Yeah whatever the player does in this episode, the one of Josy and Maya who sleeps alone and didnt got a "i love you" will look very unhappy at the end of the episode
They all behave kinda unfortunate too, the MC telling only one of them that he loves her, the one who got the "i love you" telling the other one that he said it to her ... it just looks and feels bad no matter what you do.
Does anyone else feel like the game is balanced towards maya somewhat when you try to keep it balanced?
I prefer Josy and in my pt's when i get all the points and even take more Josy events (i usually do josy after pete's visit, maya movie tv night, josy ep11 again) i always get the maya scene. I had to create a pt where i kinda always favored josy to get the josy scene.
In my case, I kept the Maya/Josy event choices essentially even, so the code to determine which scene I got in Ep 11 falls back to which has more relative relationship points. I'm pretty sure I got most, if not all, I can get on my particular path for both Maya and Josy, and I definitely had a higher proportion of Maya points compared to Josy for the calculation. So it seems to me that if you've been spending time evenly, it might be set up to slightly favor Maya.
As for forcing this MJ drama here, that annoyed me because I'd very intentionally been making a point of paying attention to both Maya and Josy, and supporting their relationship with each other. The last time a check came up for if I was treating them evenly (at the Halloween threesome when they compare), I passed as "balanced" without issue. So not even having the option in this Chapter irked me quite a bit because it essentially forced my MC to behave "out of character" for how I'd played him so far. An "in-character" choice would have had me pick Josy since I spent time with Maya in Chapter 10. And when I told Maya I loved her, you can bet your ass I'd be arranging some time ASAP, even if just a quick coffee break, to tell Josy the same.
I am, however, hesitantly giving DPC the benefit of the doubt for now and guessing the drama was introduced because:
- Chapter 11 is the penultimate episode of this Season, and if you successfully got the contracts last chapter there otherwise wouldn't be much drama in the MJ relationship to "amp up the drama" and resolve next chapter. I haven't played any other paths this update yet, but I know DPC loves drama and it sounds like there's some drama in the other branches too.
- I've suspected that a possible throuple breakup could be coming soon if you make poor decisions and treat them unevenly. Narratively it'd make sense to be soon, especially since next Season is supposedly the final and there needs to be time for possible solo Maya/Josy branches. Even if a breakup is not forced and you successfully save the relationship, using some of the same story elements, renders, and script in this Chapter is "efficient" to include as "content" for both possible outcomes. And DPC already has a ton of branching, so I could see why he might temporarily reduce some here.
- If it is possible to keep the throuple, including some brief drama that you successfully resolve essentially "shows" the player the narrative "bullet" you dodged. If things stayed happy full-time, people that made good choices might not really realize they resolved some potential drama and some people that like that type of drama/tension might find the path "boring".
Now, I started BaDIK before I even heard of Acting Lessons. Needless to say, I've been a bit nervous since learning how the throuple was treated in there since I tend to prefer poly paths when given the option. I hope DPC doesn't perform a repeat. I'm hesitantly optimistic because the Maya/Josy deep discussion they have near the end of Bella's party on a "healthy" MJ throuple path is actually a good example of the types of difficult, but necessary, discussions needed to keep relationships healthy and does actually start resolving some the issues in their own relationship. And the existence of some earlier MJ checks having a possible "balanced" outcome does suggest one might be possible long-term.
However, if there's literally no possible way to save the MJ throuple regardless of what you choose, let's say I'm going to be very, very disappointed. One game with an unavoidable "bad end" for a poly relationship might be a choice you can write off as a "narrative decision". Two times would be a trend that would tell me DPC is just biased against polyamory since, in reality, poly relationships are on average just as healthy and committed as monogamous ones. Does anyone think that the Jill, Sage, or Bella monogamous branches will end in
unavoidable breakups? I very much doubt it.
I have very little tolerance for such narrow-minded prejudice. If it turns out to be the case here, I will likely never play a game by DPC again and actively advise others to do the same.