MUNINN'S PROFILE

I think you're overstating the degree to which "run-of-the-mill romhacks" consist of nothing more than script edits.

Personally, this kind of thing is something that I've never seen before, and all of the romhacks that I have encountered would be unambiguously considered to be games.

author=alterego
I agree. I'd even take that one steep further and include projects like this: Link

I'd just like to point out that while this might not be a game, it does have enough similarities to visual novels that we should allow it on that basis. Sure, it presents the visuals in a different manner. There might not be any choices, but that isn't really a requirement for traditional visual novels either. They're both narrative-focused works which primarily communicate a story through text, but are accompanied by music and a visual representation of the text.

Regarding the original post, what is the reasoning that romhacks shouldn't be allowed? The specific one in that post might have just changed dialogue from the base game, but that's not the full extent of what hackers are capable of. I could probably point out any number of bad attempts at RPGMaker games that just throw a bunch of RTP stuff together with little effort. Should we ban that engine as well and require that everybody program their games from scratch?

author=kentona
users: 726.2

Do we really get several hundred new users a month?

Is there any sort of method for figuring out the solution to the letter puzzle in the sky castle?

author=kory_toombs
My policy. I don't post the game page until the game is completed
and the download is ready.

In addition to what Dyhalto brought up, a game can greatly benefit in the long run from having public input. Even if it's just something like the developer describing what gameplay is going to be like, things like people saying "That system sounds interesting" or "Sounds too unbalanced, shouldn't Foo's abilities be made less powerful" can be valuable feedback.

Of course, a demo is an even better tool for getting feedback, since people would be able to comment on their actual experiences rather than just what they think might be true.