VN Ren'Py Nothing Is Forever [v0.7.3] [MrSilverLust]

[Pendrell]

Question about the loveometer: at the end of chapter 5, with Kim as biggest crush and cheating with her on manly path, the feelings status says you find her...interesting. Is that intentional? Feels like it should be at least attracted to.

 

[gregers]

Since people are sharing things that bothered them slightly or a little bit more than slightly (and since you like talking about your game) I thought I'll write about one thing that bothered me a little bit that I haven't mentioned earlier, cause I thought it's maybe too small of an issue.

Spoiler: Kim choice

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Thing is, there is already an option like the one you mention in the game, but that conversation is heavily conditional on all sorts of things. Without checking the details, maybe one of those conditions is a bit off so the game has checked your previous choices and assumed—erroneously—that that's what you meant, rather than giving you the choice.

 

[Porthas]

When you put it that way, it's easier for me to agree with this point of view. I'm just a bit skeptical that there are many players that would benefit from the extra work. How many players are there that would like to have a had a buttjob in that scene instead of a wearing a dildo, but would like to be pegged in the next lewd scene with Deb? Porthas, you also suggested an alternative scene for Deb this chapter. Hypothetically, if the next kink scene with her was pegging until the MC has a prostate orgasm, would you be okay with that, or would you also require another less kinky scene instead there?



I like discussing game design and read people's opinions, I don't think it's wasted time. Besides, this usually only lasts 1 week after release. After that, the thread goes quiet and I go back to my porn cave working in the game all alone for 3 months. Let me enjoy talking about it while there are still people commenting

To answer your question - I myself would want the choice to either go the pegging route or go more vanilla. I'm not interested in pegging, but I'm sure some folks are. So I usually go the route of compromise. I'm also not a BDSM "expert" so of course "compromise" could probably mean a lot of things.

I approach relationships and sex scenes tied to those relationships as gradual things.* As you gradually get to know somebody, you gradually experiment with more in both the relationship and in the bed. Like dating. At first you put up your best showing, then those barriers drop and more of what each party brings to the table is revealed. Maybe this approach doesn't work for the design of the game, that's fine. Or it may be too much work. That's also fine.

I'm not going to pretend to know what it's like to develop a game, so I won't go there. If it were me, I would try to build like, clear stages where one can climb, level off, or drop down. Climb up to the next kinkiest thing, level off towards... hmm maybe in bullet point this would be clearer:

1) hop up - I'm not only cool with licking your feet I'll also strap a plastic dildo on myself
2) stay level - eh, I'm good with licking your feet but I don't want to strap on the dildo
3) hop down - eh, I tried the licking feet and I didn't like it. Maybe go more vanilla?

With each stage that's not a "hop up" in the direction the girl wants to go there's the option for her to
1) be okay with it
2) be okay with it but it hurts relationship/alternatives suggested that are "equal" perhaps but "different flavor"?
3) not be okay with it and end intimate relationship go to friend zone
(same kind of choices where applicable for MC)

Of course these are all generalities and broad examples, I'm not speaking in specifics.

This is also kinda how I thought the story with each woman was going to go, so it's why I brought up what I did earlier.

* caveat - of course building relationships doesn't mean a good story can only have sex scenes if you've built up to them - spontaneous sex scenes always have their place in a story, in my humble opinion.

 

[Porthas]

And this here is more of what I was aiming for with the game. I would like that everyone, whether they like hardcore stuff, vanilla, light femdom, light maledom, more hardcore femdom, more hardcore maledom, etc, have some path they like. At least one of the girls should be good for the kind of kinks they like and level of vanilla/hardcore they enjoy. But providing all those options for every single LI is almost impossible. The idea is that all of the LIs can offer something a bit different in the kink department and then the player chooses his favorite. This was never intended to be a harem game where a player needs to like all LIs, or several of them. You'll have to pick just one anyway, starting early on rejecting those with kinks you like less just makes it easier.

I like this in concept. But sometimes one doesn't know what one is getting into until they're many layers into the kink. Like Deb. I wouldn't mind her bossing me around a bit. But I don't know just how much she likes to control MC until it "feels like it's too late" and suddenly MC is agreeing to wear a... well you know I mentioned it earlier.

