I mean I get what you're saying, but here you've listed sex and relationships are the only tangent for drama and plot. Currently Ocean has two games where sex doesn't drive the plot. WiaB has Helen's accident, even in the old version, this wasjust a fact of the game world that needed to be discovered. SG we have Nika learning to let go of trauma. Relationship is important to that, but not everyone has to fight a level 16 rival cuckfiend with thick skin to get the lewdtbox. Some people do go through life without that level of drama. If you don't consider the drama thats already present sufficient, its because you want a different story. Well, that's what WiaB does, or another game. We play the stories that the devs want to tell, we can't force the devs to tell our stories.
The reason devs can't tell our stories is we want to be surprised. We already know the story we want to play, so it'll be a let down or just 'ok' if we ever get what we want. Thats why every dev who has held polls ends up diluting their story to please the majority.
If you want a strong, unique story, you need to let the dev cook up something that won't tick all you boxes (because it is so unlikely they'll have identical tastes or have the identical life experiences) but will offer something surprising, a window into different thoughts, different perspectives. MOst of the drama I adore in SG and WiaB is in the facial expressions. Zara looking at NIka when he trusts her, Sasha's little smile, close ups of WIlliam's face when he realises how much he fucked up and can't fix... these things are what keep me interested, and they can hit hard because I don't know what will happen next. The surprise of the emotions and moments is worthwhile to me.
IN this sense the plot advances to allow these emotional realisations. Sure sex can advance the character development, but the vast majority of stories in the world aren't 18+ and people love them. There's a middle ground I think where Ocean doesn't intend a cliche sex romp AVN but he doesn't do a vanilla teenage tissue drama either.
The big kicker for me is I actually care what Nika does to Nami's feelings, whether he respects Nia, whether he forgives Robin, etc. I care that William gets upset when he has to tell Daphne he's relocating to Wollust, when Katie and Leia's barbs sink in. SO far these are all things that happen with or without romance - they are an integral part of the story. We also have relationship drama in built as I've mentioned with Mario and with Bella, as well as the MMF throuple at very least. Now imagine Nika is the undisputed winner - what if he wins Bella because he allows himself to be beaten up and hospitalised, Bella pulls her gun on the racer bois? That's dramatic. I'd still care about the story, I'd feel surprised. Danger doesn't have to have a bad outcome to be convincing, most action movies prove people are fine with a known plot outcome of the hero surviving. I still love Indiana Jones, Terminator, Star Wars etc.
There will never be a game that matches my preferred kinks 100% and I'm okay with that. More than anything I want devs to surprise me with meaningful and impactful stories. Ocean is doing well for me so far, but stories are personal, not everyone is triggered by the same things.
Alex keeps prophesying Ocean's downfall, hoping he'll be right one day. Chances are Ocean will outlive me because he's younger and I'll get to see more of the games I enjoy.
The more pertinent question is why did Regium leave his #1 most devoted fan alone, give the game back to Ocean and go back to a regular 9-5? Why isn't Regium giving us dark edgy stories any more? Oh that's right, because he just ....doesn't want to make any AVNs and wants a stable income. Ancient history by now, Regium is tagged ABANDONED. We're what, 4 years years later and we still have people in denial that Regium abandoned them. Ocean's still going strong though, as you say. Good times!
