The system works reasonably well as long as you don't think about it, but it runs into big problems on any sort of close inspection. It serves it's main role of providing replay value by making a "horndog" route feel very different from a "nice guy" run, and the Major Decisions add an element of gameplay that livens up the Visual Novel narrative.
But it starts to break down if you question what makes the Major Decisions so major: why is giving Steve a shoulder to cry on more important than defending Chad when he's nearly expelled? Why is fooling around with Jade a Major DIK act, but fooling around with Bella is neutral (and even occasionally CHICKish)? There's really no rhyme or reason to why most of those decisions are the big ones, which undercuts the system considerably.
In addition, the distinction between Status and Affinity is both poorly implemented and unnecessarily confusing. Sometimes, Status seems to be the MC's reputation/style whereas Affinity is more like his inherent personality: thus Status determines his speech patterns while Affinity will eventually go on to govern his actions in a 'crisis.' But that gets muddles when, for example, Jill will only offer to shower with an MC with CHICK affinity; by the previous logic, either she should only offer to shower with an MC who has CHICK status, or else an MC with CHICK Affinity should refuse to take advantage of her when showering. Similarly, the MC can only get a threesome with Mona and Camila if he has serious DIK Status, whereas you'd expect the MC should need DIK Affinity to make the attempt (and maybe DIK for them to accept). In the end, each system arbitrarily means whatever makes for better gameplay at the time.
I do think Permanent Affinity could be an interesting development, but it really depends on how it's implemented. If done well, it will help simplify the narrative (since things will eventually boil down to at most 3 "routes") while making the restrictions feel like an organic outgrowth of how we've chosen to mold the MC. If done badly, it will wreck the illusion that our choices ever mattered by forcing us to do things our MC would probably never have done, simply for the sake of the meter.
It's hard to be too optimistic given just how underthought the initial DIK/CHICK system was. Still, for all its faults BaDIK has been fantastic up to this point so I'm willing to give DPC the benefit of the doubt for now. Here's hoping!
There are many ways to look at it.
Defending Chad from being expelled might feel somewhat critical to the story, but it was clear that when Chad attacked the mc, there was more behind it. He was crying, something was off. So when the book is being thrown at him, for the mc to say, "Hang on, do we need to go this far", isn't necessarily a DIK or Chick reaction.
Whereas there's this little cunt that works with you at the store that is so fucking annoying, if he was on fire (lit by DrPinkCake of course) you wouldn't even piss on him to put it out. Then suddenly, he's crying and you are so moved by compassion that you care!? That's some seriously Chick behaviour there.
Jade's relationship is all about risk, something a cocky DIK would be all about. Sure, Bella is the librarian and we find out potential teacher, but the relationship is very different, it's more about feelings and magnetism.
You really can spin these situations anyway you want.
If you do analyse everything (which is going to happen because it's so long between episodes), some people are surely going to find fault, but to me, when I play the game, it's either Mr Nice Guy, or Mr Fuck-Everything-That-Moves Guy. The system works well for those two dudes. If you try to juggle the system, it's gets a little random, but that can happen when you're sitting on the fence.
One thing we don't know yet, is whether our DIK/Chick Status and Affinity really matter in the long run. They influence various situations, give us more or less experiences, but do we know for sure that it will ultimately block the main LIs?
Bella is happy to date the MC by the end of Ep7, whether he's a DIK or Chick, as long as he's played her right. Sure there's no 69, that doesn't mean there's no happily every after. Maybe that was just a bonus for the players who went without all that DIK goodness the game had to offer.
OK, Jill isn't entirely sold if the MC isn't a Chick, but she's still mighty jealous when the DIK mc's dick is plastered on the wall for all to see, and they've seen it before! Sure we didn't see her paddling the pink canoe in the DIK playthrough, like I said, she's not sold yet. Yet...
Maya and Josy's throuple (which ultimately could collapse), may be the only relationship the DIK mc doesn't get to partake in, but that doesn't mean the throuple will survive until the end of the game, nor that the mc won't end up with Maya or Josy in spite of his DIKishness.
At the very moment, even a DIK mc can have sexual tension with all the main LIs (except I'm not feeling Maya, that said, their relationship could be rekindled, they went pretty far before the bomb hit).
So the bottom line is, DIK/Chick may just change the flavour of the game, the journey itself, not the destination.