So yeah, I don't expect a harem game if you don't wanna make it like that. For a "normie" like me, though, I'm not going to know what a lot of these kinks/fetishes are for a while and I want to be able to back out of them when I do. Because honestly, a vanilla person will like a lot of these kinks to a very, very mild degree.

That also brings to mind the exhibitionist girl, I forget her name. She wants a commitment of sorts very early on and before the other girls. I think you were setting up the "cheating" aspect of the story to blend in with the kinks. Understandable. The drawback I run into is I don't feel like I know where she wants to go with this exhibitionism and it would be great if I could commit later on when I do have a better understanding of what she wants. So far I feel like a fish out of water with a lot of this fetish stuff with most of the girls, the exception it seems being the "friends with benefits" nurse. Not sure how then that would mess with the cheating options you want to bring in though.

 

[MrSilverLust]

there's a conversation with Kim about why she's still with Pete and I chose the option that there are guys who are into this (mainly into being cucked as I understood it [maybe she should be with Carl?]). After I chose this option she asks MC if he has himself in mind and he - to my initial surprise - confirmed her suspicion. In truth however I chose this option because I was genuinely thinking that MC will suggest her that she should leave Pete and find someone else (neither Pete nor MC) who shares her kinks.

This is, indeed, the intended sequence of events. If it didn't happen like that, there might be a bug somewhere. But I've tried to recreate your conditions and everything seems okay. So if I'm in the path:



During that conversation there will be this sequence of events:



You can leave, or ask "why doesn't she break up with Pete"; she will say why she's still with him; next, you can only pick "Pete" doesn't deserve that (in other paths, this option can still be picked, but the other "Fuck, that's hot" option is also available, that leads to a different part than what you want; anyway, you should have picked the first option).



And, finally, we get to the place you were talking about. Here you can just bail out of the conversation, or ask her "you could get the same power trip from a consenting partner". She'll go on until she says "Yeah? Like who? You?" And here you should be able to say, "Yes" or "Keep dreaming". If you pick "Keep dreaming", the MC will say other men that like the same kinks as her, not him. Which, I think, is more or less what you were asking for.

Is it hard for you to load your old save and check if, indeed, you don't get these options? This scene is quite complicated with all the paths and options, I wouldn't be surprise if there is a bug somewhere. But it seems to work as intended in my test.

Question about the loveometer: at the end of chapter 5, with Kim as biggest crush and cheating with her on manly path, the feelings status says you find her...interesting. Is that intentional? Feels like it should be at least attracted to.

Good point. I agree that it makes sense to upgrade that to something more appropriated.

To answer your question - I myself would want the choice to either go the pegging route or go more vanilla. I'm not interested in pegging, but I'm sure some folks are. So I usually go the route of compromise.

Yeah, I suspected so. And that's what it makes it so tricky, because then it would require adding a new variant to all scenes with Deb.

But the same should also be true in reverse. There are people that have said that, for example, Lea is too vanilla, (or Jen too kink, or... ), so now I'd also need to add two more routes so that everyone has a vanilla-ish and a kinky-ish lewd scene with any girl they like. The same for the maledom paths... you can see how this snowballs to a big number of paths.

So, that's why splitting the "kinky levels" between the girls, with some more vanilla and some more kinky, is much more reasonable. It also helps to create different personalities to them, with different tastes, etc. Of course:

I like this in concept. But sometimes one doesn't know what one is getting into until they're many layers into the kink.

This can be an issue. In my defense, this happens with all games, you never now what you're getting into. Walkthroughs can help, perhaps looking at scenes in the gallery ahead of time if you don't mind getting spoiled, or just have multiple playthroughs and then stop those that aren't going like you wished.

 

[Porthas]

Yeah, I suspected so. And that's what it makes it so tricky, because then it would require adding a new variant to all scenes with Deb.

But the same should also be true in reverse. There are people that have said that, for example, Lea is too vanilla, (or Jen too kink, or... ), so now I'd also need to add two more routes so that everyone has a vanilla-ish and a kinky-ish lewd scene with any girl they like. The same for the maledom paths... you can see how this snowballs to a big number of paths.

