User blog:Jacked Maverick/Ride or Die: Beginnings & Ends (Choices’ Fifth Anniversary Special!)



Right off the bat, I am just going to say this is probably not the Ride or Die review you’re expecting or wanting.

I didn’t have anything planned for the fifth anniversary of Choices (August 17th, 2016). It’s funny. I keep saying that I already closed that chapter of my life, yet I always seem to be talking about Choices.

The rank I made two months ago seems like a perfect stopping point. But I did want to do something special for the fifth anniversary of Choices.

“Really, Matt? A Ride or Die review?”

I really can’t think of anything better to do. Everything else I could think of to say about the app as a whole I already mentioned before.

Dare I say, it’s just beating a dead horse at this point. VERBERANS EQUUS MORTUUS.

I wanted to make a Most Wanted review instead since it’s been a while since I made a positive review (and that was one of the three original books that was preinstalled on the app on launch day). I wouldn’t want to give off the impression that I was a mostly negative person! But by the time I realized that, it was too late to change my plans. Besides, I’ve wanted to make a review for Ride or Die for a while now. I don’t want the fact that I read this book twice to go to waste. :P Ride or Die was… hard to sit through. Might as well be productive and make a monetized essay about it.

The reason why this essay took so long (a little over two years) is because what is there left to say? I tried writing this essay for a while now. Previous draft were more in line with the reviews you were expecting. One had me retell the story chapter by chapter and adding my own commentary. Another was a more traditional review as before; reading the book and afterwards making a full length essay ripping it apart. But Ride or Die is different from them all. It’s the worst book I’d ever had the displeasure of reading and there is no good way to properly vent my frustrations with this book.

=My Actual Thoughts On The Book=

This book is bad even by *Episode* standards. There is enough to talk about here to fill up four full length negative reviews. I’m not going to do anything traditional like that because honestly, what is the point? You all know exactly what’s wrong with this book. Every character (outside the dad and Riya & Darius) was so insufferably infuriating that I would legitimately re-read Baby Bump. The book that is the most harmful that makes me mad on a more personal connection and the only Choices book I put under Ride or Die. That’s a book that clearly had less effort put into it; yet it manages to be more mature, peaceful, and less (inherently) infuriating than this book made by the same writers of Most Wanted and Endless Summer. At least everyone in Baby Bump wasn’t “inherently” bad. But this? It feels like the writers were actively trying to make me hate each and every character to the point where it is not an exaggeration that I’d rather root for evil people from history like Attila the Hun or Genghis Khan than the trashy Mercy Park Crew.



Imagine Nightbound but our party was intentionally doing everything in their power to trigger some evil powerful people without provocation and nothing to gain while the MC’s (Alex) attempts of trying their damnest to ease tensions ended up futile, and you basically have Ride or Die. (I am so sorry I ever bashed Nightbound and Blades of Light & Shadow as hard as I did. 😭)

Ride or Die is a book only for tweeny-boppers and literally no one else.

Do I not sound angry enough? That’s because I straight up don’t care. I don’t give a s*** about Ride or Die. While it did mark the beginning of the end (and end of the beginning) for Choices impacting their decision to make more genderlocked romance books that will earn more money, it’s not like Ride or Die ruined a great premise that was announced from the start. Nor did it ruin a franchise I already had great feedback on. This an awful book from a terrible market and the exact legacy this app deserves.



To be clear, this essay is not going to be a “review” exactly. Or a “retrospective” is just an explanation why to me, Ride or Die was both the Beginning of the End and the End of the Beginning for Choices as a whole. Verberans Equus Mortuus, I know. But it seems fitting since Choices is not the powerhouse it once was. On their fifth birthday, sadly.

=The End of the Beginning=

Ride or Die: A Bad Boy Romance was revealed on January 7, 2021 and if you can imagine, the internet wasn’t happy. Granted, the internet is never happy. People took the most issue with the subtitle “A Bad Boy Romance” calling Choices out of relating to Episode. I could get into all the reasons why it caused backlash on it’s announcement (I could mentioned the title sounded out of place for an app that had many LGBTQ+ representation or how the title basically gave you everything you needed to know about this book plot wise), but the point is the vocal side of the fandom were upset. And I mean... what did they expect? Did they really not expect us to get mad with just a generic action romance title?



