In this game, you don't have full control over essential/important NPCs nor their slaves. No, it's not a bug. This is an RPG first and foremost; even the author herself calls it such.
You, and a few others, have been led to believe this is a sandbox mostly because the story hasn't progressed in years, and the progress that was made has been almost exclusively side-content and sandbox-y elements. There are several issues with the development but going into that discussion would be regurgitating what has been said thousands of times already.
The point is - even though LT contains sandbox elements, it still abides by certain rules. Randomly generated NPCs and those you can enslave are fodder for you to do as you please, the rest you cannot touch (or at least not permanently). Another example of limited control; even though you can alter your settings to ban furries from spawning, essential NPCs who are furries, will remain furries regardless of your choice. AKA your settings will only affect those who are blank slates/random spawns. This is a design choice and it's something you will have to deal with if you decide to play LT, your preferences and opinion nonwithstanding.
If you still can't understand what we're saying, or simply don't agree with it, then all I can say is that you are better off going back to playing VNs because this game is not going to change in that regard.
Lol, that's my own point of playing VNs were characters are stale and stay 100% how their author means them to, that i don't play VNs.
Second point, i already do play other games, that give way more freedom than this does, i'm almost tempted to learn Java so to fix this game.
If you give a player the control on how to control the world, you can't contradict those same rules the very second after.
NPCs like Scarlett do become your slaves and abide by your rules, it's just a toggle that needs to put in, probably something that Innoxia struggles to do as he delays and delays releases.
It is a sandbox, with RPG elements, that's the difference.
There's a much more simple way of handling plot characters, NOT making them get in the situation where the player can get their hands on them.Don't make me be able to beat them in combat completely, and then
'noo, this guy says no to the potion, so you put it back, but a random mugger beaten in the same way, can be transformed as you please.' Tell me the practical difference.
What's stopping me to just pour down a potion down a NPC's throat after i beated someone to pulp?
Just because the author doesn't want to bother aknownledging the character being transformed and modify the sex scenes?
If i were the author, i would simply not allow the character to be engaged in combat so that it can't be touched by the player, in any case.
That's how you handle plot characters.
Lysseth for example can't be beaten in combat, and thus can't be touched by the player transforming them in something else, so nobody can't complain about Lysseth changing back or forth on what you didn't want.
Plus Lysseth has a sex scene where you can either ask her to fuck her or be fucked where she grows a cock, so it can appeal to those that like futas and those like me that don't.
But this happened after i remember when Lysseth was first introduced, and the only sex scene was with her growing a cock, but changed it afterwards.
Guess i'm so selfish for wanting Lysseth to not have a cock, excuse me that i don't like futa at all.
What's so hard in having the toggle affect the plot characters under furry?
Make them spawn depending on the level, if randomly generated npcs can, why not plot characters? it's not impossible.
Maybe you can't understand my own point and just try to defend the author in any way possible.
That's the author's own fault of not focusing on the main story but just on introducing the 191th subspecies of dog or cat, not me that i criticize the game for growth.
If i were the author i would complete the story, and not introduce other irrilevant species.
I would rather give more control to the player, if i give him the choice to do different stuff, then put him back on the road because you author thought that the player would always choose what you wanted, it's not correct nor it makes sense.
Don't give any choice then.
Don't give me the choice to transform demons and then have them revert to what they were.