So, that's why splitting the "kinky levels" between the girls, with some more vanilla and some more kinky, is much more reasonable. It also helps to create different personalities to them, with different tastes, etc. Of course:

I'd just be happy with a chance to bail out of the sex scene - for one example when that strap on thingee with the plastic dildo came out. So that would avoid having to create a "vanilla" sex scene for each girl, but it would keep one from not being able to jump out of the pool when the water gets too deep. It wouldn't have to jump to a vanilla sex scene.

As an aside, one gets some vanilla sex with Deb, but it's rather oblique and oddly not when you're trying to be even somewhat accommodating (I think, if memory serves). If one even tips a toe a little bit in the sub direction, we go straight to... dirty used shoe licking? If memory serves? Probably will never make me happy with the sub stuff in this game my idea of sub is way too tame for the BDSM crowd. Anyway it's going to be interesting to see what Deb thinks (later on in the game) about all the "vanilla" sex you've had with her, she's obviously attracted to MC on some level.

Yeah, I have no interest in BDSM at all. Everything I've looked at about it is too extreme for me. And that's not to be insulting to anybody who's into it, different strokes for different folks and all that. I thought I might be able to go the dominant route a bit with the chess girl, but it's getting weird now with the nipple clamps and telling her she can't have orgasms or something. Edging is one thing that I can barely tolerate (for anybody, not just MC) but whatevers. We'll see how far that rabbit hole goes I suppose.

Thanks for at least considering what I'm saying. Will always be glad to discuss the game, even if we don't end up always agreeing on something. Looking forward to playing the game later on down the line and I'm currently playing it now trying out different paths or whatever to see what changes.

 

[Mister_M]

"Keep dreaming"

Hmm, I can't recall having this option. Checking now. OK, I have it, though earlier I've played with 0.5.0 version, so either smth was wrong for me or my mind is not working properly. Thank you for your answer, appreciate it.

 

[Arachnox]

Loved the game so far.

One thing I have trouble understanding. Deb appears to avoid any type of penetrative/traditional sex with the MC (She even teases the MC about it with the strapon). I realize it's a part of the dom dynamic to control the partner completely, but does that mean the MC has to remain chaste (traditionally speaking) if he wants to pursue a compatible relationship with her? I mean it is hinted strongly that she has 'an appetite' (multiple times a day), but when it comes to the MC, she avoids it completely? Not trying to judge anyone who prefers this fetish, but doesn't that imply that the MC doesn't measure up to her physical standards? (maybe she prefers the muscley types). Even when she 'booty calls' a dom MC, it's mainly to validate her attractiveness.

Personally, I'm no fan of the Orgasm denial/Caging theme, but that's fine. As the dev already explained, changing things to accommodate everyone would be a huge task, not to mention it would make the characters less unique. I just wanted to have a clearer understanding of the dynamic between the MC and Deb. Because to me, it seems to be highly one-sided (both physically and emotionally). Perhaps that is how it is meant to be. In my opinion, she is perhaps the 2nd worst choice for a partner (after you know who). But since her model is so strikingly beautiful, dom players find it so difficult to be unable to pursue her. (as more than a FWB)

 

[SoulSwipre]

I could be biased here, but the more I play this game, the more I realise there are more femdom scenes than not. But I guess looking at the patreon choices(which is actually pretty interesting), there seems to be more femdom fans playing this game so that makes sense. There's only Jen for male dom, and besides Deb's pure femdom route(which is a huge wasted potential because I'm biased xD), everyone else's route seem to have abit of femdom inserted one way or another.

Still a good game don't get me wrong, but certainly would like more maledom, or even just kinky stuff that aren't femdom. The Cucking Carl route seems to be the most undercooked at the moment.

 

[WarriorSteel]

There's only Jen for male dom

You forgot the Manly path for Lea and Kim

 

[MrSilverLust]

I could be biased here, but the more I play this game, the more I realise there are more femdom scenes than not. [...] There's only Jen for male dom, and besides Deb's pure femdom route(which is a huge wasted potential because I'm biased xD), everyone else's route seem to have abit of femdom inserted one way or another.