The backlash was so bad, the head writer tweeted out a response acknowledging the backlash while also reminding the fandom that he was also part of the team that brought us Most Wanted and Endless Summer. I’m sorry, but I have never seen something so entitled in a professional setting. Just because you write something critically beloved does not give you a free pass to write content of lower quality. Shakespeare wrote some beautiful works. So did Pixar. Do we forgive them when they make something horrendous?

Another higher up at Pixelberry also tweeted out to not DM or tag creators to berate them.



Even with all that, on January 25, 2019 the book was finally released to a… not acclaimed reception. The people who liked it seemed to focus on the love interests and the fast cars. Not any other characters and the actual plot. I personally gave it a chance because I’m not some heartless monster who reviews content without reading the piece of work. Well, you already know my current thoughts on it. I'm not saying it never stood a chance. I thought I was going to HATE Mother of the Year and it was SPECTACULAR! I didn't think I was going to like Distant Shores and I thought it was pretty good. :)

Sequel Confirmed


When the book ended on May 3, 2019, a sequel was immediately announced and was met with… a mixed reaction.

Some people were happy as this book defied their expectations. Other people were enraged.

I personally don’t care if you like this book or not. Some people I view as close to me like it. Other people I view equally as close hate it. It doesn’t matter whether you liked it or not. The point is that it at least made enough money to warrant a sequel. Keep in mind this was at a time where Pixelberry was stingier about announcing sequels. Every book before and after this all fell in three categories:


 * Sequel confirmed with an official release date. (like Open Heart and Baby Bump)


 * Maybe a Sequel, No Promises. (like It Lives Beneath and Elementalists, Book 2)


 * Outright Cancelled. (like Nightbound and Distant Shores)

Most Wanted and Hero are the only exceptions as they were back at a time where Choices was still finding it’s footing. Both were “confirmed” but never followed up on. Ride or Die getting a sequel confirmed was during a time where the company was more comfortable and confident. If you weren’t Most Wanted and Hero, if you were explicitly announced to get a sequel in 2018 and onward, you were going to get renewed.



Just like movie theatre box office stats, the amount of money a movie makes does not equal quality. A movie can rake in a billion bones and it being the worst thing ever. A movie can bomb at the box office, but it can find critical acclaim after it’s prime. The same can be applied to Choices book.



The rest of 2019 and 2020 was filled with no update on Ride or Die. The only “updates” we got was “we are working hard on Ride or Die, Book 2 and it will be out by 2020!”

Axed
Twenty months after Book One ended and a sequel was announced, Choices made that infamous blog post cancelling the sequel (among other books). I already made an essay on my thoughts on that particular blog post when it was released. Basically, what I said there was that Ride or Die was the only one that wasn’t cancelled for a lack of financial support from the players.


 * My Blog About The Cancelled: https://choices-stories-you-play.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Jacked_Maverick/My_Thoughts_on_the_Seven_Cancelled_Franchises

Basically, Pixelberry’s explanation was that the head writer for Ride or Die left the company. Instead of replacing the showrunner like they have before, Pixelberry stated that when they replaced the head writer those times, the sequels ended up being not as good and so the franchise as a whole ended up cancelled. It happened with the Elementalists. It was planned for the full four years at college but when the head writer left the company, Book 2 ended up underperforming, so the franchise had to be rushed out after being cut in half. Endless Summer? It’s my favorite franchise, but the head writer left the company for Book 3 which explains why the ending felt unfulfilling and shorter.



Pixelberry learned their lesson from previous examples of replacements and decided it was best to leave their gold mine about fast cars and bad boys the way it was and not risk losing a profit with it’s sequel.



To be honest with you, I thought Ride or Die had the best chance of returning. Again, I hated it. But other peopled seemed to love it as much as they did that I do feel bad for them. Ride or Die to them was what Most Wanted was to me. Them having a sequel confirmed and yet getting cancelled. But at the same time… it isn’t fair. I know I will come across as whiny with this next sentence, but it’s worth saying. It’s not fair that Ride or Die fans had a shorter amount of time from sequel announcement to cancelation announcement. Most Wanted had five years of being pushed off! Sure, it’s even more not fair that Pixelberry went back on their word especially since Ride or Die was meant to be a standalone and the money it brought in surprised them to rethink their plans and continue the story. It disappointment incarnate.

