Seriously don't know how many times I have to explain this so people actually get it, but it did change Dylan's status. It also wasn't a "flavour event", it was a major shift in the plotline.
Even though that reveal happened on the boarding school path, it was still true on the other path as well. Players who found this out, either by playing this path or by seeing it here, rightly soured on both Dylan and on the path where they kept him at home which they were playing because they wanted to continue advancing this relationship. I myself honestly felt like I wanted Dylan to have no more to do with Sophia and was considering changing my main playthrough to one where she sends him away at the first opportunity because I despised what he had done and didn't want to see him be with Sophia anymore, and this is surely how others felt as well.
The problem L&P then faced was that more and more people could feel this way if they kept it in, and a character who once polled as the most popular character (Sophia not included) could have become one of the least liked characters in the whole game. To have that potentially happen to a main character and one of Sophia's main relationship paths because of a plot device that makes no sense was a mistake which was rightly removed.
Agreed. People seem to think the 2 paths are alternate realities, where in one Dylan was responsible and the other he wasn't, but he was responsible on both paths, and knowing that tainted and ruined the non-boarding school path.
Holy Bacchus - I called it a flavor event because of how L&P was treating it.
I even posted this quote as a response I made earlier today:
"If the twist had been Ellie making this deal with Aiden and we discovered it when Sophia was spying on Ellie and Julia, I would have wanted the twist removed.
Those who dislike Dylan simply used it as their rallying cry for why it should be left in - which would then be justification to complain about EVERY neutral or positive interaction Sophia or Ellie had with Dylan for the rest of the VN.
There is no way to maintain a realistic journey with erotic growth between Sophia and anyone who did that!
The truth is - Liam's gambling issue and betting the house/putting the entire family at risk was downplayed by L&P in a very unrealistic fashion ..."
L&P was treating this reveal like a flavor event, not understanding the real impact this could and should have on the rest of the story arc (the way we experience it). It had no points assigned (not even -1 Dylan point or, more realistically, -25 or -50 points) and felt more like a 'bet you did not expect this' versus a 'with this reveal the entire story will now change dramatically).
Once he understood - he removed it.
My perspective - he's done this kind of reveal/event before but with less impact:
* Neil drugs Liam and Sophia and tries to force Sophia to have sex with him - but there is no real change in the relationship with Neil and Amber - not even a call to Amber.
There were no longer term consequences to Neil for this - as though it happened in a bubble and all is forgiven.
* Liam is not even kicked out of the bedroom for one night after gambling away the house and risking the family's security.
At the time this occurred, we didn't know that the Don would allow for a 'creative' financing solution.
