If you have any thoughts or suggestions about Oplay itself, this is the
thread to post them in.  It's important to us to hear what you think,
and since Oplay games are "episodic", it's possible that we will be
able to integrate your suggestions into later episodes.  (That includes
suggestions like, "I want to see more scenes with Max!!") 

Make them longer please!!

 While they do have replay ability the chapters are just to short for me. You just start getting into them and then they end. It's a bit off putting.

I totally understand how you feel!  I get the same way when I read short chapters in manga magazines.  Our situation is pretty similar to that of a manga magazine.  Our artists, writer, and programmer can only do so much work in a short period of time, so we have to release short segments.  To release a really long one would mean going many months between episodes.  O_o  Can you image waiting six months between chapters of a manga?

I agree with TiamatsDisciple, but I understand why right now they can't be very long.  Maybe in the future?

 The only other request I would make right now is not to have the player character (hence known as "PC") have to "choose" between the two main guys immediatly.  I'd like to get to know them a little more before I choose who the PC really goes after.  Plus a little (okay, okay, a lot ^_^) of rivalry is fun!

Oh - and I also hope Sef doesn't always remain the one with the "hard" choices.  I'm really interested in how his character developes, but I don't want my PC to have to completely ignore Max all the time (and visa versa) just to get to know him better.  Not sure if that was how it was going to be planned - obviously we only have the first two parts - but I personally wouldn't like that to happen! ^_^ 

Other than that nothing more at the moment!  The dialogue is great, and the story seems to be running smoothly.  Looking forward to episode 2! ^_^

Thank you for your time!

Don't worry!  You're not being forced to choose anyone.  You can waver as much as you like and switch sides any old time, since your relationships with every character in the game are always open to change and growth.  You may miss special moments with a particular character, but that won't make it impossible to have special moments with them later.  (OR you can just go back and replay the other story paths in order not to miss ANY moment! )

Sef has a hard time trusting people -- that's just part of his nature.  It takes a lot of work to get anything from him.  But that doesn't mean you won't see him a lot on campus.  Opportunities to interact with him will be plentiful; but gaining his trust -- or his heart -- will probably always be a challenge. 

The problem i'm seeing, which i said in my review is that the cost, which is a bit high, and the undertainty over the length of the game, and the duration of the episodes; all makes it it a hard sell.

10 episodes would be $80 which is more than most anime series. Also the lack of a downloadable version is also a bit off putting.

Would be nice if you added how many episodes there are in the game, and the expected release dates.

It's rather hard to decide to pick up this game when there's none of that info, especially when you play against the cost of the game.  

TD:

You raise a lot of good points, and we understand your concerns.  

FWIW, we really think of Oplay as a method of storytelling -- interactive manga if you will.  Just like most manga, Oplay games don't have a fixed length.  If people are enjoying them we may carry them on longer.    We create each episode on a monthly basis, just like a manga.  We don't know how long a given story is going to be because we haven't gotten there yet.

I think it would be a mistake to view Oplay as a single game that we break into pieces and sell as episodes.  It's more like an ongoing serialized story produced on a monthly schedule.  Did you need to know how many volumes xXxHolic was going to be before you bought #1? Or did you buy it because you like the story and characters and want to follow it as it progresses?  That is really more our model for Oplay, rather than straight-up gaming.

True, but you miss the point, the cost v length.

 I'm looking at OPlay as a chapter of manga, as such is it worth the $7.99  price tag?

The price has always been one of the major concerns for me. OPlay is good, but i just don't see it as being worth $7.99. Thats almost as much as the cost of a full manga 

And while your right, when i bought holic i didn't know how many volumes there were, however i had an 'idea'. same with other manga, There's  information on how many volumes are available already, and how many were announced at the release in japan.

I'm not saying give us a dead set answer, i'm saying to say how many you expect the story to run for. All stories have a flow, and that gives you an idea of how many chapters it'll run for. It may not be exact, but it gives an idea. Which is what people need in order to decide whether to take up a new thing or not.

 Ask your self, would you buy an episode of anime for $7.99, that's how i'm seeing it.

OPlay is good, i enjoyed it, but the cost just dosen't feel justifiable to me, sorry :)

 I will pick up one more chapter just to see how it goes, but i doubt i'll follow it religously, it's going to cost to much in the long run i think.

I also think that these episodes seem a bit too short from what little we have now - hopefully that's something that can change, since I find that a bigger problem than not knowing the exact number of episodes.

Reading TiamatsDisciple's review, I thought there was a really good idea in it. I know it's not possible to make downloadable versions of the episodes now, but maybe one could be made when the story is done and all episodes are out? It may be too early to say, but it could be something worth considering? :)

 
It's definitely worth considering! It's something we ourselves have considered and knowing that the audience is interested in a downloadable version is really helpful to us.  Thanks for the input. ~

Regarding length, one thing that might be interesting for you guys to know is that we originally planned for the Prologue and Episode 1 to be one episode.  It was broken up in order to give people a way to sample the game without making a commitment.  Thinking of the Prologue and Ep. 1 as one unit will give you a better idea of the length we expect our episodes to be.

Though giving you an exact estimated length for each ep, as you can imagine, is extremely difficult.  Different players progress at different speeds, and each person is likely to replay it a different number of times.  Some will want to explore every possible path and others will only want to play through once.  

Playing through the Prologue + Episode 1 can take anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour or more.   All of our testers timed at different speeds.  We're considering putting an "estimated length" underneath each episode, which would be based on the average length of time it takes our testers to finish an episode.  Our dilemma is whether that length should be based on playing through once, or playing through every possible time.  (Personally, I think if we gave a "Maximum Length" that would help people figure out if they've played all the paths or if they've missed some based on how long they've been playing for.)

At any rate, thanks for your thoughts!  I'd better get back to work -- I'm in the middle of editing a scene in which Max invites the Player to come to his...