Well, innocent perfection can't last forever, and here's the first major choice in the dev's own game of creating AVN.
I really thought that the first to criticize the plot would be the ntr/anti-ntr brigades and the harem sultans.
But now the critics' point seems reasonable to me, and I really regret that it is so, because I like the game.
In general, I adhere to the position that the developer should not take into account the opinion of the public in matters of what the plot of the game should be. The plot is either entirely the merit of the author, or his failure. If the public wants to feel involved in the creation of the plot - well, there are always polls on the topic of which dress is best for the certain character.
But plot decisions cannot be made by a crowd, otherwise it will be a cart without a coachman.
On the other hand, it may be a good thing that the developer has publicly announced his plans and received early feedback, which may give him food for thought, especially since the third game is still only in the plans, while the first one is not yet halfway through and there is enough time to reconsider some plot decisions for the future game, or to make sure that they are exactly what the author wants to see in his story.
Tak, don't get me wrong, I understand your position. But it seems to me that you are looking at the problem from a purely technical point of view, telling how many branches are already in the game, how difficult it is to implement them alltogether, how differently the plot develops depending on the chosen path. But at the same time, in my opinion, you are making a mistake, considering the canonical path to be an unimportant detail compared to other much more important elements of the game.
Just try to understand the position of those who criticize this decision. You say that choice matters in your game, you show how much the plot changes depending on the choice. But at the same time you yourself say that only the canonical plot will be continued.
So explain please, why do a player need all these complicated choices and branches if they lead to a dead end? What's the point of the non-canon branches? In the light of what you said they look like a "bad endings" where the wrong choice prematurely ends the game. So if I choose Glade, I'm playing a short game that will end quickly, while those who chose Lorelei will get to continue their chosen story in future games. And knowing this makes non-canon branches something insignificant, secondary although you say that the choices matter!
A completely legitimate question - if, as you say, the games will be independent, then why do you need a canonical path, and what is much more important for an AVN player, why do we need a canonical LI, which determines the plot elements of the future games?
The consequences of sharing too much information, bro.
I don't know which is better. I really like Ocean's games and he is known for his sudden decisions. Well, I don't think they are sudden, he just doesn't share that information with the public until everything is ready and he just puts the players in front of the fact that he decided to change the plot so and so. I know many players who quit his games because of this and even more who criticize him non-stop for it.
And a bit of speaking for myself only.
I'm quite a conformist about such things, for myself I would simply explain your decision like this: If I play for Glade or Kasula - the game ends in Tides of Succession. If I'm into Lorelei, the game continues in next series.
But I totally understand Joshy's point - imagine I played Tides of Succession, got the Glade ending, and didn't play any other routes which is very common thing - not every player play every route in an AVN. And so I start your third game and find out that this MC is the son of MC and Lorelei from Tides of Succession. But wait, I remember that it didn't end that way, MC chose Glade and they lived happily ever after! I'm sure it will be hard to accept for many players. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
