Thanks for taking the time to give your input. The harem subject actually came up recently on my Discord. Though it wasn't a lot of people chiming in, those that did basically agreed that my plan to stick to throuple/poly relationships with select girls is a decent compromise between single love interests, and a harem. And I still plan to have a possible 'corruption' harem, where you basically just have all the girls as sugar-babies/FWB with no expectation of commitment. But, I stand by my assertion that a full love harem just wouldn't fit the world/characters I've built thus far.
Will share my own opinion if you don't mind! And I fully agree. Harems usually are heavily centralized on the MC and his story, and new partners are added as part of his own journey towards a vague objective. They revolve around the MC, and their stories must have an intersection (and be solved by) the MC's.
Which is not what FiN is about at all imo. This is a work of internal introspection and consequences of your choices, and how you decide to interfere in others' journeys. Everyone has their own, and you're not the end be it all of it. Making it a harem would also, more importantly, completely disturb the delicate balance between the characters, forcing interactions that would be hard to wave away and keep them in game.
To speak broadly to the subject of what people are looking for in these games.. I don't/can't really concern myself with that. If I only listened to the loudest voices/critics, the game would look wildly different. Maybe it'd even be more successful! But, it wouldn't be mine.
It almost certainly wouldn't be more succesful. It'd be a schizo mess, full of plot holes and contradictions. You can't please everyone. All authors should listen and absorb criticism, specially constructive one, but don't sacrfice your vision for it, or else you will get something that pleases nobody.
Curiously, I've found that the most controversial/divisive elements of FiN, are the ones where I gain my most ardent supporters. Nicki, Gabby, Mason.. These three get so much hate, but they also tend to be some of the most beloved characters in the game. So, I'm going to keep going down the path I've set up, and I think that for people who are aligned with my sensibilities, it'll be a fun ride. For those that aren't? Less so, but still pretty good.
Usually this means they have a lot of personality or at least, a lot of character, which means they either hit it off with someone or didn't. The good but bland doesn't awaken strong emotions either way. So I'd take it with a badge of honor.
