I will first address the notion that a dev does not have to take into account the reception of his paying public. That is flawed thinking. It happens all the time. Movies test screen for reasons and more than a few have had to reshoot scenes that did not get received well. And sometimes seeing it through the eyes of others illuminates something that you missed because as the Dev/author you know where the story is ultimately going so sometimes you skip steps that felt small in scope..to you. In the end, if you are doing this with getting paid in mind. You better listen to that audience...the paying one I mean.
Second, I do not think the discussion was a strict NTR vs NTS issue, those are just the terms we use now. The rules for them hardly influence anything as you likely could not find two people on here who could agree to what they are. I can only speak for myself, but for me it was a matter of I am focused on the couple of Eric and Vi. I am not here for Eric to have a chad protag journey, of nailing all girls while Vi awaits his return. Nor am I here for the Vi "New Ho of Babylon" saga, where she goes slack faced anytime anyone unzips their pants. Both concepts bore the hell out of me. The last update tried to thread some of those needles, while skipping a few steps I feel were needed, and fell flat. At least for me.
I like Vi the tease that does dirty stuff for the enjoyment of both her and her partner. I like Eric trying to anticipate what she will do next only to have to "punish and reclaim" his girl. But in truth there is no reclaim cause neither are actually stepping out and straying. Which is likely why I hate the concept of Bruce as the writing seems to sometimes place him on an Eric level of influence on Vi, which I get, but personally am meh on.