Do you mind explaining how you got to that conclusion? From my point of view:

Vanilla(-ish)/maledom(-ish) routes:
Emma: Hate fuck with MC as top (ch1) -> Striptease with misogyny kink (ch4) -> Hatefuck with mc as top (ch5)
Jen: Deepthroat and sex (ch3) -> praise or humiliation scene (ch4) -> spanking and sex in the office (ch5) -> nipple clamps and orgasm denial (ch5)
Lea: show boobs park (ch2) -> show boobs coffee shop (ch3) -> masturbation via chat (ch3) -> blowjob while hiking (ch4) -> fingering at the changing room (ch4) -> sextape with Lea handcuffed (ch5) -> sex at the beach without posting pics online (ch5)
Deb: Sex with Deb while cucking Carl (ch2) -> Sex in Deb's kitchen (ch5)
Kim: Handjob under the table cucking Pete (ch4) -> Sex while she talks with Pete on the phone (ch5)
Bri: Sex at the beach house
Olivia: small teasing scene at the beach (ch4)

These scenes can all be done in a single playthrough. None of them have any femdom. 20 scenes total.

Vanilla(-ish)/femdom(-ish) scenes:
Emma: Hate fuck with Emma on top (ch1) -> MC humiliation lost bet (ch4) -> eat Emma's ass (ch5)
Jen: Small teasing scene at the office (ch5)
Lea: show boobs park (ch2) -> show boobs coffee shop (ch3) -> masturbation via chat (if on Deb's path, you can choose to tell her that you aren't allowed to cum) (ch3) -> eating Lea's pussy while hiking (ch4) -> fingering at the changing room (ch4) -> sextape with MC handcuffed (ch5) -> sex at the beach with or without posting pics online (ch5)
Deb: Eating Deb while cucking Carl (ch2) -> feetjob or just handjob edging (ch3) -> Ruin orgasm or MC spanked (ch4) -> fuck Deb with a dildo and get caged or not (ch5)
Kim: being humiliated by Kim (ch5)
Bri: Sex at the beach house
Olivia: small teasing scene at the beach (ch4)

These scenes can all be done in a single playthrough. None of them have any maledom. 18 scenes total (and Jen barely has any content. If anything, femdom players are at a disadvantage).

I really think this criticism is unfair. And it feels a bit bad when the same thing is being mentioned in reviews as a reason for giving a worse/bad score.

 

[Mister_M]

18 scenes total

I'd argue it's 19 cause in ch. 5 MC gets two humiliation tasks (depending on the player's choices of course) and despite the fact that the 1st one doesn't seem to be counted by the game as an h scene I think that for foot fetish (or foot fetish + femdom) players it was still one of the h scenes. Plus 2 miniscenes with Kim (grabbing by the balls, trampling them a little on the beach) and her general attitude also fit the femdom theme if the player is inclined to follow this path. In my eyes therefore the game has very balanced maledom/femdom content (maybe vanilla is less represented).

And I've replayed the game today and my number of saves I'm juggling grew to 7! But I'm still at 55% of the dialogue count.

 

[gregers]

Do you mind explaining how you got to that conclusion? From my point of view:

Vanilla(-ish)/maledom(-ish) routes:
Emma: Hate fuck with MC as top (ch1) -> Striptease with misogyny kink (ch4) -> Hatefuck with mc as top (ch5)
Jen: Deepthroat and sex (ch3) -> praise or humiliation scene (ch4) -> spanking and sex in the office (ch5) -> nipple clamps and orgasm denial (ch5)
Lea: show boobs park (ch2) -> show boobs coffee shop (ch3) -> masturbation via chat (ch3) -> blowjob while hiking (ch4) -> fingering at the changing room (ch4) -> sextape with Lea handcuffed (ch5) -> sex at the beach without posting pics online (ch5)
Deb: Sex with Deb while cucking Carl (ch2) -> Sex in Deb's kitchen (ch5)
Kim: Handjob under the table cucking Pete (ch4) -> Sex while she talks with Pete on the phone (ch5)
Bri: Sex at the beach house
Olivia: small teasing scene at the beach (ch4)

These scenes can all be done in a single playthrough. None of them have any femdom. 20 scenes total.

