So you've never spoken with another person and thought,
Invite for ice cream === or === Invite to park
"Hey, want to go with me to the ice cream shop?"
"You know I'm lactose intolerant. No, I don't want ice cream." <Big Frown> (hidden -5 points)
"I know that, but I thought the Slippery Ice Cafe had those muffins you absolutely adored?"
"Oh, that ice cream shop! Let's go!" <Huge Smile> (hidden +15 points)
"Hey, want to go to the park?"
"Okay." <Small Smile> (hidden +5 points)
Without seeing the points, is the very first reaction the only thing that matters (i.e. it is frown versus smile)? Is it everything that happened in all the dialogs until the next player choice (i.e. frown-smile versus smile)? If it's the latter, how do I know which the author decided is better? What about when it is like many VNs that have quite a bit of text between choices and it is more like frown-smile-smile-smirk-laugh-stare-pout versus smile-shrug-smile-eye roll-shrug-nod? Even if I know that ice cream is better than park on that single choice, what happens as I get more choices before these 2 threads recombine? Maybe at the park I get 5 additional choices and at the ice cream shop I get 1 choice. Maybe when the 2 different storylines remerge the park has a potential for 50 points total and the ice cream shop only 20. It doesn't matter if I make sure I see smiles every single time.
Not to mention, without points in a game it is often impossible to know:
1. Is being nice my only goal and all that matters?
2. Is there a little bit of a corruption meter and I need to be a bit "not nice" to get the game to move forward?
3. Does this girl like bad boys and I need to be dangerous and maybe even a bit rude at times?
4. Does this game take real-world concepts such as "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and "we want what we can't have?" So I should ignore her a bit and although it will frustrate her and upset her, it will actually make her affection/attraction/interest in me go up?
Also I'll say if a person does have issues judging the reactions of other people in real life, is not a game exactly the type of environment where they can escape that flaw just for a bit? A simple visible points counter can let them enjoy right along with everyone else?
All games don't need a visible points system, but when the game is using one internally it can certainly solve some difficulties if players have some sort of access to that system. As soon as a player is save-scumming immersion is already a bit lacking (a small number in the corner of the screen doesn't really make it worse). It is much easier for those that want to base progress on facial response and dialog to ignore a small number on the screen or not press the 'S' key to pop up the current score (or some other means of viewing the current score) than it is for those who want/need the help of the score to make do without.
Typically, for me at least, if I'm playing a erotic/adult visual novel, unless it is designed to be riddled with player punishment dead ends, then I don't feel a need to see scores... These types of visual novels tend to be more Choose Your Own Adventure type games, in a way very similar to that genre of books from the mid 80's... In this particular style of visual novel, scores are usually only wanted by folks who just wish to see as much content over all as humanly possible, without relying on their basic decision making processes to get them through the content... Either out of fear that they might be making bad choices and might miss something, or they just want to see as much as possible without running that risk of accidentally missing out...
Now, in erotic/adult story based games, where grinding stats is a key element in order to open up new content and/or open the gate to particular story arcs, then I can definitely see having stats listed as being a very needed element in that style of game...
Every player and/or reader has different key aspects for game play that they are either used to, find makes their experience easier, and/or plays into their over all needs... For me, I prefer the author/s do what they want and what works for their artistic style, over making everyone happy... Because it is an impossible dream to make everyone happy... What makes one player/reader happy, makes another sad/mad...
The point I was making in the post you quoted was that so far, it has been rather easy to predict what choice will most likely get what type of response... And only on a rare occasion, when I felt it might be up in the air, then it was a good idea to save game, just in case I made a decision with an outcome I didn't really want... And it is pretty clear in most cases, based on the characters reactions to a choice, what way the outcome is swaying... Unless someone has issues with empathy, reading facial expressions, deciphering reactions, and so on, then of course some other system might suit them better... But thus far, I personally have yet to not realize, in most cases prior to making a choice, what response I will most likely get before making that choice... This whole VN/Game is playing out as either a Love/Romance story or the opposite direction, depending on the choices you make... Personally I'm going the love route, so I make the appropriate choices that feel like they will boost that sort of outcome...
As to your points, I can see where you're coming from... And since every author is different in how they structure their choice based content, I can understand the issues you are referring to... But you can't judge every VN/Game based on how a few authors here and there have structured their choices either in an unclear manner or they felt that random punishment was a good idea... In this particular visual novel though, I've not seen that sort of concept played out... Such as with your ice cream example, where how would you know they are lactose intolerant prior to a choice, and therefore are punished when making that choice... In that particular case, I feel the author should have revealed some sort of hint prior to the choice, otherwise it's just bad form to randomly punish a player during such a innocent decision without any prior knowledge... If a decision system is put into place that does that, then it's should be a mark against the overall VN/Game during a review or feedback, rather then just being worked around with a visible point list... It's a sign of a poorly designed system to not provide hints that would allow a player/reader to avoid that type of situation, rather then just being punished for the hell of it...