I'm really glad you appreciated my comment :) this has given me a lot to chew on as I work on fleshing out my setting. as much as I like writing, I'm very much a novice and I haven't ever really completed a project bigger than a short story, so it would be pretty ambitious for me to attempt something on the scale you're doing.
it does give me some insight and some ideas on how to better approach these dynamics in my work in the future. and you're definitely right; the more small choices IF has, the less they tend to be meaningful or impactful. they're fun, but it makes sense that time could be better spent towards providing a more consistent kind of depth instead. I like the idea of locking in traits a lot to manage that. and I hadn't considered at all how the personality traits would pair or intersect, I was thinking about them piecemeal, so that's another good angle to be aware of.
hmm...ok ok!! thank you very much for the advice. I have similar goals as a writer I think, so it's super helpful.
be well and looking forward to the next update <3