Vanilla(-ish)/femdom(-ish) scenes:
Emma: Hate fuck with Emma on top (ch1) -> MC humiliation lost bet (ch4) -> eat Emma's ass (ch5)
Jen: Small teasing scene at the office (ch5)
Lea: show boobs park (ch2) -> show boobs coffee shop (ch3) -> masturbation via chat (if on Deb's path, you can choose to tell her that you aren't allowed to cum) (ch3) -> eating Lea's pussy while hiking (ch4) -> fingering at the changing room (ch4) -> sextape with MC handcuffed (ch5) -> sex at the beach with or without posting pics online (ch5)
Deb: Eating Deb while cucking Carl (ch2) -> feetjob or just handjob edging (ch3) -> Ruin orgasm or MC spanked (ch4) -> fuck Deb with a dildo and get caged or not (ch5)
Kim: being humiliated by Kim (ch5)
Bri: Sex at the beach house
Olivia: small teasing scene at the beach (ch4)

These scenes can all be done in a single playthrough. None of them have any maledom. 18 scenes total (and Jen barely has any content. If anything, femdom players are at a disadvantage).

I really think this criticism is unfair. And it feels a bit bad when the same thing is being mentioned in reviews as a reason for giving a worse/bad score.

I think it's worth distinguishing between vanilla-ish and maledom content. Of the women in the game, only Jen is presented as an outright sub, against Deb and Kim as outright dommes. Some characters offer a variety of content, and some who lean one way will occasionally have content that's more vanilla or leans the other way, but on the whole I think it's fair to say that the femdom content is slightly more to the fore, and the content presented so far a bit more extreme. This is not a complaint, I should stress; as long as you're happy with the balance it's all good.

 

[EndlessNights]

One thing I have trouble understanding. Deb appears to avoid any type of penetrative/traditional sex with the MC (She even teases the MC about it with the strapon). I realize it's a part of the dom dynamic to control the partner completely, but does that mean the MC has to remain chaste (traditionally speaking) if he wants to pursue a compatible relationship with her? I mean it is hinted strongly that she has 'an appetite' (multiple times a day), but when it comes to the MC, she avoids it completely? Not trying to judge anyone who prefers this fetish, but doesn't that imply that the MC doesn't measure up to her physical standards? (maybe she prefers the muscley types). Even when she 'booty calls' a dom MC, it's mainly to validate her attractiveness.

It might be premature to assume that the way Deb is acting right now when she's clearly emotionally distraught and in pain necessarily reflects how she would act in normal circumstances within a committed relationship. I don't see her as someone who would call a friend up for a self-validation hookup ordinarily, for instance. She's certainly a complicated woman, but I think what we've learned about her in earlier chapters will remain true in the future. She's into orgasm denial play with a submissive male, but we also know she likes to take care of those she loves and that she enjoys sex. Would she truly be happy to be in a relationship where she has decided her partner is done with orgasms and will never have penetrative sex with her? Some people definitely dream of a relationship like that and would love to see one like it depicted in a VN, but I'm just not sure we can assume Deb or the MC belong in that category just yet. I trust MrSilverLust will always want the story to make sense and strive to make sure that the characters act true to themselves.

Because to me, it seems to be highly one-sided (both physically and emotionally). Perhaps that is how it is meant to be. In my opinion, she is perhaps the 2nd worst choice for a partner (after you know who).

This is really interesting to me because my true kink is healthy relationships. Maledom, femdom, exhibitionism...meh. Deciding whether two people really belong together and will be able to be happy over the long term? Oh yeah, baby, now we're talking. A couple of updates ago, I mentally sorted the characters into two categories: people the MC could likely have a healthy relationship and a happy ending with and people the MC could very well have a self-destructive relationship with and end up dragging himself deeper into his hole as a result of pursuing them. I personally put Bri, Olivia, Lea, and -- you guessed it -- Deb in the potentially healthy category while Kim, Emma, Jen, and Mel were the potentially self-destructive options. Maybe that list deserves a thorough revision. I do tend to think happy endings are going to be possible with at least Jen and Emma now.

 

[Porthas]

Ah, poor Emma. She gives this same look when Jen shows up to that earlier meeting as well. Well if happy endings are a thing in this game I may shoot for one with Emma first, she seems to be the "through route" romance anyway, at this stage of the game. I guess it depends on how odd her kinks get for my tastes, to some degree.

