I also would not like the change. Though, I want to prove that there's more to my favoring subKaid than just a rape fetish.
First of all, I don't see how rewarding losing is a bad thing. In most games I play, from simple metroidvanias to AAA, I tend to be extremely cautious in my gameplay style even in fast-paced games. I'll experiment with enemies a bit, trying to find some weakness to exploit in order to guarantee minimal or zero health loss and then appropriate that into my gameplay. This behavior is mainly due to the frustration that comes with losing. However, with games like this that reward failure I don't get frustration from losing. This allows me to be much more free in terms of gameplay. I can play a lot more carelessly and I end up having a lot more fun. I actually try making cool combos using different abilities rather than honing in on one ability that is either too overpowered or keeps me out of range of enemies. I end up losing more, but because losing is fun I end up enjoying the game much more overall.
Even on the technical side, I have to disagree with the idea that the change will avoid disrupting gameplay. Taking one to two minutes to view every animation after a battle is much more boring and disruptive than viewing one animation mid-combat every few battles. The rarity that comes with grapple-based sex is what keeps the animations fresh and prevents getting bored of them. I've played porn games with player-dom sex and I know I will feel obligated to view every sex scene, even when they start to get old. Currently the argument in terms of gameplay is to either integrate porn into the gameplay (the way it is now), or to separate the porn from the gameplay (the proposed change). In my eyes, a game where porn is separated from gameplay is just a game with a porn gallery attached and defeats the purpose of combining porn and video games. The difference between integration and separation is much like the difference between creating a spork and taping a spoon to a fork.
On a further note, this game avoids most of the pitfalls I commonly see with RoR type games:
- The game is too easy, and you have to try to lose. This game is one of the few that is actually challenging. My only gripe is that I get damaged from traps much more than I get damaged from enemies.
- You are punished for watching the sex anims to completion. This game obviously avoids this which is great because this problem is all too common and very annoying.
- Game overs set you way back in the game and are required for gallery completion. This game has a fair abundance of save stations, so not a problem.
- The only porn consists of game over cg's with as much text as a chapter of a novel. I like in-game scenes far better. This game's cg's are a bit on the longer side, but I've seen much worse.
This is true, but categorizing reactions as negative and positive sometimes causes my bias towards my own opinion to dismiss some of the "negative" reactions. I like to think of it as follows: the fear of losing something you have is a greater motivator than the hope of gaining something you want.
I guess all this is just to say that, even excluding fetishes, people will still have different preferences. I fully recognize that my gameplay habits and behavior may be a minority that others can't relate with. In the end either decision will be met with backlash from the losing party. Obviously, keeping the game as is would be a softer blow. However, while the change would result in the immediate loss of some original supporters, eventually that deficit would be cancelled out by the influx of people discovering the game that wouldn't have enjoyed the previous version. Some of the subKaid enjoyers would also eventually become complacent after failing to find another decent furry porn game. Like many have said before me, this decision is in the hands of the developer.
