Oh sure. But if the sex/pregnancy/progression isn't the payoff than what would be?
Some see the gates as bad, but with no progression or exploration whats the point? Just arguing against a gameplay at that point.
Surely the lack of a payoff isn't the issue. People tend to be really fond to deal in absolutes regarding a lot of things, and grind is definitely one of those things. Some people will make wide, general statements that all grind is bad, while others will make equally general statements that grind is just an expected part of all gameplay and thus cannot be considered bad. A lot of people fail to consider that most things, including grindiness of gameplay, is not a binary condition that either exists or does not exist, nor can it even be considered a two-dimensional curve. It is something with a lot of factors that can make it more or less tolerable and enjoyable.
In its current iteration, Breeders of the Nephelim has a lot of Nephilim that can be collected, but most of them are gated behind progression that requires grind to get to, limiting how many you can get. Luckily the way to do this is to capture and/or breed the available types of nephilim, and there are a lot of different sexual positions that can be used for this... though these positions are also gated behind progression and requires a
different kind of grind.
There is grind for world levels, there is grind for capturing nephilim with certain traits, there is grind for nephilim with better stats, grind for hybridization, grind for points for sexual positions... and the fact that
almost everything is gated makes the grind toward progression that much less enjoyable.
There is also such a thing as making sure that grind is varied to make it more enjoyable. Once upon a time, the first time I really started to question the direction of this game was when sexual positions were locked away. I mean... initially you are so limited in what you can do, it's almost literally just repeating the same exact action over and over again. I can't imagine a lot of people still consider it a payoff or rewarding to watch a vulwarg have sex in the exact same position the tenth time in a row it happens. Or the fifteenth. Or the Twentieth.
Variety gradually sneaks in, but you have to grind so much for it that I don't even have the desire to try. Grind is fine, but it can be taken too far and become too monotonous. Having progression is good, but having that progression be slow and function by essentially locking away core aspects of the game and force grind to actually access them just ends up frustrating.
Gates, progression and grind aren't "good" or "bad," but they can be implemented well or poorly. If you enjoy the design of this gating and progression, good for you, but I seem to see a lot of people around here that agree that the way it is done here is not enjoyable.
