slick97

Active Member
Dec 2, 2021
654
1,633
Shazba, you know I love you but I think you're being willfully obtuse here. The problem isn't needing multiple saves; I've got oodles of saves. The problem is that I don't believe any of them will let me make the choices I actually care about.

You quip that the other girls won't be kicked to the wayside just because Zoey shows up but I'm not so sure. Yes, the other girls will definitely have screen time, but I'm not here to rack up lewd scenes; I'm here for the story and the romance. Both of those need not just screen time, they need progression. Zoey, as presented thus far, feels like regression.

BaDIK is a soap opera, so drama is inevitable. And the MC does have his own personality, so some of the drama is going to flow from that. I accept both of those points. But as long as I'm allowed to make choices for the MC, I expect those choices to mean something. If I choose to pursue Maya and Josy to the exclusion of all others, I don't just want the MC to fool around with them when he has an empty spot in his schedule. I want him to prioritize them. That's where DPC dropped the ball in Season 2, and where I'm afraid he's going to do it again in Season 3.

Remember, it was DPC who amped up the 'crossroads' to 11 in Episode 8. The MC supposedly realized that showing undiscussed affection to multiple girls was unfair and either committed to a single relationship, or to making it clear that he *wasn't* interested in a relationship at this time. I was willing to chalk the MC's histrionics over the Maya/Josy crisis in Episode 4 up to him being a young, horny kid. But now we've been explicitly told that he's matured, so I expect him to handle both his relationship and any adversity differently in Season 3. DPC called the tune and he needs to pay the piper.

Just to be clear, that doesn't mean Zoey can't return or that the MC can't have complicated feelings towards her. It's fine for her to create additional drama... *as long as it flows from my choices*. That's the key. DPC can't just assume direct control and make drama happen simply because it looks good on paper. Not after he forced us into a supposedly heartfelt choice. New drama needs to flow from the new situation, otherwise the impact of both the choice and the drama is negated.

Which brings us back to Zoey. Again, the MC supposedly just committed himself to either a single relationship, or to avoiding a relationship until he was ready to take it seriously. If that decision is to have any meaning, the MC can't just abandon it the first time a 'new' girl has some chemistry with him. If an MC who committed to one of the main girls doesn't prioritize her/them over Zoey, he obviously wasn't taking the choice seriously in the first place.

Sure, he has a history with Zoey. But as the Interlude shows, that history was extremely shallow. Even his lame discussion with Bella about elephants (except, you know, the really, really obvious one) was more significant than drawing Zoey's Z-Chord. Zoey will always be special to him, but she's not in some privileged position relative to the other unchosen girls. Asserting otherwise won't amp up the drama, it will deflate it.

Now, there are ways to add Zoey to the mix that don't run afoul of the crossroads. Unfortunately, they require that Zoey's impact vary considerably based on our choices. In an Others run, for example, Zoey would be a reason for him to rethink his decision; we could get some drama out of the MC deciding whether playing the field is worth blowing his one shot to patch things up with her. In a M/J or Bella run, Zoey could be a problem not because the MC wants to reunite but because he can't explain his secret relationship to her; how far will he go to protect that secret? In a Sage or Jill run, on the other hand, the drama would be limited to letting Zoey down easily.

If DPC is willing and able to tailor Zoey's role in that manner, I'll be happy to admit I was wrong to panic over the Interlude. But I hope you'll forgive me if I'm not optimistic based on what we've seen so far. Giving Zoey her own Interlude doesn't suggest she's going to be a minor player in Season 3. And having an MC who didn't fuck Jade still hide in the Burke's bathroom doesn't suggest DPC has learned not to force the drama.

Everything I see suggests that Season 3 will be to all the LIs what Season 2 was for M/J: a long digression that ultimately leaves us making the same choice all over again at the end rather than developing that choice. Sure, Season 4 will probably be different when we finally get there, but that's a long way off. So yeah, I remain worried about Zoey and frankly, I think you should be, too.

tl;dr:
I'm not worried Zoey is going to steal the other LIs' lewd scenes, I'm worried she's going to steal the focus that should be theirs in the wake of the crossroads. And no number of saves can help against that unless DPC is willing to dial down Zoey based on our actions. I'm not holding my breath.



I'd say the MC and Zoey were legitimate best friends, but that their friendship was rather shallow. That's hardly unrealistic, but as I just beat into the ground, it doesn't leave Zoey well positioned in the wake of the crossroads.
This is by far the best response to the interlude and Zoey's character in general. Don't get me wrong, it was fairly well written and appropriately paced for what amounts to laying the foundation for a deuteragonist (I mean we were making decisions for her). However this leads to concerns over whether the build up to chapter 8 was a faux climax of the story or just part of the rising action, the latter of which would be severely underwhelming.

