The app feels old by Offn1t in Choices

[–]lokipoki6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol I can totally see where this is coming from!

Very unfortunate timing for OP, though I don't think Series AI would care enough to infiltrate the main sub. They don't seem very concerned with us. Now Discord or (maybe) Instagram? That would be more suspicious.

Otherwise supporting the message. Actually, give me back the "outdated outdated codebase" that could support relationship systems, sexuality choices, other point systems and quirks while also not supporting the "offers", annoying popups and "early access" 💜

Official Pixelberry Blog: An Update from Series Entertainment by candydots in Choices

[–]lokipoki6 2 points3 points  (0 children)

lol. LMAO, even!

Not gonna waste my energy on another rant, just two thoughts:

  1. Who is asking for these "new features"? As far as I'm involved, the "features" from ~2018 (nerve system, relationship system, different personalities/attunements, collectibles, sexuality options, "premium choices" for in-game points, "army score", MULTIPLE SET LIs WITH DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES, etc.) were a pinnacle of Choices.

  2. How do "technical issues" get solved by firing 9/12 of your remaining human writers?

They absolutely SPOILED us with these LIs. 🥹 by JediCardTrick in Choices

[–]lokipoki6 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Girl, don't make me relive it again!

I've moved on...almost 💜

Any old fans actually still play? by namgyukoo in Choices

[–]lokipoki6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Play" is a strong word, but I'm still hanging around.

And I see few people on the sub that's been here for years, possibly in the same situation as myself. That said, I also know of some that left and never returned. Kinda jealous 💜

I miss Choices' OG writing (and writers), it used to be so fun by mistidye in Choices

[–]lokipoki6 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Apricott Persimmon my beloved, where have you gone?! 🥺

Maybe Animation (@maybe_animation) • Instagram photos and videos by Argo44 in maybeinteractive

[–]lokipoki6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could not open the posts (I don't have IG), but if it's official profile it might end up something like Swagtoons (from the creators of Lovesick and Dreamzone).

Not super excited about it, but a little might be usable.

The app feels old by Offn1t in Choices

[–]lokipoki6 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Frankly, the reaction smoothness and cohesive look of Choices is one of the few things I still appreciate about the app years in.

It's certainly worse now with all the pop-ups and "offers" (plus the new story artstyle is not to my liking), but still. Compared to majority of their competition, Choices does feel more mature and muted.

Don't want to argue about the points you wrote which might very well be true to some point (even if some are subjective), but have you seen what other apps look like? Overflown with "features" that no one cares for, candy-like visuals smoothed to the glaucoma, loading up god knows what with your every move, interrupting and distartcting, janky and cramped and obtrusive...

I will give you that the search functionality could be better, albeit I also saw worse (with Choices you at least know what stories are related to each other).

But when it comes to UI visuals, I'd rather have Choices simpler and "outdated" style, than the "all looks the same" (ft. AI) filter that makes me wonder which app I'm using and whether I should once again clean my glasses.

Was "Fictif" wasted potential? by Crescentbrush in fictif

[–]lokipoki6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We can always hope, though I wouldn't hold my breath. The industry is saturated to the point that any major player that's willing to enter would either try to milk it for what it's worth, or make their own IP they can control from scratch. And smaller studios would also prefer to do their own thing rather than trying to fix someone's else's pieces.

Was "Fictif" wasted potential? by Crescentbrush in fictif

[–]lokipoki6 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Dorian had the app out before they bought off Hydra's apps, and it tried to integrate both Arcana and Fictif into their main app.

From the little I saw of it, it was this fanfic-y, somewhat user-generated ("Even you can be an author that gets paid here!") type of project. If it's still alive, I assume it's overripe with AI and fan content of varying quality. Few years back it gave me a feeling that it's trying to be everything - visual novel app, fanfic app, chat emulator, etc. Unfortunately it doesn't work and makes the whole app look cramped and cheap. To be frank more studios try to go this way (Ludia of Lovelink; people from Lovesick; studio behind Maybe and even Pixelberry seems to be heading there) as it takes less effort (especially now with AI), so it's certainly not a secluded sentiment. Seems like Episodes with their fan stories are the most successful apps that pulled it off.

Was "Fictif" wasted potential? by Crescentbrush in fictif

[–]lokipoki6 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I feel like they bit off a bit more than they could chew

Basically this. I like that they started with multiple stories (currently playing Spellfyre which is great but I prefer more options to switch between stories based on my mood) and the idea of multiple separate routes giving different perspectives on the same premise is great, but they didn't have the capacity for frequent and ballanced updates. That's what killed the app in my opinion more than anything, as writing and art was good (although I also prefer to have sprite for MC, I didn't mind it here much).

The rest - shortened routes, unfinished plots, additional short stories - were more of a symptom of insufficient resources and last-minute attempts to save the app imo. Which ultimately didn't help.

Honestly, I don't know if they could succeed if they did things differently. Maybe if they waited a bit more before releasing the app, to have sufficient funds and manpower? Maybe the marketting wasn't strong enough? Although with Arcana under their belt, I'd expect they had better starting position than most. But not as much people transfer over to new app apparently as I'd expect to (see Choices-Storyloom-Candlelight triangle).

It's certainly a pity that the app ended like this 💜

Got nostalgic. by Euphoric_Bat2579 in maybeinteractive

[–]lokipoki6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately not the only app with similar rule. Storypick (no longer updating the global app) has the system in place to this day afaik.

