Or, y'know, the insane notion that I'm a fan of the genre... as can be demonstrated by the various games I've played and reviewed both on F95Zone and off (in Discord servers etc)... such as SL, PL, and others.
The Dark path being less popular than others is something calculated/expected way, way ahead of time. I'm not "just" a developer -- I'm also a huge fan of multiple games in this industry so I'm fairly good at understanding how players think.
And let's just say that... if I had planned to develop the route less than the others I wouldn't have included it in the first place... and if I were willing to change the game over a single poll I wouldn't be very good at what I do.
One of the biggest reasons for varying paths: variety. Just because the majority prefer the lust/love routes on their main PT's doesn't mean they won't enjoy having the option to experience the game differently on a second or third PT.
Double-standards happened.