Bara wrote:More of a condemnation of the commercial producers who are content to sell products that are badly made with next to no attempt to, as you and THM said, push the technology. Even worse those commercial products which don't even try to reach the level of writing an engaging and entertaining story; instead, relying on an injection molded piece of formula about as unique as a plastic water bottle for the story line.
It's because they need to make a living, and there is a demand for the style they make. It's not made any easier by the fact that VNs are a niche of a niche market. Anime industry is in the same boat, they need shounen for little boys and moe otaku fodder for the big boys to survive, because those are easily capitalised on through merchandising. Nobody wants to step up, because nobody can step up. The budget for a true next-gen VN would be huge compared to what your average nukige is made with. And nobody would buy it. Anime/VN/whatever fans just are that terrible, just like the parallel in western entertainment industry. The popular stuff, the moneymakers, are bad in the objective sense, or the eyes of a critic. Ukrainan art movies don't make big bucks. Michael Bay does. (bad analogue in the sense that the budgets there really are more proportional to profits, but you get the point)
At most you can make semi-fringe stuff, something that goes slightly outside of the comfort zone, but not so far as to alienate the otaku who wants his moe escapism. Sometimes I wonder if I (and most of the other KS devs) are too harsh about our views of the state of the medium, I mean sure everything has flaws, but surely there also is quality that makes it worth the experience. Then I play something like Sharin no Kuni and frown for two weeks straight.
<Aura> would you squeeze a warm PVC bottle between your thighs and call it "manaka-chan"
<Suriko> I would do it if it wouldn't be so hard to explain to my parents