User blog comment:StoryGirl83/Walkthrough Guide Discussion/@comment-37915141-20190902172022

"Add text above choices to help further identify the choice in addition to the choice number (see example above of Ch 1 of TC&TF Bk 1)"

At first, I was very opposed to this idea so I decided to look at my screenshots and see how informative are the texts and... it didn't exactly change my mind.

An overwhelming amount of them (70% based on a few chapters of BB1) was only 1 or 2 words like Hmm, Whoa, So, He's, LI, ..., Wait, Oh, Uh, Huh, I'm, I, I should, Have you, etc. To be honest, a LOT of times I don't even read these because I could guess every single one of them so far and looking at it now... I didn't miss out on anything. There are a few times and some choices which have a diamond option that pack more info but I never read those either and don't think they're important. Besides, choices are already identified by their number and if they get renumbered you have a better chance of summing about the options than to add the one that starts with "I should" or whatever.

And take a moment to think over the implementation. There are nearly 1000 chapters with around 20 choices each, or more. Some can be more and some are still not discovered, for example when I updated the BB1 walkthrough it was missing entire choices in some paths even though the book had been over for months. Of course, this is a community and we could update everything together without even replaying using keys since there are a bunch of YT playthroughs but... we're talking about nearly twenty-thousand choices and watching hundreds of videos that are over 30 minutes and using hundreds of keys. For adding 2 words in most cases.

Except, of course, if we don't want to upgrade older walkthroughs but I really don't think that's a good idea. New players will get very confused, and there are already a ton of inconsistency, numbering, paths, outfit names for the option or in the note, etc. I think once we have a guide we should update all walkthroughs to avoid confusion.

Besides, I think adding this can make the walkthroughs look very convoluted. Take for example a timed choice which has an option that is a result of a diamond purchase which has to be noted.

Instead of

Choices 3

''This is a timed choice. The option order is random.'' If the timer ends, you stare. (No effect)
 * Use the weapon! (No effect) ⬅ Correct
 * Tackle him! (No effect) ⬅ Correct
 * Stare blankly! (No effect)

You only get the first option if you've purchased the weapon in Chapter 10.

[On that note, I can't not mention that many forget about the possibility of running the timer out when sometimes it's the only correct option. I don't get it.]

...it would look like this:

Choices 3

(I should...)

''This is a timed choice. The option order is random.'' If the timer ends, you stare. (No effect)
 * Use the weapon! (No effect) ⬅ Correct
 * Tackle him! (No effect) ⬅ Correct
 * Stare blankly! (No effect)

You only get the first option if you've purchased the weapon in Chapter 10.

Completely unnecessary words, some cases only dots.

And think about what if the choice also has a condition or achievement cards that are based on something, maybe it's even part of some path.

Instead of

Choices 3 (Path B) (if you didn't take lessons from X)

''This is a timed choice. The option order is random.'' If the timer ends, you stare. (No effect)
 * Use the weapon! (Card1) ⬅ Correct
 * Tackle him! (Card2 or No effect) ⬅ Correct
 * Stare blankly! (Card2 No effect)

You only get the first option if you've purchased the weapon in Chapter 10.

You only get Card2 if...

it would look like this:

Choices 3 (Path B) (if you didn't take lessons from X)

(I should...)

''This is a timed choice. The option order is random.'' If the timer ends, you stare. (No effect)
 * Use the weapon! (Card1) ⬅ Correct
 * Tackle him! (Card2 or No effect) ⬅ Correct
 * Stare blankly! (Card2 No effect)

You only get the first option if you've purchased the weapon in Chapter 10.

You only get Card2 if...

Throw in a clock emoji (which I initially thought would be neat) and there's even more stuff. And who knows how much more complicated it could get. I know this is an extreme and very rare example but the first one could happen a lot and I don't think noting the text above the options in the game helps here at all.

So, while I recognize why it would be appealing and seems helpful I think actually implementing it would prove too difficult and confusing for it to be worth it.