New Game - Poll 1 - Results (Patreon)

Okay, I've been putting this off way too long. Mostly because, frankly, I've been trying to figure out what to actually do with the results, as they were...more varied than I expected. First, let's look at the results themselves. As a reminder, the question I asked for the poll was which subject/topic(from the list) was the primary thing you liked about my games. These were the results:

From Patrons:

Chastity Content - 14

General Bondage/BDSM Content - 20

Female Protagonist - 19

Transformation - 11

There isn't any one thing - 1

From the Public

Chastity Content - 33

General Bondage/BDSM Content - 38

Female Protagonist - 31

Transformation - 36

There isn't any one thing - 1

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Soooooo, first let me say that I was, frankly, extremely disappointed by how low the turnout of votes was from Patrons. To be blunt, only like a third of you actually voted, which left me pulling my hair out since I can't figure out what sort of games you guys want to play if you won't tell me. That said, I have to work with what I have...which was less enlightening than I'd hoped. Also, I'm making this post public specifically to say THANK YOU to the surprisingly large number of people that voted from the general public. I honestly had no idea so many people followed who weren't patrons...and I'm going to try to keep that in mind in the future, by increasing the volume of updates and such that I make public rather than patron-only!

On the one hand, I'm quite pleased to know that I've apparently managed to appeal to a super broad audience! That's awesome! And...on the other hand...that also means that if I want to keep appealing to a broad audience, I have to keep doing all the things I've been doing T-T. Back on the firsthand, that's not an issue with Haven's Port at all. But back on the other hand, that is something of an issue with a VN, which is what I'm intending on making next. This is why I've been putting off this post, as I've been trying to come to conclusions about what to focus on. Originally, I'd intended to run another poll between this one and the major one...but the results of the first make me fairly sure what I'd intended to ask isn't helpful. So...some conclusions I have come to:

1) The next game will contain Chastity Content, but it will not be the singular focus as it was with Chastity Quest. 

To be honest, Chastity Quest was a series of compromises not just on the software/art, but on the kink/story focus as well. Kiralia being trapped in Chastity doesn't have quite the impact it should for some people, as it's too easy for her to get temporarily out of chastity. The reason for this is that, in such a LONG game, I felt it would be more aggravating than arousing for the player to constantly be struggling to get the character off. The only other times I've seen chastity used on the main protagonist of a game, they've been very short adventure-type games with a single struggle to get free (or failure to do so). I knew I wanted to make a BIG, content-heavy game, so I felt that wasn't viable. I think the result I produce has worked for most people(I hope), but it's been a constant struggle not to make it too easy or hard.

Rest assured, if Chastity Content is what you're here for, it's not going anyway anytime soon. As a matter of fact, depending on the voting for next month's upcoming Haven's Port Focus Poll, it may actually feature as a major focus in the next Haven's Port release. Likewise, all of the games I've got outlines for as possible follow-ups for Chastity Quest have plans for significant amounts of chastity play, either targeting the protagonist or major NPCs. It's simply not going to be THE focus of the next game the way it is with Chastity Quest. The reason for that being the combination of how hard it is to do it right as the main focus, and the results of the poll showing that it actually loses out to both General BDSM content and the Female Protagonist thing as 'most important content type.'

2) I was honestly surprised at how lowly Transformation scored among Patrons. The reason for my surprise being that the TFGames site is often the source of the greatest traffic volume for each release post. I suppose that most of the people coming from there must not be patrons? Or else that those that are patrons just didn't vote? Either way, this is actually something of a relief. Transformation content is, without even the slightest question, the single hardest thing to do. Don't worry if you're a fan of it, Haven's Port will continue to support it, and it's highly likely there will be at least a sprinkling of it in any future games. Things like Breast Expansion or Futanari Transform content aren't that hard to add, so long as I can keep it scene-specific. It's only when I make it carry across multiple scenes that things get complicated. I'm already committed to doing that in Haven's Port...but I'll probably not do so in the game that replaces Chastity Quest. There will still be Transformation Content, but it will likely be done as one-off (though often repeatable) scenes, rather than as a transformation that carries across all/most interactions.

3) This one came as no surprise to me, but I'll cover it anyway, just to make sure it's clear. For number three...I know you guys like the BDSM/Bondage content ;-). It's weirdly rare to see in adult games. REALLY weirdly, honestly, considering how relatively mainstream at least Bondage type encounters are...and how often far more niche and hardcore fetish ARE included. Part of it, I know, is that it requires shelling out a lot of additional money for rarer assets...but even that falls short of explaining how uncommon it is. There are a lot of games out there with far better funding than I have...and the asset thing isn't at all true for games that use hand-drawn art or sprites rather than 3D programs like Daz. The odd lack of BDSM in adult games is always something that's often left me scratching my head, and it's something that I will always continue to include in my own works as a result.

4) The strong results regarding Female Protagonists. This actually caught me a little off-guard, as one of the most frequent requests/complaints I've gotten over the years has been about me sticking mostly to female leads. To be fair, I suspect the fact that virtually all of my games have had female leads is also partly why it did so well in the polls. Naturally, the people following me or becoming my patrons, are those that at least don't mind the female protagonist. That it got as strong a response from the general public as from Patrons was my reason for surprise, as those simply following my free releases were (I thought) more likely to be in the 'doesn't mind but it isn't a selling point' category. Of all my current conclusions, this is the only one subject to real change. Right now, I'm going to plan as if I'll have another Female Protagonist on my hands. HOWEVER, I will most likely run an additional poll after the next game is chosen, just to be sure that that is what people want. I could honestly see it going either way with some of the game concepts I'm working on. 

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That's all for now, folks! Sometime in the not-so-distant-future, I will begin putting up summaries for the follow-up game possibilities! And once those are all out, it will be time for the Major vote on which game...followed up by a male/female protagonist poll!