Any complex project, especially one created by a small team, cannot exist in a vacuum, ignoring the interest of its audience.
Like any artist, I am a narcissist. It is important for me that people admire the result of my work. Because I create not for myself, but for people, but what I personally like. And if I'm interested in newfangled trends in a genre that I like (for example, NTR), it means that I study the mood of the players. You need to always feel your audience, analyze trends and correctly integrate new chips if they are in demand.
I'm not creating a niche project for two aesthetes. I want to create a cool erotic sandbox. I like to satisfy the needs of the majority, because I consider myself one of them.
Many authors make original projects, but get burned, ignoring criticism. I don't want my game to disappear halfway through development because "I'm kind of the smartest."
A couple of years ago I did the Sweet F. Cake project. Later, I was contacted by a publisher who saw potential in me. He was playing a game and smashed it to pieces. I rewrote almost the entire game again. More than 300 pages. And it saved our game. We have "Very positive reviews" on Steam. If I had left everything as it is, then most likely it would have been a huge failure. I look at my old, original plot and wonder how I came up with such stupidity?
Now I have the experience. And Milf's Plaza has so far avoided all the mistakes I made in the previous project.