I love the debates going on about Episode 8. Some very interesting inputs. And as it's a debate about personal opinion, there is no right and no wrong, just a difference of opinion! So with that being said, here is my opinion...
Without repeating too much of what has already been stated, my leanings are towards agreeing with comments already made by a few folks such as
@Skylaroo (post 3344) and
@morphnet (post 3409). Their posts do a nice job of summing up my own personal opinion.
I think it is ludicrous to critizice a particular
choice. If there is a choice that you think is wrong, immoral or goes against your version of the MC, then the solution is very simple... just don't make that specific choice. If, however, you do not like ANY of the choices OR feel forced into a particular path that you think is wrong, then that's a different problem, so definitely call me out for that. But to pick a particular choice that you find offensive and say it means the MC is evil/ a douche, etc. is ridiculous... Guess what? YOU are the MC ! You're the one that picked THAT choice!
And if it is such a bad choice, then don't choose it ! I do not understand why you would continue to choose the most extreme option (ignoring multiple opportunities to exit the extreme path) if you find it so distasteful???
To give an example of a similar analogy (IMO) would be: Say a person is offended by swear-words in a movie. Said person tunes into movie with a lot of expletives (Tarantino / Gooodfellas, etc.). They get offended in the first few minutes.....IMO this is where the person would think, "This movie is not for me." and stop watching. What I do not understand is the type of person that gets completely offended, but instead of switching off, decides to watch the whole thing, record every use of the offensive expletive and then send a letter of complaint. Just switch the fucking thing off. Or in the example of the game, just stop playing it OR just pick a different choice. I found this school of thought very baffling. And I also noticed a trend where some of the most vocal folks (i.e. lengthy posts) in that category actually missed some really basic tenets of the game (calling Katie MC's sister, etc.) Weird that they paid so much attention to some specific choices, but yet missed some of the core elements of the game.
And regarding the attribute scores - There is no morality system in this game, so there is no scoring system where you are guaranteed points for being the "nice-guy" and guaranteed to lose points by being a "douche". You get attribute increases for a particular choice if that choice is favourable to the particular character you are interacting with AND (importantly) at that particular time!
So if you want to maximize attributes with a particular character, but to do so, goes against your own moral compass, then you have some choices: If the character is turned on by choices that offend your MC to their very core, then maybe the MC shouldn't pursue that character? Or maybe the MC's feelings are so strong for the character that they are willing to bend/forego their"normal" attitude (YOUR choice, not mine) ?? OR maybe there is an option to sway the particular character around to your MC's way of thinking. Even if it means taking an initial hit to your attributes, there may be a way to recoup these at a later time, while still sticking to your own personal moral compass? Or maybe not? Will have to wait and see....
One personal criticism I would agree with is that I did not give enough choices to avoid some of the OTT/ Macho (I'm gonna kick your ass) dialog options between the MC & Roger. I should have given a few more options to be more placid when conversing / dealing with Roger (Although I personally would have put him in the cabinet

).