OK last things first.
Yeah, growing stuff is cool, not a bad thing.... and the hotel bar makes some cash..... but at first, there is not enough money for that, yeah? Like, early doors... BUT the Pin Up thing, kinda IS. That is dependent on relationships, but you CAN build those kind fast, enough to get that happening.
So I was way LOW on cash, and there was not many options. I sped through the Caliber city content... well most of it... that earned you some cash.... and was left with JUST deliveries for 15 to 25 bucks... and the gamble of the Bowling comp. So YES... I spent money on OUTFITS, even pricey ones, but this was because I thought the hotter the Pin-Ups, the more cash.
I managed to get 10k from Kali's old man, eventually... but that all went, mostly, on upgrades.... so when it came to BUYING the Elves... well I had big debt too, of like -3600 bucks too... so paying that, and all... essentially... yeah... going to the Elves thing.... I was only a couple of K... and Sylvia was 7.5k and Ann 2k. Oh... and maybe I had to buy Jin too still. If I am lucky, from the bar, I might make 700... but sometimes it is only 500... and the farming is fine.. unless you forget to water the plants... then you get nothing.
So to be honest, yeah, personally.. I DID find it a bit of a grind, I hit that band of the game, with limited funds, and it took weeks in game to get close to doing it. Personally, I am not slow SOL type games gamer. I am hardcore gamer, and not just that, but a ground level, day zero, genesis moment, gamer of over 45+ years gaming experience. I am used to finding everything hack, and every 'Quick Grind'.... method possible to make money/resources in games ( trying to put that in perspective of what that means....maybe I can say I play Red Dead online, for example, and have almost 1000 gold bars, and almost $200K...even though I have barely played for almost 3 years, because once you know the grind, and know the loops... you win), and being able to either do immediately what I am directed to do... OR, be able to IMMEDIATELY work towards it, without any resources being time dependent.
So I am NOT sure *I* am reflective of the MAJORITY of your players though, so that probably is not something too concern yourself with. I am just and old, hardcore, min/max gluttonous gamer who will spend thousands of hours in one game, and very quickly learn ALL slick tricks to be as OP as possible ASAP. Just for me, having to wait for every Monday to make money, or grow enough Hops or Strawberries to for it be worth selling, is bit hard.
Now as for the Sylvia thing... yeah. I think I might have high Twin Clones relationships? If I had to guess. It was pretty high. That might been the issue. It was pretty confusing, because there were no events, or 'missions' if you will I could do with Lin, by then, EXCEPT the Competition... so I had this directive, and no way of finding out how to DO anything about it.
I also had ANOTHER strange happening out of order it seems. I played through to when Maria was unmasked, and taken.... and Ellen had yet to show up to tell me she arrange her reclamation. Maria was just MIA. HOWEVER, about two days AFTER she was gone.... I go down stairs, and there is a NEW scene.. the one where the fake cops come to try plant evidence. And lo, BEHOLD, there is MARIA talking as if NOTHING happened, and there is NO evidence she is who she turned out to be. I was confused as hell lol 'What... when did she get back, and why is she acting like she has not been through hell?".... but then she was GONE again, AFTER that. A few days after THAT, Ellen then DOES show up and tell me we can pick Maria... and I was so lost thinking to myself 'But isnt she HERE, she IS, I JUST saw her dammit".... lol.
Now as for the future features you're thinking about, I think THAT would be GREAT. Though I would perhaps suggest just ONE thing... opportunities, they do not have to be bill-boarded, hand held led, or anything...but just random, or possible, if you look hard enough... ways to make some fast, solid income. I mean, I just mentioned the grind feels being sucky, but actually...if daily... even grind feature... money making.
So you do not have harvest like ten Hops, or a ton of berries, or wait a week to make money, if you even DO find yourself broke for some reason. I know that might mess things up, because his game seems to have very deliberate pacing, But I was broke almost when I got to the Elves buying bit... I had about 2k... and Nia cost 500 odd... so then I had Ann, and Sylvia.. almost 10k... and possibly Jin too, idk, maybe I bought her a little earlier, and that's why I only had 2k... but I was looking at between close to 10, to close to 12 K... and had only 1500. Even growing plants, and selling them... it still took a pretty long multi-week grind, even with supplemental garden income. I had advanced all stories about as far as could, too, it seemed.... I either had to BUY Sylvia, or get Lin's relationship score up... which was dependent on buying Sylvia and Ann, or get Kali's relationship up, which was dependent on Lin's being high enough .... so hit a wall, and was locked out of most actual story content until I ground that money for those other two .. possibly three (though I think Jin was not requirement)... Elves.
That was a hecka boring passage of play. Yeah I went one some dates, did some kinky things, really really REALLY leaned on my Dungeon lol... but it was still a repetitive scenario of Go to beach with this one, then that one, then another one, or go to dinner with this one, then that one, etc etc... shower sex, dungeon, head pats, clean my room.... all things I knew inside out by then... but no actual progressed, because it all came down to being locked behind those damn elves lol. Any way to speed run some fast cash, and I mean not 10 or 30 bucks a day, but more like 500 to 1000, would be EPIC for resolving that.
But this is just a suggestion from an old hardcore day 0 gamer who plays these kinds of adult sex games, the way I play every other game, speed in, go deep hard and fast... and that is not a euphemism, despite the nature of this game :p.... and seeks to push as hard and fast deep in the game until my first major block, being a skill, mission, or just power curve block because of levelling. Then tries to stomp that block ASAP at the exclusion of all else. being that is how I roll... the waiting a week for money is torture :P
Still love this game though, it is still 5 Stars, 10/10, all day.. I will still play.... but it makes me feel a little masochistic to do so :P :P :P :P