Thanks a lot for the detailed feedback. I won't give my opinion on each point but just wanted to make a general statement as I think some people are missing the point.
The game is set up to cater to YOUR choices. If you want to play the man-whore route, then you have to accept girls who are willing to go along with this (i.e. girls will have to agree to potentially fool around behind their friends back). If the girls weren't willing to cheat, then the man-whore route would be pretty boring -(you'd end up dumped by all girls very early) Or of you want to play the completely monogomaus route, then that is also possible (and the girls won't cheat.). And this makes for a sweeter/less deceitful playthru with that particular girl (but you miss out on the other girls). Either option is do-able and the girls will change to accomodate. What you are trying to do here is apply the personality of a girl in your man-whore playthru into your solo-romance playthru which just doesn't make sense. If you want all the girls to be 100% perfect morality angels....then don't play the man-whore route. If you want to FUCK everyone, this only works if a) ALL of the girls are complete morons (not the case) or b) some of them need to be OK with being a little deceitful so we have to go with b for the manwhore rouote. So on the man-whore route, it's hard to throw shade on the girls for these choices, if you yourself (MC) are lying / cheating, etc. You can have it both ways in two different playthrus (or more) but you can't expect to have it ALL ways in a single playthru. You can't have a bunch of angelic girls in a man-whore route and you won't end up dating a cheating whore in a solo romance route: (With the exception of one or two females who are decitful in ALL routes - but you'll need to stick around to find out who)
Thanks for the taking the time to read all that feedback. But don't quite follow what you are saying here. Is the idea that manwhore routes will only be feasible with girls who are okay with the MC sleeping around (and thus would likewise consider themselves in an open relationship)? Or is the idea that when the MC cheats on each girl, that girl will (either through the influence of the MC's behavior or through authorial fiat) gradually grow more inclined towards deceit themselves?
Whichever the case, my main concern wasn't with the rationale for why "harem" runs will end in failure. My concern is purely with the ways in which the game itself conveys that expectation to the player. I agree that, logically and morally, cheaters who demand fidelity from their(numerous) partners are blatant hypocrites. Nonetheless, there is a vast sub-genre of AVNs that more or less live in that hypocritical headspace - and especially early on, WTHI looks like it could be one of them: huge cast of girls, lots of opportunities for steamy sex, and no consequences to maximizing that sex by being a lying weasel.
That does
not mean that WTHI is obligated to be part of that genre, much less that it
should be part of it. But I do think it would save everyone some headaches if the game itself (without recourse to any external material) gave clearer indications that it is not, in fact, in that genre
before we reach the endgame.
And secondly - you are making some assertions on the assumption that all girls are one-dimensional and what -you-see-is-what-you-get and that their motivations are exactly what they are delcaring. But...each of the women have their own motiviations, etc.... And (just like the MC) sometimes they aren't telling the truth. So... taking Natasha for example....How do you know everything she told the MC in the coffee-shop is true? And how do you know that she may not have some plans of her own?
You are correct, Natasha could certainly have a larger agenda of own. That said, my core complaint about her scene in Episode 20 is, at least in my view, it trivializes the very different outcomes of the original Revenge Plan subplot. In one extreme, we make a fool ourselves and she kicks us out of her party. In the other extreme, we completely humiliate her by exposing both her infidelity and dirty secrets to her whole social circle while simultaneously dumping her in favor of her hated rival.
Those are two very different outcomes. And yet in both cases, when Natash returns to the story her next move is to seduce the MC into public sex with her in a coffee shop (just with a little extra yelling in the latter case). I'm not saying that cannot make sense. I'm just saying that by starting sequel subplot in the same place regardless of how the first one ended, it undercuts the narrative distance between the ends of the first. I think that's a shame because it reduces the apparent impact of our choices.
And one other example....If you waited in the car for Jenna...and then she doesn't go into details....Why are some people automatically assuming NTR? Or why are some people demanding she get dumped because she doesn't give MC a detailed account? Maybe she has her own motiviations... OR maybe she's just a annoyed at MC and showing a little bit of petulance (nobody is perfect) so is getting back at MC by keeping him in the dark. Sort of a "If you wanted to know what would happen, you could have stuck around." It's her first relationship, so it might be something as simple as immaturity / being in a huff! Or she could be the Anti-Christ and plotting to murder the MC! You'll find out eventually...
But never assume they are one-dimensional.
Well, this is the internet, Cheeky. The odds that any action remotely involving a LI doing something without the MC will be accused of being NTR approach 1 as time goes on. But jokes aside, may I suggest this issue is not quite as one-sided as you are making it out to be?
Both the MC and Jenna have an equal right to their own concerns and motivations. Jenna does not need to
justify feeling abandoned or annoyed if she thinks that the MC left her holding the bag all by herself. But by the same token, the MC doesn't need to justify feeling hurt or worried if he thinks that Jenna is (for example) more concerned about Jo's feelings than his own.
The important thing here isn't who's right or wrong, it's that this has become a conflict in the relationship between Jenna and the MC. Sometimes conflicts grow out of trivial things. But they do need to be addressed, otherwise they just fester and grow ever larger. If one person insists on dismissing the other's concerns, you shouldn't be shocked if the other person contemplates ending the relationship even if the inciting incident was small.
And yes, that would cut both ways. Jenna has every right to call things off if the MC/player demands she behave as he says and ignores her feelings on the matter; I am categorically not arguing that people who demand to know what happened to Jenna are in the right. But Jenna's actions are directly under your control as developers, whereas the player can only choose from options you add to the game. So I do think it is incumbent on you guys to consider how the player might feel even in cases where you don't agree with them.
So my advice, for whatever it is worth, is this: if you don't want to add branches where the MC and/or Jenna can break up over this, add some dialog that at least attempts to address the concerns players might have over Jenna's actions. If that also allows Jenna to air her own concerns over the MC's actions before the two come to some sort of agreement, so much the better.
You'll never be able to satisfy everyone, of course, but they'll respond a lot better to an imperfect olive branch than they will to a stone wall.