The story has 7 possible branches to follow for season 3: Maya/Josy, Maya OR Josy, Jill, Bella, Sage, or continue playing the field. That's a staggering amount of work DPC has created for himself, and introducing Zoey does give off the impression that he's decreasing the number of branches from 7 to 1 (or at least drastically cutting down on the complexity).

The first two seasons have absolutely blown my mind away with how well DPC has handled an increasingly complex story, I'm optimistic he'll figure out a way to incorporate Zoey's character in an unobtrusive manner (fingers crossed).
 

pov989

New Member
Apr 27, 2017
11
60
In general, I've enjoyed this series very much. I must confess, however, that I questioned the placement of this interlude in the grand scheme of the story. But that is a minor gripe on my end and not the point of why I felt compelled to write this post.

What I do want to talk about is that despite my questionable feelings about the interlude, I do want to highlight the message behind the story. The idea of falling out with people due to distance or time apart. It is a common thing that people feel, think about, and experience in life (maybe some more acutely than others) but, nevertheless, that does not diminish the impact of that idea and the feelings associated with it. I think this short story does a good job of conveying those mixed signals and misunderstanding that often occur when people are experiencing these types of situations. It is still an adult game and only does so much, but I still think it handled the material in a good way given these limitations.

So, despite my reservations, I do want to give DPC kudos for the good story. A very human story.
 

shazba

Engaged Member
Aug 4, 2020
3,506
19,701
This is by far the best response to the interlude and Zoey's character in general. Don't get me wrong, it was fairly well written and appropriately paced for what amounts to laying the foundation for a deuteragonist (I mean we were making decisions for her). However this leads to concerns over whether the build up to chapter 8 was a faux climax of the story or just part of the rising action, the latter of which would be severely underwhelming.

The story has 7 possible branches to follow for season 3: Maya/Josy, Maya OR Josy, Jill, Bella, Sage, or continue playing the field. That's a staggering amount of work DPC has created for himself, and introducing Zoey does give off the impression that he's decreasing the number of branches from 7 to 1 (or at least drastically cutting down on the complexity).

The first two seasons have absolutely blown my mind away with how well DPC has handled an increasingly complex story, I'm optimistic he'll figure out a way to incorporate Zoey's character in an unobtrusive manner (fingers crossed).
Personally I don’t see how the game is even gonna change all that much.

There have always been 4+ paths, some intertwining paths and some unavoidable story aspects.

That’s probably not even going to change.

Hang out with Josy & Maya, or just Josy or just Maya, picnic with Jill or go meet her friends, or have a date with Bella or get up to some mischief with Sage, or fuck them all off and get high with Quinn.

This has been going on all along, the only difference is that up until now you could focus on one girl or try to juggle as many as possible. It seems the juggling act is now over.

Who knows what Zoey brings to that mix, but there’s sure to be exclusive scenes with each girl, some jealousy and heartbreak, and the story will continue to build regardless of who the mc is with.

Probably the hardest job will be for anyone developing a mod to try and shoehorn all the LIs into one play through without turning the game to shit.
 

felicemastronzo

Devoted Member
May 17, 2020
11,549
22,422
After a second playthrough I think it might be bait, it's probably just Sage being Sage and after she does not see MC in the room she runs after him because she can't face her parents alone, bangs on the door and when EP9 start she'll just be yelling at MC for bailing right when she's supposed to talk.
It's just DPC generating more interest and mystery for the next chapter.
it could also be. that Sage goes looking for MC AFTER the meeting is credible

the most likely outcome of the meeting remains a "we'll let you know" :ROFLMAO:
 
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felicemastronzo

Devoted Member
May 17, 2020
11,549
22,422
finished the third run on the interlude, I miss the minigames but I doubt that they will change my judgment

it satisfied me, this interlude was exactly what i expected

did this attempt to make Zoey more "likeable" work? not so much with me. the whole necessity of the departure exploited one of the most pathetic means that could be used, the promise to her dead grandmother (taken from the worst pixar movies..). of course Zoey's character comes out deeper than before, but it remains a caricature. Is Zoey rebellious because she has blue hair or does she have blue hair because she's a rebel? what demons torment her? no answer from the interlude.

she is young, so any behavior is justified, before anyone tells me....
but if one acts like a bitch, it remains that one acted like a bitch even if she was young

she didn't win me over, but I'm still optimistic that she will be a good shock to the story (we have already seen that MC is melting at the mere hearing of her return, so for the choices that matter we will have to wait on her...)