She seems to be at her best when she drops the feminist dogma and looks at people as just people. Like MC. She sees a lot of good aspects in him, that's pretty good material to work with when you're looking for a girlfriend/wife.

 

[Ursus4321]

has the skills menu disappeared now? I am playing from the beginning and I have reached the scene that says that without the sexual fantasy skill you cannot take one of the options and I cannot find said menu anywhere.
I attach a screenshot of a previous scene so you can see that I don't have such a menu option
I solved it in the end by taking an old save, editing it and seeing what the variable was. I pass it from 0 to 1 and that menu appears

 

[MrSilverLust]

has the skills menu disappeared now?

The skill menu only appears after the "conversation" with Mel, once the tutorial message it's shown to the players. It has always been that way.

 

[SoulSwipre]

Do you mind explaining how you got to that conclusion? From my point of view:

Vanilla(-ish)/maledom(-ish) routes:
Emma: Hate fuck with MC as top (ch1) -> Striptease with misogyny kink (ch4) -> Hatefuck with mc as top (ch5)
Jen: Deepthroat and sex (ch3) -> praise or humiliation scene (ch4) -> spanking and sex in the office (ch5) -> nipple clamps and orgasm denial (ch5)
Lea: show boobs park (ch2) -> show boobs coffee shop (ch3) -> masturbation via chat (ch3) -> blowjob while hiking (ch4) -> fingering at the changing room (ch4) -> sextape with Lea handcuffed (ch5) -> sex at the beach without posting pics online (ch5)
Deb: Sex with Deb while cucking Carl (ch2) -> Sex in Deb's kitchen (ch5)
Kim: Handjob under the table cucking Pete (ch4) -> Sex while she talks with Pete on the phone (ch5)
Bri: Sex at the beach house
Olivia: small teasing scene at the beach (ch4)

These scenes can all be done in a single playthrough. None of them have any femdom. 20 scenes total.

Vanilla(-ish)/femdom(-ish) scenes:
Emma: Hate fuck with Emma on top (ch1) -> MC humiliation lost bet (ch4) -> eat Emma's ass (ch5)
Jen: Small teasing scene at the office (ch5)
Lea: show boobs park (ch2) -> show boobs coffee shop (ch3) -> masturbation via chat (if on Deb's path, you can choose to tell her that you aren't allowed to cum) (ch3) -> eating Lea's pussy while hiking (ch4) -> fingering at the changing room (ch4) -> sextape with MC handcuffed (ch5) -> sex at the beach with or without posting pics online (ch5)
Deb: Eating Deb while cucking Carl (ch2) -> feetjob or just handjob edging (ch3) -> Ruin orgasm or MC spanked (ch4) -> fuck Deb with a dildo and get caged or not (ch5)
Kim: being humiliated by Kim (ch5)
Bri: Sex at the beach house
Olivia: small teasing scene at the beach (ch4)

These scenes can all be done in a single playthrough. None of them have any maledom. 18 scenes total (and Jen barely has any content. If anything, femdom players are at a disadvantage).

I really think this criticism is unfair. And it feels a bit bad when the same thing is being mentioned in reviews as a reason for giving a worse/bad score.

Oh, I'm in no way critisizing you or the game. I'm sorry if it felt like I was doing that. I'm really enjoying the game. Like I said, I obviously prefer less femdom scenes, so I could be biased. But you seem really be into discussion with fans here, so I'm just giving my 2 cents.

But as to where I'm coming from, it just FEELS like the writing itself is predisposed towards submissiveness. I'm only about halfway through chpt 4 so take whatever I say with a pinch of salt.

The scene with Jen was supposed to be dom, but the way MC was speaking wasn't as authoritative as I perhaps imagined, but then again, it's their first scene so I guess abit of apprehensiveness was there. Same thing with Lea's scene outdoors, it felt more like Lea volunteering to suck dick more than anything. I guess if it was up to me, I would have "ordered" her to spread her legs and pleasured her since she wasn't feeling up to actual sex.

