I haven't been following this from the start, did MrDot make it clear at like the planning stage that this game would be about/have open relationships?
To my knowledge no, only after the backlash they said that this was planed as a cuckqueen path, so no sharing, ntr etc. IIRC one of the dev's also got a bit hot headed in this thread, which lead to even more confusion/backlash...
I mean it's unclear what she wanted to do before the idea of open relationships was incepted to her by means of characters/plot. All she said to her sister was they should go on a break which is a vague term that could mean anything depending on who's saying it. We wouldn't have had a game but if they did just go on break the MC probably wouldn't have slept with anyone. If you breakup with her the MC goes on saying how he thought she was the one he'd marry and there goes 5 years being wasted. Even if you agree to go into an open relationship and you did sleep with Victoria before agreeing he goes on about how she mentioned it and he was drunk which lead to sleeping with Vic but he shouldn't have done it.
Well back then there were no signs that she would be fine with just watching the MC, iirc as the MC asked her about a threesome her answear was, her with two men.
Yeah that advice from Gorgina was just crap imo, also to my knowledge of DMD (which is is dated) Gorgina was not in a open relation, but in a poly relation with the MC and his daughter, which is something different.
There where also many (including myself) who thought of Nicole just as a blocker, not a real LI and that the break up will be granted, add to that she wasn't exactly portrait in a good light...so many were rather upset about having no choice to break things up, being forced to be either Nicole only path or open relation was a bit like a slap in the face.
Overal i think the cuckqueen path with Nicole was not a bad idea, but not good implemented and at the wrong time.
The relation beetwen her and MC was already bad/strained.
They were on a break (which can mean many things) and in different countries .
Than how her sister and that client of her's braught that idea up, like a solution for solving relationship problems.
The whole thing is suggested by a call, with a rule that they wont talk about if anything happens (kind of a bad approach as trust and being open should be mandatory if that should work).
Lastly u had no real choice to decline it (only yes and only Nicole path).
Now if u had waited a bit, like now when Nicole is visiting Sunshine Bay, that could have worked much better.
Have her talk with MC, so their relation is at a better starting point.
Maybe have her getting aroused as she keeps seeing MC with other girls and she imagine him with them.
Make it her own idea, as she keeps getting off from imagine MC with the other girls.
Have a open talk with the MC about her idea and the choice for the player to decide.
That would have worked much better and if the players are seeing that her fantasys are about the MC with other girls, the whole thing would have been much better received , of course thats just my opinion.