I should preface this musing with two things. First is I literally only just thought of this topic after a week of not knowing what to muse about. That's why it's a little later than normal. Second, I should really qualify what I mean by "Questionable Fetishes" before I get too deep into this.
When I say questionable fetishes, I don't mean they're questionable in that "Why would anyone like that?" I'm well aware people are into some pretty weird shit, and since I write about lesbians fighting to rape each other on the internet, I'm in NO position to judge. I more mean fetishes that are hit or miss with people. Specifically ones that have a broad spectrum. So, things like Pedophilia or Scat aren't considered questionable in this case, one is morally reprehensible to act on(I'll concede you can't help what you like, and if you're masturbating to lolis and leaving it at that, you get a pass) and the other is just disgusting to the people not into it. I'm more referring to the fetishes that get a big yes from some, an "Eh, it's kinda hot I guess" from others, and a "This upsets me greatly" to others. For instance, fetishised misogyny, raceplay, maybe pregnancy and breeding, cuckold stuff etc.
These basically fall into two categories. "I'm not comfortable with this fetish, it's an active turn off for me." (Pregnancy and Cuckold in my case), and "I'm kind of concerned the guy who wrote this might actually believe this stuff" (misogyny and raceplay, from the above examples). It's the second category I'm particularly interested in today, but I'll share some thoughts on both while I'm at it. Right now the question hanging on my mind is something along the lines of "Do I have any responsibility when including such fetishes?" Or rather, does anyone making a porn game have any responsibility in doing it. Should some be avoided out of tact?
I'll start with the tamer choice, category one. Category one is overall less of an issue in my books. Cuckold and pregnancy stuff quite often are fairly niche interests, either they're clearly labelled as existing in the game, because they're a core component, or they're not. And if that's the case, no issues. But what if they're not a core element? What if I just include one cuckold scene as a consequence for some shitty decisions you make? Should I warn about that? I'm really conflicted on this front. On the one hand, a warning would be useful, you know what you're getting into. On the other hand, I feel like spoiling the kind of content that might appear in the course of a game isn't as exciting. And in the case of a well made porn game, either the scenes I'm seeing are because I have willingly chosen for this outcome, or I have made some mistakes along the way, and the outcome is the consequence of my choices, a thing that I hold as (at least kind of) sacred in porn games. There's also the simple fact the player could close it. If they're saving regularly they can reload back and do it again. Or if they haven't they could just, not read the text, skip through it to the next event as I often do in Shield High.
In conclusion for point one: I don't have an answer, but I'd probably lean on the side of include it without warning. Or maybe a small warning tucked away somewhere you can find it if you want it, or avoid it if you don't.
Next up is category two. Now this one is interesting because it also has a degree of extremism. It could be a simple playful joke between lovers, it could be a full on hate-filled moment. Sexism and racism are also much bigger issues of late than they were when I first started Shield High. The majority of the previous discussion remains in place, but with one new element, in that the inclusion, if handled poorly, might ostracize elements of your audience. For instance, if I included a girl named Laquisha who Jessica openly calls a nigger, I'm almost certain at least one person would be upset by this. And with good reason, it'd be such an over the top use of stereotypes, that even if the scene was hot, and ended harmlessly, I think it'd be a bit too much. But, since I am including raceplay as a thing in at least one scene, do I need to use some stereotype? I mean, without it, does the raceplay lose it's appeal? Can I justify using stereotypes in that case? I think I kind of am, so long as it's not totally hollow. If there's something behind the stereotypes, or something going on beyond just "Here's your stereotypical black girl to do the sex with" then I think it'd be okay.
But I'm not 100% sure, so this is a point where I put it to you, my dear audience. What do you think about the whole raceplay thing? Opinions might influence this update.
And as a quick aside about the update, holy shit, it's taken SO MUCH work, but Melanie is done. The reason she took so long is I had to program in a way to remove old events that can be safely removed when you issue a challenge. Then I had to program a bet manager. Then I had to add in relationship bonuses for conversations to make Angel charmable. And then I had to write out the 3 possible sex endings to the plot, 2 of which involved multiple choice ending just about doubling their length. But now it's done, so Iris is coming up next.
Pudding Earl.
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