There are plenty of examples of unrealistic story elements in AWAM, even in the more distant updates. Aiden story is, in my opinion, the prime example of this, as he is completely unbelievable as a gangster, but Sophia nevertheless sees no other option than to go along with his supposed intimidation. Also the story with the teacher colleague (whose name escapes me) was such a case, where it just not believeable that Sophia could fall for something like that. Then take the side jobs that are so clearly unrealistic, and are there solely to have more kinks in the game, that I almost can not believe that someone does not notice. Or the poorly written gangster mugging story, ...
Sorry, but you shouldn't confuse slow burn with realism. It just means that the more unrealistic events are taking longer to happen, but doesn't make it possible to pretend that it's suddenly realistic that Sophia (who was initially described as very conservative, and not even comfortable with nudity) is starting to become sexually active with all the people around her. The goal of a porn game is to exaggerate in one direction. No matter how well you write, this exaggeration will always remain unrealistic.
Now a little bit about Sam and Dylan. I honestly don't have the impression that the two are in a kind of race. Unless it turns out that Dylan was watching Sophia and Sam, Dylan doesn't even know about what is going on. Sam knows even less about Dylan's progress with Sophia. This whole discussion is more of an oddity in this forum. I at least don't participate in that, and think Sam and Dylan should team up to support each other in achieving their goals.
Again, I really think you're confusing slow burn with realism. Ultimately, L&P took the first third of the gamedays to build up the characters and their backstory. The goal here was to make things look normal, because that's what makes corruption exciting in the first place. But already here it was clear that this porn game would ultimately lead to sexual action. One example is perhaps the event in which Sophia went back to the school to take a shower. This was a mini blackmail, but just as unrealistic as the story with Aiden.
So what you see as a change in L&P approach, is nothing more than the game finally start to make some progress. Considering how many years the game has been in development, this is long overdue. No one has anything to gain if the game in 20 years is still working on slowly nothing happens.
I think one thing should be clearly separated. Pornography is defined as explicit sexual content created with the primary purpose of arousing the viewer sexually. This does not mean that the story has to be bad, even though this is unfortunately often the case. However, a inversion is not possible. Not every story with sex (that could sexually arouse a viewer) is automatically porn. "Naked Tango", for example, is not a pornographic film. It is an erotic drama.
If you look at AWAM, I would say it should be clear to everyone that it is porn. Sure, the story and characters are better fleshed out than in many other games here, but the intention is pretty clear. No matter how much L&P writes about a realistic story, in the end it will not be (real world) realistic. At the latest with the introduction of the side jobs, it was clear that the kinks of the players, not the story, were the decisive point here. Ultimately, I think you perceived the buildup of the story and the introduction of all the LI , without much having happened yet, as somehow superior. Perhaps the L&P talk of a realistic game has led to false expectations. Ultimately, however, AWAM can not be a (real world) realistic porn game, bevause this doesn't fit together. It's like there can be no (real world) hot ice cream.
I've never been guilty of confusing slow burn with realism but I believe that the lack of the "wham bam, thank you Ma'am" approach, provided a much needed antidote to the shoddy creations that are designed simply to showcase 3D models having sex, so that wankers can enjoy them. I never agreed with the "nun-like" persona for Sophia either & have on several occasions commented that an ordinary suburban wife's approach to sexual issues would have been better, i.e. just make Sophia a normal person. L&P overdid this aspect & I hope in his redraft that he takes it out. I've never suggested that Sophia's sudden sexual activity was realistic, just the reverse, in fact. It's only happening now because of the Patron's growing frustration IMO. If I hadn't thought that corruption would lead to sexual action, I wouldn't have played in the first place, so that issue has always been clear to me. AWAM promised to be superior to the corruption games I'd played up to that point, that's why I downloaded it in early 2018.
If I thought you'd missed my point before, this time I know you have. Slow burn may be an aspect of realism but what holds back the sex in AWAM, more than anything else, is the slow pace of development that L&P chooses to maintain. I've never muddled up those two issues. Time jumps could have been, (& on one occasion were), included to both continue the slow burn, (off screen, so to speak), while delivering sex & if combined with faster roll-out from the Dev, would not have seen such a decline in the game, such as the ridiculous leap from not wanting to wear a bikini in front of her son, to letting him fondle her tits in the bath, a couple of months later.
Aiden's blackmail, I've covered at length & even wrote & posted a scenario that would have made it more believable but that was some years ago, when I was a real fan. Personally I'd have preferred an adult, in the form of Bennett, to be the sole blackmailer. Sophia didn't "fall" for either of the blackmailers schemes, she acted in the interests of her son. Authorities tend to do nothing much about bullying, which is actually spot-on realistic for once. It's not Aiden that people are scared of so much as his powerful lawyer uncle, otherwise he could never have given orders to the gang assembled at his HQ. I understand that you don't like blackmail but it is as believable, if not more so, than what the incest stories have become. I decried Bennett's shortened storyline, resulting from a fan outcry, stemming from the desire for nothing bad to happen to 'our lady on a pedestal', white knighting & the general anti-blackmail lobby. (Then they had to tolerate Aiden).
There were times, years ago, when making suggestions didn't feel like a waste of time. I even wrote a semi-plausible coupling for Sophia & Dylan, although it would have been a sympathy shag, as befitted his whingeing, pleading approach to sex with his mother back then. Concerning the subway thugs, I agree that the scene was unrealistic, mainly in terms of Sophia's intelligence in a strange city. I'm not looking forward to their return. As for both side jobs, I've suggested ways to write them out. They're superfluous & they waste time, is the nicest thing I can say about them. That shower scene, with Sophia driving to her place of work, has so far, arguably, been the most unrealistic in the game. Like many aspects of AWAM, it also led nowhere.
Regarding the shota-lite race between Dylan & Sam, it's true that it has been hyped on this thread by fans but it was the Dev who instigated that via his comments about "hot" events & was apparently happy to go along with the concept. 'Dylan will catch up to Sam,' sounds like a race to me. It equates to a teenager starting his sexual exploits, (bearing in mind both lads are virgins) & keeping score in his head & sometimes sharing information with his mates. Average teen porn again.
You're right about "Naked Tango" being an erotic drama. Erotica consists of a story with strong elements of sexuality, while porn consists of sex & may or may not have an outline story. AWAM used to be adult erotica. That's the point I was attempting to make when comparing two films that dealt with sex. I know which of the two I found more arousing, so I don't agree that the inversion you refer to isn't possible. I can only speak for myself but I've seen & read all the trash porn I'll ever need. What I got wrong was none of what you attribute to me but it was in thinking that there was a place in the massive pantheon of 3D sex games for a quality product, well written, with first class renders & a motivated Dev. It wasn't wishful thinking for the first few years of AWAM but eventually turned out not to be the case.