the 2 things i liked the most were the graphic aspect, i liked all the animations, basically useless, but very cinematic and the aesthetic upgrade of Zoey, and the fact that DPC tried to rectify the "fuck, fuck, fuck" scene giving it some nuances depending on the situation where MC is (he could have done it sooner... but better late than never)

the fact that Sage is furiously looking for MC makes me think that in the meeting with Burke there was some unforeseen event, maybe it is revealed to Maya that the loan was all a scam and she had a crisis, or she ran away... we'll see (in 5-6 months...)
ah I forgot: ename144 , you have been overly optimistic, other than shy boyfriend, better no boyfriend!!! you never know how people are sensitive ... :ROFLMAO:
 
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ViolatedHeroine

New Member
Mar 12, 2020
9
2
Does anyone have a torrent or reliable win download for season 1-2, Mega limits are crappy and only other working download link in post is downloading as an iso.
 

felicemastronzo

Devoted Member
May 17, 2020
11,549
22,422
the interlude left me with two doubts:
When Mc talks to Bella about Zoey we see the photos that Emma took of her, this makes me think that MC has seen them, but did he see Emma's post or at a later time did Zoey shoot them to him directly? the first hypothesis would explain why Mc thinks she is in a relationship...

the second doubt is about the timing: when does Zoey leave? the summer before MC meets Josy? but didn't this create that problem with the age?
 
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dalli_x

Engaged Member
Jul 7, 2017
3,409
7,735
Honestly this is more than likely an another overreacting from the player base. I've seen so many shit regarding that, that Sage knocking on the door. Going extend deep details about, how it's gonna be yet again shit writing, because its must be about Jade, but if you don't fuck Jade it's a plot hole, and blah blah blah blah blah:rolleyes: . It's like Maya's father all over again:ROFLMAO:. "Oh DPC gonna force us to pretend to be My boyfriend, oh no NO , blah blah bad writing, I hate Maya, whining whining whining" :ROFLMAO:

The obvious answer, is that simple, Jade suck at cooking, and that's evident since Bella is good at it, and they are the polar opposite of each other :cool:
So Jade accidently food poisoned everyone, and now everyone is waiting for the fucking bathroom. Its gonna be that fucking simple

:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
That's the beauty of DPC's story. It builds suspense, leaves questions, and then the solution is actually mundane.:D

Damn. I always fall for it.:rolleyes::ROFLMAO:
 

Alfius

Engaged Member
Modder
Sep 30, 2017
2,326
4,880
the interlude left me with two doubts:
When Mc talks to Bella about Zoey we see the photos that Emma took of her, this makes me think that MC has seen them, but did he see Emma's post or at a later time did Zoey shoot them to him directly? the first hypothesis would explain why Mc thinks she is in a relationship...

the second doubt is about the timing: when does Zoey leave? the summer before MC meets Josy? but didn't this create that problem with the age?
(I actually replayed the scene with Bella to just recap what happened.)

So IMO the following happened:
The MC saw the naked photo that was uploaded by Emma and her nasty comments about fucking her ex.
So the MC naturally assumed that Zoey is in a relationship now with the said ex.

I do not think that Zoey sent them to MC directly. Since Zoey tried to reduce her contact with MC after talking to 'Brian'? (the tattoo guy). It does not make sense that she would sent it to him especially given the negativity of that specific picture. Also the MC deduced from that picture that Zoey was in a relationship, so that only makes sense when taking the Rooster post into account.

Zoey left while the MC was still in High School, before meeting Josy. Zoey dropped out of HS without graduating, while the MC was still in school. He met Josy during the following summer vacation while working in the shop after graduating High school and before going to Uni.

Basically while MC was writing his 'mid term?' Uni exams, Zoey wrote and graduated from HS via correspondence course.
 

NewTricks

Forum Fanatic
Nov 1, 2017
4,551
9,722
the interlude left me with two doubts:
When Mc talks to Bella about Zoey we see the photos that Emma took of her, this makes me think that MC has seen them, but did he see Emma's post or at a later time did Zoey shoot them to him directly? the first hypothesis would explain why Mc thinks she is in a relationship...

the second doubt is about the timing: when does Zoey leave? the summer before MC meets Josy? but didn't this create that problem with the age?
I think that it is established that Zoey drops out and leaves during the school year before the summer that he met Zoey. She has already turned 19 and only has one class left before graduation. I'm not sure, but it might be that Zoey isn't in the same class as MC but rather the year ahead of him which would explain the incongruity. If this isn't true, maybe she was held back a year at some point. What we do know is that she went no contact for six months before that summer, so she would have left fairly early in the school year.
 

луна

Member
Aug 24, 2021
248
837
I was expecting Zoey to be a bad girl, but i was hella wrong, she really is a sweet girl. She easily could be in my top 5.
The last scene when Sage is angry at MC, changes if i pursued Jade or it the same for all paths ?
 
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