Hey everyone!
I’ve been writing my story for a while now, and even prior to writing it, I was going back and forth between one thing - and that is whether or not I should let readers know when choices matter.
Personally when I play/read Episode stories, I love not knowing because then I don’t just choose the “best” choice, but I choose what feels right to me even if it doesn’t give me the best scene or outcome or whatever.
So I just wanted to know how everyone feels about being told that their choices will matter or impact a relationship or change an outcome of the story. Please feel free to start a discussion below! I just really want to see other perspectives since the only one I know is my own.
Would you prefer to be told choices matter or not?
- Yes, I like being told that my choices matter.
- No, I do not like being told that my choices matter.
- In-between
6 Likes
I’d like to know when it changes a relationship with someone (but that’s often really obvious if it does or not)
4 Likes
Oooh, okay. That’s fair.
I like that too 
. Thanks for answering!
Moved to Episode Fan Community as it is not directly related to story creation or story ideas. Make sure to check out our Forum Tutorial for more info about where to correctly create topics. 
1 Like
When you don’t tell it’s kind of like real life because you don’t know what will happen
1 Like
For me it depends on the story, if it is Horror/Thriller themed, I quite like them because I feel that, if you make a wrong choice, it could affect your character, which I think adds the the thrill of the story. If the story is a romance, I like a few of them to matter, not loads of them because I’m so damn indecisive.
I also think length has a lot to do with it. If a story is short, I don’t have to worry about playing another 10 episodes of the story knowing I’d made a wrong choice, and regretting it. And if you’re not happy with the outcome, you can easily replay the story to see the different endings.
2 Likes
Oh sorry about that! Thank you 
1 Like
Well, it would be a surprise if you didn’t say choices matter…and I love surprises 
1 Like
So do I! Like I said, I really don’t mind it. It makes me laugh when I make dumb choices honestly, but I am definitely keeping everyone’s opinions in mind so far!
Personally I like it when people use the golden choices to tell you they matter. It’s not as intrusive as the narrator telling you and it doesn’t break your sense of suspended disbelief by talking directly to you. That’s why I like it when authors notes are not in the actual story, too. Beginning and end! Because then I can suspend my disbelief and forget what I’m reading is a story. When someone talks directly to me about choices in the middle of their story, it breaks that.
3 Likes
Then you can tell people at the beginning of each chapter before the story starts that golden choices matter
1 Like
This can help with my own thriller story.
1 Like
I love your insight, thank you so much for this!
1 Like
Oh wow, I am so torn between this
I usually like it when I’m told that choices matter because it makes me re-consider what would be best to do in such a situation. On the other hand, it’s nice to not know that choices matter because then you’ll pick whatever choice reflects your own personality best.
However, I think that if I get to customize the character and pick a name myself, I would rather not knowing that choices matter because then I would just pick whatever choice fits best with my character. If it’s not CC then I think I’d like to know if choices matter because I would want to make the best future for the character and the story development.
3 Likes
Ooo, I love this perspective!
1 Like
Yay! Are you entering the contest?
Yeah doll, there’s a thriller contest! I believe they just announced it not too long ago 