i mean, she should have been with somebody in the time she was away. the more i think about this the more it bugs me. she could have been with somebody who is deficient in one or several ways (obvious ones or subtle ones) when compared to MC, or show how hard it is to find real chemistry with another person. that would kinda hammer home how good he was for her and what she threw away when she left. it would definitely sell the narrative point that she finally realizes what she had and why MC is so important. feels kinda cheap to try and tell that story without showing her struggle with other relationships and have some frame of reference for comparison on what she has lost.
if DPC wants to be known for making mature content, he needs to not be afraid to tell mature stories even if it upsets the wannabe-harem/"canonical virgins" bros that will always play this game. you know, where people can have sex without the MC either before or after they have met him and it doesnt detract from their characters at all and in fact makes them more believable as people with history. he is so afraid/reluctant to show Zoey go through any of these kinds of emotional hurdles herself, so he has to make to other characters to mirror her struggles and have relationship problems that she can live through vicariously. rings kinda hollow when she isnt allowed to have any firsthand experiences unless its with MC himself
Absolutely agreed on everything you said. Unfortunately, as your signature attests, DPC thinks he's running a business, and so on a cost-benefit analysis putting anything in the story that even remotely sniffs of cheating or NTR or whatever would hurt his bottom dollar, so he just won't. No matter how realistic it would be, or beneficial or interesting to the story or whatever, it's never going to happen because those sweet patreon bux would drop by a couple hundred a month and we can't have that.
My three favorite characters right now are Quinn, Lily and Nicole, all three of which would realistically be fucking other guys on the regular because of their work and other proclivities, but that will never ever in a thousand years come up in the game except as a vague implication or an implication from context. As a result, we're not getting - and won't ever get - the full stories of these characters, and nor will we see the full potential of their character growth and the MC's character growth without them going through the realistic challenges of these kinds of relationships with strippers and hookers and drug dealers. It's a shame but I've made my peace with it, like I have with pretty much every other piece of modern fiction that comes out that is either self-censored or actively censored to appeal to a certain subset of loud people who can't handle reality even in story form. If I ever make one of these games, and I'm seriously considering carving out a piece of my day to start trying now that hardware prices are falling, I won't be pulling any punches on that kind of shit, I really don't see how anyone who considers themself a writer could. Money is a hell of a drug I guess