New member here, apologies ahead of time if I run afoul of community habits and expectations I'm unaware of. I've read/skimmed most of the posts since the start of October, to get a sense of things at least a little.
I will say in general there's about as much pointless griping as I expected. In my opinion, if you're not a game designer or creative artist in some other field (writing, music, etc.), you have little cause to complain about Eva's update timeline, and none at all if you're not a paying patron.
However, there's quite a lot of earnest discussion about ORS, the characters, the routes, things people enjoy and aren't as thrilled with in terms of story and development. All of that is great, and I hope I can be part of that. During the lockdowns I sampled a large number of VNs and this summer started to financially support the half-dozen or so I found to be my favorites, which usually meant stories which are well-written, well-drawn/composed, where player decisions really mean something to the story, and there are lots of hot sex scenes. I'm one of those weirdos who like actual stories with my porn, because the story behind the sex is the fantasy for me, not necessarily the sex itself.
ORS is easily in the top three of the few dozen VNs I sampled. I've finally done a complete playthrough of the story up to this point, and plan to use the rest of this month to play through an alternate storyline in preparation for the new chapter. My primary storyline saw Ian play around with Alison but not seriously, enjoy casual encounters with Emma while not caring much about Perry one way or the other, draw close to Cindy and eventually kiss her but not fuck her, and be friendly with both Jeremy and Axel. He's not all that enthused about Perry and Wade anymore - they seem so unable to get beyond their own immaturities - and while Jeremy and Axel are a little too chad-like, and he doesn't want Axel to know he's seeing Lena, they at least have goals and plans. Jeremy can bang anyone he wants except for Lena. Holly's cute and all but she'd have to develop more self-confidence for my Ian to be interested, especially when Lena is much more fascinating, funny, and sexy. Minerva is a bitch he wants nothing to do with. His writing is important to him and although he isn't neglecting the gym, getting published and getting a job with Seymour are key goals.
In my playthrough, Lena knew Robert was an asshole right from the start and had nothing to do with him, but some side play with Mike was pretty fun. She was hurt enough by Axel's sleeping around that there's a half-perverse, half-honestly curious desire to try being "the other woman" at least briefly. She recognizes that Ivy helps her let her hair down, and she's grateful for that bit of loosening up Ivy can provide. Stalkfap is the logical next step for her after modeling, though she's taken a while to post the more raw material Ivy wants her to. She sees interactions with her subscribers there as more about money than about sex, and has no problem at all doing a nude workshop for the cafe's benefit. Molly and Ed have been loyal to her and she's been loyal to them. But sharing her music - with Ian and Holly or with an audience at the record store - is her passion project. Holly is a sweetheart and Lena wants nothing but the best for her. But Holly really needs to be a little more self-confident and she and Ivy should bring her out of her shell a little. Ivy is a crucial friend to have, but so is Louise, and Eva feels bad that she didn't tell Louise about how Jeremy didn't really see her as his girlfriend. Then when Louise came onto her, it seemed okay to ease into a little sexual fun, and not crush her already-bruised ego...except now Lena actually likes sleeping with her. Lena feels a little bruised herself, and is trying to decide whether her impulses towards being submissive sexually are just a temporary emotional reaction or are a serious kink she wants to develop - with the right person. Axel is not that person, and though she feels good about her meeting up with him and calmly ending their connection, she only got through the photo shoot with him by treating it like a job, not wanting to alienate Seymour and lose a valuable source of income. Ian could be that guy she could give all of herself to. Maybe. As to Stan, he's a weird perv, but harmless. She'd much rather shoot with a professional like Danny, but if all her Stalkfap subscribers were like Stan, a little intense but meek and willing to spend money on her, that would be just fine.
To weigh in a little on recent topics:
Perry seems to me the guy every friend-group has who simply never became an adult, partly because of a lack of external pressures (he lives rent-free in an apartment made possible by his dad's job as mayor), but mostly because of his own emotional immaturity. He's the "missing stair," if anyone knows that term, the guy (it's almost always a guy) who is toxic and whiny and really isn't anyone's actual friend anymore, but he's part of the group and it's going to cause more trouble to kick him out than to put up with him. My Ian moved in on Emma without a second thought, and though he doesn't want the hassle of Perry finding out about him and Emma, he kinda doesn't care that he started having sex with her. I mean, Perry's never going to, and Emma is up for some fun, so... In fact, the only one who seems to actually like spending time with Perry is Wade, and Wade has turned into a lazy asshole. My Ian doesn't want to steal his girl or anything, but he doesn't see why Cindy stays with him, and running after Cindy during their argument was an automatic for Ian. As was impulsively kissing her.
Several years ago I briefly dated someone not unlike Alison, a girl with a chip on her shoulder as to why she hasn't been recognized for her hard work, someone who knows she can complain a lot sometimes and come off as acting superior to other people...but doesn't really make much of an effort to change her attitudes. My take is that Alison feels rather put-upon by the world, and her friends, and after her lame boyfriend was an even bigger complainer than her, she's decided it's time to shed the "good girl" persona and have some fun. Which is all fine, as far as it goes. But she gets to be a drag after a while, because at the end of the day she still wants the white picket fence and the hen-pecked husband. It made total sense to me that playtime with her was going great, until my Ian wanted to be more casual (which was what Alison said she wanted too) and then Alison started getting pissy about Lena and about Emma. Alison hasn't realized that she can't have the swinging lifestyle for herself and not also for Ian, and that's Ian's cue (or at least, my version of Ian) to say so long.
I'm super interested to see how things between Ian and Cindy shape up in the next chapter. Cindy could do so much better than Wade - any girl in the story could, frankly. Whether that's Ian, or Axel, or someone else depends a lot on how the writing goes and what choices I'm given. But I'm excited to see what develops.
Lena going home feels potentially interesting as well. Her dynamic with her parents feels realistic and worth exploring. At the same time I'm a little worried that the plot point of her mom being in the hospital could be a convenient way of getting her out of the main narrative for a bit, and a little of that can go a long way. To me her story is more interesting the more it develops along the Ian and/or Seymour lines.
People have made good points on both sides about Jeremy being a somewhat token BBC character, but also having more potential as a friend for Ian than that role implies. But also I agree his "former nerd" background hasn't been well developed yet and I hope it isn't a lost opportunity. I was impressed that, if Ian told him Lena was special to him, then Jeremy wouldn't be on board with getting hot 'n heavy with Lena at Ivy's place. That Jeremy has a line he won't cross because of his friendships is a cool twist on the token BBC character. At the same time, I'm a fan of the whole Blacked/Vixen/Deeper style of situation porn like a whole lot of people are right now, and want more in-game of BBC action than just the random selfies Jeremy shares of his genitals and various white women.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.