Is katawa Shoujo the gateway drug of visual novels?

[Kazuki]

KS was my first, and I don't really plan on playing any more until I first finish the completed version whenever it comes out.

[Totz the Plaid]

I only just got into KS within the last couple weeks, so I haven't exactly had time to get into other VNs yet... unless the other 4LS mini-release adaptation of Pyramus and Thisbe counts, that is. I was already interested in the format, and I'm definitely going to read more, it's just that I haven't had the time or money to do so yet.

[ChaoticGrowth]

Katawa Shoujo was the first Visual Novel I read, and it certainly acted as a "gateway drug" for me. I have read a decent number of other VN's since reading through KS Act 1.

[Teclo]

I can see why it could be seen that way, but a lot of it is down to age. I'm 27 and have known about VNs since I was about 15 and read about them in whatever anime magazine the UK had back then. But if I was about that age now, then KS would be the first or one of the first. So I'd imagine that a large amount of the people that would say "Yes, this is my first VN" are also probably going to be in the younger segment of the players. On another level, people that are going to join a forum are most likely going to be more into VNs in general since, typically, forum membership shows a certain hardcoreness/hardcority (oh god, don't fail me now, English!) rather than someone perusing a medium for the first time. Again, I'm talking trends rather than rules.

[griffon8]

Certainly a generalization. I'm over 40 and this is my first VN.

[Teclo]

Certainly a generalization. I'm over 40 and this is my first VN.

Trends are generalisations - I made a point of not saying "all", but rather "most likely" or "a large amount" because I know there are always exceptions, which is a great thing. It's like saying "people in England speak English" even though I know several people who live here and don't speak English (one of whom has lived here for decades and refuses to learn - not such a great thing). Though I am happy to hear that this VN has a wide age appeal - and it's cool (and kind of intriguing, actually) that you got into this stuff well beyond the normal teens/early twenties norm.

Edit
Damn it, now I'm interpreting everything via your age. I'm thinking "Does he dislike Rin because she has a kind of studenty, quirky feel to her and does he like Shizune because she's more refined and mature".

[griffon8]

Damn it, now I'm interpreting everything via your age. I'm thinking "Does he dislike Rin because she has a kind of studenty, quirky feel to her and does he like Shizune because she's more refined and mature".

Ha! Can't put that much thought into it. While I feel my ranking is true, the difference between first and last is reeeeeeally small. It's not 'dislike'; it's 'like least'.

[Roy-Kr]

I read the following before discovering KS:
Tsukihime
Kagetsu Tohya
Fate/Stay Night
Umineko no Naku Koro ni ep 1-4
Utawarerumono

After reading KS i've read:
Umineko no Naku Koro ni ep 5-7

Type-Moon sparked my interest in visual novels.

[gekiganwing]

It was about ten years ago when I was reading reviews on animetric.com. Because of that site's bishoujo game reviews, I bought Three Sisters Story. Only found it somewhat appealing (the story emphasized revenge, and there was a mandatory unpleasant torture scene). A few months after that, I ordered Kana Little Sister. That made me a VN fanboy.

Around spring 2005, I was starting to lapse into despair. There had been a couple years which an adult VN was released in English almost every month, and at the time it seemed like that era was ending quickly. Fortunately, it was right around then that I found Tales of Lemma and some of the other early VNs written in English, as well as Insani's fan translations. So I didn't give up.

I was vaguely intrigued by Katawa Shoujo after I'd read about it on the Lemma Soft forums. Downloaded the first demo just a day or so after it was released. Haven't looked at it since 2009 though.