False Choice
What it is: A Gem Choice that promises content it doesn’t actually deliver.
Why it doesn’t work: When readers realize they didn’t get the payoff they were promised, they lose trust in the story. Erosion of trust may lead to lower conversion rates.
Takeaway: Gem Choices should never make false promises; they should always deliver exactly what was promised in the setup.
Example #1: Readers choose to “kiss my Love Interest!” but instead of kissing them, the Main Character gets nervous and kisses them on the cheek instead.
Example #2: Readers choose to “give the villain a piece of my mind!” but instead they choke up and storm angrily out of the room.
Both scenarios could lead to players thinking, “Why did I bother paying for that if it wasn’t what I wanted?”
Trick Choice
What it is: A choice in which the payoff happens in both the gem branch and the free branch (“tricking” readers into paying for a Gem Choice they didn’t need to).
Why it doesn’t work: When gem and free options both lead to the same payoff, it tells readers that they didn’t need to pay for the Gem Choice to begin with and makes them less likely to pay in the future.
Takeaway: The reward should happen in the gem branch and only the gem branch.
Example #1: The reader is given a Gem Choice to kiss the Love Interest. She chooses “no,” but the Love Interest ends up kissing her regardless.
Example #2: It’s implied that paying for the Gem Choice will save the Love Interest from being suspended. However, the free option doesn’t lead to his suspension at all--the threat was never real in the first place.
Both scenarios could lead to players thinking, “What’s the point of choosing a gem option when I got what I wanted in the free option?”
Values-Dissonant Choice
What it is: A Gem Choice that breaks our Content Guidelines and/or runs counter to generally accepted values. This may mean:
- Making readers pay to get out of a sexual situation and/or to turn down unwanted sexual advances
- Making readers pay to avoid being bullied and/or to defend themselves from bullies
- Punishing readers for deciding not to get drunk, engage in bullying, and/or engage in sexual content
- Anything else that attempts to monetize readers’ discomfort or punish readers for behaving morally
Takeaway: Be familiar with our Content Guidelines, use your best judgement when writing Gem Choices, and remember our rule of thumb: anything that’s on the line is likely too far.