I am still processing everything in this post; I do feel the need to speak on why I consider a choice to rape something a game designer should not offer up.
The definition of murder: An intentional act of deliberate killing of another human. is something that has been established for hundreds of years. This definition can be agreed upon by people in all the markets your game will reach. There are excuses that are accepted for murder such as self-defense which legally allow murder and there are circumstances where murder is seen as acceptable such as war.
The definition of rape is not commonly accepted in all the markets your game reaches. In some jurisdictions (for example) only a biological woman may be raped and a transgender woman has no protection from the identical act a biological woman would have. Even a post-surgery transitioned transgendered woman may not be protected in some jurisdictions.
In addition to this, what each of us understand as “consent” is different, again based on culture, legal system and tradition. There are also changing norms within each society you may reach. What was considered “the victim’s fault” in one jurisdiction may no longer be considered such in another. (the way a woman dresses is an example).
Due to this fact, when it comes to game design, if you desire to positively reach your audience in multiple markets, it is best to not even consider including this as a “choice” to be presented to the gamer/player/reader.
This does not mean you can’t deal with rape as a subject in your game - there are current titles published by this company that show rape scenes (or at least questionable scenes that can be interpreted as such) but they all (to my knowledge never allow the MC to chose such a path.
This is why I draw a red-line in development here. You can make a choice as weighty and non-trivial as you can but because the very definition of rape is in question in your markets, you can’t logically and with certainty design a choice with the intended consequences and results that you are aiming for.
As I said, I am still processing everything but I felt that I should get this out now before passions and emotions try to flood the responses given.
More to come later.