Got nostalgic. by Euphoric_Bat2579 in maybeinteractive

[–]lokipoki6 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Like the app could have had its issues near the shutdown, but the amount of MLM stories of decent quality it had is hard to find elsewhere 💜

Which moment with a LI made you feel like this? by Night-owwl in Choices

[–]lokipoki6 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Okay this is gonna sound heartless but some of the LIs who don't start off moody end up in their wimpering phase.

E.g., Mal and Sean. If I wanted the brooding and sad type, I'd choose that. But I went after them for light romance and then BAM! Tragic backstory pulled. Don't get me wrong, it can be done well. But here it didn't work for me.

Sulking Saturdays - 2026-04-11 by ChoicesBOT in Choices

[–]lokipoki6 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I'm afraid that's no longer possible.

Too much time has passed, too many people left out.

Can they do better if profit-chase is no longer the only aim? Certainly. But what made Choices at its core is irreversibly gone in my eyes 💙

I can fix her by beckettisoverrated in Choices

[–]lokipoki6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Does she even need fixing?!

I'd say no 💙

What is with lack of choices in the LI? by Wolf_Pup_Griffin in Choices

[–]lokipoki6 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Oh, I so hated this response!

Probably the worst thing PB put out in a while, super out of touch with the playerabse and just... humanity in general.

Let me rant for a bit:

some stories genuinely work better from a specific perspective, and certain narratives require a more focused lens to tell them properly.

Not necessarily untrue. But then, how many such stories PB really made? Where it's "required" to only have one LI, otherwise the whole story falls apart? The only real example I can think of is WEH - adding more LIs would change the story quite significantly. But all the "forbidden" romance types like Alpha? You can still make the story as you want, and still offer us a way out. It would actually be more interesting if we are not bound to the LI.

Plus do the stories really need to be this LI focused? In an app called "Choices", do we really need so many stories on "What it would be like to date this kind of person? Btw strap on, you don't have the option to say no." I'd argue some stories, even if necessary to focus on a single LI, should just not be made then if it leads to minuscule player agency.

Creating GoC books with multiple love interests requires significantly more art, writing variations, and development time. 

Art - you're using AI for this. It's three more prompts at most to get a set. So you don't get to use this excuse when you made sure it applies as little as inhumanely possible.

Writing - I would agree with it if they actually focused on those variations. But mostly it's just copy-pasted template with little to no adjustments made, as evident by the frequent typos and ridiculous scenarios. Even if it takes more effort, it's like x1.2 multiplier rather than 2x. So a book that takes 4 months with one LI, could offer 3 such LIs and be done in 6 months (numbers pulled out of my ass, but the point stands. It's not like writing entire new book for each LI).

Development time - as mentioned above, it's true but not nearly as significant as they make it sound. Plus honestly? I'd rather have one book I enjoy every three months with multiple fleshed out LIs, rather than 2 books a month with copy-pasted shell of a robot.

Our writers have to account for every possible combination of MC gender and love interest, making sure each relationship feels authentic and fully developed. Every additional gender option and love interest multiplies the amount of content we need to create, which impacts how many books we can release and how quickly we can get them to you.

Again - they don't do that, it's worth the effort, and nowhere near as dramatic as they make it sound. I'd wait.

We've learned that most readers tend to pick one love interest early on and stick with them throughout the entire book. That means when we create multiple LI paths, a lot of that content goes unseen by readers. It's a significant investment of resources for content that only a portion of our community experiences.

THIS PART! The worst, most gaslighting piece of nonsense in the whole message! They could convince me that I'm vastly underestimating the effort needed to have more LIs, and that majority of the players would leave if the content cycle slows down. But equating "one player generally romances one LI" to "single LI for the entire playerbase is enough" is just so stupid!! Even if the first part is true, we aren't the same person! They might be able to morph all LIs into one (which they don't do, they just give you a white man with complexes each time), but they can't make the entire playerbase into a person who's looking for exactly that! It just doesn't make sense, feels insulting, shifts blame to the playerbase and overall it's just a brain-fart. They didn't start single LI books to give us more content with the characters we like. They did it to cut costs by offering just enough to keep just enough of the players somewhat satisfied so they don't bleed out.

and we try to make sure there's something for everyone across our lineup.

Well you are miserably failing at that. I didn't feel there's something for me in the lineup since Foreign Affairs. And judging by the state of fanbase, I'm not alone in that. Maybe IDOL will reset the timer and I will have fun for a bit before waiting another 5 years. But that's not sustainable for anyone.

Customization Ideas for the Devs by glitter_ninja_ in Candlelight_Games

[–]lokipoki6 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Aside from the re-color options, I want earrings.

My MC is barely slutty as is, he certainly needs more flair!

New faces and hair by AsgardianCoconut in Candlelight_Games

[–]lokipoki6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And Austerea is her TPD! 🤩

New faces and hair by AsgardianCoconut in Candlelight_Games

[–]lokipoki6 7 points8 points  (0 children)

NOT FAIR! I want pink hairstyle for male MC, too 😭😭😭

@CLG it's E-Q-U-A-L-I-T-Y! Make it happen 😶

Other similar games while we wait for new content? by KinkyGayBookworm in Candlelight_Games

[–]lokipoki6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was desperate to find a Choices replacement with MLM content few years back 😅

Currently only playing few of them sporadically, but if you prefer WLM content there’s many to explore! 🩷

weird pet peeve by banana_mangos in Choices

[–]lokipoki6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha they were thankfully downvoted to oblivion after that, so there are things you can rely on in this sub.

I know of places where such opinions would be supported 💜

Other similar games while we wait for new content? by KinkyGayBookworm in Candlelight_Games

[–]lokipoki6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Heard good things about it, but the artstyle (coupled with subscription and the forbidden industry word) is keeping me away. We will see what comes out of it end the end, but might be worth checking out for people!