=The Beginning of the End=

My point for this entire essay is that Pixelberry is done with taking chances. If a head writer leaves, it doesn’t matter if your favorite book is the money maker that’s keeping the lights on for the company. No more risks.

Even the sole premise of this book screams “no more chances”. “Romance is something that gets us da big bucks! And bad boys are a popular genre. Let’s copy what Episode and Chapters are doing and put our own spin on it!”

Wasted Premises
Ride or Die paved the road for Queen B, The Nanny Affair, Witness, and others to establish that sex belongs story.

And don’t even get me started on “Surrender”! 🙄

Say what you want about Ride or Die. It was infuriating. It was hard to read at times. But you know what it did that Choices these days can’t do? Ride or Die made people CARE. Sure, it was in the negative direction. But it was enough for the fandom to band together and absolutely riot. The fandom is so diminished. *My* final nail in the coffin was the fandom leaving. Certain people meaning the world to me leaving. I’m not saying Ride or Die directly caused the fandom to leave one by one. What I am saying is that the fandom that was formed by Choices’ golden age started leaving when things went downhill like Episode.

These days, Choices has so many genderlocked romance content that it doesn’t even register anymore. Like an explosion in a Michael Bay movie.

Maybe you like these new changes. Maybe you don’t. That is not my point. My point is that Choices changed. They don’t get as much interaction on their social medias. Even as recently as 2019 a new book was being released a minimum as once a month. Every week had more than one chapter being released on the same day.

Now the books seem pretty scarce. They clearly don’t seem to be running out of money since they keep repeating the “sex sells” mentality.

I’m not prude or anything. In fact, I actually do like romance! But not at the expense of anything else. You think Bloodbound (to me) is the best Choices book because we get to hook up with vampires? You think Ride or Die is bad (to me, at least) because we get to romance people? No! Their stories is what made them part of their quality. Bloodbound had a rich story with a lot of lore while Ride or Die had toxic “dominating” people carrying the story!



Even in death, the effects of Ride or Die could still be felt today. It may not be the one that kicked the trend off, but it just so happened to be the one that caused a more let’s say universal outburst of hate. Which is why I didn’t point the blame finger on The Royal Romance or Desire & Decorum. Those two at least were well liked by a majority of players to span over the original vision of a trilogy. And it’s not like they switched to pure romance after that either. We still got our It Lives, Elementalists, Heists: Monaco, and Nightbounds. At least The Royal Romance and Desire & Decorum didn’t have any toxic unlikable people be part of our main crew. You know, people who were are supposed to like and root for.

=Too Long; Didn’t Read=

The End of the Beginning: It indirectly shifted the focus from stories that came before to more romance heavy books.

The Beginning of the End: This is the way it’s going to be from now on. The fans they made with their previous quality stories left after the stories got sour.

=Conclusion=

Sorry that this wasn’t a traditional essay review in the same manner I wrote for Nightbound or 2019 as a whole. I just couldn’t physically bring myself to go in depth for a book that caused me so much aguish.


 * Nightbound: https://choices-stories-you-play.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:The_Jacked_Maverick/Nightbound:_A_Creative_Dead_End._(Review)


 * 2019 Review: https://choices-stories-you-play.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Jacked_Maverick/Top_Ten_GOOD_Things_Pixelberry_Did_In_2019

If I was given the option to

A) Go for a month without Wi-Fi.

B) Sit in prison and watch paint dry for that same amount of time.

C) Hang out with Madelaine Petsch for a day.

D) Or read the entire 16 chapter run of Ride or Die.

I’ll choose jail paint.



Maybe I’ll give it a real review if enough people ask me to (*hint, hint*). Until then, this will be the obligatory Ride or Die blog post Jacked Maverick will make. Next year’s anniversary special will be the Most Wanted review! :D



Even when I first started playing this day five years ago, I knew even then it was never meant to last forever. The friends I made… the quality of books…

Ein Ding ist nicht schön, weil es hält. (A thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts)

Happy Fifth Birthday, Berrypickers!