convinced me to be done with Seed of Chaos.
Even if you don't agree there is no need to be a troll.
Sommelier
The more you know. ;) I'll await the next round of crits as well. keep up the good work.
Nice to know this is how you handle criticism.
Sommelier
THey've already seen this. It's actually hilarious.
Thanks for being a professional and caring about your patreons. I hope people see this.
Sommelier
Whoah. that's interesting Andras X Greyhide soon. Thanks for the idea fam. :D
This why I am not a patreon because the gay player base gets no support. Idc if it is mostly heterosexual.. The gay players have really only asked for Greyhide and Rowan.
Most of the gay players don't ask for Andras. Lol Most of them are sick of him.
Sommelier
Didn't know you are 500 people Varric.
we mostly just get Andras gay cg that is a fact and most of the gay players don't ask for him. it seems like we play as Alexia more then Rowan so it should just be about her. If people keeping voting for Alexia over and over. Its going to ruin the story. All I seen the gay players ask including myself is for Rown x greyhide. All I am saying is yes if they want Alexia cg that is fine but we need to start playing as Rowan more.
Funky Munky
Sommy, you could have just gone the Chaz Thunderdick path and rendered all the scenes with Daz, but you just HAD to go and do the scenes by hand.... :P Oh well, I'm all for more Alexia content, so I guess I don't really get a say...
Sommelier
Time for the revolution man! Time to beat that NTR menace by casting your vote for 10$ a month!
Sommelier
Please teach us how to make 500 more scenes of Andras X Alexia.
Please listen to us. We have enough Alexia and Andras. It makes me sad that they are making Seeds of Choas less enjoyable. Rowan doesn't even exist anymore. Greyhide and Rowan probably will never happen or Rowan and Jezera.
Greg Boham
Great, this means 500 more scenes between Alexia and Andras, Just make him or Alexia the main character already, because Vanilla is dead it seems.
At this point they might as well take gay cg out and rowan because we mostly just get Andras and it seems like we play as Alexia more then Rowan so it should just be about her.
Xsandman78
Mixed bag. Not a particular fan of more alexia pov so was hoping that would lose. Expected the ntr result even if not my preference. Glad jezera is popular with others, hoping we get to see a lot more of her and Rowan in future.
More Rowan scenes are needed. A relationship with Greyhide would be perfect. Imo to much Alexia is just going to ruin the story.
I think its their way of saying they want Alexia to be part of it.... I hope if Rowan x Greyhide do have a relationship. Alexia stays out of it! This isn't about Alexia....This why I am not a patreon because the gay player base gets no support. Idc if it is mostly heterosexual.. The gay players have really only asked for Greyhide and Rowan. Alexia gets enough men. lol
The bigger the better ;). lol
I honestly would be upset because what is the point in asking if Alexia is still in it.
Ryan Fox
Well the only thing with Greyhide, I mean sure he's got that tongue, but apart from that...and barring any seriously interesting magic on the part of Jezzara (which would be in her character I suppose) look at the SIZE of the bovine 😳 Greyhide would split Rowan in two once he got going. I believe I heard about a rule somewhere...anything twice your own size could be a real problem...now where did I hear that?
I am not going to be happy with this vn, if that happens because not only are we mostly stuck with Andras for gay cg. Greyhide and Rowan have a lot in common and he could be good emotional support for Rowan........ I want to see them have a relationship. I want the option to no longer be with Alexia as a gay player I feel like we don't have enough freedom. I am hoping Greyhide and Rowan do have a relationship...I am sick of the red Marilyn Manson. I don't care for him and I don't find him attractive at all.
I want it separate and I know a lot of the gay players want this... We have enough Alexia x Greyhide. lets give it to rowan... Alexia gets a lot of Cg but the gay Cg is mostly just Andras... No thanks..
Idanis
I'm a huge fan of greyhide and all of his content, but I wonder if people want to see Greyhide and Rowan in a relationship SEPARATE from Alexia, or want to continue the path they're on where he is like a lover and companion to the couple. Me personally want to see Greyhide fucking Alexia while Rowan is sucking on his balls and eats his cum outta her pussy. And then Alexia shlicking away while watching Greyhide piledrive Rowan into the dirt...but hey....kinks
Imo Greyhide would be a perfect match for Rowan. They have a lot in common. He isn't annoying and abusive. He actually cares about Rowan. He thic and more masculine, not a red angry Marilyn manson. I Hope we get more of Greyhide x Rowan because it annoys we have mostly andras... It is the only reason why I am not a patreon yet as much as I love Seeds of chaos.
Pettankon
Interesting statistics. Even though it's a little irking, I'm not surprised that NTR is the most popular.
Ryan Fox
Apparently Andras is as polarizing as data suggests...good to know. Meh can't help liking what I like. Although, Varric I don't completely disagree. Maybe if there was a gay-dom who isn't as abusive as Andras that Rowan could get with I'd defect, my hangup is, depending on how one role-plays; Rowan might be more inclined to sub since he's still pretty new to guy on guy. So absent options I'll stick with Big Red.
Spojenko Sparlic
Agreed - involving Skordred with some female characters would make him more interesting. Always thought dwarves were cool in WoW, LoTR etc. but I'm not gay so Skordred gets ignored by me for the most part when I play SoC.
Imo Andras is really annoying. He acts like he is on his period all the time........ It annoys me he has most of the gay CG with Rowan.
Patreon_of_the_Arts
More futa content plz
I want to cut off his dick and feed it to him.
Ryan Fox
Didn't think Andras would be so polarizing, I like him. He seems to be a decent mentor since ya know you are being dragged along on a bid for world domination.
Hopefully we get it soon. I think you mean *bye flashia*. lol
Yay! The more Greyhide x Rowan content the better. I can't wait for them to have sweet romance. lol Bye Alexia!
Phil Mjölnir
So here is the problem with Skordred, i think he would be better of having some own little story arc. Even though i like some of the m/m content, Skordred has always been a "nope" for me, just because i find nothing appealing in male dwarfs. This doesn't mean he is a bad character, but i think he would be more appealing to others if he had some m/f content. One great option would be to let him take some revenge on Cla-Min for choosing Feudal society over his way. He could have a few events featuring him romancing/corrupting Cla-Min's daughter, maybe even including pregnancy. This could feature Rowan helping him or just having some voyeurism events occur. An other option could be to let him have some small events in the tavern.
Sommelier
Don't worry most of em are vanilla lovers voting NTR ironically,
Jyri
cla-min is the best. suprised there are so many netorare fans. who would admit to being a cuck
TCoffin
Poor Skordred. I actually like him as a character, I just have zero interest in romancing him. Maybe he can get some more platonic story content. On the other hand I'm aparently one of the 12 or so people who enjoys the Cla-Min content so not sure my opinion matters much.
Funky Munky
"The majority of people are also interested in transformation content" "...the most popular potential transformations being Alexia being slutted up"... Now this is pleasing news! Bring on the boobage!
