It fits the server's character though, which was what I was arguing about.
Nice and thoughtful guy. Hm.
/side-eyes Orion's train monologue and conversation with Chang about getting laid and scoring chicks at the very beginning of the game and his "stealth" encounter with Dalia at the bathroom
Yeah I don't know about that, chief. He's not as bad as Axel or Nancy, sure. But he's still definitely a horndog so I'm not that surprised when we encounter certain scenes where it's obvious that his dick/horni is overriding his sense of judgment.
It adds to the worldbuilding, though. Sure, it's a sex scene for the sake of a sex scene. But aside from ticking a box in the "normal for Cyberpunk" list there's some dialogue there that I feel is going to get some callbacks later on as we dive further and further into the story and the issue of "what is real" starts rearing its ugly head (along with a host of other ugly questions). And yes, while I concede that it could've been handled better, that there should've been consequences yada yada yada, I just feel miffed at the idea that we have to justify a scene that's just is just because it doesn't contribute to the grand scheme of things.
It's the same principle as those arguing against 0.5 because it's mostly downtime. "We can't have that anymore because it hampers with the fucking plot." "We can't have moments where we just stop and take in the world and experience shit because it's disjointed to the entire thing." "There's too many cooking moments in Heaven's Feel. Why are there so much fucking cooking in Heaven's Feel?" "ENOUGH WITH THE WISHY-WASHY LACK OF FUCKING PROGRESS, GET US BACK TO THE FUCKING STORY-"
...
...Sorry. Call me old-fashioned, but it's one of those things that I absolutely hate about modern storytelling - the need for everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, to fit to the metanarrative that we don't stop and take in the fucking sights anymore just for the hell of it.
> It fits the server's character though, which was what I was arguing about.
Fair enough. But everything else is out of place.
> /side-eyes Orion's train monologue and conversation with Chang about getting laid and scoring chicks at the very beginning of the game and his "stealth" encounter with Dalia at the bathroom
The conversation with chang about getting laid was mostly just friends being friends - it is not personality defining. And the Dalia scene is another one where I thought things did not make sense. I think Orion should have lost Dalia's path after that.
To me it feels like in 0.1 the dev was still unsure about some aspects of the game and so I think there are scenes that feel a bit out of place. He may have had the general story mapped out but I definitely feel like there has been a shift with later updates and there are things that are different now.
> It adds to the worldbuilding, though
I dont disagree with that my argument is that it is a bad way to add to the worldbuilding because it comes at the cost of making the MC look like an unlikeable douche. The only thing I liked about that scene was the conversation with Eva but the MC could have had the same conversation with anyone else on the server - like Kitty or Annie's friends before he took the jump for example.
If you want to add to the worldbuilding, you can do so in a way that does not alienate Annie. If you want to have a choice that is the equivalent of slapping annie in the face add consequences grey out her path (some paths have been lost for a lot less - if you lose Dalia or Nancy's path for not going to the gym, something like this should definitely lose a path and yes I have the same opinion of Dalia's bathroom scene - I think her path should have been lost there). If you want to add prostitution because 'it's realistic for cyberpunk' then make the player have 0 eternals after that scene. If you want to have prostitution because it adds to the world then there are so many better ways to implement it than forcing a sex scene - just having a line of whores bothering the player as the MC explores the city, seeing people fuck in the alleyways etc would do just as much if not more for the worldbuilding without having the MC come off as inconsiderate to Annie.
> Sorry. Call me old-fashioned, but it's one of those things that I absolutely hate about modern storytelling - the need for everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, to fit to the metanarrative that we don't stop and take in the fucking sights anymore just for the hell of it.
I dont mind having downtime or taking time to see the sights. What I dislike is when it comes at the cost of the characters. The hogwarts section, almost the entirety of 0.5 and world hopping with Calypso in 0.3 were some of my favorite sections in the game. All of these scenes were taking in the sights but none of them made the MC feel like an asshole the way the Eva scene did.
