Thank you for your thoughts, all feedback is helpful ^^ To offer some explanations:
I'd refer you to some of the previous discussions we've had in this thread regarding domme players and the game. I would also point out that subby players are in fact the
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of the game's playerbase, and they're definitely more than just a hardcode of Patreon supporters.
The other thing I will disagree with you on is the idea that I've burned Miss Paris and Jess as characters. You're assuming I can't write my way out of it, but the ending of this arc is set, will create a new normal for act 2, and will hopefully satisfy all sides. (Well... maybe not the ones that keep asking me for an ending where you stay Jess's slave forever...)
I don't feel like I'm ignoring the player's choices by forcing sub content, just overriding them for the purposes of this arc. The dialogue in Reign of Jess does change depending on your sub score, because this could be something Missy truly hates or actually low-key gets off on, but either way, she's being forced into it. If you held a gun to the most dominant person on the planet and told them to get down on their knees and kiss your feet or you'll shoot them, they'll get down on their knees and kiss your feet because they want to live. Personally I like this idea more than a subby Missy who'd bow to Jess without even being forced.
As to the sandbox/kinetic novel dichotomy, I'd have a look at Poppy's story if you've only just come back to the game. Avenging Angel has so many different paths that it was hard to keep track of them during development.
I've written about it somewhere, (though I can't remember whether it's public or behind the paywall) that this story gives the player a lot of choice, whereas the Reign of Jess (an arc that divides opinion far more than I'd have ever thought and has been extremely surprising) is a story on rails.
I used blackmail for the plot because it's hot for the character to have to do something she doesn't want to, and I'll do it again, but I am also tinkering with some other ideas for having her coerced into doing things she's reluctant to do, so watch this space ^^