Not even writters know exactly where there story will take them at the begining of a tale. Characters can take on a life of there own and so the author may change the story.
Actually most Writers know EXACTLY where their story is going to go...What they may not know when they start is what scenes they will create to get to that point.
And if you had experience writing you would know that.
Every GOOD story has an OVERALL ARC that usually means a beginning, a turning point and an ending.
you may not know the episodic chapters that get you to those landmarks when you start but you do know where those landmarks are you want to head towards.
You bring up a movie here and in doing so you actually illustrate my point. This is not a (Complete) game. We're in development stage.
Doesn't matter that it isn't a completed game. The parts that are released ARE completed!
It is NOT like a film where it takes nothing more than setting up a camera and reshooting a scene and cutting it in.
There is all this logic code, flags and statistical variables that would also have to be changed and never do when making a game because that is how you make a buggy mess.
I'm pretty sure
@Faerin has a pretty damn good idea where this story is going and how it might end. Some of the scenes to build the relationship in the future may change from what they are in his head now but what he has committed is NEVER going to change.
This is a mistake lay people who are not content creators simply don't get when they throw around the "It's Not Completed so ANYTHING GOES" type statements.
As for thematic releases not being a problem once the game is completed well sure once it is completed...
But the Dev is relying on keeping all the fans of his product interested through each release so he can make enough money TO complete it.
And thematic releases are great for the fans of the person featured in the theme, but sucks for all the fans of the other characters who got nothing new for two months time.
My feeling is
@Faerin is doing just fine with his content quality and quantity and with a 2 week release cycle he is keeping he doesn't need to worry about full thematic or short episodic content. What he has done is just fine so why even bring up a change in the way he develops his content. Whatever you didn't finish this week you will finish in two weeks time!