I haven't actually gotten to Kim and Emma's scene in Chpt 4 so I can't say much about those. But based on the interactions up to now, I feel it's "wasted potential" like I mentioned. I personally LOVE bitchy and combative girls, because it always feels nice to put them in their place and dominate them, rather than submissive girls like Jen. I understand Deb's out of the question because she obviously only derive pleasure from being the dom, but I don't feel that's the case with the first 2.

The fork with Kim in particular felt abit off for me, even though there was an option to "not let her walk all over me". The first round of choices I made closed off the path completely. Once again, I could be wrong here, but the feel of Kim's personality I got wasn't that she was actually dominant, but manipulative.(backed by her puzzle kink sheet) In that scenario, maybe a better way for her to approach that was to not strongarm the conversation and be threatening all the way to the end, but actually taking a softer approach once we "called her bluff". She would technically still be manipulative and in control of the situation. That was of course, only be the case if her aim was to cheat because she felt good from being bad and in control. I guess I just didn't like the way she controlled the whole conversation and it felt like her way or the high way, rather than it being an actual deal.

Once again, I must stress I'm not here to tear apart all the psyche of your characters which you have obviously spent painstaking hours creating. What I'm perhaps trying to say is that the writing for the submissive paths are better than the dominant paths.(I replayed a few of the sub scenes and I actually find some of them kinda hot!) Which I'm not saying is a bad thing. I'm just a picky asshole who find fault in even games I truly enjoy. It's just my opinion and you are free to completely ignore it. I'm just writing this because I felt that you're really engaging the community and truly want to improve your game.

 

[Arachnox]

This is really interesting to me because my true kink is healthy relationships. Maledom, femdom, exhibitionism...meh. Deciding whether two people really belong together and will be able to be happy over the long term? Oh yeah, baby, now we're talking. A couple of updates ago, I mentally sorted the characters into two categories: people the MC could likely have a healthy relationship and a happy ending with and people the MC could very well have a self-destructive relationship with and end up dragging himself deeper into his hole as a result of pursuing them. I personally put Bri, Olivia, Lea, and -- you guessed it -- Deb in the potentially healthy category while Kim, Emma, Jen, and Mel were the potentially self-destructive options. Maybe that list deserves a thorough revision. I do tend to think happy endings are going to be possible with at least Jen and Emma now.

Interesting, I too have a 'healthy relationship kink'! But a healthy relationship should be about 'give and take' right? Some of the LIs here don't offer anything other than their sex appeal:

Emma: Familiarity, common interests, feelings (not vocalized), Keeps the MC on his toes (has the most appeal 'feelings-wise')
Jen: Shares her life (goals, fears, etc.), Depends on the MC, and trusts him to guide her, both in her career and in the bedroom
Bri: The ideal person to hang out with. Shares her worries with the MC and is a true friend
Lea: The stereotypical 'vanilla option'. The 'safe choice'. (love her tbh)
Olivia: Lovely, kind, and free. Not sure about having her tied down to the MC.

Deb: Does not share a lot about herself (fair enough). Not sure what she wants. Was in a relationship for over 2 years, and had a guy who (against his nature) accommodated her kinks (just not all the time). The way she verbally destroys Carl when he does not do exactly what she wants......Then booty calls her 'friend' soon after her long relationship ends..... IMO, all of this just screams 'You will only get affection IF you please me...It's all about ME ME ME!' No thanks!

Kim:.....

 

[gregers]

The fork with Kim in particular felt abit off for me, even though there was an option to "not let her walk all over me". The first round of choices I made closed off the path completely. Once again, I could be wrong here, but the feel of Kim's personality I got wasn't that she was actually dominant, but manipulative.(backed by her puzzle kink sheet) In that scenario, maybe a better way for her to approach that was to not strongarm the conversation and be threatening all the way to the end, but actually taking a softer approach once we "called her bluff". She would technically still be manipulative and in control of the situation. That was of course, only be the case if her aim was to cheat because she felt good from being bad and in control. I guess I just didn't like the way she controlled the whole conversation and it felt like her way or the high way, rather than it being an actual deal.

My read on the situation with Kim (which may have been wrong) was that either path involved the MC becoming her toy, whether as her pain slut or her tame cock, leaving her in the driver's seat no matter what. As the man said, the only winning move is not to play.