Road map? Did I miss something. Where is there a road map?
I was referring to the discussions they've had about reactions to Steph, early fallout from the Tori/Jason games, and their goals with future development + script adjustments.
Dev posts would have been more accurate than
roadmap.
You are not paying attention. You are confusing warm with soft. I asked for an example of the influence of the MC on the main plot. I'm not interested in decorations.
Main plot elements have to be forced in a game for an author to tell their story. According to you the optional paths already there are an illusion of choice
because they're optional? How do you tell a coherent story if
everything is optional to a reader? Steph wanting to be dominated appears to be baked into the main plot. Steph enjoys dominating MC in some routes as well, and I suspect she has a wide variety of other kinks and fantasies that would scare away the average partner. They both sleep with other people leading up to the engagement with Tori and Jason. The couple's irresponsible handling of all this
is the story and seemingly where the central conflict/climax is going to come from. This isn't a "pick your favorite kinks comfortably from a buffet" game, it's a specific story with some variability. You need to step outside of your own preferences and get a different perspective on the characters - the MC isn't as mad and angsty about Steph's behavior as you are. Anything forced by the author in the final story is there because it's important to develop the plot or characterization, unless they mention not having the time and resources to add more divergent paths.
if you look closely, you will notice that seemingly different dialogues lead to the same scene.
This is how almost all choice based stories are scripted. Are
you paying attention? I'm not avoiding script combing out of laziness, I'm comfortable with my understanding of my preferred route's plot. The example you give for how the developer could reasonably add customization is a minor dialogue change, but you were calling these unimportant "decorations" when I listed other similar examples already in the game. I assume more changes will come because
this is not a finished game yet.
It's a $6 game from an indie dev without a Patreon. You may be expecting more than the devs can reasonably deliver if they're already thinking of wrapping the game up soon. To your points:
1. Steph wants to fuck alpha men (represented by Donny) in order to let the MC fuck other women, or the couple doesn't swing. The dev wants the couple to have these sexual partners for their story to work, so they've forced sharing scenarios but let us influence how they happen. I think there's a fair variety of choice in how the forced sharing plays out. I've already explained why I believe a dominant personality was chosen by the authors for Donny. Steph's difficulty controlling herself around a dominant partner in the story makes many readers super angry, I get it. Not everybody entirely hates what happens on these paths though, and many don't see Steph's actions as "betrayal." My guy had a great time fucking Gina downstairs while yours was probably sulking in the guest room. I think most on these forums understand the limits of small budget indie porn game development with the "pick a path" format.
2. MC doesn't have to embrace Gina, but she's in the scene. What were you hoping to be able to do, go on a walk by yourself instead of teasing Steph's stuck up sister with a hot guest? You need interaction between main characters, that's kind of how stories are told. Other than the kitchen BJ for players who like Gina and the discovery of the trader connection to Gina's office, this forced scene sets up important information about Chuck. Given how her sister behaves through the she-hulk episode, it also highlights a major figure in Steph's formative years being a negative influence. A lot of that dating/ideal partner talk came up because Gina was there. Like Donny, the authors probably made Steph's sister flawed for a reason.
3. It sounds like Gina will be involved somehow in the trading scheme side story. Characters important to the plot need screen time to fulfill their role, so she and Jason will continue to be around until that story is resolved. Gina is also MC's counterbalance to Donny, they're both mandatory troublemaking characters attached to the opposite partner. The devs have limited time and probably figured it's OK to assume people playing the swinging porn game wanted to see their partner fuck someone and wanted MC to fuck others. They've talked about adding escape routes in the future, maybe this will be one. What percentage of current readers do you think would be stoked to see they spent limited development time on "Don't fuck anyone" routes? If these are added, they will probably come at the end of development.
4. Are you telling me there's mandatory soft-swinging content in this swinging game!? What were they thinking, I wanted to go shopping for a new driver and then play $1/hole couples golf for that scene. What evidence of betrayal do you have on Jason? It looks to me like he's an enthusiastic swinger who is probably being duped by Tori as much as MC, but it's been awhile since I've played through the latest end game content. I'm sure I missed some clues and behaviors on other paths that I would find offensive like the cup of water with Donny. Jason didn't strike me as an asshole like Donny, at least from memory.
But, in fact, the MC takes Steph off Jason's dick.
Doesn't MC need to consent to Jason and Steph getting it on in the latest update for that to happen? When I last played there was definitely a route where you ask her not to fuck Jason and it doesn't happen. I believe the dev mentioned a "no thanks Tori/Jason" path in the future, just wait until that's added and walk out of their place to a head canon divorce and freedom.
If this game was about love, respect and swingers
This game is about a couple's flawed approach to swinging, not love and respect. Why are you still so confused about this and unable to move past it? Do you think a story about love and respect starts with a series of big secrets? Your cited conversation happens after MC tells Steph about meeting Amber, and Steph encourages hooking up with her at the club later. Steph says "I also want to be absolutely certain I can be comfortable with you fucking around before we meet with Jason and Tori." What do you think she might be doing by (stupidly) pushing boundaries, both for her and MC, in the early story? The player triggers your posted response
only by choosing the gung-ho on swinging, High-C "If I do this, it could lead to more for both of us" option. The Low-C and standard options get different responses from Steph that refer to her finding generic partners or calling Donny when MC is out fucking women, only later mentioning that he needs to consider it happening with Jason and not as forcefully ("It's exciting, but scary too. We have to be sure we can handle all of this"). The MC seems to like the discussion, even if you personally don't (that's important). This couple is deciding on SWINGING, ultimately there is no "OK I won't fuck Jason" at the end of the road if MC wants Tori. It's swing, or don't. The MC (and apparently players) need to hear that.