Re: A Question Directed Towards GOR Fans
Female gamer weighing in here.
I'd consider myself a fan of GOR in many ways, but often dislike most of the games that it comes up in. (Yeah, almost a contradiction there.)
I really LIKE games where I can identify with the MC on some level and get into them that way. Games where I can't really 'get inside' the head of the MC (which are painfully many, damn male oriented market) feel more like some cheap porno where the overweight plumber shows up at the door to 'clean my pipes'. Instant turn off, and the game is immediately shelved/deleted.
It satisfies certain fantasies I have that would... not be in my best interest to act on personally.
I especially like games that have a well transitioned build-up leading to the MC (me) becoming more lewd and open sexually, toying around with different things little by little, wondering what I can do that's just a bit more, but won't cause that little voice in my head to whisper in my ear, "no no, you can't do that!" And quietly thinking, "mmh, well let's do something else and see if I can bend those morals a little more... I'll be walking downtown without panties soon enough. *giggle*"
As to the rape part itself, I tend to fight my heart out, but always have this bold "the good guy always wins" mood on, a self assured smile heading into every battle, that lets me feel a little dirty when I actually lose and end up with different enemies defiling the MC. (A good progression on this helps a lot too.) While eventually, as I get a little more bold and curious, I may feign resistance and lose a fight or two on purpose.
Tentacles (even more when they're really slimy) or extra grimy thugs or beasties are a level of naughty added onto that, letting the mood slip from the heroine who cannot fail down to such a degraded shame of an adventurer, then putting on a brave face (usually) to face the public again.
All of this is, of course, just a slightly unusual twist of normal fantasies most women have, but I was raised a gamer, and after stumbling across a couple of these games, I got hooked.
To focus a bit on the two big questions of the OP:
"1) Doesn't that make you feel kind of awkward/uncomfortable?"
... Okay, the question is taken out of context a bit, since he was asking male gamers about this, but I'm stealing it anyhow for this.
No it doesn't. Because as close as I try to feel to my character, there's a veil of game vs. reality between it. Just like reading a really good book, there's times when you can't put it down, but it's still just a book (game).
I think I've only run across one game ever that actually made me feel enough for the character that I couldn't continue (and it was the ending that caused this, so it kinda worked out...)
"2. A lot of the appeal in these types of games is losing to see the sex scenes and I'm pretty sure a lot of you intentionally lose/die to see them. Isn't it discouraging/cruel to just let your character sit there as she gets beaten up and eventually raped?"
As I said above, I try to always keep in the mind of the girl. Early on, I avoid losing fights if I can, but always go in with a sense of bravado.
It's this envisioning of myself as the MC on some level that often ruins these games for me when they throw in some forced situation early on, that doesn't really fit the idea of a heroine starting her adventure. If my immediate thought is "yeah, I wouldn't continue this adventure if this was my first encounter", then I'm probably not continuing the game.
Later on, once she's... A little dirtier, I view purposely losing as less of getting beat up/killed cruelly (at least in games that she always wakes up someplace afterwards and continues her adventure), and more like... she threw the fight.
Putting a little more distance from these games themselves and tipping slightly into RL. I was sent (by a friend from this forum I RPed with) a link to something that amused me greatly, but wasn't really a turn on until I thought about it a bit more. It was a video about sexual wrestling (and guys, I know you may love it if you know it, but it just looks terribly silly to me), where in between pinning their opponent, they performed all kinds of sexual assault on one another, all but raping the pinned girl for the camera.
When I thought about it later on, this is largely what any heroine in a GoR world is doing. Every girl raised in these worlds knows that monsters are horrible rapists and you shouldn't wander around away from town, and adventurers are insanely strong individuals for being able to fight off these beasts. Walking out of town with sword and shield is like signing acceptance of those terms.
Just like with this wrestling, even if I think I'm a good fighter, if I end up pinned and fingered to orgasm after signing up, then I would have to quietly accept after I lose that my opponent gets to have her fun with me, and the further in I go, the higher the stakes may get (one clip I was sent included a live audience that got to play with the losers a bit). After watching a couple, I began envisioning myself in such fights, and just like a nice GoR game, I think if I ever had the nerve to join such a fight... well... I wonder if at some point, making it to a championship match, if I wouldn't be tempted to throw the fight...
In this sense... I guess the title of my game would be "Kathy:Sex Wrestler", and if it ever came out (don't count on it!), I hope everyone would enjoy the GoR I'd provide.